Chapter 16: 16. SISTERS IN ARMS

EVREN CHORYTH

Staring down from the keep’s porch, I focused on the training ground simply because Yukina was there. She sent someone flying, who subsequently crashed onto the wall behind him. Another was close to her and was about to receive the same fate. Instinctively, the rest were hesitant to approach her.

She was sparring with multiple partners all at once. It was supposed to be a casual workout, but it seemed she took it too seriously. I could tell she bore pent-up frustrations and used the exercise to get things off her chest.

I sighed. I had a lot to get off my chest too. I wished I could walk up to her and tell her the truth, but I would be going against Father’s wishes. I always believed Father had a good reason for keeping the truth from her, and I didn’t want to pry on whatever they were.

I diverted my gaze away from the training ground as Yukina landed a blow on her opponent. I didn’t want to see the sorry state he ended up in.

The skies were clear blue, devoid of white clouds, and a flock of migratory birds flew past, heading toward the distant horizon.

“You sure have simple lives, don’t you?” I asked, wearing a smile.

News came in earlier in the morning that Svan hadn’t been found. It was the obvious reason for Yukina’s frustration. She wasn’t persistent anymore on joining the search party. It seemed she realized that she wouldn’t do anything different from what the search party had already done. About Svan, I didn’t know how to feel because there were a lot of confusing emotions that swarmed my head space whenever I thought or came across him. 

I knew that Svan wasn’t my brother even though he bore the Choryth name. A part of me had fully accepted him as my family, but another part just didn’t. I just needed someone to take the blame for everything that had gone wrong in my life, so I just made him the scapegoat, someone to blame and feel better. In reality, he did nothing wrong. He always appeared cheerful and welcoming, yet I refused to get close to him. The fact that he didn’t have any ability of a caster was a perfect excuse to treat him like he was undeserving.

Deep down, I knew I didn’t hate him but didn’t know how to love him. Sometimes, I felt pity for him.  I didn't try to put myself in his shoes all these years, and there was no telling that it must have been difficult for him. Yukina was the only person who gave him the much-deserved attention, so it was natural that she was the only person he confided in. Their bond strengthened in just a short time. Little did they know that they were actually siblings.

A male attendant halted Yukina’s training session, telling her something I couldn’t possibly hear. When the attendant was done delivering the message to Yukina, she stopped the session entirely and followed him. My best guess was that Father called for her because Yukina wasn’t the type to instantly stop whatever she was doing for anything or anybody, unless it was an emergency or if Father called for her.

Everything felt different since Svan left. Not that his presence was missed, life in the castle carried on as if nothing had happened. He was pretty much introverted, to begin with. But, I just had a gut feeling that something imminent was about to happen.

I decided to stay up there for a while longer since I had no duties to attend to.

“My Lady….” a familiar voice called from behind me, alerting her presence and drawing my attention.

“Just as I thought.”

I knew that if Father called for Yukina, the chances were, he’d call for me too.

“Hey, how do you always know where to find me?” I jokingly asked the attendant, who stood a few meters behind me.  The attendant was Kathrine, who was about the same age as me. She had been my personal attendant for about a year, taking over the position after her predecessor got married and left.

“It’s my duty, my lady,” she replied with a smile.

“Where is the High Lord at?”

“He is at his private study,” she replied.

“Did he call for Yukina too?”

“I am not sure about that, but I think so.”

“Alright,” I replied as she left.

What other thing did he want to tell us? I wondered as I headed down a series of spiral stairs before turning into a passage that led to Father’s private study.

Yukina didn’t bother to freshen up. Still draped in a sleeveless vest, close-fitted slacks, and boots, it was clear that she came straight from the training grounds. Father dropped what he was reading and focused on us, particularly Yukina. The look on his face was a disturbed one. Father was in his mid-forties, forty-four to be precise, but he looked much younger than his age. His chin was always clean, revealing his chiseled jawline that properly fitted his rectangular-shaped head. His deep-set almond eyes looked sunken like someone who had been deprived of a good night’s sleep, even though there were no bags beneath them.

“I need you to tell me everything that happened since you left the castle manor with Svan. More specifically, the details of your encounter in the forest,” Father requested.

It seemed there were still missing pieces of information that Father failed to obtain. When Yukina and Svan left, he sent someone to secretly tail them, just for precautionary measures. That was how we were able to quickly receive information that something went wrong and that Svan was missing. But Father wanting to hear directly from Yukina meant there was more to it.

“It’s to my understanding that you had us followed, which I am really grateful for because it saved my life. But, I don’t think any other thing in contrast to the reports happened.”

“Are you sure you aren’t missing anything?” Father asked her.

“I am pretty sure that I have a good memory,” Yukina replied.

Even I find it difficult to talk to Father casually, but Yukina does and gets away with it.

“Well, she is Yukina,” I said to myself.

Anyone would confuse her as Father’s daughter. She practically lived like one. What was left was just to change her name from Ayling to Choryth. If only she were my sister, she would have been named heiress, and if that were the case, I would be much happier. But knowing the kind of person she was, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t want to hold such a position.

I always tried to prove that I was stronger than her. Not because we were fighting over any position but because competition like that was natural. It was a healthy one, and we both benefited from it. Both of us grew rapidly strength-wise, like we were racing against each other, and none of us wanted to lag behind, especially me.

Father simply nodded.

“We are out of clues of where Svan might be. Our search network is doing its best, but we can’t still find him.”

I wondered where the High Lord was driving at because that information was no longer new, and bringing it up again would more likely infuriate her than keep her calm.

“We are still searching for him, and while on it, we discovered something.”

We looked at him curiously, expectant of what he was about to say.

“Apparently, a little town on the northwest border of the forest, just a few kilometers away from the harbor city, was attacked. Reports had it that the attack came on the night you guys left. Every imperial soldier stationed in the town was killed, and the few survivors from the incident recounted that the attack was orchestrated by only two people and a beast-creature that seemed to be under their control. It was also reported that they disappeared into the forest after they laid waste to the town, so do you understand why I asked about the details of your encounter in the forest?”

“Yukina’s expression was somewhere between realization and shock. What Father said seemed to ring a bell in her head.

“Could it be Vixra?” she asked.

From her expression, I could easily tell she didn’t intend to ask the question out loud. It was a question she seemingly asked herself.

“Who is Vixra?” Father asked with curious intent.

“The one who beat the shit out of me and left me for dead.”

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It took me a great deal of self-control to prevent myself from bursting out laughing. What she said was by no means funny, but the way she said it, coupled with her expression, was really funny.

I hadn’t for once seen Yukina lose a fight since when we were little. So, openly admitting that she stood no chance against her enemy felt weird. She was well ahead of her peers, me included. Being a three-fold stillbringer from a very young age was unheard of. She was different.

“Though it’s wild speculation, she might be the one that destroyed the town. The timing of the events seem to correspond,” Yukina remarked.

Father wore a thoughtful expression on his face. It looked like he was about to say something before Yukina interrupted.

“But what is confusing is that we fought the creature on a completely different day from when I fought Vixra.”

This Vixra whom Yukina spoke of had to be scary-strong, given that she left Yukina in a near-death state. Someone capable of doing that to her was also capable of laying waste to a small town that had a few imperial soldiers in it. But it begged the question,

“Why would someone do that?”

"The details of the creature, was it given?" Yukina asked Father.

“Yes, it’s said to have a human-like build, very tall, has a beast head that bore very large curved horns.”

“Falx,” Yukina said in what seemed like she just snapped back into consciousness.

“What is that?” Father and I asked simultaneously.

“The creature we fought in the forest. If your description is correct, it’s the same one.”

Normally, we wouldn’t have to worry about issues like this because the imperial military was going to launch an investigation since its soldiers were killed in the assault. But Father seemed to believe that it was connected to Svan’s disappearance. Besides that, I believed that there was more to it.

The room was brought to an abrupt quietude. Everyone was probably busy with their thoughts, trying to figure out the possibilities of why the town was attacked. An impatient knock sounded on the door, and a messenger barged in before Father could ask who it was. All of us shot him a surprised gaze.

“My Lord, you need to see this.”

“What’s the matter?” Father asked him.

The man was visibly shaken as he struggled to come up with the right words to describe what he wanted to say.

“Lord Siggurd…. He ….There are people …. Monsters.”

He didn’t make a coherent report, but it was easy to understand that Uncle Siggurd had done something that didn’t look good. I walked closer to the messenger, who was still breathing heavily. I wondered what Uncle Siggurd might have done that made him run here as fast as he could.

“Calm down and breathe,” I said to him, demonstrating with my hands as I rhythmically pushed them downwards. 

When he looked like he could talk properly, I asked him,

“What happened?”

He took deep breaths, and as he was about to say something, our attention was drawn to the sounds of crashing and screaming.

“This is bad,” I mumbled.

“We are being attacked,” the messenger said clearly and eloquently.

I looked at Father and searched his face for a reaction, but he was indifferent. No visible sign of fear or panic. I panicked a little when I heard the words “we are being attacked,” but after looking at Father, I steeled myself. The High Lord got up slowly from his seat,

“Let’s go.”

We left the castle manor, and three of us stood on open ground between the manor and the gates. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at; several guards' bodies lay dead on the floor. Most were mutilated, body parts scattered, and blood flowed everywhere. The scene looked like a bizarre canvas painted by a grim reaper.

The other guards held defensive positions, trying their best to prevent the enemy from getting into the manor. The look on Yukina’s face was weird; she was grinning. I faced the direction she was looking, and my eyes locked with the assailants. There were three of them, two males and a female. Each of them had creatures that stood beside them, which looked exactly like the one father detailed earlier. Shockingly, Uncle Siggurd was standing in front of them.

My heart was thudding rapidly against the walls of my chest. Just one of these kinds of people laid waste on a town and almost killed Yukina. Now, there were three of them. On the bright side, we had Father with us. But, there was no way he would keep an eye on us throughout the fight, so we had to fend for ourselves.

“Is this how far you are willing to go?” Father yelled at Uncle Siggurd.

“You left me with no choice.”

Just as he was done talking, the only female among them stepped forward, and shockingly, she ran her sword through him. The disbelief in Uncle Siggurd’s eyes clearly conveyed what was going through his mind as she whispered something to his right ear. He tried to speak but was only able to cough out blood. Her sword was covered in black flames. I was a fire caster, but I’d never seen such flames.

“He served his purpose,” she said as she smiled at us

“Weirdos,” Yukina cursed.

“This House does not forgive disrespect,” Father said to the lady.

Yukina unsheathed her swords and broke away from our line.

“Come on, Evren, it seems like we will have a lot of fun.”

“You are crazy,” I replied with a smile.

“Just don’t die because I won’t mourn you.” Yukina continued.

We were about to enter a fight that could possibly get us killed, and she looked so relaxed and was even teasing me. I left Father’s side and walked forward to join Yukina. Lightning tendrils were already crackling all over my body. I was battle ready.

“Coming from someone who was almost killed,” I shot back at Yukina.

She smiled back at me. I could tell that she was scared, but she didn’t have any other choice than to fight. She stopped walking and turned, facing the guards holding defensive positions.

“These ugly-looking creatures…. go for their eyes.”

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