Chapter 9 - The Ented Relifernal

  “I knew you liked them,” says Athena in a seductive voie as she puts her hands on her breasts.

  I’m fucked…

  I looked at my mother and Hugo, but it seemed they couldn’t see her.

  Is she in my mind? What happened? Did I go crazy when I got hit in the head?

  “No, darling… you saw me before you almost died from the skull fracture, remember? I just didn’t i much,” she said, ughing in that pompous way.

  I quickly g her and tried to ignore her existence, fog on the most important person in the world to me.

  “It’s alright, this little bird won’t hurt me. It just said it would stay for a while to recover and then leave,” I tried to reassure the two adults.

  “You unicated with this Phoenix!?” Hugo asked, startled.

  I unicated with a Phoenix and a dead Goddess…

  My mother stared at the small red hawk as it y down.

  “I’ll trust you, now tell me whose blood this is,” she said, ping my ear.

  “That hurts, mom…”

  “It hurts? This is nothing pared to the pain I felt seeing you like this.”

  “My Lady! My Lord! Don’t you uand the gravity of the monstrosity that is this bird?” Hugo shouted, desperate.

  “Tell us, Nathan Evenhart, what have you done?” My mother was so focused ohat she ignored Hugo.

  She used my full name; I’m really in trouble.

  The two adults stared at me, trying to extraswers. My mother was worried about me being covered in blood, and Hugo was still ed about the little phoenix sleeping on my head.

  I sighed, imagining the scolding I was going to get.

  If she scolded me so mud always reminded me of the time I messed up with the ma… I’m in for it when she sees the beach.

  Calling them to follow me, I led them toward the beach, retrag the path I took that night and expining what I had to do. I dowhe events, saying they could barely stand and were resting, but it was hard to deceive two experienced warriors. From the position of the bodies, they uood that my enemies weren’t sleeping when I attacked them. To make things worse, one of them was without pants and had a slit throat, indig that I acted stealthily and killed him in cold blood.

  “That was dishonorable… but well done,” Hugo praised.

  Well done? I’m just a child…

  My mred at him, aurned his head aside.

  I had to expin the events of that night, saying I followed an e light that I ter discovered was from the little hawk that could catch fire and not be burned by its fmes. Hugo showed me his hand on fire without burning, using his elemental power, and I uood that the bird did that with mana.

  “Did your mother teach you the art of assassination?” he asked, looking at the two bodies on the beach.

  One body was on the sand, and the other was ihe shipwreck where I found the phoenix.

  “I would each my son that. I don’t even use swords anymore and wouldn’t want him to folloath,” my mother said.

  Hugo looked at me.

  “Then it’s in the blood. You’re the son of two warries and a pure Evenhart Legacy. I’m proud of you, Nathan! Like father, like son… both killers of true humans,” he said happily, but the look my mave us wiped the smiles off our faces.

  “We o leave. It’s not safe to stay here,” my mother said, and Hugo agreed.

  “Those who came after me might have more people waiting to be tacted. We still have a few days until we reach Evenhart Manor. Inside, we’ll be protected,” Hugo said.

  As we turo leave, I had an idea.

  “Remember I said I took this phoenix out of a ?”

  They both responded yes.

  “It seems that isn’t normal. you identify what it is for me? I thought… of taking it with us. But I don’t know how dangerous the is or if it’s possible,” I said to them.

  My mother frowned, fused, and Hugo too.

  I had to expin things, downpying the danger. I just summarized that when I touched the s briefly, it felt like my hands were beied by acid.

  They looked at each other and asked me to take them to the s.

  As we entered, Hugo made fmes e out of his hand to light the pce.

  “This thing?” he bent down and looked at the .

  “Hugo, are you feeling what I’m feeling?” my mother asked him.

  What? I don’t feel anything.

  “Yes… a possible ented relic,” he said, stretg his finger.

  As soon as he touched the …

  “Shit!” he jumped back. “What the fuck is this?”

  My mother stared at Hugo and then at me.

  “You touched this?” she asked me with a severe voice.

  I lowered my head.

  “Yes…”

  “Do you know the risk you took!?” she sighed, rubbiemples and closing her eyes.

  “Sorry…” I tried to say.

  “She’s right, young master. Luckily, ented relics are just objects with a passive magi them. These relily serve their purpose and don’t pose severe risks, but you did something reckless. You might not be able to feel it, but this is emanating a mana,” he said.

  I looked at the and couldn’t feel anything.

  “I don’t feel its mana, to me it’s just a normal ,” I said.

  “When you awaken yem, you’ll uand,” my mother said, still in a stern tone.

  “Let’s say that in this world there are some relics abandoned by a very a people. They’re worth a fortune because of their utility. Great nobles and families try to have one in their arsenal… and you found one. gratutions, the first ented relic of the Evenharts, and its discoverer is only five years old,” he said, ughing.

  My mother seemed to have calmed down.

  “Margaery will like the s…” she said.

  Hugo froze at that. “I presume she will. I only pity the poor soul she decides to tie up with this thing.”

  “So, is it possible to take it with us?” I asked.

  “Yes, Nate, a sacred reli be transported in a simple wooden box or even a cloth. This one seems to be a relic that is always active, so we ’t touch it directly,” my mother expined.

  “I’ll find something to put this thing in,” Hugo said, leaving the shipwreck.We waited until Hugo returned with a cloth sad a small basket he took from the carriages. My mother was examining the corpses of the true humans. We took the helmets and swords; we would take them for what they called the ‘Evenhart Legacy’.

  Hugo spat on a corpse, and my mother looked at them with hatred. It seemed they had a personal grudge against the true humans, and I uood why. It wasn’t just my father who died in that battle but also the families of most of the loyal people who went with them.Hugo wasn’t in the ter of the battle but was in another part of it with others my mother described as trusted people. They didn’t expin mue, just that I would uand when I knew what the ‘Evenhart Legacy’ was.

  As soon as Hugo mao move the s, the little red hawk jumped and flew at him.Hugo fell to the ground.

  “It’s alright!” I said to Hugo. “He just has a trauma with these s…”

  I tried to expin to the red bird, and the only thing I could say that calmed him down was: ‘We won’t use the on you, but on the one who put it on you.’

  After that, he seemed to uand auro me, this time staying on my shoulder and stantly watg Hugo.

  Hugo was sweating the entire way back to the carriage while being stared at by the little phoenix.

  I thi even more scared after seeing the melted face of that soldier…

  We packed our things, and Hugo went to wash in the sea. My mother also washed me, ing the blood off my body. I felt a bit embarrassed to be washed by my mother in the open, but I couldn’t pin since I was happy to be back alive with her.

  I hid the fact that I almost died and that this bird saved me; it’s better to keep that detail to myself.

  “And me? Didn’t you fet to talk about me too?” asked the Goddess Athena.

  I looked to the side and saw the blonde woman.

  Go away, crazy woman.

  I ignored her a back to fog on pag our things.

  We got into the carriage, and Hugo took the driver's seat.

  The red bird y down on a bend went to sleep; I think it was the first time in a long while it could do so without feeling that infernal pain all the time.

  I spent a few minutes leaning against that thing, and it was agonizing. My whole body felt heavy and tired afterward. This little guy had suffered for a long time.

  “We’ll soohin the protected territory of the manor, don’t worry,” Hugo said to us.

  “After all this time, I ’t believe I’m going back there…” my mother said as the carriage started moving.

  I don’t know what awaits me there… what will my family be like?

  “I hope there’s some fun for us, Icarus,” said the Goddess Athena, sitting in front of me in the carriage.

  I’m really fucked…