I wonder if he would tell me more if I remained silent. Begging him for answers will only make me seem desperate. Right now, I just long for a moment of peace, to be left alone with my thoughts.

“Come on, now! Don’t give me that blank look. I—”

“Just leave me alone, would you? Quit messing with my nerves and go away!” I snapped, my patience fraying.

“A bit short-tempered, I see,” he mused, unfazed. “Well, I won’t disturb you any longer, my Lady.” he said solemnly. “Take this. It’s for your ankle...See you…” He turned and walked away.

I watched him retreat in silence, but then he stopped, turned around, and called back, “Yes, my Lady. You should apply it to your wound, not drink it! I am glad you asked, otherwise getting it out of your system will be difficult.” With that, he walked off.

I grabbed the colored vial and applied some on my ankle. Its texture was smooth and odorless, very pleasant. As I spread it on my wound, I felt it slowly regenerating. Even the withered grass beside me revived when splashed with this miraculous substance.

I stood slowly to test the effectiveness of this weird medicine.

“It worked!” I said with relief. “I should’ve thanked him properly.”

“Better late than never, my Lady,” said the young man suddenly appearing beside me.

“Aaah! You startled me!” I gasped.

“My apologies! Let’s start from scratch. My name is Ansel. I am your one and only loyal servant, my Lady,” he said kneeling in front of me.

“Why would you be my servant?” I asked. “Or perhaps, does it have to do with this Alba thing again?”

“You are quick to catch on, my Lady!” he said happily.

“Did Aloen send you?”

“Who?” he asked. “Ah, the second brat from the Narcis household. No, he didn’t. Plus, we are not even that acquainted, my Lady,” he smirked with disdain.

He obviously doesn’t like them. Mentioning them all of a sudden wiped the wide smile off his face.

“Now, who is Alba?”

“It’s you, my Lady.”

“I happen to have forgotten this part of my past, can you please refresh my memory?”

He looked at me, like a disoriented puppy would look at its owner.

“Oh really?” he said, turning around me.

“Yes. Sorry to disappoint you, Ansel.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean it that way. I sense something superhuman in you, as if you were back. Maybe it’s not time yet.”

“Does this insignia hold some mystery I am supposed to know about?”

“Insignia, you say?”

“Yes. It appeared here on my neck. It has been protecting me… for a while now.”

“It didn’t seem like it to me,” he said sharply. “It didn’t get you out of the well, nor did it save you from that ravenous Vyrath.”

“A what now?”

“A Vyrath, my Lady. Vyraths are twisted ex-humans who are enslaved by Lords and other rich people. In the domain where we are now, humans are livestock for these Vyraths. They suck their blood and then devour their hearts.”

“How do these humans turn into such abominations?”

“At first these humans were only normal slaves, performing menial tasks like housework and physical labor. As you know, human lives are quite ephemeral. If their performances please their masters, they are turned into Vyrath, to live longer. The ones who have been rebellious are immediately fed to other Vyraths.”

 “Why are humans treated like that anyway?”

“As long as the law of the fittest prevails, the weak will always be exploited, and the strong will prey on them.”

“Still, aren’t the strongest supposed to protect the weakest?”

“My Lady, your old self will be astonished to hear that,” he whispered. “In any case, humans here are considered moving-empty shells. To put it simply, even animals are above them.”

“That’s it! Enough of this. You are belittling me in front of me, with no shame!”

“I would not dare, my Lady. But you see, you are no human. Your current form is only temporary. Unfortunately, telling you more would only hinder the process. As your devoted servant, I eagerly await your awakening.”

After a brief moment of silence, he said, “Let’s head to my humble home, for now. It will rain soon enough. Don’t look down, my Lady,” he said, draping his coat over my shoulders. “You’ll understand everything in due time.”

*****

The sky grew darker as clouds gathered, veiling the moon in shadow. The stars were nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a massive red moon emerged, glowing brighter than ever. It loomed behind the faintly extinguished moon, leaving only a slender crescent visible.

“Are there two moons here?” I asked, perplexed.

“I wouldn’t call it a moon. You see, around here we call it Syrath Lunara. It mainly guides spirits through the darkest nights,” he said with a smile. Then, closing his eyes with a soft sigh, he added, “Lost spirits like me.”

Nothing surprises me anymore. Even if he said he was a dead person coming back to life, I would remain unmoved.

“You said Syrath Lunara? What language is that?” I asked.

He looked at me promptly, a faint smile lingering. “It’s Velathryn. This language is used mostly by spirits and Vyraths. Some human slaves speak it too.”

“I met a little boy… a slave, as you call them. He seemed to perfectly speak English. Why is that?”

“Oh? It means that he had freshly arrived!” he answered with a creepy excitement.

 “I see,” I said, masking my unease. “Is your place still far ahead?”

“Nope,” he said with a grin. “We’re here.”

We arrived at the edge of a cliff. I cast a wary glance downward, wondering if he meant to go down there. All I could see was a river winding through a dense forest, its surface glinting faintly in the dim light.

“Should we, my Lady?” he said, extending his hand with a subtle smile.

“Don’t tell me we are going to jump!” I shouted, panic creeping into my voice.

“Do not fret, my Lady. I am forever by your side,” he replied calmly, his gaze steady and reassuring.

I reached for his hand, hoping not to be betrayed by such beautiful words again. The moment our hands touched, we jumped into the void, floating in the air. A truly pleasant sensation. I could say it’s as if I was swimming in crystal-clear water. The only difference was that now I could breathe freely.

“Didn’t I tell you, my Lady?” he whispered, his voice soft with both sorrow and excitement. “You used to enjoy flying in my company long ago, I wish you could come back to us soon, Lady Alba.”

His words were a bittersweet mix of joy and longing. He was glad that I, Alba’s shell, was with him, but sadness of knowing her soul was not there weighed heavily on him.

I reached for his cheek, to comfort him, “I will do my best to meet your expectations, Ansel”

Suddenly, as we floated mid-air, a voice broke the silence, singing familiar words:

Faen alor en felora, surdan ieth un falen,

Myrith the aira, renar thor felathen.

“What does this even mean? Do you have any idea Ansel?”

“…”

“Ansel?”

His eyes were shimmering with a light green hue. Then, in a low, almost hypnotic tone, he began to mutter the sinister song:

Faen alor en felora, surdan ieth un falen,

Myrith the aira, renar thor felathen.

The voice of another joined in, eerie and distant:

Lirith hel in aira, se rithal the myrith

Faerith unral en surda, Myrith thael renar en felora

Ansel repeated the words again, his voice cold and mechanical:

Lirith hel in aira, se rithal the myrith

Faerith unral en surda, Myrith thael renar en felora

Then, without warning, he released me mid-air.