“Excuse me, what?” Kieran blurted in outrage.
Neaila continued to use her strange mana sight, and Kieran felt incredibly uncomfortable. He could feel a strange presence press against his awareness from where she stood in the darkness of the room.
The girl’s smug teasing was one thing, but then she blurted out a couple of fantasy buzzwords, again, and whatever she observed of him through her abilities caused the magical alien girl to react quite intensely.
Fair enough, he figured. Mana is very strange and unpredictable, but to accuse him of being something that sounded like a euphemism for a sex offender went a little too far, by his reckoning.
“When you say 'Beast King', you mean in a good way, right?” Kieran squinted slightly at the strange accusation.
“‘Because I don't feel like any other meaning would be polite to call someone in pleasant conversation”
Neaila had nothing to say in response.
“Please, don’t hold back on my account, I’m eager to hear you elaborate…Young Lady” He insisted with a drop of venom.
A tense silence filled the room as Neaila was temporarily stunned. Thankfully for Kieran, the uncomfortable presence she exuded with her mana vanished completely just as she began to explain herself.
"Erm, w-well…you are quite literally glowing bright blue…in-in my mana sight, that is" she declared earnestly as though that stuttery vague explanation would be clarification enough.
Kieran's silence prompted her on.
“And…well, you must understand, this density of raw mana is typically only found in the F-First Tier Beast Kings. Namely...erm, those beyond the Viridian T-Tundra.” She finished nervously.
Luckily, her brother sensed her comical distress and metaphorically swooped in to finish explaining in her stead.
“As I mentioned previously, Kieran, these beasts have been claiming our lands by force over many generations of our people." He began in so casual a tone that Kieran all but forgot his previous annoyance.
"The vast majority of these Kings act directly under the command of the Beast Emperor himself. Supposedly a Peak Tier 2 Serpent, the emperor could single-handedly end the war in the beast's favour, if he so chose to. And yet…strangely, he does not.” Illya's tone seemingly held little care for what he spoke of as he informed Kieran matter-of-factly, sounding more like a tour guide on his last excursion of the day than someone whose entire world was falling to ruin.
“These powerful beasts each rule their own small kingdoms, however. At Tier 1 classification, these Kings can often be more lethal than even the noble mages amongst our Kingdom's garrison. So when my sister saw the true scope of your mana density, she was understandably a little frightened. But please believe me when I say that you should not take any offence at her words, my friend."
“Okay, okay fine, I guess when I think about it her words could be a kind of compliment more than an insult” Kieran allowed, caring more about why his mana reminded her of some jacked-up beast King, whatever that was.
Beast Kings and even an Emperor? What the hell are they feeding these animals? Kieran turned over the implication in his mind for a moment until he smartly decided to put that on his infinitely long list of questions for later.
"I admit, I'm still quite shocked, but I truly did not mean to upset you Kieran, i swear it.” Neaila apologised, her confidence returning quickly.
“It’s all just so unfathomable! Such density should not be remotely close to possible from someone as…inexperienced as you claim to be." She hesitated slightly after her previous blunder.
"Sorry, I don't mean to intrude in your affairs, Kieran. it's just that, if your people genuinely have no mana as you've said, then I can only assume you stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter of some kind to have any chance of developing your manabody to such a degree.” Illya asked, clearly treading carefully for some reason.
“Possibly even a great treasure? Or could it be that you are related to people naturally talented with mana in some way, as we both are?" Kieran heard the gentle caution In the man's tone.
"My apologies if that's too personal to discuss of course. You have to understand just how unbelievably rare it is to witness such a mana density in one so young, let alone someone who claims to have not seen mana until this very day." Illya shuffled over to the back wall as he made his point.
“I’m almost twenty-eight dude, I’d hardly call that young haha, but thanks, I guess?"
"Honestly though, I think if I had any so-called natural talent I would have been chosen like all the other people, I'm pretty sure nobody from my world knew mana was a real thing outside of stories let alone anyone from my family”
“Well, considering your gift” Neaila pridefully began, apparently no longer worried about him being a threat.
“And with you being well under forty years of age, I'm sure the academy would practically beg for you to enrol with them at your earliest convenience. That is...if knowledge is what you truly desire?”
"Wait, so this academy is basically like an Elnari Hogwarts but with people up to forty years old? I'll pass I think, seriously, another attempt at higher education sounds…messy" He resolved then and there to avoid this Academy at all costs.
We are so not doing a school arc, it was shit enough the first time.
Once he got out of this dungeon he could just ask the siblings to find him a magic tutor like Illya had already promised, at least that way he wouldn’t need to go near another education institute ever again.
"Well, you must understand our people do age a lot slower than I believe humans are inclined to, so forty years of age barely passes as reaching true adulthood for us, if that makes it any more enticing?" Illya called back nonchalantly from the other side of the room.
“Maybe we can talk about it later when you’ve shown me your crib–Sorry, your home, I mean…”
Kieran needed to remember who he was talking to and chill with the constant casual references to things his new friends wouldn’t understand.
"Also, you might be spot on about my mana situation, Illya. You both seem like decent people and I want to trust you guys, but at the same time can’t tell you all the details about this.'' Kieran took a deep breath and hoped he wasn't making a big mistake.
"So…earlier today, after I fought a bunch of Orcs, I got some kind of skill from the system. The description was pretty vague, but it just so happens to help with my mana absorption. Then after a fair bit of mana got absorbed through trial and error, I got a notification that all the excess mana had changed me, but exactly how, I don't know."
"So…I dunno–I mean, maybe that's why I seem deceptively competent with this stuff? If not just bloated with weird cosmic energy…” Kieran let out a brief sigh,
It did feel daunting to take a risk before he even had his basic bearings, but at this point, he was all in with these two and had to try to trust them at least a little bit.
"Of course! That would make some logical sense then." Illya agreed.
"This alleged ‘Divine’ system's blue panels, prior to being sent here, mentioned classes and mana" Illya began to consider loudly, for everyone's benefit.
"And whilst I’m quite unsure what exactly these classes are or how they tie in with the mana, I think we can safely assume that whatever this strange system is, at its core must be incredibly powerful magic at work. Especially if it were capable of causing widespread transportation of many people simultaneously, as seems to be the case.” he theorised out loud, reminding Kieran of one of those fantasy lore youtubers that liked to guess wildly at shit for everyone to hear, only to be absolutely correct in all their assumptions.
That alone made Kieran feel considerably better about his mind-numbing procrastination over every possible system feature and function so far.
"And if you say it granted you this skill as a boon, then perhaps we might all stand to gain some degree of rewards in the future" Illya trailed off thoughtfully.
"Well, back home" Kieran chimed in excitedly. "There's actually a shit ton of theories and stories about how these systems would work, even down to the potential origins, but er…that would be one hell of a lengthy discussion, for sure saved for someplace less dark and stinky."
Then he painfully remembered that he was the source of the awful smell…
"Speaking of which, aren't we supposed to be leaving now?" Nervousness rattled his words more noticeably than he liked as he realised he’d been standing there in the dark for quite some time.
"Kieran" Illya softly called to him when Kieran finally stopped to breathe.
"I think you need to take a moment to…relax, and refocus.” His voice suggested he was treading very carefully.
“Even If you're positive you feel fine, perhaps you could please allow Neaila and I a moment to rest before we all move on?"
The idea of resting, of waiting for their end in this dark hole terrified Kieran. And with each moment, he felt the anxiety crawling up his throat again until he realised he had to say something.
“But Illya, please! We have no clue how long until they find the other cell full of dead orcs and come searching for me. And if they don't, maybe they will just wanna grab you for a second round roasting sesh, we can't just wait here”
"My friend, if what you say is correct, then it would be considerably safer to face their greater numbers in this narrow tunnel whilst we are well rested. As opposed to being utterly surrounded out there in the unknown. Not to mention whilst also in a tired dash to escape here"
"I…ugh, you're right" Kieran deflated with the admittance. Wanting to get out of here so badly, he hadn't even stopped and considered how disastrous it would be if they ran straight into the other orcs in their current state.
Fighting them together in the tunnel would probably be better too, funnelled in 'spartan style'. Damnit why didn't I think of that I'm so stup-
"First, Kieran. Just bare with me for a moment, allow me to see if…"
Illya fiddled with something metal in the darkness. Scraping stones sounded from the far side of the room, followed by a short, almost inaudible whisper.
"Aha, here we are" The man called out victoriously, and apparently did something that caused a loud crack. Immediately, a blazing inferno burst into view, right where Illya faced the wall. Strong flashes of orange lit the cavern around them and the man's silhouette was a gaping dark hole in the brightness. Kieran figured Illya must have somehow given new life to the embers of the small brazier as he watched tall, flickering flames sputter into the air, right as he felt his skin tingle from a wave of heat that filled the room.
"I do believe regaining access to my mana to be almost as comforting as having those accursed bindings off" Illya joyfully mused in satisfaction, warming his hands over the rekindled heat of the glowing fire.
Kieran squinted for a few seconds as his vision cleared. He gradually took in the sight of Illya for the first time since meeting, and after just picturing him in his head as a suave lordling from some medieval town this whole time he almost choked at the incredible man he saw before him.
The first thing that stood out to him is that Illya looked to be unnaturally tall by human standards, even across the room it seemed the man's long and lithe frame could put most NBA players to shame for both reach and strength capabilities.
Unnaturally long pale-blonde hair streamed down in a single smooth wave of beauty, swooping together just below his shoulder into a thick and complex plait that only stopped at the very back of his thighs.
The new light and heat that diffused into the room were welcome to Kieran’s senses, he could now see the man's striking figure in all its glory as Illya slowly turned back and smiled at him from under clear blonde strands of hair, the bleached white draping onto his dark tunic's shoulder pads.
Kieran distractedly admired the finery of the man's clothing. Silver and purple embroidering flowed in beautiful curving lines and patterns across a storm grey tunic, also with smooth, matching grey pants–very out of place for any modern-day fashion Kieran could picture.
"I truly must thank you once more" The handsome giant told him through a beautiful crescent moon of a smile, full of gratitude.
"I fear the outcome had you not chanced upon us both before they had time to do worse to me, or maybe even to Neaila…"
Illya's strange proportions and outfit further confirmed the earlier suggestion that Kieran was not on Earth anymore, not that there was any need for Kieran to doubt the man’s words anymore as his eyes focused enough to figure out why the man’s ears seemed so very strange to him.
Kieran was sure his eyes were playing tricks in the flickering new light, he rubbed them fiercely for a few seconds then tried to look at something closer instead. He turned left and right rapidly, blinking to clear the white dots. A thought made him look to his far right, to Neaila, who still knelt close beside him.
His eyes gaped wide and his mind froze, Neaila locked eyes with him and he felt he might just fall endlessly into those facetted emerald eyes of hers. Almost falling to process the shockingly beautiful features that were so different to any of the countlessly diverse humans he had seen over his life. His gaze drifted over smooth edges, thin brows that looked pristinely maintained, followed the way her chin tapered to a soft point that completed her angular angelic face.
As his eyes roamed about, they followed her ears above the crown of her head where softly pointed tips highly framed the slightly alien expression that looked up at him, then it rounded slightly as her face shifted.
Those expansive green eyes thinned slightly, and her full lips drew wide in such a serene smile that revealed rows of pearly whites. Kieran realised she was smiling at him, and his heart raced ever so fiercely.
“Wow” He let slip, lost in frantic exploration of the two exquisite faces he could neither comprehend nor tear himself away from.
“Are all of your people so damn beautiful?” the words crept out unbidden.
He coughed hard and looked away. Shocked at his own lack of filtering ability.
“That…er, goes for both of you by the way. I’ve never seen an Elf in real life before and you’re both startlingly gorgeous!”
Neaila made a strange face at his words, her smile gone in an instant, he couldn’t place the emotion at all despite trying avidly. As he further examined her kneeling figure, he noticed that much like Illya, the young Elnari girl, no–Woman–He realised, wore a regal gown of dark, expensive finery, though her attire was more dress-like than the doublet and pants her brother wore and it fit her in such a way as to not entirely hide her substantial natural curves.
Seeing an almost identically unfamiliar reaction on Illya’s face as well he figured they weren't happy with what he said. Or more likely, they were displeased with the dirty, stinky little human that assaulted their senses.
"What is this Elf you speak of?” Illya cut in seriously.
“Huh? Oh, like ‘Elves’ but I guess you guys are slightly different.”
“Surely you don't mean like the Elva? the Fae-folk of old tales?” the man’s face screwed into something fierce for a brief moment.
“Ptuh!" Illya physically spat the horrid taste of this comparison from his mouth.
"Kieran, I shall warn you now” The man’s towering demeanour became like a tall, sheathed sword.
“if, or should I say ‘when’ you meet more of our people. Please, never repeat those words aloud.”
Kieran felt himself audibly gulp.
“Most would take deep vexation from what you just implied, and some may even attempt to challenge you to the Trial of Corith on behalf of their honour."
Neaila sat down on her heels, apparently deep in thought.
"The Great Elnari are a uniquely special, but incredibly prideful people and our honour for ourselves and our King is what saves us from falling into despair and anarchy” Illya’s tone softened, and he approached slowly to stop beside his sister.
“You see, it's how we survived as long as we did."
"Our oldest history even tells of how we were once simple mortals, at one with our world and all its beings for as long as we existed.”
Kieran couldn’t believe these incredible people could have ever been simple mortals, the subtle shifting of the light upon their skin was enough to completely confirm their magical nature to him.
“Up until approximately one cosmic age before today, if the tale is to be believed, when a Great God became wounded in battle and hiding from her enemies, sought refuge on our distant and quiet world. In return for sanctuary, she granted our ancestors an endless gift of vitality and magic. One that merged with the very fabric of our beings and changed us irrevocably.”
A sad smile hid under his long hair as he drew closer, and he held his sister’s arm in comfort.
“With this gift, our people supposedly underwent a wondrous phase of evolution and magical advancements. That, however, was very long ago…and it is said our collective light has diminished greatly since The Mother first touched our hearts."Pride filled his words, but he trailed off soberly.
“But, that is just a myth” Neaila interjected suddenly, killing the sombre tension in the air.
“Uncle Filnarel told me that while it is based on the true story of Great Mother Elnar, it is not the whole history at all. Uncle even said the true story of the Elva is more tied to our history than the common people would ever admit.”
The common people?
“Thats fascinating, our history is so much more boring, and godless from what we know."
"Seriously, i am so sorry if I was being rude, but where I’m from there are these wonderful fictional magical people called elves, and they look a lot like you two, though less physically intimidating in every possible way. So please understand i mean no offence im just very very ignorant right now, also please forgive me if I stare little much..." Kieran struggled to sound calm through the constant hypnotic eye contact they both sent his way.
"You're still the same people I promised to leave here with, regardless. The only thing that's changed is me knowing you're not human, but a far more amazing species than I could have ever guessed."
"So as long as you don't eat people or babies or anything, we should be all good...haha" Kieran wished he would learn when to shut up.
"I understand, there is no issue then my friend." Illya's words took some weight off Kieran's chest.
"Sadly though, humans such as yourself have not set foot on our world since the Great Ascension, nigh a thousand rotations back, maybe even more" Neaila informed him.
"You're the first I've borne witness to since I gleaned some unclear illustrations in the Grand Library as a young girl'' She said curiously.
Illya stepped much closer to Kieran and leaned in to get a better look at him too.
"Fascinating" he proclaimed with his white-flecked azure irises that peered into Kieran's lacklustre evasive eyes. The human's confused brain could only read a subtle hint of amusement as he examined the abnormally wide and full eyes of the man.
Before Kieran could even question the action the lithe man smoothly knelt on the floor and then sat back, apparently deciding to get comfortable on the not-so-comfortable floor.
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Much like Illya, the young Elnari girl, no-woman, he realised. wore a regal gown of dark, expensive finery, though her attire was more dress-like than the doublet and pants her brother wore.
Thin golden filigree patterns weaved across the smooth grey fabric in winding vines and leaves so fine that the dry dust and dirt smeared about it could not lower her presumably fashionable display of beauty.
"Wow, you guys sure know how to make a fellow captive feel bizarrely underdressed" Kieran even laughed a little as he looked from the lavish display of beauty and wealth before him and couldn't help but compare them both to his own filthy sewer rat vibe.
The foolish idea of impressing anyone quickly disappeared from his mind, replaced by the lingering remnants of an almost rotting smell that still stubbornly clung to his skin.
"I am so, so sorry," he wanted to run from the room in embarrassment.
"I kinda forgot I ended up covered in this weird gunk earlier, so…if you're smelling something incredibly gross in the room…that'll, uh, that'll be me" he trailed off the admittance of guilt whilst avoiding eye contact with Neaila.
He risked a glance back at the young woman to find a softer mirror image of her brother's caring smile as she too watched Kieran’s anxious fretting with a mask of concern.
"My friend, the only reason we were so on edge as you entered this place is due to that rather creative smell you're projecting" Illya almost chuckled through his sincerity as Neaila took up the mantle of mockery next.
"I almost believed the orcs had gone above and beyond in their new methods to torture us for information, brother" her sweet voice dripped with light sarcasm.
"Okay, okay guys, hah hah!” Kieran tried to dust off the embarrassment he felt.
“Relax, it’s not like I shat myself, it's just…er…mystery gunk" Kieran piped up defensively when he realised they were fully taking the piss out of him now.
"I got most of it off but if you spot a nice puddle or maybe even a bath, please let me know immediately for all our sakes"
“Oh and if you find some clean clothes anywhere I’ll happily take those too, even if it's a pretty dress like yours Neaila” he chuckled awkwardly, hoping they understood he would never willingly let himself be this gross and rancid smelling if he had a choice.
As usual, his attempts at humour just made him sound more strange to these people.
“You, wish to wear my sister’s dress?” Illya shot at him with a strange grin that seemed almost animalistic.
“No! Of course not, I just meant I was desperate, I wouldn't ask a woman to take her clothes off on the first day we met, well not unless she was-" Kieran all but shoved his fist in his mouth as he stopped his stupid rambling. He worried he had just pissed Illya off a great deal by speaking so flippantly about his younger sister potentially stripping.
The familiar feeling of awkward self-doubt made him want to just get up and leave here before they both felt the need to make their own awkward escape away from him.
He crossed his arms tightly to occupy himself, tensed muscles pressed against his cold clammy hands along with his body's warmth in a subtle self-soothing action.
Thankfully he was interrupted before he could dig a deeper hole of embarrassment by speaking without thinking again. The strikingly serene Neaila had shuffled over to his side without so much as a sound, almost frightening him.
His heart quickened, he felt it thrumming a rhythm in his chest.
"Kieran, just relax and breathe, we're all on the same side here, I promise" Neaila's gentle tone along with her shimmering eyes helped erase a significant amount of his worries. The growing feeling of ease compounded when he also noticed Illya approach him. His beautiful plaited tail of hair swished back and forth until the man reached out and placed a reassuring hand on his bare shoulder, giving a slight squeeze as he spoke words of comfort, too.
"I know we are total strangers, most certainly from different worlds" he began with a sincere smile.
"But regardless of your origin, we are allies of fate now, and I have already given you my word to work together" He ended with a confident nod to Kieran, assuring him as though the promise of his name alone was more solid and unbreakable than the very rock that bore them captive.
"I'm sorry for being a bit of a mess I just really don't know what I'm doing, or what to do next" Kieran admitted.
"it feels like if I don't move forward I'm moving backwards somehow, and It's a little bloody overwhelming."
To Kieran's surprise again, it was Neaila who did her best to extinguish any more fears Kieran might still be struggling with.
"I'm scared too!" Her tone was awfully upbeat for someone admitting to their own fear.
"Truly, I cried so many tears when my uncle first took us, and even more yet when we both awoke chained in the dark. It was so awful, and those disgusting green creatures took my brother”
Her shaking voice trailed off, the painful memories threatened to upset her but she took a breath and smiled through the fear.
"My point is, I know how scary it is to be alone in here” She continued calmly.
"But we're not alone anymore." A delightful smile graced her face, and she reached up to place a comforting hand on Kieran’s chest.
“And then you came out from practically nowhere and freed us from these awful shackles, it's as though Elnar herself sent you to help us.”
He became overly aware of her smooth hand over his increasingly loud heart.
“And now it's our turn to help you too, friend." her smile filled Kieran with certainty that he wasn't used to as he realised his fears about them being dangerous might just be entirely misplaced.
"I'll do my best" Kieran nodded with a serious expression. He met eyes with both of them in turn.
"I promise to both of you, we’re getting out of here alive, together!" he resolved.
"Together? On three?” He stretched his hand out, palm facing down.
Thankfully, his extended arm prompted Neaila to cease holding his barely covered and dirty chest. The awkwardly innocent smile and rosy cheeks she bore suggested that she only just realised how intimate her gesture of support may have looked.
"Then you absurdly beautiful people can get me a super smart teacher to show me how to throw fireballs and lighting like an archmage badass, right?"
He grinned cheekily and both of them returned his smile.
"That would be the very least we could do" Illya agreed happily, sticking his hand out in a mirror of Kieran’s, mostly parallel to his arm but entirely without contact.
"There are also healers as well as teachers to guide you in your education, though I daresay they would revel in the chance to examine a human's biology and mana circuitry for the first time in quite literally, ages." Neaila chimed in.
Like Illya, she also got the hint and floated her arm up beside the other two with full confidence.
Wow, I guess some things are universal enough!
“One, Two, Three!" Kieran shot his arm into the air joyously as he blurted out loudly, “We’re all leaving here together!” all by himself, looking like an absolute fool.
He sadly lowered his arm whilst avoiding eye contact with the others, who watched him in bizarre amusement as they lowered their own, unsure what he was doing.
"Our people will find you to be incredibly peculiar, but I'll happily vouch for you on my name.” Illya smiled genuinely.
“I can still tell that you have a good heart, even if it is a little to the left" he chuckled as he finished. Neaila also giggled at his supposed joke before chiming in herself.
"It's fine brother, with this smell we can most likely pass him off as a bizarre forest ape with severe mange and hair loss instead of a crazy human"
Kieran's openly puzzled yet outraged face only made the two siblings giggle even harder.
"Wow, okay! I see how it is, girl" he replied dramatically.
The three of them exchanged a few more pleasantries before they settled into silence. Illya turned his back to neaila and exposed a foot-wide hole in his jacket that his hair had been obscuring until now. She picked some of the blackened skin and cloth free from the wound. Initially, Kieran winced in sympathy at what she was doing, until he realised the wound was mostly healed. There were mostly just sore red patches covering his skin where the severe burns should still be.
Hmm, maybe the quick regeneration is inherent for these people? or is it to do with high levels of mana like what happened to me before?
Again Kieran kept his questions to himself, for now. Though his determination to get his damn answers only grew the more he tried to repress them.
Still thankful for their previous light jabbing at him to break the ice, though, a deep sigh escaped his lips when finally lowered himself to the ground like the siblings. Though they chose to sit cross-legged barely a couple of meters away so as not to imbibe too much of his wonderful scent.
Kieran felt his two weapons awkwardly poke his side when he sat down, so he removed the small axe from his left hip.
"Here you go by the way mate, I don't really need this and I'm guessing you might" He pulled the hatchet from his left hip and offered it handle-first to Illya.
The man smiled as he reached up and received it.
"Thank you, I'm not too fond of this style of weapon but I appreciate the gesture."
"My uncle's people took my favourite spear from me days ago, it's a treasured family heirloom so I'll need to get it back eventually..." He frowned sadly at the memories.
"but alas, let us rest for a while now" He closed his eyes as he sat there, looking to Kieran more like an angelic yogi in deep meditation than just some elf.
Kieran did his best to ignore the uneven lumps and stones digging into his back as he started to take calming breaths once more. The idea of waking up covered in black slime in front of them, however, held him back from inhaling vast quantities of mana as he had before, it just didn't seem worth the risk for now.
After a minute or so he felt too weird to just lay there staring up at the flickering shadows on the ceiling, so he closed his eyes and allowed himself to relax just a little deeper.
It's fine, I’ll just rest my eyes for a moment…
----------------------------------------
Peace washed against him in gentle waves of empty blackness, the placid lake clung onto the very edges of his mind, almost imperceptibly drawing him toward a deep, soundless rest.
Some small thread of consciousness in him knew a nice long sleep would do him a world of good right now if he would only allow it to carry him into the serene darkness.
A gentle, inaudible whisper from somewhere behind him immediately summoned a new spark of panic at the front of his hibernating mind.
No…I can't sleep here, wherever here is…huh?
A foreign force tugged at his waking mind from somewhere within the surrounding nothingness, he listened carefully for any sign of what he could now tangibly feel faintly all around him.
Small waves rippled against his body softly at first, causing no sound. The undulating ripples grew a little higher then, causing a slight noise with each wave, and Kieran slowly became aware that this wasn't a noise water would make, it was more like…whispering?
Unable to identify any tonal variation or even syllables, he listened intently to the source of the ripples that now gently sloshed against his body and mind.
More gentle whispers began to overlap, one after the other, combining into inaudible words that grew louder around him.
Yet he still couldn't make out a single coherent word.
He felt that same panicked feeling of being called home by his mother when he was younger, feeling that these strange voices were all eagerly waiting for him to join them but he was lost and couldn’t find his way back in the dark.
Calls and shouts continued to cycle repeatedly from all around him; creating larger patterns of silent waves, they quickly boomed louder yet until the former emptiness around his mind swelled with a cacophony of discordant whispers and faded pleas from inside the blackness
Kieran tried to turn and look, but nothing happened. He felt completely immobile, simply floating there as the weightless black ripples washed over his disjointed vision. The strange sensations felt so much like being inside a waking dream that he tried calling out in the hope it might wake him up.
"Hello?" the thought echoed around him as though he'd spoken it aloud, but his mouth hadn’t seemed to move at all.
Okay, this is too fucking weird…wake up man...
He couldn't even begin to grasp how his mental call had caused reverberations around him, but the louder and more aggressive ripples smothered his voice the moment it left him. There was no answer, only louder shouts rising up before Kieran could decipher a single string of them.
An unwelcoming feeling surged around him next as the voices built to a wild messy crescendo.
Kieran wanted to cover his ears, the overwhelming noise began to hurt his mind to the point he couldn't think clearly.
"What the hell do you want from me?" He shouted, and the pained yell rippled out from him in a forceful bellow, far louder than he thought he could muster. Cascading waves propagated out in every direction–forcing away the dark water that nearly covered him.
just as quickly as it had started, there was a lull in the noise.
Kieran mentally sighed in relief, assuming it was done.
What in the hell was tha–
A burning white sun burst to life in the endless sky above, lighting up the darkness for miles around him with piercing beams of light. The bright pillars of white seared straight through him and instantly set the dark water aflame, sending rolling clouds of pale flames as far as he could see in every direction.
As suddenly as these flames appeared on the surface of the lake, they flew toward him with ferocity.
Kieran screamed so loudly at their touch, he'd never felt such terrible pain like this in his entire life, Heat paralysed him to the core of his being as every shred of clarity fled with the sounds of his painful yell.
He tried harder to move away, to roll, to dive under the water–Anything. But he couldn't move an inch as the blinding white flames smothered everything in his view.
The awfully bright sun above only grew brighter, burning away entire swathes of the darkness and quelling the simmering whisper that still persevered in this place.
Unable to wake and escape this torment, he watched on powerlessly as he felt his mind and body ignite and begin to crumble away.
What little awareness remained in Kieran was praying it would finish him off as soon as possible, if only to be free of this white inferno.
The final echo of his fading cry was thankfully answered mere moments later.
Black ocean waves rose over his body, violently throwing off the pillars of flames that clung to both the water and him. The darkness formed a small dome-like barrier that protected him from the direct heat, it even dulled the blinding light above enough so that he could use his eyes again without struggle. He felt he could finally breathe again.
The strange translucent black dome somehow filtered out the harmful and damaging parts of the burning rays, but he could still see the rough shape of the sun and inferno that worked their way across the world above him, filling him with a great heat that he feared might come back to snuff him out once more.
What the fuck is going on! and that fire? His mind raced. In the silent peace he'd been returned to, he only now noticed the strange new solid shield of darkness above.
Wait, how the hell is this and did this black stuff save me?
The thin dome above him flickered slightly as it seemed to stabilise and grow denser. The newly solidified ceiling gave Kieran a small feeling of comfort, enough for him to try and grasp some way to escape this nightmare.
Just wake up already Kieran, this isn't real you idiot!
He tried to convince himself but the fear he felt toward that terrifying white light outside of his new safe area promised him this was more real than he first thought.
You're still in the cave, you're fine. This is just a weird illusion or dream, or something.
His heart battled within his chest, he could feel his body clearly in this bizarre dreamworld for the first time. Yet still he feared the pain would return, that the flames would burst through again at any moment.
It took a concerted effort to slow his breathing, fear still lingered in his every thought. slowly, he breathed his way into a more comfortable state of mind, even if his memory wouldn't let him forget the chaotic trauma he'd just been through.
The dark scene around him became somewhat peaceful once more, but now he was immediately aware that the previous voices he'd heard had never truly faded away. He focused intently on the sounds of the whispers, and he surprisingly heard them speaking clearly.
"This is all we can do for you, child" A quiet womanly voice made its way through the background to him.
"Who said that?" He yelled out reflexively.
"What the hell is this place?" Kieran pleaded loudly, hoping for any answers at all to make sense of what was happening.
A new barely audible voice replied with a strong depth and bass to it, echoing through the very water Kieran floated upon.
"Find the sage, young man…find the path"
More voices flooded around his safe dome, even louder than the other voices that spoke to him.
"The path…the sage…the path!" these voices echoed louder by the second, reverberating louder in his ears, somehow growing even more thunderous with each repetition.
Until the very force of each syllable beat against the world around him like a great drum.
The walls of the dome shook with each roar until fine weblike cracks sporadically spread upwards towards the very peak of the ceiling.
Kieran held his breath, he felt primal terror in his chest. Fear that the safety of the strange shield would leave him to burn in fire for good.
The tense pause was silent, he realised the voices all around finally ceased.
A tense sigh of relief escaped his lips.
"Do not tarry, child…The Void! Approaches!" A final yell pounded out from directly beneath his body.
He froze from the insane pressure each word exacted upon him.
Then, Looking up he saw the dome itself explode into countless fragments like glass under the gargantuan force of the man's shout.
A familiar pale explosion of light blinded Kieran's vision, in his panic he lifted both arms to try and stop the white flames that raced towards him.
His arms flew up in a flurry and he clenched his eyes forcefully, he was so terrified of the pain that he knew he couldn't fight back against it, thankfully the pale death never reached him.
Kieran instead felt warm hands firmly squeezing his own.
A cold hard floor supported his body in a way the dark water never had.
Confusion blurred his thoughts for a moment as he opened his eyes, still expecting to find a white sun burning at his flesh again.
Instead, he met two pairs of shimmering blue and green eyes looking down at him with concern and worry, and an orange glow surrounded their strange-looking faces.
"Please come back to us, friend" a beautiful woman pleaded with sad sincerity in her voice and for just a second he thought he was dead and an angel had come to take him away.
"Look, he's waking up, sister. I told you he was okay, just dreaming" the equally beautiful man assured her with a wink as he held out a hand for support.
Neaila? Illya?...how did I almost forget? Where the fuck was I?
Kieran wiped his sweaty hand on his jeans with an awkward smile, then grabbed the man's narrow yet solid wrist to help him sit up.
Blinking rapidly, Kieran's vision came into focus enough to see both beautiful specimens knelt on either side of him.
"So much for relaxing" Illya smiled, trying to diffuse the worry they'd both been feeling.
"Are you truly feeling well, Kieran?" Neaila frowned deeply.
"You must have been having quite an awful nightmare to scream out in your sleep like that" Her delicate hand gripped his shoulder in a comforting gesture that matched her brother's.
"I, I don't know" he managed to answer after a pause, unsure how much to tell them about his weird nightmare–If it really was a just dream...
Kieran had experienced all kinds of vivid nightmares in his life but nothing so real and unique before.
"It didn't feel anything like a dream, and I, I don't know, I felt like I was burning alive at one point" he gave up trying to explain as he realised he barely knew for himself what happened. He couldn't shed the fear left deep in his bones from that terrifying white sun, feeling as if it had almost burnt his very sanity from him.
Then there were those strange voices he'd heard that seemed to be helping him.
What Sage? What Path?
Fuck man, what does it all mean?
"There was something about a Sage, a path, and some void coming or something" he tried to piece the vague memories together.
"It was honestly the weirdest dream of my life if that's even what it was" he realised he hadn't reassured them at all when he saw the uncertain gaze they both watched him with.
"But...yeah, I'm okay I think. Just a little shaken" he smiled meekly to try and make his words somewhat more convincing.
"Thanks for being worried though, it means a lot for two strangers to be so good to me"
"Think nothing of it. As you said prior, we are all in this, together" Illya comforted Kieran with his pristine smile. Then with an unnatural agility, he pressed lightly off the ground and was immediately standing above Kieran and Neaila both.
The young girl still knelt there as she spoke "I used to have horrific dreams as a child, so I understand it can feel quite embarrassing. Just know that we shan't judge you for things you cannot control" she reassured with a light pat on the shoulder and a delicately sympathetic smile that warmed Kieran's icy heart.
"Thank you, again" Kieran returned the smile for a few moments until he realised they were just all smiling at each other in silence, not moving at all.
"Right, anyway…" He drew the word out to dispel his feelings of awkwardness, then with a quick stretch and a heave, he climbed to his feet too.
Habitually he shook out and then manoeuvred his limbs to get the blood flowing properly again after laying prone far too long.
"So, did you guys get a good rest too?" he tried to change the subject.
The two siblings shared a serious look that Kieran couldn't quite grasp the meaning behind, Neaila spoke first.
"We were discussing the issue with our uncle's men kidnapping us before our strange arrival here." Her voice sounded somewhat more confident than Kieran had heard from her yet.
So he coaxed her on with an "Oh really?"
"Indeed, my paranoid brother thinks it might somehow be related to the skinwalker issues we've started hearing news of recently in the Southern Emerald regions"
"Skinwalkers? Seriously?" Kieran asked in an almost comical voice of disbelief.
"you mean like, werewolves? Or more the man-eating, can't touch silver, doppelganger kind?" he jibed.
The siblings both made strange faces, frowning almost in sync at his question.
"Why would the Lupine King ever ally his people with filthy skinwalkers?" Illya chirped, sounding genuinely confused by Kieran's specific question. Neaila just covered her mouth with a hand to hide her slight chuckle from the apparent absurdity of his suggestion.
Kieran assumed he was missing crucial information, but was more surprised to have hit any kind of nail with how blindly he’d swung his proverbial hammer of fake knowledge.
"You do say truly outrageous things, my friend, as though you are familiar with our land and even some of our culture, yet still mostly oblivious to the implications of what you say" Illya held his chin thoughtfully, he
Kieran couldn't contain a cheeky grin at the man's pensive face.
"So then, they are more the 'eating people and assuming their likeness' kind of monster then? Or do you guys have a different kind of skinwalker on your planet?"
He wasn't aware of any other types of beings that would be known as skinwalkers but for all he knew his entire database of knowledge was beyond redundant in this new world.
"Unfortunately, yes" Illya acknowledged.
"They are pale humanoid beings up until adulthood, but once they consume the flesh of another being they evolve, and mimic the consumed being's appearance to a startling degree of accuracy" He was clearly speaking from memory, possibly a bad one.
"Luckily, they are incredibly vulnerable to silver as you suggested, I'm surprised your people knew of this" the young man appeared to be thinking aloud now.
"and due to the Great Mother's blessing, pure silver ore is abundant throughout our Kingdom and has been for-"
Loud footsteps cut off whatever Illya was about to say just outside the entrance to the cell. Deep guttural grunts echoed through the thick wooden door. Then a rattle at the handle set Kieran's heart racing as he made eye contact with Illya and Neaila.
Kieran assumed that with their vast knowledge and potentially magical nature, Illya would be more than capable of protecting Neaila well enough in a fight. However, Kieran would do his best to not let it come to that.
Illya deftly stepped beside Kieran, making no noise at all. He joined him in facing the door just a second before heavy rhythmic thuds rumbled throughout the hollow cavern from the thick door that was being hammered on.
The Elnari beside him twirled his hatchet with a flourish like a baton, then held it high and ready.
"Wonder how long until they realise it's a pull door" Kieran smirked with false bravado.
His heart began that pounding dirge once more.
Kieran grinned enthusiastically upon seeing the sheer enthusiasm in his new friend's eyes. It reminded him of Nathan and how he eagerly led Kieran into difficulties he knew himself capable of overcoming. He quenched the thought in anger, then tore at the rusty blade on his waist.
Too fast.
A saw-toothed section of the blade hooked onto his belt loop and the whole weapon got caught.
He mentally facepalmed and swore to himself to get a proper sword and sheath at the first possible chance.