When all you fear comes to pass, you're left with this moment of absolute stillness. Your mind stays stagnant between thoughts, your arms dangle immobile beside you. The blood courses through your veins as it has always done, but for some reason you don't consider yourself a living thing. You find no difference between yourself and a slab of stone. Your senses become muffled, you retreat within yourself and become a mere spectator of all that occurs around you. Stripped of will, you merely observe, lacking the guile to alter all that occurs. Leaving you helpless

As the two dozen Binorian Hunters descended the crest of dunes circling their hide out, their torches flickering orange flames that cast their pale faces in a deathly glow, Indomil found herself unable to move. She expected those around her to lurch into motion, to pump their feet with sure, quick strides and escape the danger encroaching upon them. But all around her, her fellow water seekers stood still. Dagaa lay unconscious, the steady rising and falling of his chest made visible by the torches the only proof he was still alive. Phesoj lay face down in the sand with Ollyper standing above him, fingers still clenched into fists. And Ishar still snored.

The Binorians formed a circle around them. One of them with a face wrapped in red cloth that dangled down his neck stepped forward, surveying the Kolotian faces peering at him through the slit the red cloth allowed for his eyes. He lowered the red cloth from his face to reveal a pinched face riddled with a mosaic of scars, he held his torch back and one of the men beside him, a slender Binorian with blue eyes hastily took it from him. The red cloth man spoke. "Well, well," his voice sounded as coarse as sand. "We're out looking for a Talisi woman and a Telinete Rhino and happen to stumble upon Gold. Meena be praised!"

"Meena be praised!" The Binorians chorused.

Indomil realized the man had yet to notice the Binorian heads at her feet, or those in the other stone cans some paces from where they were. She hoped—

"Zigzil!" One of the Binorians shouted. Catching the attention of the red clothed man. He pointed at Indomil's feet and she felt all their eyes trained on below her where the two heads that had fallen out of the stone can lay. Heads of white skin, staring sightless with eyes the same shade as those of the Binorian hunters all around. There was a rasp as swords flew free of their scabbards.

"Well, well," The man with the red cloth, Zigzil, gave her a murderous glare. "How things unravel." He had an odd way of speaking, patient yet laden with malice despite his choice of words.

"Zigzil!" One of the Binorian hunters approached Zigzil with one of the stone cans and emptied the heads within on the ground. Dora started whimpering, so did Xelif, Juspin and Ollyper. Indomil wanted to make a sound but she found her throat oddly constricted and dry. Instead her hands trembled and she had to dig her nails into her palm to stop them from shaking, she felt the pain as her nails broke skin.

Zigzil stared at the severed heads then squatted down and turned the heads around. He pointed at one. "This one is Kojis, owed me seven gold vigons, looks like nobody will be collecting." He pointed at the other head. "This one I don't know."

"That there's Coriar." Another Binorian pipped in. "He is the one who shat in the communal bath, remember?"

Zigzil nodded and took a moment, staring at those dead faces on the ground. He raised his eyes and found Indomil. She flinched beneath that beady eyed gaze. "Where is the Talisi woman with the Telinete Rhino?" He asked.

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Indomil did not know who Zigzil was speaking of, she faintly remembered mention of a Talisi woman and a Telinete rhino some time back but that seemed like ages ago. When faced with death the past becomes a flimsy thing filled with uncertainty. As if the potency of death renders all memory of life a mirage.

Zigzil stood up and drew his sword. "Kolotian scum, we will fuck you bloody, we will cut your hands off and your feet then force you to hobble your way to your Colony where we will proceed to kill everyone there." His voice rang across the dunes, each word uttered slowly. He started walking towards her. Twisting the sword in his grip, she found herself incapable of movement. "Your life is as a good as gone, but we might grant you a quick death if you tell us where the Talisi woman with the Telinete rhino is!"

"I... I... don't... I—" Indomil stuttered as Zigzil drew near, the edge of his blade gleamed in the torchlights and at its point Indomil saw her end.

"He knows!" Dora suddenly cried out. "That one, there! He knows the Talisi woman and the Telinete Rhino!" She pointed at the sleeping Ishar, who surprisingly, was still oblivious of all that was going on. "We found him there," Dora spurred on. "Amidst the dead... The dead Binorians. We found him there."

Zigzil turned his head to Ishar. "It's true, he even spoke of a Talisi woman and a Telinete rhino, he claimed the woman was his and so was the Telinete rhino." Lupin chimed in. Suddenly they were all eager to lay blame on Ishar, use him as the scapegoat to save their hides. Or rather, to ensure their hides didn't suffer as much when they met their ends. They all started speaking at once, pointing at Ishar. Talking about how they'd simply found the heads and had played no role in their dismemberment.

Zigzil raised a fist for silence and suddenly it was all that was offered. "Wake him." He ordered. Two hunters walked purposefully to Ishar, they grabbed him by the nook of his elbows and raised him off the ground. He dangled between them as a corpse would. Indomil wondered as to how someone could sleep so heavily. A third hunter walked over gripping his sword, turned it around to bare out the pommel and slammed it into Ishar's midriff before stepping back. Ishar didn't stir. The hunter gave a puzzled look to Zigzil before repeating the action of waking Ishar. This time Ishar coughed and his violet eyes fluttered open. The hunter reversed the grip of his sword and lay the sharp point below Ishar's chin, tilting up his head. "Mbengo." The hunter said and spat at Ishar's face.

Ishar's eyes widened. His head titled down to his bound wrists then up again at the Binorian holding a blade to his neck, he titled his head, peering about, taking in all that was around him then his eyes rested on Dagaa and Phesoj on the ground. Zigzil walked towards Ishar, quick sure strides that had him before the Kolotian dangling between the Hunters in seconds.

"Look at me." Zigzil said and Ishar met his eyes. "Where is the Talisi woman and the Telinete Rhino?" Ishar's eyes darted down to Phesoj and Dagaa once more, he seemed to be totally unphased by the threat looking him in the face. "I said look at me you fucking mbengo!" Zigzil punched Ishar in the face and the Kolotian barely reacted. Ishar's feet found purchase on the ground, his bent knees straightened and he stood up straight before Zigzil.

He turned his head away from Zigzil and stared straight at Indomil. "Are they dead?" He asked while thrusting his chin at Phesoj and Dagaa on the ground.

Indomil shook her head and flinched as Zigzil struck ishar across the face, but Ishar didn't even tilt his neck at the blow. Zigzil curled his hand into a fist and buried it into Ishar's gut, but the Kolotian stood straight, showing no discomfort as if the punch was merely a fly settling on his abdomen. The Binorian Hunters stole puzzled glances at each other. Their drawn swords held before them.

"Where is the Talisi woman!" Zigzil screamed, that slow even manner of speech that Indomil had become accustomed to from him suddenly morphed into this hurried, rage induced screech that was even more frightening.

Ishar turned his eyes to Zigzil and smiled. "I don't know." He said. "What I do know is that I do not like it when someone calls me mbengo. Makes my blood boil. I realize I have anger issues, my girlfriend, the woman you're after, has been training me on how to control my rage. She told me deep breaths help and I'm doing my best to breath deeply right now but it still irks me, you know? Like, that name. That mbengo name brings back memories of the man who raised me, used to call me that each day as he beat me. I'm breathing really deeply right now but the rage doesn't seem to subside, for some reason. Just doesn't seem to ebb. Perhaps an apology would do?"

Silence. Then the Binorian Hunters started laughing starting with Zigzil. They laughed and pointed at Ishar as their shoulders shook and their hands clutched to their guts and Ishar started laughing with them for some reason, laughing like a fool and forcing their laughter to cut short but on and on he laughed, alone, and those around him grew uncomfortable and the grips on the hilts of their blades tightened and ther brows furrowed, suddenly realizing there was something terribly off about this particular Kolotian.

Ishar stopped laughing and smiled at Zigzil. "Apologize." He said.

Zigzil moved closer to Ishar, faces close enough to kiss, and said. "Mbengo."

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