Day of Despair

The twin moons hung high, stars glittered, and a silken ring of stars flowed across the sky.

Xilian had found the rhythm. With an arm around Ava's waist, he wove with her through the crowd.

Laughter filled their ears, and the scent of wine lingered in the air.

"Is Tim still watching us?" Ava asked softly.

"He wouldn't miss a moment like this, even if he isn't the leading man."

Xilian smiled, then changed the subject. "Tim likes you a lot."

"And?"

Xilian looked into Ava's eyes. Her brown irises were beautiful. As night fell and the lights came on, they seemed to hold the reflections of countless stars.

"That's all," Xilian said. Then he asked, "Why me?"

"Tim's too tall. Dancing with him would look awkward," Ava said. "He'd pick me up and swing me around like a toy... That wouldn't be dancing at all."

"As for Mick, I'm sure he'll grow as tall as you two someday, but right now, he isn't exactly the right size for a dance partner."

The square surged with people. The two of them drifted like a little raft on the waves, spinning from the edge toward the center, then slowly back out again.

Xilian shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

Ava pursed her lips and smiled at him.

"Are you interrogating me?"

"I wouldn't call it an interrogation."

Ava blinked. "You're coming on too strong. Try being gentler. You could... ask around the question."

Xilian thought it over carefully before asking, "Is there something about me that attracts you?"

"Isn't that a little clichéd?"

Ava looked helpless, then reasoned with herself. "At least a cliché is safe. It just makes you seem a bit wooden."

Xilian gave an embarrassed laugh. He glanced toward the stare fixed intently on them and lowered his voice.

"We've danced long enough. We should take a break, and give my brother something else to focus on. He's been sitting there so long he's turning into a statue."

Ava laughed. Taking Xilian's hand, she led him to a long table nearby, where a few empty seats gave them room to rest.

"If you insist on a proper answer, I suppose it goes back to last summer."

Ava picked up a glass of water. After dancing for so long, she really was tired.

Xilian searched his memory and came up empty. "What happened then?"

"Nothing happened. You were chatting, and I happened to overhear you," Ava said teasingly. "Need a hint?"

"A keyword, maybe?"

"Hmm... Who's the prettiest girl in town?"

Xilian's face turned awkward at once.

Every boy had done something like it: judging the girls he knew, letting his excess hormones run wild in a tangle of innocent curiosity and desire.

Ordinarily, it was just adolescent restlessness. Add an unseen listener, though, and it became a mortifying public reckoning.

"Ha!"

Ava delighted in his expression. She rarely saw him like this.

Xilian tried to defend himself. "I don't quite remember. Did I say anything awful?"

"No. You didn't say anything awful. You said a lot of lovely things, actually."

Xilian had no idea what she meant.

Last summer, the Sofluowa brothers had just finished a night patrol and gathered in the living room for breakfast.

Someone brought up the question of who the prettiest girl in town was.

Xilian had kept eating quietly while Tim and Mick argued so fiercely they nearly named every girl in White Cliff Town. Xilian did not even recognize all their names.

At last, the two asked Xilian who he thought was the most charming girl.

"Ava."

Xilian set down his utensils as he gave his answer.

"Why?"

They spoke in unison.

By conventional standards, Ava was not the prettiest girl. She was short, her face was covered in freckles, and she had none of the gentleness expected of a girl. She often greeted the Sofluowa brothers with punches and kicks.

Perhaps because they had spent so much time together, the three of them treated Ava as one of the Sofluowa brothers, joking around with her like a sibling.

"Why?"

Xilian looked at his two brothers as if they were fools. "Do I really have to explain?"

"Tim, you're always saying the baker's daughter is gorgeous. Pretty face, great figure, such a soft voice... But do you actually know her?"

Xilian went on at an unhurried pace. "No matter how beautiful she is, there'll always be someone prettier, someone with a better figure. Keep chasing that, and it gets boring, don't you think?"

"You think she's beautiful, so you want to hold her hand, kiss her, maybe do more. Then what? You don't even know what she likes or what kind of person she is."

"You're fantasizing about girls you don't know. Ava's different. She's wonderful."

Xilian carried his utensils to the sink and began washing off the grease.

"Ava makes breakfast for us every day and looks after us.

Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe her. She's like... like a statue of the Holy Mother in the Pantheon coming down to earth and greeting me with a gentle breeze and soft rain!"

"I'd forgotten something in the living room that day, so I came back for it. That's when I heard your discussion."

Ava narrowed her eyes like a contented fox.

"Tim and Mick were so shallow that I was shaking with anger. I was going to march in, argue with you all, and never make you breakfast again."

"Then you heard what I said and decided to forgive them?"

Even after Ava explained, Xilian still could not quite remember.

"Forgive them? Not a chance," Ava corrected him. "Ever since then, I've been making breakfast for you. They just happened to get some too."

She rested her chin in her hands and curled into a little ball on the chair. "But I don't understand. After Tim said all that, why did he start liking me?"

Xilian laughed. "That's another story, but it's a short one. Want to hear it?"

"Sure."

Xilian shifted in his seat and searched his memory.

"It was during a night patrol early this year, I think. Tim suddenly told me he liked you. I asked him, 'Didn't you say Ava was just all right?'"

At the words "just all right," Ava's expression darkened immediately.

"Tim told me he really hadn't been interested in you before. But after hearing what I said that day, he started paying attention. He noticed how thoughtful you were and how well you took care of us."

"You should've seen his face," Xilian said. "He looked stunned and terrified by how late he'd realized it... He'd fallen for you without noticing, and the thought that he'd nearly missed his chance scared him."

Ava waved a hand. "Sorry I'm so irresistible."

"Ha!"

Xilian looked toward the crowd and lowered his voice. "Take pity on my poor brother. He's working up the courage to come over."

Ava turned. Tim was making his way through the crowd, walking straight toward her.

"Is he coming to beat you up out of jealousy?" she whispered.

"He's not the sort to let jealousy and obsession drive him."

Xilian picked up a glass of milk, smiling.

Tim stopped before them. He shot Xilian a fierce glare, then looked at Ava with open anxiety. He took several deep breaths.

"I know your heart belongs to someone else."

After hesitating again, Tim held out his hand. "But I'd still like to ask you for a dance. Would that be all right?

"Think of it as indulging one small wish of mine."

Ava held back a laugh and put on an imperious air. Xilian raised his glass to hide his expression, while Mick watched everything from a short distance away.

After savoring her inexplicable sense of victory, Ava reached out and placed her hand in Tim's.

"Oh, fine. If I must—"

"Everyone!"

An urgent shout cut the dancing short.

Ava looked toward the voice. Boll was running toward them, terror on his face. He waved one hand and opened his mouth to say more.

Suddenly, blood-red light rose from the Wilderness like a climbing sun, illuminating more than half of White Cliff Town. The celebration froze, and scarlet washed over every face.

The scarlet sun flared brighter still. The searing Burning Wind charged in from the Wilderness like a beast broken loose and slammed full force into the high wall.

Boom—

Where the Burning Wind passed, the air caught fire and twisted into waves of heat. Sand and stone on the ground turned scorching hot in an instant, bursting with sharp cracks. Dust swept into the air became thin trails of smoke that drifted toward the blood-red night sky.

The high wall held against the Burning Wind's first impact. But as it shuddered, the gaps between its bricks were torn wider. Masonry peeled away and crashed to the ground, throwing up clouds of blistering dust.

A piece of rubble struck Boll as he ran. He stumbled and fell, then struggled back to his feet.

"Father!"

Ava lost control and ran toward Boll, but Xilian seized her and pulled her back.

The Burning Wind was already upon them. It knocked down swathes of people, tearing the splendid decorations apart as it went.

At the last moment, Xilian shielded Ava beneath his body. Tables and chairs flew wildly through the air, struck him, and shattered.

Ava stared blankly, her face pale and her pupils contracted.

Something had cut her—perhaps flying splinters, perhaps shattered cutlery. Fine bloody scratches covered both her hands. Her delicate skirt had been torn and coated in dust.

"Hah... hah..."

Ava's chest heaved until her breathing became rapid and uncontrollable.

Cries and groans rose from every corner of the square. As though waking abruptly from a beautiful dream, everyone was dragged back into the nightmare of reality.

"Father!"

Ava broke free of Xilian's protection and stumbled toward Boll.

Horrific burns covered Boll's entire body. The flesh of his fingers had even fused together.

"Ava..."

Boll called to his daughter, his voice barely intelligible. "I'm... so cold..."

Heat had scorched Boll's body, yet his body was changing in precisely the opposite way.

Fine ice crystals crept across his skin. Crushed ice filled his mouth and nose, and his eyes froze solid.

A low, hoarse groan escaped him. Boll's back arched bit by bit, green scales spread over his skin, and sharp fangs pierced his lips.

Ava watched her father turn into a Demon before her eyes. Her mind went blank.

A low growl rose from Boll's body. He sprang up, sharp claws sprouting from his fused fingers, and swung at Ava's throat.

A cold flash of steel swept in. Tim strode forward and cut off Boll's arm, then beheaded him with the next stroke.

"Ava!"

Tim grabbed Ava's hand and shouted her name. She stood where she was, staring at her father's corpse, unable to hear a thing.

It had all happened so quickly that even Xilian stood there in a daze.

"Get out of here!"

Mick's shout pulled Xilian back to reality.

The small figure emerged from the wreckage and drew a dagger hidden in his sleeve. Grim readiness filled his young, handsome face.

"Your sword!" Tim shouted at Xilian. "Where's your sword?"

Xilian reached for his waist and found nothing.

"My... my sword..."

He had taken off his sword to dance with Ava. Now, after the Burning Wind's impact, it had vanished into the wreckage.

Damn it! Damn it!

Xilian cursed himself over and over. He had always held fast to his creed. Why today? Why now...?

A longsword entered his field of view.

Tim lifted the unresponsive Ava with one arm and offered Xilian his sword with the other. "What are you waiting for?"

Xilian took the sword, his gaze sharpening.

"The high wall won't hold," Xilian said. "Tim, get everyone to Torchlight Lighthouse!"

"What about Teacher?" Tim asked.

"There."

Xilian could sense the Source Energy beneath that scarlet sun. Nuen was there.

"Protect her. Protect everyone, Tim!"

Xilian tore off his stifling tie and walked toward the burning wall.

"Of course I will!"

Even at a time like this, Tim managed a smile and a joke. "Don't you die, Xilian. Otherwise, Ava might fall for me after I save her!"

"You'd better stay alive too, or it might be the other way around!"

Xilian played along with the ill-timed, deadly serious joke.

But neither of them could laugh.

Tim shouted orders to the townspeople, directing them to help the wounded and move to shelter. Mick climbed to a high point on a nearby building and kept watch.

Ava knelt nearby in a daze, unable to grasp the sudden horror. Her gaze wandered aimlessly until it met Xilian's.

As if coming back to herself, she struggled to keep her pale face calm and gave Xilian a small nod.

For some reason, panic stirred in Xilian's heart. He wanted to look at Ava a little longer, as though some dark fate awaited him not far away.

As though he would lose something the moment he left...

But Xilian had no time to think. His Soul Marrow burned, and Source Energy surged and roiled.

All expression left Xilian's face, as though he had donned a stern iron mask. Sword in hand, he strode forward.