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Qualis: Shadows of Genus Chapter Four: The Life Stealer
A warming peach-coloured glow was a welcome sight after a night of hell. Daeual yawned widely as he looked out the window of the room he’d been given to stay in. The first sun was just starting to peak over the walls surrounding the city of Cupa, the Mystic Evenf capitol of the western part of the continent Fenika.
The view from the Temple of Maegynsa was breath-taking. The courtyard was filled with blossomed peach trees, with green and peach-coloured leaves. The sun’s light on them was the reason for the sky’s colour being different than normal. Small fish ponds were also scattered along to outer edges of the temple’s walls, Daeual thought he could see people sitting near some of them in the shade of the trees talking, but he was still too sleepy to see or hear clearly.
He did noticed the figures weren’t all dark haired like the city’s population should be. Mystic Elves were the only race permitted to live long term in the city, and every mystic elf had dark coloured hair. The previous night was still fuzzy in the back of his mind, but he knew all of Genovra’s population was sent to Cupa, and all Genovrans were accounted for and safe before he had passed out from exhaustion.
He yawned widely, looking around the room. It reminded him somewhat of a fancy inn, a very soft bed, night stand, desk and a soft plush chair were the only piece of furniture. The walls were a ‘boring’ white, but the hanging paintings, peach curtains, and other fabrics and flower decorating the area made it seem inviting.
Trying to get his thoughts in order, Daeual attempted to recall how he even got to the room he was at, he could barely remember anything clearly after being pulled along by Averi into the portal in Genovra city. Masaki had been on the Cupan side of the portal waiting for him, a group of Mystic Elven clerics were with him tending to any injured who came through. He could vaguely remember seeing a very regally cloaked female lurking around the back of the gathered Mystic Elves. Something about her made his skin crawl; he’d never seen her in any of his visit to Cupa before. Something else stuck him as odd about her now that he thought about it, her skin, what he could see of it, was tanned, and her hair was… Pink? Red? His stomach rumbled at the thought of the only colour he could associate to it, Raspberry.
The mere passing thought of food distracted him from his train of thought entirely. The smell of something cooking had been lingering in the air for a while now, he just wasn’t paying mind to it well enough to notice it. The smell was nothing like scents of the bakeries in Genovra, or what they would be like if the City still stood… Daeual enjoyed the smell of human foods but the taste was something he never could stomach. The smell of elven food was very uplifting. The feeling of having a home cooked meal the way he liked it was incentive enough to pull himself out of the drowsiness he was experiencing and find the source of the smell.
After uttering a simple, reagentless, spell, his clothing smoothed out all the wrinkles accumulated from his tossing and turning during the night. The sound of Surinya’s scream kept replaying in his mind, keeping him awake for hours until exhaustion once again won over him. Even now the memory still lingered of her laying over Jemai’s body screaming. If anything, Masaki’s words the night before were cold comfort. At least he knew Surinya was safe for now, although he hardly considered being in a place known as the City of Darkness, Illicitus, as being ‘safe’.
He opened the door to leave the small but cozy room he had slept in, it wasn’t somewhere he’d like to stay long term, but he was thankful Cupa had given his city’s people places to stay. Especially knowing that Mystic Elves were very unwelcoming of outsiders.
As he walked down the hallway, which was more like a spiraling set of stairs, toward the source of the scent. He passed several of Genovra’s residents coming from the rooms on the various levels of the tower. Some were gathered talking in hushed voices; others shot vicious glares in Daeual’s direction. He didn’t blame them for hating on him, though he frowned at some of the talking he was able to hear.
“…never should have let an elf…”
“...knew he would be the down fall…”
“…couldn’t use that magic to save our homes…?”
The third line did spark curiosity. Why did Masaki not cast a spell to surround the city in some sort of barrier? Or any type of defense, why evacuate and not fight? Jemai’yu had the item he wanted, or so Daeual believed he had taken it before his death. Why did he want to destroy the city? …Why did he come back and say he didn’t have it?
Did Naoko really take it…? Daeual wondered. His mind was stuck on the topic now, thinking of all the possibilities. Who might have the items now, and what were going to be done with them.
He rounded the final corner of the tower, which lead into a huge banquet style room. Tables were set out with plates, food, drinks, and even flowers. The peach-colour theme was heavy throughout the entire temple, which was to be expected since the ruling family were considered royalty to the race, the Touka clan. Daeual remembered being told about the name meaning Peach Blossoms or Petals, or something similar.
The room was set out in five long tables which were horizontal before him. At the far right, an area rose above the rest with small steps leading up on either side. Another table was set out with plates, food, and flowers only the decorations and fabric covering the table was much more intracate. The chairs were all high backed and engraved wood, obviously meant for high ranking or important people.
A few people were at the five ‘lesser’ tables, currently all from Genovra, Daeual recognized them all but their names evaded him at the moment. Averi was with them likely playing the part of ‘human relations’, as she tended to call it. Picking up the piece of what’s left after Daeual pissed off the human community, yet again.
It was a horrible feeling knowing everything that happened was his fault, be it directly or indirectly, he felt he failed. He knew in advance something was coming, that was the whole reason he’d called everyone to meet in the city to begin with. He wished he’d been born with the ‘6th sense’ many humans referred to, premonition.
If you think any louder I’m going to have to ask you to shut up.
Daeual’s head lifted as he looked for the source of the send. He didn’t recognize the voice; intrusive sends were very difficult among elves. They trained themselves to ward off unwelcome messages as a way to prevent people from spying on their thoughts. This person seemed to be a very strong telepath to gotten past his safe guards.
Oh please, I knew there was a reason I dislike high elves, the voice continued, though Daeual was still unable to find the source. Are you really that incompetent?
As concealed as he was trying to be in his looking around, he knew he was drawing attention to himself. Averi was walking towards him now with an eyebrow raised as if to ask “What are you doing besides looking like an idiot?”
Eh, never mind, you’re no fun to play with. The voice inside his head was giving a disappointed intonation. He felt something wet pass his cheek, as if he’d been… licked? He turned quickly to look for the source but the only thing he could see were emerald green eyes fading into the background.
“What’s wrong?” Averi frowned; she looked concerned as though Daeual were losing his mind. She placed a hand on his forehead checking for a fever. “You don’t seem to be overheating.”
“I’m fine.” He lied; he reached up to push her hand away from him only to pass through her, he would never get used to that. “A bit shaken from last night still…”
“Mmm… Understandable.” Averi sighed.
He felt her cold hand grasp onto his arm. “You should eat; I can hear your stomach growling like a wildcat.” She said, guiding him along to the table at the end of the room. “Others should be arriving soon, and some of the Cupan council wants to speak with you. They asked me to relay message for you to meet them here. …You’ll be sitting in Surinya’s chair since she’s absent.”
Daeual’s heart sank hearing her name. He wished he had a way to speak with her, or even to relay a letter to her. So much he wanted to ask, to say, things he wanted to explain before she dwelled on it and built resent towards him. His mind blanked for a moment as he was being pulled along lifelessly. He didn’t cause the killing blow; Qypris did. Would she seek revenge against Daeual, Qypris, or them both? The fact they were in a city run by her family, and her father had been in contact with her… Paranoia began to set in as a flurry of what ifs came up in mind.
Averi forced Daeual into Surinya’s seat rather abruptly. At that moment, he felt as ghostly as she looked; he could feel his face going numb with the lack of blood flowing to it.
“Eat something before you faint…” Averi groaned, not knowing what was really bothering him. “You don’t want to end up like me, do you?”
The sad excuse of a joke wasn’t much help. Daeual tried to shove his worries aside for the moment for good measure. He didn’t want to look like a zombie in front of everyone. He was sure they already thought he was incompetent enough. Even the strange voice he was hearing earlier said so, though for different reasons.
He sighed as he looked over the selection of food set out before him; pastries, salads, and juices of all kinds. Fruits he’d not seen in many years because of the lack of importers willing to bring them to Genovra… He thought it would be rude to eat before the others arrived, but it was also be rude to talk while eating. His stomach was telling him to eat now and forget the manners, but his brain argued to wait. He groaned at the thought of having to second guess every action now to not offend yet another city.
The sound of a female giggle behind him made him look over his shoulder. A short, blond haired, pale skinned elf was watching him; something he did seemed to amuse her. His attention was instantly drawn to her eyes, they were similar to Naoko, only one was green, and one blue. Somehow they seemed more distracting than the pink bonnet with a large, black cat draping itself over top her head.
She seemed to blink into the chair beside him; he didn’t see her move at all, simply vanish and appear sitting beside him. He never knew of any of the Cupan Council to be a race other than a Mystic Elf, but this person seemed to think she belonged where she was.
“You should eat, your stomach growls louder than my kitty.” She insisted, piling his plate with only the things he liked.
Somehow she knew things without him saying it. Was she the person teasing him earlier? Her voice was much too soft and playful; the voice in his head was more adult, bitter, and sarcastic, even.
“No I’m not…” she paused and blushed, looking down at her lap. “Sorry I’m being rude again! I’m Nymia, I’m not used to being around so many people who can’t hear other’s thoughts.”
“Since when has Cupa allowed telepaths into their land…?” Daeual decided to ask it out loud since the girl was obviously just going to hear him think it anyhow.
He hoped she would put her head up soon, her dress was showing a lot more than he suspected she noticed. He bit down on the inside of his cheek as he chewed on a fruit-filled pastry, reminding himself to keep from thinking anything that might get him called a pervert.
“Oh, you don’t know?” to his relief she sat up to look him in the face. “I thought you were supposed to be in charge of relations with all the cities in the province? Oh, well, there’ve been a lot of spies lingering around lately, and some are getting to be really good at posing as Mystic Elves. Masaki asked one of his daughters to hire someone to help keep the place under wraps and keep an eye on things since she’s too busy to do it herself. I don’t think many of the people here like the idea though. Astral’s aren’t well liked by Mystics as I’m sure you know. Hence I’m trying to blend in somewhat… Black hair looks horrible on me though.”
She reached over and closed Daeual’s gaping mouth with half chewed food. “You really don’t know much about anything do you!” she giggled.
For a moment her hair turned midnight blue, her eyes a brilliant amber, her skin a deep tan, and tattoo markings flashed on her face and body, only to disappear and her High Elven facade resumed.
“You must have seen an Astral Elf before? You can’t be that out of the loop! Though we do usually hide our true looks I suppose…”
Daeual recognized the name all too well, although it was extremely rare to see one, Faeore’s Elves, the Astral Plane’s dominate race. Their Goddess, Faeore, was not a pleasant deity to anyone besides her own race. Astral Elves and Mystic elves nearly destroyed each other thousands of years ago. He never studied their history, but he knew seeing the two races together without a knock down drag out murder was beyond surreal. He couldn’t even imagine the severity of the problem that could make the two get along, even if on uneasy terms.
Mystic Elves were pure magic beings, feeding on life energies of plants, animals, even other humanoid races to sustain themselves. Astral Elves on the other hand were Psion’s; they were masters of telepathy and matter transformations. They lacked the longevity of Mystics but they had many similarities, just different ways of coming to the same conclusion. This always caused friction between the two.
Was the raspberry hair’d elf-
“Oh, yes, she’s Astral too, or half. I thought you should have known her though,”
Nymia paused a moment to pass a piece of fruit up to the drowsy cat resting on her head. Daeual thought it was the oddest thing ever to see a cat sleeping on someone’s head but it seemed to be normal for her.
“She’s Surinya’s half sister after all. Though Azadia is much lazier than Lady Surinya when it comes to work…So, I was hired to…”
“Oh, shut up and move on…” the rude, sarcastic, voice Daeual had been mocked by was now speaking out loud. He looked from the left of him, where Nymia was, to the right side of the table. “I hired you to do the job I gave you, not to wind-bag and blow enough hot air to make this a city in the sky.”
Something about the newly arrived elf made Daeual’s heart stop when he locked eyes with her. He didn’t know if it was a good feeling or bad, but her emerald eyes felt like they pierced into his soul. Her smug smirk and rude nature was so foreign to him. He’d been raised from birth to be polite, respectful… to NOT have his feet on the table…
Azadia left her arms cross behind her head for a moment before yawning and stretching them out, she groaned as she let her chair fall back on all four legs with a loud thump, and removed her feet from the table. Her very short, pale green skirt flipped up as the chair impacted the floor. To Daeual’s relief she was wearing skintight shorts underneath. She also had a band around her leg with what looked to be lock picking tools of some type along with a dagger similar to a type Daeual had seen made to break swords.
“Yea, wha’ y’gonna do about it?” she rolled her eyes, but seemed to be watching as other people were finally taking their seats around them “Puny lil high elf wants an easy life? Wife? 2.5 Kids and all the junk? White picket fences and home sweet homes don’t exist in my world, m’dear. I seein’ the path you’re on, doubt you’ll be seein’ much of that life either.”
“Azadia, please, be quiet.” A male Mystic elf had taken over the spot Nymia had been sitting in. His hair was short and spiky; he looked to be slightly aged, but not old and withered. The signs of aging were strange to see on any Mystic Elf. “There’s no need to bring this to the breakfast table”
Azadia snorted air out her nose to show her defiance. “Please. Spare me the lecture, Ghenka.” She grabbed a fruit and smashed it into the table splattering juice on anyone near her. “THAT’s wha’s gonna happen to all of us if you keep ass kissin- ‘ey!”
As Azadia’s mouth was well open, Masaki stepped in beside her driving an apple into her mouth, forcing her to stop speaking.
“Well, that’s enough of that; we should be a little more polite while entertaining guests…” Masaki sat in the chair to Daeual’s right, blocking his view of the angry raspberry.
Another male elf had taken a seat at the other end, to the right of Aza but her explosive personality and movements blocked any chance for eye contact or acknowledgments of who it might be.
Daeual was trying really hard to restrain all thoughts now. He realized why so many people disliked having Astral Elves around, they could pick up any stray thought a person had, which could lead to blackmail or extreme embarrassment. He was curious what Aza was trying to tell though before she was rudely interrupted.
He glanced down at the large group of people seated at the tables below them; he was surprised none were looking up to see what the commotion was about. They seemed to not even realize anything was happening.
“Ah, the wonders of illusions…” Masaki looked pleased with himself. “Many times things are said or done up here we don’t want people to see for fear of information leaks, or, in case of Aza, embarrassment to herself. They can’t see what’s really happening up here, more than we’re here talking, civilly, and enjoying breakfast.”
Daeual had nearly forgotten Masaki was a Master Illusionist. It made sense though to block anyone below from knowing what was going on.
“But,” Masaki continued. “We should talk about what to do with the sudden population explosion in the city. We don’t usually welcome outsiders but no other city in the province could possibly handle this amount of people. Even we’re having a hard time with it, asking our residents to allow temporary refuge to the Genovrans in their own homes.”
A small silence passed, Daeual frowned, he had no idea how to go about rebuilding an entire city. He never dreamed in all his days anything would happen like this, especially while he was in a leadership position and responsible for reconstructions.
“Magical restoration is possible but highly expensive.” The elf Aza referred to as Ghenka spoke up. He sipped on a hot tea-like beverage before continuing. “I’m sure you’ve already felt the cost once, wouldn’t be wise to charge something as large as this to your soul again, or you’ll be a withered old man before you’re 140. You could ask the citizens to spare some of their own lifespans for the transaction. Though, I’m fairly certain they’d be rather offended at the suggestion.”
“I won’t do that,” Daeual replied quickly, his heart sank at even the thought of it, but at the same time a spark of anger emerged. “Is this why you only evacuated us? …To find an excuse for more life energy consumption?”
Masaki stifled a chuckle. “No, of course not. What did you expect me to be able to do with such short notice? There was no viable way to preserve the city at that point. By the time I arrived, the front gates were just about to be crashed, and any spell I cast would have affected them as well. To be honest a few were captured in the haste spell as it was, I had to do some damage control. Which was why I ran off, tried to give them a reason to slow down while anyone in that area was still getting away from there.”
“I had no idea,” Daeual sighed apologetically. “I’m sorry for snapping, this is a very stressful time for me. I thought day-to-day problems were often hard enough to handle, this is far beyond any experience I have.”
“Good time to learn fast then.” The elf behind Azadia muttered rudely. He made no attempts whatsoever to introduce himself or make any gesture of welcome. “We’re not keeping these people here longer than a month. As they are now they’re open for the picking by anyone in the population to life drain freely. We have no laws saying people can’t do it at any time, only our request which we pleaded last night for your sorry souls.”
“I suggest we keep the threats to a minimum.” Masaki encouraged while stirring a cup with a similar look to what Ghenka was drinking.
“To be honest, I think it’s best to leave the city burned for now.” Ghenka’s words cut into Daeual making him wench. “The item the city drew all its power from is gone, though if it were returned I bet the gem would have enough magical power to supply a reconstruction and still keep the city powered for many generations… Just as a note if you’re up to going out to find who has it… We’ve no idea which person possesses it currently.”
“I think I know who has it but I’ve no idea where to find…”
“Mmm, Mr. Mama’s boy doesn’ know how to do more than pity himself an’ worry about my lil sister.” Aza finally spoke up again. “He needs someone to show him the ropes on trackin’ people, methinks.”
Daeual could sense the impending groan of the 3 other males at the table. Azadia now stood in her chair standing in a dramatic pose. He had a feeling she just volunteered herself to drag him around the province, continent, or the WORLD to find the ruby-egg gem…
…He really didn’t see this as being an enjoyable experience. Maybe it was some sort of Divine Punishment…
“I’m sure I can do it with just Averi…” He tried to push the topic away, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t work.
“Non sense,” The elf behind Aza spoke up. He stood to leave the table taking a pastry with him. He obviously didn’t want to be there anymore than Daeual did. “Taking Aza will be good for everyone. Get her out of our hair, get your gem back, and give her some fresh air before we all go insane with her pranks.”
“Pranks?” Daeual asked, he feared the answer though.
“Nothing important…” Masaki flicked his hand to shoo the other elf away before he spoke. Once the coast was clear he explained; “Aza has a tenancy to use her skills for her own… amusement. Such as what she did to Heilkin the other morning…”
Aza pouted and slumped back in her chair. “But you all laughed at it…”
A quick glance at Masaki then Ghenka showed they were grinning though trying not to encourage the behaviour.
“So, what did you do to Heilkin, anyhow?” Daeual asked, the question was bothering him too much to not ask, despite Masaki’s eyes pleading him not to.
“Oh, it wasn’t that funny I guess…” Aza sighed. “I thought it was though. I stole his underpants and stuck ‘em on his head without him even noticin’… Took him a full hour to realize it…”
Masaki quickly spat out an “Excuse me!” while covering his mouth, nearly choking. Daeual could tell he was trying to be polite and not laugh and/or encourage her. Ghenka, however, decided leaving would be the safer route.
Aza sighed again, picking at her plate, poking the fork into a fruit filled miniature pie repeatedly. “They always leave me behind like this.”
Daeual wasn’t sure if he should pity her or be very, very afraid. Her actions were chaotic, for lack of a better word. She seemed perfectly stable one moment then something she said or did would have her locked in an asylum in any human city. Though with the set of tools she was packing he doubted any place would hold her long.
“I’ll catch up with you later.” Masaki said, after a moment to repose himself. “You should take time to go see what’s left of the city before you take any course of actions though. The portal is still able to activate to Genovra, so the recipient spot is still functioning, if you'd like to try going there.”
Daeual merely nodded, he was afraid to see what was there still. Had the army had left, or were they were waiting for him to return? If Surinya was in Illicitus he assumed the army was likely gone too. He wondered how she even got there so fast, or what she was doing… Probably planning Jemai’yu’s funeral…
“Wrong.” Aza muttered, still impaling her pie, it looked like a liquid mush on the plate now. “You sure you don’t want me to go with? I mean I know a bunch of shit you don’t, obviously. I got the connections and all. ‘M sure what Nymia said sparked some questions too. Stupid hoe has a bigger mouth ‘n me.”
“What did you mean by ‘Wrong.’…?” Daeual was avoiding giving her any reason to add to her reasons for him ‘needing’ her, but he wanted to know what was going on that he wasn’t being told.
A sly smirk crossed her face like he was earlier, she was up to something. She dropped her fork onto the plate, and leaned on the arm of her chair leaning towards Daeual.
“I’ll cost ya.”
“A few years of my life… right?” he groaned, this whole life trade thing was going to have him dead before he even started to live.
Her sudden, obnoxious, high pitched laugh made his skin crawl. “Silly boy, no. I’m only half Mystic I don’t do the life thing. Though, I do take lives, just in a different way…”
A scream from the tables blow made him jump from his chair. He looked for the source, which was easy to spot. Many others were gathering around also concerned. He couldn’t tell exactly what had happened, but a plate appeared to have exploded. Shattered pieces laid in front of one of the Genovran residents who’d been sitting peacefully. Looking closer at the table he realized there was a small dagger with a peach coloured tassel attached to the handle.
“Yea, didn’ even see me throw it did you?” Aza asked, and once again sighed. “Wasn’ aiming to the lady don’ worry.” She added before Daeual could yell at her. “But ya, that kinda precision is how I got my name, Azadia means Life Stealer in the astral language.
“'M usually with the Astral Elves on the Astral Plain, basically a rogue for hire, and have nothin' to do with my father's side; but lately, yea, I've been helpin' out. Big drama, new war comin' we think. The motions been startin' of one anyhow. Sure you've realized by now it's not just elves this time though... Hey....” Her expression changed from bored to annoyed, here eyebrows flattened out as she looked at Daeual. “'M supposed to get something outta you for this info... So, what'dya say? Take me with you to Genovra atleast? 'M sure you could use some protection. I got lots more to explain anyhow if you wanna know. Like what's up with Jemai and Suri.”
Daeual frowned as he thought it over. He has been hoping she'd keep rambling and let more information slip out, not leave him with more questions like she'd done. “I suppose bringing you to Genovra wouldn't be a problem, but that’s all I'm promising for n-“ His face turned a brighter red than Aza's hair. She had moved so quickly he barely realized what she'd just done. Instantly moved from her seat to leaning over him, her lips locked onto his. He'd never experienced a kiss anything like what Aza had just done. He'd been kissed on the cheek by females as a friendly sign, even from Surinya, but he'd never actually kissed a female lip to lip, with the exception of his abrupt, emotionally driven kiss to Surinya the day before.
As she moved back to look at his reaction, he could feel her right hand along his thigh, she’d placed it there to balance herself but the feeling was unusual, he couldn't describe it. He wasn’t used to having females so close, it wasn't something he didn't or did want, but at the same time his brain was telling him 'she's not Surinya' even though the rush was amazing.
“You won' regret taking me along.” Her smug smile while looking into his eyes gave away she kissed him to seal the deal, as well as embarrass him.
Her hand moved from his thigh to his arm, pulling him up to his feet. “Let's walk down to the portal site while I fill you in about some more of this mess.”
Her bushy hair bounced, distracting him as they walked past the tables where the Genovrans were. He still felt very weak from the previous events in Genovra, his subconscious screaming he needed to rest, no run off on some adventure. He could sense Averi was lurking near by now, chasing him invisibly. She likely noticed he was on the move again and wanted to keep an eye on things. Knowing she was close by was little relief, if he had another attack, she was able to help the physical side, but the psychological effects were something she couldn’t do anything about.
The temple was much like he remembered seeing when he was younger, the parts he’d been able to explore at least. The exit to the courtyard reminded him of just how old the structure was. Various engravings in a language he couldn’t understand, as well as pictures, were covering marble walls and pillars reaching towards the sky. The entire public areas of the temple looked as though a giant could fit inside, the ceilings were so high. Most of the glass windows were coloured giving the inside lights the same warm peach feeling most of the temple reflected. He vaguely could recall Surinya mentioning not all temples were so themed in colours, only this one because of her family’s deep roots within it. Her father founded the city, temple, and claimed the land long ago. So far in the past the ancient elf could barely remember the event himself.
Daeual nearly fell over at the sudden feeling of something hitting against his side. He stopped caught his balance, rubbing his ribs. Azadia stopped and was giving him an odd look, he realized she’d elbowed him, quite brutally at that.
“By the goddess, you’re such a boring person.” She scolded him. “Think about somethin’ interestin’ for once not stupid walls, or history or whatever junks is in that high elven noggin o' yers.” She sighed and continued to lead him along; she she continued, answered his question before he could even ask it. “Portal’s not far from here, you don’ even remember where it is… geeze what did Suri ever see in you. Kinda glad she got Jemai tho’…”
Her eyes darted toward him. “No, no thinking it, BAD elf.” She cracked him over the top of the head with the back of her hand, thankfully it wasn’t as hard as Daeual anticipated it to be, and only enough to leave a moments sting. “I hate this, can’t control this damned picking up loud thinkers… Guess I should entertain you with my information to keep you quiet…”
Daeual was about to agree with her, however he realized something was driving her even more insane than she already seemed to be. A slight twitch was developing below her right eye and her teeth gritted together. He looked around but saw nothing. “Ugh, nevermind, I’ll deal with purging your horrible thoughts from my mind later…” She again grabbed his arm again, pulling him along with a slight haste in her step.
They were passing the end of the courtyard now, the petals from the peach trees seemed to be enchanted to fall and replace themselves periodically, as well as disappear after sitting on the ground for a while. There were no dead or decaying petals, however at the same time the trees looked to be completely covered, lacking any bare spots that would have been produced by such a large amount falling.
The stone walls encircling the temple were much taller than any other city’s walls. Only the top portions of the walls had almost a checkerboard feeling to them, openings randomly showing the top levels were hallow, having stairways and hallway-like paths that lead along them allowing people to travel through and look out on either side. Daeual wasn’t sure if this was merely a design or if it had some actual use, though he was sure thinking about something so trivial was bothering Aza’s twitch again, so he decided to simply focus on walking hoping she’d start talking again.
“Where do you want me to begin anyhow…” Aza finally spoke up, it seemed the quiet, lack of thinking, settled her down now. “Why Suri’s with Jemai? What’s up with this war? Why Astral and Mystic are actually cooperatin’ peacefully? What the items for that thinger does? Why Jemai wants you dead? Oh I could go on… but anyhow… You seem most interested in Jemai and Suri.”
She seemed to pause to gather her own thoughts or find a point to start. They left the courtyard and now were walking along a long coble stone street; buildings lined the sides of the roads, but the area looked more like residential homes than what Daeual remembered. Previously he recalled the area being a market place, similar to Genovra only on a much, much larger scale. He’d visited before with Surinya walking along the vendor’s stands looking at all kinds of exotic foods, cloths, pets, some from other continents where the other mystic elven villages were.
“Anyhow….” Aza continued after her pause, “I’m not too close to my half sister, but from what I know of the situation, she was taken by Jemai’yu about seven to eight months ago. The ‘official’ word was he was threatenin’ war on Cupa over farmlands or somethin’ silly supposedly; Cupa didn’t want a war so Suri gave herself to them in exchange for peaceful resolve. Don’t buy that guff.
“Jemai is an Assassin of Lovina. He coulda kidnapped Suri at any time with his goddess backin’ him. Truth be the people gots a feelin it’s a bullshit story too, we coulda stomped Illicutus and drove ‘em right on out… Or put em underground, dead or alive, back to where the Drow from.
“Ya, so far as ‘m able to see, Suri wanted to go to him for some reason, can’t quite get why though, only met him once about two months before she was ‘taken’. T’be honest, I think she got pregnant when he was here on ‘negotiations’, and didn’ want her people to know about her bein’ with the enemy.” Aza stopped at a cross road looking down a side street. Something seemed to be bothering her.
“You think she wanted to be with him...?” Daeual couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Wait... Pregnant...?!” he was nearly shouting in shock, but he realized Aza was focusing on something only she seemed able to detect.
“What’s wrong…?” Daeual finally spoke, trying to find what she was looking for.
“We got a visitor eaves droppin’. I can sense ‘em but cant pinpoint…”
Daeual thought it could be Averi’s presence near by that was triggering Aza’s senses, but she was quick send to him, ‘I ain’ no undead mind reader, but I knew she was lurkin’ already. I's someone else…’
Averi allowed herself to be visible, and pointed out the direction of the person, she was able to sense on the person’s life force, making it easier for her undead abilities to track than Aza could. Oddly though, the energy was coming from above them, on a set of stairs leading up the side of a building.
“It’s an elf...?” Averi spoke, her eyes locked on the target.
“What the…” Aza’s voice had a growl in it. “How the hell did it get back here…”
Before Daeual or Averi were able to react, Azadia’s lightning fast movements had her half way up the steps with a pair of daggers drawn. She rushed towards the elf; Daeual could see a shadow of where the person was standing over the side of the ledge, he looked like a mystic elf though. He also looked frozen, he obviously had no idea people were able to sense his presence. Azadia quickly arrived behind the bewildered elf, making a swift movement that looked as though it should have cut him in half.
Daeual’s mouth was open, he tried to scream at her to stop, he had no idea what was going on. It felt… wrong? Was it an illusion? He was starting to think his entire life was one big illusion after all that had been happening.
A large volume of blood droplets fell to the ground near him, splattering like raindrops. Daeual’s heart stopped, he’d never seen such a swift, calculated attack, and it was faster than Jemai’s lunge at him, faster than Qypris’ arrow striking. It looked as though she’d teleported. She’d moved so quickly, her target had no time to defend itself at all. He tried to disbelieve what was happening, if it was an illusion he knew he could overcome it if he tried, but it wasn’t changing.
The now lifeless body fell to the ground below, only a few meters from where Daeual was standing. It was a human despite looking like a Mystic Elf moments before. It wasn’t someone Daeual had ever seen before, but he was confused how he was able to mistake a mystic elf and a human, the were like negative images of each other in this case, sun-bleeched, blond hair and deep tan skin, versus black hair and pale skin. Judging by the armor it was wearing, he assumed it was a spy, a rogue who was trying to sneak into the city for some reason,. He didn’t look long enough to study the body that well, though. There was more than a single cut, but none of them exposing any of the man’s insides, his amour was covering any real damage that was done aside from the neck wounds. It looked as though the dagger attacks had pierced directly though the leather armour with minimal ripping..
The sheer volume of blood disturbed him. It looked as though Aza had struck several critical points on the human’s body causing him to bleed out instantly. Azadia’s sigh broke his concentration; he looked to where the sigh came from. She was behind Daeual, moving toward the dead body kicking it over so that the drow was face down into the stone road, a slow trickle of blood spilled from his mouth.
“Guard’ll be here soon,” Aza seemed disappointed as she continued to nudge the body. “Clean up crew is more like it tho’, we’ve been getting’ a lotta spies in here late, some of ‘em good at hidin’ from mystics, some can even pass me if I’m not really tryin’ to find em… He got sloppy, lingered around, heard me talkin’, thought he could get some good info I guessin’.
“This is parta what Nymia was talkin’ about. Needin’ Astral help to guard the place from intruders. I’m immune to illusions, all astral elves are. Undead aren’t.” She looked scornfully at Averi who was returning the same hate filled look. “Guards are too easily tricked, and cause of it we’ve been havin’ a lotta info leaks.”
Aza stopped talking; she was looking down one of the streets. Daeual could hear the sound of people approaching and knew the guards were arriving now. He looked around at the buildings which seemed to be homes, he was thankful no one seemed to be around to see the mess or witness what he just saw.
“C’mon, they’re close enough we can move along…” Aza jerked Daeual along, continuing to their destination.
“Yes, this is normal for me, I’m not fazed by it.” Her voice was accentless as she spoke that single sentence, making it seem even more chilling that her every day life involved killing people.
Daeual was thankful she was on his side, to have her as an enemy would certainly mean an early death for sure, much earlier than he’d like to experience. He waited before bothering her to explain more, he thought it might even be best to wait until they leave the city with how things were going so far.
Averi kept herself visible now, walking along side Daeual. She seemed concerned about how he was reacting to what he’d just seen. He’d lived a sheltered life, such violent acts he’d never seen, heard of, or experienced. It was supposed to be a time of peace, now a new war was breaking out? It seemed impossible, but at the same time, he was seeing it.
The force that destroyed his city and now to find out that Cupa was being targeted too, only by humans. He wondered how wide spread this was, did it only exist in the province or was it spreading into other areas too? Illicitus and Cupa were both near the boarder to the neighbouring province of Lokima, perhaps it was spreading into there as well…
“STOP THINKING.” Aza was twitching again, her arms flailed into the air for a moment then held in place, waiting for silence. A moment passed and she lowered her arms. “Thank ye.”
She resumed walking, rounding a corner on the street, leading to a much wider roadway with people and no more residential style buildings. It was filled with large and small shops, all of which were imported goods. Daeual recognized the building at he far end of the road, it was the Cupan portal building. He suspected this area was where people had their goods inspected before being allowed to venture to the market areas to vend their wares. Various boxes, wagons, bags, and animals were scattered along the sides of the streets.
“Where was I again...” Aza huffed. “Right, info leaks. Well, we’ve had people tryin’ to pass ‘emselves off as the Touka family and get info from the royal guard. Fortunately we got safe guards against that but they still tryin’. The real problem is the ones gettin’ in and pretendin’ to be guards. Guards trustin’ each other with their work information or security stuff gettin’ duped int’ believin’ they friends. Lately it’s not just illusions they doin’ though. ‘Cause Illusions being the Touka specialty they didn’ get to far with those tricks. Now they actually polymorphin’ people to look like mystic elves. Sometimes even capturin’ a real guard to be sure they get the double lookin’ right... an’ torturing the real one for info while they at it...
“That guy we just saw, well, he was prolly someone sent as a decoy. Still using illusion spells seems odd for them. Though I’m not really sure what they be expectin’ to find here really... This whole world went crazy so suddenly...”
Their walking pace slowed down as they drew closer to the portal building. The crowds were getting thicker making it harder to move through. Guards were inspecting goods both visually and with something which seemed to detect magical effects.
One of the devices began to make a low humming noises to the left of the road. Daeual watched the guards speaking loudly to the merchant who owned the item in question, however he couldn’t make out what was being said. He couldn’t even hear Azadia over the roar of the mob surrounding them. Bits of words from every conversation around them interrupted any attempt he made to listen to specific conversations.
Azadia had apparently noticed he was unable to hear her and merely jerked her head to signal him to follow her. She stepped past the last of the merchant gatherings, then began to climb the marble steps leading to the entrance of the enormous building. It looked far bigger than Daeual remembered, however it was lacking the entire Genovran population this time.
He sighed, remembering the panic and anger the previous night. People unable to find loved ones, people screaming at him about not being able to defend their homes. He was eternally grateful he was escorted out of the building so quickly that night, the mess had been left with Averi and the Genovran Guard. He still was too cowardly to address the people officially, he told himself he best see what was left of the city and think over the options. The Cupans’ offer was tempting but he had no idea where to find the stolen gem.
“You’re thinkin’ loud again.”
He shook his head slightly to clear the daze that had come over him. Aza was staring at him, her emerald eyes almost looked as if they were glowing dimly.
“Sorry,” he apologised quickly.
Somehow they were now in a line up, he didn’t remember moving past the entrance because of his daze. Averi was now visible standing near him watching him closely.
“I’m okay,” he reassured the angel. “You should stay with the people, Averi. I’ll do this quickly with Azadia.”
Averi’s mouth opened as if she were going to protest, but stopped and merely nodded. “Alright, I’ll work on getting in contact with the other leaders who were at Genovra during the evacuation as well. Perhaps we can disperse some of the Genovrans into more welcoming cities...”
The angel’s tone had become gradually become angrier, her gaze locked on Azadia. Aza seemed oblivious to anything the angel said or did, Daeual wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not, but he assumed she had little respect for undead with her random snappy remarks at Averi.
Daeual knew he should be resting, he knew Averi was going to say it too. She merely passed a blessing onto him as she walked by him, back to the direction they had come from. A few startled screams erupted from startled tradespeople as Averi walked through them, litterally. It was something she rarely did, but Daeual was sure this was intentional, as a way of spiting the race she seemed to dislike so.
More startled screams continued down the path as she walked along, Daeual took for granted how well adjusted Genovrans were to having her around. Even frequent tradesmen who had visited his city knew who and what she was, and were no longer startled by her actions. She had, after all, been with him for over seventy years now, longer than some human’s life spans.
“Thinking.” Aza sighed again, tugging his sleeve.
He looked back from Averi’s trail of startled merchants to Aza, she was now moving past the lineups to the back of the building and passed under roped off paths meant to herd people into proper lineups. The room appeared to be almost as full now as when the Genovran population was thrust into it. He could see the entry portals along the left side of the walls, various locations shined through glimmering, distorted pictures of the world on the other sides.
The portals looked as though they were three-quarter circle doorways with engravings around them written in ancient, runic, magic languages. Occasionally the locations pictured in the portal would change to a new destination and a sound would come from above. The sound was followed by an announcement with the old location’s name and the new one, along with the portal’s number along the wall. The announcement was in several languages, elven-common, common, and another he wasn’t sure of, but assumed it was the mystic elven native language.
Several grumbles rippled through the mobs of angry people being passed, “Line jumpers” and other such complaints. It seemed odd many people didn’t recognize Aza or himself as a ‘higher authority’. Though their clothing style would be reason for people to assume they were commoners.
Daeual’s clothing was much more casual than the Cupan officials, his white silken, loose fitting pants and half-robe shirt looked more like that of a traveling gypsy who’d been white-washed, or so he’d once been told. Aza, however, was just too scruffy. Her roguish appearance made her stand out like a street beggar would in a royal ceremony.
He was accustomed to being spoiled and offered to jump lines, for people to step aside and make way or complement him for things. Then again, there was always the hecklers in the back causing trouble insulting decisions... So it wasn’t so different in some aspects.
“Thinking.” Aza repeated in a harsher voice.
Daeual made an effort to think quieter this time. He didn’t want her to spaz out on him, her instability worried him.
They reached the back of the enormous marble portals room. Azadia stopped before entering a hallway with guards posted along the sides. These weren’t the same types of guards as the ones who were investigating package contents. These were heavily geared warriors with weapons of the likes Daeual had never seen. The swords, shields, everything they wore looked to be of legendary proportions. Fire, ice, lightning, shadow, all types of various elements endowed the different weapons, each warrior seeming to have his own preferences. Even their plate armour glowed with magical forces giving off flaring energy emissions.
“Why aren’t we using the main portals? ...Who are they?” Daeual asked in a hushed voice. He noticed Azadia’s demeanor completely shifted. She was serious, it almost seemed as if determination was in her expression.
“The main portals no longer support access to Genovra. And, they’re the Onaishynn.” Aza answered, her accent somehow vanished once again. “They guard this portion of the building from intruders because of the nature of things being kept here.”
“Things?” Daeual had a feeling he shouldn’t push but he was curious.
Aza ignored him. She stepped forward, each guard knelt and thrust his fist against his chest in respect sending a word Daeual couldn’t understand. It sounded as if it was Mystic Elven, or maybe even Astral, the accent in it wasn’t elven-common, he knew that much. He was confused why they didnt' speak. Even though almost all elves had enough telepathic power to speak, it was rare for them to hold public sent conversations.
They passed the last guard, Aza’s seriousness was still standing strong, her head was held higher then before, giving herself an air of control, authority. Daeual thought it was safe to assume these were Astral Elves under all their armour. And she was in command of them, hence their respect.
'Rok’Ousko.' Aza replied, also in send, eyeing over the knelt warriors.
Perfectly synchronised, they all stood, and stomped their left foot onto the rock solid floor, leaving a small echo in the hallway. 'Hynh, Faeore.' They all replied, then resumed their stone, statue-like watch for intruders.
The experience was powerful to Daeual. He’d never had any such control over any group of people, never imposed that much power onto anyone. He felt even worse about himself and his leading abilities. His own city’s guards often made jokes about him, rarely listening to anything he said. Qypris being their leader was a godsend in way, they listened to him, and in turn he listened to Daeual and gave advice wise beyond the young half-elf’s years. It was depressing even someone like Aza, who would normally be considered insane, lead better than he did.
Aza’s elbow once again made contact with his ribs, which were likely turning bruised colours by now.
“I heard that...”
Before Daeual could apologise she pointed for him to go left down another corridor, the hallways were starting to become maze-like, the lighting was minimal, and he could feel a coldness now. The walls weren’t as refined as those on the main public rooms, and he had a sensation of decent after they had passed the Onaishynn, like there were going underground.
Dim lights flickered high on the walls, nearly touching the ceilings. They moved like fire but were a shadowy purple with flecks of green and pink sparks falling from their round metallic bases. They reminded Daeual of something from demonic rituals, making him worry what exactly was being hidden down there.
Azadia glance over her shoulder at him with smirk, since the lack of people she seemed to have stabilized her mood, the over load of multiple ‘loud thinkers’ was passed.
“Demonic rituals? Not quite...” She sounded nearly scolding, still lacking an accent. “But yes, we are underground now. There are portals to places most people would never want to go, only accessible down here. Also some portals have become corrupted, and we’ve lost control over closing them. There’s a bit of worry that the enemies will find their access points and try to raid the city... But... is gonna take a lot to pass my boys back there.”
“Why can’t they be closed though?” Daeual asked, “and why is Genovra only accessible here now?”
Aza lead him into a final turn which lead into a room, one which looked nearly identical to the one on ground level, only much darker. Even the portals looked different. The same structure of building, but the circular openings that housed the portals were glowing in a way that looked much more evil. The colours of the shadow flames in the hall lighting was almost identical, only the warm pink was a burning red.
Daeual could see the other sides of the portals vaguely though the burning magic doors, all of the other sides looked as though they were places which had been destroyed. Cities of rubble or smoldering rocks in several cases, others looked barren and abandoned for unknown periods of time.
Aza pointed to one in particular. “Genovra.” She stepped forward, walking towards it.
Daeual began to step forward with her watching the portal closely. His eyes quickly shifted around the room, he felt as though there were people present in the room, but was unable to see anyone. His attention turned back to the portal. It looked as though small flames were still burning on the other side among the rubble of the building he recognised as the Genovran portal point building. It looked as though parts of the roof had caved in, rubble coved the ground of the visible area. He drew closer almost touching the flickering picture with his hand.
“When a recipient point is destroyed while open, it creates an infinite loop, making it impossible for the other end to close the link permenatly.” Aza explained. “The Illicitian army destroyed it while it was open, but they don’t understand that its still open, the other side looks dead to anyone to look at it because of the magic the mystic elven illusionist place there to hide them.”
Only two of the portals were places he recognized, one being the place Jemai had supposedly been to already, Lokima City. Lokima Province was south of Genovra Province, and very similar in population, land mass, and other geographical senses. The population was highly dominated by high elves, and a small trickling of Nekomimi, humans were nearly impossible to find on the land.
At one point in time, Daeual visited the province frequently with negotiators. The trade routes between the two capitol cities was bustling with life, then one day, only a couple year passed, the Kashiar of Lokima died mysterious, the the new one refused interaction with any province that allowed humans to ‘roam freely’. The new Kashiar, a high elven male named Dolannis, ran the province with an iron fist. Thinking back to it all, Daeual wondered if Dolannis knew of the items Jemai was after, the small things that were said back then about ‘protecting my province’s interests’ and similar comments left many possibilities open.
The second place he recognized wasn’t a place he had visited more than twice. It was an island province across the sea, east of Genovra, named Iojutan. The population was dominated with drow. The thought of being there unsettled Daeual’s stomach. He remembered the tortured screams from those who were treated like slaves there, those screams haunted his dreams for months afterwards. Thankfully the trips were brief. He was required to familiarize himself with the leaders of neibouring provinces when he became Kashiar of Genovra, many of the places he was forced to go left scars in his memory.
“So all these places, they were destroyed by Jemai’yu’s armies?” Daeual asked dreadfully.
A low growl, like from a large cat, rumbled near his leg. He jumped, feeling something brush by. Azadia stepped up and placed her hand on the thing which seemed invisible... and large.
“No.” Daeual wasn’t sure if she was saying no to him or the creature she seemed able to see.
“No to both.” She recognised his confusion. “Kitty isn’t used to non astral matter. He’s out of phase with your realm in his normal form, you likely won’t see him, nor will any non Astral elf. So he patrols the rooms randomly, keeping guard of intruders as a first level of protection. Gives enough time to warn the Onaishynn to deal with anything threatening.
“And, Jemai ain’t the only one who knows of this, he started his crusade to find these items after being informed by a lone surviving member of Iojutan’s council of what was tearing his city apart. Seem their leaders found out about the powers and wanted to force slavery onto neighbouring provinces, eventually the entire moon. That craze for power caused them to destroy themselves.”
Aza sighed, still petting the invisible beast, which was now purring. “Are youready to go? I can’t say what’s on the other side for sure.”
Daeual nodded, he didn’t want to go, but he had to see. He had to know what was left, if anything, before he could face his people again. He knew their homes were gone, but if there was anything left at all that they could rebuild from, something to give them hope. He prayed whatever was left gave him enough strength to lead them to rebuild.
Taking the first steps, Aza walked past the invisible beast, walking into the portal. Daeual took a moment to be sure he could keep his wits about him, the last thing he wanted was a fainting spell as soon as he set foot in the rubble that was his city.
His eyes closed. He took in a deep breath, held it a moment, then released it slowly. Here goes nothing...
A feeling of coldness passed over him, almost like walking into a pool of cold water. The sensation was much different than when he used the portal to travel to Cupa. That portal was more of a warm breeze. This feeling chilled him, and tricked his mind into thinking he was drowning.
He took a sharp breath inward, his hands at his throat, gasping. When the transition was done, it felt as though he had been thrust onto land after nearly dying. The cold chill was still making him shiver.
Azadia seemed to be slightly bothered by the feeling as well, he noticed goose bumps on her skin as she rubbed her arms lightly.
“It’s a fall-safe t’keep people away.” she explained, her accent sneaking back. She surveyed the room, and knocked some rubble with her foot. “Goin’ back’s gonna be even worse, b’lieve me.”
The thought of ‘worse than drowning’ didn’t sound very appealing to Daeual. He shivered again, then looked around the once well polished room. It was very dusty now, small flickers of flames were remaining on the ashen remains of anything that could burn. He had never really taken time to look the building over before, it was still in need of activation, so he had no need to go inside until the emergency evacuation. He wasn’t sure which items were now the ashen lumps, but was thankful it wasn’t the scene Maegynsa had shown him with burning dust covered bones.
Aza motioned for him to follow her outside of the building. She seemed as equally interested in the damage as he did, especially since she wasn’t complaining at him over thinking of analyzing.
He followed her gaze upwards, the mid morning sunlight was shining through holes in the roof, it looked as if magic spells at hit and shattered the stone above, causing it to crumble and collapse. Chunks of rock laid all over the floor, making walking to the door not as easy as it sounded. They climbed over and around several of the large fallen pieces, while trying to avoid the potential of more crumbling onto them.
“Thinkin’ i’s safe t’ assume this place ain’t salvageable.” Aza declared, though the fact was quite obvious.
They reached the main entry, now completely missing the doors, and looked out into the city. A few of the brick market buildings were left unburned, but they were barely standing. Support beams had been hacked or bashed apart, causing the structures to begin to collapse. Daeual frowned and lowered his head at the sight.
“There’s nothing left for anyone.” He sighed.
He sat down on the steps of the Portal Point building and let his head fall into his hands. He didn’t feel sad, he couldn’t describe it. Empty? There was definitely a hole inside him now. The city he grew up in, that he was entrusted to protect and help develop... It was now nothing but a pile of burning rubble.
Aza sat down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. The action reminded him of something Averi would have done if she were with him.
“Don’ let it get you too down, there.”
She leaned closer to him pulling him into a hug, something he was unprepared for. She seemed to have such a harsh, rude, exterior from her attitude she’d shown so far, so cocky and outgoing. Her chaoticness was now very soft and warming, it didn’t seem to fit her very well.
“I know you don’ know me well, you don’ have the luxury of bein’ able to know a person jus’ by being aroun’ ‘em the way I do. I can sense your feelin’s, thoughts, desires, anythin’ about you withou’ tryin’. I know you a good person, Daeual. I know you gonna make those people proud and show ‘em you’re their leader for a reason.”
“Thank you... But I don’t see how...”
He lifted his head to look in her eyes, their brightness was there, but it wasn’t the same piercing evil cold feeling he’d felt before. She was being truly compassionate, so much more like Surinya.
Quickly, his mind snapped back to before walking through the portal, so many things he hadn’t had answered because of distractions rushed back.
“Oh, righ’...” Aza sighed, she stood up and dusted some of the soot off her clothing. “I owe you some information still.”
Her face still contained a frown and overall empathetic sorrow, her sadness seemed to make her accent less thick. She offered a hand to Daeual to help him to his feet. “Let’s walk around a bit and see if there’s anythin’ left that’ll bring some good news back home.”
After stumbling to his feet, Daeual began to shuffle along the debris covered streets with Aza following. Even the roads he knew so well seemed foreign to him, the destruction changed so much. Roads were now blocked, buildings so wide open you could walk through or over them.
“What did you wanna know first again...?” Aza seemed to be the one to want to keep the conversation going this time, the gloomy nature, or maybe the silence, seemed to bother her.
“You said... Surinya is pregnant?” he felt his throat close on the words. “And that she want to be with Jemai’yu...?
“Mmm...” Aza seemed almost as if she wanted to avoid the topic suddenly, her eyes shifting upwards to the skys for a brief moment. “Well....”
“The deal was you give me info if I let you come.” Daeual knew he had to be a bit more assertive now that she was backing down.
“I know...” Aza sighed heavily. “But that was before I hung around you long enough to know what you’re like. B’fore, I woulda said it just to hurt you and laugh like I do to most anyone, older brother Heilkin included. But... I guess I see how sensitive you are now that I don' have everyone else interfering with my emotional perceptions.” She seemed to shrug. “I know what I have to say is gonna be painful to you, guess I got a soft spot for you now, kinda like I would if I had a lil brother to look after.”
She looked up at the sky again, covering her eyes from the suns’ rays. Daeual didn’t know if she was trying to avoid eye contact or if she saw something above them.
“Surinya still loves you, thats all you really need to know. But things have a way about ‘em to turn out wrong. Things happen which no one intends, and makes shit hard for everyone.
“Ain’t no one’s fault really, just the nature of people. Us Astrals are so open, if we think it, everyone knows it, and there’s jus’ no secrets. If we love someone, they know it, ‘sup to them if they wanna return the affection. You weird non psions though, you hold it all inside, thinkin’ somehow the other person’s gonna know wha’s on your mind. Guess that can be handy sometimes, but you let so much get away from you. Like the people you love.”
She looked back to face Daeual. “Yea, I’m not so crazy when there’s no one around.” she answered his thoughts as they came now, and on a much calmer scale. “I don’ do so well in the city with so many wild thoughts. I'm badly effected by other's emotions, especially when overloaded with so many.”
Daeual understood what she was saying, but still part of him was screaming to know the truth. He was certain she was saying ‘you loved surinya but waited too long’ but... how Surinya would ever love someone like Jemai’yu was beyond his reasoning.
“Mmm...” Aza seemed to be simply acknowledging she could hear his point of view, although he’d not vocalize it. “Guess I seem like ‘m pussyfootin’ around. Might as well say, you’ll be findin’ out eventually I’m sure. Seein’ as she’s about seven months along now.”
“But she looked normal...?”
“Illusion.” Aza interupted. She stopped him as they passed a building which had been toppled over and sat down on one of the brick piles to rest as she talked. “Seven months for a Mystic isn’ very showin’ anyhow. High elves only go 24month carryin’ a lil snarler inside ‘em, Mystic is like...” she stopped to think while counting on her fingers. “Like... 36 months? 40? Eh a long time. But cause they live so much longer, that’s kinda expected.”
“And.. It’s Jemai’yu’s child...” Daeual sat down on the ground nearby, leaning his back to the wall of the building across from Aza. It was one of the few fully intact buildings left. He looked at the sky watching the clouds and sighed heavily. “Seven months... It’s been roughly eight or nine since I last spoke to her her, I could have said something....”
He felt Aza’s finger push against his lips to stop him from talking. “Shhh.” she looked as though she were going to scold him like Averi would. “Ain’ no use in beatin’ yourself up now. ‘Less you’re a chronomancer, nothin’ gonna change. Marriage can be broken, and well... If you wanna know a bit of inside info...”
He watched as she seemed a bit shifty. “I dunno if it’s even his, I heard he talkin’ to our father before she left to stay with him about somethin’ hush-hush baby talk. I got a feelin’ there’s some magical tricks going on somewhere. No idea who’n all’d be the daddy though...”
The idea of gaining information, usually meant questions were answered, or so Daeual assumed that’s how things worked. In this case, all Aza did was confuse him even further. It was time to go back to his people, before he became a madman like she was.
The city was roughly fifty percent burned, twenty-five percent broken and battered and the remainder was standing but the belongings were pillaged by the invaders. It seemed as though they went from burning and destruction on their way in, to breaking things down and stealing what they could when they saw where Jemai’yu laid dead in the middle of the town square.
“Y’know.” Aza seemed shifty again something was bothering her. She stood and beckoned him to follow her, though he did not. “I’m not so sure...” She seemed unsure if she should say anything but decided to anyhow.
“I’m not sure that he’s really dead.”
The confusion was really starting to be transferring itself from Aza to Daeual, he was seeing how she became so insane when around people. So much information to process was making HIS brain overload and wanting to scream.
“How? Surinya ressurected him? But she seemed so distraught... like she was unable to do anything...” He held onto his forhead. “But, this doesn’t make sense, nothing makes any sense.
“It’s time to go back to Cupa. I’m done with these games, Azadia.”
He was beginning to feel helpless, no, annoyed.
Daeual’s temper was something that rarely showed, but something about Azadia was making it come out. His passive nature was always dominate, he nearly felt anger to the point he wanted to actually lash out and yell the confusing Astral elf before him. Sure he yelled at Averi from time to time for mothering him to death, but the situtation was entirely different. They had a mother-son relationship from the moment they met.
An evil smirk passed Aza's face. “Feels nice, don’ it? Lettin’ that anger out tha’s pent up in there. Gettin’ rid of that pressure you kept bottlin’ up and lettin’ people push you aroun’.”
Anger was no longer the word for the rage Daeual felt. Aza had been playing on his emotions. Her stopping wasn’t to ‘protect his feelings’ but biding time to come up with lies?
“Wrong.”
Again with the wrong...
She cleared her throat, rather non-saliently. “I’m jus’ tellin’ you. Less time as the doormat, more time as the bear.... however that saying goes. You’re lettin’ me lead you around. You’ve only once said anything to force info from m’. And that wasn’ very impressive. Nothin’ I’ve said is lies.” She seemed to glare at him for the accusation. “I know ‘m not the most stable person. Ain’t my fault I enjoy fucking with people, but facts is facts. No mater how screwed up I tell em.
“Jemai’yu, I garuntee you, is alive righ’ now. An’ I’m bettin’ Surinya’s with him. ‘Saki said she’s still there wit’ unfinished business. I don’ see her stayin’ ‘less it’s important or she’s being held. An’ I’ve seen how he watches over her like a nekomimi, never lettin’ her stray too far. Can't tell if that's love or control sometimes.
“‘Sides... he’s a freakin’ assassin of Lovina. That goddess won’t be lettin’ one of her best assassins and blindly-loyal followers die so easily...”
“You babble too much, Even if he is alive, she'd never want to be with someone like that willining.” Daeual finally cut her off, his voice was cranky like a child not getting their own way.
He felt like his time had been entirely wasted. Azadia was just spewing information with no facts to back them up now. He was starting to think she had been lying from the very start just to get him away from the city with the promise of information and she screwed up forgetting her own lies. He didn't know why she would need him away from Cupa though, but thesensation of something gong wrong back there was starting to make him paranoid. He needed to go back and be sure things were all right.
He turned to begin the long walk back to the portal point. “I’m going back to tell them there’s nothing left, and we have to find another place to stay until we can decide what to do with the city’s remains.”
Before he took the first step back, a cold, metal object almost instantly was at his throat. He stopped moving, only his eyes moved. Aza standing beside him with a blade drawn, pressing against his skin; her eyes were nearly enough to make his heart stop.
“‘M afraid I cant let you go back just yet.” Her blood chilling voice was back. The cut to the bone one. “Seems there was a problem in the transaction between you ‘n’ Maegynsa, she’s busy takin’ her payment with some interest while you’re away. Don’ think it’s in your best interest to go back there, 'less you wanna see the deaths of a lot of worthless humans.”
Her ear busting cackle of a laugh pierced his ears making him winch in pain.
“Oh,” she continued, her demeanor even more cocky, “and someone ‘ere wan’ed to meet you while we’re out ‘ere.”
Before he know what happened, the world seemed to be blackening out around him. A sharp bludgeoning feeling crashed into the back of his head. He fell forward into a heap, but was thankful Aza had not slit his throat, he was still able to breathe. He fought to keep consciousness, trying to sit up, turning over and propping himself up on his left elbow.
A foot pressed against his chest, pushing him back to the ground. The lights from the suns were dancing around in dizzying circle yet a dark shadow was looming over him.
“Why...” Daeual croaked, still determined to fight, he had to find a way back. He had to warn Averi, Qypris.... someone... His people were being punished for his dealings with Maegynsa, he couldn't allow it.
The dark figure’s cloak unfolded itself into large draconic wings which blocked the suns’ rays from blinding Daeual. He knew immediately who it was.
His blood felt as if it had frozen now. Jemai’yu was standing before him, with his sword in hand, the hilt bloodied, likely the force that struck Daeual in the head. Daeual's eyes darted to the side of Jemai's neck where the arrow had struck him, there was indeed a scar. He knew Jemai had been stuck directly in the right juggular vien when Qypris' arrow landed, so he really had been 'killed'.
Jemai leaned forward, a vile smirk on his lips.
“Why...? Because. I can, child.” Jemai replied, his voice seethed with such hate and disrespect Daeual felt the words slice into his flesh. “Your little tricks won’t go unpunished. I assure you. I will make you suffer, the best way possible. Through your precious city, though its people. You will pay for distrupting my plans, and for failing to give Maegynsa what was promised.”
Maegynsa? Daeual was petrified but hearing a loyal follower to Lovina talk as though he were doing her deads was something that simply never happened. If a person were to aid another god, their own god usually would disown them. But... I thought she took my life force... did something go wrong...
“You can’t begin to comprehend what is going on. So keep your High Elven nose out of this.” Jemai's speech cut through Daeual's thoughts. ”It does not concern a worthless mage such as yourself. The only reason you live is by the pleas of my darling wife. She's made me swear to not kil you, however, she's not said I can't torture you.”
He wrapped his wings around his shoulders, then began to turn away, but something caused him to stop. He turned back to look back at the barely conscious high elf.
“...And since you seemed so concerned about my wife. I’ll give you one last pleasure before you receive never ending pain. The information you wanted to hear so badly from Azadia... The information I told her to feed you yet she somehow screwed up.
“Surinya is pregnant, the child is mine, and she’s with me of her own will, you useless, emotionally played, imbecile.”
Daeual tried to yell in anger only to be met with a foot to the side of his head. The world’s light was gone now. Darkness had won. |
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Qualis: Shadows of Genus