🦋M.o.m.m.y V.i.l.l.a.i.n.e.s.s🦋

Chapter 26

TO SAY that Tilly was shocked by what she heard would be an understatement. "No, I'm not," she said when she got her composure back. "My parents are both nobles from the Royal Faction. The royal family would have killed them a long time ago if one of them turned out to have Fire Mage blood in them."

"But I can't be wrong!" Flint insisted in a frustrated voice. "The marbles you picked up the day we met weren't ordinary marbles. Only people with Fire Mage blood in them wouldn't get burnt. I carry those marbles with me to use them as weapons. But I didn't expect that they would help me find another person like me and my brother."

She let out a sigh, still finding it hard to believe what Flint was saying. "Where did you get the marbles, Flint? I'm pretty sure there are spirit stones that function the same way your marbles do. They might just be weapons with spell."

"Our parents created the marbles themselves," the boy said. "When they were still alive, they would produce fire and put them inside marbles. According to them, we can use those marbles to protect ourselves."

"What happened to your parents?"

"We were attacked by bandits when we were travelling to another town last year. My mother just gave birth to my brother and they were both sick then. So my father decided to move to another town where the health center could be easily accessed. But the night we were about to cross the border, a group of bandits attacked us. They wanted to take my little brother because of his unique hair color," he said in a sad voice. "My parents were left with no choice but to burn the bandits to death. But because they overused their power to protect me and my brother, their hearts stopped beating." He became emotional. "Grandma found me and my brother by the road and brought us here. But I couldn't tell her the truth. I didn't even have evidence because the bandits' bodies turned into ashes. And my parents told me that it wouldn't do us good if other people find out that we are descendants of Fire Mages."

Her heart hurt for the boy. She could feel the pain and bitterness in his voice. But still, she couldn't easily give in. "If you know that it's dangerous for your identity to be revealed, then why are you spreading the news about the return of the Fire Mages?"

He scowled as if he just remembered a bitter memory. "I'm just fed up of hiding. I want a world for my brother where people like us could live without being afraid for the abilities that we have. The Fire Mages weren't the villain in the story."

"They weren't the villain?" she asked curiously. "Do you know the history between the royal family and the Fire Mages?"

Flint nodded before he spoke again. "The history books in the empire say that the Fire Mages betrayed the royal family because they wanted to take over the throne. But according to my mother and father, the Fire Mages were falsely accused. There were people who were interested in the power of the Supreme Fire Mage– the one who held the strongest heart of fire among her clan. And that heart could summon the beast that the royal family feared the most."

Her forehead knotted in confusion. "But who would do that to the Fire Mages?"

"My parents didn't know either," he said. "The only thing they were certain about was someone wanted to steal the heart of the Supreme Fire Mage. Anyone who had the heart could summon the sky beast."

""Sky beast?""

"The phoenix," Flint said. "The flaming red bird."

She didn't know why but her heart thumped against her chest loudly when she heard that.

[Phoenix… the flaming red bird…]

"You're a good storyteller, young boy."

Tilly gasped in surprise when she heard the deep male voice coming from her left side.