Devour (3)

[Fuck... How I do I make them go away?!]

Berkah shook arms violently to rid his skin of the scales adorning it.

"Calm down..."

He said to himself, regulating his breath thus arresting his panick.

[Judging from how my mana is flowing so erraticly, these scales must be a result of my mana, similar to my lightning.]

Focusing inwardly, Berkah could feel his mana flowing through his mana veins.

[So I just need to... cut the flow of mana!]

Berkah did just that and...

*tink!*

The tightly joined scales on his arms fell off and immediately turned to nothing, as if they were a mere illusion.

His slit reptilian like pupils also returned to normal.

"..."

Berkah stood on his bed silently, with a dazed expression on his face.

[I guess I...]

He clenched his fists.

[Those two energies I absorbed while I was in the egg...]

He struggled with grappling the reality of the situation, but he knew... Rather he refused to accept it, alas, whether he wanted to admit it or not , the facts were unavoidably right in his face.

[That was them wasn't it...]

[Hawke and Anaise's two unborn children...]

[I killed them didn't I...]

He finally accepted what he had done.

Berkah clenched his teeth and pulled on his curly scalp.

[But... I didn't know what I was doing...]

[No... I shouldn't make excuses... I still killed them.]

The faces of the boy and the girl he had spent hours with haunted him, had it not been for him they would have hatched.

[Fuck... Fuck... Fuck...]

Despair tightly wrapped its arms around Berkah's frame, his breathing erratic and his heart beating out of his chest.

Until now he was just a regular highschool kid, so the thought of him having taken the lives of two children filled him to the brim with immense guilt.

He recalled how Hawke and Anaise had welcomed him, calling him their blessing and what-not, the warmth they had given him as well as the seemingly endless love they had shown him.

[I'm not a fucking blessing...]

[If anything I'm curse...]

[I'm so sorry...]

He hugged his knees and marinated in his guilt.

[By the way... Where are they?]

[They would definitely hate me if they found out...]

[I can't face them... knowing what I did...]

[Should I just leave whilst they're away?]

He pondered, looking at the large hole on the roof.

[No...]

He shook his head.

[I can't possibly take a third child away from them...]

[That would selfish and cruel...]

He mused and chewed his lips, he knew that a part of him was just making excuses so that he could continue staying with them.

[I can't just runaway.]

[I'll atone for my sins against all four of you...]

[I'll be the best child you'll ever wish for...]

[I promise...]

He clenched his fists in determination.

*bang!*

[!!]

Suddenly, the door of the bedroom he was in was forcefully busted open.

Casting his eyes toward the door, Berkah saw an old Harpy woman with withering feathers and an arched spine.

"Are you okay?!"

[Huh? Who's this old hag?]

The old woman shouted and grabbed

Berkah and ran out of the room with him.

"Child are you alright, are you hurt anywhere?"

[This child's wings... They are as dark as night.]

The old woman wondered, never in her long life had she seen anyone with black wings.

"Nope, I'm okay."

Berkah answered nonchalantly and jumped on the floor, he then glanced up to the old woman.

"Where's my Mom?"

He asked, confused as to why a random old lady appeared instead of his mother.

"She went to where your father is... She should be back soon since she's been gone for a while now."

The old lady said, leaning over to pat Berkah on the head.

"Okay..."

[What's going on? It's unlike her to leave my side... Did something happen?]

Berkah hoped that nothing had happened to either one of his parents.

"Hey! What happened Grandma Oriole?"

A group of villagers came flying in after hearing the explosion, their faces tense, sincerely hoping that they weren't being attacked.

"I don't know either, I just heard an explosion coming from the house and I ran to save this child."

The old woman responded.

"Does it have it have something to do with that large explosion from earlier?"

One of the villagers asked.

[Hm? What explosion?]

Berkah wondered.

"Probably, there has been multiple reports of fire balls falling from the skies across multiple villages!"

Another villager added.

"Just what happening?! What are the Sparrow Knights doing at a time like this?"

One villager frowned.

"Apparently the protector of Frostfront, Hawke Featherblade was fighting some sort of threat. The explosion in the sky was a result of that."

Another villager chimed in.

"Was it the humans?! How did they get so deep into our territory??"

Grandma Oriole cried out, a cold sweat trickling on her wrinkled forehead.

"Those damn humans! Why can't they just leave us alone!"

The crowd shouted angrily.

[Hmm ... I guess there's humans in this world too, are they on bad terms with Harpies?]

Berkah mused.

"We don't feel safe in our own homes anymore! The Sparrow Knights should just kill them all already!"

A woman cried out, carrying her hatchling who was around the same age as Berkah on her wings.

[...]

[Looks like they hate humans... I don't know how to feel about that since I'm actually a human too..]

[Anyway, It's good that I won't have to explain what happened to the roof but... That blue-haired dude was fighting someone?]

[He's strong so he's probably okay. I just hope mom doesn't get caught up in it.]

Berkah's face was riddled with concern, a part of him wanted to go and find them but he didn't want the people to know that he had magic because of what Hawke told him.

[I should wait a few more minutes, if they don't come back I'll sneak out and go find them.]

Berkah slowly walked to the edge of a branch to get away from all the commotion being caused by the crowd.

"By the way Grandma Oriole, who is that child?"

"And why are his wings that color? Is he cursed?"

A villager whispered, glancing at Hawke who was sitting at the edge of the thick branch.

"... I think he's the son of Hawke Featherblade. "

She answered reluctantly.

"Really? That's news to me, I never knew Sir Hawke had a son."

They all exclaimed, Hawke was very well known throughout Frostfront and its surrounding villages.

The crowd continued its chattering about Humans and some complaining about the Sparrow Knights.

Berkah glanced down at his hands.

[That blue-haired dude said I would inherit either his lightning or Mom's wind right?]

[And seeing as I can already use lightning...]

[What exactly is that power? How come I can absorb life force?]

Berkah could only come to the conclusion that maybe it was the special cheat ability that he was given upon reincarnating.

It was the only thing that made sense to him.

[And another thing...]

[I was able to breathe out fire and cover my skin in scales.]

[So this power also allows me to copy the abilities of whatever I absorb?]

"*sigh...* it's a powerful ability but..."

*tap*, *tap*

Suddenly a kid poked Berkah's head with his finger.

Berkah turned his head and saw a silver haired kid with grey eyes and a blank expression.

[A kid?...]

"Is it true?"

The child asked a vague question.

[Why is this brat being so vague??]

"Is what true?"

"That your dad is the knight captain?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Berkah shrugged.

"My dad was a knight too."

The silver haired child said.

Berkah waited for him to continue his story but he just stared at him for close to a minute without saying anything.

[What? That's it? What's with this gloomy ass kid?]

The silver haired kid turned his back and said:

"I'll be the strongest Knight ever, even stronger than your dad."

He then slowly walked away from Berkah and went back to the crowd.

[What the fuck just happened?]

Berkah was left in a daze.

"Look over there!"

One of the people in the crowd shouted, pointing at the sky.

This promoted Berkah to raise his head to see what he was pointing at.

Berkah's heart skipped a beat upon seeing his mother and one other person carrying the bloody figure of his Harpy father.

"Let's help them!"

A few members of the crowd flew up to help Lark and Anaise Carry Hawke's bulky frame.

The group gently placed Hawke's body on the branch.

"What happened to him?!"

"Was it the humans?!"

"Is that Hawke Featherblade?!"

The crowd began pouring out a barrage of ceaseless questions.

"Everyone be quiet!!"

Lark demanded.

"Is there anyone with a potion or is there anyone who's a doctor?!"

Anaise, with Hawke's blood on her feathers and clothing, desperately pleaded with the crowd.

"I- I have a potion at my house!"

A young man shouted and flew to his house to get it.

"I'm a doctor!"

A middle aged man exclaimed and ran to Hawke.

"He has burns all over his body! Especially his wings, abdomen, neck and right arm!"

"Is there anyone who can use ice magic? I need cold bucket of water!"

"I also need an ointment and some clean bandages, hurry up!"

The doctor barked his orders, scattering the crowd of people to go look for the things he requested.

Berkah slowly walked toward his father, gnashing his teeth and his pupils constricted.

"No Berkah! Go back inside the house."

Anaise shouted, not wanting Berkah to witness the gory mess that was his father.

[Blue haired dude...]

[Who did this to you?!!]

Berkah was seething, his piercing blue eyes ablaze with fury.