Chapter 33: Fire Festival

*THIRD PERSON*

The bright sunshine was now covered by grey smoke, elevating towards the clear sky, invading the whole morning with its suffocating presence. Along with it were flames crawling in each and every home, engulfing them into thin air. Zentra was once the lovely place everyone knew, but now, it became chaos.

Between the smoke and fire, a group of people started running towards an unknown destination. They were unprepared against this madness, and now it's too late. But they never gave up. The elders and other tendrins decided to evacuate the others first, while they decided to check the intruders on the south gate.

With their buckets in their hands, they scooped up water at the nearest ponds, trying to save others from the inferno they struggled. Tendrins may be strong and tall, but once a flame touched them, it will never be removed and continuously burn them.

After running, they passed by a man lying on the ground, weak and injured. The yellow blood, known as the tendrin's saps, rushed out of his body. He was holding his spear weapon on his hand, but he's too frail to raise it and fight.

His other leg was gone as the fire tried to envelop him. He screamed in pain and despair, couldn't be able to escape from his fate.

Cainne, who was carrying one of the buckets, approached the guy with great speed and immediately poured all of the water to the whole body of the tendrin, killing the murderer. The rest followed, trying to treat his injuries.

"S-Sir, sir, are you alright?" Meria said, her face was full of concern. He might never be her relative nor close friend, but seeing them all being tortured like this hurts her.

"P-Please… help…" The weak injured tendrin said, as his hands that eager to grab her arms, trembled as he raised it. They couldn't help but to keep their silence and stare at his poor state.

Then, at a distance, two silhouettes started walking in their direction. No one can't clearly saw their faces, but the black mists that followed their every step yelled evil and darkness. Then, another huge shadow marched from behind.

One of them walked closer, close enough for them to see his true identity. His black hair flew along with the impure wind. His eyes were as black as their very soul, revealing the nerves in his eyeballs.

The large figure also stepped forward, and they couldn't believe what they saw. It was the Cerberus that had been attempted to kill them in the Undead Woods, and it became more frightening than before.

The whole crew didn't move a muscle, and all they did was to stare at the intimidating presence of the unknown visitor.

"Here they are!" He said. He smiled which almost reached his ears, revealing a million of shark teeth in his mouth. He swung his rapier in any direction, trying to impress and scare anyone who can recognize him. "That was so much easier than I expected."

He inspected every one of them with his deadly creepy stare or trying to find someone that he had met before. Until he finally saw Meria standing, shivering, and sweating but never showed it in her face. This made his grin even wider. Seeing his target and toy once more had brought happiness to him. "We meet again."

"Kairos…" She spoke his name with fear, but she still tried to be brave in front of him. She already faced him before and stayed alive. That small thing stuck in her mind gave her the courage to face him.

"Hey, don't you dare call my name like that," Kairos complained, shortening his smile to talk properly with their captives. Then, he pointed his index finger to her, which caught her in surprise. "Even if you survived my attack, that doesn't mean you can be cocky on me, young lady."

What he said, following with a much wider smile, increased her fear towards him, until there's no bravery left on her at all. She started to step back, hiding in one of the tall tendrins beside her as she lowered her head.

"What do you want?!" Dalary interrupted the conversation with a shout of anger, as she glared at the smiling maniac. She grabbed the injured man's spear and marched forward in front with a defense post.

"Hmm…" The man hummed. Then, he reached for his chin and supported it with his fingers as he looked away, trying to pretend that he was thinking. This made the old man more irritated. "…what do I want?"

After the acting, his smile grew wider, same as before, as he stared at him like a psychopath, thirsty for a kill. Then, he licked his lips with his black tongue, showing that he's desperate.

"I want..." He said as the tension surrounding them became heavier. No one dared to move in their position. "…the cursed child."

As they all heard this, especially Meria, she couldn't help but fall on her knees. Her heart was pounding so fast. She had been struggling with the Deravon army chasing her down, and now, even these daminons wanted her too.

"Hah!" Dalary suddenly yelled, throwing the attention towards her. Everyone looked at her, as she released a smirk that was as brave as her. No one had ever fought against the enemy's sinister smile, except for her, as she never thought of him anything other than an arsonist and a kidnapper. "As if we'll give Meria to you!"

Then, the whole place became quiet, nobody spoke ever again. Kairos widened his eyes in shock as he raised his eyebrow. Then, he tilted his head, bending it until it became so disturbing. After a moment of silence, he burst out laughing, throwing out saliva everywhere. The others then raised their eyebrow, except Cainne, who just looked away at the situation, sweat pouring from his head.

To him, he had never heard a phrase like that in his life. He had been living his whole life hunting the so-called cursed child, but he couldn't help but to cackle at what she said. Dalary became frustrated, her trunk cheeks are now boiling.

"That is the funniest thing I've heard in my entire life!" He said in between his laughter, slapping his knees repeatedly as his stomach started to be in pain. At last, eh finally stopped, now wiping the tears in his eyes. "You didn't know anything, do you, tendrin? Well, you're just her tail after all."

"What did you just say, you evil incarnate?!" She shouted as loud as she can. She had never felt this much anger before, and she had always been irritated to anyone. But saying that she was just following her friend was the worst thing she could hear.

"Ah, that." The daminon went back to his normal self, pointing his index finger now to the stubborn tendrin. "That's the perfect description for me."

This made her more upset and started marching towards the evil entity in front of them, stomping her every step with a loud pound, but Meria reached for her and tried to push her away. She had already experienced the threat he can give to a person, and she wouldn't want her to get tortured by this fear.

Kairos had stayed smiling, mesmerized by the interesting people he had faced right now, a scared child, a tough one, and a stubborn old man, all in one place. Then, his smile disappeared and his mouth formed into an open circle. "Oh!"

"And another guest is here!" He said as he gave them a troubled smile, telling a sorry. He had been flooded with so much attention that he disregarded his companion. "I almost forgot to mention him."

"Introduce me properly, you imbecile." The man that had been hiding in the shadows all this time now had the perfect timing to scold him. He couldn't help but rub the back of his head. The former started marching forward, revealing himself from the darkness he once stayed.

"Sorry, sorry." Kairos apologized with no sincerity, giving him a playful smile.

The man showed his true appearance to the group they encountered. His whole body was wrapped in irremovable silk, from his toes to his face, never seeing his face to anyone. His black hair started flying, but one can see some remaining blue strands.

As he saw what's in front of him, Kandani started shivering. No one may see the fear in his face, but his whole body trembled at the fear of his presence and started stepping backward, the same as the coward Meria.

For long he had been trying to escape from his hands, from the death that he was about to give to him, and yet, he was still hunting him down, never showing mercy.

"W-What…" He exclaimed with a low voice, but it was high enough for them to hear what he was gonna say. They all turned their heads to him, his allies raised their eyebrow, curious about his reaction. "T-Tasan…"

The scarnet daminon also heard him calling his name, thus, he stared at him, locking their eyes to each other. Despite the faceless glare, one can feel each other's emotions, one was throwing menace, while the other showed fear.

"It's been a while…" He spoke in his sweet voice, but in this voice was a feeling of disgust and hatred. "…Kandani."