I… I have the power of a demon…? Goddess Emma gave me demonic powers…?
Onas’s expression turned into a worried frown. “Wyliame, please answer me. Will you hurt my family? Mya? Lorelia?”
…
As much as I wanted to assure him that I meant no harm, there was a part of me that believed it was better to stay silent. After all, I had no idea who I was, or why I was even born into the Land of Ember.
*Clatter* *Rustle* *Clatter*
Out of nowhere, the sounds of steps- tremendously heavy, yet abrupt steps, appeared behind us, seemingly coming from the same direction that the frozen giant was facing. Simultaneously, Onas and I turned our heads toward the noise. He drew his bow and took an archer’s stance, sticking his arm in front of my body. “Wyliame, get back. We’ll talk about this another time…”
The steps grew louder and louder until eventually, we began to hear human voices.
“There’re some people here! Stay on guard!” a woman shouted.
A large, brown horse appeared in the distance as a blonde-haired woman, one wearing a suit of silver armor, sat atop. Behind her were two more horses, one white and one gray, as two men rode them with the same armor as the woman. This time though, the men wore heavy, silver helmets with an orange dash striped across the top.
The three parked their mounts nearby, dropped to the ground, wielded their swords, and began walking toward us with caution. “We are Amber knights. Please put your weapon away so that we can resolve this without conflict.”
Onas, as if he understood exactly what was happening, nodded his head and placed the bow behind his back as he reached his hands high into the air to show that he didn’t mean harm. He bumped his elbow into me to command me to do the same, and I followed suit.
“Please state your identity.” the woman asked, grasping her greatsword with both hands.
“Onas Elvaris, thirty-five years old, elf.”
…
“Please state your real identity.”
“Onas Elvaris.”
…
The knights began whispering to each other, glancing back and forth at us until eventually, they unwielded their weapons. The woman walked closer to us and stared deeply into Onas’ eyes. She had pointy ears and long, silky blonde hair, and her skin appeared smooth and fair. Her eyelashes were long and her eyes were a burning amber color. Unexpectedly, she kneeled in front of us.
“General Onas, it has been a very long time, sir.”
…uh, what?
I glanced at Onas while my hands remained in the air and noticed that he simply smiled back at the woman.
“Rose! Wow, I haven’t seen you in what- half a century? What brings you here?”
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Half a century?!
The two other men walked over and kneeled beside the woman, seemingly out of pure respect.
“We came to visit Malkar, sir. My dearest apologies- we had no clue that you would be here too. We just wanted to check and see if Malkar’s body was still intact.” she explained as she tilted his head toward the frozen giant. “We will leave at once if you wish us to do so.”
Onas let his hands fall from the air. “Hahahaha! Drop the formalities, Rose. I’m not your superior anymore.”
She nodded, bringing her right hand toward her heart in a pledge. “If you insist, sir,” she responded as she stood up from her kneeling. The knights beside her did the same. “By the way, who is the boy next to you?”
I dropped my hand from the air. “I’m-”
“He’s my son.” Onas interrupted, smiling brightly as if he was showing me off to the soldiers. “I was actually planning to teach him how to hunt today but… he and I had a little bit of a… argument.”
…
“Your s…son…? C-congratulations!” Rose stuttered. She turned to me and waved with a bright smile.
I glanced at everybody with a puzzled look on my face. What the hell’s going on?
“Hey Onas- I mean, Dad. How do you know these people?”
He looked at me with a smirk and placed his hand on my head. “Well, Rose? Go ahead and tell the kid!”
“Eh? You haven’t told your son about your story yet?”
“Uhhh… I’ve never gotten the chance to!”
She shrugged and took a deep breath. “Well then… I’m just gonna be straightforward with you. Onas was a leader. Not just to me, but he was the entire kingdom’s leader. Although you know him as your father, I- including the rest of the people in the kingdom- know him as General Onas.”
My eyes widened as I stared at Onas in disbelief. “Huhhhhhh?”
He stood there with hands on his hips and his chest puffed out. “Hahahaha! Your father’s so awesome, huh?”
“Ahem.” Rose cleared her throat. “He was a man who used his talent, his undying bravery along with his unbreakable determination, to lead the Kingdom of Amber during the Great Cervos War.”
…
The Great Cervos War?
Onas smiled smugly and shyly rubbed the back of his head.
“But that’s not all!” Rose yelled out in excitement. “Not only was Sir Onas known for his leadership, but he was also accredited to having the most powerful fire magic in the Kingdom… no… the continent! He was like a dragon in the body of a human!”
Rubbing his mustache- which, by the way, he didn’t have- Onas asked, “Wanna see my magic, Wyliame?”
“Yes! Please, sir!” Rose blurted out even though Onas clearly wasn’t talking to her. “Say yes Wyliame!”
She stared at me with begging, puppy eyes with her hands closed together in a plead.
“Sure.”
Fire Magic, huh? Come to think of it, I haven’t really seen Onas’ stats all that well. Let’s see… [Appraisal].
<[Appraisal Activated]>
Huh? Why are there so many blanks?
Onas stepped away from us, facing in the direction of the deep snowy forest. “Remember how your body warmed up immediately after I touched you, Wylie? That was my magic. I’m able to control the heat of things that I touch at will. But that’s not all…”
Onas closed his eyes while the two other knights and I watched in silence. Rose on the other hand, clearly couldn’t contain her excitement and kept fidgeting around her feet.
He took a heavy, deep breath and firmly planted his feet on the snowy ground with full concentration. Then, with full vocal force, he shouted, “[Dragon’s Breath]!”
At the same moment, as if the gods and goddesses had heeded his call, a large flame of pure destruction emerged from the tip of his mouth, spurting into a frenzy that became larger the more distance it traveled. The snow beneath the flame completely liquefied as the flakes that fell from the sky vanished as soon as they contacted the flame. Although I was well behind Onas and his spell, the warmth of the air carried through and grasped onto my face. This is god damn incredible…