Melody of Water: Chapter 10
Wrath of the Drowned Ones
"They're still going on about it?" Simon asked, as he watched a small group of travellers finishing off their meal, while nearby a party of cloaked riders sat quietly, drinking.
"Well, you can't deny that it's quite an amazing tale," Benjamin tried to explain.
"So are all those so-called sightings of river mermaids you hear from gullible fish men, but those stories don't spread this fast, don't attract this much or last this long," Simon's voice made it clear that he felt more than little annoyed.
Benjamin shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe the appearance of one of the Seven has something to do with it."
It has been around three weeks since the rumour of a mysterious sword wielding maiden appeared and rescued Lord Erenford from being kidnapped by a group of Ironborn raiders started. After a group of excited men had started regaling the story to their families with the usual number of variations, it then got spread to everyone else in the keep. Who passed onto merchants, who spread even further and now it seemed everyone in the bloody Riverlands wanted to see the grove where the 'fight' happened.
One of the results was that travellers that would normally skip River Spite were now stopping to rest there on their way to Erenford Keep, and the grove had gone from being just another part of a nameless woodland to being called the Maiden's Grove. Simon had never seen it, of course, but no doubt its 'beauty' was greatly exaggerated.
"I hope these rumours die down soon, all these visitors are starting to become a nuisance," Simon started before swallowing the last the last of his cheap ale.
Benjamin took the empty plate off the table, "Well, they might be annoying, but they are great for business! I mean, in all my years working here, I don't think we have made this much money, to be honest. I don't know what we are going to do with it all."
Suddenly the door to inn swung open, as one man stepped inside. His body type was short and slim, and he had dull blond and dark blue eyes; a long sword rested in a leather scabbard on his belt. The man approached Sayaka and Anna who were in the in the middle of a conversation.
"Excuse me, ladies, I don't mean to be rude but I would love to have a meal here."
Sayaka's eyes grew a little in surprise as she recognised the stranger, "You're the guy, that helped me out with that merchant."
The man smiled, "It nice to see that you remember, Sayaka Miki."
"And your name is?" Anna questioned.
"Philp," he answered as he sat down in a lazy manner. Though, there something off about it - like he was just little too exaggerated, like an actor who was trying too hard.
"I hope you don't mind. I have travelled for quite awhile and I could use a good drink, if you ladies would be kind enough to me provide with one," Philip's left hand gestured towards Sayaka.
Anna and Sayaka looked at each other, then Anna turned back to Philip, "Excuse use for a moment," Anna then lead Sayaka out of the main into the cellar.
"How does that man know you?" Anna with a mix of concern and sternness, the kind only achieved by a worried mother.
"It's like I said, a merchant tried to rip me off back at the Keep and Philip showed up and then just talked the merchant into being fair with me. We talked for a bit and then he walked off."
"What, do think of him?"
"To be honest, I can't put my finger on it but, he made me feel uncomfortable, even back then."
That was all Anna needed to hear. "Ok, I will have Sir Clifford serve Philip and you take time off until he leaves."
"That's not necessary! I can handle one random creep," Sayaka said stubbornly; it didn't hurt that it was true.
Anna, of course, didn't know that. "That creep happens to be armed with a sword. Your pay will be the same amount as normal, just stay away from the inn until he leaves."
"What if he wants to stay the night?" Sayaka asked.
"I will come with excuses, and if that doesn't work, I will make him leave!" Anna stated firmly.
With that, any counter argument Sayaka could have offered without revealing her powers dried up. She sighed, "Fine, I will stay away from the inn for the day."
Anna smiled. "Thank you."
Sayaka simply nodded, walked out of the cellar and headed to the inn's door. As she made her way she noticed just out of the corner of her eye, Philip starting at her with a knowing smile on his face.
Just as she left, Clifford entered with a basket of fish in one hand. He approached Anna. "Here is the fish you ordered, Anna."
"Thank you," Anna smiled and took the basket from the knight, "Would be so kind as to serve that man over there?" She pointed to Philp and then, whispered into Clifford's ear, "And keep an eye on on him, will you? There something off about him and he make Sayaka uncomfortable."
"I understand." Clifford nodded and walked over to the table where Philp sat.
"Can you get a drink of ale? I'm parched," said Philip, giving his typical unpleasant smile.
Clifford immediately headed to the cellar and then came back with a tanker of ale. He placed it and the table, Philp grabbed the drink and took a big gulp before putting it back down.
"That is some good steel you got there."
Philp ignored Clifford's statement and kept drinking.
"You know, it's unusual to see a man travelling the countryside by themselves. I only see three types doing something so dangerous, and since you don't have a musical instrument, you're not a singer, and you don't look like a hedge knight. Which means you're probably a sellsword."
Philp stopped drinking and smiled. "Are going to give me some lecture about the lack of honour? That would be hypocritical coming from you, Sir Clifford." He took a drink, while Clifford forced himself not to look shocked.
'He knows who I am, how did he find out?'
That confirmed it, this man definitely wasn't some random traveller, he was after something. But what did he want, was he here for him? If this situation had happened about a month ago, Clifford wouldn't have hesitated to grab his things and run away without a second thought - but now he had changed, this time he would not be a coward.
Philip finished his drink and place the wooden cup back on the table creating a slightly louder than normal tap. Suddenly, the group of cloaked travellers stood up and started pulling out daggers and knives.
Sayaka walked down the path away from the inn, trying to think of ways to fill up her free time. One of the things that sucked about being stuck in Westeros was that there were a lot less things to fill her time with, which was one of the reasons why she was so dedicated to working - if didn't, she would have gone insane from boredom.
Suddenly, Sarah and William from behind a column and slammed into her.
"Look what made me do William!" Sarah scowled childishly.
William was not pleased by Sarah actuation. "It was your idea make this stupid thing a race!"
"Hey, what are you guys arguing about?" Sayaka's question was enough to cause the kids drop their argument.
"Mother wanted us to find Jason, so he could help make some new nets and we think he is sleeping under that tree near the river because he always sleeps there when he is supposed to be working, and then William started boasting that he was faster and then I challenged him to a race and then he ran too fast…"
"Don't try to pin this on me!"
Sayaka sighed and shook her head, "Ok, you two calm down. Neither of you are in trouble."
William and Sarah ceased arguing now that they didn't have to worry about getting in trouble. "Sorry, " they both apologised and started walking away.
"Wait!" Sayaka cried a bit more urgently than she wanted. "Would you like me to get Jason?"
"Well," Sarh considered thoroughly, "If anything can convince my brother to stop being lazy and work without complaining, it's a chance to impress you!" The girl smiled brightly, which would have been cute if it weren't for the blunt manipulation on display. Sayaka would need to talk about that later.
Not long after, Sayaka found Jason sleep under the tree, his head rest against its trunk like a pillow.
"Excuse me," Sayaka said. The boy mustn't have been sleeping heavily because that was all it took to wake him. He turned around and his face went red instantly.
"Um," Jason looked awkwardly for word to speak.
Before he had a chance to say anything, Sarah interrupted, "Mother wants you to make new nets."
Jason looked at Sayaka, before quickly and rather clumsily getting to his feet and smiling dumbly, "Right, I will go help right away."
Suddenly, Anna's panicked, distressing scream shattered all sense of peace. Jason cast his goofy grin aside and for the first time since Sayaka met him took on a deadly serious expression.
"Sarah, go home and stay there." Without saying another word, he ran off in the direction of the scream.
"Wait!" Sayaka shouted, but Jason was already out earshot or was ignoring her in the rush to get to the crisis point in time.
Sayaka turned to Sarah and William, "Sarah, William Jason is right: I need you go home."
"But…" Sarah and William objected at the same time.
"It's too dangerous!" That didn't seem to convince either of them - of course, it wouldn't. If Sayaka had heard the at the same age she wouldn't have listened. "Please, if you guys got hurt because I let you come, your parents would force me to leave the village."
The kid's zeal didn't drop. At first, Sakaya thought that they were going to be difficult, but then they both reluctantly crossed their arms.
"Fine," William said with annoyance.
"We will go," Sarah spoke with the same amount of irritation.
"Thanks," Sayaka said before following Jason.
For a moment the world froze, as everyone stopped. The joy and merriment that normally occupied inn were blown clean by the cold, paralysing fear of danger. Everyone tensed up, their eyes fixed on the cloaked riders as if any sudden move would set the riders off - or worse still, make them the target of their blades.
The moment ended when of one the riders grabbed a man from table opposite him and plunged his dagger into his arm. There was the sickly cry of pain, followed by the screams of panic and fear as people ran to the door desperately trying to escape the inn, fighting each other to be the first out.
Meanwhile, the rider tried to stab a second person, only for Clifford to ram them with his shoulder, causing the attackers head to slam into a wall.
With their partner out cold, the other three riders turned on the hedge knight. All three attacked at the same time: one swiped upwards, the second one downwards and the third attacked head on. Clifford moved backwards and then ducked successfully avoiding two the strikes; however, the edge of one of the blades was able to catch Clifford forehead creating a deep, bloody cut.
Clifford, being used to pain, simply gritted his teeth, ignored the pain and prepared for next couple attacks. The three started moving when Philp came up from behind and plunged his sword into the chest of one the riders.
One of the riders become frozen in shock and fear as Philp removed his sword from the dead man's body. "Wh…"
Philp ruthlessly stabbed shocked rider in the throat, killing him instantly.
Clifford took the opportunity to throw a punch into the third rider's jaw. There was cracking sound as several teeth went flying out of his mouth, his fell face first into a nearby table. He tried to pull himself up but Philp impaled him through the chest, ending his life.
"Well, they were quite the nuisance," Philp spoke of the sudden and bloody life or death struggle in the same way most people would speak if they dropped their fork onto the floor.
Clifford looked at the man who had been injured. He was shocked and the only sounds he was making were pained shouts. His wound was terrible, a dark gaping hole with blood leaking out of it.
"How is he?" Benjamin asked.
"Not good I'm afraid," Clifford said as he ripped off large pieces of his clothing and used them to create a makeshift bandage around the wound, the cloth around the hole turned crimson red instantly, as blood soaked into it.
"We need to get him to Septon Road, he is the best hope this man has," Clifford turned to Benjamin, "Will you help me carry him?"
Benjamin walked over and bent down, grabbing the man's left arm. A familiar scent rushed into Clifford's nose, a smell that he created every time he sat down and made campfire during those nights sleeping under the stars. Normally this would conjure up the feeling of the nostalgia, but there was something wrong - the sensation was stronger. It didn't take long for his veins to become icy cold with dread.
"Somebody is burning the village!" Clifford stood up and began running towards his room to grab his sword, "Everyone you need to get to sept - it is the safest place."
"I am not running!" Simon declared as he took a dagger from the unconscious rider.
"You don't…"
"I will not hide and cower while my home is destroyed and my family is danger!"
The two men locked eyes, Clifford wanted to argue further but he couldn't afford to waste any time.
"Excuse me," Philip made his presence known, "if you're so worried, I can make sure these fine folks get to safety-" He pointed at Benjamin, Anna and the injured man, "-while you two go to confront the problem."
Clifford turned to the sellsword, "Fine. But if you betray us, I will hunt you down."
Philip wasn't fazed by the dark threat, instead, he raised both his hands and flashed that troubling smile. "Don't worry, I have every intention of helping."
Clifford didn't bother voice his doubt, instead, he went to his room got his sword and led Simon out into the chaos.
"What are we going to do about him?" Benjamin turned to the rider that had been knocked out by Clifford at the start of the fight, he was the only one still breathing.
Philip pulled his knife from his belt and threw it into, the unconscious rider's neck. Benjamin felt a slight shock at such a display of ruthlessness but quickly crushed those thoughts. The rider wouldn't show anyone else mercy, so he deserved none. Rather than dwell on it further, Benjamin pulled his injured customer to his feet.
Jason and Sayaka were halfway to the inn when several men on horseback charged down the dirt road sending bits of it flying through the air as their mounts tore it to pieces. Both youths were forced to dive to avoid getting trampled.
The riders then threw several touches into a nearby house, setting it ablaze. They kept moving, not bothering to look at the fire they just caused.
"Help!" The voice of David, the stable master, could be heard just barely over the sound of the crackling flames.
"You head to the inn! I will rescue you, David!" Sayaka said before rushing towards the burning building.
"Sayaka, wait!" Jason reached out to grab Sayaka but she had already moved out of reach. He was so focused on Sayaka that he almost missed the large the rider charging towards him, the sword was drawn. Lucky Jason's senses caught up just in time and he ducked, the sword slicing some of his hair away.
That was close call, but Jason didn't have time to recollect himself - Sayaka was in danger! Then he heard screaming from down the road. It was Bethany struggling to escape the grip of a freakishly lagre man. She wiggling and pulling like mad but the giant's grip was iron tight. The brute, having grown annoyed with Bethany, tightened his grip even further, her wrist starting to crush under the pressure. Her eyes watered as she began screaming harder from the pain.
Jason just stood there, his eyes switching back forth, from the burning house to Bethany. He took one step towards the burning building then looked back, to Bethany. He then looked down at ground spotted a rock, he picked it and charged at the freakishly tall man.
When Jason got close enough he threw the rock at the giant man, hitting the mark. Blood ran down the back of his head, the giant man rubbed it with his hand, then looked at that hand and turned around to see Jason standing there.
"You made a big mistake, boy!" the man growled like a savage boar, then threw Bethany to the ground and draw a very sharp sword from his belt.
He lunged at Jason, blade positioned to impale the boy through the chest. Jason jumped to the side, and a sharp pain suddenly burst from his side. Jason's eyes watered as he screamed and grasped his bloody injury.
The tall man swift spun around and slashed at Jason's face. The tip of the blade connected with the boy's forehead, creating a deep cut. Jason's eyes tightened shut as he cried in pain. He stepped back and tripped over his own feet and fell onto his back, the impact causing the pain in his side to surge up.
Before Jason even had a chance to think, his attacker jabbed the blade at his head.
Jason shut his eyes and as his body clamped up, dreading his death - but it didn't come. Jason opened his eyes and saw his father holding the thug's arm.
Jason had seen his father angry before, mostly at him, and this wasn't like that.
"Don't you touch my son!" His father took the kitchen knife he was holding and tried to stab the radar in the arm. It only got halfway there when the brute punched him in the jaw. There was the cracking of bones breaking, blood gushing out from his mouth.
"I'm really getting sick of fucking fishermen." The man stabbed Simon in the leg, causing him to topple over like a tree been cut down.
The sight of his father been seriously wounded, caused a fire to start up inside Jason. He spotted a dagger on the thug's boot. The grabbed the scabbard and then pulled the dagger from it. This action caused the thug's attention to change back to Jason.
"Ok, that's it! You die first!" the thug roared, raising his blade. He brought it down towards Jason's head, only for the attack to be blocked.
"I will you one chance: leave or die." Sir Clifford locked eyes with the enemy, his eyes determined strong and focused - more controlled than those of Jason's father.
The raider didn't heed the knight's warning. Instead, he pushed Sir Clifford away and thrust his sword towards him. Sir Clifford dodged to the left, before lunging forward to slash at the enemy's neck.
The raider, in an oddly nimble move, hopped backwards and swung his sword, Sir Clifford ducked. An opening must have formed as the blade passed over him and took quick slash raider's face.
The raider clutched his face while crying in pain, his eyes fueled by feral rage.
"You! You, bastard die!" Rather than hinder him like Sir Clifford hoped, the injury seemed only to make the raider more dangerous. He charged like a mad bull and made a quick furious wild slash, forcing Sir Clifford onto the defensive, each blow becoming harder and harder to block or dodge. Eventually, one of two things would happen: either the raider will grow tired and slow down enough that Sir Clifford could counter attack, or the raider will force his way through the knight's defences.
The latter came, when one of the raider's attacks slammed against Sir Clifford's sword with so much force that the weapon was knocked from his grasp and he fell to the ground.
With his opponent was defenceless, the raider aimed his at Sir Clifford's neck. There was sick splashing sound, a moment of silence. Then the rider's eyes went dead as he collapsed face first on the dirt road, scarlet blood dripping from his neck. Jason stood over him hand shaking while grasping now bloodied dagger.
The boy dropped the dagger and fell to his knees, his breath heavy.
Sayaka had seen fire plenty of times before, sometimes in a fireplace, some on the news. The most dramatic displays of fire had when she saw the explosions created Mami's tiro finale. But it always controlled or at a distance. Now that she needed to head straight into the middle of an inferno, Sayaka was suddenly very thankful that she could turn off the pain.
Regardless, there was no time to waste! Sayaka pushed all her irrational fears aside and rammed the door to burning house open. The thick stench of smoke increased tenfold, almost overwhelming her other senses if it weren't for the extreme heat.
The walls and roof were already burning, they looked like that they would give way at any moment. Sayaka's eyes darted around searching for David, the walls of black fumes making the task sufficiently harder. With David's life on the line and time running out, Sayaka pushed further into smoke, she started coughing immediately. Ok, she really didn't want to rely on this aspect of her powers but she didn't have a choice. She disabled the senses in her throat, the effects were immediate as the pressure and pain that had been building up melted away. Suddenly, searching become much easier and Sayaka found David on the floor.
His head was bloody from where a piece of fallen rubble had hit him. Sayaka tried to speak but found that she couldn't, which probably had something to do with the fact she shut off all the nerves in her throat. Not that talking would have done much, the stable master was clearly out cold.
Sayaka pulled David onto her shoulder and headed towards the exit, but part of the roof collapsed and blocked the doorway. This left Sayaka with only one option, she gently placed David back on the floor, turned off her pain receptors in her right leg and kicked the brain rubble with it.
Jason started at the steel dagger his hand, now covered in messy crimson blood. He wasn't stranger to blood by any means, Jason had spent a great deal of his life gutting fish. But this time was different; this wasn't the blood of some trout, this blood came from a man he just killed. That one piece of knowledge was enough to make a sight that was normal, so mundane to Jason, become something horrid.
He didn't understand why. That radier was going to not just kill him, but Bethany, his father and Sir Clifford - that man needed to die! So why did he feel so rotten?
Jason's confused anguish was halted when he felt someone put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Sir Clifford look at him with sad sympathy.
"I know that feeling. It's perfectly normally for a man to be shaken. If you didn't feel that way, there would be cause for concern, Jason."
The knight took his hand off Jason's shoulder and walked over to Simon, who was still lying on the ground.
"Are you gonna be alright?" Bethany asked while clutching her injured wrist.
Jason got back on his feet. "I think will be." He didn't if he was telling the truth or not.
The River Spit sept had never been so crowded before. A place that was normally one of worship and reflection was now filled with panic and pain as both inhabitants and visitors had sought safety within the stone building. The scene of war tents flashed through the elderly's minds.
So many had been injured and were in desperate need of his help. Andrew Road secretly prayed to the Seven for some of their strength because he was going to need it.
"Septon Road," Benjamin's voice interrupted Andrew's doubts and caused the ageing Septon to turn and be greeted by the sight of the two innkeepers carrying a traveller with an injured arm on their backs, guarded by blonde man.
"Set him down with the other injured," Andrew pointed to the area where the injured lied on the hard stone floor of the sept.
After Benjamin and Anna place the traveller gently on the floor, Andrew looked at the man's wound. Luckily, while this injury was serious, it was among the easiest to fix up - provided he could seal the wound in time.
"Anna hold this man still while I stitch him up."
The woman did as she was instructed.
"Listen, son, I need you to stay calm."
The traveller nodded his head.
Andrew pulled a needle and thread from his leather bag. Now came the unpleasant part.
"What's your name?"
The traveller took his good arm and used its hand to point to his mouth, shaking his head.
"You can't speak very well then. Just one warning: this be painful, but it is better than losing your arm."
To his credit, the mute man was able to keep himself mostly still and make Andrew's work easy. Soon the nasty wound had been stitch closed.
"Right that should do, for now, I know it's hard given the current conditions but tries to get some rest."
The moment Andrew stood up, another group entered the building. This one was made up of Clifford who thankfully looked unharmed, Simon who was leaning on the hedge knight as support, and Bethany who clutching her wrist with a pained expression and watery eyes but otherwise looked fine. Then Andrew saw Jason and his heart sank. He knew those who had seen battle, the mixed feelings of guilt and confusion which came forward once thrill and fear of battle burned out. Andrew would make it a point to offer the boy some much need words wisdom when the current crisis ended.
"Good to see that you're alive. Which of you requires my aid the most?"
"Simon's leg is in horrible shape…."
"No," Simon insisted, "my son requires your aid more than me." That obviously was not true, but Simon was always stubborn when it came to his family.
"Father, please, just let Septon Road fix you up."
"But…"
"I'm afraid I will have to agree with your son," Andrew spoke with calm bluntness, "Sir Clifford, please rest Simon against the wall. Jason, Bethany, I need you two to grab the last of my spare bandages in my room, then I want both you use what's left to patch up any wounded that come here, but only those that need them the most."
The youths nodded and headed to Andrew's room. Sir Clifford carefully rested Simon against the wall. Andrew pushed the bit of clothing to look at the wound. It was horribly deep and a great amount of blood was pouring from it, but Andrew had seen worse wounds before though he needed to start treating it soon.
"Give me an honest answer, how bad is it?"
"Well, it's not hopeless. I might be able to save your leg - it is difficult to say with an injury like this. First, I will need to clean it. Sir Clifford, take the cloth in my bag and soak it in the water of the Sept fount."
It was his last clean cloth too, Andrew only had enough supplies on hand to help a small village and now that River Spit was filled with travellers there wasn't enough go around. The situation was frustrating, reminding him of his limits as a mortal man.
Once Clifford came, Andrew started to clean the wound as best he could. After that came the stitching, which was a much slower and unpleasant experience than the mute traveller. After the wound was finally sealed shut, Andrew was able to start wrapping it up.
"That should hold you together, but it will be a long time before your leg recovers. In fact, it might never fully heal. You shouldn't stress it too much, otherwise, all my work will be undone."
"Fine," Simon said half-heartedly, "To be honest I'm more worried about my wife and daughter, I haven't seen Amable or Sarah since this morning."
The many unpleasant possibilities were left unsaid but definitely felt by everyone in earshot. There was an unwelcome feeling of dread that hovered over the Sept. It was disrupted slightly when two more people entered the building.
David stumbled in into the building, grasping his head, which had a massive bruise with a small blot of blood at the centre. Next to him was Sayaka who looked completely unharmed, however, her dress was terribly burned. Every bit of fabric up to her knees had been reduced to ash, yet strangely her legs were just as healthy and youthful as ever. But if her dress caught fire then surely, the flames would have spread to her body! However, that clearly wasn't the case given the girl's undamaged state. Andrew was not the only one to notice, as the blond man that had come with Anna and Benjamin was smiling at Sayaka in a way that the old man found unsettling. For now, however, both those things were pushed aside.
"David, Sayaka it's good to see that you're alive," Andrew said.
"And it's all thanks Sayaka! After I was knocked by falling rubble from my own house, she rushed into the blaze and saved me!"
Andrew smiled, "That was rather heroic of you, Sayaka."
The blue haired girl shrugged her shoulders. "It was the right thing to do, that's all." The girl was humble and brave, two qualities that too many people seemed to lack.
"David, how is your head feeling?" Andrew spoke while observing the wound that formed on David's head.
"I feel dizzy and my head is aching something vicious."
"That is to be excepted, have you noticed any memory troubles?"
"No, I haven't."
"That is good for now just try not to strain yourself too much."
"I can do that," David then wandered away looking for a place to sit.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sayaka asked.
Andrew sighed in frustration, "With the last of my supplies used up, there is not much of us either can do."
Sayaka suddenly began looking at the ground with shame. Understandable. Everyone felt powerless during events like this.
"I don't understand why would anyone do this! I mean even if they're just greedy, it not like this village had anything of value!"
"I afraid they are more likely to be driven by desperation than greed. Desperation can lead men to find any means of support, even if it is just what little scraps of the coin that can be made by selling stolen food or farming tools."
"That's messed up," Sayaka accurately observed.
Andrew made the no attempt to argue, he often wondered why the gods even bothered testing mankind.
The sound of a body collapsing to the floor. There was silence as everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. To everyone one's horror it was a woman, her body was in a terrible state, two arrows had pierced her body in the area just below the rib cage, her right arm was covered horrible stab wounds and her face had her red shot eyes had long dark rings around them. Everyone who lived in River Spite knew who she was…..
"Amable!" Simon cried, instinctively attempting to rush to his wife side only for pain in his leg flare up and force him back down.
Jason, however, was able to make it. He bent and held his mother hand, "Mother are you…." He couldn't bring himself to ask the question.
Andrew bent down to take a closer look at the wounds, what he found only confirmed his fears. Multiple important arteries had been cut open, as result, she had lost a lot of blood. The fact she was able to make to the sept was a miracle.
"They...they…" Amable tried to speak.
Jason carefully grasped his mother hand, his eyes tearing up as he tried to avoid breaking down, "Please mother save your strength," His voice was weak, barely holding itself together.
Andrew once again cursed his own powerlessness, even if had supplies, Amable's condition was too far gone. All he could be pray to the Gods that Amable would find peace.
"Everyone move aside," The voice was strong and commanding, every person stopped and turned to Sayaka Miki. The girl's blue eyes burned with determination, and as she approached Amable no one barred her path. She held out her hand and a blue egg-shaped gem appeared within its grasp.
A/N: Thank you NonchalantxFishfor editing this chapter.