Thanatos's Curse

Eight: History

The two siblings followed Caine and Audrina. They walked west of Anwei, until they came upon a large clearing filled with tents. A campfire lay in the middle of the site, with fellow warriors sitting around chatting and organizing their things.

As Kaida looked to her right, she saw the remaining survivors of the village. Her eyes lit up with surprise, her mouth agape. Both of them thought that they escaped to the other villages, but instead they were rescued by Caine's army. She couldn't have been happy enough, to see her own people alive.

"We'll leave you two be. Recuperate with your people. Tomorrow we will start investigation, so be sure to prepare yourselves." Caine articulated precisely. With that, his warriors dispersed to their tents and around the fire. Caine and Audrina walked to the biggest tent, to prepare and modify the plans for the mission.

Yukio nudged her with his elbow. "I see Aunt Li."

Her head turned towards him, eyes narrowing. "But I-" She spoke quieter. "I thought she had died." Hadn't she? The last time Kaida saw her, she was sitting idly on the doorsteps, drinking tea, doing nothing. How could she possibly be alive?

The villagers gazed at the two siblings with the same expression. A man in tattered clothes stood from the rest, and approached them.

"Yukio and Kaida." His eyes held grievance. He bowed slightly. "I'm terribly sorry about your family."

They bowed back, to pay respect to him, and to the rest of the villagers. But before they could speak, another man walked up with stomping feet, his face red and his fists clenched. He stood right in front of Kaida, pushing the other man away. She immediately recognized him as their oldest uncle, from Father's side. It was Uncle Kang. Of course, she and Yukio were never close to him, because Father never was. But here he was, peering at her with eyes as piercing as a snake's.

"Kaida Liu, daughter of Yun Liu and Shiori Yomohiro. You are a disgrace. You have done nothing but shamed your family, running away in the middle of the night, bringing this terror into the village. You are the reason why we are here, in this foreigner's camp!  You've caused nothing but sorrow, trouble, and anguish among your own people. You are lucky enough that we welcome you here as their daughter." He lashed out, raising his voice. "You dishonor us. You shame us. You deserve to be disowned from our family name." He scolded, his wrinkled face so close to her's he spat on her face with every criticizing word. "No wonder your father cared more for his son, than his lousy daughter."

She gulped, her eyes so wide she thought they'd pop out any second. His shouting voice shook her to the bone, and she felt numb. A sick, twisted feeling burst in the pit of her stomach, and only made its way to the rest of her body. She lowered her head, looking at his feet instead of looking into his angry eyes. She could feel the piercing gaze of everyone around her, stabbing at her. She wanted to disappear so desperately, she'd even let a demon chop her head off right then and there. But she dare not let a tear fall from her already wet eyes. No, she would have a little dignity left, despite being already stripped of it from his words.

An awkward pause fell in the air, even from the other soldiers around the campfire. Yukio stepped in front of Kaida, facing their uncle. "Leave her alone." He spoke, breaking the still silence.

Aunt Li walked towards them, taking both of their hands. "Follow me." 

She led them to a small clearing, away from the campsite so that they could talk in private. Suddenly, she walked in the middle and planted herself to the ground. Stomping her left foot, she lifted her arms until a block of stone rose from the ground. She did the same to the other side. Then she stood upright again, turning her head to them. "Sit right here and make yourselves comfortable. Please."