11 Farewell

Karyan slowly turned around; his eyes met with two strangers glaring at him. Both men looked around six feet tall and had broad, muscular shoulders. "Are you mute?" one of them asked.

Karyan shook his head, uncertain about which perspective he wanted to follow—either the one from his house or the one from the two men.

"I'm not mute," he finally replied.

"Then why are you not answering? What are you doing here?"

"I got lost and then saw this view, and I was distracted by it…may I know what happened to them?"

The two men glanced at each other and smirked. "Why do you care what happened to them? Follow us; we will help you to come back."

"What happened to them?" Karyan repeated himself, this time louder.

"Why are you so curious? Let's go."

"I will not follow until you tell me what happened here."

One of the men released a long sigh, another shook his head, "They were the family of a traitor."

"Traitor?" Karyan raised his brow.

"Yes," the man sighed, "a traitor who was executed more than five years ago."

"What did the family have to do with that traitor to get executed?"

"Apparently, Mateo, that noble fire freak, accused the traitor falsely."

Karyan clenched his fist, 'yes…'

The man continued, "So the family wanted revenge. They made a deal with a water wielder and tried to kill Mateo and the king, and for that, they were all hanged."

A huge wave drowned Karyan's vision; the feeling in his chest was no longer heavy or thick. It was shattered into millions of pieces at once.

The little amount of kindness he had left was now completely gone, vanished with the last blow of the wind.

"What did they do…?"

"Brat, why do you care about them? Just follow us, and we'll take you home," the man tried to grab him by his wrist, but then Sera immediately attacked without a signal or waiting for a perfect moment.

With the speed of a lightning strike, her sharp teeth sank into the man's skin, delivering a deadly venom that turned his blood a poisonous shade of blue.

The other man stumbled back, his voice filled with panic as he cried out, "A... a monster!" He gazed directly into Karyan's dark red eyes.

Once again, they labeled him as a monster.

But this time, the insult didn't hurt him. Instead, it pleased him. "Yes, yes... call me a monster, say it again," he urged.

The hurt from the past no longer affected him. He embraced the title of "monster" now. That's how he wanted people to see him.

As the venom coursed through the man's veins, his body convulsed violently before finally falling limp, lifeless.

Meanwhile, the other man, now on his hands and knees, begged for mercy, his voice trembled. 

"Please, spare me," he pleaded, his eyes were wide as he looked up at Karyan, the once-feared "monster."

"Spare you? Did your people spare the three innocent lives when they hanged them?"

"I-it wasn't me!" The man trembled.

"Yes, but did you do anything to help them? To rescue them? No! You laughed and mocked them with the crowd!"

As Karyan walked closer to the man, he saw a reflection of a Golden, and massive snake. It shone like some kind of divine creature, its dark black eyes looked straight into him, leaving him no space to think.

"Ple-, please!"

Without wasting his time, Karyan petted Sera, and she knew exactly what to do.

She slid out from Karyan's sleeve fully; her tongue came out and hissed at him, "your dinner, enjoy," Karyan spoke when he turned around to walk closer to the house.

He knew it was dangerous to reveal himself in the middle of the day, but that didn't matter anymore; all he wanted was to remove the hanging bones from the ropes and give them a special and honored burial. 

Like the one they have deserved.

When he entered the small garden filled with old red roses forgotten to be looked after, he took a deep breath, then turned to the left of the garden where he used to play as a child, 'I'm sorry..'

He turned back to the tree, gave one more glance around to make sure nobody was watching, and placed his hands on it.

As he climbed, the rough bark scraped against his palms, leaving them raw and stinging.

The ropes swayed gently in the breeze, and the bones twisted and clinked together, creating an eerie sound.

"More difficult than I thought…"

As he reached the thick branch, he took a moment to catch his breath; the adrenaline was coursing through his veins.

"Okay, no time to waste…" He carefully untied one of the ropes and secured it around his waist, making sure it was tight and secure.

He glanced down at the ground far below, feeling a wave of electricity go through his body.

Despite the height and the danger, he knew he had to proceed.

Taking a deep breath, he grasped the other two ropes tightly, feeling the weight of the bones as he did so.

With a swift movement, he launched himself off the branch and swung out into the open air.

The rush of wind filled his ears, and for a brief moment, he felt weightless.

As he swung back towards the tree, he released one of the ropes, propelling himself forward towards the other.

The bones rattled and clattered as he soared through the air, and for a moment, he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.

"I really failed them…"

With a final burst of effort, he reached out and grasped the edge of the platform, pulling himself up and collapsing in a heap.

He had done it.

As he stood by the makeshift grave, a wave of sadness washed over him.

He felt the weight of his failure to save them, and the heaviness of not being able to distinguish which family member's bones they were.

The sense of loss and regret weighed heavily on his heart as he looked down at the grave.

With a heavy heart, he began to dig a shallow grave; thankfully, the dirt was yielding easily to his efforts.

He carefully placed the bones inside, arranging them as respectfully as he could, despite not knowing whose exactly they were.

The weight of the moment was thick and unpleasant as he carefully covered the bones with earth; every sound of the dirt hitting the bones was ripping his soul apart.

As he finished covering the grave, he stood back and observed the site.

The makeshift grave blended into the floor, it looked like a quiet and humble resting place for those who had met a tragic and untimely end.

"Farewell…"