What It Means To Be Different

KENSHIN wakes up, startled by the sound of heavy footsteps heading towards the village. Because of his heightened hearing, he can sense that about twenty to thirty intruders are walking swiftly amidst the freezing weather in the middle of the night. And there is no way that they are just passing travelers. Kenshin threw away his blanket, jumps out of his bed, and went into Khalil's bedroom to wake him up. However, his grandson is already wide awake as he stares outside of his bedroom window. He looks at him with a frightened expression on his face. He might be a half-breed, but he is already manifesting the necessary abilities like him.

"Who are they?" Khalil asks breathlessly, his hands shake as he tries to cover his body with his blanket.

Kenshin looks out in the direction where Khalil is looking. The night seems frighteningly ominous; his heart thumps loudly against his chest. He's even afraid that Khalil might hear it. "I don't know, but I have to get you out of here to keep you safe."

Khalil starts nibbling his finger in panic. "When will brother go home? How about Selene?"

They won't be home until after two days, and Kenshin can't help but feel relieved that Kaden is not around at this time. He is still unsure whether they are the regular bounty hunters who hunt them for money or if they were soldiers sent by the Empire. Since his son's death, Kenshin had sworn to protect Kaden with his life, just like what his son did. His son died as the proud knight of the kingdom, and he couldn't be happier. They may always be on the run, but he is honored to protect the last surviving royal lineage and history of their kind.

Kenshin took out his grandson's coat and boots from the dresser and the previously prepared pack filled with other necessities. He gives it to Khalil and calmly helps him wear it. "Uncle Harrison will pick you up and bring you to a safe place along with the other kids. Do not forget to take your medicine. And always stay healthy."

Tears start to sting Khalil's eyes, and he's trying his best not to cry in front of him. "Are you going to leave me too, as father did?"

Kenshin's heart squeezed in torment. He doesn't want to leave his grandson alone like this, but his heart and conscience can't reassure him with an empty promise too. He is not confident whether he will survive the night. Khalil instantly understood his silence, and he hugged him tightly.

"Please tell me you're going back. I will wait for you, no matter what! Promise me!"

Kenshin gently rubs his back as he starts to cry in his arms freely, and he can't help the tears running down his face. All he wished for this child is to live a long and happy life. However, he is terrified that he will be left all alone to fend for himself with how things are. This world is just too cruel for them.

A short knock on the door shatters the stillness of the night. He immediately grabs Khalil's hand and led him to the entrance. He slightly opens the door and sees Harris' glowing golden eyes reflected against the dark. He widely opens the door, and Harris' giant built barely fit the frame as he went inside the house.

"Has everyone starts to evacuate?" Kenshin asked in a hushed voice. "They will be here in an hour."

Harris nodded, his body coiled in tension. "Yes, we will be taking them to that place as you instructed. The others have decided to stay, and they're getting rid of everything that could identify us."

"Good work. Please, take care of my grandson."

Harris replied grimly. "Yes, I promise that I will protect him with my life. But what will you do now?"

"I will stay here with the others to protect the village. It would be too suspicious if everyone will just suddenly vanish without a trace. They will surely scour the forest if we do that."

Kenshin turns towards his grandson with a pleading look on his face. "Uncle Harris will take care of you. Come with him."

Khalil swallowed the sobs that almost escape his lips. He bit his lip hard that he tasted blood. Khalil nodded and silently grabbed Uncle Harris' hand. Kenshin watches as his grandson walks out of the house for the first time in his life. However, it is not to see and discover the world outside but to run for his life

Kenshin quietly waited, and in just matter of less than an hour, he can almost see the smoke coming from the torches as the intruders get nearer to the village entrance. Despite traversing the deep trodden snow, the footsteps get louder like a reverberating drumbeat, and their glowing lights alight the muted night. Before he knows it, blazing arrows flew towards the sky and burned the village to the ground.

SELENE looks over to the silver basin in front of her. After her conversation with Lucia, they went into her private quarters to fulfill one of her requests. She focuses her gaze on the bluish liquid inside the silver basin that's been fizzling for some time; she thought that it would spill over. While Lucia remains quiet at her side with her eyes shut, mumbling something she couldn't quite understand. The moment she stops praying, the water bubbles disappear, revealing an image of Kaden along with his cousin, the Imperial Prince Nicolai riding a winged beast.

Lucia looks at her with an amused expression. "I don't think he is in any danger. Though it looks like they're heading back towards the Wheepingthorne village."

"Just why—" Selene froze in her spot when she realized something. Her heart starts to beat erratically, and cold fear slowly creeps inside her system. "I think I need to go. His family must be in danger right now."

"I can open up the nearest trod for you. It will take you to the Fairling Waterfalls. Though it will still take some time before you reach the village."

If it's Fairling Waterfalls, it must be the one where she took a rest with Kaden. From there, she just has to cross the mountain. To pass the mountain, Selene just needs someone who can—she stops short when Zeno's face came into view, and Selene puffs out a sigh of relief. "I know someone who can help me cross over the Andes Mountains."

Selene bows deeply in front of Lucia, her heart overflowing with gratitude. "Thank you for helping me. I haven't yet repaid your kindness, but I will think of something to do for you."

The High Priestess of Felora, one of the most powerful women in the Kingdom, looks like a child as she smiles at her freely and without reserve. It feels like Selene just gained another friend. "Don't worry. I can wait. I'll be looking forward to it. Besides, I still have to do that one favor for you."

Selene smiles in return. "Yes, though I have to make sure that he is safe first before bringing him to you."

They were suddenly interrupted when they hear a loud knock on the glass doors, and a cheerful face of Zeno came into view. Selene runs towards him and opens the door. When he successfully managed to go inside, Selene takes a peek outside the balcony and sees that they're actually on the highest floor of the mansion. He must have flown to get inside.

Selene looks at him in disbelief. "What are you doing? Weren't you forbidden to go inside?"

Zeno shrugs nonchalantly. "I didn't go inside the temple. This is her separate private quarters, right?"

"It's alright. Great timing, I was about to open a trod for both of you, anyway."

Zeno puts his fist on the left side of his chest before bowing deeply in front of Lucia. "Greetings, High Priestess. I apologized for my impertinent behavior, but I can't just let her out of my sight. I hope you understand."

Lucia waves her hand while laughing. "Yes, I understand what you mean, My Lord."

Selene glares at Zeno. "We're you following me from the start?"

"I didn't go inside. I'm just hanging around somewhere near you."

Priestess Mauricia will burst a vein if she finds out what Zeno was doing. Selene exhales loudly. She can't believe that he is this frustrating. She thought that it was strange that he's behaving, but he, in fact, doesn't plan to listen from the start. While Selene was busy glaring at Zeno, Lucia suddenly opens one of the doors inside her room. Behind it is an almost endless grass field where a straight line of various flowers with different shades serves as its pathway.

"You just have to follow the straight path, and it will take you to your destination."

Without hesitating a beat, Selene takes a step inside the door, and he hears Zeno yelling her name as he hurriedly runs after her. Selene thought it would be a tiresome walk, but she's surprised to learn that it only took her less than five minutes. Though the path looks endless, Selene already sees the blinding light at the end of the trail. She emerges inside the cave where the curtain of waters falls from above the cliff. Selene also spotted a few violet-colored flowers she had seen in her first visit, further confirming her exact location.

She has to hurry to the village. Selene turns towards Zeno with a cunning smile that made the poor guy involuntary shiver. "Why don't we take a stroll in the sky?

Zeno's smile fell off, and his mouth hangs open in surprise. He thought she didn't like flying. Does she plan to use him as a transport service?

AMID the night, the once pristine white village of Wheepingthorne is now littered with destruction, blood, and gore. The snow is soaked with pools of blood both from the intruders and the villager. It has become the stage of a devastating massacre where the end seems nowhere in sight. The rich, fresh cold air is replaced with a suffocating scent of tangy metal and thick, black smoke coming from huge flames swallowing the whole village that almost looks like an inferno. Selene watches utterly horrified when a massive man clad in all black with a bloodied sword in his hands smoothly carries a dismembered body of a woman and throws it across the heaps of other dead bodies that lay miserably at one side.

Suddenly feeling numb, she stays frozen in Zeno's arm while swallowing the cry that almost erupts from her lips. "Put me down." Selene murmurs without taking her eyes off the horrific scene before her.

"No, it's dangerous to go down, right now." Zeno rejected grimly. His cheerful smile instantly vanished as he looks down at the gore below him. It's the same scene all over again. Even though years have already passed, humans just won't stop killing off his kind. Though they call themselves shapeshifters because of their inherent ability to take the form of a spirit beast, the human population has branded them as spawns of the devil that harms the world and must be eradicated.

Zeno can feel Selene's hands tighten on his shoulder and her body shaking, not in fear but anger. The air around her suddenly changes, and she had that murderous look in her eyes as she stares down at hunter, who continuously carries the dead bodies of the villagers who must probably be one of him.

"Even though she is also a human." Zeno murmurs absent-mindedly.

This must also be the reason why he feels intrigued by her. Not once did she ever looks at him with disgust when she sees his wings. Usually, when the people around him knew about his real lineage, they instantly avoid him like he has some contagious disease. Since he was young, he never let anyone get close because Zeno didn't want them to know about who he is. He didn't want to show his powers, and he just wants to remain an ordinary citizen throughout his life.

"Zeno, let me down," Selene repeated in quiet anger. The air prickles with tension, and he instantly shivers with dread. Zeno almost drops her because of shock. It's also the first time she called his name, and for some strange reason, his heart starts to beat erratically.

Feeling rattled, Zeno unconsciously followed Selene's requests and flew down the carnage below them. However, he mentally cursed himself when he realized a little too late that they have gone down to the worst possible location. They actually went down near the heaps of dead bodies that they could overhear the conversation between the hunters. Gratefully, they were able to hide behind the large cart.

"What were you doing? You should have let them transform into a beast before killing them off!"

"You know that they're a pest. Those monsters refused to give in."

Zeno hears a fierce growl from a distant, and he sees a man that must be one of the villagers succumbed to his rage and recklessly transforms into a giant black panther and charged towards the enemy with his aim to kill. However, before he can even tear him apart, a whizzing arrow struck him in the stomach that instantly paralyzes his body. Their other companion emerges from the dark with a bow in his hand.

"We were ordered to take back some of the beasts alive. Do not kill them thoughtlessly."

He walked towards the fallen panther and violently stomp on his stomach as he draws out the arrow deeply buried in his body. A splurt of blood sprout from the poor beast, and the cruel man kicked him towards one of his companions. "Carry him to the carriage."

"I have another one here!" someone shouts as he carried another body but that of a man. He tosses the unconscious body of the older man, who has a huge gashed on his chest. "I almost killed him, but it seems like he is one of the village elders. We can get information from him regarding the others."

"He looks dead to me."

It was the one who shot the arrow that replied. "It will take a lot more than a sword wound to kill them. They will not die because of blood loss."

Zeno hears something snap, and he watches as Selene's bracelet breaks and falls from her wrist. She starts to emanate an undeniable bloodlust that he can feel it crawling up his spine and numbing his senses with fear. Zeno had to brush his eyes repeatedly, but he sees the same thing. Selene has an immense blinding aura emanating from her body that stifles the air, and he starts to gasp for air. It's the first time he met someone with enormous and menacing mana that she might even surpass the Head Court Magician of the Empire. Just, who the hell is this girl?

Zeno was preoccupied with Selene that he didn't notice the movement in front of them until Selene drew his sword from his belt and slashed the man's exposed hand as he looks down on them. The man cried out in pain that alerted his companions, and Selene swiftly kicked the wooden cart in front of them that hit the incoming enemy in the stomach and sent him flying across the to the other side.

Zeno stared dumbfounded as she looks at the little girl in front of her that looks fascinating more than a General on the battlefield. When she turns towards him with a determined look on her face, his heart just leaps tenfolds.

"Zeno, get them out of here and bring them somewhere safe."

However, Zeno's mouth hangs open in disbelief with what he heard. Is she planning to take them on? Does she have a death wish? "What are you—are you crazy?!"

Selene tightens her hand on the hilt of the sword as he looks at the two remaining opponents in front of them. Her voice slightly trembles, but she held it in and delivered her threat. "You're the only one who can do it! Hurry! If you don't move now, you're really dead!"

"Do you even know how to use a sword?!"

For a moment, Selene falters, but she immediately nodded as if trying to convince herself. "Ye—yes! I mean, I attended kendo classes a few times, and I liked to watch sword-fighting dramas! That's why hurry!"

"No! I'd rather die than leave you alone!" Zeno yells while holding a dagger that was hidden inside his clothes.

Selene stares at him incredulously. Though, it looks more like she wanted to punch him. Zeno deeply slices his palm and let the blood drop in the ground. Suddenly, a magic circle appears on the ground, and a blinding light flashes in the dark.

Zeno yells at the top of his lungs. "That's more than enough blood! Razor, come out!."

Selene watches as a gigantic beast appears from the ground, and its vast and dark wings envelopes them like a cocoon that protects them.