Chapter 61 Belongings
I glance at Conrad, a silent request to step back a little. I see his gaze soften and I walk a little faster. I catch up with the hybrid, who was silently guiding us along the uncertain path.
"Where were you?" I ask, looking at him curiously.
The man had no evident expression and continued to stare intently at the road.
"Far away," he replies abruptly, without details.
"What's your name?" I ask, ignoring his serious demeanor.
The man stares at me, letting out a tired sigh, looking at me impatiently.
"Anor," he replies in a low voice.
"Do you know others like us?"
Anor sighs again, glaring at me angrily. I stare at him confused, not understanding why he didn't want to talk to me.
"Can't you keep quiet?"
Anor replies rudely.
I look back and see Kael trying to calm Conrad, who was looking at Anor with murderous eyes.
"And you? Do you have some kind of problem?" I ask, returning his rudeness.
The man stares at me with a raised eyebrow, as if surprised by my attitude.
"I'm not obligated to answer the questions of a traitor!" He says hostilely, glaring at me with hatred.
"Traitor?"
I repeat the word Anor used to describe me, completely lost.
"Watch the words you use with my wife!"
Conrad threatens him, with calculated words.
"And what are you going to do, little wolf?"
Anor replies to Conrad with an ironic smirk. I stare at him in surprise.
Conrad advances towards Anor, ready to start a fight, and Anor was ready to fight back.
I step between them, preventing that potentially silly fight.
"Enough!" I shout at them both.
I glare at Anor angrily.
"I don't know where you came from or what your problem is. But we've already lost too many of our own. You may not like wolves, but their lives matter just as much as yours!"
I say loudly, without bothering to be careful.
"And me, the traitor, as you said. I only recently discovered what I really was. Vivi takes over my life alone, eating what was thrown in the trash. I was completely humiliated and tortured by other creatures, but I hold no grudge."
I pause for only a few seconds to breathe.
"I confess I tried to stop being who I am. But this power came after me and I stopped denying it. I don't know what I'm doing most of the time. I have stories etched into my chest, memories that aren't mine haunt me constantly. A strange kind of mark pulsates inside me and I feel it sucking everything around me. I'm following a man I've never seen before, and the only certainty I have is that at the end of this road, the creatures I fear most will be waiting for me. And I don't know what I have to do to stop the deaths."
The tear that was trapped is released and I breathe slowly. I keep walking, leaving them all behind. I look at that dark path and can only see death.
Conrad is soon beside me, kisses my hand and holds it tightly. I hug him, curling up against his body as we walk together.
His presence brought me relief and at the same time immense sorrow.
I was carrying this mess. I was leading my companion, the one I was supposed to protect, to the pit of death.
"Don't let those thoughts dominate your body, Maya." Kael appears beside us, gently touching my shoulder. "We all have an obligation to fix what has been done. This war isn't just yours, it's ours."
I gaze into Kael's golden eyes, which always knew the right thing to say.
I feel the symbol on my chest vibrate, like a living emotion.
Anor soon resumes walking ahead of us, guiding us in silence.
We stop at nightfall. When the fog was too thick to continue. The cold inside that forest was biting.
I was sitting with Conrad, huddled in his arms.
Kael was trying to build a fire a few meters away. The pile of wood he carefully placed collapses, making us smile.
"It's really awful," Kael grumbles, already out of patience.
"Did you skip pack lessons?" Conrad jokes, and we laugh even harder.
"Why doesn't your majesty build a fire then?" Kael says sarcastically, challenging Conrad.
A flame shoots through us, heading towards the wood. We are all startled by the flying flame.
Anor stood a few meters away, and the flame emanated from his magic. The high fire burned the wood, leaving us impressed.
Anor sat down near us, his gaze fixed on the fire.
"It's not a mark, it's your magic."
Anor spoke, leaving us confused. Then he looked at me.
"Wolves gain an ancestral wolf, and we are born with a mark. Our mark awakens when we need it. Our power has consciousness and guides us on the path we were born to tread. That's why it responds to everything that happens around us."
Anor explained, now more gently.
"Thank you." I thanked him.
His gaze returned to me, observing me silently for a few moments.
"There are still many of us, hidden. We are afraid to see those creatures again. They destroyed everything." His gaze began to wander into the void. "They destroyed our magic altars, our objects of domination, our home, simply everything that made us hybrids." I see the pain reflected in your eyes. "They destroyed everything we had, and now we wander through nothingness. Unable to stay in one place. We live wandering, searching for something we'll never find. That was the sentence we received. To wander until none of us remain."
I feel my magic pulsing with pain, and I can feel yours too. Not only feel it, but also see your mark. A symbol I'd never seen before.
"All hybrids gain a unique symbol. Our magic is unique and often directed towards one side of magic. Some manipulate the forces of nature better, just like me."
Anor makes a small whirlwind with his hands and then makes the grass around us grow. I smile, feeling Anor's symbol vibrate joyfully as it manifests its power.
"Others are good at seeing the future or have healing abilities," he says with a simple smile on his face, as if remembering the past. "Except you, Maya."
His last sentence makes me serious and observe him attentively.
"Your power didn't choose a path. You can do whatever you want. Your magic is powerful and different even for us hybrids."