As spring dawned, the soft tolling of church bells resonated across the town of Nebo, calling its people to the morning mass in celebration of the season's first day. From the east, the sun crested on mountains of Muchu Chhish, casting a warm orange hue over the rooftops of houses and glinting gently through the window panes. Inside a modest home with a blacksmith workshop near the town's edge, sunlight filtered through a small bedroom window, landing softly on the face of 9-year-old Kael. He lay sound asleep, limbs sprawled, his blanket kicked to the floor and his bedsheets tangled in a mess of restless dreams. A dark silver pendant rested on his chest, and his ash-brown hair tousled from his movements.
The bedroom door creaked open slightly, enough for Matthew, his 8-year-old brother, black hair, with grey eyes glinting faintly with mischief, stepped in quietly, still in his sleeping garments. His right hand covered his mouth to control is laughter while a pillow hung limply in his left hand. With practiced stealth, he eased the door shut behind him, careful not to make a sound that would trigger Kael's sensitive hearing. However, the rooster outside their home had other plans; with shrill crow that pierced the morning stillness, the rooster let loose its triumphant crow just as Matthew took his first step forward.
Kael stirred. His brow twitched, and one eye cracked open, still hazy with sleep. Before he could fully register the source of the noise, thwack – Matthew hurled the pillow straight into Kael's face.
"RISE AND SHINE SLEEPING BEAUTY" Matthew teased, already laughing as Kael flailed beneath the sudden barrage of feathers.
Kael groaned and pulled the pillow off his head. His ash-brown hair stuck up in all directions, and his blue eyes were still foggy.
"Matt…" He mumbled, "It's too early" he then embraced the pillow and position himself in side-lying position
Matthew took the pillow where Kael's head rested. Thud… Kael's head hit the bedframe.
"It's spring mass sleepyhead," Matthew replied cheerfully, hopping onto the edge of the bed. "First sneak attack of the season. Tradition!"
Kael blinked at him, then sat up slowly. "You're the worst of all traditions we had."
Matthew only laughed proudly. Outside, the bells of the church continued on their steady toll, mingling with the sounds of waking birds. Then they heard their mother's voice echoed from downstairs.
"Matthew! Kael! Wake up... we'll have no chairs to sit on at church! Roger! Check on the boys, and let them get ready or I'll swoop their asses down stairs"
"Kael just woke up, Mom! Dreaming about Diana's pan—"
Matthew was interrupted as Kael lunged to cover his mouth. Matthew took notice and darted out of the room, screaming, "Mom! Kael's going to kill me!"
"I'm going to kill you here and ripped that tongue of yours Matthew!!" Kael screamed angrily
Kael followed close behind, pillow in hand. As Matthew ran down the stairs, he tripped over his left foot, losing his balance and falling slowly straight down the staircase.
"Matthew!!" Kael shouted. With desperation to save his brother, something inside him stirred and time around him slowed. Without hesitation Kael rushed forward, grabbed Matthew's clothes and pulled him back up to the second floor. Once Matthew was secured, he let out a sigh of relief and time resumed its normal flow. But Matthew still fell, landing hard on the floor and hitting his nose.
Thud.
"Matthew, are you alright?"
"My nose…" Matthew replied, his voice muffled as he covered his nose and wiped away the blood. While he straightened himself up.
"Let me go down stairs and get some clean cloth and warm chamomile to clean the off"
Matthew grabbed onto Kael's arms
"Have you felt something weird lately Kael?"
"No…" Kael said. "I haven't felt anything weird."
Matthew looked up at Kael and noticed that both of Kael's arms were glowing with unknown runes that wrapped around his arms, and a wavy line extending up from his fore arms to his neck, then it extended up to his lower eyelids.
"Kael… Your arms…" Lip pointing
Kael froze, his breath catching in his throat as he inspected both his arms.
The glow on his arms pulsed faintly, delicate, shimmering like fireflies trapped beneath his skin. The Baybayin script flickered. "Ipa-anak sa isang bakunawa" (Born from a Moon dragon)
Kael heart pounded. He didn't understand what was happening. Matthew curiously touched Kael arms. But Kael immediately pulled his sleeves down, dimming the glow beneath the fabric.
"Matt" Kael said quickly, kneeling in front of his brother.
"You just hit your nose. You're probably seeing things due to the pain" Kael laughed nervously
"Just stay still. I'll call mom to clean that blood oozing out from your nose."
But Matthew wasn't listening. With his sharp eyes darted across the room, following the white flames licking the edges of the wooden beams, yet burning nothing.
"I am not hallucinating, Kael, you haven't noticed these white flames around us" Matthew whispered.
Kael was too focused on his brother condition that he didn't notice the trails of small white flames that danced on the floor, some are at the walls and the ceilings. Desperately he rushed to his room took the bucket filled with water and went back to the hall and began sprinkling the fire just enough to extinguish it. But no matter how Kael tried, the fire didn't extinguish. It still continued burning but didn't consume the wood beneath it.
Matthew touched the flames cautiously, but it feels off, no heat, no smoke, just that eerie, beautiful light. Dancing above the wood. He noticed that his fingers weren't burned. He was able to scoop the fire from the wooden floor and screamed
"Kael! My hands are burning!!"
Kael without any hesitation tossed the bucket of water onto Matthew.
"Yeah... didn't saw that bucket of water on your hand"
Kael laughed.
"Ha… ha… Very funny… You done laughing?" Matthew said
"Just one sec…. let me composed myself."
"Hurry up Diana's simp! Get me a towel and some new clothes. I'm freezing my ass here"
"Alright"
Kael went back to his room got a spare towel and a used towel to wipe off the wet floor.
Matthew then spoke.
"I felt someone pull me out from the staircase. Though it was blurry, I knew it was you that pulled me back before I hit the ground. No one is around except the two of us…" He paused.
"But I still fell... Which I knew you did it on purpose" Matthew laughed nervously
Kael looked down at his own hands.
"I don't know how," Kael admitted softly. "It just… happened."
Their mother's voice rose again from below, sharp with impatience. "Roger! Are they still not down? We're going to miss the mass!!"
"BOYS!!" Roger called them.
"What in the name of the seven gods and our ancestors are you sitting there reading some newspaper Roger?! Go upstairs and get the boys down!!"
"Just a second mom! Matthew pissed on his sleeping garments" Kael shouted from upstairs.
In the dining room of their house, Roger glanced at Emily with that same lazy smirk that always got under her skin; but then his expression shifted. His eyes sharpened. "Have you noticed anything, dear?" he asked quietly. "Something... familiar?"
Emily didn't stop scrubbing the utensils, but her shoulders tensed. "I did," she said. "There was a familiar energy. I tried to trace it, but it vanished before I could lock onto it." Roger nodded grimly. "We must trace the source for our lady's safety."
Without another word, Emily chanted "anino" twenty shadow soldiers appeared. She dispatched several to the walls of their house as silent sentinels, while the rest dispersed into the town of Nebo to scout every corner for the source of the disturbance. "Roger…" Emily said while scrubbing and rinsing the utensils.
"Yes, dear?" Roger said in a seductive tone.
"You haven't touched your food!" Emily snapped.
She ordered one of her shadows to appear at Roger's left side to snatch the newspaper from his hands. As it reached for it, Roger caught the shadow's hand and kissed it.
From the kitchen, Emily called out again, her voice softening just a bit. "Just... hurry up, or we'll be late."
Roger smiled and replied, "Yes, darling."
Upstairs, Matthew came out of his room with fresh clothes ready for church. He glanced at Kael who was still drying the floor using his used towel.
"You've missed a spot here peasant" Matthew pointed the missed spot,
"What did you say?" Kael said
"Nothing" he looked up whistling
"Matt... Let's not say anything, Okay?"
"Okay… But if you starting breathing fire or grow wings, I'm telling everyone. Also telling Diana you feelings for her."
"Fair enough…"
Kael rose to his feet, and went back to his room and change his clothes. They made their way downstairs, trying to shake off the lingering weight of what had just happened. The was as its always was. Humble, warm, and lively. As they reached the last step, Roger looked up to them, raising a brow.
"Do you feel something unusual for a second boys?
"Nothing…" Kael replied quickly, nudging his brother.
"Yeah, we didn't feel anything unusual… except for Kael's fascination with Diana's pink pant…" Kael smacked the mouth of his brother, before he continued his sentence
"SHUT IT MATT!"
Roger laughed. "My… My… Did you hear that love? Our boys are already showing early signs of manhood"
"I hear you loud and clear dear". Emily replied as she stepped out of the kitchen and immediately noticed the blood under Matthew's nose. "Did you two break something again?" she asked.
She returned to the kitchen, grabbed a clean cloth and a small basin of water, then came back to where the boys were standing in front of Roger, who was seated at the table. She soaked the cloth, wrung it out until no water dripped from it, and gently began cleaning the blood from Matthew's nose.
"Just Matthew's pride," Kael replied quickly. "He tripped."
"Matthew?" Roger looked at him, clearly expecting an explanation.
"Wait a minute, dear…" Emily said, placing the clean cloth aside. "Matt, blow your nose."
Matthew did as he told, and Emily carefully wiped away the remaining blood. She then conjured a healing spell. A small magic circle appeared in front of his nose, glowing with a soft green light as it mended the injury. In the middle of the healing process, Matthew answered his father's earlier question.
"I… smacked a pillow in Kael's face the moment he woke up. Then I ran. Because if I didn't and he caught me, he'd probably kill me, chopped me to pieces and toss my body into the river to cover up the evidence… and I tripped. Hehe."
Roger raised an eyebrow. "Is that true, Kael?"
"YES, Father—" Kael blurted out.
A brief silence followed. Three full seconds of awkward stillness. Then Kael's eyes widened as the weight of his words sank in. "NO! I meant YES… just the part about Matthew hitting me with the pillow. Not the part about chopping him and tossing his body into the river." He then lowered his head and turned a wide-eyed glare toward Matthew, silently demanding an explanation. Emily, still holding the damp cloth, let out a sigh and shook her head.
"Honestly, with the way you two talk, it's a miracle no one's called the town guard."
She gently smacked Roger on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "And you just sit there encouraging this nonsense."
Roger chuckled. "Boys will be boys."
Emily shot him a look. "Boys won't be anything if you don't all hurry up and eat. We're already running late. Tania woke up early in the morning and is probably waiting for us at the entrance of the church again." Emily then went back to the kitchen, and washed the blood-stained cloth she used on Matthew, and poured the water out from the basin. Once she's down she went upstairs to prepare herself for the mass
Kael scratched his head, then lowered it and turned a disbelieving stare toward Matthew—eyes wide, silently demanding,
"What the hell was that?", silently demanding an explanation for his choice of words—words that could escalate things for both of them, possibly earning them the belt or the iron hanger from either their parents. Matthew grin mischievously and silently laughs inside.
"Thank me later for diverting their heads." Matthew whispered.
Roger both looked at them for 5 seconds then finally said. "Now, enough with that ruckus, sit down, eat, and get ready. You know how your mother gets when she's late for mass."
"Yes father" they both said in unison
Both of them sat down, silently spooning rice and chicken adobo onto their plate, but Kael's mind wandered. The script in his arms wasn't of anything he read at the church library during his studies with Father Howard.
"I'm going to ask father Howard," He thought to himself as he ate a long side with Matthew who keeps whispering
"Still thinking about Diana's red pant…"
Kael nudged Matthew side with his left elbow.
At the church, their eldest sister Tania, 21-years-old, stood quietly in her black's nun's attire. Her moss green eyes shimmered on the early dawn sunlight. Freckled sprinkled delicately across the bridge of her nose. Her chestnut hair was neatly tucked beneath her veil, revealing her high cheek bones. Soft graceful features evident of her youth. Tania carefully prepares the relic for the mass, her hands moving with practiced reverence as she handles the holy relic. Slowly the church hall began to fill, the murmurs of the members settling as they took their seats on the wooden benches. After arranging the relics, she moved out from the relic room and head to the pulpit and laid them out precisely on the table to the left of the lectern. Which stood centrally before statues of the seven gods.
She descended from the pulpit and greeted the regular church members with morning smiles and warm welcomes. Then she walked over to the open double doors of the church to act as an usher. As the congregation filed in, she scanned each arriving person, looking for her family.
"Where are they?" she thought to herself.
A moment later, she saw their 80-year-old neighbor. Tania approached her with a greeting following a question.
"Excuse me, Miss Maslow, have you seen—"
"Oh, I think they'll be a little late again this time, dear," Miss Maslow interrupted swiftly. "Just like last Spring Mass, your mother screaming at those two little brothers of yours—felt like the house would collapse at any moment!" she said with a laugh.
Tania let out a weak laugh and bowed slightly in apology. "I'm sorry again if my family caused you any disturbance, Miss Maslow."
"Oh, don't worry about it, Tania," said Miss Maslow, placing a hand on Tania's left shoulder. "It's better to hear some neighborly ruckus early in the morning. It's been so quiet at my home since I lost my husband and two sons in the Muchu Chhish raid." Tania gently escorted the old woman to the benches reserved for seniors
"Thank you, child. May the seven gods bless you," Miss Maslow said as she settled beside her elderly friends.
Tania gave a polite bow and started back to her position at the church's entrance. But as she neared the mahogany doors, an earthquake shook the church, shattering the stained-glass windows and cracking the walls of the church. The sky darkened with heavy nimbus clouds. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled.
Panic erupted as the people rushed toward the entrance of the church which serves as the only exit. Tania stood at the midst the panicked crowd rushed to the elders who desperately holding on to their wooden benches as the ground shook. Luckily some young man and woman conjured a barrier over them along with elder's, shielding them from the falling debris. A moment later a scream, loud as thunder, echoed through the whole town. Quickly Tania turned her head toward the exit of the church and recognize the voice.
"That was Kael,"
Without any hesitation she ran with the crowd, squeezing through, until she managed to exit the church. She ran desperately down the mound and went straight onto the street the led to their house. As she turned the corner, the familiar row of houses came into view, but something was wrong. Smoke curled up into the sky, rising above the rooftop. Her heart pounding praying that it's not their house. As she was about to arrive at their house, she met a large crowd gathering around. Tania squeezed and pushed through the crowd and saw her family house. The front door was on the streets, windows shattered and part of the second floor has caved in. The house was engulfed with flames and Tania saw white magic energy surging out and twisting the debris around the house.
"Kael! Matthew! Mom! Dad!" Tania screamed, her voice cracking with panic. The crowd surged around her like a living tide, shoving and clawing as she fought to break free. She stumbled into the clearing, breath ragged, eyes wild. Without a second thought for her own safety, she sprinted toward her house.
"Sister Tania, it is not safe to enter" a 30-year-old man shouted as he grabbed on to Tania who was desperately trying to let go of his grip
"JUST LET ME GO!!!" Tania screamed from the top of her lungs releasing a surge of green energy, the man that grabbed her to safety had loosen his grip and stumbled back by her magical force. Without any hesitation Tania ran into their crumbling home ignoring the warnings around her and stepped inside.
Inside, the air was thick with dust and ash. She covered her mouth with her sleeve and stepped over broken glass and debris. The dining table was overturned. Plates shattered. The walls were scorched as if something had exploded from within.
Then she heard it, coughing, faint but close. She turned toward the hallway and saw Matthew crawling out from under a broken beam, his face smeared with ash and blood.
"Tania…"
She rushed to him and lifted the beam away with a grunt. "What happened Matt?" she asked, gripping his shoulders, pulling out from the debris. She noticed the trail of blood from Matthew, she took off her veil and ripped the clothes of Matthew to find the wound, she found a deep slash from his left nipple down towards his bellybutton. She placed her veil on it putting pressure on the wound.
Matthew turned his head, pointing using his lips toward the back room. "Man in black... Attacked us…" He moans the pain he feels when Tania puts pressure on the slashed wound.
"Kael is inside… but mom…. and dad…" Matthew's voice cracked and cried
A second tremor shook the ground, this one stronger than before. The ceiling creaked. Tiles fell. Tania used her body to shield Matthew and conjure a barrier to protect them both.
"Matthew not another word, preserve your energy..."
She then quickly chanted "Ayohon" (heal or mend) a green magic circled emerged along with it a green light. She then chanted "Hangin Espirito" then a wind spirit emerged. Tania commanded it to carry and to continue healing Matthew outside of the house. Once she saw that he and the spirit was safely outside, she turned and pressed onward to the direction where Matthew pointed, determined to find the rest of her family. She summoned again a magical barrier around herself to shield her from the crumbling structure.
A third tremor shook the ground, followed by a massive surge of white magic energy and an anguished cry. The pressure shattered her barrier, searing her clothes and burning parts of her skin. Gritting her teeth, she conjured another barrier, this one thicker, but even then, some of the energy seeped through.
At the heart of the destruction stood Kael, surrounded by crackling white energy. Unknown baybayin script glowed on both of his arms, with wavy, ethereal lines stretching from his forearms to his eyelids. He was looking up to the heavens, screaming, a sound filled with rage and sorrow. In his trembling arms was the lifeless body of their mother Emily and in front of him, their father lay motionless, his own sword, Durandal, stabbed on the cobbled stone floor just in front of Kael.
Tania stood frozen of the scene before her. The heat of the lingering white magic energy stung her skin, but she no longer noticed the pain. Her eyes locked on Kael, her brother, transformed into something unrecognizable and terrifying. The glow of the white runes on his skin, pulsed around his arms up to his forearms there are ethereal lines that lined up to his neck, and crossed both his eyes and moved up to the sides of his forehead then white holographic dragon horns emerged above his head connecting the ethereal lines.
"Kael…" she whispered.
He didn't respond. He knelt in the middle of the ruined room, cradling Emily's lifeless body as if afraid she might vanish if he let go. His cries had faded into ragged, breathless sobs. The air around him still shimmered with unstable magic, thick with sorrow and rage. Objects swirled around Kael like tornado.
Tania stepped closer, wincing as the pressure of the magic pressed against her barrier like waves crashing on glass.
"Kael, it's me… it's Tania."
His glowing eyes flicked toward her, wide and hollow, as if he was seeing through her. Tears streamed silently down his soot-covered cheeks. "Tania... I... I..." His voice cracked
She dropped to her knees beside him, reaching out to touch his shoulder.
"What happened?" she asked gently.
Tania turned her head. Their father lay motionless in front of Kael, blood pooling beneath him. And turned her head back to Her mother Emily, limp in Kael's arms. Tania's breathe heavily trying to contain her emotions seeing both the lifeless bodies of her parents making her entire body numb. Kael finally spoke, lips trembling, his voice filled with rage.
"I...I... couldn't stop... HIM!"
His magic aura intensified, but his strength gave out. The light in his eyes flickered and dimmed going back to his natural blue eyes. The markings on his arms faded but still visible. He slumped forward, still clinging to Emily. Tania caught him, pulling him and Emily into her arms as the magic around them died down. Swirling objects fell to the ground like raindrops. Outside, church bells rang in alarm, summoning the village. But inside that shattered home, time stood still. Tania couldn't contain her emotions - she cried and looked up to the heavens pleading to the seven gods for an answer to the unexplained tragedy.
Outside, the authorities arrived and quickly extinguished the flames. A group of them entered the house; three healers and two town guards carrying stretchers and splints. They found Tania cradling her brother Kael, along with Emily. Two of the healers gently took Kael and Emily from Tania's arms, laying them carefully on the ground and assessing them for injuries.
The healer who attended to Emily reached for a white linen shroud from her magic, draped it over Emily, and solemnly placed the amulet of Orpheus upon her chest.
The third healer rushed to Roger, checking for signs of life. He pressed his fingers to Roger's neck, searching for a carotid pulse. After several seconds, he silently opened his magic bag for a white linen shroud, draped it over Roger's body, and solemnly placed the amulet of Orpheus on him as well.
Tania sat motionless, staring blankly at the scorched wall before her, her eyes hollow and distant. One of the healers knelt beside her and softly asked, "Are you alright, Sister Tania?"
Tania turned slowly toward the healer, her face crumpling under the weight of bottled-up grief. Without a word, she threw her arms around the healer and wept, her sobs raw and unrestrained as she finally let the anguish pour from her heart.
Moments later, the healers carried out Emily and Roger, each on a stretcher, their bodies wrapped in white linen, with the amulet of Orpheus resting atop them; a wheel-shaped charm etched with runes of life and rebirth. Kael followed, also on a stretcher, his body was not covered which expose the Baybayin runes.
Tania walked behind the stretcher carrying Kael. She noticed the murmuring crowd ahead, their eyes drawn to Kael's markings. Whispers rose around her, but she ignored them, her gaze searching for Matthew, her brother.
Just a meter away from their charred home, under the apple tree, she saw three healers covering his brother with a white linen shroud,
Why is he covered? she thought. The wind spirit... it was a Titanium-ranked healing type...
As if in response, the wind spirit she had summoned appeared before her, its ethereal form drifting down. With a gentle breeze, it spoke to her mind: He lost too much blood. His heart... could not be saved.
Tania's heart dropped. Her eyes widened with horror.
"No. No. NO! NOT YOU, MATTHEW!!" she screamed, rushing to the apple tree. Falling to her knees, she tore the linen away from his face.
There he lay, cold and still. Lifeless.
She placed both hands on Matthew's shoulders, her voice trembling. "Matt... stop with this prank," she whispered, forcing a shaky smile. "You got me, okay? You win. Now get up... please."
When he didn't move, she shook him gently at first, then harder.
"Matt, seriously, stop this! Wake up!!" Her voice cracked. "You just…just smacked my face with a pillow this morning, you called it tradition... remember?".
"MATT!!" she shook him again harder. One of the healers took Tania's arms to prevent her from shaking Matthew, she conjured green magic energy around her hands and pushed the healer away from her, luckily the healer conjured a shield and was able to protect himself from the magic blast.
"Tania! if you do that dangerous act again, we have no choice but to apprehend you until you control yourself." Sergeant of the towns guard came and along with his men behind him creating a human barrier keeping the bystanders from entering the scene.
"So what? Can't you see half of my family was murdered in cold blood. Making my brother witness everything!!"
"I know pain of losing some you love. But raging it out here in town and hurting others isn't the best course of action, Tania, and I know you didn't want that to happen."
The sergeant offered his hand to Tania.
"I know you want revenge. I presume Kael feels the same. But revenge won't get you anywhere in this world. It will only lead you down a path of destruction and even lose yourself in the process. Trust me it will only consume you from within until you have nothing left."
The wind stirred gently around her; the spirit lingering close, silent in mourning, the spirit only hovered, a soft breeze brushing against her skin like a ghost, letting go a warm glow comforting Tania. Tania dissipated her magic and fell into her knees. The sergeant went and knelt before her, with him the sheathed Durandal, their father's sword, Durandal's scabbard was long, slender, and slightly curved, predominantly silver and light gray in color. Intricate patterns were carved along its length—symbols of dragons intertwined with ancient Baybayin characters that wrapped elegantly around the sheath. The sword's guard took the form of a serpentine creature's head, its mouth open in a mid-roar. The hilt formed the creature's body, flowing seamlessly from the guard, and the pommel was ornate and circular, adorned with scale-like engravings that echoed the beast's coiled form. When unsheathed, the Verlin steel blade resembled a katana, its upper portion engraved with two intertwined serpents. He then placed his hand over her shoulders, comforting her. While tania cried embracing Roger's sword.
The bodies of their parents were put down gently behind her back. The healers rushed and attended to Kael. She wasn't aware that a crowd was gathering around her as the guards tried to push them back. She heard chatter around her as people gathered. Their gazes over to Kael
"Kael… was it him? Did he really kill Roger, Emily and the poor boy Matthew?" one man asked, eyes wide with disbelief.
"He's a Mordren! That power…no normal person could emit it," a woman cried "He must be the one who did it!"
"By the Seven Gods… what kind of monster did they raise? Look at those markings!" another man muttered, clutching on to his amulet of Karamat as he stared at Kael in horror.
"He was always strange, that boy," an older woman whispered, shaking her head. "Kept to himself. Quiet ones are the ones you watch."
"But he loved them… I saw him carrying wood for his father at their smith, fetching herbs for his mother, and doing mischievous things with his brother, even though they were scolded and chased a couple times by the guards for their behavior" a younger woman said.
"Love doesn't stop a Mordren once the power takes hold," a hooded man snapped, his hand hovering near the hilt of a blade.
The murmurs swelled into something sharper, dangerous, ready to turn the blame on Kael. Tania stood up abruptly, her voice ringing out clear and firm.
"Enough!"
The crowd fell into a hush. Her green eyes looked at them trying to hold on her tears. "I don't know what you all think. but I know my brother. He would never hurt our family. Not willingly. Not ever in millennia!"
Someone scoffed. "You saw the evil energy he emitted and the markings he had on his body!"
"And just because of that, you accuse him of murder?" Tania shot back.
"What you felt wasn't violence. It was pain. He lost them… we both lost them. Just like all of you who lost their neighbors, friends and family members, during the raid." Her voice cracked, the weight of grief behind every word.
"If you're not here to help, then leave this place!"
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stood firm between Kael and the crowd. The townsfolk shifted uneasily, some lowering their eyes in shame, while others still stared at Kael with suspicion.
"You don't know who he is, Tania! He is not your kin!" a voice shouted sternly from the back of the crowd.
Tania turned, her voice softer now, but unwavering.
"Maybe I don't. Because he's just like me, abandoned and unwanted. But I know one thing for certain: he's a boy with a cheerful smile, a boy who loved our parents more than the gods above, and a boy who's gentler and kinder than anyone else in this damn town!"
Her voice broke, but she kept speaking.
"ALL OF YOU!" she cried, jabbing a finger toward the silent crowd. "You all have families. Real families, blood you can count on! But us?"
"NONE OF YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO EVER LOVED YOU REGARDLESS OF WHO WE ARE!"
Tania paused, catching her breath, then continued, "You should all be ashamed of yourselves for spreading rumors about things YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT!"
The crowd fell silent.
Tania wept, her cries echoing through the silent crowd, until Father Howard pushed through the crowd and gently embraced her. The authorities moved in to disperse the crowd, some of their heads lowered and some kept looking at her as if insulted by the words coming out from her mouth. As they walked away the sound of Tania's wailing lingering in the air behind them.