It was like the last day in the Academy. Everybody was leaving, heading towards an unknown future. The same day a guy from Southyern Military Academy arrived with Shove, a new essudus to train in the Domicile. Ottaine talked to him briefly before boarding a plane that was taking her and another officer towards the main western port. He seemed happy to be there, in the crazy times, not bothered about staying in the almost abandoned premises.

'This is what I wanted, what all of us wanted. Isn't it? Solummger is finally doing something with that crazy Skey-Er. It was a high time,' he said.

Ottaine thought about it. Yes, this is what she wanted too. To fight and protect good people from evil people, show bravery and emanate with awesomeness. Nothing bad was going to happen to her or her dear ones, they were all immortal... In a few months, she will drink wine with her old friends, talking about their time on the continental battlefields and the glorious days.

In the port city of Geashraw she and Raish, the officer who travelled with her, learnt they needed to wait at least two weeks for the whole crew and passengers to arrive. 'There has been a significant delay due to bad weather in the midlands and we don't want to send just two ships' an official explained as they were escorted to a tavern where they were to wait for an order. Raish was a thirty-something introvert man. They agreed to maintain a friendly but not a forced acquaintance. They would wait, minding their own business, later wish each other good luck and board their ships.

Right after she checked in, Ottaine left her backpack in the small room and went downstairs to the reception located by the bar. She saw other soldiers choose these premises as temporary quarters. About a dozen infantry uniforms were hanging out sorting the room keys. She made a move to leave the crowded place when suddenly somebody grabbed her arm very harshly and pulled her. Ottaine lost balance and hit her shin on somebody's trunk.

'What the f...' she started but stopped in the middle of the word, looking into blue eyes on a tanned but obviously white face.

'Goodness me! It IS you!' cried Kyeta Asdraghom.

They found a smelly pub in one of the many backstreets, away from the port. It reminded them of the old Released Peacock. It had simple stone walls and wooden tables carved from big tree trunks. The ale and lager came in pottery mugs and the chairs were creaky and wobbly. The name, Fogs Shadow (original spelling) was trashy but seductive, the smell not as bad as the look of stained wooden floor suggested. On the way, Kyeta kept nagging her friend to try the mind control on her. 'Please, I know Greghom did that to all of us before. I want to know if there's any difference. Oh please, please.' But Ottaine explained that it is forbidden to use mind control without a reason and she will not risk the troubles she would get into for doing that, even for a friend. Kyeta was disappointed but she understood.

They looked at the pub's surprisingly not very limited offer, found a clean-ish table by a stone wall and were ready to order their drinks. At this point, after a short conversation with Ottaine, Kyeta announced that she's not drinking any alcohol.

'I need to get my shit together,' she said. 'I'm doing a proper detox, nothing to drink but water, no sex without a serious romantic commitment.' Ottaine only smiled. 'I'll pay for your drinks. The idea of going out was mine, so that's on me. I'll pay for the food too.' Ottaine nodded and smiled again.

Kyeta went to the counter and ordered two pints for Ottaine: Speckled Band and Book Club. Ota chose these two: one for the name, one for the ‘crispy with a caramel hint’ description. Kyeta took a glass of water with a slice of lemon and trying not to spill the drinks, carried them to their table. Ottaine started with the Speckled Band but contorted.

'That's not what I expected. Bad choice. Well, never mind, it doesn't matter if it's good or not, what matters is how it wastes you. Do you remember who used to say that? Was it Sined or Verlar?'

'Sounds like Sined. And... try the other one, it might be better,' Kyeta replied, taking another sip of water.

'If you let me,' Ottaine said and for just a second her face was still, eyes focused on something behind the wall. Kyeta looked at the glass of water and at her friend confused. Ota started giggling and finally explained:

'You're not on detox, officer. You haven't changed your lifestyle, there's nothing wrong with the way you live.'

'No, I haven't. I'm not. I... I don't know?' Kyeta was clearly lost. She looked at her glass, at her hands, she shook her head. Ottaine finally explained:

'Do you think I would do that when you expected it?' she asked with a wink.

'Do what?'

'Do THAT. To you.' Ottaine was not eager to solve the riddle for her friend.

'You... daughter of a bitch!!! You said it was forbidden!!!'

Ottaine just made a face that in return made Kyeta want to slap her, but instead, she started laughing loud and wholeheartedly. She took the pint of Book Club Ottaine moved towards her and took a big sip trying not to choke.

'No sex? How could you put that in my head!?'

'Very easily.'

Kyeta pondered this answer for a moment.

'This is how powerful the control is. Now I understand why there are such heavy restrictions. Now... I understand why the only essudi are soldiers.'

'Yeah, you got it. Not such a top-secret after all. The government decided, a long time ago, apart from the fact that hardly ever there are essudi among people who choose different careers, there will be no searching for essudi among civilians, no matter who they are. Only soldiers, already brainwashed to never do anything against the country and the rules.'

'You think we are brainwashed?'

'Yes I do, and I think it's a good thing. You can use another word if this one bothers you. How about ‘trained’ or ‘bound to loyalty’?'

'Like we were some kind of animals.'

'Aren't we, Kyeta? Don't we live in packs and listen to the alphas we choose?'

'So, there are more undiscovered essudi among other people?' Kyeta changed the subject.

'Theoretically. But without going through the whole process, they can't transform. Plus, statistically, there are very few of them in society. It has been proven that the feature makes people seek power, adrenaline, physical challenges, fight and conflict, but also gives them extreme herd instincts and willingness to protect. A soldier. That's why Solummger created this kind of system: take only those who have already been partially prepared.'

'And other countries?'

'Look, there's no such thing as a Solummgerian, not from the 'racial' point of view. We are all a mix of different origins sharing blood with the Continent and beyond. Elves arrived here from the distant North, there are essudi among Elves. Round eyed folk arrived from Skey-Er and from the Western and other Doomed Lands, there are essudi among round-eyed. It would be silly to assume essudi are born only on this island. Of course, it gives us an advantage that other countries haven't developed the institution to track, transform and train people with this trait in blood.'

'And I'm assuming we want to keep it this way. Present you like the rare product of the Solummgerian's soil's crops diet and the planets' influence on your brain.'

'Of course. And I like the celestial part.', Ottaine raised her mug. 'We want to keep it this way, to protect our place in this world. After all, we are just an island with limited natural resources and trading assets.'

'Yeah... nothing to add. Apart from breathtaking scenery. Right, let's drink to the motherland and her tasty sons.' Kyeta raised the toast.

#

A tall woman with long dreadlocks on her black hair was watching the two friends from two tables away. She was there without any company but somehow no drunk man was disturbing her. She just sat there with her mug and a plate with food, shiny piercings on her ears and nose caught the attention of the passing clientele. With a smile, she was observing the two officers laughing and getting a little tipsy.

'... what I mean is we are the most powerful creatures in this world,' the blonde one was explaining. 'All of us, no matter the past. Landhapis, Skey-Er, Solummger, the lands over the great ocean... maybe not those, that's dead. All colours and all eyes. We are the highlight of creation.'

'We are stupid. Over and over, stupid. Fighting, killing, hating, fearing and killing for this fear,' the Special Forces woman was clearly in a pessimistic mood.

'But that will pass. We survived the worst, as a species. The wars, the apocalypse, the ends of civilisations. We are still here, developing new technologies and more homogenous than before. At least in the known parts of the world, I mean, if the rest survived. We speak the same language. I believe we will finally learn. We are stronger with every generation, wiser. Sometimes we relapse, yet we go back and get better. And we have dragons! They are the symbol of our success, as the human race. Anybody else ever had them? No. They were only myths and stories, now they walk and fly on our command, and we own them.'

'Bullshit. They are just animals, not the legendary beasts we read about in books. And we didn't defeat any monsters, we just made them. Eh, what are dragons anyway? They are a product of our ancestor's genius and hard work, and we take the merits? Except for the Nogo error... would you like to see Nogo? I would. It's probably boring, more boring than an ocean on a windless day, yet I would like to see it, put my foot inside.'

'Hm... I don't know. I'm not bothered. If the war takes me north I'll take a look. Right now I am sooo excited to go there and fight! Aren't you?'

'Not really. I think... I don't know what I think. I don't want to think. My drink is a mistake, that's enough sorrow for me.'

'This ale is really good! Seriously, take a sip' Kyeta handed Ottaine her pint.

'Mine's bitter. Yaky. Can we swap?'

'No. I told you not to go to the dark side. They are always bitter, they have always been in the Peacock.'

'Guess I'll never learn.'

'Just order another one. Or add a raspberry syrup.'

'I don't want to spend too much money and... adding syrup? That's defeat!'

'Go and buy the Book Club. You'll like it.'

'No, one is enough for me. But I can't let this apostropheless board win. Wait for me,' she said and moved towards the counter and a bald barman.

'Scuse me, is there an owner tonight?' she asked right away.

'I am the owner,' he replied defiantly.

'There should be an apostrophe in your pub’s name. It's a possessive, not plural,' Ottaine said pointing somewhere in the direction of the entrance.

'Yeah? Really?' he said, rolling his eyes. 'I tell ya this. Folk who come here don't give a fuck about it. And folk like you give a fuck about it, come inside and say to me 'oh, my eyes hurt, there should be an apostrophe! Oh my gods, that’s oh oh so wroooong!' and they say what they say and then once they are inside they buy a beer and meat. So tell me, officer, what's better for my business. To add the fucking apostrophe or not?'

'Yeah... that's a fucking good point,' Ottaine said feeling both stupid and educated at the same time. 'A pint of Book Club for me... Please.'

Oh yes, that was a damn good one.

With a sweet citrus flowers' aroma filling the whole mouth and hanging at the back of a tongue when slurping. After you swallow you could taste the zesty body with just enough radish-like bitterness to not get bored of it too quickly. "Hmmm! Hmmm!!!' Ottaine repeated enough times to make Kyeta roll her eyes and ask about her friend's recent corporeal experience with some Eluik.

'Was he good enough for you, girl? Come on, cards on the table. Tell me all the details,' she whispered, leaning towards Ottaine.

'Eeeeeh... I don't know what the fuss is all about. It's a bit... disgusting. I liked him, he liked me more... I don't know if I'm ever destined to fall in love,' Ota finished the story of her romance.

'There's no such thing as destiny, darling. We make our own lives and we decide whether we want to build something with this person or not, destiny has nothing to do with it unless you want to make an excuse for your actions. And as for you, my friend, I know you well by now. I promise you will fall in love and feel a desire that rips your abdomen apart because that's what you really want to know, right? You're not worried about not loving your man, you're worried about not wanting him down there. Oooh, I see a flash, I am right! So, Ottaine, now is the decision time: another pint or pass?'

Stolen story; please report.

Ottaine wanted to answer but a group of five men suddenly appeared from nowhere and surrounded them. Kyeta's lips parted in a broad smile and she welcomed them with a hug each. They happened to be her 'classmates' from the training centre. Ottaine watched them with sheer amusement. Every single one of them looked at her friend like she was a pint of cold ale on a hot day. Ota let a thought cross her mind: how many of them did she have? Even though it didn't matter. Kyeta was this type of person who would always make you feel special even if she didn't want you in her bed, or the other way round. If a man didn't want to be her lover she would make him her friend. She kept some basic moral standards, so no woman would have a reason to hate her either. If she saw another girl was interested in a guy Kyeta fancied, she would simply walk away, sometimes giving advice to the hesitating ones. She wanted everyone, not just herself, happy.

The guys occupied the rest of the seats and talked the weather to Kyeta before they noticed Ottaine.

'Oh, you must be Ottaine!' said one of them.

'Yes babe, I talk about you all the time,' she gave her a mischievous smile.

'Hey, can you do the essudus thing...' started another one but Kyeta interrupted him:

'No, she can't. It's forbidden, don't you know? We all could get into trouble,' but saying that she winked at Ottaine who winked back. She was already feeling her head spinning in a comfortably hilarious way and she fancied a good shanty song. She let the friends exchange more polite small talk and make moon eyes (which reminded her of Verlar's eyes when Kyeta was around) and started murmuring something not very clearly, but enough for the soldiers to hear the keywords.

Kyeta was the last to look mindlessly into nothingness, her lips wide open. With the strangest, almost artificial grin they stood up and started singing an old sailors' song. Yo ho, to the salt sea, yo ho, carry me, yo ho, to the salt sea... they joined the choir of every man and woman in the pub. With raised mugs, standing on the tables or stomping on the floor they sang the song at the top of their lungs. Ottaine was a little bit shocked by the way it all went around from one person to another. She realised such havoc might not be the wisest thing and she should stop it with the end of the refrain. And at that moment she saw a woman maybe six, seven years older than her, sitting two tables away, grinning mischievously and waving at her, with a fancy dreadlock hairdo and piercings in her ears and nose. She was wearing ordinary civilian clothes. Ottaine was sure she had never seen her, not for a moment, at any time in the Domicile.

'No way. This is impossible.' Ottaine thought while Kyeta was singing the last stanza. Meantime the woman moved towards their table, slowly, still smiling. Ottaine took out her dagger but the dreadlocks put her hands up, showing no weapon, and she stopped. The song has finished. Ottaine closed her eyes for a moment. Everybody just sat down and shortly the normal conversations started again. They talked about the spirit of the sea, only Kyeta gave her friend a tap on the shoulder. But Ottaine didn't react, she kept looking at the woman sitting opposite her.

'Oh, hi, hello, have we met?' Kyeta noticed the new company. The men briefly checked the new person and casually returned to drinking and chatting.

'Hi, I'm Magalla Snevlih,' the woman extended her hand to Ottaine and then to Kyeta. They both took it reluctantly.

'Who are you and how did you do it?' Ottaine asked warily.

'Did what, Ota?' Kyeta wanted to know.

'She... I manipulated everybody to sing this shanty, she did not sing. Who are you?' Ottaine turned to the person calling herself Magalla.

'Are you up to the next round or should we talk somewhere else?' she asked tapping her mug. 'Or... sometime later? I stay in the Sea Star hotel waiting for the passage to Landhapis. So do you. You can find me in room no. 13, or in town on the Market Square, most of the day.'

'Sea Star is a shithole,' murmured Kyeta.

'Yes! It is! It doesn't bother me. It's cheap and the walls are thick. So, ladies, what's your plan?'

'We will talk now,' Ota said firmly. 'Let's go find some quiet place.'

'Right. Let's go. By the way, I can't force you to do or say anything. I'm immune and can do some other things, but not this. I'm not really an essudus.'

Sometime later they sat on the pier by a promenade, looking at the silver half-moon and stars slowly appearing on the western sky, surrounded by the distant murmur of cargo vessels and constant humming of the ocean.

'I started the Southern Military Academy but I left after the first year. At the beginning of the second, to be precise. Long story short - I overheard a fresh-new Specials talking to his friends about the exams and I figured essudi have something to do with mental control. As I said, long story, a lot of thinking, it's actually boring. I packed my things and left to study on my own. As I have already told you, I realised that what essudi can do is not and has never been limited to your kind', she looked at Ottaine wagging her legs above the waves.

'Although I will never have the skills to control minds and the skills I worked on are limited, I can do pretty much the same as you. Another long story short, I checked my blood, I don't possess the 'feature'.'

'How?' Ottaine felt a tiny bitter lump of jealousy in her throat, she wasn't so special after all.

'I took long travels around the available world. Visited ancient temples and listened to wise men who had spent years searching for the path inside the human body and mind. I confronted their words with the words of great thinkers and philosophers, tried and tried and kept failing. Meditation was the key, for me at least.'

'How long did you travel? And where exactly? You must have sailed to the northern lands.'

'It took me about eight years. No, I didn't explore very far. Actually, I stayed mostly in Solummger. The old city of Wegton, the crypts of the capital where I am from, by the way. I spent many months in Landhapis and its vast resources in the south.' Kyeta and Ottaine didn't understand what she was talking about now.

'Libraries, ladies. Lectoria and antiquarian bookshops. That's where I got my knowledge from.'

'Brilliant!', exclaimed Kyeta.

'I learnt what essudi are, how some change posed in people in the past altered the... possibilities, potentials of some people. I understood whatever made you, essudi, it enhanced something, not made from scratch. Is that what they told you when you were trained?' The question was aimed at Ottaine.

'Yes. We don't know everything about how essudi started but we know it's more like a talent, not superpowers. But,' she paused for a brief moment 'we have to go through a process of transformation. Did you?'

This time the woman, Magalla, looked surprised.

'No, I didn't do anything like that. How do you people do it? If you can tell me?'

'I'm afraid I can't. This is something.... after everything is easier, natural. So you're telling me you figured out how to turn yourself into one like me? Or almost like one?'

'Yes, precisely. If you want I can talk you through every step I took to get here.'

'OK, fine. But first I have a question. Why did you approach us?'

It was long after midnight when two best friends lay in their beds in a double room they moved to earlier that day.

'We have been lied to, all our lives' sighed Kyeta for the third or fourth time.

'We lie to other nations, someone lies to us. But you know? Our lies are worse. It is not easy to do what Magalla did. To learn everything from scratch. She is a remarkable person.'

'Yes, she is. Highly intelligent, diligent, a perfectionist. I know for a fact I would never be bothered to do the same. Practise every day, for hours, dedication and motivation from thin air. No, if I'm not an essudus I don't want to be. Too much effort for what? Some skills I don't have a guarantee I will ever master? She can't do the stuff you do effortlessly. Ok, she doesn't rely on other people's energy and that's a big pro.' Kyeta stopped talking and just stared at the ceiling.

'Right...? And?'

'I'm still thinking... Oh, I've got this. It's about the will. She is successful, she achieved all this in such a short time (yes, I think eight years is a very short time) because of her strong will and belief in herself. I wouldn't be able to do that because I would tell myself ‘eh, I'm not bothered’. That's all it takes. A will.'

'Right. I can't disagree. And what do you think about what she told us, why she came to us tonight? Did you believe her?'

'Can't you check her? Make her say the truth?'

'No, I can't. I've already told you, I can only put certain words in a person's mouth, not force them to tell the truth.'

'What do you think? Was it really loneliness?'

'Oh yes, I do. A one of a kind person can get very lonely. I believe she wanted to talk to someone and we seemed to be very nice girls.'

'And here you're wrong, dear Ota. We don't seem to be. We are very nice.

I want to meet her tomorrow. She wants to travel to Landhapis? Very well. I can befriend her. Someone in their thirties might be a good company for my childish approach to life. Yes, I already like her. Now goodnight, my darling.'

They looked for her in the Sea Star but a girl at the reception said the key to the room is in the pigeon-hole, so they went to search in the town. It was drizzling since early morning and not many people were hanging outside in the town square. A family watching a street performer, a couple sitting on a bench outside a tavern, a few soldiers chatting and smoking pipes by the statue of king Yaruk II. Ottaine and Kyeta checked the tavern and nearby shops and were ready to head back to their hotel when the street performer with bright coloured clothes and exaggerated make-up approached them.

'Toss a coin and I will bring a smile to your faces with the best performance in the town' said a female harlequin and did a perfect double backwards somersault.'

'Oi, you! Can you do it with a split?' one of the pipe-smoking soldiers stepped near, his friends following. He threw a coin in the air and the performer caught it effortlessly with another somersault finished with a split.

'I bet even your kind wouldn't do that' the soldier winked at Ottaine, then smiled at Kyeta who smiled back. The harlequin continued her performance, showing incredible perfection with strength and balance. Ottaine remembered her training in Domicile when she and Eluik were learning how to control their new skills and not to lose focus. The semi-exercise semi-dance was simply amazing. She finished the show with a simple card trick which made everybody laugh. The soldiers tossed a few more coins and went on their way but before they did the one who spoke first scribbled his hotel's and the nearest tavern's address on a piece of paper which Kyeta took with a smile. Ottaine knew that smile. He stood no chance with her.

'You certainly brightened this blue day,' Kyeta praised the street performer and started taking out her money.

'You can pay for my drink, I'm hungry and thirsty,' said the artist. 'But first I need to wash and change. Come with me,' she said. The two friends looked at her without understanding. The woman laughed, taking off her hat and revealing long dreadlocks.

'Kyeta and Ottaine. Do I remember right from the last evening?'

'You. Are. Amazing,' said Kyeta with awe.

'Yes. That was... very impressive. I could never in a hundred years spread my legs apart so wide,' added Ottaine.

'Oootaa! You've just made a sex joke! I'm really proud of you.'

'Is she always like that?' Magalla asked, giving Kyeta a thumbs up.

'With new people - most of the time. With old friends - only when new people are around.'

'I would never suspect you to be a street artist. I mean, after talking to you yesterday. You are so full of... seriousness and mission, that's what I would call your... vibe,' said Kyeta.

'How else could I earn money to travel? I am not an heir to a fortune, I don't have a profession. I left uni when I was twenty-one and spent most of my time in libraries, and physical training. No skills, no customer service attitude, I need money to buy food and transport. Since I have always had a flexible body and my mum was sending me to dancing lessons when I was a kid... and then I added new physical abilities, this is the easiest way to earn money and be free.'

'Brilliant' said both friends almost simultaneously.

'Recently I've been thinking of doing little shows for kids. They are the best and very funny audience. Especially four, five and six years old, they have true passions I could use for a show. The boys at this age are creepy, they are fascinated with the corpses of dragons!'

'Are they? My brother wasn't. Wait... he had a toy skeleton of an extinct dragon! And he kept talking about krools and those, what's their name? The ones that are used for tall building constructions.'

'That's a dvudum, Ota.' Kyeta reminded her friend of the name of a gigantic animal.

'Oh yes. I have never seen them either. They must eat tons of fodder!'

'Yes. And kids like magic tricks', Magalla continued her story. 'I am not good at it yet, I've bought a book about prestidigitation. Prestidigitation, prestidigitation. Can you say that?'

They couldn't.

'Once I learnt it I couldn't get rid of the name. Prestidi...'

'Shut up' Kyeta had enough. 'Tell us what are you going to do in Landhapis, apart from staying away from the front line and keeping in touch with us. We already like her, don't we, Ota?'

They did. After finding a free table in the nearby restaurant they continued the conversation while waiting for the service.

'What do I want to do on the continent? I want to check the gossips. I don't like the way this war is developing. I don't like the way my motherland is supporting the country of small-minded politicians and a largely uneducated society while whatever Skey-Er does is judged as evil without even looking into the country's motives.

'Ehm... I heard a gossip back in my village' started Ottaine not sure if it's wise to repeat such rumours and reveal some things she heard in the Domicile at the same time. 'That the war is over a new type of weapon that Skey-Er developed in a secret base in the Nogo Forest, and once they win they won't stop on the continent.' Kyeta looked at her, startled.

'No way! That's the most stupid thing I have ever heard. It's not about weapons, it's about people. My guts are telling me that.'

'I agree with you, Kyeta, but what Ottaine said might be partially true. Three years back I was reading an old book about the origins of the Nogo Forest, which is the biggest human project in wildlife conservation. One of the last chapters suggested the international ban on entering the area is a fiction, there are gates in the fence or tunnels underneath that no one knows where they lead to. I didn't believe it, the author was clearly a conspiracy theories seeker but now you've got me interested in the subject. I know you will not say that, you are loyal soldiers, so I will say it for you: how do we know Landhapis is not lying to us? They want to get rid of Skey-Er as much as Skey-Er wants to get rid of them. Everybody is saying that war is over something in the north, the lands there are not very attractive, so...'

'So now everybody is coming up with new theories, the more shocking the better, about what they want this time,' finished a male voice from behind them.

'I have been spying on you for the last few hours. Ever since I saw your names on my ship's cargo list', said Verlar.

His almost ebony-tanned face and hands appeared on the side of the table, his hair shorter and his shoulders bigger.

‘You put on some muscles’, noted Kyeta and Verlar’s eyes smiled. The three of them hugged and asked each other how they were doing, complemented their changes in hair, face and smiles, and naturally, exchanged a few ‘do you remember when we...’s. After a very intensive moment Verlar turned to the silent fourth person:

‘I also noted that a civilian bribed a member of the land-based crew to get into a ship. You planned to spend the journey in the kitchen washing dishes.’

‘Aye, captain. If you have spied on me you know I am desperate to get to the continent.’

‘How long have you known each other?, he directed the question to Ottaine and Kyeta. ‘Do you trust this woman?’.

‘Not long, to be honest, but I trust her. She is capable of dangerous things but I know how to keep an eye on her. If needed, of course,’ that was Ottaine's direct answer.

‘Let her in.’ Kyeta sided with her friend.

‘Welcome on board then. Be at the docks tomorrow four hours after sunrise.’ Magalla smiled, showing her big teeth and revealing a dot on her right cheek, and Verlar and Ottaine, who were looking at her, decided this was one of the most beautiful smiles.