"How do you do that?"
I pointed at her wings.
"…What? I'm sorry, but I'm confused, what do you mean?"
She looked at me like she still didn't understand, even after tracing the direction I was pointing.
"Folding your wings. I… I don't know how to. At least not intentionally. So how do you move them?"
It looked like folding them in that way wouldn't put extra stress on my injury and might make moving easier. I'd managed to fold them a little by accident before, but I couldn't figure out how to do it on purpose.
"You're joking, right? I mean, how do you bend your arm? It's no different. I'm sorry if you meant something else, but I've never had to explain it…"
She bent her arm as if to demonstrate her point.
"I understand that… but I've only just gotten them, and I don't have any fundamental knowledge of how to use them. Like, do you flex your back when you move them? Or is it something else?"
I was fixated now, I wanted to learn without the trial and error that came with self-teaching.
"Brother… what is your name?" she asked.
"Edric," I replied bluntly.
"A good name, Edric. Mine is Diane Whiteflame. Now, for your question…"
She narrowed her eyes in thought. "If I had to think about it, near the spine there's a muscle group that leads into the wings. Try flexing that."
Doing as she instructed, I did feel something there. With a bit of effort, my wings twitched, not folding, but it was a start. I kept working at it, splitting my attention between the motion and the conversation. My tired mind was already strained, and now, divided between tasks, I could feel my mental endurance burning out.
"You say I'm your brother… so would you be willing to let me leave? As a kindness to family... dear sister."
She let out a melodious laugh, making the air feel warmer, in a good way.
"No, no, dear brother, not yet I'm afraid. But rest well. We'll assist you in healing, and if you choose to go once we're done, then yes, you're free to leave. I mean, you are a champion now, right? That's the custom here... to give freedom to those who earn it."
She seemed upset at the last part, and I couldn't tell why.
With a clap, she drew my attention back to her.
"Now, I'll leave you in my men's caring hands. I'm a busy woman. But I'll return later, once we've finished. Please rest until then."
And with that, she left, leaving me alone with the soldiers and Yun Suu Chin once again.
I gave up trying to hold my weapon, I couldn't manage it anymore anyway so I set it down and moved to sit. The soldiers looked visibly more relaxed now and even began speaking amongst themselves.
It wasn't long until the afternoon wind picked up, blowing at the curtains. Ash and ember drifted silently around the room. I looked down at the polished floor, catching a dim reflection of myself. Blood and bile streaked down my chin and chest. My hair was matted, and sweat and grime clung to me, broken only by the faint glow leaking from the cracks scattered across my skin.
I raised a hand to touch one of them, only to feel the firmness of flesh. So, the light was mostly cosmetic, it seemed. That also went for the vial of fire and the ash as the amount spilling from them had been greatly decreasing. Soon, I imagined, it would all stop i kind of liked the look as it was very eye catching if i had this for my earlier fights the crowd would have erupted.
While I rested my eyes, I kept focusing on my wings. My healing was fast enough that I could tell the cartilage had fully fused meaning it wasn't at risk of breaking anymore. So I forced a flex, and finally, my wings folded down. I had to keep the contraction engaged or they'd spring open again, but that was fine i was sure that i could make this a involuntary movement with practice.
"Oh, Holy One, you did it! Very good!"
Miss Chin clapped for me, carefully walking over, making sure not to approach too quickly she wore a wide smile making her dimples wrinkles a bit.
I let out a short laugh.
"That I did… ah, I wish I could've seen the crowd's faces when these babies popped out. I bet Kushim was jumping like a little girl. You know, he used to say I looked like a bird, that goblin-faced shit… he even told Heather I must've been fast like one too, knowing him that was probably a jab at my endurance."
Tears welled in my eyes. I sucked in my lips a little, blinked a few times, then breathed heavily.
"Look, Miss Chin… I need to go to the sand pit down there. It's still in the arena, and the path from here is straightforward. Your men can follow me, but I've got someone to truly send off there."
She looked at me for a long moment before rising to her feet. She walked over to the soldiers and spoke with them quietly. They all nodded, then smiled at me, not mockingly, but like friends would.
"They said they'd be glad to escort you. Please, Holy One, lead the way."She stepped forward and held out her hand to help me up.
"Oh, but they'll need to hold your weapon. I'm sorry for that."The officer was already moving to take it. I raised my hand for a moment to stop him, but then pulled it back and nodded.
"Also… can you call me Edric? I don't like the whole 'Holy One' thing. I'm still new to being free, let alone anything more."
While we walked miss Chin looked at me.
"So who is Kushim and heather? are they friends?" with that i began to give her the full story of my time here.