Chapter One
Hear My Voice
Hear My Voice
A cold wind blew through Flandor. It was really quiet as always but it was never like this before the town became ruins. Now it was too quiet. Flandor was covered in snow. From the destroyed church to a small park, were Faith’s and Kii’s footprints in the snow. The footprints were close together because they were walking slowly.
Faith was the leader of a small group called the Shekinahs. Every one apart of the Shenkinahs had lived in Flandor and come after traveling to find it in ruins. She had straight, blonde hair that reached just past her shoulder blades, hazel coloured eyes, and beautiful, large, white wings on her back. She had a small and delicate body with a baby like look to her face.
Faith wanted to go to the park. She used to always play at the park with Kii. Of course they were not going to play there. The aura of the placed felt way too gloomy to even think of joy. She didn’t know if Kii was going through the same pain as she was, or if Kii knew what was going on.
Kii was an animal, a mutant animal that had the characteristics of a fox, bird and a mystical creature all in one. She had the body of a fox that was covered in feathers plus two large wings on her back that had horns on the wings as a means of protection. She also had four eyes instead of two. Due to Kii being a creature Faith wouldn’t really understand her exactly. Kii did understand Faith’s feelings though which was why she was always great to have around. She was the one to comfort Faith when no one else was there.
Faith slowly ran her hand along Kii’s back as she stopped in the middle of Flandor’s park. She looked around at the empty place; it was depressing to look at her once lively hometown now in ruins. This was her Christmas present, ruins.
She looked down at Kii who nudged against her leg with a small whimper. Faith folded her wings behind herself and glanced into the snow. Nothing would ever be the same again. It had been a month or two since she first arrived and saw what happened. Winter was ending and the Shekinah’s had decided to spread out and search for answers. They had a place in their secret hideout where they would record what they found out so that everyone would know what had been found.
Faith sighed, it was so cold that she could see her breath, yet she still wore the small traditional clothing called Zurinori, that was given to her from her mother. The traditional clothing in her family, for women was a white or grey top that started from the right shoulder and crossed to the left side of the women’s chest and the same for the other side. It was just enough to cover the breast. The bottoms had the shape of panties that had white cloth that looked like a skirt at the back. Their shoes were sandals with fluffy pompoms in them to make them more comfortable. Depending on the wealth of the family the woman had gold or silver accessories on her neck, bottom clothing and head. Faith had gold accessories.
The swing set in the park was toppled over on the ground and part of the slide was on the other side of the park, buried in snow. The sand box was gone and the trees were knocked over - burnt or rubble now. The only thing that stood in the park was a bench, with a corner burnt off. Only the snow made the park look half decent and that would disappear very soon. With winter leaving and spring arriving, it was going to be harder to look at Flandor.
Faith sat down on the bench slowly and looked at her foot prints, thinking; about Flandor, the Shekinahs and how her life will never be the same.
Kii was lying at her feet in the snow, almost invisible due to her white feathers. She was falling asleep when her head shot up and she heard footsteps in the snow. Kii stood up and spread her wings, soon enough spotting a male. She let out a small defensive growl and dashed towards the male, jumping up at him. It didn’t take Faith long to realize that Kii was gone. She stood and quickly turned as well.
“Kii!” She yelled worried, seeing her pounce at the male. Faith watched as the male and Kii went to the ground. He hit his head on a board on the way down before Kii pinned him and glared into his eyes. She could smell the blood that now came from him but she showed no sympathy.
“You have no quarrel with me, so get this creature off me.” The male demanded to Faith.
Faith walked over to the man and crossed her arms when she reached him. She was unhappy seeing someone she did not recognize in Flandor. She folded her wings so they were pressed against her back. She bent over slightly and looked at the man with a blank expression. He looked a lot like Faith; blonde hair that was long for a male that seemed to go every which way. His eyes were hazel just like Faith’s but his body and face had a manly look to them.
“Who are you and what are you doing in Flandor?” Faith had grown quit protective of her town since she found it in ruins. Even though there was little more anyone could do to make it worse. After five seconds Faith realized that if she just asked without threatening him she wasn’t going to get answers. “I won’t remove her until you answer.” Faith told him as she pointed to Kii.
The last thing Faith wanted to see in Flandor was strangers. She was so paranoid now that she thought everyone was trying to ruin her life and the lives of the Flandorians. Kii did not move at all, except for adjusting her wings a bit. She did not like this stranger at all.
The man closed his eyes and breathed heavily before answering. “This is my house” He slowly flicked his finger towards the pile of rubble marked with the crudely-made cross. He turned to her and glared, hoping to finally have found someone to let out the built up emotions through bloodshed. "I have to ask you the same thing, what the hell are you doing in Flandor?" His dark eyes flashed a hint of sadness and longing, that was quickly pushed aside by anger and frustration. He was excited at the thought of figuring out who killed his friends, and his family, and annihilated his city. He pushed Kii aside, then quickly rolled onto his arms and pushed himself off the ground. He jumped back and drew his sword, facing Faith. He gripped his sword so tightly that his hands slowly started to turn white.
The moment Faith saw his sword fear went straight through her. She did not want to fight. Taking a step back, Faith gently put her hand on Kii to keep her tamed.
“I lived here...” She said softly, her voice shaking. At this point, Faith was contemplating if she should believe this man or not. She gently kicked the snow beneath her feet and bit her bottom lip. “How can I believe you lived here?”
“Damn it!” The words slipped from his mouth once he saw the fear in Faith’s eyes. He threw his sword to the ground. Faith noticed tears slide down his cheeks as he turned his back to her. Once he got himself together he turned to face her again and picked up his sword, strapping it onto his back with a quick click. With his eyes to the ground, he spoke softly and calmly, “Forgive me ... I thought that after all this time I finally got one step closer to finding those that burned our town.” He paused and breathed out, looking at his visible breath. “There’s many ways to prove I lived here, but there’s none worth my time. Who are you? What is it you want with me? If you lived here, where were you during the attack?” He abruptly stopped and turned his back to her, asking just one more question. “Who did this?”
Faith gently petted Kii, to keep the beast calm. She thought about his questions before she decided to answer them. She sighed softly. She gently placed her hand on her shivering arm; her Zurinori was not the warmest thing to wear in the winter. “I am Faith Sielling, my mother is an angel and my father is an elf. I didn’t want anything to do with you at first but now that I hear you witnessed the attack, I want to know everything about it ...” Faith paused and glanced down at the ground. “...I have a right to know.” Faith contemplated on whether to tell him about the Shekinah or not. After thinking about it she came to the conclusion that he had seen enough. He did not need to be searching for answers to what happened, in case they ended up seeing more horrifying things on their journey. After her small pause, she continued to talk as Kii rubbed up against her leg. “Two years before last Christmas I left Flandor to travel and explore the rest of the world. I thought I was able to do it, and I was. It was great; I met lots of people and saw many things. Around last December I decided to return home to Flandor and see my family before the New Year.” Faith paused, feeling herself tear up already. “But,” she continued with a shaky voice. “w-when I came back,” She paused again and placed a hand over her mouth once again starting to cry. Tears slid down her face and fell to the snow beneath her. Faith could not find herself to continue. She slowly put her head down and whispered, “Sorry.” She put her hands up to her face and tried wiping her tears with her eyes closed. She heard something hit the ground unexpectedly. She jumped, removing her hands from her face. She looked down to see the male’s trench coat on the ground in front of her.
“Akira Toga.” He introduced as he walked over to the wreckage and found a burnt log to sit on.
Faith bent over and picked up the trench coat and shook it to get the snow off before putting it on in attempt to keep warm.
Kii walked around Faith, sniffing the coat and pawing at it, trying to get a hold of Akira’s scent and making sure there was nothing wrong with the coat.
Faith let Kii sniff the coat before sitting beside Akira.
“I was born and raised in Flandor under human parents, but I am a fully-fledged Demon.” Faith watched his eyes as he spoke, seeing them flash red. “During the attack I was studying in my room, I heard screeches from outside, so I ran to the window and flung it open. I saw fire all around, scorching the buildings and lifting up a smoke that brought a dead fear in my heart. The fire was heading for our house so I jumped out with a sword in my hand.” Akira started to lose eye contact with Faith as he looked up to the sky, speaking as if it had happened yesterday. “These people in black cloaks, I can’t explain who they were, they were slaughtering everyone, leaving bodies to rot. This big guy attacked me from afar with some sort of magic, so I ducked into our house, not noticing the fire, suddenly it collapsed on me. I lifted the sword just in time to save my life.” Akira pointed to some rubble not far from them, pointing out a hole in the middle where he had climbed out.
Faith could not look at the rubble for long. “I see.” She reverted her eyes to the ground. Kii whined and put her paws up on Faith’s lap. Noticing the restlessness in Kii, Faith looked up to see a male in the distance running their way with his sword drawn. She stood and held the trench coat together to keep her warm, her eyes on this person. As he came closer, Faith recognized him. He lowered his sword and slowed his pace. Faith smiled and ran up to the male; she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. “Lucas” She said in a soft and relieved voice.
Lucas eyed Akira suspiciously while he placed his hands in his pockets as Faith slowly let go of Lucas and watched him wipe his tears. Lucas’ hair was as long as Akira’s but black and not a messy looking. His eyes were an emerald green and he had black cat eats on the top of his head. There was a small scar under his left eye and his body was skinny with some muscle.
She smiled at him sadly and spoke. “No need to get defensive, his name is Akira he is a survivor. He’s proof that there are people alive.” She turned to look at Akira. “Lucas was also not here during the attack.” As she said this, Akira turned his gaze from the sky and glared at Lucas and Faith.
“Your siblings, they’re dead. Your whole family, they’re dead. Your friends, they’re dead. Do you know what you can do about it?” The anger was clear in Akira’s harsh words. “Nothing.” A tear slipped down his face as he paused before continuing. “You, Faith, have no idea what you’re up against. Get out of the game while you still can, or they will find you and kill you. Not even the best of warriors survived the attack so how could someone like you even kill one of them, if all the cloaked figures survived?”
Lucas’ and Faith’s eyes widened with horror. Lucas fell to his knees as the tears filled his eyes and dripped down his face. Faith closed her eyes and let her head drop. She bit her bottom lip and held her breath to stop from abruptly crying out loud. She covered her mouth and stepped back trying to pull herself together. She shook her head as she disagreed with him.
Snow slowly fell and covered up their tracks. A single snow flake landed on the end of Lucas’ nose. The silence between the three of them was unbearable. “No.” Lucas broke the silence as he suddenly stood and walked up to Akira, grabbing him by the scruff of his shirt. “I don’t believe you!” He yelled at him.
Faith gasped and felt a sting of fear go through her body. She removed her hand from her face and looked at the tear drenched trench coat.
Akira stared at him, his breathing getting faster as his anger built up.
“I don’t believe you…” Lucas repeated.
“That won’t bring them back.” Akira’s eyes flashed red once more. This time his body started to shape shift into a more muscular and demonic form. His brow twitched as fangs started to grow from his teeth, black bat-like wings sprouted from his back and folded against it. “Accept it and move on or it will kill you from the inside out.” His voice was stern and cold. With Akira’s transformation she could only assume that he would fight Lucas if he did not put him down soon.
“No! Stop it!” Faith yelled as she ran over and grabbed Lucas’ arm. “Lucas, stop, let him go!” She cried as she stopped pulling and looked up into Lucas’ eyes. “Let him go, please.” Her voice was becoming more desperate as she continued. “Please both of you; I don’t want to see another person die.” Faith gripped Lucas’ arm and closed her eyes, tears falling into the snow. “Don’t make me watch someone else die!” She cried out as her body shook. “Please.”
Lucas slowly and quietly let go of Akira. He looked back at her then slowly let his head drop low. His hair fell in his face as Faith’s words hit him hard. Don’t make me watch someone else die! He stepped back as one of her tears landed on his arm.
“I am sorry Faith; I guess I lost myself for a bit” Lucas’ voice became shaky.
Faith wiped her face with her arm and placed a comforting hand on Lucas’ back. “It’s okay, I understand.” She said as she slowly reached up and moved some hair out of Lucas’ face.
“Faith,” Akira paused and leaned against his sword that was stuck in the ground. ”Why?” Akira asked her quietly.
She looked towards him then looked away she let out a heavy, visible breath. “Why? Because coming back to a home that is in ruins and not knowing what happened only saddens me. I can’t live without knowing what happened and wondering if my family or my friends are alive or not.” Faith’s voice was more together now and more stable. “What you said about Lucas’ family. You couldn’t possibly know if it’s true, it is possible that some had survived, we need to have some faith.” She let her hand drop from Lucas’ back as he supported what Faith was saying.
“That is what we aim for, to prevent another town from suffering the same fate as this one. As much as it pains me to say it, this is only the beginning.”
“Indeed this is only the beginning, but I ask the beginning of what? How many more do you have in your group set on revenge? How many more must die until your ever-thirsty anger and hatred is satisfied? Isn’t that how this started, hatred and anger towards innocent Flandor?” Akira asked as he walked up to Faith and stared into her eyes coldly. “Before you answer, tell me how many you’ve told that pity speech to? Aren’t all of you just looking for personal redemption? You say you’re protecting people, but what does that mean? To me, I only see future hatred and evil arising from this group.”
Faith stared right back into his eyes, feeling slightly intimidated by him. “I have only told that speech to my comrades. You’re assuming I will lead them into battle. “
“We have no need for bloodshed in these already tainted worlds, we only with for less of it to spill. This isn’t a clan war; we don’t fight for our own gain. We fight to prevent more destruction. If this continues people will start to point fingers and carry on with a blind war. We don’t need any more people to die and what we do to them if they are captured is not of importance right now.” Lucas interrupted, paused and wrapped his arms around himself. “We just do what we must, would you do any different?”
Akira got up and yanked his sword out of the ground and sheathed it, strapping the sword to his back. “I don’t believe a word you’ve said this whole time. You have been contradicting each other. You two have no idea what it’s like to face someone that has killed the ones you love, and from what you have shown me today you don’t have enough control over your emotions to even be in the same town. After this conversation, I believe your group is just as bad as the other one. I want no part of it.” Akira turned his back to Faith and Lucas and walked towards the forest. “You can keep the coat Faith; you need it more than I do.”
Faith’s head dropped as she lifted her hand slowly to her chest, above her heart. Her hair fell into her face and Kii started to whine. “I don’t want it….” She whispered as Kii bit the coat and pulled it off of her. Kii carried the coat over to Akira and dropped it in front of him with a low growl. Faith rubbed her arms; the cold hitting her hard but Akira’s words hurt her more. Maybe he is right ... We are no better than them.
