Blood slowly leaked out of her forehead as she rolled back onto the grass, the smell of blood assaulted his nose, and the last grasp of life left her body.
Tiy walked over to the body and pulled out the arrow from the now dead body.
"Now that's a surprise, I thought you would have put up more resistance, that goes for you too, Isaac."
Isaac took a few steps back before being sick and falling to his knees. A mix of emotions flooded into him. He knew that she was capable of killing him, and that it was a fight for his life, but that didn't change the fact that he still killed someone, even if they weren't human, they still had a life, and a family.
Tiy walked over to Isaac and crouched down in front of him with the arrow being spun between her fingers.
"You should keep this arrow close to yourself, or you might forget why you decided to take this path."
The arrow was placed into Isaac's quiver, the blood still fresh, and slowly streamed down the shaft before being caught on the fletching, turning it blood red.
Isaac was gasping for air as the process was being re-enacted inside the walls that made up his true world, and each time it was replaying inside his head. The warmth of her blood that landed on his hands, the panicked sounds as she tried to close the wound, and the gasp when she saw someone she looked up to help kill her.
Drool streamed out of Isaac's mouth, which seemed to catch Tiy's attention, and a pat on his back soon followed.
Tiy opened her mouth mid pat.
"Let me tell you about how I got my Title."
Isaac tried to focus, but the smell of the body was too much for him. He stood up and poured some of the berry syrup to attract bears, and began walking back to the lake where he had first lived.
Tiy watched and followed behind him while still talking.
"You're not the first person I've got to join my fight against the elders of the Rooters. The first person was a wanderer called Zeter, who was like a mother figure of mine."
Isaac washed out his mouth with some water while chewing on a mint like plant that left his mouth numb. Tiy, meanwhile, was now walking side by side with him.
"She had personally seen what the elders would do to girls who caught their attention, and what would happen to them. When she heard about my protests against them, she took me under her wing and helped me grow stronger."
Tiy seemed to walk calmly, but had a hint of tenseness in her shoulders which Isaac didn't notice.
"She was the one who taught me magic and how to properly use my curses. She was magnificent. Almost too much so, she felt like a dream gained physical form, her main trait allowed her to spread vitality to the land, and even to me."
The two of them arrived at the lake, where they then sat while looking into the water.
"It was around a year and a half ago when it happened. We were fighting over ruining the selection ceremony, which is kind of like a group that gets split to focus on jobs, and one of them is servants for the elders. It was also when I got picked to focus on being a wanderer."
"Zeter wanted to ruin it, while I wanted it to run normally. After a few days of fighting, I relented and agreed to ruin the ceremony. So the day before it, we torched down the ceremony using the fire that the elders treated like a god to do so."
Fire seemed to burn on top of the lake, almost like a layer of oil coated it.
"Many people watched as it burned, but the fire soon went out, which caused panic to everyone, since the fire was so sacred that the fact that it went out meant that their belief was shattered, and for a bit of time, the elders seemed to stop caring about what we did."
Tiy leaned against Isaac, her tone grew less confident and more broken.
"That was until around four months ago, unlike your people, our wanderers are brought here every two years, and only around fifteen are chosen, so I was one of the chosen, and was put near the mountains, so after a few days of walking, I arrived at the windblessed and returned home."
"We were met with applause from everyone, it felt nice for the smallest amount of time, but Zeter was not there instead, she was held up in the elder's chambers as her actions had caught up to her."
Tiy's skinny fingers wrapped around Isaac's arm.
"Once she returned from her punishment, she told me that we had to attack the elders once and for all, but when we got there, the elders were waiting for us."
Tears began streaming down Tiy's face as her voice began to crack and give up.
"We both fell to our knees, and the elders gave us an order. We had to kill each other, or we would be killed by them."
Tiy buried her head in Isaac's shoulder.
"Then Zeter tried to kill me, with a look like she was prepared for this, and I was ready to let her kill me, but something inside me wouldn't let me give up, and then."
Tears began to stain Isaac's shoulder as Tiy's grip grew stronger on his arm.
"And then I killed her. I felt the warmth leave her body, and the elders just watched it happen. I cried for days, until my throat gave out, and when I finally stopped, I was given my title, The Hollow Dame."
Tears were the only thing that could be heard for the rest of the day, as both of them gave into their grief.