Kaustir, Chapter 3

[Zen]

It was bothering her...

She grimaced as K'jol mentioned wielding a spear. It brought forth memories of her time in the tournament, where the crowd laughed and jeered at her mishandling of the weapon. She sunk into the saddle, cheeks reddening from embarrassment. Despite what they endured in Dorgrad, Amalia had a tendency to hold on to the past.

"Perhaps later. After the rebellion. I need to hone my skills with the sword first, but thank you for the offer."

The General glanced up towards Lut Sar. She couldn't ignore that feeling anymore; Amalia leaned down to untie her reins from his sled.

"I need to speak with him for a moment. Sleep well K'jol. May the sands lull you into a restful slumber," and kicked gently with her heels to speed up her mount.

Amalia pulled up silently next to Lut Sar, a small hesitant smile on her face. If she were to coerce information from him, she couldn't be aggressive about it. Amalia had to be tactful.

"Do Nocturnes need sleep?" She asked casually. "Or are you staying up for the well being of our group?" The General glanced at Nu and gave a warm smile in greeting.

 

[UltimaCircuit]

K'Jol nodded to the general and watched her ride up closer to Lut Sar. She seemed as if she needed to meet him with haste but he didn't care much for the matter. A yawn left his mouth before he stretched out against the side of his sled, U'Sil slithering up his arm and onto his shoulder once again. He closed his eyes as he began to nod off into sleep.

---

"You're nothing but a piece of shit!"

He was thrown to the ground, outside of Dorgrad. Blood fell from his mouth like a waterfall and pooled in the sands beneath him. The young Draken looked up at the shrouded figure who signaled for him to walk. Still shaky from his lashings, K'Jol slowly stood up before seeing two sacks being thrown at him.

"Provisions for your journey. Of course it ain't a lot but it's not like I give a shit. This is what you get for trying to lash back at your superiors. You could have been quiet, taking your beating like a good slave and now look where it got you! You're an unappreciative fool K'Jol, and now you will walk the sands of this boundless desert. Maybe you'll find your way to a city or maybe you won't. Either way it doesn't matter to me, I just want you out of my sites."

The juvenile Draken then gave the man his middle finger before turning his sights back to the unforgiving desert. He grabbed the sacks of food before walking out into sands. He had no idea if he was going to survive or not.

 

[DotCom]

Shae - Avarath, darkred

[dash=darkorange]Are you stupid?!

The sun had set and the few breezes flowing over hot clay rooftops had cooled the sweat on her skin.

The pouch at her belt hung low and heavy with pieces of silver and gold, and despite her third shot of Kresnik in as many minutes, she'd still managed to collapse roughly on top of her bedroll. The pleasant buzz behind her eyes made the stars overhead dip and weave in a strange, hypnotic dance that made her want to laugh and vomit all at once. Her belly was full of oranges. Her fingers were sticky with the juice. And buried safely at the bottom of her pack, she'd saved another two of the bulbous fruits.

Things were okay.

And yet...

Yet she could not get her mind off what she had seen earlier that day.

Following her strange 'episode' in the bazaar a few days hence, business had taken a large upswing. Shae had found it all rather funny at first; in general, she counted on literal smoke and mirrors to tell a fool's fortune. Years on the street meant she knew precisely what to look for. A lost coin pouch could be found at the crossroads behind the stables, where young Kaustirian children made their first forays into ancient careers. Young girls and old women traveling alone wanted to be promised men; men wanted to be promised power; merchants wanted to be promised money.

When she grew tired of telling fortunes, bewitching her small glass mirrors to gleam in the harsh sunlight and dazzle coins from trusting hands, blowing glass required less finesse, and more time. The heat, if not the art, would draw a crowd for long enough for Shae to entice a desperate tourist into spending too much for a glass orchid.

If all else failed, Vitro was more spectacular than any performing monkey, and had only to weave a circle overhead, casting rainbows through crystal wings, and Shae knew she would be eating like the Czar himself for a week.

And yet the one time she opted to use her Advent to 'scry' for a fortune, she'd found not a pouch full of coin, or the promise of a handsome suitor, but a strange standing in the dark, worshipping a monster.

She'd lied, of course, but the performance was enough. She'd told enough fortunes in the three days hence to travel the city without lifting a finger. And yet she was back in that square every day, promising wealth and love, and looking for the man with the black wings.

When she felt the mirror pull her in that afternoon, she thought she'd found him.

She'd been wrong.

Crystal Nightmare

Darkness again, and again her head throbbed. But this time, there was more to the pain.

"Are you stupid?"

The voice was unfamiliar, but the question burrowed deep, and for a moment, she was afraid. Petrified.

"I'm not here because of bloodlust, you sand breather!"

Another sound follows, and Shae knows what it is before she sees it. A man, a staff. Leering. Shouting.

Before him, a woman. A girl. Cowering.

Shae feels sick first. Then angry. Then ashamed. She hadn't wanted to see this. Not ever.

"Open. Your. Fucking. Eyes."

The voice, the whimpers fading. The cool touch of reality returning. Relief, tinged with regret.

"Are you stupid?"

The voice is more familiar this time.

Shae shut her eyes tight and willed herself not to vomit. Her heart was racing again, and gooseflesh pricked the skin along her arms and neck, making her shiver in a cold sweat.

It had been the second time in just three days she'd her Avent had whisker her away. This image, this vision had been much clearer, much sharper in the last, going so far as to drop her into the shoes of that other girl. And yet it had been so much darker, too.

Are you stupid?!

The words came again, unbidden.

Shae sat up and packed her bedroll away. She would not be sleeping that night, and the Kresnik was a kinder friend by far.

[/dash]

 

[unanun]

Through the dark ...

The General approached, and Nu retreated inside her mind, her face going blank. How she kneeled on the driver's bench was a very interesting feat. Her vulture aux curled up atop the cabin, his beetle still nestled on top of its head. Why their aux chose to have a truce, the answers were swallowed by the silent desert.

"General." In the dead of the night, daytime voices were yells. He did not need his advent to listen in on her conversation with K'Jol, but times like these drew out his whimsy. "Of course we sleep. During your daytime."

"Nocturnes are a valuable resource. With a well balanced army, you have a group of soldiers that are able to wage endless war against enemies of the state. When you sleep, you trust your lives to us, and we do so as well during the day."

He glanced up at the moon. It filled his pupils.

"General. Do you know the ceremonial method of execution for Nocturnes?" He continued without waiting for an answer.

"You take the sentenced out at high noon. Of course, you wrap him so he does not burn." So why take them out at all?

"Then you take his blindfold off, and force him to look into the sun at its apex. The burns he suffers to his eyes will never heal, and he goes blind forever."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Why are you telling her that?

"When you live for a long time, you get talkative. Humans and Drakens live less, and keep their lives closer to their heart."

 

[Zen]

Lut was admittedly chatty, a contrast to his earlier attitude, but that was because he was responsible for the interrogation. Still, Amalia did not see the light hearted man she witnessed in the tournament, and it was troubling.

She was silent for a time, glancing up at the stars and the moon, or towards her party. The General shifted about on her saddle, struggling with something. Why did he tell her the right way to execute a nocturne? Not that this could be the right way to execute them - so they were blind, but that meant they could still live, still move about and feel things. Amalia encountered civilians and soldiers who learned to live despite their loss of sight.

Amalia stared at him, hard. Lut Sar was the tactful sort, so there had to be a reason. She kept her eyes on him, but her expression softened.

"I was unaware that nocturnes had a heart," she said with a gentle smile. "But I suppose your chest needs to be filled with something."

She paused. "Did something happen at Zirako? Aside from your promotion? You seem... Different."

 

[Eternalfire61]

Nassad glided forward past the people of Dorgrad and toward his second head quarters. Norn Meph, a skinny young man with a missing eye and crooked teeth was there because Lenth Bactus had been trying to calm the slaves most of the day. He sat there twiddling his thumbs while most of the real work was being done. As Nassad entered the room, Norn jumped to a working position and pretended to work. Norn was afraid of Nassad, and he had good reason. Norn was trained by Nassad to endure, to be able to take care of the company when Nassad and eventually Lenth died.

"Bring my cart to Zirako. Then once you get there, ready the house for visitors."

The small man almost shattered hearing Nassad's words. Gwendolyn could see each word was a growing wound. What Nassad had done to this man was unforgivable, it was almost inhuman.

"So, since you are so brilliant, how are we going to catch up with them?"

Nassad turned to Gwendolyn and smiled. "We fly."

Gwendolyn furrowed his eyes at Nassad and then joked. "I don't think I'll be able to support you."

Nassad rolled his eyes and walked out of the door to grab a pair of horses.

"Don't be stupid."

The pair were lead out of Dorgrad and out into the barren wasteland that was the Kaustirian desert. They rode for about an hour until they reached a group of nomads. Nassad, his colleagues, and a couple of other slavers knew this small nomadic tribe well. The Auhsin was what they were called, and the people there were rather valuable. They were gatherers of Veniokai, or pterodactyl. It was rather hard to capture these creatures because of their size, and their nesting location. Somehow, they managed to tame them and use them to their advantage.

Nassad whistled at the group to stop and one of the riders came and met him. They were not flying the Veniokai because they had ridden them for most the day.

"Nassad, I see you have come to repay us!"

Nassad shook his head. "I need to borrow one of your Veniokai, I am on an important mission from Czar to capture someone.

"Anything for you, my friend!"

Gwendolyn raised a brow at how the man acted toward Nassad. They seemed like chums, like kindred souls who know each other's struggle. Nassad waved Gwendolyn forward to the Veniokai. The man who Nassad had talked to before pulled on of them toward the pair and handed Nassad the reins.

Gwendolyn observed the bird in awe, they were rare and it was a gift to be able to see one. Nassad picked one and they were brought out to be able to start toward Theo. The Veniokai cawed as it was brought forward. Nassad could tell that the pterodactyl was uneasy, so he decided to teach it it's place. With a swift move, Nassad grabbed the beak of the pterodactyl and brought it close. He gave the pterodactyl a low growl and began to crush it's beak. The Veniokai recoiled in pain as it was being held, but then it stopped and brought itself to a low position.

"Would you rather fly on the Veniokai, or would you prefer to go solo?"

Gwendolyn rolled his eyes then fly to the bird and sat on it. Nassad and the Veniokai's handler climbed it and they set off toward Theo. With it's massive wings the bird propelled itself forward forcing the group to hold on to the Veniokai's back.

"Nassad, this isn't inconspicuous."

"That wasn't what I was aiming for."

 

[Cheesecake]

H'KAL

H'kal's eyes widened for a moment at the sight of the most powerful man in the City Of Equals. He fell to his knees, eyes averted. His brows were furrowed and his sharp teeth gritted on each other. He had not seen this man in person before, but he had stories from the elders of his chamber when he was a whelp. This man was all that contradicted the values of Dorgrad. This man was all H'kal had been taught to hate. And hate he did.

He and Nils had been discussing about how to remedy the wounds Dorgrad had sustained during the riots and rebelling days before. Soon after that, they had started talking about more personal things. Nils had been forlorn after Theo had left, and after learning that they were friends, H'kal apologized for having to batter him. Erstwhile, H'kal confessed how he was disappointed in Dorgrad, hoping no one had heard him saying those words, and that the Worker's Paradise he grew up in was all a farce. He was losing faith. That was when the Mayor of Dorgrad entered the room. H'kal feared the worst.

He could only wait. Eyes to the cold, hard stone, he waited.

 

[Tegan]

Two days journey from Avarath

"You stink."

Nu bowed her head. "I will cleanse in Avarath, sir." She realized too late her carelessness; lying in Knox's bed to catch his scent.

"Who?"

She kept her breaths even, her pulse steady. These betrayals of her body, he always caught them. Nu said the first words in her mind. "The nocturne I slayed surprised me." Nu tried to think of the words to describe what happened next, but could not. "He said it did not matter if a girl is alive or dead." It was a lie.

Lut had turned to her again, his pupils contracted. "I can smell him," dark strands of her hair draped over his gloved fingers as he brought them to his nose. "All over you."

The strands fell away as General Lortik approached the carriage, speaking to Lut. Nu fell into a kneel as Amalia's mount fell into pace with the carriage. Nu waited for the High Inquisitor to dismiss her, but the signal never came.

"Did something happen at Zirako? Aside from your promotion? You seem... Different."

Lut Sar splayed his hand over his face, watching the general between his open fingers. "The Czar assigned me a role to fill. That is all."

Lortik's brow furrowed at him. "That is not all. There is always more."

Lut Sar laughed, quick and harsh, and took the woman's bait. "I do not know how beautiful the Sun is; it should be, based upon the light in Our sky. But I've never seen it."

"I do not know the warmth of the sun, only its searing embrace." Nu did not take her eyes from the carriage floor, but she heard him sigh. "I do not know the beauty of art or any of human's creations."

"Our world is black and white and shades 'tween. I am as good as dead if I can't even see her dimmer brothers and sisters." In the Northern sky, a star burned.

"We have hearts. We fill them with the blood of others."

The General said nothing for a time, then. "We all live off of the lives of others, High Inquisitor. It is nature."

"The question is: what do you intend to do to repay them?" Nu looked up, not at Lut, but to Amalia.
"All the corpses of soldiers and Wraiths that you now stand on. Will their deaths be worth it?" Her words pressed into his brain like hot iron, the flutter of Nu's pulse in response was thunder in his ears.

Under the same sky

The former occupants of the desert shanty were strewn about outside, leftovers of the gargoyle's feast. The shape changers had scattered to the winds, throwing the Inquisitors off his scent, while he went to ground for three days.

Inside, Knox had assembled an altar and shrine from the meager possessions. He knelt before it, after removing his clothes lined with the venom-tipped bristles of his Queen's abdomen. Beneath, his flesh was red and raised.

The avian reached into his mouth, with some slight tugging and a pained groan, removed one of his back teeth and placed it upon the altar. Then, Knox took up a bowl of ink made from his burned feathers, and a needle. With these, he continued work on the intricate patterns on his left arm. These were his last gifts to his queen, his absence.

"Almighty mother, all I am, all I have left, I give to you."

His shadow, his Aux, drifted from the floor like smoke, inhaled by Knox. Foam burst from his mouth as his eyes rolled back...

Avarath

The winter evening settles down

With smell of steaks in passageways.

Six o'clock.

The burnt-out ends of smoky days.

And now a gusty shower wraps

The grimy scraps

Of withered leaves about your feet

And newspapers from vacant lots;

The showers beat

On broken blinds and chimney-pots,

And at the corner of the street

A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.


And then the lighting of the lamps

T.S. Eliot



On the second day, one of the camels died of exhaustion. The rations it carried were distributed amongst the rest of the caravan as they pushed, stopless, on to Avarath. Her oryx was assigned to pull a small sled of the water-bearing cacti. Nu perched on the sled's runners, keeping the oryx's pace slow, so that it would not succumb.

They had cleared the toxic clouds of the east in favor of the coastal winds of the west. The terrain had flattened over the course of their journey, the sand softer and denser. Sparse cacti gave way to low growing shrubs. As the nocturne's sun rose, the city of Avarath revealed herself to them, haloed by the Prosperos Sea.

 

[Tone 6th]

"ACHOO!" sneezed the swordsman. Takeda awoke to a breeze of sea air brushing past his nose. "Sea air?..... Ah we're finally here!" he called in glee. The great city spread before him in the dimness of the night. Street lamps highlighted parts of building leaving others in shadow. "It has been a long time Avarath." he whispered. He jumped from the sled and onto his gecko, who seemed to be in good spirits, and road up to the General. "Orders General?" Takeda spoke in a very militaristic tone. Shibu flew over head, her eyes focusing on the small doings of the creatures below.

 

[Zen]

Amalia could not share in Takeda's light hearted feelings. While it was comforting to be around water once more, their arrival to the city was tainted.

Heads impaled on pikes were jammed near the city gates, as a reminder for visitors and citizens alike that the military was watching those who stepped out of line. In the days that they were gone, the Kaustiran Army made savage work of the rebels. Many of those heads were draken, but Amalia saw humans, anima, and nocturnes among the decorations. Braziers burned around the soulless heads, casting dark shadows over cheeks and eye sockets. Dried blood caked the pikes. Fortunately the stench did not reach Amalia's nose - it was taken away by the breeze from the Prosperos Sea.

Swallowing hard, Amalia turned her camel to face her convoy. Her gaze briefly rested on K'jol, there was pity and sorrow in her chocolate colored eyes. Matil bounded onto the camel's head, tail swishing in the breeze, eyes glinting dangerously in the firelight. Amalia stood straight in her saddle and addressed her soldiers.

"I'll be reporting to the barracks to find out what is going on before we continue. K'jol, I need you to find out how the citizens are reacting to this. You do not instigate anything, understand? If you see a fight, you have permission to break it apart, but you do not start them.

"Rakar." Amalia looked between the draken and nocturne. She hoped she wouldn't regret this decision. "You are to escort Arania to her store. If there are any salvageable supplies you bring as much as you can with you. We'll need it for those who are injured.

"Takeda and Seiyr, you're with me. I won't be traveling alone in this city if I can help it."

She stopped for breath and looked to Theo, a mixture of concern and doubt on her face. She rubbed the ring he had given her absent mindedly. "Theo, as you are not officially under my command or a soldier, you are allowed to go where you please. However because Avarath is in a state of disarray, I request that you follow one of us."

She did not bother to address Lut Sar or Nu. The General was still unsure of where she stood with the High Inquisitor, let him decide what he needed to do.

Finished with her briefing, Amalia dismounted and led her camel to a nearby stable, managed by a quivering human. She handed him the reins and smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry, we're here to help."

But the man could only tremble, and to the General, this was taken as a bad omen.

 

[UltimaCircuit]

K'Jol walked up to a Draken head on a pike before staring at it, taking in the facial features of the past person. A hard expression came over his face as he reached up to touch the face of the unfamiliar Draken but the words of his general had stopped him in his tracks. A sigh emitted from the famed warrior as he was told to find out how the citizens were reacting to the rebellion. He was not too happy about being sent on this sort of task, especially because of the reported hostility to his race and the fact that they had apparently started the revolution. U'Sil hissed at the head on the pike before he turned back to look at Amalia, banging a fist against his breast plate once more like he had done in the glass oasis.

"Of course, I will set off to the task immediately."

His first target of the city was where his whole adventure began - the coliseum. The houses that were in shambles to his left and right made his heart pang in sorrow. His hands balled into fists as a low growl emitted from deep within his throat.

"Monsters... how dare they sully the name of those descended from dragons... what a disgrace..."

The area around the coliseum entrance and the area around it was empty, something that did not surprise him. K'Jol then saw a pamphlet on the corner of the entrance and the face upon it was not one of a human. Now taken with interest, the famed warrior walked up to the image before ripping it off the wall. His eyes widened in horror as the picture was a painted representation of himself.

"The mastermind of the uprising in Avarath. Wanted dead or alive. Those who bring him in shall be blessed with abundance and live a bountiful life in the safer future of Avarath."

He quickly crushed up the paper before throwing it down to his side, taking a look back to see a cloaked figure.

"Who the hell are y-"

"No need to speak heathen! You're the one who did this to our city and now you will pay for it!"

"What are you talking about! Who are the people who even sug-"

He couldn't finish. The man quickly dashed up to him, a dagger in his right hand. A smirk came upon K'Jol's face as the naive male slashed in a rather sloppy manner. The Draken warrior sidestepped the attack before grabbing the man by his collar. He opened his mouth wide, snarling into the face of the man before seeing a small boy in the corner of his eye. K'Jol turned to face the young one, his eyes locking with his.

"It was true... you really are the one who did this... you're the reason that my house is gone. You're the reason that everyone around here is dying, and now you're going to kill another HUMAN!"

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words were emitted as he felt the blade sink into his flesh. A grunt came from K'Jol as he pulled back his head, giving a headbutt to the man before tossing him to the side. His hands grasped the hilt, prying the blade out of it's temporary sheath in his chest. the famed warrior then quirked a brow as many humans and nocturne came out from beneath the destroyed structures. Their faces were stained with tears and their hearts full of anguish.

"What the hell happened here..."

 

[MiNaGi]

A Few Nights Prior

[dash=magenta]When Arania noticed Rakar, her gaze immediately focused on him. She stared him down for a few minutes, seemingly pondering about his question. It was something she hadn't thought about.

But for her, it would be...

"I'm going to move on. I don't know where that will bring me, or if the wind will carry me somewhere safe, but it seems that the life of a settled-down person would've never suited me in the first place. I was bound to end up running away from this settled life with safety. I might travel, or simply loiter about where I feel is alright for me. Or... ah, nevermind. That's not relevant."

She turned away from him as she feigned being asleep, unsure of where any different reaction would bring her. She wasn't even sure about her own words, nothing was certain in her life anymore, just like before. Just like all of those years ago...[/dash]

Arrival in Avarath - Arania Velka

[dash=magenta]When they arrived, Arania's gaze focused on the heads on the spikes, a strange feeling filling up her chest. She hoped that it would go away, it was peculiar, and not in a positive manner.

Soon enough, the General had ordered them here and there, and before she knew, she was on her way to the shop with Rakar as her escort. A long time passed in silence as Arania anxiously twisted the reins between her fingers, though only so that she would be touching it and not so that the camel would start going crazy.

Since the night before, things hadn't been normal between her and Rakar. They had barely exchanged glances since, and it was like something had happened to make talking between them difficult.[/dash]

Arrival in Avarath - Arania Velka

[dash=magenta]
"I might want to become a soldier. Like the myth of a father I had."

Her words were not at all bitter, but she wasn't looking at Rakar as she spoke. There was not much else to say for her, as she wasn't sure that she was even supposed to be talking like this. Not when something this serious was happening just under their noses. Things weren't like they used to be. It wasn't that Arania wasn't aware of how fragile the situation in Avarath had been, but that it was now truly something one could feel on their skin, moving its way through the streets like an epidemic, changing every household's daily routines and obscuring them from what they would call their "normal life".

She was closing down her shop. Never would she see the faces of her patients again, never would she get to hear their thankful words, the things that made her feel like she could create and not only destroy.

"I was never supposed to be a healer. My entire life, I had thought that I was going to be a core in destruction, and since I was cursed so, since then I have been trying to do anything but destroy. I've brought countless people happiness. But my hands are always shaking, always cold. I know that destruction will be my fate someday, and then I won't be able to save people anymore."

As the memory hit her mind, she shivered. It had been a late night deep in the forests of Viridos, an unknown place, and yet not so unknown...[/dash]

 

[Tone 6th]

"Yes General!" Takeda saluted. The heads on the spikes were a bit off putting to the swordsmen "May the desert sun bring them peace." he whispered. He dismounted from his gecko handed it over to the same man Amalia did "Feed it only once." he advised.

He placed his hand on Amalia's shoulder "Release all fear and doubt from your mind. You've been trained to defend yourself do not forget what you have learned." he gave her a reassuring smile. Takeda released his grip "Now then lead the way." he gestured toward the city.

Takeda didn't know who or what would attack once they entered the city, but if it came to it he was ready to kill his own people. Order must be kept and secrets exposed this was the oath of the imperial guard.

 

[Obskeree]

A MINER MISPLACED

By the end of the second day of the journey, Theo had been quite certain that he hated everything new. He longed for the darkened halls and warming furnaces, the glow from the magma and the therapeutic rhythm of he and his comrades at work. He longed for a ceiling.

Nils had wanted him to fill in for him at Amalia's side but there was one crucial point that came to Theo as he tried to sleep halfway through the trek - Theo could not do what Nils did. Theo could direct people if they needed a compass, but would be useless in finding anything in unfamiliar streets with no point of reference. He had plenty of strength, but no real idea of how to use it in combat. He had speed, too, but what good would that do in quelling societal unrest?

When he laid eyes on Avarath it took his breath away. It astounded him how something so beautiful from far away would be so horrific up close - the heads on pikes, the tattered buildings...

It also sparked the ever-growing feeling he shouldn't have come, and the look Amalia gave him when she gently dismissed him drove it home.

The rest of the group dispersed quickly after receiving their instructions, and Theo panicked. Gaios peeked out from his bag. "Move it, big fella!"

Theo set off in pursuit the only one who had also been on his own - K'Jol - and hoped he hadn't set off so late that he would lose him. Strength in numbers, and all that.

He caught up just in time to see K'Jol removing a blade from his chest and looking around at the distressed crowd.

"K'Jol...!" He broke into a brief trot to close the distance, glancing between the draken and the city-folk. The tension in the air was only rivaled by despair.

 

[unanun]

"General." Lut spat on the ground, "and all of you as well, it has been a pleasure. Until the next time a passing cloud unites us." His contingent of Wraiths moved into the city, melding into the last remnants of desert haze that rose from the sands around Avarath. The four remaining with General Lortik shivered.

In the wreckage of KLarrs home, brown

"Rastul." The Wraith addressed him in Nocturne creole. "The records."

Lut accepted the worn, bound book, and flipped through it quickly, tossing it aside. "The Market's Jaws is more a desert fox than Draken." Another trail of transactions that led to a dead end. The records piled to the roof of the Draken's penthouse, and they had spent the last hour or so going through them to no avail. K'Larr was meticulous - a most respectable trait - but that didn't mean the Draken was honest. The penthouse had neither pointed to the forger or K'Larr's pair of associates, who had been present when Lut was overpowered by an Advent.

"Well then ... "

All masks snapped to him.

"It's time the Desert Dogs lived up to their name!" His mouth split into a grin, teeth tracing zigzags across his ghastly visage. To one, he tossed a fragment of the tablet. To another, a sack of gold coins in a leather pouch - K'Larr's finders fee to Bracht and the other, held for safe keeping. The Wraiths dropped to all fours, sniffing at the two baubles on the floor, the patterns on their masks - their Aux - glowing red with Advent.

"TO THE HUNT, GENTLEMEN!" Lut leaped off the pile of books, and the Wraiths exploded out of the doors and windows in all directions, nightmare hounds hot on the scent.

 

[Dunruffle]

Nils stiffened immediately at the sound of the governor's voice, turning to face him Nils bowed low albeit quickly and straightened to face the hypocritical leader of Dorgrad. "Unlike you my lord, I am not able to be completely emotionless all the time. I let my guard down and when confronted I lost my temper. I spent an ample amount of time reflecting on my actions and I was ready to accept any consequences, but the inquisitor Lut Sar granted my pardon in exchange for a promise to never betray my comrades of Dorgrad again." Nils spoke coldly and professionally to the governor, he had never for one moment in his life ever considered the man his father. He was left to rot when he was born and it was only through the burning desire to show that he could prove the man wrong did he survive. He had avoided the man as much as he could, the governor knew that Nils could not harm him in any way and enjoyed mocking his bastard son every chance he had.

 

[Kino]

The first sight of Avarath, even from a distance, was not a happy sight for Rakar. He had not forgotten why they had come. He expected to see black smoke billowing into the sky from within the city, but fortunately there was none. Most of the destruction must have already been done. He didn't know whether to be glad about that or not.

After Amalia gave her orders, Rakar couldn't help but be surprised by her order to escort Arania. It wasn't that he did not want to do it, but rather that she gave it so soon. He thought she would want them to stay together until the situation could be assessed. But orders were orders. Before heading off with Arania, Rakar called out to Takeda.

"Not a scratch, Takeda."

Rakara trusted that Takeda would understand the message. Takeda was being charged with Rakar's job for now. Keeping the General safe. He then put his helmet on, keeping the visor up, drew his shield from his back, double checked his grips and straps, and set off with Arania.

Their journey was quiet. Neither of them were the talkative type. That was a trait that he enjoyed about her. Something they both innately understood. Their conversation the other night was a short one, and Arania had ended it abruptly, but he respected that. If she didn't want to talk about it, so be it. Perhaps that was another reason why they were keeping quiet now. However, perhaps to clear the air, she decided to break the silence and continue from where she left off before.

He wasn't sure what to make of her statements. Become a soldier? Destined to destroy? It was unthinkable to him. She seemed so kind and generous. She was a healer, not a killer. Then again, Amalia was a healer too, and now she was leading an army. There was a long pause before he responded. He had to give it some thought.

"You can be whatever you want to be. Just make sure that it's something you care about... Even if that means you have to pick up a sword."

Another pause.
"I didn't want to be a soldier. Not until less than a decade ago. But it was the only way I thought I could make a difference. One day, my time will come. And so will the Czar's."

The townsfolk avoided them as much as possible as they walked along, not far now from her shop. Most buildings were damaged, if not turned entirely to rubble. They must have been an odd sight. A Draken walking alongside a Nocturne. The confusion seemed to be enough to give anyone who might have thought of attacking them pause.

 

[Asmodeus]

Dorgrad Chamber Thirteen

"Yeeees, yes!" Governor Orvak practically screeched over the end of Nils's explanation. "I can see you are torn up inside, dearest boy. Ample time? AMPLE!" The word resounded in the chamber and forced each kneeling miner closer to the ground. "Enlighten me, my nocturne child, to your definition of ample. Two days?"

He spun on his heel and looked at Warden Bracht, who eventually nodded. He spun back to his son. "TWO DAYS, Nilly-Willy. I'm sure the thorns of guilt pricked your bosom in those finite hours."

The theater imploded for a moment. He stepped forward, brisk and certain, his diamond mask fixed upwards, over Nils's shoulder, as if to examine the walls.

"My eighteenth child, what use are you to anyone?" His voice rose again, to nasal soprano. "A killer. A charmless killer. A killer without wit or imagination, wallowing in the dust of daddy's mine with nary a single ambition." He rolled his Rs in a drilling insult. "Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrat-souled murderer."

Silence settled with dust from the cavern ceiling. The circle of Commissariat guards were expressionless. Warden Bracht had her head lowered. With another regimented whirl the Governor turned to his son's companion and advanced. "Aaaah!" It were as if he had spotted a fine wine. "Now here is ambition and invention." He clapped H'Kal on both shoulders and lifted him upright, his nocturne strength deceiving. The enforcer looked into the glittering visage of the mask, and felt the Governor's smile. "Comrade H'Kal the draken, how splendid to meet you." The way he played with the consonants of his speech made H'Kal wonder if the Governor's tongue was as long as his. "The reports are on record, Mister H'Kal. Fine accounts of your valour in the insect incursion. A leader of men. A cracker of the iron whip. I commend you, Sir."

He kept his back to Nils, and slapped H'Kal's shoulders again.

 

[UltimaCircuit]

K'Jol looked off in the distance towards Theo. During their time in Dorgrad he had not interacted with the centaur much and did not know as to why he was even in Avarath with the group but it did not matter now. All that mattered to the famed warrior was getting to the bottom of the issue at hand. He beckoned with both hands for the Dorgrad worker to come closer. As soon as Theo was in arms reach he wrapped his arm around his shoulder for support.

"Got caught by surprise... usually stabbings like that don't phase me much. I think he hit a vital organ or something.... anyways, we have a huge issue on our hand. I don't know who is manipulating the common folk here but they all think that I was the one who instigated the attack on Avarath. That idea is completely far-fetched since I was in Dorgrad with all of you."

He breathed in deeply before coughing up a bit of blood. K'Jol gritted his teeth together before letting out a low growl.

"Stabbed in the lung or something... I need either Arania's or Amalia's help..."

​

 

[unanun]

Some dim and dark room ...

Seng was latched to a wooden board with leather straps, one arm free.

"We had a lot of trouble locating you." The con-artist and jack-of-all-trades momentarily thrashed in his binds, his free arm lashing out with a small dagger. Small hope, as Lut was sitting on a chair not in the moonlight. The dagger was swallowed by the shadows and harmlessly pinged off the stone walls.

"You know ... " the chair creaked. Seng's eyes darted frantically through the shadows, sweat dripping down his face. "... it doesn't really matter if you want to talk or not." Something metallic glinted in the moonlight. The gleam of a large butcher's knife.

"The Czar punishes our subjects in public to set an example." His free arm was pinned to an anvil, the first centimeter of his finger tips exposed past the edge. "But I only do this as a last resort."

The blade whistled down, slicing off Seng's fingertips. His head convulsed back, spine arching in agony, primal whimper bleeding from his lips. He didn't cry because it hurt. He cried because he knew what would come next.

The anvil was moved back to expose another centimeter.

...

"Now then."

Seng lasted until Lut got to his shoulder. Then, he told him everything. Immediately, his arm was swathed in the best narcotics, pain killers, and wrapped in the softest cotton with quick-setting resin Avarath could provide. A Wraith held his head in a loving embrace.

Lut turned towards them. Ah yes, his old name. Il Mago. Blink, and you'll disappear!

The hired sword was unimportant. They let him get away. But Bracht .. Bracht was bound on a similar table to Seng. He couldn't see, but he could hear. And smell. Lut strode over to him, his visage poking into Bracht's edge of vision.

"Bracht, out of respect for your mother, I will begin with your legs first. Remember the rules: it'll stop as soon as you tell me everything you know."

He lasted until the ankle. Urine and blood dripped off the edge of the wooden board.