Chapter 98
Lapia Pofeta, Flame of the East. Daughter of House Pofeta from the ancient Queendom of Maaruhk. Former teacher of Desseyr, a Halve. Master Wizard with years of scholastic life.
She had left her home in the chase of knowledge. To research a species nobody dared to approach with such intentions. Halves, Protectors, Azh’avun, Guardianes, and more. Every language has a word for them, for their purpose, for their role. Yet the people treat them as more than they actually are; people as everyone on Galeia. They are not much different than the rest of the species. They have hopes, dreams, wants, desires, and needs.
There is a saying in Galeia. ’When trouble comes, a Halve soon follows’. Many, if not all, wish to see a Halve in action. Their low number makes meeting one exceedingly rare, and it’s the best if they’re not chasing you. If you look back and see a Halve, think of what you’ve done. What evils you may have committed against Galeia and her people. Think hard and quick. They are not ones to butcher without reason. They are driven by conflict, for conflict. A Halve showing up means trouble already found its way there. They are a statement of solution. Of better and safer times against unfathomable dangers.
It’s always: Where are you going? What’s your class? What are your goals? Yet few ask them: How are you doing? Have you eaten? Does it hurt anywhere?
Though complex in instinct and purpose, Halves are living, breathing people. If they do the protecting all the time, who is there to protect them? From lonely times. From harsh times. Who is there to support their troubled hearts and minds after making hard decisions? Who lends them a hand after they save a city, a country, a continent?
Filestra is a prime example of this issue. Her brutality saved Leks, yet not a soul cared after her. She received praise, yes. Songs were written, cities were named after her, coin changed hands. Yet she remained alone.
Is it a surprise then, that she banned war? Is it a surprise that after years of fighting for the people, she’d make sure they stayed alive? That she’d go to the lengths of threatening to slaughter those she protected to make sure not a single child was orphaned?
All these are Lapia’s thoughts on the existence that is a Halve. ’People like us, with different drives and standards, but not much different’.
And yet, she laid on a cart. It had been days since she last saw the suns. Days since she drank any water. Days since she ate any food.
That in itself would be of no issue for a Wizard of her level, since she could hold on for a total of ten days without sustenance. Her constitution, though admittedly low, would extend the time before starvation and dehydration struck her. Being a Pyromancer, she could also actively regulate her body temperature and avoid that, though in a limited way.
The first problem was the nature of the ropes that bound her.