Sanguine Halo

Chapter Eight: The Dark Child

"Look at me... Look at me... We can make it. Hold my hand tight and just shut your eyes. Mommy's gonna sing you a lullaby."

Gasping for air, Mirael woke up. She looked at her phone, the time is 11:45 PM. She looked around her and found Fawkes laying by her side. Mirael felt relieved. She hasn't been feeling well. Everyday that goes by, her 21st birthday is getting close and the nightmares became more often.

She dreamt about a man with blazing head calling her his 'daughter'. It's very preposterous since her mother died without even telling her anything about her father.

"You awake?" Fawkes got up from the bed and sat beside her.

Mirael put his arms around him and stared far away. He brushed her long red hair using his hands and held her close.

"Fawkes... My birthday is in four days right?"
She snuggled up to him. Fawkes then remembered that she's turning 21 this month and thought about giving her a gift.

"Do you want something for you birthday?"

"N-No... It's just, I'm having bad dreams lately and it's always repeating the same thing... A man calls me 'daughter' and it seems like he really misses me."

When Fawkes heard this, he hugged her even tighter. Now it comes to this, Mirabelle, her mother told him everything before she died. She told him to keep Mirael away from the hypogeans at all costs even if it costs his life.

"Whatever happens, I'll always be here, Mirael... Just... If you'll lose your way, please... Find a way to come back to me."

The cold air filled the whole room but their feelings are burning like wildfire.

Morning came and Estrilda rounded up the refugees in the lobby of the museum.

"I told you she looks pretty hot in those jeans."
Mirael laughed softly. A while ago, she lend Estrilda some jeans and a shirt. Fawkes also gave Thane a shirt and jeans.

"What kind of clothing is this? Why is this too light?"

"Estrilda, it's called a 'Shirt and Jeans'."
Thane break it out to her the perks of the future since they came from the past of 1442.

"Look here... This is called a phone. We don't have this in our time and you should use this when we split up so that our communication will be easy."

Thane gave a smartphone to Estrilda. She grabbed the phone and tapped across the screens.

"Kyah! What's this? A magic mirror? How does a mirror fit on this thing?"

"Uh... Estrilda. The present lightbearers call this a 'camera'. They took images using that."

After all of the chit chats and explaining, the four came up with a plan. Fawkes suggested that they would form an alliance with the Wilders, Graveborns and Maulers.

"But Maulers are a pretty tough race to deal with. They never negotiate, they just get down to killing."
Estrilda said preparing her armor and joust.

"We would never know unless we try." Mirael spoke before they could even drop the topic about the Maulers. "I will go with Fawkes to talk to them." She added.

"To sum it up, I and Mirael will go and make negotiations with the Maulers and Graveborns while you and Thane will go with the Wilders."

"Agreed." Thane and Estrilda rode their horses and went away to deal with the Wilders.
Luckily for Fawkes and Mirael, the Rayne's royal stable always have horses being raised by the common folk. They bought two horses and head to the border of the Arcanist's Union... The land of the Graveborns.