Klaus carried Soliene to the fields outside of town and sat down, Reonda and Nyal behind him. With no one around, the Vessel of Life had handed her a flask of water to drink from. Initially she had been hesitant due to the dangers of lowering her mask in such an open space, but Klaus gave her the best assurance he could. An assurance that he backed up by grabbing his own Historia, opening it up, and showing what was written in it.
"At Sir Veltstrum’s behest, I can assure you that this area of Makaus has a eighty five percent chance of being safe for at least the next thirty minutes. I do not know how the inclusion of two other vessels will shift that percentage, but this is the safest area in the castle town for you at this moment."
Taking the insurance of a very clearly sapient book was not the first thing Soliene had expected to do today. It was a trustworthy book at the very least, and if she had a Historia’s assurance that it was most likely safe she wouldn’t say no. So, with a flask in one hand, Soliene pulled her mask all the way down and lifted it to her lips. She did not lower the hood on her cloak, however, which left much of her features shrouded in darkness.
Reonda looked to the Vessel of Life, noticing the smile on his face. She then turned her attention to Nyal, whose mood had grown more sour than she had ever seen. While the harpen didn’t face them, Reonda noticed how their eyes would occasionally glance at Klaus every couple seconds. The glances were never long, but the sudden seriousness on the hen’s face made Reonda curious and slightly worried.
She wished so badly now that she had actually taken Am’a’ros’s language lessons seriously. It was becoming even clearer that her nation’s condition was being a hindrance to her attempts to improve.
“Wha… how is this so good?!” Soliene cried out, drawing Reonda’s attention. The numaran was currently staring at the water flask with her jaw dropped. “I had no idea water could taste like this. Not even the oasis my birth town was built on tasted this good.”
“That, young numaran, is the power of an Oracle’s magic at work,” Klaus said, allowing himself to take some pride in what might have felt rather simple overall. He held out his left hand, Reonda and Soliene giving “ohs” and “ahs” in pure wonder as a ball of clear blue water floated above it. “Water is said to be the element of life. It's only fitting I can conjure that which I am associated with.”
“I can… kind of do something similar,” Reonda explained, holding her hand out with her palm towards the sky. Instead of a ball of water, however, her hand was enveloped by a pitch black glow. She then held out her other hand in the same fashion, with a similar glow enveloping it but being pure white. “If Am’a’ros told me correctly, both light and shadow are at my command. Something about “being yin and yang'' to each other.”
“You’ve met the Oracle of Balance?” Soliene asked. Reonda nodded in reply. “What was she like?”
“That’s… an odd question to answer,” Reonda said, closing her eyes as she thought of the best way to answer Soliene’s question. She opened her eyes and turned to the numaran when she had something. “Well, put simply, she looked a lot like an older me. I mean, her hair color was different, but her voice sounded exactly like mine. It was odd.”
“Then I would say you are looking at you from a previous cycle,” Klaus reasoned, willing the water he had conjured back into non-existence. “Every soul has been reborn time and time again. It would not be odd for her to also be you.”
“Yet if Reonda is right here, wouldn’t the previous version of her have to be dead?” Soliene asked. “If Am’a’ros was the previous Reonda, then the one before us shouldn’t be here.”
Klaus and Reonda looked at each other, a pit in both of their stomachs. While one clenched their fists, the other clenched their teeth. In a way, they both knew that Soliene was right but… it was too scary to think about. Reonda could personally feel Il’jan’i cackling in the back of her mind at Soliene’s response, and she changed the subject.
“Hey Nyal, you are an oracle vessel as well,” Reonda stated, grabbing the harpen's attention and causing the serious look she had to leave their face. “Can you summon anything like Klaua and I?”
Nyal turned to Soliene and tilted her head. The Numaran proceeded to translate the sentence into harparic for the hen. When the translation was done, Nyal raised her wing tips in front of her face and tilted her head even more. She tried to see if there was something magical inside her she could reach to, but felt nothing.
“I… don’t think so,” Nyal replied. Her words were in Harparic, but they were translated via Soliene back into Acamese for Klaus and Reonda. Her head slumped forward a bit. “I don’t feel anything magical inside me.”
“You are likely just too young. It was the same for me at your age, and I’m sure that goes for Reonda too,” Klaus explained, looking to his fellow Acamian. He got a nod from them, neither noticing the uncomfortable glare Nyal was giving the man. “Had a feeling. You will gain the ability to draw upon whatever magic you have in time.”
“I see,” Nyal responded, doing her best to make her stern glare disappear so that Klaus didn't suspect anything.
“Now, however, for the bigger question that I’ve been wondering since I met you three,” Klaus said, shifting a bit as the ground was proving not too comfortable to sit on. “Where are Nyal’s parents?”
Reonda tried to answer, but Soliene stopped her with an outstretched hand. Just like with Reonda’s question to Nyal earlier, Klaus’ question was translated to the harpen. The fact he was asking such a thing when it was obvious to her that he knew was confusing. She shook the thought away, figuring it would be best to ask him after explaining.
“After you left us that day, I was attacked by a man,” Nyal said, giving a glare to Klaus as she finished the sentence. Once her words had been translated, she noticed that his body seemed to tense up. “They clearly wanted me dead, and now that I know I’m an oracle vessel I know why. Only reason I got out of it alive was because of my mom and dad.”
“I found her the next morning about an hour away from the camp,” Reonda explained, filling in some more details. Teolus nodded as if he was confirming what his master said. “Despite not knowing harparic I figured out the general idea of what had happened. I took her back to where her family had set up camp and… there was blood and feathers. They are no doubt dead.”
As Soliene worked on translating Reonda’s words into harparic for Nyal, Klaus felt a fear grasp hold of him. No, that was not correct and he knew that to be the truth. His target was Nyal, not her parents, and therefore he had been especially sure to not kill them. Suddenly he understood all too well why Nyal had been giving him hateful glares since they met back up. He went to open his mouth, but Nyal spoke up first and Soliene translated quickly.
“My parents are not dead!” Nyal exclaimed, her words causing Reonda to go wide eyed. She clutched the book held in her wings tightly. “The Historia said they were alive. It said that it couldn’t tell me who because they were a vessel but it was so obvious I’m not sure how I didn’t realize it immediately,” With an expression of pure hatred and rage on her face, Nyal stood up and looked Klaus dead in the eyes. “Kiesea rarri y tatti kiesea rarri y tatti?!”
The question wasn’t translated, because there was no need to. Soliene forced Nyal onto her talons and placed herself in front of the vessel. Reonda stood up and stepped back herself, Teolus taking position on the top of her head with wings spread. Klaus sat there looking at the three children before him, and silently swore. Just as they did, he got to his feet and returned the glares he was receiving.
“I did not kidnap her parents,” Klaus replied.
“Well it sure wasn’t me, and you are the only other vessel around,” Reonda replied. “That also means you were the one that tried to kill Nyal, aren’t you?”
Klaus closed his eyes for a moment. “That I won’t deny, but that does not mean I’m responsible for what happened to Mister and Misses Mols.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Quep’e rarri y tatti!” Nyal shouted, her anger controlling her and causing her to drop her Historia
There was the slightest hint of something else in her voice, but none caught it. Nyal had made ready to launch herself at Klaus, but was kept from dragging her talons through his clothes and skin by Soliene. The Numaran held the harpen down for her own good, putting enough pressure on the hen where it wouldn’t Nyal but she would not get free either.
“I’m sure you have a damn good reason for making yourself known,” Soliene said. Nyal tried to get up, but the force the girl on top of her supplied kept her still.
“Other than saving someone from wrongful accusations? No, not really,” Klaus explained, opening his eyes. He crossed his arms, looking extremely content with himself. “Believe it or not I’m quite opposed to the idea of death. It is death that Acamus is built on, and it is death that makes hate and anger fester.”
“Yet you would add to that anger and hate?” Reonda questions, stepping in front of Soliene and Nyal as she did. “You would be robbing parents, good parents, of their child’s life. How could you justify such an act?”
“It is all to end death’s hold on human, numaran, and harpen kind,” Klaus replied, uncrossing his arms and pointing at Reonda. He started walking to the left as he continued to talk. “That girl is the Oracle Vessel of Death. Mortality is to be placed within her talons and I seek to destroy mortality. With her and Ar’ga’rou gone, the world would be free of the pain death brings, and without death there would be no need for war or hate.”
“You really think that will cause hate to sieze?” Soliene asked. The look on her face was one of unbridled anger that was not dissimilar to what Nyal had had earlier. “Prn, it will not! The hate will only continue, and there will never be an end to it.”
As she spoke, the force she started to apply to Nyal actively started to hurt the hen. Nyal’s chest and stomach were both pushed into the ground, not only making her uncomfortable but causing airflow to become harder. With breathing getting harder, Nyal’s attention was taken away from her anger at Klaus to focus on the act of staying alive. Noticing the sudden harsher breathing the hen had, Teolus cawed at Reonda. That in turn caused the Acamian’s attention to shift, for looking at Teolus before looking past then wide eyed and Nyal.
“Soliene, her chest!” Reonda yelled.
Soliene looked to Nyal, a stuttered breath escaping her as she realized what she was doing. She got off the harpen instantly, Nyal taking a deep breath as soon as possible. Reonda, without even thinking, rushed to the hen and grabbed her shoulders. Nyal looked at them, feeling her heartbeat increase slightly as the Acamian touched her.
Reonda did her best to ignore the invisible glares at the back of her mind. Clutching Nyal, she forced the hen to her talons before letting go. She took a few steps back and smiled, Teolus giving her a comforting rub on the cheek. Reonda needed no words to know why the hawk was doing it, the smile on her growing even wider for a small amount of time before it faded away. She looked back to Klaus, who had stood there looking behind the girls as events played out.
“Soliene is correct, and that is to say nothing about admitting to attempted murder,” Reonda told him, holding her hand over her heart. “Not to mention, as the Vessel of Balance, you can’t expect me to hear such a thing and leave it be. I’ll fight to preserve death just as much as I would life.”
“So you defend dying? Perhaps you are more like your parents than I thought,” Klaus said. Reonda felt her anger rise at the words and Il’jan’i let out a roar. Both wanted the man before them dead for his suggestion. “Still, I believe it is more pressing that we turn to other matters.”
Soliene’s eyebrow raised. “Other matters? What are yo–“
“That is her. The beastkin I told you all about.”
As if she had just had a concussion, Soliene felt her entire body seize up. Her heart rate increased, jaw stuck in place as she couldn’t bring herself to speak. She couldn’t even bring her hands to pull the mask over her face, hands and arms disobeying her commands. As she could not move, Nyal and Reonda did the job of looking for her. Klaus swore silently, realizing what was going on.
Alex smiled at the gathering before him, three soldiers at his sides. His eyes specifically landed on Soliene, still frozen in fear at what she knew was happening. The soldiers around the bounty hunter had expressions ranging from hate to insane. Nyal looked at them all, then to Soliene, and then back to the soldiers. Even if she didn’t know exactly what was happening, she knew it wasn’t good.
“Thanks, miss. We’ll take care of it from here,” The lead soldier said. Alex was disappointed, and the soldier realized his mistake. “Right, sir. Apologies.”
“Just take care of the animal,” Alex replied, turning around and waving off the apologies.
As the bounty hunter walked off, the soldiers started walking towards Soliene. Reonda made to step in front of them, but was beaten by Klaus rushing past her. The Vessel of Life placed himself between the soldiers and Soliene, one of the former raising their eyebrow in confusion. Somehow finding the power to do so, Soliene looked behind her, not caring to put her mask up as it was already too late.
“Step aside, Acamian,” the lead soldier said. “This business has nothing to do with you.”
“Perhaps not, but I can see well where this is heading,” Klaus replied. Though his words were unknown to her, what the man was doing was clear to Nyal. She picked up her Historia as she glared at Klaus, confused. “She has done nothing wrong, and I ask you to leave her be.”
The lead soldier gritted their teeth as he heard this. “Talking back to a soldier, Acamian? Be careful or I’ll drag you away with her. So be good an–”
“You don’t have the right to do any of that!” Reonda spoke up, though like earlier that day Il’jan’i’s voice was mixed into it.
More than anyone around her, the behavior the soldiers exhibited fueled a rage in her. No one could see, but the constant stream of anger over the past many minutes had caused bits of her skin to change. Dark skin scales either black or white, but the spots were so small they couldn’t be noticed from a distance. The only one who did was Teolus, but his telepathic messages to Reonda were not going through.
“Soliene good!” Nyal yelled out in what little Acamese she knew.
One of the soldiers walked up to the leader from behind. The hateful look he gave all Klaus, Nyal, and Reonda before turning to his fellow soldier twisted into something happier and darker.
“Sir Dalius, correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t they in violation of the law for hiding an enemy of Reine?” The lower ranking soldier asked. The lead soldier, Sir Dalius looked away quizzically before grinning. “I’m sure Duke Azkeith wouldn’t mind if we took care of some threats to the nation. Might even get us all a medal.”
“Yes, you are quite right Julius,” Sir Dalius said, dropping into a battle stance along with the soldiers around him. “Under order of King Sullivan Barborasa, we ask that you come quietly. Any resistance will see you killed on the spot.”
Nyal took a step back, Soliene and Reonda following suit as each realized what was happening. Scales continued to spread over the latter girl’s body, though clothes still hid most of them. Klaus looked behind him, taking notice of what little scales were visible and knew he had to do something. If he didn’t… he shook his head and chose not to think of the carnage he imagined. He would not see certain events recreated in Makaus, especially with a star like Juliia there.
He was certain Reonda would appreciate that.
“Soliene, Miss Perciple, Nyal, listen to me,” Klaus commanded. The three girls looked at him, something about his words seeming to snap Reonda out of her anger just enough for the scales to stop for a time. “Think of me what you will but I won’t let any of you die here. That goes especially for Soliene and Miss Perciple. Get as far away as you can and allow me to hold them off.”
“Got it. Nyal, pata!” Soliene called out before taking off. Nyal looked back, then to the guards, and then followed, choosing to do as the Numaran said and run.
Reonda took a little longer to run, Il’jan’i’s wish to tear the soldier's limb from limb still coinciding with her feelings. It was at that point that a message from Teolus finally got through, one simple word clearing the fog from her mind.
“Scales! Scales!”
With those words Reonda finally woke up from her anger. Looking down at her hands, Reonda noticed the scales that had started to take the place of her skin. Fear filled her, fear that only grew as she heard Il’jan’i roar at her in her own mind. She looked behind her, noticing Nyal and Soliene getting farther away, and then to Klaus. The man motioned her in Nyal and Soliene’s direction, and she nodded. As the scales turned back to skin, Reonda turned and ran after the harpen and Numaran.
As she did, the last of the three soldiers, took the bow in his hand and readied an arrow to fire at her. Noticing this, Klaus didn’t waste a second and charged the soldier with shoulder, causing the arrow to sail wildly off target. Without looking and by pure instinct, he grabbed the same sword he had tried to kill Nyal with from his back, said pack also cushioning a strike from his spear. Using that to his advantage Klaus threw the pack off his back, the spear lodged inside it being pulled with him.
Dulius grimaced, the momentum for the spear being ripped from his hands sending him to the side slightly. “For one who just said they would rather avoid death, you sure are doing a good job putting yourself in harm’s way.”
“Then perhaps I can make it clear to you with a few simple words,” Klaus replied.
He was momentarily distracted as the bow-wielding soldier tried to shoot an arrow at him. Instead of dodging, Klaus summoned water to slow the arrow till it had stopped. Both Delius and the other man staggered back at the sight, knowing more than well what magic meant. Glad to see his impromptu display had managed to quell any fight in them, Klaus dispelled the water and let the arrow drop to the grass, a rather disappointed look on his face.
“You don’t want me dead.”
None of them realized that Julius had gone after Soliene, Reonda, and Nyal until he was gone from sight.