Yazh once again found himself in front of God once more and unlike the previous time, he flew into a rage. "Mr. God what the hell was that!?". As usual, God stood there like a statue without saying a word; nonetheless, yazh began ranting like a crazy person. "You! You stone-cold omnipotent statue of divine doodoo! You sent a 15-year-old boy on an alien planet without any instructions" Yazh fell to the floor like he had a bad day at school "Was this all just a ploy to teach me a lesson." More he thought about the things that happened; more it didn't make any sense.
God broke his silence. "You believe that I created all this, this planet, this universe, those people just to teach you a lesson. That seems like a waste of... everything." Yazh stared at God with a confused expression. "Then what was the purpose of all this!?" "Why are you asking me this? You are the one who saved her, you are the one that followed her" Yazh recoiled "What do you mean?" a familiar snap was heard through the white room and both God and Yazh were seated on a bench "I never told you to save her or follow her nor did I ask Lyra to trust you. The creatures in your plane of existence often misunderstand; though I created this board and these pieces, I'm not the one playing" Yazh sat on his bench looking defeated "Mr. God stop talking in metaphors and give it to me stght" Yazh said. God replied "stop bitching and deal with it"
God snapped once more. This time, Yazh felt like someone had thrown a grenade in his face. His head was ringing and his body felt like it was put in a blender. Yazh could barely open his eyes, and when he managed to, all he saw was a blur. His brain was scrambled yet he could sense that he was not in the white room. The place where he was lying felt like a hospital bed, which made him severely uncomfortable. There were people in the room and they seemed to be arguing. All he could hear was bits and pieces.
A shrill voice said "Lyra, my child, You have brought a stranger into our village during crisis"
"madam priest, you must not blame the child she had a moment of weakness" a gruff voice replied
Lyra wrangled "he saved me, he is not the enemy"
"Child, we do not his origin nor his motives"
Another voice said, "he is not from Nocturnia-Glacia; just look at his skin!"
Yazh wanted to say various things to these strangers but all he managed to say before passing out was "That's racist"
The four characters (including Lyra)in the hut were shell-shocked by the strange words of the captive. The old woman, Freya, was the head priest of the temple, and she stood beside the two guards, Yuri and Boris. Boris looked like he could barely contain his anger. Yuri was absorbed in some other thoughts, and finally, Lyra looked tired and beaten. Her body felt like it was made out of lead, She held on purely out of worry for her family.
Yuri, who realized this, signaled to the auburn girl, he said "My child, it has been a long journey, you should take a rest" but before he could say anything else, Lyra bolted out with all her might. Freya looked over at her village which was in disarray, she said "oh universe heed and protect us as even our bones are devoted"
Boris chimed in " should we-" "No!" Freya shut him down "We must let them heal" Yuri finally snapped out of his thoughts and said "I don't think we have enough time to heal" the knowledge that kept Freya's head high seemed to sink her to the ground, she wanted to say multitudes of things to the guards "Please… take some rest" was all she could spit out.
In the other side of the village, Lyra ran like a starving wolf, in her mind all the terrible things that could happen superimposed on one another. It made her numb to all the gore in the way. All the pain, the chaos came to a halt when she stood infront of what she once called home. The floor smudged with charcoal, creaked a haunting tone. All the memories she made with Luka, Seira, and her family, were all gone. Reduced to ash.
She stood there silent like a sculpture, she could not think, more accurately she did not want to. Then suddenly she heard a familiar voice, it was her. Seira leapt into her arms "oh god!! You're alive!! How The entire wing fell off the mountain" Lyra simply tightened her grip as tears fell down her cheeks. All she managed to say was "Luka?" "he is bruised up but he is okay" Lyra felt the weight dissipate as she finally let go. She as passed out as all pain of bruised up body.
"Eirik ! I saw them carry a strange person inside!" A woman said to her husband "Thora… it just some survivor" Thora snapped "oh really!? What is so special about that survivor that they are placed in the priestess's room while you who defend our home from raiders is out here in the cold" Eirik dropped his sword to the ground and laid his back on charred piece of wood which was once a home "I am not that hurt woman" Thora wanted to scream at him but in his sorry state she couldn't, instead she went into somber "Then what about astrid"
The couple glanced at a woman with ebony black hair desperately tending to her half burnt son knowing fully well that it is futile. "Why is she doing that even the priest have given up him why can't she!?" Eirik mumbled to which Thora said "if it was our child… would you?" he grabbed the snow with somber desperation know that no amount of ice can inflict more pain than his heart.
The storm in his mind cleared as Yazh woke up. He was tied up now but the room had been closed up. He looked around he saw the furniture's, the cloths and the carpet. It was not perfect as he had come from the era after industrialization yet this place on this alien planet was far comforting than any place in his previous life. After checking this dim light place he went for the door.
To his surprise it was not locked but after opening it he found another door but… wait it was not a door it was Yuri. Yazh thought to himself that he will not leave this room until the divorced looking bear lets him but he knew he wouldn't let him" as he turned back he heard a sound he familiar with. Through the large shilloute of the guard he caught a glimpse of a woman with an ebony hair crying over a child that seems to be dead. Yazh rushed to the door but yuri wouldn't budget but neither did Yazh.
"Bro, let me out!! Someone is dying over there!"
"No"
"What! Let me out I can save them!"
"No"
"I saved that girl let me save them! I can do it, believe me !?"
"No"
As time went everything went silent expect the cries of that woman. It felt like ringing in his ears. His desperation grew and then his eyes gleamed at an oil lamp. He pretended to give up and boris let his guard down yazh grabbed the lamp and flung it at him. The flame missed his eye but it startled him enough to create gap in the impenetrable wall. Without missing s best yazh tried to slip through his legs but Yuri had been in battle longer than yazh has lived. In an instant yuri summoned his spear and pinned him to the ground through his shoulder blade and to everyone's surprise a blade went through Yazh's neck.
"Eirik!! What are you doing !?" Eirik lunged at yazh, holding him down. Eirik didn't know what was happening but he believed in the man who fought by him and tried to stop the tan skinned stranger. As an indescribable level of pain reached his mind, his world slowed down, it desaturated. All he wanted to do was help but why was he going through this? Then a cold voice Snickered at him, it was his own.
" Ha! Ha! What do you think your dumb-ass is doing?" he stood there, the yazh he tried to forget, the yazh he believed he was. He wore an hospital gown, he flesh draped his banes like a thin curtain. He knelt down " I'm sorry, do you think you're a hero or something like that " his laughed was mixed with bloody cough. "Everybody look here, this clown doesn't the joke even after getting picked over firefighter, soldiers and noble laureates. Bitch an iphone with chatgpt is more useful than you" his bony fingers grabbed yazh's chin. "Do you think these people, their fathers, and their grandfathers suffered just so some schmuck with healing powers can fix their world, get your head out of your ass man!" Despite his taunts yazh's eyes were fixed at that woman.
"Why are still looking over there? Oh wait doesn't that woman look like – oh oooh! HaHa! HeHe!" his muscles shrank, his clothes turned to hospital gown, where there was swords and spears there was needles. "Is your pathetic ass trying to save her so that you can make up to her. Do really think this would be enough after all that she had done for you, after you ruined her life. If you want to make it up to her then DIE, don't be burden to them too" he wanted to scream, he wanted to cry but all he could say as it was all that mattered was "NO!"
His hand reached to the woman as a blinding golden light shoot out of it. Everyone was star struck who was followed by a loud silence out of which a single voice was heard. His tender arm tugged his mother's coat "mother, it feels warm" he closed his eyes with a gentle smile knowing that there is warmth left for his mother in this icy world. As soon as Lyra was woken up she was called for the funeral procession. They walked up the layers of the mountain lead by the lights of every other villager. Lyra couldn't bear to look at his corpse as he was the same age as luka. The tradition states that a person's final rites should be completed at the crack of dawn so they left him up there by the divine.
As all the villagers descended she stood there looking at a corpse of child who didn't even get the chance. She wanted to leave but she couldn't, she tried…. She failed to notice luka standing behind him. "I'll kill them! I'll kill them all" she turned back to see her sweet brother but what she was met with was blood-thirsty animal that looked like him. "Luka, listen" "NO! No more, all I have – No-I need to do is kill them all then all of us will be happy" "Luka,wait-" he stormed off, she scold him, hug him, stop him but all she had the energy to do was cry and that she did.
In the middle layer of the village a bonfire where all the village gathered in grief and fear among this cluttering cloud only two voices spoke the loudest
" What are we going to do!?" said Solveig
"Run, what else" said Eydis
"Where! With the winter coming when can't make it anywhere" said Solveig
Everyone was distressed, not because people died because people died. The raiders are not known for leaving behind survivors. They knew the raiders will comeback to finish their job. Their foods was dwindling and the sick did not seem like they would surviving another dawn. And top of all this, they had another issue, who is the golden stranger?
"Wait! That creature he could be of help to us !" said Solveig
"Help! We should throw him out! Keep him here is dangerous to all of us. We don't know where he is from, what he wants or what he is" said Eydis
"He tried to save us" said Solveig
"Save us! All he saved was that orphanage girl. He didn't save my husband, your sister or Astrid's son" said Eydis as those words left her mouth both of their eyes darted towards Astrid.
She sat there calmly cooking a stew. "What are you doing?" asked Eydis yet she stayed silent. Silence eloped the entire as they were curious what she was upto. She simply took a bowl and poured in the stew. She stood up and started to walk toward the head priestess's house. The villagers immediately jumped infront of her "What are you doing!?" "The child must be hungry, so I am bringing him food." "Are you insane!!" Eydis shouted "We don't know what he is! And you are bringing him food" with steadfast Astrid relied "I know what he is, he is the CHILD who fought against two men to save my child"
Eydis tried to convince her otherwise
"did you seen his skin-"
"A Child"
"how his athma looked-"
"A Child"
"His accent-"
"A Child"
"Astrid listen to reason-"
Astrid shot an icy glare at her "No child in this village will go hungry, not from today, not as I am alive, No child! So move!"
Astrid walked as her neighbors watched with nervous anticipation. She crept inside the hut, it was barely lit, everything was in a mess and in the corner Yazh laid there with lifeless.
"Did he?"
"No, he did not."
Tears crashed into the cold floor, he could not bear to look up, his shame, guilty held him down. But then warm hands held onto him "We tried… we really-really tried" her tears flowed into his. "But sometimes that is not enough and it's ok because we will get up and together we will make sure it never happens again, so eat so that we can fight for those who can't" she feed him his stew like Nandhini did. Maybe it was tears that the stew salty or maybe not.