Ambush

Levi's world was spinning. Opening his eyes one more time, he gently grabbed Lydia's shoulders and laid her next to him.

As he shakingly got up, the steps were getting closer, with some yelling paired to it.

The carriage's only available door was on the ceiling. Levi easily reached it and pushed it open.

He jumped, trying to pull himself out with any leverage he could. 

After a strenuous effort, he pulled himself up on top of the carriage. 

They hadn't left the royal district yet, since around them was still a forest. It was the only part of the city with that much nature.

There was a clearing about 30 meters on both sides of the road. The carriage was shoved for around 15 meters, estimated Levi. 

The steps he heard were about to reach the road, going toward him.

Levi jumped down between the carriage and the two people running toward him.

Mustering the same feelings he knew well, he closed his eyes and tried calling the Goddess.

The atmosphere became heavy. A depressing emotion started rising in him, like despair.

He closed his eyes, trying to bathe in that desperation, and welcoming the Goddess that came with it.

Slowly opening his eyes, embers were floating in the darkened domain Levi raised.

The two runners kept going despite it, straight toward Levi.

As Levi raised one arm, ready to get a tentacle out of the ground to lay it down on them, one of them fell to the ground.

"Pell! Fuck! Hang on!" yelled the taller of the two.

The person yelling was younger than him, probably around 16 estimated Levi.

His brown and dirty hair paired with the rags he wore was telling of his background.

He was extremely skinny, his bones prominently showing through his body at every joint.

He crouched over, holding the shoulders of the other one. He tried pulling by holding the armpits, then used the forearms in desperation.

The younger one, 'Pell', guessed Levi, was barely moving, screaming in pain.

Levi's tentacle was fully raised out of the ground, but he waited.

Something isn't right, he thought.

As the skinny guy kept pulling the other one toward Levi, glancing in his direction once in a while, Levi's fingers twitched.

His shoulders jumped as Lydia's hand spooked him.

"Don't," she said.

Levi's tentacle slowly retracted, going back into the abyss it came from.

Lydia was looking at the situation unfolding.

"Are you fine?" asked Levi concerned.

"Yes, I probably just lightly hit my head as we tumbled."

"You think they're the ones who attacked?" asked Levi.

"No, I can see pursuers behind them. They're taunting them, walking deliberately slow."

Levi squinted, but barely saw anything in the treeline on the other side of the road, behind the two.

As he looked at Lydia, her eyes were lightly glowing blue. She had some blood dripping over her temple, from her hairline.

"What should we do?" asked Levi.

"An attack like this when Thunder just left isn't random."

Levi's mind was faltering. His emotions were fluctuating, and he was unable to stand united with them.

He would frown as anger rose, but his expression would then soften moments later.

His hand were clenched in a fist, as seconds went by while they were still getting closer.

"Help us, please," he begged as he dragged his friend. "My brother's hurt."

The embers that he had summoned were moving around at a faster pace, hectically running through the air.

Levi turned his body toward Lydia, but before he asked anything, her arms were extended toward his face.

He had a small reflex, moving his head back, but as she looked calm and composed, he let her touch him.

Both her hands cradled his face as she stared deep within him. Her fingers softly rested on his cheeks, slowly caressing at times.

Her glowing eyes comforted him, a friendly presence touching his soul that was turning dark.

"Don't let her come out, Levi," softly said Lydia.

Levi arched his eyebrows and looked down at his shadow. 

It was undulating, uneven, and darker than it should've been.

Lydia softly shook his head, bringing his eyes back to hers. 

"Concentrate on my voice. You can do this." 

Levi slightly bit his lips, but Lydia's calm expression was soothing. Trusting her, he closed his eyes.

"That's it, breathe deeply. We don't need her, right now. We'll be okay."

Levi focused on his breathing, inhaling longer and exhaling deeply. 

The sound of her voice shortly became the only thing resonating in his mind while everything else was tuned out.

The sound of her voice replaced the screaming from the brothers. The wind blowing through the leaves of the trees; the grass moving - soon, even the screaming that happened in his mind was muted.

All he could hear was her, and all he could feel was her hands as they softly held him.

Opening his eyes again, Lydia had a soft smile as she lightly nodded.

Levi looked down again, and his shadow was back to normal. All around them, the embers were slowly and calmly moving around the air.

"You need to keep control," said Lydia.

Levi grabbed Lydia's hand, bringing them down between them while gently holding them.

"Thanks," he said.

Lydia slightly tilted her head, smiling.

"We don't mean to intrude on your romantic moment..."

Levi and Lydia turned toward the origin of that voice.

"Are those?" he asked.

"Yeah, they're the ones who attacked us," she confirmed.

Behind the two brothers were four people standing in the middle of the road. 

They were roughly the same size, all of them wearing white robes with symbols on them.

The one who spoke took a few steps forward, in his hand was a large staff with a circle full of lines crossing it in different directions.

 He turned around towards his companions.

"See, we'll be able to get four targets at once, now!"

"What are the odds they would take this road right now? Our lucky day," replied one of them.

"And look! Horns! That's a demon with the apostate!" added another one.

As he turned back around, the leader pointed his staff at Lydia.

"Hah! You're right! A disgusting creature trying to look human!"

All of them broke into laughter, while Levi's expression hardened.

"Alright, let's start with those two," said the leader as he pointed his staff at the boys in front of them.