Mikleo #4

9

“There is peace even in the storm,And the wait is just a clam before a storm,As in the silence, something might rise.”

Chapter 9 ~ Caged Bird

Defenceless, Nayla is hauled away by Heldalf. His huge claws overshadows her, before wrapping around her neck. And just like that, the girl is hoisted up in the air, leaving her screaming for help at her exhausted friends above the ground.

They can only watch in horror as the Lord of Calamity takes their friend. They try to stop him using their elemental magic, but no amount of raw power can rival to the dark and mighty hellion king.

Zaveid is able to head back and catch them in the right moment. The seraph sends a wild whirl of wind toward the enemy, but it is repulsed by a wave of Heldalf’s hand in a flash, as if it were nothing, curving the attack astray and causing it to land behind them. The impact on strong concentration of wind crashes against the edge of the cliff. This causes the fragile ground around them to collapse, earth, snow and all, triggering a submersion of heavy snow from that danger point.

Zaveid only has a split second to make a decision. He wants to save Nayla, but they are too far and the ground is breaking, creating new tears at every nano second. He doesn’t like this one but, but in the end he decides to dive back and collect the unconscious Mikleo, carrying the boy to safety.

This allows the chance to save the girl vanishes, as Heldalf flies them off further and further up. Malevolence energy emits from his armor, so thick that it becomes hard to breathe. Nayla’s instinct tells her to get away from him as fast as possible, but she doesn’t want to risk falling thousands of feet from the air. She hates this, but she can’t do anything but stay put.

“Let me go!” the brunette shouts, fog forming in front of her as she speaks.

Heldalf looks down at her. “Are you sure about that? You’ll die if I drop you off now, omniseraph or not. I know that your body is still human.”

“Why do you even care? I need to go to my friends.”

“And then what? Die as well? I know about your diseases, Omniseraph. You might not feel it yet, but it’s killing you slowly from the inside. The more you use your power, the closer you will be to death. But the more you use it, the stronger does the pull to use the power becomes.”

“How do you know so much about my condition, anyway?”

“Power has a way to become addictive. It doesn’t matter what form it comes from. It pulls you in, and you’ll be drown to it like a moth. The more you refuse to use it, the more your mentality will be damaged. But the more you use it, the more your physique will be damaged. There is nothing you can do about it. Either way, you’re doomed.”

“Unless you give me the flower. It’s my only cure.”

The next words that come out from his mouth surprises her.

“I will, in time.”

The air pressure grows stronger as they fly off higher, further and further above the surface until Nayla can see nothing but white. Snow storm strikes them just a few minutes lapse, making the girl shivers against his hold. Heldalf had grabbed her by the collar to keep her still, but now the strain of fabric around her neck and shoulders causes her body to turn stiff. Her blood freezes  and her body turns into a living popsicle by the time they manage to get to somewhere. Nayla can’t even care to study the direction he leads them to, too cold to think straight.

By the time they land, Nayla is still frozen up. Her eyes see but her brain can’t register much. She is immediately huddled into a dim lighted room by the time they arrive. Nayla doesn’t know where Heldalf brings her to; all she knows is that she is so cold and alone. He leaves her there as if he wants nothing to do with her at all, after doing all of those things just to get her away from her friends.

Where are they? Are they okay? Whatever happens, she hopes they are doing much better than her. Her body is still shaking frantically by the time she manages to close her eyes. Some measure of warm returns to her body, but her body is still shivering, all thanks to being exposed to the cold for a period time. The girl falls asleep just like that, overwhelmed and exhausted.

It’s still dark when she wakes up again. Nayla has no idea how much time has passed. The girl finds herself waking up inside what seems to be a very cozy living room, which has a fireplace that has been heating up the space from the center of the room. It seems like she has fallen asleep on one of the couches, but Nayla can’t remember how she got here. She did walk all the way over here? It doesn’t seem like so, seeing as she doesn’t even have any idea where this place is.

The last thing she remembers is Heldalf taking her away from her friends. Wait, does that mean this is his place? The realization causes the girl to straighten her back almost immediately. What is she doing lying about? She has to get out of this place. But just as soon as Nayla raises from the seat, she is attacked by a fit of coughing. Ugh. Not good. She is still sick.

Nayla sits back before she collapses. What to do? What to do now? How is she going to proceed from here? She is definitely in no condition to walk about, let alone fight. How is she going to get out of this mess?

Just when Nayla is having an internal argument, someone pushes open the door, causing her heart to jolt a little bit in her chest when it happens. She looks up to find a tall blonde man stepping in.

“Ah good, you’ve woken up. I’ll let someone know to bring you breakfast,” the man says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. All the politeness is just fake pleasantries. Immediately off the bat, she can’t tell that he is not someone that she should mess with.

She can feel a good amount of malevolence spilling from his body, though most of it is hidden. Right. He must be a hellion too. But apart from the goat horns that is curling on either side of his head, he looks almost completely human. Almost.

The guy has piercing crystal blue eyes that splits in the middle like a cat’s curious stare. Curly golden rings fall from the top of his head and stops around his shoulders. His lips are red and formed into a slight curve, while his complexion is pale, like a noble’s. He dresses in expensive clothes in passionate red and royal blue, combined with a touch of gold here and there. His movements are elegant, but calculated.

All beautiful things have their own thorns, and Nayla can tell that he is strong. Maybe not as strong as Heldalf, but close enough.

“Who are you? Where am I?” Nayla asks.

“My name is Callus, I’m a servant of the Great Lord Heldalf. You are currently held captive in one of his forts.”

Well, that’s easier than she first thought. The brunette thought that he would make is hard for her to option answers, through the development of the situation also reveals more challenges of its own. If the guy can reveal information so easily like this, it means that he is confident that she will not be able to do anything about it, even when she knows.

“Wait, you said I’m held captive. How come I am placed in a room like this?”

“Why? Is it not to your standard?” he arches an eyebrow, as if honestly no idea.

“No. In fact, it’s rather too extravagant.”

“Well, we do have the underground cell type, if you much prefer that one—”

“Nope, nope, it’s okay. Just saying,” Nayla quickly cuts in. She kinda feels bad for receiving such a nice hospitality from her enemy, but she is by no means in a good condition to allow her ‘holding cell’ to be downgraded.

“Alright. If there’s nothing else, then I should retreat myself,” Callus says with excessive politeness dripping from his tone before the hellion closes the door behind him.

Now that she is back to being alone again, Nayla decides to explore the room. The door is the first thing she tries, but it’s obviously locked from the outside. She tries the windows too, but they are way too small for her body to pass through.

There is a small selection of books on the shelves, which are aligned in one side of the wall. If she runs out of wood to burn, she might have to use them, though Nayla doesn’t really enjoy the concept of wasting such good reading material.

If she pushes some furniture around, she might be able to make a stack tall enough to let her peek through one of the windows, though doing so might not be so worth it. After all, what’s a good use of wasting one’s energy just for a simple sightseeing. She’s not doing this for fun. It might be important to really assess the environment, if she has a chance to escape at all. But Nayla decides that she should do this later, once she feels better and restores some energy.

A few minutes later, a rabbit hops in carrying a tray of food. The appearance is unexpected, especially when she sees that the rabbit is also wearing an intricate suit with many layers. The coloring is similar, red, blue and gold.

“There are for me?” Nayla at the amount of food displayed. These . . . is not food for prisoners at all. These are food for royal guests! There are at least ten different small plates present in this bronze stray. There are two types of bread, soup, some meat slices, eggs, fruit, and dessert. The rabbit brought a hole set. This is just too exquisite. Just looking at them makes her mouth waters.

The rabbit nods, but doesn’t say anything else and leave just as fast, allowing the girl to gulp on the food amount of food laid out before her. Well, since she is hungry and doesn’t want to waste good resources, Nayla shouldn’t hold back. She’ll eat what she can’t carry, and then she’ll keep what is not easily perishable. It might be a good idea to keep some, just in case if they decide to stop giving her food.

But the bread is so soft and fresh though! It’ll be a waste to keep it and let it cool out. Despite that, Nayla knows that she shouldn’t be too greedy. She tries the soup as well. It’s onion, and it’s delicious. She tries the meat slices as well, as it’s just just as delicious as the others. None of the food is even close to being bad. They are fantastic. Top grade stuffs! Though the girl has to wonder, how it is possible that they can produce such magnificent human food when they are inside a hellion nest?

Nayla eats, cleans up and rests. Those seems to be the only things she is allowed. Occasional, she reads, but nerves keep her from concentrating for long. Being trapped in this place makes her uneasy. Just what is Heldalf planning to do to her? Why is she being kept alive and well? The only explanation that she can come up with, is that he somehow has a way to make use of her. How and for what, she has no idea. But if he is willing to go to this length, she is sure that he must have a very good reason.

Days past, but there’s still no sign of the Lord of Calamity. What’s the purpose of keeping her here if he is not even planning to show up and explain? Nayla is forced to wait until she becomes so frustrated.

The rabbit in a suit comes three times a day to deliver her meal; always on time and never late. They even go as far as to vary the menu for each meal. The food’s good as always, though Nayla never really stop with the food stocking. She still won’t put it past them to keep the food flow going. She doesn’t trust them.

It is not until Callus revisits her once more that she is back on her toes. His presence unease her, even when he tries to put off a show by displaying that fake front of his.

“The Lord is asking for your presence,” he announces. “Please follow me.”

The man leads her out of the room, and for the first time in a long time, Nayla feels slightly more liberated, even though she is still under the close watch of one of Heldalf’s henchman.

The rest of the fort turns out to be much darker and more devastating that she first expected, though. It seems like she had been kept in the brighter part of the building. This is the first time she has ever been to a hellion’s den though, so the girl doesn’t really know what exactly to expect.

The lighting is much dimmer over here. The temperature is colder, and just being there gives her the chills. The candlelight are blue somehow, giving the hallway a cold imminent coloring. Nayla hopes that Callus will just walk faster, so that she can skip this place quickly. Even though she has already recovered from the cold, she is still a sick girl waiting to happen. If she were ever to collapse in here, she won’t know what to do with herself.

She is eventually led to a double door. Callus pushes one of it open and gestures for her to step in. The girl hesitates a little bit, fingers clutching to the ends of her skirt before entering.

Inside, Heldalf is standing facing one of the windows that reveals an endless field of snow and the frozen sea. Nayla has her suspicion, but this fort might be closer to Tethe’alla that she first expected. After all, they are still pretty much in a similar landscape. They can’t be that far away, right?

Nayla doesn’t give off much at first glance, but in the inside, she is already preparing to defend herself, should the Lord of Calamity decides to attack. She won’t be able to hold on for long, but that doesn’t mean that she will simply just give up and accept her fate.

“What do you want?” Her tone is nothing but hostile, as she should be, though it comes off more as rude more than anything else, especially considering how she has been treated well as a guest here. Still, that doesn’t mean that she doesn’t get to be upset. After all, it was him who took her here in the first place. She was just doing fine with her friends. If it were not for him, she wouldn’t even be in this situation.

Callus scowls at her, not liking how she is behaving toward his master. He is expecting Lord Heldalf to punish the insolent girl, or at least give her a good whack on the face for being impolite, but he does neither.

“That will be all, Callus. Wait for my signal.” That’s his order to leave the room. The blonde does as he is told, stepping out of the room. And now, there’s only the two of them here.

Nayla keeps waiting for something to happen, but Heldalf is not attacking. How long is he going to prolong this? Is he the type who will play with the enemies first, before ending their lives? Whatever plan he has prepared for her, she won’t fall for it. She has a world to safe, and an apocalypse to prevent.

“Seeth your claws, Omniseraph. I didn’t summon you here to kill you. If you have even an ounce of intelligence in you, you’d know that I wouldn’t keep you here if I want you dead. If I want that to happen, I would have ended your life when I had the chance.”

“Then what is it that you want from me?” That’s the only part that she hasn’t been able to figure out yet so far. “What can a dying Omniseraph be of use to you?”

“That’s right, a dying Omniseraph won’t, unless I can keep you around much longer.”

He then reaches out for something inside his pocket. Nayla falls into a stance, consequences be damned. What she doesn’t expect is for him to take out the Red Moon Flower right in front of her. This guy . . . what is he playing at?

“The cure . . . .” she starts off.

“I can give it to you.”

“But with a prize?”

This stoic lion face doesn’t give anything away. No malice, no arrogance. Just a cold, calculating, guarded expression.

“I guess you can put it that way,” he says.

Nayla has been looking for this stem of plant. But if she is to reach out to it, she can’t tell what prize she will have to pay for it. Heldalf is obviously dangerous. Whatever deal she has to make for the cure, she is not sure if it will be worth it. He will most probably use this against her in some way.

What disturbs her more is, what other use can she possibly posses, for him to keep her in this place? Aren’t they supposed to be enemy? Why is he not offing her as he should be? If she were him, that will be the most logical choice to do. If any implications of the prophecy is right, then she would not want her strongest threat to be walking about like she is. This is strange.

“What exactly do you want in return for this?” she asks cautiously.

“That’s for me to keep, and for you to find out.”

Every fiber in her body screams for her to take it, but a better part of her brain prevents her from doing so. Her fingers are aching to take it, but Nayla holds herself back. Her golden eyes are sparkling with want, but something is preventing her from acting on her own accord. The girl chews on her bottom lips, torn between doing what is necessary, and what is right.

“I— I won’t take it!” she suddenly exclaims, then takes a few steps back to emphasize.

His thick eyebrows raise slightly, and the corner of his lips tug upward a little. “Hmm, are you sure about that?”

“I don’t trust you enough to just take it blindly.”

“Don’t you want to stay alive?”

“I can hold on as long as I don’t use my power excessively.”

“You’re just going to make this difficult, aren’t you?”

“Why are you so determined in getting me cured this time, anyway? Why do you care?”

“Don’t misunderstand my reason, little girl. It doesn’t matter to me if you’re dead or alive. But if you choose to die, it’ll just make it much easier for me.”

“Why aren’t you killing me, then? Shouldn’t it be easy for you to do so now? Especially when there’s nobody else to help me?”