403. Not Mama

“Your parents are dead, child. And the one responsible for killing them— for slaughtering your kin— was… her”

Novis’ eyes grew wide as he stared into the [Witch]’s gaze. The words themselves barely made sense, yet he saw a vision. A scene which he’d never seen before. Yet, it felt like he was there. He felt all the emotions— saw things he never thought of before.

It was magic. A curse. A hex. A divination. Novis wasn’t smart enough to know any of that, he just knew it felt unnatural. He looked around and saw a flock of Wyverns, flying so mightily in the sky. Each of them large and majestic. One even dwarfed all the others, clearly the leader of the pack.

He unleashed a plume of frost— one so powerful it made the boy tremble at its sight alone. Yet, something tore through the breath attack. A monster that moved so fast and swiftly, it killed the pack leader in a single slash.

Novis blinked in shock, only for the scene to change. He looked around, once again surrounded by Wyverns. This time, he was in an odd place full of Humans. With tall structures that lay frozen in cool sleet. He once again cast his gaze up to see the very same monster tearing through the Wyvern flock like a storm of death.

The Wyverns screeched out in terror as they were cut down with ease. Novis himself felt the same fear they did in that moment. He stumbled back, heart racing, breathing heavily. He looked down as he grabbed at his chest, and the floor shifted.

The cobblestone streets were replaced by a dark cavern. Novis spun around and found himself in a cavern. He opened his mouth, throat tight with bands of fear. Then he heard a crash.

Spinning around, Novis’ eyes widened at the sight of a collapsed Wyvern. It was large— filling the entire cavern. He looked at it lie there, dying, and his heart ached for whatever reason. The boy slowly edged forward, raising a hand.

“Ma…ma…?”

He approached the dying Wyvern. Then there was a moment of silence. A pause where he didn’t say nothing. He simply stared at the Wyvern’s eyes. Then there was a slash. A scythe sliced the Wyvern’s head off.

Novis jolted back, looking up in horror. A monster stood before him. One that stood on two feet with two clawed hands, a pair of wings on its back, and crown-like horns protruding from its head. It stared down at the boy with glinting golden eyes as something finally clicked in his mind.

He’d seen this monster before. This… Demon. It had appeared so often, scaring him, sending running. He tried to cover his eyes. He hoped it would go away. But something— the same unnatural feeling from before— compelled him to look at it. And understand.

“Mama…?”

His mouth worked against his will. He stared directly at the Demon. At his mother. Except, she wasn’t his mother. She had never been his mother.

“I am not your mama!”

“I am not their mother, Willy!”

“I am Salvos! Stop calling me your mama!”

Her words resounded in his head. He found his head whirling. He blinked, and for a moment, he saw his mama before him. The majestic Wyvern with long silver hair and black scales on her wing-arms. But then that image was gone. He just looked up and saw a smiling Demon.

A monster that killed his real mother. One who had slain countless Wyverns. A Demon.

Novis backed up. He looked at this Demon, gripped in fear. She stared at him, moving her mouth— calling his name.

“Novis!”

And that broke him out of his stupor. He took off running, not even realizing the scene had changed back to the cave chamber with the [Witch]— not realizing that the visions had ended. He ran and ran and ran, overcome with a storm of emotions. Grief, confusion, and betrayal drove him forward as he ran up a tunnel.

He didn’t hear the voices in the background. He didn’t hear the blasts and explosions as the fighting resumed.

“Now let’s make a deal, Demon—”

“Willy! Stop him—”

Novis just ran. Everything went dark around him, but he continued onward. The knowledge that his mama… was not his mama… burned in his mind. He tried to forget it, clawing at his head as if that would scratch the memory from his brain. But it refused to go away. It lingered like a curse. A malediction on the soul. A scourge upon a farmer’s lands.

He didn’t notice the tunnel brightening, a light shining behind him and leading the way. Instead, he stumbled over the rocky terrain as he reached the end of the tunnel. Exhausting, panting, Novis slowly came to a stop when he was finally back at the outside world.

The sun was setting over the horizon. The tunnel led to a steep cliff overlooking a barren wasteland. There was nothing there, although it looked like there had once been a forest here. The boy didn’t care about any of that. He dropped to his knees before curling up into a ball. He lay there for a moment in silence. Then a gentle warmth overcame him.

“Tired?”

Novis looked up to see a ball of green flame hovering over him.

“Uncle Willy…”

He eyed the [Will O’ Wisp], still in his fetal position. Tears streamed down from his cheeks as he choked and wiped at his face.

“Is it true? Is Salvos really… not my Mama?”

Willy didn’t give an immediate answer. He just floated there, quiet as always. Novis bit his lower lips. He dug into the dirt ground and lowered his head.

“Did she kill my real mama?”

“...yes.”

The [Will O’ Wisp] finally spoke. And the answer— it upset Novis. It brought the baby Wyvern back into tears. He cried as he tried to speak.

“Will she… will she kill me too? Is she going to eat me? Is she… is she…?”

He couldn’t even put his thoughts into coherent words. He just sniffled as he lay there. He didn’t even notice the dark shadow rising from the horizon, blotting out the setting sun.

Willy’s flames flickered. He spun around, whispering.

“No…”

Novis sniffed— and paused when he heard the blast of flame shoot out. Willy shouted at him as he raised his head.

“Run!”

The boy blinked away his tears, looking up at what the [Will O’ Wisp] was attacking. His jaw dropped. He gawked up in terror as he stumbled back. A massive figure loomed over him. One that seemed to glimmer with specks of iridescent light. Novis didn’t know what he was looking at.

It looked like a giant mass of dirt, rock, and foliage, gathered into a single massive core. Like an island. It was partially obfuscated, blocked by a gradient of warped colors that flickered in and out of existence. Giant bits of stone and other materials rapidly orbited this island like long arms— tendrils that were disjointed and disconnected.

Novis’ mind went blank as it cast its non-existent gaze on him.

[-̷̫͇͈͎̞̌̓͛̔̌͌̔͂̒͗-̷̜͓͚̩̞̖͎͍͍͕̆̿̋-̷̳̼͖̙͖͎̩̥̜͕͈͈͓̱̈́͌̐̀̔̔̌̎̓-̴̙̺̂̍͐̈́͋̃̔͋̈́͝ Island - Lvl. -̷̫͇͈͎̞̌̓͛̔̌͌̔͂̒͗-̷̜͓͚̩̞̖͎͍͍͕̆̿̋-̷̳̼͖̙͖͎̩̥̜͕͈͈͓̱̈́͌̐̀̔̔̌̎̓-̴̙̺̂̍͐̈́͋̃̔͋̈́͝]

“What…?”

And Willy unleashed a wall of crimson flames at the corrupted island. It reeled back as the [Will O’ Wisp] repeated himself at the baby Wyvern.

“Find Salvos!”

But Novis froze. He lay there in too much shock and confusion to react. Salvos? the boy thought. But monster—

And a corrupted tendril of warped matter tore through Willy’s flame. It knocked the [Will O’ Wisp] aside, sending him flying. It turned back to the vulnerable baby Wyvern as he cowered there. It made a deep humming noise as it slowly descended on him.

“No—”

The boy squeaked. And there was a flash. The approaching island was knocked back, a large chunk of its side breaking off from a clean vertical slash. The corrupted island cracked, looking like it was about to crumble.

And a figure landed in front of Novis. He looked at it— at the Demon with two pairs of wings. One that was made of bone, and the other that belonged to a bat. She stood there with her regal horns, carrying a glinting blade at her side.

Salvos spun around and faced him with a worried look.

“Are you ok?”

She ran up to him. Novis brightened for a moment— then something in his mind flashed. An anger. A fury. A melancholy. He snapped at her.

“Go away!”

And she paused. Salvos hesitated, opening her mouth.

“Novis…”

But Novis just glared up at her, the feeling burning in his chest.

“You’re not my mama!”

He yelled at her. Her face darkened. She stood there as the corrupted island floated high behind her. Finally, she shook her head.

“I know.”

Salvos closed her eyes. The intense anger in Novis’ heart wavered for a second— at the sad look on her face. But still, you aren’t… She stood silent for a moment, but she didn’t hang her head. Instead, she took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

“I am not your mother, Novis. Perhaps I misled you, but all I wanted was to ensure you were safe. I wanted you to be happy. Because I made a promise. A promise to your mother. And by extension— a promise to you, Bellum, and Oriur.”

Her eyes darted to the other two baby Wyverns, watching from the side. When did they get here? Novis hadn’t seen them arrive. He turned to his siblings, and they stared at him worriedly. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, but the corrupted island didn’t let him. It took this opportunity to attack Salvos, firing bits of broken reality the size of small hills at her.

She spun around and swung twice. There were two flashes of light. A pulse ran through the air as Novis stumbled back. The broken bits of reality shattered into tiny pieces, missing him entirely, the corruption fading off the debris in a blend of twisted colors. Raising her head, Salvos faced the corrupted island. A monster that was larger than life. One that spanned far and wide. Larger than even the mountain they stood on.

Novis’ heart ached as she continued.

“So if you disown me, then so be it. But still…”

She trailed off as the attack didn’t stop. The corrupted island detached swung down with tendrils of dirt, rocks, air, water— everything. Novis backed up in fear, but Salvos didn’t back down. She parried each of the tendrils in rapid succession. Without fear. Without hesitation. She fought for the three baby Wyverns.

Each time she swung, white blades of energy slashed out and dismembered the corrupted tendrils. The core of the corruption trembled, making a rumbling sound— a scream of pain, even when it couldn’t scream.

Salvos raised her blade, swinging up and past its defenses. The slash came into direct contact with the corrupted island. The mass of matter shook, breaking in half. Salvos stepped back and looked at it with narrowed eyes. Novis blinked.

Is it dead…? the boy hoped.

But the corrupted island began to piece itself back together. It reformed its tendrils like nothing had happened as it readied itself for a second round. Salvos backed up hesitantly. Novis felt his heart sink.

“Why isn’t it…?”

“Novis.”

His name drew his attention. He looked towards the source of the voice, away from the regenerating mass of distorted reality. His mind compelled him to say a single thing. You’re not my mama. But he fought back against it. Salvos held his gaze for a moment, one hand tightly clasped on the ethereal sword.

“I am sorry.”

And the voice in his head grew muffled. Novis stared at her. He opened his mouth, trying to find a response. He wanted to say something… anything. He warred with his mind to speak from his heart. But nothing came out.

Salvos turned away from him, gripping the weapon with both her hands. She looked towards the corrupted island as it fully reformed. Its cast its callous gaze towards her as she spoke in a soft voice.

“But even if you hate me. Even if you scorn me. I will not hate you back. I will not scorn you in return.”

Salvos took a step forward as the corrupted island reeled back, attacking her with all of its tendrils at once. All the floating bits of rock spinning around it whipped down. The world blurred and distorted as if covered by panels of refractive lattice.

Mama— The boy raised a hand as she stood before the attack. A mesh of colors struck her, but she braced herself, blocking the attack with her sword.

“I will still—”

She gritted her teeth as she pushed back. The corrupted island recoiled as Novis stared, its entire being forced off her. It tried to gather itself as she ran and leapt into the air. It lashed out at her with one of its distorted limbs, and she screamed.

“—protect you!”

He watched Salvos face the corrupted island. He watched his mother bring up the glinting sword. The bright aura radiating from it darkened. A shadow engulfed it. Black flames wisped off the blade, mixing with the motes of white energy. The two colors spiraled around each other as the sword exuded power.

The corrupted island roared— a distorted noise. Perhaps not even a roar at all. It charged at Salvos with everything it had. But the Demon just swung down.

“[Radiant Slash]!”

A giant wave of black and white energy blasted out of the tip of the sword, striking the corrupted island and ripping it asunder. The core of the being collapsed from the attack as the massive blade sheared straight through its defenses. Nothing— not even the corruption— could withstand the attack.

Novis stood there with round eyes. He stared in awe as the corrupted island crumbled, his anger dissipating. The blast of black and white energy tore straight through it, smashing a hole straight through the distortion as reality reasserted itself.

The massive mass that was once the corrupted island fell apart, crashing back into the earth behind Salvos in a cacophonous applause. But she didn’t pay attention to any of that. Not even to the dust columns being sprayed into the air.

Instead, she turned and walked towards the boy.

He backed up apprehensively as the blade vanished. But all the hatred he’d felt earlier was gone. Now, all he felt was shame. He hung his head as she came to a halt before him.

“Novis…”

She looked at him, a concerned expression on her face. He stood there, shuffling his feet. The baby Wyvern didn’t know what to say.

“I…”

Salvos started, and he ran up to her and hugged her. She blinked a few times, looking down at the boy. He clung on tightly to her, the hex or curse inflicted on him gone.

“Salvos…”

Novis hugged her tighter as she stared at him with wide eyes. Then two more baby Wyverns joined him. His siblings embraced her as well. The three of them held onto the Demon. One that looked nothing like them. Yet, one they loved nonetheless.

“Salvos.”

The other two baby Wyverns repeated after Novis. Salvos paused.

“Novis, Bellum, Oriur…”

She whispered their names softly. And, slowly, she hugged them back, lips curling up. Willy floated up to her side, sighing.

“Resoolved?”

“I guess so…”

She gave him a shrug, still hugging the three children.

“And they’re finally calling me by my name too!”

Salvos beamed excitedly at the [Will O’ Wisp]. And the three baby Wyverns nodded.

“Mama Salvos.”

They looked up at her. She blinked.

“Wait—”

Willy just scoffed.

“Heh.”

“But I’m not…”

Salvos trailed off. Novis knew what she wanted to say. He didn’t care. He just hugged his mother, heart filled with warmth. Because it didn’t matter whether or not she was a Demon. It didn’t matter if they weren’t related by blood. He knew that, no matter what, she was his mother.

And that made the boy happy.