"Your only job is to protect the chosen. Take care of her, but do not become attached. And fear not, for your act should not last but a few months. When all is complete, bring her back to me...Bring my sister home."
That is what Mithos told me. Bring his sister home. But this girl was not, by any means, Martel.
I glanced over my shoulder briefly at the sleeping chosen. She was curled up in her sleeping bag, clouds of breath appearing at a slow even pace in front of her face. The Triet desert's sun had set hours ago, and the temperatures decreased dramatically. A lock of her hair fell in front f her eyes.I hate how peaceful these people seemed while sleeping. They were so...annoying. It was nuisance, a weakness; Just laying there for hours on end with no absolute means of protection whatsoever.
Wait, when had I started to think like this? When I stopped sleeping? Did I just start to realize this from being around other mortals? When my mind finally learned to ignore it's own instincts, forcing its self to remain forever awake and alert? I shook my head. Either way it was quite irrelevant. My mind has new instincts, new laws to follow and sleeping was not one of them. Still the question bothered me, sitting in the back of my mind, nagging me, wanting to be answered.
Maybe I only think this way because I can't sleep, because I can no longer enjoy the comfort of giving into fatigue and exhaustion. Perhaps I think this way because, even if I could sleep, I would not have the safe secure feeling of someone's protection. The feeling that someone was looking out for you. The knowledge that if something were to happen, someone, somewhere, would cry for you. The hope that...No, I scolded myself. I couldn't go around envying this girl for what she had. I would never make it through the seals if I did.
The seals...soon this young girl would be leaving behind her humanity as well. She would have it ripped away from her in pieces. Slowly becoming some lifeless thing. All the while, thinking she was saving her world. She would find out she was lied to, then have her soul taken away. Her body stolen and made into a vessel for another being, a vessel for Martel. But Martel wouldn't want this...she wouldn't want Mithos to do this to these people for her own life.She would want this girl to be able to live her life happily, her own way. Instead, though, she was going to go through all hell and back just for some sick, tormented half-elf who couldn't...
No! Why am I thinking like this? I should not be thinking like this! How in the hell did Yuan manage these nights time and time again? Could this be why he suddenly didn't want to be the one to guide the chosen anymore? Yuan could have finally had it. Yes, that must be it.After the last Chosen he was guiding died...maybe he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't protect her from those people.
Mithos had mentioned them to me a few times. Apparently they were some annoying band of idiots dressed up as Desians, set on the task to eliminate the Chosen to prevent the revival of Martel. Still, annoying band of idiots they may be, they defeated Yuan. If they could accomplish something I could not, they must be strong. I am curious on how they obtained such knowledge though, about the Chosen. Perhaps there is someone within Cruxis is helping them. Next time I see Yuan, I'll have him perform a search for anyone who may be leaking information.
A small sound coming from the chosen brought me out of my thoughts. I listened, tilting my head in confusion. I heard it again. What was that? Summoning my wings I drifted off to her side and landed softly on the sand. I sighed heavily, coughing, she was getting sick again. I hadn't even recognized the sound. Have I been away from humans that long? I blinked, her face was flushed slightly, she was running a fever. Perfect. We would loose another day from this. Why was this Chosen so fragile?
I couldn't help but feel a bit sympathetic towards her. I faintly remembered back when I was traveling with Mithos's group. I was constantly sick in some way, but we never had to stop because of me. We never lost time due to these little weaknesses. I bent down and brushed a small lock of her long dark, hair out of her face. We were only a day or two from the first seal. Soon she wouldn't have to deal with little problems like this.
She will have more important things to worry about.