Page 25 of The Divide that Binds Us

“I don’t know.”He looks tiny.“Are you looking for dragons?I stared at the lady and saw her killing one.”

My eyes widen until they nearly bulge out of my sockets.I crouch to the kid’s level.“Wh-what did you just say?What lady?”

The boy scratches the back of his head.“I saw her here.Then...she killed dragons.Daddy said to run far away if I ever saw her again.We hide from her.”

I sigh, head hanging low in defeat.“You’re not making any sense here, kid.”

“HEEEY!That's my son.Leave em alone!”a man slurs as he’s stumbling toward us.Gray tank with sagging dirty pants and torn up black shoes.This man is living the dream, having not become a worshiped researcher, or doctor, or whatever.

I frown when I look at the boy’s bruises again and stand up.“This is your son?What’s with the bruises?”

“That?It’s nothing!”he replies, wiping his nose.He’s closer, swaying and reeking of fried food mixed with dark beer and stale coffee.My stomach turns from the combo.

“Did you do this?”Now my heart is racing.Since when did I get the sudden courage to be this confrontational?Billie is rubbing off on me.

“Listen, Elite loser, look the other way if you know what’s good for ya,” the man says.His scraggly face and missing teeth look punchable right about now.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to take this boy into custody for further investigation,” I retort.An elderly lady comes over to move the hiding boy from behind my legs.

“No!Hand him over or I’ll—” The man’s eyes twitch in different intervals as the reek of alcohol overpowers the fresh yet chemical smell of air.His fingers flicker at his sides as he grinds his stained, chipped teeth, still audible and trying to utter some kind of sentence he can’t form.

I’m doomed if I cause a scene, but I must intervene in domestic issues.

I slowly back away with my hands up.Lightheaded from the brief, heated exchange, I turn to confirm the boy is still nearby so I can take him, but it’s my biggest mistake.

The man takes me down to the ground and pins me there, aiming for my neck.My skin rolls from the urge to use my powers.Behave.

I smack and scratch his face, but he aims for my neck and squeezes.Dark spots cloud my vision.I dig my nails into any exposed skin I can reach but he doesn’t flinch.I shove my thumbs into his eyes but he squeezes harder.

It’s a shame that so many people are watching, yet no one is stopping him.The little boy screams for his dad to leave me alone.Combat first, powers second.This warrants powers, doesn’t it?I refuse to die here.

I stare into his eyes as his pupils turn white and realize this is the end for him.

I inhale my last tunnel of breath, but before I summon my savior, the clouds disperse, letting narrow rays of sunlight beam down on the scene.The man’s eyes return to normal, pupils and irises visible again.He loosens his grip and stumbles to his feet as I sit up and gasp for air.The bystanders watch with hollow eyes as he gazes at the sky.

“I’m...I’m so sorry,” he gasps, drool leaking down his chin.His jaw is slack as his mouth hangs open.A column of light rises underneath him, surrounding his body and sparkling in a soft gray hue as he opens his arms.“Please don’t let her find him.”

Wait...what?Who?

My face is on fire from the excessive coughing that I can’t make out words.His body slowly disintegrates inside the tunnel of light.Particles of what’s left of him rise in the column to the sky until it grows thin and disappears.The clouds unnaturally proceed back to their prior positions.The boy runs up to me with downward brows and quivering lips.

“Daddy’s gone?”he asks.His question echoes in my mind but in the voice of my younger self.

“What’s your name?”I croak, still clearing my throat and gasping.

“Wren,” he mumbles, face red.“Where’s daddy?”

I cough.“It’s something you w-wouldn’t understand right now.”No way can I explain that his dad succumbed to Berserk and was taken by our deities and expect him tototallyget it.

I scan the murmuring crowd when the lady from earlier approaches us with soft wrinkles, a warm smile, and a smoothie of gold and silver hair stretching down her back.

“Are you okay, honey?My name is Vinyl Steed.You can call me Lady V.”

“Yeah.”My throat vibrates to unleash another cough.“Thanks for your help.”

“I must thank you for stepping in.I forget how disinterested the citizens are to help...”

My thoughts whiplash back to where I am.Onyx Island.

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