The Traveler: Mondstadt (Genshin Impact)

Chapter 20

There's a moment before death when you hear nothing but silence. The trees which used to rattle in the wind, the rushing stream, and even the chattering crickets all seem to disappear. You can't even hear the sound of the your heart beating wildly in yours chest despite it being so close.

That's what I felt right now, that silence. Nothing has happened yet, the three of us just stood there watching each other. The man before us wore white robes that matched his long silver hair. Even the wolf beside him had no problem matching the murderous intent in his eyes. We were going to die.

I looked down at the group of bodies he delivered to the base of the tree at Windrise. James slowly backed up towards me, his hand in front me protectively. No words were spoken but judging on his presence alone we can tell that we were no match for this guy and his scary looking spear.

His eyes hardened, "You two...what are your names?"

James spoke up for the both of us. For some reason I couldn't find my voice. Heck, I was finding it hard to breath. My legs were shaking every so subtly as I gripped onto James arm to keep me from falling.

"We'll tell you as soon as you tell us who you are first."

"You insole-No, I expect nothing more from things like you."

Things? He spoke of us with more hatred than my mom when I forgot to take out the meat from the freezer. What does he have against us when we haven't done anything him? And if anything he's the one that showed up here with a bunch of passed out bodies!

James gestured to my bag. I clutched it tighter in my hands. What was he trying to tell me? Not to loose it. When I looked at him clueless he gestured a little bit more aggressively. Yeah, pointing harder was not going to help me in any way.

"I suggest you two surrender so I can make your death quick."

DEATH! EXCUSE YOU! WHEN DID DEATH SUDDENLY COME INTO THE PICTURE!

"Irma, the map!"

Oh fuck the map! Why didn't he just say so! I reached into my bag to grab it so we could teleport but all of the sudden I felt something warm stain my cheeks. Red rain dripped down from the sky and burned at my clothes with its slippery warmth. Wh-what just happened?

James fell to the floor with a large golden stone peaking out of his chest where his heart should be. I dropped the bag, the map tightly in my hands. Hey...James, get up, this isn't funny. I dropped down next to him and moved his arm. Get the fuck up...

"Now I suggest you stay still or this is going to hurt."

Just then there was a tight warm feeling spreading across my chest. I don't really know what it was but it felt fiery and it felt in pain. I dropped the map to the floor and slowly stood up. This feeling...it was like an old friend.

- LUMINE - 

As soon as we finished speaking with Kaeya whatever trance that I'd been in finally wore off. I stood there with my hand outstretched mid-sentence. Windrise...Tell him that he can find them at Windrise. Those two, there was an unsettling feeling in my chest as their names came into mind.

That girl from earlier, could she have possibly known that they were there or...where the people she was referring to actually them? No, could this have been some sort of scheme plotted by the Knights of Favonius. Did they know I had met with them prior to this?

If that was true then that meant that maybe there was someone watching me this whole time. They probably wanted to keep tabs on my every move to make sure I didn't interfere with their plan. No, that wasn't it. Calvary Captain looked genuinely suspicious when I mentioned that girl earlier.