Vermilion

Chapter 15

That mortal was so lovely. She had pretty brown eyes that seemed to glimmer even when very scared. Her body writhed in his hold but rigid as she fought her tendency to faint. Especially her scent intoxicated and excited him as he continued to inhale her. That woman reminded him much of Equetaph.

But the fury fumed when she denied about the Book of Laws. It led to the burning of that place and all that was in it, including all other mortals. The flames that he had set on that place did not sate his frustrations and his raging emotions. He could not believe that when he thought that he was a hair away from his ring, the ring itself was nowhere.

The debris of the ring's presence inexplicably wafted throughout the fields until it reached him and it led him to that mortal.

It was so sad that he did another horrible thing. Why he could not stop himself when he was angry? Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Now, he was off to another wandering in search for his ring. But unlike before, Sorcrux was not with him anymore.

After their last encounter with Equetaph, Sorcrux decided to leave the mortal land. He just said he wished so and as a very understanding companion, he let him do as he pleased. Of course, he thought of asking why but somehow he did not dare to ask for he knew that Sorcrux had his own issues on the mortal world.

Going back to the memory of that mortal, how come she acquired the mark of Equetaph? Then he gave up thinking.

He started to miss the gold-haired and sour-faced companion. There would be no one to rectify his faults and hold him whenever his emotions were getting the best of him. There would be no one that he could tease. He remembered how he used to caress Sorcrux' face when they would stop and admire the land.

Another round of sighs. It became somehow dull when they were not around. His dear Sorcrux and beloved Equetaph. Another round of sighs.

As he rested on a branch, he spotted a huge box pulled by two beasts. Knowing that there was nothing left for him to see in this plains, he decided to hop on the top of the box. He landed silently. The thing was similar to where Equetaph emerged before when they first found him. It was a carriage. He peered over the front and found a mortal driving the beasts. It was just like the mortal he killed.

Lying on his back, he watched the dark night sky as he listened to the babble he heard from inside the carriage. He hardly understood their conversation but he was certain that they were talking about dull things. They were not yelling or laughing. It was sure dull.

The longer he stayed atop the carriage, the stronger the peculiar feeling grew. He did not realized its existence, the aura, at first but being near with it proved it to be there. He could not figure it out what was it but he thought it to be something in between.

Struck by curiosity, he crawled to the side, hung his head upside-down, and leaned his ear on the side of the window. His hair swayed with the wind as he strained to understand the conversation between the mortal and a peculiar presence. Both were placid. Dull. They were silent most of the time. But he was certain that the one bearing the female voice was the uncanny one.

I cannot stand this, he thought. Decisively, he moved his head to peer through the window but only allowed his one eye to look. He still had to move surreptitiously.

He could only have a view of one side where a woman with black hair sat and her eyes closed. Squinting, he confirmed that the uncanny presence was her. What was with that mortal? But she was not mere mortal if aura would be the basis of her entity. He just have to know what she is. What made her different from the mortals?