Chapter 273 Sanctuary I (1/2)

CHAPTER 273

SANCTUARY (I)

A drifting landscape stretched beneath the clustered sky, gaps between thick and tall trees filled with shrubbery and dead, fallen branches. There was no clearly visible path in-between, just sunken in portions having been walked over by a myriad of local critters. The forest itself rested within a valley cut running in-between two mountains, shaded over with decrepit, long rock protrusions coming from the mountains' sides, forming a maw-like shape and acting like an artificial roof.

Deep inside the forest, lunged around a faintly burning fire and one of the few clearings were roughly sixty people altogether, scattered within the trees and earth, each finding their own bits of paradise to lie on and sleep.

At the center, surrounding the fire itself, Evelyn felt the talisman inside her hand burn out and turn to ashes, causing her to sigh and glance sideways. A familiar yet eerily stranger's face welcomed her, entirely expressionless. The four more that sat around the flames said nothing, merely staring at the blaze in silence.

”... he said he'll be--”

”I heard what he said,” Althone interrupted Evelyn with a harsh tone. ”I am sitting right here.”

”... I didn't have a choice...” Evelyn mumbled weakly.

”You decided to trust a madman who murdered your Grandfather over me, your own Father.” Althone said. ”You had a choice, Evelyn. And you made it, loud and clear.”

”--do you hear yourself?!” Evelyn, seemingly tired of the arguing, exclaimed softly. ”You would rather condemn us all to death than have him help us?!”

”How can he help us?!!” Althone screamed out. ”So what if he's stronger than us?!! Majority of the fucking world is! You saw what I saw Evelyn -- entire cities... gone. Just like that. Within a single speck of light, entire cities vanishing in flames! We ran, aye, but at least we could have met our end half-decently. Instead, you chose to kiss behind of a man who murdered your own blood! How am I going to face my Ancestors?! How am I going to face my own Father, huh?!”

”... if he said he can help, it means he can help.” Evelyn calmed down, slowly making her way over to him and hugging him gently. ”Don't give up hope just yet.”

”...”

It wasn't easy for her to reach out; after all, it hadn't been all that long since she'd last seen him in the night and swore if she ever could she would kill him. She still felt the same, despite everything she told him; it wasn't even the act of murder that bothered her as much, it was the not-knowing -- the why. She had gone through every one of her interactions with the strange beggar who caused her headaches for months, and lest her judgment had completely been compromised by him somehow, she was certain he wasn't a murderer.

Reaching out to him for help took far more than she believed, yet, the moment she'd seen his face, something changed. He hadn't looked all that different than she last saw him, but his eyes... his smile... she'd realized they lacked that eternal playfulness he carried around like a badge of honor. She'd saw genuine ache and pain in them, the listlessness she was all too familiar with; it's an expression of someone who has many questions... but no answers.

Yet, even so, he didn't hesitate to help her. When he'd handed her that talisman, she had planned on keeping it safe until she was confident enough in at the very least wounding him. Even today, when she took it out, she had to battle a thousand demons in order to light it up. And, even now, she still had to use all her strength to keep her emotions in check.

”... from what I recall,” an elderly man sitting across from Evelyn suddenly chimed in, drawing all attention onto himself. ”Kvalend Tribe is stationed eastward, but not too deep in the Battlefield. If we hurry, it should take us less than a day to get there on foot.”

”The problem is the landscape following this valley,” Althone said. ”It's entirely open and exposed, just a huge stretch of desert as far as the eye can see. If they so much as glance in this direction, they'll spot us.”

”... then we just have to bet on the fact that they won't.” Evelyn said. ”It's not like there's much else we can do.”

”...”

It was the rest spent in somber silence, atmosphere waning away at the sanity. Yet, they could do little other than just move and hope for the best; they'd made it out of the city, out of the Empire, not because they were clever or strong, but because innumerable soldiers sacrificed themselves. If they'd given up now, it would mean all their sacrifices were in vain.