“Surely there's something you want…” My words echoed endlessly, only met with silence, waiting for a response. She still hadn’t bothered to turn around, still facing squarely away from me, her head turned over her shoulder.
The mysterious figure looked away, raising a hand to her chin as if thinking deeply for a moment. Her next words echoed as if they came not from her lips but from the void itself. “I have no need nor want for child soldiers, I’ve killed enough of them already.” She vanished before my eyes turning into the purest white snow before disappearing into nothing.
The whispers dispersed around her, narrowly reaching my ears. “Rafi Wait, don't go.” One said. It echoed my own thoughts but knew her name, the voice distinctly different from my own.
The whispers grew distant, but only increased in number. Then vanished altogether. ‘Mara is losing… Living a nightmare like I was. Only, the demon is linked to me, right? It has no reason to keep her alive…’
Suddenly I started to hear the whispers again. They grew louder until I could start to make them out. “Don’t leave me alone.” One said. “I don’t want to die.” another whispered. They continued, each one sounding distinctly different from the last. Hollowed voices of the dead, whispering through the void.
“Save me.”
“Rafi please.”
“Help my sister.”
“Help me.”
“I feel cold.”
With each whisper, they only intensified as the mist thickened around me.
“It's so dark!”
“Set me free I beg you!”
“RAFI!”
Everything went silent as she appeared before me again, this time the same height as I was, small and delicate, her arms thin, with a gentle pale glow radiating from her skin.
“Thank you.” the last whisper said softly, its voice sounding like a young man's last words before passing, slightly warmer somehow than rest.
“I’m only going to do this once so listen up!” She shouted, in what quite possibly might have been the most adorable voice I had ever heard. Her dress and mature aura had been replaced entirely with this new adorable little girl I saw before me.
She had long white hair, but it wasn’t well kept like the others, neither was it pure wight, parts of it darkening to a light gray. The blue in her eye shows closer to silver than white. She had the same black eyeball though. Looking at it felt like I was staring into the abyss itself, and looking at a reflection of her soul at the same time.
Instead of abyss black robes, hers were closer to a dark grey, or worn black leather. They had been patched and stitched back together in places, and white cloth was wrapped around her legs and forms.
She pulled down her robe, adjusting it so that it hung just down just above the knee, and brushed it off, tightening her frayed sash that she was using as a belt. “I can’t believe after all this time I’m still a slave to them…”
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Her face slowly calmed until a dim smile appeared on her soft pudgy cheeks. “I guess I’m still alive after all… That’s good to know.”
Her tattered shoulder cloak waved around her as moved to take off her hat, sweeping her messy hair behind her shoulders. “Ugh, seriously, I don't know how she wears this thing, it’s way too big and heavy.”
‘So… She is a different person…?’
“Hey, you!.” She shouted, pointing at me like a little kid accusing someone of stealing their candy. “Yeah you, stupid, you see anyone else.”
‘I… knew you were referring to me though…’ I could already tell we were off to a great start.
“What's your name?”
“Just call me Siya,” I said, shaking my head. If I gave her my real name she would probably end up thinking I was pretentious.
“Siya, you're covered in scars. Why are there so many of them? Take off your shirt, let me see.”
I chuckled nervously, thinking she had to be joking. “That’s not necessary, is it? I mean, I still don’t even know who you are.”
“Oh just be quiet and do what your master tells you.”
‘Master?’ Before I could respond the dark mist surrounding me bent to her will and striped it off for her, making me uncomfortable… To say the least.
“H-HEY!” Feeling awkward I covered my chest with an arm while she stared at me incredulously.
“Geez you are a real warrior, how many battles have you been in I wonder? I bet you have a few good stories to share over some engraving.”
The mist picked me up by the waist and turned me around so that my back was facing her. “And you have just as many on your back…” She grumbled. “Not a very good warrior I guess…”
“C-can I have my shirt back now?”
Without a second's hesitation, it was pulled back over my head. “And you have a sense of modesty, which is… Weird for a female knight.”
Even after I had my shirt back I couldn't help feeling embarrassed and awkward. ‘This isn’t the time for all this.’ I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice. “So… Can you… Help my mother? I was told she was in a pretty bad spot so…”
She tilted her head. “That would be difficult, it would be better for you to do it, but I can help you, that’s the deal.”
‘Well… That’s something at least, but…’ “Listen, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or any–”
“Then don’t.”
I growled as she interrupted me, continuing on with her carefree attitude.
“Seriously, how is your body so beat up at your age? Do your legs have just as many scars too?”
I reflexively grabbed the waist of my pants, holding them tightly in my hands.
The girl just laughed. “Come on, I wouldn’t go that far.”
‘There's no way this is the same cold and distant girl from before.’
“You said your name was See– Say— S something right? Whatever, I’ll just call you Scatha.”
“I guess… That's fine…” ‘I’m not that attached to the name anyway.’
“It means scarred dog. Or like, a dog that loses a lot of fights… Well, in your case I suppose you’d be a wolf.”
“Oh…”
She placed her head in her hand, shaking it. “You're such a child, you don’t even know basic etymology? Names are important, they have meaning. That's why I dub you Abyss Knight Ina.”
A great blue light appeared as a massive greatsword burst from thin air. It glowed a pale blue with wispy white light seeming to fall in specks from its aura. She quickly taped my shoulders and in an instant, the blade was gone again. “For your information, Ina means the one who fights alone.”
‘So… I’m not dog covered in scars?’
“Your mom will survive. Just make sure to learn dark magic quickly so you can kill that thing before it gets stronger.” She giggled. “Although you managed to hurt it quite a bit without my help. People like you really do make the best riftwalkers. If you’re lucky, you might even get away without having to go all in on the whole dark magic thing.
‘Riftwalker…’ The name blared in my mind like a siren, connecting the dots with her knighting me.
“Wait what? But I–” My feet fell out from under me and I quickly drifted farther away from her as if jumping from a plane.
Despite clearly falling I felt no rush of wind, or sense of air moving past me, I was simply drifting through the void, slowly losing my senses as the pressure around me started to increase again.
Suddenly like lightning, I shot straight up, finding myself sitting in my bed as I gasped for air. ‘I’m back…’ My whole body was covered in chills. ‘The riftwalker knights… A long-forgotten order of knights that killed demons from the abyss.’
I looked down at my hands and slowly caught my breath. The sensation was remarkably similar to when I spent time with Agis, only instead of just my soul, it felt like somehow more was swept away this time. ‘Her name was Rafi… Well… She certainly leaves an impression…’
I slowly looked around my room, trying to make sense of the rollercoaster of a conversation we had.
A broken blade was embedded in the wooden walls. My door had been blown off its hinges and was sticking halfway out of the room through a fresh hole, and a tinge of red covered the room in streaks like fresh paint.
‘Mara…’