Our conversation broke up sooner than I expected; Jorl had said the trip to Ouhl would be a short one, but I had not anticipated it to be quite as short as it ended up being. It is possible that it was my fault for not paying enough attention to the ground passing beneath us, but I have no actual idea how far the two sites are from each other. It took only a piece of an hour to travel the distance, but when traveling via flying Apex, that did not mean much.
I became aware of the journey drawing to an end when I felt a lurch as momentum was bled from me, making me lean towards the dragon’s massive head. Looking down and around my legs, I peered through the perfectly clear crystal at the ground below.
Grass the colour of fresh blood spread out beneath us and into the distance, extending for miles beyond the confines of the walled city. Ouhl itself reminded me of the numbered outpost settlements of the Legions; utilitarian, built along straight lines with sturdy looking, blocky buildings. Yet there was still a certain beauty to it. Where the outposts had been laid out in simple grids, from our position in the sky I could see complex geometry outlined in streets and constructions, ending in sharp angles, as if the whole city was somehow made up of edges.
Jorl landed outside the city gates and through his sides I could see the refracted shapes of onlookers peering at his gargantuan form, clustered in small groups along a road that ran into the distance, as sharp and straight as a dagger. So too did they gather atop the razor-sharp line of the wall, staring in a way that made my skin crawl and my blood heat.
The exit opened, and within minutes we had exited through his mouth once more, the dragon’s body dissolving into rainbow light like ice vanishing in the sun.
“I’m going to start searching. No doubt somebody will be out in a few minutes to find out what’s happening – it happens a lot when I show up at places, ha! Let them know I’m looking for somebody, and then... I don’t know. I’ll find you after I’m done.”
The Apex turned and crouched slightly, as if about to push off from the ground. Quickly, I reached out my hand to tap his shoulder before speaking.
“I take it you didn’t find anything on the way over? In the villages?”
“Yes, of course I did. That’s why I’m searching the city.”
Before I had a chance to reply to the sarcasm – I had only wanted to confirm – the normally jovial man reached out and flicked my forehead, making the world flicker around me as I staggered. By the time I recovered enough to speak, the Apex was gone.
“Fuck! Ow.”
“It was a stupid question, Hunter.”
“I was just checking. He could have detected them and they portaled out, I don’t know without asking. Shit, my head.”
There was more growl to my reply than I expected, and I could feel my irritation with getting insulted get the better of me. With some effort, I managed to calm myself and take stock. My head hurt, and I felt a welling nausea that made me reach for a healing pill before quickly swallowing it.
“That seems fair, given what we know of their capacity. Perhaps you should not be so quick to call others stupid, Ever Flowing.”
“What are you implying, To-rag?”
“With growing impatience, do I need to separate the two of you?”
“With resigned understanding, I believe the effects Jorl described are taking effect. Calm down, brother. Everyone.”
I glared at Riffa for a second; I hated being told to calm down. But she was right, and I shook my mind free of the irritation with some effort, rubbing at my face with one hand. I could still feel that edge of aggression trying to push me towards rash actions, but I was able to keep a hold on it with a little effort.
Looking at the people still staring at us, I wondered how the city functioned like this; I imagined they probably got used to it, though from what Jorl had said I assumed it sometimes bubbled over.
Dismissing the watching crows for the moment, I turned back to my friends who were mostly glaring at each other, though of the three, Reff’s heated gaze was by far the most intimidating.
“Riffa is right, guys. Remember what Jorl said? It’s the... grass, I guess? It’s making us short tempered and irritable. Can’t you feel it, like something pressing on your last nerve?”
Reff turned his burning eyes to me, his expression dark; I had used part of an idiom from Earth, and was not sure it would carry over correctly, and while Reff had always been fairly forgiving of my... quirks, I could see this straw was close to breaking the camel's back. Luckily for me, I saw the risi’s eyes clear a moment later as his glare retreated into a mere frown, and I saw his bare chest rise and fall along with a deep breath.
“With delicate calm, I feel it, as you say, Hunter. It is like hunger or thirst, gnawing at me.”
I offered Reff a nod, which he returned slowly; my big friend was apparently renowned for his temper amongst the risi, and while I had seen it pop up once or twice, for the most part he seemed to have a very firm grip on it, and that was paying off in this strangely affective place. With the siblings under their own control – at least for the moment - I turned my attention to Toria and Darina.
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The two of them were acting like they had not heard any of us, and were busying themselves by trying to bore through each other’s heads with their eyes, though unsurprisingly, Darina seemed like the closest to actual violence. I knew better than to tell them to calm down, as at least back on Earth, that was something that almost never worked. I did not know quite what to do; since my arrival, the people I had met could roughly be divided into two groups – the nutjobs, and reasonable people. The nutjobs had almost universally been on the other end of conflict, so when it came to dealing with them, it mostly involved punching them. The reasonable people – and I was only including the first month or so of Darina hesitantly – had taken care of themselves.
I did not think my, ‘annoy her into being normal’ plan would work in the current situation, or rather it would work somewhat too well. After my near-week of unconsciousness, my reserves had barely moved, only having access to passive absorption, and I did not think what I had would keep me ahead of both Toria and Darina for long...
Thankfully, I did not have to figure out a way to distract them, as a voice called out from nearby, sounding hard but curious. Turning, I saw a man in a red long-coat which was covered in small, white-coloured metal plates. He was slightly shorter than me, but powerfully built with dusky skin and pale green eyes.
“I said, was that Void-bitten fucking dragon with you?”
I felt a surge of aggression well up in me at the sound of his voice, completely overwhelming the gratitude I had felt at the interruption. There was something about his face and tone that made me feel like he was taking something from me, just by existing. I felt a growl bubble up in my throat, and struggled to get myself under control as his gaze locked with mine and he offered an answering growl.
It was more than just the atmosphere of the place, though that was not helping; it was something about the man himself. And then I realised, the person I was looking at was another ren, and the first I had met.
“With deliberate distraction, we did arrive with the dragon – the Apex of the Crystal Drake, in fact.”
The man tore his gaze from mine, turning it towards Reff; I felt some of my need to walk over and hit him fade away. I took a deep breath, trying to tamper my temper down.
“Great, an Apex; probably going to blow the Void-bitten city. If I find out one of those fucking sects has brought an Apex on our heads, I’m going to personally eat their elders.”
“With calm correction, the Apex is here to search for an individual, or group that has been causing trouble throughout the world. It is... unlikely to involve your sects.”
“That’s something, at least. So, are you lot waiting here for him? If you’re coming inside,” he turned back to me and I locked my will around my temper as it tried to make me growl again, “keep this fucker away from me. It’s hard enough not murdering half the bastardly city, without another territorial shit waltzing about.”
“I’ll try to stay out of your way. So that I know who to avoid, who the... who’re you?”
I spoke from between clenched teeth, my left cheek twitching as I did my best not to stare daggers.
“Badan Tain, Blood Marshal. I’m in charge of keeping the bloodthirsty bastards of Ouhl from gutting each other too often. Any issues,” Tain stabbed his finger at me like it was a sword, “send somebody else.”
“How about you just avoid us, Marshal Tain?”
“You’re going to be trouble aren’t you, short-shit? Keep your temper under control; if you lose it in my city, I’ll put you down.”
There was a sharp crack and the Blood Marshal vanished, the breeze of his exit rippling out and then in across the crimson grass.
“Well, that went well. Should we find a place to stay where we maybe won’t see many people? I think we all need some time to get used to this feeling.”
Darina, whose face was a dark red which provided a strange contrast to her red-jade eyes, turned her overly wide eyes to me and I saw her eyebrow twitch; she had apparently not loved being called a short-shit.
“Hey, it wasn’t me, and I’m sick remember. No hitting me.”
A part of me wanted her to try, to show her the error of her ways in bruises and broken bones, but the saner part of me was holding it together now that the other ren had left. It appeared as though I was better at defying the bloodthirst than most – possibly because of my Agency – but my animosity towards Badan had been purely... biological.
I thought back to the description of the race from when I had picked it – some of the details had vanished into the vagaries of memory, but I did recall them being territorial, which was a mild understatement, it seemed.
Darina closed her eyes, and took a breath, and then another.
“Fine. Let’s go find somewhere to stay... before I embarrass my Master.”
These words seemed to have more of an impact on Toria than anything else; I knew she was devoted to the Sun’s Judgement, even if I did not like the Apex much, but it was easy to forget, as she hadn’t been nearly as... in my face about it as Kestin had been.
“Yes. I wouldn’t want to sully the Paladin’s reputation by acting out of accordance with Justice. Let us find a place to stay.”
The five us shared an uneasy glance, and we set off through the red grass; as we walked, I noted that the long blades were leaving score marks on the shoes and boots of my companions, though my strange boots seemed thankfully immune.
People were still staring at us, with one or two in fancier robes pointing openly while talking animatedly, gesticulating back and forth. I did my best to ignore them; it was not the first time I had entered a city accompanied by stares, and it was surely not the first time for any of the other members of the party. It was, however, the first time I had seen quite so many people look at me quite so viciously.
Entering the city through the gates closest to us, I noticed details that had not been apparent from the air; where the numbered outposts of the Legion had been strictly utilitarian in design, there in Ouhl I noted numerous works of art, not just on display for their own sake, but even the signs for shops and services involved complex metal work. There was one detail that they did all share though, which was that every sculpture, every sign and bracket had sharp edges and points. It made me wary of stepping under things, as if one of the beautiful deathtraps were to come lose and fall on me, it would likely kill me. It was the perhaps the most alien city I had visited, even more so than the massive edifice of the Blacksand Citadel, because this one seemed designed entirely around violence.
As we wandered the streets, seeking an inn and ignoring curious – savage – gazes, I wondered if there were other places on the planet equally affected by such effects, other emotions and feelings. I told myself to ask Jorl when he showed up again, and hoped it would not result in another painful – and damaging – flick.