What do you mean you won’t be there for me? Where are you going? And who do you need to protect?

My body shook uncontrollably. My senses returned to me one by one. At first, I smelled a pungent sweet odor that made me reflectively throw my head back.

I could hear low groans and distant cries. I couldn’t make much sense out of anything that was happening until my body stopped convulsing.

I opened my eyes and realized that my body had not been shaking on its own at all. Someone was holding me by my shoulders. I blinked hard and tried to focus my eyes on them.

Name : Kard Mandrake

Race : Human

Class : Rogue

Level : 10

An expression of relief was painted across his face. It was smudged in dirt and ashes but his sharp features and hazel eyes had lost none of their composure.

He was wearing the same furs he had been when I first saw him while his black hair that were usually tied to the back of his head, now reached below his shoulders. Again, he wore his father’s overcoat—after all, today was the day he was supposed to receive his mana—but this time his body and his demeanor filled the garments with much more confidence than the day I first met him.

“Thank The Divine, you are alive!”

“What… what happened?” My head hurt whenever I tried to remember why I had woken up on my back.

Kard pulled me from the ground and set me in a sitting position, before replying to my question.

“The Divine is…” he started saying. “The Divine is dead Adel. Kai killed It.”

Upon hearing this, all of the memories rushed back in front of my eyes once more.

Kai stabbing The Divine.

The angels attacking him and then attacking everyone else who had gathered to attend the liturgy.

My parents protecting us by raising a barrier and banishing the angels.

Kai’s power going wild and killing the angels and…

“My parents!” I pulled on his clothes in order to steady myself and stand up.

“You should rest, Adel,” he said, standing up alongside me. “No one but the manaless survived. My uncle, your parents, the villagers, the visitors. They fought against the angels. But what that boy did…”

“Kai. Where—” I started making my way toward the spot where I had last seen my parents.

“He’s not here, Adel.” Kard stepped in front of me and blocked my way. “You are my friend, man. Your parents fought to protect us. I won’t stop you from saying your goodbye but remember that, what they did… they did it for all of us.”

He finally moved out of my way and I resumed walking toward the two white-robed bodies lying a few steps further. Their faces were almost peaceful.

I knew it couldn’t have been a peaceful end but it was as if they had cast a spell that would make them look tranquil in death. My mother was in my father’s arms and it somehow seemed right. I didn’t have the words to describe it but seeing the two of them content in their final embrace made it all a little bit easier.

I stood there, looking at them, unable to make a sound. I saw the holes in their robes and the flashes of them being shot at, rushed through my mind. I couldn’t remember ever crying before, but the amount and intensity of emotions overcame me.

Dropping on my knees, I opened my arms and threw myself over them. I was already weeping uncontrollably and began crying even louder when my face, wet from tears, made contact with their death-cold skin. Between my sobs, I muttered all the things that I wanted to say to them, but had felt too embarrassed too often to do so.

I told them of how proud of them I was and how I yearned for them to be proud of me too.

I thanked them for all the help they had given me and how well they had raised me and my siblings.

I told them how much I loved them.

I vowed to them that their sacrifice would not be in vain.

Even though I felt as though I would never want to leave them there, if I didn't do it, I knew I never would. And eventually, I would just let myself slide away from this world. And that would not be what they wanted of me.

I pushed myself up and looked at them one final time. I promised to live by their example. Turning my back on them at that particular moment was the hardest thing I had ever done.

I tried to occupy my thoughts with something other than their bodies on the cold ground. That turned out to be much easier than I thought as soon as I lifted my eyes to see what was happening around me.

Sounds started registering with me again. There were bodies spread as far as I could see and, on top of them—some crouched, some standing—young boys and girls weeping.

I realized that the barrier my parents had created, had protected us all from the worst. My mind began spiraling.

Were we really protected from the worst? Was living here and having to deal with the aftermath actually better than dying?

I tried again to shift my focus onto what my parents would want me to do. It was only at that point, to my shame, that I realized that Myriam was missing.

I instantly felt guilty that she was not the first thing I thought of. A part of me remembered that her voice lingering in my ming as I was between dreams and waking up.

She said that she needed to leave and protect someone. Somehow this blurry memory gave me reassurance that she was alive, even if I didn’t know where she was. Then I realized Kai was also missing.

Did he take her? Did The Divine, or some angel, force them to leave?

In my dream, she had not sounded as if she was being forced to leave.

I quickly ran through the order of events I could remember.

Myriam received her mana from The Divine without any problems. I didn’t have a solid understanding or memory of what a standard liturgy looked like but, to the best of my knowledge, hers was pretty standard.

My parents were smiling after she received her mana, which probably meant that things were going just fine up to that point. And then it was Kai’s turn.

I remembered his face being blank as he climbed up the stairs and approached The Divine. That wasn’t strange for him at all, as he was quite accomplished at hiding his emotions when he wanted to.

He wore this mask so that he could hide his fears or angst. I remembered him picking up the dagger and stabbing The Divine. At first, everything seemed fine, but then It began faltering.

Yes, I remember now. It looked like Kai siphoned all of The Divine’s mana… until It fell dead. The Divine! That was when the angels tried to kill him, but they couldn’t so they attacked everyone else.

I trembled thinking of how that vengefulness had replaced the serenity in the eyes of the celestial beings. They slaughtered everyone they could.

Had it not been for my parents’ intervention, we would have been killed as well. Something, however, did not make sense to me.