Chapter 240: Reawakening Soul


    The leafless bushes rustled.


    Its branches bare against the frigid snow that clings to its dark surface. It was an ominous sight to the dwellers nearby. The pure white snow nestling in the dark fruitless forest. It was nketed with towering massive trees, ck and naked. It contrasted immensely with the snowy surroundings.


    Snap!


    At the sudden sound, a couple of children stiffened. They stopped in their tracks, guards raised, and slowly roamed their fearful eyes all over the area.


    "Uh... sorry?" One boy smiled awkwardly as he raised his foot off the thin frozen root he had just stepped on.


    Three of the four kids red at him angrily. Their eyes had the same pigment of blue and purpletheir skin, pale and almost identical. However, they do not share the same blood. If one looked closely at their hands, they would find a transparent skin connecting their inner fingerswebbed hands.


    "Aish! Stop making any noises!" A younger boy with proud eyes hissed at his friend. "What if we''re caught?"


    "Or worst... Get eaten by malibreeds..." The girl of their group shivered. "I don''t want to go anymore. Let''s just go home, hm? The elders won''t scold us if we do. Let''s go back..."


    The two boys with him only nodded.


    "Yeah, I don''t want to miss dinner again..."


    "Me too. And my father said that the dark woods are scary. I don''t want to get punished."


    The proud kid shook his head, and he raised his hand to point out. "But we''re so close to the ice cave now! Don''t you see that slope over there? I heard the elders say that there''s freshwater there! We can finally swim freely! Don''t you want to?"


    "Shh, stop shouting." The girl drew her brows together as she ced a finger between her lips. The boy muttered a sorry before she continued. "And no. I don''t want to get hurt, Altira. Malibreeds have been swarming the areately. I don''t think our parents would want us causing trouble."


    The two boys nodded with her.


    "No! Let''s go and see! It''s just a peek."


    The three only shook their heads and began to tread back down the trail they had taken.


    "Don''t be stubborn, Altira." The girl scolded.


    The young boy, Altira, clenched his hands. He had never been able to swim in open water. His older brothers and sisters may have, but he hasn''t even once. Their parents say the seas and rivers have been corrupted with monsters and that their fellow Merfolk has to live their lives onnd. He had heard countless stories of beautiful merpeople doing their rites of theiring of age in the vast open sea. Their shimmering enchanting tails would dazzle under the open sun. However, that was several years ago when thend wasn''t gued by demons yet...


    "Altira!" The girl half-shouted and half-whispered to him. The young boy only realized that they had already walked several meters away from him.


    Altira pressed his lips together and narrowed his eyes at them.


    "Altira?" The three friends looked at him warily. He wasn''t going to do anything stupid, was he?


    "Fine..." Altira spoke. His response earned him a sigh from his friends. However, he wasn''t finished. His eyes are defiant and stubborn. "I''ll go there by myself!"


    With that, he turned around and bolted through the snow. He wrestled through the thorny bushes, ignoring the scratches on his skin. Everywhere he went, there was a snap and a crack. His ears were deaf to the calls of his friends, and he dashed away. No matter what, he was going to see theke!


    His feet created deep footprints on the snow, and his figure shed through numerous trees. The area was clear; there was not a hint of fog anywhere. However, the thickness of the forest undoubtedly confused any foreign traveler, much less a child barely nine years old. Altira ran, ran, and ran.


    He kept running while ignoring the fearful howls and beastly cries filling the woods. His eyes focused on his feet, head lowered.


    There was no doubt that he was terrified inside.


    ...


    "Huff... Huff... Huff... "


    He panted heavily as his steps finally slowed down. He wasn''t sure how much time had passed. The sun had not revealed itself for months. His shoulders identally bumped the truck of a tree, and he crashed on the soft snow beneath him with an ''oof!''


    Altira groaned as his webbed hands clenched around the snow beneath his fingers.


    "Stupid... " The boy frowned as he slowly sat up.


    Then his eyes slightly widened. He could hear his heart pounding inside his chest as he stared at the view before him.


    Theke...


    Vast and mighty, stretching as far as the eye can see. A nket of withered-looking trees surrounded. However, its beauty was untainted.


    Altira hurriedly walked closer until he found himself standing before the edge of theke.


    There, his heart sank to the darkest depths in his chest. He clenched his hands. Blue eyes turned downcast in despair. Why did he even expect it would be pure...


    Yes, theke was pitch-ck. It was not frozen. The little waves on thekeshore were gentle and delicate. However, if you would look closer, you could notice the ck worm-like tendrils caressing thekeshore sand, writhing and squirming within thekewater. And to think that the wholeke was contaminated broke Altira''s heart.


    Theke was bid enough for his fellow merfolk to swim freely without restrictions. If they do not transform into their true aquatic forms, their life will shorten significantly. For the past years, without enough water, many of their tribe had perished. And now, the only ce that Altira thought that would help them was corrupted...


    Altira sniffed. Perhaps his father had already known about it, yet they kept it a secret to avoid crushing their dreams. The boy wiped his nose with his elbow, and he stared at the ck water.


    Shaking his head, he decided to return home and apologize to his elders. He was too mean and foolish to his friends. He should apologize for his mistakes, and maybe they would forgive him. Biting his lips, Altira nodded. With a sullen face, he took out his bag to put on his coat.


    However, before he could turn around, his eye caught the sight of the ice cave where his father and his men would visit. Altira heard it was a sacred ce.


    "Hm..." The young child blinked his eyes curiously.


    All of a sudden, the ground began to shake!


    RUMBLEEEE!


    Altira panicked! His heartbeat sped up as he looked around, terrified and confused. What was happening?! The vibration of the earth was too strong for his weak feet. His knees trembled as he muttered his mother''s name out of fear.


    Out of the blue, the mouth cave before his eyes suddenly crumbled, breaking into giant boulders and crashing to the snowy ground with an explosive sound. The noise was too much for the young merman, so without hesitation, Altira ran away. His coat and his bag fell on the snow with a thud.


    Adrenaline filled his head, and he was faster than he was before. The noise was bound to attract more malibreeds. He had to escape as soon as he can!!!


    Unknown to the young child, he didn''t notice a frail figure running out of the cave and copsing just before the shoreline where his hair shined brightly even without the light of the moon or sun. His skin was as pale as snow. And his eyes were yet to be revealed, for the youth closed them tight as he wallowed in pain.


    ......................


    ......................


    Incoherent voices areshing, tearing down the thinyer of calm that sought to defend the mind bursts open, cracking and screaming. It was too much for the youth''s mind. Blending the darkness and the faint light within, drowning him in his own consciousness as whispers spoke in mixed voices. They were loud. Unclear and echoing. shing urred before his eyes, but his vision was dark.


    A ck de dripping with blood.


    Whose blood? Whose is it?


    ''Who else? Yours''


    A violent tremble urred in his mind. Shattering every bit of sce the youth had hidden. As though his thoughts were a wall of ss, protecting him and shattering, breaking into fragments to... yes, defend him.


    And then a voice so eerie and devilish. The youth pictured a drooling devil of red flesh staring straight into his eyes, scrutinizing him. Blood-red eyes were piercing through his very soul. A snake worn around his neck like a ne. Three heads...


    The creature spoke with a deadly cackle. ''Death, one more, and you will set me free...''


    ''My dear sacrifice.''


    "AH!"


    A sharp gasp echoed throughout the enclosed area. It echoed pleasantly. Silver eyes opened wide. They were brighter than it was before. Moulin''s heartbeat did not lessen even a bit as he desperately gasped for air as though he was suffocating for hours. His back felt stiff. His limbs numbed to the point of pain every time he flinches. His body was spasming too much for him to not realized the whole ce was shaking!


    But then, when his vision finally adjusted to the light around him. What weed his awakened gaze was the daring point of dancing icicle hanging above his head. So enormous, so sharp, it could pierce through his head in one drop.


    Moulin thought too soon.


    Crack!


    The dreadful sound from above immediately rmed Moulin. His instincts kicked in at the same time the icicles dropped. Although in pain, the youth swiftly rolled to his side while holding back a scream. The sound of the giant icicles shattering and piercing through the ice-cold ground sent down a deathly chill down his back.


    But it was not the end.


    Ice fragments fell on his stiff body as the cave continued to shake. The earthquake was too powerful. The cave was copsing.


    Moulin''s eyes turned bloodshot. ''Fucking- I just woke up, and now I''m going to die?!''


    He cursed endlessly in his mind and finally forced his body to move. The pain was excruciating! His eyes watered as icicles crashed down one after the other. Moulin hurriedly crawled towards the narrow tunnel. His knees scraped the sharp bumpy floor of ice, and his palms were bled slightly as he used the support of the wall to lift himself up with a painful groan.


    His breathing stuttered as he staggered as fast as he can. The falling ceiling began to chase him as he ran limping. Shards of ice scratched his calves, but he didn''t have time to care. Finally, light appeared in his view.


    His heart pounded wildly, and his body was aching painfully.


    Suddenly, a part of the cave ceiling began to fall in front of him. The sudden event caused him to slide beneath the falling boulder before it couldnd skillfully. His back and waist almost made him bursts into tears as the boulder brushed the tip of his nose before it fell with a crash.


    Moulin instantly pulled himself off the ground and crawled towards the copsing cave mouth. When he thought the entrance was about to fall, he immediately flung himself on the snow and pushed himself a few meters away from the destructing cave.


    With an explosive noise, the cave was reduced to rubble. A few pieces of ice fell on Moulin''s legs, and he didn''t bother to shake them off.


    A deadly silence fell upon the area.


    Few tears fell down the youth''s eyes. Moulin was panting heavily. His bare limbs were shaking off the pain, and his pale mouth quivered. He let out a long groan and began to wearily drag himself towards theke, unaware of the darkness that settles within it.


    When Moulin finally stretched out his hand towards theke, he roseboriously. His exhausted eyes fell upon his reflection on the dark water. An exquisite, mature face was revealed to his eyes. Those eyes remained a dazzling mysterious silver. However, those features transformed all the youthfulness of his face into something more mature. More... exquisite.


    Moulin''s pupils trembled.


    "What... What is this?"