Lyra, covered in blood, followed the path back out of the woods. She was making her way toward Sami's house.
Since his house sits on the edge of town, surrounded by woods, he does not want to sit around dealing with books. Lyra decided to spend most of the day hunting.
"Ugh, stupid bookworm not eating meat," Lyra muttered to herself, her shoulders slumping with exhaustion as she walked back from the woods.
It's been a while since she has hunted herself, so it took some time to find a deer. Thankfully, she caught one for dinner.
Truthfully, Lyra was tired of eating mostly vegetables, since Sami rarely hunts and doesn't buy meat because of the cost.
Ironically, he has his own little garden where he grows most of the plants he eats.
"Probably does it so he won't have to talk to people," Lyra thought, a bead of sweat going down her face.
She had already skinned and sliced up parts of the meat before leaving the forest, leaving the bones and most of the innards for the wild animals to eat.
Lyra will be using the deerskin to make a leather pouch. A gift for Sami so he could store items for the adventures they'll go on later.
Lyra had taken notice that Sami really didn't own much of anything. Even with all his love for books, he didn't own any.
His house barely had furniture, just a small couch in the front room and two beds. He did have a pretty nice kitchen and a fridge, though.
Heck, most of Sami's clothes consisted of library uniforms, so before leaving, she was taking him shopping for decent training clothes.
Using the money left by General Mercer to help fund the trip.
Lyra knew General Mercer well and could tell he was excited about Sami's interest in training, though he tried to hide it.
Lyra hiked up the leather bag on her back as she saw Sami's house in the distance.
The woods today felt strange, as if they were hiding the sunlight, but maybe that was just her imagination.
With it being late afternoon, maybe it was the fact that she was so deep in the woods that she couldn't make out the sun.
Lyra let out a deep breath as she felt a sense of nostalgia; just a week prior, she was hanging out with her team, training and walking through the woods like this.
"I wish my brother could be here to enjoy this downtime with me", Lyra said sadly, a tear coming out of her eye.
She could still hear Poke's screams as the monster came out of nowhere, stabbing him in the gut. Gin screamed for her to run after the monster slapped her away.
Lyra clenched the straps of her bag tightly, her breathing growing heavy.
Even if the monster that killed them died, some nights she wakes up seeing the Gbahali's teeth biting down at her.
She did have one team member, Poke, whom she didn't really care for, but he didn't deserve to have claws rip through his stomach like that.
It's been a week since their passing, and she still wishes she could see her brother one last time and joke with them.
Honestly, their deaths are the major reason she decided to stay with Sami. Not only did she want to deal with these emotions(not that Sami knows what she's thinking)
She didn't want Sami to die or for Master Mercer to lose the last bit of family he had left. Lyra stopped walking, holding her down as tears poured from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Gin, if I were stronger, maybe I could've saved you," Lyra cried, her arms wrapped around her body.
Lyra felt a hand on her shoulder as a warm gust of wind blew around her.
"It wasn't your fault for what happened to me," a male voice whispered in her ear.
"Gin!" She shouted, lifting her head.
In front of her was a ghostly figure, a smile on his face as he stared at her. Lyra let out a small gasp; it was her brother Gin floating in front of her.
She tried to speak, but no words came out. Tears flowed from her eyes as the overwhelming feeling of guilt bubbled up.
"It'll be hard, but I promise to always be watching over you, Lyra.", Gin said, removing his hand off her shoulder before pointing towards her heart. "I love you, little sis, and make sure to tell Mom I love her as well."
Once Gin's sentence ended, he began to fade off in the distance.
"Wait Gin, don't go there's much I have to say.", She replied but it was too late the ghost of her brother was already gone.
Lyra's shoulders shook as she continued to sob heavily. The guilt of what happened eating her alive.
The afternoon gave way to evening when Lyra's tears finally died down. She did her best to wipe the tears off her face, not wanting Sami to know she was crying.
Lyra could still feel the warmth of the hand on her shoulder from where Gin had touched. Finally, she began to walk forward, realising she had already spent too much time in the woods as it is.
After ten more minutes of hiking, she finally entered the quiet house. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she set the backpack full of meat on the ground next to the door.
She carefully removed her bloody cloak and boots so as not to track blood through the house. Lyra noticed Sami's shoes were next to the door, so he was home now, too.
"Great! I was hoping I could sneak into my room without him noticing me. I really don't feel like being bothered today."
She let out another deep sigh as she picked the pack back up. She made her way into the kitchen.
Sami's house had a front door that opened directly into the kitchen; the living room was past that, with four doors: three bedrooms and one bathroom.
Lyra finally set the pack down for the last time in the refrigerator before going to wash her hands in the bathroom.
Deciding to rest, as she had been so busy for the first half of the day. Plus, she was just emotionally drained.
Walking past the back of the couch, her eyelids felt heavy as she made her way to the bathroom door. Before she could knock, it opened on its own.
Instead of seeing Sami come out, a small, fluffy brown rabbit with wide, intelligent eyes walked out, still puffing out its fur as steam curled around it.
"Oh, you must be Lyra. My name is Onyx, nice to meet you," Onyx introduced herself, shaking a bit of water from her ears after her shower.
Lyra, not even blinking at the talking rabbit, decided to go in and just sleep.
Honestly, she was far too tired to deal with whatever shit Sami had gotten into today. Onyx looked stunned at the abrupt end to the conversation.
"Um, sleep well then?" she called out, confused.
All Onyx got in response was a loud door slamming to the right of the bathroom.
"She did look tired", Onyx mused, recalling what little she'd gathered before Sami passed out.
Lyra was hunting in the woods. Maybe Lyra's tired because she's close to her son's spell; it does drain magic after all.
Onyx shrugged, realising that she was overthinking things; Lyra probably was just tired from hunting all day.
Onyx went into the front room and checked on Sami, who was sleeping on the couch. She had put on fresh clothes and cleaned up after he passed out in the clearing earlier.
On the floor in front of the couch lay the Minotaur's horn, its rough surface catching the faint light.
Onyx nudged it gently with her foot before looking back at Sami.
On his back was the tattoo of the Minotaur, a swirling pattern of dark vines that subtly incorporated the shape of a bull's head.
A symbol that showed that Sami had gained him as a familiar.
"A better outcome than just dying—a fresh start for both", she thought in her heart. Onyx was knocked out of her thoughts as she saw Sami shaking.
She quickly snapped her fingers to summon a blanket woven from shimmering purple magic to keep him warm.
Between overusing his magic and binding both of them to his soul, it was amazing his body hadn't burned out from overuse.
Bored with nothing to do, Onyx decided to make a stew and cook for everyone in the house. Sami shouldn't wake up until tomorrow at the earliest, and he would probably be starving.
With determined hops, she made her way toward the kitchen, determined to help out. Maybe she could actually make a difference this time and repent for the mistakes she'd made.
⟢
Mercer let out a heavy sigh and opened the door; a clean, sterile smell filled his nose. Flashes of carrying his grandson to a room like this crossed his mind.
The room itself had ten beds, split between five on each wall, and a small office in the back for the staff.
In the middle of the room was a small cabinet used for supplies.
The healing professor was skilled in restoration magic and had made advancements, so they didn't need to use as many materials.
Mercer quickly made his way to the bed in the back of the room.
A nurse was helping his student, whom he had rescued, who had survived against the Gbahali.
The nurse, seeing him, quickly bowed her head before going to the office.
Knowing he failed them hurt more than anything; that's why he didn't want Sami to be involved in this life.
Mercer knew that no matter what, he couldn't change the outcome, even though he tried.
Poke was already a pale man, and now he was even paler from the recent loss of blood. His blue hair was messy as he lay asleep in bed, his body wrapped in bandages.
Mercer, shaking his head in disappointment, decided to make his way out of the hospital and start work on the upcoming school year and a list of patrols for this section of the kingdom.
If Mercer had stayed longer, he might have seen Poke's eyes open or his fist clench in anger.
Either way, Mercer knew Sami would be safe with Anna training him, hoping his grandson could learn some skills quickly.
He worried that someone would send an assassin to hunt Sami down next, since someone had been attacking the Knights stationed in certain cities.
With his heart heavy, Mercer continued to walk on, thinking about the Kingdom and how it's beginning to collapse.