Leave Her behind

Speeding through the forest as fast as he could, Lon decided to ask the sword a question.

"I cannot control the barrier with my locket. Is this because of you?"

'Affirmative.'

The sword responded immediately.

"Can I ask why and how?"

'The locket is a lesser-tiered magic item. One of the three skills available to 'Lon' is Copy.'

"Copy? Does that mean you copied the effects of the locket?"

'Affirmative. 'Lon' now has no need to carry the locket, as his sword can copy at maximum 5 effects from magic runes and Items temporarily. If 'Lon' decides that his sword does not need any of the effects that have been copied, he can discard that effect by commanding the sword.'

"What happens to the original item?"

'Nothing. The item remains sufficiently functional.'

Slowing down as he reached the front of the hut; he saw that the barrier was still in effect.

"Will you deactivate the barrier?"

'Affirmative.'

The barrier disappeared.

"Mother!"

The door opened. Alir walked out of the hut with a golden knife in her hand.

"Who are you?"

She failed to recognize the stranger that had called out to her in a familiar voice. All she could see was one of those filthy humans brandishing an Iron sword.

'Sword, deactivate the disguise.'

Lon remembered that he did not look like his usual self.

'Affirmative.'

His fair skin started to change color. The blonde hair reverted back to its original black hue, and his eyes followed suit, encompassed in darkness, leaving only a small crimson circle in the middle.

Lon touched his head. His horns were back.

Alir was dumbstruck.

"Lon?"

She rubbed her eyes to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.

He walked closer to her and said,

"Let's talk inside."

The scent was unmistakable. It was her son.

"But-"

'Activate barrier.'

He tapped the sword hilt with his thumb.

'That will be the signal from now on.'

'Affirmative.'

"I'll explain everything. Let's go inside first."

x.x.x.x.x.x

After a conversation about the sword and his meeting with the humans, Lon picked up a small strip of the cooked boar meat that his mother had prepared for him beforehand. Alir looked at the sword by his side with a deep frown.

"After all these years, I have finally received my calling."

He finished chewing up the strip quickly, and looked back at his mother. He could more or less guess what was going on in her mind.

"I want to make this easy for both of us, so I'll be as direct as possible."

He picked up another strip. Alir closed her eyes.

"I am planning to leave the Myre."

A teardrop escaped from her eyelids.

"I understand."

Her voice was low, but he could hear the crack.

'Sword, can you use your disguise on two people?'

'Negative. Only 'Lon', the bonded soul, is able to make use of my skills.'

After waiting for his father to return and save them for 11 years, both of them had stayed together through thick and thin, but the respect he had for her had diminished significantly over the years. As a kid, he admired her for teaching him the basics of surviving in the wild. The hope that her stories gave him about his father, his ancestors, and the glory of being a demon. All of it was nothing but a fabrication meant to please the innocent mind of a child.

Soon enough, after the spark of awe went out, his questions followed like daggers, which muted all of those grand tales. Why were they left behind? Why weren't they allowed to kill humans that visited their Myre? Why wasn't he here yet? What happened to the other demon warriors that used to live with them inside their old mansion?

It does not take much time for a child to grow up when his guardian fails to satisfy his innocence. A bitter aftertaste of reveling in the thought of being someone important, only to realize that your existence is considered to be a curse in the grand scheme of things.

All that was left was his patience. He would listen to his mother and wait for his father to return, but there was always a thought in the back of his mind that said,

"He is never coming back,"

She chided him for making that assumption. once, twice, thrice, countless times over the past few years.

Anger over foolish expectations turned to pity over a helpless imagination. But that pity didn't last for long, and pushed him to the brink, finally saying,

"You can wait for a man that is never going to come back. I won't let my life rot away over his broken promise!"

He didn't care about what happened to her. She was his mother, but she was also the one that had put all of those tall tales into his head. They were hiding from something, and he had to figure out what it was.

"Demons are nothing more than slaves for the other races."

In a panic, she decided to tell him the truth.

To save him from destroying his life due to his unhinged curiosity, she destroyed every ideal he had in his mind about the world outside Myre.

He had no choice or say in the matter. That was how this world worked, and he would meet the same fate as his kin if he decided to venture into the territory that was now infested with people from other races.

This little corner of the Myre was all they had, and it was all they could afford to live for.

She wanted that, along with her, he could also put his faith in his father and stop asking such questions to her. And even in this, his choice had already been made for him.

Today, he was given a reason to reject that choice. A blessing that had freed him from the burden of uselessness that he felt as he spent his repetitive days with a person that had an infinitely higher level of patience and trust than him.

Despite his question to the sword, he already knew that even if the sword could disguise them both, she would never agree to leave this place.

If he was ever going to leave the Myre, he would have to leave her behind.