Edda had thought the beast's run would be halted by the metal fortifications that had held it in the Juckwa Arena for probably most of its life, she'd also thought she would die during the Nula Anyl but it appeared she was wrong on both accounts. The Telinete beast brought down steel doors with its momentum through hallways and corners within the inner layer of the Juckwa Arena. It drove through structures while tearing doors off their hinges, ripping the ceiling that held some of the doors in place. The Juckwa Arena shook in the wake of the beast and Edda could only hold on for dear life, pressing her body on the Kolotian beneath her with the hope that he would awake and halt the beast before it brought the whole building down on them.
It was as if up until that point the Telinete Rhino had been satisfied with its confines that it had come to call home. But as its eyes glowed amber it was as if the creature had been transformed with its rage heightened and its sanity wiped clean in favor of chaos. The Telinete Rhino barreled towards the largest metal door so far. Behind the beast lay a testimony of its raw power as its carapace had dug at the walls on its flanks and slabs of stone lay on the ground from its passing in the hallways that had been too small for it. The creature tore at the metal obstructing its rampage with its large horns and sunlight gleamed through the formed cracks, it forced itself through the opening it had paved and Edda clung to its carapace emerging on either side of its back while dragging Ishar's body to lie vertically adjacent to the beast's back lest his limbs get torn to pieces.
"Gods!" Edda swore as the Telinete Rhino bellowed outside the Juckwa Arena. She'd thought the beast would come to rest once it was free of the Juckwa Arena but her assumption was wrong once more. The creature charged upon random paths, trampling all who stood in its way. It seemed to have an affinity with the color red which on any other day would have spelt doom for the Binorians but as most of them wore black the beast chased after the City guard who were dawned in gold and red leather. A City guard impaled on the beast's largest horn screamed as the creature shook him from side to side as it charged, tearing him in half.
Some paths were crowded with Binorians who'd escaped the Juckwa Arena, those didn't stand a chance. Edda heard the unmistakable crack of a skull beneath the Rhino's limbs as the beast crushed Binorians as one tramples weeds on a path. It was as if the Telinete gained more energy from the chaos it spread, its pace did not slow, in fact it heightened as it dug its way through the outer-ring and into the heavily populated market while leaving a trail of mangled bodies in its wake. The screams of Binorians were almost enough to make Edda's ears pop but the beast's bellow shook everything to the core.
Edda understood why Selarch's name was whispered for half a millennium as the Telinete Rhino ripped market stalls to shreds. She understood why the first Binorian King was immortalized in the hearts of everyone in the realm as she watched a man and woman's lifeless bodies dangle from the beast's horns until it shook them off. Whoever tamed a Telinete Rhino wielded uncontested power. Suddenly it was all too clear why the kingdoms had easily bowed before Selarch and how easily he'd launched the first campaign that would reduce the Kolotian Kingdom to dust. She could see it in the eyes of the Binorians, some of them too frozen by fright to move out of the Telinete's path, those were squashed like berries for wine. She could see it in the discarded weapons on the ground as the City guard fled. There was no hope before the beast.
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Yet, there she was on the Telinete Rhino's back. She'd read stories of how Selarch would sit on a special saddle that was fashioned to fit the creature's carapace and offer comfort against its jagged ridges. He would ride the beast with his palm on its head and all would shudder in its passing. She pictured him, majestic upon this freak of nature. She couldn't emulate Selarch, she couldn't sit up from her position for fear of falling off the beast and joining the thralls of screaming Binorians. She was safest where she was, lying flat on Ishar... Ishar.
The young Kolotian looked as if he was in the midst of a pleasant dream. There was a ghost of a smile upon his face as if he was set to break into a series of giggles at any moment. One look at him and you wouldn't have imagined him to be the same person who'd tamed the Telinete Rhino. She'd seen him battle the beast while talking to it, she'd seen him scale its back and tame it. She remembered the amber glow of his eyes and she realized that all her perceptions of him had been entirely wrong. Except, well, except the fact he was crazy. There was no denying that the Kolotian was insane, his actions attested to this.
"Wake up Ishar." Edda whispered as she leaned deeper into him as the Telinete Rhino barreled through a series of market stalls with three men impaled on its horns. He was the only person capable of controlling the beast. She'd thought about placing Ishar's hand on its head and issuing another request of the beast but she was afraid of what the Binorians would do to her and Ishar if the beast came to an abrupt halt. As far as Edda could tell, the beast's momentum and rampage is what stood between her and a rowdy Binorian crowd.
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"Why do I keep forgetting everything you tell me in this place once I wake up?" Ishar asked while sitting cross legged on a ground that felt like sand, if it wasn't for its black color he'd assume it to be sand. He was dressed in an amber tunic and his eyes were on the God who lay on his back a foot before him with his violet eyes peering into the black expanse all around him.
Ovek was half naked, something resembling black pants adorned his lower half and his upper half was sinuated in pale muscle. The God's dreadlocks were white this time but Ishar was used to them changing color whenever Ovek needed them to and his skin this time was Binorian pale white though his eyes were violet and fingertips stained blue. "You are in my domain, perceiving it in the place between mind and soul. If you remember everything once you wake you'd be perceiving my domain in its fullness through the mind alone." Ovek said and turned his face in Ishar's direction. His crooked nose and scar trailing from his hairline to the bottom of his forehead made him look menacing but Ishar felt no fear, he was used to the God at this point. "Perceiving my domain fully through your mind will melt your brain."Ovek concluded.
Ishar laughed. He didn't know why he did it, it just abruptly bubbled out of him while he held conversations with Ovek. The God smiled and turned his attention back to the black expanse engulfing them. "I don't see how forgetting everything you tell me helps while I'm awake." Ishar said after his laughter had died down.
"The acts before thought stem from the soul and all I teach you stays with you in that place between thoughts that is secured under a cocoon of belief stemming from your soul. Hence you know how and when to act despite not knowing when and how you got to know."
Ishar laughed again. "I feel like we've had this conversation before but I still don't get it."
"You don't have to get it." Ovek abruptly stood up. One second he was lying flat on the ground and in the next he was pacing before Ishar. "Now, stand up, your lesson today would be on how to tame a mad beast." Ishar complied and stood up, he started mimicking Ovek's pacing and the God reward him with a silver toothed smile.