Chapter 4

Losing my wings gave me nothing but endless physical pain, no feeling of emptiness or loss like how they described it before. Lying in this cold bed of rocks with nothing but rugs make things worse.

"You can take me with you, I cannot let you go there all by yourself," Fina, the youngest survivor of the guardians had been crying for a while now.

I just hold her cold hands and forcefully smile at her. If her brother was not on duty when they purged the valley, she couldn't have possibly survived.

"You've understood that it was very dangerous, right? So now, I would like you to hear me," I paused to catch my breath. "Stay here and protect our valley, okay?" I extended my hands to reach her wings, but I can't so turn her back to show her wings.

I slowly touched it like it was some fine glass about to break. Feeling every feather of her dark red wings, I thought of what's gonna happen next.

"Fina, let Rouge take some good rest first, okay?" Oldess Sanya has something like some sort of soup in the bowl she's holding. "You have to replenish the lost energy so you will be able to stand on your feet," she said not looking at me.

No one here can accept my decision, but they also understood that I am not doing it just to show off how much trouble I am like I usually did.

"I shouldn't have taught you those ridiculous teachings that ended up losing our defense," Oldess sounded full of regrets.

"We may have lost the whole valley, but we still have us," I tried to sound comforting.

I know that it's nothing but some useless comfort I keep on saying, but I am trying to convince myself as well to remain sane.

"I want to have some rest Oldess, I had no time to waste, no more,".

~~

It's cold, I can feel the strange weather getting through every vein of my body. I am in an alien world where everything is unfamiliar.

"A bread for two coins young lady," a child mortal offered to hold a molded piece of loaf.

Walking through these slumps, I want to throw up with how disgusted I am, both the place and those lowly mortals. Trash and houses cannot be distinguished from one another. There is no trace of proper living here, rugs are being sold as clothes, and molded bread and rotten fruits are the only ones in the food stalls. Streets are cramped and the unusual odor coming from everywhere with the very cold weather can drive me to the end.

I wandered street through street not having any idea what to do. Life here is incomparable to the valley, I cannot live here if not for what they did to our home. I brought all the resources the valley kept in case they do the transaction with the mortals before. I was told by Oldess

"Rouge, the first thing the mortals need to live is money, those coins and notes are everything to them,".

All those notes are in the tightly wrapped cloth bag I wore wearing some baggy clothing to avoid my wound. I am in my barefoot walking in through this dirt to avoid attention wearing the guardian's sandals.

First things first, I have to look for a place to stay temporarily and gather any related matters with the guardians. I kept walking until I saw the sign of a bed at the top of a house, I cannot read but I can count, and it is common sense for any being that a place with a bed sign is where you can sleep.

"Welcome to Klan's biggest inn, I am Mindy, how can I help?" a small mortal with a big face and unusually curly brown hair asked me.

She's ugly. I thought.

"I would like to stay for a few days," I said.

"How specific is a few days young miss?" she's now looking at me weirdly.

"Three," I can probably gather enough so I can move to another place after that. "Three days, how much is that?" I asked.

"That's one note for you, young lady," she replied.

I carefully get a note from my bag not letting her see a thing from my bag.

"Never let a mortal saw you have that much money,".

That's another reminder from Oldess.

"Here," I gave her the note, and told me to wait a little bit.

Everything here seemed like trash to me. Nothing seemed livable for me, but I have no other choice. The girl instructed me to follow her making me realize something, she was short.

"This will be your room and if you have any questions, you know where to find me," then she gave me the key.

I looked at the door where we stopped, and it looked like a door of old storage. Faded color of old wood with some unusual scratches everywhere and a rusty lock that I'll bet will create some annoying sounds when opened, and I wasn't wrong. I did not bother to look for the girl for she left the moment she gave me the key.

"This is far worse than I expected," I said under my breath.

Rats and other hateful creatures are living with me in this single wooden bedroom with nothing but a circular wooden chair and table at the side. But I have no more time for this, I gotta move.

I still bring my bag with me and started to wander again.

I passed through a group of people who are loud and seemed to be arguing over something on the side of another street.

"Ten notes!"

"Fifteen notes!"

"Twenty notes!"

I walked past them when I saw a glimpse of something very much familiar to me,

"A guardian's pair of wings,".

Seems like I was glued to where I am standing the moment, I saw the lonely pair of wings painfully displayed being tainted by these scoundrels.

"First time seeing a pair of real wings?" a fragile voice suddenly said behind me.

Good thing I controlled my reflexes and did not hit a poor-looking old lady who was only about the height of my shoulders.

"They were guardians, they are beautiful creatures, and they are not a myth, unfortunately, they have wings, like those,".

I wasn't looking at her, I am trying to hold myself and not let my emotions take over me. This is too much for me, but this is just the beginning, I have to keep a tight grip.

"I heard that those wings if given by a guardian can prolong the life of us mortals here in the fields," and that made me look at her.

"What?!? Given???" I am gonna lose it.

"They said that some guardians willingly gave their wings in exchange for some wealth," that's my cue.

Before I do something that I will surely regret, I leave that street with a ranging feeling. I cannot let them see my fresh scars, nor question my identity, I will not compromise my goals, those mortals should suffer more than what my kind did.

"Young lady, are you lost?"