The Silent Heir

Chapter 26

An:  Class would resume next week again (break week for us this week) so it will take a lot more time again to update this again. 

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Seth ran as the cold autumn night enveloped the world. He was just moments away from ending his day when a loud and desperate knocking rocked his front door. Annoyed, Seth ignored the loud clamoring outside when a familiar voice called out his name.

To his utter bewilderment and surprise, one of the sisters from the orphanage was gasping desperately for air. Wasn't her name Ivy? Seth thought for a moment when he saw those eyes. A dark premonition invaded Seth as the nun's eyes stared back in distress. Before he could even ask what was going on, tears escaped the nun's eyes as she stuttered.

"S-sir Seth! T-thank the heavens above you are a-awake!" The nun cried out.

"Peace sister! Please, calm down before we-"

"T-there is no time! L-Lucy! S-sister Lucy is- there is no time! No time at all!" Seth felt his blood run cold as Ivy hurriedly pointed back, towards the orphanage. "Run! To the estate, you go! Hurry!" The nun said as Seth blinked.

His mind was still trying to comprehend what was going on, but his body was already moving long before he made up his mind. He did not don his favored shoes, nor did he even change from his sleeping garments. Barefooted and cold, Seth simply ran.

"Vekra..." He muttered beneath his breath as he relegated a portion of his reserves to his legs. Alacrity envelops Seth as his eyes bleed into gold, dodging and weaving through alleyways for a shortcut. Not even a short while later, Seth was already beginning to feel tired.

The young man never considered himself as fit as a knight. Firing volley after volley was one thing, running barefoot without stopping was another thing entirely. His lungs burned as the soles of his feet began to bleed from the sharp rocks that were embedded in the earth. The wet mud that caked his feet further worsened his feet. Seth felt dirty, but he continued to run.

His heart beats in a chaotic rhythm as worry and fear intermingled. The young man could not recall when it all happened. It was curiosity at first, finding someone of his age who had such a haunting gaze had piqued his interest.

The innate desire to learn the story of the defiled and the scarred were goldmines to Seth. Stories and tales no one had given a glance had provided Seth with secrets no one else held. The more he learned from them, the more he saw the need to take care of them.

And none needed that help more than anyone else than Lucy. It startled Seth to the core when he first saw her. After speaking with the hardened veterans for years, Seth gained a natural eye for spotting someone in distress. There is an air, a certain aura that surrounds them.

Like dark clouds gathering to form a storm, Seth could instinctively tell something was wrong. It was not perfect of course, he more than often failed to distinguish the void from person to person, but it was enough to see through the first layer.

He could sense, could see a few dark clouds here and there, but Lucy was entirely different. It was screaming at him. Seth did not need to realize something was wrong when even the normal ones could sense her distraught.

She was broken on the verge of no return. Never in his entire life had he met someone as ruined as her yet oddly enough, her eyes were not completely dark. Broken, but not beyond repair. Like a shackled prisoner eyeing the skies for freedom, Lucy clings on to life.