image [https://i.imgur.com/9s19VLK.png]

Taiyo kelt down on the ground, her curly hair touching the floor. She shut her eyes tightly. She listened intently as the sound of footsteps on the gravel came closer, one by one. So the man truly was going to kill her, unlike his words.

“Rise, Taiyo.” Taiyo’s eyes snapped open as she heard a familiar voice speaking to her. She looked up, to see a pair of crimson eyes looking down at her.

“Father…” Taiyo felt all the strength in her knees fade, and something came into her chest as her eyes began to water. “Father…” she said through sobs. “You’ve returned.”

“Pawan has returned!” some villagers shouted. Their voices were hoarse, and interlaced with the sounds of children crying, burning wreckage, and crunching rubble. The village of sun helm was now just a charred husk of its past self.

“Come with me, child. We will inspect the surroundings,” Pawan said.

Taiyo pushed herself up to her feet, her legs shook as she stood on them. Her clothes were tattered, her hair was dirty, and she had lost several of her bangles.

Her father watched her silently as she got up, his face impassive.

She followed him, and they looked around the village together. What was once the town square, was now a giant crater. The surrounding bleachers were piles of scrap wood, with metal bent and twisted out of shape. In the centre of the town square was a hole wider than the sun bomb she had cast, and it was filled with broken debris.

“Did you do this?” Pawan raised an eyebrow as he stared at the wreckage, his arms were held out, and tiny threads that would have been invisible if it was daytime, like glowing spider’s threads, wrapped around his fingertips.

Taiyo nodded, unable to muster the energy to speak. She could not, would not look up.

There was one thing she needed to say though.

“Victor… protected us all from the beast king,” she said. “He fought the thing head on, while I cast the spell, and when i lost control he–”

Taiyo’s voice caught in her throat as tears came to her eyes. She couldn’t help herself, and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Her father remained silent, his back was towards her as he was staring at the rubble. She could not see what expression he was making. Eventually, he spoke.

“I see,” he said.

Taiyo wiped the tears from her face with her arms, trying to stifle them as they came up.

Pawan left the rubble, turning towards the villages and the temple. Taiyo followed him, taking one last look at the crater in front of her before she left.

The temple room was nothing short of destroyed. The beautifully carved marble ceiling was now a pile of rock in the centre of the room, prayer mats, ornaments, and incense all lay broken, and strewn across the ground. All the villagers looked up towards Pawan, as they had been waiting there. Nobody said a word. This included Yuuki, Kamal, and Fang. The Bastodon lay to the side of the temple, sleeping.

Taiyo saw a tiny urn on the floor next to her, which she picked up. It was empty.

Pawan walked onto the now broken stage, not minding the rubble. Everything that made this room a temple was either gone or broken, except one thing.

The statue of Yiho.

Taiyo rubbed her eyes, as she noticed the statue had remained completely unscathed throughout all of this. Not even a speck of dust had reached it.

Pawan closed his eyes before the statue, holding a set of prayer beads in his arm. “So you have protected us again, god.”

Protected? Taiyo thought. How had he protected them at all?

Taiyo felt a stiffness in her neck as she watched her father perform the rites with the statue. She did not outwardly move a muscle, but internally her mind was raging.

She could never show this rage, however.

Taiyo gulped as her father turned to address the villagers, thankfully he did not look at her.

“What happened to Garyu?” Pawan asked.

“He…” Fang turned his gaze towards a mangled corpse near the corner of the temple.

“Someone, cover the body.” Pawan said.

Kamal nodded, he hobbled off, obtaining a white piece of cloth and draping it over his son’s body.

“He has disgraced Yiho in his failure to protect the village,” Pawan said.

Taiyo watched Kamal’s hands tremble as the words were spoken. She could not see his face, but she saw some shining droplets of water fall from his eyes onto the white sheet, leaving little marks that nobody would notice. Suddenly, his old back seemed much older, and his body was much more frail. Like a leaf in the wind, with nothing to steady him.

“Where is Victor?” Fang asked Taiyo. “Weren’t you two performing the plan together?”

Taiyo simply shook her head.

“No way…” Yuuki’s eyes widened as she did this. “It can’t be!”

“That foreigner, again?” Pawan approached them.

“He protected the villagers,” Fang said. “Better than Garyu did,” his eyes trailed towards the corpse and Mr Kamal, sighing.

“Did we have any other casualties?” Pawan asked.

“My son!” a large, tall man spoke up. It was Ruyi’s father. “My son is now dead, my one and only child is no longer on this planet, and Garyu did not protect him. He gave his life for this village, he did.”

Taiyo felt a pang in her heart as she was reminded of Ruyi sacrificing himself to save her. Setting his own body ablaze, all so she could get away.

“And mine!” Another villager, a woman, spoke up. “He was only a child, yet he was killed while Garyu was absent. Many more of us would have died, had it not been for the white skinned man.”

Pawan nodded to the two of them. “May their souls Join Yiho and burn brightly in the sun, forever shining down on us and giving us light.”

The two villagers closed their eyes, looking downwards.

“We will arrange a funeral for those lost to the tragedy immediately, and send them off,” he said. “For now, Yiho will put their fallen souls to peace.”

“Yes, high priest.” they said.

Pawan walked towards the door, beckoning Taiyo to come with her. “We will now inspect the fields,” he said.

Taiyo followed. She did not know the point of any of this, and he had not called Yuuki to come either, it was just her, and her father.

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They walked down the once familiar, but now unrecognisable streets of sun helm. Followed the paths now filled with the bodies of magical hounds. They walked past the area where Ruyi had died, clear burn marks across the ground, but there was nothing more than ashes on the floor as remnants of his body, and his valour. Taiyo knelt down, collecting the ashes in the urn she had picked from the temple. Her father kept walking, and she followed behind him.

They arrived in a field of sun grain. The Sun grains had mostly remained untouched. And their golden red hues filled the field like an ocean. It was still dark, but Taiyo could see the faint light emanating off the grains. If one were to look ahead from the countless fields of grain, they would see the horizon, which now had the faintest trace of red.

Yiho had decided to grace them with his presence once again.

The two of them stood in the field of Sun Grain, saying nothing to each other. Taiyo watched the redness creeping into the sky, banishing the black night that hung over them. The golden-red hues of the sun grains seemed to shimmer with a renewed vitality under the emerging sunlight, casting a warm glow over the field.

“It seems like you have made it through this trial from Yiho.” he finally spoke.

“A trial?” Taiyo said. She knew she should not utter these words, but they came out nonetheless. “Father, how could you say that? People are dead.”

For a moment, he said nothing. And Taiyo’s heart rate sped up as she anticipated him to admonish her for her blasphemy.

“Look around yourself,” he said. His tone was calm, without a hint of anger like she expected. “The fields are alive, child. The Bastodon is still here, temples and buildings can be rebuilt. We have food, we have not lost our livelihood, and most of all, the spirit of Yiho still watches over us.”

“Father,” Taiyo said. “What about the people? If this is all a trial as you say, why would Yiho want his own believers to die?”

“Death is unavoidable,” Pawan said. “All men are bound to join the afterlife at some point. However, we cannot suppose to understand why Yiho has done what he did. His ideas are beyond the understanding of common people like us.”

Her father was hardly a common person, she thought.

“Then how is this a trial?” she asked, her voice faint, but her fists were clenched.

He turned to face her, his white hair looking like flames, and his crimson eyes fixating on her. His eyes were narrowed, in rage– no. They were narrowed, but in excitement.

“You are alive, girl. That alone means you pass whatever trial he had in mind for you. And more than that, you tasted what the heights of cultivation felt like, did you not?”

Taiyo gulped. Did he mean…

“Whatever reason Yiho had in mind,” Pawan said. “You now know what it’s like to be a Rank 2, like myself.”

Was father suggesting this trial had been for her? Taiyo felt her stomach churn in disgust. This was even more revolting than the idea that this had all been some sort of test. The idea that all of the death was because of her.

Taiyo did not believe it, she refused to do so.

Pawan raised his hand, and the entire sky, which was certainly pitch black, moments ago, turned crimson. Taiyo fell to her knees as she felt the magic blood within her destabilise. This time, it was not painful, as he had no rage or ill intent, but she could not control her own body in the face of this kind of magic power.

“You can be more than just a girl, Taiyo.” Pawan said. His crimson eyes shining against the sky. “It was your mother’s last wish–”

Pawan turned his head, noticing something within the field.

Taiyo looked too, and there was a white shape covered in red markings amidst the crimson sky. Taiyo narrowed her eyes, and the creature howled against the horizon before dashing away.

Taiyo’s eyes widened.

“A legendary sun fox,” her father muttered.

Not good, Taiyo thought. The direction the creature was heading…

It was towards the village!

Taiyo followed the fox, chasing after it and leaving her father in the field of sun grain. She dashed through the remnants of her village, stepping on stones and rocks and whatever else was beneath her. If that sun fox attacked the village now, there would be nobody who could fight back.

Not that she would be capable of taking on that beast either.

But still, she ran. She chased after it. She could not handle any more deaths.

Taiyo cornered the golden sun fox, finding herself back at the village square. It stood atop the crater filled with rubble, its body roughly as tall as a human’s. The sun fox let out a howl, and sun energy began to gather from the horizon to the beast. Taiyo could feel terrible vibrations going through the ground, and her heart rate sped up as she could feel the magic energy gathering towards the Sun Fox.

“Why have you returned?” she shouted at it. “Leave this place!”

The sun fox took no heed of her, and the magic energy reached a crescendo. Taiyo’s eyes widened, and she hid behind a broken piece of rock–

Bang

A whirlwind swept up dust and rubble into the air, and Taiyo could feel the vibrations of an impact travel through the ground. She coughed, her lungs filling with dust as she breathed. She turned to look at the Sun Fox, shielding her eyes from the cloud of dust.

As the dust settled, the golden light of the Sun Fox emerged from the surroundings. The explosion had cleared nearly all of the rubble in the area, and next to the Sun Fox was a figure stuck in the ground.

Taiyo covered her mouth with her hand.

“Is that…”

The sun fox howled triumphantly.

“Victor!” Taiyo ran over to the Sun Fox, practically ignoring it. She grabbed a hold of Victor’s body on the ground, turning him over. He was covered in cuts, and dried blood had mixed with the dirt making his whole body a sight to behold. She put an ear on his chest, ignoring the sounds of her own heartbeat, which was pumping rapidly, searching for his.

…………………….…Badump………………….Badump……

“He’s alive!” Taiyo’s eyes lit up. His breathing was extremely faint, though. She immediately got to work, placing her palms on his chest, she pushed down firmly, doing chest compressions.

“One, two, three, four…”

Sweat covered Taiyo’s face as she concentrated.

“Please…” she whispered.

His breathing became even fainter.

Taiyo narrowed her eyes in determination. She pushed her hair to the back of her ear and leaned down, pressing her lips against Victor’s. She blew air into his lungs, and went straight back to performing chest compressions.

“One, two, three, four…”

She could slightly taste the blood and mud on his lips. Taiyo’s face turned slightly red as she thought this, shaking her head, she gave him more air.

“One, two, three, four…”

Victor’s body jerked, and he began coughing. She quickly placed her hands beneath his head, so he would not smack it against the concrete.

She doubted if that could actually harm him, though.

“Taiyo…” Victor slowly opened his eyes.

Taiyo could feel her shoulders relax. And she could also feel tears welling up in her eyes.

“You’re alive,” she said, smiling.

“Taiyo…” he said, looking up at her.

“Yes?” She could feel her heart pound in her chest as she replied.

“Your face is red.”

Taiyo immediately dropped Victor. A distinct smack rang out as he probably hit his head on the floor. She turned around, facing away from him.

“Owowow.” Victor winced as he got up, rubbing his head. “What was that for?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing for a Mythril Adventurer‌,” she said, lightly punching him in the arm.

“Is this a way to treat an injured person?” he grumbled.

Taiyo chuckled, and she smiled at him. He smiled back at her, their eyes locked together.

“Taiyo,” a voice came from behind her.

“F–father!” Taiyo got up immediately, dusting herself, though it did nothing. He was looking between her and Victor.

Great Yiho, she thought. He hadn’t seen any of that, had he?

“Good to see you are alive, foreigner.” Pawan said.

Victor also stood up, he set his jaw as he stared at her father.

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” Victor said. “I’ll be leaving your village, like you asked me to.” he turned his back to the two of them.

Taiyo’s pursed her lips, and she felt a sinking feeling in her gut. She had completely forgotten that her father had ordered Victor to leave the village before all of this began!

“You may leave,” Pawan said.

“Father–”

Victor grunted in response.

“However,” Pawan continued. “I am told you performed many heroic deeds and protected the village. We are desperately in need of extra hands while we rebuild, and I don’t think poor Bronx will harvest any bastodon tails by himself ever again.”

Victor turned around, his eyes wide.

“You mean…”

“As the high priest,” Pawan said. "I'd like to request formally that you stay in Sun Helm under my employment."

“Yes!” Taiyo shouted.

Victor and Pawan both looked at her.

She covered her mouth, blushing.

“Sorry,” she said.

“What do you say?” Pawan asked.

Victor looked deeply at Pawan, then turned his head towards the village. Taiyo felt her breath catch in her throat. What would Victor’s response be?

“I cannot leave the village in this state,” he said. “There are families who lost lives under my instruction, and there are homes that are destroyed. You have lost fighters, and will need help in the months to come. High priest of sun helm, I accept your offer.”

Taiyo finally allowed herself to breathe a last sigh of relief.