Year 6992 ST (settled time)
Crazy Avi Tavern, on the outskirts of The Wash
The obstinate Defender, named Leonis Terius demands, “Release the boy!”
The redheaded man holds all the cards and doesn’t need to do anything, “or what?”
Potential energy is rapidly building all around the redheaded man, the defender appears to be preparing to attack from any or all directions. It’s an impressive display but feckless and they both know it.
The effort is meant to mask his true purpose. The defender is probing for the connection he’s using, gentle as a paramour’s caress. The redheaded man ignores it, the defender will not find any link because there isn’t one, he’s using entanglement. These insects won’t discover such things for another ten thousand years, if ever.
Unfazed by idle threats of violence, he casually draws a knife from the boy’s belt and holds it to his throat.
The defender smirks and continues to amass energy and probe, “We both know that won’t kill him… Why are you not fighting me? Are you losing control? You’ve had three years to figure it out. Is he resisting?”
The redheaded man is disgusted at the defenders uneducated guesswork and crude examination. It’s not resistance, it’s more of a compatibility issue with this vessel. Response times should be instant, but he’s been walking into walls and tripping over shadows. Some commands, especially attacks to kill are skipped entirely. If a spirit could be sentient, he’d say it was ignoring him, but that is not possible. Attempting a fight in this state could break entanglement, ending this opportunity. Until he finds out the origin of this vessel’s spirit, he has no interest in abandoning it.
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There is one thing troubling him, “How did you know I was here? Knowledge of pilots among your kind has been unknown until now.”
The defender stares; answerless and gives away nothing.
Dropping the knife, “I like this stalemate. Neither of us can touch the other, but I can still control everything the boy sees, hears, and feels. Try to tell him of my presence or contact him in any way, all he will hear is how much you despise him. I’ll twist what he hears until he wants nothing to do with any of you and comes to me willingly.”
The defender seems to be considering something. He must have concluded he couldn’t win. The buildup of destructive energy dissipates as he throws himself bodily up and backwards, disappearing feet first into the sky.
The redheaded man also leaves.
Malo is disappointed that Terius had left the inn before he arrived, he wanted to share his crazy encounter with those boat people. Lost Children with that much power could get out of hand fast if left unchecked.
Turning to retrieve Chloe from the kennel his foot bumps something.
There on the ground is his belt knife; that’s odd.
Malo retrieves the errant knife, sheathes it, and secures it as Terius taught him so it won’t slip out again.
Inside the kennel his ridding inu, Chloe is unusually subdued.
Scratching behind her ears, speaking in a tone of voice reserved for babies and inu, “Don’t be sad, I wanted to see him too. We’ll go see Headmaster Robles next, he’ll know what to do about those naughty boat people.”
Chloe nods her head as if she agrees, as eager to run as Malo.
Malo gives her a quick brush down, before fitting her harness and securing their supplies.
Ten minutes later Chloe is keeping pace next to Malo as he fast travels leisurely at 35-miles an hour in a straight line for the Rocky Waste Mountains and Mammatus Plateau.