“The sun is gone. The stars shine bright. I seek revenge.”
Through the monster infested wastelands above the ever expanding caves of humanity, Lih alone searches for the Sunblighted. He is a false savior in Lih’s eyes, letting those who could actually bring change stay underground and refuse to take charge.
But as fate would have it, Lih finds himself carrying a greater burden: to save the world. He will trek across dangerous territories, travel through time and space, and fight those who have been deemed unkillable for a world that has never been by his side.
Will Lih stay true to his ideals? Or will he succumb to those who have destroyed the world?
“Where are you going?!” Bes hisses through her teeth, but I ignore her and continue back to the village, and eventually back to Gefrol. Pik’s sonorous voice continues to permeate through the air, but I refuse to listen to his words as I step off of the grass onto the empty cobbled streets.
I stop, angry spite replaced with hollow longing. No one takes even a second to understand me. I sit down on the border between the grassy plain. This place is filled with people who have given up on the past, and the streets, the things I brought into being, somehow, by my actions alone.
No. I stand up again. It was Canthi. I walk through the wider streets, looking up and down at the stacks of houses. Canthi saved me. I continue to meander towards the center of town. I could not have done anything myself. The beads of starlight begin to fade, leaving the stone paths to reflect the tainted glow of street torches instead of the pure shine of silver.
I walk into a large stone pavilion. A craggly fountain occupies its center, dripping water out into a shallow pool of mossy cobblestones.
Drip. Dripdrip. Drip.
I turn towards the fountain, and as I walk closer to it, I notice a figure sitting on the pool’s edge. A green habit peaks out from behind the four-sided spout. With his hood pulled down, and long wooden pole laying across the ground, it seems like I found the troupe deserter. I think he was called “Sil” by Pik.
Drip. Drip. Dripdrip.
I scowl, anger rising up my chest and into my arms. He had a responsibility that he ran away from. I clench my fists. He is a coward and he should know it. I step into Sil’s line of sight, readying my anger into my words.
Dripdrip. Dripdrip. Drip.
Tears flow down his face ceaselessly. With every drop in the fountain, torrents leak from Sil’s shuttered eyes. I stop, mouth frozen before I can speak. The wind picks up slightly, and I shiver in the flickering darkness. Sil sniffles and shakes in his habit, letting its thin green fold swallow his body. I do not know if it is from the cold as well, or his crying.
Dripdrip. Drip. Drip.
“Wh-what do you want?” Sil murmurs. “Are you not the chosen hero for the p-play?” He turns to look up at me, lips quivering. “Leave me to my dep-praved sulking–”
“Slow down for a moment.” I put my hand out to stop him. “I refused to put myself out on that stage.”
“Wh-what?” he says, now freezing in place himself.
“Yeah.” I say. “They made me play the Sunblighted—”
“I know that!”
Dripdrip. Dripdrip. Dripdrip.
Sil shouts while wiping tears against his cowl. “I saw Leader Pik take you in!” Suddenly, he places a hand on my shoulder, staring at my face, eyes darting back forth. “And he was right to do so! You look perfect for the role! Unlike me with this skinny and weak frame. You have this air of determination, and a body that supports it with strength! Your eyes do not stray from one way to another, and your voice only speaks what it needs to say.” Sil takes a deep breath. “You are nothing like me. I made the wrong choice to claim the role. You are perfect for the role. You … You are the spitting image of the Sunblighted himself! How can anyone compare–”
At that moment, another silver pillar shines in front of me, and it glows an absolutely radiant silver, almost brighter than the first one I encountered. Sil seems to not notice anything at all, still staring straight at me with bright green eyes. I cover my own with my arms, looking away from the pure glow of light that comes from this beacon. I turn away from Sil, but I can feel the heat of his belief on my back.
“Even your weapons match the ancient legends—”
“Stop!” My voice cracks. My latent anger releases as I punch into the fountain’s spout. Long-held waters burst forth, its flow filling the fountain and leaking over the side, spraying every which way. “Stop talking!” I turn around and grab Sil by the neck of his cloak, easily lifting him off the ground. “You think you know me just from my appearance?” I drop him on the cobblestone and spit on his spear. “You think I am a hero just because I look like one? No!” I pick up his staff and break it over my knee. Sil flinches as the CRACK reverberates through the air. “I was chosen by chance! My fate is bound to my responsibility! I cannot run from my destiny!” I glare down at Sil. “Just today I have met more people who require my strength than I can bear, and yet you run away as a free child who does not even bear the burden of cleaning up after themself!”
I point back to the stage. “Now go clean up your mess, and be glad you chose this life you get to lead.”
Sil stares up at me, tears ceasing their flow, fingers tensing on the rim of the leaking fountain. He keeps opening and closing his mouth, but all that comes out are quick and shallow breaths. I cannot stay here any longer. I walk around him and move towards the path upwards, back to the street by the inn, and back towards the campfire—
A quiet breath lightly slaps the back of my ears. I turn around to see Sil on his feet. He holds his broken staff in both hands, clenching them, his knuckles turning white. He opens his mouth, and as the last flicker of starlight begins to fade, he speaks up.
“Let me join you.”
End of Chapter 12
