[364 PD]:

  ?I'm so sore! ?

  Shoku plopped down on his bed, drained. He had recently started helping his father at the mine. His job wasn’t outstanding since he was still a kid. He was tasked with cleaning the walls of the upper part of the mines.

  It was a long and tedious task, a type of mold called fuse-shrooms kept spreading every day. He couldn’t even slack off since these fungi were apparently prone to combust at the slightest spark, a real work hazard.

  The boy sank into his bed with a sigh. Even his bed couldn’t comfort him anymore. For the past few days, the mushroom under his sheets had started to go bad, making it uncomfortable and stinky. To be fair, it had almost been a year since he had it. It was a wonder that it lasted so long.

  The boy simply accepted his fate and let himself slowly descend into the mushy bed. He was too tired to be bothered by it. He slept on hard and rough straw mats for the first 12 years of his life. This was nothing in comparison.

  Just as he was about to enter slumberland, he heard a knock on his window. The heavy shutters of his window opened from the outside with a tired creaking sound. It was pretty eerie to see in the dark, but the boy only felt annoyed as cold wind blew into his room.

  A small figure slipped into his room. A very familiar figure with a bush for hair and an armor of dried dirt covering their pants. Shoku cringed when dirt fell on his floor at each step of the intruder.

  “Daria, I have a door.” groaned the boy.

  “I have more fun this way.” replied the wild girl as she stood at the edge of his bed.

  “Please leave, I’m pretty sure I made it clear that I don’t want to play with you late at night ever again.” said the boy.

  Daria rolled her eyes “The Biar’s thing was a long time ago.”

  “I almost BLEW UP.” insisted Shoku. “Why didn’t you tell me that Briar’s foolishness turned into bombs?”

  “But you didn’t blow up.” shrugged the black-haired girl.

  “But I might’ve.”

  “But you didn’t.”

  “But I mi-”

  “You didn’t.” finished the girl.

  Shoku just gave up. There was no point in arguing with her. He just had to accept that his life here would be full of near-death moments. Especially when hanging around her.

  “Anyway, I'm too tired today, please leave me alone. I'll play with you tomorrow.” mumbled the boy as he closed his eyes.

  “Well, I overheard King talking to Solane about escorting her past the forest on the east.” The girl looked around innocently. “Yeah...maybe it was tonight or something.”

  Before he knew it Shoku had his feet planted firmly on the ground, standing straight and ready. Tired? Exhausted? What were those words?

  He looked at Daria who had her usual ugly grimace of a smile.

  “Past the forest?” The boy started to think about it. “It’s the coast past it...and Solane often talks about how she wants to see the sea!” realized Shoku.

  “Yeah, and I saw both of them at the edge of the forest holding hands and kissing passionately.” teased the girl.

  “SHUT IT.” screamed the boy. He was turning red both from anger and embarrassment.

  “Relax, relax.” replied the girl with a smile. “Don’t you wanna see what’s happening between the two?”

  Shoku equipped his leather belt and strapped his wooden sword to his back in less than a minute. His heart was fueled by an explosive mix of jealousy and competitiveness.

  “Let’s go.” replied the boy.

  With one last snicker Daria jumped out the window, disappearing in the night as if swallowed. Shoku put a foot on the sill of the window and looked down. The savage girl was the only one using this as an entrance; he himself never did it. He took a long breath, steeled himself...and closed the shutters.

  He walked down the stairs as quietly as possible. At this hour his father was definitely knocked out, but the boy preferred being safe. He sneakily opened the entrance door and slipped out into the cold night where Daria was waiting for him with a blank face.

  “Lame.” she whispered.

  Both made their way through the dark streets of Bloux. If the day was already dark, then the night was a different beast entirely. At night the church of light would dim down its glow to make it easier for people to sleep. To make it worse the sky was nearly empty except for a few stars peppering the black curtain.

  In old tales it was said that the sun once cruised the skies during this time. But since atrocious Maeve stole it, the skies were left dark and empty.

  Good thing that this low level of light didn’t bother Shoku too much. Back in Ezoul, navigating in the dark was the most essential skill you needed to avoid falling into the mudhroom fields.

  The kids eventually arrived at the edge of the forest on the east side of the village. Shoku really hated this forest. This was where the Briar’s foolishness grew and were harvested. It would have been fine if it wasn’t for the fact that after the six months of warm seasons these fungi started rotting. The problem with the rotting process was that all the gases would build inside the mushroom, effectively making it a pressurized bomb.

  The only thing it needed was a little shock, and it would burst open, releasing its spores into a massive yellow cloud.

  Shoku shivered just thinking about the time his father had managed to buy lots of dwarf deer meat for cheap. The goatherd wasn’t paying attention, and the poor animal got a bit too greedy;

  The minced meat left of it was delicious and well-seasoned.

  Daria roughly patted him in the back. “Scared?”

  “I'm not.” hastily answered the boy.

  The boy stepped into the forest, the neon blue of the giant mushrooms’ underside helped see better. He made sure to look down to avoid walking on any big, white puff ball of immediate doom. Daria was following right beside him, holding his sleeve while smiling happily.

  “Where do we go now?” Asked the boy.

  “Dunno, straight I guess?” uttered the black-haired girl.

  Shoku sighed. Why was he expecting any useful information from her in the first place?

  But she was kind of right. If they kept going straight, they should normally reach the coast without much trouble. right?

  “I can’t wait to see the sea.” Hummed the girl.

  “Of course, that’s your only goal.”

  “You want me to be all jealous too?” The girl’s face scrunched into an exaggerated expression of sadness. “Ho no, King is taking my precious Solane away. But I want to marry her and have lots of kids with her in a big house in the Middle.”

  Shoku flushed red at her words as she flashed him an ugly teasing smile. He hated how easily she could get under his skin.

  “How would you even have kids with her anyway!”

  Daria shrugged “My daddy says that you can do anything once you set your mind to it.”

  Shoku gently pushed her with a smile. “What are you even talking about?”

  Both kids kept their silly banter as they walked deeper into the forest. It was the deepest Shoku had ever been. There were even less trees this deep, instead the great caps mushrooms were getting longer and wider. Their caps could easily shadow a small house.

  Shoku often felt small but now he felt microscopic. Sister Xenevia often talked about the other regions of the realm and how they were much more impressive than Utopia. He felt a sense of wonder at the idea of ever exploring them when he would get older. He could travel with Solane and maybe Daria, this way he could show off in front of them the day he kills a white Bear tiger.

  Lost in thought, Shoku didn’t notice the texture change underneath his feet and the dry cracking sounds at each of his steps.

  Daria pulled harder on his sleeve to stop him. He looked back at her, and she crouched down to pick up something small and pale.

  Looking closely, it was a bone fragment. And Judging from the size, it came from a small animal. Shoku looked at the ground around them; it was littered with similar small bones. They were sloppily discarded into small piles; some still had fur entangled in them.

  Just by looking at the state of the bones, the boy just knew that whatever had done this was no elegant hunter. The thing had chewed the bones to the marrow and licked their insides clean.

  “...I guess this isn’t too good.” whispered Daria in a tone so flat it would have made the boy smile if he wasn’t so tense.

  It was the first time he saw it with his own eyes, but he had heard of this back in Ezoul. The old ladies had warned him to never linger in the forest if he ever walked on a bed of bones instead of a bed of leaves. The only problem was that he couldn’t exactly remember what kind of beast made these.

  His memory wasn’t tested for long before a loud snarl echoed in the darkness. Shoku pulled his sword out just as a dark figure came tumbling from the top of a massive fungus.

  The thing crashed into the ground with a thud. Bones and dust flew everywhere as the creature trashed violently.

  Shoku looked at it with wide eyes: It was a bat for sure, but this one was just as big as a dog. It was covered in very dark brown fur except for a wild patch of pink on its head.

  Two long tusks poked out of its mouth, rising straight toward the sky.

  Looking at its fat body and the pathetic wings holding it up in a quadrupedal position, it would be a wonder if it could fly properly.

  “It’s a flying pig!” warned Shoku as he backed up with Daria.

  It was already too late. The two mad ambers of the beast locked on their form. With surprising speed for its size, it launched itself forward and leaped at them. Its wings were flailing wildly just to keep it in the air a little longer.

  Shoku raised his sword to block the charge. The impact sent him stumbling backward while the flying pig maw clamped on the wood of his sword. The beast wings gripped the boy's shoulders, pushing him to the ground.

  Shoku used all his strength to try to shove the beast off of him, but it was simply too relentless. It was chewing on his sword madly, letting foul-smelling drool fall onto the boy’s face. Shoku started panicking when his arms started trembling, and the sharp tusks of the beast slowly came closer to him.

  Fortunately, the attention of the beast was taken away from him when two pink orbs hit it in the head.

  “Hey! Ugly thingy, that’s my friend there.” Shouted Daria as the pink balls rolled back to her.

  The bat jumped off Shoku and launched itself at the girl who was taken aback by its burst of speed. She was unable to ready her magic in time before it had nearly closed the distance.

  Shoku pushed off the ground and rushed behind the beast.

  He jumped and managed to grab the underdeveloped feet of the creature just before it could completely leave the ground and leap. Its jaw snapped loudly right in front of Daria’s half horrified, half exited face.

  The beast pathetically fell to the ground like a sack of flour. This only infuriated it more, and it snapped its head back, managing to slip it right under its wing and catch the boy holding it off guard.

  Shoku pulled his arms as fast as possible but one of the beast’s tusks still grazed him. It ripped right through the sleeve of his right forearm and left a long but shallow wound on it.

  He flinched at the pain and quickly put distance between his body and the creature.

  The creature, now a ball of drooling hatred, trailed right after him with its maw wide open.

  Shoku thrusted his sword to try to keep it away. The beast was simply undeterred by the blows, pushing through them and biting in the void.

  Shoku was in full panic mode now: his thrusts became short and erratic, missing increasingly more.

  The panicking boy backed up right into the foot of a tall mushroom, cornering himself for the beast.

  ?It’s over! ? realized the boy as the flying pig nearly unhinged its jaw to rush at him.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Like this? He was going to die in the middle of a dark forest, mauled by an obese bat? This fat bastard wouldn’t even make it possible for others to find his body; he would get eaten whole and get mixed with the bones all around him.

  ?No, NO, No, NOT YET! ?

  The boy closed his eyes and screamed back at the beast. He charged with his sword held high, completely losing all signs of composure. Was it bold courage or just raw desperation? The answer didn’t matter now.

  Shoku lowered his sword with all his might only to hit the ground. He opened his eyes in horror, expecting to see the jaws of the flying pig right in his face, but there was nothing in front of him.

  He noticed a dark mass of movement on his right. Daria and the creature were grappling with each other on the ground; the girl had tackled the beast just before it could reach him. The two looked like two feral animals fighting each other. Daria was kicking and biting while the creature reciprocated with brutal wing blows.

  Eventually the drooling bats ended up on top of the girl and tried to lacerate her face with its tusks. The girl was quick enough to manifest a pink sphere right into the beast’s mouth, rendering it unable to close it.

  Shoku didn’t even feel himself moving, he just ran to the creature and jumped on it. His blood pumped loudly into his head, silencing all the other noises around him. In a fever, he put his sword under the beast's throat. He grabbed the handle tightly as well as the blade and started pulling toward him as hard as possible. The beast flailed under him as it felt its throat close.

  Shoku held on as long as possible, he could feel the wings slap his sides, but he wouldn’t let go. The beast started getting slower and weaker; its cries got quieter until it let out a last silent scream before going limp. It collapsed on the body of Daria, foam at its mouth and eyes bulging out in a frozen expression of fear.

  Shoku let himself fall on his back; he was looking at the stars in the sky with wide, haunted eyes. His dark orange eyes searched for any sign of the moon as if by reflex. Finding none, he stared at his shaking hands. They were full of dirt and small cuts, but he knew something more was on them.

  ?Why do I feel like that? I already killed Okeops before. ?

  Something he couldn’t describe was running through his body: His head felt light, he struggled to breath, and his legs felt extremely weak.

  Tears pricked at his eyes while he grabbed his chest to feel his wild beating heart.

  Next to him Daria kicked the corpse of the flying pig off her with a small groan. She sat up with a smile and started laughing loudly.

  “That was crazy! I was like pow and it was like rawr and then you went wham!”

  Shoku stood up on shaky legs “It’s because of you...” he quietly said. “.... We could have died.”

  Daria raised an eyebrow, still smiling “Why are you so dramatic? Nothing happened.”

  “Something could have happened!”

  “But nothing hap-”

  “NO!”

  He stomped closer to her and grabbed her by the collar, yanking her off the ground. The girl's eyes went wide at his sudden intensity.

  “We always end up hurt when you want to play. What if you just wanted to go out and lied about King and Solane to me?”

  Daria’s face froze for an instant; she looked utterly baffled.

  “Friends don’t lie to each other, Shoku!”

  “And what kind of friend gets the other hurt !?”

  “Do you think I want to hurt you on purpose? I just want to have a fun time with you.”

  “If having friends is dealing with people like you then I shouldn’t have made any!”

  Daria violently shoved him off her. “So, I’m the problem? Go on then! Go find your STUPID Solane since she’s the only girl in your tiny brain. You-”

  Slap

  Shoku wasn’t able to stop his hand from flying right at Daria’s face. Never before had he felt such anger, even his chest was on fire.

  ...

  The only sound in the forest was their combined heavy breathing. Daria’s head was facing away from Shoku, a red mark on her cheek. Her wild hair fell in front of her eyes, making it impossible to know her expression.

  Just as Shoku tried to push some words out of his mouth, she looked back at him. Her face was contorted into an uncanny smiling expression. He was used to her grimacing smile but whatever that was had his heart skip a bit. Her mouth was as if sliced open into a long sneer. Her eyebrows were frowning so hard they were twitching. And her eyes. Her eyes were squinted into two dark slits of malice.

  “Wait-”

  Daria’s fist came crashing right in the middle of Shoku’s face. The impact snapped his head back and made him stumble.

  The anger flared back stronger than ever in the boy’s heart. He immediately retaliated with a kick which landed on the side of her thigh.

  The girl grunted but didn’t waver. She held onto his leg and pulled on it. Shoku was now hopping on one foot, trying to find his balance. Daria spun to the left, and it was enough for the boy to lose his footing. He was thrown to the ground and rolled in the dirt.

  Now that there was enough distance between them, Daria manifested two pink orbs which were hovering above her hands.

  Shoku knew things were bad now. Daria’s magic doesn’t look too threatening on paper; She could summon up to two crystal balls at once. Said balls hover freely around her, but the further they get from her body the less control she has over them. From what he observed in the past, she can also change their size at will, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting their weight directly.

  Speaking of their weight, from what he heard of her, she has a combined weight limit she cannot go above. To explain it with her own terms: her balls weigh around 20 mudshrooms in total. Most of the time she would divide it into a 10-10 ratio between her two balls. But she was absolutely able to change the ratio to 19-1 or even put all 20 into a single ball.

  Were mudshrooms a good measuring unit? The answer was subjective since Daria seemed to have no problem understanding it. The only thing Shoku needed to understand was that the more mudshrooms there were, the more it would hurt.

  The boy jumped out of the way as the first crystal ball came hurling toward him. He lunged right for his sword and picked it up at the landing. He used it to swat away the second projectile of Daria.

  He charged right at the girl who was now defenseless; her balls couldn’t be summoned back in a blink. They first had to disintegrate before being ready to be cast again. This gave the boy a good 10 seconds before she could make new ones. He thrust his sword forward.

  What the boy didn’t expect was for the magic user to pull her arms back and charge back at him. It messed up his rough estimate of the distance, and his thrust went over her shoulder.

  She pressed herself right against him and before he could move away, he felt something hard hit his back.

  The girl had turned her balls back instead of recasting them, and now she had the boy sandwiched between her body and the orbs. She took the opportunity to bite down on his shoulder; her teeth sank right into his skin.

  Shoku screeched when the searing pain shot through his body. He plunged his hand into her greasy hair and yanked her off. Using his free hand, he thwacked her right side with the flat of his sword.

  Daria folded; the pain was finally too much for her to handle. Taking the chance, the boy dropped his sword and lunged at her. Both dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Daria was squirming hard under him, but he managed to pin her hands above her head.

  He felt the crystal orbs pelt him from behind, but he didn’t let go of her. He was no mudshroom connoisseur, yet he could tell there was nowhere near twenty in her assault.

  He answered her with a headbutt as she tried to bite his nose.

  “STOP IT!”

  A loud voice cut through the forest’s noises. Both Shoku and Daria turned to the source of it.

  Just a few meters away from them stood Solane in her usual green dress. Her face was one of horror as she gazed at the spectacle in front of her eyes. Behind her, the imposing figure of King looked down on them with something close to disappointment.

  “Guess I wasn’t so far of when I told you those were animal’s noises.” The voice of the big guy felt a bit too joyful for the current situation.

  “Wait...that’s not what it looks like.” Shoku tried to mutter some words, but he really didn’t know how he could make this look good.

  On the other hand, Daria got even more fired up by the two others’ arrival, and she sunk her nails into Shoku’s wrist making him let go of her. She used both of her legs to kick him off her. Shoku barely managed to stabilize on his two feet that she was already up with her two orbs back in her hands.

  ?Can’t you stop! ?

  Shoku rushed at her and she did the same thing. Before they could clash once again, a massive shadow forced itself between the two. Shoku eyes barely had the time to widen before a massive arm smashed into his head and sent him flying aside.

  Daria didn’t get it any better. A fist crushed her belly and folded her into two. She fell on her knees, holding her painful abdomen. It was so bad that even her dinner felt like having an encore and came rushing out of her stomach.

  Was he up or was he down? It was dark but was it the darkness of the forest or was it because his eyelids were close? Shoku was lost in his own body. His body wasn’t hurting anymore. He just had this ringing sound echoing into his head as if his brain had been rattled against his skull. He felt horrible and wanted it to stop.

  As the ringing got quieter, all the pain of his wounds crept back into him, making him feel even worse. Ok, maybe the ringing could stay a bit longer if it meant no pain. The edge of his vision got clearer, and he jolted awake.

  Or did he?

  He couldn’t really tell. He was pretty sure that his eyes were already open; his brain was just not connected.

  He could now make out voices as his senses came back to him.

  “Why would you do that!?” screamed the voice of Solane.

  “You told them to stop and they didn’t listen. I just made a stronger statement.” replied the giant brute in a low tone.

  “You killed them!”

  “That would be a gross exaggeration.”

  Solane walked in circles while rubbing her temples. The girl had no idea how all of that happened. Just a few minutes ago she was all happy in front of the dark sea and now she had to deal with this murder scene. One of her friends was completely unmoving while the other was gagging loudly.

  Wait was that the corpse of a fat bat in the middle?

  Just what happened here?

  Solane put her face into her hands and crouched down. She couldn’t handle the sight anymore. Why did things turn out like this? She felt the big hand of King on her shoulder which she simply swatted away.

  “Not now, I'm not in the mood anymore.” She said between gritted teeth. “I’m trying to think of a way to somehow patch these two up.” The girl looked at the two and the extent of their injuries. She didn’t have enough bandages at home to help them.

  She felt the hand of King on her again and snapped her head at him. “I SAID THAT...”

  She stopped as she saw him point up. She followed his finger and her eyes went wide. Right on top of a dark mushroom cap was a small and pale figure which stood out in the darkness. Two curious, yellow eyes peered down at the group of children.

  “Star!” Solane immediately stood up and wiped the tears that were threatening to fall out of her eyes.

  As if on cue, the rotund owl spread its beautiful wings with shining yellow undersides and took off into the night sky, flying back toward town at a relaxed pace.

  “If Star is here, it must mean that Sister Xenevia is still awake,” said the brunette with a hopeful smile. “She can heal them at the church of light!”

  “Was she spying on us?” muttered to himself King

  “Anyway, you take these two and we get them back into town.”

  “Why should I carry them?”

  Solane let out an exasperated sigh. “You take them. I don’t want to argue right now, ok?” The girl reciprocated his usual glare.

  “...” King shrugged and walked toward his victims. He hauled Daria over his shoulder. The girl was still squirming but couldn’t do much in his grip. He then easily lifted Shoku off the ground and put him under his arm. The boy was way lighter than he looked.

  Just as they were about to follow the glowing owl, Solane noticed the forgotten wooden sword on the ground and reluctantly picked it up.

  The walk back to Bloux was done in complete silence. Well, half of the group was completely out, and King wasn’t a very talkative guy to begin with. Solane walked with her eyes stuck to her feet. It was the first time she looked so down in years.

  King kept glancing at her but didn’t feel like talking to her as she was now; it wouldn’t make things better. Daria was weakly nibbling on his horns which wasn’t painful. But if it wasn’t for Solane he would have already chucked her into a tree.

  Eventually, the kids reached the dimly lit town. As they approached the church of light, they saw someone waiting on the stairs with the glowing owl in their laps. It was Sister Xenevia but she was wearing a simple white, nightgown which clung to her body. The light fabric revealed just how thin she truly was under her usual wide priestess robe. Her curves were simply nonexistent, and her waist was so small that the brunette felt like the woman would snap at the first strong winds.

  If she didn’t know how much of a glutton, the holy woman was, she would have thought that those were signs of malnutrition. The lightbringer noticed them and her eyes flashed green at once. She hurried down the stairs and stopped in front of King and the two bags he was carrying. Solane couldn’t exactly pinpoint the emotion on the woman’s face.

  “That’s why I hate kids.” she let out a shaky sigh.

  “I don’t know what happened between these two,” started Solane. “But I want you to help them.” The girl’s gaze slightly hardened as she looked down at the sword in her hand.

  “Get them to the back of the church,” groaned the thin woman.

  “Tsk” King walked up the stairs and entered the church.

  By now, Shoku’s head was pretty clear. He didn’t like being stuck under King’s armpit, but his body was hurting too much to complain. He and Daria were brought into the room at the end of the church. Shoku had never been there, and his expectations of anything amazing deflated at once.

  The room was like any other you could find in a house just a bit fancier. There was a soft looking fur bed on the far right of it. The sheets and blankets were lazily piled up on top of it. Hanging above the bed was one of holy robe of the Sister. This one had some dark stains on it.

  Parallel to the bed, on the left, there were two huge closets made of pale wood. Both had lots of drawers at their base which were overflowing with pearl collars, discarded clothes and all kinds of books. One of the drawers was even full of pieces of cloth; glowing feathers could be seen mixed in it.

  Some prayer books were discarded into a dark corner of the room. They were covered in dust and even had spiderwebs going across them.

  At the end of the room, in the middle of the wall was a spiraling staircase. It was probably how the lightbringer reached the crystal atop the church to recharge it in light and control its intensity.

  King threw the two pests he had been carrying for far too long on a table next to the door.

  Shoku sat up on the table and rubbed his head, which started hurting again.

  ?Why can’t this guy be cool for once? ? thought the boy.

  Next to him, Daria’s head was bobbing up and down while she was still drooling. The gut punch had made her lose both her dinner and her soul.

  The elongated figure of Xenevia joined them; she was one of the few who towered above King. She slipped past him to open one of the closets. She rummaged through it, throwing stuff on the ground no matter how important it looked. She then pulled out a roll of light green strips and other types of ominous vials.

  “You can go now, I can take care of these two,” said the woman as she approached the table.

  King didn’t move “How did your bird find us?”

  Xenevia rolled her eyes. “I have access to the highest point of this town. Of course, I can see the crawling figures of children going where they shouldn’t be.” She pointed to the owl perched on her shoulder. “So, I sent my boy to observe what kind of idiocy you were doing.”

  “Fair enough." Grumbled King. He gave the woman one last look before leaving the room and closing the door.

  Sister Xenevia turned to the half corpses decorating her table. She crossed her arms in front of her, looking pissed.

  "Ok, what in Maeve's name is this?"

  Shoku looked away in shame. While Daria kept her head down.

  The holy woman groaned and opened her palms. A soft light shone from them and enveloped the kids. Shoku felt a comforting and nurturing feeling swell into his chest. All traces of anger left in his mind were swept away. The wounds he had didn't heal in an instant nor close, but the pain became much more bearable.

  He was hurt and yet his body felt lighter than ever. He looked up at the Sister who had a smirk on her face.

  "Impressive huh, The light of the New Hope?" She rubbed her nose, looking very pleased "it's just like drugs, it doesn't change anything but makes you feel better."

  ?Why does this woman loves ruining good moments? ?

  "I'm so hungry," mumbled Daria next to him. Her face had softened back to its usual expression. Although she still had saliva smeared all over her cheeks.

  "Now both of you damned brats stop moving."

  Sister Xenevia was surprisingly gentle as she treated their wounds. Her touch was light, almost fleeting when she applied cream on the many cuts marring their bodies. The only moment Shoku winced was when she smeared the big bump left by King on his head.

  As always Shoku hated the wrapping up part. The bandages were slimy, stinky, and simply disgusting against his skin.

  The boy looked down as the Sister finished the bandage on his forearm. The wrapping was cleanly done while still loose enough for him to move normally.

  "You are very good at this, Sister Xenevia." He whispered.

  "All lightbringers are trained in Kirgivar where we get the best education possible. Medical knowledge is the bare minimum." Replied the woman. “Also, just call me Xenevia. The Sister is tiring to hear all day long.”

  Xenevia stepped back to look at both of them. The two green spots on her face kept going from one to the other.

  “What happened? You two are usually always together, ready to pester me.”

  “We fought...” Shamefully mumbled Shoku.

  “Yeah, I can see that.” said the holy woman. “Who won?”

  Both looked at her with wide eyes. Did they hear her right?

  The woman kept her unbothered expression as if nothing had happened.

  “Come on, who came out on top?” she insisted

  “No one. The big ugly guy hit us before we could end it.” said Daria.

  The lightbringer smirked “Then how about you settle that now?”

  “What?” asked the boy incredulously.

  “Yeah, behind the church.” continued the woman. “Fight with no rules, the first one who gets knocked out loses.”

  The children had a hard time believing what they were hearing. The supposedly holy woman wanted to host some kind of children fight club behind the most sacred building in town. They knew she was unique, but this was something new.

  Both shouted back at her: “I don’t want to knock out my friend!”

  The boy and the girl stared at each other in silence.

  “How cute, you don’t want to harm each other. Then why did you start fighting?”

  Shoku started: “I’m used to getting hurt when I play with Daria. It's just how it goes.” His hands trembled. “But this time I really thought we were about to die. I thought we would never be able to play together again.”

  “...After all of that, she was only laughing as if it was nothing.”

  Daria stayed silent for a long moment, fighting with her own thoughts.

  “I am not trying to hurt you on purpose when we play. It's just that sometimes, I get exited even when I'm scared. People find it weird.” The girl used both of her hands to hold onto Shoku’s sleeves and softly pulled on them.

  The boy could see the corners of her mouth twitch upward, and yet she had the same stressed-out eyes as him. He put a hand over hers and slowly smiled at her.

  “Can you leave now? I need to be well rested for tomorrow’s preaching.” Xenevia was already entering her bed while her owl had nestled into a drawer.

  Shoku and Daria smiled at each other and hurried out of the room.

  “By Sallith, Close the door!”

  Both laughed and skipped out of the church. There, in front of the stairs, were Solane and King. The brunette was exhausted; she could barely keep her eyes open and was even slightly leaning on King which was a straight as a pole.

  Perhaps it was the lingering effect of Xenevia’s light, but Shoku didn’t completely lose it at the sight.

  He approached them with hesitant steps. How could he justify their fight and the reason they were in the forest in the first place?

  Solane forced a meek smile on her face when she saw them.

  “Look like you two are doing well now.”

  “All fine” grinned Daria.

  Shoku noticed the wooden sword in Solane’s arms and felt relieved. For a moment he thought it was lost in the forest. He tried to reach for it, but the brunette pulled it away from him.

  “Shoku, I don’t think that I want to give it back to you,”

  “Huh?”

  “You used it to hurt Daria, didn’t you?” asked the brunette.

  Shoku recoiled at her words. He wasn’t thinking clearly back in the woods. He thrust and swung at Daria out of anger, unable to control himself.

  “I am not trying to be your mother or anything. But you told me this sword was given to you by people you loved. Yet you used it to hurt someone you love.” calmly explained Solane.

  “Because of that, I don’t really feel like handing it back to you.”

  ...

  “You’re right,” Shoku couldn’t hold her gaze. “I am tainting my gift’s purpose.”

  “Wait!” interrupted Daria. “I also hurt him with my magic. I need to be punished too.”

  Solane softly chuckled. “I can’t really take your magic away. And even if I make you promise that you’ll stop using it as much, you’ll keep using it behind my back.”

  “True.”

  Shoku looked at Solane with determined eyes. He was done being a burden for others all around him.

  “You can keep it until I find a better use for it.”

  Solane nodded “I will.”

  On these last words Solane walked back toward the bakery while carefully carrying the wooden sword. King obviously left the moment Solane was gone, going back toward his house atop the hills.

  Daria and Shoku were left alone again.

  The dark-haired girl wrapped an arm around the boy’s shoulders while smiling.

  “Don’t worry, Sho, I'll be the one protecting you now, just stay behind me.”

  Shoku chuckled and shook his head. A magical bodyguard wasn’t that bad to have.

  “I’ll be in your care, ma’am Daria.”