Post by Nami on Jan 8, 2009 20:33:43 GMT
(I can hardly call it a 'chapter' xD it's only 4 pages typed. The others will hopefully be longer if I get around to typing the things up. But here...)
"How long?" a man asked the three other figures surrounding the body. It was a broken girl who had fallen from the building above them.
"About an hour...she was pushed," came a female reply as the woman beside him drew back her cloak's hood. Her bright midnight blue hair and lighter blue skin gave an air of mysticism even in the dank depths of the alley. The circlet of silver around her forehead and her delicately pointed ears labeled her as an Elf and a very high ranked one at that. Her palm outstretched to the girl and cyan energy flowed from it and danced along the cold skin.
"Then this is really her?" another spoke. She had not work a cloak. The people pursuing the Elf and the man would not dare come after her because it would break the fragile pact between her race, the Nymphs, and theirs, the Arch Angels. She brushed some emerald bangs from her earthen brown skin and waited for a reply.
The man nodded. As he did a tiny flicker of movement from behind him made the nymph uneasy. His four black feathered wings quickly refolded and she relaxed. The Elf woman and the shorter cloaked figure who was staring at the body's back were unfazed.
The Elf frowned. "Esmerda I would love to continue chatting, but we have a job to do. If her soul is important then we have to handle this before any Angels show up to escort it to its resting place."
"I apologize Arikka. It is not my place to question. You have approval of the Nymphs from me. Use it as you will," Esmerda said before she ran off. She was no longer needed.
"Do we have your permission as well, Gairon? Your wisdom is priceless in the fragile situation we are about to create," questioned the Angel man who met the eyes of the previously hooded young boy.
Though the boy appeared to be only ten, he spoke with the wisdom of the ages. While the Angel tried to keep his voice flat, Gairon could read every moment of hidden strain and worry. "Your choice will have consequences, Hasir. You will pay in blood. Of course, you already know this . Your mind is completely correct that the girl's soul is important. You have my approval as well."
Hasir's lips twitched at their corners for a split-second into a tiny fragment of a smile. "So you are dismissed then."
Gairon bowed then left in a dim flash of white light. As soon as he was gone, Arikka turned to Hasir. "Anything else we need to know about her?"
"Out of all of us, Arikka, you have the most skill with the dead. Do you believe you can discover her name?"
She nodded and the cyan light became momentarily brighter. Her eyes glowed pure blue without a pupil, iris, or eye white. Beneath the dead girl's closed lids, thoush she was face down on the blacktop, her eyes also glowed.
"Her name is Kana," Arikka said. She held the magic strong and waited. "She is sixteen and-"
"That is all Arikka...I believe it is time."
She took his hand and the cyan spread over his skin. Patterns stretched all around their feet, encircling Kana and bathing her form in light. Hasir closed his eyes and they too glowed identical to Arikka's.
"And it begins..." he muttered, biting his lip. He clenched his teeth and pain began to rake though him, tearing at his spine where his wings joined it.
"Be strong, Hasir."
Hasir's four wings began to tremble to the point where some of the ebony feathers fell to the ground where they turned to ash on Kana's back and around her body. It dusted the glowing patterns lightly and formed little grey rings along with the mysterious Elven runes. The magic visibly swirled and combined with the ash to coat the girl in motes of mystical dust that could only be described as the stuff of fantastical events.
His legs locked and he found himself falling over from the magic as it held him. Arikka caught him. While she could not share his pain of creating an Arch Angel through such strange means, she could keep him stabilized. Her facial features, beautiful as they were, presented such an agony that coupled Hasir's almost in a mirror image. She disliked his pain just as much as her own but it had to be done.
Squeezing his eyes shut, the Angel bit his own lip to the point of it bleeding. The shaking of his body soon became more and more violent and he could stay upright no longer. He collapsed onto his knees and muttered "It is done." before he fell into an almost peaceful looking sleep-state. Arikka released the magic and picked his limp body up, holding him over her shoulder like he weighed little to nothing. She kept her eyes on Kana as the magic worked through the girl's veins.
All of a sudden, as if on cue, Kana's green eyes shot open. She sat up but soon curled back up in pure agony. Four feathered wings, not so unlike Hasir's, burst through her back in bloody mess. Arikka's eyes flashed blue and the pain stopped. The light from the ground and on Kana's skin drew back and traveled up the Elf's body until the markings twisted across the circlet on her head and rested there like a painted design.
Kana sat up again and without a word leaped up from the grond to the roof she had fallen from only an hour ago. Flakes of dried bloo drifted down like snowflakes and joined the pool of fresh blood from when the wings had burst through her skin. It looked like a grim version of winter snow upon a lake.
"And so we face the consequences, and so it begins..." Arikka muttered. She made the spectacular leap up onto the roof after the newborn Angel. The task was easy for her muscles, they'd done further jumps before, but she suddenly felt weak as her eyes beheld the girl. Like any Arch Angel who had just been created, her four wings were black and dripping with blood. However, unlike any other the girl's wings had a bright midnight blue underlying in the feathers. Some of Hasir's flaws from his Fallen Angel status had gone through the magic and into her.
"Dear lord," the Elf murmured as her voice caught up in her throat, "it just can't be..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kana looked over to the Elf in wide-eyed horror. She stumbled back but fell onto her back because she was not yet accustomed to the weight of the wings on her back.
"Who are you?" she demanded, "Go away!"
"I am Arikka," the Elf said simply. She would not try the girl's patience if she could avoid it.
Kana's eyes trailed over the Elf's appearance until they lingered on her ears. "You can't be real!"
Arikka's delicate features turned into a look of amusement. Like any human changed into an Immortal, she was just as naive. "Who are you to judge what is real and unreal? You belong to a brand new civilization now."
"What are you talking about?"
"See for yourself..." Arikka took out a silver mirror and held it out in front of the girl. Kana gingerly took it and gasped. The face staring back at her was older than her own had been. Her last memory was of a lanky sixteen year old. Now it had filled out to the point of not looking nearly as gangly but rather that of a woman of twenty. She suddenly noticed how much longer her black hair was and how her body shape had also changed. Her clothes felt tight but it didn't bother her...what did was the blood covering them from both her death and her changing.
Arikka handed Kana her cloak after pulling it off her own body and turned to give the Angel some privacy. The girl put it on over top of her clothing and removed them from underneath, rolling them up in a ball in her arms. The rest of her underclothing were untouched by the bloodshed and she would change them later. When she was done she spoke again. Her tone was much more relaxed this time rather than so afraid.
"Thank you."
Arikka nodded and took the mirror back. She glanced up at the sky. The sun would rise soon, but because of her race she would not be effected like some Immortals were. Kana would not either but it was not wise to linger where Humans ruled the land and could see.
"So...what am I specifically?"
"We are all different...I'm an Elf. My friend Hasir here is a Fallen Angel but do't tell...and you? You are an Arch Angel. No, not that Human junk about 'God's chosen Angels'. Arch Angels have only three jobs rather than the commonly believed hundreds."
"What are they?" Kana asked. She was obviously wondering what she was apparently going to be doing.
"It isn't my place to tell you...even we Elves know nothing of the complete inner workings of Arch Angel society and Hasir has forgotten most of it."
"Then who's place is it to tell me?" she demanded.
"It is the place of your new kin, Kanzali."
"...What did you call me?" Kana raised an eyebrow. This name was not her own and yet it sounded so familiar.
"Kanzali. It is the name you will use from now on. Do not question why. Do not tell anyone you saw me or Hasir. That last bit is very important, girl."
"But-"
The soft features of the Elf's amused expression suddenly took a sharp edge. She glared at Kanzali in rage. "I said not to question me. Now go an get yourself some new clothes and then find the Arch Angel Council. Ask the Vampires if you need help. They tend to know these things...or a demon type called the Chosen. They tend to find you."
Arikka paused to fidget with her hair and crack her knuckles before she continued her miniature speech. "Flying will be easy because it is natural once you get used to the weight of your wings, but be careful. Think first. Humans can't know of the Immortal world. It is imperative not to forget that."
Kanzali just nodded. Her mind was spinning from all the information and yet she still grasped its extent. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, Arikka cut her off with a bow and a prompt disappearance in a burst of cyan light. The meeting would be over for now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arikka sighed as she brushed some black hair off Hasir's forehead. The sheets of the pull out couch bed were stained red fro his wings, which had all but fallen apart after exposure to Elven magic. He was running a high fever and his sleep had been fitful but he was still alive at least. To the Elf it was something to be thankful for, but as always the arrogant Fallen didn't quite agree.
"Has, I wish you wouldn't hurt yourself so badly. You can't keep all this up. Even an Angel's body can only take so much," she said quietly to him. She pulled a rag off the night stand next to the couch and mopped some sweet off before it could drip down his face.
"I haven't run out of energy yet," Hasir said with a light smirk.
"Close enough... You need to be more careful!"
"How is she?" he asked in a distant tone. His voice was punctuated by coughs and he didn't quite sound as young as he should have. The wear and tear on his body had been more than even Gairon had guessed.
Arikka paused. She would have to pick her words very carefully to avoid upsetting him. "She is...different."
"How different? Ari, tell me the truth."
"Don't give me that look! It's nothing to worry about. She will do fine as an Angel."
His eyes, though they had long since lost their luster, gave her a steely stare. She couldn't resist and fidgeted a little under his look. Hasir wasn't one to give up on getting information even if he was exhausted to death.
"Alright! Fine! Just stop looking at me like that! ...And wipe that smirk off your face! You didn't win a prize or anything."
He watched as she stood and rolled him onto his side so his wings weren't crushed against the bed anymore. Pain shot through again and he bit his lip once more. Hasir glared at her as she paced the room.
"The least you can do is appreciate me bringing you home..." she muttered. Arikka stopped pacing and stood still. Her blue hair whipped about her figure for a moment or two. Only when it had settled down did she speak. "The girl will do fine as an Angel as I said. But her wings...Has they're as black as anyone's should be, if not even darker. But the problem is they have a deep blue under the main black and the primary feathers are tipped in it. She's...flawed."
Hasir's features turned a shade paler until he looked like death itself. He blinked and it shattered the sickly appearance. "...How?" His voice grew quiet.
"I don't know! Didn't I tell you to stop looking at me like that? It isn't my fault some Fallen flaws got through!"
"My sin stains her wings..."
"Let's hope it doesn't effect her in any other ways or cause her any grief. Has! Don't you dare blame yourself for this! You did nothing wrong!"
"I'm not, Ari."
She walked over and gave him a light hug so she could comfort him but not cause pain. "You'd better not be. The only sin you've ever committed is to let yourself be oppressed by those Angels. How could they push you out?"
"Things change."
"Sadly...Even Immortals are effect by time. I admit that."
"Ari...would you do something for me?" Hasir's breathing was ragged and his voice was faint like somebody was literally choking him.
"Anything my friend."
"Get Esmerda. She knows why."
"On one condition." She bit back the tears that threatened to spill.
"What?"
She turned her face to the wall. "Don't die while I'm gone. I want to be there to say goodbye."
"It's a promise." A very small smile crossed his lips. Arikka knew he was smiling even without looking. It was just so like him to do so in such a grim situation. She waved silently over her shoulder and left the room. The finalizing slam of the door was the only thing that made Hasir's smile fall.
~
The Elf jumped across the rooftops. The sun had long since risen but Arikka was cunning. She knew how to avoid being seen. Her movements were a blur to even the eyes of an Immortal who could dwell in daylight hours. Nobody could even spot her... and yet as she made another leap she found herself falling.
"K'shrita!" she cursed as she hit the waiting garbage cans below painfully. She stood and brushed herself off, not wanting her stunningly crafted clothes ruined. A cold laugh caught her attention.
Her eyes darted around. The dark alley wasn't so unlike the one she'd been in only hours ago...but she felt unnerved for some reason.
"Look at what I caught," came a male voice. His words were punctuated by a hiss that sent a chill up her spine. A vampire during the day? It was impossible.
She narrowed her eyes at a misplaced shadow leaning against a wall. She raised a palm and let cyan light flood the alley until vision was easy. Yet even with no place to hide she couldn't pinpoint the location of her tormentor. "You caught nothing!"
“I know you’re more than nothing, Arikka Jelashi Hierda, Princess to the Hierda Elven throne... You’re far from home.”
She lowered her palm as a crimson glow overcame her cyan. Then he stepped into view. Arikka embraced him in an immediate hug, recognizing his dark hair and almost gingery complexion.
“Avartyi...you’re alive.”
"How long?" a man asked the three other figures surrounding the body. It was a broken girl who had fallen from the building above them.
"About an hour...she was pushed," came a female reply as the woman beside him drew back her cloak's hood. Her bright midnight blue hair and lighter blue skin gave an air of mysticism even in the dank depths of the alley. The circlet of silver around her forehead and her delicately pointed ears labeled her as an Elf and a very high ranked one at that. Her palm outstretched to the girl and cyan energy flowed from it and danced along the cold skin.
"Then this is really her?" another spoke. She had not work a cloak. The people pursuing the Elf and the man would not dare come after her because it would break the fragile pact between her race, the Nymphs, and theirs, the Arch Angels. She brushed some emerald bangs from her earthen brown skin and waited for a reply.
The man nodded. As he did a tiny flicker of movement from behind him made the nymph uneasy. His four black feathered wings quickly refolded and she relaxed. The Elf woman and the shorter cloaked figure who was staring at the body's back were unfazed.
The Elf frowned. "Esmerda I would love to continue chatting, but we have a job to do. If her soul is important then we have to handle this before any Angels show up to escort it to its resting place."
"I apologize Arikka. It is not my place to question. You have approval of the Nymphs from me. Use it as you will," Esmerda said before she ran off. She was no longer needed.
"Do we have your permission as well, Gairon? Your wisdom is priceless in the fragile situation we are about to create," questioned the Angel man who met the eyes of the previously hooded young boy.
Though the boy appeared to be only ten, he spoke with the wisdom of the ages. While the Angel tried to keep his voice flat, Gairon could read every moment of hidden strain and worry. "Your choice will have consequences, Hasir. You will pay in blood. Of course, you already know this . Your mind is completely correct that the girl's soul is important. You have my approval as well."
Hasir's lips twitched at their corners for a split-second into a tiny fragment of a smile. "So you are dismissed then."
Gairon bowed then left in a dim flash of white light. As soon as he was gone, Arikka turned to Hasir. "Anything else we need to know about her?"
"Out of all of us, Arikka, you have the most skill with the dead. Do you believe you can discover her name?"
She nodded and the cyan light became momentarily brighter. Her eyes glowed pure blue without a pupil, iris, or eye white. Beneath the dead girl's closed lids, thoush she was face down on the blacktop, her eyes also glowed.
"Her name is Kana," Arikka said. She held the magic strong and waited. "She is sixteen and-"
"That is all Arikka...I believe it is time."
She took his hand and the cyan spread over his skin. Patterns stretched all around their feet, encircling Kana and bathing her form in light. Hasir closed his eyes and they too glowed identical to Arikka's.
"And it begins..." he muttered, biting his lip. He clenched his teeth and pain began to rake though him, tearing at his spine where his wings joined it.
"Be strong, Hasir."
Hasir's four wings began to tremble to the point where some of the ebony feathers fell to the ground where they turned to ash on Kana's back and around her body. It dusted the glowing patterns lightly and formed little grey rings along with the mysterious Elven runes. The magic visibly swirled and combined with the ash to coat the girl in motes of mystical dust that could only be described as the stuff of fantastical events.
His legs locked and he found himself falling over from the magic as it held him. Arikka caught him. While she could not share his pain of creating an Arch Angel through such strange means, she could keep him stabilized. Her facial features, beautiful as they were, presented such an agony that coupled Hasir's almost in a mirror image. She disliked his pain just as much as her own but it had to be done.
Squeezing his eyes shut, the Angel bit his own lip to the point of it bleeding. The shaking of his body soon became more and more violent and he could stay upright no longer. He collapsed onto his knees and muttered "It is done." before he fell into an almost peaceful looking sleep-state. Arikka released the magic and picked his limp body up, holding him over her shoulder like he weighed little to nothing. She kept her eyes on Kana as the magic worked through the girl's veins.
All of a sudden, as if on cue, Kana's green eyes shot open. She sat up but soon curled back up in pure agony. Four feathered wings, not so unlike Hasir's, burst through her back in bloody mess. Arikka's eyes flashed blue and the pain stopped. The light from the ground and on Kana's skin drew back and traveled up the Elf's body until the markings twisted across the circlet on her head and rested there like a painted design.
Kana sat up again and without a word leaped up from the grond to the roof she had fallen from only an hour ago. Flakes of dried bloo drifted down like snowflakes and joined the pool of fresh blood from when the wings had burst through her skin. It looked like a grim version of winter snow upon a lake.
"And so we face the consequences, and so it begins..." Arikka muttered. She made the spectacular leap up onto the roof after the newborn Angel. The task was easy for her muscles, they'd done further jumps before, but she suddenly felt weak as her eyes beheld the girl. Like any Arch Angel who had just been created, her four wings were black and dripping with blood. However, unlike any other the girl's wings had a bright midnight blue underlying in the feathers. Some of Hasir's flaws from his Fallen Angel status had gone through the magic and into her.
"Dear lord," the Elf murmured as her voice caught up in her throat, "it just can't be..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kana looked over to the Elf in wide-eyed horror. She stumbled back but fell onto her back because she was not yet accustomed to the weight of the wings on her back.
"Who are you?" she demanded, "Go away!"
"I am Arikka," the Elf said simply. She would not try the girl's patience if she could avoid it.
Kana's eyes trailed over the Elf's appearance until they lingered on her ears. "You can't be real!"
Arikka's delicate features turned into a look of amusement. Like any human changed into an Immortal, she was just as naive. "Who are you to judge what is real and unreal? You belong to a brand new civilization now."
"What are you talking about?"
"See for yourself..." Arikka took out a silver mirror and held it out in front of the girl. Kana gingerly took it and gasped. The face staring back at her was older than her own had been. Her last memory was of a lanky sixteen year old. Now it had filled out to the point of not looking nearly as gangly but rather that of a woman of twenty. She suddenly noticed how much longer her black hair was and how her body shape had also changed. Her clothes felt tight but it didn't bother her...what did was the blood covering them from both her death and her changing.
Arikka handed Kana her cloak after pulling it off her own body and turned to give the Angel some privacy. The girl put it on over top of her clothing and removed them from underneath, rolling them up in a ball in her arms. The rest of her underclothing were untouched by the bloodshed and she would change them later. When she was done she spoke again. Her tone was much more relaxed this time rather than so afraid.
"Thank you."
Arikka nodded and took the mirror back. She glanced up at the sky. The sun would rise soon, but because of her race she would not be effected like some Immortals were. Kana would not either but it was not wise to linger where Humans ruled the land and could see.
"So...what am I specifically?"
"We are all different...I'm an Elf. My friend Hasir here is a Fallen Angel but do't tell...and you? You are an Arch Angel. No, not that Human junk about 'God's chosen Angels'. Arch Angels have only three jobs rather than the commonly believed hundreds."
"What are they?" Kana asked. She was obviously wondering what she was apparently going to be doing.
"It isn't my place to tell you...even we Elves know nothing of the complete inner workings of Arch Angel society and Hasir has forgotten most of it."
"Then who's place is it to tell me?" she demanded.
"It is the place of your new kin, Kanzali."
"...What did you call me?" Kana raised an eyebrow. This name was not her own and yet it sounded so familiar.
"Kanzali. It is the name you will use from now on. Do not question why. Do not tell anyone you saw me or Hasir. That last bit is very important, girl."
"But-"
The soft features of the Elf's amused expression suddenly took a sharp edge. She glared at Kanzali in rage. "I said not to question me. Now go an get yourself some new clothes and then find the Arch Angel Council. Ask the Vampires if you need help. They tend to know these things...or a demon type called the Chosen. They tend to find you."
Arikka paused to fidget with her hair and crack her knuckles before she continued her miniature speech. "Flying will be easy because it is natural once you get used to the weight of your wings, but be careful. Think first. Humans can't know of the Immortal world. It is imperative not to forget that."
Kanzali just nodded. Her mind was spinning from all the information and yet she still grasped its extent. As soon as she opened her mouth to speak, Arikka cut her off with a bow and a prompt disappearance in a burst of cyan light. The meeting would be over for now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arikka sighed as she brushed some black hair off Hasir's forehead. The sheets of the pull out couch bed were stained red fro his wings, which had all but fallen apart after exposure to Elven magic. He was running a high fever and his sleep had been fitful but he was still alive at least. To the Elf it was something to be thankful for, but as always the arrogant Fallen didn't quite agree.
"Has, I wish you wouldn't hurt yourself so badly. You can't keep all this up. Even an Angel's body can only take so much," she said quietly to him. She pulled a rag off the night stand next to the couch and mopped some sweet off before it could drip down his face.
"I haven't run out of energy yet," Hasir said with a light smirk.
"Close enough... You need to be more careful!"
"How is she?" he asked in a distant tone. His voice was punctuated by coughs and he didn't quite sound as young as he should have. The wear and tear on his body had been more than even Gairon had guessed.
Arikka paused. She would have to pick her words very carefully to avoid upsetting him. "She is...different."
"How different? Ari, tell me the truth."
"Don't give me that look! It's nothing to worry about. She will do fine as an Angel."
His eyes, though they had long since lost their luster, gave her a steely stare. She couldn't resist and fidgeted a little under his look. Hasir wasn't one to give up on getting information even if he was exhausted to death.
"Alright! Fine! Just stop looking at me like that! ...And wipe that smirk off your face! You didn't win a prize or anything."
He watched as she stood and rolled him onto his side so his wings weren't crushed against the bed anymore. Pain shot through again and he bit his lip once more. Hasir glared at her as she paced the room.
"The least you can do is appreciate me bringing you home..." she muttered. Arikka stopped pacing and stood still. Her blue hair whipped about her figure for a moment or two. Only when it had settled down did she speak. "The girl will do fine as an Angel as I said. But her wings...Has they're as black as anyone's should be, if not even darker. But the problem is they have a deep blue under the main black and the primary feathers are tipped in it. She's...flawed."
Hasir's features turned a shade paler until he looked like death itself. He blinked and it shattered the sickly appearance. "...How?" His voice grew quiet.
"I don't know! Didn't I tell you to stop looking at me like that? It isn't my fault some Fallen flaws got through!"
"My sin stains her wings..."
"Let's hope it doesn't effect her in any other ways or cause her any grief. Has! Don't you dare blame yourself for this! You did nothing wrong!"
"I'm not, Ari."
She walked over and gave him a light hug so she could comfort him but not cause pain. "You'd better not be. The only sin you've ever committed is to let yourself be oppressed by those Angels. How could they push you out?"
"Things change."
"Sadly...Even Immortals are effect by time. I admit that."
"Ari...would you do something for me?" Hasir's breathing was ragged and his voice was faint like somebody was literally choking him.
"Anything my friend."
"Get Esmerda. She knows why."
"On one condition." She bit back the tears that threatened to spill.
"What?"
She turned her face to the wall. "Don't die while I'm gone. I want to be there to say goodbye."
"It's a promise." A very small smile crossed his lips. Arikka knew he was smiling even without looking. It was just so like him to do so in such a grim situation. She waved silently over her shoulder and left the room. The finalizing slam of the door was the only thing that made Hasir's smile fall.
~
The Elf jumped across the rooftops. The sun had long since risen but Arikka was cunning. She knew how to avoid being seen. Her movements were a blur to even the eyes of an Immortal who could dwell in daylight hours. Nobody could even spot her... and yet as she made another leap she found herself falling.
"K'shrita!" she cursed as she hit the waiting garbage cans below painfully. She stood and brushed herself off, not wanting her stunningly crafted clothes ruined. A cold laugh caught her attention.
Her eyes darted around. The dark alley wasn't so unlike the one she'd been in only hours ago...but she felt unnerved for some reason.
"Look at what I caught," came a male voice. His words were punctuated by a hiss that sent a chill up her spine. A vampire during the day? It was impossible.
She narrowed her eyes at a misplaced shadow leaning against a wall. She raised a palm and let cyan light flood the alley until vision was easy. Yet even with no place to hide she couldn't pinpoint the location of her tormentor. "You caught nothing!"
“I know you’re more than nothing, Arikka Jelashi Hierda, Princess to the Hierda Elven throne... You’re far from home.”
She lowered her palm as a crimson glow overcame her cyan. Then he stepped into view. Arikka embraced him in an immediate hug, recognizing his dark hair and almost gingery complexion.
“Avartyi...you’re alive.”
