Gray.

The grim gray fog behind his eyes dispels. It takes only a moment for the words to really wrap around Kolino’s mind. His father had been around for so long, the thought of him ever dying had seemed like the dreams of a stupid child. But this is not a dream. The fire on his spine had been very real. The blackness that he had fallen into was stagnant, but true.

He looks to his travel companions, searching each of their faces. Daz is confused, but there’s a certain level of understanding there as well. Ashia is shocked, but also filled with excitement at what she thinks will be an inspiring new adventure. And Sonya, soft yet strong Sonya, is apprehensive, though Kai doesn’t know why.

Standing, he realizes that his clothes have been ruined by his shift. Through lids of agony, he had not noticed his clothes shred. With a sigh, he walks to the side of the still burning home, and latches onto his bag. He goes through clothes like a frog goes through flies while in the mortal realm. Kai has just finished zipping his pants when his friend finally decides to break the silence. “Um, you going to tell us what that was all about? What did Winger call you for?”

Kai straightens himself out before answering, “We’ve been called back to the den.” Daz squawks, and Kai sees all the thoughts running through his friend’s head. They haven’t stepped foot or tail into Ulmano in over three years, exiled until the oligarchy of Nagas thought it safe to allow them back home.

That’s why they have Sonya. After their group apprehends stray anthromos, she’s the one that takes them back to their home realm. But it seems that the death of a king is enough to break their exile. Sonya and Ashia follow their conversation with both eyes and ears. “The Grand Naga is dead. We have been called back to perform our duties.” Kai watches silently as his friend’s thin brows furrow.

Daz has been a part of the Basilisk province since the pair’s union fifteen years ago. The Treaty of Solitude had forced him and other royal Aves from their home nation at just nine years old. He knows more of Kolino’s world than his own, and because of this, he begins to draw a few connections. Kai shakes his head before he can voice them though.

Nodding, Daz goes to grab his own pile of clothes. “You know, I was wondering when any of you were going to address that boy’s nakedness.” Ashia’s face is scrunched up, her eyes turned away from Daz as he dresses himself.

“Oh. Now that you mention it, I suppose it is weird to those born in earth.” Sonya’s hand raises to her chin, her amber eyes wide and alert. “We don’t take much notice to skin where we’re from. Of course, some have picked up a little human culture here and there, but most prefer our natural states. Take me for example.” She raises both her hands away from her body and preforms a full turn for the little enchantress.

Kai watches them.

“I like to feel a little breeze against my fur.” Sonya’s smile is big and sloppy as she slaps Ashia’s back. “You’ll get used to it.”

Daz rolls his eyes as he pulls his shirt fully over his head. His voice is light as he teases, “Don’t make that face. No one said you have to forgo your clothes. You might get strange looks, but I doubt anyone will mention your mundaneness to your face, miss.” That is true of the Basilisk province. Basils prefer to whisper about you from the shadows.

“Speaking of. Do you need me to come with you?” Visibly uncomfortable, Kai can see her fingers crossed behind her back. And he doesn’t blame her. His home province doesn’t have the best reputation. Most find the Basils to be conniving, cold, and cruel. That’s not to say that some aren’t, but Basilisk isn’t just the land of snakes. There is more to it than that, but the Grand Naga thought it advantageous to keep knowledge of its inhabitants to a minimum.

Kai supposes it was a smart move on his part. They’ve had more internal conflicts than external, and those are easily solved with trials. Kolino gives the lioness a small nod, watching as her shoulders fall. She’s never been to Basilisk. Few outsiders have. “I think it would be best that Ashia have a companion, a female one, until her trials are held.”

Ashia’s attention turns to Kai, and his eyes are waiting. “Trial? What trial? I haven’t done anything wrong.” Her stance changes, as if she’s about to fight. Kai straightens, his eyes gleaming as his forked tongue dips out to smell the air.

He wonders how fast she runs. He wonders what kind of a fight she’ll put up.

Sensing the thoughts in is friend’s mind, Daz steps between the two, breaking the eye contact. “It’s nothing like that. Ulmano isn’t one continuous realm, like earth. We have five kingdoms separated along the branches of life. Your trials are just a way to test what kingdom is in your soul.” He holds out his hand. “Anthromos come in all shapes and sizes, and we know it’s best not to mix certain species.”

Ashia looks between the two men, her eyes narrowing. Her finger points to all three of them. “So, you all aren’t like each other?” Sonya snorts as Daz shakes his head. “Then what are you? Where are you from? What happens after the trail?”

Annoyed with her questions, Kai releases an exasperated sigh. Everyone ignores it. “I’m an Ave, from Ave. And Kai is from Basilisk, which is where we’re traveling.”

Sonya pipes up. “I’m from Panth! And I’m like sixty percent sure you have some Pantha in your blood.” Sonya, while brave, strong, and affectionate, is not the most perceptive lion in the jungle. For all her muscles, she seems to have very little brain to power them. But that’s what Kolino likes about her.

She’s simple.

Ashia’s bottom lip rolls into her mouth, her eyes once again finding Kai’s. She’s anxious. That’s good. “So, you’re taking me into snake territory?” Kai nods. “And they’re going to test me to see where I belong?” He nods again. “And nothing bad will happen along the way?” At this, he doesn’t respond. He no longer promises anyone safety.

Not when he broke a similar vow a long time ago.

“We have to go. We still don’t know who set the fire, and we’ve been standing around long enough.” He motions for Sonya to take the lead, pulling a small trinket from around her neck.

“What about the fire? We’re just going to let it burn?” Upon assessing Ashia’s face, with the reflection of flames bouncing off her of skin, Kai sees that there is no worry for the surrounding area. Something akin to grief has taken over her expression. She doesn’t want to see her home burn, despite the fact that she seems to have little care about abandoning her mortal realm. She is quite strange.

Kai looks up, his eyes surveying the gray air above the flames. No smoke rises past a certain point, and the scent that they had followed is very faint. Unless someone comes seeking her help, it is likely that no one will notice this fire. He turns from her and the home. “It will rain soon. It won’t spread.” Picking up his bag, he follows Sonya to an area that’s just a few meters from the house, secluded enough that no one should see them.

Eventually, the enchantress catches up, falling next to the lioness. Kolino watches as Sonya animatedly talks about the tool in her hand. “Are you sad?” His eyes don’t shift as his friend straightens next to him.

Kai can feel his black eyes scanning the side of his face, looking for traces of something that he knows he won’t find. “You know what I’m feeling.” Daz knows better than anyone what Kai is feeling, not just because of the treaty’s binding, but because of the same crushing memories that they share.

He knows that Kai has no love for his father. He hasn’t for a long time. Perhaps he expected relief or some type of excitement from his friend, but as far as he can tell, Kai feels nothing. And it’s been that way for as long as he can remember. Basils are wary of emotions, the royals more so than anyone else.

Daz can only remember one time when his friend was open with his more intimate feelings. Kai had not made that mistake again. “Woah! What is that?” Ashia jumps back as Sonya slashes one of the six life keys through the air. The tiny tool is shaped like a small dagger, its blade curling inward. The motion forces a tear, glaring yet just barely visible, out of the realm. Those keys can only be used to travel from the mortal realm, no to it. The enchantress takes a step forward, her hand outstretched as if to trace the jagged lines of the other realm.

Kai stops her hand just before it makes contact, his eyes snapping to Sonya’s. “You’ll have to hold her; she doesn’t have the mark.” He lets her go and steps into the tear, his breath nearly freezing in his throat. Gods. His head throbs as he takes his first step onto one of the tree’s branches. It’s been so long since he’s been here.

Since he’s breathed this crisp air.

Since he’s felt this sensation.

Behind him, he hears Daz inhale sharply. Kai is struck then, something cold wrapping around his heart. Sure, Kai had been exiled, but Daz hadn’t. No one had wrapped their hands around his arms, no one had dragged through a cut in the realm. No one had tossed him out on his hands and knees. He had simply followed after Kolino.

His stupid, bird-brained partner.

The feeling of home wraps around the pair as they carefully walk along the flaking branch. With it being about four feet wide and flatted by erosion, they stand no chance of falling off, but the thought is always there lingering. What would happen if they stepped from the path? What would they find if they slipped down down down? Would they touch a ground covered in wispy grasses and slithering creatures? Or would the decaying bodies of every creature that came before them serve as their cushion?

Kolino takes a deep breath as they finally make it to the length of the life tree. Veins, red and thick with energy, pulse along the crumbling white bark, the swimming shimmers each signifying a single life. Kolino wonders if he stares long enough, will he find his own? He pushes forward touching two fingers to his lips in a greeting to the looming entity that they use as a bridge.

The tree of life seems to shudder in response. “It’s been a while,” He whispers to it as he walks around its center to find the branch to Basilisk. The air around him glows with falling shimmers, dying shimmers. “I made you a promise the last time we spoke.” The tree of life is imbued with the spirits of every anthromo that has been born since The Divide. Everyone knows that it is alive, but not many know that it is also sentient.

Kai isn’t sure why the tree had revealed itself to him, almost four years ago, but he will not question it. ‘The boy does not fill with heat on this day.’ And just like that, he is reminded that he isn’t crazy. That he didn’t dream it all. His head shakes. “No,” He says softly. “Not on this day.” He knows that Daz is not far behind him, so he keeps his voice low.

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‘The boy would do well to know that the cold is no replacement for the warmth.’ Again, he shakes his head, understanding, just barely, what the tree is trying to tell him. “Do you remember the promise that I made?” His fingers trail along the tree’s bark, the tips of his fingers darkening with collected ash. ‘We have no need for memory just as we have no need for promises. The boy knows this.’ The tree of life has little need for anything, really.

What a sad existence this must be, to be wholly understanding of life and all its journeys, yet entirely unable to do anything. The tree does not eat, does not move, does not dance, does not live. Yet it does. How terrible it must be to be alive, yet without a soul of its own.

How infuriating it must be to serve only as the door between realms. It must feel his pity. ‘We have need for but one thing: need itself.’ His eyes close briefly as understanding and a strange sense of camaraderie filters into his heart. He is like the tree in some ways. His fingers leave its surface as the branch to Basilisk comes into view. “You will always be needed,” He whispers.

The tree of life is not just the bridge between worlds. It is the very life of Ulmano itself. If blood stopped flowing through its veins, their realm would fall into the void. Sound comes back to him as their connection is broken. He hears Sonya shush Ashia. No one told the girl that it is considered sacrilegious to speak during this journey.

Unless you’re spoken to, of course.

The tree of life is the resting spot of Fuan, the giant god that initiated The Divide. The power it took for him to slice this universe into pieces had left him depleted, and soon after, he fell into a deep slumber. No one knows when he will awaken, but when he does, they say the end of times will follow.

When they reach the very end of the branch leading to Basilisk, Kai doesn’t hesitate to jump off. The combination of dreads and microbraids whip around his face as fire, water, air, and earth surround him. The flurry of colors and sensation is so familiar that his heart almost hurts, but just as quickly as feelings cocooned him, they flee.

His feet land solidly on jungle ground, the earth squelching at his impact. Daz lands beside him, and the sound of Ashia’s muffled screaming follows soon after. He steps to the side, watching with mirthful eyes as Sonya descends with one hand covering the enchantress’ mouth and the other wrapped tightly around her waist.

The girl’s screams are cut off as the impact rumbles through her body. Sonya looks as if the girl has just admitted to slapping her mother. Turning her amber eyes to Daz and Kai, she points to the girl, “She is no Panth.” Ashia gags just after she’s caught her breath, pushing against the arm that’s still wrapped around her.

She blinks rapidly, one of her hands against her heart. “Excuse me!” She coughs out. “No one told me that we’d be sky diving! I’m a land animal, ma’am.” Daz laughs, his teeth gleaming in the remains of the sky’s sun. Ashia shakes her finger. “God, that was terrifying. A little warning next time.”

A throat clears, prompting the group to turn towards those that await them. Kai doesn’t have to think twice about what he’s to do. A few feet in front of him sits a wooden box with a hole on the face. Immediately, he begins to shed his clothes, eyes watch him cautiously. After pulling his shoes off and putting his shirt in the pickup box, Kolino begins his shift.

Every species of anthromo has a different level of change, as well as a different process. Wolves and Aves like Daz can shift completely, their organs morphing to fit the body of their most primitive selves. Anthromos like those of Basilisk maintain a more human appearance despite their lack of humanity.

Basils change forms like molting. Kai’s skin chills, his flesh turning and puckering as scales run down his body. His tail bursts from under his skin, wrapping around his legs, eating them. He rises, his length growing to a solid eighteen feet.

His tail hadn’t been this long when he had left home.

Fingers chilling, he watches as short claws grow. His brows furrow as he stares at them. When his eyes finally do look forward to the snakes that guard the gate to Basilisk, he finds that their expressions are ones of apprehension.

There is only one line of Basils that looks as he does, and a few years ago, they had been instructed to bar that line’s heir from ever returning. The guard to the right slides away from the gate, ever so slightly, his red eyes following every motion that Kolino’s body makes.

He moves towards them, his right arm extended. On it is a crudely tattooed key, a signal to the gate’s guardians that his entry is permitted. “The two females don’t have keys to these gates, but they have been granted permission to pass.” The guard on the left stiffens, her eyes narrowing. Foreigners don’t enter these gates unless they are children of the Treaty of Solitude, as Daz is. She knows this.

But she doesn’t act against him.

Kai isn’t sure if news of his father’s death has already reached the gates, or if the Naga had given the guardians warning of his arrival. The answer doesn’t really matter. The guardian that stands closest to the steps comes forward, a sculpted piece of wood in his hand. He approaches the women, both of which look at him suspiciously.

“It’s a stamp,” Daz informs them. “The Basilisk have wards on their gate. If you enter without this key, the spirits that help us pass through the realm will lay claim to your soul. I doubt you guys want to be soulless.” From what Kai remembers of his youthful travels, the other kingdoms aren’t nearly as protective of their borders.

All but the Natha and Basilisk provinces have open immigration and travel policies, though Kai isn’t sure why anyone would want to travel to a region completely void of any similar anthromos. How uncomfortable it would be to live among nothing but Aves. He almost shivers at the thought of being taunted by schools of pecking birds.

Reluctantly, Ashia holds out her hand and allows the guardian to press the ink coated block against her skin. Kolino watches as her fingers curl in, and her eyes narrow into a focused glare. His lips quirk at the corner. The guardian had intentionally pressed into her skin too hard, the unfinished edge of the stamp drew her blood. She snatches her arm away as soon as the pressure lets up.

The guard doesn’t dare try to intimidate Sonya, likely smelling what she is. She blows air out of her nose, her expression hard. Kai’s brow raises. In all the time that he’s know the woman, she’s only gotten that expression a handful of times, and each of them was usually when discussing a rather sore topic. Daz flashes his own tattoo as the guardian wraps up.

Without speaking a word, the woman guard knocks along the gate, and it begins to creak open, a steady stream of blue light falling from the entry. “You should each hold onto Daz’ shoulders,” Kai informs. They do so without question.

There aren’t many Basils that leave the nation, and those that do are usually diplomats, traveling merchants, or guardians. Anyone that passes through the gates are usually acclimated from a young age. The light has a way of pulling at you. Or perhaps it’s the guardian spirits? Whatever it is, if one was to follow it, give into the urges that it forces onto their chest, they would fall into the unknown. That’s presumably death.

While it has been some time since he’s felt the pressures of the gate, Kai knows that his teachings will never leave him. So, he travels into the light, his tail pushing him a few feet forward with each swish. Kolino’s eyes remain level, his back straight, his hands unclenched. But the warmth is so familiar, so homely, that for just a moment, he almost forgets himself.

But the trip is over before he can do anything about it. His scales slide against the wet forest floor. His eyes close and his head tilts back as he tastes the sweet wet air. Humidity clings to his flesh as the sounds of the forest invade his ears. He hears slithering and jumping and running. He hears wings flapping and tails curling around branches. He hears dewy leaves rustling and water dripping.

He hears home.

The warmth pooling into the bottom of his stomach almost sickens him. The tension abandoning his shoulders makes him shudder. The relief in his heart to finally be back home makes his jaw clench. Kolino should want to be anywhere else but here.

And while he was exiled, he had felt just this way.

He swallows as Daz, Sonya, and Ashia appear behind him. Sonya shakes her head like a dog drying itself off, while Ashia lets her eyes roam around the forest, her eyes following the languid flapping of butterfly wings. Kolino’s ears tingle at the sound of sticky feet latching onto trees. “Welcome to Basilisk, the rain forest realm, enchantress.” He begins his travels before she can respond, a sense of urgency building in his chest. As he moves, his hands graze along familiar trees and plants, and his eyes wander over insect holes and small animals.

He continues until he reaches another gate. This one, extending around the entrance to the main den. It too, is guarded. All it takes is one look at him to understand who he is. The guards part, allowing him and his entourage to travel through the gates and down into the entrance of the den. “You’ll have to be careful here, Ashia. There are no lights until we get through this hall.” Daz holds out his hand for her, which she hesitantly accepts as they both descend.

A low whine leaves Sonya’s throat. She doesn’t want to travel into a den of snakes, especially when she is without her pride. “No one outside of the Naga will approach you, Sonya. And should that not be true, you are within your rights to tear them down.” Hearing these words from him must have meant something to her, because the whining stops. Though her eyes don’t calm.

The further into the tunnel they travel, the tenser Kolino becomes. He hasn’t been here is over three years. The walls, embedded with vines, and the air, filled with the scent of rich soil, make his fingers tremble. Still, he pushes forward, his expression guarded.

Eventually, the group makes it to the main entrance. The tunnel widens, opening into a large center room, the roots of a grandiose tree rippling through the floor. Fat and wet vines drape from the ceiling like chandeliers, hundreds of colorful butterflies resting along their length.

Along the walls, sconces hold candles with white flames that will never extinguish. Basilisk history is painted along every surface, wars and feasts and tithes and births announced in the curves and divots and wells and colors along the walls, floors, and ceiling. Kai can’t help but let a finger linger on the wall closest to him.

His pause is brief, duty stabbing at his nostalgia.

Sliding around the tree, Kolino leads his group through the narrowest of halls. Within a few minutes, they come upon a large wooden door, and mix matched pair of Basils. “Let me in! You can’t keep me from this!” One of them argues.

The other ignores the demands, turning to face Kai. “Kolino, you’ve finally arrived.” Naga Winger’s voice is like a cold sigh. Yellow eyes turn upon Kai at the announcement. Rinold Winger is one of the few Basils that fully shifts. Both his upper and his lower body are that of a snake, his scales a dirty yellow that almost blends in with the color of his eyes. Despite his small stature, only around six feet long, he has an air of authority that’s hard to ignore. “And you’ve brought guests.” His voice grows chillier.

Most, if not all, of the Naga stand by the kingdom’s closed border policy. Winger is a firm believer in secrecy, but even he does not try to ask that Kolino’s guest leave the realm. “They will have to stay behind, along with you, Sinata. You will get to see your father during his rites.” The snake taps on the door with his tail, and it slowly creeks open.

The dismayed girl turns to Kai, her eyes somehow both narrowing and widening at the same time. “Kol-” Kai brushes past her, entering the morgue. Apart from him and Daz, everyone else was already present.

His eyes flit to his father’s corpse, which had been laid out and displayed in its more human form. The Grand Naga’s eyes had thankfully been closed, his clawed hands placed over his chest and his dreads pulled back over the edge of the thick wooden table.

Megum, the Balaski family healer, clears his throat as the door to the morgue is pulled closed. Naga Winger nods his head, signaling the beginning of the briefing. “After a few hours of inspection, I’ve come to find no signs of a struggle. There was only dirt under his nails, with no chipping. His skin was free of any new abrasions or lacerations. His veins showed no bulging and the skin beneath his scales had no bruising.” Kolino looks over his father’s body, the feeling of wrongness glazing over him. “I’ve come to the conclusion that his death was a natural one.”

There are murmurs behind him, whispers of the former Grand Naga’s age and health. Kubin had been the epitome of a Basil. He had a raw diet, like most of those that lived in the outer provinces, and he exercised and trained multiple times a day. He was only ninety-three years old. His body hadn’t even begun to show signs of aging.

Kolino’s eyes travel all along the corpse. They search and search for what seemed like hours, until he finally finds a few things that are out of place. For one, the ring that his father never takes off is missing. The second is something he must investigate. Before anyone can say anything to him, he picks up the scalpel resting in the wooden tray next to his father’s head, and he cuts a short vertical line down the man’s throat.

Gasps blossom around him as he presses on the sides of the opening, fiddling with a small, almost invisible, lump. The room goes silent as something peaks out. Softened by blood, the petal rips where he grips it, but eventually, Kolino works it out. “Is that..?”

Kai nods, his fingers holding the flower up to candlelight. “Bloodroot.” As more conspiratorial whispers fill the air, Kolino places the flower on his father’s chest. He looks at no one as he announces, “He was murdered.” His eyes fall from each person. “I won’t be sworn in until the former Grand Naga’s assassin is found.” Then he leaves as the scent of outrage and death fills the morgue.