Chapter Seven

Akram let out a sigh and turned towards the sleeping figure beside him. 

Parisa.

Then turned his gaze again towards the crackling fire, his hands playing with the hilt of his sword that was strapped to his waist awhile ago. He had sworn that he would do all the means to keep her safe.

But...he knows that there would come a day that he would have to let her go.

Until then, he have to stay by her side. Just as he had promised to her.

Her hair laid on the ground in silvery patterns against the dry earth beneath them. Her mouth slightly opened for her to breathe. Her eyelashes casting long shadows on her cheeks.

A small smile appeared on his face as he pulled a woollen blanket out of his backpack and draped it quietly over her form. And stood up, his eyes trained forward.

At the vast forest that lay before him. He watched as the leaves swayed gently in the wind, creating a soft noise equivalent to a lullaby.

And his heart pained at the thought of large acres of forest destroyed at the mere whims of humans, the thousands of years of beauty that was crafted by none other than God Himself.

He then turned to look down at the sleeping form beside him and couldn’t help but feel that he could never ease the pain that she was feeling, no matter what he do to make her feel comfortable in this life.

If only....he thought, his hands clenched into fists. 

There’s only so little he knew about her, but he could already tell that her soul was never the same since the day that she had shown herself to him. 

It was an unexpected event that happened in his life, one that rarely happens in a thousands of years, moreso in a millennia. For such a being to appear in a world riddled by all kinds of hatred and greed, it’s considered such a legend.

But he had promised to never indulge himself in the past while she was with him. 

It was better to let things unravel themselves to serve its purpose. And not interfere with the hands of fate. For those who do so, could greatly create an impact with the Order. 

The last thing that this fragile world would ever need.

He let out a deep sigh and was to leave their campsite, when a voice spoke.

“Is something on your mind, Akram?” 

He turned to see her sitting up, her hair lying on her chest. Her eyes looking at him with scrutiny but also with a slight of sadness in them...and an emotion that he couldn’t fathom nor associate with her.

A small smile graced his face as he looked at her. “It’s nothing you should worry yourself, Parisa. Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll be back in a short while.” he told her softly then turned on his heel.

He was about to leave when she called out his name, softly like there was something underneath every syllable, an emotion that she was trying to show but was suppressing it at the same time.

“Akram...”

Eyes wide and slightly confused, he turned to look at her, his confusion replaced by the worry; the need to protect her as much as he could do.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice soft, as if he was afraid that any louder could break the thin sheet of ice that was underneath the both of them.

She looked up at him, her body wrapped in the blanket he had covered her with awhile ago. Her face was illuminated by the glow of the fire, which was showing him the emotion that she had shunned years ago.

And was quickly replaced by something else.

Something a whole lot different from awhile ago.

But her words had surprised him to make him forget the undeniable question he was preparing to ask her about the look on her face.

She looked up at him and for the first time since they came here, she smiled; real genuine this time, not the lies that so littered the world.

“Thank you.”

He stopped for a moment as he looked at her then he felt his features softened and he spoke. “You're welcome.”

She watched him as he disappeared into the forest then turned to look at the crackling fire in front of her, her knees brought to her chest. With her arms wrapped tight around them, her chin resting on top.

Back before everything had happened, she was a being that never had the need to satiate her needs. She was not in need of such mundane tasks nor had dreamt that she would experience the need to do so.

“How easy time flies...” she murmured as she watched the fire eat away the wood. “And how fast human lives tend to disappear as if they never had existed.”

She then picked up a small thin stick laying beside her and began poking at the fire. Her thoughts on her past...her past which started everything.

Flashback...

She stood before the Council in her plain white robes, her silvery hair kept tied in a braid with a gold band. Her eyes downcast as she awaited the judgement that would determine her fate.

“Parisa...as a servant, it is your duty to fulfil what your Master wishes you to do so...but in light of recent events...you have failed...” an old but powerful voice spoke.

She kept her eyes downcast, awaiting the moment of trial.

“And as decided by the Council, you will no longer be called as such and will be cast away from our kind.”

Her eyes widened as she heard those news. There’s no way they would do that to her! She’s one of the oldest! Not to mention one of the most powerful to ever grace their presence! 

Why? 

Is it because of one simple thing she had failed to accomplish?

Is that it?

She shook her head free of the memories and stared at the fire. Its bright red orange flames satisfied of its meal and was asking for more. Burned cinders littered the bottom of the pit as the flames asked for more.

She poked at it again, and then threw the stick that she had used awhile ago. It would have to serve its purpose for now. 

To satisfy one’s own need other than its own. Just as she had before she was thrown aside just for one mistake.

One mistake that she had failed to accomplish.

With a heavy sigh, she stood up, the blanket still wrapped around her shoulders. And lifted her gaze upward towards the starless sky.

‘Am I just some tool to be used for your own purpose?’ she asked. ‘And discarded after I’ve had lost my zeal?’

‘Am I?’ she demanded angrily. ‘Am I...’

‘Just a part of some twisted game?’ 

A tear drop to the ground, creating a small dark presence before completely disappearing in all its splendour.