Sirius Chapter 10: Chapter 9: A Father's Love

Read chapter 10 of Sirius by Dealer on NovelPedia.

The crackling of a campfire broke through the chorus of crickets in the forest. In a cave at the foot of a small hill, a strange trio made camp. A half-elf slept propped against the rocks. A dark elf poked at the embers, trying to keep the fire alive. A human stared at his own hand, squeezing and releasing it. "Incredible!" Li was slowly getting used to it, and after walking all afternoon, he noticed differences in his body. He wasn't tired. He felt stronger than usual. This, combined with his enhanced brain capacity, would surely make him a superhuman fighter. "Well... not that it matters right now." Seeing Itzal near the fire, he got up and went to join the elf. "Tired of admiring yourself and came to keep an old man company?" The elf couldn't help but point that out; the two laughed. "You can't help yourself, can you?" Li smiled. After many conversations, he already seemed to see the man as a friend. "You're just very easy to give a hard time, boy. You need to start toughening up that mind of yours." "You don't bother me, old man." The two went quiet for a few minutes. "Don't you want to know?" Itzal broke the silence. "What?" "About her." He pointed to Akemi. "No, I don't really care." "So you're not just absorbed in yourself, it genuinely doesn't make a difference to you?" He laughed. "Well, maybe that's exactly why I feel like talking." "Go ahead, an old friend of mine told me I'm a great listener." Li thought of Jhin. "Well, he didn't say it outright, but I think it was implied." "I won't lie though; the curiosity did cross my mind." "Fair enough." Sighing, the man began. "Her mother was a human. The gentlest, kindest woman I ever knew. She gave birth to a child who was even more beautiful and loving than she was." His eyes shone as he spoke. "When Akemi was little, she used to play in a village. Even though we always told her she shouldn't expose herself so much, it never stopped her. She was so happy... so innocent back then. How could I tell her? Tell her that she'd never be accepted by others for being born to a father like me? That she'd walk forever between two species?" Itzal's gaze darkened. "It didn't take long for them to find out. At first nobody was indignant; on the contrary, most of them accepted her with open arms, but..." The elf's voice grew lower as a tear ran down his face. "Those SAVAGES! They locked my daughter up and waited for me to leave the house before rescuing her! Accusing her of 'betraying humanity.'" "Humans here are rotten too... it's easy to understand why she doesn't like me." Li whispered, glancing in the girl's direction. "Even so, why did you trust me, sir?" "That's a good question... maybe because you seem like a good person. Or because you're my daughter's age. I couldn't leave someone like that alone." Li's eyes went wide. "I can't remember the last time someone who knew me so little said that." Actually, he could. But it was so long ago that the memory brought more pain than happiness. "Thank you, Itzal." "No, thank you for listening to this old father's rambling." He smiled. "You're a good father." Jihan stared at the crackling fire. "If I had a father, I'd want him to be like you." The elf went still. Tears that held neither pain nor hatred ran down his cheeks. "Thank you, Li." Trying to stop them, he rubbed his own face. "Thank you very much, boy." Lying in the corner, pretending to be asleep, Akemi bit her lip trying not to make a sound. Her flushed face gave her away and she tried to make the tears stop. Though in vain. At sunrise, the three set out from camp. Unlike the day before, the young woman made an effort to walk side by side with both of them. "Ah! Akemi! Decided to join us?" The old man teased. "Yes, I got tired of thinking by myself. Besides, this kid must be wearing you out." An assertive voice, somewhat at odds with her delicate appearance, came from the woman's mouth. "You can speak my language?!" Li asked, surprised. "I never said I couldn't. I just didn't want