I felt a sudden warmth at the tip of my fingers, slowly travelling in my veins. And I heard voices. Little voices that sounded like a melody of an ancient song that was long forgotten through time.
Flee far, far away...
Away from the bearer of darkness that envelopes you...
Far away from the curse of this land...
Seek eternal refuge
Do not be devoured by the hand that seeks revenge...
Hell.
When I came to, I was in front of a massive tree. But it wasn't just any tree. It was the famed tree of life that all herbalists have heard of. Biyya. It was supposed to have the power to ressurect even a body that had turned into ashes to a healthy state.
"No way... This must be a dream." Azrael was not with me, and neither was the weird horse. Or did they leave me..?
"But this tree... Is it really true?" I reached out to touch the trunk, and felt a strange connection as if it was a part of me.
We finally meet, sister...
I blinked at the soft gentle voice emanating from the tree.
Sister? Hey. I'm not a tree, tho? I paused as I looked at it for a while.
Yes. Definitely, a dream.
You must feel it, as well. The connection between us...
"What are you talking about?" One thing I learned from living here, is to never ignore your dreams. It is as important as gathering intel. And intel is what I need the most.
Close your eyes and feel, sister...
Despite feeling reluctant, I closed my eyes, and instantly, my body felt lighter as if it was nonexistent.
"Hello, sister." A child, dressed in white garbs with lush green hair that was longer than her lithe body and eyes of the color of a newly sprouted leaf in spring, beamed at me.
"You're... The tree?" I asked, feeling silly.
She nodded. "I am the tree of life. Biyya." It was said in a childish manner while smiling at me with eyes full of wonder and adoration. I was reminded of a movie where a naive kid followed a kidnapper after being offered with sweets.
"Well... I am, Sierra. But... Why are you in my dream..?" I inquired, not even wanting to make sense of the situation, anymore. A talking tree, an evil horrible-looking grandpa... Nothing makes sense in this world.
"I wanted to talk to you. This is the first time I've met one of my sisters! And you shine so brightly it's hard not to notice you." She replied while looking at me dreamily.
"Umm..." I knelt down to level our gazes with a tepid smile. "What do you mean, we're sisters?..." She'd been saying that a lot, it's bothering me. I don't think I have a family here... And certainly, not a tree... Whose human form is a child..?
She covered her mouth as if in shock. "You don't know?"
I shook my head with a sheepish smile. Why do I feel like I'm the clown here? Is it normal to have a tree as a sister?
"You and I..." She took my hands in her tiny ones. "We're fragments of the late goddess, Patar."
"Ah..?" I was too speechless to say anything other than a syllable. I was open to whatever she was gonna say after witnessing a weird deer with human hands for legs, but her words were even more ridiculous!
She nodded at my incredulous reaction, still smiling.
Since she looked so sure of what she said, I tried to shove the information in my head before replying, "But... That can't be... I'm not even from... Here?"
She nodded yet again. "I know, sister. And now that you're here, everything might change for the better, at last."
"...What do you mean?" Does she know how I came here? It was only because of a silly wish. It wasn't for anything grand as she so seemingly assumes.
"Sister is the fragment of hope. That must be why you shine so brightly!"
What..? I am what now..?
"I-" I couldn't even finish my sentence, when the ground shook and Biyya looked around fearfully. Now, what is this earthquake? Aren't we in a dream?
"It seems we don't have much time, sister." She soon looked at me in the eyes with a tenacity I did not expect from her.
"I am sorry, sister. This is our first time seeing each other, but I must give you a warning-Ah!"
The ground shook again, this time, forming big cracks on the surface. I held on for support as I tried to steady both of us. "What is happening?" I asked.
"Someone is interfering with my magick... Sister, your companion... He has been corrupted by his past. You must not trust him. I sense a dark foreboding in your journey. Please, be well, sister... You must survive."
The ground cracked beneath my feet and I fell, looking into her worried green eyes.
Does she mean Azrael..?
That can't be, right...?
Sierra...
Miss Sierra...
My eyes opened and I came to Azrael calling my name. Azrael is corrupted..? I was reminded of what I read from the book Imaya gave me. A mark on the chest is the symbol of a connection with Hatan. Is that why he's hiding himself under that cloak?
"Miss Sierra? Are you alright?"
"Huh?" I blinked up into the darkness behind the hood. "I'm... Alright..."
"That is good news. It seems you have fainted from the sight of the creature's blood on your arm."
"Huh? It's dead?" I asked.
"Yes. It has been pierced by a stray branch while chasing us."
"Uh... Oh... I see... But what could it be..?" I asked, feeling goosebumps on my skin after recalling the creature's appearance.
"...An anomaly I, too, do not know."
The delayed response told me he might just actually know about it. He might even have already encountered a similar creature before, based on the lack of reaction, from the time we both saw it.
"I see..."
I think I'm gonna go crazy.
***
A/N: Is Azrael a bad guy?
A) He isn't. He's only hiding in a cloak, because he's ugly.
B) Yes. He's too mysterious to the point of being villainous.
C) Who cares? I just want to know what he looks like under all that cover.
