"Shae leads that half of my army. She's essentially Iomor's counterpart, but where are you going with this?"
"There is more yes. His methods are nothing short of abusive, I'm honestly surprised that you've not seen the effects of the hate he breeds. At least I treat my soldiers with respect, females included."
Sebastian fell silent. It was a serious accusation and by the sound of it, not a baseless one either. Judging by his tone, Sariel felt strongly about the issue, which was surprising by itself. He knew the two commanders were bitter enemies; did it stem from the angel's distaste of his counterpart's methods? The two races hadn't been on speaking terms for a long time, telling him to dispose of Iomor would have been seen as preposterous.
"Let me put it to you this way; why would he need to force control over individuals loyal to you, if it weren't for some subversive purpose? Iomor cares only to serve the crown, not the head it sits on."
"I'll have to investigate these claims, but thank you for bringing it to my attention," Sebastian replied, uncomfortably leaning back in his seat.
"Just watch your back. Uriel may consider you an upstart and a bit outspoken but he doesn't want you dead by any means."
With that statement, the magical link went silent. Sariel had evidently spoken everything he wanted to, leaving to prevent any further discussion. He had succeeded at making Sebastian doubt Iomor's innocence, but getting evidence to prove his claims was going to be a tricky matter. If the demon got wind of what Sebastian was investigating all he would do was hide his tactics more. Such abuse would leave visible wounds, which if they had been treated Dumon would know something.
* * *
Life had been bleak in the swamps since the battle ended, the weather had not become worse but it also showed few signs of improving. Snow still lay scattered over the ground, piling up high against the trees that dotted the landscape. It was a daily battle to keep the ice that suffocated the lakes clear. So far the effect had not been too severe; the West often got cold winters, but that was during the winter months. A winter at the end of summer was going to be felt for a while. The fish which was the staple of the demons could survive the cooler temperatures, but its breeding cycle would be heavily disturbed. In the long term, it would regulate itself, for now, it would mean rationing food to prevent causing any damage with their greed.
The air was silent as always inside the log cabin that sat perched in the swamp, the dark tint of the wooden panelling was lit with the brightness of a magical flame. Books had been piled high on a small wooden table that sat on one side of the room. The set of drawers nearby also had tomes stacked upon it, along with a varied selection of magical artefacts. Up against the left-hand wall was a bed, by far the largest item present within the reasonably sized room, it could easily sleep two demons.
A creak from a door broke the silence, followed by a solemn sign as a robed figure entered, quietly shutting the door behind them. With the flick of the wrist, they retrieved a book en route to the bed before settling down on the edge, gently leaning over the blanket-covered mattress.
"Morning sweetheart," Amnur said, reaching over to softly stroke the side of Sakura's face. It was wrapped in bandages, covering the majority of the left side of her head. He waited for a response, but as it had been for the days following the incident, she was still sleeping. His expression sank; this was the longest she had ever been unconscious following injury. Normally she bounced back quickly, way before her body had a chance to rest. Keeping Sakura on bed rest when it was needed was a challenge in itself. The kid was just too curious and active for restrictive rest. Right now, Amnur would prefer having to bicker with her and doing everything possible to amuse his daughter as opposed to her current state, silent and seemingly lifeless, aside from the warm puffs of air from her breath and the pulse of her heart.
There was only one event previously that she had been unconscious for any notable amount of time, which happened several years ago back when her mother was still around. Although it hadn't been Amnur's fault, he was still wracked with guilt over it. It was his daughter after all and he should have been there, much like he should have taken action sooner and prevented her current wounds.
As his mind wondered, tears streaked down the dark, jagged landscape of his face, falling onto the book he was clutching with his spare hand. The thought of losing everything to something out of his control again was too much to bear. He had scrapped together the will to carry on once, but a second time would be impossible.
"She won't die. I won't let it happen, Amnur," Abel spoke up in between his faint sobbing, causing the demon to flinch. "Your door wasn't locked, I did knock but you didn't answer."
Amnur took a deep breath to calm his nerves, turning his head towards the surprise guest. He took a moment to mull on his words, his expression changing to more of a curious scowl, but a scowl no less. "You sound like you have a way of fixing this..."
"That is correct, but if I'm being honest I hadn't mentioned it before because the process won't be pleasant for her."
"Unpleasant? Surely it wouldn't be any more unpleasant than death!" the mage growled, easing up a little as he watched Abel pace around the room. The demon was nervous to speak his mind, idly fiddling with his various feathered accessories.
"There is something unique about her that I can utilise, although her lack of mana is a hindrance with that, unfortunately."
"Unique how exactly?"
Abel turned away from the demon's curious yet stern expression. As much as he desired to lie to the man, he knew that such a thing was impossible. Not now he had grabbed his interest, anything concerning his daughter he would sooner resort to violence than diplomacy, something which irked Sakura rather.
"Well…"
"Would this have anything to do with why her mother was abusive towards her?" Amnur cut off his sentence, causing him to stutter.
"...That would be my theory, yes. It's not a bloodline trait you would want so easily spread; simply put, she regretted having a child."
"So she expresses her concern by trying to kill my daughter? Just what is this trait, Abel?"
"It is dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands, in another word; the North."
Amnur rubbed his chin; there weren't many demons that didn't know of the northern continent and its political dominance, or the forceful control of neighbouring islands to be more correct. Its population consisted primarily of demons, majority of which were considered to be old blood which meant they possessed a formidable military. Even to members outside of their race, they were known as the betrayers for the actions they took just after the angels decided to split their societies. They simultaneously revolted against the other demons and the less remembered draconian race, taking slaves and slaughtering those that resisted.
Eventually, they conquered the snowy continent of the north, banishing the over races that inhabited it. Very few ended up making it out alive, staining the pure white snow with the crimson of angel and human blood. Since then, tensions with the North have been chronic, boiling over periodically and resulting in short term battles. In recent years it had calmed down, but for no good reason. The North had their eye on invading the Central Isles, a milestone in the journey to reach the southern continent. Their plans had been halted by the rise of Nathaniel, Sebastian's tyrant father. He was no ally of the North and his vicious tactics left even them wary of approaching.
When he died for reasons still unknown, the angels used the opportunity to spread rumours that it was Sebastian himself who had murdered the King. If someone was capable of killing that tyrant in cold blood then they weren't worth dealing with, unless they wished for copious amounts of bloodshed. It had the desired effect; the North had been quiet for a while.
"I'm not getting out of telling you exactly why, am I?" Abel let out a long sigh, Amnur was more knowledgeable about the demon politics than most, enough to know what the connotation about the North meant. "Just let me finish before you comment on anything, alri
ght?"
Amnur shrugged, gesturing him to begin speaking.
"How do I put this simply without freaking you out. My bloodline is different than normal, something you might have been able to guess already," the demon spoke, pointing to the piercing white eyes he possessed. "My father was a demon, living as a shaman in a remote village, but my mother was a dragon. She was considered a nuisance by the village folk. They had food stolen, houses damaged, so on so forth."
The demon mage eyes widened at the information, but he kept to his word and remained silent. Abel cracked a slight smile, gently catching his breath with small puffs. "Given the reports, my father decided to investigate, only to find a terrified creature, not the monster they made it out to be. She had been left an orphan at a young age by an attacker from the North, thus she was unaware of how to care for herself, relying on the local village for food."
"That explains why you're so aware of the North," Amnur spoke up, his fiery eyes gazing towards his daughter. He felt as if Abel knew more than he was letting on, but possibly didn't want to accuse anyone without evidence. "I said I'd be quiet, though, so continue."
"To cut a long story short, he reached out to her and trained her. She repaid his kindness by saving his life when he fell gravely ill, but I could be here all night if I described every detail."
"So that means you're half dragon, but can you shift into a draconic form?" he mused, going silent as his mind thought over his statement. "Can Na-ri?"
"Yes, we both can," Abel chuckled, a feeling of warmth embracing him as he viewed the demon's interest on the matter. "I wouldn't fit in here if I did, however."
Amnur rubbed his hands together. It certainly hadn't been what he was expecting, not that he had any idea what to expect. Given this was the first time he had heard the details regarding his past, the village where they originated from wasn't anywhere nearby. It probably wasn't even the Central Isles; a dragon could fly much further than a demon in a single burst, enough to transverse vast stretches of water. He did notice Abel had stopped short of saying why they had to leave aside from previously being told it was unsafe, but they had picked a secluded enough place to live, that was notable enough.
"About the only other thing I can comment on is it would be correct to call us clutch mates rather than twins; that only came about as a protective measure," Abel remarked, cautiously settling himself down on the edge of the bed. Although Amnur wasn't showing any hostility towards the revelation, he still may not be too keen on him approaching Sakura as she was unable to defend herself. He, however, was placated, not even flinching or twitching when Abel settled down.
Silence hung in the still air, filling the room with a feeling of awkwardness. Did the mage have questions, or was he just taking his time to consider what he had been told? In order to distract himself, his attention turned towards Sakura, letting out a slight breath as he gazed upon her damaged form. They had been close since she was young, after a fateful encounter in which resulted in him rescuing her from a tree, one her mother had tied her upside-down to. From an early age, she was aware of his abilities and he of hers, much to the relief of Abel. Aside from his sister, no other soul within the swamps knew the truth about him.
Being able to finally share it with someone new brought him great joy, so he took it upon himself to tend to her as she grew, teaching her his native tongue. To his surprise, Sakura had a natural talent and learnt quickly, rousing his suspicions. Such a thing was rare and the inherent trait of certain northern bloodlines. Most of the knowledge of the language had long since been forgotten, along with the tongues of old. During the divide of angels and demons, the once shared tongue was abandoned in favour of private languages unknown to the other race and it has remained that way since.
"So, one of you is slightly older than the other?" Amnur spoke up, jolting Abel from his thoughts. He gestured to himself, smiling at his question. Silently, the other demon rubbed his hands together once more, shooting glances between Sakura and Abel before taking a deep breath, relaxing back against the headrest of the bed. "We could be forever if you told me everything right now and unfortunately that doesn't solve anything, despite my curiosity on the matter. I want you to do whatever necessary to wake her up, alright?"
The white-eyed demon tilted his head, extending his arms and exhaled. With one extended motion, he pulled forth a light elemental into existence, following up with another flex, bursting a dark elemental from the aether. A bright wisp hung in the air, bright tendrils flowing out and forming a shape against the dark mist of the second elemental. Slowly the energy formed into a feminine shape, with golden curves created from the brilliant light and two streams of light stemmed from her back. As they continued to form, the feathery shape of angel wings became visible, a stark contrast to the bizarre and uneven shape of the other elemental. Amnur's unease was obvious, given the connotations of the summoned creatures but Abel's expression remained calm as if it was expected.
Glances were exchanged between the beings of aether, a silent greeting between two polar opposites. In unison they surrounded Sakura, with their summoner taking a seat between them, giving her father a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he passed. Being unable to utilise mana directly himself, he needed to borrow the individual strengths of the elementals that he could summon.
An eerie feeling hung in the room as he undertook his work, placing his hands firmly on her chest with the elementals placing a hand on his. Mana flowed over his fingers, seeping through the female's skin. His piercing eyes viewed the flow carefully, tenderly changing the amount going in and out as needed. Too much light based mana could damage her fragile body due to the race's inherent weakness, yet at the same time, it could be used to give her a kick to wake up. With the darkness creating a barrier to prevent it going too far, the operation was progressing well. Another use of the bloodline trait was that he could interact with her natural mana without it mounting a protective defence, following a bonding procedure that they had undertaken a long time previously.
Abel did wonder if there was something more preventing her from waking up, rather than just extensive injury. Proving it, however, could be difficult. As he guided the energy around her veins, he scoured the minuscule amount of mana present for anything peculiar. Nothing immediately appeared untoward, aside from perhaps the quantity. It was greater than he remembered, but this was the first time in a while he had been so close so perhaps his memory was just off; the only visual representation he had seen had been the mana testing Amnur had done. A sample of blood was taken and added to a catalyst which changes to a shade of blue; the brighter the blue, the more mana present within the blood. The scale is only a relative, however, it didn’t measure the actual quantity of mana.
Taking a deep breath, Abel manipulated the light energy to interact with the girl's inherent mana, in hope of creating a reaction; a shock, to jolt her awake. It was a sensitive process, those with less mana didn't resist foreign spells affecting their bodies as much, making them more susceptible to magical damage and inflictions. Given the created bond, he needed more effort to elicit a response. It allowed it to be controlled, however, utilising the magic as a minor attack. Teasing it back and forth, he let out a breath. Success would mean a painful experience for Sakura, a short term one at least.
A sharp flinch from her body brought a smile to his face, watching cautiously he continued on, easing up slightly to stop him causing injury. After a while, a weak groan emitted from her mouth, causing Abel to reduce the amount of mana he was using further.
"...You know that hurts right?" Sakura whined, staring at Abel with a bright, lavender coloured eye. "Damn, my head and side ache."
Before he had time to respond, Amnur pushed in and embraced his daughter, receiving a smile and a cringe from her. "Hey there kid, it's good to have you back," the demon spoke as he stroked her skin, carefully avoiding touching any of her injured areas. "You scared me, you know."
"What happened? My memory is rather foggy," Saku
ra inquired, groggily lifting her right arm to examine the left side of her face; she was aware that she was only able to see out of one eye. Her fingers brushed over neatly laid bandages which stuck to the contours of her face, highlighting every detail. One region felt rather depressed than normal and raw to touch, so she refrained from pressing it any further. From there, her hand made its way down to the injured side, slipping underneath the pinned blanket with some effort. It was obvious from the texture she felt that there were more bandages present down there, along with further patches of rawness. Her clothing had been stripped down to allow access to the wounds with just enough left to keep her suitably covered, not that her father feared anyone would act on her in this condition, not when he wasn't leaving her side.
"I'll go make us some food hm?" Abel spoke up, shuffling himself off the bed. Promptly he departed, but not before giving Sakura a smile and a wave, the elementals trailing behind him. It was going to be a shock when Amnur informed her exactly what had happened and notably, the complications of her injuries. As such, it would be best to leave them to talk privately. As much as Abel was close to them, he wasn't family.
"Thank you, both of you. You may rest now, back in the aether," he whispered to his summons as he slipped into the kitchen, out of earshot of the bedroom.
* * *
Amnur bit his tongue as he watched her examine her body, unsure how to respond to her question. Eventually, he grabbed her arm, caressing her hand in his. Sakura tried to turn her head to face him but came up short, turning away before it caused any more pain. "I don't need to tell you that you're injured, that part is obvious enough," he started with a hint of nervousness in his voice, keenly keeping an eye on her body language to gauge a response. "You were protecting people who probably won't appreciate your actions, not when they know who you're related to."
Sakura sighed. From his phrasing it was obvious that he had revealed himself for one reason or another, likely to get her to safety. Unfortunately, she remembered nothing to let her know who was present at the scene but information such as that would be quickly passed to the racial leaders. News such as that wouldn't be welcomed and it would be made worse knowing he had a child. It was potentially worse enough to warrant drastic action; right when she was too weak to defend herself. "Tell me honestly Dad, how bad are these wounds?"
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