*AETHERIUS*

"Tiara, don't say that, it might offend him," her mother says while giving me a smile, "don't worry, miss, children are curious, but if my hair and eyes are unusual, it's because I inherited them from my mother and father, the green eye from my father and the purple one from my mother, the grayish hair from my father and the blond hair from my mother," I quickly explain to Lora.

"Grayish and blond hair only? What about that big white streak in your hair that runs through the middle?" she surprises me by mentioning my white streak, which initially was supposed to be just a small patch but extended a quarter of the way down my hair from the roots to the tips.

"I have nothing to say; I don't even know what happened, so I can't answer that," I apologize to her, "don't worry, let me introduce you to another one of my daughters, who seems to be your age and who took care of you for a while. EVAN, come here," Lora shouts, and her other daughter promptly arrives, with bright red hair and sky-blue eyes, just like her mother and sister.

"Pleased to meet you; I'm Ther, your mother told me you took care of me for a while, so thank you," I say while bowing my head and finishing my meal. I felt uneasy for a while until my alarm went off. "That's right, how long have I been here? Our parents might still be looking for us".

I quickly stand up and wince as I put weight on my injured leg. Evan helps me from falling.

"I'm sorry; we didn't ask your sister anything until we made sure you had woken up," Evan says, "but you've been here for three days, so now let us ask you, where are you from, so we know where to escort you once you recover," Evan finishes.

"I'm from a village called Shira; I think it's a few hours from here, past the mountain where the landslide occurred," I reply. I ask again, "How long will it take me to recover so I can return?" They look at each other and then back at me. "We can't say for sure about your recovery; that's a matter for the healer. Let me send Evan to fetch him," Lora replies.

"Thank you, but I would like to meditate and heal my other injuries with my mana," I tell Lora, "I'll heal you, brother Ther," Elowen says after finishing her meal, still by my side, and she presses her hands on my injured arm, which starts to glow with a golden light. Though her magic, inherited from my mother, alleviates some of the pain, "Thank you very much, Wen; that helped a lot," I thank Elowen and give her a kiss on the forehead as gratitude, her face glowing with pride for her treatment.

"Follow me this way; this place is good for relaxation and meditation with your core," Lora tells me and guides me to a bathroom, "take a bath in the meantime, it doesn't matter if your clothes get wet in the process; I can dry them," Lora tells me. She leaves the room, leaving me alone. After bathing and having my clothes dried by Lora, I can sit comfortably, although with discomfort in my leg, and begin to refine.

I am still far from reaching the brown state, after an hour refining my core, a dark shadow envelops my leg. Although I am startled, I remember what the voice in my dream said about helping me heal my injuries. Elowen hasn't left my side until now; she seems to be meditating too.

I feel that the main thing I should heal is my leg. Finally, the pain stops, and the shadow disappears. I stand up and test my leg to see if there are any discomforts; it feels in good condition. I perform some kicks, but the pain from my arm shoots through my body, causing me to fall. Well, at least my concern is my arm.

"Good moves, kids. Are you feeling better?" I hear the voice of a man, with chestnut eyes and green hair, tall and muscular. "Hello, sir, and thank you again," I say. After examining my arm, the healer says, "Well, young man, as I can see, you've been meditating, and it's good that your sister has been doing her best to heal your arm." The healer looks at Elowen, who blushes at the compliment.

I just chuckle at seeing her embarrassed. "Well, here's the situation: if you keep meditating and with my help, your arm could be fine in four or five days at most," I finally hear the words I wanted to hear, even though I didn't want to hear the days. "I'm glad to hear that, sir. Thank you," if there's anything my sister or I can do to help, please let us know," I address the village chief, Jafet.

"After a day of meditating with Elowen still on my lap, asleep, I lay her down on the bed next to me to sleep, waiting for tomorrow to see if I can send any message to my parents that we are okay."

"Brother, it's daytime; wake up," Elowen wakes me up, "I'm coming, Wen, calm down," even with pain in my arm, I go out with her to go to the place they indicated yesterday for breakfast. I meet Lora, Tiara, and Evan in that place, "good morning, children, come in. This is my house, and today, I'll be taking care of you," Lora tells us while serving breakfast.

"Thank you, Miss Lora, for breakfast," Elowen and I say at the same time. We take our time talking about the village and how they live here. After a while, we clear our dirty plates, and we help wash them, despite being told not to, but Elowen and I insist, and finally, they give in, allowing us to help.

As I finish washing the last plate, I sense a dangerous aura, almost similar to the one from the mountain that time. Dropping the plate in surprise, I'm startled and my arm gets hit hard. "Therius, are you okay?" Evan, who was helping me, asks. "Yes, Evan, sorry about that, it's just that..." My words are cut off when one of the guys who helped me out of the river comes in looking scared.

"Take cover, a wave of monsters is heading towards the village from the west, I and the others will go help stop them. Women and children who can't fight, stay at the chief's house as shelter," Damian says. Quickly, I stand up, "Elowen, go with Evan and Damian and the others, they'll take care of you," I quickly tell Elowen, "What? Brother, no, you're injured, you'll hurt yourself more like the last time you fell asleep for a long time," Elowen says, scared and with tears in her eyes.

"I know, Wen, but I can help, but I can't do it if you're not safe," I say as I hug her, "No, you're staying with us too, Therius," Lora stops me, "it's dangerous whether you can fight or not, you're still injured, and Elowen needs you by her side," after some fearful looks, Lora finally convinces me and Elowen, along with the terrified expressions of the others.

"Alright, let's go." We quickly leave the house and head towards the shelter.