Relief chocked my throat.
But, thing went very beyond the wrong.
Then, horror—it was a sword, right diving down into my chest.
It was so flashy, like a lightening. I lumped there, frozen in the spot. Somehow, I felt the air around me seemed to be concreted into a transparent wall, which slowed or blurred the imminent death, and which also blurred the most part of the picture of heads in the circle turning to look at me. But no one I could run for help.
A buzzing, as though of air-taken-in, snapped the air. All the faces, I saw not clearly, watching my direction, mouth open. Some of them even were craning their necks to get a better look, screaming, applauding and whistling. The sea of carnival beasts…
Then, an extremely ear-piercing sound wiped all those noises away.
Click, click, click…then, sounded like glass smashing.
The world became clearer.
Outside, the uproar from the circle was greater. Every single mob had jumped to his or her feet, screaming and stamping, as a figure made his way past them, face blank and headed off towards me. The screaming for him went on so loudly that it was some time before I could make myself hear him.
Inside, the blast of noise that suddenly met my ears before the airy shell around me was crashed. Shards of ice fragments showered down, scratching my exposed skin, bouncing harmlessly onto the ground, and melting into snow. The next thing I knew, it was like suddenly being wrenched out of some capsule by dozens of hands, and was forced to face the outside.
Immediately, fresh air gushed in. My throat was filled full of icy breath at once. The cold air rubbed against the dry mouth cavity, wakening a wave of pain. It made me want to cough, to spit this weird feeling out! But I just did. The inside of my head seemed to be churned by this violent action into a complete disarray, as though my brain had been ransacked.
There was a sound of scurrying feet behind me.
Soon the helping hands didn’t stop swarming around me until I was dragged up straight and the crisp of snow shouldered off from my face. Still dazzled by the sudden glaring light, I staggered a bit. I was consumed with fear but only felt too ill to look closely at my surroundings.
As my glance rotated in a slow circle, the other people muttered and stared; some kid reached out and tried to poke me with a finger, but only being pulled away by his adult. There seemed to be at least forty of them, their clothes robe-like as if they’d came from the historical book, all shapes and sizes and races, their hair of varying lengths. I suddenly felt dizzy, my eyes flickering around the crowd and the bizarre place in which I’d found myself. We stood in a vast bridge several times the size of a football field, surrounded by two enormous archways made of scarlet wood and covered in spots with golden sculptures. The archways soared to the sky and formed a perfect roadblock, from which I could see the looming lines of roofs.
Where was I?
Then I started to think about the possibility of broken-brain. Afterward a distant and cold voice floated overhead.“What are you?”
So deep in thought was I that I even not heard his questions until the light was suddenly shadowed. I looked up, frowned.
Eyes widened.
Wrapped in white furs, dragging one great sword, Shawl loomed over me like a giant. His eyes found mine, and I could see how hard it took me; I felt a pressing ache of weird fear that shouldn’t be like that, even delayed what glinting was close to me to sink its threatening meaning in my mind.
“Shawl—” the name burned my lips; I was surprised at hearing my hoarse voice for the first time. It didn’t sound quite like mine.
My word creased his brow in no time. His eyes narrowed.
“You—knew …her.” The former voice asked again.
The deep sniff, suddenly being with me, startled me. I swiveled my head around, trying to grasp him. The picture wobbled, but it’s not difficult to take in a thick, heavily muscled boy, folding his arms as he studied me. His long dark sleeves rolled up to show off his biceps.
“No.” the decisive coldness in his tone knocked me, like a bucket of ice water showering down.
My eyes widened again, and another boy stepped out of the crowd and playfully slapped Shawl across the shoulder. His voice thick with an odd accent.“The beauty’s look didn’t tell that story, Monas.”
“Yeah, that is an exploding discovery to find my dear brother have such unique taste, a Vousie bastard, you’ kidding me!” A short, pudgy boy walked forward, the huge iron shackle around his neck dazzling in the light. His eyes flared with hatred. I couldn’t have been surprised if the kid came at me with a knife. He had shallow red hair and when we made eye contact, the boy turned his head away disdainfully, around to that odd-accent boy.
“Vousie? Yvah, my sweet brother, are you sure that?” the odd-accent boy frowned.
Yvah hesitated.
“She’s visible.” The red-haired boy pointed. His four brow tightened, almost knotting together.
“I would not get the wrong smell, Saiyee!” the shackle waggled with Yvah’s anger.
“That’s why doesn’t make sense.” Veins stuck out of Saiyee’s temple as he cast a doubting glance at me.
“Well, it’s better to let her tell, right, beauty?” the odd-accent boy suggested lazily, then ran his hands over his long hair as he smiled around at me. Then countless others stared.
Once again a pressing ache of confusion attacked me—hearing so many words that didn’t make sense. They popped out of the boy’s mouths so naturally it seemed odd for me not to understand. It was as if a chunk of my language was broken. More disorienting was their clothing—like cos-play garb. They were baroque, ancient, stirring in the wind. But other than the permanent glinting, as if full of gemstone, there was nothing scary about them at all. The clue of my logic started to slip into an unreasonable way: Was I dead and... run across the age?
Then a mixture of flickering color bombarded me. The world was spinning, the sky was glaring by the multicolored lanterns, but I could see no sign of the time or direction—it could be early morning or late afternoon. I closed my eyes hardly, trying to digest those blinding light, until a familiar dread, suddenly diving closer, poked them open again.
Shawl was lifting a sword right at me. The tip of the blade was just half of an inch to my throat, and I could almost feel my life was elapsing from my body.
What was he doing? He wanted to kill me?–
For a flash of moment, the blurred memory rang the bell. Everything, every detail that had been wrapped in the fog, went vividly clear. The face behind the homicidal light was not the other, but the one who was studying me, devoid of no expression.
My fingers instinctively flew up, fumbling around the place where his sword stabbed, but I traced no cut. How could that be?
My fingers froze in the spot. I looked down, and the intact cloth seemed mocked the reality looming before me.
I had been stabbed, right into the heart—which was still grabbed by the looming pain hardly.
“Reply!” his growl rippled the air.
The voice, seeming through a very long tunnel, pulled me back to the world. It was not Shawl’ sound. My heart skipped a beat.
He was not Shawl.—that was a HUGE relief.
Then, who was he? Why did he has a Shawl’s face, as if a twin brother? –shock, confusion and fear followed, mingling together.
And—why did he want to kill me?
Shock. Could that be just a hallucination caused by cerebral concussion? Different assumptions battled for domination in my head.
Hallucination-assumption was wrong.
His blade had touched my skin at the next second. Some instinct took over my actions, and I tried to learn backward. But the wall behind my back blocked the way. The strength under the blade was harder, almost cut my breath, announcing his short patience.
“Don’t be impertinent, brother!” a hoarse cry jogged me back to sense. It was familiar and involved urgent in his tone. But as I twisted my head awkwardly to look up, I just saw he trod with his waist wriggling in an elegant rhythm and stopped, several inches beside Monas.
My lips twisted. Fox? He’s….alive….wait—Since Fox was here, which didn’t mean that my assumption failed either?
I looked blankly at him scratching the non-existing sweat by the back of his sleeve.“I will really give it to you, little trouble! You are such an ace at playing missing. When you say you want to disappear, you actually commit. It has taken me years, an embarrassing amount of money, and more time in transmit bridges that I ever dreamed my ass would spend.” He paused dramatically, “How many times I warned you—never haunt the cold thing alone. But obviously it's like water off a duck's back.”
The screaming and chattering died down. A ridiculous tense silence followed the word.
“Hold—on—” the first one breaking ice was Yvah.“Did you just say she haunted the cold thing?”
Ignorance responded him. Fox’s shadow fell across my face. I looked up to find Fox looming overhead like a cliff. His furry hair seemed to blot out the light. His finger fell on the place where a long gash crooked. Pain under his push made me shiver. “Your wound is getting worse.”
His examination seem like a bomb tossing in the throng. The circle loosened a bit.
“She’s infected?” Monas frowned. A spasm of nonplus darkened his eyes.
“No.” but Fox gave him a perfunctory nod and looked away. “You’ve just verified, haven’t you?”
“I just killed a Vousie.” Monas stated.
“Then she turned up from the shell of that bastard.” Yvahpeered at me with the same expression of faint distaste he worn since he showed up.“-like she was born…”
“…”The story had went very weird way, and I was too tired to comment.
“Vousie can’t propagate their species.” Saiyee disavowed with an irresolute hint in his tone.
“She was devoured, but Vousie couldn’t assimilate her.” Monasregarded me thoughtfully with his cool green eyes.“More than that, Vousie seemed not even get the command of her soul. Instead, he got backfire. Am I right?”
If his eyes lingered on me, I felt he just try to figure out something through me. But now he was staring at me. How did I follow up his conversation? Fox’s inexplicable blink was not helpful. I wasn’t sure whether it sounded “don’t speak”, or “just make up”, or “to be honest”? Or shall I directly package dizzy? Or maybe I didn’t need even to package because his “devour” had sent its meaning to my mind. Did he mean I’d stayed in the belly of that monster? Once the thought attacked me, a wash of sick feeling clutched my throat.
Subconsciously I shook my head at that disgusting hypothesis.
“So what is it?” the next second my jaw was unlocked, the place caught by his iron fingers, heated and painful. There must be bruised.
“How did I know that? I just ran for my life, and then you stabbed me. That’s all!” I demanded, aversion finally giving way to anger.
The melody lingered long after my roar performed. I could feel hundreds and hundreds of eyes upon me, as though each was a searchlight. But I was too fumed, just wanting to punch somebody.
“You mean you even not realized you’re possessed by Vousie?” Saiyee’s eyes went round, full of incredible haze.
A sneer cut his words.“Shall I admire your super-dull nature, or you’re playing fraud to attract noble’s attention?”
“Lord Yvahis right. No one is able to survive from the claw of the cold thing!” someone echoed him.
“You’re liar. My father was the Master of Naga North Landing. He was tortured by the venom for five months, but still not got a close escape. How could you manage that?”
“Perhaps she’s some spy from those bastards.”
“She looks like that!”
There’s more and more sounds responding to that shackled boy. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath. Emptiness ate away at my insides, quickly replaced by a sadness that hurt my heart. It was all too much—what’s wrong with these people? Why did they care about so much whether I was infected, though Fox did say something about venom that I’d ignored? What would happened to me if my situation fitted into their assumption?
“She’s clear.” A chilly voice died down the clamor.
It was that moment that I found he was still holding my chin to force my face up to face his. Somehow, tears threatened again to fill my eyes, blurring part of his face. But I refused to let them come.
“Bullshit!” Yvahexploded an utter.“How could she do that? Are you going to cover up her evil deformation? That could kill you, brother?”
“Her soul is clear, or you are suspicious about my ability?”
“You know, there’s only pure, innocent soul immune to the thunder calamity from Handra. That’s the nature of the Naga.” Fox added.
“But…but…” Yvah’s look was like drinking soul milk. “But she brought the killer to the Gate. Do you claim that action is innocent?”
“It is beyond curfew. A cold bastard, even under control, is enough to throw our civilian and nobility in danger, brother.” Saiyeepointed out.“Since the monster was dead, this crime is still calling to account. By the way, you know her, Fox?”
Fox blinked.“Anyone still remember the missing Little Lord?”
A wave of confusion winced the faces of the throng. Even Monas, his grip softened for an instance.
“You mean she’s—”Saiyee groaned in a sudden reaction.
Fox gave a weak smile.
“Impossible, she’s been far too rotten hundred years ago.” Yvah looked as petulant as only a boy could look.
“Yeah, it was torture to witness her death, but I’m sure she was dead.” A hunched old man hobbled out of the crow.
Yvahgave a happy gasp, and Fox crooked a wired look, but it was not his brother Fox was watching. The glance that passed the old man and he lasted no more than a second. Then the old man dropped his gaze to the ground.“That is no mercy. There gods are cruel to let the girl linger in such pain. I don’t know where your belief of her death came from. If my memory didn’t play trick on me, I do remember she was recorded as missing, not demise.”
Yvah had the grace at least to blush.
“Then, I see nothing to prove she is as well.” Saiyee added coldly.
“You are adorable. Which of your ears got a piece of certainty about that?” Fox laughed.
“Enough! I am in no mood for your insolence today,” Saiyeerubbed his temples, trying to ease raised fury.“It is past time you indulge your pet hanging around inside, to offer them your entertainment. This girl must come with me—”
“Your short patience always cut your insight, Saiyee. Despite her identity, aren’t you interested in the coincidence of her appearance?”
“I would dig it out!”
Fox clapped.“It looks like you are not only shot patient, but also forgetful. Do I remind you what happened on that little lord when you tried to dig something out?”
The dark look of utter twist, like some bad memory had attacked him, got the command of Saiyee’s face. His fingers balled. “Then my love brother, you want to lend me a favor?”
A broader smile bloomed on Fox’s face. “Mmm, not me!” he turned to look at Monas.
Then the weight of their focus fell on me, and I was still locked awkwardly in his iron grip. Struggle was useless, only consuming the strength that was less left inside.
“You want me to babysit a…”
Somewhere under my numb helplessness, I felt another ripple of anger. Babysit?“Thanks! I don’t need!”
The grip tightened. The temperature seemed drop one degree. The swallow in the ears were knocking the air.
“There’s no necessary,” my tone weaken a bit. I’d tried to behave pushier, but when I met his glare, my temper just cowered as usual as I faced Shawl. For a moment, I thought I was looking at Shawl. “I…I got go.”
“Perfect, I’m glad you don’t need me to drag away.”
It was then I found I was almost half hanging over his arm. I struggled to support myself up, but the limp legs seemed to step on the water. Another waggle pathetically damaged my poor balance.
“Seems your happy led wrong way.” With a flashing of wind, Fox’s sound was suddenly with me. But there was one faster, walling him aside.
My face didn’t expectedly kiss the ground. Monascaught me with a hard scoop. Head-lighted, I looked up. My eyes just collided with a cold face, behind which was Fox’s embarrassed stare.
“Monas!” Saiyee and Yvah cried in chorus.
“What?” he didn’t even share an eye to them. “You think I’m not entitled to hold a…her?” Before their answer broke out, he’d dragged me like a sandbag away.
“Hey, where are you going? I wanna go home…Let me go.” I wriggled against his pull, kicked with all my strength. But it seemed to knock on the stone. (“OUTH”)
“Home?” His snort pounded my wail. “Yeah, there will be your home!”
Remarks:
1、Monas Akas: the 7th prince living in the palace named Takor Angana, floating in the Anayou Sea. His Ability is Handra.
2、Yvah Verdigo: the 2th prince living in the Twelfth-Empty City, based in the Death Door.
3、Saiyee: the 6th prince living in the Philori aside the West Sea.
4、Momoky: the 5th prince living in the Kamala Sumanti, alongside Garna Sea.