Chapter Nineteen: A Fragment of the Past (Part VI)

Azyrnia was in a deep trance tonight, a cauldron of dreams brewing behind its eyes.

However, the night didn't look over the resting town, instead, its amusing gaze was fixed on the three little beings running through the dim streets.

Three pairs of little feet brutally pressed against the smooth, and cold cobblestones of the streets, a cadence of secret escapade playing in its wake.

Ayra never thought the night would turn this way.

They had been running like this for about fifteen minutes now, desperately trying to lose the two excessively huge men pursuing them.

But they wouldn't give up. And they were growing exhausted with every step that graced the ground.

Ayra wondered why the whole town didn't jolt awake with the way these two men were screaming their lungs out from behind them. It was rather uproarious, but it also cruelly instilled fear within her at the treacherous finality behind their tone, as if their capture would be the end for them.

"That way!" Caelan gasped out, guiding a finger at another narrow alley towards the left.

They ran through different streets, wide and narrow, long and short. But when they entered a particularly dark alley, a dreadful dead-end met them.

Feet halted, hearts siphoned and dread bloomed.

The three of them harshly huffed out, the exhaustion at last colliding with them as they stared at the wall ahead.

"Shit." The dark-haired boy breathed out.

Shit, indeed.

Footsteps thudded behind them, three shoulders ever so slightly flinching at the mere sound of it.

They turned around and saw the two men in front of them, a gruesome smirk plastered on each of their faces as they took a mocking, satisfied gander at the cornered children.

"You little shitheads. Thought you can get away, huh?" The short, bald man huffed out.

"Let's bring them to our boss, Gab." The tall one suggested.

Gab stepped forward, still smirking.

"Come here, little ones. Come to papa now." He said, wriggling his grubby fingers at them.

Ayra scowled.

"Stay back." She said, raising her hand. "Or I'll send you flying with my wind!"

They stared at her before guffawing out loud. Her cheeks burned.

"Yer' funny. But you got nothing on us here."

The bald man ripped out a skinner knife from his belt.

Ayra's eyes widened, her heart growing alarmed at the sharp tip of the wretched blade.

"Don' think you'll come in silence. Guess I'll have to use brute force now."

They walked towards them.

"I said stay back!" She spread her fingers wide.

They just snickered.

"What you gon' do with that tiny hand? Slap us away?"

Ayra gritted her and snarled,

"No! I will blow you both away with my wind!"

The men stopped and looked at each other, finally realising that the child in front of her has magic running through her veins.

They faltered and Ayra could see that.

She would show them, alright.

Ayra clenched her eyes shut, reaching for her power hidden deep within. Holding her breath, she searched down and down and down, the tip of her phantom fingers trying to carve out a bit of her power.

A sudden surge of power rose from within her.

Ayra gasped out, attempting to direct it towards the centre of her palm.

But the wind died out as soon as it rose and only a cruel puff of her power was released. It was disquieting because the sound of it was similar to the belching of a newborn babe.

It was silent for a moment. And Ayra wanted to crawl away into a corner and hide there for eternity.

The men guffawed out loudly into the quiet night and Ayra felt so small right then.

"That was funny but enough now." The tall man wheezed out.

They started walking towards them again, the blade glinting at them dangerously.

Ayra fought the urge to step back and scream.

Suddenly, a soft voice was heard behind her,

"Step aside."

The dark-haired boy indolently walked forward and step in front of Ayra and Caelan.

"What now? D'ya have a witless trick under yer' sleeve too, lad?" Gab questioned, raising his nonexistent eyebrows high up in the air.

The boy just tilted his head.

"Get lost."

The men looked at each other before snickering loudly. 

"We don' take orders from a foolish chap like ya'. Come along quietly now."

The boy quietly shook his head when they started towards them again.

He parted his legs, squared his shoulders and raised one hand.

The men didn't seem to falter, their derisive smiles taking the scene in as another wisecrack to laugh about over a jug of beer.

But when the ruthless, searing power within him stirred and gloriously burst into cerulean blue flames around his hands and fingers, the men stopped dead in their tracks.

They stared at the flames dancing at the tip of his fingers.

But when they smirked a beat later, Ayra's eyes dimmed slightly.

"Ya' think those tiny embers would do anything to us? Think again, lad."

The two men lowered their knees and started for them.

Everything seemed to slow down. Ayra quietly witnessed as the bald man directly plunged forward for the boy and the other tall man slightly shifted to the side.

It was weird and rather confusing. Ayra wildly shifted her eyes from the bald one to the tall one, wondering what in the Celestials they were planning.

Her eyes widened. Ayra realised that the bald man was never the plan.

Her pulse quickened when the other tall man revealed a knife from under his tunic and went for the boy's side, who was entirely focused on the bald man in front of him.

"Watch out!"

Ayra immediately shot her hand out. She didn't think this time. She didn't search for her power this time. Didn't carve or prod at it this time.

Because her power reached out to her and answered her desperate call.

An impressively powerful gust of wind shot right through her palm. It was a release of her power like never before.

It shot right through the tall man's torso, the force throwing him onto the line of garbage cans situated in the corner. He brutally crashed into them, sending the steel cans tumbling down behind his weight.

The impact of it tore through her, her entire arm and shoulder recoiling at the raw strength of the sudden surge of it. She lost her balance and tipped back but Caelan immediately caught ahold of her.

"Ayra! Are you okay?"

Ayra could just nod and give a silent thumbs-up as an answer.

The bald man screamed for his friend and rushed towards him to pick him up.

"They use magic! Really strong magic!"

"R-Run Gab! Let's run!"

With their tails curved between their legs, the men scrambled out of the dark alley with their hearts in their throats.

The boy curved his fingers, smothering his flames out.

He slightly looked to the side.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Ayra's eyes widened. She shared a look with Caelan, who looked equally surprised.

She nodded her head. "Y-Yes."

He didn't say anything, instead, plunged his hands inside his pockets and casually walked out of the alley.

Ayra and Caelan quickly followed behind him.

ווו×

Three of them sat under a lone tree in the middle of a small meadow, staring at the beautifully painted starry night sky.

"Is there a reason why you two followed me here?"

"Yes. Why are you working at that tavern?" Ayra quietly asked.

"If you needed money that desperately, Leorah would've helped you. You didn't have to force yourself to work in a dangerous place like that." Caelan said softly.

The boy didn't respond for some time. Ayra assumed he wouldn't. 

But he did.

"I need money for giving a proper burial to my mother."

He said nothing more. And Ayra knew it was enough. He didn't need to explain further.

No one spoke for a long time.

"Is that money enough?" Ayra asked.

He just shook his head.

The wind blew gently, dancing beneath the night sky.

Ayra raised her head towards the sky, pondering over her thoughts.

"We can venture into the woods. Not too deeper, but if we just roam the periphery, we'll be able to find some wild berries and edible mushrooms. We'll also be able to find some rare flowers." She faced the boy.

"Those flowers can be pruned. We can extract their essence and sell them in the market. Wandering wayfarers will offer you ten gold coins for that!''

Caelan nodded. "We can also sell bamboo shoots!"

He faced the boy.

"What do you say?"

The dark-haired boy looked at them for a long while.

"What are you both trying to say?"

"We're offering our help to you so that you don't go back to that tavern."

He just stared at them. It was slightly nerve-wracking. Because Ayra wanted to know what he was thinking about.

"Why...go to such lengths for me?"

"Because we're friends."

He scoffed.

"Did you decide that on your own?"

They just beamed at him.

The boy just dipped his head. Ayra, for a second, wondered if he just smiled a little.

It was silent for a moment, so quiet that Ayra began to listen to the wind whistle.

And the boy spoke,

"Thank you." He said.

Ayra and Caelan were speechless again. But the boy continued speaking, not looking them in the eye as he did so.

"For helping me today and deciding to help me later on, too. Thank you." He didn't smile. His voice didn't soften but his eyes-

His silver eyes spoke his heart and soul.

"I wanted to apologise too."

"For whatever reason?" Caelan questioned, a small smile plastered on his face.

"For behaving like that the other day. I shouldn't have said those words. That was very insensitive of me."

Ayra grinned.

"We'll accept that apology. But only after you do a favour for us in return."

"What kind of favour?" He slightly raised his eyebrows.

"You have to play with us from now on."

He blinked.

"You...want me to play with you guys?"

They nodded their heads enthusiastically.

The boy just stared at them, his eyes growing softer and softer the longer he looked at them. It was secretive and hidden but for some reason, Ayra saw it.

"Fine." He huffed out.

She shared a look of pure glee with Caelan, who mirrored her expression.

The wind danced around them.

Ayra cleared her throat.

"Since we started on the wrong footing, let's do this again."

She grinned at him and stretched out a hand. 

"Hello, I'm Ayra."

Caelan smiled and pushed his palm forward. 

"And I'm Caelan. Nice to meet you."

The boy blankly stared at them. Ayra suddenly grew a little nervous, wondering if he would lash out at them for being stupidly weird like this.

But Ayra was stunned by what happened next.

A small smile bloomed on that usually stone-cold face. It was a very little one, the kind of smile that you'd easily miss if you didn't look properly. But for Ayra, it was a smile nevertheless. He slowly stretched both his hands forward and clasped theirs. 

With his smooth voice, he said,

"Hello, Ayra. Hello, Caelan." He titled his head, his smile growing ever so slightly,

"I'm Ruhnn."

Smiles blossomed at each other, larger than the sky above more and brilliant than the stars around.

And that day, that very day, under the starry night sky, began the story of a beautiful friendship.