Book of The Lightborn: Rise

Siblings Talk

Kilon, wounded as he was still, could only focus on the vibrance from the lights before him. All of the lights that Manna possessed were working in a smooth yet aggressive symphony, akin to a flow of water, calm and steady, to then become a torrent and engulf the lands. His lights, by comparison, were winds slowly gathering for a storm that, once formed, would bring disaster upon everything. Two natural calamities, worked in the hands of sentient beings.

"So we do," Kilon responded, "although you look different...and feel different.". Manna jumped down from the cliff, no wind to cushion her fall. The Lightborn from Kilon's side didn't even recognize their sister at first. The furs dimmed her light and the blood soaked into them changed its colour, while she herself had a different feel, as her body was imbued with all those lights she didn't have before.
Menoel and Eharel could tell right away, while Melonius didn't know if to protect Kilon from the odd sibling before them, or ask her who she was.

"Much like you brother," Manna approached Kilon and Avunaia, Avunaia backing away while showing her teeth. "Should I kill the beast next to you?" She asked, pointing her twin-headed spear at her deformed sister, "Or do you take joy out of doing it slowly?".

Kilon told her "This is our sister, Manna, can't you tell? Come closer and I'm sure-" Kilon couldn't explain it properly, as Manna was quick on her feet and leapt towards Avunaia to strike her heart. Kilon swept the winds below her feet in the next moment with a wave of his broken hand, making her trip, but Manna simply pressed her hand on the ground and sprung back up. Manna was a few steps away from Kilon, so she came closer to him, looking him in the eyes.

"How can you call that our sister Kilon?!" she was angry, maddened by something Kilon couldn't tell. From the dirty, bloody furs she wore and charred meat in places, he had to wonder what had she done to the beasts she befell. "I can see her soul, but I can see nothing else of my sister.".

"This is not how I wanted us to meet," Kilon said with a pained expression on his face, "but there is still time to talk, and hug, and let our bodies feel each other's warmth.". Kilon placed his hand on her shoulder, feeling her emotions and trying to understand better what his sister had become. And, by pure instinct, Kilon pulled his hand away after a couple of moments.
Anger, despair, sadness, pain. They all swirled and circled between her mind and soul. She bore quite the heavy burden, and what it was he could only wonder. 'In a way, I don't want to know what she's been through, for the terrors seem to run deep. But she is my sister, and I must share her burden.'. Kilon thought, placing his hand more confidently on her.

Manna kept an angered expression all the while, until Kilon reluctantly placed his hand on her once more. She then remembered a melancholic feeling, when they first saw the other at the Link and Kilon embraced her. She felt small in his embrace at that time, but not in a bad way. It was a warm, comfortable feeling, one that she didn't mind letting herself be lost into, like a spark in the flames of a fire. Now that she could feel his light and the touch of his hand again, she wondered if that same feeling would surge. If it would help her forget even for a moment all that she and her siblings had endured. Manna took a good look at him, gritted her teeth, and hugged him.

Kilon could sense her feelings of longing, that she was searching for something from him. He wanted to think about it, but also thought it wasn't the moment, and that all his sister may want is what she reached for. Once he hugged her back, while she was no longer the small Lightborn he once knew, she felt just like it. Those raging feelings came to a halt and calmed down, a deep state of peace overtaking her.
"I missed you Manna, and so did the others. The suns that passed were long and painful, which I'm sure you too know much of.".

"Indeed I do," Manna responded, tightening her hug as the surge of emotions were coming back to her, "which is why I must kill her Kilon.". Manna empowered herself with the lights she had, the orange she emanated seemed crimson at its centre due to her furs, Kilon found himself unable to move a single muscle. "Kill it!" she cried, Salvete stepping out of the forest and running towards Avunaia with quiet steps. Avunaia was distracted by her cry, ready to jump at Manna and bite her to help Kilon break free.