《The Twilight Vanguards》


 Prologue

    Ulantus believed that the painter and the warrior were merely the same paint on the canvas. The painter, the man who would push himself to bring new life and creativity into the brush, capturing and taking parts of life''s glory into a canvas or a blank city wall where it could be seen. The warrior did the same, but the paint and oils he used to paint the canvas were the blood of the enemy and his brush... the blade. In that thinking he was trying in some sort of way to believe that what he was doing was ok. "It was merely art" he would think as he strode across battlefield to battlefield, but no matter where he went the paint followed. His creativity burned the strength of passion into his art, like Paradise''s light shining down on the lucky few chosen to be part of Life''s supple grace. Either way, no matter how he looked at it, he could not look away from the grotesque scene of him: It was not art.


    Ulantus strode before the empty battlefield, the grey and purple grass pushing against his brown-strapped combat boots before he simply just began to walk forward. The battle was over. It had been 3 hours of constant fighting before the Outlander army decided to leave. He was unsure of why, but his mind was distracted. He cared not for why they left, just that they had.


    His clothes were muddy; his linked-together chain mail armor was so worn that any formidable force against it would break the rusted chains on it. He pushed away his long brown and gray hair, trying to see more of this broken place. The moon stood above the army of the dead, like trying to pry its already terrible curse onto those who did not deserve it... Why did the battle have to be at night?


    He knew outlanders didn''t care where or when they fought, whether that be in the Light''s grace, or the horrible twin curse of the night and her luminous sister that stood on the brink of the sky''s wonders, horrible reminders of a time history asked them to forget, but how could they forget the time when only the concepts couldn''t guard the rest of mankind? Night meant that it was harder for them to fight, since most humans hated the night. Outlanders knew all too well what tricks they could pull, but Ulantus knew that out in the Midlands, it was only survival.


    Ulantus looked down, using only the moon''s light to guide his vision. The bodies of the dead intrigued him in the same way that a landscape captured the artist¡¯s vision. He saw a man, clearly human, as part of his skin was swirled with assorted colors other than the solid jade that his skin already was. It was a clear gray so that his skin swirled with what looked like almost painted wind on his skin. Why was it that humans were so beautiful, yet died so horrifically? His skin, while colorful, was starting to drain. He was beginning to look like Dull, which was to say that his color was fading away from his skin. It happened when men bled out or died.


    It was odd watching a man die in front of you; if the blood didn''t scare you enough from the life of a man and all that he was worth, go straight to the dirty floor where the rest of the Grubsmak would skitter across the ground, then watching all his color, the pinnacle of Creation''s design, go straight back to The Final Paradise. That man would be happier there, but the chance that a fighter like him would go down to a place of serene light was too little and too late.


    The body was already turning grey, which meant that all his color was gone, and his blood, the same green and grey color as his skin, stained a big puddle around him. His mind and his spirit are already gone.


    Ulantus reached down, touching his fingerless-gloved hand to the man. He did not know why he was so enthralled with a man''s color; it made him sick in a way, but there was a beauty in death that he knew his mother would hate. He began a small swirling motion with some of the man''s blood trailed on his finger like a brush. He swirled that color on top of the man''s skin, where the armor was ripped off and it only showed his skin. He wrote in a small glyph, a symbol meant to respect the dead, though unknown to most; when you see as many dead as you do alive and have been from battlefield to battlefield, you pick up a trick or two.


    The glyph was a half-circle, with about a half-inch crescent-like shape that went through that half-circle, finished with a set of three dots in a triangular position above the entire glyph. This means "retribution.". After finishing the glyph, he simply stood up and pressed the still-bloodied finger against his chest and swirled in the same motion as the glyph, meaning that he had finished the small glyph and was respecting the dead. The man was about as respected as you could be on the battlefield, with too many bodies to try and bury the ones you did not know like a brother. So Ulantus walked away, satisfied with the man¡¯s burial.


    He continued to walk across the battlefield; he could not remember where he was. He would get too focused on his work to really care about where and when you would fight. As a warrior, you just did it, no questions asked. The green and purple-tipped grass probably meant that he was near Indigonar, their grass having a particular purple and blue hue to it. He kept looking toward the area itself, watching some of the rest of the Kursoonian army pick up extra weapons that were still in decent condition and finishing off any outlanders that played dead; they liked to trick common soldiers like that. There Kursoonian Silver, Blue, and Cyan-colored uniforms shone bright enough from the colorless night, and that unity almost made him remember why he did what he did. But fighting enemies and protecting his kingdom was not the reason he had gone to battle.


    Inspiration. It was the defining word of the 43 years that he was given as his position as a painter, an artist. He only lived to find and procure these moments of his life that defined his art, his expression, and the work he was born to do. Ulantus did not believe in things like choice; his fate had guided him far towards the work that he knew was good. His murals upon the barrack walls reminded him of the way he went and how far every single piece of work meant to him.... But it was never enough.


    Art was an expression of the strength of men. Others could mimic art, could mimic the work of the painter and the warrior, but humans were the only ones who created. He could only think about the only time he had been in The Grand Hall.


    He had never seen anything so beautiful, so alive. Every statue, every piece of art, even the food, had a life of its own within everything he could consume, whether that be with his eyes, his mouth, or his nose; it did not matter. Everything he had seen at that moment created a place in his mind, an ideal that he had been trying to reach ever since that very day. He was lucky his Embody made him become an artist, a painter more specifically, which he believed to be a blessing of Creation itself. He had pursued that life ever since that day on his 12th marking day, and ever since, he had not reached that level.


    How could a student become a master, or an expert become a professional? He did not understand. Nothing he has done since that day has ever come close, even a fraction of what he had seen, and thus he has nothing to truly show. Others called him talented; many called him gifted, but nobody called him perfect; nobody would want his art displayed in The Grand Hall, which meant his art was nobody''s. That was why he became a soldier of Kursoon.


    A soldier''s life was different from an artist''s, or a cook''s, or even a writer''s. While a soldier and a painter had similar ideals and similar jobs, they lived different lives in place of each other. That could give him the inspiration that he needed to become the master; using the battlefield as a canvas meant that he could make human life into a work of art.


    But the more time he spent lingering from battle to battle, watching men and women alike die in place of the enemies, the more he understood the battlefield, the more he yearned for them, like an artist in their own mind. Maybe he was mad, mad in the head from the constant battles and blows he took from each fight, but he was not yet dead, and that almost made him think that he was mad, but not mad enough to find himself tied to a pole and strung up until the madness stopped.


    And his art... He remembered a recent piece he had done. It was only a few weeks ago; the fight was deadly, losing over a third of the forces they had. There was an eerie silence inside the barracks hall after the fight. He had been sitting inside, licking his wounds, and watching over the many soldiers that were either too busy and stubborn to die, or they took it as it was and relaxed; whether they died or not didn''t matter to them. As he sat upon his Coolan''s wool bed, he looked towards the other soldiers in their beds.


    The room was big, as it was a bedroom. It had a rectangle-like shape, and each bed only stood about two feet from each other, which meant each soldier kept their stuff underneath. The whole room itself was a drab brown and gray, like a Dull, which he had always hated. There were small lights in the room, candles of colorful blue glow bright into the room, giving the room itself a light blue to everyone, though it was harder to tell. Humans tended to outshine candles and lights; it was simply how it was. The room was filled with the moaning and groaning of soldiers trying to spread their pain as much as they could to the ears that would listen and almost try and share the burden; at least that is what he believed.


    There in the light of the blue candle, he saw her. Her skin was purple with streaks of gold that caressed her face and her arms, and her hair had a similar golden color, with the tips having the same intricate color as her skin. She was damaged, beyond a lot of others who were in the room, and had bandages and other supports helping her sit up in her bed. She had a shallow breath in her, and her body was moving despite whatever doctor or surgeon would tell her otherwise; she was clearly too stubborn to die. The bandages were mostly over her chest and her legs. She was missing her left arm, but other than that she got off better than most, which she had most likely realized.


    There was a moment when she sat up to get herself in a better position, as she was leaning her head forward to give herself a slight relaxation, he assumed, and it was then that the inspiration grabbed him. She was beautiful, in such a way that the blue candlelight and her skin glistened in that position, and the bandages, which still had soaked up a lot of the blood and staunched the bleeding, almost gave her form an ephemeral form that took over the scene; others didn''t notice, but he did.


    He grabbed the supplies underneath his bed, and his work began. He took a small wet palette, meant to hold and keep paints wet inside so they wouldn''t dry, and began his work with small, thin brushes that he had gotten from his father. Minutes and hours passed as he worked on small, intricate details, starting with the body. Streaks of purple amidst the thin shade of blue that worked its way into the room. Continuing with thin streaks of gold hair, and the streaks that only he could see within the viewpoint. He was not directly in front of her; he was to her right, and thus the entire piece came in at a 30-degree angle as the light shined onto the left side of her body, trying to contrast her vivid detail.


    He was in a trance that day, not just within this art, but the entire day began as a blur, only to this very moment when he continued his work, even when she slept, when the night¡¯s curse was only used to hearing the small, painful moans of the rest of the injured. He kept a small ordinary candle that continued the flame and kept the painting procedure up until the day began its marvelous rise.


    He had finished that piece, tucking it away in a safe trunk that he kept; it was his best work yet... and still, it was still nobody. It still could not, would not capture the power and the life that was brought into each picture. It was still not enough, and that was the greatest problem in his mind.


    There was a small movement he heard behind him, not the same movement a soldier made, walking and stepping into mud and the blood of their comrades, a stride. A kind of walk that you heard in the dead of night, and then when you looked behind, a Nightwalker stood behind you, taking you to the Final Paradise.


    It was still too dark, too dark for human eyes to see through, but even worse, in all his backlog thinking, he could not feel the gentle press of the Storm''s gentle blessing. Rain began to pour down onto the sky, giving every soldier nearby a sour mood that he could hear within the area... But there was a bigger problem. There was an eerie silence in the air, the kind that drove men and women alike crazy, but it was too much for most.


    Ulantus looked around quickly, trying to piece together what that awkward and disturbing silence came from, but all that came from that looking was the misty visions that the rain had made, a true blessing to others. But that changed when a small sound was made, distinct from the soldier¡¯s moans and groans. This sound was familiar in a way, but it was too different, like the shifting and skulking of a thief in the night... He realized now what was going on.


    In an instant he heard it, their war cry. An almost terrifying animal-like scream that let everyone around them know that they were coming. Every soldier around them paused in the same way that he did, but they began to reach for their weapons; they knew exactly what Creation was waiting for them.


    There was a scream in the freezing rain air that shocked Ulantus out of the stupor he was put in trying to understand where they were. He looked back over towards the battlefield; he had failed to notice the surrounding edge of the battle itself. There was a forest nearby, a forest of dense trees that swirled with an ash-like color and thin lines of blue that indicated where it would take water towards its system-like veins. Those were Hikoma trees, and they stood on the edge, which made it so each tree was spread close to each other. Too close, which meant that it would be much harder to see in between the spaces of the trees and anything and anyone that could be seen. With the sound of the rain, even if gentle, it meant that each individual person could be quiet, and no one would hear a quiet approach... They knew.


    Ulantus looked towards the scream, and through the faint misty vision of the rain, he could make out an Outlander... No, there were many. An Outlander stood above a man with a wicked axe buried deep into the man''s shoulder, so deep that it went down into half of his chest. Ulantus guessed the man died only a few moments after his scream echoed through the nighttime rain.


    They had hides like armor, which looked like it was knit deeply into their skin. Every man and woman Outlander wore similar deep brown and deep-colored hides, whether dyed or not with paints and oils he did not know. Their skin was like many humans, colored in certain parts, but unlike most humans, their skin was still mostly Dull. They wore and carried wicked weapons, axes and swords of deep cuts and curves that would gut a man deep. Their weapons were always covered in other natural things found in the forest, mostly poisons and other things that made it much harder for anyone to get back up. They did not wear head armor; they wore their hair down or braided, and their faces were painted, not like a human at birth; it was more unnatural.


    The worst part was their face. They carried these wicked expressions of both pain and exhilaration every time he saw them; both men and women alike in the battle made each fight and death on them look like they were thrilled, like taking a man''s life was the best thing they could have done. Their teeth shined in a way that made it feel like everything wrong in the world stood before you. They struck quickly with poison and deadly weapons in the dead of night. They might have been human like him, but they were not human.


    Ulantus ripped off the small, thin leather strap that was holding back his short sword and began to charge towards the area. There were many of them; he was not sure how many Outlanders were there, but now he didn''t care. In the moment he began to run, another four people had gotten butchered from their weapons. The screams of the dead echoed through the icy rain as he took out another small knife from his belt and held it with his left hand, his stronger hand holding the short sword. There were other soldiers beginning to charge through the battle, but they were unprepared and not ready to fight another battle. That was one of the biggest problems with Outlander raids: you could never tell when they struck, and when you tried to prepare when they did, they often never attacked. It was always a constant struggle of when and where for Outlanders, and thus he preferred fighting Luong or men that deemed that they were better than others.


    He came charging into an Outlander woman who wielded a two-handed double axe; it was covered in a deep obsidian, almost paint-like substance that was stained deep into both blades of the axe. The rain was not washing away the substance, as if it was stained into the blade itself.


    His instincts kicked in; a simple fighter with a double-bladed axe meant he had to be quick. He always had to be quick, but for this to end quickly, he needed to be out of this fight and heading to his other comrades. With a quick glance, he took notes of every single person he could before engaging in combat.


    Four Outlanders around him, each with a wicked weapon just as deadly as the last, each stained with that purple discoloration embedded deep into their weapons. A double-bladed axe, a wicked slashing scimitar, a flail that whipped around that disgusting color, and two small knives: each Outlander carried one of these weapons, knitted together in a square position meant to make sure that each of them could watch the back of the other.


    He charged in, keeping both the short sword and knife drawn out to keep his momentum into his whirling attacks. With a grunt, the woman wielding the double-bladed axe shouted in a language Ulantus could not understand, but he understood the intent behind it: "Charge.".


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.The woman placed the axe above her head and slammed it down with extraordinary force, but not before Ulantus quickly used his momentum to leap over. His body might have been older, but his mind was still sharp, and he has been in enough battles with Outlanders to know that the tactics do not change, just the body. That jump over the axe gave him enough momentum to bring out the short sword into a quick pierce, which hit directly into the eye of the woman. Before he knew it, she was dead, but he was carried down with her as the body instantly began falling along with his movement.


    The others spent no time worrying or caring for the body; they knew that she was dead, which meant that vengeance was necessary, and they began to quickly bring up their weapons for a strong counterattack. Ulantus landed on the ground before rolling forward past one of the men wielding the flail, and he ripped his short sword out of the woman''s eye socket.


    "Fast steps; any attack I take is a risk to taking more from the others." Ulantus thought quickly, trying to gather the remainder of his thoughts before he took in more information. He quickly leaped back before the others could charge into him, trying to keep any distance away from the savages. Their faces and their brows were knitted in a boiling rage he had seen before; this was going to be the hardest part. An Outlander who had just seen the death of their comrades, whose blood boiled with the rage of the Storm itself, would risk the bodily harm of themselves just to end their foe. Was it simply just part of their tradition? He did not know, but it was bad either way.


    They approached him together in a group of three, all approaching him as their purple-stained blade almost gleamed in the rain as much as their eyes towards him. Before he could think about what to do next, they charged. The man with the flail, his brown and green hide armor, quickly became the center of his vision as the flail went down in an arc towards his head. Ulantus sidestepped before the woman with the wicked scimitar came into side cleave towards his broken chain mail. He had to act quickly as he took a strong step back to avoid the cleave, right before the man with two knives leaped forward and struck downward before Ulantus deflected the two knives.


    The rain was starting to pour harder, and any light from the torches burning was snuffed, meaning that Ulantus had to take care of these three before trying to do anything else. "I need to get rid of that man with knives and force myself through." His thoughts were rushed, trying to get any sense of organization before all three of them rushed.


    The flail swung down in an arc, just barely grazing the side of his face as the spikes on the ball ripped parts of his flesh open to expose it to the open air. Blood leaked free from his cheek as he was too busy dodging around the man with knives, who was barreling at him with fast jabs and thrusts from his twin knives. Ulantus felt the formidable force of each Outlander as they inched closer and closer to him. Would anybody else notice he was in trouble? How far was anyone else?


    "OUTLANDERS! IT''S AN AMBUSH!" He screamed with the remainder of breath he had taken just to dodge out of the way of these wild attacks. They were quick and wild swings from each weapon that felt like each swing could take off his torso with a single hit. Outlanders tended to work in singular groups, but when they did work in groups, they were an unstoppable force. He could barely, just barely, hear clashing metal and the screams of the wounded on this battlefield as every single soldier was most likely fighting for their lives.


    Moments passed as he dodged and weaved between the strikes of the three Outlanders trying to pounce on him. Their formation was too strong. Each Outlander, even without the axe-wielding woman, had no gaps in between their strong, defensible maneuver. Had they known this? Even the other Outlanders he fought never had these sorts of tactics. Sure, they swung their weapons the same, but it was this new formation they had made.


    Ulantus could not make any progress, and his body was starting to feel that tiredness that always came from long, extended battles; it did not help that he was not in his prime anymore. Even if he were, he was not even sure if that version of him could take care of these three either. He was lucky the other one barely noticed him anyway; she must have been new; otherwise, that plan and that kill would not have worked, and he would have been split down the middle. He had to be vicious and start taking some kind of initiative. But would it work? Would they just still press the offensive as he strikes, forgoing even his defense? Those questions had to be buried deep within his mind, as it was the only real option he had, and if he had tried to bring those questions to light, he would not have had the confidence to win the fight. So, he buried those thoughts away, buried away with thoughts of his life. He needed every thought; every action pushing forward to kill and wake up the next day. He had to wake up to make himself perfect. He had to find perfection.


    He looked back into the group of three as the man with the flail came up into another vertical upward swing towards Ulantus'' chin. Ulantus took that moment as he forced himself forward past the flail. It hit into his chain mail, but it was not a strong enough force to pierce through the armor and into the flesh, so Ulantus only felt the force of the attack, and he kept all the momentum. He thrust the blade upward into the man''s skull as it pierced into the man''s chin and straight towards his brain. There was truly little point in going for the other organs. The hide, while still ugly, had a toughness to it that gave Outlanders a certain defense that made short weapons like his an almost nonexistent effect. As the blood gushed through the man''s head, Ulantus ripped out the blade and thrust it towards the woman with the scimitar.


    She was too quick. The blade landed into the shoulder of her armor and just barely pierced the skin beneath. Ulantus did not give up the attack as he felt the rush of an attack from behind as the man with the twin knives went for a diving strike into his abdomen. Ulantus noted how the woman with the scimitar was already roiling her weapon back to make a massive vertical downward cut into his chest. Ulantus steeled himself for the attack as he let go of the short sword and ducked it down. The woman''s blade did not hit the other man, but the force of her attack left her stumbling forward, same with the man with the knives. Ulantus took the knife in his hand and spun into an upward sideways swing, which hit the man in the head with the knife. The man instantly slumped back as the knife was deeply imbedded into his head.


    Ulantus quickly grabbed one of the twin blades before spinning back towards the last remaining woman. She was already going into a thrust after getting her wind back from the last attack. Ulantus did not think he only pushed his instincts out as far as he could as he already pushed himself into her as he went for a pierce into her neck.


    He felt a sudden sharp pain thrust into his lower abdomen, and the cold started to take over. His instincts were stronger, and as that pain exploded into his stomach, he came into a strong thrust right into her neck. He looked into her eyes as the knife was poking out on the other side of her; he could feel that she got that thrust into his stomach. He watched the life escape her eyes; her skin became Dull as her grip on the sword left, and she fell on the blood-soaked ground... dead.


    He ripped the sword out from his abdomen as he breathed heavily in the rain and the frigid air. He felt the wound trying to piece together the damage and how bad it was. It was not too bad, life-threatening if not treated, but he had time. That was good. There was still a dull pain that came from his stomach, which must have been the poison. Their poison was deadly, but it could be cured with quick medical attention. He picked up the knife out of the woman''s neck as the blood, a deep orange, waterfalled out of her neck.


    He did not feel bad; he did not feel much of anything anymore when people died. There was little for him to feel, and that was good. Feelings bogged down his creativity; it weighed on his soul like a man lifting a boulder, and thus it made his art worse. He still was not there yet, and he had to make it...That perfection still waited for him.


    "I have to keep moving... At least back to the¡ª¡± There was a sudden aching pain in his left shoulder. Ulantus looked back at an arrow piercing through his left shoulder. He could feel the blood pool from the wound as he looked back. There was an archer, a woman in lighter hide-like clothing; he could barely see her. Was she waiting there that entire time just to find a perfect spot? She must have been new; she missed his head by only a few inches.


    This time, the poison was getting worse; that dull, aching pain turned into a searing, throbbing pain that was beginning to set its course. That was bad; he needed medical attention now before anything got worse. He looked forward as he began to move, at first into a sprint, but the pain was starting to take its effect, and his running became slower. The rain was still coming down, making it hard to see through the misty vision and now the dulling of his senses. He was too overcome with pain, the dulling of his senses, that he barely noticed the now-approaching Outlanders.


    There were many of them, too many of them. He had only moved sixty feet or so towards the barracks, and yet. There were dozens of them, too many to count but enough to know that this was not only any normal ambush. They had come to destroy. The bodies of the dead surrounded him; he had not even noticed how many dead they had lost, and now... There was nobody.


    Ulantus looked, but he did not look at any of the Outlanders, the ones that began to charge him and what he assumed to be the rest of the soldiers. He looked towards the sky, the beautiful clouds that sent down the rain that blessed the rest of Fala''Mor. But not him...No. He looked past those barbarians running towards him and the rest of the humans awaiting death and reached for a small vial in the side of his pocket. He broke the small latch that housed the Elixir, the answer.


    He didn''t think that using it was the solution; maybe that option was so buried deep in his mind that he couldn''t even think of using it as an option. He had already used it today, which meant that no matter what, he would be dead after he expended it all. He didn''t see death as an option; he still held onto the idea that he could live and create something perfect. That thought was erased from his mind as he quickly spun the tap on the vial, its color changing as it moved.


    "May Life guide me towards The Final Paradise, leave my sorrows to the Wind, and may the Light guide my wicked heart," Ulantus said as his voice began to crack and break due to the poison. It was a prayer. The prayer you would say when you knew your life was beginning to end.


    Ulantus pushed the Elixir into his thigh as the liquid quickly went into his system. Blot had a way of easily moving through the human body. His eyes opened suddenly as the pain began to vanish away; he felt every nerve and feeling in his body begin to get more sensitive. Every fiber of pain began to wash away as he breathed in slowly. He could feel that liquid power gushing through his veins as he could almost feel everything around him.


    Everything began to look more colorful; his eyes focused on the sights and sounds of everything. The sounds of Outlanders screaming in a language he could not understand, the heavy footsteps of a charging army, the gentle rain pushing down the grass. It was all so beautiful to him. He could feel his Embody surging with the power as the Blot was ready.


    He thanked the storm itself that it was raining... Because there was another reason, he became a soldier. He concentrated just for a moment; the power he had once wielded surged even more than anything had done before. Was this what it meant to OD? This was one of the best feelings Ulantus had ever felt. Like a sudden surge of power wisped around his mind, like someone or some unknown force was guiding his hand.


    The Outlanders stopped the powerful charge as they looked forward to seeing Ulantus'' body glowing faintly for but a moment. Then, like a torch being ignited by a blue flame, the light and color of his skin ignited into a powerful light that shined all around him. Some of them were speaking in the same language he did not understand; some of them pointed out and were backing off. They feared him. In the crowd, as loud as their voice could strain, he heard one of them; they spoke in a rough and gnarled accent, but the word that came from their mouth was something that every person could understand.


    "Engrave..."


    Ulantus held up his hand as the rainwater began to fall. He could feel every single droplet of water land on his skin and near his armor. He concentrated, allowing the water to flow and shape itself into a spike, hard as iron but flowing like water. Then he attacked.


    He commanded the water near his feet to move, and it did. It condensed together as it latched out to the nearest Outlander only about fifteen feet away. The water quickly grew to a thin spike that pierced through the Outlander''s heart, and it quickly went back to liquid. The Outlander fell to the ground as the others looked at him in shock. The Outlanders began to run towards him, but he felt the surge of power return to him. The water, the rain would listen to him and would follow his commands. He felt like The Storm itself as he swiped his hand in the direction of the charging Outlanders.


    The water on the floor on the grass began to change into thin spikes that rocketed upwards towards the Outlanders, piercing into their faces and bodies. The water was too thin; it pierced into their skin and unleashed out from the other side of their heads; it was too fast and too powerful. The other Outlanders began to charge towards him, some firing their arrows coated in the poison, but the water would not let that happen. The rain began to shield him; bubbles of pure water out from the sky began to move themselves towards the arrows, stopping their momentum and killing the arrows'' flight.


    Ulantus commanded the bubble to release the arrow, telling it to fly towards the archers. The bubble of water surged as it began to twist the arrow, a tiny whirlpool building inside the bubble. At the apex of the spinning arrow, it unleashed the bundle of arrows being held within as it surged forward and struck the archers in the back. They fell dead as the others began to rush and charge.


    Despite the screams of the Outlanders, the blood and death that scattered across the battlefield, Ulantus felt peace. Nothing in the world could remove this feeling of pure euphoria that surged around his body, like everything in the world revolved around him. This sense of pure bliss felt with his body as all the pain of the poison and his wounds began to melt away, though in the back of his mind he knew that Blot could not heal. This feeling and power that surged within him was a fleeting thing and would die out as soon as he used everything within. Then he would fade away. That saddened him in a sense, but there was peace to it. If he could get the people away and save what he could, he would be content, and that would be fine. If this is what perfection was, if it was just a fraction of what it could feel like... then maybe he had already felt it, and he could die a happy man.


    He surged more power into a small puddle of water that he commanded to rise. The water began to rise; it thinned out like a snake and began to flow and move in slow rise towards Ulantus. He watched it as if it were standing before him, as this snake-like water awaited his command. Never was his mastery of his power ever so refined, like it was part of him all this time and he could finally tap into it. It was like his power was...alive.


    "Go," Ulantus emotionlessly stated as the water, like it could hear, surged forward in its snake-like form. While it moved through the air, its head became sharper, like a pointed edge or a sword. The Outlander tried to push past the water-like snake, but its body became rigid as its body went straight through one of their hearts. Before the others could move away from it, it rushed through the body of one, into another. It moved like an arrow, with the speed and precision of a blade. It was a thirsting weapon that sought out its own enemy, and Ulantus controlled it.


    The weapon moved through Outlanders; no matter how fast they ran or how close they got, its water body moved faster than any arrow as it pierced through their heart, and they fell to the weapon. Ulantus felt the rain begin to subside, but that did not stop him. The power was draining; it would not be long before his power ran out, but as each Outlander perished before him, he felt the determination push more into his heart than ever before.


    The snake passed through each individual Outlander as they fell, one by one. They were losing numbers by the second as some of them began to flee. His power was starting to seriously wane, as the numbers of the dead rose into the forties; the snake retracted back towards him, as if it were content with the carnage it had created.


    The rest of the Outlanders, those that survived long enough to run away, escaped back through the forest as the rain began to let up after they started to leave. Ulantus looked ahead as the water began to subside near him, the rain stopped falling, and the moon could be seen back, another curse upon his life.


    The power began to drain from his body, like a bucket with a leak in it; he would eventually fall dead; it was inevitable. He could start to feel it; the water no longer listened to his commands; it was dead as much as he was going to be. The color of his skin began to drain; that constant blue of skin began to darken even though the tips of his fingers began to turn pale gray. The colors of the sky and that energy that he felt within his body were no longer there; his vision grew dark from the poison still circulating in his system. The pain came back in a sudden burst that sent him to his knees as he stared up at the Moon.


    Ulantus could not remember what the Moon''s name was, and if he could, he would have cursed the thing for bringing the Outlanders to them. He would no longer create works of art; that perfection that he would strive for would be gone, his life work forever forgotten to the strands of time. In a way, which was for the best, there was never going to be something he could create that would ever come close to the things he saw. He would not even be able to see something so beautiful ever again.


    It was that moment, when the pain was almost too much to bear, he arched his head up in pain as he saw that his veins were glowing with a faint shifting color; it was a sign that he only had a few moments. Soon his veins would burst with power, and he would fade away. He looked back over the battlefield. There, among the bodies of the dead soldiers, he saw a singular figure. It was the woman.


    The same woman that battled in their last fight. The same woman who had gleaming purple skin highlighted with powerful gold. The same woman who was his best work yet. She was walking down close to him, using her good right arm to support another woman who was wounded. The other woman had deep apricot skin and beautiful silver eyes that gleamed as she looked at the woman who supported her. Ulantus had never seen it before, something so beautiful.


    The glow of the moon glistening over their war-beaten skin made them two look magical, like the Concepts themselves chose them to be together in the same moment. They walked together, supporting each other as the battle had finished. They survived.


    Ulantus felt water streaking across his cheeks. Was the rain returning? No, he felt the final tears race down his cheeks as he watched the two walk together. There was beauty to both, the kind no painting, statue, or any work of art could capture. Ulantus began to close his eyes, the tiredness taking him over as he remembered the two.


    They were beautiful; they were shining... They were perfect.

 Chapter 1: Across the Top

    Chapter 1: Across the Top


    Max''Sall hated walking across the rooftops atop of Kursoon. He hated when he had to stand above the rest of the city, always afraid of whether or not he would fall. He would have rather taken the back roads of the city near the edge of the city itself, but if he had done that, it would have meant he would have had to walk past the Kursoonian guards, and he couldn''t have afforded that either. Thus, he stuck to the painful method of walking across the high city''s many flat-topped rooftops and carried the brown satchel on his left shoulder, keeping to his right side.


    Max''Sall took a look towards the city itself. Kursoon was a unique city, at least from what he had heard from passersby and travelers. The city had a color all its own that the other villages that passed by the Rainbow Road couldn''t begin to believe. In a way the people were right. The city itself shuffled itself between various colors; each building was a swirl and a mixture of colors that no other building could mimic. One building he could see nearby bore a distinct orange and maroon-like color, almost giving a jam-like look. Another building, an almost high-rise style of store, kept a translucent golden color, with thick smears of light blue that gave it an almost pleasant feeling. He didn''t really understand why each building was colored so differently, but it was helpful when you didn''t really know where to go. You could just ask someone, and they would tell you exactly what the color and the shape of the building were.


    That was another thing he never understood: it was one thing to have many different hues and shades, but it was another thing that buildings all had a very different look. There was a saying in Kursoon, "Don''t know where to go? Looking at everything is half the fun of being lost!" He understood that it meant that because of each building''s unique look, it made looking at everything much more fun. But he never understood why. The buildings of Kursoon all folded and shaped themselves so differently than others. Not a single building looked the same; even the small differences of each made a difference to everyone.


    One building, a name of which he didn''t truly care to remember, was shaped like a spiral. A flat building where the rooms themselves were long and interconnected that spun around in a flat part of Kursoon. Another building was built like a small rubber top. Like a cork but made of a strong brick-like substance that the other buildings were made out of. He didn''t remember what color it was; he didn''t want to think about the things that made him frustrated with his own situation.


    "Anyone that had to do what we are doing right now wouldn''t want to think about buildings you can''t even go into for Creation''s sake." He thought to himself as he noted a small gap in the buildings and skipped across with a light jump. As he finally looked towards the extra far gap between the next building. It was a wide, almost twenty-foot jump between this thin gray building and the more rectangular-shaped building that led into the alleyway that he had been told they were to meet. Whatever was in this satchel must have been valuable; why they gave it to him and Dormion to handle, he did not know.


    When he remembered the mission itself, Max''Sall looked back to his right, where he came from, to see Dormion take the same small skip across the building as he stumbled a bit before fixing his posture and walking towards him.


    "This is the building, right? Caelen said that it was the prison building with the thin alleyway next to it near the butcher. This has got to be" Dormion had a thin voice, like he was constantly waiting for a reprimand every time he spoke. Dormion wore thick, brown, layered clothing that covered most of his skin with a large, almost tunic-like shirt that went down to above his knees to his thin, tan trousers. His face, without the hood and mask that covered most of his face, was thin and dark tan borderline brown with a tinge of grey that covered a lot of his skin. The only thing you could really see without knowing him beforehand was that his eyes were a stark grey; most Dulls were.


    "I think so, though a map would have sufficed instead of just word of mouth," Max''Sall said, knowing that, in part, that request of his would never really get to Caelen, too busy smuggling other things most people shouldn''t have.


    "You got that right. Maybe next time he''ll just give us something nearby. Maybe not so farr out into the main city." Dormion said with a hefty sigh. "As if regular people would be in so far close to the edge of the city, you know what they say about it." Max''Sall said with little emotion.


    "You might go Dull just stepping foot inside. I make it a point to remember the things that just make us look bad." Max''Sall said with a small anger that just barely bubbled out of his lips. He hated living in Kursoon, everything from the obnoxious colors to the self-fulfilling idea of uniqueness that came from each individual person. Yet, as he looked down into the crowd of people below, he saw none of that.


    Every human down below wore different clothing, their skin etched in different colors and their eyes all shining at the things that were hanging up in the shops or the jewelry that the others in booths across the street were selling... and yet. They all walked the same. Their clothes, while often different in many unique ways, only seemed to blend into the others from the top-down view that Max''Sall looked from. In that way, they looked not like people, just blobs of colors that blended into each other like the sunset, its rainbow hues all collecting into a single hour of the day. How could this be what it means to be something different? Standing in the formless, amorphous crowd meant that you were just the same as everyone else. They all looked different, but when they all stood together, everyone was the same.


    "You''re not wearing the tunic again. You know that this could have been easier if you had just worn it like me." Dormion said, a slight annoyance in his voice. "You know I don''t like wearing that thing," Max''Sall replied with a similar annoyance. "Yes, but we could have just walked past in the city. Sure, we would have had some looks, but we could have just made it to the delivery point."


    Max''Sall pointed down towards the alleyway where the delivery point was. Dormion looked over and saw what he had already seen. Three guards wearing the Kursoonian cyan, silver, and blue were walking and talking towards a woman in front of the alleyway. Their heavy plated armor shined in the glorious sunlight of Lutana, that far-off ball of light in the sky. Kursoon soldiers were all the same; Max''Sall knew that no matter how many gave their phony smile. Beneath them was the cruel last cusp of judgment that meant they were to protect some and remove the ones that just wanted to live their lives.


    "They shouldn''t be too preoccupied with us. Just a simple jump over to the roof. It''s lower than this building; just make sure that you jump at the very edge." Max said, simply and unembellished. "You are insane! If one of us falls¡ª "We won''t fall. I won''t let you fall." Max''Sall interrupted Dormion before he could say any more. Max''Sall knew that Dormion had a reason to be afraid; one interaction with a Kursoonian guard was bad, no matter who you are, even worse when you were a Dull. Even worse, Dormion wasn''t as strong as Max''Sall, and both of them knew it. Dromion, as Max''Sall knew, had a dexterity to him. He could work locks and intricate details into grabbing and taking; he was an expert thief, as much as he didn''t even look the part. Where Max''Sall, as he figured, had a decent muscle to his frame, at least as much as you could when your portions grow smaller and smaller by the day. Leaping that distance would be proved difficult for both of them, but much more for Dormion.


    "I mean what I say, Dormion. I''ll go first, fast and simple. Max''Sall waited for Dormion to reply, but he simply sighed in failure and gestured towards the building. Max''Sall nodded as he took the satchel and secured it closer to his body. With a small start he walked back towards the edge of the building and sprinted forward.


    Max''Sall loved the feeling of the wind in his long black hair as he ran, though he never liked the implication of whenever he was running fast enough to feel it. He kept running for only a few seconds before he had made it to the edge of the building and sprang forward into a strong leap. For a few moments he felt like he was flying as the wind picked up graciously into his hair, only for that feeling to fall through as the weight of the wind began to quickly try and throw him back down to the ground. A sudden doubt filled his mind as he stared back at the building he was trying to leap towards, and just when he almost felt like he was going to miss, his foot struck against the rough rooftop of the other building as he rolled forward a few feet and was kneeling as he breathed in quickly, trying to slow his heartbeat.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    He looked back to Dormion, who was already looking at him with worry in his eyes as he gave him a thumbs up towards him, carefully trying not to give anyone any clue that they were up there. Max''Sall gave him a small rushing motion with his hand meant to show that Dormion needed to hurry up. Dormion nodded slowly towards him as he backed up the same way Max''Sall had before and began to take off.


    Max''Sall quickly stood up near the rooftop as Dormion ran towards the building. He noticed he wasn''t moving as fast, which would be bad unless he started to pick up. Dormion looked towards Max''Sall as he leaped forward, drastically slower than Max''Sall believed he should have been moving. With quick reflexes, Max''Sall quickly made his way towards the very edge of the rooftop. Dormion was falling too quickly, and he wasn''t close enough to the building. Max''Sall leaned down as Dormion approached the building, but he wasn''t high enough to make the jump. Max''Sall leaned down as half of his body was on the building and the other was leaned down out into the streets below, and with just barely enough space, he grabbed Dormion''s arms as his body hit against the front of the building.


    They both stared at each other, looking at the worry in their eyes, as Max''Sall pulled him up onto the rooftop in a small struggle. They both got onto the rooftop as Max''Sall looked down towards the crowds below. They had seen them, but most of them went back to their day-to-day lives, not caring too much about what the lives of others might have been. He went back to looking at Dormion, whose hood was down to show his ragged and shaggy brown hair.


    "You really hate that tunic, don''t you?" His breath was ragged, but there was a small smile on his face. Max''Sall couldn''t help but roll his eyes as he stood up and held out his hand to help Dormion up. "Told ya, you wouldn''t fall." Max''Sall said with a small smirk to lighten the mood. "You were right; I didn''t fall. I almost went splat against the front of some poor man''s store." Dormion laughed a large belly laugh that always made the tension melt away, and Max''Sall didn''t feel much but a slight joy in his heart.


    Dormion fixed his hood again as he brushed off his trousers and walked forward towards the alleyway. "Should be close to when they will be there; might as well head down." Dormion said with quietness coming back to his voice.


    With a nod, Max''Sall agreed as they both walked across the rooftop. The alleyway down below, they looked forward as they saw a small pipe that led down towards the ground within. Dormion already began describing, holding both hands to the pipe as he crawled down slowly into the alley below. After he went down, Max''Sall made sure the satchel was secure and grabbed onto the pipe and simply slid his hands down as he fell much faster, as the rain they had yesterday made the pipe wet and slick, which made it easier to slide down.


    Max''Sall landed down near a puddle as he kneeled down to look at his face; it had been a few days since he had seen it. He looked through the puddle to see his still dark tan and grey skin almost darken into the puddle, as his grey eyes bore deep into the mirror the puddle gave. His simple dark blue and amber tunic had small dirt marks, but that could be cleaned later. He stood up, wiping off any remaining dirt off his dark brown boots, the only gift he had, and began walking into the alley.


    Max''Sall walked together with Dormion as the dark edges of the alley gave off a small, chilling cold where Lutana didn''t shine. Dormion held up a small bead of light, which he claimed to be a gem of pure Blot, which they both knew wasn''t possible, but it was fun to think it was anyway. The bead gave a small light as they saw three men standing across the way. With the light now shining, the men looked away slowly as they adjusted to the light. Each man was wearing simple but elegant clothing with swirling colors and designs. Each man was almost a dark blue; each varied between the shades, much harder to tell because of the darkness of the alley. Just as Caelen described.


    "Seems like they were right on time; Caelen knows how to use ''em, I suppose." The man in the front said he had a small scar above his forehead. All three of them walked forward, almost as if they walked together like puppets. Max''Sall simply looked towards the few. They were of decent height, and since he was much taller, he was almost as tall as them, while Dormion stood a few inches shorter. They weren''t as scary as they were unnerving, like in a moment they could turn into something more violent.


    "So, is the satchel what we asked for?" The smallest of the three men asked, a little nervous, which didn''t help that he still had a face that made it hard to look like a smile was any more genuine. The man then began to try and reach for the satchel before Max''Sall took it off his left shoulder and grabbed the leather straps and held it back from him.


    "What gives?!" The final man, the strongest of the three, almost shouted out into the alley before the first man slapped him on the head to quiet him. "Quiet, Barlow! Think before you speak," the first man said to the now-identified strong man, Barlow.


    "Let''s see the receipt first." Max''Sall said. He had been in these situations before; he needed to know that they had the proof. The ones that didn''t have it were typically more violent, and he hated having to deal with that.


    "Well, Rylander, show him," Barlow had said as he looked towards the first man. Rylander pulled out a small slip of paper and handed it to Max''Sall as he grabbed it quickly and looked at it. Max''Sall read over the paper, which was to say that he just looked over the scribbles and marks of letters he didn''t know. He didn''t care that he couldn''t read, but he knew what he was looking for. A small symbol in the bottom of the paper knew exactly that these were the men. A small winged glyph that was covered in a red shade only those who knew Caelen or dealt in his business would have. That was enough.


    Max''Sall took the paper and showed it to Dormion, who had simply brushed over the paper and nodded as Max''Sall tossed the satchel over. Rylander took the satchel as he began to dig through it as he almost broke open the small silver belt buckle that held it together.


    "See, not so bad," Max''Sall said to Dormion as the other boy just shook his head as they began to walk towards the alleyway; the guards were gone, which meant that they could just quickly head back to Caelen''s store. He began to move as he heard a sudden stomp behind.


    "Hold on just a moment!" The voice of Rylander squawked out before Max''Sall looked back at Dormion with suspicion. They both turned around as Barlow was looking into the satchel, trying to find any other remaining thing within. Rylander held up only one large, fleshy fruit in his hand; it was the size of his hand, and it was bright red, as red as a fire in the dead of night. Rylander looked angry as he held up the fruit, his brow furrowed and jaw clenched.


    "This is all? We were promised three Jewel Fruits! Where are the others?" Rylander had said, as each word simple to boil and bubble out. That calm and collected personality he had was now gone in a flash.


    More? Max''Sall was already confused at the question. He was given the satchel by Caelen; there was nothing else that he told him to grab. Was there supposed to be more? Max''Sall looked to Dormion, who gave him a look of confusion. Did they forget something?


    "Huh?!" The man Barlow, already enraged, was beginning to move unseemly as he towered over the other two. The three men looked towards the both of them as Max''Sall knew that, whether or not they had forgotten the item, this would not be good.


    "There must have been some sort of mistake!" Dormion said quickly, trying not to escalate the situation. "We must have forgotten them; we can just go back and¡ª" "You forgot them!? How stupid can you be?!" Barlow responded in even more rage that bolstered out as a scream. Max''Sall was already worried about the screaming from him, as he had walked back slowly.


    The smallest unnamed man was looking at the fruit with a hunger, a different hunger that looked like he would do anything to get that fruit out of Rylander''s hands. His hand reached up as he saw his Embody, the small tattoo mark every human had. He could tell that there was a remnant left behind of a soft glow on its already intricate design. It was the shape of a flowing waterfall and a small flower right beneath, which was already softly glowing a faint blue, which went from his elbow to his mid-forearm.


    Max''Sall noted that hunger in each of their eyes. What was with them?


    "I think they''re hiding something. Show us what you have in your pockets," Rylander had said to both of them. Dormion was trying to empty his pockets as Barlow began to approach closer. In the small glint of the light, Max''Sall noted a small gleam in this man''s pocket. He saw the outline of something sharp, a knife-like object; he knew that it would be bad.


    "Creation''s end," he thought in his head as he quickly looked towards Dormion, who was trying to show them he had nothing. Max''Sall grabbed his hand as he moved back towards the front of the alleyway in a sprint.


    "You Dull bastards!" Rylander had screamed out in a rush.


    This would be bad...

 Chapter 2: City of Fervor

    Chapter 2: City of Fervor


    Max''Sall knew that being Dull was most likely the worst fate that any human could have. It wasn''t the worst thing to have been born as; you could be half-born, and from everything he had heard about that, it meant it was much worse. Being a Dull meant many things, but its most important factor meant that you were lower than low. You had no mark on this world; you had no calling or gift granted to you by Creation itself, and worst of all... you stood out. A Dull''s skin was always mixed with light or dark tints of grey made to almost give a sort of ash-like look. You could tell a Dull when you saw one, unless their skin was covered by a large piece of clothing.


    He always figured that life, no matter what, was going to be worse, that the things that happened to the people he had heard about in the stories were just that...stories. Humans didn''t despise others like that, did they? Why was not having a specific calling a bad thing? Max''Sall didn''t have enough education to understand why or even how a Dull happens; it just does. Like Creation itself choosing him and Dormion to suffer a cruel fate of living life as a stain on someone''s wall. When someone didn''t serve a purpose or couldn''t work, you fired them, and that was that.


    So when he began to spring away with Dormion in the busy streets of Kursoon, as the chatter of others came to a stop as he busted through the alleyway, he figured that this would be a much worse day than he thought.


    His footsteps rapid as he let go of Dormion, both of them ran towards the way they came through the mercantile district and past the wandering eyes as they blazed past the bystanders that only watched. Max''Sall looked back to see that Rylander and his two cronies had begun to run through the same street as they were screaming something towards them. Max''Sall couldn''t tell what he was truly saying; he was more worried about every single thing that could happen to them if they got caught.


    "Maybe there was just a mistake; we should¡ª" Dormion said before Max''Sall, without looking at the smaller boy, Try to speak through hard breaths. "Are you crazy?! Did the Twin Sisters take your mind in the night?!" He and Dormion rounded the corner past a small tourist shop that began the large district as they headed towards the east side of Kursoon. Kursoon was a large place; if they could just get to Caelen before any guards started to chase, there wouldn''t be an issue.


    "Stop those two Dull! They stole our money!" He could hear Rylander''s voice behind him as he looked back to see all three of the men turn towards the darkened street the boys were running through. That was bad; saying someone stole your money would garner any attention, but they were Dulls, and that made the threat of them stealing even more problematic. He could see that ahead was a small, lined chain-link fence that was taller than both of them by at least a good three or four feet. Max''Sall looked forward to see past that gate, and two Kursoonian guards began to march towards them past the gate.


    Max''Sall was already having a tough time trying to process the entire scene before him; they had gotten in trouble before, but nothing this severe. It was supposed to be an easy request, just a simple delivery. Why had those men been so hostile? If they had missed something, why hadn''t Caelen told them? The answer Max''Sall had in his mind already pointed to some kind of conscripted plan against them. You can''t trust people like Caelen, but when you were in a situation where that kind of person was needed, you never really had a choice. That was the real problem; maybe there was no choice left.


    "There, up on the fence!" Dormion pointed towards the fence. There was a rusted pipe that went into the nearby building to their left. The fence was jagged at the top, pointed with sharp bits of iron to make sure nobody would jump it and either sit on the fence as well as make sure it was hard enough to climb over it. That would be difficult, but their choices were spread too thin. Max''Sall knew that this would be most likely his only option as he used what remained to burst forward ahead of Dormion. He had gone towards the fence and slammed his body into it, forcing a strong stop.


    The pain was almost nullified by the adrenaline flow into his body. He had leaned down into a kneel as he held both of his hands towards the way they came and stared at Dormion. The smaller boy made no attempt to argue as he had sped up as much as he could as they had reached the fence. In an instant, Max''Sall pushed both hands forward to catch Dormion''s tan boots. With all the muscles he could muster, he hefted Dormion up into a strong launch that made him almost vault towards the top of the fence. Dormion already was almost all the way up the fence as he made a swift movement to climb up to the top. He leaned away from the metal barbs at the top and reached to the pipe as he grabbed on tight and began to climb up to the top of the building.


    Max''Sall looked back as the guards and the three other cronies were barreling down on him, yelling and screaming to stop as the other guards now went into a full sprint instead of their strong march. Max''Sall leaped off of his kneeling position as he began to climb the fence. Despite his thinness, Max''Sall had built up as much muscle as being underfed would get you; all the running, climbing, and dealing with idiotic requests meant that he had enough to work with. He trailed up the fence quickly as he looked towards Dormion, already at the top of the building. Max''Sall leaped off the fence, only being 3 feet away from the full height; he grabbed quickly onto the rusted pipe and used the rest of his strength to pull up towards the top.


    One of the guards took out a small cudgel and threw it towards the two. He had missed Max''Sall by a hair as the club slammed against the pipe. The pipe began to slowly fall towards the ground, the cudgel doing enough to wear down what the rust had already eaten away. Max''Sall''s instincts kicked in as he pushed off the building wall into a strong surging leap. He wasn''t close enough to reach the top of the building, but as soon as he reached the apex of the jump, Dormion dove down as he grabbed Max''Sall''s hand and heaved with all his might.


    Max''Sall used that sudden pull to then be able to push himself off the wall as the force made it easier for Dormion to pull. He grabbed the ledge as Dormion pulled him up to the top as both were panting hard. The rusted pipe landed with a loud clang on the ground as the other guards and Rylander were screaming towards them. Max''Sall looked at Dormion in a quick glance.


    "Told you, you wouldn''t fall," Dormion had said with a small smile that was shown through the panting. Max''Sall simply smiled in amusement; he had always had a way of getting back. The guards began to run out towards the alleyway, most likely trying to find themselves a way towards the two. Max''Sall checked and felt the receipt from the deal and gestured towards the way they came.


    "I hope Caelen has a good reason for all this, for Creation''s sake." Max''Sall was already roaring to go and meet with the man, no matter how much of a hassle he could be. Dormion nodded in agreement as the two of them began to run and jump towards the buildings. Heading towards Caelen.


    ***


    Max''Sall didn''t want to head into The Mix. The building was shaped like a Hearthberry itself. It was a rounded building like a big sphere; its bottom was the color of fire orange, while about halfway through it faded into a subtle blue with the top mimicking that of the stem of the fruit, which stemmed the sunlight through the small windows up top. Dormion was already heading inside the Hikoma double door as Max''Sall sighed and walked with him inside.


    The inside was cozy; it smelled like sweet juice, and the inside had a warm interior with smooth and warm maroon colors that almost made the building itself seem like what it was supposed to be. There were tables and chairs of deep amber color, also made of Hikoma wood, where customers sat inside.


    Restaurants in the city were not rare, but they were not for the common folk. Creationism, the belief that Creation was the true God that ruled over the rest of Fala''Mor, the arts were said to be devout and holy in their work. Artists, sculptors, even the people that cook food for others, are seen as artists more than anything else. Kursoon was the only city Max''Sall knew that treated Creationism as devoutly as they did. This meant that restaurants were treated less like a place to get food, like he had heard the Luong treat their restaurants from far-off travelers, and more as a luxury to taste and engross yourself in the chef and their creations they bring for other holidays.


    Max''Sall just simply walked through the rounded serving tables as the other more lavish guests began looking towards him and Dormion. He didn''t wear the heavy concealing clothes like Dormion; they were too uncomfortable, and it made him look like he was ashamed of who he was. Was he ashamed? Sure, he didn''t like being dull, but nothing much would change that, and so you could only live the life you put yourself into. Dormion went up to the front of the bar; he took a small seat on the third set in the row of eight at the bar. Toran walked up to him and gave both Max''Sall and Dormion a strong glance as he washed a small glass.


    "Is there...something you''d like today, gentleman?" Toran was a large man, taller than any man Max''Sall had seen. He had fancy dress clothes that merged between a light orange and a cascading red that looked like a spicy vegetable he had seen in the mercantile district a few weeks back. Toran adjusted his glasses on his clad, amber-colored skin as he waited for the words. There was only one way to see The Mix for what it really was: every person who worked for Caelen knew them. Dormion spoke up as Max''Sall simply waited.


    "I''d like a shot of Hearthberry, shaken with honey and three cubes of Indigonar sugar, and an extra shot of cream." Toran simply nodded as he reached for something underneath the bar and gave it to Dormion, a small key meant for the balcony of the building, which was towards the back. Dormion nodded as he got off the chair and headed to the balcony. Max''Sall walked towards the door towards the balcony before Toran spoke up.


    "Heard there was a chase over by the mercantile district." He said in a tone that meant that he knew what was going on, but trying to pry without further information could look bad. Max''Sall paused for a second before turning towards the tall man.


    "Just a bit of a scuffle, that''s all." Max''Sall said, waiting for Toran to reply with some remark.


    "Calling it a scuffle is a stretch. Those three had been searching around here as well, just a few minutes earlier." Why were they searching around here? Did Rylander and his cronies know? More missions and deals have been struck as of recently; there was always the possibility that they had been getting too sloppy.


    "They said that our "merchandise" wasn''t enough for what they ordered. But Caelen didn''t give us anything else..." Toran said nothing, as he simply just nodded towards Max''Sall. He could never tell what was going through that man''s head, and maybe that was a good thing. Max''Sall simply walked through the open door with the key as he walked out onto the balcony.


    The balcony was a wide-open space in the fresh air of the midday light. There were other men and women, probably important to someone, as they sat on the same Hikoma furniture, but its actual color resembled more that of a gold color, lined from the intricate carvings into it with silver dust, which gave it a luster unlike anything else.


    The light of Lutana made the city of Kursoon only appear to be more beautiful than it was. Kursoon''s vivid colors and almost bombastic noise of the constant city life made it an almost perfect cover for what was hidden beneath all that color. Max''Sall watched as Dormion was already sitting with Caelen at the very end, towards a lavish table with all kinds of food draped across the white cloth that covered the table.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Caelen was an odd man, even more than others that Max''Sall knew. Caelen dressed a lot like more Kursoonian men did, in lavish, almost flowing, tunic-like clothes that were draped and dressed in gems and jewels that he didn''t know any names of. He was a thin man, almost to the point that any more weight loss he would experience would most likely make him look like he hadn''t eaten in days. His eyes were a stark, noble blue that gleamed in the light of the day. He had been sampling a small platter of something that looked spicy before he noted Max''Sall walk towards the table.


    "Max, you and Dor are just in time. I heard about the task, though a little more eye-catching than I was hoping, but mostly a fine job well done," Caelen had said in sort of a laugh. His voice was very deep despite his appearance, which made it sound a lot more menacing than he looked.


    Max''Sall hated being called Max. Most Kursoonians didn''t mind nicknames, but he felt especially abhorrent to the idea of having his name shortened, as if his appearance didn''t mean anything to others already....he didn''t want his mother''s chosen name for him sullied any longer.


    "It''s Max''Sall, and yes, we did what you asked." Max''Sall spent no time at all pulling out the small slip of paper. The receipt flashed in Caelen''s eyes as he took the small slip of paper and inspected it. When he raised his arm, Max''Sall could see his Embody streaking across his arm. A long serpentine design where an eel-like creature stretched across most of his forearm. The color was a strong burgundy that mixed in with his tan skin. Caelen looked seamlessly across the slip as he smiled in satisfaction and pushed the slip into his trouser pockets.


    "Very good, you boys never cease to impress." Max''Sall could never tell much about Caelen; maybe it was because of his voice. So deep and strange, it made everything he said seem like it could be the truth or a lie, and yet he would never know. Dormion straightened himself towards Caelen, ready to speak on the matter before.


    "Caelen, sir... those men towards the mercantile district..." Dormion got even more nervous around Caelen; it had always been this way. Max''Sall didn''t blame him; their boss could choose to let them go whenever he felt like it, and getting on his bad side was less than ideal.


    "I heard before, ruffians and scoundrels. Though, they pay too much to ever heed a direct call to order, I suppose." He had begun snacking on small portions of that spicy food as Dormion continued.


    "I just mean, sir, they attacked us, and they talked about not having enough of what was promised. I didn''t know if we forgot something or..." Caelen looked up from his meal. Max''Sall saw the look in his eye, like he was confused as to what he was hearing. That was always bad. Dormion was panicking; you could tell by the way he pulled down on his hood to shade his eyes. Max''Sall sat nearby, tired of standing, and put his arms down on the table. It was rude, but it pushed a small amount of confidence into his chest, and he hoped it would help Dormion.


    "He only means to ask if we left something behind. We aren''t sure why else they would chase after us." Max''Sall could actually name a few reasons as to why they would chase, besides being dull, of course. Bland, drab, and dull, the names could be changed from person to person, but the effect was the same... he had no place in the world. How many people were said to be Dull in the world? He didn''t know, and there was a small part of Max''Sall that said that maybe he didn''t want to know.


    "Rylander had personally asked if I could procure him a couple of Jewel fruits; that was a difficult ask, you know. It''s not every day when someone is willing to pay so much for shorthand material. Besides, it''s weird that he wanted the fruit, though the Blot would have been so much more, not that there is much to go around nowadays." Caelen had said as he looked towards one of the serving men. "The usual." He said to the man as he brought out a wine bottle.


    The bottle was beautiful in design with ornate glass meant to keep the Blot inside cold, it reminded Max''Sall of a wine bottle, but instead of a cork, the top was covered in a small flat lock of sorts with a keyhole at the top. It swirled with color because of its transparency as the Blot spun in the glass it kept changing color, like it spun into different hues. Caelen had took the glass and pulled out a small golden key, he pushed the key into the bottle''s top as the flat top piece popped open. The man took the bottle and poured it into a bejeweled brass goblet which he handed to Caelen and he sipped the liquid inside. Max''Sall just watched as the color of Caelen''s skin almost glowed as he sipped the magic liquid, it was a property he had seen many times when Caelen drank from his "imported collection".


    "I had told him I can get what he wants as long as he could pay. He gave me quite a hefty sum for at least three, he told me, but that was a lot harder than anticipated." Caelen sipped more of the flowing liquid as Dormion began to calm down in his chair.


    "So I did what I could and gave him what he asked for. I don''t understand people like them, junkies that get a single taste of Blot and then think they can just grow their own. When they realize the little you can do with that piece of fruit...I don''t know what they will do." Max''Sall eyed Caelen as the color of his eyes began to sparkle and gleam more in the light on the balcony. That last statement Caelen made didn''t sound like he was worried, more just contemplative of the whole ordeal. Maybe he didn''t care about what they did, and he most likely shouldn''t.


    The door to the balcony opened wide to a trio of Kursoonian guards. The other patrons of The Mix looked curious but simply went back to their food and drink. The three guards moved closer to Caelen as he simply looked towards them with a smile, most likely forced to some degree.


    "Gentlemen, is there something the matter?" The smile was definitely forced. The first of the guards, a man with a golden sash of some kind, which meant that he was the section leader of one of Kursoon''s districts, pushed forward and removed the helm on his head. The man looked towards Max''Sall and Dormion with a generous scowl as he eyed Caelen.


    "I would like to speak with you privately, if you don''t mind, Mister Fullon." Max''Sall knew that this was going to be bad. He didn''t recognize the face, but if Max''Sall knew anything, it most likely would have been that this man was the first captain of the mercantile district.


    "Creation''s end," Max''Sall thought to himself. He liked cursing, at least enough in his own head; there he had the freedom to do what he wanted. Though he did not completely agree with Creationism, there was something about the phrases that the followers didn''t want you to say that almost gave him a sense of power in it all.


    "Now, now, gentlemen. I am just having a conversation with my employees, and I think whatever it is you might say wouldn''t be something so bad they can''t hear it," Caelen said with a slight smirk on his face. He knew what those guards would say, but almost like he wanted them to say it anyway.


    "Fine. Those two employees you have are causing a big ruckus in the mercantile district, ran away from at least a good portion of my men, and made a mockery of our guard. I ask that we hold them accountable for their actions."


    "And we didn''t do anything illegal." Max''Sall had said in a quick rebuttal towards the man. One of the other guards walked up to Max''Sall and grabbed him by the collar. He was taller than him, but not by much, but the strength lifted his body up from the seat. Max''Sall shifted uncomfortably as the man held him.


    "Quiet, Dull, you''re lucky nothing happened during that. Caught stealing something, and we would have--


    "THAT''S ENOUGH!" The leader spoke up towards the guard as he looked towards him with a frightening stare. The other guard hesitated before putting down Max''Sall in a haste. Max''Sall stared at him with a glare and fixed his collar.


    "You have to understand, Caelen, we get that this business of yours is keeping certain others very... stocked. But you must understand what I have to do as part of this. You''re putting Jewel fruit in the hands of people who have too much money. For Light''s sake, how can you do that when we''re having a shortage of Blot already? The first captain had said in a rush. He was trying to keep his voice down, but it was hard when he was most likely worked up this way.


    "I do what must be done, what people want. I thought we had an agreement on this enough that you wouldn''t get in my way?" Caelen had said with a curious look on his face. He wasn''t looking at the captain, but in a way that spoke more about the distance than maybe he thought.


    "An agreement?" Max''Sall thought to himself before the captain of the guard sighed to the question.


    "We do, but more and more people are asking questions, and when they ask questions, they begin to think more and more about the way things are." The captain responded in earnest.


    "Isn''t that what I pay you for? To make sure that they don''t ask questions?"


    "Yes, but when you''re... employees are going around causing more and more trouble through your jobs, then they ask questions anyway." The captain then eyes Max''Sall and Dormion in a sort of blame and ignorance that his eyes beat into his heart and mind.


    Caelen looked towards the both of them as well with a heavy sigh that meant that the guard was speaking some kind of truth. Caelen took out a small pouch, opened it up, and took a small bunch of enamel in his hand. Enamel, the rounded metallic bits that acted as Kursoon''s money, denoted value based on the color of the Kursoonian color theory, where red was the least, and violet was the most; everything else was based on the colors that came in between.


    He handed the man a few more of some orange enamel; those could buy you cattle and riding lizards. The captain looked to the enamel in his hand as he simply sighed once more.


    "I ask that you simply take that money and make sure no more questions are asked. There are things in Kursoon that must be kept secret. I hope you understand, first captain, or else others will also have to ask how you got that position as well." That was a threat if Max''Sall had heard one.


    The first captain simply took the money and placed his helm back before speaking once more, "I''ll do my best, sir." That final sir sounded forced, like something he needed to say, but he was pushing more of his will to not say it. The three guards left through the door as Caelen threw the rest of the enamel in the bag towards Dormion. Dormion took out the small bag of enamel; they were red. Max''Sall could both count, but Dormion was usually better with money than he was.


    Max''Sall looked as Dormion took out most of the money and placed it into his right hand... It wasn''t nearly enough for a job; it wasn''t enough for any job.


    "That''s it?" Max''Sall said with a slight annoyance. Caelan looked at him as he sipped more of the Blot in his glass.


    "Is there a problem, Max?" He stressed out his name; he knew what he was doing. He always did.


    "18 reds, that''s barely enough for the two of us to eat today." Max''Sall was trying to keep his anger from boiling as Dormion was putting the bits into the bag.


    "Max, you have to understand what you did today. Any more instances like that, I will have to keep docking for each job." Caelen said with no emotion in his voice; he figured that would end the conversation. Max''Sall didn''t think it did.


    "So we put on a chase, and we don''t get to eat today? You handed those guards oranges; what''s the problem with giving us what we''re owed?!" Max''Sall knew that this would end badly, but if he had done things that only meant good, he would have never had this job.


    Caelen looked back through as he got closer to him. Caelen might not have been very tall, his face might have looked ordinary, and his tan skin didn''t give him any edge towards anyone else, but there was a menacing look to his eyes that Max''Sall didn''t like.


    "You act like what you did was justified. As if I owe you more than what you are worth. We have had this conversation before, and I do not want to have it again, but tell me, Max. Why do you think I even give you money in the first place?" This was bad. Max''Sall said nothing as Dormion only watched as he stood up and walked back.


    "That fire in your stomach, nothing else. You are not stronger than anyone, not faster, not smarter. You can''t even read; you are as much a liability as you are a thief and a Dull." He hated being called Dull, but mostly from Caelen, because he meant it more than anyone else.


    "Did you forget? I hope you didn''t. I hope that for every single day you wake, every single minute or second that you stay awake, you remember who you are... a Dull. You serve very little purpose to me other than being expendable, and that''s only because I don''t call you useless. I pay you because I''m nothing if not polite, and right now, I don''t like being impolite. You and Dor are just as much to me as a Kurona is to some rich, Creti, because you serve a small, insignificant purpose. I hope you understand where you stand, because I could replace you faster than an arrow to the throat."Caelen leaned back in his chair; the conversation was now over.


    Max''Sall simply said nothing, his anger boiling, making his fists grip in tight balls that almost let loose into a punch, but that would make Dormion part of the problem, and he didn''t want that. Max''Sall simply stood up and gave a small bow. It took everything in his power to do it, but without that small gesture, he would have a chance of losing the job he needed.


    "I apologize, sir, for my misconduct. I hope there is no longer a problem, and I will do my very best to not risk our endeavors." Max''Sall gritted his teeth after that fraudulent claim. Caelen simply smiled as Dormion bowed similarly.


    "I apologize as well, Caelen. I should have been more accurate and careful towards our request." Caelen raised his glass and sipped the Blot as he waved his hand away, which meant that he would talk no longer.


    Max''Sall and Dormion walked away from the balcony as they quickly exited The Mix and made their way towards the edge of the city.


    It had been a long day, and they needed to lie down.

 Chapter 3: Whats the Point?

    Chapter 3: What''s the Point?


    Max''Sall''s stomach growled as he tried to ignore the hunger pains that came with it. He hadn''t eaten well in the last few days, when jobs were scarce, food was too. Dormion kept the small leather bag in his hand, a little bit tucked away near his chest of his long coat. Both of them walked together on the streets of Kursoon towards the edge of the city. Most Dull lived on the edge of Kursoon, known to most as Ashen, like the ash that grows around a fire that burned too long. You knew you were walking into Ashen when you started to see humans wearing heavy coats that covered most of their body.


    Max''Sall and Dormion walked through the almost dusty streets of Ashen as they moved past other Dulls that covered their body in those heavy robes. They were so hot, and mostly uncomfortable that Max''Sall never wore them, but even then, he believed them to be a disgrace in some way. Dull worked just like others, slept, ate and breathed just like everyone else. Yet, they were called hideous all because they were born a little different. He was born wrong, some would say...But what did it mean to be born right? Were you born right when you were rich? Were you born right when you were tall? What about the things you did? Max''Sall didn''t want to think about it anymore since it always made him angry when he did.


    "Well, at least we can eat a little bit. I would rather this than nothing." Dormion always kept a decent outlook on life, Max''Sall didn''t know how or why he did but there were days when that was one of the only things that kept him going.


    "Yeah, like a half thing of bread each maybe" Max''Sall sighed heavily running his hand through his black hair. He shouldn''t have been complaining, food was food never who you asked, you had to eat.


    "Probably, it''s no cake is it?" Dormion flashed a small smile, like a tiny joy that he could bring through a joke.


    "No, certainly not. What I wouldn''t give for some of that though." Max''Sall walked through the almost baren streets, moving past the beggars and the shrouded Dull. It was as if each day the city itself grew distant and more neutral. A city stocked to the brim with color and joy, but where was that joy in this edge of the city? Nowhere, Dull did not have color, they did not deserve color.


    "Maybe once we get on Caelen''s good side, he''ll share some of the stuff he has from his restaurant?"


    "As if that bastard could find any kindness in the depths of his heart to do that. That would require him to look down from his high balcony to the people that serve him. I guess we''re just "lucky" that he pays us." Max''Sall started to get angry again, but that began to subside as he knew there wasn''t much more to do about it.


    "I know how you feel, Max''Sall. I''m glad you didn''t go further with Caelen, it doesn''t matter with him, you should just keep your head down and  push through."


    "I''ve been keeping my head down my entire life, when do I get to look up and push back?" What was once the pure flame of will that burned into his heart, became slow and turned into despair. Maybe it was time to realize that Dormion was right.


    "We will, just not yet...I want to do so too, but its just a matter of patience."


    Patience. Is that what everyone told him? You just had to keep going, push forward and keep your head low. Dull that followed those rules survived, and maybe they got good enough jobs to keep their bellies full at night, and desserts once in a life time. But that was no way to live, that was surviving, and life shouldn''t be a battle for survival.


    Max''Sall always felt like he was drowning. An endless sea of people, and he was the only one who couldn''t swim. They rode in boats and were picked up, but the waves kept crashing into him, pulling him further and further in the inky black sea below. They say that drowning was the worst way to go, like you''re trying to hold onto something so precious as it slowly and surely slips out of your fingers. The fear that you would drown didn''t scare Max''Sall. He had been drowning ever since he was born. What scared him was that  he didn''t know how to swim.


    "Max''Sall?" Dormion asked as he poked his side and Max''Sall looked back with a small smile.


    "Yeah, patience..." He went silent after that, just trying to soak up his own feelings as Dormion patted him on the back. Dormion gave full toothed smile, he always had a habit bringing people up with them.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll wait with you." Dormion said trying to keep that positivity about. Max''Sall just simply looked forward as they walked together. They were both drowning, but they would drown together.


    There was a set of footsteps that walked in front of them as Max''Sall looked up just to see where he was going. His eyes widened as he saw the same two of clients before him. Rylander, Barlow stood before them but they unnamed third man was gone. They did not block the path but stood a good ten or so feet away from them as they looked towards with strong glares. Dormion stopped moving as he quickly tucked away the small leather pouch containing what little money they had. Rylander laughed a bit before he put his right hand behind his back.


    "I guess it wasn''t very hard to find where you two runts went off. I should have known a couple of Dull would just be living in the worst part of town. They certainly were right to call this place Ashen, these disgusting putrid people remind me of the ugly parts of life." Rylander spoke with a grimace, the smile clearly just a facade to hide that masked hatred burning in his heart.


    "Creation''s end, just leave us alone for Life''s sake! We didn''t have your stuff, you guys just got duped!" Max''Sall screamed in their direction. He had backed up with Dormion trying to see if anyone else was noticing these two men. The rest of the people that would have been in the street simply looked away or walked away quickly. They had nothing to do with this, why should they get hurt? You always risked taking others with you, that was a risk they wouldn''t take.


    "You think we don''t know that?! We kept hearing that he was the only one you get the stuff from, we took a risk. And yet, for all our wasted efforts, that useless fruit doesn''t make any Blot without the proper tools!" Rylander took out the item that he held from his right hand: a metal pipe. He tapped the metal pipe against his left palm.


    "Please, we just did our job..." Dormion was clutching the bag through his heavy coat as he began to walk behind. Max''Sall figured what was going to happen next as he grabbed Dormion once more, before turning in the other direction.


    "You''ve got to be kidding me! What in the Final Paradise are they here?! We have to get out of here before--" Max''Sall and Dormion only made a few steps in the other direction before a staggering pain filled Max''Sall''s head. He fell to the ground as he clutched his head in pain feeling a small trickly of broken skin and his blood leaking, the grey and dark brown ichor dripping onto the stone floor.


    His vision was blurry and he wasn''t sure what was happening, like he had been dropped a thousand feet down onto his head. He tried to focus on what was happening, he could make out vague shapes before a few seconds he could see the outline of Dormion being grabbed and forced to the ground by another man. His thoughts were scattered against the same floor where he laid as he felt arms pull him up and Rylander came into his vision.


    "Well your job isn''t done. Nobody is really gonna care if we let out our frustration on a Dull or two." So that was it. Despite the flashing vision and ringing in his ear, Max''Sall knew that truly that was all it was about. They couldn''t take their anger out on Caelen, they would have been killed, or worse... No. Nobody cared whether he or Dormion survived. Nobody would care if their screams rang out on deaf ears. Take what little they had, it was just the way it was.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Max''Sall!" Dormion screamed out as his voice became clearer as Max''Sall was trying to focus on the situation at hand. He began to struggle, the little strength that was keeping him from blacking out meant that there was nothing left to defend himself. He struggled as he felt Rylander pick him up and hold him from the collar.


    "Yokan, good work back there." Max''Sall looked back to see the smaller of the three men, now known as Yokan, was standing there with a similar metal pipe as he was standing behind Max''Sall as he giggled to himself.


    "Got''em good!" Max''Sall should''ve figured, that''s why he didn''t even see the attack, he must have been hiding around a building waiting for this to happen. How long had they been waiting for this? Were they followed? Even if they were, what use does it have to think about those things. He would most likely be beaten within an inch of his life.


    Max''Sall looked as he saw Dormion struggling to get out of the grapple that Barlow had him in. Max''Sall finally could see without the hard vision impairment as he looked towards Rylander who was simply laughing at this situation. Dormion would be hurt too, maybe that''s why he was struggling.


    Dormion was his only friend, the only person he could trust and that believed in him. They were the same, yet different. They were both trying to swim in this ceaseless sea of sharks. If he was going to die anyway from being pulled down, he would at least push someone up when he goes.


    "Let him go! Take whatever we have, just let Dormion go!" This was as stupid as he figured it would be.


    "Oh? The little thief Dull boys want to barter now, eh? Where was that fire when Yokan whacked you upside the head?" Rylander looked towards Yokan who was still watching, still holding the metal pipe, probably in case they got away.


    "Let''s just give em'' what they deserve Rylander!" The grunt Barlow shouted as he pushed Dormion back into the ground. Barlow was starting to push harder as tears began to well inside Dormion''s eyes. He was only two years younger than him, but Dormion was more of a man than anyone Max''Sall ever knew. He wouldn''t let that man get hurt here.


    "Take our money, just leave him alone!" Max''Sall shouted with an urgency and a tinge of desperation.


    "What? Your 18 red bits?! That won''t even count as a snack. No, I don''t want your money. But, you''ve got spirit for a Dull, so I''ll do something else for you." Rylander grabbed his metal pipe and squeezed it hard in his hand as he stared at Max''Sall.


    "Ten blows, that''s it. I''ll hit you ten times and then I''ll hit him ten times. It was going to be more, but since you''re offering your money anyway, I might as well reduce your sentence." Rylander a hideous smile, the kind that showed all of his disgusting barely washed teeth and told a person that whatever good was left, has been shredded.


    "Fine!" Max''Sall shouted with little hesitation.


    "No! Please don''t!" Dormion shouted, there was a lot more desperation in his voice than before. The others didn''t listen as Rylander set him down and rounded up his metal pipe.


    "Good. Just remember you asked for this." Max''Sall barely had the time to stand up after being dropped from Rylander before he felt a heavy swing crack into his side. The pain was unbearable, he felt every single fiber in his body rise up in an instinct to protect himself.


    "Hey! You said you would take the hits, so take them like a man! One!"


    Rylander landed  a second blow against the same side, the damage almost collapsing Max''Sall''s entire side as he laid down into the stone floor as he gritted his teeth in pain. The pain kept coming, the first blows pulsing power still lingered into his left side. It was throbbing, as if he had been set on fire and hit by an anvil.


    "Two!"


    Every blow was worse, Rylander changed up where they would go every time, giving the pain an equal opportunity to spread everywhere. One to his side, another to his forearm, one to his knee, the other to his left shin, a swiping crack to his shoulder, A blow across the head, a sudden jab to his stomach, and a hard knockdown swing to his back. By the time that tenth blow came, Max''Sall fell to the ground. His body was beaten up and bruised in every possible place. His vision was wrecked, seeing doubles and blurry visions of everyone. He could barely hear the winces from the two others and the screams of Dormion. There was  a ringing in his ear that wouldn''t go away, maybe it was permanent.


    His mind was in shambles as he could hear the soft laughter of all three of the other men.


    "That''s the first ten, ready to go again?!" Rylander laughed, a maniacal laugh that  told you that there was nothing left that was good in his soul. Barlow and Yokan laughed as well, guttural laughs that made everyone uncomfortable.


    Max''Sall felt very little, he could only see the stone street and some of his own blood drip past his skin. It felt like there was something crushing his entire body taking away everything. He was sure everything was broken, but there were still ten more hits.


    "Why should I get up? Maybe I should just stay down, let Life take me away" Max''Sall''s thoughts felt jumbled and broken like his body, trying to piece together any shred of will power he had. He wanted to lay down, keep to the ground and let them kill him.


    What was the point anyway? He was always drowning, why didn''t anyone bless him? What was so horrible about his life that it was determined he would suffer for the rest of his life. The sharks finally came to chew on the corpse of his body floating at sea, he would leave it be, let them take him away towards something better. Maybe he would be chosen to go to the Final Paradise. Maybe his mother would be there with him. Max''Sall felt his eyes close, trying to shut out the world, letting himself fall to into the sea.


    Yet, he didn''t.


    Max''Sall''s eyes wouldn''t close and his body wouldn''t stop moving, even slightly. He didn''t understand why, he didn''t want to know why. His life was nothing more than a mess, so why wouldn''t he just let these sharks take him?  A part of him felt like he knew, something inside of him kept that fire going. Max''Sall remembered Caelen''s words, those words that kept his rage boiling within.


    "That fire in your stomach, nothing else. You are not stronger than anyone, not faster, not smarter. You can''t even read, you are as much a liability as you are as a thief and a Dull." Caelen''s voice rang out before him. That fire that he described still beated with him, like the heart of a dragon he began to scrape his fingernails against the cold stone of the street.


    Rylander looked down to see that Max''Sall was pushing himself up against the stone, his legs pushing with what little strength they had to propel him upward. He did not laugh, he did not speak. He was confused. How could anyone been beat this hard and still stand? Was he really going to take another ten?


    Max''Sall stood up. He was leaning on his right leg for the support, but he stood up as his back hunched in pain. His was swollen and beaten with large grey bruises that it look like he had just rolled through ash. Blood leaked from the top of his head in a small trail from his left temple. He was beaten, bruised and sorry looking...yet he stood.


    "Max''Sall?" Dormion said nothing, maybe he couldn''t have said much else. Max''Sall felt the night''s cold begin to set in. It was getting dark, which meant curfew would set in soon. He would  have take these blows quickly or else he would get in more trouble.


    "Y-you, are going to take the other ten?" Rylander didn''t know what to say. He assumed he would rough him up, take their money and use it to buy a few pieces of fruit before the curfew...Why did this boy still stand? How did he still stand?


    "Ten more....right?" Max''Sall said, his words slightly slurred from the cracking hit he took to his head. Rylander looked at the others, as if he was looking for some more confirmation to continue. They were just as bewildered as he was, trying understand what kept him up.


    Rylander took a wild swing that slammed into Max''Sall''s left hit. The strike left in leaning on his right leg in quick stumble, but he didn''t go down. Rylander raised the pipe as he slammed it into his left arm in a diagonal swing. That powerful bludgeon made his arm feel like it was almost numb, but he didn''t go down. Rylander went for a strong horizontal swing into his abdomen as he slammed it with as much force as he could. There was a strong gong that ran out as the pipe hit his ribs. Max''Sall felt every single part of his body being numbed by pain, he could barely move....but he didn''t go down.


    "What...what in the Final Paradise are you!?" Rylander pointed the pipe towards Max''Sall as if he was trying to declare something. Max''Sall opened his right eye, as the other one wouldn''t move and bore into him with everything he had.


    "I''m a useless Dull. A useless Dull...that won''t fall."


    Rylander put down his arm from his pointed pose and dropped the metal pipe onto the ground. He clicked his teeth in frustration as he began to walk away. The other two looked at him incredulously as Dormion was still struggling to leave Barlow''s grab.


    "Rylander?! What about the--"


    "Let''s go! There''s no fun in beating a dead horse. Plus, what in Life''s name are we going to buy with 18 red bits. Let''s go!" Rylander interrupted Barlow as he spoke up. Barlow let go of Dormion as he began to walk away, it didn''t take long for Yokan to get the hint as well as the three them left down the street.


    "Max''Sall!" Dormion spoke up quickly as he got up off the ground and moved to Max''Sall''s right. Max''Sall looked to his friend, keeping that one eye open before breathing heavily.


    "Why....Why even do this?! We could have just given him the money. I would have taken those hits! Why?!" Max''Sall looked at his friend, the only thing visible on his face was that desperation of trying to help. Max''Sall looked back towards the darkening sky.


    The sky was getting dark, colors of black and white sprinkled the sky in a sea of stars. The moon began to beat down on their bodies as it gave them a soft glow. The night was beautiful to Max''Sall. Nothing would ever change that. He looked back at Dormion once before.


    " I....I won''t let you drown...."


    Then, Max''Sall fell unconsciousness take him over.

 Chapter 4: I just want to believe

    Chapter 4: I just want to believe


    Max''Sall''s body felt heavy. Everything was dark around him as his eyes fluttered open to see the dark and dreary ceiling of his room. He was home; he was sure of it. He turned his head in slight pain as he saw that the door to his small room was closed and the only light through the room was the small window like hole in the wall above that was cast down moonlight into the room, giving an ethereal look.


    He craned his head up in pain as he used the rest of his strength to push himself up on the bed. This bed, a more cot if anything, was already covered in a small thin blanket that was a size too small. He still had his pants on, but his shirt was gone and he could see the makeshift bandages that covered his body, which were mostly scraps of cloth that were tightly wrapped around the parts of his body that were clearly more bruised than others.


    He looked to his left as the small desk that he had kept from his childhood had a small thing of bread on top of a small cloth. Everything hurt. It wasn''t as bad at the moment, but it would clearly last a long time. He felt up some bruises on his body before wincing in pain. He didn''t hear any constant ringing, and his vision was coming back, so perhaps there was nothing permanent. He moved his body and stood up. His legs had that feeling come back as he looked around the room for his tunic.


    It was against the edge of the bed as he grabbed it and put it on before he stretched some of the exhaustion out of his legs. It was harder to walk. Running was a no go for now, but he wanted to see where Dormion went.


    "He most likely did all this... I should thank him." The actions of however long ago that was poked back into his mind as he was trying to wipe away the almost memory like pain that came back as he thought back. How many hits did he take? Maybe that wasn''t the best thing to think about.


    "Why did I stand back up? Was I stupid? I know I am but, was there something I was trying to prove?" Those ideas flashed into his mind, trying to piece together what made him do it. Though he honestly knew the reason.


    What was the point of giving up? If he had given up, accepted that he was going to be beaten nearly within an inch of his life, then yeah, it might have happened. Dormion would have the same thing happen to him. They would have lost their money and they would starve another day, licking their wounds and broken bones. So he changed.


    "I had to... I had to get back up." That thought in his head stuck there for a while as he grabbed his brown boots near his bed and slipped into them before walking out of the door towards the rest of the house.


    There were only two rooms of the house, a small bedroom and a small dining room style room. There was a small table for two with wooden chairs of a type he didn''t know. There was a small kitchen area, with a small pantry that kept food and other ingredients. He heard that wealthier folks had devices that could carry food within and also kept meat from spoiling. That astounded Max''Sall, but rich people always had some things that he never truly understood.


    Dormion wasn''t in this room either, so he was most likely on the roof. Max''Sall walked to the left where a small ladder was leaned against the wall towards the ceiling, going out onto the roof. He walked up the wooden ladder as he stepped out into the cool night air. It was still night and the tiny little lights that poked through the sky were gleaming and twinkling. They say they are called stars, that each Creti has a star designated towards them, but that would mean there are thousands of Creti, so he didn''t know if that was true or not. There, upon the roof, he saw Dormion sitting against the ledge of the squared roof. He was holding a small piece of bread, most likely the other half of the loaf.


    Max''Sall simply walked forward as he sat down next to him. There were no words between them, only the wind and the moon to let them bask in a nice night.


    "Max''Sall... You''re ok!" Dormion was looking over him, checking the small cloth wrapped wounds with a small. Max''Sall looked away as he smiled a little.


    "Didn''t think I was just going to die on you there, did you?" He laughed a bit. Was it fair to laugh at that? Dormion seemed to think so as had a small chuckle before taking a bite of the bread. Max''Sall simply looked towards the large city of Kursoon. Despite the color of the day, there was very little at night besides the small lights that protruded from other houses in the distance.


    Humans hated the night. It was apparently ingrained into Creationism itself, that the Twin Sisters were sent to hurt humanity and plunge Fala''Mor into despair. Max''Sall had never read The Book of Beginnings, not that he could anyway, but whatever was in that book must have been the key reason people didn''t like Dull.


    "Have you ever read The Book of Beginnings, Dormion?" He asked discreetly, almost like he wasn''t trying to let Dormion know he was asking.


    "I''ve had read a few bits, but only because my parents wanted me to learn how to read. I wish I could teach you... I''m not that great at it myself." Max''Sall remembered back a few years ago, when he and Dormion had become good friends. He had learned that Dormion could read and write, and he tried to teach him to do the same, but there is a reason that never truly came to fruition.


    "You''re not necessarily the best teacher I''ve ever known." Max''Sall snickered.


    "I''m probably the only one you''ve ever known. Don''t nag on my teaching ability. Plus, I said I was sorry." The tension was gone between the two as they both laughed at each other. He took another small piece of bread and ate before he continued.


    "The Book of Beginnings isn''t even a very interesting read. Just another Creation book trying to make everyone convert. Honestly, you''d think that they wouldn''t devote themselves so hard to it too, considering that most people don''t follow all the rules of Creationism."


    "There are more rules to Creationism?" This is the first time Max''Sall heard of this, though he suspected that Dormion didn''t bring it up, as it made both of them feel worse when they did, like rubbing salt in a wound.


    "Yeah. You know that in Creationism, it''s said that woman are supposed to be the main caretakers. They call it a rite of their own to bear." That was odd. Most of the time, it was the woman around the town that ran the stores and did a lot of more technical challenges. Even the Kursoonian Treasurer was also a woman, though he did not know her name.


    "Nah, that is weird... What about Dulls? Did you get to that part?" Dormion simply sighed as he placed the bread down.


    "No, by the time we were close..." There was a pause. It was clear he was uncomfortable in the situation and Max''Sall simply sighed and placed his hand on his shoulder. He understood Dormion''s situation, but bringing it up would only cause strife. So he simply said nothing.


    "Well, maybe it would be better if you hadn''t. There are things you don''t want to know. Like where those meat disks from Coulon''s comes from."


    "Ah man, don''t remind me of that! I don''t think we''ve gotten one since then!" Dormion put his head down in defeat as Max''Sall simply laughed it off. There was still pain from his wounds, but it would go away, eventually. Max''Sall paused for a moment before looking back towards the city.


    "Maybe we should just leave... find somewhere else to live."


    "You''ve said this how many times I''ve known you?"


    "And you agree with me every time."


    "I know. It''s not like I think about it all the time, you know? I would go somewhere else in a heartbeat, but where in Final Paradise would go?"


    "Scarletandor isn''t too far, we could save up and find someplace out there." Max''Sall didn''t want to suggest leaving either, but the wounds had reminded him of what it meant to live in Kursoon.


    "We could become farmers, live off the land. We could raise our animals," Dormion exclaimed a little louder. Clearly, the idea of having cattle to raise might have piqued his interest a little more.


    "No more meat discs!" Max''Sall said with a slight smirk towards Dormion, who only scoffed at him in annoyance. Dormion looked back at the city, clearly something making him think more deeply.


    "Did the meat disc comment really set you off?" Max''Sall responded, still keeping that jovial tone. Dormion simply sat down and looked back at the city.


    "How are we supposed to get that much money? Sure, we could save up to buy cattle, but what about land, workers? What if they don''t sell it to us?! There is so much to think about. Where do we begin?"


    The tone was a little harsher than the beginning conversation, and it felt like it was getting a little colder out into the night. Max''Sall knew that those dreams were fleeting. How many times had they had the same conversation? It would always go the same way. No matter where they went, they were outcasts. Maybe the Luong or the half-born would take them in, but half-born already deal with so much and that was half away across the world.


    "I don''t know..." Max''Sall simply said. There was a pause to the both of them before Dormion simply just smiled.


    " I think that''s fine. We get hurt, we help each other. We work together and work hard together. As long as I''m with you, I think we can change our outcomes." Dormion said, his face never wavering away from the light of the moon.


    "How could you feel bad with Dormion?" Max''Sall wondered to himself? Dormion wore his feelings on his large coat sleeves. He was strong in his mind and in his heart. Physical strength meant nothing. He could hold up the world with his will alone. Max''Sall sighed as he looked towards the night.


    "Yeah, glad to have you with me," Max''Sall said without hesitation. Both of the two laughed together as the light shined down.


    It was only by that moment that Max''Sall believed he saw something down below. Curfew had long passed and so being out passed this time meant they were breaking the law, at least from what he knew. There in the darkness''s corner was a cloaked figure, in a dark black cloak, an odd style of clothing, as there was another figure near them.


    This other figure, a man who was wearing ragged clothes and had shaggy brown and tinted teal skin. The figure in the robe was walking with him. The figure in the cloak walked with the other man, and as he turned towards the eastern gate towards the edge of Kursoon, the cloak had a symbol on the back.


    It was a crescent shape in the back, but there was a small circle outline where the full circle would be, and towards the edge of the crescent shape was a white splotch, that almost looked like there was supposed to be a shine in the artwork itself. Max''Sall couldn''t make out the face, but whoever lingered in the dark, walked away into the darkness with that man.


    "Did you see that?" Dormion had said as Max''Sall looked back at Dormion and was trying to look towards the figure.


    "That was The Nocturne..." The Nocturne was a small religion, some called it cult, but it is said that they worshipped The Darkness and The Moon. Max''Sall knew little else, but the small stories about the twin concepts. Some say that they would steal your mind in the night and change you, others say that they take away parts of your soul when you''re out after hours. Max''Sall understood why they believed that they just did. Maybe because bad things happened at night to some, but bad things happened in the day too. He didn''t question it any further.


    "I wonder what happens to people who go with them?" Max''Sall had asked to Dormion.


    "I heard someone say that they "came back" from their lair, and yes, they called it their lair, and said that they sacrifice humans and Dull alike." Max''Sall just simply scoffed at the idea. Perhaps he just didn''t understand what they believed like they did, but if that''s what others believed in, he couldn''t do anything to stop it.


    "We should head inside, anyway. Don''t want any of them guards taking us, either." Dormion simply walked back to the hole in the house''s ceiling and walked down into the room. Max''Sall stared out in the night as the moon casually watched over him. There, that giant orb of opalescent color almost made him feel like the brilliant light was cast on him. For a moment, he felt serene. The tiredness and the pain of only a few hours set in as he got up and walked back to his bed to sleep.


    The night watched over him, like a comfort as he slept.


    ***


    Caelen was in trouble. He tapped his finger anxiously against the wooden table in front of him as he tried to wipe away the tiredness that stained his eyes. He could hear Merlin, his Kurona, walk across the floor of his office. The furry four-legged feline was begging for scraps of food that Caelen had on his desk, his deep violet fur rubbing up against his leg. With a scoff, he half hastily threw the plate of leftover meat to the rotund creature as Merlin began his feast.


    Caelen was too busy to care about that creature for now. He was already in big trouble to begin with. The business was thriving, but it didn''t matter when his resources were being expunged every single way. He didn''t want to have to wait long for it, but clearly it had been way too long. He was supposed to be here any minute. Why he waited so long, especially at night where the chance of problems was higher, Caelen didn''t know. In reality, he cared deeply for this, because if this ambassador from Araes himself wasn''t here soon, he would¡ª


    There was a knock at the door, loud and strong, like a solid hit against the wood with a hammer. Caelen had gotten up as quickly as he could, startling Merlin as he walked out of his office towards the front entrance of The Mix. He brushed himself off and flicked away the rest of his food on his tunic before coughing and opening the door.


    "Yes, gentleman..." When he had opened the door, he expected many things. What he did not expect was for a riding lizard to be staring at him in the face. Its dark green skin with swirls of deep crimson shined through the moonlight of Noiratha. Caelen almost jumped out of his own skin had it not had been because the creature turned away from the door and a man was perched atop of the beast.


    "Caelen Fullon, I presume?" The man''s voice was deep, caved in a bit from his steel helm that he wore with the visor still on his face. He wore not the cyan and silver of Kursoon, but a deep orange and purple surcoat around his steel armor. No, it was not steel, it was Rune Silver. Caelen had seen Rune Silver before, but this was different entirely. Interlocking plates of an almost metallic opal color that gave it a luster the likes of which he had never seen before. That must have costed a small army, all for one man.


    He had focused in on the colors, the orange and purple already showing the family, but the symbol made it clear. It was drawn on a symbol of brilliant white ink that portrayed a united family, that stood together with a castle like silhouette behind them.


    This was the Paramore family symbol, the strongest and most united family in Kursoon, and he worked under them.


    Caelen had forgotten his manners as he bowed an almost full bow towards the man with on the lizard and spoke.


    "Yes, Caelen Fullon. I assume you are the one that Araes has sent?"This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    The man said nothing more than he launched himself off the lizard. Now, Caelen could see two more sets of figures behind them, both draped in orange and violet cloaks that had the same symbol as the men on the back of their cloaks.


    "Things have changed." Changed? What change? Caelen tried to rack his brain on what was actually going on, but it was not like the Paramore family to not let him know something about the change in plans. But this could be good, after all, if things have changed. Perhaps they were trying not to focus on his own mistake, but to push forward with their own plan.


    "C-Change?" Caelen barely forced out that statement. He wasn''t sure how far he could push this conversation with the ambassador of their family, but what are the two for? A man in Rune Silver could take on over forty men on his own, arrows and normal steel couldn''t even get past that. So what was the point of having the other two?


    "Yes, something has changed." The man in armor walked through the door with a strong stride as he basically shoved Caelen away to get into the main room. The other two cloaked walked in behind him as they left the riding lizard out in the front entrance of The Mix. Caelen steeled his nerves as he looked outside to make sure not Kursoon guards were watching, he would pay them off if they saw something anyway, but that was money he didn''t want to have to spend.


    All three of the figures walked in towards his office space as they almost barged the door down. With the man''s armor, he had to slide into the door frame while the others simply walked through. Merlin quickly saw all three figures as he ran outside the room towards a small box that he had made his home. Caelen straightened himself as he walked into the office room with the other figures inside.


    The man in the armor reached up for his helmet as he removed the intricate helmet. He was a broad-faced man with deep cutting scars that spanned across most of his chin and his forehead. They were deep and almost serrated, like he had been cut by a hacksaw. He had a scraggly black beard, clearly dyed, and his skin was like that of a molten rock with lines of red in between a deep brown, almost black skin.


    "You must be the ambassador, I am to presume?" Caelen didn''t want to take any steps too far in any direction, dealing with a powerful family meant taking risks, but it also meant keeping your head bowed down like the floor was the most interesting thing nearby. You kept your nose to the floor, so that you make other do the same, Caelen had at least believed that.


    The large man, which already was an understatement since he could have been mistaken for a Luong in that armor, began to sneer and chuckle a small amount. Caelen looked back up to the man, his almost snarl like grin gleamed across his face.


    "You are not..." Caelen could barely let out the words before the other two figures shifted in the room before. The large man looked towards the two as they let down their cloaks.


    "Who is going to tell him?" There was another snicker that came from the same large man as Caelen looked towards the two other figures.


    The first figure was a woman with stern raven black hair that went down to her hips. It was mostly unkempt with small strands that split. Her skin was pale, but with lots of cuts and deep wounds that still waited to be healed. She looked rough but young, like she had been through too many fights. Her face looked to be in a permanent scowl, but she stood tall, as much as the other figure next to her.


    The other figure that flicked down the cloak was a much older man, could be in his upper fifties. His hair was a deep white, which was odd. His face had sets of wrinkle but with a strength to it like a warrior. His were like lake blue marbles that shone like the sea and after the cloak went up, it showed off that he was carrying a thin blade on his hip, a rapier most likely.


    If Caelen was any much of a lesser being, he would have asked more questions, but he quickly realized what was going on. In a quick motion, just as the elder man put his cloak down and Caelen recognized the face, be put his body to the ground in a kneeling position as he was sweating. How? How could be possibly be here in Kursoon?!


    "It''s been a while, hasn''t it, Caelen Fullon?" The elder man spoke, his voice like a strong general; tough, commanding, but overall his tone was soft, and it made Caelen feel like the soldier he never was. Caelen, despite all this, was still trembling. This man, the absolute power this man exhumed over him, was too much.


    "Sir.... Sir Paramore. I didn''t expect you to be here..." He didn''t know who the other woman was. Maybe his new wife. He wouldn''t be surprised if he did; What happened to Morigane was something almost everyone in Kursoon knew.


    "Well, I thought it would be good to check on how everything was going, that you were pursuing our goals at well and healthy peace." This man was the most powerful person he could think about besides the current ruler of Kursoon, but even she could not hold up the amount of power the head ruler of House Paramore had. Araes Paramore was one of the strongest humans he had ever known.


    "Our goals, I assure you sure sir, are on the same path. I have been pushing more and more Blot out of the network." Caelen was trying to force his voice not to crack, but when up against an unstoppable force, what was one to do?


    "I agree with this, and mostly, you have been doing very well." Araes motioned to the large man in the room as he bowed and walked back outside towards the riding creature. Araes had already taken a seat across the office table that Caelen was at. He had motioned for Caelen to sit down where he would normally, with a little hesitation he stood up and sat down in his chair before slouching a bit in the chair as Araes left his left leg over his right in his chair, like he was trying to keep himself comfortable.


    Still, that "most part" that Araes had mentioned scared him. He knew what he did wrong, and yet. The man came back into the room carrying a small satchel and large silvered opalescent maul. The hammer weapon must have been made of the same Runic Silver, as its luster caused a relatively small glow around it, like Creation itself blessed it.


    The man removed the items in the satchel, small vials of Blot Elixirs. The large man took out small tea cups and set them down in front of Araes, the woman and Caelen himself. He took out the Elixirs and poured each one into the cup, as the liquid swirled and shimmered in various colors. Caelen always liked the way Blot looked. Its swirling magnificence gave it almost an ethereal feeling when he stared into it and made him feel like he belonged to this high class.


    He waited to sip from it as the large man stood back, this time with his right hand on his beautiful maul. The other two sipped as Caelen waited, he felt like there was something up, but would not drinking it here make him rude? He didn''t take that risk, any more mishaps, and maybe he wouldn''t see where this would go.


    "Tell me, Mr. Fullon. What is the goal of your business model? Remind me again." Was this a test? Caelen didn''t know, but part of him was to guess that lies and remarks would get him nowhere.


    "I sell illegal and explicit goods to others who will buy." He just was truthful.


    "That is correct, and recently you have been getting an influx of Jewel fruit and Blot. You know this, right?" Araes looking still calm in his chair, but he stared into the cup itself, as if he was trying to find something within.


    "Yes, sir. That is because of you, sir..."


    "This you also know. I supply and you must, how I say, get rid of the things that stand in my way."


    "This I know..."


    "Oh, so you know this? Then what happened with the last shipment of Blot I had given you?" He knew. Of course he knew, it wasn''t truly a surprised that he knew, but the problem was that Caelen was trying to dodge the question more and more. He was trying to get out of it when he was already on a ship down.


    "I did, sir. It was a bad business deal gone south. Dr. Nahatlan told me he could afford what he was paying for. I should double checked my sources." It was a simple but horrible mistake. He had assumed that this "Dr. Nahatlan" had the income to be spending to be getting his fix. They had stolen it in the night, a team of his comprising junkies looking for a fix. He had the First captain deal with it. They would most likely be dead, or worse, but the shipment was lost.


    "Bad business deal, huh? You''ve spent how long scouring the Midlands regions, learning trade secrets, and you made a bad business deal? It''s an understatement to the say the least." Araes had already been sipping the cup of Blot as the other woman just stood there, watching him like a hawk. Those eyes bore into the side of his head like she would have burned a hole in them. Who was she?


    "It was an honest mistake. I--"


    "Honest mistake? That''s not how this works, Mr. Fullon. Honest mistakes are when you spill tea on a friend, or when you drop a plate of food and have to clean it up. No, this is your fault, and unfortunately, that means it''s much worse than you think."


    Araes snapped his fingers as the large man walked over to Caelen. He had his maul in his left hand and his right hand free. He leaned over to Caelen had grabbed his right hand in his and forced it into a tight grip. Caelen felt that squeeze of force. Pain rocketed into his hand as he gritted his teeth, looking towards Araes.


    "I''m going to tell you right now that you have done a grand disservice to the Paramore family. The plan is still going, you know that, right? If a word gets out about this, or that more Blot is circulating more frequently in the city itself, the plan doesn''t work! Araes was getting more heated, his voice a tempest of force and authority, but his voice volume didn''t get higher, but it felt louder in Caelen''s ear like thunder.


    "So, you have to truly understand how you messed up. For Life''s sake, you have one job!" Araes snapped his fingers again as the force of the man''s grip tightened as hard as he could. Caelen felt every bone in his right-hand snap and shift. It was quiet, but he was sure he heard his bones crack under the pressure. Caelen wanted to scream, he wanted to shout even more loudly than before, but before he could, the woman that Araes had brought had put her finger to her mouth, remaining Caelen to keep quiet.


    "Understand where we stand. I don''t have another smuggling unit like anyone else in this city. I''m too well known. You have been doing this too long to think I don''t notice when something is off." Caelen was trying really hard to not scream out loud, so he simply just nodded as his fingers felt numb. This man was too strong. How could a simple man be this strong?


    "You have done something bad, but think of it as out good graces that I don''t actual just chop off that hand. So I won''t chop off that hand." Araes looks at the large man as he lets go of Caelen''s hand. He felt the flop down, clearly broken from most of the joints, if not more than likely, it being disjointed from the wrist itself. He hisses in the pain as he holds it with his others, swells of tears running ample down his cheeks.


    "You and I have a special relationship, Mr. Fullon. I say that knowing that while you have actively failed me, I can''t really seem to let you go, and I suppose it is the same for me." Caelen knew he was desperately in need of Araes, then he did of others. Despite what some think, Caelen knew what it was like being at the bottom of the food chain. Days going hungry, blessed days of storms to keep his mind off the pain of hunger. Those days almost rained clear in his mind.


    How long had it had been since this deal with Araes had been going on ten years? Ever since... his wife had disappeared, at least. All he had to do was smuggle in a few things, sell off others. The deal was good, and the money was better. Caelen looked around The Mix, the shop that he built up with the money. Where would it all go if he lost this opportunity? He knew the answer, but kept that information at the back of his mind, afraid of letting it slip.


    "Even then, understand what it means to keep this charade going. I can''t afford to cut you off. You''re too valuable. But keep in mind, I don''t really think that a single loss, over the occurrence of many, is a price I''m not willing to pay. Do you understand?"


    Caelen could only nod from the pain. Araes looked over at the large man as he looked over, awaiting his command.


    "Kogon, the artifact please." The large man, now named Kogon, bowed quickly before racing outside to grab the artifact. Only a few seconds later and he brought back a small box. It was simple in design. There was hardly even a lock and key mechanism on it, only a simple ring latch that would life it up. It was the size of the large man''s hand, and it didn''t even carry the Paramore family crest on it.


    Kogon had set down the box as he leaned back against the wall and waited. Araes had taken the small box and pushed it towards Caelen, who sat there surprised. Caelen waited for but a moment to see whether opening the box was ok.


    "Open the box for all of Fala''mor''s sake!"


    In a flash, Caelan had quickly pulled up on the ring latch as he looked inside. The inside sat a cushioned gemstone of ruby color, shaped and trimmed to look like that of a sapphire, the oval-esque shape giving it a distinguished look. It was beautiful in every way, not a single scratch or mark on it, as it was cut to perfection.


    "What is this?" Caelen had questioned slowly before Araes simply laughed to himself.


    "Show him, Mel." The now named Mel grunted as she stood up and removed her cloak. She was surprisingly armored as well as the other man, though it was smaller to fit her body proportions. Her height made it look like a fine piece of armor. It was also Runic Silver, but where Kogon''s was pristine with little to no imperfections, her armor had seen many battles. It was still beautiful with an opalescent glow as part of it, but the scratches and cuts the armor had were visible, unlike Kogon''s, which gave Caelen a better sense of humility.


    "So the armor is meant for warfare" He hadn''t seen the armor being used, so in a way, he assumed that was mostly used for wealthy people to show off.


    In a moment, Mel had held out her hand. Caelen, from the corner of her eye, saw that part of the armor in her back glowed a soft blue, another part of the armor, it glowed when an Embody was being used. Mel''s eyes were heavily focused as, from the surrounding area, a soft ocean blue sphere rose next to her. It was ethereal and hummed an almost soft vibration in the air.


    "An Engrave!" Caelen had almost stood up, as Kogon walked over and picked up the gemstone in his hand. He held it up close to Mel, but a solid enough distance, as if he was expecting something. Caelen was afraid as the ethereal ball of light spun slightly. There was a vibration in the air, generating this high-pitched noise that reminded of him of metal in a storm.


    Then Araes had motioned to Mel as the ball generated a small heat that Caelen could feel. Before anything else, the ball quickly flickered before a blot of pure lightning shot out from the ball and into the gemstone. There was very little sound to the lightning bolt, but enough to startle Caelen had he jumped back. The gem Kogon was holding took the entire brunt of the lightning bolt as it hit. It glowed a solid ruby red and shined like the light of Lutana.


    Caelen processed what he had seen, trying to answer all the questions burning into his head. Mel put her hand down as he went back to the wall and leaned against it. Kogon held up the gemstone as he tossed it to Caelen.


    Caelen quickly maneuvered to catch the glowing stone as he held it in his left hand. That beautiful red stone, now maybe the entire room, glow in a sudden red hue. The gemstone was also hot to the touch, with bits of lightning arcing out of the stone itself... It was charged into the stone.


    "What.... what is this?" Caelen dared to ask.


    "That is what we like to call the future of human ingenuity. A Medium, is what we have coined it for now, a way to store into a gemstone." Caelen couldn''t believe what he was holding. Blot had many limitations despite its clear power: It couldn''t heal or restore things, it was limited in quantity and could only be used by Engraved to harness their Primary, Secondary or Tertiary.... but this.


    "This is remarkable! With this, you could do almost anything!" Caelen''s mind raised to the ideas of the power this gemstone had. You could power armor and weapons with it, it could be used as ammunition, you could even... this changes everything.


    "You think I haven''t already thought of those ideas swirling through your thick head? I have, but it''s not complete yet." As if on command, the power inside the gemstone dwindled at a rapid rate. In almost twelve seconds, the power was gone, and Caelen was left with the same ruby from before.


    "Its duration is short, and it still requires an Engrave to fuel the power. It can last only about thirty seconds before it dwindles the power. Not only that, but only rubies fuel it, and aren''t sure why."


    "Still... it''s incredible." The Paramore family was always the forerunners of brand new technology that scoured the plains of Fala''mor. Caelen still didn''t understand how much this meant to the world he knew. Something dawned on him as he held the small gemstone in his hand.


    "Why did you want to show me this? If it''s not complete, doesn''t that mean that anyone having this is dangerous?" Caelen asked, with confusion spread all across his face.


    "You''re right, it would be pretty dangerous in the wrong hands. More importantly, this kind of power hasn''t been shown to the world yet, but we are so close... You asked me why I wanted to show you this, and the answer is quite simple... I want you to keep it."


    "What?" Caelen thought in his head, already trying to piece together what this meant for him, remembering and feeling the pain in his broken right hand.


    "More questions? Look, simply put, The Medium isn''t ready and I think having a pair of fresh eyes to look at what it can do is going to be better. I also think it''s the best way to test you."


    "Test, sir?" Caelen asked.


    "Yeah, a test. I am going to let you have that, and then I''m going to see if you come up with anything later. And, if you lose it... I think maybe this relationship isn''t working out, and we can just cut ties." Araes had said without a single hint of remorse on his face.


    "What is it you want of me to do with this?"


    "Whatever you think you can do with it. We are going to keep working on it, and I want you to think of some ideas, designs even, and then let me know when we meet next, yeah?" Araes stood up as he readjusted his cloak on his back. Mel was already moving out as the large man grabbed his helmet and hammer and moved it back near the wall of the office.


    "And Kogon here will be here to help you out if you need anything. He listens to me, and thus he will listen to you." Kogon simply nodded as he sat down in the chair that Araes had gotten out of.


    "I thank you sir, this could mean so much too--"


    "Please, just see what you can find out. I am going to head out of town. I have spent too much time here already, bad memories." Araes had given a simple wave as both he and Mel put up their hoods and walked out of The Mix. When they both left, all Caelen could do was look at the gemstone in his left hand. He looked over to see that Kogon was drinking the Blot that Caelen didn''t drink. His skin glowed as he sipped and sighed into a simple bliss.


    "So, you are just here to follow my orders?" Caelen had asked, putting the small gemstone into the box and leaving it on the table. Kogon looked up at Caelen, now with a look of annoyance.


    "Unfortunately, yes, I have to do what the boss says, and regardless if I am with the worst person in human history, or a sorry excuse for a criminal like yourself, it doesn''t matter, for that is my job." Kogon''s voice was still deep without the helmet on, but now Caelen could tell how much Kogon disliked him. He didn''t blame the man, but with him in charge, it didn''t really matter.


    "I advise talking like that, lest I leave you out in the street." Caelen had exclaimed, keeping some tone of authority with the man. Kogon stood up as he walked towards Caelen, towering over him. He was a good foot taller than him, and his armor was like a steel door.


    "Is that how you think this is going to work? No, you tell me what to do, but know this... anything that you tell me that might belittle my skills, make waste of my talents, or is just plain stupid, I won''t hesitate to break the other hand."


    The threat had landed as Kogon had backed off and left the office room and shut the door with a loud bang. Caelen had clicked his tongue before touching the box softly. He had always had a belief, and a dream really, to change the world, to become something more a vagrant on the street. And now.... this gemstone was his key.


    Caelen stared at the gemstone with a wide smile on his face, the light of the candles in the room glowing. With a little precision, he could make out his own face in the red hue of the stone, like the him inside knew that this could change everything.


    He would change everything.

 Chapter 5: It shined.

    Chapter 5: It shined.


    Max''Sall and Dormion walked through the Ashen streets, walking through and past other Dull and the humans that were just trying to get by. It was a decent day, at least in Max''Sall''s eyes; he thought it would be a good day. It was raining today, which was often enough in Storarnum, as it was almost as if The Concept was shining down on people during their month. That was something he could give to Kursoon and their culture in general; at least it was easy enough to remember when you were told.


    His wounds still pained him from yesterday, but most of the actual pain was starting to dwindle; now he was only left with bruises. Maybe some of his bones were broken, but he didn''t feel anything too bad from before. Besides, he didn''t really have any time to dedicate to healing or rest; no work, no money, and that would mean death. Plus, getting out of that cramped home would make him feel better; at least he thought so.


    "Let''s hope there isn''t anything too dangerous today." Dormion had said with a little bit of a smile. Perhaps he was just trying to keep the mood light so that Max''Sall was distracted from his pain, and for the most part he was.


    "You know, I think he should just give us something so difficult that we have to travel across all of Fala''mor to do it. That would be the least exciting." Max''Sall commented with little regard for who heard. The people around started to notice the two Dulls walking towards the line of restaurants that sat upon the upper hill that Kursoon was on. It was an almost plaza-style collection of all sorts of restaurants that Kursoon had to offer, though the price typically waned between too much and way too much.


    He and Dormion ignored the looks, which were mostly on Max''Sall since he still didn''t wear the heavy coat and masks that would cover most of his face. Other Dull walked the street as well, still in the same heavy coats and garments, but most tried to stay away from the attention they were drawing. They had made it to a set of large stairs that took them up to The Mix, which sat upon an almost plateau-style high rise with three other restaurants that served various foods from other villages.


    "Perhaps we should take to him... Do you think that he might listen?" Dormion had asked, and yet Max''Sall figured that he was only asking in case he had something to say or thought that Caelen had changed. He would never change; people like him don''t.


    "To what? If we asked him to get an easier job, he would probably just tell us to go clean toilets instead; that would be much easier." He wasn''t wrong; it would be much easier, but he had tried going to other jobs and people that were hiring in need of pure physical labor, which seemed to have no more open spots after he attempted to ask for a job.


    "I know, we should just hope and pray to Creation itself." Dormion placed his hands together flatly, which he said was a pretty common way people prayed to Creation. Dormion was a lot more religious than Max''Sall had assumed, which he didn''t mind. Perhaps some of those prayers landed his way when he found money on the street or perfectly good food about to be thrown out.


    He whispered a quiet chant as they both walked into The Mix, the place a little bit more quiet than usual. They walked in to the sound of laughter as Toran had looked over to the both of them in a small nod.


    "Quiet day, eh Toran?" Max''Sall had asked, since he knew Toran was never a guy to get mad or too emotive. Toran simply sighed as he was cleaning another plate. Dormion went up to try and speak the password before Toran simply held a hand up and motioned towards the office space in the back, where all the noise was being heard from.


    Max''Sall raised an eyebrow before steeling his nerves; he would need to at least have some kind of grudge-like emotion within; it fueled his need to do his job and kept a spare bit just in case Caelen hit just the right nerve on just the right day. Dormion simply motioned Max''Sall to walk over to him as they both walked towards the door. Toran didn''t say anything, which normally meant he had more important matters, but the room was almost empty. Why was his silence today so suffocating?


    Dormion knocked on the door as he coughed to make sure his voice wasn''t going to give out as he spoke.


    "Uh, Caelen? Are you in there?" The laughing was stifled for a moment before a sudden step of almost crushing footsteps went towards the door. The door opened to see a man, no, a monster covered in pure colored armor. Each plate interlocking into another, he looked like a statue of some hero. Max''Sall couldn''t see his face, as the helmet was blocking that, and he simply nodded towards Dormion and opened the door wider to the office space.


    There in the now well-lit room sat Caelen as he was sipping some purple liquid that Max''Sall didn''t really know, so he figured it was most likely wine. He hadn''t seen Caelen drink wine before, though. Caelen had continued laughing at the other figures in the room, though they were hard to see since they must have been near the corner of the room.


    "Ah, you two! Come, come! I have a job for you." He had waved them into the room as Dormion and Max''Sall both walked in. The armored man went into the west side of the room near a cabinet as he leaned on the wall. The moment they walked in, Max''Sall saw the now three figures... the same three that had beaten them up yesterday. They looked towards the two of them with small snickers as Rylander wiggled his fingers in towards them, like they were close friends. The other two laughed as Max''Sall was starting to feel his fist grip tightly. What he wouldn''t do to hit Rylander across the face.


    The large man in the beautiful armor stood tall, almost as tall as the room; he had to be at least a foot taller than anyone in the room. Was he Luong? No, Max''Sall had heard that they don''t wear armor like that; their bodies functioned as strong armor anyway. Dormion had walked up to the sitting Caelen as Max''Sall stood next to him.


    Max''Sall noted a small box sitting in between Caelen and themselves; it was a simple box without even a keyhole, just a small latch. Why was it sitting out in the open? Max''Sall looked over to Caelen, whose face was a shade of red. Against the tan of his skin, it was almost like he was drunk? Max''Sall understood that perhaps that was what happened when Blot was a little more scarce. Alcohol was a poor man''s drink, at least that''s what people around him said; why have wine and mead when you could drink liquid that keeps that good feeling without the side effects? It made sense, at least to him.


    "You two, good thing you are here. I need you to deliver something to a friend of mine near Matthias Hall. It''s just a small thing." Caelen never spoke like this; he must have been drunk. His voice was calm and collected, but there were parts where his voice would go up and down in pitch, like he was trying to control his speaking tone.


    Max''Sall looked over to the large man; unlike the rest, this man irked him. He stood over the two of them, looking down on them. That might have been due to his height, but the way he stood over them with his arms crossed and his head tilted up towards him, that was something he was trying to enforce. To his left, Max''Sall the giant hammer that the man must have carried; he was a warrior, no doubt, but that armor looked too good. No guard he had ever seen wore something so...ornate? He looked like a hero in a story, but unlike those stories, Max''Sall could feel something about this man that pushed his nerves towards the edge.


    Caelen had practically gone underneath his desk to pick up a small satchel similar to that they had yesterday for the people in the same room. Max''Sall had looked to them as well; they were as jovial as Caelen looked to be, but their faces weren''t as red as his. Rylander had simply looked over him, with the same wicked smile he had carried before. What was he doing here?


    "What about those three?" Max''Sall had said before turning towards Caelen, who had taken another sip of wine. Rylander and his crew stopped laughing and cheering as they looked towards Caelen as well.


    "Oh, those are my new recruits! You know, more employees of mine. They showed great determination, telling me how I scammed them, and decided to give them a chance on a mission." Max''Sall''s teeth gritted tightly.


    Why? He backed towards Rylander as he simply gave him a thumbs up. It was only then when Max''Sall noticed a metal pipe at his side, the same pipe he used yesterday to beat him to a bloody pulp. Max''Sall felt everyone around him was looking down upon him, like dragon hawks circling their prey. Was there any hope of escape?


    "You can''t be serious! You duped them yesterday, and now you all are buddy-buddy?!" Max''Sall shouldn''t have been getting so worked up; it never went well. Caelen had simply put down his cup of wine as he looked towards the armored man. The man only had to step forward for those heavy set footsteps to stomp into the floor, like a tremor made only by a man. Max''Sall looked to the man who had moved forward; his left hand was not gripping the shaft of his hammer, now staring directly at Max''Sall.


    "Watch your mouth, Dull." His voice boomed like thunder, and he moved like a mountain. Every single fiber of Max''Sall''s heart was screaming out in fear towards him. He was sweating; he could feel those beads trickle down the side of his head. Why was this man so large? Was he Luong? Those thoughts raced through Max''Sall''s head before he just tried to keep those nerves in check.


    "Listen, I thought you guys could use the help. The business is growing, and everything is getting just a little harder. I need the people, and it''s clear that these gentlemen needed the money for future endeavors. Let''s just all bury the hatchet and just work together, no more ill intentions, eh?" He was clearly drunk, at least from what he was spewing.


    "He''s right, Max; let''s just do our best to work together from now on. Let bygones be bygones, right?" Rylander had said, approaching Max''Sall from the corner of darkness. He let him get close but nothing else, as he simply stared at him with little regard.


    His fist clenched as Rylander was close enough to at least get a good hit off; maybe then he would just see how far he could take it. Max''Sall never wanted to kill a man, but this was no man; a bully by some... a monster to him.


    But then what? Kill him, and that was it. There would be no second chances for him, and he would most likely be sent to Black Water; there he could rot even worse than he was here. No, the best thing to do was to suck it up and deal with it. Weather the storm.


    Max''Sall looked back to Dormion as he simply just shook his head in disdain and quickly took the satchel from the front of the table. Max''Sall wanted to quickly search the items contained within it, but doing so here would be a sign of bad faith, and he didn''t want to anger anyone in this room, especially the man who seemed to deal with problems like that for a living.


    "You''re right...bury the hatchet." Max''Sall simply said as he held out his hand, trying to keep the peace. He would have smiled, but there was nothing to smile about, even if it was fake. Rylander did smile as he grabbed Max''Sall''s hand towards the wrist, where he pushed his fingernails into his skin. It didn''t cut, but it hurt like the concepts. He noted how Rylander''s wickedness didn''t seem to falter any further before he let go and pulled away.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Glad to see that we can see eye to eye." Rylander had said before walking back to that same corner. Dormion had put on the satchel as he motioned for Max''Sall to follow him after.


    "Where is this to be delivered...sir?" Dormion, said with hesitation. Was he angry as well?


    "Simple really, just a small delivery to the First Captain of the Mercantile District. Captain Ichorn, yeah, that''s him." Max''Sall didn''t recognize the name, but he was to guess it was most likely that man had come in yesterday to talk to Caelen. That made things easier, but returning to that place was something he didn''t want to do.


    Max''Sall simply nodded as he was already heading out the door. He quickly opened the door to the office before he began to walk away. He made it to the door before he heard someone cough behind. Toran was looking at him as he was washing a glass.


    "Goodbye, Max''Sall." There was a calmness to his voice that Max''Sall couldn''t place. He didn''t have a deep voice, but only then did it feel like he was holding onto something that made his heart turn. He had never said this before, not during the nine years he has been doing this job. Maybe his heart was warming up to him.


    "Bye, Toran. I''ll be back soon." Max''Sall simply walked out of The Mix, not thinking about it any more. He waited a few moments before Dormion had walked out of the door. He had also said goodbye to Toran, so he was definitely warming up to them. Dormion adjusted the satchel on his right shoulder as they both began to make their way towards the mercantile district.


    They began to walk slowly together as Dormion began to open the satchel itself. They were only barely away from the restaurant before Max''Sall walked with him quickly. People were starting to gather near the shops while wearing thinner clothing. Kursoonian people usually like the rain too, one of the only things he could relate to them with. They wore clothes that exposed a little more skin to the cool edge of the rainfall and wore more natural blue hues for the day. The Blessings festival had already passed, but it felt like it again today.


    Max''Sall could feel the tension between the two as he simply adjusted himself and spoke softly.


    "I can''t believe he would do that. He had to have known what they did; why else would they have done that?" Max''Sall was trying not to get mad, but he wanted to hear more if Dormion was feeling something similar.


    "I know...I didn''t know what to do. That man looked like a true warrior in that armor. I wonder how much of the world he had seen." Max''Sall didn''t think about that much; the freedom to go and be somewhere else was always in the back of his mind, but he could only hear the man''s voice as it dripped with something boiling underneath.


    "I don''t know, why did he look at us like that? And he called us Dull too, already bad first impressions." Max''Sall said, walking into the district itself. The stairs became much more noticeable, but it was less due to the rain itself.


    "We just have to ignore them. Like we said yesterday...another thing that pushes us underneath the water." Max''Sall had said with contempt.


    "Don''t use my words like that. We can do this; we just need one strong push, and we can continue down the hill, never looking back!" Dormion still was that ball of energy and hope that he had been for all this time.


    "Never look back is right. Hope to never have to do this kind of job ever again." Saying that reminded him of the satchel Dormion was given as he looked towards it and pointed towards it.


    "We aren''t going anywhere until I see what''s in that." Dormion had stopped quickly before holding up the satchel.


    "Max''Sall! Think about if someone else were to see it. What then?"


    "I don''t care; I''m not getting beat up because Caelen decided to not give another man what he is owed. Either we check right now, or we find somewhere to do it quietly. But I am not going to deliver this thing with only a half-developed understanding of what it is we are doing." Max''Sall simply waited for Dormion to answer before he moved.


    Dormion sighed before he looked around and pointed towards a small alleyway that went into another street, but it was a little darker and isolated in that area.


    "There, let''s go there at least." Dormion had moved towards the alleyway as he shook off the excess water on his coat. Dormion had taken the satchel as he opened it from the silver latch and opened it up to the simple leather to a note. The satchel only had one pocket, meant to carry papers and small objects.


    Inside was a single note with a maroon stamp that was carefully sealed with wax. Nothing else was stuffed within. Dormion had picked up the small note, trying to garner any real information from it, but since it had no real writing until he opened up the letter, he was left blank.


    "It''s just a letter; maybe he was right, just a simple job." Max''Sall didn''t want to believe that, not after yesterday.


    "Let me see it, the satchel I mean." Dormion hesitated for a second before he handed him the satchel. Max''Sall quickly sifted his hand through the satchel''s insides, trying to look through the bag.


    He was looking thoroughly, trying to make sure that there was nothing within the bag itself. Was he just paranoid? Maybe there was nothing wrong with this, and he just was looking for something that didn''t exist. What had he been looking for?


    "Maybe there is just nothing. An easy mission because he feels bad about--"


    As if by some force willing, he felt something hard within the satchel, like a small rock that was almost enclosed into the leather itself. Max''Sall quickly picked at the leather as he found a small notch in the leather that was clearly sewn together in a hurry as he opened it up.


    There, a brilliant ruby gemstone sat within. It was only about two inches in length, maybe half an inch in width, with a beautiful cut. Gemstones were not made this beautifully; they were cut and shaped into something marvelous like this. He held the stone as it glowed with a faint red hue in his hand. Dormion had looked towards the gemstone as he was just as enamored as Max''Sall was.


    Max''Sall didn''t know what to say; every emotion he felt in this moment only sharpened his focus around this stone. It was a key, a key to something so much more. Something this beautiful, this pristine, would go for at least a green enamel, maybe even a blue. This changed everything. Flashes of dark nights and smaller and smaller portions of food flashed into his eyes before the glow of the ruby shined away those memories.


    "This¡­ this could be our opportunity."


    ***


    Caelen sipped down the rest of the bottle of Everburn, a purple wine that he liked to keep for special occasions. He didn''t have Blot to drink; otherwise, that was what was typically in his glass. He regretted having made that slip-up with the Blot shipment now that he had very little of it to drink, so he saved it for later.


    After the bottle had been polished off, he had taken out a small pen before taking out a small slip of paper and began to write. He was writing a small glyph, meant to honor the dead the same as you would put on the grave of a soldier. He would have to keep his glyphs decent-looking from time to time; when you were in this business, you had to make declarations and glyphs to people you never truly cared for.


    "They already went off, I assume to the First Captain." Caelen had begun to get some of his senses back after polishing off the wine as Kogon had removed his helmet, his stern eyes looking towards the rain out of the window towards the east of the room.


    "Most likely." Caelen didn''t answer very much more; what was the point? The plan was set in motion long before the two Dulls came; he knew his job and knew it well. There needed to be a scene soon.


    "I took you for a coward, just a man who uses others for his gain." Kogon said without as much as moving a muscle. Caelen looked up as the man was gripping his maul in his right hand and his helmet clutched in between his left arm and his armpit.


    "What about now?"


    "You still are a coward, but a respectable coward." Caelen looked back at the paper as he looked at the retribution glyph. It was wrong. He knew it was wrong, and he never took the time to correct it, maybe because he never gave two bits whether or not it was correct. When was the last time someone died that he cared about?


    "Not since Mother died, I suppose." When was the last time he had thought about it? It didn''t matter; none of it mattered. She died a nobody; he would not. He pushed away the small note before simply waiting.


    "What is a coward anyway?" Caelen had asked, almost as if he wasn''t speaking to Kogon in particular, like a question that only The Concepts would know.


    "Guess that depends on what you think I mean. It could mean lots of things. A traitor, a person of feeble mind, someone that won''t get their hands dirty."


    Kogon seemed like the question was already bothering him, despite almost implying what each of them meant.


    "So a respectable coward is someone who will get their hands dirty...but not without the help of others?" Caelen assumed Kogon was talking about his plan. It was dirty, underhanded, and overall in poor taste of judgment, but how else was he supposed to remove those two and cause a scene overall? He had enough of the Paramores...but he was so close.


    "No, a respectable coward is the man who acknowledges how little they matter in the grand scheme of everything and yet still decides to watch from the sidelines. They are, as one would say, the least ignorant of all cowards. " Kogon had pronounced as he sipped from a wine cup that looked small in his large gloved hands.


    Ignorance. How long has Caelen been ignorant about where he stood in the entire scheme of things? His mind was fuzzy; it was the wine that kept those bubbling thoughts to the surface instead of repressing those soft mushes of thought back down into the darkness of his mind, where he would sip on the wine until they came back or were erased from his mind.


    It''s been eleven years since he had been in the Paramore family, and how long did it take him to see what truly mattered to this life that he cultivated? Was it money? Was it fame and renown?


    "No. It was never any of those things." Caelen thought before gripping his hand into a tight fist. He looked up from his desk to see Kogon still standing there in his plated Runic Silver. No, it truly was the power.


    A man covered in Runic Silver was an army; a man with too much money to fill his pockets was still just a man, and he would die like any other man. Even worse, when he would die, the man with the pockets full of enamel would spill it all out onto the cold ground where others would take it. Money was paid for power, but it was not power. Even the queen of Kursoon knew it, and the weakest, most insignificant Dull all knew, but he was blind this entire time.


    "I''m not a respectable coward..." Caelen had said it out loud. Kogon raised his eyebrow as he turned his entire body towards Caelen, who was staring at him intently. His gemstone-lined buttons glistened in the small lit room.


    "Oh? Then what do you think you are, Mr. Fullon?" Kogon asked, his face stern and menacing. Caelen was scared, but not of him, about what he stood for. Kogon was the beacon of humanity, the strength of the cause, and he didn''t even know it.


    "I am just a man, not a coward, not respectable...just a man."


    Kogon didn''t say anything, waiting simply for Caelen to speak up. Caelen stood up as he heard footsteps walk towards his office door; he simply let them walk closer as he grabbed a green enamel out of his leather-bound money pouch, a small fortune for some, a significant piece of metal to him.


    "A man is now a coward; he carries no labels like that. He is not the money in his pocket or the amount of people that know his name. It''s the armor he wears, the weapon he brings to the table, knowing the blood that spreads across it. I carry no armor, no weapon, only the money I keep safely tucked away inside my chest. Perhaps that is why I am no coward; I haven''t earned the title yet.


    Kogon simply waited awhile before he chuckled to himself. For a second, Caelen saw the look in the man''s eyes. It was not a look of power, nor a look of understanding. It was something that burned within: Fury. Caelen had heard it before, but he wasn''t sure where or when. He could only remember his mother speaking of what Fury did to a man.


    "Fine then, Mr. Fullon. You are indeed a man. If not a foolish one."


    The door opened quickly as a Kursoon guard walked in; his face was serious with hints of both surprise and fear as he quickly saluted to Caelen and stood up straight in a soldier''s posture. Caelen looked over to the man in hopes of the news.


    "Well?"


    "Sir! Both Dull were seen running towards the mercantile district, sir!


    Good, this was good.


    "Did they look the same as I have described?"


    "It was hard to tell, sir; most Dulls looked similar, but one had a heavy coat and the other had long dark hair and worn-out clothes." That was them. He didn''t want to make examples of them, but a man without power didn''t have anything truly there to begin with.


    "Good, those thieves need to be brought to justice. Send the captain out to arrest them." The soldier nodded quickly as he rushed out of the room. Kogon seemed to laugh as he put on his helmet and adjusted the maul and threw it onto his back with a small leather strap that kept it attached.


    "Do what must be done; return that gemstone to me. Cause a scene." Caelen had said, his voice barely a whisper. Kogon has nodded as he began to walk towards the door, but not before turning towards Caelen once more.


    "You say you are just a man...but I don''t think that''s true." Caelen paused, trying quickly to piece together what the armored man was trying to imply. Before he could say anything back, Kogon simply turned back around and began to walk as he said something to Caelen.


    "You are also one sick bastard." Kogon laughed as some of the same Fury that was in his eyes seemed to penetrate towards his voice, like the thunder in the sky. He had walked off as he was off to finish the job. Caelen simply looked outside towards the rain; it was getting worse by the minute, and soon it would be pouring outside. Yet despite that, the words of Kogon pierced back into his mind, and for the first time in a while, Caelen smiled as broadly as he could.


    "You got that right."

 Chapter 6: When does it end?

    Chapter 6: When does it end?


    Max''Sall didn''t remember much of his mother; he was most likely too young to ever picture her more than what he could remember. Her favorite foods, her voice¡ªhe remembered none of it, as she was gone before he ever truly knew her. He hated not knowing; those plain bits of ignorance made him more angry than understanding the truth. Those who swam in the deep end without knowing what lurks beneath were always taken away too soon.


    As much as he doesn''t remember her, there were things that pierced the back of his mind that he does remember about her. As he stared down at the ruby in his hand, one of those memories came flooding back.


    Her eyes. It''s said that a Dull''s eyes were just stones of grey; they carried no color and showed nothing about them. Often people said many things about Dull''s like that, trying to find ways of making them look different, to separate themselves from others. He had no Embody; that was certain, but he could see the color in everyone''s eyes.


    Dormion''s always held faint nicks of blue in his eyes; it sparkled like water or a puddle gleaming in the sunlight. You could tell a lot about a person when you spent time with them, when you looked and spoke to them.


    His mother''s were red. Red like the brightest ruby and the coziest fire one could muster. There was no gray in her eyes, at least he didn''t believe so. Her eyes were like she had stolen bits of the light in the sky and encased it within her eyes, giving her an almost orange glow around her eyes.


    He remembered staring up at her when she cooked, when she would smile back at him. It was almost like she wore her heart in her eyes, like he could see the love in her eyes when she looked at him. That was what he remembered the most.


    The gemstone shined brightly in his hand, his mother''s same brilliant glow still persistent in the gemstone itself. He couldn''t help but stare at it, waiting for something to happen with the precious stone, though nothing did happen. It was still raining; the pitter-patter of gentle raindrops outside of the alleyway made everything around feel eerily silent.


    "This... This could be it. We could use this and finally be free!" Max''Sall felt like everything, every emotion, and any ounce of joy was finally reaching the surface. He held the stone in his hand. Dormion was looking through the bag once more before he put the letter in and looked into Max''Sall''s hand to see the ruby once again.


    "H-How much do you think it''s worth?" His voice was shaky, but it was an excitement Max''Sall could tell. He most likely knew that this thing was worth heaps, but he needed an almost confirmed amount on how much.


    "At least a few green, maybe even a blue, or even a blue-green would be perfect!" In truth, Max''Sall didn''t know how much it was worth, but he had seen gems and jewelry hanging up in the windows of the Mercantile district, and not a single one was as beautiful, ornate, or as perfect as this one. If those could go for heaps, this one might be the most expensive thing he has held in his life.


    Max''Sall gave it to Dormion to look at as he slowly grabbed it into his left hand and held it like you would a small bird. He held it to his face as his eyes almost gleamed towards it; the small blue of his eyes sparkled in the gemstone''s scarlet hue. He held it close for a second before he smiled a bit into a small chuckle.


    "T-This could be it... We could use this and get out!" Both of them smiled at each other before Max''Sall grabbed Dormion into a strong hug and started lifting him into the air. There were a few who were looking over, but he didn''t much care for them. They were going to be free.


    "Ok! OK! Put me down!" Max''Sall laughed a bit before setting him down to the ground as he wiped some of the rain out of his face. Dormion kept holding onto the gemstone as Max''Sall looked around towards the city street.


    "We need a plan...clearly this was something he was giving to someone, which means we have to get this out of the city or we need to escape to find someone who will buy it... Oh man, but who will?"


    Max''Sall''s mind was trying to find or search for anyone or any place that may or may not take this gemstone for the price... How much would they get for this thing? There were too many factors: who they sold it to, where they would sell it... if they would buy from Dull. To most it didn''t matter, but people would ask questions; that was going to be the problem.


    "Creation''s End! How and who are going to sell this thing too? Maybe we can get someone to sell it for us, but who could we trust to do it? Toran? No, who''s to say that he won''t just sell us out?" Max''Sall thought, running through his small list of names who could help them.


    "Dormion, maybe you have an idea." Max''Sall looked to Dormion, who was staring at the gemstone still, but it wasn''t the same gleam in his eye that shimmered; there was an almost grief or contemplation that was plastered over his face. Max''Sall waited a second to see if he heard what he said as he snapped in front of him.


    Dormion jumped as he stared back at Max''Sall still with that contemplative look.


    "Yeah!?" He was clearly startled by his snap.


    "I was thinking of who we could sell the stone to, and I wondered if you had anyone in your mind that you think could be useful." Max''Sall asked as he was clearly looking around to make sure no one was watching them.


    Dormion only held the stone a little tighter as he looked towards Max''Sall with a look of pain. Max''Sall was confused at the look, as he was now just confused at Dormion giving him an odd look.


    "Are you ok?" Max''Sall asked sincerely. Dormion sighed as he held up the ruby rock and spoke calmly.


    "We have to give it back. The stone..." Max''Sall didn''t know if he heard him correctly. He simply kept looking at him, trying to understand him.


    "Give it back?"


    "Yes...I think it''s right." Dormion had said.


    "It''s right? What do you mean it''s right? When did you start becoming the master of what is right and wrong?" He was starting to get frustrated. This was their chance; they couldn''t have cold feet right now. It would be hard, but when was there ever a time when life was not hard? They had the chance to become something more; their dreams could be achieved.


    "I just mean that if we do this, we will be just as bad as Caelen and all those other rotten people that he has do his dirty work."


    "We do it anyway; what makes it any different when we do it? They started it, and it''s the only way we have been having enough money to eat."


    "Well, maybe I don''t think we should anymore."


    "We shouldn''t anymore? How else are we going to be able to do anything?! I understand that stealing is bad, and we shouldn''t, but what''s the other choice?" When was the last time they had a choice?


    "I just think it''s different."


    "Different?! How?!"


    "I don''t know Max''Sall, somewhere between delivering illegal substances to others that we don''t make or use and when we actively choose to steal priceless items that don''t belong to us."


    "You make it sound like there is a spectrum. They don''t see it that way; why should we?"


    "Because they don''t care about us!"


    "Exactly, so we shouldn''t care about them!"


    "NO!" Max''Sall stepped back as Dormion shouted to him in a surprising anger he didn''t think he had within him. Dormion quickly stepped back; there was clear surprise to him as well, as he simply sighed in defeat.


    "They don''t care about us, Dormion. We have been simply their stepping stools for way too long. Caelen doesn''t care about us. He hired those guys because it either pissed us off, or he is simply going to get rid of us."


    Dormion paused; whether it was contemplation or acceptance, Max''Sall didn''t know. He didn''t want to push his friend like this. They''ve been together for so long; what did it matter if they had different opinions? They had those on many things. But something was so different about this conversation, like something hung in the balance between.


    What was the point of this? They could just sell the stone, go from this horrible city, and live their own lives. They have done bad things, sure, but they were going to change; everything would change once they got rid of that stone. Couldn''t this just wait? Just a few more days?


    "I know they don''t care. Look at us; they took your mother, and my parents left me here. We are nothing but the dregs of society."


    Max''Sall looked away, trying to push back that terrible day, the day when everything was taken. He didn''t want to think about it, not anymore. Dormion looked up at him as he took off the hood of his heavy cloak, his brown unkempt hair being pushed down by the rain. He took off his mask, revealing the heavy set scars near his upper mouth.


    "We don''t have money, barely any food, and without your mother, we would have no home. The others scrape by through menial jobs and physical labor, but we are forced to do terrible things, risking our lives for bits. And yet, we still scrape the bottom of the barrel.


    "So why don''t we just go!? Start something new; become better. We''ve done terrible things and fought and fought against everything that came our way. Why can''t we just do this and live our lives free of this chain!"


    Dormion looked back at him, a steadfast determination in his eyes.


    "Because we''d be just as bad."This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Nobody can be as bad as them..."


    "We would. Max''Sall, they took everything from us, and to take something from them, to sink to their level and become these sharks, that''s what that would do to us. You hate them; I hate them. I hate this city more than anything... but I can''t let that define us."


    Max''Sall needed that hatred, that fresh emotion that boiled over him every day, that tiny piece of him that told him to push on every day. What would it be without it? He would be empty, empty as the people of Kursoon, dressed up in new and unique colors but still just as empty as he would be.


    "I can''t. Every time I wake up, every time I get mad, it keeps reminding me of what I have to lose, what we can prove to others. I need this hate."


    "You don''t need that hate, Max''Sall. We are bound by our choices to choose whether we will hate or love. Protect or destroy. I used to think that it would be the same, wishing on the same thing. When I saw you get hurt, it changed me."


    Max''Sall still felt the lingering pain in his side, a constant reminder of the pain over the years, brought back in one day.


    "We had to fight almost our entire life, so when you stood up and took my blows...I knew that there was always another option."


    "I did that because you were going to get hurt."


    "You did it because you wanted to protect me. You made that choice."


    Max''Sall felt confused. In the way that he understood what he was saying, but never felt that way before. It wasn''t as if he wasn''t trying to protect Dormion, but some part of him, the part that would scream out in the night when he was in pain, or the days that they would go hungry, told him to stand, told him to make a choice.


    Did he really make that choice then?


    "I..." Max''Sall didn''t know what to say, so he decided to say nothing. Dormion looked back towards the rainy street as the people were still moving through each side, almost fading into the color of the rain. He stood up as he and Max''Sall looked towards it as well.


    "We were born to be broken, to be challenged and beat down. Yet we have gotten up every time to meet their eyes. Every time they look down on us, we stand up. Would it be different if it were reversed? Does it make it right simply because bad things happen to us too?"


    Max''Sall didn''t speak. He heard only the beating of his own heart and the rain dripping onto the noisy street. Dormion grabbed his shoulder in the alleyway as Max''Sall turned around. They stared into each other''s eyes; they only had each other.


    "We must be better than them, Max''Sall."


    Those words...He had heard them before. But where? He simply looked away from Dormion; he couldn''t look at him as he looked down at his feet, as he gritted his teeth.


    "I can''t...." Those words hurt him more than he thought, like he was peeling back some old wound carved into his heart. Dormion simply held onto his shoulder as he looked towards the street still.


    "We have to be."


    Why?


    There was a sudden movement behind the both of them as Max''Sall looked back to see four, no, five Kursoon guards that were holding out their weapons. Their gleaming silver weapons were shining in the rain as Dormion quickly turned around and saw them walk up. They ran up to only about 15 feet away as one man, the same first captain they saw at The Mix. He held up an ornate, almost platinum scimitar that had a curved blade like a jagged cut into rock. He held it up as his face looked like he was angry.


    "Two Dull, Max''Sall and Dormion. You both are coming with me."


    Both of them looked at each other as Dormion was holding the gemstone in his right hand, which was behind his back. Max''Sall simply walked forward a bit as two of the guards in the back switched to having heavy crossbows in their hands. That delicate craftsmanship was something even Max''Sall could respect. It bore the symbol of Kursoon on its side, a circle with a diamond-like shape with a man holding the symbol of "K" in its hand.


    "Are you the first captain? We have a delivery for you." Dormion had the satchel in his other hand as he began to walk slowly towards them.


    "Do not move! You two are coming with me! Drop whatever is in your hand!" The First Captain held up his hand in a sort of army gesture, most likely to signal the other soldiers to hold their weapons. Max''Sall was confused; they hadn''t done anything yet, and they hadn''t decided to do it either. Did they know? If they had, he would have gotten the gem either way, so why were they here?


    Dormion looked towards Max''Sall as he slowly moved his right hand forward, the one with the gemstone in it.


    "Dormion, no!" Max''Sall thought, but it was too late. Dormion held out his right hand as he showed off the brilliant stone. The other guards looked in wonder and anger as they saw the stone''s magnificent glow in the dreary rain, like a light of pure hope. The First Captain seemed to look away in pain as he gritted his teeth and looked back at them with pain in his eyes.


    "I''m sorry... For stealing from Caelen Fullon, we ask that both of you come with us to return the stolen goods and face swift punishment."


    "Punishment? We didn''t steal this gem! It was in the satchel we were supposed to give to you! We didn''t do anything!" Max''Sall shouted in anger. Dormion was still holding out the gemstone as the First Captain motioned for two of the guards as they walked closer with shorter swords. Dormion wasn''t sure what to do. He looked down as the two guards began to approach.


    "Why?! Why is this happening?! We didn''t... No." It was obvious to him what was going on. They were tricked; it must have been Caelen, or at least to some extent, the others. The gem, the people, all of it. It was a setup.


    "Caelen put you up to this, didn''t he?! You are just under his finger, waiting for commands like dogs! We''re all dogs here, huh?! Waiting for the next sliver of meat on the bone!" The First Captain didn''t look at Max''Sall when he said it; perhaps he didn''t want to see the truth, to look upon the lives of which he ruined. Or maybe he just didn''t care.


    The two guards came up closer and closer as Max''Sall''s heart and head burned with hatred. How could he live without this, this feeling that kept him going? It didn''t matter; it wouldn''t matter if they were taken. Who knows what would happen if they were taken? Where would they go? No. Max''Sall wouldn''t let that happen.


    He grabbed Dormion quickly right before the other guards could get to them, and he bolted towards the other direction, towards the street. The two guards shouted something out, but he could not hear them, as more shouts came from the crowd.


    The populated streets moved and shifted as both of them ran close away from the alleyway towards...somewhere. Max''Sall let go of Dormion as they both heard the yelling and shouting from the guards behind. The rain was pouring harder, droplets the size of enamel dropped onto the street, and most of the people went under the natural covers of stores and overhangs to keep dry as they both kept running.


    Where would they go, and what would they do? Those questions burned the back of his mind, trying to piece its own answer together, but there was nothing. They knew where they lived, at least close enough, as long as Rylander was there. The Mix would do nothing, and any other place would just turn them in.


    "What do we do?!" Dormion had asked through panted breaths. Max''Sall didn''t answer, trying to rack his brain with the answer. Each of the guards had been gaining traction towards them; they were stronger and faster; they would eventually catch up.


    Dormion had quickly pointed to a nearby corner to another street to the right. They both quickly turned the corner into a side street filled with homes that went down closer to the west gate of the city. They had both begun to run as fast as they could, but the captain kept chasing them, screaming and shouting incoherently. They had begun to notice the influx of guards began to chase down on them, all for one ruby.


    "Why...we just wanted to live out of the streets. Every single time we are close to moving up, to leaving this place, not causing trouble for anyone." Max''Sall thought, trying to wipe away the rain on his face. He looked around, through the towering homes and the people gasping at his presence. Some of them were throwing things at him, small bits of unusable fruit and vegetables. They despised him; he despised all of them.


    The rain became heavy, and the puddles of rain that only reached the tip of his boots now soaked a lot of his and left him feeling wet and cold. The heavy rain annoyed him, and it frustrated him, too many noises and sights piercing his brain. Where would they--


    "The sewer!" Dormion had yelled out to Max''Sall. He was right; if they could get to where the water was being drained and hide out, they might have a chance to wait out the trouble and find a way to escape. The sewer was further down the road; it is usually guarded by other guards, which meant they had to push through them, but what other choice did they have?


    "What about the others?!" Max''Sall yelled towards Dormion.


    "We''ll deal with it, together." That Max should at least calm down a bit more. They both ran down the street and took a swift left. Each section was built into districts made to grossly combine each accessible section of the city. It meant that each part of the city could trace itself back to the mercantile district, like puzzle pieces that would combine to a single rudimentary piece. Which also meant that if you knew the layout of the city well, it was easy to know where to go.


    The sewer, or the end of the housing district, was concealed on a slant so that water would go down easily into the small grates that were about 20 ft out for every four or five houses or so. Which meant that the end of the district was into a tunnel meant for workers to go down into and work.


    Max''Sall and Dormion made it to the slanted-down house district and took a sharp left down into the streets. They both ran down into the slanted street; there were very few people on the streets, as most were inside their homes.


    Max''Sall looked back to see other guards loading up their crossbows. With a fast whistle across the wind, Max''Sall saw the crossbow bolt rocket towards them as it landed into the stone street nearby. They kept coming, raining down into the sky like the heavy rain.


    Because they could keep moving, it meant that it took a while for them to reload the bolts back in, giving them time to run down the street.


    "There!" Dormion pointed towards the flattened part of the street, where the water would rush down to a small tunnel off to the side, away from the streets that went into other parts of the city. He could feel his heart pumping and pushing out of every ounce of strength he had, the pain from yesterday still lingering, but adrenaline flowing in his veins.


    Dormion was not so lucky; he was lagging behind a good bit, his breath heavy and his legs pushing slower and slower. They had to be quick. With a quick glance, there were no guards protecting the tunnel entrance...that was not normal. Max''Sall didn''t think about it anymore, taking the blessing, and kept running.


    "We can make it! All we have to do is¡ª" There, like a looming shadow, something jumped from the top of a nearby building. Max''Sall kept running as the shadow jumped down in front of them only a good twenty feet in front.


    It was the armored man, the beautiful armor shining in the rain, as even the heavy grey lining of the rain that washed away a lot of the color in the area didn''t matter. Its opalescent glow kept it clean; the rain wasn''t even sticking to the armor as it would almost instantly peel itself off the armor.


    He crashed down into the street, a crack in the ground where he stood as he held the massive hammer in his hand. Similar to the armor, it shined beautifully on the dreary day as Max''Sall''s eyes widened in surprise.


    "No way! How did he get here?!" Max''Sall thought as he was still picking up a strong amount of momentum as the man stood before them. In only a few moments they would come face to face with that man, and his huge frame meant that this would be bad. Dormion was now closer by, as he had been using every single ounce of strength just to keep up.


    The man reared back his hammer as far as he could, letting most of the power of the swing come from their rushing head-on into them. He couldn''t slow down; he couldn''t maneuver himself away; it was too fast, all happening too fast. Dormion would be fine; he was close enough but not in the radius of the swing; it would take at least another second for the man to swing again.


    The hammer reared back as both of them were only about five feet apart from each other. Max''Sall could almost feel the force of the swing as he saw the gleaming weapon shine towards him. He almost heard this weapon swing into the wind as every single muscle in his body was tensing up.


    He would be dead.


    "I''m dead." Max''Sall felt his final thoughts pierce through his brain.


    He could feel every memory shift into his mind all at the same time, every meal shared with Dormion, all the laughs, and... those eyes. Her eyes pierced him, like she was watching him no matter what. Was that going to be his final moments? No... not today. She was watching over him, and she would not watch him die.


    Every single muscle in his body strained as his body pushed itself further forward into a semi-lunge towards the ground. The hammer blazed past him as he heard the wind collide with the full power of the swing. His heart was beating in his ear, and every other noise was cancelled in his ears as his body kept moving forward.


    His stomach slid on the ground as he continued to slide as he quickly pulled himself up into a running position. He looked back to see the armored man look back; whether he was impressed or not, he could not tell. He saw Dormion running near him, just a little farther back, as both were running with the rest of the strength left.


    They made it to the bottom as they ran through the grey tunnel into the darkness below. Soaking wet and tired.

 Chapter 7: I wish I had said those words.

    Chapter 7: I wish I had said those words.


    Obasawain watched as the rain was getting really heavy, shaking his body to the core, as he kept the cloak hood up, and he took out a small flask of something hard. It didn''t matter what it was truly, but it kept his body warm, and nobody could afford Blot right now, at least to spend it like there was no tomorrow. He needed the little he kept on himself, just in case.


    He wiped away some of the tears in his eyes; another night of watching and listening made his eyes and ears sharp but kept those bags under his eyes dark and dull. Perhaps he could ask that The Vanguard not have to do these missions that went into close to lunchtime, but then it was getting worse out there. Heroes were needed somewhere.


    He flicked some of the dirt off his left hand; the crescent tattoo embedded on the top of his hand reminded him of his mission. It was a black tattoo, embedded with a crescent shape with three sharp lines jetting off towards his fingers in equal parts to the crescent. It was similar to that of the death glyph of soldiers, but its slight difference was just a symbol of his beliefs.


    There was a good having something to fight for; at least he believed that it was good enough, distracted him from Creation knows what. He stood up as he adjusted his dark obsidian cloak as the flecks of water came off. He stood above the house district, listening and watching.


    That night, he had been watching over one of his Lunar Sisters, making sure they could help and watch over the people in the street that needed some guidance. Their methods were...shallow, but to believe that others in this city deserved to starve and be struck off the streets, there were always other options. What they do is simply a way for those without purpose to find it, or to seek it; there was little difference between the two. Now, it was close to lunch, and heading back would be a priority.


    "So why am I staying so long?" He had asked himself the same question for a while, almost two hours ago, when the rain wasn''t so heavy and the atmosphere wasn''t so lost on him. He could have left, could have just gone back a while ago with the Lunar Sister, but something kept him here; the past that washed with him here kept his mind fixated on this place, like a disease.


    He had taken another sip of that alcohol he had kept with him; it was definitely some kind of rum. He was beginning to feel that small buzz that kept his mind a little fuzzy, but it felt better than being cold.


    "Thank you, Twin Sisters, for keeping alcohol flowing and my mind sharp." He almost felt a little guilty saying something a little silly about his own beliefs, but what is religion if not for the fact of bringing those silly things to his life? In truth he was glad about where he was in life, but there were parts that confused him. They would often say he wasn''t devout enough, but if he were any more devout, he would end up like Lunaria, and that was too far.


    The rain picked up again, even heavier, keeping most people off the streets as he stood above watching people enter their homes. The cold was starting to get to him as he adjusted his belt and the sickle he carried on it. The weapon was sheathed away in a small leather satchel made custom to keep the weapon''s gleam and sharpened curve from slicing his pants. He didn''t want to unsheathe right now; the weapon''s luster would cause too many problems.


    As the rain picked up, Obasawain simply started walking towards another rooftop, connected via a small wooden bridge. Kursoon was always filled with tiny details like that, small rooftops connected, and buildings that caught the eye. He walked away towards the west; he had to return to the conclave at some point, and the rain would make a nice backdrop as he took a well-deserved nap.


    "Maybe the others will make some--" There was loud uproar in the street, too loud. Obasawain simply walked over back to the edge of the rooftop as he watched the people down below move away from something coming their way. His ears perked to the noise as he saw two figures running through the streets. They both turned a sharp right as they ran down the slanted street of the homes.


    They were dull; even in this heavy rain he could tell, their swirled grey skin almost overtook the other shades around them. One of them wore heavy clothing: a tan coat, hood, and shoes. He also wore a mask, not uncommon for Dull, but odd nonetheless.


    The other one, he wore...just clothing. Obasawain knew that Dull weren''t common; one would even consider them rare of sorts, but most of them wore heavy clothes and things that covered their skin. He did not.


    "Why? Why not cover yourself?" That question would burn the back of his mind only for a moment before he saw them run closer. The other boy had long, flowing, stern black hair with bits of unkemptness that made it almost look like it would tangle too easily. His stride was strong, and he was a lot taller as he looked upon him closer.


    "A warrior''s body." He thought to himself, an almost ideal to most soldiers. It would never happen, though; that thought in his mind almost felt like a reality check. The book ordained that they live afraid of them...he couldn''t blame Kursoonians for it; they knew very little despite it all. He watched as both of the boys ran towards the street. They were heading for the sewer to escape; he saw the small pipe at the end of the street made to rush away the rainwater.


    "Smaller and thinner, it would take the other guards more time to get through that smaller pipe...clever." He knew better though; there were most entrances into that sewer, and if they couldn''t find the escape, then they would just get caught. But it was a smart plan. He could almost hear the two of them shout that idea as they both kept running closer and closer.


    Then in the corner of his eye, Obasawain saw it. A luster he recognized in a heartbeat. An armored figure stood over on the other side of the street on a similar building that he stood on as well. It was almost as if they were staring at each other. Their armor was Runic Silver, easier to recognize than people think, as the rain droplets almost seemed to slide off the armor, not a single hint of moisture on the brilliant plate.


    In their hand was a maul, too big to be considered a Warhammer and too small to be a great maul that Luong would use. It shimmered that same shine as the plate itself; it was the exact same material. An extensive of both weapon and armor like that...


    "That would have set them back an entire fortune; it must be a personal guard for someone even more wealthy." Even then, that figure would have to be richer than he assumed. The process alone to make something so strong that would have set him back at least a blue enamel, that thought alone made his head hurt.


    The figure jumped from the building, as Obasawain was taken aback from the power of the jump. Runic Silver was heavy, even for trained soldiers. The figure leaped down onto the stone of the street and leaned his maul back to swing directly at the long-haired Dull before him. Obasawain wanted to look away, to jump in and help...but where would that get him? Even if it was raining, it was the middle of the day; he would be seen and then...


    "The whole mission is for naught." That made his head turn away; another look at would happen to the boy, and that old feeling would have come back. That hero that died in him would come back in full swing. There was no need for heroes anymore.


    In that moment, against every instinct and every fiber of his body asking him, no, pleading him to move and fight, he wouldn''t. He fought for something else, something better. Protect himself, find those who have lost their way. Nothing more, nothing less. He was no hero.


    And yet a second later, there was no scream, no loud hit of something colliding with flesh and bone. That was odd. Obasawain gritted his teeth and looked back in a rush, hoping to only see the glimpse of grey blood spread throughout the street so that he could only feel that surge of guilt run through and let it be over.


    He was alive; the boy was alive. He was getting up from a seemingly impossible dive forward. The other boy in the heavy coat was too far away to be affected by the swing as both of them had moved from the street and squeezed through the sewer tunnel before them. He had seen the other guards move towards the tunnel, attempting to fit themselves in as some of them went forward slowly on their knees, while others went around street corners trying to find another way.


    Obasawain was stunned, at least for a moment. That dive would have been impossible, at least for just some boy. Did he use something? That question would have burned in the back of his mind, waiting to see that boy again to talk to him. The armored figure looked towards the tunnel as he had begun to run towards another entrance he knew of.


    Obasawain gripped his right forearm with his left hand, trying to calm himself from that rushing feeling within. Any more and he would find himself moving, acting...saving. When was the last time he saved someone?


    "Too long." He said out loud, his rough and tired voice piercing through the heavy rain. He closed his eyes to rising feelings deep within his gut like he was going to puke. That feeling never truly went away, but it came and went with time.


    "No... I can''t do this anymore. I have a new purpose; we have a new goal... I can''t just do that anymore!" He had almost yelled that too loud; others would hear him. He looked back to the sewer tunnel entrance, as the guards were now pushing through quicker.


    Someone had to do something.


    "And that someone won''t be me." He said gruffly.


    So why was it that when he said that, he could feel his legs rushing forward towards the east entrance to the sewer?


    "By the Twin Sisters..."


    He was, by and large, a hypocrite.


    ****


    The rush of rainwater above them drowned out the rest of the screaming and clashing outside of the sewer as they sprinted through. The floor was made of solid stone, as a small stream down the middle of the bottom carried water through. They kept running north, following the single line of water that almost guided them away. The light at the end of the tunnel slowly faded away as Max''Sall slowed down to catch his breath. He slowly shifted towards the tunnel wall, which had since widened out to make more room for others down here.


    It was too dark in here, only plastered by lights that shined down from the rain-soaked morning. There were holes in the ceiling where water would descend into the echo chamber of water, and drips sauntered off the silence between him and Dormion.


    What was there to say? Did he really want to push some kind of words onto him that would hurt? No, there was nothing to say, simple as that. Max''Sall just wiped away some of the excess rainwater from his face, already annoyed that even more of that excess water was already on his hands. He barely felt the tap from behind as Dormion handed him a small rag. There was a look between the two as he simply smiled.


    What reason was there to be sad near him? Max''Sall didn''t know. He simply accepted the small rag and wiped his face as they both sped-walked forward; they were still being chased. Dormion began to take off the heavy set coat and his face mask, clearly soaked from the rain. Max''Sall was used to Dormion showing off his face in privacy; his unkempt dark brown hair and paler skin mixed with heavy-set grey made it clear that he was dull. The scars that surrounded his lips were still there, which looked like some creature just tore into his mouth.


    His lips were damaged beyond repair; they''ve looked like that since the day they met. He could still remember that day. The heavy set rain was almost like this, just darker since the night had begun to set in. A man shivering in the cold, a boy looking for his lost mother. Max''Sall couldn''t make out Dormion''s father in the rain, but he wished that he had that day. Maybe he could have saved him. The lips around his mouth were mostly gone, besides a good bit of skin that resembled that once unbroken skin. Parts of the mouth were so broken that the skin didn''t heal correctly, showing teeth and other parts of the inner mouth.


    Max''Sall didn''t want to point it out; he never did.


    "We should keep moving downward; they say there is an exit pipe towards the back of the sewer, but usually guards are posted up there." Dormion said as he felt around his mouth. His fingers traced the bits of skin that didn''t heal, his eyes almost darkening around him. What did he think about himself?


    What did many Dull think about themselves? Ugly, no doubt. It was ingrained into their own ideas; they were ugly and bland and served no purpose, yet they all would tell each other that they were beautiful in their own way. Did poor people tell themselves they were rich to others? Did it ever matter what words came from their words? What did it matter if a Dull called another beautiful? They wouldn''t believe it.


    And yet... Dormion walked with purpose despite it. When was the last time he had let someone else see the person he was underneath the mask? There was a boundary of trust that Max''Sall was relieved to know he had carried with him. He stood straight and walked forward towards a crossroads of interconnecting platforms that were above the water flooding down below the grated platforms. The light only shined down upon him when the sunlight and the small bits of rain would go into the sewer; it alighted him.


    Max''Sall stood next to him, highlighted only by the light that descended upon Dormion. Maybe that was for the best.


    "What''s next after we escape?" Max''Sall asked out loud, almost like trying to elicit a response from anything willing to listen. Dormion simply grasped the mask in his hand as he sighed.


    "Would it be odd for me to say that I''m not sure?" Dormion always had a way with words; it almost made him sound like he was trying to keep the mood up, even when it was incredibly difficult.


    "Nope, I didn''t think we had much of a plan past this." He almost felt a bit of a chuckle coming from his lips, like a laugh he was trying to suppress. Dormion picked up on the mood as he simply laughed sheepishly.


    "Too much running and not enough thinking." He had eyed the path ahead towards a long, winding tunnel as they both turned a sharp left towards that tunnel.


    "I don''t even know where we are. You think we can even escape this death trap?" Max''Sall had said, feeling on the wall like he could feel the way out in his fingertips. Dormion had quickly looked at the holes that would show up on the ceiling and didn''t say much as he stared up at the ceiling.


    "We have before." He was right; they did that every day. That made Max''Sall a bit more relaxed in his movement. He pushed his hands through his hair, getting some of the moisture out as they both began to walk through this labyrinthine sewer.


    There was little to notice about the sewer within; there were small things here and there, like pipes and other such metal objects made to carry and push water through, but nothing Max''Sall could understand more than what he knew of what pipes were meant to do.


    This left his mind wandering around, looking, hearing...smelling. It was quite a bad smell; all the adrenaline pumping through his heart must have made him overlook the rotten smell permeating the area. Even Dormion had returned to putting his mask back on, though for the smell or himself, Max''Sall didn''t know.


    He should have said something then, told Dormion what he should have. They had their argument only minutes ago, and yet he felt distant. The kind of distance that didn''t matter, whether or not you were close to someone. It was faint, and he didn''t understand it. Was there something he was supposed to say? Maybe there was, but he didn''t know it.


    He could only see the scars, those hideous scratches and marks around Dormion''s mouth, even when the mask went back up. Those images flashed back in his head. It wasn''t that Dormion was ugly; it wasn''t that the scars made his face look bad. It was the pain.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Every single inch of his mouth was covered in pain and suffering that you wouldn''t know if you didn''t see him, if you didn''t know him. What was the point of judging and looking down on those that were less than you? They knew their place, and they lived within it. There was no point in reminding them how low they were.


    Was Dormion feeling that pain every day? Were those scars as bad as they had looked? He didn''t want to ask, to hurt and bring back that pain he had seen before. Ever since he had gotten those scars, he was afraid to ask, afraid to hurt him more than what was already done. Dormion was his friend, his only light...so why did he feel so distant?


    "Do you think we will ever go back to how things were?" Dormion had asked. It didn''t sound like he was trying to ask a question, more that he was trying to find some peace in an answer he knew already.


    "I don''t think so. How could it?" Too many questions were wandering through his mind; how could he think about the future now?


    "I just want it to be." Dormion was fiddling with his fingers, nervousness setting in.


    "You want to go back to that scum?!"


    "I just want things to be normal again." The sheepishness returned.


    "When were things ever normal? When were our lives ever normal?" He didn''t want anyone to answer that.


    "Nobody''s life is normal, Max''Sall. You know that."


    "No, there is a normal. We just haven''t seen it. Waking up in the morning with food on the table and the warmth of Lutana on your skin. With people that don''t, despite you. That''s normal."


    "Sounds like yesterday."


    Max''Sall paused for a moment, thinking back on yesterday. The time before his beatdown and the yelling he received from Caelen. That morning...was a good morning. He and Dormion had breakfast; the morning light cast its warmth upon them. With Dormion...


    What was normal anymore? Was his life normal? He had seen so many people wake up, with love and friends around them, eating and laughing. What was so different about their lives to them? They simply worked harder.


    He looked back to Dormion, who was simply smiling back up at the light atop the sewer. It made him smile too. That pain, that suffering, seemed to just flood away; he smiled towards him as they both walked down the long corridor.


    "Thanks, Dormion... Thank you for--"


    "Max, S''all!"


    "Huh?" There was a pause before he saw something in the corner of his eye shoot out from the darkness before them. It didn''t hit them; it was just a shot in the dark. He saw the object move from behind them as he was trying to understand what was going on.


    In that moment of hesitance, he saw the object move towards him and strike him in the right shoulder, between his arm and his chest. At first there was no pain, just a sudden shock that went throughout his entire body. For a brief moment, that only kept him from screaming.


    That moment was gone, and blood oozed out of his shoulder, and tears formed at the sides of his eyes. He screamed in pain as he held the arrow, trying to pull it out. It only made the pain worse, that unbearable ache that rocketed every single thing he had felt before. Worse than the beatings, worse than the cold nights.


    "MAX''SALL!" Dormion was screaming his name as the sounds of thundering footsteps came walking through. The guards were all walking forward; he only saw their cyan and silver armor as a reflection in the small pools of water filled near their feet. Max''Sall looked up in tears of pain as he saw that four guards had their crossbows aimed at his head. Death was all he saw above.


    Dormion was taken away; he had seen the man briefly. The First Captain was back, and this time that look on his face, the guilt, was completely gone. He had simply replaced it with a strength that even Max''Sall knew he was only holding onto for someone else. He felt something fall into his pocket as Dormion''s arms were grabbed away and held down by the First Captain.


    "Why...Why do this?" Max''Sall uttered the words before staring back at the First Captain.


    "Because The Book of Beginnings ordains that we keep the order from...you." Ah, the book. Max''Sall didn''t want to hear about it anymore, that perfect book that did no wrong, that was right about everything. He didn''t even know what was inside, and yet it felt like everything bad about his life was inside that book. He couldn''t even read. He had no choice but to live by a book he couldn''t even read.


    "What a cruel joke." That was all he could say, all that was needed.


    He looked forward as he saw all of them stand before him, all the cruel and awful people that ruined his life. Rylander, Barlow, and Yokan all stood beside the guards as their quiet snickering ate at his soul even more so. Dormion said nothing as all that could be heard was his grunting and his struggling as he was trying to get out of his grip.


    "Well, well. Two Dull, and one crime, seem like pretty common things around here." His smile said it all, a large and wide-toothed smile that evil itself looked away from. The other two men were nothing but smiles and laughter from the other side of him; there was no escape from this absolute cesspool of filth, but the people and the smell that rotted in his nose. How fitting.


    In that same darkness that sat behind them, more footsteps came through. First they were heavy; different from the thunder of the others, this was metallic and powerful, like the rumble of a quake. There, in the light above them, was the armored man and the armor that glowed too brilliantly. His massive hammer almost carried this absurd weight in the air itself, like Wind itself was keeping itself towards his side.


    He stood between Max''Sall and Dormion. The First Captain pushed Dormion to the ground in a quick shove downward, and he placed his foot on his back. They both looked at each other, Max''Sall gritting his teeth in frustration as Dormion only looked guilty, something that didn''t look right on him. There were no words, just silent gestures; pain and blood dripped upon the grated floor of the sewer, beneath the water.


    Then, as if the world was trying to put Max''Sall anywhere else he didn''t want to be anymore, he saw him. Caelen fell back as the guards walked to the side to let him through; there was an air of respect that Max''Sall didn''t understand. They both stared at each other as he was behind Dormion, next to the First Captain.


    "Thank you, Captain. It seems that the problem has been solved. We will have to have a chat about your rank after this is done, yes?" Caelen had brushed off some of the dirt and dirty water on the captain''s surcoat. He said nothing but a simple nod; there was no resistance.


    "We didn''t take your stupid gemstone! I know that''s what you''re looking for, so don''t play coy like I know you will, you bastard!" Max''Sall said, trying to keep the pain from spreading around his shoulder. It was spreading around his shoulder wound, and blood kept leaking out of his skin, not fast, but the bolt was mostly embedded into the skin, so the pain kept lingering inside.


    "Hmm, I thought you''d have more of a fight in you, Max. You too, Dor. You two have something of mine, my gemstone." Caelen said nothing as he stepped on top of Dormion with the captain. He screamed in pain; something must have been broken. They looked like they were forcing most of their weight on top of him.


    "We didn''t take it!"


    "And I''m supposed to believe that? From a liar, from a Dull?"


    "You asked to deliver that satchel; that''s it!" Dormion had replied as the force became stronger on his back. Max''Sall couldn''t move; his legs wouldn''t. All the strength he had was sapped from his body. The armored man took a single step forward but didn''t move any other way.


    "Sir, shall we take care of this?" The First Captain had responded.


    "COWARD!" Max''Sall screamed in defiance. Rylander had walked over and kicked him in the stomach; the full force of his kick sent little Max Sall in his stomach out onto the floor. He gritted his teeth in pain as Rylander stood over him.


    "No talking back, Dull." Caelen had put his hand up, forcing Rylander to move, and Caelen simply walked over to Max''Sall as he kneeled before him, careful not to put his clothes anywhere near the bile he spewed up.


    "Max. I''ve just had enough of this entire charade we go through every single time. I understand that it''s in your nature to take, but we''ve been doing this song and dance way too long. I had to let you go; just understand my side."


    "Your...side?"


    "Yes, I''ve had to work and put Dull to work without using them as simple laborers, and that hurts the way I look. You two have been useful in many ways, but after Rylander and his team have been working so hard for me these past few weeks¡ª


    "Weeks?"


    "Quite. They were just meant to do the job better, and honestly, things have changed. Times are changing; the future has never been stronger; innovation and human ingenuity have been skyrocketing. We don''t have time or money to waste on things of the past." Caelen stood up and adjusted his pant legs.


    "Things of the past..." Somehow, more than anything, that hurt the absolute most. He was not just useless, stupid, and replaceable...he wasn''t even human anymore. The tears that formed in his eyes were no longer the tears from the pain. They fell down his face like a waterfall, and his mouth quivered. When was the last time he had cried...not since his mother was taken.


    "Don''t be sad..." Caelen had said, taking a small towel from his pocket and wiping those tears from his face. That made everything worse; he kept his head down, close to the floor, so that nobody would see him suffer. He didn''t want to suffer anymore.


    "We just need the gemstone back, and we can make this all quick." Caelen had said there was no hint in his voice of guilt; it was the same as if he was making a business deal. Max''Sall looked at Dormion, who had simply been softly sobbing against the floor. There was nothing for two anymore.


    Maybe if they were lucky, they would just get beat within an inch of their life. They could still be friends; they would have each other... they could--


    "I threw it out."


    Those words, he heard it correctly. Dormion had looked towards Max''Sall in a soft cry as he closed his eyes. Max''Sall couldn''t move, couldn''t breathe as those words escaped his lips. Caelen had simply sighed in frustration as he looked towards Dormion in pain.


    "No..." Max''Sall was trying to calm himself down.


    "Dor, you knew about the gemstone?"


    "I did."


    "No... Dormion, please." Max''Sall was trying to speak, trying to let anything escape from his mouth to tell him no. No matter how much his lungs burned, his head hurt, and this feeling of agony clouded his judgment; there was nothing to say.


    "Where did you put the gemstone, Dor? You know that I don''t like being¡ª


    "Somewhere, somewhere only I know. It might be just in a shop somewhere, across the road, floating down the sewer. It doesn''t matter. I don''t have it anymore."


    "NO! Please just stop! You can''t!" Why couldn''t he say anything? Everything could be fixed if he would just say something, so why was he hesitating? Dormion was his friend; he needed him; he needed that smile and that bravery he had. Why was he silent?


    Caelen simply laughed; his voice pierced the silence in the air as he simply looked towards Max''Sall in this hysteria. Max''Sall noticed that he wasn''t looking at him, but there was something nearby. He looked to his right near his pocket as he saw the soft red glow in his thin pants in the darkness that he sat underneath.


    "That''s what you thought... you could trick me. Dor, do you believe that you can win against me? That I wouldn''t notice that piece in his rags? No, Dormion. You don''t understand much, do you?"


    "I...just thought it was funny."


    Caelen''s face was angry, his tan skin darkening at the face to show this pure anger that rocked his face. He went down to Dormion as he grabbed his face forcefully. Dormion simply looked at him; there was no pain in his eyes, no sadness, only a look of satisfaction.


    "You... You think you''ve won, have you? You can''t! A dull person like you doesn''t win; you never will!" Caelen walked away as he looked towards the armored man.


    "Kogon...do it." The First Captain looked towards him in surprise.


    "Sir, the gemstone! What about the--"


    "KOGON! DO IT!" There was no hesitation as Kogon stepped up. Max''Sall barely heard what the First Captain was saying, as he saw Caelen bat him away in frustration, and Kogon grabbed the massive hammer and walked one more step closer to Dormion. Max''Sall watched as the man Kogon began to lift the massive hammer.


    Everything was slow; his heart pounded in his chest as guards were walking away from the man lifting the huge weapon up. Caelen was screaming towards the First Captain as he was batting him away with his hand.


    Max''Sall sat there staring back at Dormion; their eyes met together as the tears were still streaming down his face. However, Dormion didn''t cry; he didn''t look sad.


    He was smiling.


    Out of every single thing that happened, the pain, the suffering. Everything that was going to get him killed, he still smiled. Max''Sall couldn''t believe his eyes as the hammer rose to the apex of the room itself.


    Dormion simply looked at Max''Sall, and he could hear him speak something to him, as if the rest of the world went silent before Dormion''s words.


    "Just keep swimming, Max''Sall."


    Those words hit him deep, stronger than anything he had felt before. Like a punch to his heart, he almost felt safe. Then the hammer came down.


    It was too quick, so quick that within a single blink, blood and small bits of organ were over the area itself. Max''Sall felt the cold drip of blood against his face, as everything was gone in an instant. Kogon lifted the armor up as the blood almost fell off the hammer itself; there was no noise, no movement besides the hammer moving up as Kogon looked at the bits of human life across the floor.


    "One more monster off the street."


    Max''Sall couldn''t scream, couldn''t move. Tears flooded out as he saw nothing of his friends anymore. Dormion was gone, dead, and all the pain flashed into his body in an instant. Some of the other guards were covered in blood, and Max''Sall couldn''t even look at what remained of him. His eyes closed, trying to block out everything, everyone.


    Memories of the past flashed into his mind. The accident, his mother''s burning eyes as they stared back at him in the darkness. That beating red of scarlet kept the tears flowing, as soft sobs came out in waves.


    Max''Sall hated crying, but there was nothing he could do anymore.


    He was back to drowning, and there was nobody there to keep his head up.


    Max''Sall didn''t hear; he didn''t see much else; his body slumped down as he looked forward towards Dormion''s body. The neck was blown off the head as blood leaked out of what was remaining; he couldn''t keep his eyes open anymore as his eyes closed and all went dark.


    ***


    Obasawain moved faster and faster into the eastern side of the sewer; he was already late, he hesitated too much, and he was already going to be too late if he hadn''t moved quickly. He fiddled with the elixir at his hip, half-empty, which meant that he couldn''t use it if he didn''t need to.


    He turned corners quickly and sharply before sprinting towards a large corridor. This would lead to the other sections of the sewer, as long as he could find those boys; he could... There.


    In the distance he saw the light shine down on a group of people; the same armored figure stood before them as a thundering slam came down with that large maul. He could see the blood splinter off the wall, and there was silence in the area itself. Someone was dead, that was for sure, but there was no time to think about who and what, just what he could do in the time.


    He was faster than most, even if it meant that his bones would be aching the next morning; he already made this decision, and he couldn''t turn around and act like what he was doing wasn''t already risking a lot. It was, and that was the problem. But he was here, and that meant a lot more than he would have liked to think.


    He had leaped towards the side wall into a dead sprint, as the speed of stride carried him across the wall into a dark portion that covered his body mostly in shaded darkness. He ran across the wall, only for a few moments trying to keep his body hidden, even if footsteps could not be.


    He saw the man, blue of skin and stringy, look behind, looking for those footsteps, but the darkness kept him hidden for just long enough for him to kick off the wall and arrive above the scene itself. The armored figure was reeling back the maul as they looked towards him.


    Obasawain quickly checked the scenario, making notes quick enough so that he could make a simple plan. Dead boy, gone. Long-haired boy on the ground could be alive. Four guards, two swords, two shields, four crossbows, hard to kill, incapacitate. First Captain, armored figure, four regular men. He could do this.


    "Twin Sisters, guide me. Bless these men who have not seen the finality of Creation and its gifts. Grant me the boon of strength to defeat those that threaten to snuff out her Light and Shade. I will fight." He needed the oath in these times more than he thought.


    His leg immediately spun to the left as he struck the blue-skinned man. His body went down; the blow was hard and steady as his head slammed into the grated floor below. One.


    He landed close to the boy as he placed his hand on his neck. Breathing, that was good; the bolt in the shoulder was bad, but he would live. He looked towards the corpse below, nothing to save; that was his hesitation from before. He scowled in anger as he stood up to face the rest of the men.


    There was a silence before the armored man swung quickly towards him. The corridor was small, but large enough for the mall to meet itself close, but not close enough. Obasawain understood how to fight heavy weapons.


    "The weapon is too big to get proper swings, but there is no point in attacking armor without my..." He paused. He shouldn''t use it; if they knew he would have to kill all of them seeing it. You can''t just flaunt around fine weapons, and there was no space to use them either, not in here.


    "Not to mention the boy; I have to get him out of here. Defensively, take care of range before leaving." That meant that he would have to get rid of those soldiers first. He quickly moved in a zigzag pattern to get close to the first soldier. His eyes showed fear, but he held up the crossbow regardless. Obasawain flicked around his cloak, disorienting the soldier before he quickly slammed the heel of his black combat boots into the wood of the crossbow.


    It shattered instantly as he quickly swung his fist around the soldier to grab at the short sword on his belt. With a quick flick of the wrist, he pulled the blade from the sheath and raised the blade to the soldier next to him and stabbed it through the flint groove. It shattered as he turned the blade in his hand and held it at the side as he punched the same man. The soldier of ivory skin fell back as his blood contrasted on Obasawain''s beige skin. Two.


    The other two soldiers were trying to give space to the armored figure as they swung the maul downwards towards him. Obasawain quickly pivoted his foot to the right as his body spun into an intricate dance and struck another soldier down, his crossbow falling to the ground. It would be good enough.


    "I can get this boy out; I just need those ranged weapons gone." He looked towards the final weapon as he had already launched the bolt out. Obasawain was already moving, so he was able to dodge most of the bolt, but it sliced into his forearm, where his vambrace was weak.


    "I''m getting too slow." He wasn''t 25 anymore; acting like he was would get him killed, but what usually didn''t? He took out the small short sword and flung it towards the last soldier, who simply let it strike against the string, as it was unusable after that. He felt his blood drip into his armor past his elbow as he quickly ducked and dodged back towards the boy. He saw a larger man go in for a huge grapple, but Obasawain was fast, and he ducked down into a low crouch and propelled himself backwards towards the boy.


    "The gemstone! GET THE GEMSTONE!" One of the men yelled in frustration as Obasawain grabbed at the boy''s waist; he was surprisingly light, too light. When was the last time he had eaten? Though for a Dull, that question was most likely up in the air.


    He grabbed at the boy''s waist and hoisted him up before the armored figure came charging back into the fight. He jumped into the air to make up a large amount of distance. Obasawain was forced to steel his nerves for the attack and instantly crouched down into a high jumping position as the maul went too far.


    "He assumed that I was going to move back...clever, but not against me." He pushed himself up as he hoisted the boy''s body to his shoulder so that his right shoulder with the bolt in it wasn''t getting pushed deeper out of the body.


    Obasawain pirouetted towards the place where the boys most likely came from, the west side of the sewer, and sped through. He could hear the screams of those behind, but he simply sped away. He could feel the rush of the wind of the city and the rain come through. He busted through the tunnel in a quick slide as he carefully roamed the city. He could feel the heavy rainfall on his face as he gripped tightly on the boy''s body.


    "Let''s see what the conclave has to say about you..." Obasawain only hoped that his back wouldn''t ache after this.


    Max''Sall Part 1 End

 [Melinda Part 1] Chapter 8: The Storm.

    Melinda Part 1...


    Chapter 8: The Storm.


    Melinda Paramore didn''t like wearing Runic Silver. It was heavy, uncomfortable, and almost felt like it was pushing down on you, suffocating and stentorious. It was almost like wearing a large, metal box that fit you too tightly, like a metallic hug that wouldn''t let you go. Despite that, its protection was incomparable, the best armor money could buy or favors could get. So when Melinda began to scratch the little bit of old, hardened blood out of the small crevices of her armor, she was getting more agitated at how long she had to wear this sack of metal, not how much blood she had to flick away.


    Despite the different color of human blood, you always knew how to tell it was blood, and not paint or a similar colored liquid. Human blood was more of a liquid than most other things, it was thin and almost watery to a fault and it left small stains of that light color left within on flesh and bone. It also shimmered and shined when it had light casted upon it. Not like the ocean''s waves at midday, but like there was something even deeper beneath it. As if every drop of blood had a hundreds of feet of depth within, and the light only showed you a fraction of what was down below.


    Blood also typically fell off of Runic Silver easily, leaving very little stains on the armor itself. Often though when fights were worse, it would leave small marks and chinks in the plate itself that the liquid would get stuck in; that would be very annoying to get out. It could get particularly annoying when you were sitting inside of a wooden carriage as it rocked from side to side with others sitting too close to you.


    "You never seem to put on that helmet of yours, do you, princess?" The voice was gruff, loud, and annoying, which meant it could only be attributed to one man: Kogon. His almost volcanic voice boomed throughout the small wooden carriage of soldiers. They all sat on the small planks of wood that jutted out from the wall to act as seats, and their legs almost touched from the closeness. It was lit only by a single lantern, which gave the room a soft orange glow contrasting with the opalescent shine of her armor.


    There were only eleven soldiers in the small carriage, six on Melinda''s side and five on Kogon''s. There would be another soldier on his side as well, but that last spot was being taken up by his large Maul he carried with him. He had already had his helmet off, hanging between his legs, as he took out a small comb of metal, imbedded with a topaz at its top like a brooch, as he pushed it into his black beard and then his black hair that was cut fairly short.


    "Suppose I can''t be complaining, get to see the princess''s face in full--"


    "Stop talking to me." Melinda kept at picking the blood out of her armor pieces. Kogon simply snickered as he flicked the comb back into a small leather compartment that he kept at his side. He grabbed his helmet as he held it in his hands and leaned back into the wooden wall that encased them in.


    "So grumpy, did Daddy make you sit out here with the rest of us because he thought you were too useful to let just sit on the sidelines with him?" Melinda heard the others snicker, the ones at least that cared enough to pay attention. She sighed before sitting up from her leaned-down position as she took the small metallic tool, a small, thin, wrench-like strip of metal that had bits of the flaked blood on it, and set it down before looking towards Kogon.


    "You just get a kick out of this, don''t you?" She rubbed her fingers together in annoyance.


    "Nooo, I would never get a kick out of seeing the princess herself in armor like some doll playing pretend. Never." Some of the others laughed; it was now just hearty laughter over the small chuckles and chirps of the others. Her fists clenched in anger before she adjusted the right glove on her hand and kept to the little room she had at the side.


    "You''d make a good life somewhere other than here, princess. Though I guess it''s important for you to learn what the world is really like, huh?" She had said nothing before her eye beat into Kogon''s as he was still holding the helmet.


    "Relax...all you royalty act the same. Let''s just get this done, and we will only have to see each other when your papa doesn''t have anywhere useful to send you." Melinda felt that surge of anger push out into the forefront of her head as she used the little room she had in the carriage to stand up.


    She pointed her pointer and middle fingers towards him as it was only a few inches from his face. Everything felt too real in that moment; she had barely felt it when she had gotten up, her Embody sear around her back as it had begun channeling her power.


    Lightning was never as simple as her tutors or even Araes had said it was; it was never easy to channel pure power into your fingertips or towards the edge of a blade, but it was easier than other things. That was the thing she never understood about training Engrave powers; they were never simple answers to any question; it was typically something deep or philosophical, something you''d find deep within.


    She found it easier to take that feeling, annoyance and anger that bubbled and brewed within, and shunt it forward. That was the foundation of her power, and whether or not others shared similar methods, she didn''t care. It fueled her everyday life, and it pushed forward this familiar strength that guided her.


    Streaks, small and shining blue, sparked through the two fingers as Kogon stared her down. There was a look in his eyes, the kind of look that startled her. Nothing. Nothing sat between the spaces of his eyes where the color and hue would keep that emotion sealed within. It was almost as if he was looking at nothing at all.


    "Go ahead princess, you can tell Araes how his favorite fighter got burnt to a crisp by the failure he calls a daughter." That set something strong within her, a sense of dread that kept that boiling rage from coming out in full force. Her storm was waning. His voice was confident, strong, and reeked with an almost edge that made her want to strike him down with the force of all of Creation itself.


    "Stop trying to poke in my life, "Vanguard Squad Captain.". You can just keep your distance like the rest of them." Her venomous words kept the others at bay, but seemed ineffective towards Kogon as he simply smirked.


    "As if you could even strike me down." She felt something hard press against the side of her hip. She hadn''t noticed how fast Kogon had grabbed his maul and kept the hammered side at her hip, holding it up in a powerful stance that would have shattered her side completely. If she was quick enough, she could kill him before that, take the blow, and...no. It was not worth picking a fight, a fight that wouldn''t end well.


    The storm didn''t want to end; she had been burning the Blot inside her system, and now it yearned to be free from its cage. Her heart and chest thundered as she felt that rising tension in her stomach. The storm didn''t want to stop; it wanted to rain down its arched spears of strength down on enemies...on the man that took everything from her. What could you do if the fiber of your being commanded you to act?


    Melinda pushed her hand down, as if something had come alive in her arm, as she sat back down in her spot and pushed the gauntlet back on her hand, feeling the uncomfortable metal squeeze once more. Kogon simply lowered the hammer before he placed his helmet back on; perhaps he felt lonely without it.


    "Let''s keep the bloodshed to a minimum, eh? We can''t have this one go south right before we get to the caravan beforehand." Kogon had simply said with metal echoing his voice. The carriage rumbled as some of the other soldiers were caught off guard before they almost fell on the ground. They were getting close.


    There was a knock on the front part of the wall, where there was a small slit in the wall about eye level. Kogon had motioned for a soldier to his left to check the knock. The female soldier who wore her hair in a intricate braid went to check the front as she pulled back a small slit that opened up to see someone''s eyes. Then a small letter had come out into the slit as she grabbed it and handed it to Kogon. He had opened it quickly, and for only a few seconds he glanced across the paper.


    It only took another second as he raised a large smile as he adjusted his helmet on his head and raised his fist.


    "We topple today, Vanguard!" Despite the fewer soldiers, the resounding sound of the war cry from everyone was loud; it almost shook the carriage itself.


    "And this was supposed to be a stealth mission." Melinda said out loud, not that anyone truly heard her as she simply sat back on the wooden plank. They had a job to due: destroy what was left, make it quick. Leave none alive. She looked to the ones who were cheering, amping themselves up and keeping their spirits high.


    They were going to go kill people...what was so exciting about that? Melinda kept her hands close together. It was important she kept her wits about her; letting herself go too soon meant that she was letting it win.


    There is a saying in Fala''Mor. "We often hear the whispers of the storm before it devastates." She had heard those words many times, but she never understood what the point of mentioning those whispers was. Until they came.


    They felt like a thousand tiny voices scraping and sharpening their words against her skin. Her eyes were closed; she was back in that tiny space in her mind where only the storm brewed within. An Engrave holds their power within their Embody, but for Melinda, it was here, in the space of darkness and loneliness that had kept her power so drawn within.


    She opened her eyes; she was there again within this space. It was dark, like light was completely sucked away, and she was left nowhere and everywhere at the same time. She had stood up in her space as she could already feel it creeping up on her. She looked back to see it moving closer to her.


    It was human, but in shape only. Its face was an empty space of thunder and lightning, like the endless expanse of the sky itself; its body wore clothes of deep blues, and it flowed behind it like the wind. When it walked, its footsteps boomed like thunder but quick as lightning. It was unnatural, but carried itself like it should be natural. Its hair moved like the waves, long, ebbing, and flowing behind it. This was her creation. This was her Storm.


    "Leave; it''s not time yet." Melinda said calmly but firmly. The Storm only flittered around her; it was a similar size to her, yet smaller? She didn''t understand, but when she looked at it, it was just as big as she was, but when she looked away, it felt smaller, docile. So she tried to look away, but her body felt so much pushback from looking away.


    "Why do you look away from me, Mel?" Its voice was soft and sweet, that subtle intoxicating sound that made her feel relaxed and calm. Her head was tilting towards the figure, trying to look back towards the sound; she forced her body to keep it in check.


    "Because you aren''t me." Maybe that was wrong. Perhaps in some twisted sort of light, this was just as much a part of her as her hair and her skin were. Then why did it show up when she didn''t want it?


    "We need each other." It spoke; those candied words almost made her look back.


    "I don''t need anyone."


    "That''s right, because I''m here." Melinda felt that cold presence like rain that soaked her body to the core. She looked towards the figure, as blank as it looked, as endless as it seemed. It always seemed to be there, in the moment. She stepped up to this Storm, as she embraced it.


    Every time she held onto this figure, that coldness that tempest anger that pierced through her body only seemed to ignite farther. She could feel those pushing memories boiling to the top of her thoughts. Eleaine, Araes, and the blood trickled down onto the cold stone floor. The embrace was warm, not like the cold air of the space, like something that of a parent. How long had it been since she felt that warm?


    "Why do you keep me here? Take me with you..." Melinda looked back at The Storm, its features almost contorting to the question. The darkness around its endless face almost changed to this lightness, like when Lutana would glow after a heavy rainfall.


    "I can''t...I need you, but I can''t let you go." Part of her hated this, a piece of something that kept it alive. It was her, but what part...she didn''t want to say.


    "Then I shall be here...for you. Until you need me." It was kind, like what she believed her mother to be. She let go slowly as she closed her eyes once more, and The Storm brewed within.


    She opened her eyes as the other soldiers were grabbing weapons and rebalancing their armor for the fight to come. She looked to Kogon, who was already looking towards the wooden door that let them into the carriage.


    Then a sudden bang against the side of the door lifted the space between them, as some of the soldiers were pushed back to the back of the cart. Melinda held onto the small wooden seat planks as the carriage was slanted at a 45-degree angle. Melinda looked forward as the door opened slightly.


    The light of Noiratha, the moon of one of the twin sisters, lit the open door as they saw two heads peek into the door. Their heads were like reptiles, scaled and solid-colored with thick necks and defined muscles. Their eyes burned with fiery passion, as the light in the eyes flickered like a flame, instead of solid colors like a human''s: Luong.


    The draconic creatures were large, strong, and had scale-like armor around their skin and face. Melinda noted the two as the other soldiers looked toward each other. Before the two Luongs could speak, their mouths opening for the words to speak, Melinda dashed upward.


    Those words sparked that intense power that lingered through her veins. She could feel that cold against her skin, and the wind of the night as she ran upward towards the door. The Luong spoke in a language she couldn''t understand as the heavy-set footsteps of her armored body shook the carriage within as she made it to the top.


    With a large huff, she leaped forward into the air as the light of the moon, its sickly cursed luminescence, washed over her. She was on top of a trading caravan, adjacent to two others that were watching as she leaped out of the carriage itself.


    The plan was simple: destroy and take all the Blot, keep it from Kursoon...leave no witnesses. The two Luongs looked around, quick to note the armored warriors and the leaping warrior in front of them. With just a quick glance, Melinda could see the caravan of Luong that treaded over the Rainbow Road, the trading road that leads through most of the continent as its main trading road.


    They stared up at her; there must have been thirty of them at least, most carried weapons, a large, almost small militia of Luong as their reflexes kicked in and grabbed some of the weapons towards them.


    Melinda quickly landed on the wooden carriage, which, more equivalent to a large cart that carried various goods on board, was contained in small boxes or chests. The last of which was a trio of ornate boxes made mostly of Runic Silver sealed away with a diamond lock. Each cart carried ten Luong, each of whom towered over her.


    Their language was harsh and their voices scratchy; it reminded her of being yelled at as a child. The others from the closely knit carriages began to rush towards the central carriage being carried by four Riding Lizards.


    Melinda breathed in deep as she held out both hands. The Storm began to brew; first through her legs, jolts of pure power coursed through every single vein. It felt like the purest emotion anyone could feel, the strongest human emotion, allowing her to summon the will to fight.


    "I need you now."


    The Storm surged forward; she could feel the power emanate through the tips of her fingers. The Runic Steel gauntlets on her arms began to glow and crackle with thunderous energy; the sound of crackling metal filled the area with a sizzling sound, like the air itself was trying to concentrate the power around her.


    The other Luongs were stunned, trying to keep their distance before the power was unleashed. Only one of them spoke, complete Absolu as loud as they could. Only one word came out of their mouth before The Storm was unleashed.


    "ENGRAVE!"


    And The Storm came to life once more. A burst of lightning shot from her fingertips, bright blue arcs of energy that curved and crashed into each other trying to find their targets. The Gauntlets exploded with a resounding metallic screech that pierced the air, and bits of liquid metal and turquoise energy went everywhere around.


    The two Luong standing before her stared as the lightning struck deep into their armored skin, and she could almost see their flesh beneath the armored body melt and bubble underneath. Their screams were barely audible before they were launched back with the piercing power of The Storm.


    Their bodies launched into the other supplies as their bodies fell limp into the crates; bits of fabric and ingots of metal fell out of the carefully crafted crates. Their bodies smoked and smoldered as pieces of black ash fell from their bodies, and their eyes almost liquefied from the heat.


    Melinda felt the surge of power coursing through her veins, like an endless stream of water through a river. Her body felt stronger than before, keeping her vitality strong and this sensation of energy throughout her body. Blot did more than a few things to Engraves; it kept her strong and her energy endless.


    Shouts came from the same caravan as others were grabbing steel weapons and rushed towards her. A group of Luong to her left leaped with their powerful legs before landing quickly on the same one she was before running towards her in powerful strides. With a swat of her hand, the energy came flooding back as arcs of lightning trailed from her now-exposed forearms and struck two of them away in a blaze of light. Their bodies turned to ashes as their weapons fell to the ground. To her right, more of them were grabbing weapons that were attached to the side, for ease of access.


    Two of them pulled out crossbows, wicked in design; they were composed mostly of metal, and the arrows themselves were barbed with tiny jagged ends that looked to dig deep into flesh and bone. She had plenty of Blot to spare, her Embody surging against her lower back. She didn''t know how much exactly she could expend, but it almost like another sense: A Reserve is what most people called it, the ability to sense how much you had, it was never exact but it was good enough.


    Crossbow bolts soared towards her, hitting her pauldrons and the middle center of her chest plate. It didn''t as much as dent the Runic Silver protecting her as she had unleashed another bolt of lightning towards a Luong jumping across the gap of caravans. She was quickly becoming surrounded by Luong, much stronger than her.


    "I can just release everything now, I''ll risk not having enough if they do survive.Runic Silver may be strong, but if I can''t handle these guys in my strongest attack, it means nothing. I was too hasty," Melinda''s rushed thoughts flowed in her mind. She needed to think quickly before--


    "Forward, rush!" Melinda heard behind as she noted the hooks embedded into the back of the caravan she was standing on, keeping the Riding lizards marching, almost running below the platform near the wheels and the carriage she came from connected. She saw Kogon, his opalescent armor gleaming in Noiratha''s light, as he came out into a large swing from his maul. The other soldiers piled outwards, the last ten piling outward with weapons of ordinary steel.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Kogon had his helmet all the way on his he had kept his maul in one hand against his right shoulder. His breathing was steady, and she could tell that his right hand was itching to let loose the fury of Fala''Mor''s strongest material. Melinda noted how the soldiers pulled out small wooden crossbows to retaliate against fire from both sides, but the bolts could do so much. Luong scales were no joke, and that strength they carried was greater than any man''s, whether they had Runic Silver or not.


    "Finally, some real warriors." Kogon raised his left hand to the sky, high enough for everyone to see, as the other Luong were watching the large man''s gesture. He flexed his hand into a fist before lowering it forcefully downward towards his chest. You didn''t know that much about Luong culture to know that gesture only meant one thing: A formal challenge.


    Their screams roared through the night sky, thankfully falling mostly on deaf ears; most humans and even Half-Born didn''t travel at night, which made the plan much more plausible to pull off.


    "Thank Creation itself." She didn''t swear upon Creation often, but some things are best left in the fate of the being itself rather than her hands. Kogon had swiftly grabbed his Maul, and he ran towards the left, leaping over the gap between caravans, made harder due to their Riding Lizards still moving. He landed perfectly towards the other side with a loud thud, shaking the moving vehicle slightly as he swung his hammer in a large arch, pushing and knocking away any Luong in his way. A one-man army.


    Kogon is pushing through their small forces with relative ease, using his heavy armor stature to leverage their much stronger muscles and much taller bodies. Three of them forced together in a joined assault with steel swords and a single spear, but no regular metal could break through Runic Silver; it wouldn''t happen. The weapons bounced and scarped the armor itself, but the damage was too minimal to stop his unshakable onslaught.


    "COME ON!" His voice rang out in a solid boom swiping his large hammer to the right towards a defenseless Luong of blue skin. The hammer impacted the lower chest with a loud crack of the scaled armor. Blood of scarlet red pooled from the wound, but not before Kogon hefted his strength with his legs and launched the Luong to the other caravan, where another soldier took his spear and jabbed it into the cracked armor piece.


    The light faded from its eyes; the fire that was kept inside them was gone as it was left in a dull, empty husk of inky black, darkening the entire eye and leaving it with nothing more. She had seen Luong die before, but every time she had, it was almost as if something in those long-dead eyes asked her to look within. There was nothing inside, at least she didn''t feel there was anyway.


    The others looked toward Kogon, their weapons all stained with that common silver of regular steel.


    "Good to know they didn''t bring Runic Steel." Melinda thought before noticing a large Luong staring down before her, near the end of the middle caravan, staring back at her. He climbed from the driver''s spot in front, a small divot where the drivers would sit to control the beasts that would carry it. His skin was an inky black, the same as the night sky that pierced above them, its eyes a stained gold that burned like the others, but with fury she had never seen before. He wore chain mail, interlocking chains that protected his upper body and shoulders.


    "A Luong with armor?" She had spoken in her head. That was downright odd. Most Luong were proud creatures, not wanting to use their own creations to protect themselves, not like weapons; those were sacred tools. Most were bare-chested, using their natural scales as protection; some say it''s because of their religion, others say it''s pride. Melinda knew it was downright stupidity.


    "Tell me....Child of Creation...your name." The Luong spoke; its voice was deep, and the words were definitely Absolu, but almost broken. Like they were practiced, but it didn''t know what they meant. Melinda looked incredulously, almost hesitantly as the violence around her was still going on. She had to kill it; there was no way around that, but maybe it knew that too...


    "Melinda...Melinda Paramore." Some of the other soldiers seemed to look at her with caution and worry, as if they didn''t understand why she had given her name to the creature. The Luong laughed, or at least she believed it to be a laugh, as it had taken out a one-handed battle-axe from the same divot it had come out of. It was gilded in gold and small gems, but it was no more impressive than the steel the others were carrying.


    "Melinda... will remember that. Koyranth, will strike you down here and now!" The Luong, most likely named Koyranth, raised the begemmed weapon as it held it with both hands forward, like one would with a sword. Melinda didn''t hesitate before channeling The Storm within and arching the lightning towards it. Koyranth had simply crouched down into a wild charge, parts of its body being struck by the lighting cracks that spilt off into smaller and smaller pieces, but it remained unphased before it struck in a vertical upward swing.


    Her battle instincts kicked in to keep the sharp weapon outside of the range of her neck. She took a step away, closer towards the door going towards their carriage. Her back landed on the guardrail that kept her from falling out. It stood up before her, its large frame taking up most of her vision from her spot holding the rail. It was at least two feet taller than her, an astounding seven, almost eight feet in height as its muscles bulged around its armored scales.


    "Need to keep away!" Her mind collected every thought before it brought down the axe in a wild diagonal swing towards her neck. She forced The Storm into a part of her leg as she felt the sparks of her power brimming in the spaces of her muscle fibers. She went for an outward kick, trying to threaten to make the space away from her or risk an injury it wouldn''t be able to get up from. It took a strong leap back, giving Melinda space as the forward kick sparked lightning around her like an explosion. Some of the crates around were burnt or destroyed by the strands of lightning, but the Luong simply took the safer option.


    It bucked forward towards her once more as Melinda snapped her fingers and willed The Storm to her command. She outstretched her hand as a ball of blue energy found space within her palm. She had simply flung the ball away from her as it floated beside her, only about a foot away. She swung her left forearm outward as the lightning contorted around her arm like a whip, but its arch was too wild to control and mainly blasted in a circle around her. The Luong kept its distance before the swipe of lightning as it went for a wide swing towards her, even as the lightning struck against its scales.


    The axe was too fast; it embedded deep into the side of her armor. She felt the strength of the reverberations from the ax. Even the strength of Luong couldn''t break through the armor. However, it simply didn''t keep up with the strike. With a surge of power, the Luong carried the force from the swing forward as the axe, already deeply embedded into the armor, pushed her with the force of a hurricane.


    It screamed out as Melinda was launched to the right. She quickly closed her fist before the force, the ball of energy condensing and sparking into a splitting chain of lightning, striking down the Luong warrior. She could barely see the impact of her attack as she was launched to the carriage next to her. Her head slamming into the wood but her armor taking the brunt force of the attack. She stumbled back only for a few on the ground as the rail guard had kept its integrity and caught her before she would fall right off onto the ground.


    Her vision stuttered, only for a moment, as she looked out into the plainscape of the Midlands. It was a large open section of rolling hills and amber grass that reminded her of honey. The light of Noiratha, the large remnant of the forgotten years, stared down at her, taunting her. Its surface shined a brilliant white and bathed the area in a soft glow. For a Concept said to have cursed humanity with its sister, there was a beauty to it.


    "Melinda..." The Storm called out once more; it spoke those same sweetening words that called her name, enticing and wanting. The other soldiers around her were battling and fighting their own; there was a lot more Luong than they had anticipated. She saw a man get his helmet blown off of his face as a blade of intricate design pierced through his leg with a vertical swing, trying to split him down the middle.


    She reached into the space in her mind, looking to see how much Blot she held within. She felt it was trickling, but it still brewed fiercely.


    "I can still afford to go all out, however..." There were people around, soldiers of the family. How much could she go before it strikes out on others? Lightning was powerful and fast and came out with the thunder that would come after, but it was unstable and sporadic. Melinda had heard of the few that could wield lightning like a musician played an instrument, but all of those weren''t daggers like she was; they were not made to create and devastate.


    The Luong simply coughed up the same scarlet red blood that the other one had, and it took a long stride before easily crossing the distance between the two as it landed towards her. She quickly adjusted herself upwards as the other Luong were suddenly watching the fight.


    Melinda took the initiative, blasting away a streak of blue lightning towards him as he simply tanked the attack. He gritted his jaw as his teeth were visible from his mouth being jutted out away from his head. The lightning singed the armor around his chest as he ran towards her and anchored his axe back into the cut already made from the previous attack. His blood pooling from his chest, his will burned streaks of a bright gold in his eyes.


    This time however, it was aiming for a small section of the covered plate in the middle, it still covered the body but there was a small section where the greaves and the chest plate would connect. It wasn''t aiming to hurt her at all...


    "It''s aiming to dismantle the plate!" She thought in her head as she forced her left and right hands free towards its chest to unleash a fierce bolt of lightning. The lightning gathered into her right hand, crackling and chaining itself together into her fingertips. Her left hand was flattened as stagnant, poised energy forced itself across her hand. That energy began to channel and course back through before--


    There was a shout and a loud crash to the ground as Melinda looked over to see two soldiers get killed within moments. Their bodies fell as their skin began to grey, and their blood mixed together. Those two Luong ran over to support the one over Melinda, both of them dashing with great strides over.


    "Creation''s End!" She pulled her right hand to the right as she let loose the chained lightning and blasted the two running towards her. The lightning arcs struck in full, like a spider''s web almost all of the connected to a tapestry of heat and light. Their bodies fell as she lifted up her left hand to force her power onto the Black Luong. Before her arm could lift to strike it down, it raised its right leg and slammed down against her arm as the light from her hand flashed away in a puff and she could feel the sting of pain from her arm.


    His leather-skinned boots slammed into her arm, as if an anvil had slammed into her arm and forearm. She felt the pain rattle in her bones, her arm was going numb and she couldn''t feel the power channel within, the pain was too great. She gritted her teeth in pain as she saw the Luong push the axe deeper into the armor. She could see the muscles strain from the force as she felt the pressure of the armor lift off her chest.


    The entire chest plate was hefted off as she was left in a basic Paramore family uniform, the same the soldiers would wear under their own armor. The Runic Silver plate landed away as some of the other Luong looked in victory. Melinda looked over to the other soldiers, struggling to fight off and defend themselves against the stronger opponents. She couldn''t see Kogon fighting away, but the grunts and screams of a heavily armored man as well as the clashing of steel made it clear to her.


    "Melinda... I am here." The Storm called to her.


    "No... I can''t." It wanted her to release it all, let them become one. She couldn''t let it; she wouldn''t...


    "Please, Melinda. We have to survive. You need me."


    She was back in that place again; how long had it been since she felt this way? This uncontainable rage is building to the absolute, trying to contain itself. She needed more than ever, but the last time...last time. She couldn''t let herself loose again, not again.


    "What does it matter? I am too dangerous...I''m..."


    "You''re just perfect the way you are, Melinda. Remember what you must do."


    Those words, the words that were too sweet, took her back to a time when she was stronger, when she didn''t understand the way the world was.


    The Storm was right; he must pay for what he did. She needed this more than anything, and for that, she would do anything. She had to let it go, regardless of what would happen. She would save herself, she would save her. She needed him to die.


    "I need you more than anything."


    And then, there was nothing....


    ***


    Kogon was already tired before this, so pitting him against seven or eight of the Luong was already too much for him to start his night. The plan was simple enough: sabotage as a random carriage, hiding in sight line of the trail, and then grab the Luong trade cart that was carrying the Blot to Kursoon. Kill those on board and take it. Easy as much as he felt it was, but after he had slammed Molten into the third Luong head, he was starting to feel the strain of the plan.


    "ANYMORE?!" His voice resonated through the night sky as the other four Luong were starting to edge closer to him. He took a breath letting his adrenaline settle before feeling the beating of heart in tune to the battle. The visor blocked a lot of the action around, but the screams and the general tempo of the battle meant they were fighting for their lives.


    Two Luong went for a forward lunge towards his visor, his only real weakness around him, so he quickly moved forward, intercepting their sword into his armor. The scraping of metal and the surprised shouts of the Luong surged his strength forward as he pushed the two forward and swung in a horizontal arch. The two went flying as their armored bodies cracked under the weight of the swing, as they went flying off the side of the carriage.


    "I can''t worry about whether they are alive right now; get as many Luong dead and get the Blot out." Despite everything, he had a mission, and it would be much worse if he had lost the Blot or if they were to get it to Kursoon. That fueled part of his swings, trying to keep his men alive and the princess out of trouble.


    He didn''t hate Melinda; there was no reason to, but it didn''t mean that he had to enjoy her presence. Something was up with her; he just didn''t know what.


    Kogon wasted no time as he shoulder-charged another one who was running at him with a long spear, using its curved blade to carve through into his helmet. Kogon raised Molten towards the shaft of the blade as he used his strength to keep the blade from going any farther towards his head. The cuts and breaks in the armor could be fixed, but if parts of the armor were torn off or broken, they couldn''t be repaired.


    He kept the blade as far as he could, but the Luong''s overwhelming strength kept him at bay. The other one with tinted purple skin snatched a pocket knife out of the small leather sheath on its belt and grabbed it in its left hand, spinning the knife in its hand for a vertical crosscut into its visor. It came from the left in a wild jump, as Kogon used the leverage of the force from the long spear to control it. He moved in closer and let the strength overpower him, just for a brief moment.


    In that moment of loose time, Kogon retracted the hammer towards him as he kicked the wild attacker loose and let the shaft loose in his hand as he pushed his left foot forward into an upper swing to the spearman. With a satisfying crack across the head, he saw the armored scales crack and break from the force of the swing as he fell to the ground, stunned and most likely dead.


    The loose attacker shouted something in a language Kogon didn''t care to recognize as it ran closer, attacking wildly. There was no grace nor technique built into the attacks, it was pure emotion, you didn''t have to speak the language to know that. Kogon simply walked out of the way before heaving the hammer back into his face with a loud crack. It fell to the ground as its breath became shallow; he would die soon.


    Kogon looked around on the carriage as he walked across one of the bodies of his soldiers. With a sigh, he looked towards the other two caravans as he watched the others fight. He heard a grunt across as he saw arched lightning wipe out another two Luong. Melinda was underneath another Luong with black skin as he held up a gilded axe.


    Only then, when he paid attention to the fight before him, did he see that a piece of Runic Silver was resting nearby. Only then did Kogon lurch forward into a powerful jump as he landed across the middle caravan, where he pushed and charged through other soldiers.


    "Will I be too late?! Melinda, you better not..." Kogon watched as he saw something spark within her. There was a flash of bright light before Kogon saw that Luong was flung backwards towards the leftmost caravan. Kogon looked back to see his armor completely singed off; he still lived, but the blood leaked from every part of his skin. He looked towards him before falling onto the wood.


    Kogon looked back to see the other remaining Luong walk away from this force. Melinda stood up, her body glowing, and streaks of lightning trailed across her skin. Her eyes were an ocean blue as she stared back at Kogon. Kogon''s body tensed up; whether it was fear or awe, he didn''t really know, but he knew that this wasn''t good.


    "What in the Final Paradise are you, princess?" Kogon''s question was answered as three of the Luong nearby were blasted away by arched lightning that flew from her body. Their armor and skin completely ashen as Melinda leaped into the air, the lightning trailing from every part of her body like a part of her. She flew high into the air as she looked towards the Luong, who were still controlling the caravan of each. Her right hand went forward as three streaks of white lightning outstretched and struck down those three in an instant.


    Without the Luong, the Riding Lizards were being controlled and immediately began to buck and swipe their tails in the air as they broke free from the constraints holding them to the carts. This caused the carts to keep their momentum as a small change in elevation caused one to tumble, as another went and the final one all went down.


    The bodies of both the living and the dead went flying out into the amber fields as Kogon launched forward and used the armor to keep himself fine as he rolled across the ground. He thrust his hammer into the ground as his momentum stopped. He watched as Luong and soldiers alike were staring up at the light from the sky.


    Melinda was descending slowly, as the lighting around her feet was scattering across the floor like it was trying to slow her fall. She landed on the floor, and as nobody could move, she let out a vicious scream loud enough to wake up the dead in the Final Paradise as she let loose.


    Lightning scattered from her body in waves, like the crashing of the tides. Nobody even vacantly near her was safe. The Luong tried to push towards her, but she didn''t look at them as the lightning near her body began to charge and shock them quicker than her hand raised to strike another one down.


    The Luong that were already injured had already begun to try and run away, but there was no saving them. The lighting from the others that fell to it, spread and destroyed their only chance. Melinda wasn''t even looking at the rest of them; she wasn''t looking at anything anymore.


    Was she even there?


    Kogon noticed something behind her; the glowing highlighted blow was waning and flashing in and out of power.


    "Her Embody is faltering." Kogon wasn''t an Engraved, but he knew that once that would stop glowing, her powers would be gone. He walked away slowly as he noticed some of his own men, still alive and struggling to escape got zapped and obliterated. He watched as she spared not even a glance to some of them; the remaining four soldiers walked back with him as they watched every single Luong leave was obliterated from the land, fading into ash or just char on the ground.


    "Sir...What is she?" Kogon lifted up his helmet as Melinda stopped in front of them a good thirty feet away and crouched down onto the ground. Her lightning came in bursts, as explosions around them rocketed away. The amber grass turned black and grey as she looked towards the sky and screamed out in pure rage. There was a sudden flash as her body, just for a moment, unleashed a concentrated blast of pure energy. Her body illuminated in the large glow like the spindles of blue in a bonfire. Kogon could only watch as he was stunned by the power she emitted.


    Melinda Paramore, daughter of Araes Paramore, first daughter to House Paramore, looked like the first living god.


    The energy died down, as she was left crouching down in the barren wasteland twenty feet in front of her. There was no life nearby; all the grass was burned away, and the remaining bits of flesh and assorted goods in the carts were all gone. The illumine glow of her skin died down as the remaining tidbit of her uniform was gone, but the Runic Silver still stood. It was still just as strong as it was, even when being struck with lightning.


    Kogon watched and waited as her body fell onto the ground and her raven hair blew in the wind of the night. He simply walked closer, turning her over slightly to tell if she was still breathing. She was, it was slower than normal, at least what he assumed was normal, but she was breathing.


    "The rest of you find the Blot; we still have a job to do." The other soldiers took a second before they nodded or grunted with approval and walked towards the wreckage carefully, walking and running past Melinda. Kogon, not wanting to waste any more time, took it upon himself to look through the wreckage of burnt wood and metal to find the target.


    The smell was repulsive and carried a disgusting odor that wafted through the night wind. Kogon was used to death, but this way...this was something new to even him.


    "To think that the princess could keep so much power to herself..." He said it out loud, as if she would wake up and answer. He would get an answer, at least one he could give to the corpses of those who had fallen tonight. He had little respect for people like Araes, at least the person he was now, but soldiers were a different breed of stupid.


    He respected bravery, at least the kind of bravery that was considered stupid. There was a good ness in that which came from soldiers, no matter what or where they came from. Even the Luong, with their gifted strength and defense, he didn''t like them, but he respected them. Their warrior culture and their weapons of beautiful design, he would have had Molten if he didn''t. He hoisted the Maul to his shoulder as he brushed past the dead bodies and singed material clearly unusable now.


    It took but a moment to find through the singed logs and charred corpses three distinct boxes of opalescent shine. Each box, more a treasure chest, was designed with intricate runes of the Luong people, each with a shining cyan glow. He didn''t know what they meant; most humans couldn''t translate runes, but he understood that the same cyan of Kursoon most likely meant that this was the trade deal.


    "No wonder they had so many there. I showed have predicted that, even after the other ones they would be beefing up their security. Five dead, two at least to the Luong, his strongest men of The Vanguard, three to Melinda. Thinking about that made him angry, the grip on his maul tighter and tighter, but his muscles strained to the pain.


    "It''s pointless; as long as her daddy lives, it won''t matter anyway. Sometimes I wonder if that bastard cares." Kogon thought no more about it as he motioned to the chests.


    "Gather the chests quickly, we are going to have to make the rest of the trek back with what we have left." Kogon removed one of his gauntlets and placed two fingers into his mouth for a quick whistle. He heard the rushing sound of his twin Riding Lizards: Liss and Kiss. Both of them were a light turquoise color; Kiss had small swirls of pink around her tail, and Liss had solid lines of blue around her underbelly. Relief set in, as his two loyal lizards were alive after pushing them there the whole time.


    "Good girls, Dragon hawks for the both of you once we get back." He turned towards the remaining soldiers as three of them carried the hefty chests and one stood on guard.


    "Three to each lizard, and be careful not to drop those chests until we rest!" Kogon looked towards the remaining soldier, a small man with a long spear named Cloriaus.


    "Cloriaus...grab the princess and secure her with some remaining fabrics." Cloriaus looked towards Kogon with a look of confusion and anger hidden within.


    "But sir, she had killed the rest of our squad! Why should we--"


    "That is an order, soldier! Leaving her would mean more to clean up before we get back! Besides..."


    Kogon looked towards the knocked out Melinda that was lying on the floor. He rolled his eyes before he walked towards Kiss.


    "Maybe if we''re lucky, her father might do our job for us."


    Cloriaus said nothing more as he hoisted up her body from the floor, no care of gentleness to be seen. He jumped onto Liss as the other soldiers hopped onto the respective lizard. Kogon grabbed on to Kiss as he grabbed her reins, and she began to walk the trip to the Paramore House.


    At least to Kogon, he considered it a job well done.

 Chapter 9: A promise of payment

    Chapter 9: A Promise of Payment


    Kogon always felt wrong when he wasn''t wearing his armor. That heavy-handed metal that clung to his arms and legs made it feel like he was about to do something important. He liked cleaning and taking care of the Runic Silver; it was the most expensive thing he had ever been given, so he made sure to take care of it thoroughly. It gave him a sense of importance that not even his position as Vanguard Captain could replicate. He wanted to wear it all the time, walking with thunderous footsteps and carrying Molten on his back, the weight of the maul itself giving him an authority that none could match.


    What he enjoyed most, however, was the attention. You shined like a diamond while wearing Runic Silver, a piece of something more infinite and powerful than the Concepts themselves. When he would walk around the training yard in his plated armor with all his soldiers watching and awing at him, well... it always felt good.


    Right now, however, that was not the case. He was walking into the antechamber of the Paramore family manor, where it stood right before the foyer, where parties were held and soldiers were invited to drink and eat for a job well done. He would like having these feasts more if he could wear the armor, but free food was free food, and it was better than the gruel they served every other day.


    He fixed the color of his bright purple and orange tunic with the Paramore family emblem embroidered within. He hated wearing nice clothes even more, but this was a basic necessity of a Vanguard Captain, as well as having to listen to every petty squabble and boring meeting with Araes.


    "He might be an old bastard, but he throws decent parties." He thought before tapping his only decent pair of dress shoes on the draped carpet section of the hallway, still a little dirty from the last time they had a feast. Soldiers didn''t wash their shoes often; no need. By the time they were washed, they got dirty again, and there was no reason that someone should see a soldier all prim and proper like a Creti.


    He had noticed other soldiers walking into the large Youmo wood double door, which swirled in intricate colors of deep purple and soft browns. Two of them waited as they had both opened the door and waited for him to walk through it. He didn''t remember their names, perhaps they were too new, but he had nodded his head in appreciation anyway.


    The large foyer was teeming with soldiers dressed in mixes of decent dress clothing, normal wear, or just the simple surcoat of a similar color to his. They had set up large tables full of food of all kinds of sights and smells. All the soldiers, men and women alike, were singing and chanting with laughter and joy.


    Often those who didn''t understand soldiers would think this was a rare sight, to see so much joy and laughter on those who have lost limbs or the loss of their loved ones, but what else could you be when you lose someone?


    That kind of thinking weighed you down; it kept you close to the bodies of the dead in the dirt or carved into stone by a carver of your choice. If everyone sat there and grieved like that, then nothing would get done. If Kogon worried about every single death, then he would have had been dead ten lifetimes ago. No. He was old enough to know that you can''t care about everyone and everything.


    The first layer was full of other servants and maids that were handing out bottles of decent enough wine. Soldiers didn''t much care about anything fancier than the stuff that would get them drunk.


    Kogon walked through, waving and nodding to those who shouted his name. He would be with them shortly, but he had more "important" things to take care of. He walked towards the spiral staircase on the east side of the circular foyer, the same Youmo wood that was layered on some of the furniture and tables on the first floor.


    Calling the Paramore house a manor would probably be correct, but describing it that way wasn''t true. It was more of a tower, a large circular home that had splitting rooms and bridges towards private quarters and smaller sections of the place, like a tree and its branches. The main building had four floors, each floor made for certain things.


    The first floor was the kitchen, the main lobby building, and housing for servants and housemaids. The second floor was a public study for their scholars and anyone who visited or stayed in the home. That was where their library and tutor rooms were, for the family. The third floor was the private bedrooms for the family; it was the floor with the most extended rooms outside of the manor.


    The fourth floor was the war room, Araes''s own study room, and where the meetings were held for the family. That was where he needed to be. Kogon waved the rest of the soldiers away as he walked up the stairs. He didn''t care much about what was going on through the rest of the building; since the same stairs led up to the remainder of the home, he simply walked up to the fourth floor.


    There the stairs continued no more, with only a single Hikoma wood door between him and the old fool. He sighed as he adjusted his collar once more and pushed the simple door open up into the war room.


    The room smelled of the past, like something still lingered in the room itself that shouldn''t have. It was a large circular room made up of strong stone blocks and draped with intricate tapestries of various important people, at least Kogon assumed. In the middle of the room, on top of carefully crafted carpet, was the war table. It was almost glossy with a dark brown wood he couldn''t remember the name of and was rounded around it.


    In the middle was the entire map of Fala''Mor, with intricate details and markings upon it that were small notes of what he assumed were made by Araes. Figures and figurines of detailed make sat upon the map as he saw them get moved by an old tan hand.


    There, Araes Paramore stood around the table, moving the pieces one by one around the map itself. He also had a small stack of papers next to him, in which he would carefully look towards the pieces of paper and move the figure around. The one he held was a sculpted figure of the Paramore family symbol, as he glided it across the map towards Kursoon City.


    His face was scrunched in tiredness, the dark circles around his eyes. Kogon simply sighed as he walked closer to the circle. He hadn''t even noticed him yet.


    "C''mon old man, don''t tell me your hearing is going this soon." He kept that thought in the back of his mind as he went up to the Hikoma chairs as he sat down before throwing his legs on top of the table as that force made some of the figures jump and knock down aside. Araes simply sighed as he looked over to see him, as Kogon kept this sly grin plastered on his face.


    "You didn''t even notice me coming. Are you going deaf or something?" He snickered towards him as Araes had simply adjusted the pieces back together on the map.


    "No, I just tune you out since anything you say isn''t very important anyway." The old man''s voice was harsh but soft, like he was trying to speak as quietly as he could before you couldn''t hear him anymore.


    "Oh, so harsh. And I assumed you and I were friends." He said playfully. Araes scoffed as he went over to a small cupboard towards the west side of the room that was being illuminated by the soft dusk. It wasn''t dark yet; not many people on this side of Fala''Mor had parties at night. Bad omen, they say.


    "Friends? I wouldn''t even want to be within twenty feet of you if I didn''t have to." He made a horizontal wave in front of his face to make the point more clear. Kogon simply laughed as Araes held up two bottles in one hand.


    "Sweet or sour?" Areas had said before he had put one bottle down; even in the darkness of the room, you could tell it was Blot. Kogon leaned back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling.


    "You know what, hit me with something sweet. Wash down this nasty feeling I have whenever I''m with you." Araes had simply placed one of the bottles back into the cupboard as he took out a pink bottle. He grabbed one glass from the same shelf as he walked over to a close chair near Kogon and sat down. The Blot bottle, he took out a small key and opened it up quickly as he poured it into a wine glass.


    Kogon simply grabbed the other bottle of the pink wine, probably some Indigonar brand, and twisted the small lid off and drank it straight from the bottle. A verbal sigh could be heard from Araes. Kogon preferred alcohol to Blot; he didn''t like the way it made his skin shimmer and shine, plus the best part of wine was after all the fun was had, giving him a reason to sleep in and relax into the morning.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "Do you have to sip it like that? We have glasses, you animal." He said as he took a small sip of the liquid magic. His tan skin glowed faintly, and those dark circles under his eyes seemed to disappear into nothingness. The vitality it gave must have been nice, but it just seemed like a fluke to Kogon.


    "What? A man can''t just take a moment to drink with his good friend?" He sipped more of the sweet wine. It must have been peach; he liked peaches.


    "You know that''s not what I mean." He said nothing more as he downed most of the glass, and he began to pour some more into the glass. Kogon noticed how even with the Blot''s effects, there was still a permanent scowl across his face.


    "I just prefer to have the most of what I like. It seems you think similarly; you''ve already been here hardly a minute, and you''re guzzling that thing as much as I am." Kogon said with a small chuckle. Araes had finished pouring as he set the drink down and placed his head in his left hand.


    "Too much going on, with too little time." Kogon figured that this was going to be the bulk of the conversation. Knowing that, he had begun to drink more of the sweet wine faster and faster. He didn''t see how Araes reacted as he almost polished off the bottle and set it down as Araes had a small smile creep onto his face.


    "Really preparing yourself, aren''t you?" Araes said while taking a small sip of Blot.


    "Can''t be good if you''re like this already. Got to prepare myself." He didn''t like meetings, ones filled with stuffy-nosed people and those who think they are better than those who exact their plans. Araes simply sighed as he raised his glass, almost as if he was cheering to his words.


    "Can''t even sip my earnings in peace. We''ve been doing this for how many months? Four?" Araes said swirling the Blot in his glass, its supple liquid form changing colors each time it swirled around.


    "Ever since Litana, I think. Do you know how many men I lost last time?"


    "At least over half of the squad you picked. I didn''t think they would start bringing more and more Luong than usual. They have been increasing their armed forces steadily; I should have known."


    It has been four months since their plan started. Stealing and taking Blot on their trade routes to Kursoon.


    "I can''t put the blame entirely on you. We should have spied better; I assumed that we could handle them." Kogon didn''t like to think about those failures; you couldn''t. He remembered that night: the blood on those Draconic creatures weapons, the ones who had their bodies crushed from the carts...the lightning.


    "We shouldn''t have brought her. She''s too reckless." Kogon had said harshly. Maybe the wine was already starting to talk, but that emotion from within was starting to bubble up and surface.


    "She has been spending too many days with soldiers, but she isn''t there yet. She is powerful, even more so than an entire squad of spearmen. But without any of the discipline."


    "I know, I know too well, Kogon." Araes had said, sipping more of the Blot. Maybe it was some of the ones they stole; he didn''t know.


    "Why...why did you insist on bringing her with us?" Kogon had asked before, staring at Araes with a harsh stare. She killed some of his men, regardless of whether or not she was his daughter, and what she had done to save some of them. She was too dangerous.


    "I assumed she would finally learn something being out there. She has had better control over the years...I didn''t think it was this bad." Kogon couldn''t tell how serious Araes was saying that. An Engrave was a dangerous tool in an army; setting up their own squads was fairly common as those with power could kill easier with that magic. She could be powerful, but something was inside of her...he didn''t know what, though.


    "We had to clean up the wreckage of all the bodies and the remainder of the stuff before we got late-night trades. Thank god for The Book." The only time he ever wanted to thank that forbidden Concept book. Nothing should have that many rules and morals.


    "Can''t say it wasn''t just luck factored in too...but yes, I am glad that you were able to pick up the pieces." Araes replied with a subtle nod of gratitude.


    "Don''t thank me... I wanted to leave her back there as much as my men." He would have done it too. However, Araes being mad at him for leaving his daughter behind, that wouldn''t bode well. Too many questions anyway; he wouldn''t accept that she just died outright. She was an Engrave; she wouldn''t have died so easily. He didn''t say anything past that as Araes had just sighed.


    "I can''t blame you...she has been problematic..."


    "Problematic? She is trying to kill you!" That seemed to snap Araes out of the small stupor he was in. Kogon had raised his voice to say it, but anyone who would hear him would agree. Melinda wore her anger, her rage on her sleeve; even a dragon couldn''t match her own ferocity.


    Kogon remembered when she first got to the training grounds. Her stained tears from crying and that angry scowl and gritted teeth that she wore that day were more than any soldier he had seen in a while. That small knife she carried in her hand as she stared back at Araes, trying to calm her down. She was a furious little thing, only eleven at the time. Had it really been almost twelve years since then?


    Melinda and them have always had a bad work history. She was a strong Engrave, always has been, but she was no soldier. A soldier is a warrior, a person meant to carry weapons and armor alike, but Melinda was no warrior. She lived in the comforts of the family manor, born with special powers and one of the most dangerous Elements of the Embodies.


    An Engrave was already a fairly uncommon ability within humans, and they were split up between three groups and four subdivisions. A soldier must know these things; it was not uncommon when large Midland battles would use Engraves, so the tactics had to change for the soldiers to accommodate. Every human had an Embody, a sign of what you were born to do, but not every human had an Engrave: an element within the body powered by the Embody.


    Kogon looked towards Araes, a sign on his face that he couldn''t recognize. Almost a mix between humiliation and worry. Kogon finished off the pink wine before scoffing it away.


    "You treat her too well." Kogon had said it without any remorse.


    "I treat her as much as I treat you and the others." Kogon would probably have had to agree, but part of him didn''t want to. How many times had he failed?


    "You need to be harder on her. How do you think she feels about all this? The idea that she can just try and kill you, she''s like a Kurona, nasty vile creatures." Kogon squeezed his fist. He didn''t like Melinda, but he could tolerate her; however, when she made threats like that against Araes...he could not tolerate that.


    "And yet she hasn''t tried for the last year. She even joined the army two years ago; maybe something is changing."


    "She still doesn''t talk to you and spends most of her days training. I think that last interaction with her as more than showed that she is still on that path." Kogon barely remembered that day; he had never seen Araes so mad, not even at him...but his own daughter? He couldn''t make out what that meant that day and hasn''t yet still.


    Araes said nothing more; it was clear he was done speaking about her, and Kogon also wanted nothing more than that. He had pulled out a small piece of paper with a broken stamp of silver and cyan broken by force. It was a letter, and Araes held it up for Kogon to see as he passed it over. It was clearly a letter, but the stamp wasn''t a royal stamp, and there was no clear indication of using silver or gold in the wax.


    "Kursoon, I assume?" Araes sighed; that meant yes. Kogon plucked the letter from his fingers and opened it up quickly to read it.


    "Araes, we need to talk.


    Things are getting much worse here, so much so that she is beginning to worry more and more about the loss of Blot from the Luong. Starting to blame them more and more, and it won''t be long until something bigger happens. You said it would be done soon; it has been soon, and it won''t be that much longer until that soon becomes too late.  I need you here in Kursoon to let Her Majesty know about "The Project.". Unless you want this deal to end, I need you to do this for me.


    Sincerely, J"


    "So even Queen Eledrid is noticing." Kogon didn''t know the entire details, but he knew enough that this wasn''t going to be good.


    "I just need more time on with it. We have been this close to an outbreak with Blot, and with the Medium, it was going to be a new breakthrough." He held up his fingers close to each other for emphasis as he leaned back into his chair.


    "At least we would have...:"  Kogon said as he gritted his teeth. Araes simply sipped the little bit of the Blot in the glass as he rubbed his temples in frustration.


    "That Medium was to see how much I could get out of Fullon. I figured that his blunder was inevitable; I just didn''t think it would be that fast." Kogon remembered that day, only two weeks ago. Had he been more aware that day, faster, without any hesitation...things would have been different. He should have figured two Dull would do something like that.


    "So what''s the plan?" Kogon rubbed his finger over the empty bottle.


    "I will have to take Melinda to Kursoon again, get that meeting set up, and see what we can do to "assure" them that we are trying to deal with the problem." He sat up as he grabbed a small leather bag of jingling enamel and threw it towards Kogon, who caught it with no problem.


    "Let me come. Having Melinda with you only is a bad omen."


    "You know why I can''t." He knew; he knew well enough why, but it never made sense every time he said it. Why wouldn''t he just accept that Melinda wants him dead, that someone needs to be there?


    "We do this every time." Kogon reminded him, with little remorse in his voice.


    "And I have to remind you every time." He didn''t want to hear it right now. Araes looked towards him, those pleading eyes like his father used to have. What he wouldn''t do to have that man back here... but he was stuck with the man that didn''t want to admit it.


    Kogon sighed heavily before grabbing the leather bag of money and standing and walking towards the door. He needed to burn off this anger, and he wasn''t feeling very hungry right now.


    "Kogon!"


    Kogon waited just a second before turning around and looking towards Araes. He had an actual smile on his face, not a stoic face or a scowl. A smile.


    "Thank you. For taking care of her and...being here."


    Kogon simply rolled his eyes in a half smile as he waved him away as he walked out of the door. Perhaps in some other life he would have that father back, but not yet. He didn''t see it yet, the man that inspired him to fight all those years ago.


    "Let''s hope the princess doesn''t see it too." He said to himself, an almost hushed whisper, before he shut the door tight. He walked past the rest of the floors and out the door on the first floor, walking towards the training yard.


    He would do what he did best.

 Chapter 10: a Dream Long Ago

    Chapter 10: A Dream Long Ago


    Eleven Years Ago...


    Melinda opened the door to the barracks that surrounded the open training field before her. It was a tower-like stone building that stood together with other buildings of similar make. Her light blue eyes were fluttering around, looking for her master. At eleven years old, Melinda was already tall for her age, taller than most of the other soldier boys that were training out in the field close to her home, which made them say nasty things when they believed she wasn''t listening...she was always listening.


    The inner barrack contained many men and women wearing steeled armor underneath their orange and purple surcoat. She always liked those colors; they reminded her of festivals nearby that she could go to and the purple reeds that were sweet. When was the last time Eleaine had brought those to her? That question lingered in her mind before looking over the copious people within. They were sitting on small benches that were by the large tables draped in red and blue cloth where they were talking, drinking, and laughing.


    She looked between each soldier, looking for Eleaine, who she assumed would be around this area. She didn''t see her fading golden locks of hair or ornate saber on her right side. She also wasn''t in the main foyer where she was normally; that was odd. She walked between the benches of soldiers and the racks that carried steeled weapons before she was starting to get worried.


    "Where is Eleaine?" She had thought in her head before trying to remember if she had said something to her the other day from their last session. It had only been a few moments before she had heard snickering in her direction from a group of men soldiers. She had looked towards them incredulously as they looked away from her when she had stared them down. She glared towards them and walked up to them.


    "Do you guys know where...Eleaine is?"


    There was a murmur before them, some almost backing away from her and others who were talking amongst others. Was she that important that she couldn''t ask her own father''s soldiers questions? One of the soldiers, a nervous man one whose skin was deep orange and whose hair was a flaming red, coughed nervously as he looked away from her.


    "Well, Mistress Paramore, I think Curator Eleaine is--"


    One of the soldiers laughed as they slapped the man on the back, his cheeks flushing a deep red, which almost looked like his skin was changing color. He yelped a bit as the others chuckled; it was a light laughter, like someone was laughing with them, not against.


    "C''mon Feumon, do you have to be so formal around here? Mel, Eleaine should still be in the training room with Kogon."


    She smiled a bit as the man speaking smacked Feumon the other on the side of the shoulder as he laughed. There was friendliness that she wasn''t particularly familiar with amongst the other soldiers. Maybe it was because she was the daughter of a well-known family; either way, she smiled towards the others with a wave.


    "Thank you!" She had begun to walk over towards the large double-doored entrance into the sand pit of the training room. Before she got too far, one of the other soldiers, a dark-haired man, yelled over towards her.


    "You aren''t going to be training in "that, are you?" She looked towards him as he motioned towards her dress. She had nearly forgotten. She was wearing a light teal dress that was typical of her status; it hung towards her shins as she was nearly holding up part of it to run. She felt her face redden as she still walked over to the room. Eleaine usually had a change of clothes for her, so while she was still embarrassed, she kept the same pace towards the door.


    Melinda heaved the door open as she could hear the clashing of steel ringing through her ears. The room was shaped like a dome, with the light of the midmorning day shining down through the windows of the domed roof. She could see the soldiers huddling around the rounded sand pit in a circle, obstructing her path. At first she could see the light swings of a slashing weapon of blue... she was definitely here.


    Melinda walked through the crowd; unlike a normal event of warriors, there was very little cheering. In fact, it was mostly silent besides the few huddled gasps of the crowd and the banging of weapons against sand and stone. They whispered murmurs of contempt and praise towards the fighters in the center. She could hear the heavy grunting of the Volcano himself as he heaved his heavy weapon. Melinda didn''t need to see to know what was going on, but that only made her want to see even more.


    As she made it towards the front, the crowd moved to let her stand right on the edge of the pit, denoted by a ring of stones carved in perfect semi-circles. She stood at the front as she saw the blazing golden hair with silver highlights that shined like Lutana in front of her. A flash of blue rounded her back as her beautiful sapphire hilt gleamed towards her. The woman in front adjusted herself as Melinda noted Kogon running towards her.


    He was wearing nothing but his long training pants and deep auburn combat boots as he hoisted a heavy war maul and was charging towards her with his left shoulder facing forward into a charge. Melinda was right behind her, as Eleaine looked behind to see Melinda staring up at her with stars in her eyes.


    "You''re late, Melinda Paramore." She was going to continue what she was saying before she rushed forward to meet Kogon face to face. She stopped right before he met her with his larger weapon as she pivoted her foot to the left, as his heavy-handed right swing went blank as he carried that momentum to the ground as bits of sand went flying. Eleaine tilted her head to the side as she fiddled with her sapphire saber weapon. Its long, thin blade was almost entirely composed of sapphire; Melinda knew that it was her reward after the Battle of Orage Valley, one of the greatest creations from the best human smith, Maumoon.


    The sword itself had a runic silver cross guard; even the knuckle guard was made of that intricate metal, though the blade itself was made of the blue gemstone. Melinda had meant to ask why, but she had never seen it thoroughly until now; its deep ocean blue luster made Eleaine''s form shine even more in the light of the room. She held it in a forward lunging position: Advance Form. She pushed off quickly into a rush as she ran the blade forwards towards Kogon''s face.


    He was able to barely dip his head into a diagonal lunge, which only made the blade cut his cheek. He used that forward momentum to turn his hammer upward into a heavy swing. The hammer went past Eleaine''s golden hair as she twisted forward into a downward slash that cut his pant leg as he had backed up. His oil-like blood spilled in small droplets from his leg as he backed to the middle of the ring.


    Kogon''s breath is hasty between the close-knit attacks as Melinda watched Eleaine circle around him, her sword tilted towards the ground. Her eyes never break the sheer focus between him; those amber-colored eyes made him shudder before he flexed his muscles, ready to attack again.


    She breathed in quickly before she held her saber towards her head in a thrusting position and her left arm was behind her back. She said nothing as Kogon''s face darkened in what Melinda could only assume was embarrassment.


    "So confident that you don''t even need your other hand?!" In a shouting challenge, Kogon barreled towards her as he kept his hammer back into a strong horizontal swipe. Melinda could see the power of his muscled mass as Kogon swiped so hard that the wind seemed to swipe with him as she could hear the whooshing sound of the wind resisting his strength. Melinda was almost worried, worried about Eleaine being hit by an attack so heavy and powerful. Almost.


    In an instant, Elaine used that thrusting motion for a forward lunge with her sword held down. In a half dive, she had ducked underneath Kogon''s mighty swing and stopped herself before twisting back towards him as she pointed her sword towards his nape. She was like the wind, a blur of motion that Melinda could feel. She could almost barely see the motion of her master, but with her months of training, she could finally see the talent behind the blade.


    "You''re dead, Kogon." She said sharply and flatly, keeping that professional tone well within the room as she held the blade down and walked towards the back of the room. Melinda was about to push through the sand pit to race towards her teacher and ask all sorts of questions that she figured she would answer with more questions, but she saw that Kogon, who was still in shock about his loss, looked towards her.


    His face soured, a strong grimace plunged his face in the space of darkness where the rest of his back held the light. His rage drilled into his eyes as he stared back at Melinda, her heart beating too fast and too out of control. She had felt the fear of his strength, that look that kept her legs locked in place, before he turned towards the walking sword master as he yelled out.


    "We''re not done! Again! I want to go again!" His voice was hoarse, like he was screaming hours before this as he gripped the handle in both hands, and the sweat dripped off his chin. Melinda saw Eleaine stop for a moment and turn back around, her face never losing that calm discipline that she had shown during the combat.


    "You know when these happen, and when they do not. When that leg cut heals, you can challenge me again." The crowd of people was already disappearing into the other section of the keep and grabbing other equipment. Melinda was now there watching Eleaine stare up at Kogon, who was only a little bit taller than she was. Even at seventeen, Kogon was larger than other men from her father''s soldiers; his skin was rough from battles, and his voice was even rougher.


    Eleaine had looked towards her with a stare that was telling her to come. Melinda picked up the sides of her dress before rushing over across the sand, her shoes and the bottoms of the frill on her dress getting dirty from the sand.


    "Master! I''m sorry I''m late. I was¡ª" She didn''t finish before Eleaine crossed her arms and looked towards the exercise mats of a softer fabric.


    "You were still late. We will double the training regimen and the battle briefing as punishment. Understood?" Eleaine''s voice never carried that much emotion, at least none that Melinda could hear. Melinda didn''t know what to say, so she simply nodded as Eleaine grabbed a set of thin training robes on a nearby table that Melinda wore when they were together.


    "Good, put these on, and let''s get those exercises started." She held out the clothes as Melinda let go of the sides of her dress and watched it drag through the remainder of the sand to grab her clothes. Eleaine sighed as Melinda had sighed; she had knelt down and wiped some of the sand from her dress.


    "A warrior must always be presentable and punctual. Try not to be late again." She said, brushing the remaining bits of sand from her dress. Melinda felt the embarrassment of her lack of punctuality, but more so how her own master was brushing the sand out of her clothes like her own mother. She had moved out of the sandpit around the rocks and looked down towards Eleaine, who was still kneeling down.


    "You don''t have to do that, Master! I-I can take care of myself!" She said, with a flush coming to her face. She saw Eleaine tilt her head in confusion before looking at Melinda.


    "There was sand in your dress, and you were late. I often think that it would be better if I would just sit in your room and act as your personal wake-up servant." Despite the words, Melinda wasn''t sure if she was being serious or not. It didn''t help that Eleaine''s golden face carried no emotion or indifference to whether she was genuinely confused by the statement. This only made Melinda even more flushed in the face before Eleaine had stood up and began to walk out of the circle.


    It wasn''t until then when she heard a huff from Kogon still standing there as he stared back at the both of them. His face contorted in both annoyance and anger, only staring at Melinda. She had backed up slightly before Eleaine seemed to notice the look plastered on her face before she turned her head towards him once more.


    "Tell me, Master. Why do you not look at her, like you look at me?" Melinda could almost feel that stare still boring into her eyes, like it would turn her to stone. Eleaine tilted her head slightly, which made it clear that she was confused.


    "I do not understand, Kogon. I simply look at her lower, since you are taller than--"


    "Don''t try and belittle me! You know that you treat her like the Concepts themselves!" Kogon had let the other hand yank free from the grip to point at her, and the hammer fell to the ground with a thud onto the sand. It took only a moment for Eleaine to raise her eyebrow, but after a second she fixed her gaze once more back to him.


    "You and Melinda Paramore have different needs. I only ask that you trust me in this process. I don''t see you as--"


    "Then spar with me again! If you truly believe that!" Melinda had never seen Kogon this passionate before. The young man seemed to almost be pleading with her now, as his hand went to his chest, like he was trying to pull out his heart and show it to her. Eleaine''s expression never changed as she sighed and walked back into the sand pit.


    The look on Kogon''s face surprised Melinda; it was the surprise of his plea mixed with a certain fear that washed across it. He gripped the hammer back into both hands as Melinda stood back just a little bit to watch them.


    However, Eleaine placed her right hand across her belt of her ornate Paramore family garb and unlatched the sword from the belt and, in a swift motion, grabbed the sword and sheath and threw them into the sand. Melinda couldn''t see the face Eleaine made, but part of her still believed that stoic face still stood firm in the light shining beneath the glass windows.


    "Fine...but I won''t be using my saber." Melinda couldn''t believe what she was saying. She had seen her train and fight only with her sword; what could she do without it? She knew that Eleaine was a skilled warrior, but to fight someone barehanded even for a Creti, was that possible?


    Eleaine stood at the near edge of the pit before she put both of her hands behind her back, linked together like she was being jailed and cuffed. Kogon''s face showed it all before he stood straight.


    "Come, Kogon." She said as that same tone echoed through the chamber before her. Melinda held onto the clothes tight, her eyes glued to the scene before her. Kogon''s shocked expression changed from that of anger as he grunted in frustration before holding up the hammer in a battle stance.


    The air was still before Melinda watched Kogon kick up the sand in a powerful charge, faster than he had before. Eleaine''s arms didn''t move as she twisted to the left with a strong leap in the same direction. Melinda could hear the wind whoosh behind the strength of Kogon''s attack before loosening the grip in his hand to the far end of the shaft. In a hip-rotating twist, he let the hammer swing into an upward arc coming from the sand, only to miss wide as Eleaine ducked down and to the side before she stood back up, staring back at Kogon.


    The sand sprayed across the field in a golden haze before coming to rest as Melinda couldn''t find the words to express the beauty of the moment, her hands gripping tightly the training robes she held in her hand.


    Eleaine twisted and turned like a dancer she had seen before during festivals nearby, as Kogon was trying to hit her with wide swings that kept almost moving the wind behind his hammer. He leaped into the air with a smash before she leaped back before it smacked into the sand. Kogon looked back at her before she stood up straight.


    "Her hands still haven''t moved..." Her thoughts became jumbled, trying to break down and find pieces in her movement and strides. But how could she? Watching Eleaine almost waltz around, almost dancing around Kogon like it was nothing. Was this the power of a Creti? Could something like this be learned?


    The fight continued as Kogon kept up the spinning hammer swings as Eleaine kept dodging and weaving in and out of the attacks before. She hadn''t even attacked yet; she was walking around Kogon before each strike. Melinda could hear the strain in his voice before the sweat went down the side of his face, but he was still going. The next attack from Kogon, another upward swing, came close to hitting Eleaine but didn''t make it as she simply leaped back.


    With each strike, he was getting closer and closer to hitting her, his hammer swings getting closer as his strength began to surge more and more with each strike. His form started to take place, his footsteps deep into the sand, more solid as his feet began to place back into the footsteps created. Like an intricate dance, it was almost as if Eleaine was--


    "She''s training him!"  Like the wind guides the leaves and seeds of flowers and trees towards somewhere new. She could see it now; Eleaine''s movements became almost predictable. She was moving in different places, yes, but every time her moves were the same, no matter where she was. Her swift golden locks moving in that same intricate dance the entire time.


    Melinda watched as each movement between them was a dance, each footstep and swing of his hammer almost matched them perfectly...where did she fit in with this? When was the last time she had to do something like this? Was she being treated differently compared to him?


    They were both being trained by her, but this was one of the first times she had seen him fight against her, one of the first times she had seen Eleaine fight so seriously before. She might not have been using her sword, but even she could notice, ever so faintly, the way her eyes shifted to the attacks.


    Melinda didn''t know how to describe it before, the way Eleaine fights, but she could almost picture it now. Eleaine was the wind. Not a mockery, not someone who was purely imitating the part of the concept: she was simply the wind. Her golden skin swirled with intricate markings and tattoos shined brightly through the morning light, which made her seem like the flickers of fire from the fireplace. She was perfectly brilliant.


    She spun in place once more before Kogon''s hammer went wide. A light sparkled in his eye before he placed his left foot forward into a forward strike. Melinda saw Eleaine prepare to leap back from the strike. Kogon took the swing as the blow went wide. Right before he prepared a new strike, he pushed forward with another large step as he looked back at the hammer and kept the same momentum from the same strike into a strong circular spin to release the strike once more.


    Now, he was spinning the hammer almost twice as fast towards her, who was directly in the air as it came down on her mid-swing. Melinda gasped in surprise as she was squeezing the clothes tightly in her hand. The hammer swung fast as it crashed down to the ground. Kogon was sweating profusely, and his breath was hitched as he kept the hammer imbedded into the solid hole in the ground made by the force.


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


    Melinda looked over to see Eleaine standing next to him, with her hands still behind her back. Kogon looked over in surprise as Eleaine kicked the cut on his leg, and he fell to the ground, letting go of his hammer.


    "Good, now let that wound heal, and we can try again next time." Eleaine walked away before she stared at Melinda. She couldn''t process what had happened. Eleaine was just there; the hammer was going to hit her. How could she have avoided that? She looked back at Eleaine, who had an eyebrow raised in confusion.


    "Master, how did you... I can''t. When did--"


    "I don''t see you doing your exercises... Let''s move those muscles." She said, making jogging motions with the same stone face that was there the entire time.


    "Wait! How did you--"


    "Any more wasted time, and I think we will have to push your training to three times for you being moderately late." Eleaine said while looking at the clothes still in Melinda''s hand. Melinda simply stuttered for a second before she ran to the nearby bathroom to change.


    She really didn''t want to exercise any more than necessary.


    ****


    Melinda''s favorite part of her day was the battle tactics she and Eleaine went through. She sat within the third floor''s library, in a small corner of the open space with a chalkboard and desks that faced the board. It didn''t really matter where she sat on the third floor; most of it was cleared out for her lesson anyway, so she spent a few hours here each day going through the history of battles as well as tactics.


    Every corner was covered in layers upon layers of twisting bookshelves and carts of books yet to be placed back in. It was a treat to see new things added into the library, like when a festival came around close enough to her home to be able to go. She was fond of books, but mostly she loved the library itself.


    There was calm serenity in her mother''s library, like she was sitting with her in the calm evenings, studying the things she would have. That feeling more or less pushed through the top of her thoughts as she was watching Eleaine draw a simple battle map with her white and yellow sticks of chalk.


    Her book was filled with sketches of similar things, with each page being filled to the brim with notes and questions during the lessons... and yet. Today, as the midday came to a close, she sat with her notebook not filled with the lessons and the drawings on the board, but the movements of their fight from before.


    Moments of captured time ran through her head in sparse bursts during her initial exercises and break for lunch, but now all she could think about was the fight. The way Eleaine moved through the sand was like the wind dancing through the branches of trees, the way her feet moved rhythmically to the sound of the heavy hits of Kogon''s maul.


    She took a small quill, dipped it in a vibrant gold as she flexed her fingers, and slowly drifted the nib into the unfilled spaces of white from the paper. She wanted the picture to stand out, so the gold flecks with small bits of a light sky blue made the picture pop just a bit more.


    She took her time, slowly etching the ink into the paper as she was just starting to color in Eleaine''s golden skin, the same that all Creti had. However, hers still had flecks of silver, which made her golden skin sparkle and gleam in Lutana''s light. She took out another small jar of ink she kept in the small pocket of her satchel, with an opalescent white. She cleaned off the ink with water and dipped it into the white and gently pressed it into the space of the head of Kogon''s hammer.


    It was basic drawing; it was the only one she could do since it wasn''t her main passion, but she was trying to capture that moment. The moment when the golden sand caressed over Eleaine''s body as she hopped to the left in a sideways jump, and Kogon''s hammer was arcing right over her, his face gritted in force as Lutana shined down beneath them.


    She frowned just a bit at the drawing, looking between the two drawn figures, as the memories of their fight flashed back into her mind. The synchronized dance as sand and light glazed across their skin in a tapestry of coordination. When was the last time she and Eleaine had actually sparred together? She only remembered when they had begun training, when she was testing her Embody; it had only been a short time, but she could remember when she stood so much taller than she was now...and nothing had changed.


    "You know that you treat her like the Concepts themselves!" She had remembered him saying right before they had fought once again. Perhaps Kogon was right; was she treating her differently? Melinda looked over, just for a second, as Eleaine was still drawing out the battle map from before. Could she even ask her? Even if it wasn''t true, it was hard to ask Eleaine questions; she never liked to answer them with words.


    He was probably right still: When she was late, Eleaine was there to wake her up. She had brought her clothes and food during lunch and would often have to reexplain things for her. She had even had to patch her up when the beginning exercises were too much. She felt like she was being pushed, but was it really as much as Kogon? Did Eleaine not believe in her?


    She had been tapping the quill against the paper in small blots as she noticed how she basically finished the rough colors. It was...fine, as much as she could do without any real proper training in artistic ability. They say in Kursoon that most women and men learned a few of the artisan trades, like sculpting and painting. She had never found too much interest in those, but she felt like in this moment she definitely could have used it.


    "I don''t think that is the battle plan I laid out." Melinda yelped before looking up at Eleaine, who was staring at her notebook bent down in almost a 90-degree angle as her head was tilted to the right. Melinda had grabbed the book and pulled it towards her body with a flush on her face. Eleaine stood back up, and Melinda had put the book back down with a huff.


    "You scared me, master!" Melinda set her quill away into a small foldable case, and Eleaine sat down in a chair nearby, grabbing a peach from her pocket and taking out a small knife and cutting pieces out of it.


    "I''ve seen your notes; I''ve never seen your drawings, though. Is this a new hobby?" Eleaine''s tone never changed as she spoke; if not for the slight rising intonation from asking the question, it was hard for her to tell if she was asking a question or just talking to herself.


    Melinda liked Elaine much more than the others she had been set up with in the past few years. She felt so much more alive, which was almost odd to say as her voice didn''t indicate that. She carried this aura of wisdom that couldn''t be placed, so often that it felt like she spoke with someone centuries older.


    Melinda looked through the drawing as Eleaine had begun placing pieces of the fruit on the table towards her. Melinda looked over as Eleaine was simply going back to cutting before slipping another piece onto the table. It took a moment before Melinda grabbed it and ate the sweet piece quickly.


    "No, I just... I was really infatuated by you and Ko''s fight today. I thought there was something about it." Melinda said, half disappointed in herself for not paying attention, but the other half still worried about what Kogon had said.


    Eleaine looked back to her, still cutting away at the fruit. She breathed in slowly as she took a small piece and ate it. Melinda kept her eyes low to the table, fingers gliding over the smooth pages and the creased lines where the quill pushed in a little too much.


    "Oh? You wanted to be there doing the same thing?" Eleaine questioned with only a slight vocal difference.


    "No, I just...you two did so well. I just liked watching." Her voice came out in a low murmur, a soft hum that she was sure Eleaine couldn''t hear.


    "You will be doing that too, soon." Soon. Soon was always farther and farther away when someone told you, but closer and closer those days seemed to be when the words were left unspoken. It had been a little over a year; when would she start to learn?


    "When?" She huffed, straightforward and stoic, as if to imitate her master.


    Eleaine shuffled in her chair as she pointed to the corner of the small space. There on a table for two was the gaming set for Warbonds. Melinda stared at the two empty seats before she stood up and walked over to the table and took a seat. Her heart beat rhythmically in her chest, trying to steel those nerves she had every time she played.


    "I formally challenge you, Eleaine of House Insight, to a game of Warbonds." She announced to her. Warbonds required a formal challenge; at least that was what Eleaine told her. Eleaine stood up and strode across the room as she sat down on the chair opposite Melinda and held out her hand.


    "I, Eleaine of House Insight, accept Melinda Paramore''s challenge to Warbonds." Melinda grasped Eleaine''s hand with as much strength as she could muster in a firm grip before they nodded to each other and began to set up the pieces.


    Melinda looked across the board, the large rectangular shape with the grids that spanned its entire length except right before each player''s space, which had small art of barracks where each player could put their pieces and their gold. Eleaine had already begun setting up her figures and taking out small plastic tokens of gold.


    Warbonds was a simple war game. Every player had eight figurines of soldiers that fought in the game board battlefield. It was an eight-by-eight field where each soldier was similar; however, the player could make special moves to change the soldiers actions each turn. It was a simple game, and yet Melinda had not begun to fully understand.


    Eleaine grabbed a small plastic golden token and flipped it before she watched it spin into the air. "Heads." She said calmly and plainly before the coin flipped back down into her hand. She grabbed the coin before she spun it on the table until it eventually landed on the side with the tail of a dragon.


    "You are first." She breathed seamlessly before folding her arms together and staring back at Melinda. Melinda nodded without so much as a breath before she took one of her soldiers and moved it up two spaces in front of her.


    Eleaine simply watched as she took one of her back soldiers and moved up another two spaces. Melinda watched as her fingers tapped gently on the board, slowly and steadily, before Eleaine looked back at her.


    Melinda was starting to feel the pressure before she had moved the space piece to the right one space and looked back at Eleaine. The silence in the room began to stifle, with only the slight interruptions of the slightly heavy pieces being toppled onto the table. Eleaine had begun to place her pieces around each in a diagonal pattern as her eyes fluttered between each piece.


    Her eyes were the color of soft amber that gleamed in the remaining bits of the midday sun. There''s a fraction of something beyond in those eyes, that part of Eleaine that Melinda could never truly understand. What was going through her head every day? That question remained unanswered as Melinda pushed another piece closer to the middle.


    "Your tactics have been improving." Eleaine remarked, the depth of her voice like a warrior of one thousand battles. Melinda took a second to process the information as she nodded slightly and watched Eleaine move another piece close to the middle in a funnel position the rest of her soldiers were taking.


    Melinda opened her mouth to say something back, but her nerves kept her from saying too much as she went in for the attack. She used the attack command by tapping the figure and took out two of Eleaine''s soldiers of eight. Her mind was calm before ending her turn. Eleaine''s brow furrowed as she had attacked the same piece with one nearby and took one of Melinda''s pieces.


    Melinda tightened her fist as the piece was taken, and she moved one of her pieces forward. "I issue the charge command." She declared. An issue to make every single piece move forward two spaces. She could only do so many commands before she ran out, indicated as she placed some of her plastic tokens back into the bag.


    Every piece moved up two pieces, as the pieces all sieged the funnel position Eleaine had made. Melinda felt a surge of confidence come into play as she smiled just a bit from the play. Her turn was over as she watched Eleaine move a piece forward past one of her soldiers to the right.


    "She''s trying to surround my troops."  However, Melinda knew better.


    "Retreat!" she commanded once more as she took away one of her tokens and went to grab her pieces to move them. She reached down as she grabbed a piece and--


    "Are you sure that is the best plan?" Melinda had looked up to see Eleaine still keeping that stone-cold expression on her face. She was watching the pieces as she said it, not looking at her and only watching her amber eyes flicker between the pieces.


    "Best plan? She is trying to surround me; how is that not the best plan?"  Her mind collected those jumbled thoughts together to try and see what she was saying. Her plan was perfect; a surrounding push meant that Eleaine''s only real strategy was to either push them together or retreat. Since she wasn''t going to retreat, all she had to do was back off and take her soldiers down one by one. It was foolproof...wasn''t it?


    Her fingers began to tap more rapidly on the game board; her nerves began to shoot up in her chest as her heart pounded like a drum, trying to keep herself calm. She kept the piece held in her hand, trying to understand what she meant by that.


    "Is she saying that as my mentor? It''s a good plan; I''ve seen it in the books. I need to just stick with the plan."  Despite her saying that to herself, it was almost like her body had a different plan. She had begun placing the piece down. She felt those nerves come back; clouds of doubt seized that logic in her mind, trying to understand what to do next.


    She had placed down the piece and took back the coin. Staring in between the pieces of what her next plan was. The seconds became a few minutes as she felt the seed of doubt plant in her mind, trying to understand each piece. She looked back to Eleaine, trying to find some piece of advice in her face, only to be met with that same face of mystery staring into the board.


    She tried to collect her thoughts as she grabbed one of the pieces and simply moved it forward to attack. Her heart pounded in her chest at the play; it was wrong, she knew it was wrong, but the doubt almost commanded her to make a move, any move.


    Eleaine nodded as she spoke. "Charge." Melinda knew that was bad. She took most of the pieces and moved two spaces closer to her pieces. She was being surrounded. Eleaine looked at all the pieces as she spent another token and commanded two of her pieces to attack. Two of Melinda''s pieces fell as she was surrounded by the remaining seven pieces Eleaine had. She was in trouble.


    She still had three tokens out of her four, but what could she do about the tactic? Whether she used the rest of her tokens to call more soldiers, it wouldn''t matter. It would take too many turns for her to get them to the field, and with that many... she couldn''t win.


    Her eyes darted across the board, trying to find something to use to win the fight. What could she do now that she had nothing to use? Her eyes closed as she breathed in deep and placed all three tokens into the bag. She would go down.


    "Reinforce." She sternly said before bringing three more figures at the end of the board. Eleaine''s eyebrows rose in surprise as she had begun to attack Melinda''s remaining soldiers. Melinda kept the attack from her soldiers, trying to keep the figures even until Eleaine''s soldiers were to fight through.


    It only took a few more turns for Melinda''s remaining troops to be defeated, not without defeating all but one of Eleaine''s. When Eleaine destroyed her last troop, she bowed her head deeply and picked up the remaining pieces.


    "Good game." She spoke as she put the soldiers back into place and put away the small bag of plastic tokens. Melinda looked at the board before balling her fists up tightly, her voice a hollow shell of what it was before. Another loss, another day of training and studying for it to be wasted on another loss. Her head was faced down towards one of the pieces she still held in her hand; the tiny soldier figurine depicted stared back at her.


    Melinda looked back at Eleaine with a sigh as she stared back at her, trying not to look directly into her eyes. "Yeah...good game." She sighed in one breath. Eleaine seemed to notice the change, as when Melinda looked down towards the piece, she breathed in slowly to speak.


    "That push through was a good move; you almost had me." She said with little remorse. Melinda had looked up to see her again with confusion. Almost?


    "If I almost had you, why did you ask if that was a good move?" Was Eleaine really wrong about what her plan was going to be?


    "No, that can''t be true. One of Kursoon''s top Battle Curators and eldest daughter of House Insight... Was she just seeing wrong?"  She had thought before Eleaine adjusted her garb.


    "War, no matter if it''s from a game or not, is about judging and misdirecting the opponent. If I had let you get off that retreat, I would have lost. Simple as that."


    Melinda couldn''t believe what she had said. She had been tricked. Eleaine, the honorable warrior and battle curator of the 7th division, the same one from her father and mother...had just lied to her face. She was mad; she was furious. Part of her wanted to hit Eleaine, to be mad at her, to yell and hit something...and yet.


    "I... I fell for her trick." She was the one to get tricked, the one who fell for a simple ploy of doubt, where the confident reign and those who can''t even believe in themselves enough shrivel up and die. Is this what it meant to be a battle curator? A chosen Engrave made to choose who to save and who to lose.


    It was just a game, but it felt so real. All that treatment by Eleaine and she was still so far from her dream, what would her mother think if she knew this was her daughter?


    She heard the soft footsteps of Eleaine saunter over before she heard the squeak of a wooden chair being dragged across the floor before being plopped down right next to her. She looked over to see Eleaine sit down in that chair and raise her hand towards Melinda. She flinched, only for a moment, as if she was going to be hit.


    Then, Eleaine patted her head gently with her ungloved left hand. Melinda''s face blushed a faint pale from embarrassment as she lowered her head from shock rather than any malicious intent. Eleaine kept patting gently, ruffling around her black-stained hair until parts of its meticulous straight curls started to come undone.


    "Master?!" Melinda was baffled before Eleaine was staring back at her, not stopping the gentle taps against Melinda''s head.


    "You seem distressed. My sister always does this when I get too stressed; I thought it might help." Eleaine spoke elegantly in a soft tone, as if she was trying to whisper. Melinda couldn''t believe it; the great Battle Curator of House Insight was patting her on the head like a child.


    "Master, please! I''m not a little girl!" Melinda said with hesitation. Eleaine looked halfway confused as she was still staring back at Melinda, who had now tried looking at the other wall nearby.


    "You are eleven; I think that still counts, Melinda Paramore." Eleaine said pragmatically. Melinda couldn''t believe what she was saying; she was still right, of course, but it baffled her all the same. Melinda simply sighed, looking back towards the game.


    "When will I ever win? Every time we play, it feels like I''m up against an impossible challenge. Kogon starts his training; when will I ever finish this? I can''t even take my first step." Melinda remarked slightly, leaning to Eleaine, who was nearby. She didn''t know why she did this; maybe she felt more comfortable this way. Either way, Eleaine let go of her head and looked over towards the board with her.


    "You will one day, but there is something you are missing." Melinda looked back towards her, a hope reborn from the depths of her heart.


    "I''m missing something?" She remarked before looking back at the pieces. The game was the same every time; she had tried nearly every possible solution for the plan. What could she be missing? The pieces all stood at attention on both sides of the board, like soldiers awaiting commands. Was there a rule she wasn''t familiar with?


    "When you look simply at what you have, and what is already there, you never see the full picture." Eleaine retorted before holding her scabbard on her right side. Melinda could only stand up and look through the pieces.


    "I can only make judgments based on what I know and see; how could I be missing anything?" Maybe this was another trick, a ploy she was saying to remove any hope of her winning. But why would Eleaine do that? She had tricked her in the game, teaching her about false pretenses and looking through enemy bluffs, but what lesson was this for? Surely there was something more.


    "Tell me, Melinda Paramore. What are the rules of war?" Eleaine questioned before circling around the table back to her spot where she had played the game before. She then sat down and moved one piece further.


    "Rules of war?"  That question found ample room in her head as she had grabbed a piece and held it in her hand. The soldier figurine has small marks at its base from all the times they have been playing.


    "There are rules to war?" War was about winning; it was about securing an advantage over the enemy and beating them so they wouldn''t do it again. The Battle of Orage Valley proved this; they had won, and now their house sat as one of the key trading junctions between the Midlands and Kursoon. War''s only rule was about winning. To win is the only rule in war.


    "To win, that is the only rule." She confirmed, with as much confidence as she could muster. Eleaine moved a piece forward in response to the answer.


    "What does it mean to win?" Eleaine retorted quickly.


    "Well, winning means...that you beat everyone and force a surrender." Melinda almost yelled, but she calmed herself down in acknowledgment of her volume. Eleaine moved another piece forward, imitating the same play she was making during their game.


    "What if they don''t?" She had watched Melinda stare back at the pieces. Melinda didn''t understand what she was trying to say. She had studied the histories of battles, their motivations, and their causes. Despite all the many reasons they would give, it was always about winning until the enemy surrendered. What was Eleaine trying to say?


    "T-Then...we fight until they do!" She claimed that answer, like it was a part of her that she never wanted to let go. Eleaine moved a piece closer, the formation of the surrounding pieces beginning to form.


    "Even if it costs everything?" There was a silence in the air now, like every noise was swallowed up and let in a deep place where nobody could find it. Melinda looked back to see the soldier figurines still lined up on the field, as Eleaine''s were marching forward.


    "I...don''t know." The uncertainty left a strain on her mind; it taxed what little energy she had left from the day as she sat back down in her chair exhausted. Eleaine moved a piece closer to her side and looked back at her.


    "Then, tell me...what are the rules of war?" Melinda said nothing as she let each breath linger in the air for far too long. Eleaine moved her piece closer and knocked over one of hers and stood up.


    "Until you can answer that question, until you are certain of what it means to be a Battle Curator, then you will have to keep climbing that first step." Eleaine said as she had stood up and walked towards her. Melinda watched her walk over, her tired eyes beginning to close. She didn''t realize how tired she was. She felt her body slump over, without so much as an ounce of strength left within to keep herself from falling.


    She felt herself collide with something as she was now being lifted up. Eleaine was carrying her on her back as she began to walk. She let Eleaine carry her as her eyes began to drift away. She had heard Eleaine say something right before she fell asleep.


    "And I''ll always take that first step with you."