**Edited** (I tend to edit these late at night so if something doesn't sound right please comment on it.)
I learned two important things during mother's lecture. First, the afternoon heat was as comforting as a blanket, I was moments away from passing out. Second, it was much harder to stay awake than to pretend to pay attention. All I wanted was to cuddle up in my soft bed and drift into a land made of candy—that didn't help me stay awake much.
"Ara!" I yelped at mother's sudden outburst. Mother sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Can you repeat what I just said?"
"Umm," I forced a smile. "Y-you used a lot of big words. I-I don't know what you said."
Mother pinched the top of her nose and whispered something under her breath," I guess that'll end today's lesson." I held myself back from cheering. "Just remember that not all demons are bad. Good can only exist if evil exists."
"But demons are scary." I frowned. "If they were good Father and Aren wouldn't have to hunt them."
"You are too young to understand, daughter." Mother placed her soft hand on my head and smiled. "When you are older you will surely know the weight of my words. For now, my job is to introduce this concept to you."
"Then I wanna grow up soon," I said, swinging my legs back and forth. "I wanna understand grown up things too."
"In time, Ara," Mother slipped her hand off my head.
She strolled over to the walk-in closet by the front door and slid open the squeaky wooden door just wide enough for me to catch a glimpse of my grandmother's golden spear. A speck of sunlight bounced off the shiny blade, I had to squint my eyes under its brightness.
"Shall we get started on today's training?" Mother asked, taking out my wooden training spear in one hand and my shoes in the other.
"Yeah," I hopped off my seat and ran to her. "I need to work hard so I can be one hundred times stronger than Aren."
"That's a big goal, Ara." Mother laughed as she handed me my shoes. "I might need to increase the difficulty of your training."
"I can handle it," I replied, stuffing my bare feet into the shoes. "I need to if I'm gonna beat Aren up."
*****
Most kids trained at Sandtilus Grave, they say the long trip there will help build stamina. Father didn't want me to train with everyone else because I often had trouble keeping up with the big kids. Instead, I trained at the Temple Of The Wind which was much closer to home.
Father and Mother used to come help me train, sometimes Aren would tag along and teach me, but lately only Mother was able to go with me. Father has been busy with work and Aren left for a month-long hunting trip. I wasn't mad, though. Mother was a good teacher and she always gave me a challenge
I was beating up wooden dummies, as usual, today while Mother watched from the side, sometimes she'd stop me to explain what I did wrong. I was almost done my training when I saw someone join Mother. I looked over and nearly squealed at the bearded man grinning at me.
Father got off work early! I thought, turning my attention back on the dummy. I need to make him proud.
"Falling Dragon!" I slammed my wooden spear down on the dummy, ripping it in two almost instantly. I cheered, throwing my hands up in the air.
"Wonderful job, Ara!" Mother and Father clapped together.
"Father," I ran into his big open arms. He lifted me up from the ground and crushed me with a hug.
"That was amazing, Ara." He tightened his grip around me. "I wish your brother could have seen you."
"When Aren is back I promise I'll do one-thousand times better!" I said, beaming.
"Come, let's go home," Mother laughed. "I will cook us up some dumplings for dinner."'
I cheered at the sound of Mother's famous dumplings, my grumbling tummy sang along with me.
As we walked home we talked about the many ways we could surprise Aren when he returned. I shared the idea of tackling him in one big group hug, Mother and Father agreed instantly.
We were almost home when we saw a giant black smoke rising from over the wavy hills of sand. It looked like a dragon rising into the sky, spreading its enormous black wings into the endless blue above.
Father and Mother stopped talking almost instantly and took off running to the dark cloud. When our village finally came into view my parents froze. Almost all the buildings were being eaten by hungry red flames, the streets flooded with demons. From where we were standing it was hard to see who was winning.
"F-Father?" I grasped onto him tightly. "What's happening?"
Father swallowed," e-everything will be okay." He answered with eyes glued on the village. "We'll h-have dumplings after I take care of these demons." He shakily placed me back on the ground.
"Please stay safe daddy," I wrapped my arms around Father's leg and looked up at him. He was smiling down at me but his grin showed no warmth.
It was a smile all adults would use on kids to hide the ugly truth, as Aren would say.
"We will, sweetie," Father kissed me on the head. Turning his attention to my Mother he added, "I'll be helping our men fight. Please don't do anything reckless while I'm gone."
"Be careful," Mother cupped Father's cheek and kissed him on the lips, Father closed his eyes on kissed her back. Mother's shoulders dropped as she pulled away from him. "We've never seen so many demons attack the village before." She whispered.
"I'll be fine," Father answered softly. "Go back to the house and get it. If it falls into the wrong hands we're in trouble."
"I understand."
"And once you get it," Father quickly added. "Get out and don't come back until the demons have left."
"Should I bring her?" She glanced down at me, unlike Father she didn't bother hiding her concerned expression.
Father hesitated for a moment," yes, I don't trust her being alone out here."
"I'll try to be quick," she said, scooping me up in her arms. I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to Father as Mother sprinted back to our house, Father took off running in the other direction.
I shut my eyes and wrapped my arms tightly around Mother as we entered the village. I didn't know what was happening but I felt Mother quicken her pace every time a nearby demon snarled. It felt like we ran across the entire world before Mother kicked open a wooden door. I cracked open my eyes to catch a quick glimpse of the crimson red staining the streets and buildings. Mother slammed the door shut before I get look at it any further.
She placed me back on the ground before rushing over to the squeaky wooden closet. She took the golden spear resting in the shadows without a second of hesitation.
"M-mommy, I'm scared." I managed to squeak, legs trembling as I approached her and embraced her leg.
Mother's tense eyes landed on me as if she forgot I was here. She softened her gaze and smiled," e-everything will be fine—"she stiffened as something thumped against our front door"—Just stay quiet and follow me."
I nodded and followed her from behind, I tried to force myself to go faster but my jelly legs refused to let me move any quicker. She swung open her bedroom door and gestured me in, I dashed inside without a second thought. Mother hurried in after me and closed the door behind her.
"Stay here," Mother ordered, eyes empty of all warmth.
"O-okay," I whimpered, silently wishing Aren was here to keep me warm and safe.
I didn't move an inch as Mother began digging under her bed. She spat out a few bad words as she pulled out boxes of jewellery and books from underneath. Once she had dug out everything from under the bed she began searching through the wooden cabinets set up around the bedroom. Her breath grew louder and louder with each useless item she threw out, her movements quickly becoming more frantic as time ticked by.
I bit down on my tongue as something slammed against the front door. Mother rocketed up to her feet, spear ready to attack whoever was trying to break in.
"W-what do we do now?" I asked in a whisper. The room seemed to spin as more demons sounded from the outside.
Mother smiled weakly," w-we must stay alive until your father and his warriors defeat these demons." She lowered her defences and examined the room," e-everything will be fine so please just relax."
I knew it was a lie, Mother was unsure of the results. I could tell by the sudden paleness of her usually rosy cheeks and the strands of hair left unfixed. Instead of disagreeing with her I nodded.
"Ara, go hide in that closet," Mother pointed to the large oak closet sitting across from the bed. "Don't make a single sound and do not come out until someone you know gets you."
"What about you?" I cried. "I-I don't want to be alone." I stumbled to her side, latching onto her cold hand.
"Ara," she pulled her hand away—tears rolled down my cheeks as her touch abandoned me.
She sighed and knelt down beside me, with eyes locked onto mine she said," I am going to protect you, just like how your father is protecting the village." She placed the spear down," if you are still scared then I will let you hold onto this."
I tilted my head as Mother brought her hands back behind her neck.
"Your Father gave this to me when we got married," she said, releasing a golden necklace from around her neck. Our family crest dangled from the shiny chain. "It has always been my lucky charm, but right now I think you need all the luck in the world." She slipped the warm necklace around my neck.
I shook my head, my face was drenched in burning tears. If Aren were here he'd accept the gift and follow Mother's order without question, but I wasn't Aren. I didn't want to be left alone. I wanted to Mother to stay by my side until all the demons were gone.
"Ara," Mother cupped my face in her shaking hands. "I-I need you to be a brave girl, okay? M-mommy can't do her work if you're a scared little rabbit."
"But I'm scared," I hiccuped. "Mommy, I-I'm scared!"
"I know, sweetheart." Mother's lower lip shook. "I-I promise we'll leave this village after I-I find the important item."
"O-okay, I'll be waiting for you to get me." I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face into her neck as the tears came down. Mother silently returned the hug.
"Stay safe, Ara." Her voice cracked. "Please stay safe."
She planted one last kiss on the cheek before carrying me to the oak closet. To my surprise the closet wasn't filled with a forest of clothes, there were only a few robes hanging with an emerald box pushed against the corner—the box was barely visible in the shadow of the closet. Once I was snuggled tightly inside Mother slashed me a tight smile before closing the closet doors. I only had a sliver of light to keep be safe from the dark.
I sat, with hands over my mouth, and listened as Mother resumed her search through one of the wooden cabinets. The sounds outside continued on but it didn't seem like anything was going to break in.
Eventually, my hands dropped from my face and my eyes began wandering around the dark space—there was nothing to see but robes and shadows. After a few more minutes of waiting, I decided to shuffle around and find a new sitting position, my legs were starting to feel tingly. I froze as my foot collided into the small emerald box across from me.
"Everything okay?" Mother asked on the other side of the closet door.
"I-I'm f-fine, just kicked something," I replied with a small giggle. "Sorry."
"Just be careful, dear."
With that, we stopped talking. I peeked out the small crack, Mother was barely in sight but I could hear her digging through the cabinet. Her bedroom floor was now littered with papers and boxes, I was surprised Mother didn't already clean the mess up. I leant away from the door and carefully removed my foot from the box.
I really hope there's nothing important inside, I thought. Maybe I should check just in case.
I held my breath and shuffled myself around to get the box. Once I retrieved it I gently positioned the box by my small light source, it shimmered under the thread of sunlight.
My heart began racing as I opened up the lid, it felt like I was about to break one of Mother and Father's rules. It was hard to see what was inside but I could still make out the white nine tailed fox hairpin.
"So pretty," I whispered, taking the hairpin out. It was strangely warm to the touch. "I wonder how it'll look in my hair."
Before I could admire the small treasure any further the sound of the splitting of wood ripped from somewhere in our house. I peeked through the small crack once again, my hands were now sweaty. Mother was facing the bedroom door with the spear pointed to the closed bedroom door.
I squeezed my hands around the hairpin as the sounds from the other side of the gradually grew louder, Mother tensed with each thumping footstep. I felt myself jumping back as the bedroom suddenly flew open. I bit back a scream and inched my head as close to the door as I could but all I could see was Mother, the mysterious intruder was just out of sight.
"Y-you," I felt my heart drop at the sound of Mother choking up. "W-why?" The spear in her hand trembled.
I held my breath. I wanted to run out and help Mother fight but I knew that would only make Mother even more scared. I had to be a good girl and stay put.
"I-I can't believe--" She began to cry. "Th-that m-my only--"
She never got to finish as something came charging into the room. I pried my eyes from the scene and I pressed myself against the back of the closet, the ground shivered from the sudden attack.
A high pitch scream ripped through the air. I instantly pushed my back off the wall to peek out the crack again.
That was the worst mistake of my life.
The demon was on top of my mother, its sharp claws slowly digging into her small fragile body. She had her eyes squeezed shut as the demon ripped her open, blood poured out like an endless river from the open wound. I wanted to vomit from the scene.
I looked away with tears streaming down my face and hands over my mouth. The air surrounding me seemed to thicken, making every spastic breath difficult to take in. After what felt like years of torture she grew quiet.
It was impossible to not scream as something cracked loudly on the other side, I could only assume the cracking was from her bones. They popped and crunched under the attacker's weight, it was like the sound of crackling fire.
The room fell into silence once the attacker was finished with Mother. The room trembled once again, this time the heavy footsteps were heading straight to me.
I could already feel the demon's presence on the other side of the wooden doors, its warm breath spilling through the thin crack between the closet doors. I shut my eyes tightly, bracing myself for the same torture mother went through—the white hairpin clenched in my hand suddenly grew warmer with each passing second.
I didn't remember much after that. All I recall was hearing a voice whispering into my ear, do not fear. I shall protect you, daughter of the Haan family.