STAGE TWENTY-SIX: A STEP FURTHERThe next town south was unlike what they expected. Empty, snow-covered houses. The weather cleared up a bit, but the further south they went, the lower the temperature dropped. Had it not been for Alaric"s spells, it would have been impossible to go on with their path.
"This is odd." Freyja said, looking around.
"There"s nothing odd about this." Kirin argued. "It would be odd if people still live in this kind of place."
"No, what I mean is that these houses don"t seem to be deserted for that long." Freyja explained, pointing to a nearby house with open doors, still with decent furniture inside, and half-eaten meals.
"Whatever, let"s go further or we"ll freeze to death if we stand here and do nothing."
As Kirin suggested, they headed further south and still no sign of life, only the cold getting harsher and harsher by the minute. Freyja, despite having her guardians" aura to warm her, still trembled and turned pale. It was that strong.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Keon uttered, and Kirin nodded. "Yeah, I noticed, we"re just going in circles."
Freyja fell on her knees. "Going in circles you say?" She mumbled, dejected. "This is bad. I can"t hold my aura much longer." Freyja, could already feel the recoil of using the white aura for hours. She wanted to take the pain-killer pill, but she endured, not wanting anyone to discover her secret. She forced herself to stand and walked further.
Just before they could proceed, a winged creature came rushing down from the skies, covered in thick layers of cloth and fur. They jumped back and prepared themselves for an attack. The mysterious creature had bluish grey skin, and stood at seven foot tall. Of course, they recognized what it was, a phrenian.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" They could see the surprise in the phrenian face. Freyja and her friends were the least it expected to find lurking around. The phrenian trembled a little, seeing Freyja"s angered eyes. But he squeezed the hilt of his sword so tight, encouraging himself to fight the unwanted visitors.
"Screw this!" Freyja cursed, forcing herself to gather aura. She"s worn out, but she knows her white aura is the only thing that can match up to phrenian aura. As she was about to summon Astrid, Kirin stopped her. "Rest as much as you can, I can handle this."
"But Kirin…"
He didn"t even let her argue. KIrin summoned his dark aura sword and charged at the phrenian. The phrenian summoned a long spear and defended himself quite skillfully against Kirin. Alaric took advantage of the snow-covered terrain and used a powerful freezing spell that rendered the phrenian immobile. Alaric tried to stab him with a spear made of ice, but his conjured spear shattered as soon as it touched the phrenian"s hard skin. "Now I know how sharp the celestial sword is! Kirin! Your turn!" Alaric jumped back and Kirin this time, attacked.
Although they were expecting that Kirin"s attack will fail, much to their surprise, his dark-aura sword pierced right through the phrenian"s abdomen.
"How did he!?" Freyja, Alaric and Keon chorused, knowing that only Freyja"s white aura can penetrate phrenian aura that easily. "Is it the dark aura? No, my dark aura couldn"t even do it." Keon, panicked the most. He has the same dark aura as his brother, yet Kirin"s aura is very different from his.
The phrenian shrieked, shriveled. But just as when they thought it"s over, the desperate phrenian crouched, gathered his remaining aura into his chest, and boom! He made himself explode, summoning an extremely strong hurricane that knocked everyone off.
"AAH!" Freyja shrieked, as she was hurled away by the force.
"FREYJA!" She heard Kirin"s voice. He ran after her, but even before he could grab her hand, he was also knocked to the opposite side by the hurricane.
"KIRIN!" Freyja shouted, and she felt a hand grab her. She thought it was Kirin, she held on tight. But as soon as the hurricane subsided, there was no single trace of Kirin nor Alaric around, only an unconscious Keon, tightly holding her hand.
"Keon! Keon! Are you alright!?" She shook him, but he didn"t wake up. His entire body was covered with scratches and bruises, all because he didn"t let go of her hand and took the hurricane"s force head on. Freyja looked around, once again, digging here and there to find Kirin and Alaric. But they weren"t there. She can"t even feel their aura anywhere near. And then, she remembered that there was some sort of illusion barrier that makes them go around in circles even before they encountered the phreinian. Looking at Keon, she flung his arm over her shoulder and carried him as she searched for shelter.
Freyja found an old shack amidst the snow. From the looks of it, it seemed to be one of those shelters that workers stay in, whenever they work in the nearby mine in the summer. Since its snowing heavily, she doesn"t really have much of a choice but intrude.
Freyja found a bed, a sofa, and tattered clothes and old tools inside the hut. It was plenty already, considering their current situation. She laid Keon on the bed and lit a small fire in the fireplace, just to warm them up for a bit. Keon was out cold, but his breathing and pulse is fine. Just to be sure, Freyja summoned her healing guardian Aria to close Keon"s wounds. Much to her relief, he didn"t have the same adverse reaction as Kirin.
"Argh." She fell onto her knees as soon as she finished healing Keon. "Lenfiare, please rest." Aria said, before disappearing. The mark on Freyja"s chest began to hurt. Sweat started rolling down her cheeks, amidst the raging snow outside. Her breaths short and her body trembled. But it"s nothing new nor unexpected. Freyja calmly reached for the medicine box in her bag.
Freyja took two pills when all of a sudden, Keon grabbed her wrist, s.n.a.t.c.hing the medicine box away from her hands. "What is this?"
"Oh, some painkillers. I just—"
"You can"t fool me. I know what these are. This is a very strong suppressant you can"t just buy anywhere." Keon"s gaze was piercing right through her secrets, she couldn"t look him in the eye.
"I feel bad, that"s all. But I"ll be fine." She desperately tried to convince him, but it was useless.
"I"ve killed hundreds of people, you know that." Keon shot her an all-knowing glare before grabbing her shoulders. "And I"ve seen how their auras look when they are about to die! Your aura is taking your life away, it"s killing you, I can see it!"
Freyja sighed, blaming herself for letting her guard down. She would normally mask it so perfectly, but she never thought he"d wake up this soon. Freyja is running out of excuses.
"Aneurin did mention about the Aethelmaer family being descendants of Celestials right? So, I guess you don"t need to ask why I could sense that aura killing you. You thought I was unconscious and dropped your guard, Freyja. You can"t hide it from me and you know that."
Keon was right. She was careless. "Do you think he noticed?" She asked, first thing. Keon sighed, not letting go of her. "I"m pretty sure he can sense it more or less, but I don"t think he knows as much as I do now." This relieved Freyja a bit.
"Why is the white aura sipping your life away? Answer me Freyja."
"Ever since the white aura has awakened in me, it has been consuming my life. For each second that I use this power, my lifespan shortens." She explained, finally looking straight at him. "But Keon, this is something that members of the Leafen clan who bears the crest had to endure. This is a natural trade-off for being able to use that kind of power."
Keon fell silent. It makes sense. The very reason why one must train their body to cage a stronger kind of aura, is exactly because of this. Stronger aura causes stronger strain in the body, he could only imagine what it"s like for Celestial aura.
"Please, don"t let them know about this. I am a Celestial, I got my celestial body back and we live far longer than humans. So aside from the occasional pain, I should be alright. You understand, don"t you, Keon?"
Keon sighed and gently, he took her in his arms. "I don"t understand. But, I trust you."
Freyja and Keon spent the night in that shack, waiting for the weather to calm down for a bit. Freyja and Keon had always been comfortable with one another, but for some reason, the night is making them feel awkward, and conscious. Nevertheless, Keon seized the opportunity to ask Freyja the things he"s always wondered about, the things she may not even be able to say to Kirin.
"Whenever you use aura, your life is the price, right? So, when you healed my wounds just now, you just lost moments from your life." He asked while lying on the sofa with a thick blanket over him.
"Granted, do you think a few seconds of my natural lifespan would be more important than possibly losing you?" She replied, from the bed.
Freyja was looking out at the window, watching the blizzard rage and rage. She sighed. Keon could completely tell what"s on her mind with just those sighs.
"Don"t worry, they"ll be alright. Alaric is one of the best runemasters and Kirin is a demon even the underworld would be scared to have." Keon a.s.sured her, keeping a straight face, "Anyway, we have to rest as much as we can. By the time the blizzard subsides, we"ll go outside to find them." Keon a.s.sured with a smile. Freyja smiled back and nodded.
Freyja made a simple soup for their dinner and Keon lit another fire to keep the room warm. Then, they went back to bed.
"Good night Keon…" Freyja yawned before falling asleep. Like a cat, she was all curled up under the thick blanket. Keon could even hear her lightly snore.
On the other hand, Keon"s eyes were wide open. He couldn"t sleep. "Freyja?" He called, but she didn"t answer. "I was just wondering," He mumbled his eyes fixed at the woven bracelet around his wrist, "what would it be like, if you met me before Kirin?" Memories of how they first met started flooding his mind. From that small cave in the woods, to when they met again in Hawsdark, to the Aethelmaer manor, up to the days he spent as a pirate desperately looking for her.
Keon didn"t know why, but he felt warm tears roll down his ice-cold cheeks. Before he knew it, he was already standing beside the bed, gazing at her. "Celestia…" Keon whispered, crawling up to the bed and above her, staring at her sleeping face, "It must be a wonderful place. I want to see it."
"Take me there someday, okay?" Gently, he touched her cold cheek with his hand.
Of course, he knew how deeply his brother meant to her. It was tolerable for the most part. But this time, it isn"t. Slowly, Keon leaned his face to hers, secretly seizing her lips with a kiss.
As he slowly stood up, the girl was still sleeping like a log, making him chuckle. But when he looked back, over his shoulder, he sensed a very familiar presence. "You were fast, Kirin. We were going to look for you tomorrow but it"s good that you are here already." He said, walking past him as if nothing happened.
"Just what the h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing?" Kirin glared daggers at his younger brother.
"Why? Don"t tell me you just found out? It"d be disappointing if that"s the case." Keon sarcastically replied, earning him a punch in the face, landing straight onto the floor.
"Kirin." Keon stood up and wiped the blood off his face, "Take care of her."
Keon"s reaction surprised Kirin. Usually, he"d go berserk and try to kill him, like what he usually did when they were younger. But in front of him is a person he didn"t know at all. It was a different Keon, and it took him by surprise.
"She needs rest. I don"t want to wake her up with useless fighting. So, let"s just quiet down and rest." Keon said, lying on the couch, and covering himself with a blanket. "Good night."
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