“Have you eaten?”
Eyes stinging in the early morning light, Xellie sat up trying to rub the sleep from her eyes. The strange priestess stood over her, looking down.
“What do you want?” Xellie punctuated her question with a yawn.
“I brought you breakfast.” The priestess said, sounding concerned as she knelt down and offered a bread roll.
“Why?”
Although incredibly hungry, Xellie tried to ignore the food offer. There was something unsettling about this priestess.
“Why did you sleep in the open? No shelter? That’s bad for you.”
“It’s not your business.” Xellie looked across the horizon uneasily before snatching the bread from the priestess. It had a familiar spiced, sweet smell reminiscent of her childhood. “You travelled to Anshara recently?”
“It’s a favourite recipe.” The priestess replied, standing up and leaning delicately on the broken wall of the shed. “I am not a demon, I would have no need for the charades you’re imagining if I were.”
“I was watching the lights.” Xellie told the priestess, pointing up at the sky as she tucked into the bread. “There was no demon attack yesterday, but the lights still appeared.”
“I do not know why it is told that those displays are demonic energy.” Replied the priestess, glancing up at the sky. “The truth is very much the opposite. It regards the transport of the brave human souls who stood up to evil, yet fell.”
“Is that so?” These church people always spoke so cryptically about the theoretical afterlife and souls. It wasn’t the kind of conversation Xellie cared for much.
“This was the household of the family and the young man called Iyan, wasn’t it?” The priestess looked over at the rubble, then down at Xellie sat in the remains of the shed, covered in crumbs, and shook her head slightly.
“Yeah, don’t you have to purify it or something?”
“I did it while you slept. This Iyan, would you consider him a brave man?”
Xellie got to her feet, brushing dry grass and other debris from her clothing.
“He entered the restricted zone to help people, so I ... what is this question?”
Studying the priestess, she was looking for clues, anything that would identify what she really did. Her white dress was plain, although imbued with its iridescent sheen. Despite the delicate nature of her dress, she wore almost knee-length, substantial, but sharply heeled boots underneath. Xellie couldn’t tell if the boots were meant for combat or not.
She didn’t have her staff with her she had carried with her previously.
The raven from yesterday flew in and landed on the priestess’ shoulder, apparently nuzzling against her ear.
The priestess responded by gently brushing the raven with her hand before turning her attention back to Xellie.
“Iyan’s life hangs in the balance. I want to know what kind of man he is.” She hesitated for a moment, as if trying to think of something else to say. “I like to know what kind of spirit every man has that falls victim to these demon attacks.”
“I guess he is brave if he knows what kind of things are in the restricted zone. Nursing people to health could be considered a kind of bravery?”
“I suppose it could.” The priestess reached out to take Xellie’s hand. “Don’t worry about your friend. He will be fine.”
“I thought you said his life is in the balance.” Xellie pulled away from the priestess angrily.
“The gods have no need to take a nurse. Spare me your questions and judgement. I wish to you to see something.”
“Do you even know who I am?”
Curiosity was getting the better of her as the priestess indicated her way up the road toward the town, but Xellie would not let the priestess know that.
“You’re Xellie, Niko’s brother and unlicensed demon hunter, injured by Ashmeviti and sent away for your soul to recover away from the miasma of the restricted zone. You lie about your age in order to access demon hunter services and training. Your priestess partner was Ryvena, but you both agreed to work separately because you’re horrendously unreliable.”
“Excuse me?” Xellie said incredulously, speeding up her pace to catch up with the priestess.
“Yes?”
“You forgot top of the academy class.”
The priestess shrugged.
“You get some special dispensation simply for your lineage. We know your age, we know what you do. You’re only fooling your classmates and people close to you.”
“My lineage?”
The priestess indicated up the street. She clearly didn’t want to stop.
“What do you mean by my lineage?” Xellie asked.
“Are you not related to your brother?” The priestess replied, ushering Xellie into the graveyard beside the chapel. “There are some who wish to speak to you here.”
“There’s nobody here.”
Was this some kind of trap or ambush? Unsure of the priestess' motivations, Xellie’s eyes darted back and forth, scanning the graveyard for potential danger. Nobody had been here. The morning dew still gleamed on the grass and leaves alongside the churned earth of the fresh graves.
“You’re sick!” Xellie exclaimed, turning to the priestess in anger. “There’s nobody here. You’re just trying to make me feel bad!”
“... is it working?” Replied the priestess calmly, placing a hand firmly on Xellie’s shoulder and turning her to face the graves.
The rising sun filtered through a gap in the trees, lighting the graves in a golden glow. A mist gently rose from the grass and earth, forming into phantasmal silhouettes.
“You must feel really guilty.” The priestess said gently. “While they are here, why don’t you say what you need to say?”
“I...”
Xellie shivered as she felt her body go weak in shock. The silhouettes were gaining faces. Faces that she recognised from around the town.
“These people... died... in the attack?” She stuttered. “Is this real?”
“Thank you for saving the town.” the voice of the nearest figure echoed with a ghostly quality to it, coming from all around, seemingly disembodied but moving his spectral lips.
“I didn’t save you though.” Xellie reached out nervously to touch the figure, not quite daring to make contact with her fingers, touching the cold aura of air emanating from him. “I should have acted faster.”
“My family still live.” The figure replied, evaporating into the sunshine, along with the others. “Don’t apologise to gravestones. It fixes nothing.”
“I don’t care for your hocus pocus!” Xellie turned to the priestess, pale and shaken. “I don’t know how you do that and I don’t care. WHY?!”
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The priestess gazed emotionlessly toward the graves.
“If you can do that, bring them back! Send them back to their loved ones!”
The lack of response from the priestess was frustrating, so Xellie shoved her in the chest.
“That is not how death works.” Lady Sunna answered, crouching down and touching the gravestone. “But they will all be reunited with their families in due time.”
“They’ll die?”
“Everyone dies eventually... Even you. I understand that death is a hard concept, as never and forever are things that the human mind can’t process. Please, we need to talk.”
“Sure.” Xellie folded her arms and glared at the priestess. “What’s it like preying on distraught families with your parlour tricks?”
“Now really...” The priestess sounded somewhat annoyed. She took a deep breath to recompose herself and continued to speak calmly. “Surely you have noticed the difference between yourself and these people? They do not know blame or hatred in the same way those in the restricted area do. Wanting to help these people, it’s admirable, but what good will you do if you don’t get stronger? Would you just stay here until this place gets overrun... knowing other towns and people much the same are suffering?”
“Easy for you to say,” Xellie replied bitterly. After all, not everyone was gifted with the apparently amazing powers this priestess possessed. “... what are you? Really?”
“My name is Raye and I am a... servant of the gods.”
“Raye, huh? Why’d you say you were called Karyn Sunna then? Why come here and lie to these people?”
“It’s not exactly a lie.” Raye tapped her fingers together thoughtfully. “In Asvord, they give us alternative names to use, in part to prevent demons from tracking us down when we are among civilians. Imagine the chaos of a revenge bent demon in a busy city full of innocents.”
“I see.” Xellie knew little about Asvord, other than its legendary status as a residence for holy magic users. “So why are you all the way out here, anyway?”
“To see you, actually. Although, while I’m here, I will secure the town against further incursions.”
“What do you want with me?” Xellie asked, slightly confused. “I probably didn’t do whatever it is.”
“Heh.” Raye’s harsh face lightened into a smile momentarily, then back to seriousness. “I take it you’re restless. You need to seek combat. You need to fight.”
“Well...” Xellie hesitated to answer this. What a horrible thing to admit to. Yet Raye was right. She missed getting into combat with demons, so she opted to nod in response.
“You may have a gift hidden deep inside of you.” Raye continued. “You haven’t tapped into it yet, but that is why I am here. It’s time you took responsibility and trained the potential powers you were born with.”
“Wow.” Xellie held up her hands. “Look lady, I suck at magic. I just like fighting, okay?”
“Well, your other option is to continue as you are, being left behind by Niko because you’re a liability. We will discuss this in the morning.”
This caught Xellie by surprise, hearing the name of her brother dropped in the conversation like that.
But as she opened her mouth to make an indignant retort, Raye vanished right before her eyes, simply blinking out of existence.
“Whatever,” Xellie muttered to herself, trudging along the gravel path back home. Seeing ghosts and vanishing people all in one day was a bit too much.
---
Having slept at Shana’s sister’s house, where Shana was staying, Xellie had got a little sleep before the sound of voices outside her room woke her up. She flipped over on the wooden floor and buried her head under the pillow to drown out the chatter, eventually giving up and getting dressed.
“What’s that demon doing here?” Xellie asked irately, pointing at Raye, who was delicately sipping from a teacup at the kitchen table.
“You know quite well that I’m not a demon,” Raye answered without even looking up. She sounded almost bored at the accusation.
“Well of course you won’t admit it.” Xellie retorted aggressively, as Raye ignored her. “I don’t care about your tricks.”
“It just so happens that your brother works for me.” Raye set down the teacup, reached down into the leather satchel she had been carrying beneath her cloak and pulled out a length of burgundy coloured cloth. “He wants you to have this.”
Xellie snatched her brother’s scarf from Raye without hesitation and held it against her body protectively. In his many adventures off into the world, he had left the scarf, which had once belonged to their mother, with her for safekeeping, promising to return so he could take it back.
“... where is he? Is he alright?”
“He is with Grau and he is well.”
“So what do you really want?” Xellie casually slung herself into a chair opposite Raye, grabbing a slice of toast so she could continue speaking as she ate. “You just so happen to come all the way down here, where I am, at the same time as demons reach these areas... No such thing as coincidence.”
“I would have rather waited.” Raye scrunched her face up in disgust at Xellie’s talking and eating at the same time. “However, it seems intervention was necessary. We couldn’t risk anything happening to you.”
“You’re damn right it was... wait what?” Xellie choked a little on her toast as she took in the implications of Raye’s statement. “The only reason... you helped this place... was because I’m here?”
“It made the case more... urgent.” Raye sighed to herself quietly. “Perhaps, hu... people should learn to defend themselves, or more of them at least? People such as Niko can’t be everywhere at once, you know. Until more take up the cause of fighting the demons, people will die.”
“And you want me to come work for you like Niko?”
“Absolutely not,” Raye replied, sounding mildly surprised. “You’re not strong enough and have a terrible work ethic.”
“If all you want to do is insult me...”
“I do not insult you by telling the truth,” Raye said, taking a victorious sip of her tea. “Anyway, I am done here. We will talk later.” Raye gathered up her satchel and gave a nod to Shana as she left the house.
“What did she want?” Xellie asked Shana timidly.
“We talked about you,” Shana said, taking Xellie’s hand into hers and clasping it tightly. “She seems to think you are capable of great things. I don’t want to and can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like having grown up with these evil creatures in your life, but Lady Sunna seems to really believe in you.”
“I don’t understand why,” Xellie replied, looking away. “There are literally thousands of demon hunters. She could poach any one of them rather than bothering me.”
Shana crouched down, so that she was at eye level with Xellie.
“Listen.” She said firmly. “The world relies on people like you to protect us from that sort of thing. I don’t want you to leave here either but, you’re not going to accept what happened to Iyan and if you don’t take this chance, you're going to regret it.”
“Chance?” Xellie asked. “What offer has she made?”
“She wants you to leave with her and become more powerful. Or so she said. She seems to genuinely care about you. She’s your brother’s boss, apparently?”
“Yeah...” Xellie slid her hand out of Shana’s grasp, scratching her head thoughtfully. “She said that. And Niko would never give his scarf to someone he didn’t trust to pass it to me.”
“At least find out what she wants. She said she’d be in the churchyard waiting for you.”
It didn’t take Xellie long to track Raye down, finding her conversing with birds in the hedgerow.
“So you do have a conscience,” Raye said without turning away from the bush. “I’m sure you’re aware, but your brother is desperate to see you. He is worried about you.”
“I’m not here for small talk.” Xellie shot back irately, the constant mentions of her brother getting under her skin. “What is it that you actually do? You and your people?”
“It’s complicated.” Raye seemed a little uncomfortable about the topic. “You would need a long period of training to understand... put simply, demons capture, possess and corrupt Human souls turning them into wicked creatures, enslaving them for eternity. Part of my task is to make sure this doesn’t happen. We work with all sorts, such as spiritual leaders, to protect those passing on or those wishing to be involved in demon extermination. Something you desire greatly, if I’m not mistaken?”
Xellie thought about this for a moment
“... I’m really bad at magic.” she confessed to Raye. “And I don’t really have much experience.”
“You’re capable of much more than you think.” Raye replied, her answer sounding slightly rehearsed. “You can’t see it, but those around you do. Including the demons. This is why you find yourself surrounded by such troubling situations.”
“And what do you want me to do?”
“Nothing. I am going to escort you to your brother and observe you to see if you are deserving of this kind of power.”
The idea of seeing her brother and returning to her homeland suddenly didn’t seem as exciting as Xellie had imagined it. Instead, she panicked a little, realising she’d be leaving behind people she had grown to care for, but also a much more peaceful life.
“What are you offering me, exactly? What kind of power?” She asked hesitantly. “Do you mean like Niko?”
“More than that,” Raye told her. “So much more than that.”
“And why me?” Xellie really wanted to understand why this strange priestess was fixated on her.
“You’ll understand why soon. We can’t discuss it here. We must leave as soon as possible, it is a long journey to Nordausa, where your brother is at the moment.”
Raye produced a map of the region from her satchel and handed it over. On the map, it marked their proposed route and schedule, in case they became separated. It would take almost a month of travelling on foot, stopping to shop for provisions along the way as most nights they would be camping. The cities here were few and far between.
Shana helped Xellie prepare and pack a week’s worth of food for the journey, talking about how she wished to visit the northern continent one day. Xellie found herself laughing and explaining away misconceptions about her homeland to Shana, such as the fact that it wasn’t covered in snow, not everybody learned magic, or had red hair like herself and Raye, which was, in fact, quite unusual. Eventually, their conversations dwindled down into slightly tearful gratitude for the past year of help and promises to meet again one day.
Too soon for Xellie’s liking, Raye was rapping on the door, ready to leave. She gave Shana one last hug and hauled her backpack over her shoulder. It was now time to follow Raye and hopefully see her brother in the near future.