Dalric smacked into the earth in front of the Enlightened. He had questions, many of them. Unfortunately, the rest of the village didn’t take kindly to him crashing next to their front gate.

And he was finally within range.

"Charge!"

Ten of them were on him in a flash, fiery hot claws sought to rend his flesh or tear into his armor. Dalric instantly built up ahjer in both of his hands before snapping his fingers.

The sound the snaps produced was venomous, its waves concussive. No sooner had the vibrations left his finger than the ten were sent flailing backwards. Alas, the spell was weak and short ranged. Fifteen more took their place. He repeated it again, but its weakness showed, a number of the second batch were more resistant. Fighting through the wave, their claws managed to reach him.

"Protect the Eighth!"

They glanced off his armor mostly, but some caught his wings. They were merely ahjer constructs so he didn’t feel much pain from the attack, but if they were damaged enough he’d have to repeat the entire spell to reform them.

That wouldn’t do.

The wings fluttered, reducing in size. Displaced ahjer burst outward as an oppressive gale. The massive gust of wind shot out in all directions, knocking the few clinging onto him away and pushing back the third wave already preparing their own attacks. Most of the something-jaguars rolled helplessly down the hill, but the enlightened one didn’t. They continued to shoot the Golden Ray knockoff he dodged earlier. Dalric just continued to dodge them.

"Regroup!"

"Casualties?"

"None dead, many sleepy."

Dalric drowned out the voices coming from behind him.

Now…

He held his soul for a moment, gently caressing it. It felt familiar. He swiftly reached within. First, he summoned meaning and intent, then he carefully molded them to match what he wished to convey, and finally he grasped them and confirmed they were solid and fixed. To mild surprise, every step was instantaneous and effortless. All that was left was extraction, the highest hurdle.

With a firm grasp on the thoughts-given-shape, he pulled. To little fanfare, they came. There wasn't a hint of resistance, at any stage, the process was as easy as he remembered it.

While not certain, he had an inkling that would be the case. It seemed his soul was truly unchanged even while his body had shifted. That begged even more questions, but he let that be for now.

The mountain of answers he sought grew too steadily. He had to focus on the most pertinent points.

“Hel—”

He tried to talk to the Enlightened, but in his brief moment of laxity one of the something-jaguars that hadn’t slipped down the hill, and acted concussed instead, snuck up behind him and got a clean hit on the back of his head. This one didn't just have heated claws, it had fire burning within its paw. Even so, the damage it caused was minimal, mostly limited to singeing some of Dalrics hair. It did, however, put him off enough for the Enlightened to land one of their light beams right on his forehead. That did do some damage.

He shrugged it off though. The skin right above his left eye was certainly split and bleeding, but not reacting yielded a greater chance of getting them to understand they were no match. And that he wasn't trying to kill them.

"Listen. I—"

A misshapen tube of metal smashed into his chest, sending him spiraling down the hill. He noticed it a blink before impact, his focus too taken by the all-tongue.

A fair mistake the first time, a pathetic one the second.

His spiral only lasted a single revolution however. He halted his descent almost immediately. A few tried to take the opportunity to put a mark on him, but they wouldn't. Now, he was annoyed.

"Charge!"

As Dalric's feet touched ground again, lightning zipped around his armor. When their paws came into contact, their bodies went limp. After four fell motionless at his feet, they stopped approaching. Lesson finally learned.

He hadn't killed them, but they'd be paralyzed for a few days. Even more if they failed to contain the little streaks wreaking havoc on their nervous systems.

"It can—"

He shut out their voices as he rose ten feet off the ground and broadcasted his own, "Enough."

His tone was firm, but he tried to keep his anger in check. It should be crystal clear that he was several steps beyond them.

“All I seek is to speak.”

It should also be clear that he wasn’t aggressive, he just needed some answers.

Maybe now they'll listen.

They didn't.

He raised his left arm and hastily formed a misshapen wooden shield around it. Another one of those metal tubes gave it a warm welcome, piercing through. It didn't reach far enough to harm him, but it did manage to push him back a bit, even though he'd prepped his wings for impact.

This was starting to truly irritate Dalric.

“You refuse to speak?”

“Kill!”

A second tube found his shield, shattering it. He still couldn't see what mechanism was firing at him, likely 'The Destroyer', but that time he could hear it. It sounded vaguely like a cannon.

It also sounded like they were reloading.

Dalric growled, "Fine."

He extended an arm upwards and projected his ahjer into the sky. Clouds congregated and thunder roared in response. When he let his hand fall, lightning rained.

Tens of streaks of lightning fell dramatically from the heavens. They moved much slower than actual lighting, but that only made their descent more menacing. Unlike natural lightning, the type Dalric summoned was thick, each bolt wider than he, and their destructive potential was similarly expanded. A single one could kill twenty. As a conglomeration, the village would be destroyed.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

All around him, heads tilted up and movement halted. Even the distant cannoneers had stilled. No one stirred as they gazed at the skies above. If any of them were too weak to feel the destructive power falling on top of their home, the beaming lights effortlessly cutting through the night sky would speak of the danger it was in. Danger they had no hope of defending against.

Dalric paused and turned his full attention back down. He couldn't read expressions or emotions, but knew full well what they were experiencing. They felt death’s arrival.

Before it did arrive, he caught himself.

What am I doing? Not even under the Gods’ hex and I’m still letting death lead me.

His mind immediately raced for a means to save the beast’s and their home. They may not have been Enlightened, but they were sapient… somehow. He shouldn’t have been so callous with their lives. His emotional state shouldn’t fall on their heads.

The purple lightning crossed into his sense’s range as his brain still scrambled for a solution. None came. At least none that were actionable in the seconds he had before impact. Unfortunately, he couldn’t h–hurt… himself…

I don’t feel resistance.

His eyes went wide. Before the slow falling lightning could decimate most of the hill, he hastily reached his right hand up and called it towards himself. He took a deep breath and strengthened his body. The streaks of lightning began converging in his palm.

The pressure was immediate. Even with his body strengthened his muscles screamed in protest, his blood felt like it boiled within his body, and his armor bent and cracked. He had to lower himself to the ground to endure it. A decision that proved even wiser moments later when his wings gave out.

He held firm though.

He tried to keep a part of his mind tracking his surroundings, but he quickly gave that up. If he let his control slip for even a moment, the entire strength of the spell would explode outward from his palm. That would save the village, and most of the hill, but everything around him would be destroyed. Including himself.

Though. True death was evidently beyond him. Or maybe it wasn’t, he didn’t really understand anything at the moment.

A temporary death would be beyond him for now at least. After a few shaky moments, the rain of lightning finally ceased. Without the ahjer powering it, the mini vortex of destruction it left in his palm dissipated soon after. His folly had charred his right arm black, but he was content. He avoided catastrophe.

Death was his closest kin, always in parallel, so he knew he’d kill again. That did not mean the death had to be wanton. He'd been given new hands, he could wait for something meaningful before he had to stain them.

A deep, long breath passed through him, tinged with more exhaustion than he expected. Whether it's source was his physical exertion, mental fatigue, or emotional instability, only the Elders knew.

Why can I hurt myself now?

Another question he didn’t have time for right now.

He turned towards the Enlightened. He still couldn’t see, but he believed it better to look at someone when you spoke to them.

“Are you done now?”

They didn’t reply. He, if Dalric had his anatomy correct. He gave him a few moments to steady himself. The rest of the something-jaguars were frozen in place as well after all. When those moments continued to tick on, however, he got worried.

Dalric was certain the one in front of him was Enlightened so he must have known the All-tongue. If a mere border guard could speak it, there was no way he couldn't.

The strangeness of his circumstance actually led him to considering a world where that was the case, but thankfully reality had yet to warp that much.

It just took him a while to compose himself.

The Enlightened’s voice was youthful, full of uncertainty, “What…" There was a long pause, "Who are you? How do you know the tongue?”

Dalric, internally, sighed in relief.

Now how do I go about this…

“I am a man with questions—”

Dalric strode forward as his ahjer poured out of him and formed a five fathom dome around the two of them. It frightened the enlightened at first, likely fearing another deadly spell, but it seemed he was knowledgeable enough to know what the dome was. A ‘voice’ barrier. Nothing they said could be heard outside of it, nothing anyone said outside could be heard within.

“—but out of respect I'll answer yours first. My name is Dalric and I am a traveller. I learned the tongue from an elder of mine.”

He suddenly perked up, “Which elder?”

“You presume to know my elders?”

Hm?

There was an unnaturally long pause as Dalric noticed him fidget in place, "Does their name begin with 'A'"?

What?

It was common knowledge, common to those who could speak the tongue, that the Enlightened either didn't know how they learned or fiercely guarded the secret. Many of the most popular theories posited it was some system set in place by the Elders. Was he about to get concrete evidence?

Wait. 'A'. That's not just any a. That's the Hellgurian alphabet…hm. Okay, let’s play.

"It does actually. Yo—”

“What is it?”

Dalric noted the eagerness but kept a firm grip on the conversation, “You think we have the same teacher?"

“No one taught me! I always knew."

Ah… right. That's more in line, but.. this feels like a facade. His behavior is much too childlike to run a village like this.

The Enlightened pushed, "What’s their name?"

"They wouldn't like me sharing that."

That dampened his energy a bit, "Why not?"

Dalric thought through his words carefully, but settled on simplicity, "It's not my name to share. They value privacy. But on that." He pointed behind him, "Were you the one that taught your.. fellows?"

"Why would I do that?" He could almost feel the snort. "Someone else handles that."

Someone else… By the Elders they really were taught..

"You sure you can't tell me who your elder is?"

"Is it important?"

"...maybe. Just tell me."

A number of competing thoughts raced through Dalric's mind. Chief of them, someone in the village could teach beasts the All-tongue. How? It would be easier to teach a stone speech.

Who could accomplish that? Was it another.. something-jaguar? A valinbarn? Something else entirely?

It couldn’t possibly be an actual Elder, Dalric was sure of that. If he later learns that the creators of all things came back to sit around in a jungle and teach overgrown cats he’d willingly and completely submit to madness.

"Before I can trust you with my elder’s name, why don’t you tell me yours? I’ve given you mine after all."

He fidgeted some more, but eventually responded, “Eighth.”

“...As in the ‘Eighth’ day?”

“What other Eighth is there?”

Okay… maybe it's not a facade. That name confirms they're not part of the Wyld at least. Is that a good thing?

“Alright Eighth, I might be able to tell you more about my elder, but you’re going to have to tell more about your village first.”

Eighth instantly grew fearful, “Why?”

“If I wanted to harm you all, you’ve seen I’m capable. I’m just curious about a few things.”

He started fidgeting again, but he quickly stilled himself as his gaze drifted to Dalric’s left. The downside of the barrier was that while it blocked out the tongue, it also hampered his ahjer sense. His unfocused sense couldn’t ‘see’ anything outside of it. When he focused, however..

They can write… and that looks like Hellgurian again.

Painstakingly skipping past the fact they had a grasp over a written human language, Dalric focused on reading the sign held up behind him.

Ar-chon spot-ted do best de-lay it. It?

Besides him being referred to as an ‘it’, the message was clear. The actual leader approached. While that should have been a good thing, the stand-in he’d been speaking to seemed easy to maneuver. It was just a matter of time with him. Now, clear answers would likely take longer to reach.

Both an annoyed sigh and a tired yawn fought to be released. Both were swallowed.

Dalric just hoped this mystery leader at least caught a glimpse of Lightning Rain, he had no interest in repeating the song and dance.

“My father will be here soon. He knows everything!”