by S D Huss
It wasn’t long until Robert saw enormous spirals standing tall over the horizon. -Thule…- He thought to himself. His chest started to ache at the sight. He hung his head and closed his eyes, hoping with some unknowable power that he would open them again, and find himself back home.
He was positioned behind Demessa on her mount, who had not spoken to him since the night with the bonfire. She had followed her orders robotically and without any further complaint. She was feeding him what she should and refraining from beating him, but today she had a smile on her face. “You know they will not treat you well, demon.” She said, not attempting to keep her satisfaction hidden. “They will torture you for information, they will cut your fingers from your hand.” She turned to look him in the eye. “And you will beg them for the sweet release of death, during which I will enjoy every second they pull you apart.”
Robert’s insides churned with the thought, and his already racing heart began to double its efforts. She said nothing more as they approached the city. Its walls stood high above the ground, several hundred feet or so, with towers and large curved spikes of stone that jutted from the top of the wall and curved downward toward the ground in an unnatural way.
As soon as the gates opened, Robert could see an immediate change in the manner of people that resided in the open area that surrounded the entrance. There were many shops and merchants that were crowded around, but they sold no merchandise or services. All that could be seen was a massive crowd of people who were split at the center, giving the Rexunii raiding party a clear way through their city. The buildings were much the same as Vul De Rah, looking as though they were grown from the ground itself. Some massive spirals loomed overhead, only larger, much larger. The city of Thule seemed to be near twice the size, if not bigger, than Vul De Rah. It seemed appropriate, seeing as how it was the capital city of Rexunii territory.
The crowd around him was quiet, only hushed murmurs and gestures could be detected. Robert tried to curl in on himself, instinctively attempting to hide from the thousands of peering and piercing eyes. His hands were shaking visibly, and he realized he must be a sad sight. -Here I am… The spirit sent… pissing his pants before his death…- he thought to himself.
Robert closed his eyes again, feeling tears pooling, causing his vision to blur. Why was this happening? Why did he come to this forsaken place? His mind began to go numb with the relative quiet. The slow and constant pattering of the Cro’Kan’s feet and claws clicking on the stone pavement assaulted him. He kept his eyes closed as much as he could as they walked, through winding roads and up steep inclines.
He opened them when they halted, and he heard raised voices. Robert could see a large and imposing castle before him and saw its large doors swing open.
“Get off,” Demessa said, jumping from her mount.
Robert did what he could to maintain his composure, but he found it hard to keep his legs from shaking.
He wobbled through the door, and into the massive halls of the castle. It had large rugs, and works of art decorated the walls. Not hanging paintings or fine pieces of furniture, but pristine sculptures made of crystal, and massive stone murals that sported no paint, but had colors all mixed together to create an image. It was as if some master mason melted the different colors of stone and mixed them together to show a beautiful picture.
They brought him through the castle and finally into the throne room. Much like Hego Agron’s, it was a large room with pillars and an entourage of nobles, warriors, and Espi-Dae. The man on the throne seemed like a young Dae. Compared to the seasoned look of Vul De Rah’s Hego, this one had an aura of arrogance and youth that was difficult to measure. Robert still hadn’t seen any extremely old Dae in his time in Pelemont, he had often wondered how old these people could get. There was a crown on his head and short cropped hair, which was different compared to the majority of Dae he had seen, with their hair at shoulder length. He had light grey skin and piercing yellow eyes.
“Welcome back, Lord Turak!” The King said, standing to greet the band of Dae who entered the hall. The raid leader removed his horned mask and clasped forearms with the king in a very familiar gesture of friendship. The King’s yellow eyes then turned to Robert, who stood wide-eyed and frozen. “So this is the demon, correct?” He took a few steps closer to him.
“No, your highness!” called one of the Espi-Dae, the leader from the look of his garb. “This is a dark creature. Don’t let its timid and fearful exterior fool you. These are not to be trusted and can be quite dangerous.”
The King ignored the Espi-Dae’s words and approached Robert regardless. “What do you think, Turak? You have been exposed to this creature for some time now. Is it dangerous to us?”
Turak looked at Robert for a moment, his eyes showing none of his earlier compassion. “He is harmless. He has not resisted us thus far. I don’t think he is what they say he is. Espi-Arl should have investigated this a bit more.”
There was a stammer of protesting from Espi-Arl, but it had little effect on the Rexunii raid leader.
“That is my humble opinion though, your majesty. I can, however, tell you with confidence that the reports of these creatures feeding on the flesh of our people, stealing children away, and being responsible for the misfortunes of businesses and crops are most likely… fabricated.” He couldn’t help a small smirk directed at the Espi-Dae. “I would recommend more study… and of course, monitoring him for the duration. I volunteer to do so.”
Robert’s heart rose at the suggestion. There was still hope for him.
Turak bowed his head slightly in respect, and the King squinted while rubbing his chin. “So, this is your counsel then?” He asked thoughtfully.
Turak nodded his head, eyes still stone cold.
“Your majesty, might I remind you of our agreement.” The Espi-Dae chimed in, stepping closer to the King. “The High Espi-Dae has given his decree on these demons, and our cooperation with you is dependent on your decision here today. When you sent word to us detailing your intention to capture one, we came here. You gave us conditions for turning it over and we have agreed and given our word. Your little conflict with the Lokkadonians will never develop into a war. The High King will never tolerate two of his most powerful clans slaughtering each other. But Vul De Rah and their heretic Hego have disgraced their clan and, as far as the High King is concerned, are fair game for your campaigns. We will support you… if…” The Dae holy man looked at Robert. “You give us this demon.”
The King’s eyes narrowed at Espi-Arl. There was a short period of silence where Robert didn’t breathe. His heart pounded in his chest with every second.
“What do you want to do with him?” The King asked.
“We wish to interrogate it… and do our due-diligence. Purification.”
Turak scoffed at the words. “We do not purify anything here. You are in our land, so you follow our laws. Our Espi-Dae do not burn criminals.”
“The Pits of Mar?” Espi-Arl asked, his face slightly disgusted. “That awful place.”
“It is the test of our patron spirit,” Turak said, irritatedly.
“Yes, yes I know. The dark spirit Dio’mar carved it out of the ground and made it her home. You throw criminals and deviants into the pits to be devoured by the creatures that live there and their own madness. We have all heard of it… However, we aren’t fully in agreeance with it. The monsters that are said to roam there are truly horrific creatures.”
“It is our way.” The King said, in support of Turak. “So, if you want to have him you may, but all we ask is that you respect our customs. We will honor no other spirits than Dio’mar… and your idea of purification is blasphemy here.”
Robert inhaled sharply. The three Dae turned all at once to see him. He couldn’t help himself, he was now crying openly to them. His sobs began to erupt as all the emotion and confusion of his situation poured out all at once. “Just let me go!” He pleaded, with all he had, to the Rexunii before him. He begged
for them to let him go, he couldn’t bear this place any longer. His dignity, or all that was left of it, was gone now. Robert didn’t care about customs or his image to these horrible creatures. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to accomplish, but by God, he was going to do something, anything.
For a moment they listened. Surprised at the sudden and emotional outburst. Soon after, though, the Espi-Dae signaled for his guards to take Robert from the raiders. He flung his arms in an attempt to fight off the warriors and even managed to toss a few to the ground with his unnatural strength, but eventually, he was overpowered and tied. His screams were muffled as well when a gag was put in his mouth and they dragged him away.
The King stood, staring at the large doors to his throne room, still open and echoing muffled screams. He was in deep thought.
“How very strange… the last one only spoke in gibberish… This is quite interesting. Please excuse me, your majesty. I have work to do.” The Espi-Dae bowed and walked away following the human.
They waited for him to leave with his small entourage of holy men.
“This will not bode well…” Turak said. “If I may speak freely.”
“Go on…” The King said.
“Alektor, we should have never spoken to these fools. I know it is important that we free our people from Lokkon, but these repugnant and decadent Espi-Dae? They are all from Torre’... they are all corrupt. They do not believe in our ways, they openly mock us. They will torture that creature and discard him. We could have learned much more if you had allowed me to work with him. Now… who knows what will happen? I don’t believe he deserves to be thrown into the pits… such a fate is reserved for only those who are irredeemable”
The King raised his hand for silence. “I will do what is necessary to achieve my goals. The goals of our people. This is a win for the Rexunii, Turak. With the support of the High King and the Torre’, we will finally be able to free our people from oppression and slavery”
“And if this angers Dio’mar? What then if the spirit doesn’t like our offering? She is a spirit of justice and vengeance. This creature may very well be innocent of any crime at all.” Turak said, frustration in his voice.
Alektor looked at Turak with a chastising smirk. “My dear friend, I think we both know that she doesn’t live there anymore. Either that or she died a long, long time ago.”
chapter 21
“Excellent!” Avria shouted, thrusting her blade at Katrina, admiring her parry. The human girl had been training every day with her mentor, and over the countless hours spent had become a formidable warrior. Not yet to the degree of lethality that was expected of the warriors of Vul De Rah, but she had been learning quickly.
Avria swung her blade over her head, a shriek of electricity erupted from the weapon. Katrina arced her blade in the crest form, and a large pillar of stone shot from the ground at an angle and blocked her blade. The movement was flawless, and Avria followed up with several more Dunamis-enhanced attacks.
After the session, Katrina soaked in the Regios bathhouse. A large room with dozens of baths masterfully etched into the stone floor. Clearly, a powerful earth user had used the Dunamis to make them. Her body ached from the rigorous routine, but she floated now, carefree and relaxing in the warm water.
“I do find the Regios estate to be quite a lovely place,” Illya said, soaking in a bath next to hers. The Dae princess had been spending a lot of time in the Regios estate lately. She insisted that she would accept the responsibility to teach Katrina the customs and courtesies of the Vul De Rah court, though it was most likely because she was bored. Katrina didn’t mind the attention, she had an opportunity to indulge in the more feminine aspect of this world. Listening to court gossip was always fun, especially now that she had started to know many of the names that were mentioned. Avria seemed to encourage it as well, pushing her to spend time with more people and make friends. -Friends- she thought to herself.
Her mind went to Robert. The man had been gone for nearly two months now, and there was little word on his progress. -What would happen if they found a way back home?- her mind raced at the thought. The strange world she had woken up in was alien and terrifying. She had been here for nearly six months, and against all her fear and uncertainty, had come to enjoy her life here. She missed her parents and her friends, but her life on earth had been an uneventful one.
Katrina let out a sigh and sank into the water, letting her mouth blow bubbles.
“Oh, come now,” Illya said, resting her arms on the edge of her bath. “What ails you, my little human? Has Avria been pushing you a little too hard?” She said playfully.
Katrina smiled as she rose a bit above the water again. “Not really.” She stretched her arms up. “It’s been tough, but not too bad. Hey, is there any news from Robert yet? It’s been a while.”
“I haven’t heard much. Only that they arrived at the Spirit Forest a couple of months ago and have been actively studying the area.” Illya said.
Katrina nodded her head. “That's pretty much all I have heard too.”
“What about Daniel?” Illya asked with a sly grin on her face. “How’s his training going? I heard that he almost blew up the training field in the Glade.”
Katrina chuckled; of course, Illya would know about this. It doesn’t matter how protected a secret like this was, she always managed to pick it up. Illya always had her ear to the ground in matters that interested her. After spending several sessions with the Dae princess, she knew that Daniel was definitely on her radar as an interesting subject. She had asked about him every time she visited.
With that thought in her mind, Katrina decided she would press that little button.
“Why don’t you go see him?” Katrina said, turning to Illya and placing her elbows on the edge of the bath. “You keep asking me about him, why don’t you stop by? I’m sure he would love to see you.”
Illya’s face reeled at the bold suggestion. “Well.” She said, “I don’t know if that would be--” She stopped for a moment and thought to herself. “You know? That might be quite interesting. You think he might enjoy it?”
“Oh yes,” Katrina said, her smile deepening. “You know, he asked about you last time I saw him.”
“He did?” Illya exclaimed.
Technically she was telling the truth. In fact, the last time she saw Daniel he had asked how everyone was doing. This, of course, would have included Illya.
“Well, I think I’ll take your advice on this, Kat. You know, Oros was pretty disappointed that he didn’t take him up on his offer to train him. I think that he would have fit in well with the court. I mean, look at you, Avria has nothing but good things to say.”
Katrina’s ears perked. “Wait… really?”
“She may be rude, and about as feminine as a dehydrated Cro’kan teetering on the edge of death, but she does have some soft spots. She is particularly fond of you. I must say, I was shocked when she told us that she felt your training was going far beyond her expectations. You, humans, are very strange indeed.”
“Sure, we’re strange to you Dae. Maybe that's why you are so obsessed with Daniel.” Katrina prodded.
“What?” Illya became slightly flustered. “I’m not ‘obsessed’ with Daniel, I just find him very interesting.”
“Seriously…”Katrina said. “It has been months now, you are attracted to him. You should think about visiting him instead of me. Don’t get me wrong, I love our conversations Illya, you always make me feel better after a tough day, but come on. Don’t treat us like we’re stupid.”
Katrina paused. And for once, didn’t hear one of the Dae princess’ quirky responses.
Illya sat in deep thought, looking at a puddle of water beside her bath.
“I know it's a little strange. You are completely different creatures… I mean… we don’t even know if… you know… you have the same--” Illya gestured down toward her lower region.
Katrina let out a laugh.
“Don’t la
ugh! I’ve been dying to know! I’m serious Kat, it is a very popular subject in court. I’m not the only one asking either, my brother Boros has asked me more than a few times to tell him if you had the same… you know… everything as Dae women.”
“What!?” Katrina exclaimed, laughing at the thought. “Boros asked you to see if I had a vagina?”
“Oh! So you do!” Illya said, her mind moving in a devious direction.
“I know that look, and if you’re thinking to yourself that because I have the same, then surely a human male does.” Katrina held for a dramatic pause. “No… they don’t. I’m sad to say that they have vaginas as well.”
