The city boulevards were filled with people resting after another week of work. Cafes and pubs, those simple leisure centres unheard of in Landhapis, were packed. The waiters run among people enjoying the river's cooling air on this hot summer day. Nobody seemed to care about the results of distant fights. Ottaine reached this first stop on her map yesterday and found a motel to stay in for a couple of days. It was so nice to take a bath and sleep in a squeaky bed after two weeks of hiding in the woods and hay stacks. According to her instructions, she was supposed to stay here and investigate and then head to the capital city for the main mission. Things will get complicated there, she would need to use all her powers to get to the places no civilian, not to mention a Solummgerian civilian, was allowed to enter. Then, if anything turns out to need further investigation she would pursue it.

She had already spoken to people in this country, surprised they were not some kind of filled with rage beasts doing nothing all day but scheming against Landhapis and Solummger. People were doing their business, ploughing fields and milking cows, shouting at their children and giggling behind barns.

The language did not differ much, she only had to work on her accent. Her looks were nothing like a typical Skey-Er. Her hair was straight, her eyes were almond-shaped, her nose was too big. Despite that, she didn't have to mess with anybody's mind. A 'typical' Skey-Er look applied to the majority of the country but there were regions where people were as mixed as in Landhapis or even Solummger. When asked about her origin she could name any distant province to the south, west or even north and pass as Skeyernian. She even answered twice that she had some Landhapis ancestors and nobody seemed to be concerned with that. It was better to mention the neighbouring enemy than Solummger. Her homeland didn't have a good reputation. Right now she just finished a small talk with a barman:

'Gods, this war...' she started.

'Completely pointless, my love. What for? Again, nothing will be achieved, people will only die far from their homes. I hate politics.

'This time Solummger army joined Landhapis...'

'Oh, my love, don't even mention those barbarians.'

'I heard Solummger is an advanced country, civilised... almost as much as Skey-Er.'

'They stole our technology, stole our best minds and sided with this retarded Landhapis.'

'Are you talking about this bloody Solummger?' a man at the other end of the counter joined in the conversation.

'Yes, do you know anything more about them?' Ottaine was very curious. Something was telling her she's about to hear a very interesting judgement.

'Oh yes, I know about them. My niece has a friend who was in Landhapis city two weeks ago with her trade. She saw a bunch of those bastards on the street. At first, I thought it unbelievable but I believe her,' he moved closer and, even though there was nobody in the proximity, he started saying in a conspiratorial whisper, 'They don't look like normal people. This island of theirs has some weird volcanoes or shit fuming sulphur and sulphur deforms them. Their skin is callous and rusty. Their breaths are stridulous, they are all massive and their women have breasts the size of watermelons.'

'Monsters!' the barman exclaimed, winking at Ottaine.

'They are not very intelligent either,' the customer continued. 'And they have those nasty essudi, demons with red eyes and sharp fangs who drink the blood of virgins...' he kept talking and talking, and the barman stopped listening first. Ottaine granted him a few 'hmm' and 'that's interesting, tell me more about it' then she just said she's running late and left. She would not find any essential information here.

She strolled on the riverbank looking for someone who looked like an official after work. According to the instructions she read in the letter in the grey envelope (she burnt it immediately after reading and memorising its content) this town thirty miles away from Akmondun, Skey-Er's capital, was home to government-related offices probably working with their secret services. That was Solummger's bet.

She didn't have to search for too long. Nice groomed men in their thirties were enjoying cooled drinks and snacks just two pubs away. She quietly sat on a bench in the ear drop distance but not too close. Soon she started hearing them talking about the war and a relative of one of them who was killed during a bloody battle. They said the name she didn't catch and she didn't have to. It was so clear they meant the Firewheel Field.

'Have you seen the king's decree?'

Ottaine pricked up her ears. She concentrated on making them ignore her presence and speak freely like they were alone.

'Yeah, my wife was not happy. She misses the city.'

'Well, she may go. It's you who won't visit the capital. Unless somebody sorts this Landhapis shit.'

They stopped talking to Ottaine's dislike. Come on guys, drink up!

'Have you been there?' Finally one of the men started again.

'Capital?'

'No! THERE, our general's mansion.'

'Ah, you mean the Project's headquarters? No. Have you?'

'I have. Before the war. I met the guy. He didn't tell me what they're working on. They knew Landhapis was going to strike, that's why the army took over the whole thing.'

'I know. And I don't like it. What do soldiers know about science?'

'But Yaphara had been involved since the beginning. That's why he is in charge now.'

'Does the king know?'

'I doubt it. The king knows a little bit more than we do. Nogo Forest, that's it. No details. If you want to find out you need to speak to Yaphara or his people.'

'All the generals know. I heard the top commandment has been informed. So the king must know too. That's what I heard.'

'Gossips.'

After another break, the younger man sighed:

'Yeah... Landhapis has always been greedy for our land. But to break the sacred law and put hands on Nogo? That's insane.'

'That's why Yaphara stays in the north. To keep the Project, whatever it is, safe.'

They didn't talk about it anymore. Ottaine moved a bit further and kept an eye on them. When they stood up she followed them, when they shook hands and went each way she followed the one who said he's been in 'the Project's headquarters' and 'met the guy'.

Shit, there was his wife and three kids in the apartment. She could manipulate the adults, and Demand them (well, this word would not be suitable in Skey-Er, she would simply drain them) if needed, but what about the kids? Ottaine walked around the building and returned to her motel. Better late than wrong, in espionage too. Right, Kyeta?

Three days later, the first working day, very early in the morning, she started observing the building and its residents and continued for two more days. The wife was coming back the earliest, spending half-hour to three-quarters inside and then she would go out again to return an hour later with the youngest kid. The next sequence of patterns was unimportant, this short window early afternoon mattered. On the fourth day, she knocked at the door. The wife opened and let her in right away. Of course. Ottaine had prepared a story about the local newspaper asking about the difference between life in this town and the capital, and the importance of toilet facilities near kids' playgrounds. The woman sat down on a sofa and kept talking, just like Ottaine commanded her, and she went searching the desks, drawers and documents. She had already been briefed, in the grey envelope letter, how to recognise important things and how to open locked things without a key.

And there it was, right in the middle of documents in one of the desk's drawers. A document named a 'Deinos Project' and signed with something starting with 'Y' and with 'ph' inside, with the length matching the name 'Yaphara'. With the name of a location somewhere to the north.

Ottaine thanked the woman, let her free and went out before she was asked any question.

I think I'll skip the capital, she decided. This was it, she had found a light at the end of the tunnel.

Ottaine was standing on the edge of the woods, half-moon shining behind her. She was looking at the distant yellow lights ahead coming from the three storeys building at the end of a neatly cut lawn. It was a small manor in classic style with two domes on both sides and a high sloping roof. After two nights of observation, she decided to get there tonight. She knew the man who most likely knows the answers was stationed here with his four guards.

Very quietly she stepped on the grass and moved forward. She heard a faint thud to the right and turned only to feel something heavy striking her head from behind and her unconscious body hit the ground.

Her hands were cuffed, feet tied with ropes. She looked around the place. It was a spacious room with wooden panelling, a fireplace on the left, fancy office furniture, pictures with flowers and landscapes hanging on the walls. Ottaine tried to use her enhanced strength to free her limbs. She managed with the ropes on her feet but failed with the wrists. With her legs now fully useful she kneeled on the floor and she saw an armchair in the corner of the room. A man was sitting there, watching her.

'Hello,' he said in a matter-of-fact tone. 'A Solummger spy, am I right?'

He moved a bit forward, Ottaine could see the face of a man about sixty, with almost white curly hair, a broad nose and big round eyes. A typical Skey-Er looks.

'I know you are an assudus,' he continued. 'Before you try any of your tricks on me, let me explain something...' but Ottaine was already whispering. He stopped talking, stood up and left the room. There were two men in uniforms guarding the corridor. He went to one of them and said:

'Give me the cuff keys.'

The man looked at him confused.

'Sir?'

There was no reaction from his boss so the guard put a hand toward his pocket and with a swift move, he grabbed his baton and hit his boss in the head. The other guard run at them, caught the falling body and helped put him safely on the floor and cuffed him.

After a few minutes, the man opened his eyes, looked around and at his wrists. He looked at the worried faces of his two guards and said:

'I see. Well done, soldier. What was it? Ah, I remember. The key,' he smiled at them and said 'She sells sea shells on the sea shore'.

After hearing the password the two soldiers released him and helped him to stand up.

'How long was I out?'

'Only a few minutes. I didn't hit you hard.'

'So now we know it breaks the spell. Good. Stay focused, soldiers.'

The man came back to the room and announced with a mean smile:

'No key for you. That was a nice try and before you do it again you should know that I have prepared certain security measures to prevent me from acting on your command. As you can see,' he showed his keyless hands, 'it works.'

He walked past her and sat on the armchair again.

'You will stay here until you listen and you will listen until you understand. If you mess with my mind you miss my point, so I suggest you behave. I give you my word that no one will hurt you. You will not be tortured and you will leave this place alive. Do I have your attention?'

Ottaine nodded standing up.

'So now listen. I know you are a Solummgerian and a spy. A Special Forces officer commonly known as 'essudus.' A few minutes ago you tried to influence my actions and thoughts, turn me into your puppet. I didn't know it was possible without me hearing you clearly. It was a very interesting experience, I must admit that. You failed because I had predicted what you might do. But let us try to build mutual trust. Did you know that loss of consciousness results in a lost connection between your mind and the subject's?'

Ottaine couldn't hide a surprise. This has never been tested. What a day. She gets captured, she discovers she can only control those who are 'with their minds'. How about someone under drugs? Or mental illness? Wow, so many questions! But there's no time to ponder about them.

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

'You didn't know. Well, we might both learn something from each other,' he was thinking the same. 'I would like to introduce myself. My name is general Mal Yaphara, I am an army veteran and the chief of the Skey-Er army Deinos Project. You can call me general Yaphara or just Yaphara.

My work is with the inner government circle, however... there is more to what I do,' he stood up, took a chair standing by a huge desk and invited her to take a seat.

'Very few people know it and now you are going to be one of them. There is an international assembly of scientists where I am a leader. I said 'international', it's actually bi-national. Skey-Er and Landhapis, politics aside, created something together and... it is a secret organisation. Until very recently, people who were above me in the army were ignorant of this. My loyalty has always lied with Skey-Er and my king, and with something much bigger than that. If my king and my government were against... then I would embrace the title of a traitor. But it didn't happen.'

Ottaine looked at him confused. How could a general say such a rebellious thing?! Bigger than the country? The homeland? Is it about religion? Gods forbid...

'What is your name?' he asked.

'Second Lieutenant Ottaine Lileghom. Solummger Special Forces.'

'Give me one minute,' he said and left the room. Outside he said the password and asked for the small key. This time, of course, he was not beaten up.

Back in the room, he uncuffed his prisoner and offered a glass of water. Then he continued with a heavy heart. This was his only shot. It was such a lucky chance that Solummger decided to send a spy exactly when he started planning to reach one of their soldiers. And an essudus! Could he be luckier? If not now - then never.

'What you know is that Skey-Er attacked Landhapis, like many times before, this time with much more force than ever,' he started explaining. 'By now you realise we seem to fight over an area located in the north, where the land is of poor quality and scarcely inhabited. You probably figured out the line is moving even further north which should not make sense. The Northern border is closed and nobody is allowed to cross it. Nobody in the right mind would enter Nogo Forest.' He looked into her eyes saying:

'I am not going to tell you the truth. Not today, not tomorrow, not while you are staying here. I know it puts our understanding and our potential trust at stake. But I have too much to lose if anything I say reaches the wrong ears. Although I already know much about you it is not enough to... to tell you the truth. I will, however, try to convince you not to be my enemy, and be my ally instead. Understand that we share a common goal - to end this war. To show my goodwill and gain your trust I will reveal what are the precautions I made to prevent you from controlling me.

There are four more people in this building, my trusted soldiers and guards. Two of them are standing outside this door,' he looked in the direction. 'One of them had the key. I told them not to trust me and hit me in the head if I asked for anything or gave them an order that might result in your release, without giving them a password. You see, it was very simple.'

'Indeed,' she admitted and then laughed. 'Sometimes simple things work the best.'

A few minutes later she was sitting on another comfortable armchair that was brought inside by one of the soldiers, and was eating grapes. She decided not to try any tricks. Curiosity, awaking trust, and common sense told her not to do so. Still, she wondered if he would be plotting something nasty against her. Essudus or not, she was not an expert in reading people. Kyeta was much better at this. Every time they were together she was telling her who to trust and who not, who likes whom and who is cheating with whom. Kyeta. Lying on the blood-soaked ground, right arm torn from the body, guts all over her uniform... This picture will haunt her forever, to eternity.

'What happened?' the man's voice brought her back to presence.

'Nothing. I just remembered my friend. She was killed in the Firewheel Field battle.'

'Firewheel Field battle? What is it?' Of course, the general could not know the name Solummger and Landhapis gave the event.

'It was a bloody battle that took place on the third two months ago, twelve miles east of your border...'

'You mean the March of Death battle,' he interrupted and shook his head very slowly, trying to block awful memories. 'That's how we named it. I lost my little brother and my nephew in that battle. Yes, I am mourning too. That's one of the reasons I decided to act and let me tell you: when my men told me there is a Solummger spy in the woods I was over the moon. But enough for today. I can't say everything at once or I will lose your attention. Wine?'

Ottaine refused. General Yaphara was not surprised, he would do the same in her place.

'That heroine of yours, Asdraghom,' he suddenly said. 'Everybody admired her, even Skey-Er soldiers. I would ask if her death was a big loss for you but I know you would not reveal such things.'

'She was the friend I lost.' Ottaine replied to his surprise.

'She... what? She was your friend? You knew her personally?'

'My best friend since the military academy. Yes. Kyeta... was like a sister to me. She was killed in a horrible way during that battle.'

'She took one of our best generals with her.'

'How do you know it?'

'I... heard a first-hand encounter.'

'From whom?!' Ottaine demanded the answer. Now she wished she could force him to say what he knew.

'From the person who took your friend's life. He was awarded the Order of merit for it. And you can be sure I will never reveal his name. Please, don't force me to, didn't you kill too? Didn't you aim at the priority targets?' Ottaine's fury extinguished as quickly as it rose. He was right. Kyeta killed a general, a soldier killed Kyeta, the famous snake of Solummger. And she was mass-murdering on order too.

'It wasn't me, you can be sure of that. He is a twenty-four-year-old corporal, with a wife and two kids. Maybe still alive, maybe not. End of story.' He finished and left, knowing the conversation will not be fruitful now. He ordered the two guards to move the prisoner to the cell.

The 'cell' Ottaine was moved to was in fact a spacious apartment that bore the same wood and antique charm as the office, filled with souvenirs of the past and luxuries of the present. She smirked when she noticed that the windows in her second-floor 'prison' are unlocked. So her captor did not know everything about essudi. Just one step and she is free. Then why didn't she do it? What if he did know and left the windows untouched on purpose? What purpose? Can it be that by doing so he was messing with her mind? Or was she just telling it to herself, because knowing that any time she can run away kept her feeding her growing curiosity? Yes, Yaphara intrigued her. A Skey-Er general who is willing to reach his enemies and cooperate with them, the story is about something bigger than homeland and loyalty? There was no other way to force him to tell the truth other than talking to him. The mind influence does not work the easy way: force a man to tell what he knows. She could force him to say 'give me the keys', 'I love fucking sheep' or any other prearranged statement. Without knowing the password she will not trick him into ordering his soldiers to reveal what they might know.

And Ottaine wanted to know. Wanted to know what Kyeta was killed for.

Yaphara was visiting her at least three times a day. Sometimes they were sitting and talking, sometimes they were going outside for a walk with two of his four guards. She was not trying anything stupid. For the first time in her life, probably in any Solummgerian citizen's life, she heard the Skey-Er - Landhapis conflict history from another point of view. Yaphara was honest. He did not try to justify brutal attacks and manslaughters of the past committed by Skey-Er. And he told about the same atrocities carried out by Landhapis over the land that both nations, equally, claimed to be theirs. They did not discuss that Deinos Project or the other thing he mentioned, she forgot its name. He was, clearly, getting to know her from what she said, how she said it, from her body language.

'What are you afraid of?' Yaphara asked Ottaine during one of their meetings.

'You don't have to answer me, just think about it for a moment: what is your greatest fear? Have you got it? Now try to imagine what would you do if the thing you dread was approaching you?'

They sat in silence for a while. Then Yaphara spoke again:

'I don't know what your answer to my first question was but am I far from the truth if I assume that the answer to the second question is either 'run away' or 'destroy it'?' She looked at him and he knew he got it right.

'So another question for you Ms Lileghom: what excites you the most? What do you long to see, to achieve, what is your biggest desire? And what would you do if that thing was close to you, literally or figuratively within the reach of your arms? Let me assume again: the answer would be 'grab it', 'get there,' 'put everything on one card.'

'Of course, one of them. Next question?' Ottaine said.

'So now: what if there was one and the same thing waiting in a short distance for me and you, while one of us is full of fear and the other full of hope?'

'Are you telling me this is the reason for the war? Are you talking about Skey-Er and Landhapis facing something? This thing is outside, literally or figuratively, of both countries?'

'Yes.'

'Which one is which?'

'Skey-Er wants to embrace it, Landhapis is scared. They want to destroy it, kill it. Skey-Er will never allow that. Our king and the government swore to protect it even if that would mean war. And so - here we are.'

Ottaine was shaken. So Landhapis was so desperate they called for Solummger help. It cost them a lot of money, it couldn't be a petty thing like more land or revenge. And the decision to protect even with the cost of a war? What was going on?

'Is it in the Nogo Forest?'

'I will not answer this question or any of a similar nature,' he replied. Ottaine was sure it is directly or indirectly connected to the sacred forbidden zone.

'What do you want from me?'

'My task is a difficult one. I want you to side with me. Then to persuade your government to negotiate with Landhapis and rethink their attitude, change their approach.'

'And how am I supposed to do that without knowing anything? Are you mad? You want me to be an emissary of my enemy because of a pretty metaphor you told me?'

'That's why it's difficult. I am aware of the absurdity of it. I am not pushing you to promise me anything. Right now I will leave you with what I told you, just think of it.'

'What if at the end my answer won't please you?'

'Then you will leave me unpleased,' he said, shrugging his shoulders. 'Now please excuse me, I have a sign language lesson to take.'

'A sign language? Is it a hobby or a necessity?' she asked.

'Have a good evening, Ottaine Lileghom.'

On another occasion, Yaphara wanted to talk about Solummger's people's attitude towards essudi and elves. Ottaine had an impression he was hoping to hear that both groups experienced unjustified prejudice. In a way, he was right: while essudi were met with esteem, the elves were not strangers to being pointed at or even attacked for their reclusive way of living in the Sjaell region. The word 'elf' was carrying a hidden meaning of somebody who is not truly a human.

Under the fire of questions, Ottaine had to admit that essudi would not be respected if it wasn't for the high position in the army and the government's constant hard work to remind all the citizens they must always agree to the Special Forces officers' Demand. Without the fear of the consequences, many would rebel against the law that puts personal well-being and health at risk.

On the continent, the looks and stares essudi and elves alike were receiving were not always friendly. Yaphara asked about every incident that was ridiculous or harmful for her or anybody she knew that was an elf or an essudus. It was so obvious that what he was trying to achieve was Ottiane's compassion towards any group that's being estranged and prosecuted. A group of people that some would see as a threat and some as hope?

Ottaine was not naive. What if there were essudi that live outside the society and perceive themselves as superior to other people? Taking from them without asking and... it wouldn't be difficult to enslave them. Such people would be monsters. Where is Yaphara's hinting going?

She became more and more irritated with the general and his 'casual' questions. She was given too much and too little information at the same time. The longer she was staying in this mansion the more she missed the camp with grey tents, spiders everywhere and heat. If only Yr was here, maybe she would figure this out. Maybe they both would, together. Ottaine missed her commander, her wise judgement, her caring attitude, her beautiful face and voice. When alone, she imagined having conversations with Yr, asking her for support and listening to her 'put your shit together, girl' advice.

'This is ridiculous!' she burst out one day when they sat opposite each other in the rooms on the second floor. 'How could you expect me to take your side when you don't tell me anything!'

'I am telling you enough,' the old man stated. Ottaine was seriously pissed off:

'Oh, I assume I am not smart enough. I should have guessed a long time ago, right? I'm sorry, I'm closer to average than to a genius. I'm sorry I was sent here not Yr. She is clever, bold, a real diamond... or my friend Verlar. He's not an essudus but he's the smart one. You would like him, by now you would be discussing the details and he would be giving you advice about how to train a dragon. Yes, a dragon,' she said, seeing Yapharas surprised look. 'Verlar is a dragons master and tamer, one of the best if not the very best in Solummger. He knows everything about them. Oh, but you don't have properly trained krools in the Skey-Er army, this knowledge would be of no use for you. So maybe wingfingers, tris, dvudums, whatever else with stupid name lives in this world. Anyway, should I write a letter to my generals explaining they sent the wrong person who not only let the enemy capture her, spent a week in luxuries and was too stupid to find out why the fuck Skey-Er and Landhapis started this fucking war and why did our people have to die!'

Yaphara lowered his head and bit his lips.

'I apologise, Ottaine. You are not a stupid woman, you don't judge by the first impression and you don't jump to conclusions too soon. You are right, I can't expect you to make a decision without seeing the whole picture. I wanted you to trust me without knowing. What I would need to do is to trust you and tell you... or show you... This is a limbo of mutual trusts question.'

He went silent for a long moment, looking behind the window and into an invisible world, his arms crossed. He thought it over before, he could do it. He had enough men under his command, some of them were already in the north where lieutenant colonel Varsheghom will soon march. Yes, this was a good plan. Better than the previous one. He spoke:

'You should go free. Tomorrow you will be escorted towards the border, we will provide you for the journey. When you are back in Landhapis keep your eyes and ears open. And one day we shall meet again.'

'Why now?' Ottaine asked after a short moment when dozens of scenarios run through her mind.

'I want us to trust each other. See, you are my last hope.'

General Yaphara stood up, nodded shortly and walked off, leaving the doors unlocked.

She spent last night in this mansion sleepless, listening to her thoughts. Was there something obvious that she missed? Landhapis was a fairly conservative country, would they prosecute a group of people just for their otherness? They were also very traditional and in their tradition was hospitality, religion (and they worshipped the most peace-praising and merciful gods) and helpfulness. Magalla, when they first met, was sure she would not experience any hostility. Not if she stays not more than a few nights in one place.

Taking into account all (though not much) she knew about the Landhapis society it was not surprising they were those who were scared of the new and prone to violence because of it, in Yaphara's story. People, in general, are easily manipulated. It would not take much to turn those believing in high morals into beasts carrying, or simply supporting, terrible acts in the name of those morals. If the number of educated people was higher... but it's not, it is a simple folk's country, very nice and idyllic until something goes wrong.

No, it's not that simple. What difference would provoke a massive attack? 'Bigger than loyalty' - she remembered Yaphara's words. Northern border, a group that is neither Landhapis nor Skey-Er? Is it about them, Solummger? Is it something different? The old Skey-Er general was right, the last thing she wanted to do would be to jump into a conclusion unsupported by clear facts. Another thing that troubled her was this: what if Landhapis was right? How could she, Ottaine, take Yaphara's side without having an opportunity to judge for herself? Anyway, there's nothing she could do right now. And with that thought, she finally fell asleep.