《Sacrin's Lament》


 Chapter 1: A rift opens

    ¡°No, come back! I won''t hurt you!¡± Culaya ran after the startled skrill, chasing it over rocks and under bushes. The blue crustacean dodged left and right, its iridescent blue shell flashing in the sunlight as it attempted to thwart her with its erratic movements. She chased into into the brush, which snagged on her hair and raked her cheeks. But she was having too much fun to care. She almost caught the scuttling critter when her foot caught on a rock and sent her to her knees.


    Tears welled up in her eyes. However, she stifled her outburst to a mere whimper. Monu would make fun of her if he caught her crying again. She massaged her bruised knees with her hands while wiping her eyes on her sleeves. After a few minutes she got back up and looked for the skrill before spotting it perched neat the base of a boulder, only a few feet away from a hole in the dirt which she assumed was its home.


    Culaya held her breath and moved with gingerness, avoiding twigs and small rocks. Stealthily, she circled the boulder, staying low to the ground. Whenever the critter twitched, she stopped and held her breath for a few moments, then moved when she felt it wasn''t paying attention. When she reached the back of the boulder, whose height came to her chest, she slowly reached a tentative arm over it, sliding her hand bit by bit toward the burrow in the ground.


    Her plan was to block it off so the skrill could not hide in it. The skrill turned toward her and she froze, willing it to believe she was part of the landscape. I am just a tree, she thought, just a tree. It stared at her with its black, teardrop eyes, mandibles clicking slightly, then it darted toward its burrow.


    She shot her hand toward the hole in the ground and grasped the critter just in time, flinching at the creature''s grating shrieks. She had to resist squirming as it dug its jagged legs into the backs of her fingers. Once again, she found tears coming to her eyes, but she did not let go of her squirming prey. Her sense of pride overcame the discomfort of the creature''s frenetic struggle. She moved her hand to its upper shell where it could not get at her and ran through the woods toward camp. The helpless skrill vibrated in her hands as it continued to cry out.


    ¡°Monu! Monu! I caught one!¡± she called out as she neared the clearing, ¡°I caught one! A big one too!¡±


    She stopped when she saw what her brother was doing. He was busy stacking branches frt her fire. He looked up at her and gave her a bearded smile. She did not like his beard, it made him seem weird, like he became too grown up to be her brother. He looked at her, then at the wriggling skrill in her hands! ¡°Whoa!¡± he exclaimed, ¡°That is a big one! How did you catch it?!¡±


    ¡°I...I went very slowly, like...like a hunter!¡± she said excitedly, ¡°I chased it under a bush and...and it almost got away. I fell on my knees but I didn''t cry! And then...and then, I went around a rock it was on because the rock is its home. Then I got...then I got between it and its home and I grabbed it before it could run into its hole. Want to hold it?¡± she reached the skrill toward him.


    ¡°N-nonono!¡± Monu said, making a show of cowering away, ¡°That thing is scary! It might eat me! How did my little sister become such a fearsome hunter?!¡±


    Culaya laughed at his antics. She knew he was kidding, he trained to become a village guardian. There was nothing that could scare him. She sat down and looked at the skrill she had caught. It was beautiful, the shiny blue carapace looked like dyed metal and shimmered like polished jewelry, letting occasional gleams of green show up beneath the blue. The creature began to ease up on its squirming. Maybe it knew that she wouldn''t hurt it. But just as the thought crossed her mind, it let out another shriek and began to wriggle again.


    ¡°Can I keep it?¡± she asked.


    ¡°As a pet?¡± Monu asked, ¡°Or as food?


    ¡°Ew! Why would I eat it?¡±


    ¡°I was beginning to think you were a trolon in disguise, the way you devoured the snacks we brought.¡± Monu smiled as he began to sharpen his knife, sending small sparks to the ground. ¡°They snack on skrills.¡± After a few swipes, he walked over to the fish he had been hanging between the two trees. Culaya winced and looked away as he ran the knife''s tip down the fish''s stomachs.


    ¡°I am NOT a trolon!¡± she said indignantly, ¡°I want to keep him. Asher needs a friend.¡±


    ¡°Asher will eat him.¡± Monu said.


    ¡°He will not!¡± Culaya insisted, ¡°I will train him not to.¡±


    ¡°Asher will eat it. Racors prey on little scurrying animals. Asher has been hunting skrill since he was a hatchling.¡±


    ¡°Oh...¡± Culaya said, sounding crestfallen, ¡°What does ''prey'' mean?¡±


    ¡°Hmmm...¡± Monu said thoughtfully, ¡°To prey on something means you hunt it. I preyed on these fish. And those fish prey on flies that get too close to the water. That makes me the predator to the fish, and the fish are predators of those flies. Racors are predators of skrills and other small animals.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Culaya said, ¡°And we are uh...prey to the...to the lords?¡±


    Monu remained silent for a few moments as he continued to skin the fish. When he spoke again, he sounded almost upset. ¡°What gave you that idea?¡± he asked.


    ¡°A grown-up said it.¡± Culaya said.


    ¡°I am going to tell you a secret, you must not tell anybody else,¡± Monu said, sounding mischievous, ¡°But some grown-ups are full of walg-dung. The Nikral are scary, but they aren''t our predators. They only punish criminals, like thieves, killers, and little girls who get twigs caught in their hair.¡±


    Culaya paused for a moment, then ran a hand through her hair until she felt a few tiny sticks. She brushed them out and held one up in front of the skrill to see if it would eat it. The creature clicked menacingly but it did not do anything more than that. She tossed the twig aside and walked over to a fallen log to sit down. She ran a finger over the shimmering carapace of the creature and made funny faces at her distorted reflections in its shell. She imagined she was a trolon or a racor, trying to pretend what a skrill would taste like. But the thought felt sour to her as she looked into the creature''s small, sad eyes. How could anybody eat something as beautiful as this? She was about to ask her brother this when she noticed him wrapping the fish inside of giant leaves.


    ¡°Why are you doing that?¡± she demanded.


    ¡°This is a trick I learned from a friend at Shonio. These are Oden leaves,¡± he said, ¡°When you cook them in the fire, the steam from the leaves will give the fish a fragrant taste.¡±


    ¡°Fragrant?¡± Culaya repeated.


    ¡°They will taste good.¡± Monu tore a long thing strip of the leaves and wrapped it around the pouches he had made.


    ¡°I don''t trust you.¡± she eyed him suspiciously. Sighing, he tore a section of one of the leaves, crumpled it up and brought it to her. To her surprise, it smelled tart like fresh fruit. Laughing at her expression, Monu left the crumpled-up leaf on her lap and went back to wrapping the fish. She hesitated for a moment before bending down to pick it up and smell it again. Suddenly the skrill she''d caught reached for it with its front legs wriggling in the air. Delighted, she let the creature grab the leaf from her hands and draw it into its mandibles. It made soft crunching noises as it chewed.


    ---


    Monu grinned as he took glances at his sister feeding the rock-scraper, as if she were its mother. She insisted that it was growing to trust her, but the truth was the creatures were fairly dim. They only knew how to eat moss, lichen, and how to run and hide. It did not trust her, it had already forgotten the danger she represented. As soon as she decided to put it on the ground, he had no doubt it would scurry away shrieking. However, he didn''t want to spoil her fun. It was his first trel back home and he had promised he would take his sister camping in Runak Valley despite his stepmother''s objections.


    ¡°That place gets black fog!¡± she had said, ¡°What if you both get caught in one?¡±


    But the black fog was the reason he came here. It was a tradition of sorts. When Monu was young, his father took him camping in Runak Valley, entertained and scared him with horror stories of the black fog before taking him into the valley to show him the eerie clouds that frequently ran through the it. And his father''s father did the same thing. And his father''s father''s father...well, let''s just say he was simply passing on the tradition, only instead of him taking his child, he was taking his younger sister, who was almost young enough to be his child.


    Monu waited for a decent bed of coals and ash to form before he dug a small trough for the fish. Then he laid them on bare dirt and covered them with embers. As they began to cook, he selected two sets of trees and began to hang the hammocks, one for him and one for his sister. Without letting go of the skrill, she hopped into hers and began to swing back and forth, singing a familiar village rhyme but messing up the words. She was only six after all, young, smart, but innocently foolish.


    ¡°Careful Aydin,¡± he said, ¡°Don''t fall out, you will crack your head.¡±


    ¡°Aydin?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Cuyala...¡± he corrected. Damn, she reminded him of his other little sister. It had been ages since they lost her, but the lingering memories still caused a small ache. He supposed that was why he had taken to Cuyala so quickly, despite how strange it was for his father to sire another child after all these years. Though Aydin and Cuyala had completely different personalities, Aydin, from what he could remember of her, had been soft-spoken while Cuyala is blunt and demanding, like a little tyrant.


    ¡°You''re going to make your friend sick,¡± Monu warned playfully as he draped a net over his hammock. Cuyala looked at the skrill in her hand and continued to sing louder. ¡°I am serious, he will vomit on you.¡± Monu continued. She gave him a look that clearly said ¡°You are an idiot.¡±


    As the sky dimmed, the fire began to cast dancing shadows along the trees. A few three-eyed yiks began to slither up the trunks from their burrows to catch the various starpieds, the glowing larvae which began to poke from the wood. Cuyala released her captive skrill and began to poke at the yiks while the crustacean skittered into the brush. When she got bored of harassing the docile serpentine crawlers, she began to gather starpieds and collect them in her shirt. Soon she had several handfuls of the glowing wrigglers and dumped them into a glass jar which they had brought for the purpose. Monu remembered fondly collecting those when he was a kid.


    ¡°I''m hungry.¡± his sister blurted out.


    ¡°So am I,¡± Monu admitted, ¡°Let''s see if they''re ready.¡±


    He used a small spade to sweep the coals and ash aside, then he lifted the charred pouches from the dirt and set them aside. ¡°Ooo, that''s hot!¡± he exclaimed as he delicately unwrapped the fish, releasing a cloud of steam. ¡°But that smells amazing...¡±


    ¡°Yeah...¡± Cuyala added, entranced by the smell.


    ¡°Now we''ll let it cool down, then we''ll eat with our hands.¡± Monu said, ¡°How often do we get to do that?!¡±


    ¡°Never.¡± she grinned.


    He cut each fish to help it vent and soon they were tearing white chunks off the bone. It was perfect, the outside was slightly seared, the inside was flaky to the touch and the Oden leaves imparted the meat the perfect amount of citrus-like tang. Cuyala almost seemed to devour the fish. With all of the energy she spent earlier, running around, jumping in rivers and chasing skrills, climbing the various weaver trees that threaded the area, it was no wonder she was left famished. He suspected she would fall into a deep slumber as soon as she climbed into her hammock. But, he planned to terrify her first.


    ¡°Do you want to hear a story?¡± he asked her.


    ¡°No.¡± she said defiantly. Though a mischievous smirk curled the corners of her snout.


    ¡°Oh come on, I know you want to hear a story,¡± Monu insisted, ¡°It''s a true one too, because it happened to me. It was about the time I traveled through a cloud of black fog.¡±


    ¡°You did not.¡± she said.


    ¡°I''m not lying,¡± Monu cleaned a bone off in his teeth, then threw it into the fire, ¡°It was part of our training.¡±


    Cuyala was looking at him while still wearing a smirk on her face, though it seemed a bit more subdued by worry. He could almost see the conflict in her little mind: Is he lying? Is he telling the truth? Finally, she said ¡°Shara says black fogs are haunted. She says the dead will take you away.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they are,¡± Monu said, ¡°But I wasn''t taken away, neither was anybody else in my class. Maybe we got lucky.¡± He grinned.


    After a moment, his sister asked, ¡°Were you scared?¡±


    ¡°I was,¡± he said seriously, ¡°In fact it was one of the scariest things I have ever done in my life. But I had to do it. Guardians cannot be afraid. Our fear is our curse. We cannot fight if we are afraid and so, to conquer our fear...we had to risk being taken away, we had to risk the phantoms of the black fog.¡±


    Monu picked up a stick and prodded the fire, sending up a flurry of embers. ¡°I am going to tell you a story of the first time I ventured into a cloud of black fog,¡± But instead of starting immediately, he let the fire crackle and closed his eyes. He listened to the sounds of the forest, the silence between breezes, the treetop dwellers that occasionally called to each other. He remembered the night his father took him here and told him stories. ¡°It was a valley just like this one,¡± he began, ¡°The sides had fewer trees and bushes, but in all other ways, it was just like Runak Valley.¡±


    ¡°Did it have weaver trees?¡± Culaya interrupted.


    ¡°No, weaver trees do not grow in that region,¡± Monu said, ¡°Even if there were weaver trees, we guardians would not be allowed to play on them as little kids do.¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Guardians are boring.¡± his sister said.


    ¡°You are ruining my story, kid!¡± Monu chastised, ¡°Anyway...we were standing in a valley much like this one, waiting for a cloud of black fog to come. It was hot and we were sweating in our armor, waiting for word from some scouts ahead, who would let us know when they spotted a cloud of black fog. We acted tough, but the truth was we were all hoping it would not come. We told jokes to each other to give us more courage. It was...¡± Monu paused, ¡°around evening when one of the scouts came down and told us a cloud had been spotted and was heading our way. So we waited silently...waited for what seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly, everything became very quiet.¡±


    Monu stopped and lowered his voice to a whisper, ¡°The birds in the trees stopped singing to each other. The animals around us began to scurry into their burrows, then the birds took flight.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Culaya asked, worry and fascination in her voice.


    ¡°The animals...somehow they always know it is coming,¡± he said, ¡°They know the black fog is coming and they are terrified of it. They left us standing in silence. We waited....and waited...straining to see the first glimpse. Suddenly, a wind began to pick up from the valley, gentle at first, but growing stronger by the second. But we this was no ordinary wind...¡±


    Culaya saw that she was supposed to ask, so she did. ¡°What was it?¡±


    ¡°They were the forewinds that preceded the black fog,¡± Monu said, ¡°They came ahead of it. When you feel the forewinds...you know black fog is coming your way, you know it is time to run...¡± he paused to let the tension build. ¡°But we were brave...terrified, but brave. Not a single one of us ran. And then...I saw it! I saw my first glimpse of the black fog! It was terrible, like night and shadows pouring across the ground! It was coming for me, faster than any cloud of fog I have ever seen."


    "I wanted to run," he continued, "I want to get away, but it was too late! It came over me! When it did, I thought I had been taken away by the spirits. I could not see anything except a strange purple light. But then I heard my friends whispering nearby and knew I had not been taken by the spirits. I was no longer afraid, I had my friends with me. I began to walk along the trail we had been waiting on, though I could not see anything. I used my arms and legs to feel around, until I could find the rail. Our goal was to make it to the end while the black fog remained upon us.¡±


    ¡°You...were playing a game in the black fog?¡±


    ¡°Not a game...well, I guess it was,¡± Monu said, ¡°We had to conquer our fear and reach the end. That was the game. And now that I knew I had my friends with me, I was no longer afraid of anything except for tripping. But, I thought my friends were still being cowards. I tried to say something to them, tell them to follow me, but they kept whispering to themselves. A few of them sounded like they were crying. I nearly jumped when I felt one of them grab my arm.¡±


    ¡°Why did he do that?¡± his sister asked.


    ¡°It was an accident,¡± Monu said, ¡°We could not see each other, we only saw this purple light all around us.¡±


    ¡°But...I thought the fog was black...¡±


    ¡°It was until we were inside it,¡± Monu said, ¡°Anyway, my comrade was too afraid to speak, so I led him along the trail, finding my way by moving my hand along the rail, feeling the trail with my feet for any rocks and holes that might trip us. I asked my friend who it was, but he did not answer. That was when I began to notice something strange about the whispers that I thought belonged to my friends. They were speaking in another language. And none of the voices belonged to anybody I knew.¡±


    Monu had to stifle a grin when he saw how still Culaya became.


    ¡°The voices...¡± he continued, ¡°they were echoing all around me. I knew then they were not my friends. Those voices...they belonged to the fog. I did not know what happened to my friends, only that one of them was still holding onto me, both of us too afraid to speak. Knowing he was there gave me courage, so I continued along the trail, with my friend''s footsteps following behind. I was so terrified that the stories were true, that I was listening to the spirits of the dead, that I would become one of them.¡±


    ¡°We traveled in this purple darkness with whispers following us, walking for what seemed like days. I heard strange things, footsteps running past us, children...or things that sounded like children giggling. But I knew we had to be close to the end, I could not see how far we had come. I knew because we crossed a bridge, a bridge that was very close to the end of the trail. I wanted to run, to finish it off and be done with it. But...what if...what if I reached the end and I was still trapped in the fog? As I was thinking these things, I felt something wet...wet and slick with saliva run up my arm. My friend...he had licked it.¡±


    ¡°W-what..¡± Culaya said, her voice soft.


    ¡°I was about to ask him why he would do such a thing but the next moment I was blinded by sunlight. I put a hand over my eyes and looked between my fingers like this.¡± He placed his hand on his face and peered through his spread fingers. ¡°We had reached the end of the black fog and I was watching it retreat. At the same time, I felt the grip that held my arm disappear. And my friend...the mysterious one who I thought had been holding it...he was nowhere to be seen. None of them were...¡±


    He waited a few good long moments, letting the implications sink in, letting her little imagination work up its own explanations. Then he let a devious grin spread across his snout. ¡°CUYALA!¡± he abruptly bellowed, causing his sister to scream ¡°I made most of it up!¡±


    The next few minutes involved him laughing as he attempted to calm his sister down, who was punching him.. ¡°Okay, okay! I''m sorry!¡± he laughing at the snarling noises Culaya made. ¡°I made most of it up!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ''most''?!¡± she demanded.


    ¡°Do you want to hear the real story?¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°We did enter the black fog, we could not see anything, but there were no whispers, no phantoms that gripped me, and nothing licked me!¡± he said, laughing. It was not completely truthful. There had been whispers, strange whispers, phantom footsteps. The grip on his arm had been real, but it had been his leader pulling a joke on him. The ¡°wet tongue¡± had actually been a rag soaked in bag of porridge that his leader had somehow kept hidden on his person.


    ¡°Listen...listen...¡± Monu repeated, ¡°Father took me here when I was a kid, terrified me with stories of the black fog. And his father took him here, told him stories too. I do not have a kid, but you are the next best thing. And we are going to get to see it tonight!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Culaya snapped.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Monu said, laughing, ¡°Runak Valley gets black fog almost every night during this season.¡±


    ¡°Then I want to leave!¡± shedemanded, anger hardening her voice so it resembled his stepmother''s...her mother''s voice.


    ¡°We will be fine!¡± Monu reassured her, ¡°It stays low in the valley. We are far too high up for it. We will go to the nearby cliff and watch it from there.¡±


    ¡°I do not care, I want to leave!¡± She began to stomp in the direction of trail which led back to spot where they tethered Dinin.


    There were a few smoldering embers left when they got back to camp. She had attempted in vain to climb Dinin''s head, saying she would take the warg home herself if she had to. As Monu predicted, the story left her shaken just as his father''s story had left him shaken. But through some gentle coaxing, he convinced her to return with him to camp. Her spent energy finally began to catch up to her, exacting its toll for all the running around.


    When he tucked her into her hammock, all it took was for a few minutes of gentle swinging. However, he found that as soon as he stopped, she would stir again and complain, insisting that he stay and sleep under her. Relenting, he stayed until he was absolutely certain she was deep asleep. Then he retreated to his own hammock, kicked off his boots and swung into it. He strung a piece of stormcrest to the ridgeline and laid back.


    He had traveled into black fogs so often since then that the thought of them did not frighten him anymore. No, it was not true, they were still eerie and they filled him with a sense of unease. But the phantoms whispers had become little more than natural phenomena to him. Storms had lightning and thunder, winds howled when they passed through certain passages, and rain turned the dirt into mud. Black fogs enshrouded you in a world of bodiless whispers. Instead, Monu''s thoughts drifted to the comment Cuyala made earlier about the lords. ¡°We are prey to the lords?¡± ¡°A grown up said it.¡±


    Had news of the retribution feast already made its way to Inshod? He did not know the details of the protest that incurred the wrath of the Nikral, but it had been years since the last feast. It was a punishment they usually did not carry out lightly. But according to Athu, more and more villages were beginning to question their right to rule. Perhaps spies from the south were secretly spreading propaganda? He knew very little about the land on the other side of the Grand Spikes. Though it was his dream to someday travel and see the divide for himself. Not to cross it, but to stand in awe at the majestic upheavals. His thoughts slowly became incoherent as his hammock swayed. Soon, he was asleep.


    ---


    He knew black fog was in the valley, or at least close by, when the stormcrest he had strung from the hammock''s ridgeline began to shimmer. He sat up, planted his feet on the ground and went into the woods to relieve himself. Looking around by the dim light of the stormcrest, he saw that the yiks which hang from the branches all around him were already beginning to slither toward their burrows even though it was still plenty dark. The tree-leapers, the barklings, the kulkain would all be doing the same. This too, was something he did not make up in his tale. Even the animals were afraid of black fog. Only insects remained, perhaps too stupid to know fear. Monu returned to camp, picked up his lantern and whispered a gleaning to it. The wick immediately flickered to life. Then he approached his sister''s hammock.


    ¡°Culaya,¡± he whispered, nudging her shoulder gently. ¡°Get up, I want to show you something.¡±


    A soft whine escaped her lips as she stirred. ¡°Go away...¡± she whimpered, turning away from the lantern''s light.


    Monu walked to the other side, set the lantern on the ground and got to his knees so that he was level with her face, grinning at her through the weave in the hammock. ¡°Come on, you don''t want to miss this, I promise. I want to show you something really neat!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± she demanded, a child''s protest lacing her voice. ¡°Is it blafog?


    ¡°Blafog?¡± he repeated, ¡°I have no idea what that is, child. But I do want to show you black fog. It is the perfect night to see it because the clouds are blocking the moons.¡±


    At this, she hid in her blankets and refused to come out. That was until he bribed her by promising to buy her any toy she wanted from Waren''s shop when they got back to Inshod. She sat up, hair frayed, fixating him with a tired glare that she also must have inherited from his stepmother. Then he eased her down as she climbed clumsily out of the hammock. He helped her put on her shoes and threw a blanket over her shoulders, then picked up a second lantern and whispered another gleaning to it. Like the first lantern, this one also flickered to life.


    ¡°Careful you don''t burn yourself,¡± he warned. All he got in response was an undignified grunt. ¡°Okay, come on, if we''re lucky we''ll get there before the fog passes below us!¡±


    They followed a trail away from camp, casting dancing circled of lantern light in front of them. To their left and right, the yiks continued their rapid descent, their slithering brown forms, camouflaged against the bark, made the trees look as if they were melting. Dozens of ground-crawlers began to scurry across the path to find their homes, fleeing the low-dwelling storm they felt coming. The whole woods around him seemed to come to life with the noise of scuttling, hopping, frantic creatures.


    He felt Culaya clench his hand. He returned the grasp affectionately, reassuring her. She clasped to his side as a flock of bird suddenly launched directly above them, squawking. But soon the noise began to subside as its denizens found their shelters. Eventually, all noise, save for the occasional whine of an insect, disappeared, leaving silence draped over the forest like a pall. The woods around seemed to be holding its breath and even the trees themselves, in the flickering lantern light, seemed to clench the ground with anticipation.


    ¡°Okay, we are approaching the cliff,¡± Monu said, ¡°Be extra careful and do not leave my side.¡± He did not get a response.


    The forest parted around them as they walked out onto a peninsula of stone overlooking Runak Valley. Though they could not see it in this darkness, Monu knew that Runak Run, the river which ran through the valley, came toward their peninsula from the North before taking a sharp turn away from them to the East. He did not know the direction the black fog would come from, it could be either. He kept a firm grip on his sister''s hand as they proceeded further and further onto the narrowing peninsula, cliffs dropping on all sides. If his stepmother had known he would be taking Culaya here, where a fall would most certainly kill her, she would never agreed to let her daughter come.


    ¡°Good!¡± Monu said, looking around, ¡°Looks like we beat it. We got here before the fog did.¡±


    ¡°How would you know?¡± Culaya asked, her olive skin looked bronze in the flickering lantern light.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Monu asked.


    ¡°How would you see black fog at night?¡± she asked.


    ¡°It looks different at night. You will see. Now we just wait.¡± He sat down a few feet away from the cliff. She reluctantly did the same, setting her lantern down with a ¡°clink¡± and curling inside of her blanket. They did not have to wait very long before the wind picked up, blowing from the North. It was a smooth constant breeze that seemed to increase in intensity by the moment...the forewind. The leaves of the forest behind them whispered nervously, as if smelling ill on the wind''s eddies. Then Monu saw it, a faint violet glimmering.


    ¡°Here it comes.¡± He whispered, pointing in its direction.


    The look of nocturnal black fog was unmistakable and indescribable, memorizing and confusing. That they were clouds was only implied by the shape of their silhouettes alone, pouring quickly along the floor of the valley. But they appeared to have no depth nor dimension. They glowed faintly with a deep purple, mottled with flickering black spots. They were similar to the spots he saw when he received a blow to the head, and they did not move with the clouds. Instead, they all stayed in the same place, as if the black fog were simply a window into their world. Monu knew from experience that if he approached the fog, the spots would appear to grow in size as they should. Instead, they would remain the same size and more spots would be revealed at the cloud''s edges.


    As the fog rolled across the valley, it looked less like fog and more like the paint left behind by the brush of some invisible giant artist. Only at its edges, which outlined its shape could Monu see the hints of churning clouds and twirling whisps. Everywhere else seemed to be a constant, depthless dance of indigo and ebony phosphenes. Grinning, Monu blew out his lamp and watched the eerie, yet beautiful glow of the phenomenon illuminate the valley. Soon, it passed their peninsula and turned East. Tendrils of fog reached up and swayed like arms, revealing more hidden black-upon-purple speckling, before collapsing upon themselves. These were quickly replaced by new tendrils, which also collapsed.


    ¡°It¡¯s reaching for us...¡± Culaya''s whisper was barely audible. Monu pulled her close.


    ¡°We will be fine, we are too far up,¡± Monu said, ¡°Well, what do you think?¡±


    Cuyala did not answer for a while. They continued to watch as pillars of the black fog continued to twirl upward and engage each other in a dance before twisting themselves into nothingness.


    ¡°It''s pretty...¡± she said, softly. Monu grinned in the darkness. It was beautiful. It was mesmerizing because of its disorientation. If people were not so terrified of it, perhaps he would see more fires among the trees. But they had reasons to fear it, reasons that began to manifest themselves as Monu and his sister watched. They began to hear beneath the rustle of leaves, the faintest hints of the black fog''s whispering. Hushed voices, both male and female seemed to lick at their ears from below. The fog breathed with a subtle constant seething, echoing with the chittering of unseen creatures.


    ¡°I don''t like it,¡± Cuyala said, raising her hands to her ears. ¡°I want to go. I thought you said the...you made it up. The voices...¡±


    Monu felt a pang of guilt, ¡°Did I say that?¡± he said, ¡°There is nothing to worry about. They mean nothing. Look...watch this,¡± He stood up and stepped closer to the edge of the cliff. Then he bellowed out into the valley ¡°You better not scare my sister, black fog! Or else you''ll have to suffer my wrath!¡±


    ¡°Monu...stop...¡± his sister pleaded.


    ¡°You hear that?!?¡± he continued to shout, ¡°She wants me to stop because she knows what I can do to you! I will come right down there with my sword and hack you to a thousand pieces! You hear that fog?! I will say a single word and set you on fire!¡± He stooped down to pick up a rock and threw it as hard as he could. It arced through the air and fell until it pierced the violet miasma below. A few of the fog''s whispers rode the wind but nothing happened.


    ¡°Are you still scared?¡± Monu asked.


    ¡°A little...¡± Culaya said, but she seemed less afraid than she had been a moment ago.


    ¡°Should I go fight it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah...¡± she said.


    He turned back to the valley ¡°You hear that fog?! She wants me to fight you! You made her angry and now she has no more sympathy for you! I am going to start climbing down now fog! You better get out of here before I get to you! Here I come!¡± Then he turned toward his sister. ¡°You ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Are you really going to fight it?¡± she asked tiredly.


    ¡°Do you really want me to?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°All right, then we''ll head back to camp and get some sleep.¡± He whispered a gleaning to his lantern and it flickered back to life. Then he helped his sister to her feet and began to head back toward the forest. He saw her dragging her feet, so he hoisted her onto his back and began to piggyback to the trees. There, the tradition has been fulfilled, in a way.


    Maybe when he had kids, he would take them here as well, or perhaps Culaya would take her kids here. Now he only hoped his sister would be able to get to sleep when they returned to the camp. These thoughts were interrupted, however, as a chilling noise arose from the valley behind them.


    There arose a sound resembling a loud wail, the cry of a person wrought with despair. Monu stopped, spun around just in time to see a dance of light beams pierce the sky, bright enough to be frozen lightning bolts. They stayed for a few moments, illuminating every tree for miles, before vanishing into night.


    He set his sister down, told her to stay and ran back out onto the peninsula. He scanned the valley below where he noticed an opening in the black fog, a circle on the shoreline from which it seemed to retreat. Dimly lit by the fog''s ambiance was the silhouette of a man lying on the ground, holding his torso. Then the black fog washed over him.

 Chapter 2: Stranger

    Culaya was crying as he ran back toward the camp. Could he blame her? She was tired and afraid. Suddenly, he regretted bringing along a child to see the black fog. But how could he have known what would have happened? What did happen anyway? Those beams of light, where did they come from and why did they leave behind a wounded man? Was he some sort of gapling whose experiment went awry? No, Monu himself was considered a gapling and and he barely had any power. Perhaps he was some sort of ardent or gapmaster? Either way, the man appeared to be wounded. How severe the wounds were, Monu had not a clue. He only caught a glimpse of the figure and knew he had to be rescued. So instead of stopping at the camp, he ran past it and continued down the trail until he reached the spot where they tethered Dinin. The warg was busy chewing uselessly on a rock, his mandible clicking against the stone. Monu set his sister on the ground and squatted to her level, his hands on her shoulders.


    ¡°I will buy you Warin''s entire store.¡± He said ¡°I will buy you every toy he has. But we''re both going to have to do something scary. There''s a man down in the valley and he''s hurt. We are the only ones who can help him.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± She protested, ¡°I do NOT want to go down there!¡±


    ¡°Look!¡± Monu withdrew his stormcrest, the flickers were growing dimmer. ¡°The fog is leaving. We will not have to go through it. We have to take Dinin and use him to climb down. It will be a rough ride, but he can do it.¡±


    ¡°Off a cliff?¡±


    ¡°No, we''ll find another way down. There is a trail that leads to Runak Run. Look, would you rather I leave you here?¡±


    He could see the thought horrified her even before she spoke. ¡°No...¡±


    ¡°Every toy in Warin''s store.¡± he repeated, then he patted her on the back. He knew he would regret that promise later, but if it allowed him to bribe his sister, then it was necessary.


    He hoisted Culaya onto one of Dinin''s front-most segments, untethered the beast from its tree, and pulled himself up after her. After strapping them both onto the saddle, he tucked his legs into the crevice behind Dinin''s head and whispered a gleaning into the lantern mounted on the saddle. It flared to life and projected a narrow beam that widened just enough to illuminate the warg''s path. Pulling the reins, he turned the warg in a fluid motion and barked a command. With ten legs on either side, the beast shot forward like flowing water, weaving along the road they had taken. Monu turned Dinen into the trail that led toward the riverbed.


    The rhythmic clatter of the warg''s claws echoed through the night as he flowed over dirt and rock. Every now and then, Monu would hold onto his sister to keep her from hurting herself whenever Dinin crawled over a fallen log. Occasionally, he had to duck under a low branch though thankfully, there weren''t many of those. The beast''s smoothness belied the speed and dexterity at which it moved. When it came across small ravines, it arched its front end like a bridge over them instead of falling in. Before they knew it, Dinin had reached the shore of the Runik Run.


    As he had predicted, the fog was no longer present. In fact, starpieds began to crawl back out of their hiding places and the yikai climbed to eat them. Where had that man been? Monu chose a direction he thought was the right way. Dinen navigated the various rocks and boulders as if they were little more than waves on water. The clouds made the search easier by thinning and allowing a little bit of the twin moon''s light shine through. Monu flinched at every fallen log, tree, shadow that may have been a man. Eventually they rounded a large boulder and found what they were looking for. A large, long rut had been gouged into the gravel as if one of the Nikral''s totem walkers had dragged a massive finger through the shore. At the end of the rut lay the figure they had been looking for, surrounded by metal debris.


    ¡°Okay, stay here.¡± Monu said, freeing himself from his sister, who had been burying her head in his chest. He left her on Dinin''s back and slid down, his feet crunching gravel. He hurried his way over to the figure, who must have tried to crawl since appearing in the black fog, for now the figure was lying face down, unmoving. He feared the worst when he heard the man groan.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Monu said, catching up to the figure, pausing briefly when he noticed the stranger''s bizarre attire. He had seen nothing like it in the entire world: arms and legs adorned with fabric that looked as if it had been woven with fine hair-thin threads of gray-black metal. There were no seams that he could detect, just a continuous ¡°skin¡± of metal weaving. His lantern cast bands of light across the beautiful yet outlandish material. The weaving seemed to coalesce into a segmented carapace along the man''s spine. There were a series of symbols written along the odd structure, but they were part of a language Monu did not recognize. What kind of work was this? As he was pondering the strange dialect, the man on the groun groaned and tried to crawl forward.


    ¡°Hey, friend?¡± Monu said moving to the stranger''s side, ¡°Are you all right?¡±


    The stranger lifted his head and looked at Monu. From front to back, his pale-white flesh was completely devoid of any hair, not even on his eyebrows. His eyes were dark orbs of obsidian, pupils so black they seemed to refuse light. And his ears were not bisected as a normal man''s were. Instead, they were fused together with only the mere hint of a seam, thin skin where the split should have been. Several blisters bubbled around strange metal gauges, or ¡°holes¡± embedded in the stranger''s temples. It was grotesque, why would anybody put gauges in their skull? He did not want to look into them for fear of seeing the stranger''s brain. A streak of blood trickled from the stranger''s mouth, looking stark against the ashen flesh. Monu startled involuntarily at the strange individual. he really did look like one of the dead. Could the myths about the black fog be true after all? The stranger stared at him as if expecting something from him before simply scowling and continued to drag himself forward, toward a pile of strange metal debris. Where did that come from?


    ¡°Whoa, slow down friend!¡± Monu said, ¡°You should not be moving. You....just wait here.¡±


    He left the crawling man briefly and grabbed a canteen of water from Dinen''s back. When he returned, the stranger had pulled himself up to the pile of metal debris, his arms trembling. He was tossing aside pieces of shrapnel and trash as if looking for something. Monu placed a hand on his shoulder. The man flinched and immediately grabbed some sort of twisted metal rod, then he swung it around like a bludgeon. Perhaps if he had been in a better physical condition, the blow would have landed. But the man was slow and uncoordinated, his dizziness was clear from the way he stumbled back to the ground.


    Monu leapt back ¡°Hey, calm yourself stranger. I am not your enemy.¡± He held up the canteen. The man fixed him with a look of menace and fear, but he seemed to comprehend what Monu said. Without putting down the bludgeon, he took a seat and held out his palm, accepting the canteen. He inspected it for a moment, pulled the cap off and took several long swills. As the man drank, Monu began to have doubts. The man was clearly not in his right mind, that was obvious. He was violent, afraid perhaps, but of what? Was he some sort of escaped criminal? Was he some sort of spirit that manifested himself out of the black fog''s miasma? What danger would he be putting his sister in if he tried to help the man? He glanced back at Dinin to make sure his Cuyala was still there. He could barely see her shadowy silhouette crouching on the warg''s head.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± Monu asked when the stranger quenched his thirst.


    Instead of answering, the man tossed the canteen to him and resumed his search, pushing aside pieces of strange metal. Where did all that metal come from anyway? It was beautiful, pure, unblemished alloy, as if some majestic work of art had been demolished moments ago. But it was not just metal that he noticed, but also bits of glass, strange torn ¡°leaves¡± with images on them fluttering around. Vines of red and orange grew from apertures in the metal. Where they broke, they revealed cores of copper. Not vines, Monu thought, some sort of cords. The stranger reached a heavy metal slab and tried to lift it, but the exertion almost caused him to faint. Frantic, he began to dig at the gravel with the bludgeon he carried, as if he meant to burrow under the slab. Monu hesitated, then he stepped forward, preparing to defend himself if the man attacked again. The man did hear him coming and raised his cudgel as a warning. But when he saw Monu position himself on one side of the slab, he hesitated and took up his position on the other side. Monu stared straight ahead and groaned as he heaved upward, his shoulders protesting acutely. They both lifted and dragged the plate to the side before dropping it to the ground.


    The man staggered over to the thing he had been looking for. At first, Monu thought he was looking at the skeleton of some strange beast. But it was not bone he was looking at, more of the pure metal. He saw a chassis, something that resembled legs protruding from beneath it and where the ¡°head¡± should have been, there was instead a large black dome made of either glass or polished crystal. An eye perhaps? The man stood the construct up on upon its legs and Monu saw something that could have been a saddle, or a seat on its back. But before he could speculate on what he was seeing, the man approached a large container near the construct''s posterior and reached through it. Through it? Monu''s eyes must be playing tricks on him. He blinked twice, but he was not mistaken. The man had his arm submerged in the walls of the container as if it were no more substantial than air.


    The stranger pulled his arm back, producing a large gray cylinder whose sides swung open to reveal an array of smaller metallic vials. Each vial had a crudely drawn representation of a face on it. Some were frowning, others were smiling, scowling, screaming. Others had not faces, but crude child-like pictographs of people sleeping, leaping, laughing, performing all sorts of gestures. Before Monu could read them all, the stranger sat down and raised a hand up to his right bicep and ran a finger across the only seam in the entire garment. It opened to its touch, as if his finger were a knife. Embedded in the man''s bicep were several more of those grotesque gauges, metal holes in the man''s pale flesh. To Monu''s horror and disgust, one of the holes ejected a small vial. It was identical to the ones in the cylinder. Then it ejected another and a third soon followed. The man grabbed three more vials, one with an image of a man sprinting, another with a smile, and another representing a grinning man with a knife jutting out of his chest. He pushed each one into the same gauge, then ejected the other three, closed the sleeve over it, then took a deep breath. In seconds, his trembling subsided and his breathing steadied. A slight smile crossed the man''s face as he pushed himself up off the ground and looked at Monu.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°Khelen.¡± he said, his voice sounded raspy but young. In fact, he sounded no older than Monu himself. But it was difficult to discern his age. The hairlessness of his face gave him an ashen, ageless look. He stood as if he had not moments ago been on the verge of collapsing.


    ¡°K-khelen?¡± Monu repeated.


    ¡°Khelen.¡± Khelen repeated, tapping his chest.


    ¡°Uh....Monu.¡± Monu said.


    ¡°Monu...¡± Khelen repeated. ¡°Cypher...is dying.¡±


    ¡°Cypher?¡± Monu repeated, ¡°Is Cypher a friend of yours?¡±


    ¡°Cypher is dying.¡± Khelen repeated, a hint of irritation in his voice.


    Monu paused, ¡°...I don''t understand, friend.¡±


    ¡°It malfunctions. Are we...near a city?¡±


    ¡°Uh...the nearest village is Inshod. It is not far but...¡± Monu began but Khelen cut him off.


    ¡°Village?¡± Khelen looked confused for a moment, as if the word were unfamiliar to him. ¡°No time... Take me, I will reward you.¡±


    ¡°Hold on friend,¡± Monu said, ¡°There may not be time for questions, but I cannot just take you back to my village after...after you just tried to attack me. You could be a danger to me, my sister...¡±


    ¡°I will answer later.¡± Khelen cut him off, anger in his voice. ¡°I will reward you. I am in Saxion¡¯s favor.¡±


    The strange individual walked over to the skeletal structure, bent his knees and picked it up, his muscles bulging underneath his strange weave. He began to drag it toward Dinin, the legs of the structure bouncing off the rocks. Monu froze for a few moments of utter confusion before running up beside Khelen, having apparently decided to help the man. But wasn''t that his duty anyway? Wasn''t that the reason he came down here in the first place? Without knowing why he did it, he helped the man carry the construct to the warg''s posterior, then used a rope to hoist it up. It was heavy, but Monu expected it to be far heavier, considering the material it was made from. He also expected it to come to life as the glass dome seemed to glare at him in the lantern light as he tied several knots around the legs.


    Why am I doing this? Monu thought to himself. Who was this man, who was Saxion, the entity in whom he supposedly found favor? Who, or ''what'' was Cypher? More importantly, what was he doing in the black fog, what were those lights, and how was he standing when moments before he was on the verge of passing into unconsciousness? He comforted his sister as Khelen continued to gather stuff from the glittering refuse.


    ¡°I do not know why he attacked, but he is not a spirit,¡± he said, ¡°In fact, I think he was afraid I was a spirit.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± she asked in a voice quivered with exhaustion.


    ¡°Yes. I also think...¡± excitement and dread filled Monu''s chest as a possibility occurred to him, ¡°I think he may be favored by a Nikral. I saw him do things...well, I think he may be very well-liked by a lord somewhere, one called Saxion. He said he would reward us if we help him!¡±


    But his sister was too tired to understand any of it. In fact, she was already laying sideways across Dinin''s back, falling asleep. He reached up to stoke her hair and then helped Khelen load the rest of his wares into the bags on the Warg''s sides. He treated them gingerly, arranging them so they would not clang against each other. If one of the Nikral held Khelen in high opinion, then he would do everything he could to earn the man''s favor. After the pale man was done, he took one appraising look at Dinin and hoisted himself up on the beast''s back, near the middle.


    ¡°I am sorry...I do not have another saddle,¡± Monu said, pulling himself up behind Culaya, who whined softly as he straddled behind her. She lay her head across his thigh. ¡°Inshod is close...¡±


    The ride was not long, however Monu decided not to stop at the camp. They were near enough to it that he could retrieve their belongings tomorrow. So instead, he headed straight for Inshod as fast as Dinin would take them. The twin moons seemed to watch them from their stations in the night sky, white orbs observing with celestial scrutiny, painting the road with pale light and shadow. Though the trip was relatively brief, it felt long as doubts crept up on the young guardian. He was new to his duty to protect Inshod, be an aid to the people who lived within. In a way, it was a boon that he happened to be assigned to his own home. Yet it also made him more wary that he was bringing an unknown stranger into their midst. But if Khelen was favored by the lords, then surely this was a blessing?


    He thought about the brief exchange they had. Why would Khelen ask such a thing when it was clear Monu had every capacity of speech? He glanced back briefly at the man, Khelen''s pale countenance looking ethereal in the moonlight. The man seemed to be staring through him as if seeing something in the distance. Beads of sweat glistened on the man''s forehead and his hands trembled slightly, though that could have been an illusion cast by Dinin''s tread.


    The warg crawled its way up the Colori Steps, a shelf road named after the way it weaved back and forth as it ascended Colori Mountain. Pillars of stone, like petrified tree trunks, marked the sides of the road. Blunbar Creeps wrapped around many of these columns, draping their turquoise vines from one to the other. Monu was glad the elders decided not to clear them out. When they were in bloom, their flame-like petals turned the Colori steps into a tapestry of fire. The brief display would make up for the fact that they were ugly chokers for the rest of the year.


    The Colori Steps lead all the way to Caldera of Colori Mountain, but he turned off on The Inshod way, named for the obvious fact that it passed through Inshod Village. A brief run over the Whistling Arch, a stone bridge which spanned a small, but steep crevice took the into another canopy of trees, their trunks alight with starpieds. Monu saw the watchtowers of Inshod in the distance and knew somebody would be coming to meet him. It was unusual for visitors to arrive this late at night. Sure enough, he saw two lantern lights appear in the distance so he brought Dinen slowly to a stop and waited. Culaya slowly stirred from her sleep as the clattering of wargs approached.


    ¡°Monu?¡± one of the guards said, a fellow guardian by the name of Borin. ¡°I thought you were camping in Runak.¡±


    ¡°I was.¡± Monu said, ¡°But....¡± How could he explain what had happened? ¡°I...need to bring this stranger to the elders.¡±


    ¡°Stranger?¡± the other guardian said, an older man named Cahlai. ¡°This pale one?¡± Cahlai''s warg circled Dinin to get a better look. ¡°Strange indeed, I''ve never seen garments like those. And I have never seen anybody sleep on a warg while sitting.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Monu turned around and sure enough, Khelen had his head bowed and eyes closed, but he was still upright and his grip on Dinin''s carapace remained firm.


    ¡°That is impressive!¡± Borin chuckled, ¡°Is he a soldier?¡±


    ¡°I do not know,¡± Monu said, ¡°He has...done things I cannot explain. His name is Khelen and I think he may have the favor of a ''Lord Saxion''.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Cahlai was right to be skeptical.


    ¡°No,¡± Monu admitted, ¡°he only said he had Saxion''s favor and that he would reward us if we helped him. Have you heard of a Lord Saxion?¡±


    The guards both shook their heads. ¡°Why is there blood on his face, did you both get into a brawl?¡± Borin asked.


    ¡°He is a spirit.¡± Culaya murmured.


    ¡°He is not a spirit,¡± Monu said softly, ¡°I found him lying near the Runak Run while black fog poured through the valley. There was...a bolt of lightning...well, I do not know if I can explain it.¡±


    ¡°Well, we better take him to the Ardent,¡± Cahlai said, ¡°He does not look well.¡± The older guardian was right. Beads of sweat began to run down Khelen''s face and his hands were trembling. A quiver shook the man''s breath. ¡°I am sure Malk will want to hear more your new friend so find your words while we ride.¡± Cahlai added before moving closer. ¡°Also...I would flee Inshod for a few days after you debrief Malk. When your stepmother hears you took your daughter down into black fog, she will skin you alive.¡± He glanced at Culaya and gave her a brief smile.


    ¡°It was gone by the time we got to him, but you are probably right.¡±


    Cahlai dismounted from his warg and climbed up behind Khelen, holding the man in case he fell. Monu followed Borin, who lead Cahlai''s mount alongside him. Khelen began to murmur strange words under his breath, his voice quaked. What was wrong with him? Was he ill? Had he been poisoned? Was it those strange vials Khelen...Monu did not want to think about those. The more he thought of those apertures in Khelen''s flesh the more he wanted to squirm and scratch at his own arm. Monu had many questions but he was too tired to think of them all.


    Finally, they began to see the light of Inshod village, blue and yellow illuminations caused by combination of sap and oil lanterns. Husk huts and homes of carapace filled the moderately-sized town., though many of them were tucked between the densely populated trees. As was the tradition of most towns and villages in the region, Inshod''s homes and shops seemed to spiral around the center, orbiting the hall where the elders and elect met. A few people nodded curiously to Monu and the guardians as they came into town. But at this hour, most were asleep. Only the tavern seemed to be active. But then again, the tavern was always active, frequented by night duty guards. Culaya began to whine when they were about to pass their home.


    ¡°What is the matter?¡± Borin asked when he noticed they had stopped.


    ¡°She is tired and scared.¡± Monu said regretfully, ¡°She wants my parents.¡±


    ¡°Borin, take the girl.¡± Cahlai ordered, ¡°Catch up with us later.¡±


    Borin tied both his and Cahlai''s mounts to some nearby ground posts and gently coaxed a grouchy Culaya off Dinin''s head, catching her as she slid down the creature''s head. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she ran for the door and tried to open it. ¡°Hold on now,¡± Borin trotted up to her, ¡°Your parents lock the door when sleep, we have to wake them up-¡±


    ¡°We should go before your mother gets up.¡± Cahlai said.


    ¡°I agree.¡± Monu directed Dinen toward the center of the village, but cut through an alleyway in the direction of the Ardent''s house. He hoped Riese would not resent him too much for being disturbed at this hour. But Monu was relieved when he saw lights in the Ardent''s brick and mortar home. The construction immediately set his house apart from the polyquisk husks which surrounded it. Brick, though far more expensive than polyquisk molts, was far more durable and it did not have to be anchored in seasons of strong wind. Nor did it have to be coated in shrac resin for privacy, bricks were already opaque. Riese had a couple of small nectar lamps hanging from her windows. Several starlocks, with their glowing blue bodies, crawled over the nectar-infused mantles. Monu brought Dinin to a stop and dismounted.


    ¡°Hey, are you awake?¡± Cahlai nudged Khelen who continued to mutter. His entire face was slick with sweat. When he opened his eyes, several drops fell onto his chest. No, those were tears, not sweat. Khelen was crying. He looked around at Inshod, the lanterns reflecting in his black eyes and in the streams which began to roll down his cheeks. What? Was he in that much pain? No, it was more than pain. The way his gaze darted back and forth in desperation...he was terrified. Terrified of what?


    ¡°Khelen.¡± Monu said, the man looked at him. ¡°Come on, I''ll help you down. We brought you to our healer, Ardent Riese. You do not look well.¡±


    Khelen did not seem to hear him. Once again he seemed to stare straight through Monu, as if the guardian were not there. But eventually Monu''s words pierced him and his gaze focused. ¡°The cypher,¡± he said, ¡°cyastic interference...I need....¡± Khelen closed his eyes and swayed, as if struggling for words, ¡°cage.¡±


    Monu said nothing, he did not know even know what to say. The man''s words were so cryptic they seemed to defy understanding. Instead, he helped Khelen dismount Dinin and had to hold him up when his feet hit the ground. The man shook in his grasp as if trembling with a severe fever. He looked up at the trees, at the lanterns and at the homes around them. ¡°Where....¡± he whispered, horror and confusion in his voice, ¡°Where....where...am...¡± and he passed into unconsciousness. Where am I? The words finished themselves.

 Chapter 3: Youre Awake

    ¡°This was everything he had?¡± Elder Malk circled around Khelen''s strange wares, running a hand over the smooth skeletal structure.


    ¡°Malk, do not touch that! It could be cursed.¡± Riese snapped without looking up. She had Khelen laid out on a table and was gliding a gloved hand over his head. Monu knew from the glassy look in her eyes that she was establishing a link into the Gaps. He knew nothing about the Lords'' magics. That knowledge was taboo for all Kel except for those who have proven their fealty, those such as Riese. She swore an oath to the Nikral that she would not teach another person without direct approval from a lord. She would not take an apprentice unless they were first scrutinized by Lord U''shal. If she broke that oath, a Lord would immediately know and she would be executed. She was allowed assistants, however, paid servants which did her bidding and followed her instructions so long as those instructions did not inadvertently teach them any lore relating to the Gaps.


    A flush illuminated the scars on Malk''s cheeks and he withdrew his finger as if the metal had scorched him. Riese was the only person in the village who could induce such a reaction in the weathered fighter.


    ¡°Ardent,¡± Monu said, ¡°I helped him carry those-¡±


    ¡°Just because you are not ill now does not mean you are free of danger.¡± Riese snapped at him as well, ¡°You do not know how long this man has been handling those items, it could have been days before he showed these symptoms.¡±


    ¡°You think he has been cursed, then?¡± Malk asked.


    Instead of answering him right away, Riese ordered her assistant, who had been dabbing Khelen''s head with cool water, to get a new rag. Already they had gone through five of them. ¡°I do not know.¡± Riese said, pushing back a few rebellious strands of her crimson hair. Normally it was tied up in a bun, but it had been a long night. Circles darkened her eyes like bruises, making her look severe. ¡°This garment he wears is interfering with my sight. I have never seen anything of its like. No seams, no buttons, I do not know how he takes it off. The padding around his hips could be some sort of sort of protection or it could be some sort of belt, but I do not see any buckles to indicate either.¡±


    ¡°He ran his finger over the seam in his upper arm and it opened.¡± Monu said.


    Riese lifted her hand to the seam on Khelen''s bicep and ran a finger over it. Nothing happened. Frowning, she grabbed his other hand and ran his own finger over the seam. This time, it opened just as it had earlier.


    ¡°Just like the ones in his temples.¡± she muttered, tracing a finger around the metallic holes. Monu expected her to squirm but instead, her scowl only deepened a little, as if somebody had left a spilled drink on her carpet. Her assistant returned with several new rags, saw the gauges and paled a little bit, but continued to dab Khelen''s forehead with cool water. Though he remained unconscious, it seemed to bring him a little bit of relief.


    ¡°We need to find a way to remove this garment.¡± She manipulated Khelen''s hand and used it to touch various sections of the weave, perhaps hoping to find more seams that would open at his touch. The ardent flinched a little when Khelen grasped her hand, Malk and Monu reached their hands to the daggers on their belts, but stopped themselves when they saw that the gesture appeared to be reflexive, Khelen had not regained consciousness. Riese placed both her hands on his and warmed it, then she continued to use his own hand to probe his strange attire.


    ¡°What of this Lord Saxion?¡± Malk asked.


    ¡°I have never heard the name.¡± Riese said, ¡°But there are many lords I don''t know. I plan to send a letter to Lord U''shal tomorrow and ask. Hopefully a Lord Saxion turns out to be real and not a fabrication. Otherwise dying here on my table would be kinder than what the Nikral would do to him. He would be...oh!¡±


    Riese had been guiding Khelen''s hand across his chest until touched a spot right below his neck. The entire weave across his chest, torso, and arms loosened and relaxed as if somewhere a buckle had become unclasped. ¡°One of you,¡± she snapped to Monu and Malk, ¡°Help me turn him over.¡± Riese''s assistant got out of the way so Monu could take Khelen''s shoulders while Elder Malk took his legs and Riese took the middle. As they carefully flipped him over, the garment unfolded, falling outward away from the carapace covering Khelen''s spine.


    ¡°What...¡± Riese uttered out loud the shock Monu felt at the sight which revealed itself. The carapace was neither armor nor garment. Like the gauges in his bicep and temples, it appeared to be embedded in his back. Sleek black plates disappeared beneath pale flesh around the edges, as if they were a range of mountains peeking through an ocean of skin. Metal tubes pierced the skin at regular intervals along the sides of the carapace as if stitching it to the body. The segments flexed with the man''s back without stretching the skin.


    ¡°Have you seen anything like this, Ardent?¡± Malk asked, his voice grim.


    ¡°No.¡± she said, still sounding shocked. ¡°This is beyond my knowledge.¡± As she continued to examine him, Monu inspected the edge of the garment. The metal threads hang loose as if they had been freyed. But beneath them or perhaps within them, he noticed a series of metal prongs lining it. A series of corresponding holes outlined the flesh around the grotesque shell on Khelen''s back. Looking at them made Monu itchy and he shuddered involuntarily.


    ¡°But...¡± Riese continued after a few moments of silence, ¡°He is not cursed. I can see that now that the garment is out of my way.¡±


    It was rude to ask any Ardent for an explanation, especially since any explanation would be forbidden, so Monu did not ask. Normally his curiosity would have tormented him, but instead, all he could think about were the holes in the man''s body. They were wrong and unnatural. He had seen tribal gauges and ceremonial piercings but something about the mutilations done to this man''s body screamed of wrong.


    ¡°You said he demonstrated the ability to pass through solids.¡± Riese asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Monu walked over to the skeletal structure and pointed to the spot where Khelen had withdrawn the cylinder. ¡°He put his hand through here and withdrew the vessel that you placed on your desk. He opened it up and withdrew several vials...¡±


    ¡°Which he used to cure his condition?¡± Malk finished.


    ¡°It is unfortunate the vessel has been closed.¡± Riese said sternly, ¡°No lock, no seam, no way to open it. Just like his unfathomable garments. Only the lords can forge objects such as these.¡±


    ¡°So he is favored by a lord?¡± Monu said.


    ¡°He better be.¡± Riese ushered them over to turn Khelen frontside up. The carapace grated against the hard table with a screech. ¡°Curses!¡± Riese cringed, ¡°Laye, grab a towel. I will lose my mind if that thing on his back makes that noise every time he is moved.¡± Her assistant returned a moment later with a purple towel which they tucked underneath Khelen. Then Riese lifted the garment off his front and had her assistant take it away. Several tattoos lined Khelen''s chest turning it into a chiaroscuro of black and white, accentuating the muscles. The man was strong and fit. But in the middle of his torso lay several red angry welts on which a few running blisters leaked.


    ¡°Now that, I can treat.¡± the ardent said, walking over to a cabinet to retrieve a jar of balm. ¡°No wonder he was trembling. To suffer burns like this...¡±


    ¡°Monu. Did you see anything that could do this?¡± Elder Malk asked.


    ¡°I...perhaps those columns of light I saw were responsible somehow?¡± Monu hedged as the ardent began to rub ointment into the burns, ¡°But his clothes showed no scorch-marks.¡±


    ¡°I have already established that the garment is unusual.¡± the ardent said, ¡°It is just one more mystery. You two may go. I was going to keep you here, but now that I know he was not cursed, that will not be necessary.¡±


    ¡°Do you think he will live?¡± Monu asked.


    ¡°I will do what I can for him. I do not desire to have a Favored die under my watch.¡± She walked over to open a window and plucked several long leaves from the coliper tree growing just outside it. She pulled the leaves back and forth against the edge of the table until they were soft and wet. Then she used them as bandages, the natural resins produced within the leaves acting as an adhesive. ¡°Malk, if he is a favored, then you should take a few men to Runak Run and have Monu show you where he was found. If his garments are lore of the lords, then they will not like it being left in the woods.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Malk said, then he turned to Monu. ¡°If we are no longer needed, I will send Monu home. He is still off-duty and I am sure he need to recover whatever sleep he has lost tonight.¡±


    ¡°If it is sleep I am after, then I should sleep in the barracks tonight.¡± Monu said, ¡°I doubt Marla will let me sleep after tonight.¡±


    Elder Malk chuckled, ¡°I heard her temper is ferocious.¡± he said as they both exited the room.


    Monu shot one more glance toward Khelen before shutting the door behind.


    ---


    Peace...peace at last. Riese was getting too old for all of this excitement, though she loathed to admit it. After the all-nighter she pulled keeping the stranger ¡°Khelen¡± alive, all she wanted to do the next day was sleep. But once word got around that a Favored came under her care, everybody became gawkers. For the next few days, she had to have some of the guardians standing at her door, chasing away curious eyes, only admitting the elders who came to see the mysterious man who materialized from the black fog. Idiots, superstitious lards. Of course, she did not say such things out loud. Instead, she had to find a way to explain to them the concept of ¡°coincidences¡±. Yes, it is perfectly possible for some fool with lore to injure himself just as a cloud of black fog came upon him. Yes, it is possible he was attacked by another person or animal. No, spirits do not manifest themselves back into the real world. They don''t even manifest themselves in the Gaps. This last point she found herself repeating often ever since she moved to Inshod. Apparently the old Ardent had been acting as a medium, convincing shallow minds such as Elder Shara that she could communicate with her deceased husband. The lords probably knew of this sham but thought it was too small to bother correcting.


    But now, the excitement settled down and Riese had time to rest, save for the occasional visit by a patient needing a remedy for the annual wheezes. It gave her time to study her infamous patient, who had not yet regained consciousness, but had stopped trembling. He was an utter enigma to her. When he had on those garments, he seemed as if he existed in several of the folds. That was why it was so difficult to see what ailed him. When those garments were removed, it was clear that there was no curse. But rather his ailment was physical. However, his essence was afflicted by vibrations of conflict, bursts of excitement mixed with rage and fear. Confusion tempered by determination. It was as if somebody had hurled a bunch of different colored paints at a canvas, rendering it too confusing to have a theme. The man''s dormant emotions wracked him like the winds of a tempest. But they seemed to subside on their own as did his tremors. It did not take long for them to become so subtle, Riese could no longer discern them. That''s how most emotions were, too small to be noticed. She could only read somebody if they were extremely furious, devastated, or overcome with joy. But at that point, most people emoted them so clearly.


    Khelen''s appearance was another mystery. His ears were fused at the ends. Where they should have bisected, they were instead fused by a thin layer of cartilage. In this way, they resembled a child''s ear even though the proportions were appropriate for his age. Birth defect perhaps? His eyes were larger than most and though at first glance they appeared to be black, they were actually a very dark brown. The ridge on his nose was less pronounced than most, giving his countenance the illusion that it was flat. And before where everybody thought he had no hair, upon closer inspection she saw they were wrong. A very fine fuzz of golden stubble began to grow on his scalp. The purpose of holes that marked his bicep, temples, and back eluded her. They both fascinated her and filled her with a sort of revulsion. She had drawn several sketches of the holes, the tattoos, as well as the carapace which seemed to be embedded into his spine, adding little footnotes in each depiction.


    After finishing another requisition for supplies, she rolled up the letter and tied it to the others, leaned back and sighed. She glanced toward the fire-pit where the letters from the Athu burned. They spoke of some vague heresy against the Nikral, something that enraged the lords so much there were talks of a Feast of Retribution. The entities that committed or uttered the heresy were not named, but reports like this were becoming more common. Kel populace raising ired voices, complaining about taxes. But those complaints often went nowhere and they were fruitless. The Nikral were the Nikral. When a squall comes, it is better to take shelter and endure than to shout at it. Morons. It must have been an isolated community of people that provoked the lords. If they had known what the Nikral were capable of...fools. We do not carry their capacity for brutality in our blood, she thought. Even Riese herself had to be trained by a Nikral not to flinch at the sight of blood and broken bone, she had to fight against her inborn tendency to close down and pout. Her role sometimes required her to inflict violence upon other Kel. Break a bone to save a leg, cut off a finger to save a hand, cut out an infection. It was like learning to hold burning coals in ones hand without letting go despite the pain.


    ¡°Kel are weak.¡± her tutor''s gurgling voice came back to her, ¡°Docile...that is why you cannot defend yourselves, why you make poor warriors, healers, and hunters. This weakness has been bred into you. Tragic...for such intelligent peoples to be so...soft. Now come over here and tear this squawking bird''s wing off then stitch it back on.¡±


    Riese cringed at the memory. Even after all these years, Harloc''s cruel lessons came back to haunt her. But she would not be where she was if he had not broken a part of her, beaten down the nature that caused her to freeze at the thought of inducing harm. Only those who have been under the direct tutelage of a Nikral or who have witnessed the wrath of one could truly understand how silly the idea of any such rebellion was. Even the guardians did not realize how much of a joke their own force was. It was one thing to fend a village off from beasts, but another to kill, to murder. Even if a fistfight broke out among Kel, they would immediately be shocked at their own actions. Docile indeed, her eyes had been opened. She was about to open a bottle of fermented Ulup extract and have a drink in Harloc''s memory when Laye came in.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Ardent, he is awake.¡± she said.


    ¡°Do you realize your hands are capable of knocking?¡± Riese''s irritable words left her mouth before what Laye said penetrated her.


    ¡°I..apologize.¡± Laye said bashfully.


    ¡°No matter, sorry for barking.¡± She put down the bottle and got up.


    Khelen''s eyes were open when she opened the door, but Riese was not sure he was exactly awake. All he seemed to be doing was staring at the ceiling, his eye twitching occasionally. ¡°He has been staring like that for a bit.¡± Laye said, ¡°That is why I came to get you.¡±


    As if Laye''s words had broken some sort of spell Khelen''s gaze came back into focus and he sat up and stretched his arms. Surprise crossed his face as he noticed the shirt he had been wearing, a soft white garment spun from Rill-web. He explored it for a bit with his fingertips for a few curious moments before he noticed Riese standing there.


    ¡°How are you feeling, Khelen?¡± she asked, ¡°I have been told that is your name.¡±


    He did not answer her. Instead, he cocked his head a little bit and kept looking at her as if he were expecting something. Monu had described this look as well.


    ¡°Would...you like something to drink?¡± Riese hedged, walking over to the cabinet next to his cot and withdrawing a vessel of licot-infused water. ¡°You have been sleeping for several days. You have consumed very few liquids. Here, have the whole bottle. It was a gift, but I do not like the stuff. Licot is too sweet for me.¡±


    He watched her with an expression of...curiosity? Befuddlement? Riese began to worry that his mind may have suffered some sort of damage. She unstopped the bottle and held it out to him. He excepted it without hesitation, gave it a brief sniff and began to drink. He did not stop until the bottle was empty, then he handed the empty bottle back to her. Apparently, he was a fan of licot fruit. Good, he could have her whole stash when he left. She did not have the heart to tell Lyle, the farmer grew the licots he made the water from, that the fruits disgusted her.


    ¡°Better?¡± she asked. Again, he did not answer her. Instead, he stared at her expectantly, his eyes demanding a response to a question he had yet to ask. ¡°You were found by Runak Run.¡± she said, hoping to trigger his memory. ¡°Monu, a young guardian of Inshod brought you here. You were ill and suffering from severe burns to your abdomen. Do you remember any of this?¡±


    A scowl crossed his face at her words, but she did not know why. But a moment later, he looked around the room until his eyes came upon one of the sketches she drew of the thing on his back. He cocked an eyebrow, glanced at her with a brief look of amusement and began to get up. ¡°Sit down.¡± she commanded, putting her hand on his shoulder and coerced him back onto the bed. ¡°I need to make sure you are well before you go-¡± To her surprise, he gripped her wrist and pried it off his shoulder. His strength caught her off guard and she stood there in a moment of shock as he got back up and walked toward the sketch. He stopped for a moment to reach under his shirt. There was a tearing sound followed by crusted coliper leaves dropping to the floor.


    ¡°You fool!¡± she snapped, ¡°You''ll tear your wounds open! Those were helping you heal!¡±


    Again, she found herself forcing him down into a chair and inspected his torso, expecting to find freshly torn scabs. Instead, where there had been severe burns, there was now only a rash. That was not possible, there still should have been some sort of scabbing. But the flesh was almost completely healed.


    ¡°How is he recovering so quickly Ardent?¡± Laye voiced Riese''s own thoughts.


    Had he been trained in Nikral lore after all? Did the lords even have lore that expedited recovery so quickly? She absentmindedly ran a finger over the burn when he grasped her wrist for the second time and pushed it away. When Riese saw the glare in his eyes, she thought about having Laye grab the two guardians out front and having them help restrain him so she could do a thorough inspection. He reached up to grab the sketch she had drawn and inspected it. Then he gestured to her and pointed to it. Did you draw this? She nodded. Why was he acting as if he were mute? Why was he using gestures instead of speaking? He gave her an appraising look.


    ¡°Healer.¡± he blurted so suddenly Laye started. His voice was wet with raspiness.


    ¡°So you can speak now?¡± she said irritably.


    ¡°Briefly.¡± he answered. ¡°Temporary.¡±


    ¡°Why is your speech temporary?¡± Riese demanded.


    ¡°Cypher...¡± he said tapped the sketch with a finger, ¡°it translates. Damaged. It works now, but-¡± He frowned in mid-sentence and went silent.


    ¡°Cypher...¡± Monu had mentioned the word, ¡°Cypher is not a person. It is that ''thing'' in your back? It...you say it can translate languages?¡± She could not conceive of such a lore. It was possible that a master of the Gaps could glean hints from the past, find threads that connected the spoken word. But to have something which passively translated languages, such a thing would require an exquisitely profound knowledge of the lords'' magics. She could not imagine any Nikral imparting any knowledge to any Kel, not even a Favored. Just who was this man?


    ¡°Fix.¡± Khelen said, ¡° Cyatic interference. Translation intermittent. I have a bug in Wall-rider. Did you not see?¡±


    ¡°I do not understand half the terms you just used.¡± Riese said. Cyatic interference? Bug? Wall-rider? What was this man talking about?


    ¡°Where...¡± Khelen began but stopped. He groaned in frustration, flipped the sketch on its back and picked up a piece of charcoal which had been lying on the desk.


    ¡°No!¡± Riese snapped, snatching the canvas away from him. ¡°If you need to communicate in writing, use a new one.¡±


    She tugged a new sheet out from under the desk and gave it to him. But instead of writing, he began to draw. The lines lacked depth, but they were exact and precise. As the image took shape, she recognized it as the strange metallic structure with four legs, each pair forming an acute angle. He held the image up to her inquiringly.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± she said and led him down into the cellar, where they stored all of his wares. Instead of waiting for her to light the oil lanterns, Khelen walked straight into the darkness as if he knew exactly where he was going. Could he have grown up in a climate that saw little sunshine? Was that why his skin was so pale and his eyes so large? ¡°Do not break anything!¡± she warned. No response. She had expensive equipment down here that was almost impossible to replace.


    Khelen was standing next to his wares, waiting patiently for her. When she came over, he nonchalantly reached his hand through metallic the walls of the large cubical object near the structure''s posterior. This...was just as Monu had described: his hand ignored the solid as if it had no substance. The cube must have been hollow inside because he retrieved several objects: A glass jar containing some sort of grainy black powder. An image on the jar depicted a bucket pouring a stream of black substance which somehow resolved itself into a shield. The next object was small spool of...metal thread? Next was a closed case made of a material Riese could not identify.


    ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Riese asked.


    Khelen looked confused by the question. So she placed her hand on the metal surface he was penetrating. To her, it was as solid as any other alloy. He seemed as surprised by her inability to pass through it as she was by his ability pass through it. ¡°Your...cypher?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I do not have one.¡± Riese said. He stared at her, behind his flat expression was a hint of appalment. He stood up and scrutinized her. What, did he expect her to have that grotesque thing in her back? Besides the hideousness of such a construct, it was clearly a work of great lore. No Kel would ever be allowed to have such a thing, this ¡°cypher¡± without express permission or perhaps outright desire from a lord. So why did he expect her to have one?


    He raised a finger to her, pointing to her temples. ¡°I do not have those either.¡± she said, raising her hair. ¡°Nor do I have them.¡± she rolled up her sleeve to expose her bare flesh.


    Instead of saying anything, Khelen walked over to the cylindrical vessel, the same one which contained the vials Monu spoke of. A seam appeared along its side and it opened before he even reached it, responding to some unspoken command. He pulled up his sleeve to expose the holes in his bicep and they ejected several vials. He replaced the ejected vials with new ones. Riese wanted to take notes, she was entranced by all the things Khelen was doing, though she understood none of them.


    Laye gasped when a series of glowing symbols appeared on the construct¡¯s surface. Colorful letters of an unfamiliar dialect danced their way across the dome before forming a word which Riese did not recognize. They were replaced with a series of glowing circles and scales. ¡°Huh...¡± Khelen grunted as if pleased with something. Then he tapped a few symbols and a small door materialized in the side of the structure. Then he opened the strange case made of the unidentified material and withdrew...an insect? That was the closest thing Riese could think of, it was a four-legged insect bigger than her hand. Its legs were black and they ended in jagged metal prongs. Khelen turned it on its back and pulled off its abdomen, filled it with the black powder from the jar, then reattached it. He set the insect on the ground and withdrew another item from the case: a small knob with a rectangular protrusion. He plugged this device into the rectangular recess on the structure and immediately the insect came to life: its legs curled in, raising it up off the ground. Khelen looked pleased.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Riese asked, fascinated.


    Khelen did not answer her. He did say translation was intermittent. Perhaps he could not understand her for now. He retrieved one more device from the case, a small metal peg, and pushed it into one of the holes in his temple. As soon as he did this, the insect turned to face him and froze. A few moments passed in which Riese sensed that some sort of communication was taking place. Then Khelen began to awkwardly unbutton the shirt she had put on him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± she demanded, ¡°You have obviously surpassed my lore, but you are still my patient and this is my house. I need to know what is happening.¡±


    He looked up at her as he slid off the shirt. ¡°Fix.¡± he said.


    He saw a chair near her lab and grabbed it without waiting for her permission. Instead of sitting in it, he sat on the ground in front of the chair, legs crossed, wadded up the shirt and placed it on the edge of the chair to use as a cushion for his head. The insect immediately scuttled over and leapt up onto his back, scaling the carapace by using the holes bordering it as footholds. Laye quelled at the sight of the ghastly thing, but Riese was in awe. When it reached the top, it stopped. A second later, a bright blue light fanned from the place where its mouth should have been, accompanied by a shrill noise that reminded Riese of a creaking door.


    The light was so bright, its ambiance was rivaled only by a bolt of lightning or by the sun itself. It swept in small strokes, blasting or burning away portions of the cypher''s black shell, revealing a white-gray substrate beneath. But a moment later, the white light was replaced by another. This second fan of light burned with the color of sparks and embers, filling with streaks as it hissed across the sections the white light just blasted. Instead of removing material, it deposited fresh black carapace that looked indistinguishable from the sections around it. With precision, the insect oriented itself as needed, hooking its legs in holes and crevices, blasting and filling. Blasting and filling. If it needed to operate something near the edge of the cypher, it would vaporize any flesh that got in the way. This should have been excruciating, but Khelen did not show any signs of pain. He did not even look uncomfortable. If anything, he looked a little bit too relaxed, with his head turned sideways and his eyes closed.


    ¡°Does...does that not hurt?¡± Laye asked, when the insect reached half-way down the carapace. ¡°What that thing is doing?¡±


    ¡°No. Sub-dermal operations can. I am using Numb.¡±


    ¡°So you can understand us now? This...¡± Riese looked at the insect, ¡°This lore is working?¡±


    ¡°''Lore?''¡± Khelen repeated, ¡°It works. But I cannot answer questions. I have to focus.¡±


    Focus...was he controlling that thing on his back? How? Riese wanted to know so badly what was happening, she almost felt like an inquisitive youth again. She could sit and watch this all day. She wanted to take that insect apart, study it, experiment on it, find out how it worked. But as she considered such a thing, she began to worry. Would a lord have approved of such a display of lore that he was demonstrating with Laye present? Did this ¡°Lord Saxion¡± give him such permission? It did not seem like a thing the lords would do. She was in the middle of considering whether or not she should ask Laye to leave the room when the insect finished its final repair. It hopped onto the floor and froze.


    Khelen sat up and stretched, then he gave her another expectant look.


    ¡°Where...is my abdolex?¡± he asked softly, ¡°The suit.¡±


    ¡°Laye, go get his garment.¡± Reise said. Her assistant obeyed, quickly ascending the stairs to go grab the garment with the strange metal weave. Then she turned to him. ¡°Now that we can understand each other, I have questions.¡±


    ¡°I will...answer.¡± he said. His speech, though it seemed coherent, was awkward and slow, as if words were a burden.


    ¡°I will start with the obvious.¡± Riese said, pulling up a chair so she could sit. ¡°Your lore surpasses me. You recover more quickly from injury than anybody or anyone I have ever seen. Your ''devices''...just who are you?¡±


    ¡°Khelen.¡± he said, scratching at the holes in his bicep. ¡°I...am a contractor... I take...jobs..odd jobs. I do not...know how I got here...where am I?¡±


    ¡°You are in the mountain village of Inshod, in the Entu province.¡± she said as Laye returned carrying Khelen''s top.


    ¡°The other garment is upstairs...¡± Laye said nervously, ¡°I left it on your bed.¡± She looked at Riese for approval as Khelen slid his arms into the sleeves. There were a series of clicks as the garment locked itself into place and wove its threads over the cypher''s carapace. Riese nodded at her assistant.


    ¡°Entu...province?¡± Khelen asked, ¡°Where?¡±


    ¡°Well, perhaps if you tell me where you are from, I may be able to tell you where we are in relation.¡± The ardent said, ¡°I am considerably well-traveled and educated.¡±


    ¡°Edis Holeren.¡± the man said, shifting his arms, ¡°Home for three years.¡±


    ¡°That...is not one I have heard.¡± Riese said ruefully, ¡°Does your Lord Saxion rule it?


    At this, Khelen allowed a smile to cross his face. ¡°Lord Saxion?¡± he repeated, ¡°Next time I see...Saxion, I should...call him that. I wonder...if it would become his name. But do you do not know him...I must...be farther...than I thought.¡±


    ¡°Monu, the guardian who found you, told us you were Favored by Saxion.¡± Riese said, confused by Khelen''s reactions, ¡°Is he not the lord who taught you your lore?¡±


    ¡°Why do you use...words like ''lore''?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°What else should I call it?¡± Riese asked, ¡°If not ''lore'', then what else would you call the knowledge which allows you to do the things you did? The ability to pass your hand through solid alloys, that allows you to control that...''insect''. Those alterations to your body, the garment you wear. What word would you use to describe those things?¡±


    ¡°Lore...is archaic.¡± Khelen said, clearly amused. ¡°''Technology'' perhaps? I had various...''teacher''s. One was even professional. Saxion taught me nothing. He values my talents, pays well. As for the ''alterations'' to my body...I do not understand. What...''alterations'' are you talking about?¡±


    Riese was baffled by both the explanation and the question which followed it. Khelen''s answers seemed to inspire more questions than they resolved. ¡°What alterations?!¡± Riese asked, ¡°That thing in your back, those holes in your flesh! I had assumed one of the lords did this to you.¡±


    Khelen looked at her as if she had said something profoundly stupid. ¡°Again, I do not understand.¡± he said, ¡°It is my cypher. The formula injector and...ocular, could be considered...''alterations'', but the cypher is my cypher. Were you born without one?¡±


    Born...without one? What Kel, no, what creature could ever be born with such a construct? Riese suddenly found herself too afraid and too tired to ask any more questions. The instincts she cultivated from working with the lords were warning her to stop asking questions. She felt as if she were stumbling onto some form of forbidden knowledge. She was out of her depth, she needed to retire for the night. But before she could, Laye spoke.


    ¡°None of us were.¡± she said, her voice aghast.


    Khelen looked at Laye, then Riese, then at Laye and Riese again. ¡°Monu, the man who found me?¡±


    ¡°He does not have one either.¡± Riese said, ¡°None of us do. We have heard of no creature in the entire world who has anything like what you have on your back.¡±


    ¡°I...don''t understand...¡± Khelen said , ¡°I don''t...how could you..not? Is that why...that is why...everything is...silent? No...cyphers.¡± He stared ahead and sat down on the four-legged structure, ¡°I do not know...where I am. I...how? Everything is silent...even in a dead zone...there is always noise...but everything...is empty. And...I do not remember...¡±


    ¡°What don''t you remember?¡± Laye asked.


    ¡°How...how I got here.¡± Khelen said.


    ¡°Your lord did not send you?¡± Laye hedged. Khelen cocked his head slightly.


    ¡°Saxion is not my lord, I have...none. He is...he is my employer.¡±


    ¡°But all Nikral are our lords!¡± Laye said.


    ¡°Ni...kral?¡± Khelen repeated as if the word were foreign to him, ¡°What is a Nikral?¡±

 Chapter 4-Silence

    *Prompt...awaiting response from feed...


    *listening...


    *listening...


    *listening...


    *No response: I hear nothing but echoes. How about you?


    *Prompt...awaiting response from feed...


    *listening...


    *listening...


    *listening...


    *No response: I hear nothing but echoes. How about you?


    *Integral layer %98:


    *Cyastic interference: none


    *Cyastic bands in 50 Raold radius: 100


    Adon''s Injects! (formula injector):


    Port 1 levels


    *Joy: %67


    *Rage: %90


    *Somnolence: %87


    *slot 4 vacant


    Port 2 levels:


    *Calm: %30


    *(Phys)Numb: %20


    *Drive: %10


    Port 3 levels:


    *Fear: %99


    *Slot 2 vacant


    *Slot 3 vacant


    *Trigger...awaiting response from vehicle...


    *Response received:Wall-Rider 98 says ''hi!''


    *Trigger Diagnostic...


    *Power: %98


    *Cyatic interface: Repair needed


    *Sympathetic resonator: Repair needed


    *Chatterbox: Working...no response from feed.


    *Audio: Emitters not detected. Cypher link enabled.


    *Glide-bars: Safety-locked. Repair sympathetic resonator. Repair cyatic interface


    *Touchless interface: working, connected to (Khelen)


    *Physical interface: ready


    *Power ports: ready


    *Cargo Elcite: ready


    *Other minor repairs needed. Continue?


    *Prompt...no.


    *Response received: Wall-Rider 98 logging out. Glide safely!


    *Prompt...awaiting response from feed...


    *Listening...


    *Listening...


    *Liste-


    Khelen terminated the feed protocol. He was in a dead zone, deader than any he had been in before. There was no chatter, no noise, not even a hint of chaff. He never knew any place in Skrul could be so quiet and devoid of activity. He could not even detect any crawlers or wandering automatons. The only noise his cypher heard was the Wall-Rider, his formula injector, and his ocular interface. His ears worked but without the feed, he felt half-deaf, half-blind, half-alive. There was no feed, nobody was listening. Nobody had ears that were capable of listening.


    Sure, there were the strange people he met since...the event, an event he could not remember. Monu, the little one, what was her name? Riese and Laye. They were abnormalities, freaks. He pondered how horrifying their lives must be without cyphers and reflexively dosed himself with Somnolence.  How could they bear it, being forced to use verbal communication? It was a primitive, archaic method of speech. Better question: how could they be alive without cyphers? The regulance should have prevented such birth defects. And yet there they were, nameless and faceless to the cypher''s eyes. Khelen quickly had to disable his cypher''s tagging function, as it would float its attempts to identify them above their heads. It quickly became distracting. So they became to him as husks: hollow, incomplete. It was irritating. By reflex, he would try to establish a link only to remember they used the spoken word, like mutes.


    You are feeling down. Need to order more Joy?Adon will bring more into your life!


    Khelen frowned at the automatic suggestion from his formula injector. What inspired Adon to include such an annoying advertisement? He reached out to Adon''s feed, intending to lash the malfunctioning moron, but instead he found silence. That was right, there was no feed. This was a dead zone. That meant he would have to work on his own device.


    Wow, you are furious at something! Need to find some Calm in your life? Adon is your frie-


    *Prompt....blocking nonessential communications from ¡°Adon''s Injects!¡± (formula injector)


    That would suffice for now. Khelen needed to get back to the task he was working on: inspecting his equipment and taking inventory of his supplies. At his will, the cypher brought up a list of preset mixtures and he chose ¡°Focus¡±. The formula injector instantly responded by injecting a mixture of Calm, Joy, and Drive. He did all of this without looking up from the floor, where he had arranged an array of rations, snacks, tools, and medical supplies that he kept in the Wall-Rider. He had also detached the fabricator from his vehicle. It had been damaged. Fortunately, the repair was only a matter of realigning a few sympathetic listeners. His helmet had also been damaged, but the ocular was still usable. That was acceptable, he would simply have to make sure he did not go out when there were canopy drifters about. The Scavenger Mate multi-tool was, remarkably, undamaged considering how far it had been tossed. He clasped it around his right wrist and the cypher floated its status.


    *Prompt...response received from ¡°Scavenger-Mate¡± (multi-tool)


    *Cyatic interface: ready


    *Freeform enabled


    *Flash Arc: ready


    *Cyatic storage: ready


    *Additional functions: ready


    Khelen waved the tool through the nearby cyatic bands. They followed its movements as if drawn to it. Incredible. It was the one thing which amazed him about his current situation, the abundance of cyatics. If the powers in Edis Holeron knew of such a place, surely they would go at war with each other over it? He could practically feel the bands as his hand cut through them. He willed the Scavenger-mate''s Freeform function and nearby cyatic bands immediately drifted to it, coalescing, forming a crude physical blade of glass. He waved the blade around, his cypher showing the bands tethered to it. Then he dismissed it and the blade ¡°unraveled¡±, disappearing into the ether. Marvelous...he did not even feel any exertion. The cyatics here were just waiting to be called. If only he could get the Wall-Rider working again.


    The last item Khelen inspected was a piece of contraband. But it was also probably one of the most important tools he had. These people, the dwellers of ¡°Inshod¡± village seemed horrified by his arm-mounted injector. So it was safe to assume they did not know anybody who sold injectables. That was okay, he had been in situations in which he had to ration his injections. But there were a few close calls where he came into a deficit and he almost ¡°ran dry¡±. He had been in that situation only a few times in his life. Each one was pure misery. After the last time, he decided he could not afford risk running dry if a job took him in a barren location. So he covertly purchased a piece of contraband called a ¡°Sniffer¡±. It was a small, orange, mobile chip which embedded itself into the cypher. Khelen was too ignorant to know how it worked, but he knew it scanned the surroundings for either injectables that were discarded, or raw ingredients that could be mixed and/or substituted for such. The reason such devices were illegal is because 1: The Regulance wanted their taxes. 2. It showed users how to mix banned or regulated synthetic emotions such as Euphoria, Psychosis, and Bloodlust.


    Khelen released the sniffer on his back and felt it crawl into place at the base of his neck. He flinched a little bit as it burrowed into his skin and embedded itself into a sub-dermal section of his cypher.


    *Prompt...calling your slum hound...


    *Your slum hound, Kippy has arrived!


    *Kippy is bored, no interesting scents today. Do you have a toy for Kippy to play with to keep him occupied?


    The ¡°Toy¡± could have been any tool with sensors the sniffer could use to extend its range. He had several, but did not need to use them right now.


    *Prompt...no.


    *¡°Screeee...¡± poor Kippy is whining...he is a sad slum hound.


    A door on the stairwell opened and footsteps descended. The female who called herself Riese appeared as she did the other day, crimson hair with hints of gray. The bridge on her nose, like Monu and the other villagers, was so pronounced that it formed more of a snout than a nose. Khelen wondered if they chose such a form or if they were simply born with it. His cypher read her body language, floated her name, and possible state of mind. She was fatigued and weary. She and her assistant had fled so suddenly after he asked after these ¡°Nikral¡± she spoke of.  She suddenly said they all needed sleep, and insisted he return to the room she had set apart for him. But of course, he had no need. Khelen was full of energy, and instead, preferred to repair his tools. But he dosed a touch of Somnolence and Calm anyway so he could be empathetic to her state.


    ¡°Riese,¡± he said. Though he was fluent in spoken word, it still felt awkward, inefficient, ¡°You are tired.¡±


    There were more footsteps and several older people stepped into the cellar. They all had shared the same snout-like faces. Was it some sort of trend in these parts? His cypher recognized the presence of three people and he used it to reach out to them before he could stop himself. It was like trying to stop himself from blinking. But of course, they were silent, just as the air was silent. They did not even know what he had attempted to do.


    ¡°Khelen.¡± Riese said, ¡°I have brought three of the elders of Inshod to you. They-¡±


    Between one word and the next, Khelen floated the word ¡°elders¡± above each of the three newcomers. His cypher would recognize that label from now on. ¡°-have come to speak with you regarding our conversation last night. This is Elder Malk-¡± The approximate phonetic spelling of ¡°Malk¡± floated beside the severe-looking man with the peppered hair and gashed face. ¡°-the head of the Inshod guardians. He was here the day you arrived, helping me treat you after you lost unconsciousness.¡±


    The cypher saved those facts as soon as Riese said them. At will, he could float them next to Elder Malk. Malk performed a greeting where he raised his hands above his shoulders and brought them together before sticking his elbows straight out and bowing. Khelen recorded the gesture into the cypher and floated a replay window next to Malk. Then he dosed a small amount of Joy, returning the gesture even though it seemed like a completely unnecessary and melodramatic waste of movement.


    ¡°The other two are Elders Shara and Culin.¡± Riese said, ¡°Shara is the keeper of ritual. She oversees all betrothals, offerings, and worship. Culin is the Head of Inshod''s finances as well as being its head, at least until a new Head of Finances has been selected. It is not customary for him to hold two positions.¡±


    ¡°It is tiring.¡± Elder Culin said, grinning. ¡°We need more old people who are willing to work. I am glad my town is small, otherwise I would quit.¡±


    Khelen dosed Joy for the second time in a row while his cypher formed their profiles. It just felt...appropriate? He was perturbed by the silence, by the emptiness behind their forms, by the fact that he needed to manually build a picture of who these people were instead of being able to look and ¡°see¡±. They had no history, no memories, no names to wear. Everything was hidden from him. So he was forced to build their profiles from bottom-up. He only had to do that to people who had raised screens against his cypher. As they walked around, the profiles he was building tailed them, orbiting their heads.  Facts and observations floated into place as if rising up from the ground. He circled their faces and read them. He was drawn to Elder Shara, who emoted terror even though she was trying to hide it.


    ¡°Elder Shara.¡± he said, interrupting a snarky remark Elder Malk made, ¡°I am scaring you.¡±


    That was apparently the wrong thing to say, for her terror only deepened at his words. He did not know why, nor did he know how she could stand it. Was she unable to counter the fear she felt? He would have dosed Calm in her situation. But instead, he watched as she tried to adopt a look of confusion even as her face paled. ¡°You must be mistaken, young one.¡± she said. It was a lie.


    ¡°Perhaps we should take this conversation upstairs,¡± Culin said, ¡°The Center is locked and I could not find the key this morning. Our lovely ardent gave us permission to use her dining room instead.¡±


    Khelen followed them upstairs and when he reached the top, saw he was flanked by two armed men. A label ¡°guardians¡± floated itself above their heads, for they were recognized by their armor made of chitinous shells. It was bizarre attire. In fact, everything about this place was unusual. For example, the doors were purely mechanical instead of automatic. Khelen was familiar with mechanical doors but even by the standards of the ones he had seen, these were crude. Carved stone formed knobs which turned some sort of mechanism inside the door. Yet...he found he enjoyed their aesthetic. Orange, green, and red banners ordained the ardent''s hallways, their edges highlighted in blue while burning lanterns hang from chains. Was there no power supplied to this community? An eight-legged creature lying in the hallway saw them approaching and scurried beneath a wooden cabinet. His cypher did not recognize the species, but it recorded its movements. He found himself reaching for the feed again in order to find a match for the creature whose colorful red tail still stuck out from its hiding place. But again, he only found silence.


    They entered a cozy chamber with a rectangular table of burnished wood. The chairs around it were formed of both wood and bone. He had seen tables like it at the parks in Edis Holeron, though they were for the little prenoms to use. At Khelen''s whim, his cypher read the movements of Ardent Riese and the elders, then it displayed forecasted phantoms or simply ¡°phantoms¡±, likenesses that walked in front of the real people, created by the cypher''s reading of body language to predict where they would sit. So, Khelen walked toward one of the chairs which had no future occupants. This action inadvertently created a moment of tension, as Ardent Riese had just been in the middle of saying, ¡°You may sit here.¡± when he had already taken a spot in the place she indicated.


    ¡°That was rude.¡± Elder Shara said, ¡°It is customary for guests to wait until they are seated. Especially in the house of an Ardent.¡±


    ¡°Apologies.¡± Khelen said, feeling a little bit of irritation, which he tempered with Calm. ¡°You...people have no...¡± identity... ¡°-link. You have no cyphers. You are silent.¡±


    ¡°That is the object in your back?¡± Elder Malk asked, looking at him.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Khelen said, as Riese took a seat next to the elders. They had placed themselves at the opposite end of the table, far away from him. He did not know why, but perhaps that was wise.


    ¡°And why would that make a difference?¡± Elder Culin asked, his expression read of curiosity.


    ¡°You would...¡± Khelen felt as if he were speaking to a child, a prenom who had yet to learn how to use the feed, ¡° send the information to me. Then I would know it before I sat.¡±


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®send¡¯ it to you?¡± Riese asked, ¡°What does that entail?¡±


    Khelen blinked, ¡°How do you lift your hand? You just do.¡±


    Elder Culin looked at the others and laughed. ¡°Is this a joke? A hand is part of our bodies. Are you telling me that to you, learning the customs of culture is as easy as flexing a muscle? To one wearing your...what was it called?¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± Khelen said.


    ¡°Culture is irrelevant.¡± Elder Shara said in response to Culin, ¡°The traditions may change from region to region but an Ardent is still an Ardent and the house of an Ardent remains the house of an Ardent. The slight may have been an unintentional and trivial thing, but the fact remains that as a student of the Nikral, Ardent Riese deserves respect.¡±


    ¡°You are forgetting...¡± Riese said, ¡°He has lore that surpasses my own. I cannot attribute his recovery to my own talent, as I had very little part in it. All I did was treat his burns. His mysterious illness passed on its own.¡±


    The illness was not mysterious. His breakdown on the night he arrived had been triggered in part by over-injecting three formulas over an extended period of time. The result was a temporary state of hysteria, followed by a neurochemical collapse. It was known to happen, though he did not know any detailed explanations on why such a thing occurred. After his collapse, he was forced into sleep so he could recover quickly. However, Khelen did not wish to explain such things to these strange people. Also, he was distracted by something strange happening outside the window. Something about the sky was changing.


    ¡°-beyond that,¡± Riese continued her voice growing dire, ¡°he claims no knowledge of the Nikral.¡± Then she turned to him ¡°And that is why we are here, Khelen.¡±


    ¡°Is this true?¡± Culin said.


    ¡°I do not see how it could be.¡± Elder Shara huffed, ¡°To be ignorant of the Nikral is to be ignorant of things such as night and day.¡±


    ¡°Why don''t we let our guest answer Culin''s question?¡± Malk said, clearly irritated.


    As they waited for him to respond, he quickly analyzed their postures, breathing, and expressions. They were all afraid of the answer he would give. Why? ¡°I have...never heard of a ''Nikral'' until Riese mentioned the term last night.¡± As he spoke, he kept glancing at the window, comparing the brightness of the sky at regular intervals. His cypher confirmed that it was getting brighter. Slowly, but steadily. Canopy drifters perhaps? Riese saw him glancing at the window, got up, and drew two curtains over it. What was that for?


    ¡°This is not something to joke about.¡± Elder Malk said, his voice ringing with warning.


    ¡°Joke?¡± Khelen repeated, ¡°I cannot...establish contact...with the feed. I cannot...search for these Nikral.¡±


    ¡°Feed?¡± Culin looked and Shara exchanged looks of confusion.


    ¡°Listen to the way he speaks. His mind is addled and slow.¡± Shara said, ¡°He has clearly been chewing Sutar root all night.¡±


    ¡°I do not keep Sutar root in my house.¡± Riese said her tone darkening.


    ¡°Ardent...¡± Shara flushed, ¡°I-I did not mean to imply you keep it, but he may have had it on his person when he was found.¡±


    ¡°Spoken word is archaic.¡± Khelen said interjecting. He had rarely witnessed so much of it, ¡°My mind is...quick.¡±


    ¡°Here is the problem,¡± Malk interrupted before either Culin or Shara said anything more ¡°The Nikral are our lords. Not just of this region, but of the entire North and most of the South. They are our caretakers, our oppressors, and protectors. If this is some sort of joke or some sort of deception, it is in ill taste. If you somehow have forgotten or have become ignorant of the Nikral, then that is just as bad. Either way, the law requires that I imprison you until you make some sort of retraction and agree to make amends. Or educate yourself on our lords.¡±


    Imprisoned? Khelen thought, half amused. However, the word changed everything about the situation he found himself in. Suddenly his rescuers had put themselves in a dangerous spot even if they did not know it. His cypher began to track the elders as well as the guardians in the hallway, indicated by the arrows in his peripheral. ¡°I am a criminal...¡± Khelen began to plan as he spoke. There were two guardians outside the door behind him. Malk himself looked to be a fighter, so he would have to be disabled first. He had not seen these people in combat, but they did not have cyphers. They may as well have had no limbs to fight with. Futhermore...they did not have his affliction. ¡°-because...I have lore? Because I do not know what ¡®Nikral¡¯ are?¡±


    ¡°I am afraid so.¡± Malk said as he got up. ¡°I want you to come with me, we will treat you well until we await a trial. Please do not-¡±


    ¡°Malk... Riese.¡± Khelen said, dosing himself with a lick of Rage. ¡°Please...I do not...¡± he could not speak. It was not natural to him. The words stumbled awkwardly in his mouth as he tried to warn them, warn them that he was dangerous, warn him that the guardians he called into the room were in danger. If they knew what they could awaken...


    ¡°Are we going to have trouble?¡± Malk asked, as Khelen stood up, ¡°Or will you come without a fuss?¡±


    It was all wrong, these silent people and their unfathomable actions. Riese had the answers, she was the authority here. She was important. Therefore, she could not be harmed. But something was wrong. He had enemies, he had warrants, he could not be imprisoned. He could not be left with this silence...with the creature inside that could awaken at any moment. At his will, the cypher drew a mask over Elder Malk''s form, outlining his shape and profile. It read his muscles and using that data, forecasted his movements. He had not witnessed any of the guardians fight, so the prediction had a greater potential for inaccuracy, since it had yet to observe any combat patterns. He needed data, just a little bit.


    ¡°I...must warn you...that you are outmatched.¡± Khelen said, ¡°You...the two behind me...you will drop.¡±


    That did it. Malk sighed with rue and nodded at the two guardians standing behind Khelen. He dosed Drive, feeling a surge of energy electrify his veins and leapt up onto the table just as the guards behind crashed into the spot where he had been standing, their arrows fumbled at the bottom of his vision. How could they be so clumsy, even without cyphers? Elders Shara and Culin backed away just as Malk swung with a wooden baton, attempting to sweep Khelen''s feet from underneath. But Khelen stomped on the stick as it passed under his foot, held it there just long enough to kick Malk right across the temple with his other foot. Malk stumbled back and fell to his knees, grunting and massaging his wound. Before the man could get up, Khelen leapt down, using gravity and momentum in conjunction with Drive-boosted strength to pummel the man in the back of the man''s head with an elbow. They both hit the ground but only Malk stayed there, groaning. Khelen was already rolling away from the next attack. However, it never came.


    The guardians had their crude weapons out, but they appeared to be hesitating. There was a reluctance in their postures. They were afraid. He was not, however. He could have dropped them there but that would have left the elders to cry for help. So instead of attacking them, he lunged toward Shara and Culin, striking them both in the throat, and cracking them both over the head. They dropped just as Malk had. Then he threw a quick chop at Riese, but he did not knock her out, only left her gasping. He would need to question her later. This goaded the guards into action, they both charged at him. Why were they so slow?  They were still terrified, he realized. Why? Why were they so cowardly?


    Khelen did not need the cypher to show him what they were going to do. Their actions were too obvious, too dramatic, they projected what they were going to do even before they moved. Their swings went wide, as if begging to be read, begging to be dodged. He ducked as the first blade passed overhead, then shot an arm up to catch the wrist, bent it backward and slammed the guardian''s unarmored fingers against the edge of the table and ground their knuckles against the wood. The guard cried out in pain and dropped his blade. Then Khelen threw him against the other guardian and they both tumbled to the ground. He activated the Freeform function on his Scavenger-Mate, drawing some cyatic bands and materializing them into a thick glass shell which covered his hand. Then he used it to bludgeon the guardian he threw to the ground, smacking it into the side of the man''s carapace helmet. He was out in an instant with his companion trapped underneath his weight.


    He crashed his fist down on the second guard. A moment later he was out. Khelen dismissed his Scavenger-Mate and gave chase to Riese, who had fled the room. She was in the hallway with the multi-colored banners, stumbling from the strike to her throat, which left her breath constricted. Using Drive, he ran, leapt, and slammed her to the ground, knocking the wind from her lungs. Then he lifted her up over his shoulders and moved swiftly toward the basement door. He took a brief moment to note the sky outside of the window at the end of the hallway. It was growing brighter and it was changing color...it was turning blue. It was wrong. He dosed himself with Calm. Perhaps a pollutant in the air distorted the light from the incoming canopy drifters. Perhaps that same pollutant was responsible for this area being a deadzone? But wouldn''t he be able to detect such a thing?


    Khelen carried his captive into the basement, pushed her into a chair then formed a blade of glass on the Scavenger-Mate, holding it to her throat. If these people had any brains, they would be finding shelter to protect them from the canopy drifters'' rays. His helmet was damaged, so going out while a drifter flotilla approached was out of the question. Which meant he was stuck here in Riese''s home until they passed. But even her windows were inadequate, they did not even have filters to protect her from the radiation. He ignored that detail and went back to the task at hand: getting some answers from Riese.


    ¡°When you recover...tell me...¡± Khelen said, ¡°about ''Nikral''.¡±


    ---


    The man standing before Riese was an impossibility, an anomaly. A Kel delivering violence with such mastery and finesse, it was an oxymoron. A Kel who dared direct such violence against a student of the lords. It was absolutely unheard of. The man was no Favored, she knew that for certain now. But she did not know what he was. He defeated three guardians, one of them being Malk, who was one of the best fighters in Inshod. But this man, Khelen, did not fight like a Kel, his movements, his grace...his efficiency at delivering pain. The guardians had not stood a chance! What was he? Our people are docile, Riese thought, Violence has to be learned, tempered. Did he not care that he just signed his own death warrant? That is assuming Lord U''shal was merciful enough to grant death to this individual, chances are he would make an example of him. And why was the fool holding her hostage in her own basement? If he wanted to run, now was the chance. It was growing brighter outside by the moment. Laye would be arriving soon. When she saw the mess this man left in Riese''s dining room, she would run for help. But if Khelen did not wish to flee, so be it. Perhaps he could fight off three guards, could he fight off the entire guard?


    ¡°The Nikral...¡± Khelen repeated, ¡°What are they?¡±


    ¡°The Nikral are our lords...¡± Riese choked through the inflammation of her throat, ¡°They protect us from the colos-¡± she gagged on the word and massaged her throat. Epen extract would help her, but she doubted he would let her go up and get it. ¡°-they protect us from the colossi.¡±


    ¡°Colossi.¡± Khelen repeated.


    ¡°Beasts!¡± Riese wheezed. ¡°Beasts the size of mountains! Beasts that can crush a village in a single step!¡±


    At this Khelen cocked his head curiously, perhaps even surprised. ¡°You...believe you are telling the truth. That is what I am reading.¡±


    ¡°I AM telling the truth!¡± Riese broke into a violent fit of gagging at her outburst. She did not understand how he could be standing there with a look of mild disbelief, after the violence he left behind upstairs.


    ¡°Pretend I am new.¡± Khelen said, ¡°Speak.¡±


    Riese stared at him in disbelief, ¡°The colossi of the east....and of the west...we used to fear them ages ago. Wherever we ran, wherever we tried to rebuild, they found us, destroyed us.  We hid in caves, only to be buried alive by the tremors triggered when one passed nearby. We sailed the oceans only for our fleets to capsize when one flew over it. We climbed the highest mountains, but those mountains could not sustain us. We were doomed! They...they came and they saved us!¡±


    Khelen just stared at her, his face, expressionless.


    ¡°When our numbers thinned and we were on the verge of extinction, we fled to the Tuluron Mountains, for we heard they were harsh, but lands of fertility hid within their peaks.¡± Riese continued, finally feeling the pain ebb away. ¡°Something there allowed crops to find root and flourish, allowed trees to shade us from the cold, allowed pockets of tranquility to hide within turbulent valleys. So there we hid, safe for a time, hidden away behind the walls of the Tuluron''s pinnacles. But we were found. A colossus whose shape resembled a serpent with six legs explored the pinnacles, gouging their peaks with its carelessness. We were driven from our last bastion, forced to flee before this mindless monolith. We were harried until we were trapped at the heart of the Tuluron Mountains: Clyman''s maw. We were doomed to either be crushed, or fall into the bottomless void. But when all hope was lost, they came.¡±


    Riese felt tears in her eyes, though she could not know whether it was from pain or passion, ¡°They came, a people whom we have never met, the Nikral. For years they lived under us, prospering while our cities above were demolished, neither of us known to each other. Disturbed by the tremors, they sent an expedition out from their cities and ventured up toward surface, ventured up Clyman''s Maw and saw our plight, as well as the cause of their disturbed peace. Using their lore, they summoned one of their ancient creations to fight back the colossus: they summoned a totem walker, a creature of lore, intelligence, and more importantly, of equal scale. The Nikral summoned a mountain to fight a mountain, and it won. The totem walker crushed the six-legged colossus who harried us.¡±


    ¡°They saw the surface...¡±Riese continued, as an ardent, it was a story she told often, ¡°And they fell in love. It was new to them and precious. But they did not know how to live life here. So they formed an alliance with us. We knew how to farm the lands, how to grow crops. We knew how to breed cattle, raise villages, build cities. They asked us for these and offered their protection as payment. But they went beyond protecting us from the colossi. When we were harassed by herds of pincewelves, their warriors would fight them off. When dalops threatened our crops, they hunted them down. On and on our debts to them grew, debts the Nikral did not collect, except by asking us to call them lords.¡±


    ¡°And I DO call them Lords.¡± Riese hissed, ¡°They are strict, they are brutal...but I have been shown...I have been shown one of the colossi of the east.¡± she shuddered at the memory, ¡°I have seen it and I love them for protecting me against That. So I follow their rules. I respect their lore, whom they choose to share it with. It is dangerous so they must protect its secrets. I do not respect thieves. I do not know who you are or where you learned that lore. But it is their birthright, their legacy. That you use it without knowing their names and bowing to their role is an insult to their service! We would be EXTINCT without them!¡±


    ¡°You...are deluded, or you are stalling me.¡± Khelen said. At this, Riese froze, thinking he had seen through her strategy to buy time, time for somebody to show up. But then he continued, pacing back and forth. He kept glancing out the purple stained window near the corner of the basement. Clearly he could see that sunrise was imminent? Furthermore, one of the people he attacked upstairs should have been stirring by now. Abruptly he turned to her.


    ¡°Look at me.¡± he said, his voice becoming cold, ¡°I will ask again. Who are...the Nikral? What is really going on? If you lie...I will break your finger.¡±


    She flinched under the weight of his warning. Impossible! She did not believe... ¡°You are lying.¡± she said. ¡°We are not torturers. They can do that, Nikral and Lyosh...we do not have it in us. You can fight well...but you cannot intentionally inflict pai-¡±


    Without hesitating, he walked over, grabbed her hand, formed a fist around her index finger and began to bend it back. Shrieking, she tore at his hand and tried to pull it away, but his grip was iron. It held her finger on the verge of dislocation. If she had not screamed for him to stop, he would have carried out his threat. ¡°I was not lying!¡± she wept, slapping at his shoulders with her free hand. ¡°I''m not lying!¡±


    ¡°You...are telling the truth...I think. ¡± he said, sounding both surprised and confused, ¡°How-¡°


    He stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked toward the ceiling, just as the sound of a door shut. Laye''s footsteps made their way toward the kitchen as was her routine. Khelen thrust Riese away from him so hard she struck the wall and fell to the ground gasping for breath. He ascended the stairs with swift fluidity. Laye... Riese pushed herself to a crawl, collapsed to the ground disoriented, then pushed herself up again in an effort to crawl/run toward the stairs. This man had not even been fazed by his own actions, where was the fear response, the innate remorse, the empathy? She reached the stairs and ran up them, grabbing a broom that lay against the wall. It was a pitiful weapon, but perhaps she would buy her assistant an opportunity to escape. After years of experience in her profession, she no longer froze at the thought of violence. Harloc had broken some of her docility. She was not agile, but she would strike to hurt.


    ¡°Please...¡± Laye could be heard sobbing, ¡°Don''t hurt me...¡±


    ¡°Where...is your protection?¡± Khelen asked, ¡°How did you...you are not burned.¡±


    Riese rounded the threshold of the door to find her assistant curled up in the far corner with tears running down the sides of her cheeks, her snout pointed toward the ground. Khelen was crouched in front of her, head cocked in an expression of curiosity. Why were the man''s mannerisms so cursing bizarre?


    ¡°I do not understand.¡± Laye wept, ¡°P-protection?¡±


    ¡°From the canopy drifters...¡± Khelen pointed to the sunlight which began to illuminate the drapes on the window.


    Riese ran straight toward Khelen''s back, bringing the broom handle up high and screamed. She made to swing it down, he whipped around just in time to see and raised an arm to block it. But instead of swinging, she threw her whole weight into him. The look of pure surprise on the fool''s face as they both went down was worth whatever came. ¡°Run!¡± Riese screamed, ¡°Get the guardians!¡± Laye hesitated only a moment, but then she understood, got up and bolted toward the door. Riese did not see the next blows that came, but instead found herself rolling across the ground with smarting pain in her shoulders, back, and ribs. She was getting far too old for this. Groaning, she pushed off the ground, one hand on her dining room floor, other hand on Elder Dulin''s unconscious body. ¡°Sorry Dulin.¡± she thought, then limped out into the hallway.


    Khelen was just standing there, staring out the doorway. He was framed in front of the open entrance to Riese''s home, a dark figure limned in a corona of morning sunlight. His shadow, radiating from his form, stretched down the hallway as it painted the floor with his elongated figure. He raised his arm and took a hesitant step backward as if something he saw gave him pause. He took another step backward, then another. Outside, Laye could be heard yelling for help. Doors opened across the street and wargs chuffed at the excitement. But Khelen did not give chase nor did he seem to notice. Instead, he seemed to cower before something, stepping back away from something Riese could not see. He tripped over a fallen vase. Flailing, he scrambled across the floor and stood up against the wall with his back to it, chest rising and falling. His brown eyes, now illuminated indirectly by the square of sunlight pouring through the door, seemed to dart in their sockets from shock.


    He reached a hand to the seam over his bicep and drew it back, ejected a few vials into his hand from the grotesque holes in his flesh, shook them as if listening for their contents. He clasped his fingers around them, raised his hands to the sides of his head and bowed.  ¡°What...¡± Khelen''s whisper was so soft, if Riese had not been watching when he spoke, she might have thought it was her imagination. ¡°...the sky...what is wrong with it.¡±


    ¡°What is wrong with what?¡± Riese made another attempt to stall him while help arrived. He had already shown himself to be unpredictable, but she did not trust this...display, whatever it was.


    ¡°I...¡± he looked at the patch illuminated in the sunlight. ¡°I am...afraid. Natural fear...these aren''t working.¡± he unclasped his hand to reveal the vials again. ¡°I am...still afraid.¡± his rhaspy voice cracked several times as he spoke.


    ¡°Have you grown wise then?¡± Riese said, ¡°Do you fear justice?¡±


    ¡°Justice...¡± he said, ¡°I''m...afraid of that thing...in the sky.¡±


    ---


    *Prompt...awaiting response from feed...


    *listening...


    ¡°-I''m afraid...?¡±


    Khelen was not sure that was what he felt or not. It was insufficient, so insufficient, spoken word. It could not convey the confusion and shock he felt. There was no feed, nothing to capture the disorientation Khelen felt upon seeing a sky like that. Blue, light, and the source of light which illuminated the floor in front of him. Why was the sky blue? What was that thing which rose into it and where were the canopy drifters? What has happened to them? He reached for the feed to see if anybody knew what was happening, but the feed was not there. He reached out anyway, trying to find something, some weak signal, but only the quiet remained.


    *listening...-


    ¡°Afraid of what, the sun?!¡± Riese asked, massaging the pains he left on her.


    ¡°The...light source.¡± Khelen held vials of Calm and Numb his hands. They were undamaged. Why didn''t the formulas work?


    *listening...


    ¡°As I said, the sun?¡± Riese repeated, ¡°You are afraid of the sun? You are addled aren''t you? You do not fear the wrath of the Nikral but you fear the sun?! What sense does that make?¡±


    Nobody had seen one before. The drifter flotillas provided light and nourishment for the plants, provided power for the cities. The light outside, it was brighter than anything he had ever seen. His cypher was browsing through any references he might have saved, but it found nothing which referenced a ¡°sun¡±. Nothing in history ever referred to such a thing. The sky did not turn blue, it did not change colors. It was, and always is black, sometimes speckled with stars in the spaces between flotillas.


    *No response: I hear nothing but echoes. How about you?


    ¡°Have you been living in caves your whole life?¡± Riese scoffed, ¡°Is that why you are so pale? Where on Sacrin were you even born, that you do not see the sun?!¡±


    Sacrin? Why did she say that? Khelen thought. Why? Why were these cypherless people so strange?


    *Prompt...awaiting response from feed...


    ¡°Why...do you say...''Sacrin''?¡± he asked her.


    *listening...


    *listening...-


    ¡°-Why do you...people...behave...so..erratically?¡±


    *listening...


    *No response: I hear nothing but echoes. How about you?


    ¡°Why?!¡± the ardent groaned, sliding her back down the wall on which she leaned. ¡°Because that is the name our planet!¡±


    Footsteps approached, Khelen heard the clatter of armor as guardians came up the street. ¡°But...¡± he said, ¡°Sacrin is not the name...of our planet...¡±


    *Prompt...awaiting response from feed...


    *listening...


    *listening...


    ¡°It''s Scrul...¡± he said.


    *listening...


    *No response: I hear nothing but echoes. How about you?


    ¡°Our planet is Scrul...¡±


    *Trigger...awaiting response from feed...


    ¡°-And...Scrul-¡±


    *listening...


    ¡°-does not-¡±


    *listening...


    ¡°-have...-¡±


    *listening...


    ¡°-a ''sun''.¡±


    *No response: I hear nothing but echoes. How about you?

 Chapter 5- Leoman

    Ardent Riese, so thoughtful of you to contact me in regards to this silly character who came into your hands. This man who claims to be Favored by Lord Saxion is either a fool or a liar. There is no lord who goes by the name of ¡°Saxion¡±. I wish to see the man who uttered such a fabrication, but I am far too busy to make the journey. You and your people lack the internal ''resources'' to properly discipline this individual, so I am sending help your way. Leoman, my servant, is visiting villages in your region for a very important summons. Instruct the elders of Inshod to hold onto this witless man until he arrives. Then give Leoman this letter, explain to him what you explained to me, then have him ascertain whether or not execution is warranted. I trust his judgment.


    ---


    ¡°You have to look at him.¡± Cale said, ¡°He has been sitting in the corner like that the whole time. Well, he sleeps for a few hours at odd times. But then when he wakes up, he continues to sit just like that. He has been doing that for several days!¡±


    It was hard to believe, now that Monu saw at the man he had saved a few nights ago. Khelen stood in the darkest corner of his cell, hiding in an alcove formed by the walls of the polyquisk molting used to construct the prison. He was still as pale as he had been on the night Monu found him, though he had since then grown a bit of golden stubble on the top of his scalp.


    ¡°Hard to believe he defeated two of us and Elder Malk, isn''t it?¡± Cale said, the man shook his head. ¡°Ardent Riese said he dropped Malk so fast...then he went straight for Culin and Shara before engaging Brin and Milo. So...I would not go too near the bars.¡±


    ¡°I will not.¡± Monu said, nodding as he relieved Cale.


    Khelen said nothing all morning. Occasionally he paced the cell, inspecting the walls with his hands, exploring the contours of the polyquisk molt as if they fascinated him. He also seemed intrigued by the occasional faron which scuttled along the bars, clicking curiously, stopping occasionally to scan the cells with its big green eyes, fur bouncing as it moved. But Khelen did not say a single word. After hearing about his feats at the Ardent''s place, it was amazing they were able to get him to comply enough to come here. Apparently when he saw the sunlight, he became stricken with such terror that all fight fled from him. Well, not exactly. Monu heard that though he did not put up much of a fight, he refused to go into the sunlight and would only struggle when the guards tried to drag him out. Ardent Riese ended up having to splash a bottle of alen essence in his face, inducing the man into sleep so he could be hauled out.


    What man would dare attack an ardent anyway? And what man could take down three guardians by himself, one of them being a man who was renowned for his prowess even by the standards of the Nakar? What imprisoned man required a guard to watch over his cell? Monu had never heard of such a thing, yet the elders seemed to think it was necessary. He could not blame them of course. When the elders recovered, Shara spoke of phantoms and aberrations of the black fog. Culin was too shaken to speak, Ardent Riese was stubbornly quiet. The other elders, the ones who were still asleep when this all happened, were rather miffed nobody had awoken them. Though Monu suspected part of their ire came from missing the excitement. Oddly, Elder Malk seemed to relay his experience with a mixture of humiliation, awe, and dismay. Apparently neither he nor Milo and Brin had ever seen any Kel move so swiftly.


    ¡°You have to look at him.¡± Cale said, ¡°He has been sitting in the corner like that the whole time. Well, he sleeps for a few hours at odd times. But then when he wakes up, he continues to sit just like that. He has been doing that for several days!¡±


    It was hard to believe, now that Monu saw at the man he had saved a few nights ago. Khelen stood in the darkest corner of his cell, hiding in an alcove formed by the walls of the polyquisk molting used to construct the prison. He was still as pale as he had been on the night Monu found him, though he had since then grown a stripe of golden stubble on the top of his scalp.


    ¡°Hard to believe he defeated two of us and Elder Malk, isn''t it?¡± Cale said, shaking his head, ¡°Ardent Riese said he dropped Malk so fast...then he went straight for Culin and Shara before engaging Brin and Milo. So...I would not go too near the bars.¡±


    ¡°I will not.¡± Monu said, nodding as he relieved Cale.


    Khelen said nothing all morning. Occasionally he paced the cell, inspecting the walls with his hands, exploring the contours of the polyquisk molt as if they fascinated him. He also seemed intrigued by the occasional faron which scuttled along the bars, clicking curiously, stopping occasionally to scan the cells with its big green eyes, fur bouncing as it moved. But Khelen did not say a single word. After hearing about his feats at the Ardent''s place, it was amazing they were able to get him to comply enough to come here. Apparently when he saw the sunlight, he became so stunned, that all fight fled from him. Well, not exactly. Monu heard that though he did not put up much of a fight, he refused to go into the sunlight and would only struggle when the guards tried to drag him out. Ardent Riese ended up having to splash a bottle of alen essence in his face, knocking the man out so he could be hauled out.


    What man would dare attack an ardent anyway? And what man could take down three guardians by himself, one of them being a man who was renown for his prowess even by the standards of the Nakar? What imprisoned man required a guard to watch over his cell? Monu had never heard of such a thing, yet the elders seemed to think it was necessary. He could not blame them of course. When the elders recovered, Shara spoke of phantoms and aberrations of the black fog. Culin was too shaken to speak, Ardent Riese was stubbornly quiet. The other elders, the ones who were still asleep when this all happened, were rather miffed nobody had awoken them. Though Monu suspected part of their ire came from missing the excitement. Oddly, Elder Malk seemed to relay his experience with a mixture of humiliation, awe, and dismay. Apparently neither he nor Milo and Brin had ever seen any Kel move so swiftly.


    ¡°Monu...¡± Khelen rasped. Monu stiffened at his name. The man was looking at him, fixing him with his dark eyes. ¡°...the elders...have they...woken?¡±


    Monu thought for a moment before answering, ¡°They have.¡±


    Khelen seemed to be satisfied at the response because he returned to silence for a few moments. But then he got up and walked over to the wall and ran his hand over its contours. ¡°You must...regret bringing...me here.¡± Khelen said, almost chuckling.


    ¡°I am a guardian.¡± Monu said, ¡°I am sworn to protect those in this region.¡±


    ¡°I...don''t remember...how I got here.¡± Khelen said. ¡°I remember pain...I remember...seeing a purple...''haze''? People...were talking, there was static.¡±


    ¡°Static?¡± Monu repeated, not knowing the meaning of the word.


    ¡°But...before that...before you found me, I don''t remember...I think I am...missing several days from my biological memory.¡±


    ¡°You have memory loss?¡± Monu asked, wondering what he meant by ¡°biological memory¡±. That would perhaps explain the strange way the man spoke.


    ¡°Only...the days...before I came here.¡± Khelen said, ¡°Do you...believe there can be...aliens?¡±


    ¡°I...well, not many foreigners come to Inshod.¡± Monu said, ¡°We are far from the big cities and highways. But I have met plenty of them.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Khelen said, ¡°Not from...other regions. Worlds. Do your people believe there...can be aliens...or visitors...from other worlds?¡±


    ¡°Well...everybody has stories about visitors from the heavens.¡± Monu said, ¡°It varies from culture to culture. But most of those stories are just that: stories. Why?¡±


    ¡°My home...it does not have a ''sun''.¡± Khelen said.


    ¡°You are...you are saying you are from another world?¡± Monu asked in disbelief, ¡°That you came to Sacrin somehow...from a place that has no sun? That this is not your...Sacrin is not your planet?¡±


    ¡°Do I sound...crazy?¡± Khelen asked with a hint of a smile on his face.


    ¡°Well...yeah.¡± Monu said honestly. Khelen turned with his back to the wall and sat, looking at the square of sunlight which poured through the small carved window near the ceiling.


    ¡°Speaking is tiresome.¡± Khelen said, ¡°Many of my people do not. Not...like this. Not necessary. I was trained in...spoken word. I am fluent, but it is inefficient. I have to slow myself...and choose words, shape them. It is difficult for me to convey complex ideas through verbal communication. Especially if they sound....stupid. I can''t...show you the...self-diagnostic...the...analysis. I have ''thought'' about what I saw. I have concluded that I am no longer on Scrul.¡±


    ¡°Scrul?¡± Monu repeated.


    ¡°That is the name of my world.¡± Khelen said, ¡°If you had a cypher, I could...simply ''show'' you...the data...show you how I came to the conclusion that I...somehow vanished from my world and...appeared here.¡±


    ¡°Friend,¡± Monu said, ¡°I mean no insult to you, but I do not know if anything you showed me could convince me of that. You are unique, I will give you that. I mean...how would you get here?¡±


    A soft smile creased the corners of Khelen''s mouth, ¡°I have...a few guesses...but I am still...evaluating them.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough I suppose...¡± Monu said, ¡°But you also said...what phrase did you use, ''spoken word''? Your ''people'' don''t speak? I don''t see how that would make a lot of sense. How would a culture that does not speak even function?¡±


    Khelen seemed to think a moment before answering. Then he loosened the garment around his top and exposed the grotesque, insect-like thing in his back. ¡°This.¡± He said, tapping it, ¡°We use this. Riese called it ¡®lore¡¯. We call it technology. Decades and centuries of artificial evolution.¡± Khelen¡¯s sentences were fragmented, ideas that would have provided context, were missing from them. He seemed to realize this. ¡°Our technology is advanced. We have integrated it into our bodies. The cypher is a machine, an artificial organ. Programmed to grow in us at birth. We talk to each other using it. It is quick.¡±


    ¡°Ah...¡± Monu said. Though he could not fathom most of the things Khelen said, ¡°So...how...is that supposed to work? Do you hear their words in your head?¡±


    ¡°Yes...no.¡± Khelen said, uncertain of how to convey his answer, ¡°Could be words, thoughts, images...ideas. It is complicated. But it is much...faster than spoken word. Point is is...I can''t hear them. I can''t contact the feed...because there is no feed here. I have...''lore'' in my cypher that allows me to speak your language, but when you stop speaking...when somebody leaves the room...it is silent. You...cease to exist. Your world is strange.¡±


    Was there fear in his voice? It was hard to tell since it was flat, but Monu thought he heard a trill of concern, and he did not know what to say to the strange man. It was not his duty to placate him and even if it were, he lacked the words. Besides, Khelen had a bigger thing to fear whether he knew it or not: he had attacked an ardent of the lords. The future did not look bright for such a person.


    ¡°How long...will I be here?¡± Khelen asked after another bout of silence passed between them.


    ¡°I do not know.¡± Monu said honestly, ¡°I don''t know what happened with you and Ardent Riese. But you attacked an Ardent, three village elders, and two guardians. If she thinks you have somehow learned the lore of the lords, then that alone is grounds for imprisonment. The lords are masters of the Gaps. It is their inheritance. They know how dangerous it can be if misused. So they choose very carefully which knowledge of the gaps they can share.¡±


    ¡°Gaps?¡± Khelen repeated.


    ¡°Uh...I...don''t know much about them.¡± Monu said uncomfortably, it was a knowledge that was taboo to all Kel except ardents. ¡°But I have heard that there are ''gaps'' all around us, invisible to our eyes. A person who can see them can do things, see things...they can perform magic. A Kel, like myself, would have to be trained by a Nikral lord in order to see the gaps, but only after approval. I can actually use the gaps a little bit. I can whisper a word and summon small bursts of heat. But that is an innate talent. I do not have an Ardent''s knowledge. I cannot see them.¡±


    ¡°But...you are not criminalized.¡± Khelen said.


    ¡°Gaplings such as myself are considered an exception.¡± Monu said, ¡°It is something I can just ''do''. I don''t know how and I can''t learn anything from it. So I am considered harmless unless I start burning houses down.¡±


    Monu stiffened as Khelen got up and approached the bars of his cell. ¡°Show me.¡± he demanded, ¡°Can you...¡± he looked around the floor and found a dead leaf that had drifted in. ¡°can you burn this?¡±


    ¡°Uh...sure.¡± Monu whispered a gleaning to the leaf. It curled, darkened, and burst into flame.


    Khelen''s only reaction was to cock his head and raise his eyebrows. ¡°You do not know how you did this?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Monu shook his head.


    ¡°When you spoke, no sound came from your mouth.¡± Khelen said.


    ¡°Strange, is it not?¡± Monu said nervously, ¡°Nobody but me can hear it. It is called a ''gleaning'', though I don''t know why they call it that.¡±


    ¡°Can you...do it again?¡± Khelen asked looking around for something Monu could burn.


    ¡°Here.¡± the guard said, retrieving one of the hanging oil lanterns. He set it on the ground and whispered a gleaning to the wick. It flickered to life.


    Khelen stared blankly at it, his expression inscrutable.


    ¡°What?¡± Monu asked.


    ¡°Cyatics.¡± he said, ¡°My people, we don''t...call them ''gaps''. We call them cyatic bands.¡±


    A trill of fear jabbed Monu¡¯s chest. Khelen was about to explain information that was forbidden to him. But at that moment, Inshod''s horns trumpeted the notes of Lord U''shal. Somebody was coming.


    ---


    Simian knew they neared Inshod when he awoke to find himself thrown against the wall. Well...more like ¡°rolled¡± into it, really. Leoman''s wargs took the first turn on the Carobi Steps with no amount of subtlety and the result was Simian''s impact with the side of the wheeled prison. Groaning, the man sat up and caressed his nose, which had borne the brunt of the blow. His fingers came off slicked with blood. His bloodied nose wasn''t the only wound on his body. The entire jail-cart had been formed of hammered metal that had been shaped to resemble bones. Only a meager amount of blankets had been given to him to cushion him from the many awkward ends and edges that knuckled the walls of the chamber. His whole body was covered in aches and bruises, not just from being jostled about, but from merely laying or sitting on the bloody things.


    The design was intentionally miserable of course, completely in line with the Nikral''s tastes. When they decided they did not like somebody, they wanted to make that person''s life very, very uncomfortable before they were executed. Leoman pridefully called the chamber he had locked Simian up in the ¡°bone tickler¡±. ¡°If you ride in it long enough,¡± he said, ¡°It''ll tickle your bones!¡± All the knobs, all the awkward protrusions, the textures, they were his idea. Sculpted ribs and knuckled alloys cast shadows of relief as the sun caught them. No matter where Simian stepped, lay, or sat, something was always poking him. It was designed to drive one insane.


    ¡°Are you awake now? You should see the blunbar creeps! They have just started to bloom!¡± a grinding, yet reedy voice called from outside, ¡°How wonderful! I do wish Lord U''shal would plant some of those in his gardens. Maybe I should bring back a few. Did you know I came up with a recipe for blunbar creeps, Heretic?¡±


    It took Simian a moment to realize Leoman was talking to him. Well, who else would he talk to? There was nobody else around and the thing hardly ever shut up. It kept jabbering on about its recipes, about its twin brother, about the Nikral, about what kinds of sounds it liked, sounds it hated, about the weather, its toes, anything it could think of. He suspected Leoman''s unstopping chattiness was part of the torture he had been sentenced to. ¡°Well, I put them in soup. You see, you get a few wild tubers of asfrit, add some pepper and...wait...oh, you better hold on Heretic! I see a few boulders coming up, this ride could get rough!¡±


    Groaning, Simian stood up in the corner, his bruises protesting, and supported himself by standing on his feet and leaning with his hands against the back wall, bending both his knees and elbows slightly. It was a stance he had learned to assume in order to minimize the injuries he received during rough spots. He waited for the inevitable jostling the Lyosh would subject him to and felt the cart vibrate a little bit as it passed over a few rocks.


    ¡°Huh...¡± Leoman said from above, ¡°Those were not as bad as I thought they would be.¡±


    Simian relaxed and walked over to the clothes that had somehow rolled over to the opposite corner. He was halfway there when the entire cart heaved, sending him stumbling to the ground and smacking him against the floor. Several more jostles banged up his sides and back, forming new bruises on top of old ones.


    ¡°But those ones were just as bad as I thought they would be!¡± the damn Lyosh crooned, ¡°Gotta watch those boulders! Lots and lots of boulders! Big ones! Small ones! Strange ones! Unbelievable! I really should speak to the elders about this road. It is shameful really, don''t you think? I know they don''t get many visitors, but they should grab some shovels and do something about all these rocks! They''re all over the place! Well...hold that thought.¡± he paused, ¡°Melvin''s bronze eye! Looks like they have been working on it up ahead!¡±


    ¡°Yeah...I am sure they have.¡± Simian scoffed, the trembling cart quaking his voice.


    ¡°No, really!¡± Leoman insisted from outside the grating, ¡°Looks like they''ve been digging the rocks up and piling them on the side of the road. Some of them are quite big, I''m impressed they were able to move those actually, must have used some wargs to haul them. Either way, this road looks so much better now that they got those out of the way!¡±


    Simian braced himself. Leoman was a liar, so he did not trust anything the creature said. So when the ride actually did transition from rough quakes to a smooth, gentle sway, he was genuinely surprised. After the constant never-ending battering of these mountain roads, this felt like bliss. It felt like diving into a cool stream at the end of a hot trek. Simian was half-tempted to lie back down on the blankets the Lyosh had provided him. But he waited...knowing from past experience that creature was a bastard.


    ¡°This is nice!¡± Leoman said, ¡°Not a boulder in sight! A smooth ride, blumbar flowers in bloom, birds singing...ahhh. I tell you, I should really come to the mountains more often. The only thing I have to watch out for is the considerable number of-¡± Immediately the right side of the cart dropped about a foot then abruptly swung up at Simian. If his hands had not been between his cheeks and the floor, the floor probably would have knocked a tooth out. Stars swam across his vision as he was battered by a new series of concussions.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°-potholes!¡± Leoman hollered, ¡°Lots and lots of potholes! Big ones! Small ones! Strange ones! My mistake, Heretic! Wow! There are so many of them! They must have been left by all those rocks they removed! Really, now¡­why didn''t they fill these in? Are all mountain Kel so lazy and incompetent? What if an important traveler damages their fragile cargo on these roads?¡± The cart came to a stop and the grating slid open. Leoman''s disgustingly wide face peered through it. Like the rest of his people, his yellow eyes, each bigger than Simian''s fist, seemed to be caught in a perpetual state of surprise. Two slits above his mouth served the place of a ¡°nose¡±. His mouth, which spread from one cheek to the other gave the impression that it was always grinning. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Leoman asked, ¡°You''re leaking blood in my cart.¡±


    The blood from Simian''s nose had run into his mouth, mixing with saliva which now hang in a crimson string. It pooled between the pits and crevices on the ¡°bone tickler''s¡± floor. Well...that explained the seemingly random ¡°rust¡± stains he had been seeing covering the interior of the carriage. He glared up at the miserable beast and wiped the blood on his sleeve. ¡°I guess that works.¡± Leoman said, ¡°I was going to offer water but...¡±


    ¡°If I ask for water,¡± Simian groaned, ¡°You will duck down, pretend to grab a canteen. But then when you return, you will spit it at me through the bars as a joke. Is that right?¡±


    Leoman looked a bit crestfallen, ¡°What is the point of having a reputation if it spoils my fun?¡± the man murmured, ¡°Well...try not to bleed all over my cart. It is a nightmare to clean. I had a man try to relieve himself in here a few trels ago, did you know that? He just could not wait until we stopped. He got his stream all over the walls and floor, it was absolutely disgusting! We never could get all the residues completely scrubbed out! So...just please...don''t make it any worse okay, Heretic?¡±


    At this, Leoman gave a screechy laugh and shut the grate. A moment later the cart lurched into motion. Simian braced himself as it took another one of the Carobi steps turns.


    ¡°I must say I do enjoy your company!¡± the Lyosh hollered over the din of the wargs, ¡°I am excited to see your performance in the Feast. Oh...it has been so long since I have seen one of those. Do you wish for any survival tips?¡±


    ¡°Survival?¡± Simian scoffed, ¡°Your masters mean to let me live then?¡±


    ¡°You mistake me.¡± Leoman said, ¡°When I say ''survival'', I mean ''do you want to know how to live as long as possible?'' Run...run as fast as you can, do what you have been doing. You are good at running, by the way. But then again...what Kel isn''t? Just don''t get caught by Lord Ba''rul, or Nisha, or Runai. They love the chase...and they love making the kill last. The longer the run, the more they enjoy seeing how many screams they can extract before you die. If you want a quick death, U''shal will be happy to provide...¡±


    At that moment, a horn blasted in the distance, playing the notes which announced the arrival of U''shal''s representative. ¡°But if you want help surviving,¡± Leoman continued as if he had not heard the horns ¡°I can be bought...¡±


    ¡°No you cannot.¡± Simian knew better, ¡°This is where you pretend to give me a chance for freedom....get my hopes up, and then you turn around and say you were joking.¡±


    ¡°Your sources are very good!¡± Leoman snickered, ¡°You know me very well, perhaps better than I know myself! If I should have any self-doubts or personal fears that I am struggling with, perhaps I should come to you to seek advice on introspection! That is what old people do, is it not?¡±


    Simian sat back down and massaged his many hurts as the cart turned off the Carobi steps toward Inshod, their last stop. One more chance for him to be humiliated before the Feast, humiliated for a crime he did not commit. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And he happened to match the heretic''s description, the one who actually uttered the litany of treasons against the lords. The actual heretic spoke of Sacrin''s cries, and of sleeping ones who would come to hold the Nikral to account for their folly. Whatever folly that may have been, Simian did not know. Nor did he care any longer.


    ---


    Ardent Riese kept palming Lord U''shal''s letter nervously as she and the elders waited for Leoman''s carriage. Elder Malk stood to her right, still sporting a bandage over his head. Elders Shara and Culin were sporting similar bandages, but they also had angry bruises on their throats, which made it difficult for them to speak. Riese herself had trouble swallowing from Khelen''s strike, and she was sore in several spots. Normally, she suspected the lords letter to cause conflict among the elders. Even though the lords'' rule was sovereign, there was always a ¡°hesitance¡± for Kel to hand one of their own over for sentencing. They would often contest it, which was a right afforded to them. The Nikral were not tyrants, they ruled with sternness, but they were fair. But Khelen had proved he was not...normal. He was an aberration. So when Riese had shown the elders of Inshod the letter, there had been almost zero discussion of defending the man. He was to be handed over to Leoman without hesitation.


    By now, the entire village of Inshod had come out of their homes and had gathered around the center, murmuring silently as Leoman approached. Riese tensed as she heard the first din of his carriage: clattering claws and chinking metal. A trio of wargs, each painted with a strip matching one of Lord U''shall''s colors: Red, Green, Orange. Then Leoman''s carriage appeared behind them, flanked on both sides by guardians riding their mounts. The carriage itself was unmistakably of Lyosh design. Leoman''s race were superb metal-workers, their crafts running hundreds, perhaps thousands of bentlings. The technique used for the carriage was instantly recognized as skinmolding, where metal alloy was hammered and shaped over another object to form a thin ¡°skin¡±. The objects used in the carriage walls appeared to be an assortment of bones from various beasts arranged in such a way that they provided a certain macabre symmetry to the cart. This cart towed in front of another, more mundane covered wagon formed of husk sides.


    Leoman himself sat in front of the cart. As was characteristic of the Lyosh, his pink face was fat and wide, and limned at the edges with quill-like whiskers. Three of his arms, his two shoulder limbs and one of the arms on his torso, held onto the reigns while the other shaded his large eyes. As he saw the elders, they gave him a respectful bow. He brought the carriage to a stop at the edge of the village, got up and stretched, his four arms spreading like pedals of a flower. He was covered in husk plating that had been burnished with the same alloy that formed the cart. Lyosh were not as tall as the lords. In fact, they weren''t much taller than the average Kel. But they were strong and many of the villagers have never seen a member of Leoman''s race before, so they muttered nervously.


    Leoman heard the muttering so he looked around at the crowd and silence fell. But he did not appear to be angry. In fact, he appeared rather amused, though it was sometimes hard to tell with his people. They always appeared to be smiling. Leoman glanced at the lords, saw at their wounds and gave them a look of confusion. ¡°What happened to you?¡± the look said. But instead of engaging the elders he looked at the crowd again until he saw a child holding onto her mother''s hand. Leoman approached her and crouched to the ground in front of her.


    ¡°Hello!¡± he said cheerfully in a voice that did not match his appearance, ¡°My name is Leoman! What is your name?¡±


    The girl hesitated, looking up at her mom for help. But her mother placed her hands on her daughters shoulders and gently coaxed her forward. ¡°T-tuli...¡± she said softly.


    ¡°T-tuli?¡± Leoman repeated, ¡°I have never met somebody named T-tuli before!¡±


    ¡°...Tuli...¡± Tuli said.


    ¡°Oh...¡± Leoman feigned embarrassment, ¡°My mistake. Well, Tuli...do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°...No.¡± Tuli shifted uncomfortably and avoided looking at the Lyosh''s face, choosing instead to look at the cobbled road, tracing circles with her feet.


    ¡°Ah...¡± Leoman said playfully, ¡°Do you know what I am?¡±


    ¡°...¡± Tuli didn''t answer.


    ¡°Ugly?¡± Leoman answered for her, ¡°Scary? I look like something you''ve probably seen in your nightmares, right? Come on, go ahead and say it, I will not be hurt!¡±


    ¡°Yes...¡± Tuli answered after a silence.


    ¡°Ohh!!!¡± Leoman gasped dramatically, covering his face with his torso arms. ¡°How could you say such a mean thing to me?!¡±


    Riese had never met Leoman, though she had heard of the man when Lord U''shal had first employed him a few years back. What she saw in front of her did not align with the rumors of both him and his twin. She knew what he was doing, yes. She knew he was trying to ingratiate himself with the villagers of Inshod, make them feel less afraid. But she had no idea he had such a knack for befriending children. Already, Tuli''s mouth began to curl slightly at Leoman''s oafish behavior.


    ¡°But...it''s true.¡± Leoman said, pretending to wipe away a few tears, ¡°I am ugly. Well...I look better than my brother. People say we look alike...but I think I look just slightly less hideous than he does. Say, do you want to hear a joke? Why do Lyosh like me have four arms?¡±


    ¡°..I-¡±


    ¡°Two to hammer metal,¡± Leoman raised his shoulder arms, ¡°one to hold my food so I can eat while I work,¡± he raised a torso arm, ¡°and the other to pick my nose while I eat!¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Tuli grinned shyly, ¡°You...do not have a nose.¡±


    ¡°I-¡± Leoman frowned, then used one of his torso arms to feel around on his face for the missing nose. ¡°Grab a wulup''s tail, it was just there this morning! What happened to it?!¡±


    A few of the villagers chuckled. Laughing, Leoman tussled Tuli''s hair and stood back up. Then he slowly moved out in front of the people, holding his shoulder arms behind his back.


    ¡°I love Kel children.¡± he announced, turning to them, ¡°I always have. They have such...''life'' to them. And they laugh at my jokes. Lord U''shal never does that. Can you believe that?¡± he looked around and stopped, spotting a couple of boys, who had climbed on top of a nearby husk hut to get a better view, ¡°Can you believe that, little roof-Kel?¡± The boys'' embarrassed parents strolled over and angrily gestured for them to get down. ¡°It is excruciatingly difficult to get my master and employer to laugh!¡±


    He waited for the boys to slide down before continuing, ¡°But as I was saying, the children of Kel are precious to me. I do hate frightening them, so I always try to make new friends like little Tuli over there. But...¡± Leoman''s tone took a more dire edge, ¡°what I say here today will...be frightening for the ears of little ones. So I ask for every mother, or father, take your children inside. Or take them for a stroll in the woods, or for a swim in your rivers. Take them somewhere where they cannot listen.¡± The village began to murmur, husbands turned to wives and conversed rapidly. ¡°-And do it swiftly!¡± Leoman clapped his hands, ¡°Go on! Get the children out of here!¡±


    Fathers passed off the children to their mothers, who took them by the hand and led them hesitantly away from the square. The town filled with the sound of doors shutting and windows latching. Occasionally, a child protested against being dragged away from something exciting. As Riese watched them go, she felt ice settling in her chest. Nervous feet shifted against the stone as last parents left with their children. Leoman took a moment to look around at all the windows and roofs to make sure nobody was peaking. Then he faced the crowd.


    ¡°Inshod, I introduced myself to little Tuli as Leoman.¡± he said, ¡°To you, I introduce myself as a messenger of Lord U''shal. And sometimes...jailer, fabricator, and heckler. That means sometimes I get to build his prisons, arrest people to throw in them, then harass them with my asinine humor.¡± Leoman picked a stone up off the road, turned around and hurled it at the cart he had towed. It bounced off the side with a loud ¡°clang¡±. Somebody inside the metal contraption groaned softly. The Lyosh turned back to his audience ¡°I want to ask you all a question: How do you live in these mountains?¡±


    To Riese''s left and right, people were looking at each other as if unsure what answer they should give. Finally, one stepped forward. ¡°We are family, Leoman Eth.¡± he said, ¡°We all contribute to the welfare of Inshod. We have our hunters who gather meat, we trade fur for...¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Leoman said dangerously, ¡°Anybody else?¡± he looked around, ¡°Perhaps my question was ill-phrased, so let me put it forth to you again: How are you able...to live here?¡±


    This time, one of the elders stepped forward, Elder Thormon. ¡°We are able to live here because the Nikral have defeated the colossi that harassed our ancestors.¡± Ardent Riese groaned to herself at the answer. She had engaged the man in several debates as to whether or not the colossi were still alive. But there were some like him, who were under the mistaken belief that the Nikral''s victory has come and gone. Part of the reason Nikral began to select ardents was so that they could send them out and educate the people. In this regard, Thormon was a testament to Riese''s failure.


    ¡°Close...very close, but NO!¡± Leoman bellowed. There was no mistaking his expression now. It was venomous. ¡°You are able to live in these mountains not because the lords have defeated the colossi. You live here because they are still fighting the colossi! The monoliths are not dead, they have never been defeated, simply harried! Right now, the Nikral are warring with the beasts! They have never stopped warring ever since their emergence!¡±


    At this, Riese stepped forward and immediately felt Leoman''s gaze shoot toward her, ¡°Please forgive Elder Thormon, Eth.¡± she said, ¡°The previous ardent, my predecessor, filled their heads with false ideas, some were even treasonous. I have tried to correct Thormon''s view, but the other ardent had been with them a long time...earned his trust. To him, I am young-¡±


    ¡°Yes...¡± Leoman said, ¡°would you be surprised to hear that this man''s ignorance is being shared by numerous Kel all across the north?¡± he turned back to the town and began to stroll, ¡°There are villages...entire village full of people just like you who believe as this...''wizened'' old man does: that the danger is gone. They think that because their villages have never been trampled, then surely the colossi must no longer exist! The lords do not know how this happened! They are baffled! Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the Nikral are basking in a victory that has been long past! Pitiful rebellions have broken out in the towns of Karel and Ushek Down! I can name others if I wish!¡±


    Several of the villagers muttered the word ¡°rebellion¡± to themselves in disbelief.


    ¡°The lords have sent out their ardents,¡± he continued, ¡°they have even met with the instigators of these little rebellions themselves, tried to reason with these people! But you all are growing complacent! Complacent and stubborn! Your tranquility has blinded you with the illusion of safety, an illusion so strong, it has blinded you! I want to show you the price of such FOLLY!¡±


    Leoman bellowed the last word, drew a wicked looking black blade from his belt, then angrily strolled over to the cart made of metal-worked bone and slapped a hand against its surface. What happened next drew a gasp from the villagers. The metal coating retracted, leaving only strands of argent behind on the bleached bones beneath. Knuckles grasped at ribs and pulled them away, unfolding them like the slabs of an iris, opening up a circular port in the side of the cart. The circle widened until it became large enough to admit a person. Leoman climbed in and dragged out a man covered in tattered clothes and bruises. Streaks of gray peppered the man''s shoulder-length hair.


    ¡°I want to introduce you to somebody special.¡± Leoman asked, pressing the tip of the blade to the man''s side, he stiffened visibly. ¡°He has a name, but his name is no longer important! What is important is that he will be participating in The Feast of Retribution!¡±


    The town held its breath. Some of the villagers have heard word of the feast, but it had not been made official to them until now. Some of them repeated the phrase as if it were poison to their lips. ¡°This traitor has been uttering heresies, heresies which I will not name because of their ugliness!¡± Leoman spat, ¡°However, the falsehoods he uttered were far less harmless and far more daft than the ignorance espoused by your town invalid! Yet those lesser falsehoods have warranted the lords'' ire because they, also have been spreading. Their origin? Who knows? But he is to be a celebrant in the Feast of Retribution, he will have the honor of being hunted and gutted by his lords for his folly! And you all get to watch!¡± He dragged the man, threw him into the cart then slapped the bones again. The bones slid back into place and the metal poured back over them before solidifying.


    ¡°That is why I am here.¡± Leoman said, ¡°The village of Inshod has been summoned to give witness to the feast. I will of course leave a document explaining who is exempt from attending, but for those who have no exemption, you are required to bear witness to the price of idiocy!¡±


    Summoned...to give witness. Oh Lord U''shal, Riese thought, it was more horrible than she could have anticipated, being summoned to a Retribution Feast. The thought of slaughter was horrifying enough to the average Kel, but being commanded to watch. She had heard stories of how the lords became when they held these feasts. The thought of what these people, what she would see made her feel sick. It was a sentiment being shared by the horrified whispers of the townspeople.


    ¡°I am not finished.¡± Leoman said, ¡°I have only spoken of Feast. I have not spoken of the greater punishment.¡±


    ¡°W-what?!¡± Riese blurted before she could stop herself. What could be worse than the Feast of Retribution?


    ¡°Yes Ardent.¡± the Lyosh stared at her, ¡°Those who are participating in the Retribution Feasts are less dangerous than those who accuse the lords of being liars. So...starting one year from now: The lords will take far greater punitive measures: For one trel only, they will withdraw the ancient totem walkers from the west coast. The colossi will be free to do as they wish.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Riese shouted, ¡°They cannot!¡±


    ¡°Yes!!¡± Leoman screamed, his face burning violet with rage, ¡°They have decided you...WE, as my people are just as daft and as stubborn as yours, all need a solid reminder of why they are lords! You call them liars, you cast doubt on their actions, their rules! This is the result! So one year from now, you better be far away from your town. For this is the nesting place of Nexu...it was his home long before any Kel settled here. It is the home he tries to come to when he is reborn! Flee, pack your bags and flee. Get away from here and leave that stupid old fool behind if you must. If an ardent''s word will not sway him from his dementia, maybe having his decrepit dusty old bones crushed into the mountain will change his mind!¡±


    ¡°They cannot!¡± Riese repeated, pleading ¡°They cannot be considering this! Most of us accept their rule, we do doubt them! I have seen the colossi myself, I have seen those things! Why punish society for the ignorance of a few?¡±


    ¡°Because it is a disease, Ardent.¡± Leoman said, ¡°In only a few years, these ''few'' have become ''a few hundred'', then ''a few thousand''. It is an endemic, I tell you. You are only ignorant of this because you have been living up here where the air is thin and few come.¡±


    ---


    Riese was still trembling when the guardians knocked at her door. Leoman stood beside them, all signs of his fury vanished. Now he seemed the cheerful oaf he had portrayed to the little girl, Tuli. Outside, people were weeping in the streets. Inside their homes, they were wailing. Riese wanted to join them, oh she wanted to join them. It was not fair that their village, along with the entire west coast had been condemned for the folly of a few. But she saw the logic in the lords'' decision, it was an obvious logic. She had trouble convincing one man...just one man that his views were misinformed. If this epidemic of ignorance was widespread among villages, then the only argument the lords could make in defense of themselves was to let the colossi loose.


    ¡°Ardent Riese...¡± Leoman crooned, ¡°I was told by the elders you have something for me.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± she said, fighting to get the tremor out of her voice. ¡°Please, follow to my office, Leoman Eth.¡±


    ¡°Just...Leoman will do.¡± Leoman said, ¡°Formality is for the public. ''Eth'' does not fit me. Tell me...have some of your elders been in a fist fight lately?¡±


    ¡°That...¡± Riese said as she led him up the stairs, ¡°is actually why I wanted to talk to you. We had a stranger arrive about a trel ago.¡±


    As she opened the door, Skrit darted past their feet. How did he always manage to get stuck in there? The Rikitat wriggled comically down the hallway, chased its tail for a few circles then shot up the wall to hide in an unlit lantern.


    ¡°Funny things, those are.¡± Leoman said, following the creature with his large eyes.


    Riese offered him a chair then took a seat behind her desk. The Lyosh seemed intrigued by the various gadgets she had collected over the years. But then he took the seat she offer him, his sides straining the arms. Silence passed between them for a few moments before he spoke. ¡°Well?¡±


    ¡°Sorry...¡± Riese started, her horror at the Lyosh''s announcements obfuscated her thoughts. But she used her training to push them aside and held out Lord U''shal''s letter. Leoman reached out with his torso arms, which passed it up to his shoulder arms, and flipped the letter so he could read it. As his eyes scanned the pages, his mouth pantomimed the Nikral''s words. When he was finished, he handed the letter back to Riese and scratched his whiskers.


    ¡°Lord...Saxion?¡± he asked, ¡°There is somebody going around claiming to be a Favored of a Lord Saxion?¡±


    ¡°Not...exactly.¡± Riese said, ¡°Between the time I sent the letter and the time you arrived, there have been ''revelations''. Am I right to assume you built that jail you are towing?¡±


    ¡°Beautiful, isn''t she? I built it, yes.¡± Leoman crooned with pride, ¡°But Lord U''Shal imbued it with lore. His knowledge is beyond me, but alloys are one of my passions. Why?


    Riese ducked under her desk and picked up the Khelen''s cylindrical vessel. She placed it on the desk in front of her. Leoman reached out with his torso limbs and pulled it toward him, tumbling it gracefully through all four of his hands, scanning it with the gaze of his large eyes. ¡°No hammer marks, no brush marks, the alloy...I cannot tell what it is. The design is plain. Well-crafted, expertly crafted in fact, but plain¡± he asked.


    ¡°It opens.¡± Riese said. He looked up at her confused.


    ¡°Opens?¡± he repeated, examining it from all angles. ¡°How? I see no indication that it opens.¡±


    ¡°Seams appear and it opens.¡± Riese said.


    ¡°Did a lord make it then?¡± he asked, clearly intrigued.


    ¡°No. It belongs to the stranger mentioned in that letter. And only he can open it.¡±


    Leoman set the vessel back onto the table, leaned in with a hungry gaze in his eyes,


    ¡°Please, tell me more...¡±


    ---


    ¡°These are intriguing!¡± Leoman said later that night as he inspected Khelen''s artifacts, running a hand over the four-legged structure, ¡°Oh, for certain I cannot execute him!¡± He picked up the garment they had removed from Khelen when Riese had knocked him out. ¡°This!¡± he gasped, ¡°I have never seen such...how?! Ardent, this is extraordinary! And you said...this goes into his back? As in it penetrates his flesh?¡±


    ¡°Holes in his flesh.¡± Riese said.


    ¡°This...I cannot call it metalworking.¡± Leoman crooned, ¡°There has to be another word for this...artistry. No, I cannot execute this man. This surely is a lore forbidden to him. All of this is! The lords will want to question this individual. They will want to find out how he obtained such knowledge. The world has lost its mind, has it not? Kel...with the lore of lords...absolutely maddening. I will go grab some guardians, have them load all of this onto my wagon. Then I wish to meet this Khelen.¡±


    ¡°He is violent.¡± Riese warned.


    ¡°So I have heard.¡± Leoman said, ¡°But do not worry. I know how to move him safely. Do you know if any...of the prisoners you obtained are sensitive to malide gas?¡±


    ---


    Khelen was by himself again, alone with the silence. To keep his mind from thinking about his situation, he had enabled a few games. Staring at the wall, he watched his avatar fight off a horde of blue and red sprites. After he defeated them, the entire ground erupted with an army of zippers, named for the way they zipped back and forth, leaving behind lines of electricity. To escape from the danger, his avatar cast a line up to the window in the ceiling of the cell, and frantically climbed while shooting down at the zippers. But as it neared the window, a new army of zippers poured over the threshold. His avatar leapt off, sailed through the air and slammed into the middle of the cell floor, the impact taking a huge chunk out of its vitality. He was about to use one of the clusterbombs he had been saving when hand reached through the window and dropped something. The object was a round ball the size of his fist and it was shooting up smoke. It rolled through his avatar and spun in place, releasing plumes of violet mist. Khelen leapt up and made to kick at the object but his intake of air drew in some of the smoke. He felt himself growing lightheaded. No...He dosed Drive in order to counteract the effect, but he had already taken in too much of the vapor. He stumbled to the ground and passed out.

 Chapter 6-Three Promises.

    Khelen stirred from his sleep and noticed several sharp pains in his back. Groaning he sat up and did a quick self-check. He confirmed the presence of some unidentified drug, a sleep agent of sorts, different in composition to the fluid Ardent Riese splashed on him. The room quaked softly as he sat there, looking around the chamber he found himself in, shifting uncomfortably as something dug into his thighs.


    ¡°You''re awake.¡± a voice to his left said. He looked over and saw a man sitting in the opposite corner. He floated a circle over the man''s face. He appeared to be just on the verge of his mid-sixties as indicated by the spots of gray marking his shoulder-length hair. His entire body was covered with small bruises, perhaps caused by the gnarled surface of the chamber''s interior.


    ¡°Where...am I?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°Jail.¡± the man said, ¡°Prison on wheels. My name''s Simian, by the way. Got arrested because I was in the wrong time, wrong place. You?¡±


    ¡°...Khelen.¡± Khelen said as his cypher saved Simian''s face. ¡°It is...complicated.¡±


    ¡°I bet it is.¡± Simian chuckled but then groaned at his injuries, ¡°That idiot who is driving this carriage said you were some sort of lore-user.¡±


    ¡°He is the one who was yelling in the village earlier?¡±


    ¡°Earlier?¡± Simian said, ¡°That was yesterday, kid. But is it right, what Leoman said about you?¡±


    Instead of answering, Khelen got up and began to explore the chamber, relaxing his legs so he would not lose his balance. There was a grate near the top of the chamber, letting in some light. Khelen almost dosed himself with Calm so he could brave the strange light, but he was getting low on his formulas. So instead, he forced himself to look. He could not see anything, just a little bit of the sky. It was wrong...it was blue. He lowered himself back to the floor and analyzed his situation. Any hope of finding help in Inshod had passed. He had been turned over for some sort of judgment.


    ¡°My...belongings?¡±


    ¡°I heard them loading something in the back last night.¡± Simian said, ¡°That creep out there was fawning over whatever it was. Would your stuff be made out of metal?¡±


    ¡°It...could look like that.¡± Khelen said, ¡°Some of it is.¡±


    ¡°Then it was probably your stuff out back. Not that it will do you any good.¡± Simian said, ¡°I''m a dead man, you...well I hate to say this but with the way Leoman was talking, you would be better off dead.¡±


    ¡°Interrogation?¡± Khelen asked. Simian nodded. Interrogation, torture perhaps. Though he did not react to this emotionally, it was unacceptable. He did not completely comprehend why Ardent Riese thought he was some sort of criminal. She and the elders were lucky it had not been awoken by their threats. He did not know this world, but nobody laid claim to cyatic technology or ¡°lore¡± as she called it. These ¡®Nikral¡¯ were deluded and he was not about to allow himself to be punished for such an asinine idea. The feed was silent, he was alone, but he was not helpless. As soon as he heard Simian''s answer, Khelen knew what he had to do. And as soon as he made a decision, something familiar began to stir within him, something that had been dormant for several years.


    ¡°Simian...¡± Khelen said, ignoring the stirrings of the thing within him, ¡°I...do not know this...area. If I break us both free, will you...help me? Be a ''guide'' of sorts? I need to...get my bearings. I need a place to stay. I will...¡± he thought for a moment..., ¡°I have no...currency...but you will benefit from my ''talents''.¡±


    ¡°Help you?¡± Simian repeated, ¡°If we break free? Even if we did, Leoman is relentless. He will chase us to the corners of Iris. But yeah, sure. If you break us both free and we escape from him for good, fine. I''ll be your ''guide'', I will even take you home to meet the family.¡± Then the man shook his head and laughed bitterly, ¡°Come to reality kid, we are both dead.¡±


    ¡°Unlikely.¡±


    ¡°I suppose denial is easier.¡± Simian sighed, ¡°But...if you perform a miracle, then I will be in your debt. I will do whatever. We can both go back to my place and have my wife make us all dinner. Of course, we would both be fugitives.¡±


    Khelen nodded and assessed his situation. They had removed his abdolex, replaced his clothes with primitive garments, and they had removed his Scavenger-Mate. When he retrieved them, he would have to make some modifications to make sure that did not happen again. That left him with nothing except his cypher and a few more injectables in his formula injector. Still, he had survived these situations before.


    ¡°This vehicle is pulled by animals?¡± Khelen said, ¡°Can you control them?¡±


    ¡°Wargs?¡± Simian smiled and shook his head, as if entertaining a fantasy of Khelen''s ¡°Sure. If you get rid of Leoman, I''ll take the wargs and we can go wherever you like. Do you drink? I heard-¡±


    Khelen whirled around as the grating opened and was surprised when a large wide face appeared. His cypher quickly scanned the eyes and nostrils and attempted to construct an approximation of the rest of the unseen countenance. The result was a fuzzy outline of what should have been cheeks and a mouth.


    ¡°Ah, you''re awake! I thought I heard talking.¡± Leoman said, ¡°I was just sitting here admiring your garment!¡± He held Khelen''s abdolex to the grating. ¡°Absolutely wonderful, how is it made? I am a connoisseur of alloys!¡±


    Khelen briefly thought about snatching the garment, but he did not know if he could pull it through the small aperture. He was also distracted by the creature''s appearance. ¡°I don''t know.¡± he said, ¡°I didn''t make it. Machines fabricated it. Ordered to my specifications.¡±


    He could not see the creature''s mouth, but Khelen thought he sensed a frown. ¡°Machines..,made this?¡± Leoman asked.


    ¡°What...are you?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°Hmm? Never seen a Lyosh before, have you?¡± Leoman asked, ¡°Boy you mountain-folks need to get out and see the world more often. But...then again you look like you''ve never even seen the sky before. In fact....¡± he paused, ¡°that Ardent said you sobbed when you saw the sun!¡± Khelen raised a brow. Sobbed? Not accurate. ¡°Where do I keep getting these strange characters?¡± the creature continued, ¡°Speaking of which, you haven''t gone beating up on my heretic have you? I heard you were a violent little Kel.¡±


    He must be referring to Simian. ¡°Simian is...fine.¡±


    ¡°That was his name?¡± Leoman asked, feigning surprise, ¡°I got so used to calling him ''heretic'', I forgot he had a name. I don''t think heretics deserve names, do you? Hmm...this will be awkward, what will I end up calling you? I very well can''t go calling you both ''heretic''. I suppose ''paleface'' is too easy...hmm...oh, I am being juvenile! What was your name, kid?¡±


    ¡°Khelen.¡± Khelen said ¡°Are...the ''Nikral'', a separate species as you are?¡±


    At this, Leoman burst into laughter and latched the grating shut. But Khelen could still hear him speaking quite clearly. ¡°You truly are ignorant!¡± he said, ¡°I thought the ardent was perhaps using some sort of hyperbole when she spoke of your utter cluelessness. Yes, the Nikral lords are separate from my people and Kels. What else would they be?¡±


    ¡°Faction of...''Kels'', perhaps.¡± That appeared to be Sacrin''s term for Nomoa, Khelen''s species.


    Leoman shrieked with laughter so hard he shook the cart. ¡°Kels? Lords? Do you jest with me Khelen Paleface?¡± he asked, ¡°Oh!! Oh!!! Kels...as lords! I should take you out and beat you for putting such a stupid image in my head! But...instead I will thank you for the laugh! Maybe I''ll give you a little Kel treat later! Soft Kels, soft, soft Kels, ruling from thrones! Oh I need to tell my brother about this! He will break his ribs! Oh dear...oh de-hehehehehe...¡±


    ¡°Soft?¡± Khelen repeated curiously, ¡°I do not see you. Do you have an exoskeleton?¡±


    ¡°Soft!¡± Leoman insisted as soon as he got a hold of himself. ¡°As in you are all so squeamish! Oh you all are great hunters, fantastic architects, such a talented people. But if somebody disagrees with you, somebody threatens you, your guts fall out! You cower in fear and submit so easily. That is why you are at the bottom of everything! Cowardice and hesitation is written into your blood! You cannot even hit a man without sobbing about it afterwards!¡±


    Khelen saved that tidbit in his cypher. It was a revelation to him, it explained the actions of the townspeople, it explained why the guardians had been so horrible at fighting. This was something he could use. But immediately as he thought of that, the thing within him seemed to lift up its head. An ¡°itch¡± began to caress his chest, a smoldering hunger. Instead of engaging Leoman in more conversation, he walked over to where Simian was sitting, then sat down, shifting until he got somewhat comfortable


    ¡°Oh, are you done chit-chatting?¡± Leoman said, ¡°Well, we can talk later about this wondrous material!¡±


    ¡°Is that thing telling the truth?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°About what?¡± Simian asked


    ¡°Kel being ''soft''.¡± Khelen absent-mindedly ran a hand through his hair. He vaguely remembered having it grafted before he came to Sacrin.


    ¡°You really are a strange one.¡± Simian said, ¡°I don''t think it is that mysterious, but we all have it. Nothing to be ashamed of. Must have been protected, haven''t you? Your parents did not tell you about it?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Simian considered him for a moment as if not sure what to make of Khelen. ¡°In simple terms,¡± he began, ¡°we cringe from intentionally hurting people, even when we are furious, or even when our lives are threatened. To a Lyosh like Leoman, that makes us ''soft''. I detest that ''creature''...but I cannot fight him even if I could. We lack...whatever it is Lyosh and Nikral have.¡±


    Khelen sat back and began to plan. Perhaps Kel were a different, yet similar looking species to Nomoa, or perhaps...well, he could not focus on the merits of his various hypotheses now, but if he could be transported from one world to the other, then who is to say such a thing had not happened in the past? Perhaps years of evolution had somehow favored the flighty. If the colossi Riese spoke of were real, this would be a desirable trait to have. However, it meant that their entire race was both crippled and neutered, which was very unfortunate for them. However, it was very fortunate for Khelen. The seething hunger inside of him demanded that he use this information against Leoman and the enigmatic Nikral. The seething...it wanted to be fed, it wanted Khelen to let loose. But he fought it down...he could not afford to satisfy this growing itch, not yet.


    First, he needed to know where exactly his tools were. More specifically, the Scavenger-Mate they took off his wrist. He closed his eyes, reached out and sent a signal to them. They responded to his call by pinging their location relative to his person. He opened his eyes and turned toward the back of the cart, drawn by the arrows in his peripheral. There, tagged through the wall by floating symbols were his tools. At his command, all the symbols except that which belonged to his Scavenger-Mate dimmed. Odd, he did not see it. Why wasn''t it with all of his belongings? But then he noticed an arrow near the bottom of his peripheral. As he followed it, the arrow orbited around his vision until it popped over to his right, pointing toward the front of the carriage. So Leoman had his Scavenger-Mate and his abdolex. Fine, the next step was to get a full analysis of the creature''s movements. But for that work, the cypher had to ¡°see¡± the subject, record a full range of the creature''s motions. All that it could see through the grating if Leoman chose to look through it, would be the creature''s eyes. There was nothing Khelen could do except wait.


    Waiting for the cart to stop was unpleasant, but he had endured far worse. Yet every vibration of the carriage seemed to jostle his anger, entice the scraping, the clawing at his chest. The seething churned inside of him like an affectionate poison. He knew this animal, this monster, this malfunction that yearned for release and hungered for carnage. For now, he could keep it at by dosing himself with Calm and Somnolence. But it was powerful, persistent. He knew assigning bestial attributes to a sickness was irrational, yet that is how it behaved. It fed, then it slept, then when it got hungry, it woke up and begged at him for sustenance. It caressed him, teased him, stoked his most virulent emotions like the flirtations of a clingy lover.


    After a few hours, the carriage came to a stop for a break. Khelen was relieved, as he had begun to pace back and forth in an effort to expend his pent up storm.


    ¡°Heretic,¡± Leoman called from the left side of the cart, ¡°You know the routine. Have our pale-faced friend stand in the opposite corner.¡±


    ¡°Stand with your back to the corner, like he says.¡± Simian said, ¡°Wrists behind you. Won''t matter if you don''t, he''ll toss one of those gas bombs through and knock us both out.¡±


    Khelen did as he was instructed and held his wrists behind his back. To his amazement, his cypher detected numerous cyatic bands diving toward the wall behind the man. When they touched it, the metal retracted to reveal bones, which in turn slid out of the way to reveal a hole big enough for the man''s wrists. Four armored arms affixed them with chained cuffs. The owner of the arms gave them a good tug, then the hole in the wall widened enough for Simian to step through. Immediately the aperture closed. But a moment later, Khelen felt another open behind him, then he felt a set of cuffs clasp around his wrists, then he felt something tug him out.


    He knew this was coming, knew he would have to face it, but stepping out into the sunlight felt unnatural, like jumping into a fire and expecting not to receive any burns. The sky seemed to be limned in a gradient of blue, growing brighter at the horizons. It was...wrong...beautiful, but wrong, as if it had been defaced by celestial graffiti. Everything felt so big that he had a moment of vertigo and stumbled across the strange grass on the ground. Strange because it had such volume and resilience. But he calibrated quickly. The verdance of this place seemed to thwart the growing tempest within him, beat it back, but it had not completely silenced it.


    Khelen had to concentrate. If he was going to get a read on Leoman, now was the time. He got his first good look at his captor and the cypher went to work, documenting the multiple limbs on the creature''s upper torso, analyzing the creature''s gait, studied how many breaths it took as it walked. It got a read on Leoman''s face but could not accurately guess the creature''s emotions. The Lyosh''s mouth was so wide it seemed to be stuck in a perpetual grin, which ''confused'' the cypher. Khelen took the algorithm for reading people, duplicated it, erased all history from the duplicate so that it started from scratch. At the same time, he told the original program to ignore faces like Leoman''s and told the duplicate to ignore all Kels. The result was that each program was dedicated to reading its own species without mixing the results. He suspected he would have to create another copy and dedicate it to Nikral readings when and if he finally met one of the creatures.


    Leoman attached him to a long length of chain and tethered the other end of the chain to the carriage. ¡°Well...find a spot and go.¡± he said. ¡°Just do not aim your stream at my carriage.¡±


    Khelen walked around back as far as the chain would let him and relieved himself. The length between cuffs just barely allowed him to do that. When he returned, the creature had left a bowl of water in the grass for him along with some bread. As he tore chunks from it, he watched Leoman tackle a large piece of seared meat. His cypher read traces of sodium in it, perhaps salt used for preservation. The Lyosh held the bone with the meat in one hand while two more cut a loaf of bread into slices. The last one held a large canteen. The cypher lapped up the data as if it were sustenance for its memory banks. Leoman looked down, noticed Khelen staring at him and seemed to frown slightly.


    ¡°Why are you grinning at me?¡± he demanded.


    ¡°You have four limbs.¡± Khelen said, ¡°Six, if you count your legs. Do all members of your...race have these or do you grow them?¡±


    ¡°Grow them?!¡± Leoman exclaimed through a mouthful of food, ¡°Grow limbs?! What kind of creepy imagery goes through your brain Khelen Paleface?!¡±


    Even Simian seemed to be giving him a strange look. Biological alterations were commonplace on Scrul, even if only the rich could afford them. But if a society had never seen such a thing... ¡°Never saw one of you before.¡± Khelen said, injecting a small amount of Fear, hoping to give himself the inflection of submission, something he was not good at. The formula slowed the growing storm inside and fueled the deceit. He needed to make himself look small, make himself look like a soft Kel. ¡°Sorry...¡±


    Leoman shrugged and continued eating. Occasionally he would spit out pieces of bone and let out the occasional belch. One of the torso limbs reached up to wipe his mouth while the other brushed pieces of stray crumbs from his chest. The cypher recorded the motions while making thousands of comparisons to all the known animals it had in its records. Using that data and cross-referencing the anatomies from various species, it was slowly able to deduce the probable locations of Leoman''s stomach, heart, lungs, intestines, etc.


    ¡°The arms...on your torso...¡± Khelen asked softly, ¡°Are they...equal in strength to your others?¡±


    ¡°What kind of question is that?¡±


    ¡°Curious anatomy.¡±


    ¡°Heretic,¡± Leoman said, pointing to Khelen with a piece of bone, ¡°I think he is far too childlike for where he is going. Why can''t you be more like him? Why must you always brood and glare at me like that? You need to recover your child-like wonder!¡± Then he turned to Khelen, ¡°These...¡± he raised his torso arms, ¡°Are for shaping. These,¡± he gestured with his shoulder arms ¡°are for pounding. Now that you know about me, I want to ask you more about that fascinating garment. What material is it made from?¡±


    ¡°Abdolex¡± Khelen said, ¡°That is what the company calls it. They have a...they own the formula, keep it a secret. It contains several alloys...and synthetic metals and carbon composites, as well as an alloy called trelloxid. Beyond that...I don''t know.¡±


    ¡°Synthetic...metals?¡± Leoman emitted a curious noise, ¡°well...I know you must be lying. An entire company of heretics...it would be as laughable as Kel lords if it weren''t such a tragic image. Such ingratitude...such ignorance...even some of my own people have been infected with this epidemic of stupidity. Either way, Lord U''shal has means of extracting the truth. And I do...mean that in a very literal sense.¡± he snickered, ¡°Oh...he will be very interested in the...''grafts'' you have in your form. He will want to know how it works, who did it to you, how they are doing it. If I were you, I would not lie. I would tell him everything, then beg for a quick end.¡±


    The beast inside crooned at this threat and Khelen dosed his last amount of Calm. Leoman did not know what he was doing, he had no clue he was stoking the itch. The Lyosh was painting a target on its quill-covered face without even knowing it. The cypher traced the Scavenger-Mate to Leoman''s figure and he saw it clasped around the creature''s wrist. Unfortunately, the creature saw him looking at it and raised it up. ¡°Oh, I do hope you forgive me,¡± he said, ¡°I had to try it on. Kind of dull, really. It almost seems like you broke it off something else and decided to pass it off as jewelry.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Jewelry? What? Did nobody tell the creature what the Scavenger-Mate had done? Impossible! He had held Riese at knife-point with it! He had used it to subdue the guardians! Surely she should have told Leoman about such a thing? But perhaps...perhaps she did not know what she saw. Perhaps she thought he himself had summoned the blade he used to hold her. Was that why she used the archaic term ¡°lore¡± to refer to technology? When Monu whispered his ¡°gleaning¡±, as he called it, Khelen detected a cyatic band bend toward the leaf before it caught fire. He was amazed to see such a thing done without some sort of interface. Perhaps they did not have devices that used cyatic technology, perhaps that was why she never suspected the Scavenger-Mate. They used some other method of interacting with cyatics.


    Either way, he needed to have the Scavenger-Mate and he was about to prepare an elaborate lie in an attempt to trick Leoman into handing it over. But using what he had learned about Kel, what Leoman thought of Kel, he made a swift decision not to lie, a decision the beast inside him crooned at. If he created a fiction and Leoman saw through it, the creature would grow suspicious. However, there was a good chance that the truth would be even more outrageous to Khelen''s captor than whatever fiction he spun. He was going to antagonize Leoman first, then he was going to tell the creature the truth.


    ¡°Do you really think I am...''soft''?¡± Khelen asked, tilting his head.


    ¡°To be ''Kel'', is to be weak.¡± Leoman said, as if quoting some doctrine, ¡°I''ll admit, you are a special little thing, to be able to take down several guardians and interrogate an Ardent. That is some story!¡±


    ¡°You do not believe it?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I believe you had an extended moment of violence.¡± Leoman interrupted, leaning his massive face on his hands in amusement, ¡°Even children have tantrums! But then you probably sobbed for the entire night, correct? That is what the guards said. ''Boohoo, why did I hurt those poor old peoples? Why did I hurt Lady Ardent?'' I love it when Kel act tough. What kind of herbs have you been chewing anyway when you decided to go crazy?¡±


    ¡°Inaccurate. I was stunned. But I adapt quickly.¡± Khelen¡¯s tone changed. He no longer was pretending to be soft, ¡°Skrul does not have a sun. I was...surprised. But now, my only concern..., my goal, is escape.¡±


    ¡°Escape?¡± Leoman cocked a brow, ¡°Now that is a rather bold statement to make in front of a jailor, wouldn''t you say? Ambitious, really. Normally, I would give naughty Kel and the occasional pincushion like myself, a few beatings for remarks like that. But, because I am in a good mood today and because you are fascinating, I will let it slide. Just consider this a fair warning before you decide to run your mouth too much. Allowing myself to be exposed to too much blithering idiocy cannot be good for my health!¡± he shook his head and repeated the word ¡°escape¡±.


    ¡°Kid...stop.¡± Simian whispered, shaking his head.


    ¡°Do not spoil the entertainment, Heretic!¡± Leoman picked up a pebble and threw it at the man, who raised an arm just in time, ¡°Did your mother ever teach you any manners? You do not speak when an entertainer is performing for you unless you are part of the act! Bad! Bad Heretic!¡±


    ¡°Pincushion?¡± Khelen repeated.


    ¡°The quills on my people, boy!¡± Leoman said, exasperated at his ignorance, ¡°Were you locked in a cellar your whole life? Is that why you are so pale and so daftly ignorant? Speaking of which, do you know why Lyosh make good wall guards? Well?....it is because we will stick wherever they put us! Hehehehehe...¡±


    Khelen allowed a smile to cross his face, it was a grin worn by the thing clawing at his chest. ¡°If I escape, I am going to kill you.¡±


    Leoman stared at him in utter shock and dropped the remnants of the drumstick he had been stripping.


    ¡°The device on your wrist...it''s not jewelry.¡± Khelen continued, ¡°It''s a weapon...that only I can use.¡±


    ¡°A weapon?¡± Leoman said disbelievingly, ¡°This?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Khelen said, the beast in him grumbling with excitement, ¡°It is my Scavenger-Mate, a multi-tool designed...for salvage operations, repairs, and limited cyatic storage. But...I made some....''illicit'' modifications to it, so I can use it as a weapon.¡± He felt it rising like a wild beast, his illness speaking in his words, ¡°If I were you...I would kill me while you have the chance. You...do not know...what I am. If you do not...¡± Khelen ached with the beast''s hunger and spoke low in a husky voice that thirsted for blood, ¡°I will get my hands on it. I will take it back. When I do...I will cut through these chains...then I will kill you.¡±


    Leoman continued to stare at him for a few moments before shrieking with laughter. He slapped the ground with his shoulder arms while holding his chest with his torso limbs. ¡°Oh!!! Ohh!!!¡± he howled, ¡°Oh you are fun! Oh dear!!! Ohh!!! So much fun!!! I honestly would love to see this! You think you are such a monster because you beat up a couple of old wrinkly bags? My brother is going to love you! Please tell me you are secretly a lord''s fool who crawled up from whatever quagmire kingdom he rules!¡±


    Khelen could not hold the beast back anymore. When he spoke, he spoke with its voice, ¡°I will cook you.¡± it said through his mouth, its hunger licking his lips, stoking his rage, ¡°I will...cut off your arms and legs. Then I will disembowel you. Then...we will leave your corpse for everybody to find. Nobody...would suspect us. Nobody would believe...''soft Kels'' did such a thing.¡±


    Leoman was crying from laughing so hard, his quills bobbing. ¡°Okay, okay...stop! This hurts! Stop! Please, this is too funny! You...you are killing me already! Ow!!! I think one of my ribs just...just punctured my LUNG!!!¡± The creature took several moments to control himself, but then he must have seen something in Khelen''s eyes. ¡°Oh that is such a vicious look!¡± he spat, ¡°What a conceited little Kel you are. I have never seen such a contagious outbreak of disrespect among you people! It must be something in the air, or something...something you people are eating! Have you been indulging in the fabled Essence of Idiocy or the Root of Insanity? Tell you what, you deluded fool, I want to see this newfound bravery of yours in action! This should be a real laugh.¡±


    Khelen could not believe the creature''s idiocy as Leoman removed the Scavenger-Mate from his wrist and began to walk toward him, tossing it from arm to arm. There was no way he would do it, no way he could possibly think Khelen to be so harmless. The tempest began to seethe in Khelen''s chest, pulsing like a beating heart, scraping at the back of his throat, going crazier with each step Leoman took, lusting for the moment the Scavenger-Mate reunited with its owner. Khelen held up his wrist in disbelief, trembling slightly. There was no way, no way the creature would unwittingly hand its own life over. It could not be that confident in the neutered incompetence of Kel. But he did it! He actually did it! Leoman placed the Scavenger-mate in Khelen''s open palm and he in turn, clasped it to his wrist. Then...he activated the Scavenger-mate''s flash-arc function.


    ---


    Five years ago, section 25: The Narrows, Edis Holeran.


    ¡°It must be raining.¡± Somebody floated as Khelen waited in the lobby, looking out the window at the ¡°catacombs¡±. He wasn''t sure why businesses here even bothered to install windows when all you could see was a wall covered in conduits, busways, and plumbing. Occasionally a skuttler or two would scurry by, clinking loudly against the pipes. They seemed to be all over the place in The Narrows. Not surprising considering how decrepit the place was, with something always needing to be repaired. Streams of water were pouring over the sides of the pipes, carrying with them bits of trash from the floors and streets above. Khelen''s conjecture drew several simultaneous floating responses from the other patients in the lobby:


    ¡°Raining piss.¡±


    ¡°Probably broken plumbing.


    ¡°Broken plumbing.¡±


    ¡°Waterline broke.¡±


    ¡°Broken pipe.¡±


    A man with blue hair laughed aloud at all the messages and then floated ¡°Do you think a waterline broke?¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡±


    ¡°Probably...probably.¡±


    ¡°...probably.¡±


    There was a silence for a few moments until a passerby outside stopped for a bit, read all the floating messages through the window, looked at the streams of water, then continued on walking. When he disappeared from visible sight, a floating ¡°probably...¡± appeared bobbing in his direction through the wall of the clinic.


    One of the patients, a hybrid around Khelen''s age, invited him to a game of Scourge to kill the time. He accepted and a grid bloomed to life on his lap. He took two seconds to increase the transparency of the display, decreased the size of the grid, then tucked it into the upper left-hand corner of his vision. That way he could still play while keeping an eye out for his summons. Soon, he and ¡°Lekar¡± were busy trying to trap each other in a game of pitfalls and deadly walls. Outside, several dozen scuttlers raced past to repair the broken waterlines that threatened to flood the catacombs.


    It was an intense battle, Lekar was very good and Khelen regretted having to end the game early. But a glowing orange line appeared on the floor in front of him. He called the game off, saved the session and added Lekar''s cypher so they could resume it later in the feed. He got up and followed the line to the door in the back of the room, which slid out of his way at his presence. The line led him down a brief corridor and took a right through another door. Along the wall scrolled several floating service announcements warning about the latest outbreak of the ''moddles''. His cypher floated a small excerpt from the announcement inside a small window at the corner of his vision. But he brushed it away with a gesture.


    The doctor, a hybrid with trelloxic grafting throughout his face, was still wiping down the surfaces when Khelen entered. He had been warned that this man was one of those, exchanging his flesh for tech, choosing to replace his eyes, nose, and even his ears with swappable implants. Though his mind was still that of a person, he resembled an automaton. Without looking up, the doctor sent a request through Lightcaster. When Khelen accepted it, the hybrid sent him the typical documents which he had to sign. He did so swiftly, wanting to get this over with. Then the doctor illuminated the padded table in the middle of the room. Across the table floated ¡°I will need you to take your top off and lay here.¡± then a transparent ghost of a person lay facedown so that their face rested within the cushioned ring at the end of the table. It wasn''t necessary, Khelen knew the routine. He removed his shirt, hang it on one of the wall pegs, then he laid down on the cold table, shivering slightly.


    ¡°Is that waterpipe outside broken again? (Yes/No)¡± words rose from the floor below Khelen''s face. Khelen selected ¡°yes¡± without even thinking about it.


    ¡°Unbelievable. Third time it broke this week. Let me put on my ''eyes'' and take a look at your cypher. I know what you came in for, but it''s routine to make sure nothing is wrong with your synth. (Go ahead/ Please wait)¡±


    Khelen selected ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I have my eyes on, now I will link my hologram to your Lightcaster. You can float any questions while I work. Or you can browse the feed, watch the latest games, whatever. I''ll try to get this over with so that you don''t get too bored.¡±


    Khelen felt a slight pressure near the base of his spine and immediately a holographic diagram of his cypher appeared in front of him. The ¡°hologram¡± did not actually exist. It was a controlled hallucination, just like the floating messages. It depicted his cypher in glowing orange, the submerged parts a slightly dimmer shade of orange, the doctor¡¯s hands green, and tools, like the cable which had been plugged into one of Khelen''s ports, as blue.


    ¡°I have been having trouble with 21, 16, and 19.¡± Khelen floated using Lightcaster. His words appeared automatically in the top left corner of the display.


    ¡°Trouble?¡± the doctor floated. The hologram showed the hybrid''s arm move toward 21 and Khelen felt him touch his back. ¡°Yes, I see some buildup. I''ll scrape those out. When is the last time you''ve had them cleaned?¡±


    ¡°I have a bug.¡± Khelen floated as he watched the doctor''s arms reach for a long blue tool with a hose attached. ¡°I use it every day. But it keeps skipping those three.¡± At a whim, he floated a small, sped up video of the cypher bug skipping those ports.


    ¡°Model?¡± The doctor asked as he began to scrape away at the ports and suck the debris out. Khelen pulled up the model and imprinted it in the dialogue box. ¡°Yeah,¡± the doctor floated, ¡°Get a new one. I''ve had several patients complain about that model.¡± A few recommendations appeared above the hologram. ¡°I recommend these if you are considering an upgrade. I also recommend capping your ports when they aren''t in use. That''s the easiest way to keep crud from building up. Just looked at the progress on the diagnostic, so far so good. Any other problems aside from the one who came in here today for? Any irritation, cypher rash?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Khelen injected a small amount of Calm.


    ¡°I''m going to ask you a few questions about your symptoms.¡± the doctor floated, ¡°You said you had frequent bouts of intense, but ''unusual'' emotions. Could you tell me a bit more about those and what makes them unusual?¡±


    Khelen injected some more Calm. ¡°Rage. I get angry. Angry enough to hurt people.¡± Khelen floated, ¡°I want to tear their limbs apart. And the other one is happiness. Euphoric. High.¡±


    ¡°When did you start experiencing these?¡± the doctor asked.


    Khelen hesitated, he did not know how the doctor would react. Did the confidentiality agreements prevent him from snitching? But the fits were interrupting his life, affecting Khelen''s ability to find work. Instead of answering outright, he dug through the formula injector logs, pulled up two formulas, then floated them in the dialogue box and waited for the doctor''s response.


    ¡°You took these?¡± he asked after a moment of silence.


    ¡°An employer suggested them to me.¡± Khelen floated, ¡°He''s the one who sent me to you.¡±


    ¡°I know who you''re talking about. My advice is to drop him when you think it''s safe to do so. These formulas are banned for very good reasons. Okay, your diagnostic is complete. Now I will have to access one of your sub-dermal ports but to do that, I have to lift up your skin and insert a prop to hold it in place. I''ll spray some numbing agent on the area, it will be a little cold.¡±


    Khelen flinched a little at the hiss of aerosol. It was an archaic method of pain reduction, but it worked. A moment later, he felt something tug at the base of his neck and watched the hologram as the doctor plugged a cord into his neck. A bundle of lines bloomed from the tip of the cypher and branched into his brain.


    ¡°Here you see a representation of the link between your biological mind and your synthetic mind.¡±  the doctor¡¯s words rained across Khelen¡¯s vision, ¡°The cypher is synthetic, however, it interacts as if it were a biological organ. When it comes to emotions, the relationship is somewhat symbiotic. Natural emotions, like those felt without the aid of a formula injector, create pathways in your biological mind, your brain. The more you feel a certain emotion, the more your brain remembers it. It creates pathways based upon these feelings and it will tend to use those pathways. This is part of what contributed to joyful personalities as well as depressive ones, before the invention of the formula injector. You can think of these pathways as muscles: the more they are used, the more they grow.¡± the doctor illuminated different sections of Khelen''s brain, ¡°Now, that is how natural feelings work. The formulas your injector uses, artificial emotions, work a bit differently. They are not emotions, they are drugs specifically formulated for the injector to emulate a certain state of mind. When you take them, you can feel ''joy'' or ''sorrow'', but your cypher ''regulates'' the paths your brain can create, it regulates the tolerance. If it did not do this, then the formulas would cause severe damage over the long term. That brings me to the two substances you consumed.¡±


    The doctor brought up the formula for ¡°Euphoria¡±, ¡°I will start with this one. Besides the occasional bouts of intense joy, intense highs, have you felt any ''cravings'' for this?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Khelen admitted.


    ¡°The good news is that studies have shown that the effects of this formula will wear off over time. However, you will most likely experience a craving for it if you are around somebody who is using it, or if you are in an area where it is being used. This is a classic drug addiction. These cravings can be treated by abstaining from those situations and by using a formula called Bifin. It can be delivered by your injector or taken orally. The injector version is more expensive, but it works faster. It is serious, but it is not hopeless.¡±


    ¡°The second formula,¡± he brought up the formula for ¡°Bloodlust¡± ¡°belongs to a class of drugs called ''hysterics''. Hysterics are banned because the intense emotions they trigger cause permanent alterations in the brain. They emulate natural emotions in that they bypass the cypher''s ability to regulate changes in your neural pathways. But the drug you consumed, known by its colloquial ''bloodlust'', works by energizing the areas in your brain responsible for producing intense anger, triggering your flight or fight response, (without the flight,) and it triggers feelings of satisfaction.¡±


    ¡°Can it be treated?¡± Khelen floated as he injected more Calm.


    ¡°Until we do a thorough diagnostic of your brain, I don''t want to get your hopes up.¡± the doctor floated, ¡°Those areas are too closely integrated with the cypher to safely operate on. If I were to guess, you will always struggle with these bouts of intense rage. I don''t want to scare you, but this is a reality you have to face. This is why you see all those service announcements playing across the feed. This will impact the way you live. I will refer you to a specialist and send you some software which may help mitigate the intensity of these episodes. But so far, the best thing you can do is avoid putting yourself in any situation similar to the situation you were in when you consumed this. This formula emulates natural emotions, which are linked to memory. I cannot stress this enough: This formula removes inhibitions, can and will, trigger episodes of extreme violence. It is extremely dangerous because if the conditions are met, it will turn you into an animal.¡±


    ---


    The blood of the beast coursed through Khelen''s veins as he flashed his Scavenger-Mate. Leoman cried out at the blinding light and stumbled backward, covering his eyes. The flash-arc hissed softly as it pulsed through the air. Khelen dragged it across the chains on his cuff and cut through both of them in two brief flashes. As soon as he was free, he plunged his cuffs, which had several searing hot chain links dangling from them, into a bowl of water. He injected Numb as the steam burned his wrists. Then he dosed Drive and leapt out of the way just as Leoman lunged for him.


    ¡°Dodgy little Kel aren''t you?¡± the Lyosh growled, ¡°Think I won''t catch you? Why I''ll put a cutting on your pretty little flesh when I get hold of you!¡± he withdrew two blades from his belt and two more from his back. ¡°This is going to be so...¡± he swung, Khelen ducked, ¡°much...¡± Khelen rolled, ¡°fun!¡± Khelen leapt back.


    The more the Lyosh attacked, the more the cypher read his movements, memorized them, projected phantom blades in front of the real ones. Khelen did not need to toy with him, he could have killed Leoman right there, but the beast demanded blood, it demanded screams. If he killed the creature, then the beast would turn its fury toward Simian. Leoman cackled as he continued to harry his prey, blades cutting through the air. He was far more competent than the guardians but he was still predictable and becoming more so by the second. He was feeding the cypher his strengths, his blind spots, his weaknesses. It drank his movements like nectar, immortalizing Leoman''s last fight within the depths of Khelen''s synthetic mind.


    ¡°Do you....remember what I said?!¡± Khelen growled.


    ¡°You''ve said lots of stupid things you slippery little cretin!¡± Leoman spat, panting. ¡°I wish I could forget them all! I''m sure your idiocy has given me brain damage!¡±


    ¡°The thing in Khelen was unleashed. Charging forward, he flared his Scavenger-Mate, becoming a blinding streak in the daylight. Phantom white blades raised above Leoman''s head before the real ones caught up, then they swung down toward Khelen. He dived into a roll as the blades cut the air above him, came up on Leoman''s front. I will cook you. He dragged the flash arc up the creature''s left leg, painting its armor with a streak of bubbling metal, then rolled to the side. Leoman slapped at his leg where Khelen had been, saw the streak and began to panic.


    ¡°What?!¡± he exclaimed then he tried to slap the glowing line out of his armor, as if it were some sort of fire, but he ended up burning himself. Then, Leoman seemed to realize what was happening. ¡°No..nono, nonono!¡± he said through hissing teeth, his trembling fingers desperately trying to unclasp the buckles. He loosened the first one but was screaming before he could get to the second. By then, Khelen had already painted another line of heat across the plate on the creature¡¯s back. And another down his arm.


    ¡°STOP!!¡± Leoman screeched as he dropped his blades, threw himself to the ground and thrashed. But his armor was not a flame he could snuff out, it was his own inferno. Khelen slashed wildly, painting the Lyosh until the creature''s entire outfit glowed with shades of orange and yellow until it began to cook him alive. Soon the air filled with the sounds of shrieking and the smell of burning fat. Jets of steam shot from every aperture in the armor as it baked its trapped owner alive and a corona of burnt grass began to spread from the thrashing form.


    Khelen had warned what would happen if he escaped. He gave Leoman three promises. It was time to move to the second one. I will cut off your arms and legs...


    ---


    Simian cowered beneath the carriage and clamped his hands to his ears. He wanted somebody, anybody to hear his whimpering and wake him up. Why didn''t his wife jostle him, tell him these past few trels were all just a bad nightmare? They had to be! Only in nightmares could his head refuse to turn away, could his eyes refuse to close. Only in nightmares did he hear screams like this, screams like that of a child. Leoman was crying, crying and screaming like an infant as the jets of steam in his armor transformed into yellow tongues of shooting flame.


    Tears blurred the edges of the old man''s vision and began roll down the sides of his face as he watched Khelen bring the blinding light down to Leoman''s arms. Stop...please don''t. Khelen didn''t hear him, Leoman''s renewed shrieks overpowered Simian''s silent plea. Please, I''m begging you...stop. He couldn''t look away, he couldn''t turn his head, it was locked in place as if it had been put in a vise. Only the distortion of the tears spared him the sight of Leoman''s brutal, yet methodical dismemberment. He saw only saw a vague shape tumble loose from the Lyosh''s body.


    Then he sobbed, breaking the spell of his paralysis. He hid behind the wheel of the carriage, closed his eyes, and wept. Never in his life had he been witness to such brutality. He hated Leoman, he despised the creature''s jibes, the idiocy, the flagrant disrespect but...even he didn''t deserve this. What Kel could do this to another speaking creature? What man could do such a thing? He wanted to escape from the wailing and the sizzling, but the screams followed him to his hiding spot, screams that seemed to echo. But Leoman''s agonized wails began to lose their energy, they began to grow softer, quieter. He was dying...


    Simian heard Khelen roar, then flinched at the wet sound of flesh being impaled. Leoman groaned, there was a struggle followed by a fluid-filled fit of gagging and coughing. I will disembowel you...


    Simian was not sure how long he had been clenching his face, trembling. All he knew was that by the time Khelen came over, his cheeks were raw from weeping and his fingernails had broken the scalp. He looked away as the man''s feet came into view, pants charred and stained with Leoman''s blood. Khelen tossed something to him, something that bounced off his leg and glinted in the light. Leoman''s key.


    ¡°Now...you be my ¡®guide¡¯.¡± Khelen rasped. Then he left Simian to cower and retch.

 Chapter 7- Theola Forest

    Khelen had found Leoman''s water barrel by the time Simian worked up enough courage to come out. He was splashing himself on the face, cleaning himself off. They stood at the crest of a tall hill overlooking a forest of tree and fungus which could only be Sharodyne. Blue morels the size of houses grew as neighbors to golden filox. Simian had heard of this place, always wanted to visit, but the beauty of the forest was tainted by the fresh horror and by the lingering smell of cooked flesh. When Khelen saw him, he stopped scrubbing his scalp and face then faced him, slowly unbuttoning the scorched shirt on his chest. A breeze from the forest rushed at them, tugging at the shirt as Khelen turned around and let it fall away. His pale flesh, tattooed with black markings, seemed to glow in the sunlight, which in turn made the thing on his back more hideous by comparison. Its black segments made it look as if some sort of insect had burrowed into the man''s spine and was feasting on his neck. He had of course seen the strange holes in the man''s temples, but nothing could have prepared him for this sight.


    ¡°I am from another world.¡± Khelen turned to him bare-chested, grotesque holes in his upper arm. ¡°I am not...''Kel''. My ''fear response'' is to...become dangerous.¡± He grabbed the strange garment Leoman had been hoarding, thrust his arms in the sleeves and threw it around his back. Hooks in the garment automatically impaled a series of sockets along the side of the strange carapace as if biting into the man''s back. Then thousands of gray-black hairlike threads weaved some sort of mesh over it. Simian knew part of him should be amazed at the magic he was witnessing but his mind was too fresh with Leoman''s screams.


    ¡°Do you...do you have any respect for life?!¡± he bellowed, ¡°Did you have to go do...did you have to go do that?!¡±


    ¡°Kel are ¡®soft¡¯, ¡®docile¡¯.¡± he said, ¡°Leoman¡¯s death...brutal. Deflects suspicion. Nobody will think Kel did it. That is why I cut him into pieces.¡±


    When Simian heard Khelen use the word ¡°pieces¡±, he braced an arm against the carriage and wretched for a second time. But since he had already spilled the contents of his gut earlier, only a few strings of bile came out. When he recovered enough to speak, his words were filled with sick and tears. ¡°Even so...¡± he said, ¡°You could have...made it quick. Then...you could have...¡± Simian could not bring himself to talk about the lyosh''s evisceration.


    Khelen remained silent as he rummaged through Leoman''s belongings, ¡°What I did,¡± he finally said, ¡°was logical.¡± He continued to dig through Leoman''s supplies until he found food. He grabbed a few strips of pincewelve jerky, sniffed them and began to eat ravenously.


    ¡°We...we should go.¡± Simian said solemnly, not knowing what to think, ¡°Before somebody comes along and...sees.¡±


    ¡°Do you know where we are?¡± Khelen asked, ¡°Or where we should go?¡±


    ¡°This is Sharodyne forest.¡± Simian said, ¡°But until I see a map, I won''t be sure. I know Leoman...carried several of them with him. But right now, we need to go and get out of here. Get far away from here before somebody comes and finds...before they find us. We need to camp far from any roads and decide what to do.¡±


    ¡°I will ride in back.¡± Khelen said, ¡°I don¡¯t like the sky.¡±


    He doesn¡¯t like the sky? Simian thought.


    ¡°I don''t think you can get in it.¡± he said, ¡°Leoman kept babbling about how only he and a lord could open it. He built it and Lord U''shal imbued it with some sort of magic. That way, there was no chance of a prisoner breaking free. Just use the wagon he was towing. It has a skin on it.¡±


    ¡°How did he open it?¡± Khelen asked, stubbornly feeling around the exterior of the carriage, ¡°Key? Interface?¡±


    ¡°It has no key.¡± Simian said, ¡°I told you. He wanted it to be proof against escaping. There was no key to steal. It just opened wherever he slapped it.¡±


    Khelen blinked at him and grunted. ¡°I will take care of it. You control the animals.¡± He turned around, walked back to the wagon and hopped into it. Good, that meant he would not spend all day trying to circumvent Lord U''shal''s magics. Simian went to the front of the carriage and pulled himself up. Having something to do helped take his mind off Leoman''s fate and he dare not look back at the man''s corpse.


    The Lyosh kept several maps in a bag under the seat of the carriage. Simian took one out and unrolled it, scanning it until he found Sharodyne. The man''s next stop was...well, would have been Thigron, which would have taken him into more populated roads since Thigron was a merchant town. Looks like Leoman was planning to cut through Sharodyne, then he most likely would have turned left at Tuliki River and followed it to Marel Pass, then he would have traveled through Wippit Glade and arrived at Thigron. It would have been the longest stretch of his trip so far, due to the awkward twists and turns of Wippit Glade and Marel Pass. They would have prolonged his pace. But that was good. That meant Lord U''shal probably did not expect Leoman to arrive at Thigron for another day at least, maybe two. That was assuming nobody found...oh dear, they needed to hide Leoman''s body.


    Stupid! Stupid! They could not leave his corpse right next to the road! Nobody would expect Kel but they would certainly be looking for a murderer! And when Lord U''shal heard about Leoman''s fate, he would send out word to everybody in the region telling them exactly what to look for! The wargs were even painted with the lord''s colors! Simian felt nauseated at what they had to do.


    ¡°H-hey!¡± he called. What was the man¡¯s name? ¡°Khelen!¡± A few moments later the man appeared, ¡°We...cannot leave...¡± Simian could not believe he was considering this, ¡°We can''t leave Leoman back there. We need to hide him. If somebody finds him, it would not matter if they suspected Kel or not. Lord U''shal would give them descriptions of this carriage.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Khelen said, ¡°I thought of it. I am taking care of it.¡±


    ¡°You are...¡± Simian stopped as Khelen gave him a strange look. ¡°I...actually don''t want to know. Just let me know when you are done. We can''t stay here.¡± I can''t stay here. ¡°I will keep looking at Leoman''s maps. I think...if we simply camp far enough away from any roads, we will have time to plan.¡±


    Khelen left him as Simian continued to consult the maps. As he scanned the possible routes they could take, his eyes kept coming back to Theola Forest. It met most of their needs, the trees were dense, the ground did not take to tracks, but the only problem was that it was...well, it was Theola Forest, otherwise known as one of the great ¡°corpse forests¡±. It was inhabited by several varieties of ¡°gripper¡± trees. But perhaps they would be safe in there. The weather was beginning to cool and grippers usually began to go dormant around this time of the season. Furthermore, there were no major roads, no major towns near Theola Forest. Nobody would be able to stand living near it, especially during the active seasons. Yes, they could risk it but they would have to-


    Simian''s thoughts were interrupted when there came a loud thump from the carriage. Then there followed a second thump. What in the-


    ¡°I am ready.¡± Khelen''s voice came from the grate above Simian''s head. Simian put down the map and stood up to see the man peering out from inside the ¡°bone tickler¡±.


    ¡°What...how did you do it?¡± Simian asked, ¡°Were you able to use your...''abilities'' to open it?¡±


    ¡°I took a key off of Leoman''s body.¡± Khelen said.


    ¡°I told you, Leoman did not have a key!¡± Simian insisted, ¡°He slapped the sides and it opened.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Khelen blinked, ¡°It''s as I said: I took a key off of Leoman''s body.¡±


    ¡°But-¡± Simian stopped and then groaned as he understood what Khelen was saying. He turned around and let his back slide down into the seat. He consulted the map briefly one more time, focusing on its topography rather than the implications behind Khelen''s words, then picked the reins. His bruised arms screamed with protest as he slapped them down. But the wargs stood up, shook their carapaces and began to move forward, their legs traveling in waves. Days of battering had trained his senses to expect pain but the cushions kept the ride smooth. The bastard Lyosh had, of course, been riding in comfort while Simian suffered. Still...he could not ever think anything could convince him that Leoman deserved his fate.


    He did not expect sleep tonight even though every limb in his body seemed to beg for it. What creature could do that to another person? What if Khelen turned that viciousness on him? At first, he had been afraid for the man''s life. From the moment he woke up, Simian thought he showed a strange, almost naive innocence to his questions. But from the moment Khelen uttered his threats to Leoman, Simian knew something was wrong. Though the man spoke with a strange inflection, there had been no reticence to his to his words, to his intention. Something had simply felt ¡°off¡±. What I did...was logical. A Kel, methodically planning...brutality. It was evil.


    Simian also had never seen anybody move like that, it was almost a dance, almost graceful...until the moment Khelen went on the offensive. Simian was no fighter, but he had seen guards spar before. None of them moved like that. But then he remembered the man''s face and he shuddered. It had been bestial. There was no logic in a face like that. Fortunately, the ride seemed to calm his nerves and distract him from the slaughter he had witnessed earlier. He could almost appreciate the beauty of Sharodyne''s blue morels...almost.


    They left Sharodyne and spent the day traveling south along a ¡°colored¡± road, named for the colors it used on its markers in the place of actual names. The colors of this one were purple with two yellow stripes. As the map indicated, Theola forest was not too far. However, the sky was already beginning to turn orange when Simian caught the first subtle whiff of the corpse forest. To think that he could smell it already from here. It was the subtle stench of putrefaction and rot. This was why nobody would want to live near Theola Forest, why nobody would venture near it while it was still active. Well, that and it could kill you if you were careless. They were still a few miles off when he saw stone signs warning travelers to take extreme caution and he saw a few small grippers saplings, though he wasn''t sure what species they were. They had not yet grown large enough to sprout snares, so they still looked innocent.


    The purple/yellow-striped road began to erode, giving away to overgrown vegetation and potholes. Of course, who would maintain a passage that nobody used? The only time anybody came to corpse forests were during the frosts, when the bones of hapless beasts could be safely collected from the dormant grippers. Only a fool would venture into one when the trees were still active.


    ¡°Well, I guess I am a fool then.¡± Simian murmured to himself. A fool to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, to get locked up for a treason he did not commit, and a fool for doing whatever it was he was doing. Simian slowed the wargs so he wouldn''t batter his passenger. However, it was too late. Khelen must have been aroused by the clatter because Simian heard him moving around. A moment later, he spoke from the grating.


    ¡°Your sky...it is orange?¡± he asked, his voice reverberating through the chamber, ¡°Is that...does that happen often?¡±


    ¡°...yes?¡± Simian hedged. How was he supposed to respond to such a question? ¡°It does that when the sun is close to setting.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°Grab a wulup''s tail, boy! You are asking the wrong man.¡± Simian said, ¡°I am just a hunter and tanner! I have no bloody idea why the sky does that when the sun sets, it just does!¡±


    ¡°What is that smell?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°That...is Theola Forest, where we will be camping tonight.¡± Simian said, spotting a few adolescent grippers clustered together on a hilltop. Their trunks and branches glistened with primed snares. So, not completely dormant yet. ¡°It is infested with several varieties of carnivorous trees called ''grippers''. That smell is the smell of a thousand carcasses rotting. Birds, vermin, beasts, they''re all food to these trees. Just be thankful we aren''t coming during its prime season. Ugh...it is awful.¡±


    ¡°Carniverous trees?¡± Simian wasn¡¯t sure whether Khelen was asking a question or making an observation.


    ¡°It will be easier to show you than explain it.¡± he said, ¡°I think we will be stopping soon before it becomes too dense. I have seen grippers rip the covers right off of wagons like the kind we''re towing. And they just make an outright mess. ¡± Already the grippers were appearing in larger, denser clusters like an encroaching army. Their purple trunks and branches arose from the ground like fingers and were covered with thousands and thousands of thin whip-like appendages, some an arm''s length, others the length of a small child. It was easy to distinguish the dormant ones from the active. Dormant grippers allowed these appendages to slouch, whereas the active ones were erect and covered in a fine glistening resin. It it had not been for the numerous corpses entangled within their snares, grippers could actually be quite pretty. But the varying shades of purple, blue, and turquoise were just a lure.


    They neared a specimen which managed to catch a pincewelve. Simian thought it was dead until they began to pass it, but then the wargs'' clattering awoke the beast and it began to shriek pathetically. It was so badly entangled in the gripper''s grasp that it could only manage a slight shift. The snares strengthened their hold and more of them began to curl silently toward the helpless animal. That was another reason nobody wanted to be around during an active season. The forest was filled with the sounds of death, the cries of bound animals who were slowly choked and digested by the grippers'' enzymes. Simian stopped briefly so he could put the poor animal out of its misery, its cries reminded him of Leoman. Then he proceeded with great caution to move further into the forest. When he came upon an alcove with a grouping of dormant specimens, he decided not to test his luck and brought the carriage to a stop before he risked going further and getting the carriage stuck.


    ¡°We''ll be camping here tonight.¡± Simian said. He heard Khelen exit the carriage and waited for him to hide his ¡°key¡± before he locked the brakes and descended. ¡°Hey! Hey! Stop!!!¡± he snapped as Khelen walked over to inspect the only active gripper at the site. Its pale sparkling snares swayed several feet from the trunk, making it appear as an indistinct violet core in the mess of tendrils. ¡°Don''t touch that! I know it looks pretty but that one is ready to feed! Here, watch!¡± Simian looked around on the ground until he found a fairly large animal bone, an old rib larger than his leg. Belonged to a pelmont, most likely. He hoisted it with both of his arms and heaved it toward the gripper. The bone struck the snares and stuck to them, sinking slightly.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Just wait.¡± Simian said... ¡°Watch.¡±


    Several adjacent snares began to stir almost imperceptibly. In fact, one could almost be convinced that they were simply swaying from an unfelt gust of wind. But the more one looked, the more one noticed these appendages appeared to ¡°sway¡± closer to the bone that bobbed among them, as if slowly leaning in to sate their curiosity. The neighbors of these appendages also moved as if being dragged along by their curious friends.


    ¡°We should step back.¡± Simian said, ¡°I believe this specimen is a Trymond''s Comb. They can get rather ''excited'' when you feed them.¡±


    The snares began to embrace the bone and pull it toward its core, the movements awakening more of the glistening appendages. As more leaned in, they began to move faster and faster, wrapping around the bone, cocooning it, hastening as a ripple spread among the snares, a ring of awareness that awoke the tendrils from their somnolence. Soon the air was rustling with their movements. As the ripple spread, the tendrils came to life and practically whipped toward the unseen bone with ravenous frenzy. The entire tree shook with the force of the thrashing. Simian could feel the wind from all the limbs as they closed around their lifeless prey.


    ¡°That...¡± he said, ¡°is how they feed. Grippers trap animals in their snares then they either starve to death or choke to death before they are broken apart and digested. Trymond''s Combs like this one here are some of the most aggressive and most dangerous specimens. They have been known to kill people.¡± By now, the tree looked as though somebody had gouged out a significant section from its mass of tendrils. ¡°The things are a mess.¡± he added, ¡°Grippers in general, I mean. You get the resin on your clothes, you can never it off. it gets stuck to everything. Carriages,¡± he gestured to bone tickler ¡°get their wheels stuck in them or have their covers ripped off by the resin, or everything just gets covered in their gunk! My best friend learned that the hard way when he was first starting out as a traveling merchant.¡± Simian chuckled, despite himself. He was a mixture of tired emotions.


    ¡°The caravan he joined makes frequent trips through another corpse forest further East.¡± he continued, going into what his son would refer to as an ''old man'' story, ¡°And they told him, he needed to get rid of the husk wagon he had and get one with a removable top. Otherwise, the grippers would try to ''steal'' his wagon. I guess the specimens there have more overhead branches there than these, I don''t know. I have not been. But my friend is an ''I can do anything I want'' kind of guy and he decides to ignore their advice and keep his wagon.¡±


    ¡°He-¡± Simian began to laugh, though it hurt his bruises, ¡°He said...the moment they went into the forest, the top of his husk wagon brushed against an overhead branch and broke it right off. Instead of falling to the ground like a normal branch would, it just remained stuck to his roof! Instead of stopping like a sensible person and trying to pry it off, he just kept...just kept on going. And of course, he snagged another branch...and another.¡± Simian began to snicker, ¡°And they just kept piling up until finally, he...he said he snagged one so large, it just stopped him. No matter how hard his wargs pulled, the gripper would not let go of his wagon! Finally, he decided to do something about it. He said he had to buy his neighbor''s entire stock of ren spirits and splash the whole roof with it to dissolve the resin and make the branch let go. But even then, even after he got his wagon freed, he still had a whole bunch of branches stuck to his roof. And it just kept collecting a bunch of junk as it traveled through the woods! He said he eventually did make it to the city where his caravan was selling, but nobody would come near his wagon because the entire thing smelled like a corpse, and it was just covered, absolutely covered in resin, twigs, branches, rotting animal carcasses, feathers, and a...and a bell!¡±


    Tears filled Simian''s eyes and he began to howl as he recalled Toben''s words, ¡°And he...he said...''I have no idea where the bell even came from!''¡±


    He exploded in an agonized, uncontrollable fit of guffawing. Oh, it felt good to laugh! Even though he only spent a few trels in captivity, it felt like months. He needed this, he needed to forget even if it were brief, everything that had happened. All he wanted to think about was the look on Toben''s baffled face as he told that stupid story. He remembered almost passing out the first time he heard it. It was a good memory and it made him yearn all the more for his home, to get back to his wife, see his son and grandkids. He yearned to see their young faces and forget the horrors he had witnessed. But the thought of his family made him sick with worry. Leoman had said nothing about any of them being arrested by being associated with him, so that was a good sign. The creature would have used such information to torment him.


    ¡°Anyway...¡± he noticed Khelen wasn''t laughing but had a rather off-putting grin. Shuddering, he pointed to the bone he had tossed, which was now completely cocooned in a mass of snares. ¡°Be careful around those. If you see any trees where their snares are just drooping and dry, those are safe, they might twitch a little. But don''t go touching any that are still erect and covered in resin.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Khelen said, ¡°The resin must use enzymes to break down organic matter, which is then absorbed and metabolized. How fast does this happen?¡±


    ¡°A trel, maybe two. Depends on the prey. They won''t let go until they strip you to the bone.¡± Simian said, ¡°Another reason to hate grippers. If you get any of that stuff on you, you will itch for an entire trel!¡±


    ¡°Trel?¡± Khelen repeated, ¡°How many days is a trel?¡±


    ¡°Eight.¡± Simian shook his head at the man''s bizarre questions, ¡°But it''ll have your skin stripped blistering in only a few days.¡±


    Khelen left before Simian could ask him where he was doing.


    Shaking his head, he began to set up the camp. He used another animal bone to dig a small fire pit in the middle of the glade and began to collect various pieces of twigs and discarded gripper limbs to use as tinder. Dozens of rodent bones dropped from the branches as he broke the branches into usable pieces. The withered snares made great kindling, so it only took a few strikes from Leoman''s sparker to get it started. Soon, a rather pleasant aroma began to fill the camp. It was truly ironic that a species known for its stench and voracious appetite emitted a sweet floral scent as it burned, so much so that some species were valued highly as ingredients for their use in incense. Simian wish he remembered which species those were. Perhaps he would collect a few limbs and bring them home. Yes...he needed to think about these things and forget Leoman''s thrashing. As the fire grew, he tossed bigger pieces onto it all while trying to avoid being reminded of the lyosh''s inferno.


    Where had Khelen gone to? He had seen the man return a few times to grab some filled bags from the wagon, but then he disappeared into the woods and had been gone for a while. Simian was grateful for the time to think about what his next steps were, but now he began to grow concerned about Khelen''s absence. He was about to go out looking for him when he saw the pale man returning.


    ¡°I was getting worried.¡± Simian said, ¡°Thought you might have gotten yourself snared. What have you been doing?¡±


    ¡°I was feeding the gripper trees.¡± he said.


    ¡°Feeding them?¡± Simian inquired, ¡°That''s what you were doing this whole time? I have had enough time to re-stoke this fire twice!¡±


    Instead of explaining why he spent such a long time feeding grippers, Khelen came up to the fire and sat down, the flames dancing in his dark gaze. He had changed into a set of pants whose material represented that which formed his shirt. And his boots seemed to be of a polished black alloy. That could not have been comfortable, wearing shoes so heavy.


    ¡°Well,¡± Simian began, feeling ¡°I don''t even know where to start. I promised I would be your guide, whatever that means, or give you a place to stay if you broke us out. I honestly thought you were either telling some sort of joke or you were deluded. I don''t think I can be grateful until I know for sure how much trouble we are both in. But I try to keep my promises even though what you did...¡± he shuddered, ¡°it will...stay with me for the rest of my life. I''ll be honest, what you did scares the crud out of me. If we are going to travel with each other, we need to introduce ourselves more properly.¡±


    He massaged his temples before continuing, ¡°My name''s Simian Kedrel, hunter, tanner and leathersmith by trade. Occasionally I dabble in a little bit of carpentry.¡± He waited for Khelen to respond. The man¡¯s eyes were like voids. He remained silent., ¡°I live further south with my wife where we share a plot of land with my son, his wife, and my two grandchildren.¡± He continued, ¡°I came up to Entu Province to hunt some yuelings. But I matched the description of some heretic who I guess uttered some sort of treason against the lords, something about Sacrin weeping, I forget. I was held captive, handed over to Leoman, and I''ve been ''traveling'' with him for a while until you...well, until today. That''s the shorthand for my story. Now, let''s hear yours and why exactly you need a ''guide'' when you can do the things that you can do. You said you were from ''another world? How did you get here?¡±


    ¡°You...you believe me?¡± Khelen almost sounded surprised.


    Simian massaged his forehead, ¡°The way I see it, you are either from another world or you are some strange creation of the lords. I honestly can''t tell which is more improbable. And this may sound strange, but I have too many things on my mind to even be amazed. So...who are you, what did you do before you came here, and how did you even arrive? Just give me an idea of who you are. And...are you...dangerous to me?¡±


    ¡°Khelen...¡± he began, ¡°My name is Khelen. I''ve had...several jobs...careers. Never owned a home. Moved from place to place...as needed.¡±


    ¡°Any...family?¡± Simian gestured. Khelen had gone silent.


    ¡°Family?¡± he asked, ¡°No. I wasn''t commissioned into one. My focus was to be an enforcer for House Duleron, who commissioned my birth along with twenty others. But Duleron was dismantled while I was still a prenom. Since prenoms are still property, I, and the others were chosen for decommissioning. But I-¡±


    ¡°Whoa, hold on..¡± Simian interjected, ¡°Wait, hold on, go back. What do you mean ''you weren''t commissioned'' into a family? And what do you mean ''commissioned your birth?''¡±


    Khelen seemed confused by Simian''s befuddlement. ¡°I don''t...know how else to phrase it.¡± he said, ¡°My people were experts in the knowledge of...inherited traits.¡± he paused for a second, ¡°We could grow new births in artificial wombs and select what traits they inherited. The batch I belonged to were commissioned with a focus on high reflexes, physical strength, high spatial awareness, and a knack for tactical thinking. But we were contraband. Unlicensed combat births were prohibited. Therefore, when House Duleron were discovered to have commissioned us, they were dismantled and we were chosen for decommissioning. I...¡± Khelen paused as he looked at Simian, ¡°I am upsetting you?¡±


    Simian had been massaging his temples when Khelen stopped. ¡°Upsetting me? Why no!¡± he said, ¡°I mean...you tortured Leoman, you have that thing in your back, you...you said your people have lore that...I...I cannot even begin! There is so much wrong with the things you are saying, I cannot even begin..I mean...gah! Let''s just skip to the part where you came to Sacrin. Can you tell me how you did that?¡±


    ¡°Not sure.¡± Khelen began. When he spoke, he spoke as if words were burdens to his mouth, ¡°I have...''conjectures'', three possibilities I keep coming back to and they are these: cyatic insertion, sabotage, or malfunction. The first...as I understand it, is a hypothesis stating that one can take a living object and find a means to insert it into a cyatic band, or...''gaps'' as your ardents call them. It is the opposite of what current cyatic technology does: interacting with cyatics to transform them into physical objects. We can store some basic objects using cyatics, but nothing complex and nothing organic. There are experts who think such a breakthrough could be used to teleport people and food long distances. Insert a person into a cyatic band, they instantly somewhere else. I don''t remember the immediate days preceding my arrival. But perhaps...some phenomenon, natural or created, caused me to traverse a cyatic band connecting Scrul to Sacrin. Only a guess.¡±


    ¡°The second and third possible causes are similar to each other.¡± he continued, ¡°The device in my back could be malfunctioning. I did a self-diagnostic which appeared to out-rule this possibility, or it could have been sabotaged. If the latter is the case, then any self-diagnostic could have been ''tricked''. Your world could be software¡±


    ¡°Software?¡± Simian repeated.


    ¡°Think of it as a ''dream'' that was forced on me. Your world is a ''dream'' that my cypher is playing to me. I have enemies...who would...humiliate me like this, turn me into a defect. The fact that my translator translates your language as thoroughly as it does, supports both of these hypothesis. All spoken languages on my world share many roots. The translator on my cypher, when it hears an unknown language, ''searches'' through all the languages it does know, compares their roots. From that data and from situational context, it can extrapolate meanings. But...if I am on another world, there should be no shared roots between your spoken word, and the languages on Scrul. Therefore, it should not be able to translate as it does. This leads me to wonder if this is sabotage. However...I should think no amount of sabotage should prevent me from detecting the feed. The feed is-¡±


    ¡°Okay, that is enough.¡± Simian said, ¡°If you speak anymore, I''ll become so confused, I''ll forget what I was going to ask you next and that is this: what does being your guide or host entail, and how long do you expect me to do it? And...I guess what it is that you were wanting to do?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± Khelen''s eyes seemed to shift abruptly from a look of concentration to a hint of fear and wonder, ¡°On Scrul, we do not have a ''sun''. The sky does not change color, even when a flotilla of canopy drifters pass through it. Your people...though we appear to be of the same...or similar species, are very different from mine. We have grown up with cyphers in our bodies. Speaking like this...shaping noises with our mouths, is an...''archaic'' method of communication. I am not used to it. Your world is strange. I want to know what threatens me here. As for what I want to do, I don''t...know yet. I plan to repair my machine, then make some modifications to it, assuming I can find viable resources to do it.¡±


    ¡°So you are lost, is what you''re saying.¡± Simian hedged.


    ¡°Yes¡±.


    ¡°Fair enough, here''s the thing though.¡± Simian looked Khelen straight in the eyes across the fire, ¡°You scare me. If that isn''t obvious by now, I don''t know...well, I don''t know what to say. What you did to Leoman, the things you said...damn, even the way you talk unsettles me! But I made you a promise and I plan to keep it. I owe you my life. However...since you have no places you were wanting to go, I plan on getting back home to my family as soon as we figure out what the hell to do with Leoman''s carriage. Moon''s eyes, we are fugitives! If two Kel go driving a piece of lyosh craft into town, they will wonder who in the heck we are! We need to find some way to tether Leoman''s wargs to the wagon, then find a place to dump the carriage or just simply leave it behind here.¡± Simian''s own words terrified him.


    ¡°I...would rather keep...the carriage.¡± Khelen said. ¡°It would be a good place to store my wall-rider and repair it. ¡±


    ¡°No...we cannot keep it. Weren''t you listening?¡± Simian said, ¡°Lyosh metalwork is the absolute best there is. If we go driving that thing into some town, people will think we are royalty! Word will spread.¡±


    ¡°Can you...tell me about ''Favored''?¡± Khelen asked, ¡°In Inshod, they thought I was impersonating a ''Favored'' of a Nikral.¡±


    ¡°What? Why?¡± Simian spat, ¡°What does that have to do with our situation?¡±


    ¡°I wish to impersonate a ''Favored'' of a Nikral.¡± Khelen had a hint of humor to his voice.


    ¡°Again...why?¡± Simian could not believe what he just heard.


    ¡°I learned that a ''Favored'' is highly respected. If you give me the name of a distant Nikral, I can pretend to be that person''s ''Favored''. If somebody spots us, I will tell them who I am. I have the...''lore'' to prove it. If you taught me to how to control the wargs, I could drive by night where fewer people will see us. If somebody spots us, I will tell them...I have been sent on secret ''business''. I will forbid them to speak of my appearance. Word will not get back to any lord of an unknown ''Favored''. But...I don''t know how much authority ''Favored'' actually have, I lack information. This plan was formulated on solely on my observations.¡±


    ¡°It...it would work.¡± Simian groaned. Though he still had plenty of life left, he was beginning to feel too old for this kind of chicanery. The plan was ingenious, no doubt. He could not believe Khelen thought it up on the spot. ¡°Favoreds are what all ardents strive to be. To question a Favored is to question the lord who selected them. But that is absolutely insane! Do you have ANY idea how much trouble we would be in if we were caught impersonating a Favored?!¡±


    ¡°They were going to kill you.¡± Khelen said, ¡°And do the same to me. You have nothing to lose.¡±


    ¡°I have my family to lose!!¡± Simian shouted, ¡°You think they would be satisfied with my death if we were caught doing this?!¡±


    ¡°Say I forced you. Six Kel can attest that there is...precedent for such behavior. You can say I killed Leoman, then I threatened to kill you if you did not help me. If they don''t believe your story, you can tell them where to find Leoman''s bones and armor. According to your information about the trees in this forest, both should still be intact when they search for them.¡±


    ¡°But this afternoon before we left, you said you were taking care of Leoman''s...¡± Simian froze as he recalled the words Khelen uttered moments earlier: I was feeding the gripper trees. He buried his face in his palms and groaned. Khelen had been taking care of Leoman''s body. But now the task was done.

 Chapter 8 - Maregyle

    * ¡°scrik?¡± Oh boy! It looks like Kippy your slum hound has caught a scent! Do you want to follow him?


    *Prompt...yes.


    * ¡°scrikerk! Tss tss tss...¡± boing boing boing!


    Khelen had measured Sacrin''s days using the cypher''s clock. Using that data, he estimated it was early in the morning, a suspicion confirmed when the sky began to change. He was about to inject more Calm now that he had replaced the vial, however he refrained. He would need to ration his formulas now that he lacked access to a reliable source. In a way, they were almost as valuable as food and water. Though emotion dosing was still considered a new technology, the formula injectors had been around long enough to be integrated into Nomoan culture and were considered a normal part of etiquette. Before the devices had been created, emotions often served to be counterproductive. His people were slaves to their feelings, often to the point that emotion obfuscated reason. Feelings had their purpose, yet often a person would be angry over something meaningless, or happy over something that was, by its nature, tragic or unfortunate.


    The formula injector was revolutionary in that it finally allowed people to take control over which emotions they would feel at any given time, using them as tools rather than being slaves to them. If somebody''s quirks made you angry, you dosed Calm so you would not lash out at them. If you were bored doing something monotonous, you injected Joy. If you had to do something unpleasant yet necessary, you dosed Flatten or Calm, or sometimes a combination of the both. There was an ¡°art¡± to dosing. What worked varied from individual to individual.


    Recently, Khelen had been using a fair amount of Calm, more than he used to. As somebody who often traveled into desolate locations, he always made sure to pack for such a scenario. But if he remained on Sacrin, the day would come when he would run out unless he found the materials to synthesize more formulas. That was where the sniffer came in handy. And right now, it was detecting a substance used in the making of Flatten. It was not a formula he used often, as he already had a natural ability to quell empathetic emotions. However, it may come in handy.


    Kippy the Slumhound''s green sprite was bouncing around along the ground. Every now and then it would turn to look at Khelen, bounce in place, the words ¡°scree scree!¡± appearing above its head, then it would continue to lead him toward the source. It danced unarmed among the snares of the so-called ¡°gripper¡± trees, whose forms resembled the nautical flora of Scrul''s seas.  Simian had been rather upset when he found out what Khelen did. He suppose he could not blame the man, but his choice to ¡°feed¡± Leoman''s pieces to the plants had been a perfectly logical one, not an act of spite. It was fortunate that he''d loaded the pieces into the wagon and that creature''s carriage had been made of bone and metal. It was also fortunate that they ended up staying in a forest full of caustic trees that dissolved flesh. Even more fortunate that the forest was filled with animal bones, some of which looked very similar to the ones used in the carriage''s construction. Khelen had not scattered Leoman''s pieces. Instead, he had meticulously ¡°fed¡± each piece to the same gripper so they would appear to be intact. If Leoman''s body had been found and if somehow he had been identified, perhaps somebody would think he went looking for more bones to create more constructs like the carriage, and got himself snared. As for the missing hand...well, perhaps an animal carried it off.


    Kippy lead him to a cluster of  indigo grippers and leapt unphased through the mass of snares and tendrils. Apparently the source was inside and it was moving slightly, the square-shaped reticle bobbing about with the voracious trees.  A trapped animal perhaps? Khelen began to toss various sticks and bones into the mass, baiting the grippers into expending their snares so they would pose no danger to him when he approached.


    *¡°scree scree!¡± Kippy wants you to see what he found!


    When enough of the snares were cleared, Khelen saw the thing Kippy was bouncing on. If it had not been for the sprite dancing in the air or the reticle on the thing''s mid-section, even Khelen''s eye might not have seen it. The creature was segmented like a warg and its length was twice Khelen''s height. Covering the entire length of the creature''s body were numerous protrusions which looked nearly identical to gripper snares. It moved almost imperceptibly among the tendrils, slowly pushing them aside without triggering or sticking to them, as it inspected bones with four prehensile whiskers. When it did not ¡°like¡± what it found, it patiently crept toward the next trapped object. After inspecting several snared items,  the creature crawled without haste toward a large fresh wad of snares and curiously inspected. It probed the tangle of tentacle-like branched eagerly. Then it raised a wicked-looking black proboscis the size of Khelen''s forearm, dripping with some sort of clear fluid at the end, and gently began to prod the wad, sneaking it between the folds in the snares.


    With abruptness the wad twitched, whatever was inside was still alive, awoken by the creature''s probing. The gripper reacted by tightening its hold, tendrils clamping more firmly on their squirming prey. The thing retracted its proboscis, the tip of its sharp spike covered with a small amount of blood. Then it circled the cocoon, trying for another angle before making a second attempt. When it found a spot, it tried again and slowly pushed its sharp spike into the tangle, moving so carefully, so subtly it could have very well been part of the scenery. The movement almost seemed gentle, intimate perhaps, as if it did not wish to disturb the tree.  Whatever the gripper had ensnared began to struggle for a second time and emitted series of muffled shrieks. The snared animal struggled so frantically it managed to shove the tip of its fur-covered snout between a pair of snares and scream pathetically into the woods. ¡°Aaay! Aay! Aay! Aaay!¡± it shrieked as the segmented insect wriggled its head to drive its thorn further.


    Khelen used the freeform function on his Scavenger-Mate to summon a blade then he took several steps forward and stabbed the camouflaged creature right behind its head segment. The entire body quivered for a moment, then it began to lose its grip on the tree. Khelen stepped back as the entire creature slumped to the ground like a large rope. Then since the sniffer indicated that the formula was in the thing''s venom, he severed the creature''s head. Kippy danced around ecstatically, bounding off trees so Khelen gave him a ¡°reward¡± in the form of a digital snack. He gave one look at the gripper''s screaming prey, who now had a single black eye visible between the tendrils. A line of black fur at the corner of the creature''s eye gave the impression of tears running down its orange snout. Khelen had what he came for so he ignored the creature''s squealing and hoisted the severed head over his shoulder, dosing Calm.


    ¡°Aaay! Aaay! Aaay! AAAY AAY AAAY AY-mmm! Mmm! Mmm!¡± Khelen heard the gripper muffle its screams again and found that his legs would let him move from the spot. Frowning, he set the severed head on the ground and returned to the wriggling prey. Then he began to chop away at the snares holding the creature. The task was made difficult by the unbelievable tackiness of the resin. His blade kept getting stuck and covered in the gunk. But if he dismissed it and summoned it again, that cleaned it off. He quickly developed a method of chipping away at the snares, resummoning the blade when it needed cleaning, then resuming. First, hacked away a hole for the creature to poke its snout through so it could breath. Then he ignored its resumed screams and cut it free one snare at a time. The limbs Khelen severed clung to the creature because of the resin. So when he finally cut it free, he had to carry it in a ¡°basket¡± made of the things.


    Perhaps he should have thought it odd that one who did the things that he did would have a soft spot for animals, but that had always been the case. He would always feed the various slum hounds of Edis Holeron or rescue Teldra pups that scuttlers often mistook for garbage. Sometimes, his affinity for small creatures even interfered with an assignment. The thing he had rescued was a quadruped a little bigger than a slum-hound pup and was covered in orange fur. Gripper resin covered the thing, matting its fur, fusing one of its eyes shut and gluing its triangular ears to the top of its head. The stuff stretched strings and webs over the wings sprouting from the critter''s back. Sensing it was almost free, the thing tried to kick but the sudden movement made it screech in agony. Cramped muscles, Khelen thought, combined with the red wounds on its flank where it had been stabbed. It was a pitiful sight, even the thing''s cheek was glued to the snares so it could not turn its pointed snout. So Khelen carried it in one hand and the severed head in the other and headed back toward camp.


    The sun was imminent when he returned. Simian must have been sleep deprived when he had been Leoman''s prisoner, for he was still sleeping when Khelen came into the camp. However the creature''s pitiful keening woke him up. The man swore several oaths and sat up to see what all the noise was.


    ¡°What is that damn noise?!¡± Simian hollered, but then his eyes widened as he saw what Khelen was carrying. ¡°And why are you covered in resin? You have twigs all over your arms!¡±


    ¡°This...¡± Khelen lifted the severed head, ¡°was trying to kill this.¡± he set the basket of tendrils on the ground and let Simian see the bound creature within. Webs of gripper resin stretched away with his hand as he pulled away. Simian muttered to himself as he wiped his eyes and came to take a look.


    ¡°Well...I''ll be...¡± he said, ¡°You found a maregyle kitten. It must have gotten itself separated during migration. And you said it was being attacked by...¡±


    ¡°By this.¡± Khelen indicated the arrowheaded creature.


    Simian''s eyes widened. ¡°I didn''t even think to warn you about those!¡± he hollered over the maregyle''s renewed screeching ¡°Nasty creatures! That''s a carrion striker and I''m surprised it didn''t stab the hell out of you!¡±


    ¡°Why? It''s movements were slow.¡± Khelen said.


    ¡°Then it must have been a stupid carrion striker.¡± Simian said, ¡°Yeah, they''re slow until you get too close, but then they''ll put ten holes in you before you know what happened! I suppose this thing didn''t even see you coming! Or it was stupid like I said!¡±


    ¡°Do you have ''ren'' spirits?¡± Khelen asked, ¡°To free the ''maregyle''? It was also injected with a venom.¡±


    Simian inspected the creature''s wounds, ¡°This poor thing is lucky.¡± he said, ¡°If it were going to die from striker venom, you''d know by now. Looks like the stinger kept hitting bone before it could get deep enough to inject a lethal dose.  Nasty creatures, parasites. Heh...I bet you surprised the hell out of it.¡± Simian visibly shuddered at the thought of them. ¡°And no...I''m sorry but I did not see any ren spirits. Assuming that thing even lets you, you could try lantern fuel to loosen it up. It''s made from pressed kiveh oil so it won''t hurt it. But we really do not have time to spend rescuing a maregyle kitten.¡±


    But Khelen was already headed toward the wagon to find the lantern oil. He identified it by the translated words his cypher floated above the label, and by the fact that the small barrel had a picture of a lantern on it. Simian gawked at him as if he had lost his mind, then shook his head.  Khelen set the barrel on the ground next to the maregyle then went to grab a canteen of water and a bowl.


    ¡°I do not understand you!¡± Simian called after him, ¡°You...you killed a man yesterday! But now you want save a maregyle kitten? Do not tell me you plan to keep it as a pet?!¡±


    ¡°I did not say I would.¡± Khelen said as he sat down next to the creature. ¡°I...like animals.¡±


    The pitiful creature''s screams had grown dry and hoarse. It was panting hard. Khelen dipped  a hand in lantern oil and snuck it behind the maregyle''s head, using his fingers as a spatula to pry it free. ¡°You are going to get yourself bit!¡± Simian warned. As if to fulfill the man''s words, a tiny growl tore through the animal''s throat and it snapped open air. Then it screamed as if were being tortured awhile its head lifted free. Khelen pulled his hand back just in time.


    ¡°Well...while you''re doing that, I''m going to get something to eat...since it''s obvious I won''t be getting back to sleep.¡± Simian grumbled as he grabbed some jerky and bread. ¡°Fortunately, we won''t be short on food for at least a week. I swear that man could eat...bet he spent most of that energy running his damn mouth.¡±


    The maregyle growled when Khelen placed a bowl of water in front of its snapping jaw. It bumped the bowl by accident, sloshing the water over the rim. Then it became desperate, licking the air until its tongue found the bowl. It began to quench its thirst greedily, splashing the contents of the bowl and choking as it water touched its parched throat. He refilled the bowl while his cypher analyzed the creature''s movements, predicting when it would try to strike him as well as cross-referencing similar species on Scrul.


    ¡°I have been giving some thought to your idea.¡± Simian said, watching him, ¡°It''s stupid. Why can''t you keep you...what was it you called it?¡±


    ¡°The wall-rider.¡± Khelen said, not looking up from his work. The maregyle had been severely dehydrated. Already it had gone through a third bowl. ¡°To repair it requires removing many small parts. They would fall between the boards on the wagon.¡±


    ¡°Well why not leave it behind?¡± Simian asked, ¡°Do you really need it?¡±


    ¡°If you have ever ridden a wall-rider, you would not need to ask.¡± Khelen allowed himself a fond grin. ¡°There is nothing that compares. But...in terms of practical answers, it is fast and no incline is an obstacle to it. ¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°That...that thing is some sort of transportation?¡± Simian sounded skeptical.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Khelen said. He refrained from telling Simian about the modifications he had made to it and the illicit weapons he had camouflaged in its chasis. ¡°My model is designed with...''rugged travel'' in mind. It is designed for ease of repair, should it break down in a ''dead zone''. My work often required me to go ...long periods in isolation. So...I kept many spare parts. The problem is getting to the part that needs to be inspected. That will take...a lot of dismantling.¡±


    The maregyle, exhausted and whining but hydrated, struggled vainly to break free from its bind. Khelen poured some lamp oil along its back, giving it time to penetrate the snares. Then, using the data his cypher compiled from cross-referencing, he scruffed its neck. He dosed Joy when the critter went still, then he slid his hand under its flank and repeated what he did to its head, sawing his hand back and forth until its fur released from the snares. It did not like that one bit. Khelen surmised that its squirming had tugged on its fur and the resin had locked it into place, keeping it pulled taut for the whole time it had been in the gripper''s grasp.


    ¡°ch ch ch ch ch...¡± Khelen vocalized out of habit, trying foolishly to calm the screaming creature with slumhound clicking.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Simian relented, ¡°We will keep the carriage. You can pretend to be some favored. However...what you did yesterday, that cannot happen again.¡±


    ¡°If we are caught...¡± Khelen said as he freed the creature from a majority of the snares. ¡°if I am cornered...I will not be able to stop myself.¡±


    ¡°Then I can''t bring you with me.¡± Simian said simply, ¡°I don''t know what your world is like or what you even did. Let me tell you something, when I heard Leoman screaming, the way he cried...¡± Khelen looked up to see the man staring at the grass, swallowing, ¡°it was like hearing my own damn child screaming. You freed me and I thank you for it. But ''that'' cannot be the cost of my freedom. If you need me to use some sort of drug to knock you out, fine. I can easily create my own tranquilizer and hit you with it. But I will not bring that kind of savagery back to my family.¡±


    Khelen wished Simian had not told him about the tranquilizers. That knowledge would have been better off hidden, for if he knew about them, then the beast also knew. Already, it wanted to whisper to him the different ways he could counteract or evade being sedated. The man had no idea how much power it had, how seductive its venom is. ¡°It would work.¡± Khelen said, ¡°I am assuming the delivery would be a projectile of some sort. You would...most likely have to increase its potency. If it is not a projectile...then tell me no more. As for your family, I will not harm them. My...bloodlust...has a ''taste'' for dangerous people.¡± That too, was a lie. It had a preference for dangerous people. But it did not discriminate.


    Now that the maregyle was free, Khelen thought it would try to run. But the creature seemed far too tired to do anything but stumble. Then it crouched onto the ground and tucked its head between both of its front legs, as if to hide from the world. The entire thing was covered in lantern oil. Pinpricks of blood dotted patches of bare skin where fur had been torn away, clumps of resin still clung to it despite all the lubrication. Its wings were bunched together with adhesive and the tail adhered to the maregyle''s hind leg.


    ¡°My granddaughter always talks about wanting one of those.¡± Simian mused. Granddaughter? Khelen thought, but he remained silent.  ¡°Anyway...¡± he walked over and put a hand on Khelen''s shoulder. ¡°Respect for life. If you want me to be some sort of...''guide'', or whatever the hell you want to call it, you need to show a respect for life, like what you''re doing here.¡± He let go.


    ¡°Aren''t...you a hunter?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°I don''t torture the animals I kill.¡± Simian said, ¡°If I cause them pain, it''s because of my own incompetence.¡±


    Khelen felt strange hearing the man''s words. Strange because, like all the other Kel he had met, Simian was empty, an avatar in form only, no history. Why would a man without a cypher go out of his way to talk of respect? In Khelen''s experience, respect was a form of currency as were acts nobility. When people spoke of respect, they did so to be echoed. They could take their acts as the cypher recorded them, post them too the feed, and others could relive these events of kindness. They could use these moments as credentials verifying to others that they had integrity. What did Simian have to gain from such talk? There was no feed and nobody would hear it except Khelen himself. But he was grateful for the man''s company. He was the only one there to break up the silence.


    ¡°What is...the maregyle doing?¡± Khelen asked.


    ¡°It''s traumatized.¡± Simian said, ¡°And it''s in a whole lot of pain. Or at least it will be. Maybe the fur will protect it from the brunt of the resin''s effects, but it''s going to feel something. Speaking of which, you better start slathering that oil on yourself and get as much of that gunk off of you as possible. Maybe that clothing of yours will protect you, but it will get harder to remove the longer you wait. Grab a wulup''s tail....¡± Simian looked toward the wargs, ¡°We need to find a river and start scrubbing all that paint off our wargs. Better to get started sooner than later because it''s going to take all day.¡±


    Khelen nodded, then he picked up maregyle and carried it into the bone-tickler''s chamber, setting it down on some padding he had taken from the wagon. It crawled over and tucked its snout into the corner. Then he went to the wagon to retrieve a sealable container from the fabricator''s storage. Though he did not remember the days preceding his arrival, he deducted using data from the wall-rider that he had been towing a locker filled with his belongings. Whatever happened to him immediately preceding his appearance must have broken the locker and scattered its contents. What had he been doing? Not even the cypher would tell him. Sabotage indeed? Either way,  he was very fortunate to have a working fabricator. He picked up the head he had taken from the carrion striker and carried it into the carriage so he could figure out how to extract the venom. The task turned out to be easier than he expected, he simply had to bend the probiscis a little bit and squeeze hard on the creature''s gullet. He managed to fill most of the container with the clear liquid before the venom glands refused to yield any more. Once they had a chance, he would hook the fabricator up to the wall-rider''s power port and have it run an analysis on the substance.  But for now he sealed the container and tucked it into a corner.


    While Simian navigated the carriage out of Theola forest, Khelen continued to rake bits of resin from the maregyle''s fur. It would let out the occasional yelp, but it was too petrified to protest. Using a blade he summoned with the Scavenger-Mate, he sheered off matted sections and tossed them into the corner. It reminded of of the time he had freed an unfortunate slumhound from a puddle of hardened tar. While he was working on the creature he began to feel a prickling irritation on the side of his scalp. Reaching up, he felt a streak of gripper resin. So he smeared some lantern oil on the stuff and began to rub at it until it rolled into little logs that he could flick off.


    By the time Simian found a river, most of the resin had been removed from the maregyle''s wings and fur. Khelen''s efforts seemed to calm the creature, perhaps it felt relief? Or perhaps it was simply too tired to do anything, it had its head bowed and its one free eye was closing. But he still needed to get the resin off the creature''s other eye or else it would go blind. But as soon as he made the attempt to secure the maregyle''s head, it became alert and began to pull away snarling. Khelen was strong, but the creature, covered in oil, was slick under his grasp. It slipped out from under his hand and sunk its teeth into the side of his palm, leaving a little parabola of bite marks. Simian knocked on the side of the carriage.


    ¡°Come on out.¡± he said, voice muffled by the walls, ¡°I pulled us alongside a stream with a small waterfall. I''ll need help with these wargs.¡±


    Khelen slapped the side of the carriage with Leoman''s hand and wrapped it in cloth before Simian could see it. Eventually, he would have to discard it before its odor became too foul. This meant he had to either had to choose where to create a permanent opening for him to enter and exit. But for now he kept it hidden from Simian''s sight. The man was waiting on the other side of the wall. When he saw Khelen massaging the bite on his hand, he frowned.


    ¡°What did I tell you?¡± he said, ¡°You were going to go get yourself bitten. You have no idea what kind of diseases that animal is carrying either.¡±


    ¡°The cypher will take care of it.¡± Khelen said. Indeed, it had already detected an influx of foreign pathogens in his blood and had just started manufacturing artificial antibodies to fight them. ¡°The maregyle still has resin on its eye.¡±


    Simian gave him a look that said, ¡°What do you want me to do about it?¡± then shaking his head, he entered the bone tickler with Khelen''s help. He used his body to hold down the maregyle while Khelen used both his hands to secure the jaw of the creature. His efforts earned him several more bites but he managed to clamp it shut while his other hand peeled away enough of the resin covering the creature''s eyelid. When they both let go, it limped back into the corner and hissed at them.


    ¡°I thought you said you weren''t going to keep it as a pet. I said we could not bring it with us.¡± But Simian considered the trembling critter dripping in lantern oil. ¡°But...I guess I can''t find the heart to get rid of it right now. Leave it some water and meat, we can see if it gets any better. But do it quickly, we really need to get these wargs scrubbed.¡±


    Khelen left several bowls of water and some strips of jerky with the maregyle kitten, then gathered all the resin into a huge wad and tossed it out. Then he closed the carriage and hopped out and was stunned at the sight before him. The stream in of itself was not too extraordinary but the way the water shimmered in the sun''s ambiance was magnificent. The waterfall, almost twice a man''s height seemed to cascade jewels instead of water, glittering as if it were one of the illuminated fountains of Edis Holeran''s corporate district. Auroras flickered along the trees that flanked the shore. Several creatures leapt among the tree tops, flying and bounding from branch to branch. Every instinct told him that this was wrong, they should have been hiding from the radiation.


    ¡°When you are done gawking, I need help! Come on, we don''t have all day!¡± Simian snapped impatiently.


    Following the man''s instructions, he helped him to detach each warg one at a time and lead it into a shallow part of the river. The insect-like beast could have easily tossed them aside if it wished but they seemed to be rather docile, bobbing its head slightly as they pulled on its reins. Khelen had heard of ridden mounts near some of the dead zones, had seen some of them but he had never tried it himself. Animals were too unwieldy.


    ¡°Oh that is cold! Oh but it feels so good, yes it feels so good. That should help some of the swelling.¡± Simian kept muttering as he waded into the water, leading one side of the warg. ¡° Come on you...okay...okay right there should be fine. Why don''t you have a drink while we give you a bath. Okay...¡± he dropped the rein into the water and sighed, ¡°I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Lord Skremon''s colors are green and red. I also think somebody told me that she has a Favored. If you want to impersonate one, Skremon would be our best bet. That means we only have to scrub one of these wargs. The bad news is that this paint is not designed to come off easily. We will have to find a rock or something and start scraping away at it until it is all gone. Do not worry about hurting the warg, just scrape as hard as you can.¡±


    The task was just as grueling as Simian described. Khelen''s arms burned from the effort of grinding away at the beast''s chitinous plate. He also had to avoid being pinched or having his foot stepped on whenever the warg decided to move. Using his Scavenger-Mate''s freeform function, he shaped a cyatic blade into a form that could scrape when he pulled. Simian cringed at the noise it made as Khelen scraped away small strips of paint. The abundance of Sacrin''s cyatics amazed him as well as the ease at which they yielded. It was as if they were simply waiting for somebody to use them. If only the wall-rider were functioning....


    Simian had to take far more frequent breaks than Khelen as the scrubbing aggravated his injuries. Khelen did not mind. In fact the exercise was what he needed. His days spent in the cell back at Inshod left him feeling a little weak. By the time they both finally got most of the paint scraped away, the sun had begun to set. Both were exhausted from the work and Khelen knew he was going to feel sore when he awoke. After checking in on the maregyle to make sure it was still alive, he went through his supplies and grabbed two Slam bars from his leftover rations and snacks. He tossed one to Simian, who was leaning against the wagon and watching the wargs drink.


    ¡°What is this?¡± the man asked, inspecting the tin-wrapped bar.


    ¡°Slam bar.¡± Khelen said, grinning while opening his up, ¡°It ''slams you with health''.


    ¡°That thing...was an animal where you''re from?¡± Simian was looking at the figure on the front of the package.


    ¡°No...no.¡± Khelen laughed, ¡°The bar is protein, fruit, and nuts.¡±


    ¡°Then why...does it have four muscled legs and eyes?¡± Simian indicated the cartoonish limbs on the personified bar, which was made to resemble an beast bursting out of its wrapper.


    At this Khelen laughed, ¡°The figure...it is a humorous depiction I guess? I...never thought about it. It is...an ''avatar'' of the company...or ''group'' that makes it. It is getting ready to ''slam'' you with health! The taste is...bad. But it helps with aching muscles and builds new ones. I carry them as rations if I travel far. I lived on them for twenty days with nothing else but water.¡±


    Simian did as Khelen did and tore the wrapper off. He gave it a suspicious sniff and took a bite. ¡°You are right.¡± he grimaced, ¡°This is horrible. You said it has fruits and nuts in it? I only taste dirt. But...I do not waste food especially when it is given. By the way, you are looking a little burnt.¡±


    ¡°Burnt?¡± Khelen repeated.


    ¡°With skin as pale as yours, not surprised the sun burned you.¡± Simian said as he forced himself to swallow pieces of Slam bar, ¡°It got you really bad on your neck.¡±


    Now that Simian had brought his attention to it, Khelen did notice a sensation that resembled a large rash. ¡°Your ''sun'' can cause damage then?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Well...yeah!¡± Simian said as if the answer were obvious, ¡°Some dyes will bleach in it, people will get burned by it if they stay out in it too long without some sort of protection. Get a hat or a hood, or spread some siuf butter on your skin. You look like you will burn real easy. Either way, that was a good job done.¡± he nodded to the warg they had scrubbed, ¡°Sorry I could not help as much. I think it will take several trel for me to fully recover from riding in that damn carriage.¡±


    ¡°How far is your home?¡± Khelen asked, ¡°Will we need food or supplies for the journey?¡±


    ¡°It''s only a little under a trel''s ride away.¡± Simian said, ¡°If we play it safe. If I drive isolated roads by day and you drive at night, assuming you can learn to read a map and learn to steer the wargs. The latter should not be difficult, a child can do it. But we do that, we can almost shorten that by half. Leoman also said something about adjusting the suspension on the bone tickler. Or more like he bragged about how he could adjust it if he wanted. If you are wanting to sleep in there, you better figure out if he was telling the truth.¡±


    Khelen peaked under the carriage and almost immediately saw how Leoman''s design worked. It was so crude he nearly laughed. Coiled springs like the kind he had seen on old vehicles in museums acted as shocks on each axle, yet they were thwarted by four metal shafts that ran through their centers. The result was that the shafts supported the carriage before the springs even had a chance to absorb any energy. Even if the purpose of such a feature were aimed toward tormenting the occupants of the carriage, it was a stupid design that put unnecessary wear on the axles. It was quite amazing they had not broken under the constant battering. On each shaft there was a geared crank for adjustment. As he turned each one, the carriage above seemed to sigh with relief as it settled on its shocks.


    ¡°We head out tomorrow.¡± Simian said, ¡°before the roads get too crowded. Leoman was not the only messenger going around delivering orders for Kel to attend the Retribution Feast. Entu Province was one of the last regions to get the news. Representatives from all over the continent are being invited and everybody else will already be there by the time Entu arrives to watch the slaughter.¡±

 Chapter 9- Ryel

    Ryel'' Hendulei was lost, floating in a world of ribbons, ribbons without end. They had no substance, no hue, no tangibility and yet they were all around her. Oh, if only she could see them with her eyes, she could imagine how beautiful the world would be. Instead, they lie just beyond her sight and danced beyond her grasp. But she knew they were there now that her senses had been awakened. Ever since she had won Lord Kindel''s respect and become Favored, her world had been filled with wonder. How could she have lived life before this ''awakening''? She had been dead before, she just had not realized it. Her reverie was interrupted when something in the campfire suddenly snapped and she was abruptly pulled from her session. Agmar,  Lord Kindel''s stitan, tried to grab one of the burning logs.


    ¡°Agmar!¡± Ryel groaned, ¡°No! Not again! Get! Get back! Back!¡± she picked the beater off the ground and struck the beast repeatedly over its crest. However, it looked at her blankly with its beady eyes, and ducked down to the fire to pick up a flaming tinder in its mouth. The log began to crack and hiss as Agmar chewed. Smoke puffed from the beast''s nostrils while a shower of coals and embers tossed about in his mouth and tumbled down the sides of its cheeks. Grumbling, it finally backed up and lay on the ground with its smoldering ¡°snack¡±. Ryel could see orange embers rolling around on its tongue as it chewed contently.


    ¡°Do you have an illness you masochistic reptile?!¡± Ryel fumed, ¡°That''s the third one you''ve eaten! What is the matter with you?!¡±


    Agmar almost seemed to be smiling as he pinned the log between two of its massive claws and began to gnaw on the steaming kindling with his beak-like mouth. He was a ferocious-looking beast with a head shaped like a vertical scythe, backward-pointing horns protruding from below his mouth and above his sinuses. A series of smaller horns in pairs followed the curve of his spine before disappearing at the apex of his back. Looming like a small mountain in the night, the stitan looked ferocious. Once, Ryel had been terrified of tending the creature and not just because it was Lord Kindel''s treasured pet. But she soon learned Agmar was just a big soft oaf.


    Fuming but unable to hold her anger at the sight of the beast''s antics, Ryel grabbed another log and tossed it onto the fire, waiting for some sign of the lord. He had gone into the forest several days ago to ¡°prepare¡±.  Prepare for what? The Feast? He had not given her any details as to what the purpose of his trek into the woods may have been, only that he would not return for a few days. His orders were to keep Agmar company and practice. And so, that was what she had been doing...practicing.


    She was about to try again when there came a frantic scurrying as rodents and ground crawlers swarmed across the campsite. Ryel raised her eyebrows at the sight and stood up so they would not crawl across her lap. As the meadows came to life with the sound of frightened animals, a breeze teased the tops of the grass, the breeze of a forewind. Agmar chuffed nervously.


    ¡°Oh!¡± Ryel said with surprise as she watched a purple glimmer swimming out from the woods. ¡°Black fog? I did not know this area had them.¡±


    She stood up and walked over to the stitan''s head, making sure not to step on the steaming ¡°snack¡± he had been chewing. His breaths were filled with campfire smoke. Agmar chuffed again and stamped the ground nervously. Though there was a slight tremor in his hooves, he did not flee with the other animals. Ryel was very grateful for that, as she could not see herself chasing, much less catching and calming a terrified stitan.


    ¡°Shh....¡± she crooned, massaging him behind his spikes as Kindel showed her, ¡°It will be okay.¡±


    The fog soon caught up to the campsite and washed over them both, turning Ryel''s world into a world of purple light and whispers. Black fog had never frightened her, even as a child. In fact she had not even known others were scared of it until she tried to bring her friends into it to hear the voices. She remembered trying to catch the people whom inhabited the mists, calling out to them, chasing them, and getting angry when they would not let her near. They were as graspless as the gaps themselves, evasive and mysterious. The black-purple miasma had always fascinated her with the secrets it hid. To others it was wrong, dangerous and deceptive. But to her, it always seemed playful and mischievous. Even the way streamers of mist danced and twirled at its perimeter had the feel of a performance. She even remember waving back to it as a kid.


    Though she could not see the beast, she could still feel Agmar''s breath upon her as she caressed him. She could hear nothing but her heartbeat and the visceral ebbing of the fog yet she knew Agmar clawed at the ground from the vibrations she felt in her feet. She knew he grumbled from the rumbling in her hands. In a way, her time in numerous clouds of the impenetrable black fog had prepared her for Kindel''s tutelage, prepared her to expand her senses, to ''see'' the gaps without sight. She could not see nor hear the fire crackle, but she felt its warmth. She could not see the grass in the fields, but she could smell it on the wind. She could not see the gaps...but she could feel them all around her.  They were bending, bending away from her, leaning in to some unseen source. Ryel wanted to leave Agmar and chase after this source. Closing her eyes she ''looked'' around without seeing and ''reached'' with an arm she did not have. Wait...was she actually doing it? Yes...yes she was reaching toward one of the strands that bent away from her and she clasped her mind around it.


    Very good, child.


    Yelping with surprise, Ryel lost the link and returned to the seething of the black fog. Cursing with a voice nobody could hear, she kicked dirt and waited for the black fog to end. Soon enough, windows of the flickering campsite appeared as the fog thinned. Wispy windows into a world of black and purple dots slithered around her feet and away from her, disappearing into the night. She was always a little sad to see it go, as if it were an old distant friend that had stopped by to say ¡°hello¡±.


    ¡°You see?¡± she rest her forehead against Agmar''s crest, ¡°That was not so bad you big goof.¡±


    Agmar''s response was to shove her aside and chuff. She leapt out of his way as he turned toward the woods bobbing his head. There, coming out from between the trees was a tall figure dressed in an armor of polished bone. The twin moons illuminated the white mask he wore upon his face, making it glow with luminescence. The red hood which shrouded it seemed to flow like velvet waves as he walked through the wind. The mask itself was a simple design. It was formed of a white porcelain and was oblong in shape. It bore seven holes, six of them were arranged in two vertical rows of three, each hole sporting a corona of red and gold. Then it had a larger hole for the mouth. Yet under the mask, Lord Kindel''s features were further obscured by a layer of black fabric. Decorative feathers the color of flame wreathed his neck and shoulders. The seemed to glimmer in the moonlight as the breeze tickled them. Ryel always found something...magnetizing about the way the lords dressed. Though the materials would have been horrifying on anything else, they drew the eyes and invited them to explore the many organic intricacies and mysteries of their macabre attire. What should have been grotesque was instead...beautiful.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    As he approached, Ryel bowed her head respectfully. Agmar, seeing his master, did the opposite, he trampled right across the fire to greet Lord Kindel, dragging a line of shimmering coals into the grass. The Nikral reached his gloved hands to his pet and massaged its temples silently. Then he turned to Ryel.


    ¡°You have been practicing.¡± he thrummed. Ryel found it outrageous that so few people, when they spoke of their encounters with the Nikral lords, failed to mention the captivating beauty of their voices. When a Nikral spoke, its voice seemed to resonate through the air no matter where they were. They seemed to speak as a chorus rather than as an individual. Sometimes, she could feel their dialect thrumming against her chest, it was captivating. When they sang their peoples'' songs, sometimes the air itself seemed to stop, listen, and weep. Ryel once worked up the courage to ask Kindel why the voices of his people sounded so unique. She expected him not to answer, thinking perhaps it was some sort of lore or knowledge that would be forbidden to her. But he did answer, and the answer was rather mundane: Nikral have two vocal chords instead of one.


    ¡°Uh...yes.¡± she said, ¡°I have. I think...I made some sort of breakthrough when that black fog rolled in. Well...it may be a breakthrough it I could understand it.¡±


    ¡°Ah...¡± Lord Kindel sounded intrigued, ¡°explain.¡±


    ¡°I am not sure I can, my lord.¡± Ryel said, ¡°When I practiced, I could sense the gaps but I could never reach them. Something...something always distracted me.¡±


    ¡°Such as...¡± Lord Kindel asked.


    ¡°Agmar...¡± Ryel said honestly, ¡°He kept eating the campfire.¡±


    ¡°''Eating''...the campfire?¡± There was an old adage stating that one could never make a Nikral laugh. It was a phrase that had proven quite accurate. However, Ryel had learned that the lords definitely had a sense of humor, it was simply more subtle than the humor of Kel and Lyosh. You had to look for the laughter in the tone of their words rather than in outright expressions of joviality. As Lord Kindel repeated her accusation against Agmar, she heard hints of amusement in his resonant voice.


    ¡°He kept grabbing logs from the fire and eating them.¡± Ryel said, ¡° I tried to stop him but...¡±


    ¡°It was either let him eat or get crushed.¡± Lord Kindel finished, ¡°Feral stitans have been known to devour trees that have been scorched by lightning. Nobody knows why they do it, though some hypothesize that it aids digestion. Either way...Agmar will be fine.¡±


    As if to underscore Lord Kindel''s words, the massive beast began to lick at the remains of the campfire it had scattered among the grass, lapping up burning coals as if they were grains of sugar.


    ¡°What of your practice during the day?¡± Lord Kindel asked, ¡°Surely you were not distracted then?¡±


    ¡°I was not.¡± Ryel said, ¡°Though...I kept an eye out for your return, I was able to separate myself from my senses...mostly.¡±


    ¡°And what was it about the black fog that allowed your...success? And...why did you let go of the link?¡± Lord Kindel took a seat by the dying fire. Even sitting he still seemed tall, his head almost came up to her chin. His mask seemed to absorb the moonlight so that it could cast its own ambiance. Though she could not see his eyes behind to holes in the mask, she could feel his gaze upon her.


    ¡°I do not know, my lord.¡± she said, ¡°I have not had enough time to analyze my experience. But perhaps it was because I...enjoy the black fogs.¡± she felt embarrassed at the admission but she continued, ¡°When I am in their mists, I can hide from the world and hear nothing but their whispers. Perhaps...perhaps...I don''t know.¡± she flustered, ¡°I am sorry. As for letting go of the link...you startled me, I guess.¡±


    Lord Kindel tilted his mask, ¡°You enjoy the black fogs?¡± again, there was a hint of amusement to his voice. ¡°You have more spine than half the continent. Regardless, perhaps you should try remembering how you feel when you are immersed in the phenomenon. That may very well be your catalyst. Regardless, this is a phenomenal achievement. We now know what your focus is.¡±


    ¡°Focus?¡± Ryel repeated, excitement filling her chest ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°You are a Listener.¡± he thrummed softly, ¡°This will be of great value to us. So far, there are only five Kel listeners. You would be the sixth. If you are able to master the art of the Listening, you could travel to the opposite end of Iris and we would still be able to communicate with each other. There would be no need to send letters or carriages. I, or one of the other lords would make their will known through you. As my Favored, you already outrank any Kel, any Lyosh. But as a Listener...you would be treasured among us above even other Favoreds. I knew I had chosen well when I took you under my tutelage.¡±


    Ryel did not know how to react to Lord Kindel''s words. She found herself turning to stare at the grass so he would not see the tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Perhaps he knew she needed a moment alone because he got up. ¡°I have not had food for several days.¡± he said, ¡°When I am ready, I will summon you.¡± then he walked back to the carriage. The massive contraption was formed of polished bone tusks and raw obsidian that had been engraved and painted with his colors: White, gray, and red. He entered the door to his chamber and closed it behind him. Lantern light leaked around the door''s seams but very little of it could be seen through the windows, which had several layers of curtains.


    It was a strongly enforced law among the Nikral to hide their faces in public. The only time they were allowed to remove their masks or veils was when they either ate or drink or when they were with family in private. Very few people knew what the lords actually looked like under their porcelain faces. It was a tradition they held so dearly that they made it a crime to depict a lord''s actual flesh and blood countenance. Ryel remembered the imaginative descriptions she and her brothers would come up with as kids as they guessed at what the Nikral hid. However, now that she was under the direct tutelage of a lord, she did not want to know what they looked like. No countenance could possibly match the charisma and mystique created by those porcelain disguises. Any reveal was bound to be...disappointing.


    Ryel had to sit down before she collapsed. She knew she was being overly dramatic, but Lord Kindel''s praise left her reeling. Higher than a Favored...she had no idea such a thing was possible for Kel. Of course she had been taught about the Listeners, a class formerly only available to the Nikral practitioners of gap magic. But she was one of the first...well, sixth, actually. But still, she was among the first Kel to attain such a role. No, she was getting ahead of herself. She was not a Listener yet, but she was certainly more than ever determined to become one. She wanted to hug somebody, but Lord Kindel was still eating and she was not sure how he would react to such a gesture anyway. So instead she went over to Agmar and hugged him.


    Wait...what had Lord Kindel said when he left? He had not eaten for several days? Why? And if that was the case, why did he sound so calm when he returned? He should have been famished! But he is a master of the gaps, Ryel reminded herself. He knows how to separate himself from his bodily senses. Perhaps he had learned to hide outward signs of his hunger. Or perhaps he simply looked calm because his mask covered his expressions. But what had he been doing in those woods? I have to prepare myself. Practice. Keep Agmar company and await my return. After a while, Lord Kindel exited his chamber, donning his mask.


    ¡°You should sleep.¡± he said, ¡°Early tomorrow morning, we will reach our destination. As we ride, I want you to continue practicing.¡±


    Ryel gave a short bow and bid him a good night. Then she climbed into room he set aside for her. It had been designed for Nikral, so everything felt big to her. But such spaciousness also made her feel like royalty. She took off her shoes, climbed into the chair which doubled as a bed and closed her eyes. Her dreams were filled with violet whispers.

 Chapter 10- Looking to the past

    She spent the entirety of the next morning entering the world of ribbons, remembering the lessons Lord Kindel taught her:


    ¡°Every gap is part of a spectrum. It has a nature, a ''color'' if you will. There are those that affect the physical reality of the world. They are plentiful and many. There are those which are temporal, which cut through time, allowing you to glimpse into the past. There are those that traverse great distances, we call those ''spacial'' gaps. Within these rifts, are even smaller gaps, like fine threads, a spectrum within a spectrum. To find your focus...simply drift and see which ones you attract or are attracted to. Make no presuppositions, do not assume you will be drawn to the physical or the temporal. You will thwart yourself.


    Ryel was drifting among them, allowing the gaps to become colors in her mind. But they barely evaded her grasp. Growing frustrated, she opened her eyes and stared at the barrier which separated her chamber from Lord Kindel''s. It was just as well that she had decided to take a break as the carriage pulled to a stop. A moment later, there came a knock at the door.


    ¡°Our destination requires a brief walk on foot.¡± Lord Kindel said as she hopped down from her chamber.


    She looked around and saw why the carriage could go no further. Though the trees were sparse and the land covered in grass, jagged boulders littered the plains like spikes. There were subtle hints of a path. However, it was far too narrow for the carriage to navigate. They left Agmar behind, tethered to a spike Lord Kindel had driven into the ground. The stitan could have easily ripped it free, but it was well-trained. Still, Lord Kindel had disengaged the carriage just as he always did. Agmar had a habit of wandering. As the carriage disappeared from sight, the lord led Ryel into a forest of stone and quartz. Clouds in the sky raced their shadows over the many sharp, irregular pinnacles. Ryel felt anticipation grow with every step that she took. The Nikral was enigmatic about his purposes, but he had told her this stop would be part of her training. Though in his typical fashion, he said nothing more than that.


    ¡°Lord Kindel?¡± Ryel said, deciding to break the silence.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± he thrummed, leaping to the top of a boulder, with his massive strength, his bone armor clinking. He reached down to take her hand and hoisted her up as if she weighed less than a feather.


    ¡°I was wondering...what the lords know about the black fogs?¡± she asked.


    ¡°They are as evasive and as mysterious to us as they are to you.¡± he said, his unseen jaw forming shapes in the fabric as he spoke, ¡°We do not know why our sight is obscured when we stand in it, nor why our ears hear only whispers. It spurns any attempt we make at analysis. If...one tries to take a sample, it will not matter how airtight the container is, it will slip out as soon as soon as it goes beyond the cloud''s boundary. We have also been unable to determine its origin. Or rather...we have never witnessed its...''creation''. If you find a valley that has consistent black fog and it consistently flows from east to west, you can find the spot from which it spawns. But...if you try to observe the moment in which it spawns, it will instead appear on the other end of the valley and travel from west to east. If you have two observers on either end of the valley, it will instead spawn near the middle and split into two smaller clouds, which travel away from the middle. If, you are somehow able to line enough observers along the valley so that no spot is unseen, the black fog will either not appear, or it will appear in an adjacent valley. Some have hypothesized that this demonstrates an ''awareness''.¡±


    Ryel was floored, she never knew that about the black fog! But she was not surprised. Most Kel were too terrified of it to investigate.


    ¡°It...is alive?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It is only a hypothesis.¡± Lord Kindel corrected, ¡°tt acts as if it does not ''want'' us to know its secrets. I have heard of attempts being made to ''communicate'' with it and provoke some sort of response. But I am aware of no more than that. Do not assume it has sentience until it provides an irrefutable demonstration of its awareness.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± she said, thinking about all the implications as the pinnacles which surrounded them continued to grow in their size and density. ¡°I was wondering if knowing more about the black fog would help me in my practice.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Lord Kindel said. Ryel went silent at those two words.


    Though he did not shout nor raise his voice, the tone was one that made her wonder if she had said something wrong. He did this occasionally, reacting tersely to some inquiry or some phrase she uttered. It served to remind her that she was in a privileged position. The Nikral were lore-wise, long-lived, and knowledgeable. Stating the obvious to them was almost like an insult. Eventually they came upon a dead end. A steep wall of boulders rose before them like a cliff, as if the plate of the ground had been shattered, its ends heaved into the sky. Though it did not look impassable, scaling it would take time. Lord Kindel reached it and waited for her to catch up.


    ¡°There was a path here.¡± he said, ¡°but it must have collapsed. You will ride on my back while I scale this face.¡±


    ¡°I will...w-what?¡± Ryel did a double take, not sure she heard him correctly.


    ¡°I will carry you on my back.¡± he repeated, ¡°there are footholds in my bonework for my child to use. But female Kel such as yourself are of similar size. They will suffice.¡±


    ¡°B-but...¡± Ryel could not comprehend such a thing, to actually touch a Nikral was a privilege. But to be carried by one?! ¡°But it''s never been done! You''re a lord and I-¡±


    ¡°Do you think you will hurt me?¡± Lord Kindel tilted his mask in a clear sign of amusement, ¡°That your airiness will tire my shoulders? We do not have time for demonstrations of frivolity. Gather your awe quickly, child. Our destination is beyond that rise.¡±


    He turned his back to her and knelt on one knee. Ryel could not believe this was happening, it had to be some sort of test. But she approached the lord, her face burning. She saw the footholds near his waist as well as tusks which jutted back from his shoulders. These she used to pull herself up. She expected him to sway under her weight but he held himself like a statue. This close, she could actually smell a piquant odor under the fragrances he used to disguise it. But it was an unbelievable honor nonetheless.


    ¡°Hold tight when I leap and put some distance between your face and the bone plating.¡± he thrummed, ¡°that way you will not smash your face into my back when I land.¡±


    She gulped nervously as he stood with her on his back and approached the wall. There, he considered a boulder that was a head higher than he was. He took a few steps back, crouched to the ground and launched upward. Ryel had been clenching the tusks but even that did not prepare her for the power of his leap. She felt her body try to lurch backward as he soared above the boulder, then felt her stomach trill when he landed. Be bent his knees to absorb most of the impact yet still Ryel had to brace herself to prevent her from fulfilling his warning and smashing her nose against his armor.


    ¡°I did not hear a scream,¡± he said.


    ¡°I...left it back on the ground.¡± Ryel said, gasping before adding, ¡°Lord Kindel.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± he said, turning to consider his next target, then took a running leap toward the next boulder, then another leap toward a steep face. There, he pinned himself between a thin crevice and ascended by pressing his arms and legs against the sides. Using this technique, he ascended the small cliff in a manner which resembled the movements of some sort of insect. When he reached the top, he grabbed the lip with both of his arms and heaved himself over the edge. Ryel had heard of the lords'' brute strength yet had never seen it in action. By the time he set her down, her legs were quaking. Though the ascent had been brief, it had been terrifying and incredible. Though he stood poised and regal, he had moved like a beast.


    ¡°When you recover,¡± he said, ¡°I want you to follow me.¡±


    Ryel took a few controlled breaths to seize her trembling, then she stood up and nodded. He lead her toward a strange sight: in the distance, a small ridge ran across the horizon ahead of her, running from her left to the right. It was limned with a series of tall stone spikes that seemed to curve inward toward some center she could not see, as if the ridge were part of an enormous ring. As they approached, their scale dawned upon her. Each spike must have been the height of fifty men. And unlike the jagged boulders which littered the area, they were perfectly uniform as if they had been sculpted. How did she not see these citadels earlier? He waited for her up ahead between two of the spikes. An ominous distant storm loomed behind him, its dark clouds accentuating the beautifully glimmering coronas on his mask.


    ¡°Tell me what you see.¡± he thrummed softly as she came up beside him. There was a foreboding somberness to his tone.


    Ryel followed the ridge of spikes to her right and watched as they gradually turned left, then circled around until the ridge ended at her right. As she had suspected, they were arranged in a perfect ring, a ring so wide it would take all day to traverse its circumference even if one were to use a carriage. In the middle of the ring was a curious sight. The ground gradually funneled toward the center of the ring, dropping so far that shadows covered the bottom. Hiding in the shadows at the center of the funnel was a small hill covered in trees. As the sun continued to rise, its rays licked the tops of the branches and cast the spikes'' shadows across the massive bowl. It was beautiful, yet surreal. The sheer scale of the phenomenon made her dizzy with vertigo. She could even see small clouds of fog blanketing the trough around the hill at the bottom. Tell me what you see.


    Ryel knew he was not talking about what her eyes saw, so she shut them. The gaps were all around her, pulsing with potential yet still hidden from her touch. Yet she perceived something unusual about the way they inhabited this area. ¡°Gaps....¡± she said, ¡°There are...unusual ones, they are deeper than the others.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Deeper?¡± Lord Kindel repeated.


    ¡°Deeper...or bigger.¡± Ryel said, ¡°I cannot tell. They just seem to have more...''depth'' to them. I think I have seen them before...or sensed similar gaps. Lord Kindel, you once said I could think of gaps as having a ''color''. If I said these were red gaps, then I would say they are redder here than I have ever seen them elsewhere...¡± she cringed at her awkward phrasing, ¡°I feel...if I were able to see them with my eyes and move closer to them, I would see the red gaps separate into its own spectrum, see it split into its different ''shades''.¡±


    ¡°Very good...¡± Lord Kindel said, ¡°I am impressed, Ryel. Do you know what kind of gaps they are?¡±


    ¡°I...am afraid not.¡± Ryel said ruefully.


    ¡°The gaps you are referring to, the ones which dominate this place are temporal,¡± he said, looking out over the funnel, ¡°as you know, temporal gaps allow a practitioner to glimpse the past. They can be found all over Sacrin, yet most give only vague impressions of our history. Here, they are vivid with memories Now tell me, what do you see? Using your eyes I mean.¡±


    ¡°Well...I assume the spikes are man-made?¡± she hedged.


    ¡°Wrong,¡± Lord Kindel said, ¡°but continue.¡± Again, there was melancholy in his voice, a strange hint of sadness that she had not been accustomed to hearing in a Nikral.


    ¡°Well...if it is not man-made,¡± she said, ¡°then I assume it is a caldera of a long-dead volcano or...no. Calderas are shaped more like a basin. This almost appears to be a perfect funnel, except for the hill at the bottom. So I perhaps it is some sort of large sinkhole? Beyond that...I do not see anything.¡±


    ¡°Fair guesses. Both are wrong, but fair,¡± Lord Kindel said as he stepped out to the edge of the incline and gestured over the ring. His intoxicating voice adopting a respectful cadence as he continued. ¡°What you do not see is the city of Koebel. By the standards of cities, it was not big. Yet it had beauty to make up for its lack of size. For many leagues, travelers could see its towering gyres of obsidian and quarts stonework gracing the skyline. When the evening sun began its descent, the quartz was said to glow like The Grand Spikes and glimmer as if they were on fire. Over there!¡± he pointed to something in the air, speaking with enthusiasm and awe ¡°A spring gushed forth from the side of the cliff and cascaded down the columnar wall, splitting into their own waterfalls! As it struck the columns it would send up a mist, that revealed rings of color in the afternoon sun! The columnar gave way to smooth stone troughs, which children used as slides, laughing as they splashed into the lake at the bottom!¡±


    Lord Kindel''s enthusiasm continued to mount, his cadence thrumming in the air until Ryel thought she could feel the vibrations from his voice. His finger followed his narration, pointing to different points of nothingness in the air. Suddenly, the beauty of the ring seemed forlorn. Lord Kindel''s passionate narration seemed to prescribe a sullen emptiness to the deprived area, and accentuated the silence of the depression. The towering spikes leaned in a perpetual state of mourning as they wept shadows across the circle. Even the various birds which circled the sunken ground seemed to duck their heads low in respect.


    ¡°Would you like to see it?¡± Lord Kindel asked, looking down at her.


    ¡°I...¡± Ryel was not sure she wanted to, ¡°I would.¡±


    He nodded then turned his gaze toward the funnel. Time appeared without transition as a ribbon of light hanging from the sky, opening outward like curtains before them to reveal the past. The ridge, the ring of spikes disappeared from sight and the ground fell away beneath them. Ryel found herself floating impossibly above a street of cobbled mosaics even though her feet told her she was still standing on solid ground. She was flanked on both sides by brick and mortar homes as numerous Kel bustled beneath her, speaking a language she could not comprehend. She panicked for a moment at the sudden transition, but Lord Kindel caught her arm to steady her.


    ¡°We are still standing on the ridge.¡± he said, ¡°We are not physically present in the time depicted. Step forward too much, and you will tumble into the depression.¡±


    ¡°Of course...¡± she said, looking ahead.


    As soon as she saw the sights Lord Kindel had described, she felt tears coming to her eyes. A small mountain with a gently sloping back rose before her. Its arch arose gradually before abruptly dropping off into cliff in the shape of a claw. All along the mountain''s back arose a series of interconnected towers formed of brick and mortar. The bricks were as the lord described, carved of polished obsidian, hundreds of glimmering black facets twinkling in the light. Gyres of quarts ornately decorated the mountainside, glistening like glazed snow and ice as they teased the sun''s light.


    A spring burst from the overhanging cliff and fell in slow motion before striking an upheaval of hexagonal stone columns, scattering into small waterfalls which cascaded down the miniature terraces. Mist arose in wisps, revealing a rainbow accentuated by the cliff''s shadow. The columns disappeared into a slope of smooth stone, interrupted occasionally by naturally formed channels, which several children were using as slides, screaming as they splashed into the cold water. Parents danced their laughing infants on the shallow shores. Music...she could hear music playing from a tavern behind her, songs which had been lost to time. The Kel themselves...they looked different, their snouts were less pronounced. Their ears, while still bisected, seemed to be shorter than hers.


    ¡°If we were to traverse this ring,¡± Lord Kindel said, ¡°we would see wonders. The streets of Koebel were canvases. When you walk among them, you travel their stories. You would see travelers stop in the middle of the streets simple to gawk at the masterpieces which lay at their feet. The inhabitants would scream at them to move or get run over by the various now-extinct species they used as mounts. Their buildings, their walls, their fountains...were all an exercise in harmony and color. No pigments used, just stone, because stone is immortal.¡±


    He gestured to the countless glittering mosaics in the streets, forming a pixelated narration to a story long lost. Sandstone bricks set the walls aflame with varying shades of red and orange, and the occasional aura of blue. Veins of green, violet, and blue raced along the roofing tiles. Every surface appeared to be carved, etched, or shaped to such intricacy it invited scrutiny and delighted the senses. Every display seemed to tell its own story. Ryel had never thought stonework could be so warm and filled with life. She had always thought it to be cold and mute. But Koebel was an explosion of color. They had captured the sunset in clay, the night sky in obsidian and amethyst, winter frost in quartz. When Lord Kindel dismissed the illusion, she almost broke. The vacant funnel which abruptly replaced the wonderful town seemed like a blasphemy, an insult to its very memory. It was wrong.


    ¡°Looters have come here and salvaged almost every remnant of Koebel.¡± Lord Kindel lamented, ¡°But it was sites like this that caused my ancestors to fall in love with your world. Koebel''s Grave is a pilgrimage site for many of my kind.¡±


    ¡°Lord Kindel...¡± Ryel said after she took a moment to recover herself. ¡°I did not notice these spikes in the vision.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Lord Kindel said, ¡°the teeth were not here during that age.¡±


    Teeth...


    Ryel looked around at the towering sentinels and at the funnel which they surrounded. Then she turned around and looked back at the way they had come, back at all the jagged rocks which haphazardly littered the planes, growing more sparse the further out her eyes went. As if...as if some calamity had tossed them like debris far from the ring of spikes. When she thought of them as debris, she began to notice the small dips in the fields surrounding the depression. Long ago they could have been fractures in the ground whose edges had been softened by time. Ryel felt her mind going numb as it refused to comprehend the ground on which she stood, refused to comprehend what the funnel and the ring of spikes really were.


    ¡°Yes, child,¡± Lord Kindel said, ¡°we stand on the grave of a once wondrous city. But we also stand on the grave of another. These spikes were once the teeth of Xyan, the mountain-eater. We stand at the brim of its mouth.¡±


    She could not speak. It was one thing to study the colossi in books, to consider them as part of an academic exercise. But it was another to stand on the brim of this vast, circular valley and be told it was simply a mouth. No minds were made to comprehend such scale, it was too terrifying to believe. The ground beneath her feet seemed to pitch on its axis, as if the foundations which upheld Sacrin had become unstable and were on the verge of collapse. How could anybody be safe from such creatures? What kind of horrors had her ancestors faced?


    ¡°I...I....¡± Ryel stuttered.


    ¡°There is nothing like seeing...is there?¡± Lord Kindel thrummed, ¡°seeing with your own eyes the horror of these creatures.¡±


    ¡°You could say that,¡± Ryel laughed nervously.


    ¡°I could show you the day Xyan emerged and began to devour Koebel. But there was not much to witness, for you would be able to see very little,¡± the Nikral said, ¡°but instead, I will describe it to you, as it was very brief and very quick. You would see and hear the ground rattling, then you would hear it crack. Fissures ran along the streets and cleaved buildings, sections of Koebel began to rise while others began to fall, as if the foundations of Koebel had become liquid. Then the air exploded with dirt, dust, and rock. You would become blind to anything else. You would hear Xyan''s grinding but you would be unable to see anything through the cloud of devastation. It is doubtful the denizens of Koebel even knew what happened to them. They perhaps thought it was tectonic tremors that quaked their homes.¡±


    Lord Kindel turned to face her, ¡°Some of my kind will take their students to see the colossi for themselves, to plant an image in their heads as a reminder of what we do for you. Instead, I chose to take you here, to show you what those beasts have taken from us and what they will take from us again if they are given a chance.¡±


    ¡°I never questioned your people, Lord Kindel.¡± she trembled at his implication.


    ¡°No, you have not.¡± he admitted, ¡°but you may. When the Feast of Retribution transpires, you will see us do things that will disgust you. You will see your kind hunted like game, captured, and slaughtered. This will be a test for you, and it will not be an easy one. You have never seen a Nikral shift. You may have heard the stories, but like your experience today, no description can match the experience of seeing the shift. We will change when the feast begins, and you will see a side you have only heard about told in stories meant to frighten children. My bringing you here is a gift, a reminder that we do care deeply about Iris. This...¡± he raised an arm toward the funnel, ¡°is but one of Xyan''s many graves. It is still out there inhabiting a new form, waiting to come back onto land. If it were not for the masters who vigilantly wield the totem walkers, perhaps another village would follow in Koebel''s footsteps.¡±


    She knew treasonous Kel warranted death, even if she could not conceive of carrying out such an act. But it was true that she had reservations about the manner in which the lords planned to execute them. To hunt other people like animals was inconceivable to her. But what could Kel do? The lords had their reasons for such brutality, even if they did not need those reasons. They were the only people who could defend Iris, that alone entitled them to almost anything. The fact that her people were not simply subjugated seemed to be an act of generosity.


    ¡°I will...admit some trepidation.¡± Ryel said softly, ¡°About the feasts, I mean. I do not want to watch anybody be killed. It sickens me. I will also admit that I have wondered why your people will not let us near the Grave Shores to see what you fight, or why you do not bring more of my people here and show what you have shown me. But I know the Grave Shores are dangerous. And I...think my people would secretly call your demonstration here a deception. Many of them have grown lax and will not listen to reason. You give us your protection, you share with us your lore. The Feasts will disgust me and if I thought begging would change the lords'' minds, I would. But I am loyal to the Nikral. I may doubt you, I may even fear you but I will always be loyal. If this should ever change, then I deserve to be among those you slaughter.¡±


    It was difficult to know what went through Lord Kindel''s mind as he considered her through those dark holes in his mask. Though she had no doubt he was scrutinizing her, judging her worthiness, analyzing her words. Then he turned around and began to walk back the path they came. She did not need him to order her to follow. As he did before, he allowed her to ride on his back as he navigated the rocks. When they got back to the carriage, they set off for Entu Province to meet with Lord U''shal.