Ishar's eyes glowed amber as they neared the Talisi congregation gathered outside their tents. Edda knew this because she felt the same overwhelming force tearing at everything she knew and everything she thought she knew as she'd once before felt at the Juckwa Arena when Ishar had channeled a God. Just like that his eyes faded back to violet and she was able to string together coherent thoughts.
"Why do you do that?" Edda asked, her hand on his golden silk shirt at the shoulder and her other hand on Carrot's carapace.
"Do what? Oh I have a fun idea! See those Talisi?" Ishar asked.
It was hard not to see them, they swarmed like bees in a hive, piling upon each other before her sight so as to get a glimpse of Carrot and its passengers. Silence engulfed the mass of dark skinned white haired people as they stood with their mouths hanging open. About ten men dressed in full body green armor barreled their way through the formed crowd and parted revealing that in their wake was a short bulky man with a silver crown on his head dressed in dark green leather with a green silk cape framed in gold. Edda immediately recognized the man as King Gans of Talisi. Accompanying him was a curvy woman wearing an emerald green dress that was thigh high, she looked too young to be his wife yet she carried herself as someone of equal importance.
Carrot came to a stop several feet from the gathered Talisi and the silence stretched to the point where it became uncomfortable. Ishar turned his head to face Edda, "I want you to stand on Carrot's back and announce my presence, call me the harbinger of doom, the master of chaos, the one who stands at the gate of oblivion and the void Seer." "What? Why?" Edda asked.
"It just feels right. You can add more titles if you wish, something like the Mad King? Though I think that would unsettle King Gans."
"What's a void Seer?"
"I don't know, this things just come to me."
"I'm not doing that."
Ishar gave a disappointed sigh and began to stand on Carrot's back. He spread his arms wide before the gathered Talisi whose numbers grew by the second and Edda remained sitting on Carrot, peering through Ishar's legs at the Talisi.
Mairek had been practicing spear combat techniques when Nohj came running to him and Dhiliaf while spewing nonsense about someone riding a Telinete Rhino. Nohj didn't stand long enough for Mairek to question him, he immediately bolted back in the direction he'd come from and Dhiliaf and Mairek were forced to follow. Mairek pushed through the gathered Talisi who stood like statues staring ahead of them. Dhiliaf made it easier for them to penetrate the crowd with his mass and Mairek followed in his wake. Suddenly Dhiliaf came to an abrupt stop, staring straight ahead with his eyes bulging in their sockets.
"What is it? I can't see." Mairek said. Indeed he couldn't, his height wasn't of the same caliber as Dhiliaf's and several tall armored men obscured his view.
"He is truly the son of Meena." Dhiliaf said, further frustrating Mairek.
Mairek dug around Dhiliaf and maneuvered himself between pressing Talisi bodies that stood as motionless as statues until he found himself at the forefront right next to a towering man in green armor who flanked the furthest from King Gans and his daughter. The Royals both stood with their slit like eyes as wide as they could possibly be and fixed ahead of them where a Telinete Rhino stood with a man standing on its back and a woman sitting behind the man. The man wore a golden silk shirt and black breeches, his arms were widespread and adorned with golden bangles. His hair was a black mop, his finger tips were... Blue.
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Ishar's eyes were fixed on King Gans as he spread his arms before the Talisi populace. He wanted to make a lasting impression, give a speech worthy of recognition throughout the realm, a speech that would be commemorated throughout time, a speech that children would be forced to recite time and time again lest they forget its significance. He cleared his throat, preparing himself to launch into the said speech. He waited for the words to come, they didn't. He couldn't announce himself with the titles he'd told Edda, it would be awkward. It would have been better for someone to introduce him compared to him introducing himself, that would just make him look conceited.
Standing there with his arms raised, Ishar realized he had absolutely no idea what to say.
"What are you doing?" Edda spoke in hushed tones from behind him.
"I have no idea." Ishar whispered back. The Talisi all stared at him and the silence was becoming very uncomfortable. Then, King Gans stepped away from the Talisi crowd and headed towards Carrot. Ishar lowered his arms, staring at the approaching King whose every movement carried a solidity to it. It was obvious his daughter Tari wanted to accompany him as he approached but the look on her face showed the conflict between her desire and her fear. Ishar realized that the same look the Talisi held was the same one the Binorians had had when they witnessed him riding Carrot.
King Gans came to stand five feet from Carrot, his eyes flickered between Ishar and Carrot with an occasionally glance at Edda. King Gans reached out with his two hands and took off the silver crown shaped like antlers adorning his head. His white hair was a mane shaved at either side and a silver earing dangled from one ear. He held the crown for a moment between fingers studded with silver rings before going down on both knees and raising the crown towards Ishar.
Every Talisi present mimicked their King by going down on their knees before Ishar, except one. Mairek's intention was to kneel but instead he found himself inching forward one step at a time towards Ishar.
"I hereby renounce my claim over the Talisi throne and hand over the Kingdom of Talisi to you, Ishar, son of Meena. Your every wish from now on henceforth will be my command as the Goddess requires." King Gans said with his head bowed, avoiding Ishar's gaze as if deeming himself unworthy of meeting it.
Ishar struggled to understand what the King meant by 'Son of Meena.' And a part of him that he couldn't quite call his own felt like laughing at the statement. Still, he composed himself to make a request that was of more immediate importance to him than being given the Talisi Kingdom. "I hereby humbly reject your offer for the entire Talisi Kingdom and instead ask for a bunch of cabbages." "A bunch of cabbages?" King Gans's head shot up at the request.
Carrot grunted beneath Ishar's feet. "Fifty cabbages to be exact." Carrot sneezed. "Fine, three hundred cabbages and twice as many carrots." Carrot bellowed a rumbling roar that caused King Gans to fall back on his arse with fright. Ishar turned his head to the beast, clearly unperturbed by the Telinete. "Carrots are good for you, you have very poor eyesight from the way you keep bumping into stuff. I'll help you eat them."
Ishar turned his attention from the King sprawled before him to a figure slowly approaching. A smile spread upon Ishar's face as recognition dawned on him, he leaped off of Carrot's back and landed next to the King before immediately breaking into a sprint.
Mairek's steps gained pace and evolved into a full on run, his teeth gleamed in the noontime sun as excitement, joy and disbelief warred within him and sent all else into shambles. He laughed and spread his arms and Ishar approached doing the same, they collided midway at full speed and Ishar, who was smaller and a tad bit skinnier, knocked the breath out of Mairek but Mairek didn't care. They tumbled upon the Ganidan plain while laughing like fools and crushing Centala flowers beneath them.
Meanwhile, everyone else gawked at the two reunited friends and Carrot gave an unimpressed snort.