Autumn Village — First day after Sarya eliminated the intruders

  The sound of the leaves was not noise.

  It was a language.

  Leli was beginning to understand that.

  Beside Sarya, she walked barefoot among the roots of the training clearing — a natural ring formed by ancient trees that never lost their leaves, even in winter.

  The elves of Autumn watched in silence.

  Crimson eyes. Firm expressions.

  Every gesture was sacred in that place.

  “If you want to learn from Autumn…” Sarya said, spinning the spear with a single hand, “…understand that it does not teach with words.”

  Leli nodded.

  Sarya looked at her. Her gaze carried something between a strict mother and a protective older sister.

  “With patience. With pain. And with falls.”

  She threw one of the short spears at Leli’s feet.

  “Let’s begin.”

  ?? First movement: the trunk rotation

  Leli tried to imitate Sarya.

  Base position. Elbows flexed. The spear’s tip must not tremble.

  She rotated her body.

  Missed.

  The spear flew and stuck sideways into the damp earth.

  “Weak,” one of the elf girls said. “Too soft.”

  “It’s normal,” Sarya replied. “Let her be. She’ll learn from the falls.”

  Leli gritted her teeth. Tried again.

  And fell.

  Again.

  ?? Second movement: step between the roots

  The Autumn forest was alive. Walking through it felt like stepping on the back of something ancient.

  Leli now had to run between roots without tripping while spinning the spear in low guards.

  “A root never grows where the tree does not allow,” Sarya explained. “Your breathing is still unsteady. Firm feet. Less noise. Focus. If you trip, it’s because you are not yet in sync with the forest.”

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  Leli tripped.

  Again.

  Sarya grabbed her shoulder.

  “You are trying to fight as if the forest isn’t here. But it is. And you need to listen.”

  “The ground. The leaves. The pauses in the wind. Don’t rely only on your eyes. Feel with your feet, your hands, the sound, the scent. Use all your senses, not just one, Leli.”

  Leli looked around.

  Closed her eyes.

  And tried to run again.

  This time, she fell more slowly.

  But she fell smiling.

  ---

  ?? At dusk

  The two sat high in the central tree of the village, their legs dangling in the empty air. Below them, elves trained in silence.

  Leli leaned her head against the trunk.

  “Were you always like this?”

  Sarya glanced sideways.

  “Like what?”

  “Firm. Serious. Fierce. Lethal.”

  Sarya smiled — short, subtle.

  “I had to be. On the Path of Autumn… there is no space for those who wait to be guided by emotion or empty feelings.”

  Leli nodded.

  “Thank you for training me. Even though I’m weak.”

  Sarya looked at her seriously this time.

  “You are not weak. You just don’t know yet that you are strong. But you will discover it. And when you do… you will discover what you are capable of.”

  “I’ve seen you fight with a rapier. Your mother and other masters trained you well.”

  “Mom is terrifying when she’s determined to teach. Human mana refinement and elven mana comprehension — she never went easy on me. She made me duel her every time with rapiers. That’s why I became good with them. Haha.”

  Leli inhaled.

  “Sarya… don’t listen to what those elves said. They don’t see how brilliant you are. You’re not a monster. They should be ashamed for judging the one who protects them.”

  Sarya placed a hand on Leli’s head.

  “I’m used to it. Don’t worry. It’s not new for them to look at me with those fearful eyes, like I might kill them at any moment.”

  She looked away.

  “But deep down… I think they might be right. I can’t dream of a normal life. I’m just a weapon that knows how to stain her hands with blood.”

  “I’m not some fragile maiden made to love.”

  “That’s not true, Sarya. You do have what it takes to be a mother. You just don’t realize it yet. And what does it matter what they think? People weak like them, who can’t even protect themselves, will never understand someone strong like you.”

  Sarya was silent.

  “Thank you… truly. I think you’re the only one who sees me that way.”

  Leli smiled.

  “But you know what I think, Sarya?”

  “If you had a child… that child would be the most protected in the world.”

  Sarya narrowed her eyes.

  “Sometimes I think you’re older than you look, Leli. I don’t know where that wisdom of yours comes from. It’s like you’ve already lived an entire life.”

  She leaned slightly closer.

  “What aren’t you telling me, Leli?”

  Leli smiled nervously.

  Sarya hadn’t forgotten that something was off about her.

  “N-nothing… I’m not hiding anything, Sarya.”

  “Really?”

  “I’m serious!”

  Sarya knew she was hiding something. It was obvious.

  But she didn’t want to pressure her. She wanted to give her time.

  Leli took a breath.

  “But Sarya… really. You’re special in your own way. And one day someone who understands you will appear. Or… maybe that person is closer than you think.”

  “You just don’t see how special you are.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, master.”

  Leli gave a wide grin — one very similar to Lukas’s.

  Sarya felt her heartbeat shift.

  Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

  “What?”

  “Did you remember someone, Sarya?”

  “Maybe it was—”

  Her expression turned cold again. Calm. Firm.

  “Crimson Silence.”

  Leli’s words suddenly produced no sound.

  An imaginary sign seemed to hover above her:

  “Don’t be boring, Sarya.”

  Sarya exhaled.

  “Alright. Time to go. You need to rest. That’s part of training too.”

  She lifted Leli under one arm.

  The elves stared.

  When had they even appeared?

  And Sarya seemed to have used Crimson Silence on her again — probably because she talked like a parrot.

  “Haha, how cute.”

  Valen watched from afar.

  “Tch… she won’t leave Sarya’s side anymore. That little brat.”

  “Jealous of a child, Valen?” Furgo teased.

  “Shut up, Furgo.”

  “You really think I’d be jealous of that brat? She makes me uncomfortable for some reason. It’s not jealousy. Maybe it’s because she reminds me too much of that damned Tenth of the Fernandes.”

  “Oh, you mean the failure who awakened Indomina, Valen?”

  Valen trembled with rage.

  That damned human failure. How dare he steal what is mine? And still receive glances and attention from my girl?

  My future Queen of Autumn.

  “Haha. Good luck, Valen. You’re more—”

  A spear stopped beside Furgo’s face.

  “WATCH your tongue, Furgo. You might lose it.”

  “Sorry, Valen. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  ?? Later

  Sarya watched Leli sleeping.

  And for the first time, she felt peace.

  For the first time, she felt something warm.

  Something good.

  “Is this what it feels like to be a mother…?”

  She allowed herself a small smile.

  Light. Brief.

  Before returning to her serious expression — guardian of the little troublemaker sleeping without a single worry.

  That night, for the first time, Leli dreamed of leaves falling in slow motion…

  And of a spear of light caught between golden branches.

  Something was awakening.

  It was not power.

  It was bond.

  And it was something shining within Leli’s soul. Not just the season.

  It was something that made even the realm of the Lumpas tremble.

  “Hey, big guy, you ate everything?!”

  “Where does all of that even go?”

  End of Chapter 8.