Iris rolled over in bed, slowly waking up. She sat up and rubbed her temples, feeling a migraine begin to take hold. She took her time getting out of bed and slowly lowered the straps of her nightgown while trying to decide something to wear. Ultimately, she decided to leave her gown on for the time being and picked up her padded robe to wear over it. She knew that she had more to talk with Arylos about today, but she didn’t not know where any of it would lead.

And she needed to know who that man that attacked him was. What he was.

She opened her bedroom door and from the stairwell she could smell something roasting and a unique bitter scent that filled the air. It was bitter, and yet the aroma was smooth and delicious. She made her way downstairs, massaging her head to ease the pain. After a slow descent, she came over to the dining room and saw Arylos sitting at the table with his hands clasped together and two cups next to him.

“You’re up early,” he commented upon seeing Iris.

“How early am I?” she groaned while coming closer.

“The sun rose within the hour,” Arylos replied with a smile. “You had a rough day so I figured you would wake up early but would still be tired.”

“Well aren’t you just considerate,” Iris mocked, sticking her tongue out while holding her pounding head. “You had it worse though; you did all of the fighting, all I did was cry like some little kid.”

“To be fair, nothing has really gone right has it?” Arylos asked with a soft laugh. “Since we moved in together, things have just gotten more stressful for you.”

“Stop that,” Iris demanded while taking a seat at the table. “Don’t make it sound like you’re the worst thing that has happened to me.”

Arylos bit his lip and took the cup sitting next to him and set it in front of Iris. “Then do yourself a favour and drink this for me.”

“What is it?” Iris asked, smelling the roasted and bitter aroma coming from the cup and looking at the dark liquid in it.

“It’s a gift from Bellona, a drink that was imported from another world to Templarius,” Arylos explained while also pushing over a small bowl of milk. “It’s known as ‘kahvye’ where it comes from, but I think you would find the word ‘kouhi’ to be easier to say.”

“Kouhi, huh?” Iris wondered aloud while picking up the mug to smell the aroma.

“It will give you a boost of energy but it’s incredibly bitter and strong,” Arylos added, gesturing to the milk. “Milk and sweeteners like honey and cane are often used with it to your tastes. I personally don’t care for it but I figured you would like to try.”

Iris set the mug down as a thought came to her. “Arylos, this came from Templarius, right? Don’t give me something I might like only to tell me it’s super rare.”

Arylos shook his head. “I wouldn’t be that cruel. It’s common on Templarius so there’s plenty. Getting it here will be a hassle but I can work something out if you like it.”

Iris thought for a moment and picked up the mug once more and brought the steaming drink to her lips. She hesitated for a moment but inevitably took a drink. Instantly, it hit her. A sharp and powerful flavour so intense she could not find anything else in it other than a roasted earthiness. The intensity hit her hard and yet the drink itself went down smooth. She could only help herself to a small sip to contain the reaction as her body violently quivered from it.

“Yeah, I thought that would happen,” Arylos laughed while watching Iris’s reaction. “I don’t know that many people who would drink it straight like that, but I didn’t know how you would prefer it. Dampen it down with some milk and cane.”

Iris nodded incredibly quickly as she set the mug down and grabbed the bowl of milk. “I take it this is tea to the Templarians?” she asked.

“Less of a casual drink like how tea is here and more to wake one up by force in the morning,” Arylos explained with a smirk. “Although I do know some who drink this stuff casually. How they do it, I don’t know.”

“And you don’t like it?” she asked, stirring the dark drink until it started turning a light brown from the milk.

“Not necessarily,” Arylos explained. “I like the smell of it, but the flavour isn’t to my liking since I prefer tea. And this body doesn’t need the energy since I just puppet it.”

Iris lifted the mug up but then set it back down for a moment, having a small realisation. “So when you say ‘puppet’, that’s why you don’t have a heartbeat?”

Arylos nodded slowly. “So you’ve noticed.”

“I’ve noticed a lot of strange things about you,” Iris replied nonchalantly while taking a sip of the drink, now smoother and cooler with the milk, the flavour more subdued and rich with a roasted bitter earthiness and a touch of sweetness. Like this, she felt she could enjoy the drink, if it was a little sweeter.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Yes, but there are also many things about you humans that are strange to me,” Arylos continued. “Granted, not as strange as me, but getting used to this Kaiyumian body has not been easy, even when it wasn’t aged to hell like this. And there’s still organs you possess that I don’t understand, certain features that make no sense from my point of view. Like how around the end of the month you get stomach aches and–”

“That’s enough!” Iris cut in as her face went red hot. “You don’t need to bring that up.”

Arylos raised his eyebrow and tilted his head. “You always do, and you always ask for something warm and–”

“Shh!” Iris cut in again, slapping Arylos’s hand. “A lesson for you about us humans; there are things you don’t talk about with a woman.”

Arylos laughed and kept silent, catching the hint.

“But you’re still strange to me,” Iris responded once she calmed down. “You have no heartbeat, you can seemingly stitch yourself back together, you don’t need to sleep, I can keep going here.”

Arylos thought for a moment and reached for a cup of tea near him. “You have to remember a lot of that is not because of what I am, but how I am here. You need to remember that this body is a puppet and nothing more. What you see in me is not what my people are like. It is just a consequence of this vessel.”

“I still don’t really understand what you mean by that,” Iris explained, taking another drink.

Arylos thought for a moment and quietly sighed under his breath. “Get dressed,” he instructed, taking another drink and getting up from the table.

“Huh? Why?” Iris asked.

“You will know what I mean,” Arylos told her while going over to his desk in the library and picking up his sword. “But I will not be the one to explain it.”

Iris took a moment to ponder before nodding and setting her drink on the table and heading back upstairs.

What does he mean by that? She thought as she went back into her room and looked for something to wear. She decided to simply throw on a simple shirt, not even bothering with a sash, and a pair of loose trousers. After a couple of minutes, she came back down the stairs and saw Arylos waiting for her in the foyer, dressed and sheathed sword in hand and waiting for her by leaning up against the door.

“Where are we headed?” Iris asked, reaching down to strap on her boots.

“Just come with me,” Arylos explained as he opened the door and headed out with Iris in tow. For the entire walk, Arylos said nothing as he took the main road and went north. Iris wanted to ask more questions but Arylos wouldn’t even look at her.

Eventually, she saw that he was taking her back to Sentarus’s palace, but rather than go through the main doors, he walked around to the east side and hugged the wall until he got to a corner between the stone construction and the solid rock wall of the mountain. He set his fingers on the corner and the air hummed as the corner opened up like a door, pressing inwards to reveal a stairway that led down into darkness.

Arylos, without hesitation, made his way down the stairs while Iris stayed at the top. He eventually turned and beckoned Iris to follow him. Iris took a breath and eventually stepped into the corridor and walked down the stairs as the air hummed and the door behind her closed, cutting out the light save for a soft orange glow.

The two continued down the stairs until they came to a long corridor with a solid steel door guarded by a soldier on the far end.

“What is this place?” Iris asked while looking around the damp corridor.

“At one point, this cell was built to hold me,” Arylos explained as he approached the guard. “Your ancestors were not the first nor the last to attempt to imprison me.”

The guard regarded the two with a nod and with an old key, turned several locks on the door and opened the door for the two to enter with the guard standing by the door to watch them. Iris gasped as she saw a crippled and withered corpse held in a tight leather suit bound by silver chains held to the wall, silver clasps and many spikes pierced into its body.

And yet the body breathed, soft and raspy.

“Have you come to gloat?” the body spoke in a quiet growl.

“I’ve come to talk,” Arylos responded as he knelt down in front of the bound corpse. “You don’t have much time and I want to hear what you have to say.”

The corpse hissed and Iris finally realised it was the man Arylos was fighting the previous day.

“Iris, this is Reyz,” Arylos introduced in a quiet voice, beckoning Iris to come sit with him.

“What are you playing at?” Reyz growled, his lips cracking but no blood would spill from his cuts.

“I only want you to talk,” Arylos explained as Iris came down next to him. “I don’t hate you; I’m just tired of you. That does not mean your beliefs are invalid”

“Who are you lying to; me, the girl, or yourself?” Reyz asked, wheezing under his breath while refusing to move.

“Reyz please,” Arylos pleaded while setting his sword on the floor, just out of his reach.

Reyz let out a sound that Iris could only describe as a sigh as his jaw popped while trying to talk. “Girl, do you trust him?” he growled.

Iris almost responded but she stopped herself, remembering how Arylos took lying to her personally. She had to truly ask herself if she trusted him.

“Do you?” she returned after being unable to gather her thoughts.

Reyz let out a strange sound, as if he was laughing. “If a monster threatened to consume you and destroy your home and take away everything you are, would you trust them? Could you really trust a creature you do not understand?”

“I would want to understand,” Iris responded truthfully.

“Then you would die dumber than most,” Reyz responded, continuing his dark laugh. “I cannot; this thing took everything from me. He took away the one thing that gave me life and now leaves me in this desolate state as my ‘punishment’. Ironic how the gods have not chosen to punish him for his own sins.”

Iris saw Arylos flinch and his fist clench tight. She knew that he had his own sins that he is punished for. She remembered that not only was he the last of his own kind, but he killed the last ones in order to protect this world.

And yet she will be the only one to know that truth.

“And what sins would that be?” Iris asked.

Reyz’s lips cracked further, splitting open partially as his body continued withering like a flower in a desert. “He took my brother from me and now wears his face.”