Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power

Chapter 468: Chapter 468: Strange girl

Chapter 468 – Strange girl

"Me?"

The young girl asked cutely, innocently, pointing at herself with a dirt-stained finger.

Kaden didn’t respond. He couldn’t, more focused on thinking about what any of this could mean.

A strange silence swelled between them, the kind born when two strangers end up in the same place at the wrong time.

It was evident from Kaden’s eyes, his stare, his body language, that he wished to be anywhere else but this strange village. The girl was not oblivious to it.

But she was mature enough not to mention it, directing her attention instead to the food in her hands.

Yet she was impatient enough to break the silence first, unable to bear it.

"This... this is for you." She whispered, having lost her initial excitement at finally meeting a stranger.

How long had she been dreaming of such a day? A day she could see something else. Someone else. And learn whole different world through the eyes of a stranger.

There had never been a stranger inside the Malan village. Her mother had told her that two strangers came once — very long ago, they said — bringing with them a change that made them who they were today.

But she just couldn’t believe what she hadn’t seen herself.

She shook her head wistfully and walked gingerly toward Kaden, still on the floor. Her eyes caught the broken vase but she was wise enough not to mention it.

Arriving a couple of metres away, she set the bowl down with a soft tak! and backed away slightly.

Unable to kill his rising curiosity, Kaden reluctantly looked at the contents of the bowl — and nearly threw up, despite having nothing inside his stomach.

"What in the hell is this?" He blurted, his tone thick with dismay.

"Oh!" The girl exclaimed, eyes brightening, excited to see any kind of strong reaction from Kaden. Even a horrified one.

She answered hurriedly, brimming with energy, one hand pointing at the food and the other at herself with obvious pride.

"It’s a bowl of mashed insects found around our Malan tribe, mixed with water." She giggled. "Inside are the tastiest and most difficult to catch, like the four-coloured one-eyed ant and the princess ladybug!"

She bared her teeth in a wide grin. "And I found them all by myself! Please taste it and tell me what you think!"

She could no longer contain herself. She dashed toward the bowl, scooped it up from the ground with concerning dexterity, and thrust it directly into Kaden’s hands.

"I have the best culinary skills in the Malan Tribe." She declared proudly. "So don’t worry."

’Don’t worry my bloody ass.’ Kaden almost shouted, staring at the horrific sight sinfully presented as food.

It was enough to make his head tilt and his throat bulge. He clenched his jaw and swallowed it down, not wishing to hurt the feelings of this girl sharing her passion.

’Though maybe a change of passion is in order.’

He shook his head lightly. "Not now." He said, trying to keep the disgust buried under the exhaustion in his tone. "I will eat later."

"But you’re injured!" She pressed, her red eyes wavering with soft disappointment. "You need to eat to heal."

"For now," Kaden replied, gently pushing the bowl back, "water will do me more good. And, young girl, I also need a favour from you."

Those last words flipped her expression completely, from gloomy to lit up in an instant. "A favour? From me?"

She couldn’t believe it. People never asked her for favours.

They always tried to push her aside. Even today, she had begged long and hard just to be given the chance to meet the stranger.

"Yes! Tell me, tell me!" She nodded repeatedly, her white hair flying in every direction with her wild gestures.

Kaden was growing dizzy from the loud voice and erratic movement. He swallowed his dissatisfaction and spoke anyway.

"I just want you to give me a tour of the village." He said, trying to push himself up off the floor. "I should warn you though, I’ve been seriously wounded. My pace will be slow."

Once he was standing on both legs, with obvious difficulty and pain, he forced a small smile toward the girl.

"I thank you for your patience."

’Oh! He thanked me!’ The girl thought in wonder, eyes wide, an overwhelming warmth blooming from her chest.

Her smile stretched wider. "I’ll keep your pace!" She nodded firmly to herself. "And I’ll help you too. Don’t underestimate me, I’m very strong!"

She flexed her nonexistent biceps. Kaden stared at her blankly.

She coughed awkwardly. "But are you sure you don’t want to eat?"

"Very sure."

"Will you eat when we get back though?"

"Let’s leave the matter of the future to the future."

"Oh! Is that a quote?" She shot him a snarky look. "Ohoho, Traveller, I also know a quote from my father, given to him by The Wise Stranger! Do you want to hear it?"

The two were slowly making their way out of the room. The girl was keeping Kaden’s pace, helping him with gentle, steady touches.

"My ears are open." Kaden answered, inwardly grateful for the help yet feeling completely alienated by it at the same time.

The girl’s voice pulled his attention back.

"Don’t sacrifice something you have and need for something you don’t have and don’t need."

Kaden’s step halted unconsciously at those words, his lone heart shaking, just as they stepped out of the unfinished home.

He glanced at the grinning girl helping him.

"My father liked that one a lot! He even said it was better than any of the Wise Stranger’s quotes about Honour!"

"It’s... it’s interesting." Kaden replied, a strange feeling bubbling inside him. He shook his head, unwilling to think too deeply about it with his body aching the way it was.

’I need to rebuild my Heart of Fire. As soon as possible.’

He swept his eyes around, looking past the strange buildings and the equally strange people, until his gaze — shadowed by hidden grief — landed on the strangest sight of all.

A Tower.

Tall and humongous, made of black rock jutting from the ground and going menacingly toward the sky.

It looked like a black spear thrust up from the earth, but broken roughly at the top, as if some defiant creature had snapped it off mid-thrust.

Yet that strangeness came with a beauty that unsettled him, for he felt his blood rushing more feverishly through his veins at the sight of it.

Unconsciously, he took an unsteady step toward the Tower, feeling a sudden, aching need to enter it.

He didn’t move further though. Or rather, something was holding him back.

He frowned, twisted his head, and saw the girl’s hand wrapped tightly around his left arm, stopping him completely.

She was stronger than he expected, he noticed with suspicion.

"What are you doing?" He asked, then, "and what’s your name, anyway?"

The girl looked at him before slowly turning her head toward the unfinished Tower. She held her silence for a couple of breaths, then parted her lips solemnly.

"Pandora." She said. "My name is Pandora. And I forgot to share something important with you, Wounded Traveller."

She locked her ruby-red eyes onto his star-lit ones.

"Rule number one in the Malan Village."

She raised a finger.

"Never touch the Tower."

DING!

—End of Chapter 468—