Starborn

Chapter 3 (Part 1)

After a few hours, we finally stumble upon another village. Me and Ameline immediately enter, and I'm greeted with rows of assorted-sized houses and the smell of fresh breakfast in the air. The road is paved with stone, so our heels clack softly. Men are laughing and clinking mugs from the tavern with a traditional dome-shaped roof. Merchants are barking at potential customers.

I look around for the village's chapel. It would have a long pipe sticking out from the roof, where Vim would burn from the lit Celestial Well, acting as a beacon for faraway outsiders seeking sanctuary. But there is no chapel, not even one in ruins.

Ameline glances in every direction like an average curious little girl. She occasionally goes off course to a house to look inside the windows. Soon, when we pass by a bakery, Ameline can't look away from the window.

"Sweetcakes!" Ameline chirps. "Can we get one? Do you have any money?"

"No, but maybe we can trade for one. Gus' hunting knife might get us some money."

As soon as we walk in the door, the smell of bread almost makes me melt into the floor. Ameline goes to the sweetcake display to gawk at the treats while I call for the baker.

"Can I help you?" the baker says with a professional smile.

And yet, no matter how friendly he appears, his eyes send a shiver down my spine-fiendish red eyes.

"We were just wondering how much your sweetcakes cost."

"Three dali a cake. Care for one?"

"Thank you, but no," I say while reaching for Ameline. "We'll come back after supper. Come on, kiddo."

"Do they not look fresh enough for you?"

Ameline whines a bit while I drag her out the door.

"What's wrong?" she asks.

But I don't reply. I'm too focused on not drawing attention. So she picks up her feet and walks with her head bowed.

"You! Stop right there!"

I look back to see that same baker who stares at me with his finger pointed. The baker's call draws the entire village's attention to us. Now my Auryn decides to pulse, so I squeeze Ameline's hand tighter.

"Can you see their eyes?" I pray to her.

Ameline looks around, and she starts to understand.

"They're-"

But I stop her, and then I tap at my forehead.

"They're red, like the Fiends."

"Yes. These people are Shadowhearts."

"Shadow... hearts?"

"They're with the darkness. Like your grandfather was."

Before long, we find ourselves surrounded by the citizens. Each of them looks malicious, like a pack of hungry dogs.

"Where do you think you're going?" a burly man says. "You don't think we know who you are? Everyone in the world knows that emblem."

"You're not wanted here. Or anywhere, for that matter," another man says.

Ameline scrunches behind me as the citizens start crowding around us. My hands are beginning to sweat.

"What are you even doing here?" another villager says. "The world doesn't need you anymore. We're all living just fine without you or your light."