The Mark of Aether

The Silverstorms Mountains~Part II

That same presence hovered on my sensitivity, playing on my nerves. It kept flickering, moving around us in circles. We continued walking, pretending to hear or feel nothing, yet I could see the knife in Carter's hand.

The presence became dangerously close, and on the surge of the moment, a shadow passed by us. Carter's weapon flew from his hand, cut through the air, and then hit its aim.

I followed the trail where the knife had swooshed before my eyes landed on an infantine face. The blade had pierced through the soft materiel of her dress; the pale white dirtied and marked with mud and gunk.

The girl merely looked older than seven years, with long, brown hair reaching past her waist, rich, silver eyes, and really tiny antlers growing on the sides of her head. Her body was covered with greenish runes that extended from her nape to her toes.

Carter gently approached her, but she shrieked in fear, her eyes misted by unshed tears.

Her runes glowed, and her body disappeared along her magical presence for a split second before she reappeared, looking petrified.

She was still too young and too weak to summon magic.

The Arelesian lord gingerly made his way towards the tree the girl was pinned against and removed the knife. The little hamadryad tried running away but he gingerly grabbed her wrists before she could evade.

Tears tainted her face while her aura ardently shook, showing to my eyes waves of plangent pain. Carter brought his hand to her face and gently brushed her streaming tears.

I silently made my way towards them and knelt in front of the child. Her eyes met mine and I saw pain and grief veiling her irises, feelings hiding behind her unspoken words.

"It is alright, you're safe,'' said Carter so soothingly, making the poor girl look at him. ''What's your name?''

The child just stared at him, her slightly parted lips releasing no single sound. Her aura tried reaching his but she didn't succeed. Carter repeated his question again, but she didn't answer, instead she pointed a shaky finger at the leaves of the tree we were kneeling under.

This girl did not want not to talk, she simply couldn't.

I allowed my own soul to reach hers and she looked up at me in surprise when my magic interlaced with hers.

"Green Leaf? That's your name?''

She nodded; mild reluctance palpable on her soft face. I smiled at her and gently seized her tiny hands.

"I am Celestia," I said as I grabbed her waist pulling her up. She didn't protest, instead she wrapped her small arms around me. Her breathing slightly calmed, her tears stopped falling.

"Where are your parents?''

She looked at me for long before her magic merged with mine, her voice a soft sonorous for my hearing, yet it was filled with a raging pain.

'Mader and pader have left with all the others. The shadows destroyed everything.'

"The black queen's shadows?'' I asked, stupefied.

She lowered her gaze to the ground as her memories oozed into my mind.

I saw their small village getting assaulted by the umbra warriors, people getting abducted and some others killed. Fire roared, enveloping everything in a scarlet veil of flickering flames. The blaze devoured everything with famish, cherishing the poor and innocent souls. They spared no infant or old; all the citizens' souls were harvested by the blind hand of death.