Wretched and Divine

The word spread like wild fire. People travelled as far as the ends of Earth to tell others about us being around, and about our promise to humanity.
Despite being shrouded by the people of the village, we eventually left. Again, we had next to nothing on our backs, just our destination in sight.
It only took us a few hours to get to the ruins, and we were astounded by what we saw.
Piles upon piles of brick and dusty cement crowded what would’ve been the inner part of the village. Lifeless bodies were strewn across the ground, no one had gone back to find and bury their loved ones. None of their loved were alive to bury them. It struck me so personally, I couldn’t bear to look at anything but straight in front of me out into the desert, my eyesight missing the horror F.E.A.R had adorned on the ground.
We’d been wondering aimlessly about the place, not knowing what to say or what to do. We didn’t think our first visit to a F.E.A.R stricken mortal village would be as abhorrent as that one. Soon enough our interests were piqued.
A loud shuffling was heard near the west of the village, I spotted a small boy rummaging around on top of a large rubble pile. He was climbing carelessly; it was quite difficult to watch, I could just see him falling off. We all started walking over, the Mourner was shouting at him to make him stop but just as he turned his head to look at us, he slipped and tumbled down the pile, bringing some rocks with him.
We all started running over, he was just lying helplessly on the ground and we I could see a gash on top of his head; blood was seeping slowly out of it.
But all of a sudden, the sky went black as night, yet there wasn’t a moon or any stars in the sky. I froze in my spot; I’d never experienced something like it. I was more than confused and I tried to find the others. But what happened next really shook me to my core.
A loud booming voice from somewhere I didn’t know started speaking;
“We expect a battle for humanity is about to begin,
Within each uprising a vague sense of safety will ignite you in an unseen shadow without a slither of doubt,
Towards who will protect and who will defend you
Let the thoughts slip away and remain calm,
Stay close to F.E.A.R,
Only we can protect” and with that the sky returned to its normal afternoon brightness and the voice sharply trailed away.
We all looked at each other in a sudden tormented and shocked gaze. F.E.A.R had heard about us, they knew what we were going to do, and they spoke about the mortals being safe within F.E.A.R’s power. It was all lies, most words anyway. The one about a ‘battle for humanity’ was true, and we had to make sure that F.E.A.R wouldn’t stop us.
My thoughts were interrupted by a muffled groan coming from the small boy who’d landed on the ground. I rushed over and the other’s gathered around me, each of us in concern for the weak human.
I started clicking my fingers in front of his face, hoping he’d come to light. “Hey!” I gently shook his chest and he started moving his head. I sighed in relief; at least one mortal was alive.
“INIGO!”
We all snapped our heads to look behind us and I stood up.
Another mortal was running around, turning all around as she jogged and shouted. “INIGO!”
We heard another muffle from the boy, “Bell...amy”
“HEY!” The Destroyer shouted, and I saw the mortal run our way, a small look of relief on her face as she came closer to us. I moved out of the way with the others as she dropped to the floor and embraced the boy.
He’d finally come to sense and was hugging her back. I didn’t know what to do with myself, nor did the others. We all looked at each other, and I beckoned for us to move away whilst they had their moment, but we were stopped by the mortal’s words.
“Thank you, for saving him” she breathed, still gripping the boy in her arms, making sure that he didn’t leave her.
“We didn’t save him; he fell from the pile and landed at the bottom. I was just about to heal him but it went black and then you came along” the Mystic explained, walking forwards and bending down in front of her. He seemed completely calm in this situation, a direct opposite to what I was feeling.
My feelings were mixed; I couldn’t get the thought of F.E.A.R out of my mind. It was rattling there; all of the lies made me want to avenge my family quickly. But I couldn’t drag my eyes away from the female mortal who was so worried and concerned about the boy, it was obvious that they were siblings and he went wandering off. And then that made me think, what were they still doing in the demolished village?
“You can heal him?” Her face lit up for a fraction of a second, but then it dimmed a little, “Where are your medical supplies?”
I saw the Mystic shuffle his feet a little, a bit wary on how he was going to answer that question. “Well,” he began, “I-It’s better show you”
She furrowed her eyebrows a little at his words, her trust for the stranger was weak and I didn’t blame her, I knew what he was going to do. He reached his hand out a few centimetres to touch the boy’s forehead but recoiled when she gripped him closer to her body in defence.
“Please trust me.”
Her eyebrows unknotted and she let her arms loose which brought the boys’ head closer to the Mystic. He put his hand out again and touched the boy’s head where the bloody cut was. The boy winced at the pressure but the Mystic didn’t stop.
He was muttering words, not audible to even the girl and soon after mumbling he moved his fingers over the cut and it disappeared.
The girl’s face was a sight for sore eyes. Her face went slack at the sight, her mouth open wider than I thought possible. For a moment she just made noises, not even human noises.
“How…how did you do that?” she strained. The Mystic just smiled admirably.
“It’s a long story.”