Chapter Thirty: The Voice of the Unknown

Note: I reposted this chapter because I had to make some changes. Sorry. :p

It was simply another eventless and typical day at Foxerall Academy, however, for Ayra, it wasn't the same anymore. 

Everything had changed, for the better or for worse, she didn't know. But it was a race against time now and Ayra hoped that her decisions and actions would bear fruit in the end. 

Every fibre in her rattled her senses to do the unthinkable. To do what she so desperately needed to do. But the small, sensible part of her denied it wholly, demanding her to take a step back and think before acting. 

And Ayra had obeyed.

So, she sat behind the large cherry table of the library, ancient parchments and books spread before her like a feast to the mind. All the information she needed about the demons and the Seven Gates lay before her. She had buried her eyes and mind between the pages but it only fed her the information she already knew. Nothing new, nothing that would make sense of what happened back at the Ruins. 

And nothing about the possibility of the Gate being moved. Nothing about the Sentinel's carcass and the role it played in this. 

Absolutely nothing. 

She sighed, troubled and drained. 

It's been three days since they returned from Azrynia and almost a month since the First Gate was taken. 

And almost a month since she had seen him. Those broad shoulders, the tall frame, that chiselled face, and those piercing eyes--the face and body of not a child but a man haunted her every time she closed her eyes at night. The stranger she had met back at the Ruins robbed her of sleep and peace. Robbed her of reality, only leaving dreams and nightmares behind for her to live in. 

Every time she took a breath, she thought about him-- a flash of electrifying, silver eyes piercing through her soul. And every time she thought about him, her chest tightened painfully. 

It was bittersweet, this pain. 

The crisp, afternoon wind greeted her thought the open windows of the library, gently coaxing the curtains to dance along with it. 

Ayra closed her eyes and sighed back against the chair. It's been a month. A month was too, too long. A part of her regretted not going after him immediately but a part of her also knew the consequences. A whisper of death breathed down her neck when she faced him and Ayra knew if she wanted answers, then she must be prepared. For everything. 

Even if she had to fight him, kill him if---

The double doors jolted open, rattling the walls of the quiet library in response. 

Quick, angry footsteps made its way to Ayra and stilled. Ayra didn't dare lift her head, she simply pulled a book in front of her and began reading through its contents. 

"Is this what you skipped classes for?" The words held enough strain for Ayra to know the anger and frustration brewing beneath it. 

"Ayra! Answer me. You've been acting really weird." 

Ayra sneaked a glance at Miss Titty, who was quietly snoring on the chair behind her desk. The small lady would've kicked them out for being this loud but fortunately, they wouldn't face the bookkeeper's wrath today. A small mercy. 

Ayra didn't raise her head. "I didn't know a simple act like reading could be considered weird." 

A snort, amused and irritated. "Reading is not. But missing classes, skipping meals and staying awake every single night just to freaking read is definitely weird."

"You are reading like there's no tomorrow."

Ayra raised her head slowly, shooting a levelled gaze at an annoyed Valda. Something snapped within her. Ayra didn't know what it was but suddenly, she was irritated. 

"You're disturbing me, Valda. I would love some peace and quiet and not you creeping up my ass at every chance you get. I'm reading. A lot of reading, yes. Big deal." She went back to reading but didn't really concentrate on the words etched between the pages. 

If someone else had used this tone on her, Valda would have ripped their guts out but it was Ayra. She wouldn't do that. Never to Ayra. 

Valda shook her head and stomped towards her. "Oh, no no no. Do not use that tone on me, Stormbreaker. I'm pretty sure you know how exactly these actions of yours are being seen as."

Ayra visibly cringed at that name. Stormbreaker. She wanted to laugh. She was everything but a storm. A silent murmur of the wind but never a storm. 

Valda continued, pointedly ignoring her annoyed expression,

"You have been acting like this ever since we came back from the mission."

Ayra simply went back to her book. She knew, alright. She knew her brooding, silent behaviour drew attention, especially from Neslyn and Valda. She knew they would ask her about it, knew they would demand to know what's going on with their best friend but Ayra had shoved that possible confrontation to the side for another day. A day that had already arrived, it seemed. 

The sheer ignorance from her best friend made Valda go almost feral. Enough.

"Talk to us, damn it! What the freaking hell is making you act this way? Like a madwoman parched of all senses." 

Ayra shut her book close and faced Valda's seething gaze. 

"What do you want to know?" 

Valda flickered. Once, twice. 

"Are you really asking me that? Tell me what the fuck is wrong with you." 

Not now. 

"Nothing happened." 

Valda loosed a breath and shook her head in dismay as she took a gander at her closest companion. 

"Wow. Is this...lie going to be your answer?" Lie. She spat that word out, disgusted. Ayra wanted to crawl into a corner at the disappointment breathing behind Valda's livid eyes. 

Ayra forced herself to go back to the book. "It's not a lie."

Valda slammed her palms against the table. 

"It damn is! Don't you ever deny that. This distant behaviour is affecting us, Ayra. Don't you realise that? You don't have to tell us for us to know. We are your fucking friends." 

Her face hardened and her eyes grew heavy when Ayra still didn't respond. In a small, defeated voice, she said, 

"Don't take us for fools all the damn time." 

She whirled on her feet and left, leaving a trail of phantom, raging flames in her wake. 

ווו×

A moonless night befell the city. A quiet wind sang outside the windows of the Academy. Ayra listened to the wing sing as she strolled through the dark hallways leading towards her chambers. 

She had remained inside the library till Miss Titty had threatened to boil her and turn her into a stew for dinner. Ayra was not foolish enough to lock heads with the small lady but as soon as she stepped out of the library, she prayed that Neslyn and Valda had fallen sleep. 

She still didn't have any answers to them, especially when her time to leave was drawing closer and closer as each day passed. She would leave, without any answers. She would leave, without any promises. She would leave, and betray them. Their trust and love for her. 

It was better off this way, Ayra believed. For if she never returned, a part of her would be happy that she didn't walk hand-in-hand with them in the path that leads to a dark dead-end. 

It was a wise choice, she believed. For she didn't want her only family to get tangled in this muddled trap of her past. 

Ayra made a move around a corner but a voice, barely above a whisper, froze her dead in the tracks. 

She didn't turn, didn't react. She stayed stilled and strained her ears to listen to the wind. To listen to what it carried to her. 

And when it did, her heart leaped to her throat. 

Because her wind carried the voice to her. A voice of a man and a voice of a woman. A voice that seemed so familiar yet so strange at the same time. A voice that kept chanting one name. 

One name only. 

Ayra. 

When she heard it clearly, the whisper grew louder, as if realizing that it held her complete attention. 

It grew louder and louder and louder, harsher and harsher. Ayra fastened her steps and pressed her palms against her ears, trying to hurl that otherworldly, cruelly persistent voice out of her head. 

The voice drew closer, the whispers of her name breathing down her neck, as if invisible claws were reaching for her. 

Ayra. 

Ayra. 

Ayra. 

Ayra. 

Ayra. 

Raving. Ancient. Demanding. 

Ayra swiftly rounded another corner, willing her legs to move even more swiftly. However, she collided with another body and for a second, she was yanked out from whatever web she was caught in. 

Ayra wound up on the ground, on her back and staring at the ceiling. Something pecked at her cheek and Ayra opened her eyes. Large and protruding golden eyes stared back at her. 

"Envyr…" She whispered. 

The owl tilted its head in response, curiously gazing down at her. As if it was silently asking her what the fuck she was doing sprawled wide on the ground. 

A soft groan was heard and Ayra straightened herself enough to look at the source of it. 

Nascha scoured the rear of her head and grumbled in agony. She squinted and took a gander at a still Ayra. 

"Ayra--what are you doing at this hour? You are supposed to be asleep." 

She straightened up to her feet and gestured towards Envyr. Her owl flapped up to her shoulder and happily perched there---an ideal spot to profoundly look at Ayra with its beady eyes.

Ayra said nothing. She stole a glance behind her shoulder. At the dark but quiet hallway.

The voice had disappeared. 

"Ayra?" 

Ayra faced Nascha. A small frown marred her otherwise stoic face. 

"It's nothing." She whispered, facing the ground. 

Nascha opened her mouth to say something but Ayra beat her to it. 

"I'm just...feeling a little sluggish, Nascha. I'll be going ahead." She stated, before zooming past Nascha and Envyr without glancing behind again. 

Ayra swiftly went down the hallway, feeling Nascha's eyes follow her all the way to the chambers.