by Ai Meléndez
It was the remains of a village, burned to the ground just like the other one they had passed. There didn’t appear to be any signs of life. How recent was it, she wondered?
Ashes scattered by and she grimaced at the burnt scents coming her way.
She turned back with her prey from the hunt: some rabbits and a goose. She wondered if the goose had been there because it had flown away from the fire when the village had been attacked. After a sharp whistle, Chew found her and she climbed on his back. They returned to the others quickly.
·-`*´-· Mahnii ·-`*´-·
While waiting for Celeste to return from her hunt with Chew, the others had prepared camp. As soon as they finished, they saw the rising smoke in the distance – the same direction where Celeste had gone.
Mahnii hoped she was alright. Kuu insisted that as she had gone with Chew, he would know if something had happened. Not to mention they would’ve heard a howl to alert them.
As soon as they saw her approaching, Mahnii was flooded with relief.
“Celeste! Thank the gods. You’re okay!” He smiled.
“Yea, I’m good,” she exclaimed, waving a hand as if the notion she would be anything but was ridiculous.
She slung the rabbits and goose onto the ground, beginning to prepare them to eat. Mahnii, Kah and Shim helped with the meat while Kuu stoked the campfire.
It was best if they stayed away from the villages and continued to get by on what they already had – besides the hunting for needed food, of course.
The thing that didn’t make sense was why the dragons were attacking. Unless it had something to do with what Kuu had shared about the conflict between humans and nonhumans around his own territory. If so, the lycans weren’t the only ones caught in unnecessary and misunderstood rumors.
Still, from what they’d seen, dragons were definitely attacking humans – not the other way around like what Kuu had said happened in his own home.
Over the next week, they passed several more villages which had been reduced to burnt rubble. Near two of them, they found scattered items which appeared to have blown away and thus avoided being charred. They didn’t waste time exploring the villages for unburnt goods buried under the debris.
Finally, they came to a village that was still standing and lively. However, it was clear many of the villagers were warry from the bags under their eyes and sidelong glances as they entered the marketplace.
Was it because of Kuu and Chew? Or was it because their homes were gone and they were gathering together for survival? Maybe both?
It did also seem overcrowded. The companions saw that many who had escaped the burning villages scattered elsewhere had gone to other villages for safety.
But how long would it be before this one, too, was turned to ash?
Mahnii could sense foreboding hanging in the air like dark clouds rolling in just before a huge storm. Even Celeste and Kuu, the two who always seemed to make some cheery remark regardless of the situation, were quiet, glancing at the faces of the humans around them.
“Shim, do you want to come with me to ask around?” Mahnii asked. Maybe they could learn something as this village was still intact.
She nodded, gripping her staff before leaping down from the wagon with Mahnii, and they began making their way through the marketplace.
For a while, there wasn’t much relevant conversation. They stopped at a few stalls – one with furs and fabrics, another with supposed magic artifacts Shim said were all a hoax, and another with several breads.
Mahnii noticed some of the villagers glancing at Shim. They probably stuck out way more than he would’ve liked with her bodysuit, skirt and boots. He knew already she was pretty aware of things and that she had a ‘don’t-care-what-anyone-thinks’ attitude. He actually admired that about her. However, he wanted people to think they were completely normal at that moment.
He attempted conversation. “So, how much further do you think it will be?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
Shim didn’t miss a beat and just shrugged. “We are probably getting close at this point, though he has been oddly elusive.” She paused, eyeing a stall with weapons. “So what’s with you mothering Celeste?”
“Do you have to use that word?” he said with a slight grimace.
“What? Mothering?” She grinned mischievously.
“Yes,” he said, giving her a pointed look.
She just shrugged, stopping at a stall with a variety of fruits and nuts.
“It’s nothing. Celeste just isn’t exactly aware of things,” Mahnii said. “Someone has to look out for her.”
“And that has to be you?” Shim grinned. “I think she’s probably capable of handling herself.”
“Seriously? Haven’t you observed anything since we joined up?” Mahnii paid the merchant at the fruit and nut stall for the goods they picked and moved quickly after Shim who was headed toward the weapons stall she had eyed.
“Sure, she’s a little airy but she is strong and clearly battle experienced.” Shim paused. “Even though I kicked her behind,” she added with a smirk.
Mahnii moved in front of her. “Probably not best to be buying weapons,” he said, steering her toward the direction Kuu had taken the wagon.
Shim stared at him a moment, then agreed. She had her staff already anyway.
“This is pointless,” said Shim after a few more moments.
“What?” asked Mahnii.
“Everyone is keeping to themselves, ducking their eyes, avoiding. It’s like everyone is suspicious of others.”
“Well, they did just lose everything to dragon attacks,” Mahnii replied, as hushed as he could manage.
“Get out of here!” he heard someone yelling ahead of them.
“Yea, no one wants you here, you scum!” another screamed.
Shim and Mahnii ran to get back to the wagon – which was where the voices were coming from.
Kah and Celeste stood just in front of Kuu and Chew. They were just outside of the village where they had stopped to wait for Mahnii and Shim to get back.
“You nonhumans bring nothing but ruin!” someone yelled, throwing a rock toward the companions.
Mahnii stepped in between with as large a smile he could muster. “Why don’t we all calm down. No harm has been done, right? Let’s just be on our own ways peacefully.” He maintained his smile, hoping the villagers would agree.
The villagers seemed to look at each other and at Kuu and Celeste, debating amongst themselves and finally did start to disperse back to the market and their homes.
Relief washed over Mahnii but he was also shocked. When had such feelings of hatred become so intense towards nonhumans? Was it really only because of the dragon attacks? Or was something else going on?
Seriously, they needed to get to Ru-Kai!
“Come on, let’s go,” said Shim, grabbing Mahnii’s arm and moving to get back in the wagon with the goods they had bought.
Over the following days, they steered clear of villages they crossed which hadn’t been burnt. Any they got close to, as soon as the humans within spied Ri Kuu or Chew, they began shouting and chasing them away with growing fervor.
“It’s time for nonhumans to go!”
“Leave our world. Go back to where you came from!”
“Death to all nonhumans!”
The words grew darker and increasingly filled with hatred.
Finally, the companions had three days where they didn’t encounter anyone. No travelers, humans, or nonhumans.
The grasses were increasingly wild and tall and the trees were growing closer together. It was about as wild in nature as Ru-Kai’s realm got.
Then, they spotted the faint grey of smoke rising against the sky.
Chew picked up in his step a bit. The smoke was not like the dark clouds rising from the villages burning under dragon fire. Rather, it was soft, gentle vapors and the pleasant scent of herbs drifted toward them on the wind.
As they began moving between the
trees, they started seeing small scattered huts and even tents raised. Rather than humans, however, it seemed everyone living within the area was nonhuman. They passed small families or individuals with stern faces and suspicious glances. Ground elves, fairies, dwarves, kelpie, centaurs, griffins… each were in their humanoid form though could not entirely hide their true selves.
As they passed, Mahnii, Shim, Celeste, and Kuu all took turns asking variations of the same question: “Hi, we’re looking for Ru-Kai’s temple. Can you point us in the right direction?”
Yet no one would help. Some flat out ignored them while others huffed with rolled eyes and glares.
Some whispered amongst each other, “What are those humans doing here?” They made little effort to truly keep their suspicions quiet, Mahnii noted.
Still, the fact there were so many nonhumans hiding out near each other – the companions all agreed it must be a sign they were getting close, assuming all these nonhumans were feeling they had nowhere else to go.
The scent of herbs grew stronger as the trees grew closer together and finally, they found a large clearing with a glistening pond surrounded by rocks and reeds and a small hut on the far side.
A slender but strong looking man sat cross legged on the other side, hands resting on his knees and eyes closed. He was somewhat of an odd sight given all the chaos the group had been witnessing. Despite that, he was handsome with defined features and toned muscles. His chest was covered by his cut-off top however, from his waist down, he was covered by a long kilt fashioned with braided leather ties.
What was unmistakably familiar about him was the thick curled hair tumbling about his head. His resemblance to Kami-Shi confirmed everything.
At last they had found Ru-Kai.
Chapter 16
As soon as the companions began moving across the clearing, Ru-Kai opened one eye. Then both flew open as he jumped to his feet.
“It’s you! You’re finally here! Come quickly!” though he was the one moving toward them. He grasped Celeste’s hand, grinning widely.
“Wow, it’s exactly as Kami said.” Ru-Kai examined Celeste closely and all over.
“So, what’s going on?” Mahnii asked.
Ru-Kai blinked as he glanced at Mahnii and then slowly at the other companions. Had he not even noticed they were there except for Celeste?
“I mean, we were sent by Kami-Shi to find you, to learn from you, and our journey has been riddled with chaos and increasing hatred from humans and nonhumans,” Mahnii continued.
“I’m guessin’ tha’s why we’re here from Kami!” Celeste said, then she leaned toward Ru-Kai, “that an’ he tol’ me ta kick yer ass,” she added with a grin, tapping her hammer against her shoulder.
Ru-Kai sighed, and it was then Mahnii noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the red in them. He smiled at Celeste. “I’m sure he did. Come inside,” he offered, turning and leading the companions to his hut.
He gestured for them to make themselves comfortable. Despite the outward appearance, the hut was spacious and well-furnished though hardly grandiose – very different from Kami-Shi’s castle. It was decorated with plants all over and huge blankets that looked handmade. The blankets covered the ground and hung from the ceiling, serving as walls to divide the hut into a few different rooms. The main room from the entrance had chairs around its edges and fluffy pillows strewn across the floor.
Ru-Kai offered tea from a kettle near the back and then sat on one of the fluffy pillows.
“I’ll tell you what I can, though I won’t be able to explain everything. Only what I know. It started some time ago, but I have been able to keep the peace until recently when it got out of my control.
“The humans have become irreparably corrupted. At first, I learned one of the kings in the central provinces of my realm was telling his people that he had witnessed terrible acts of violence from nonhumans and that that nonhumans were preparing to rise against them in war.
“When I investigated, the king was unable to share any specifics and further, all he knew was he had images in his mind but couldn’t even tell me where they had come from. I was able to calm the situation, showing the king that it had been a lie and all was returned to normal.
“However, a bit of time after that, a similar incident happened in another kingdom. Once more, I was able to calm the king and the people and prevent any conflict. Still, it started to happen more frequently and in more areas.
“One of my abilities is to create servant clones which help me to keep peace and watch over my realm. It’s how I can see the people, serve, yet still remain hidden. I started sending out my clones to the various kingdoms to keep an eye and try to figure out how these incidents were happening and also be able to calm my rulers simultaneously.
“However, I can only create and sustain a maximum of five of these servants and the more I have at once, the faster I wear out and have to gather them until I can recoup. Therefore, I prefer to only keep three out at a time. The chaos began spreading further and faster than I could keep up by myself since I couldn’t sustain my servants long enough and far enough.
“Then, recently, I was lingering in one king’s court closer to here and I learned of a mysterious person with dark robes, keeping his face hidden, that had visited the king. No one could remember any other details, however, neither could they tell me where he had come from, gone, or even when or how long his visit had been. That’s when I concluded the threat has to be connected to our homeland, Aeros, though truthfully I can’t confirm it with absolute certainty. It’s just a suspicion.
“However, I think Kami-Shi and even my sister have felt the same sort of threat. I learned just before Kami-Shi sent you that our sister, Cel-Lok, had a vision of a great evil moving through this land spreading chaos and manipulating humans, though she also couldn’t see anything specific.
“Only someone from Aeros would have the type of dark magic needed to go to these lengths and be able to keep hidden – especially from us Dragnai. Each of us has our own magic: Cel-Lok is a seer, Kami-Shi an animancer, and I can alter the emotions of others, which is why I was able to keep the peace amongst the kingdoms for so long. Even I couldn’t keep it up forever, though.
“Sadly, that’s all I can share concerning the conflict. Besides, my realm isn’t your concern – for now.”
“What?” Mahnii jumped up. “Of course it is! Kami-Shi said you were supposed to point us toward our destiny.”
Shim snorted lightly and then grabbed Mahnii’s arm, tugging for him to resume sitting. “Technically, Kami-Shi said we needed Ru-Kai to tell us where to go next for our journey and our destiny,” she pointed out.
Kah leaned toward Shim and whispered something in her ear. She glanced at Mahnii then toward the ground, her cheeks flushing.
Mahnii decided to ask her about it later.
“That, and for me ta beat ‘im in a duel,” said Celeste with a grin.
Mahnii rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure if she was once more trying to lighten the dark mood that had fallen after all Ru-Kai had shared or if she genuinely did not understand the gravity of the situation.
Not to mention Ru-Kai was clearly in no state for an all-out duel.
Ru-Kai was smiling at all of their banter. “Well, I may not be able to share much more, but Cel-Lok can. As I mentioned, she is a seer and she is the one who ultimately had this vision of the evil that is threatening our entire world right now. Kami and I have only gotten pieces from her spies we have caught in our realms. But we haven’t been able to ask her directly – not that we would even get much of an answer if we could,” he added.
“Spies?” asked Mahnii, staring at Ru-Kai.
He waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry – they were hardly a danger to anyone. Kami and I can handle our sister’s foolishness. More importantly, Kami-Shi was right to clue you in.” At that, Ru-Kai specifically met eyes with Celeste.
She blinked, staring back though didn’t respond.
Th
e whole time, Kuu had remained oddly silent behind the others. As he had not met Kami-Shi nor did he know what the others he had traveled with were talking about, he hadn’t had much to say. That much hadn’t really come up in conversation during their travels to Ru-Kai. However, now that the conversation had shifted, he cleared his throat.
“My lord, Ru-Kai,” he said, bowing his head respectfully, “I am Ri Kuu, son of the Lycan Tribe of Blalou and I have come to request your aid. The conflict you described must have been what happened to the human king of the kingdom neighboring my home. Perhaps even if this evil you speak of has spread, you can still return peace to our neighbor king and my tribe as well.”
Ru-Kai looked at Ri Kuu, studying him a moment. “I’m afraid I can’t,” he said finally. “It would only be a matter of time before chaos would return. There is a reason you became a part of this group – fate must have already bound your destiny to theirs. I sense that lycans will play a role in all of this.”
He paused, “Sadly, the king you speak of was one of the first I was unable to calm and return to a state of peace. Your situation has not gone unnoticed. However, he was already lost to the darkness of whoever is behind this chaos. His mind is closed completely and he will not see reason nor allow another influence. The bringer of this evil is truly powerful.”
At that point, it seemed Ru-Kai was speaking more to himself than anyone, though when he finished again, the look in his eyes toward Kuu was apologetic.
“Don’ worry, Cookie!” said Celeste, looking at him with a large grin. “I’m glad cause now ya can come along wit’ us!”
Kuu smiled at her, nodding. “Seems so.”
“Well, that’s all great,” said Mahnii, “But how are we supposed to even find Cel-Lok now?” And for that matter, why had Kami-Shi sent them to Ru-Kai first if he knew Cel-Lok was the only one who could give more details about the vision, the evil, and their destiny?
