As we were walking out of the blacksmith and through the slightly damaged hallways, I asked-
"Velverd tell me about the mission, how is it safe?"
He pondered for a few moments and respoded-
"The swarms attack us... but they don't seem to attack you... because you are an outsider.
That's why it's safe"
- "still, what is the mission?"
After a few moments he replied-
"Just burn a tree, and come back... nothing too grand. We'll discuss the details later"
I thought for a few moments, it's obvious that this is not all the details, a lot is hidden, but I was curious about other things as well.
After a few seconds I asked-
"Those... well, 'wings' how do you make them?"
He looked at me with a confused expression... then said with a little uncertainty-
"We don't really make them... we sort of collect them"
What??? What the hell?!
After a second I spoke-
"Collect them???"
- "We also collect the material to make armor and weapons, but for the wings... we just find them whole"
I suspected that there is something wrong because they didn't seem very developed with their technology... it was weird that they can make something as advanced as those wings, unless they actually didn't.
A second later I spoke-
"What... what about those caves... who built it?"
He showed that he was genuinely thinking about it and then said-
"Well... we actually found them like that, we didn't came here that long ago anyways.
We came from a destroyed kingdom... or a village to be a little more accurate"
I was bewildered for a moment, after composing myself I spoke-
"There arə more of you??
Let me guess, they got destroyed because they didn't have wings."
That was a sarcastic remark... yet he replied genuinely-
"Yes... or no, it's hard to say...
They definitely didn't have wings."
- "Those... 'elders' from the village...
How were they like?"
He thought then replied-
"They we're humans... almost"
- "What the hell do you mean 'almost' ??"
- "Well... you might have noticed that there are not many kids.
Most kids die in the womb, not even getting the luxury of seeing the world.
Hmmm... it's called the curse of the paranormals, or abnormals.
Either way, it's the idea that any entity born in the Realm Beyond, is from the Realm Beyond."
He lingered, thinking deeply, then he resumed-
"They are different... WE are different from humans from the outside, the 'paranormals' .
The difference between me and you is deeper than the eye could ever hope to glimpse."
He lowered his head with a heavy *sigh* and continued-
"But... that doesn't answər 'why our kids die before birth?' ... the answer is that they are simply... sacrifices, done against our will.
Some took it as acts of mercy... that the lords do the dirty work so we don't have to feel guilty when doing it ourselves... the sacrificing, I mean.
You see, we are protected... and without that protection, our fate would've definitely been the same as the village inhabitants...
Our safety has the cost of sacrifices."
That was a heavy weight of knowledge, one that I'm reluctant to think too much about.
Does the lords... or probably ciphr really take their kids? And protect them in return!?
And what about the difference between me and them? Just because they were born in the "Realm Beyond"?
They have long ears don't they?
I exhaled a heavy breath as my hand tightened it's grib over my belt.
After this talk I tried to ask more questions but they were all a waste of time...
But I got a closer look at an Active wing-root which looked rather weird.
Because of my eyes I was able to see beyond the nature of the material things, which my old eyes can't see beyond...
Now I could see something different, there is definitely something in those metal plates!
It reminds me of how living thing glow under the gaze of my eyes.
.
.
.
A few seconds later we reached the stairs... behind the stairs there was another path!?
I didn't notice it the first time I came.
As we got closer, I was able to see the hallway clearly.
In the darkness of the hallway, a red radiance, dimly illuminated the hallway, the red light was shining from one side.
'What a strange light! Red? That's a new color to those eyes...'
What's more, beyond the hallway is a radiant star that I only could see it because of my eyes.
It's even behind stone.
It was the same one that I saw as we flew into the trench.
I shivered, lingered for a minute without ascending the stairs, and then I spoke to the man a few steps ahead of me up the stairs-
"What... is in this hallway?"
He looked at the hallway then back at me, then he said with an eerily indifferent tone-
"Not much... just some cursed knowledge, or something cursed... you'll just get cursed if you look at the carvings so... don't worry"
He smiled then continued walking up the stairs.
I was reluctant to follow him... but in the end, I did.
I glanced at the red ominous dim light, then I went up...