The corpses laid dead as they should on the ground and the Lightborn were collecting them, putting them on carts they made from manipulating wood. Brundus had many stuck to itself, and many more stomped below its feet, the colossus was sitting just outside the settlement waiting to be cleaned up.
Around the place manelooters were scouring the sky. To look for signs of life and things they could pick up and bring to their masters. Avaanel and Salvete were the ones to lead the parties, while Mercaara was keeping count of all things, living and dead.
Menoel was looking at the lands with Eraanel and a small group of Lightborn on river wolves' backs, making sure there was nothing Orvus could've left behind to come after them even after the battle was over.
After the injured had been accounted for and treated, Menoel went to talk with Kilon. Stuck in the place where he killed Orvus, he seemed in deep thought for the past hours, soon to be night. His hands and body were already cleansed of the terrible thing he had done, and he didn't feel in any particular way about it.
"Everything is going well. While there's a lot of injured, a lot of us have survived and we are soon to recover." Menoel looked at Kilon and saw no reaction to it. "But of course, you probably expected this outcome, didn't you?"
"Partly yes," Kilon broke the silence and rose up. He looked nothing alike as before and Menoel felt fearful but also happy. "However, it costed us something even I couldn't foresee. To think I needed Manna in order to kill him, he definitely went past my expectations."
"You seem to appreciate that," Menoel said as he looked around at the landscape.
"I do, in a way. And I think you're probably the only one who can understand what I mean."
"He pushed you far enough, to the point where you had to become what we needed," Menoel said, which was what made him happy.
"It's also a bit more than that," Kilon started to walk, the lights that made the mane at his back seeming to reach out in places. "He pushed me to the point where I had to become something greater and better. I now know much more and realize what are the things I will have to set out for the future in order for the past to not repeat itself."
"Kilon," Menoel stopped walking for a moment worried, "you sound different. Are you planning to leave somewhere?"
"I do," Kilon answered honest with a frown on his face, "and it will be a very long time that I will leave for."
"Take me with you," Menoel begged, "and the others. Don't leave us here, we're already broken as we are. If you leave it will weaken us so much, maybe beyond the point of no return."
"I already have to carry the others with me," Kilon said as he stretched his hand.
"The others?" Menoel looked around and he started to see them, the souls of his brethren. Kilon was gathering them around him. "How are you doing that?" Menoel was mesmerized by it. Little sparks springing to life as Kilon's lights reached for them, and then followed him.
"They're listening to my call, they know I want to help them, guide them back to where they belong. But it's a lie I'm telling them." Dozens, soon to be hundreds of souls, were already gathered around Kilon. "I plan to bring them back, all of our fallen siblings."
Menoel's heart skipped a beat. Not even during the attack did he feel such emotion as he did then. For all his existence, Menoel thought that once they were dead, there was no return to that world. And what Kilon had performed on Avunaia seemed more of a miracle than anything.
"I understand," Menoel didn't want any other explanation. His whole purpose set inside his mind was to try and preserve his siblings' lives at any cost. To know that Kilon could bring them all back, would fulfill that purpose beyond anything he could do or say. "What do you want me to do then? There must be a reason you called for me here."
"I need you to lead them brother," Kilon placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "despite your mistakes, you also wanted what was best for them. And you had time to talk with Manna, see what she did, and the same goes for me. You're the one who learned from both of us and perhaps understands us the best."
"I'm not sure I'm prepared for something like that," Menoel hunched his back, thinking of the immense pressure that was to be put on his shoulders.
"You won't do it alone," Kilon raised his face up. "Eharel, Eraanel, Salvete, Avaanel, Galanius and all of our dead siblings. They each carved a path, and they all converge here. Those who died taught us lessons, and those who live will keep on teaching us. Don't forsake the lost ones, and treasure the living ones. Do those things and I'm sure the path that lies ahead of you will stay true."
"I see, then I'm not alone," Kilon smiled at his response, "they're all here for me, and with me. Just as I am."
"I'm glad you finally learned your lesson little brother," Kilon chuckled and so did Menoel. "I wish I could say farewell to all of them, but not all of them will be as understanding as you are. So do explain to them on my behalf."
"Do you know when you will be back?" Menoel had a tender, sort of innocent tone in his voice when he asked Kilon that.
"I'm not sure, but don't expect me to be back even after a couple of trees have gone and died," Kilon's statement made Menoel shudder. "Souls are delicate things once exposed, and they are prone to all kinds of emotions, grudges and such when left alone. Thus I must temper them, make them forgive those who they are angry with and rebuild their bodies anew."
"They won't remember what happened to them, nor what we've done, is that it?"
"Indeed."
"That's dangerous, and you know that. But in the end," Menoel looked at the broken settlement and smiled, "it will all be worth it."
"It will. Once I bring everyone back, I want to show them Litkin," the name surprised Menoel and his eyes let out sparks of excitement. "Show them what their older siblings have made for them and what they learned about the world."
"I will do it then Kilon," Menoel placed his hand on Kilon's back, "I will rebuild Litkin and make something worth looking over from the hills once more. And I'll take care of them, all of them."
"I'm sorry to have to leave you like this," Kilon thought back to what Orvus had said, "the burden of responsibility is a heavy one, and I would ask no one besides you to do this. For I know how strong and how weak all of you are."
"Seems to me that you've grown more accustomed to who you are. Were you to be the one before now, you wouldn't have said such things."
"There is no more reason to hide, no more reason to deny the things that I was, am and will ever be. I see things differently now, and I know what lies ahead. At least for the short period of time laid before me."
Kilon took a last good look at the settlement and the Lightborn. How despite the tragedy that has concluded, they all seemed happier, more relieved. It was as if things were at peace at long last. He didn't want to tell them what was to come, what hardships laid ahead. Only some of them would know, and he knew they would be the ones most suited to bear the burden.
"The way they work together and in harmony with nature. Manelooters, regal deers, river wolves, draxes and more critters to join in due time. Us, the ones who used to kill most if not all things we laid eyes upon once in the Shivering Lands, to us now, who only kill what we must."
"Such was the case with Orvus," Menoel said as he laid down, seeming tired but actually preparing himself. "We had to kill him, and only him, while Felemous sacrificed himself for us. That's the price we paid for all of this."
'Was it worth it, I wonder,' Kilon was looking into the future by assembling all possibilities inside his mind through his lights. 'Doesn't seem so.'
"It will probably be all worth it."
"Strange," Menoel scratched his head, "I almost felt like you were trying to deceive me in some way."
'Ever so perceptive,' Kilon noted inside his mind.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqt4MEudkC
"It was just me probably doubting myself a little. Despite everything we realised, I still fear for everything that is yet to come."
"That darkness is what I think you're talking about. It seemed to have empowered Orvus, but also to consume him didn't it?"
"Indeed it was. Thankfully though, the darkness obeyed him and he wasn't its to control."
"So it was alive," the thought alone made Menoel tremble. "What was it? Was it just one?"
Kilon explained to him the major details, but left out some. The fact that there were countless gods out there that had been killed by these shadows, he didn't want to tell him that. He knew it would drive Menoel to more drastic actions, something he didn't want just yet.
"And that's why you want to go back to the Link. To reassemble not only our brethren, but also a force that can stand against all of this." Menoel sat himself up, fearful but also thinking. He could see ways to deal with it, and was already setting in motion plans inside his head.
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'Gave him just enough to push the others to protect themselves and get better,' Kilon thought.13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSC1aMR8vCt
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"Then, it begs the question, why doesn't the Creator send his own army? Make something that can deal with it?"
"The Creator's power is vast and not so fine. The Link provides us with a connection to Him, and it's through it that he was able to make us. But were He to make stronger creations, their very presence could threaten not only the lives of the creatures on this world, but also ours."
"I see, then you're the next one in line," Kilon rose an eyebrow to his words, "to create something that can protect us. We alone are strong, but not strong enough if even one of those shadows can bend the will of one of our strongest and cause such havoc."
"I see what you mean," Kilon pondered for a few moments, "and I think I might have something in mind for it." Kilon pointed at Brundus. "Something similar to that, perhaps smaller though and faster."
Menoel stood before Kilon with his hand stretched. "Then we have our plans set in mind, we just have to enact them Kilon."
Kilon reached for his arm and grabbed it from the elbow, both clutching at each other. "We shall see each other again Menoel, and when we do, we will be different."
"But we will still be brothers."
"And that's all we need, for our foes are aplenty, but they cannot break our bond. Nothing can." Kilon's words seemed to carry a deeper meaning, something that gave an absolute feeling to it.
Kilon's cape fluttered in the wind, his mane of lights carefully gathered at his back and flew with the cape. One moment he was there, the next he was gone. Carried by the winds and his lights, he made himself a shooting star in the night. Menoel was the only one to observe it, while others from further away could only notice a flickering light that went further and further, while the more perceptive ones like Eharel could see that Kilon's vast amount of lights and souls he carried vanished.
A lot of them hurried to see what was happening, while a few stood behind already knowing, just waiting for Menoel to return and explain himself.
Kilon traversed the rootworm fields, reached the Whistling Valley, and walked the Shivering Lands. He was a being that defied reason, thus nothing every approached him. Neither wind nor rain nor critter. He walked the road in solitude and silence, not even his thoughts present. He wanted to understand the world around him a bit better, make notice of the roads the Lightborn will eventually walk once again, and where the battles will be held. It wasn't until he reached the Link that he finally started thinking again.
'From where I once wanted to leave, to now return and the one place where I want to stand the most at,' he looked around and saw the remains of Orvus' and Affrax's battle. The crystalized light Affrax managed to develop, as well as his demise.
'Beautiful,' is what Kilon thought as he looked at the giant crystal inside the Link. Unperturbed by the constant flow of lights, it seemed like the heart of the Link. He reached inside the Link, and this time he could get in without much issue. 'Threading between these constant, fluctuating lights, has become rather second nature with everything that I have.' Kilon then touched the crystal and closed his eyes. He focused all his sense, lights and even his soul to seeing deeper inside, but nothing would be revealed to him.
"What would my brother use as a key of sorts," Kilon looked around with nothing to be found. Affrax's things were either disposed of or Orvus had made use of them and didn't leave behind anything. "No, if he had a key stored somewhere, it would probably not be here."
Kilon then looked at himself and thought 'Maybe it's you sister.' Kilon approached the crystal once more, this time with Manna's soul in his hand, enveloped by lights only, no flames to protect it. And the crystal reacted, it went closer to Manna's soul. 'An imprint to react to her presence. There was perhaps one for me too, but I believe now it doesn't recognize me anymore.'
The crystal shattered itself upon Manna's soul getting close enough. The light Affrax had was getting lost between the amalgamation of lights swirling about, so Kilon had to struggle a little in finding it. Then he got it, and with it, the knowledge of his brother.
'This will shorten my plans by a long margin,' Kilon place the light next to Manna's soul, he noticed Affrax's light didn't try to leave. 'You cared for us so much that even your light tries to protect us. The loneliness you felt, I'm about to share it as well brother.'
Kilon stepped inside the Link, not a trace left behind him. Once inside, he felt at home. Unlike the settlement, he didn't want to leave.
'Let us begin then. To make my siblings, and our defenders. I shall call them Frostborn, for they will not feel the warmth we do. All they will feel is a sense of duty to protect us at any cost.'
Kilon closed his eyes and started to envision his designs. 'Our siblings will be called the young ones. Just how the flesh beings have more than one litter, we shall have our second. Manna on the other hand will be my daughter. Just as the regal deers look after their young ones as their own, so will I after Manna. For I know she will do good in learning from me, and as such she must stay by my side.'
Kilon manipulated all the lights inside and outside his body. The Link was his to control in some part. And as he was about to begin, he thought 'I can still recall it. The day I felt the cold and the new sensations. When I saw my siblings and couldn't understand them...when I stepped outside the light.'13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKXc54pri1
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