Chương 31: Blonde Hair

Sniff… sniff… Anadis grunted as something disturbed his peaceful sleep. Sniff… sniff… Something wet and sticky brushed against his ear and breathed near it, but he refused to wake. He groaned and blindly swatted at it. Lick… lick… Something warm, rough, and wet slid across his cheek. He cringed even in his sleep. It felt like a rough wet cloth was being dragged across his face. He furrowed his brow, let out another low grunt, then rolled over and curled into a tight fetal position, thumb slipping into his mouth.

Chomp!

"Ah—!" Anadis jerked awake with a cry, his hand flying instinctively to his right ear. His vision was blurry, his heart hammered a bit too widly, and his mind felt foggy, as if he were still trying to settle back into his own body. It took him a long moment to remember where he was and who he was. He looked around, but saw only darkness. He examined his hands and recognized they were his own. Then he quickly touched his chest, his arms, and his legs, confirming he was still himself.

"I… am back," he whispered, his breathing slowing.

"I'm me again." A small, disbelieving chuckle escaped him.

"Wh-what was all that?" he muttered to himself.

"Was it real?" It was as if he had lived through the final moments of that man. He had felt the father's desperation, his pain, and his crushing hopelessness as the man realized his son would die despite everything he had sacrificed. Anadis gulped hard, his stomach twisting.

"Did the kid survive?" he wondered out loud, though he already suspected the answer. Then he suddenly remembered. Hadn't something sharp bitten down on his earlobe? Touching the spot, he felt the faint dents of a bite. No blood, but the skin was tender. He moved his head around, eyes searching the darkness, and there in the corner sat something orange, huffing softly—the calm, steady huff of a canine. It was the little fox, the same one that had saved him from the wolves. Had it come to meet him? Greet him? Bark!

The fox let out a single sharp sound, then went back to huffing.

"Hello…" Anadis muttered, offering a slow wave with his good hand.

"You won't bite me, right? Or shoot me with an air blast… ha… ha…" He laughed feebly. The fox had oversized ears far too big for its tiny skull. Its large eyes, like polished orange glass, gleamed even in the dim crevice. It lolled out a bright blue tongue and swished its bushy tail from side to side. This thing had bitten his earlobe. How bold. He should teach it a lesson, but it had also saved his life. So he supposed the fox got a pass for now.

When the fox didn't respond to his greeting, not that he had expected it to, Anadis tried again.

"Thank you for saving me, little friend." The fox didn't bark. It simply sat there, head tilted curiously, staring straight at Anadis as if licking and biting his ear had been the most reasonable thing in the world. Anadis scowled and looked blearily at it—at him… she?

"Just what the hell are you?" Then, in the blink of an eye, the fox leaped upward, spun gracefully in the air, and hovered there, levitating for a full five seconds.

"What the—It can fly?" Yes, of course it could. Why wouldn't it be able to fly when it could shoot gusts of air from its maw? Peculiar… Everything felt so peculiar, so unique. Living creatures he didn't know existed. A little winged goddess that gave him a Blessing, and a little fox that was not a Grull but not a normal animal either. It had been a long day. It seemed like several days had gone by, yet somehow he was still stuck on the same day. In less than what?

Fourteen, maybe fifteen hours, he had fought his first Grull as a Blessen, obtained two Boons, one of them Divine, no less, escaped a deranged ophidian Luminous woman, relived an entire first life he had completely forgotten about, and then apparently received an imprint right after experiencing the gruesome final moments of another man's life. Just… what the hell is an Imprint anyway? He looked down at his left arm, or rather, what remained of it. Right. How could he forget what that Abominant Grull had done?

"Armless!" he declared melodramatically, lifting the stump into the air.

"A wolf bit my arm! It caught me by surprise! Anadis-son-son-Kalonis… Armless. The wolf made me Armless!"

"What are you doing?" Hel asked as she stared at him, visibly uncomfortable after already materializing into her winged girl form. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"Umm… you wouldn't get it," he muttered, lowering his arm as he felt heat creep into his cheeks from the embarrassment. His poor attempt at lightening his own mood had fallen completely flat.

"You're here. Physically, I mean. Did you fully recover?"

"I am well enough," she said, flinging her hair back over her shoulder.

"Recovered, however? No. I will only be fully recovered once I regain what I have lost, meaning when I return to being a goddess."

"Uh-huh."

"Regardless, we should get going. This trip has gone on way too long and has already cost you an arm," Hel pointed out. He looked down at the bandages, already getting loose and soiled, blood pooling beneath the stump. He grimaced, suddenly feeling lightheaded.

"Night is almost upon us, which will make the journey even more perilous," Hel said.

"Time to move. Oh, and on our way, I want you to tell me everything about that imprint you received." Luckily, the days were longer in Gaelora than on Earth, so he could still make it home before dark. Interesting how he knew that info now.

"Wait, I received an imprint. Hel, did you know?"

"Of course I did. That's why I told you not to touch the light, but you got bewitched by its lure." She folded her arms.

"You spent thirty minutes inside the imprint's mirage. During those thirty minutes, that little fox arrived."

"What exactly is an imprint? And what can it do?" She shook her head, looking almost disappointed that he didn't know, though could she really blame him? They never talked about such things in the Learning Hall.

"I guess I'll tell you. I do need you—" She cut herself short and reasserted, lifting her chin.

"A goddess does not need. However, you must know these things if you are to be a worthy vessel." Anadis could tell she was trying to sound grandiose and imposing. Nevertheless, it was difficult to pull off when she looked and sounded like a little kid.

"An imprint is what remains when a soul pours everything it has into a single act," she began.

"One so absolute that the soul condenses around that moment instead of dissolving." She paused, as if deciding how much a mere mortal deserved to understand.

"It is not a whole person. It is the shape of their will at the moment of their greatest sacrifice—preserved. Frozen. Given form as a physical effigy. Imprints are extremely rare. Perhaps only one in millions of dead souls can transform into one."

"So what you're saying is that I can summon this representation of the person I saw in that illusion to fight for me?" She waggled her hand in a so-so gesture.

"Not exactly. They are meant to fulfill something aligned with their final moments. As I mentioned, they are extremely rare. Even I have only seen a few." He scratched his temple, trying to wrap his head around it all, then glanced at the fox still sniffing around the far end of the cave.

"Hel, what exactly is that fox?" He gestured toward it with a finger, or would have, had his left arm not been a stump.

"Is it a Grull?"

"That little beast is no Grull. Quite the opposite, in fact." She flitted around it, the fox unaware of her existence.

"It's a Guardian."

"A Guardian?" he echoed.

"Yes. Like imprints, they are another rare kind of existence. I haven't seen one in quite some time." She studied the fox with an appraising eye, the way one might examine a rare exhibit.

"Guardians are spirits bound to areas infested with Grulls."

"Wait, so is it like a normal animal that gained some kind of Blessing?" Hel shook her head.

"They aren't animals. They aren't born either—not the way living things are. When Leywave pulses concentrate in a place saturated with cursed essence, the land itself begins to… protest. The pulses accumulate until they have no choice but to take shape into something tangible. A way for the land to fight back against the corruption. They also protect wanderers from the Grulls."

"Just like it protected me," Anadis whispered. She glanced at the fox once more.

"This one is still small. It hasn't existed for very long—perhaps only a couple of years old." Anadis stared at the little fox with newfound interest. It had already been intriguing before—any animal that could float, even for five seconds, was—but now he wanted to know everything about the small canine. How did it live out here? Did it feel sad being alone in a Grull-infested forest? Was that the reason it had come to him, because it wanted company too? He reached out to rub its fur.

The fox growled, baring its fangs.

"Wow, relax, little furry friend. I won't touch you if you don't want me to," he said, lifting his good arm placatingly. Maybe the fox didn't like him after all. The fox growled again, then let out a sharp bark as it looked outside. In the next instant, it seemed to levitate as it spun and launched forward, darting out of the cave and into the bushes. It vanished between the trees without a sound. Anadis stared at the spot where the stray fox had disappeared, lips parted in thought.

"It probably sensed people in danger," Hel said.

"Guardians have that sixth sense. They can feel when someone needs help, and they feel almost obligated to go." She flicked her white hair back.

"Either way, that has nothing to do with you. We've wasted enough time, leave this forest." For a fleeting moment, he considered heeding her words. He was exhausted anyway. Too much had already happened today. He just wanted to relax, eat, and sleep. But if there were ordinary people out there possibly being attacked by Grulls, he couldn't just stay still. Activating Soul Sight, he spotted the fox hopping from branch to branch about fifty feet away.

Without hesitation, he stood up and chased after the little guardian.

"Where are you going?!" Hel bellowed, materializing on top of his head and yanking his hair with force.

"Stop, you're in no shape to fight anything right now!" He ignored her, holding out his good hand and summoning the curved sword.

"I am a Blessen," he shouted, his voice ringing with conviction.

"I won't let others die if I can do something to stop it, even if those people have nothing to do with me." The Curved Sword materialized, dropping solidly into his grip.

"Argh, you're so insufferable," she blustered, but then stopped tugging on his hair. It didn't take long before Anadis could see a cluster of cores in the distance with Soul Sight. Five were purple—Grulls, most likely the same pack of wolves. They stood before him. Good. He could get his revenge. Two more cores stood in front of the pack, and they were Blessen cores. At least whoever was there could defend themselves. Crouching low as he drew nearer, he took a better look at the two Blessens.

The fox was already there, shooting air blasts at one of the wolves. One of the Blessens was a long, skinny boy who looked strangely familiar. Wait, that's the tall boy from the Blessed Trial, Anadis thought. Then who's the girl? His blood froze, and his eyes wanted to bulge out of their sockets as soon as he saw the blonde hair billowing in the wind. Teeth clenched, he shouted, "Aelia!"