I had calmed down and was now waiting for an answer, just like the team. I had grown more familiar with the soldiers during our time here. The captain, named Alexander, was a commoner like myself. He had been raised around books and was interested in the scientific process because of this. The Lieutenants, named Martin, a black haired middle-aged man and Jan, who had brown-ish hair. I assumed Jan was a Varsan before the collapse of their kingdom, judging by his name. The last of the soldiers, the Sergeant Lena, was a black-haired woman who was roughly the same age as Alexander. According to Alexander she was the most recent member of the team and was still unfamiliar with the rest. 

I had been sitting alone for an hour or two, until Alexander came up to me with a smile and a cup of tea. He sat down next to me on the grass and gave me the cup. I forced a smile and said, "Thanks." 

Alexander nodded and spoke, "Feeling better?"

I dropped the forced smile and responded, "I guess," I let out a sigh and continued. "I just don't know what to do anymore."

"You know," Alexander spoke with a slightly heavier tone. "Back when I was a child and I was training to become a scholar-mage, I messed up with one of my spells."

Intrigued, I continued to listen as he spoke. "But that one failure ruined my chance at the most prestigous academy in the Empire. I'm sure you have heard of it, right?" I shook my head, and Alexander looked slightly puzzled. "The Tverian Military Academy at the capital is considered the best in the Empire. It's hard enough to get in as is and requires a lot of cash to do so, but even when you manage to enroll, only few make it to graduation."

"Sounds scary.. But you got what you wanted at the end, right?" I inquired. Alexander shook his head and spoke, "Somewhat. I wasn't always a commoner. I was the fifth son of the House of Silverspear, but my failure enraged my father and resulted in him seeing me as a disgrace to the family name. He exiled me from the family, and even though I got the position in the Academy later on, he refused to take me as his son again."

Alexander got up from his seat and started to walk away, "Take from that what you want, but remember that your life doesn't end here. We're only human, after all."

I was thankful to Alexander for his tale. It made me feel a bit better about myself, believing that my parents would never do such a thing. I closed my eyes and threw myself on the grass. It was night time, so I just decided to go to sleep where I laid. 

I opened my eyes in a panic as I tried to understand what was going on. The soldiers had their weapons at the ready and pointing at something. That something was nearly three meters tall, clad in full metal armor and was equipped with a blade that shined white, as if it was created from light. It had two white feathery wings as if it was a bird-human hybrid. Two horns protruded from it's head, resembling a bull. 

Behind the monster was a light that shone so great it made it hard to see the creature. I heard Alexander's yells over the wind that rushed towards the light. "It's an angel, get into formation!"

An.. angel? What the hell is an angel doing here!? I asked myself internally. Angels were beings with magical powers far beyond that of a human - all of us here knew that we stood no chance against it. They rarely showed themselves to humans and yet, here was one standing before us.  Angels tended to be neutral against humans, but that didn't mean they cared about us. They only saw us as a buffer between them and the demons.

The angel spoke with a loud and assertive voice, "Halt." 

I fell to my knees immediately afterwards, trying to prevent myself from fainting because of the pressure. I checked to see how the soldiers were faring, and they were in similar situations. The angel approached us and dug its sword in the ground, then waited as if it was inviting us to try something. 

"Four humans.. I demand you to explain why you are in this area." the Angel said, understanding we stood no chance against him.

Alexander couldn't even respond from the pressure. I forced out a few words in the situation, "We.. heard the town... had disappeared... so we were sent... to investi-" unable to bear the pressure, I stopped speaking.

The angel nodded and continued to speak, "I did not expect any one of you humans to speak back to me. How interesting." he approached closer and grapped my chin. "You want to know what happened, correct? Allow me to enlighten you, it was the demons."

"D..demo..ns?" I forced out, still under the effect of the pressure. The angel lauged, "Yes boy, the demons did this to this town. I was sent on behalf of the angels to investigate their purpose, and I believe I just found it." he said while smiling towards me.

The angel got up and started walking toward the shining light and spoke without looking back, "I will be watching you closely, child. Next time I see you, you'd better be able to do more than just talk under pressure."

He walked into the light and disappeared, taking the light which had now dimmed with him. All of us grasped for air immediately after he was gone, and got back on our feet. I ran over to Alexander as they tried to make sense of the situation. "I can't believe it.. an angel.. and we survived it." said Martin, clearly flabbergasted. 

Jan nodded. "We have to report this immediately. The nation may need to go into immediate lockdown."  

Lena spoke for the first time in a while and agreed, "If a second demon-angel war is on the horizon.. we may not survive. Humanity was nearly made extinct during the first one."

Alexander had largely been silent as the soldiers debated what to do. He finally spoke with a thoughtful tone, "He said he had found what they were looking for.." 

Suddenly, all heads turned towards me. I knew what they meant, but I couldn't answer their questions. I simply did not know what the angel was talking about. Jan spoke first, "What did the demons want with you? You are only a child."

Lena shook her head. "That is an incorrect viewpoint. The higher beings do not care about whether a human is a juvenile or an adult. They only care about their worth."

Alexander gave an order, realising there was nothing else to be done. "We are leaving. Immediately. It is no longer safe here."

And in five minutes, we had packed up our equiment and were on our way back.. back to Saara.

⁕ ⁕ ⁕

We arrived in Saara shortly before night fell over the land. We were all exhausted, but the soldiers still had to report to the Marshal. I was now homeless, so I simply followed them to the Marshal's office. I watched as they explained every single thing with excruciating detail, including the part where the Angel clearly referanced me as the reason why this occured. I watched as Hayya's face shifted from curiousity, to horror. 

"You are all dismissed. Except for the kid." the Marshal finally said. The soldiers promptly saluted and left the room. 

I expected to be berated, however the exact opposite happened when the Marshal let out a slight laugh and spoke. "I guess that's how it is, huh?" I was confused, but I didn't ask. He continued, "I thought they would've taken longer to come after you.. but this just proves it. Daniel, I hope you recognise that everything you have known so far is a lie."

"A lie?" I asked. "How so?"

"You will learn it from him when the time comes. Until then, you will be under my care. Got it?" Hayya said with an assertive tone.

"Who is him?" I said, confused on who he was referring to.

"That is also for you to find out. I will also submit an application to the Tverian Military Academy in your place, because I sincerely doubt your non-magical abilities will impress the judges over there. Yes, it's slightly corrupt, but it helps us in the long term." he continued, answering my question.

And so, my life under Hayya's household began. 

Note: Hi again everyone! I've completed the first major segment of the story, which was the introduction. The story enters the next arc following this, which will be uploaded soon enough, probably sooner than a week!

Love you all, see you on the next chapter!