Silas reached the bank - but unlike the man before, his foot sank in the water. In a flash, the ice had reverted to water. He cursed under his breath, forced to swim through the deep trenches.
How did he invoke his magic without using his tool? Using magic without a tool…Is he a demon?
The water, now biting cold, splashed against his face with a sharp chill. His teeth clattered, and a small layer of ice formed across his skin. He snapped it away and reached the other side, clothes heavy with frost.
This ice feels familiar…But how is this possible? His mind raced just like his legs did.
How's there a demon in Emberlain? The only demon present here is our envoy, Valdin. But he doesn't use magic - certainly not the one to use elemental magic.
So who's this other demon lurking in the Human Realm and how has he not been caught yet?
He finally caught the demon's coat fluttering in the air as the figure took a rugged, right turn. Silas followed, only to end up in the middle of nowhere. He stopped, scanning his surroundings with squinted eyes. Even amidst the darkness, not even the tiniest creak of a branch escaped his ears.
"You think I'm at a disadvantage, don't you? You can use long-range magic that can freeze me from anywhere. You don't have to approach me to incapacitate me, yet you ran and brought us such deep into the forest. I think you want to talk, don't you?"
The only response was of the wind howling across the darkness.
"Did you seal the magic in that cave? Was drowning us your work of art?"
No answer. Only leaves rustled in the distance.
Silas's smile widened. "Huh. You remind me of a certain disciple of mine, who had released a very similar tide upon Casca. He uses ice magic as well."
He felt it then. A slight disturbance in the air, as though his words had finally earned a reaction.
"Seems like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, after all. You two seem to share a fetish for unleashing dangerous tides upon people," he let the next words drop quietly. "You and…Eurus."
Alarm fired through his body as a sneaky back-handed attack reached him. He moved to dodge it - and heard a crashing impact mid-air. Silas turned. A sharp icicle that would have put a hole through him without mercy, had struck midway with something.
The mysterious demon rose to his feet, but another arrow stopped him in his tracks.
"Where are you running off to, you bastard?"
Judith's voice bellowed as she stood at the crest of a ridge, her gaze and smile leaking with peril.
"I'm too young to kick the bucket, yet I nearly died because of you. So you owe me some answers before I end your sorry life for good."
—
Vivia and Zerath stood very still and silent. He studied the sculpture in great detail, as though burning every memory of it in his mind. Trembling, he approached it, his hand grazing against the stone face.
"She's my master," he breathed with tremors, "with whom I trained…"
"Your master? That…How is that possible?" Her heartbeats thundered in her chest. "She's the same master I've been talking about, a-and…she's a human."
The shock reaching him in waves only served to raise the tempo of his erratic heartbeats.
"She's a demoness. Here…" He pointed at her face. "The right side is veiled by her hair. It's the only left side I see, but here it's the opposite. Even the obelisk earrings are the same."
Vivia froze.
My master also wore obelisk earrings.
"Was her eye orange? Like a pumpkin?"
Zerath blinked. "No. Her left eye is deep blue."
She paused. "My master's right eye is pumpkin orange. Like…an autumn leaf."
Arzan, standing a little apart, couldn't follow a single word they spoke. He asked hesitantly, "My lord, may I ask what demoness you're referring to? Isn't this sculpture…of a male warrior?"
Both deeply contemplated in silence. They themselves were too far away from deciphering the truth.
"Zerath, if…Master Nara was a demoness for you and a human for me, does it mean…" she left her question unfinished.
Zerath stared at her. "I think there's a more grave fact you must know other than her possibly being a veil-born."
Arzan's eyes went wide in disbelief.
"...What is it?" Vivia steadied herself.
"I believe Master Nara fought in the war five centuries ago. I believe she…is our Varkhail."
Had Zerath not held her firmly, Vivia would have stumbled backward.
"Five hundred years ago? My master is certainly not that…old!" She was at a loss of expressing her conflicted sentiments.
Though helpless himself, Zerath narrated the piece of memoir he had come across in the Royal Library - the freed slave's account.
"He described my Master exactly as I know her. The resemblance to her is uncanny, so I know it's not fiction."
Zerath stared into the eyes of the woman who he called Master Nara. "That slave who had met that warrior was my master. She was disguised as a male knight. She must've served in the Emberlain Royal Army too. I believe this is why her sculpture stands here as well. She must be the Luminar you call here."
Vivia gazed at the statue, the fond memories of her master flooding through her mind.
Nara.
To Vivia, she was an enigmatic existence as much as beautiful and headstrong. As a woman, she carried all the grace in the world and as a soldier, her blade cut faster than the lightning. She was a hotheaded monster when it came to training her, yet her pumpkin eye would glint with a strange calm poise at times.
Nara was the woman Vivia aspired to be.
A woman whose feet tapped along to the sweetest melody of a dance and then also swing her blade without hesitation. Yet despite the years of childhood she had spent training under her, she knew very little about her.
'Master, why is your left eye covered like that?' A younger Vivia had once asked. 'Is it some cool battle injury?'
That earned her a slap on her head. 'Why'd it be a cool injury? Who dares injure my pretty face?'
'Then I want to see your full faaaace!' she whined. 'You must look so beautiful!'
Nara's deadly fist was close to punching her. 'You held doubts until now?'
Ugh, a narcissist master…
But Vivia held her life dear, so she shook her head vigorously. 'Never! But I'm curious about your face!'
Nara propped herself upon a rock and leaned back on her palms. Her gaze lifted to the sky, the mysterious poise in her eyes shimmering yet again. A small smile touched her lips.
'People want to see only one half of their world. The side that they like, the side that they adore, the side that is beautiful to them. The part of my face I show is the side that makes everyone happy here.'
Vivia tilted her head. 'I don't understand. Which sides are you talking about? I like to see all the sides!'
Nara looked down, her eye meeting her bright and proud gaze.
'And you must continue to do that. It's only people like you who can change the course of this world. A world where…'
And in that moment, Vivia had witnessed a smile on her master's lips so breathtaking it had no name for it.
'One could show with pride, every color of their life they're born with.'