Chapter 70

The girl walked into the mesmerizing water, which looked like a mix of mercury, water, and starry sky. Ignoring the droplets coming from the tip of the large clusters of bright crystals that looked like one giant gem, she found her peace. The liquid soothed her as soon as she entered, forcing fatigue away, and even her wound visibly closed and her skin changed back to a healthy tanned shade.

The water remained tranquil as if no one was there, and no blood could stain it.

She ended up floating on top of it when she went deeper. Facing the crystal with occasion drops hitting her body, she healed like usual and lost herself in melodies that were no longer painful. They sand instead. Her black hair flowed around her, leaving her face open, eyes closed, and mouth relaxed.

She ended up sleeping in this position, glad over her meal and yet another safe day. Nothing bizarre happened. Until she remembered that night and those noises, followed by rabid Fissures and that Hound again.

She jerked awake. And when she did, a heavy crashing noise spread all around her, trembling the cave as if something crashed into the Holy Land. The water remained intact, and she realized it was an earthquake or a fight. Maybe both.

It wasn't her first rodeo, so she knew she shouldn't stay underground. She might get lost again. She rushed out of the pond and found a new change of clothes. New was a vague term. She grabbed a long military shirt that had an unknown history behind it. It was dirty, and some blood stains were in some portions. Cleaning it was impossible. She tried.

It wasn't as if she cared for her face or appearance. Her priorities were straight and unlike her age.

The shirt was too long for her frame, but enough at the same time. She had some belt that she secured around her waist and the shirt was so much better and not as baggy. Now, it was a weird dress instead. It took her less than ten seconds to get ready, which was more than she hoped for. Tremblings didn't help with anything either. It sounded much more savage than many nights she observed.

How many was it? How many hours had passed since she entered that water? Had she even slept? Was this related to the night, or noises from before? Something crazy could come over anytime, wanting to go through this region that was full of dangers or become its new master.

She had doubts and hoped it was neither. She didn't want to hope for a thing, let alone see something insane again. Her home should remain safe. Intact.

But she knew people could come. Other humans, she judged. Without any weapons, she glanced from the opening that she always climbed from with some difficulty. It was a bit out of reach, but unlike before her meal, her legs were fine, and her side had no injuries whatsoever. Some scars remained, however, leaving them lingering with a thin layer of light over her skin.

Outside, there was still night and a starry sky, so she figured she must have slept for less than a few hours. A whole day shouldn't have passed, though she was never sure with all that singing and floating. A few glances at the moon answered none of her concerns, but it was a bit deeper into the starry sky.

She glanced around, poking only her head out of the hole. Hound wasn't there. Many tremors, explosions, howls, and shrill screams echoed into the night. Neither of them was unnatural to this forsaken land. Howls or screams, she couldn't understand why would someone make such noises when there was an earthquake.

Multiple battles were happening at the same time. She realized it, so she decided it was a good time to look around after checking her body was fine.

As she jumped up, steps and some growling noises behind her revealed the same Hound that waited on a distant cliff. It jumped down as it noticed her, landing beside her, sniffed her head, and licked her face. She shook, smacked its snout, and even kicked its feet that were as large as herself.

It growled and sat as if it was a command, but it realized she hadn't voiced a thing. It whined, sitting and still looking far too big before her.

The girl wondered what it expected, or what she could even do to it. She wiped her face with a short sleeve that went to her elbow. Was it Haunting her too? How? Could she feed it? How could she, when she had so little to eat? What did it want from her? She never figured it out, but it was many hundreds of cuts, if not more since they met for the first time. It was a deadly situation like many others that she felt were inevitable. Pained, loud, and confusing in many ways, Hound came and observed her ever since.

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This home changed ever since, while this Hound never hurt her.

She forgot why, but the pain wasn't a bad thing. She was weak back then. Very little. Blood wasn't a terrible thing either, and Darks were always terrible, so she was confused about it. Glaring at those many eyes watching her, she trembled her fingers and quivered her mouth. Speak? What to say? How to talk? She could sing instead, though it sounded awfully wrong to her even as her social skills were at the level of a rock.

Tremors and signs of battles were all over the place and sky, and some of them were quite close. She could feel it, and she didn't want to be left out in her cave, even if it would never become ruins. It was her home for so long, she didn't want to forget it, let alone leave it to rot.

It was true that the food was scarce, but it was safe.

Could she look for something new, or do anything in this place besides looking for food? Escaping was impossible. She knew there were monsters beyond the hills and mountains, so she knew it was better to remain in her safety.

She was weak, afraid, and... licked. She snapped and once again kicked this annoying dog. She hurt her leg instead and began punching it just for Hound to lick her again, wincing her and leaving her on the ground. Its tongue was brutal like a wall, yet wet and sticky. Something sparkled then, leaving a single tremor echo into the night.

Hound winced and dodged when she began truly angry, causing a white flash of light and sharp sounds that creased the air, creating a big hole in the hill. It creased around its fur and many rocks melted or turned to dust. Hound barked, playfully jumping up and down and leaving dust storms behind. Looking like a house dog willing to play with her, it wanted to play even when the occasion was wrong.

It was too big for playing.

The girl grasped her right arm beaming in light. She sighed and looked at how it swelled in her anger. It happened again. She scratched its uncomfortable revolving light and feelings. Adding some little cuts to her already terrible forearm was never pleasing, nor working. It was neither good nor bad. Most scars were old wounds, while her arm was healthy like always.

She calmed down and figured she might as well look around if something new came up. Hills were perfect for that, or she might as well ascent one of the five mountains for better views. There were many crevices around them to escape to. There were hardly any nests.

But some Darks could find her through smell and sight, so she had to be careful, not bleed, and not be too disheartened about this dog. She should also hide her right arm, but she never liked to do it because it provided great light in the night, even if it meant danger. It was also her tool, and she knew using everything was better than nothing.

Safety came first, so she used grass and hard-to-see places as her path in her ascend, leaving Hound behind who was unhappy that no playing happened again. It wanted to help. The girl went up the hill to see the surroundings, which wasn't that hard. She had done so thousands of times, even without Hound tracking her behind.

This time, it didn't follow her for some reason.

Soon, she arrived fairly close to where she killed her last dinner. It was an elevated hill close to a large mountain, with a notable peak overseeing vast flat lands and horizons. She could see a lot of things from this hill alone. A lot of Darks. A lot more battles.

Then, she saw it. Them. Machines. Two helicopters were hovering in the sky, and a bunch of maddening explosions were right below them, or around their proximity, causing her eyes to squint in the night because they were bright. Stars dimmed; she didn't like it.

There was an excellent moon tonight, so she could see well anyway, even if the brightness of those fights seemed as bright as the moon, if not brighter.

She had seen these machines a few times before. But not two of them at the same time, and most were usually long destroyed before she could see them very well. This place welcomed no such metallic monsters, the girl knew.

Seeing them, she got a bad feeling that it was the same situation as before, with people coming to hunt or look for something in her home or around those hills. Death, perhaps. It was so cheap around here that it was almost laughable.

Should she come at them, welcome them, or look how they die this time around? What could she do to them? Why would she do it? Did she want to leave? Where? With whom?

She was alone in this world for a long time. In this world and place, she had no escape besides her little cave. It seemed like her cage she was unwilling to leave. It was close to a trap. A prison. She was in a zoo, trapped in a spiritual trap that restricted her mind.

A sudden panic struck her and the warmth of her arm woke her up. She shouldn't be afraid. The light was so close, whispering that everything was fine, and she shouldn't turn around. Power was in this voice.

It wasn't always there.

She will protect her home if some fools will come and steal it from her. She won't make the same mistake for the second time, even when she was young in the first time.

Finding suitable weapons was impossible because she forgot about everything like yesterday. It was a bad habit because she didn't want any of them when she was out there. But she had her right arm, which was as questionable as her life and always very close.

In reliance, what should she lean on? She always acted appropriately because of her wits and learning from her failures. It wasn't something cut for herself.

So she made her choice; she could just rely on some rocks and her wits, and observe what had come. Too large things were too heavy for her anyway, and her treasures should remain in her little hole. She wasn't feeble or helpless. She moved well around the Holy Land, all things considered, and with great food in her stomach, she felt much better than yesterday because eating Darks was never great. She preferred regular animals out of courtesy to her flesh and mind. Then came her humanity.