INSIGNIAS: THE ABECEDARIANS

CHAPTER XVII: LEI

She was scared. She looked terrified than them. The first thing Lei noticed was the unshed tears, then the quivering of her lips, then the slight trembling of her hands. She probably didn't notice these but Lei saw. She stared back at them with eyes that said 'don't kill me'. She had been through a lot. This was on Lei's mind when she and Skhy were engaged in a stare with the girl with golden eyes and long brown hair.

But Lei was also thinking about her death as she and Skhy were being chased by, not just one, but 13 men sized like football players earlier. They were throwing huge rocks towards them and Skhy tried to block them while she directed the attack using the tree roots.

But it wasn't enough. These men were trained to take down an army, or monsters. They were trained to kill.

She remembered what happened the day she and Skhy started their journey. The moment she left her Aunt cottage killed her. Her heart was heavy. Her footsteps were dragging. Her aunt hugged her tightly like she doesn't want to let go. But she did.

"I'm proud of you. Whatever your decision is, I'm still proud of you," she said this while crying. Lei felt her own tears on her cheeks.

"I love you, Lei," her aunt said and kissed her forehead.

"Are you going to be safe?" Lei was more concerned about her aunt's safety than her own. She lost her true parents and her adopted ones. She doesn't want to lose her aunt too.

"I will be. I'm not going to stay for long," she replied as she wiped her tears.

"But- "

"Go, Lei," her aunt said assurance. She smiled, no more tears, but her eyes showed sadness.

"I love you too aunty," Lei whispered. She loved her so much. She was her mother, her best friend. Tears kept rolling as she tried to memorize her features. Her aunt's short dark brown curly hair. Her blue-green eyes like her own. Her cheery smiles that reach her eyes. No. They were going to meet again.

They were already standing outside the door and Lei felt the cold breeze touching her cheek. Her aunt let go of her shoulders and pushed her lightly away. Her aunt flashed a smile and nodded.

Lei turned and gripped the straps of her bag pack, trying to stop herself from turning back. She reminded herself that she wanted to do this. She needed to do this.

"I hope you won't too." Skhy's statement caught her off guard. Her aunt said that she was destined to be someone who can save the people. But what she wanted to do was to find the truth about her family. She knew that her aunt didn't tell her everything. She said that there were things that she needed to find out herself. These were her reasons for going, not because she was destined to be someone she wasn't.

What if Skhy expects me to do that?

Then he would be the one to regret his decision.

She closed her eyes tightly for a second then opened them again. There was no way she could be a destined savior. She knew little about the Mortemians but it was enough to know that they don't like to play games with an amateur.

She left the yard of the house and went inside the forest. She left when Skhy was in the tree house.

She climbed the tree near the entrance of the forest and sat on the lowest branch. She looked back at the path leading towards her home. My home. Her home for three years. The only home that she wanted to go back to.

She blinked several times to stop the tears from forming when he saw a silhouette walking away from the house. Skhy shoulders' slumped. He removed his large hat and Lei had a good view of his weary but beautiful blue eyes. He brushed his disheveled hair then placed the hat back to his head.