In a World without God

Chapter 4

In truth, Edulis realized he was being followed, but he didn't think much of it. When Edulis kills a monster, there are often smaller ones that follow to tear apart the carcass. But a human, and a little one at that?

The girl who identified herself as Murjana was shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes were fluttering uneasily and there were tears in the corners of her eyes.

"If you're so scared, run away."

Murjana was small in stature and slender in limb. The curved sword in her hand seemed large and heavy for her size, but despite this, her grip on it was firm. She must be training quite hard, Edulis thought.

The child had pale ivory hair, the color of the sands of the west coast. It fell to just below her shoulders, roughly cut and of varying lengths. Such hair color, like Edulis' silver hair, is uncommon in Kaldura. It is a color found only among the nomadic peoples of the coniferous forests of northern Sijia.

"That sword. And the hair color. This kid is..."

It didn't take long for Edulis to realize who it was. And then he remembered who he was, and his irritation rose. How could even that child know that Ygraine was a witch?

It was ridiculous to be angry at a child like that, but Edulis was not one to easily overlook such things. Edulis looked at Murjana with a sour expression and decided to tease her a bit.

Edulis cleared her throat, wrapped himself in a threatening aura, and glared at Murjana.

"Conspiring, am I? Maybe I'm up to something very nefarious? A terrible plot that will engulf not only Kaldura but the entire continent!"

Murjana looked cowardly. Edulis thought she would curl up in a ball on the floor and sob if he threatened her. Bosha had changed a lot in her time with Ygrainne, but he still had a nasty temper that would occasionally flare up. But then. Murjana didn't have the reaction Edulis was expecting.

She swallowed hard at Edulis's threat, and then her body stopped shaking, and a blue aura enveloped her. Her magic was impure and unsteady in its flow, but it was as blue and powerful as a waterfall.

With that, Murjana raised her sword and took a step forward toward Edulis, her determined eyes staring straight into his. Murjana shouted.

"Then I, for one, will face you here."

Her voice no longer trembled but was now resolute.

Edulis asked, puzzled by Murjana 's transformation. "Don't you see the crocodiles down here? I don't think you could take down a single one, judging by your magic, and yet you want to fight me?"

"Yes."

"If I say I won't chase you even if you run away, would you?"

"I won't run away."

"Hmm... why?"

"Because I am a descendant of Vala Ishtar, the hero who broke through Cyros."

So it was. Vala was an orphan abandoned in the coniferous forests of the north, with pale ivory hair like this child's. It was easy to see that the ivory-haired child with the black-fanged sword was a descendant of Valar. Unlike Valar, who looked like a mountain beast, Murjana had a round, cute face. But he was no hero who broke through Cyros...

"As the heir of Vala's blood, I cannot turn my back on an enemy of ten thousand people. Come on!"

Edulis had a strange feeling. Being a descendant of Valar gave this small child a great deal of pride. But who was Valar? When Bosha had decided to go straight through the Cyro's territory, Vala had been there, grumbling softly beside him.