Ralph slumped down next to Eve. His head hanging, eyelids half closed, gazing at the bottle of turquoise liquid, glowing like a pearl under moonlight beneath his shadow.
Taking off his coat, he pulled off his shirt. Ripping them into long shreds with his mouth, he wraps them around Eve's wound, helplessly watching the fabric slowly getting blood-soaked. He doesn't know how to stop bleeding. He could only keep changing his bandages after one got completely soaked in blood. Soon, he had a pile of red, shredded fabrics piled up beside him. He's used up everything he could find- even his own socks. But the blood flow shows no sign of stopping, and Eve's breathing is slowly growing faint.
At last, he spotted his thick, voluminous coat lying discarded on the ground behind him. This was a coat he had been wearing for as long as he could remember. It was the only thing his parents had left for him before he was abandoned.
But now he grabs it without a second thought, tearing it into strips, he pressed them onto Eve's wound, holding them down as tight as possible.
"Cecilia!" He tries, but there was no reply. He was told that if she gets heavily wounded during a battle, her power would automatically hide her in the shadows, putting her into hibernation while she recovers. He's not sure how long this process could take up for, but as for now, he's all alone.
His arm was shivering. His whole body was shivering. He's not sure if it's from the cold, which had really started to bite into his naked chest, or from fear.
Eve's breathing had stabilized a little, but just a little. He knows clearly that she is bound to die if he doesn't do something that's actually going to help. He looks down at the vial of healing liquid. That might really be the only way to save her now. If it was he himself who is wounded, he would've died rather than bowing down to the Scars. But now, with Eve's life in his hands, continuing the fight is the same thing as killing her.
Wiping his eyes on his arm, holding back the tears, he slowly reached for the bottle. It was the essence of Kanitha's blood that it contains, what would Eve think after knowing that that was what saved her?
"Would you really do that?" Says a new, strange voice.
Looking around, Ralph spotted a short, young woman. Except for her golden, amber eyes, her pair of fuzzy white ears stood out especially. She was dressed in a simple yet aesthetic manner, taking an inhale from the jade pipe she held, she breaths out a faint, red smoke ring.
"What do you want?" Ralph uttered. If she was of the Scars, and even worse, if she wants them dead, he really can't do anything about it.
"That depends on what you want," she remarked. "I can do anything you want as long as you pay the price. For I am the most powerful merchant that has ever greeted this world." She finishes with a confident grin.
Ralph stares at her in doubt. As if reading his mind, licking her tongue, three, snow white tail unravels behind her.
"I am a member of what is known as the Gods or the Noir-Vols," she vocalized, smiling at Ralph's disbelief. "Surely you have heard of that?"
"Then save her," Ralph muttered. "I would give you anything."
"That sounds familiar," she taps her chin thoughtfully, looking up as if trying to recall something. "Ah, I remember. In that case, I'll do it for free."
Before Ralph realizes what's happened, the woman brushed her tail across Eve's wound, and the bleeding was stopped.
"Thank-"
"None of that," she waves Ralph off, then blew another ring of smoke into the air. This one, however, is black. The thick, foggy smoke clouded Ralph's sight, stinging his eyes, wrapping him in an air of curious scent. All he could do is to grab hold of Eve while waiting for the smoke to wisp itself away.
When the mist settled, he rubs his tearing eyes, blinking, he looked back up.
If he was to name three things that had amazed him the most in his whole life, this would've come first.
There was no more swamp and mud. In its place, was an infinity range of towering castles and buildings built in a sandy shade. All around them these fine architectures puzzled across the earth for what seemed like an eternity in all directions. A cloudy haze sketched itself across the mountains that loom beyond the horizon. The sun shone white and blinding above their heads, illuminating the waterless city and all the Gods that dwell within it.
"Welcome to Deus Maris," the woman smiled in an air of satisfaction. "The City of the Gods."
YOU ARE READING
Alasla: The New Age
Fantasy"What killed him isn't me. It's the world." Ralph had never asked for much. Not even his own identity. But when his best and only friend got murdered by the man he calls father, he was forced to set off on an expedition to unravel the truth of this...
