Chapter 47.2
Chapter 47.2
Rune shook his head slightly, looking distressed. Damian silently poured himself a third drink, and Adeline, struck by the mention of dreams, looked at Rune, not Honglu.
“Rune, do you want to leave here?”
“That’s… It’s…” Rune hesitated, glancing at and rubbing his remaining wing. Adeline spoke again.
“I didn’t know we shared the same dream. Do you want to go to the surface, too?”
“Not exactly the surface, but the sky… But I don’t deserve to.”
“Deserve? Do you need qualifications to dream?”
“My wing is like this.”
It was an excuse. The wing was just an excuse. Examining the severed edge of his wing, Rune suddenly felt it suited him. Even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to fly like before. He was different from the other fairies. While they had been forced into submission by humans, he had chosen the path of a domesticated animal.
At least I won’t starve living in a cage.
Of course, Rune couldn’t admit to having relinquished his freedom. His proud friends would be deeply disappointed if they knew. Then, Adeline tilted her head and said, “You can still see it, can’t you?”
“Huh?”
“You may not be able to fly like before, but you can still see the open sky.”
“….”
“Besides, you have the ability to create. You could develop airships, something that only existed on the surface before the destruction. The choice is yours, but giving up on your dream just because your wing is torn…” Adeline paused, then continued, “Sounds like an excuse for something else.”
She was right. As Rune remained silent, Adeline stared at the swirling liquid in her cup, then spoke as if recalling a distant memory. “When I was young, I wanted to see the surface even if it meant losing my legs.”
It wasn’t a typical thought for a child. This grim imagination was part of the resolve Adeline had held onto after the night of the massacre, whenever she recalled the terror of the Serpiente. Rune stammered in surprise, “Even… even without feet to walk on?”
“Yes. As long as I had eyes to see the world and skin to feel the wind, everything else was irrelevant. I just wanted to see a world without a ceiling. Oh, do you know there’s something called a horizon out there?”
“Horizon?”
Unlike the well-read Rune, the other fairies seemed unfamiliar with the concept. Adeline grinned at their curious, glittering eyes. Damian, too, had set down his cup, watching her smooth cheeks, flushed in the firelight.
“A horizon is the line where the sky meets the earth.”
“Ah! Is it like a slope then?” someone chirped, clapping their hands in understanding.
A disappointed voice followed, “What? I thought the sky was really high, but maybe not.”
Adeline’s lips twitched before she burst into laughter. “No, a horizon isn’t a slope. It’s a line you see because there’s nothing blocking your view. Because it’s open so far into the distance, the sky and earth appear to touch at a certain point.”
For a moment, Rune felt as if the dark smithy had brightened. Adeline continued, her voice flowing smoothly over the hushed crowd. The vision solidified, like a landscape painting being layered with detail.
“Isn’t it amazing just to imagine? I think the horizon is the landscape that best represents freedom. The boundary where humans on earth can encounter the gods in the sky. That’s freedom.”
Now, they weren’t in a dark smithy, but gathered in a circle on a green field. A gentle breeze rustled their hair, carrying the refreshing scent of grass. Adeline’s voice floated like flower seeds.
“White clouds drift overhead, and beyond them stretches the vast expanse of the sky, a cerulean canvas that justifies its name.”
Rune remembered a dream he’d forgotten. He, too, had longed to fly in such a sky. Before the humans came. Before he traded his ambition for the comfort of a given peace.
“I want to see it.”
Rune realized belatedly that he had spoken aloud. Looking around, he saw everyone staring at him, his dark eyes darting nervously. Adeline, leaning against Damian, smiled, her face flushed with the effects of the alcohol.
Her next words came without hesitation. “Want to come with me?”
A sudden hush fell over the room. Even the faint sound of flapping wings ceased. Everyone held their breath, blinking. Rune hiccuped in surprise.
“But once you decide, there’s no turning back. I’m going to the surface. No matter what.”
These words were also meant for Damian. It was probably the alcohol that made her make such an offer, despite her lack of resources. The peculiar coziness of the dark, reddish light, the unfamiliar warmth of the sweet alcohol, and the flickering shadows of the barrels in the firelight—all of it had intoxicated her.
But what did it matter? Wasn’t that what life was all about?
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.