Voices

Aurelis looked around. Behind him there was some kind of plateau, made out of gigantic stones. On top of it there were some pieces of armour laying around, rusted and overgrown with moss. A little bit further from that was a sword that shared the same features. They probably belonged together. But the sword accommodated something. A blob of light sat on top of it. Was that a spirit?! But that sword it was using as a vessel would break in a fight. Then Aurelis remembered. He had his own sword!

Within the same thought the portal dropped his sword into his hand. Not a single thought passed before he dashed away, halting beside the blob of light. It jumped onto the sword, glazing it in a yellowish golden coat. ‘Become the hunter.’ There it was again, that voice. Aurelis was sure that he was still himself and in his own body. But strangely, his thoughts were like from somebody else, driving him, as if he was only the passenger.

The phoenix opened its beak. The air trembled, then turned cold, as if every movement came to a halt. The trees surrounding them froze up immediately, the ground was all ice. Energy gathered in front of its beak. The phoenix was charging up. Aurelis knew he must dodge that attack. But by the time he wanted to move, his whole lower body was frozen up. His breath got heavier, the air condensing with every exhale. ‘Don’t let the prey become the hunter.’ Again that voice, Aurelis thought.

The little blob of light hopped onto Aurelis shoulder. His sword glowed up and expelled a golden aura. The shockwave destroyed all the ice around him and broke him free. The energy ball in front of the phoenix finished charging. The blob of light squeaked and coated Aurelis in a film layer of light. They dashed forward, only leaving a thin trail of glow. A gigantic beam shot past Aurelis across the forest, destroying all of the trees in a straight line ahead. But Aurelis did not even blink. He shot towards the phoenix, and pierced through it. The phoenix evaporated, only leaving its icy feathers to clunk to the ground.

The voice in his head faded, his eyes turned normal again. The halo dissolved and he sack to his knees. Tears quilled out of his eyes, but they immediately froze on his cheeks. He did not want to kill it. What was that inside of him?! He would have never done that. And he would have never stayed that calm. But Aurelis knew he wouldn’t have had a choice either way. He glanced over to the spirit. Could it have been the spirits' voice? No, there was no chance. He had the symptoms already once in the city.

Aurelis remembered some words, that echoed through his mind that day. When he transferred from the other world. Primordial Sin of Selfishness. Whether that was correlated? But if it was… Then that voice inside, could that really have been his? He looked back at that pile of icy feathers. He was shaking from the cold air, but tried to put a feather straight up onto the other ones, like a small grave. “I’m sorry that it ended that way.”

Then he heard that squeaking again. The blob of light still sat on his shoulder, seemingly trying to communicate with Aurelis. Like a slime it wobbled closer to his face and stretching its mass, looking like it pushed out a tiny arm that poked him. It expelled a soft ray of light that warmed Aurelis in all the ice around him. He was sure that it tried to comfort him. “Thank you, little spirit.”

Aurelis looked around. The trees were not frozen up to the treetop, so it meant the hatchlings should be fine. He remembered that he had food in his storage, so he wanted to bring it to them. Since the phoenix wasn’t there anymore, he saw himself in the responsibility to do that. He had enough in his storage to leave some with them.

Then he heard some clanking again. The icy feathers trembled. Aurelis abruptly turned around, grabbing his sword. The feathers lit up and fused together. Aurelis let off the sword again, getting closer. “Phoenixes can revive themselves!”

In front of him there was again an icy phoenix hatchling. Thankfully, he did in fact not kill it. He sighed. The hatchling was screeching. But now that it was a hatchling again, Aurelis wanted to bring it up. He went closer to it and it seemed to not attack him. It just looked around obliviously.

Aurelis heaved it up without any difficulties, as it was smaller than the other hatchlings. Then he jumped up branch by branch, until he was at the nest again. “At least you are with your children again.” He filled up half the nest with food, which was also roughly half of what he bought in the first place. When he asked the merchant, how long it will take until the food went bad, that man only laughed. Apparently food in this world was never going bad. Well, good for them and of course, also for him.

Then he looked at them together. Aurelis wondered. Seeing how the hatchlings were bigger than the phoenix now, he was unsure. Were they really the phoenixes children? What if they just resurrected and are small for that reason? Maybe they were the siblings of the phoenix, or even its parents or grandparents? The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to think about it. He made his way back down again.

The feint blueish energy that emerged from the ground reminded him of something: the blue streaks which he saw when the phoenix carried him across the world! He followed the energy, which lead back to the platform, on which he found the spirit. He went over to the sword and the armour that were on there. That little blob was still on his shoulder. But it did not jump back to the sword it was on before. “You want to come with me?” Aurelis asked it, gently petting it. The blob wiggled back and forth. Aurelis interpreted that as a yes. “Welcome, then little one,” he said.

He grinned from excitement. “I will dedicate the first page of the encyclopaedia to you! But… I need something that I can call you.” The blob jumped up and down. Aurelis wanted the name to fit the characteristics of the spirit. Considering that he wanted to write an encyclopaedia about them, they should be grouped in some way.

Thinking about it, he realized that he was able to give them their own scientific names. He always wanted to do that! Then he needed to find a latin name that worked. “What about Lumen?” he asked. The Spirit wobbled sideways. That seemed to be a no. “Then how do you feel about Lux?” The spirit again jumped up and down. Aurelis grinned. “Welcome to the party, Lux!”

Suddenly, the platform rumbled, opening up a pathway.