The Forgotten Light

13. Ritael

Ritael looked at Kaelen completely confused. She opened and closed her mouth to get a word out, but she had no clue what and eventually every attempt ended in silence.

"I know who you are, where you are from and how you got here," he said in a serious tone.

Seeing that the girl needed a moment to process what she had just heard, Kaelen took the rifle from her hands and packed it in his bag, which he then threw over his shoulder, ready to go.

"We should get moving now. I think everything will get to you better when you are oxygenated."

And not waiting for her answer, he turned his back to her and began to walk down the hill. Ritael automatically looked around to see if they had left anything behind, and moved to follow the blonde boy to catch up with him on the march. When she realized that the boy knew her, but was only making a fool of her, the shock turned into mild anger and irritation.

"So you lied when you said you didn't know I was like you before you snapped my neck," she growled at him as they walked past the dead Invicta Beast.

Kaelen looked at her with an amused glint in his eye. "Of course I lied. From the moment I saw you, I knew who you were, Ritael. You have your mother's eyes and enthusiasm."

The girl held her breath at his words. But she never had a mother - never saw her, never knew her, never even thought her mother was alive at all. How could he, the Stranger from Tucson, know anything about this woman when Ritael didn't even know she existed?

"What do you know about my mother? How do you know her?"

Kaelen turned his eyes to the sun rising over the mountains, and its awakening rays gave them a deeper shade of gold. Ritael had a feeling that in a moment she would hear his longest speech since they met.

"We are the Aeternals. You and I come from Aeterna, the most beautiful place I know, which was a strongly united nation under the rule of Queen Everlee. She was a good woman, the oldest of the Aeternals, who reassured everyone that she heard the will of the Goddess of Life, that is, the one who gave us such a generous gift of life. It's just too bad that the Goddess didn't speak to the Queen when we were in mortal danger. We could have avoided war, death and a country turned to ashes, but, as Everlee declared in her last breath: 'This is the will of the Goddess. Only thus will the worlds be saved'." Now he looked straight at her." Your mother, the legendary Firerit, was Everlee's right hand, commander-in-chief of her troops, and the best warrior in Aeterna's world. Before you fire questions at me about why we are here and not where we came from, I'll answer you right away: we no longer have a home. Referring to the land of ash I just mentioned, some forty years ago, our planet was invaded by beings we had never met before. They said they were forced to flee since another race started raiding their homes and kidnapping their children. We welcomed them as guests, treated them as friends who were in need. They lived among us for a decade. Over time, however, they began to take control of us. Firerit rose the people of Aeterna, accusing the Beings of hostile actions against our nation. Seeing this, the Beings began to abuse our greatest weaknesses, which we naively confided in them. The invaders began to murder the Aeternal nation. The time of the Fiery War, Aeterna's last war, had come. All the heritage of so many thousands of years was gone forever. There was no chance of salvation.

They began to murder the Aeternal nation...

"They killed us over and over again, without end?" she whispered in horror, almost stopping.

Kaelen shook his head grimly. "No. After this death, the Aeternals are no longer reborn."

So there was something that could end their lives forever.