Chapter 23: The Ancestral Land
"You sound terrible!" Aira glanced at the man to her right. "Are you going to continue consuming the hearts of dragons?"
"Why not?"
"Keep hunting down riders?"
Vir grinned. "Until my revenge is avenged, I will continue to hunt down riders and eat the poisoned heart of every dragon they ride."
"But they're innocent," Aira said. "Try to think about it. Those dragons, they're just doing what their riders tell them to do. It's not their will."
"I don't care!" said Vir. "As long as they work for those bastards, then I will continue doing what I started ten years ago!"
The little girl let out a long, heavy sigh. "Aren't you worried?" she asked. "Let's say that someday you are really poisoned. Isn't this of particular concern to you?"
"I'm not going to die just because of that poisoned heart!"
Aira caught a glimpse of the aura emanating from Vir's body as if it was a symbol of how strong the man's resolve was.
The little girl widened her eyes. It was the Aura of a King or as her ancestors knew it, the aura of a Son of Heaven.
"Purple!"
"What did you say?" Vir frowned at the little girl to his left.
"Ah, no," Aira cast her gaze forward. "I didn't say anything."
"Yeah, whatever you say, you little freak!" Vir grumbled.
"I just wanted to tell you to consider not slaying dragons anymore."
"Hey!" Vir glanced at the nine-year-old girl again. "Don't you have anything better to do than bother me, huh?"
"I'm just saying something you should consider," Aira retorted. "After all, the existence of dragons in this world is for the balance of nature itself."
"You already sound like a Sami," Vir gazed forward. "When people are struggling under the pressure of the rulers, they can only pray and pray without daring to do anything."
"You only judge by what you see," Aira said. "Do you really know what happened without your knowledge? About what the Sami really did?"
"Never mind!" Vir began to feel unhappy with their conversation. "Forget it! My life is for me to decide. No one else can change it, not even you, a little outcast girl."
"That's just like you!"
"You're arguing with me again." Vir sighed heavily. "What a misfortune my life has to bring you!"
"Try to think about my request," Aira said. "And perhaps, then you will find peace of mind and your soul."
"That's enough," said Vir, "don't lecture me. I'm older than you, remember that!"
Well, Aira only hoped that the purple aura that she saw with her unique eyes earlier emerging from Vir's body was not just an ornament. More than that, with the divine aura that accompanied him, Aira was convinced that Vir could become a great leader.
In other words, Vir was actually a man chosen by heaven to bring about a change in the current world order for the better.
Unfortunately, he did not know this yet. It was for this reason that Aira directed him not to kill any more dragons as a prelude to the great thing that loomed over the man.
The little girl only hoped that, by showing a little kindness, perhaps it would make the aura within him evolve into what the heavens themselves desired.
The sun had slipped from its last third. That meant there wasn't much time left for Vir and Aira. They had to find a place to rest before afternoon turned to dusk, and dusk turned to night.
As they crossed another area of dead forest, Aira suddenly stopped and looked south.
Vir frowned and stopped his steps. "Hey, what are you looking at?"
But the little girl remained unmoved.
"Aira?" Vir approached the little girl, bent down to examine her face, then frowned again, and looked at the dead trees to the south. "What's there?"
"The dead village."
"Dead village?" Vir took a deep breath and straightened his back. "What did you expect? Of course, there will be dead villages in this vast land that has been destroyed. Why should you be surprised?"
Aira stared at Vir, "My ancestral village!"
"Your ancestral village?" Vir looked to the south again. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know."
"Hey, come on, let's not joke about our current situation!"
"But, I can feel it, Vir."
"Huh?!" the man scratched his head. "Is it about the abilities of you Asurians?"
Aira ignored Vir's question but stepped towards the dead trees that did not leave a single leaf on their branches, not even on the ground.
And Vir could only sigh heavily. He pulled his cart while following the little girl from behind.
Well, it must be because of her abilities that she was able to find her mother's hometown. Although, Vir was pretty sure that Aira had never even known where their ancestral homeland had originally been. It was only that extraordinary instinct that guided the girl.
What a special ability, he thought.
Vir continued to follow Aira without asking many questions. After all, the sun was about to set, maybe in the former Asurry village, they would be able to rest and be away from the disturbance of the beasts, especially the dragons.
Halfway down the road, Aira stopped, and that also forced Vir to stop while keeping an eye on the conditions around them.
A small, strange creature suddenly appeared and approached the little girl. Vir hadn't even noticed the creature's appearance a moment before until it was already in front of Aira.
"What on Earth is that thing?" Vir growl.
She must have used her ability again, he thought.
Vir just assumed that it was Aira who summoned the unique creature to come to her. Maybe Aira wanted to ask it a question, he thought.
The creature watched Aira, its yellow eyeballs twitching like a chameleon's eyes.
"Hey," Aira said as if whispering to the creature. "Thank you for listening to my call."
The creature squeaked, sounding like a tree frog.
Aira crouched down, reaching out to stroke the head of the creature that got close to her.
The creature looked like a frilled lizard that could expand a thin, wide membrane around its neck, dull gray, having a high fin at the base of its tail that extended to a third of the length of the tail itself. Along its dorsal line are wide spines, as well as on its legs.
Vir didn't know what Aira was doing to the creature, but it looked like they were communicating. This was the first time Vir had seen the legendary Asurry's abilities firsthand.
Just for an instant, the meter-long lizard moved away from Aira, scampered across the ground, and disappeared among the dead trees.
Aira stood up and looked at Vir. "We can rest there later."
"Is that place still far away?"
And again Aira ignored Vir, she just walked towards the south.
"Goddamn it!" Vir snorted in half annoyance. After all, this was probably the little girl's nature and character, he thought. "You don't respect me at all, you little brat!"
Vir pulled his cart back to the road, following Aira who was already a few meters away from him.
Just as the afternoon turned to dusk, they arrived at an area where only the ruins of houses remained.
Those houses were probably very unique before they were destroyed, Vir thought. Unfortunately, there was not a single intact building that could be used as a comparison. All had been flattened to the ground, and most of them were covered, buried under the sand.
"Is this the village your ancestors came from?"
But Vir didn't expect the girl to answer him. He continued his pace, then placed his cart near a ruined house that seemed to be made of hardened clay.
That meant this village used to be a very fertile area. Vir circulated his gaze with his hands on his waist.
Meanwhile, Aira stood while watching every corner of the dead area. Her bright blue eyes seemed to reflect the moon's light that looked large on the eastern horizon, although it was not yet full.
"So, where are we going to rest?" Vir then asked the little girl.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone