The Battle of Euangelion: Reborn

Chapter 23: An Unexpected Encounter

Alexis woke up as water droplets splashed her face. The feeling was reminiscent of her first moments on Euangelion, however, the sight she woke up to was not.

She was seated against a tree, coated in soot and wheezing from serious smoke inhalation. A few profuse coughs followed. The red sun was up and allowed her to look around and dissipate the fog that was clouding her mind.

I must have slept through the entire night, she thought.

A cloaked figure responsible for the splashing of water from the river startled her.

Angelo? No, he's too small.

"Who -," something ultimately prevented her from asking, so instead she opted for: "What happened?"

"You tell me," the stranger said as he approached and hunched down beside her. His hood was covering the upper half of his face.

"I remember Rufus stabbing Pravus. Teras wanting to take me back on Diabolus' orders. He lied to me -,"

"Did he now," the cloaked figure sounded almost amused.

Alexis tried to ignore his statement and looked at the river, "I was trying to get loose. Lucas and Phoebus were coming for me. There was fire, and I remember Aurelia screaming, and then... Nothing."

She directed her gaze back at him. "Do you know what happened to the others? Where are the Turpis?" She tried to get up but her leg was hurt pretty badly, forcing her to sit back down.

None of the trees around her had shown any sign of being burned. She could see one of the fort's watchtowers sticking out in the distance, but she couldn't detect any movement atop its walls. The Tenebris Sea was calm and there was nothing flying in the sky between them and Mount Timor. One thing was missing, however. For the past two days, her hearing had been polluted by incessant frequencies coming from Stridor's volcanic generators, and from the moment she had woken up, there was nothing.

"Am I dead?" Alexis deduced.

"No, you're not dead," the figure reassured her as he gently started wiping her forehead with a wet cloth. Her skin stung as the cloth touched it. She could feel a lump had formed across from her cut, and all of the stitches she received on Stridor were open.

"Was I dreaming?"

"No, you weren't dreaming either."

"Where are my friends?" Alexis said in a somewhat demanding tone.

"Who would that be exactly?" he pulled the cloth back and looked at her intently.

Alexis caught on to his tone, and she didn't appreciate it.

"Here, drink," he instructed as he handed her a waterskin after putting the cloth away.

"What's in it?"

"It's water."

"From the river? You'll poison me."

"It's not from the river."

"From where then? There's no other source around these parts," she had a hunch.

"It's from Sanctum," the stranger confirmed her suspicions. Alexis stared at the waterskin for a few moments before looking back at him.

"I don't want to feel what it's going to make me feel," she looked down in shame.

"I think you already are," he was referring to the tears that had begun to glaze her eyes. "The water doesn't produce it you know," the stranger added.

Alexis looked up at him with enquiring eyes, so he continued, "it only applies and amplifies the magic that has already filled your heart."

She was visibly surprised at this notion.