Memoir of Xayah - The lost sparrow and the lonley fox

[33]

She felt void inside her gut now that she was at the entrance of the cave. And that void dominated all the place, along with an annoying silence. It was empty; there were only bare walls infected by the first ramifications of darkness. Nothing would have made her believe once it had been a holy place for Vastayas. The only hint was a small altar made with stones in the middle, decorated with old sharp and geometrical symbols.
The purple crystal over it, nested as an invasive plant, caused that desolation. She had found an identical one near her village, and only after she had destroyed it, magic had come back in those lands.
Two men in black dresses and with the face covered with an unremarkable mask guarded the altar, standing like statues. They seemed to be alone; if they were quick enough, they would settle the matter in a short time.
Ahri turned, and she nodded; that was the signal to advance.
The Vastaya sprinted inside the cave. She created an azure sphere and threw it against the man on her left.
She followed her immediately, but the fraction of a second was enough, and the adept noticed the danger.
He drew a short sword and tried to attach Ahri, but she stopped him with a feather, hitting him on a hip.
She did not kill him and only stopped his run, but her partner finished the job, calling back the sphere and hit the wounded enemy with it.
He fell lifeless, dropping his sword that clinked when it touched the ground.
She ripped other two feathers to be sure and approached the altar, looking around gingerly. It seemed that they were the only left; only silence made them company.
Maybe it made sense there were only two guards; if they had faced a powerful enemy, she would have felt the same bad sensations as in the Temple of Whispers. And that cave gave her the same chills as a cold day.
« It seems too simple, » Ahri says, looking around with her yellow eyes.
« So we destroy that thing and go away right away. Maybe they were waiting for reinforcements. »
They thought the same things; it was weird that a well-organized order defended itself worse than a thug gang.
They made few steps, and something moved in the darkness around the walls. A human figure came out, high and massive, and with his hidden by a large straw hat. The veins on his arms were impregnated with corruption, vibrant and alive. He moved forward with long steps, dragging a huge Lang Ya Bang and lining the ground with four of its spikes.
He looked like one of the giants from the legends her father told her, or like one of the monsters her childhood heroes had to face to save their people. Once she was ready to emulate their deeds, but, at that moment, she knew they were only beautiful illusions. Fear had blocked her, and this had never happened to Vihtori.
But Ahri did not wait and created her sphere again, throwing it at that creature's arm.
The man suffered the blow, but he did not drop his weapon.
« Curse it... » the Vastaya hissed while some blue flames came out form the sphere « Xayah, destroy the crystal! »
Her call brought her back to reality. In the meantime, Ahri had attacked the giant again, gaining his attention.
She took too long to process the message, and she took too long to move the first uncertain steps. She heard the sound of a sword behind her and swerved in time, jumping right.
The adept that Ahri had put down was standing up, panting. He could be just an annoyance, but he jumped back and covered himself with a black and purple aura. It covered his body like a second skin and also his sword, that got longer and sharper.
In a moment, he jumped over her, and she could only swerve his attacks. He was too near, and her feathers had not enough range to hurt him.
Her body began to strain; his too rapid blows were exhausting her. That dark power had given him new strength, probably not without a price. She could wait for darkness to devour him, but his fellows did not give her that luxury.
She felt the presence of the Lang Ya Bang over her. She knew the blow was going to hit her, but she could not avoid it, not if there were a sword always trying to cut her skin.
She could only risk and hope luck would help her.
She decided to avoid the pointed weapon, but when she swerved, the other adept hit her, cutting through her hip.
She bit her lips to endure pain and tried to stay up, but the shock wave was too near and made her fall.
Ahri intervened and hit the man with the sword. She was able to push him away so that he could not hurt her. She tried to come near to help her, but the giant anticipated her. He hit her with his free arm and hurled her at the altar.
She tried to hold a scream, seeing her body hit the stone and not move again. The panic rose, not for herself, but for that woman that lied on the ground because of her. She could not believe that someone else was suffering because of her mistakes. She could not tolerate that she had put her in that condition.
Her mind was focused on her inert figure, immobile in the same sweetness that caressed her when she was sleeping. Her eyes were moist. The sense of guilt was tightening her like a snake, and her breathing was becoming a sob.
A sinister noise warned her instinct. She raised her face and saw the giant charging another blow.
She had no idea how to face him. The wound started to pulse, fear blocked her, guilt strangled her; everything kept her from focus, and she could not fill her feathers with magical energy.
But she could use the residues. It was a sudden idea and dictated by desperation, but it was always a handhold.
She turned to the body of the second adept and recalled the feather on his hip. She just strengthened it with a little magic when it reached her hand, and it vibrated as it was new.
She charged the blow, using all the energy she had, and threw it to the head of the giant.
She did not realize she did a perfect throw with her left hand and even the pain of her wound weakened. She felt only relief when she saw she had hit the forehead of the giant.
A red stream came down, staining the severe traits of his face. Nothing else moved, only that liquid and viscous trail. Suddenly his body started to sway, the corruption receded, and the weapon disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
She held her breath until his body fell, shaking the ground. Air came in a second inside her lungs, and she tried to fill them eagerly. But shortly after her breath became irregular because of a growing euphoria; she could not believe she defeated a colossus like that.
She was a fragile girl and was at the same level as her heroes.
She remembered she was not alone and turned to Ahri, but she saw the adept that had attacked her before. He was still up.
She could not distinguish his figure; he looked like a black flicker with a blurred outline.
But his sword did not reach her; her partner attacked and pushed him on the ground with her body. He tried to fight back, but his forces suddenly succumbed, draining and leaving only his dead body.
She stood up and put a hand on her wound before she reached her; she was so happy to see Ahri alive that she almost did not felt the pain. She noticed some bruises on her, nothing too serious, but she remembered she had hit the altar with her body.
« Ahri, how... »
She could not end the sentence; hearing Ahri sobbing stopped her words. She feared that something terrible happened to her, that she used all of her energies for that last attack.
She crouched and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to make her turn. She was worried, she could not deny that. She absolutely had to be sure she was all right.
Ahri turned and moved her hand away from her face. Her eyes were filled with tears, and they began to line her dusty cheeks. It did not seem she was going to die, and she could not understand her reaction. What had started that soft cry?
« I have sworn I would have never done it again. I meant to keep my self-control but... but he was... he almost and... » Ahri babbled before she hid her face again.
She was confused. She seemed to regret killing that man, but before she had already eliminated another adept with no hesitation.
But her condition made her suffer, and she could not bear to see her wearing out in her pain alone. She grabbed her head and put it on her chest, hoping that mere gesture could console her.
Ahri did not move. She stayed there, sobbing under her grip.
« Please, can we destroy that gem and leave? » she whispered in the end.
She nodded, knowing that was the best thing to do.