25 Debt of Gratitude (2/2)
Something burned within her chest, and her scalp felt like it was being baptized in flames. The crimson strand that had been cut short blazed and grew to match the length of the rest of her hair; it's color matching the tint on Yun Da Xia's vision. It felt like something had come undone.
The beasts waited with bated breaths as blood gushed into the mouth of their young heir. No one cared about the person whose life was being used in exchange for the life of their own. In any case, it was justified. A life for a life was fair enough.
”Mother! Father!” The silver eyed wolf let out a cry; elation shining through the moonstone orbs. She closed the distance between herself and her brother in a few bounds; scanning his body with desperation. She knew what she had seen. Her heart leaped to her throat as she watched his paw twitch again; the first time was not an illusion in her frenzied mind.
For days, the bundle in the clearing had been unmoving. His heartbeat was practically nonexistent; only an incredibly faint pulse every so often assured them that he was still alive. Those silver eyes turned glassy; the sight incredibly shocking to the beasts that had surrounded the vicinity.
”He moved! He moved!” Her voice choked up. She didn't care if it had been such a minuscule movement–to her all it meant that her brother was getting better. She looked towards the human that was barely conscious and bleeding. More. Her brother needed more of that human's blood and then he would be okay.
”Little Yan! Stay back!” A scream interrupted her thoughts. The wolf turned to see her mother racing towards her; taking her by the scruff and away from the bundle on the ground. Shouts could be heard as the area descended into chaos. Her keen silver eyes could see the faces of alarm on everyone else's face, and she tried to see what they were all staring at.
She didn't have to look.
The roar of thunder shook the ground they stood upon. A dark veil came across the blue sky, plunging them into darkness. Clouds churned and rumbled overhead the bundle in the clearing and the tiny human. Shots of lightning burst forth and scorched the ground around the two. Little Yan blinked her eyes, wondering if she was seeing things right.
She had seen lightning tribulations before; had watched other beings go through them. This was not that. The lightning refused to hit the two figures on the center, and instead of blue, the bolts were alarmingly blood red.
She held her breath.
Without explanation, as quickly as it had come, it had gone. Their surroundings had returned to what it once was. If not for the charred grass in the clearing and the expressions on everyone's faces, perhaps she could have believed that it had merely been a figment of her imagination.
Her heart was unsettled.