Rise and shine

Chapter 3

Night was slow in coming, as it always was when the hottest time of the year approached. With the passage of time cooped up in his office dealing with paperwork, Kaien had lost the habit of comfortably riding a horse and his thighs ached. He stopped when the sun was about to start to set on the horizon to the right of him and ate a light meal. Fortunately, during the entire trip he would not leave what was once a city, so he was lucky to ride on cobbled roads and more or less free of obstacles.

In addition to this, he was in his territory, which seemed to be the last redoubt of civilization in the ancient city, where all useful space was used to the maximum. During the trip he had been able to observe families who were working in the gardens, obtained fleeting reflections of the happy laughter typical of the little ones and seen signs of complicity and affection. He didn't think his territory was perfect, but when he saw things like that when he went out on the street, he was happy and proud of all the time and effort that he and the men who followed him had invested.

"You rule over a beautiful territory, human" the flute and soft voice of the Sylvie creature startled him, clearing the mind that was beginning to fall asleep.

"Sylvie," he growled as he stretched. What are you doing here? How did you get here?" He blinked away the heavy sleep.

"I've already told you, human, I'm not like you. I am someone special, a bleesdei" he approached the mare with calm steps and caressed her absently. "You also know what I want from you" he added with a certain indifference.

"And why does it have to be me?" asked Kaien, half protesting. "As if there were no others in the world" he grumbled to himself.

A fine, jovial laugh escaped Sylvie's lips, causing her to turn her face towards the young man with a condescending smile.

"Ah, little one, even if I explained it to you, you wouldn't understand it unless you were living your second life" suddenly, he was right next to the boy, showing his face a smiling and devious expression at the same time, while delicately holding his chin. "Just hurry up and agree to enter into a contract with me."

Like thin air, he disappeared again just as quickly as before. The next morning, Kaien wondered if this had not been a dream caused by exhaustion and the recent but deep impression that the girl had made on him.

After he had had a light breakfast, he and Coral set off again, heading for Nirille's Bandstand, the only place in the ancient city recognized as a neutral site, accessible from any of the six zones. As he advanced, he could see between the buildings people working on the construction of the defensive wall, it was increasingly strange to see children playing in the deserted streets. "As much as I try, despite everything the wounds left by the confrontation are deep", he sighed to himself. On the other hand, he understood that only two years had passed since the conflict ended. His part of his city was only so well cared for because he and his men worked piece rates.

That's how it went that day and also the next. At sunset on the third day of the trip he was already a few blocks from the temple, so he was able to stay in a house on loan * and clean himself properly. His mare was cared for carefully and he was able to rest peacefully. On the morning of the fourth day, the lady woke him up, announcing that he had a visitor. Grumbling to himself, Kaien dressed and combed his short, tangled hair with his fingers. Outside the borrowed house stood Sylvie, wrapped in a dark, hooded cloak. He hadn't seriously thought about her 'proposal' yet.

"What do you want, Sylvie?" She asked when she turned to him. Her maroon eyes sparkled beautifully, her dark hair was pulled back in a braid to the side of her face.

"Let's take a walk" despite her childish appearance, her eyes showed great seriousness and concern. They began to walk towards the pavilion, where that afternoon after lunch the meeting between the six of them would take place.

When they reached the temple, guarded by guards, they leaned against the white stone columns that supported and delimited the limits of the temple; they could not enter the other areas, also guarded by somewhat sleepy soldiers.

There, intertwining her hands, Sylvie began to speak in a flat voice, without taking her eyes off the ground.

"I hope you have already reflected on what I proposed to you, human. Now is the time to decide, although I hope for all the kyrie that you accept- to himself, Kaien wondered what or who the "kyrie" were.

"Listen to me, I'm telling you for the last time, human, you must formalize the contract now" her voice was urgent, "if you wait a little longer it may be too late"

"Late for what?" asked the young man.

"Creative power" Sylvie began "is the basis of our society" her gaze was lost in distant memories. "Rather, our beliefs and determination are, and in turn it is these that allow us to acquire a certain capacity for power to manipulate the world. A power that can engender true cursed creatures solely because of its great and inescapable power, the result of the greatest of determinations, of the strongest of beliefs. Power is only power, but still for us it is something important, essential, she almost standing in front of Kaien, she raised her hand to his face, which she caressed gently. "And you, Kaien, have the kind of soul that can attract many of us to your side" Kaien's face was a poem composed of surprise and disbelief, but even so, his violet eyes did not shy away from Sylvie's gaze. "Some will do it to take advantage of you, but others may want to guide you."

"I am not offering you a wonderful contract, I told you so the first time we met, but many of those things that seem so magnificent are nothing but deception," he continued. "No, I do not offer you eternal life or earthly luxuries. I can only offer you power, more power than you could ever dream of in this mortal existence you maintain as an illusion. I can bring you closer to what you want to find so much. However, like all things in life, it comes at a price."

"A price?" asked the boy quietly.

"You want to find him, right? Rael, your little brother" surprise flooded Kaien; only one who had known him before the war could know of Rael's existence, since Kaien had barely spoken of him since the conflict began. "Thanks to me you can get to be closer to him than you could imagine. The price is the contract, although you must know it when you see it." Kaien was forced to close his left eye when Sylvie ran her fingers over it, her gaze still lost. "The choice is yours, human, but you only have time until before nightfall today. If not, it will be too late for you."

Suddenly and without warning, she was a meter away from him, her back to him, a slight ripple still shaking her heavy cloak. She turned her face to him once more, giving him a strange look as she pulled her hood up and began to walk out of the pavilion toward one of the two southern areas, the second largest.

"Wait!" Before noticing her, Kaien had taken enough steps to catch hold of her cloak. "Where are you going? How could I communicate with you in case I changed my mind?" Sylvie's face was immutable.

"Call me and I'll be with you. I hope, for your own good, that you accept" after that last comment, Sylvie disappeared before Kaien's eyes, who went back to the borrowed house.

Sylvie then appeared elsewhere with one of the two bleesdei she could live with for an indefinite time, the only one who would always support her wholeheartedly. He informed her about the movements that Mike planned to execute. With a sad smile, she couldn't help but tell herself, 

"No matter what, the premonitions won't leave me."