A Flame

-----Fabian's POV

It's been a few days now since Ilfa had left and it's starting to feel worse and worse. Not only does time feel like it's at a standstill, but the elf that comes by to give me food has started to become much like the monsters that I know of. It seems as since Ilfa isn't around, they just throw my food on the ground closing the door immediately. Ilfa told me to take it easy and rest, but when they throw my food onto the ground, it forces me to crawl out of the bed and onto the floor just to get my food. And today is one of those days.

Elf: "ᗪ卂爪几 卂卩乇"

They open the door, muttering words I cannot understand as they cast my food onto the ground like I'm some sort of animal before closing the door once more. I immediately start to crawl out of bed, taking care to not hurt my ankles, but of course I couldn't avoid all the pain as stabbing pain radiated around my knees as they scrape along the ground while I crawl to the food.

Eventually I do make it to the food, but dust now covered some part of the meat, and that's not taking into account that the meat felt cold to the touch. I could just use my fire magic to warm it up, but that'd use energy I would need in order for my body to heal. Knowing that this is all I'll have for the day, I blow off the dust, picking off any debris that had stuck to the meat before eating it on the floor. At least when it comes to water they still put it by the bedside table, but I have a feeling that at some point, they'll just have me lick the water from the ground as well...

Every bite I take was tiresome as it took quite a bit of time to chew it enough to swallow, but at least it's satisfying my hunger, which I guess is the most important. But after eating what Ilfa always brought to me, this just feels like some kind of nightmare that I desperately want to wake up from. But alas, I'm stuck here like this for at least a week...

While on the floor, I scan over my legs, making sure that I didn't cut up my still charred up legs. Speaking of which, the crusty, scale-like black skin of mine has improved now as I find myself finding parts of my burnt legs that I can pick off, revealing pink skin underneath. It was such a joyous moment for me knowing that my legs are actually slowly healing by themselves, but my ankles are another story. Unlike my legs that I burnt once to free myself from the blades of grass before, I had to burn my ankles twice, and that's not even considering the shackles that I melted into my skin. I'm grateful that Ilfa managed to remove the shackles, but it was such a barbaric way to go about it. But it's not like monsters are delicate with things such as this.

I continue to pick off some more loose pieces of burnt skin, revealing more of the pink skin underneath as my legs start to look quite peculiar. It's the first time my legs had any color, even if its just spots of pink scattered around my charred legs. I quickly finish up the meat on the ground, making sure not to swallow any dirt or debris before crawling back over to the bed. Using all of my upper body strength, I slowly mange to pull half of my body up onto the bed, leaving my legs dangling off the edge. I gently put a bit of my weight on my ankles while in this position as pain quickly shot back up my legs, and by using the adrenaline from the pain, I pull the rest of my body up onto the bed before immediately checking on my ankles.

They're getting better as I'm starting to be able to put more and more weight on it each day, but it's still a ways away for me to walk comfortably. I end up focusing on the webbing around where the shackles were as I end up gently gliding my fingers over it. It's soft, comforting feel instantly reminds me of Ilfa, causing my heart to tighten up.

Fabian: "Hah, maybe by the time Ilfa gets back, my legs will be all healed."

I mutter to myself in hopes that it might come true. It would be nice to finally be able to walk around with her and actually seeing what has come of Inasdale. Maybe the entire city is now filled with spiders and maybe many other kinds of monsters, but funny enough, I'm not that scared about such a thing happening.

Not wanting to waste my time doing nothing, I end up exercising a little, just to make sure my body stays somewhat fit. My upper body is fine since I'm still able to pull myself along with my upper body alone, but the problem is my lower half. I'm limited to what I can do with not being able to walk, so I decide to start with simple leg raises, hoping that somehow it'll increase blood flow to my legs and maybe heal them faster, but I'm no expert at this sort of thing. With my legs raised, I bend my knees, making sure that my mobility is still okay before lowering my legs back down. I repeat this for some time before finally giving it a rest as I find myself already out of breath. 

Food might be a chore to eat, but at least the elf puts the glass of water down and not dump it onto the ground like with the meat. It's still a bit cruel to eat off the floor like an animal, but we are different species, so I get it. Before if things were reversed, I can imagine myself doing the exact same thing, maybe not even feeding them in the first place. I end up laying on my side, looking over to where I'd normally see Ilfa lay down next to me. Her warmth, her fragrance, her comforting smile, I miss it.

Fabian: "Hahh~ I hope you're okay."

She's probably in the midst of battle right now, fighting to protect her newly claimed land. The thought of her losing scares me, as someone else can burst through this door, killing me without hesitation. I fully realize that my life solely rests on Ilfa's shoulders as I find myself praying for her victory.

Fabian: "Haha."

I chuckle at the thought... At first I was praying for Lucien's victory over Ilfa, but now I'm rooting for Ilfa... How things have changed now, haha. But still... Sure I've grown to like my time here with Ilfa, but I still can't shake the thought of my family being chased down by that vampire, Kaede.

?: "You wish to break free from this prison?"

Suddenly, a group of voices flooded into my head, much like what Ilfa did when I first met her, only this time it felt different.

Fabian: "Who are you?"

?: "That's of no concern as of right now. You want to save your mother and sister, correct?"

I hesitated to respond at first, but when I think of a reason why they know of my family, I guess there's no point in holding back.

Fabian: "Yes, but it's not like I can defeat a vampire."

?: "We can help you accomplish that. In fact that is our condition in exchange for your freedom to save your family."

Wait, so whoever these people are, they promise to give me power to save my family as long as I defeat Kaede? Is that what they're saying? This seems too good to be true, which leaves me with far too many concerns. The fact that they're not giving me their names is alarming, for all I know this could all be a scam.

Fabian: "And how are you supposed to do that?"

?: "We'll offer you our power."

Fabian: "Then why not just kill Kaede yourself?"

?: "Our interaction with the world is limited, and we've deemed you to be worthy enough to harness our power to complete such a task."

Judging from what they just said, I can only guess that they aren't living beings, probably beings who've already died. So in other words-

Fabian: "Spirits?"

?: "Yes."

Fabian: "Why me then?"

Spirits: "We've been watching you survive for so long as you show great determination to save your family. Our goals overlap so you're an ideal candidate."

Fabian: "...Then what would your powers entail?"

Spirits: "You're body would be cleansed in but an instant, as if you hadn't suffered any wounds at all. You're mana outage would increase significantly, rivalling even the strongest of mortals."

Fabian: "Lucien..."

His name came to mind instantly as I ended up muttering his name under my breath. Talking to some being that we cannot see, stupidly powerful even able to live through centuries as if time wasn't even an opponent for him.

Spirits: "Ah, yes. He was a fantastic vessel. But sadly he strayed from his path, so we needed to find someone else."

Wait... So then the reason Lucien died before was actually because of these guys? Did Lucien actually die from the hands of these spirits and not by Ilfa?

Fabian: "...Fuck off."

Spirits: "Sorry, but we don't understand that-"

Fabian: "Leave. I'm not agreeing to that stupid deal of yours."

Spirits: "How unfortunate."

...

Silence... Seems as though those spirits quickly left after I declined their offer. I have to admit it was tempting, having the power to fight Kaede and save my family, but what would come of me? Lucien died because of them. Plus what would happen after I killed Kaede? Would they tell me to kill Ilfa then? Just the thought of that alone pissed me off.