Not Afraid

I looked my father straight in the eyes when I told him that the demon wasn't finished with me yet, but he only raised an eyebrow, not showing a hint of worry on his face as he let out a low growl.

 "Ghouls are a type of demon. Although they are an exception to the normal rule and still only have one heart. They are faceless monsters that feed off fear, the more they consume the more they evolve."

He sat down, leaning over his knee as he flicked his fingernails. "They are twisted souls of humans, but for a real one to appear it would have to have some sort of connection to the abyss. So… Unless you've been practicing dark magic… or you're harboring a lot of malice…"

He shifted his weight to the other knee, looking at me closer. "Are you?"

Even if I was… I wouldn't have been able to tell him, I felt as though if I did I would be killed on the spot. I couldn't even answer with my words as his intimidating pressure built up around me. All I could do was gulp, and shake my head no.

He nodded "Good. If your will was strong, then it must have been summoned by the tower as a part of the test. If that's the case then you have nothing to fear outside of training."

"I really don't think that was part of the test. He said all I had to do was light up the room. I never fully lit the room, so the second lesson wouldn't have started."

He narrowed his eyes, making me feel like I was shrinking in front of him. My body was covered in chills as I bit my tongue, wondering if I should have just dropped it.

"The fact is, that the tower forces you to confront your biggest fear. It's possible these tests were just a scenario it constructed for effect."

Nothing he said was wrong, but still. I knew what I had been through was real. I had the torn skin on my ankle to prove it. 'It's not that his theory isn't plausible… There's just too much evidence telling me it was real. "I guess your right, but–"

"Well, at any rate, you appear to be doing alright, is your vision clearing up? It was likely a magic-induced status effect and not an actual concussion, so it should wear off much faster."

"Do I really look alright to you?" I muttered. 'I must be a good actor…' In truth, I felt like I was about to snap. Sure I had a plan, a half-baked one. I was going through with it because I had to, not because I wanted to.

He sighed. "Your ankle was cut, so that means it was real right?"

He slowly stood up, grabbing my hand and squeezing it tightly. "But what about these boots you were wearing? They came from the tower too. I'm not saying it was all fake, I'm saying you're safe now."

As far as being reassured went, he was finally getting somewhere, but words of comfort only went so far, especially coming from him. "Well… It's a demon, right? Whether it's real or not it won't attack until nightfall."

He nodded. "It's late. Tomorrow we will go back to the tower and test your magic. If you really can use it then we won't need to waste more time having you take these lessons, or whatever was happening in that chamber."

"We're… Going back?" My whole body started to feel weak. 'It's fine, right? If we go back during the day it should be fine…'

He walked out of the room without a second thought and I was alone again. 

I had a headache, but nothing that serious. As I kept thinking about going back though my breath quickened, and before long I had almost fainted.

I was alone again. It made me so anxious it became hard to breathe. Nothing happened, but that only made me more tense until I forced myself to get up. My body ached, but if I was moving at least it put my mind at ease.

I walked around, ate some food, took a bath, everything felt almost normal. It gave me a sense of peace, like everything that happened was just a bad dream even though it was already too late to entertain that hope. At one point or another, I ended up in the archery range holding one of my brother's arrows.

I imagined it piercing the demon's heart and looking back to see someone coming to save me… A ridiculous thought. For an arrow, it was more like a spear. It was light and durable, sharp enough to pierce metal, and thick enough to grip.

I spun it around my hand, admittedly having a bit of fun. 'If no one going to shoot it for me… I guess I'll just have to do it myself.' of course firing his bow was out of the question, so instead, I took it with me as a short spear.

No matter what I did I couldn't shake the feeling that something was following me, watching my every move, listening to my every footstep.

Even submerged in the hot water of a bath I got chills, and the moment my feet stopped moving my heartbeat quickened. 'I admit it… This might just be me getting paranoid…'

For the first time in my life, I felt the urge to run and started doing laps around the training yard. Ironically, my heart actually slowed down when I finally settled into a good pace.

I didn't count the laps, falling into an almost meditative state until I felt my body thud into something soft and bounce off.

"Geez Siya are you ok?"

I was lying on my back in the snow, breathing heavily as it melted against my hot skin. Instead of answering I just gave a thumbs up, refusing to move.

"What are you doing out here? Are you training again?"

I opened my eyes and looked up at who was talking to see Finlo. "More like trying not to die."

He looked over to the horizon and then back at me. "Yeah, well if that's your plan you better get inside before nightfall."

I slowly sat up. "What?" 'How does he know?'

He chuckled nervously. "Well, you know it gets cold after the sun sets."

I stood up with a groan. "I won't ask if you help me out."

He rolled his eyes. "I'd help you anyway you know."

Even short of breath, I felt myself smile. 'See, it isn't that hard to be nice… I should have my father take notes.' I stood up and walked over to one of the weapon racks. "How many swords can you carry?"

"All of them, why?"

I paused, counting them. "Finlo… There are 24 swords on this wall."

He nodded. "Yeah, do you need me to move them?"

I looked back at him almost dumbfounded. Staring for a moment. 'His arms aren't small, but I mean, all of them? Really?'

"Uh… Siya?"

I shook my head, getting my train of thought back on track. "N-no not all of them. Eight should be fine, but they all need to be the heavy ones."

He squinted. "You… need eight chrysolite swords…"

"And a hammer, but I'll grab that."

He raised an eyebrow. "The only hammer we have is made of quake stone…" 

I smiled as I looked at his slightly concerned face

"You uh… want to talk about it?"

"Talk about it… Wait, what?"

He walked over to the rack that held the swords in question. "Whatever made you want to make your brain leak out of your ears."

I picked up the hammer, looking down at it for a minute. 'Wait… There's no way, right? Sound waves can't actually do that can they?'

He grabbed the eight swords and walked over to me, holding them without a problem. 'He acts all worried and then doesn't hesitate to do what I say.'

"Where are we taking them?"

I flipped the hammer over my shoulder and gestured with my head. "My room."