Five

Karma and Levis ’dinner consisted of bread and fried scorpion. Karma likes Levis's scorpion dish. Of course Levis had to pay for this meal. Old Karma was used to drinking at night, so after dinner he slept soundly in the shack.

  Levis waited outside for Fione. Count Zhephy's family seems to have left as well, only the maids are left in the house. In the distance he could hear their happy laughter. Occasionally a musical instrument sounds. "Must be dancing together," he thought.

  He could not sense what time it was now because there were no clocks around. If he was in Rathole he would know from the water meter in Mouse Square. The voice of the count's assistants fell silent. Maybe their private party is over, but Fione is still not coming back.

  Levis decided to wait a little longer. Suddenly remembering the necklace Princess Margaretha had exchanged for him at noon, Levis picked it up and looked at the candle to take a closer look.

  Round pendant with golden border. A precious stone is attached in the middle, when the light of the candle glows, it diffuses the creative white ray, it is actually a moonstone. The metal inside the rim is silver but not very bright, quite matte, probably made of platinum as it is a very popular metal in the Alchemy Kingdom for jewelry. The metal pattern forms an iron flower - Symbol of beauty in the Alchemy Country - This necklace was literally made for Princess Margaretha, symbolizing her name and beauty.

  Seemingly running out of patience, he started walking towards Veronica's place.

  It was a starry night with a full moon, so Levis didn't even have to borrow Karma's lights. He walked along the main road to the city, on both sides of the road there were the crackles of pipes, the chirping of crickets, and it was so delicious to listen to.

  Someone is running towards him. Like a girl.

  The girl hit him causing them both to fall to the ground, while the girl crushed Levis. Under the bright moonlight, he recognized a familiar face.

  "Ate Fione?"

  "Levis ... Is that Levis?"

  After saying that, Fione sobbed.

  "Help… Save me."

  As soon as he finished his sentence, behind Fione, there were footsteps and loud curses. It’s not hard to see that there are three people on that side. Levis quickly put Fione on his back and ran into the pipes. I think the three chasing Fione also noticed, they immediately followed.

  Fione sighed, one arm wrapped around Levis's shoulder, the other holding her stomach, Levis could clearly see her brother's pain as he turned his head to glance at her.

  A slimy smell like iron, Fione's feet had dark streaks coming out. No matter how hard it was for the moonlight to see the colors around, Levis recognized it as blood.

  "Are you hurt?"

  Levis panicked.

  "No ... I'm not hurt ... just run."

  Fione cursed.

  Levis felt something hard and sharp pass through his feet. He immediately lost his balance and fell. Heaven and earth are turned upside down. The boy forced himself close to the ground so that Fione would not hit the hard and rough ground, as a result, Levis' whole body went numb.

  "Tch, didn't he break his leg?"

  A deep voice spoke.

  "The more pipes we cut, the weaker the force."

  Another voice answered.

  Levis's leg was injured. The wound was only superficial, but that was enough to make it difficult for her to move, and hopelessly carrying Fione, fled. She had slipped on its shoulder ever since and was now lying next to him, still breathing softly.

  The three men approached the brothers. One man was holding a lamp, and the other two were holding the Alchemist's handless blade that was spinning in his hand - which was probably broken in Levis's leg, the latter holding a dagger.

  "Let's see, we just wanted to have a little fun with you, but what did you do to my face, bitch?"

  Said the man angrily turning the blade. His face was torn and still bloody.

  "Tell me, bitch!"

  He kicked Fione hard in the stomach. The girl lay on the ground writhing in pain from the blow.

  "Just slow down, Darius."

  The lamp holder spoke with a very rough kick to the slender body.

  Levis was lying next to him, he saw his brother being beaten, he shouted and then punched the torn face in the stomach. Two other men pulled him to the ground and began to raise his legs and lower his arms.

  "Who are you?"

  Shout of a man named Darius.

  "Please ... Forgive him ... He is my brother ... my brother, I will ... not fight anymore."

  Fione said as if out of breath. He crawled to the ground, reaching out his arms to touch the toes of Darius's shoes, his head repeatedly hitting the ground.

  "Then you have to serve Darius and me until morning?"

  The name holder of the lamp is glad. The other two men were overjoyed.

  Levis was lying down, facing up, gasping in pain from the blow, hands clasped to his stomach and chest.

  “Like you, you want to fight us, son?  Bobo! "

  Darius bent down to talk to Levis, spitting on him.

  Levis grabbed a rock at the edge of the field and hit Darius on the head, causing him to writhe in pain and fall to the ground. The other two men saw Darius fall and ran to see what was happening.

  "Kill! KILL THAT!"

  Darius shouted with a bleeding head.

  The man with the dagger approached Levis, the one holding the lamp following. He could no longer move because the blow was still painful earlier.

  "No, sir, NO!"

  Fione pleaded and leaned in vain, the man holding the lamp to hold her tightly so that the two accomplices could easily attack.

  "If it was a normal person, it would be a small problem, but scum like you don't care, you're scum 'residue'."

  The man holding the knife spoke. Slowly he raised the knife, Levis could clearly see the blade glowing in the moonlight. The blade pierced the moon in his sight like its incision in the symbol in his hand.

  "Cut through the storm", is it like this?  Why did you think of that sentence?

  He closed his eyes and accepted his short fate.

  Lowered the blade. The sound of sharp metal digging into the flesh echoed. He is not dead yet.

  A choked sob, tears and blood dripped from the side of his mouth onto his face, the dagger wrapping around his back.

  "FIONE !!!"

  He fell into her arms, trembling, blood flowing in his two bodies.

  "You fool, why don't you hold him tight?"

  The dagger even charged the man with the lamp.

  "I didn't know it was this strong, did I?"

  "The fun is over!"

  The dagger man scratched his head and scratched his ear.

  “You are very worthless. Disappointing!  Well, let's end up with a bitch's son. "

  Darius shouted, the two stopped arguing, they started to focus on Levis.

  "I'm dead ... I'm so weak ... I can't protect the one I love ..."

  Levis lay hugging the brother's still hot and trembling body, blaming himself with a weak whisper. He himself still could not recover from the blow of life-and-death to his body that had been bruised in the mining accident.

  "You're useless! Do you want to kill this scoundrel?"

  Sound of someone whispering in the ear of the boy lying there waiting to die.

  "Why not? I want them dead, I want them to die painfully!"

  Levis responded to that whisper.

  "So ... The contract is over!"

  The whisper ended.

  "Hey, isn't the wind a little weird here?"

  Said the one holding the knife to the man with the lamp.

  "Eh?"

  "Wait!"

  Darius spoke. He felt something dangerous so he backed away. The wind picked up and circled where Levis was holding Fione's body.

  "BUG BACK NOW!"

  Darius was alarmed but it was all too late.

  The wind lifted the two guardians from the ground. Darius throws his blade at Levis who intends to hurt him but he recovers, almost stabbing him in the head if he doesn't dodge in time.

  The wind began to whirl harder, Darius had a feeling that he would be blown away like the other two. Helpless, Darius ran leaving the two alipores.

  "Stop… stop… let's talk, let's talk!"

  The man holding the knife begged as he floated in the air. When else did he poop his pants?

  "Forgive me, forgive me!"

  The man with the lamp cried out in despair.

  The wind is still spinning, the sound is not like a normal storm wind. The air was like wailing, full of hatred and despair.

  "You… DIE !!!"

  The wind began to grow strong, the strong aura squeezing the bodies of the two men like towels. The sound of broken bones, blood from the eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

  The wind died down, leaving two gruesome corpses. The dust around was dim, the image stamped on that dust under the dark moonlight like ghosts from the dead.

  The boy still could not understand what had happened, but even before he could return to his sanity, the noise of the military police came from afar urging him to hurry.

  Levis fled the count farm, stole a storm lizard, and headed east. He was sure of something he could never take back.

  Military police found him, they shouted orders for him to stop but to no effect.

  "Running like this doesn't mean you'll live, but quitting doesn't mean your life. I'd rather die as a free person."  The thought went through Levis's mind.

  He pushed the lizard hard. Shots of arrows and muskets fired from the military police whistled at Levis' head.

  "Oh!"

  The ribs hurt. Something just stuck there. The child cried out in pain. The cold piece of metal pierced the flesh, causing the outflow of hot drops of blood.

  ***

  The hurricane lizard that had been running relentlessly in the Arenae desert all night seemed tired, it started to slow down, after a while it finally stopped. The military police have long since stopped the pursuit.

  The pain in his ribs rose again, his whole body ached, and Levis slowly cut the arrow that was stuck to his body. He did not dare to pull it out for fear of bleeding more.

  “Maybe this is the end of me. I can not take it anymore…"

  He whispered softly and tried to touch the riding artifact, pouring all his strength underneath to seat the lizard. Levis fell on the sand wet with the dew of the early desert. Some bugs crawl from under the sand, stirring up the precious morning dew - because water is a luxury in this arid area. As if the lizard saw gold, it ran and bit one by one.

  "Run… Run leave,… you're free… done…"

  The animal was still circling the child, biting the hair with its mouth and tapping Levis on the head several times. It’s nacurious what’s going on with the man riding here all night.

  "… I'm hurt, you sick bastard!"

  Levis slowly fell into a coma.