--- ELIAX ---

“GAH!” I screamed. I felt my affinities rise up to protect me from the perceived threat, which was usually a good thing. But I had to disrupt the instinctual teleport lest I lose this spot entirely. It left my mana all over the place and my stomach roiling like I’d swallowed a vat of poison—which Fora had done once on a dare.

The stranger blinked at me, speaking something in that language of theirs. A hello maybe? I only really knew for sure that it wasn’t a curse word, because that’s all Fora had managed to pick up of the language so far.

I stared at him for several seconds, feeling my heartbeat calm from the shock. “Ah… hello?” I tried, smiling hesitantly.

He frowned, then said something else, a question.

I shook my head, “I don’t understand you.”

He hesitated, glancing upriver the way I’d been walking. There was something familiar in his eyes, a weight or a burden that I could feel as well. He spoke again, using a word that Fora had heard the guards yell after her on numerous occasions. We both assumed it meant ‘wait.’ or ‘stop’ or something.

I tilted my head at him and sat down, fairly certain that that’s what he’d been asking.

His frown deepened however, and I had no idea what that meant. He set down the two bundles and looked downriver, speaking again.

I raised an eyebrow, “I feel like I made it clear by now that I don’t understand.”

He sighed.

I sighed back at him.

-

After about an hour of pantomime and greatly annunciated words, the red haired boy hesitantly led me upriver. I had no idea if he was going to take me where I wanted to go, and he probably had no idea what I even wanted.

But at least we were going in what was probably the right direction.

~What is our goal exactly?~ I asked Fora, already knowing that she probably didn’t even have one.

~Uhh… learn the language probably, find out about this world?~

Alright… I’d prefer something more specific, but I could work with that. ~This fellow seems decent enough, I think I’ll just follow him around for a few weeks, see what happens?~

~Cool, have fun!~

She didn’t give me any direction besides that.

Sparking Fora…

--- KINTHEK ---

Kinthek watched the stranger with worry as the two of them walked, wondering what he was getting himself into.

She was strange, so very strange. Mostly it wasn’t even her appearance that had him on edge, it was the way she held herself, quiet and confident. The look in her dark eyes that held a weight to it. Kinthek watched those things, seeing also the strange way she walked, as if she expected anything to go wrong at any moment. The way her gaze would always move from him to the surrounding landscape. She was prepared for violence, though she held no weapon.

And yet she looked so young. Her face was soft with youth, even with its shell-like exterior, the muscles underneath betrayed an even harder mind. Her hands were small but dexterous, they fiddled with each other as the two walked, but the movements seemed more purposeful than just a fidget, as if she was remembering a movement.

Who are you? He wondered. He could tell with an almost impossible ease that she was older than she looked. He wasn’t sure though if it was a significant amount. It couldn’t have been the Red Curse though, her hair was a stark almost white; nothing like the bright red of his own.

“Who are you?” He tried again.

The girl glanced at him, smiling nervously as she shook her head once again. Speaking something in that language of hers.

She doesn’t understand. He frowned, gesturing to himself, “Kinthek.” He said. Then he pointed at her, a question in his expression.

She tilted her head then pointed to him, “Kinthek?” She pronounced the name oddly, it was meant to be said with more of a -ch- sound than a -kuh- sound, but by his estimations it was close enough. After he nodded, she gestured toward herself, tapping her chest lightly. “Eliax.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Kinthek grinned, though he wasn’t quite sure what he thought of the stranger yet, he was too busy trying to imagine how Vilvav and the villagers would react to this. At the same time though he couldn’t help but try and figure out where she’d even come from. Idea after idea popped into his mind, each of them being discarded after a moment. “Nice to meet you, Eliax.”

She smiled hesitantly.

The two of them continued walking.

It took about three hours more to get back to Eternal River, but Kinthek tried to speak most of the time, he talked about the river and the bundles of faroot he had to gather. He spoke of ideas he’d had and what he would do once he was free from this village.

It was such a strange time to him, having a companion who—presumably—was listening to everything he said, even if she didn’t understand it. He pointed to new plants and animals when he saw them, naming them for her benefit. Kinthek wasn’t entirely certain how much she was absorbing, but she would repeat the words back to him. He spoke of his dreams and his fears. He spoke of things his mother had said and worries he had. He spoke of Atharian and Sacrifice, he spoke of Vespin.

And this Eliax, well, she seemed to really be listening. Perhaps it was only so she could learn the language, or perhaps she actually cared. But it was a good feeling to have someone do that for once. Kinthek was tired of people turning away from him or redirecting his thoughts. Vespin tried, sure, but he didn’t have a lot of time.

Finally, they walked along the path from the river to the village, cresting the hill there. Eliax stopped. Her eyes wide as she looked at the farmland and homes.

It was a typical layout for a village, there wasn’t much to really think about by his estimation. Perhaps it was the fact that there were only five tents in the whole village, that might be what confused her. Men in one, Women in another, couples and their children in a third. Storage in a fourth—which was also where the razor was kept, Kinthek knew that most of the village was proud that they even had something like that. The fifth tent was much smaller than the others and only held a single individual, Priest Vespin.

Perhaps it was the presence of a priest tent that had the strange girl pausing? Most small towns—least of all villages—didn’t have a local priest, there weren’t enough of them for that. Or perhaps it was the fields. They were rather ordinary, but if she was from so far away maybe they didn’t have proper watering systems?

Kinthek glanced over the floating waters that drifted above the fields, they seemed to be working right. He looked back at Eliax, tilting his head with a question.

She stared at the village for several more moments before muttering something under her breath, giving him a slightly suspicious look—at least, that’s what it seemed like to him—and finally following him down the hill. Kinthek didn’t know a lot of things, but there was only one thing at the moment he was certain of.

The villagers wouldn’t look at him any less strangely after bringing back someone like this. He just hoped that it didn’t get too much worse.

Kinthek led her through the village, cringing at the looks the villagers gave them. None of them hated him more than the others, but some were significantly more vocal about it. One of those, a tall and burly man with a thick tail and an almost constant glare, folded his arms as Kinthek passed. Denthen was his name. “The Soulless brought back a godless, did it?”

Someone beside him laughed slightly, “Where’d it even come from? Looks like it’s been wandering through the wilderness for months!”

This was the most direct that any of them had ever been.

Some of the men started cursing at Kinthek. Others directed those words toward Eliax. Kinthek let out a long breath, simply walking past them while his mind tried to explain various ways to make them regret this without them knowing it was him. Eliax glanced at the villagers, confused, before she looked back at him. She spoke a single word, calm and calculated, that strange accent almost butchering it beyond recognition. “Help?” she gestured toward the villagers.

Kinthek blinked at her. Was she… offering to do something to shut them up? He opened his mouth to tell her no, but Denthen’s jeering laugh interrupted him, “And she’s such a young thing too! I can’t believe that Kinthek would stoop so low, isn’t a soulless like him too old for—”

He didn’t get any farther, because Eliax walked up to him, hands on her hips. She was tiny. Barely the stature of a twelve-year-old. Denthen was one of the biggest men in the village, bulky, tall, fully grown into his height, taller even than Kinthek—though not for long hopefully. Was the kid an idiot!? Sure she held herself competently but that shouldn’t… squalls, what had Kinthek gotten himself into.

She looked Denthen straight in the eyes. He’d stopped talking, baffled that she was doing something about it. He was used to Kinthek, who hadn’t spoken up about the abuse for years, even though it had never gone this far before. This… direct.

Eliax stared Denthen straight in the face for several long, tense moments. She didn’t do anything, just… looking at him. Eventually, Denthen shook his head slowly, “Not even willing to defend herself, you know what they say about the godless, they hardly can even think.”

Eliax tilted her head up at Denthen, and then tapped him on the chest before immediately turning and walking away. She didn’t look back as she walked in Kinthek’s direction, gesturing for him to lead the way.

After a second of confusion, Denthen yelped. His tail swung about and limbs flailed as the force that held him to the ground… turned off. He floated up into the air and then almost immediately fell back to the ground as the world re-asserted itself.

Kinthek blinked at the man, glancing at Eliax, who was already a decent clip up the path.

He hurried after her. “What was that?!” He shouted.

She glanced at him, but still didn’t look back at the baffled Denthen, “Help.” The kid said simply.

Kinthek had a feeling that this was going to get very out of hand, but he felt a grin spread across his face, wide and happy. “That was awesome! Eliax, what else can you do?!” She gazed at him hesitantly, but didn’t seem to really understand the request. That was fine. Kinthek laughed to himself, “Wow, did you see his face? I bet he’ll remember that for the rest of his life! Squalls, Eliax, I can’t even imagine what I would do with an ability like that!”