"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author Notes-

Chapter 03: The Tribute

After today's lesson was concluded, it was time for the part everyone hated even more than listening to the same story being told over and over.

The Elf Priest stood up from his ebony throne.

“The lesson for this month will conclude here…now is the time to make your contribution,” he declared with his hands raised into the air.

The two female Elves stood up and descended from the platform while carrying two objects everyone was already familiar with.

The Celestial Elves stopped before a stone protrusion that was located right beneath the priest's throne and was just big enough to place the object they were carrying.

One of them placed a wooden circular stand and the other one secured on top of it, a sphere made of some clear material that resembled glass.

They did not need to be told what to do next.

The villagers formed an organized line and approached the orb one by one under the watchful eye of the three Celestials.

Each villager would place one hand on the orb and keep it there for two seconds.

A small light would come out of their bodies and become trapped inside the orb, increasing its brightness.

“Next,” called one of the female elves.

Zephyr saw the kind old fisherman place his hand on the orb. The light that came from him was much smaller than the rest.

The old fisherman started to cough violently.

“Place it again, that was not enough...” the female Elf to the left told the old man without showing an ounce of empathy for that person's plight.

The hand of the old man trembled as it approached the orb again.

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“I….I don't think I have much left…mercy please!”

The Elf Priest frowned. He then grabbed his trembling hand and forced it upon the orb.

"The tribute is not optional, human. Everyone must do their part."

The hand was held in place until several more wisps of light came out of the old man's hand, and then he collapsed on the ground.

“You!” The Elf pointed at one of the humans who had just finished their turn. “Take him back to the village.”

The man glanced at the old man with pity in his eyes. “I will...”

Zephir clenched his fists with contained rage.

He knew that the kind old fisherman was not going to make it until the next month. He probably would not survive more than a few days.

What the Celestial beings were taking during these “offerings” was their vitality or life force.

Letting that orb absorb their vitality would make their lives shorter.

Everyone knew this, but they were never given the choice to say no.

This was their punishment for the sins of their ancestors and the price they had to pay for continuing to live under the rule of the Celestial beings.

“Next!” They called.

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He was surrounded on all sides by enemies.

Pale skin and bright red eyes.

Demons…

Their castle could be seen in the distance.

An abomination made of ebony stone but their towers were tall as his eyes could see.

The tallest tower got lost in the dark clouds.

“Get out of my way!” He yelled with rage while he continued to cut demons apart with his sword.

He refused to look back because then…he would see the bodies of his friends, who died so he could get this far.

The warrior continued on his rampage until he reached a pair of black wooden doors that led into the castle.

“Just wait a bit more, my friends…I will avenge you all…”

He pushed the doors open with such force that they flew off the hinges and crashed on the floor.

“Demon Lord… I'm coming for you!”

Zephyr opened his eyes. “Ahh!” He found himself back in his room.

“That dream…what was that?!”

It was the first time he had a dream so violent.

The most he had experienced before was fighting a few beasts or doing some training.

But this one was much worse.

“It felt so real…when I, no…when ‘He’...cut down all those people….wait, who were those?”

In the dream, he was sure to be fighting demons and the one he was trying to get into that castle was….

“The Demon Lord…” He muttered the name.

“But those people couldn't be demons, right?”

It was normal to be doubtful. No one has seen any depiction of demons since the war ended.

There are no paintings or drawings and any book that mentions demons will never describe their appearance.

They all assumed that demons were just monstrous creatures who feed on human flesh.

But the ones he saw in that dream were… actually very beautiful people.

Yes, they were different from humans with their pale skin, red eyes, and pointy ears, but no one could describe them as monstrous.

In fact, they resembled a bit to the Celestial beings.

They had the same type of unnatural beauty.

‘I need to get that thought out of my mind…’

The mere idea of comparing the Celestials with demons would be enough to get him executed a hundred times.

But he still didn't understand why he dreamed that.

“My mind must be playing tricks on me…maybe is because last night was 'Tribute' day…”

He pushed the contents of the dream to the back of his mind.

Thinking about his strange dreams was bound to get him in trouble.

He had just woken up and already felt tired.

Zephyr let his body collapse back on his straw bed.

Then, he smiled…today he had two reasons to be happy at least.

For once, he did not have to work so he was free to stay in bed all day if he chose to.

No one worked on the day after donating their life force because everyone was too tired. It was the only day when the Celestials allowed this.

The second reason was that today was his fifteenth birthday.

“Today is going to be a good day!” Zephyr was sure of it.