"A bit sloppy there, little Lyi, but not a bad start... not bad at all."

  A soft but tired, feminine voice rang out through the cave, though its tone felt anything but tired. A pungent smell shoved its way into the cave, almost weighing down the air. Despite Hylimdem's surprise and her immediate response in preparing a {Clickrend}, she couldn't help but lower her arm. The woman, much like her, possessed a set of wings; though they bordered on thrice the size. Possessed those same arrow-head holed ears, despite the scarring on them.

  As she stepped into the cave, her figure became much more clear. She stood almost two heads taller than Hylimdem, and had a much more refined and muscular body not dissimilar to those of the soldiers she had seen in her short-lived home. Her hair and the feathers on her wings were both a light purple, though their very ends had shreds of blonde and gold coloration respectively. Though she was similarly pale of skin, she did not share Hylimdem's eyes; hers had a pale yellow tint. Her elegant coat which had craftsmanship far beyond that of the clothing she wore herself looked almost shredded, and deep cuts pouring shining golden blood littered her stark body. The smell seemed almost obvious now: it was from her injuries. On the floor outside laid a black-silver stick with what looked like a particularly pointy piece of metal on the end... a spear, she guessed.

  It didn't take long for the woman to notice Hylimdem's inquisitive gaze, almost like she expected it. Her gaze seemed almost emotionless, though Hylimdem could somehow tell; there was a deep familiarity in those eyes. Whilst she was being inspected, she found a flat rock to sit on, mumbling something under her breath as a slight green light broke out of her hands. The wounds seemed to be closing, though clearly without discomfort. It didn't take long until she was done and hung her head down to face the floor,

  "You can call me Hope. Just Hope."

  Hylimdem replied with a simple nod and a light hum noise, and sat down as close as she could to Hope without touching her wings.

  "What exactly... happened to you? Oh, and I-"

  "I know who you are, little Lyi. I know what you'll ask. There's just you and me. Don't worry about my injuries, I'll be fine soon enough."

  Another light hum noise, then nothing but silence and the sound of Hope's pained winces as she stretched both of her arms. Hylimdem moved her gaze onto the spear outside, and poked Hope with curiosity, pointing at it. It earned her nothing but a faint "Ow..." and a glare from the woman, though it was to be expected. She definitely... wasn't as amiable as Hovi, but she wasn't a bad person. Hylimdem sat for the next few minutes in complete silence, though her eyes remained trained on that spear. Something about it just told her it wasn't normal, even more so than everything else she had experienced.

  "Hylimdem, go get my weapon if you're so interested in it. It probably doesn't like you looking at it."

  "...what do you mean?"

  "It's a joke. Go get it, little Lyi. It won't bite."

  With a little annoyed grumble and a chuckle from Hope, she got up and made her way over to the spear. Even though the cave was barely even a cave at all, it still took a while for her eyes to adjust to the light outside. It was before she bent to pick up the spear that she noticed: there were no footsteps. At all. She could understand her own being hidden by the snow, but Hope's... it made no sense. She picked up the spear, though noticeably less interested than before, and brought it back in.

  "There's no footsteps outside..?"

  Hope lifted her head and the rest of her body to sit up straight, putting her elbow on a conveniently placed rock and resting her head on her fist with a clear lean. With a smug smile,

  "I flew, lass. Hope here's a 3rd Step Rui'tura, like you'd know what that means. Probably the strongest on this continent though, if you can even call this wasteland that. Only perk of being a Lyi, we're pretty damn gifted."

  "With your wings?" Hylimdem questioned, putting the spear down by Hope's feet.

  Hope's smile clearly faded a little, as she threw her body back and looked at the roof of the cave.

  "Not with my wings. If you haven't noticed yourself, the damn things don't exactly move. Sturdy though, could break a rock on them."

  As if to prove a point, Hope picked up a rock, and pelted it at Hylimdem's wings with no small amount of force. Contrary to her expectations, the rock was completely stopped by her wings and it didn't even hurt; though, Hylimdem definitely freaked out a little. Through the young Espi's rapid breathing, Hope exclaimed, "See! Not even a scratch. We Lyi are sturdy like that. Well, I hear they call us Espi now, though its a stupid name. I'm calling you Lyi, and you call yourself Lyi from now on."

  "...why? I thought we were trying to stay hidden, isn't a name like that going to make that harder? I like my name too," Lyi murmured, shifting in a slightly uncomfortable way at the name.

  "You chose your name, and I've given you your real name. That's just how it works with our kind, I was the same way. Besides, we aren't staying hidden forever. You just need to know that I'm trying to get our kind accepted in the world. Though, those Has'Ahi, what the outer world calls a Lyi, are really making it tough."

  "Couldn't you just stop the... uhm..."

  "Has'Ahi," Hope interjected.

  "Those."

  "Nope. They're a part of nature. See, when a whole big group of people die, their lingering resentment forms into a Has'Ahi, meaning Death in some old language. Corny, I know, but they needed a name different from ours. Afterall, we're completely different, even if we're born from one of them accumulating way too much magic and overloading themselves," Hope put her hand on one of Lyi's wings, prompting a light yelp from the younger Espi. With a confused expression, Hope shook her head and continued, "Wings represented extinction back in the olden days, and culture's a pretty hard thing to eradicate. So, we need to change public perception about us. I'm already a lost cause, but you're... practically the opposite of me. People'll think better of you if they think that you were attacked despite having no harmful intentions. Just don't go murdering anyone unprovoked or punching some kind of kid, that'd be a bad idea."

  "Who would even want to do that?"

  "Eeeegh, some people. Mizem's got a few skulls on his belt, though he shouldn't come after us himself. He'll be sending a few of his so-called "Battle Mages," though they aren't real ones like me. More like you, just barely able to actually cast. By my best guesses... they'll be here in a few minutes."

  "Minutes?!"

  "Annoyingly, yes. No time for anything these days..."

  Though Hope's demeanor was clearly one of utmost calm, Lyi couldn't help but be exactly the opposite. She knew there was no way she could cast another {Clickrend} right now, and looking at Hope... she didn't have much confidence in someone who had just healed from her injuries, especially since she still seemed a little exhausted. Though, she didn't have any time to think about it in the first place, with her ears lightly twitching in response to the distant, rushed footsteps she could hear.

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  "I can hear them, Hope..."

  "Mhmhmm. That's why I said a few minutes. Just stay behind me, alright? It'd be awful if you got hurt as you are. We may be tough, but that means we need to work much harder to recover. Nature's laws, and all that."

  "Alright... be careful."

  "Don't need to be, kid."

  With a light 'Huh?' from Lyi, Hope dragged herself up from her rock and stumbled outside. Following after her, Lyi could just barely see the Battle Mages that Hope had alluded to earlier. Based on how fast they were moving, there was still plenty of time before they would arrive; though she could see small lights flickering under them that made the snow around them melt. Even further behind them, she could see the melting corpses of a few creatures unidentifiable at this range.

  "See that, Lyi? They killed those creatures even though they bore no threat to them. To me, that's a good enough reason to end them."

  "Maybe they-"

  "No, they didn't feel threatened. They're brazenly running through the open. Hell, two of them have seen us now, though a fake Mage like them can't hurt us from that far. I can though. Watch it happen, you'll need to get used to the sight."

  A distinct sadness could be heard in Hope's tone, clear to even Lyi. There was, however, no hesitation in Hope's action of raising her hand and faintly speaking 'Set'o Tem.' Lyi's eyes widened as she watched the distant Battle Mage's torsos disappear, a screaming wind howling out as their separated limbs scattered onto the ground. There was no fanfare, no flashing lights and no resistance. Just a pile of scattered cloth and flesh on top of a slowly expanding pile of red snow.

  The worst part was that Lyi didn't feel anything towards the sight. She had expected some sadness, maybe fear. A tinge of burning in her throat, or a vague sense of disgust. If anything, she felt a sense of familiarity. As if she had seen the sight before, in a much grander scale.

  "Awful, isn't it? How you feel nothing towards those years of memories disappearing. As much as we try to sympathize and feel empathy for them, we just can't. We're just not empathetic creatures like them, atleast for members of different races."

  "Feel like I've seen it before..."

  "Because you have. We're born from Has'Ahi, and Has'Ahi are born to massacre. Not the most fun thought, is it? Atleast we can stop ourselves from killing anything that moves. Its a small mercy. Before you ask, no, I don't know why."

  Lyi lightly nodded, watching as Hope cast the same spell again to remove what remained, though it seemed she needed to cast it twice to get rid of everything. Besides some small, cubic holes in the ground that were already being filled with snow, nothing remained of the grizzly scene. Feeling a light tap on her wings, Lyi turned to face Hope.

  "We ought to move. There's an abandoned home where we can stay without worry for a few days, not far from here if I fly. You need some time to practice. If you get injured, you'll be dead and Mizem's gonna be gunning for you. Chin up, keep yourself happy, and you'll be fine. I'll be here for you, Lyi."

  "You're not so bad, Hope."

  "It's shit, being alone. You're the first of our kind to be born in a long, long time. Figure we need to stick together, especially whilst you're still weak... lets move."

  Without waiting for Lyi to respond, Hope clasped her hands together. After a brief moment, the air around her felt slightly heavier; before she could even react, Lyi found herself moving through the air so fast that the land beneath them felt like a blur. The mountains raised higher and higher as they traveled, reaching a height incomparable to that of the ones she had been in before. After a few more moments, they were already by a large stone door inlaid into a mountain, clearly crumbling and on its last legs. It laid on a small plateau, surrounded by a near bottomless pit.

  The flight was much faster and much, much less painful than she had expected. It could even be described as comfortable, though she could slowly feel a pain creeping onto her neck where she had been held. Hope clearly had to hold her tight, despite utilizing magic. In the back of her mind, she wondered what type of magic Hope was even using... though she couldn't see the particles that were being moved.

  A resounding screeeech rang out into the environment as Hope pushed the massive stone door open, and walked into the mountain building. Looking inside, it seemed much smaller than what the door alluded to, housing a simple stone room with a slab for a bed, barely covered with a thin blanket of unknown origin. Besides that slab... nothing of interest was in the room, besides Hope herself. Lyi ambled into the room, taking a moment to look around before sitting on the slab.

  "What's this place then?"

  "Well, it’s my old home, back when things weren't so rough. Used to have a little bit more in it, but I barely used the place. Mizem's people should take a little while to find us here, maybe a week or two. It'll be a safe haven for a little while, atleast. A good place to get you used to hitting people, too. Come on, outside, let's go."

  With a little grumble, considering she had just sat down, Lyi slid off the slab and followed after Hope. As soon as they passed by the stone door, Hope laid her palm out flat, and traced a wall across her hand. The edges of the plateau were covered by an opaque grey wall, a simple spell that would prevent either of them from falling off the edge. As Lyi tapped the wall to check out how it felt, Hope walked up behind her and lightly squeezed her arms.

  "You'll want a spear, like me. I can't teach you how to use anything else, and nobody's going to be willing to teach a winged race. Means you'll need a build a little strength, especially since you're thin and small. Though, that's hard for us. You'll need something lightweight then..."

  "Did you... need to-"

  "I'm having a look at you, seeing if you're intact. Wings aren't, that's for sure. They're much smaller than they should be, even for your age. Shouldn't take long for that to sort itself, atleast. You seem fine everywhere else, but it'll take a little while to make sure of that. Here, here, hold my spear for a little."

  Feeling herself being forcefully turned, Lyi found herself with the black-silver spear in her hands. It was much heavier than she remembered it being, and it didn't take long before the spearhead started pointing downwards towards the ground. She felt the spear lighten without warning, though soon realised it was Hope pulling the spear away from her; who quickly stabbed it into the ground. She had a look on her face that could only be described as extreme concern,

  "You've been severely weakened. Don't know what's causing that, though. We're not flesh and blood... a Rui'tura must have put something in your magicstream... mind if I cut your finger? It won't hurt, we don't feel surface wounds like that."

  Before she even had a chance to answer, the black-silver spear had poked into one of her fingers. Hope was right, it didn't hurt, but it was certainly uncomfortable. She could feel a little bit of her magic fade away as a luminescent, golden drop fell out of her finger and onto Hope's outstretched palm. Watching as Hope took a close look at what she could only assume was her race's version of blood, she felt the wound on her finger already close up... Hope's other hand had emitted that same green light it had in the cave. It didn't take long for Hope to finish whatever analysis she was conducting...

  "Low Insidious, means Mizem's got an actual Mage on his side… well, obviously, he’a one himself. An Ice one, at that, though to be expected in this region. No wonder you're so weak, you've had two thirds of your strength taken from you. A control measure, I suppose. They'll have pushed it down your throat into your Wing core, that'll explain the stunted growth of those. Turn around and lift your coat a little, I'll sort you out."

  Doing as Hope asked, Lyi felt an icy palm press between the points where her wings attached to her body. After a faint mutter, and a short bout of extreme dizziness, she felt the palm lift off her back and push her coat back down. Turning back to face Hope, she saw a small red crystal in her hand, which promptly got crushed. It took less than a second for her to already feel a faint ache from her back, as her wings made slight creaking noises. As the noise rose, so did the pain... and so did the size of her wings. Hope stood back slightly as Lyi's wings explosively grew in size, alongside an extreme bout of pain that caused her to let out a scream; though it faded as quickly as it came. Her wings were almost twice their old size, and Lyi could certainly feel the weight of them, though she could slowly but surely feel strength rising in her body.

  It took her a while to get back up, but she could see a wide smile on Hope's usually calm face. She must have been extremely concerned... but it was all clearly fading away. Lyi wondered, how long had this Espi companion of hers been alone? She was clearly still injured, but was managing to hide it just to make sure that she was alright first. It was a raw kindness born from their shared race... not like the empathetic Hovi who wanted her to escape. Lyi knew that, if the circumstances were flipped, she would have done the same thing for Hope. Atleast there was that to be happy with, given how she felt nothing for the Anshorans that Hope had slaughtered earlier.

  "It'll take a day or two for you to get your actual strength back. I'll make you a spear in the meantime, like mine, but more lightweight. Even if you will be stronger, you'd still struggle to lift my spear, afterall. Head back inside for now, I had only thought you'd be weak because you're small... but considering the circumstances, its not a good idea to push you to practice just yet. We still have plenty of time."

  A light nod was all that Lyi could muster, still struggling with the weight of her larger wings. She stumbled inside, flopping face down onto the cold, stone slab which felt more comfortable than anything else in the world... and closed her eyes to take a well deserved sleep.