They walked in silence for a majority of the trek. The siblings were either lost in thought, or admiring their surroundings. The sky was clear and the warm afternoon breeze swept the tall grass on either side as leaves danced in the distant tree tops.
The hours passed as the morning turned to afternoon. Damien struggled to keep up. Their legs were growing sore from the uneven ground and their chest wounds dully ached with every ragged breath. Daniel was worse off and lagged behind, grumbling and panting from the heat, baffled by how Lilith remained unfazed and continued her stride. They could swear they even hear her singing cheerfully.
Daniel finally snapped, “Augh, how much longer? I thought you said it was close!”
“It is ya wimp!” Lilith called back, “Coupla city folk can’t take a leisurely stroll?”
Damien chuckled breathlessly, “He’s a mage, stamina isn’t his strong suit.”
Lilith belted out a laugh, “A mage! Hah! I know a healer that can walk double the distance without a peep!” She looked back to Damien with a smirk, “Yer soundin’ a bit tired too, no? You a mage too?”
“Psht, I’m fine,” Damien waved a dismissive hand, trying to hide their own panting, “we knights are, gah, trained to move well.”
She gave them an incredulous look, “Right right, yeah, definitely believe ya.”
“So what are… you then, augh, oh great one?” Daniel mustered between breaths.
She spun around, her red tail cape swooshing dramatically with her as she grinned confidently, “I am great! I’m an archer.”
Daniel scoffed, “No way, archers are super rare.”
“Hey! We’re rare, don’t mean we don’t exist!” She spun back around in a huff.
“She is an archer, brother.” Damien chimed in, “According to her files, she can even multishot!”
“Yeah, it’s cuz I’m Nephilim…” her voice trailed off as she stopped walking, her gaze focused off to the side.
“Because you’re Nephilim?” Damien asked, too focused on curiosity to notice her change of demeanor, “How does that work?”
“Mm,” Lilith hummed as she squinted into the grass. Her hand hovered over the pouch on her side as her body tensed. The siblings followed her gaze into the grass. There was silence as they held their breath and listened.
There was a loud rustle, and Lilith moved instantly. With a single fluid motion she popped open her pouch, drew blood, and called out, “Come, Sharp Shooter!” She brought her hand forward as something akin to a compound bow with bladed arms formed in her hand. The rustling grew more violent and was accompanied by a loud growl, but Lilith wasn’t fazed. As soon as her weapon had formed she motioned as if loading an arrow, “Call, Wind Blade!” and pulled back. A green glow of magic appeared at the arrow rest and stretched, following her finger tips. A group of three Shade flew out from the grass and into the air.
“Grapplers!” Damien called out through the beating of the Shade's wings. They circled once before diving, their large, powerful talons outstretched, bearing down on their prey, intent to let gravity do the work.
Damien and Daniel both reached for their stones to counter, but Lilith held firm. She aimed at the Shade while holding her arrow to draw the magic from her bow, increasing the summon’s power the same way a mage would with a longer chant. Just as the Shade were uncomfortably close, she let her shot fly. The arrow didn’t travel far before bursting into a dozen bright green waves. The Shade were struck and torn apart, the resulting ash scattered in the wind. The stray wind blades continued into the sky before dissipating into shimmering green light.
The siblings stood with their necks craned up and mouths agape. Lilith chuckled and flicked away the bangs from her eyes, “Heh, easy pickings.”
Daniel looked away with crossed arms and mumbled, “I could’ve done that.”
“That was amazing!”
Lilith shot a pointed finger at the two fiercely, “Slayer lesson one; always be on your toes! If I weren’t here you’d both be carried off ‘n dead.”
Damien nodded eagerly, “Understood!”
She looked to Daniel who was still focusing away from her, “Oy, mistah mage, that means double fer you!”
He looked over grumpily, “Yeah, sure, pay more attention, got it.”
She shot him a glare, “Ya better take this seriously, I won't be able ta save yer ass every time.”
“Right.”
Lilith huffed before de-summoning her weapon. Damien ran up beside her excitedly, “How did you do that? You said it was a Nephilim thing, but it looked like a regular summon!”
She laughed and grinned at them, “Y’know, I like you!” She looked back forward as she happily continued, “Being Nephilim sucks, but it’s got perks too, s’pecially if yer a blood Warrior. Using the magic stones fer stuff requires us summonin’ magic from Engel’s realm, but being Nephilim means ya got magic in ya too.”
Damien brought a hand to their chin, “So you’re saying you can access your own magic to amplify summons? Interesting…”
“Doesn’t hafta be just summons,” she added, "if ya control it, it can be used fer movin’ and jumpin’ ‘n stuff.”
“Huh, so, like knight skills, but you don’t need your weapon to do them...” Damien pondered at that. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
Lilith looked over her shoulder to Daniel, “Thorns Road is just up ahead! You’ll get’yer break soon!”
Daniel responded with a groan and a swig from his canteen.
As they travelled closer, Lilith’s demeanor grew serious. She stopped and looked back to the two, “Aight, listen up. This town is small but notorious. We’re stoppin’ ‘n jumpin’ on a caravan and that’s it. No store stops, and not a word.”
“Why’s that?” Damien asked.
“They’re one of the towns with the stupid law that Nephilim can’t leave the main road.”
Daniel’s brows raise in shock, “Wait, there’s a law like that?”
Lilith nodded, “Yeah, it sucks, but that’s how it is. People be thinkin’ Nephilim can go feral in a snap. Stupid sure, but we gotta respect that.”
He crossed his arms, “Why? What could they possibly do?”
“Oh I dunno, gang up on us with blood weapons that’ll hurt the two of us like hell? So shaddup or yer gonna be walkin’ fer eight hours.”
Daniel straightened at the mention of more walking, “Ah, yeah uh, I’ll be quiet.”
Damien nodded in agreement.
Soon after they wandered into town the two understood Lilith’s warning. The guards had seemed reluctant to let them enter, even after Lilith showed her ID. The townsfolk shot them dirty looks from the sidewalks. The buildings were in a poor state of repair; cracks running along the foundations and paint chipped and peeling from their exteriors. There was a single road cutting through, walked by the group and dotted with other Slayers. The eyes leered at the passing Slayers as well. Few stalls lined the sides of the roads, selling minor supplies and food and drink that smelled rancid, as if trying to discourage browsing. Damein tensed as their breathing shortened, the weight of the judging glares crushing their chest. Daniel sensed their anxiety and rested a comforting hand on their arm.
The group walked for a bit before reaching the other end of town. The dirt clearing was far more lively than the town with the relaxed atmosphere easing Damien's tension. Horses and caravans lined the edges, protected from the sun by wooden structures. Slayers of all kinds mingled and talked to some of the owners, laughing and exchanging coins and goods.
“Oy! Michael, Jack!” Lilith called out suddenly, causing Damien to jump. She waved at a couple of Slayers that had been tending to their caravan. They turned at her voice and waved back with a smile.
“I thought we had to be quiet!” Damien commented.
“This part ain’t run by the townspeople, so we’re good.” She replied, then jogged off.
Damien sighed, “I’m so confused, they seemed to just hate everyone that was passing through...”
Daniel shrugged, “Maybe the town just has a thing against anything related to Shade.”
“Maybe…”
“C’mon you two, we gotta head out!” One of the Slayers called to them. Lilith had already climbed inside and was chatting with the other driver. They ran over and hopped into the back as well.
Lilith rummaged through her change pouch and held out a fistful of coin, “This should cover a trip ta Adanac, yeah?”
One of the Slayers took the money, counted, then sighed with a chuckle, “Once again, you’re way overpaying.” He removed half the pile and passed it back to Lilith’s waiting hand.
With a flick of the reins the caravan began to move. The sound of crunching gravel could barely be heard over the creaking wood as they moved over the stones and dirt. Damien and Daniel gripped at the frame to try and not be jostled by the motion. Lilith chuckled and sat comfortably, her body rocking with the movement.
Once they left the town and hit the road, things calmed and evened out. They sighed with relief and sat up straight.
One of the drivers looked inside with a smile, “Sorry about that, the rest of the way should be much smoother.”
Damien smiled back, “Ah, thank you, um…”
“Jack, and this,” he thumbed to the man holding the reins, “is my partner, Michael.”
“Yo.”
“We give cheap rides to the small time Slayers. Usually we don’t take teams,” he gave a wink, “but we’ll make an exception for you guys.”
“How’d you two manage to get roped into joining Lilith anyway?” Michael asked with a laugh.
“Oy, don’t word it like that!” Lilith retorted, “Them two are lucky ta have me ‘round.” She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, her voice softening, “We helped them out after Tairan got attacked.”
Jack’s expression darkened, “Oh damn, I’m sorry kids, that’s rough. We heard what happened. It’s heartbreaking hearing a city gettin’ attacked like that.”
“Yeah it… was pretty rough,” Daniel’s voice trailed off, lost in thought.
Damien turned their attention to him, concerned, “You okay?”
“Yeah…” He responded softly. Damien was about to inquire further, but Daniel turned his attention to Lilith, “Hey, Lilith.”
“Mmm, what? I’m sleepin’.” She mumbled, her eyes closed with arms folded behind her head.
“What’s your element affinity?”
“My elemental…” she spoke half asleep, “augh, it’s wind.”
“Can you use any other element?” He pressed.
Lilith grumbled and cracked her eyes open with annoyance, “Is that really so important? Lemme sleep.” Her eyes closed again and she fell asleep within seconds.
“Impressive,” Damien mused with a smile. They looked back to Daniel, “Why did you ask? We saw her using wind magic.”
“It’s nothing, just curious,” he answered dismissively. He leaned back against the wooden frame and closed his eyes, “Guess it’d be smart… to get some rest…” Following Lilith’s example, Daniel’s voice faded into a light snore.
Micheal chuckled from the front, “Man, I wish I could sleep as fast as them two. Kids have it easy I tell ya.”
Damien smiled, “Yeah, they both seem to have that talent.”
“You should get some rest too,” Jack added, “it’s gonna be awhile before we arrive at Adanac.”
Damien shook their head, their gaze shifting to outside the back, “It's okay, I've never been very good at taking naps.”
Michael looked to Jack and shrugged, “Suit yourself.”
For the first time in a while, Damien had time to themself. Time to think everything over. The fall of Tairan, their father’s experimentation, their mother… Damien sighed and rested their chin on a propped hand. There was no point in thinking too hard about it.
Answers would come soon enough.
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