"Don't tell me..." Kayden stretched his hand out to touch it but Thane held him back, they both looked closer at Lyda's back, ignoring her nakedness.
"It's the vine," Lyda said calmly, as though she had already accepted the precept of death itself. She began putting on her clothes again. The cold here in the mountains was beyond what a human could handle with just bare skin.
"How is that latched onto your back? It doesn't look like something I could cut out and guarantee your life," Kayden said, trying his best to calm down. He had seen a few scary monsters and heard a lot worse, but he had never seen or heard of nah like this.
"Its pollens are breathed into the body" Lyda began talking, "They take root anywhere in your body, taking control over your mind and body, making you do as it wishes" She finished.
"And how are you able to still be in control of your mind and body" Kayden asked curiously, he was scared at the concept of going on again to fight another Demonic monster, even if it was to save the children, the idea didn't seem so appealing to him.
"As I said earlier, I am a third rate martial warrior" she explained, "I have been circulating my soul essence nonstop ever since I breathed the pollens in and felt its presence growing more and more inside of me".
"And the children?" Thane took a step forward, "How can we be so sure that they aren't affected by the pollens, they aren't martial warriors like yourself" he asked calmly.
Lyda looked away as though remembering a certain scene she wished she had forgotten, She looked back at the two warriors standing before her, she understood that if she needed their help, then she had to tell them everything.
"We hadn't known at first" she began, "My younger brother went out to play, even after I had told him not to go outside because of the strange behaviors of everyone".
"After a certain amount of time, he hadn't come back so I went in search for him, but before I did, I gathered all the other kids I could find and kept them in smaller rooms, deep under our house" Kayden nodded on understanding, he knew the sort of room she meant, after all that had been where he was training.
"After hours of looking, I saw my little brother, laughing like a madman while he stabbed at the face of a dead man" She paused for a moment, trying to compose herself, " I ran towards him, pulling him away from the man, with blood dripping all over his body and hands"
"My brother who has never fought, or held a knife before, had taken a life" She turned to look at Kayden and Thane.
"My brother had a vine growing out from his left eye, he had completely lost himself, he was being controlled by the vine to kill as it pleased"
"He did so while saying one word over and over again," she said, Kayden walked towards her, holding her shoulders, he didn't know how to be empathetic, and neither did he know what to say or do in certain situations like this, but he would be Damned if he didn't try.
Lyda held Kayden's palm as it touched her shoulder, she couldn't keep the tears in as they flowed endlessly down her face, "He kept saying, 'Father' over and over again" she said.
Kayden looked at her with a shocked expression, "He killed his own Father?" He dared to ask, hoping it wasn't as he thought, but she nodded slowly.
"What did you do after?" Thane asked as he watched the both of them, she looked down at her feet as if she couldn't dare speak what had happened, but Kayden whispered into her ears, trying his best to calm her down.
"I dragged him away from my father's body, my brother was filled with bloodlust, the urge to kill and slice at something, although I'm stronger than an average human, I couldn't take the knife away from him, he held it so tight his fingers bit into his palms, making him bleed".
"The further I dragged him away, the more he struggled" she paused for a bit, "And when I wasn't looking, he stabbed at his neck happily, as though he couldn't feel the pain or understand what it why he did it, he stabbed himself till he hit the bone of his neck".
"I couldn't do anything but watch him" She crumpled to the ground, crying as much as she could, as much as her eyes could let her, she let out her pain and frustrations, her grief that she couldn't because she had to take on the responsibility of protecting the children, she cried because of her feeble life and the tragedy of how it would end, she hoped for a better future, a better family, but now those were all delusions, the partner that awaited her was the inevitable kiss of Death.
Kayden left her where she wept and walked over to Thane, he couldn't do anything more than let her cry out her frustration, "What do we do?" Kayden asked Thane.
Thane's expression was stiff like he was trying to make a serious decision, Kayden understood why, they were both conflicted against going to the Water clan or helping these children, endangering their lives while precious time was wasted.
"We should leave them and go, our mission takes priority," Thane said firmly, as though he didn't want to consider the guilt that would eat at him, Kayden looked at his friend and understood the sacrifice warriors had to make, to abandon your humanity for honor and glory, or to risk your life at the expense of nothing.
"We have to go Kayden, we can't be stalled here," Thane said to him, "We can't handle this, it's a monster we've never heard of, we don't know its weaknesses or how to deal with it, it's too dangerous" he explained.
"Thane, I understand" Kayden spoke calmly, placing his hand on the shoulder of his friend, "But the day I leave a bunch of helpless children to die," he said, "Is the day I cease to be a man"
Kayden patted Thane on the shoulder and walked towards the woman, he lifted her to her feet and began walking down the mountain.