XXII.

Allies

Rithi, give it your best.

[Time is slower for them than it is for us. But still—]

We need to hurry.

The gears clicked. Ithlo’vatis disappeared.

“Liara.” Cedric muttered, calling at Ivalié's memory of her.

The white dragon reappeared at Cedric’s side. His greatsword was in full swing.

And then appeared Liara’s copper-haired remembrance between them, with a look of immutable joy to the Etherian. Just far enough from Ithlo that he could redirect his swing, and roll out of the attack.

Cedric didn’t hesitate for a second. He swept two imprecise blows into Ithlo’s sides as he bounded toward the ground, and then punctuated his spree with a fist to the white dragon’s chest. Claws sprung forth into the gear mechanism as he landed.

Ithlo grabbed Cedric’s arm and dragged him close to ensure they fell together.

“I’ll kill that time mechanism of yours, and then you!”

“Time is impermeable.” Ithlo finally muttered. His pale blue face showed no emotion.

And then the gears began to spin in place.

The blast was outstanding. Cedric was lifted up wholly by the fist that Ithlo shot into his stomach. Crystal shards shot out from either side of him, like a blast of magic had fired clean through. He gasped from within the armor.

Ithlo was already on his feet, his right hand reeled back…

“Liara…!” Cedric hissed through his bile.

She appeared just as his fist shot through the air. The strike was deafening.

But it hit her. Not him.

Immediately was the ground coated in blood. Liara’s body skidded across the ground and rolled and rolled until it came to a stop on its back and revealed the explosive damage done to her face. She was unrecognizable.

Ithlo’vatis howled out in agony at the sight.

So you've got some feelings, too?

blink

The red berserker tackled Ithlo to the ground. The gears spun.

His clawed fist rammed through the entire mechanism and through his ribcage. He raised up and punched again. And again. Four, five, six, seven…

Until Ithlo’s chest was crushed completely, and water poured all across the dark stone floor of the faux hell that was Algirak’s domain.

“That’s done.” Cedric declared. Serkukan’s helm popped open with a hiss of steam, revealing Cedric’s face.

Okella ran back to his side. "Now, Cedric." She fell through the ground.

Cedric leapt back from the brutalized Etherian and landed back on unsolid ground. He slipped through, into a stream of glowing colors of white and gold.

"Ithlo was guarding him." he said. He pried Serkukan’s helmet off and chucked it upward as they fell. The armor melted from his body into crimson liquid.

"He's not dead. This place is immaterial. We may wander and alter memories, but we may not affect the external world. Unless by…"

"Speak up. By what?"

"The pineal gland." she announced as they fell into a deep liquid that slowed their fall.

Cedric choked at first, but soon found his lungs and body adapting. And then his eyes adapted to that amber liquid until he could perfectly see the golden chamber around them, the spiraling staircases that rolled and rotated up to the point they were fast approaching. The point where a giant stained glass visage lay, with a man sitting comfortably in a fashionable chair beside.

The stained glass churned and shifted between colors and shapes. Orange. Blue. Red. Purple. Green.

Okella landed gently on the balcony over the golden foyer. Cedric clumsily hit the ground, but quickly helped himself up and stood to face the man.

Ivalié looked up at them from his hunched over position in the chair. "You're here to sever my ley."

"Are you…?" Cedric began.

Okella shook her head. "He's not real. I have to remind myself every time I come down here."

The man smiled somberly. "I am real. I am my whole, unabashedly. I have nothing to hide here, nothing I can hide."

Cedric looked to the shifting window.

"You'll shatter it?"

"I…"

Okella raised her arm to it. Her hand shifted into a crossbow.

"Wait." He grabbed her weapon. "Ivalié. If this is truly you… Work with us. Help us kill Kogar. We have no reason to kill you—we can leave the past behind us."

“Work with you?” Ivalié looked between the two of them.

Okella was staring at Cedric in alarm. Her crossbow shifted back into a hand, and clasped his own tightly.

“I’ve committed many a sin, Cedric.”

“As have I. It makes no difference what damage we’ve once done. Too many have died to reach this point, that's for certain, but this weight that we carry… Let’s carry it together.”

Ivalié smiled more genuinely. "I'd like that, actually. It’s what Liara would have wanted.”

He stood from his chair and came to greet them.

Cedric released Okella’s hand. She came out of her trance.

[This is… unprecedented. I never knew it possible…]

“This is the best way.” Cedric declared. He reached his hand out for Ivalié’s…

Ivalié lowered his staff.

Rithi drooled blood onto the ground from his prone position.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Then Cedric and Okella emerged separately from the alleyway.

"Your intentions are pure." Ivalié admitted. "I'm shocked you didn't just kill me like that."

Cedric didn’t speak. His intentions had already been laid bare. There was no more need for words.

Ivalié gently sighed. His armor began to fade into glittering light. His lips had begun to form a smile. “This is… more relief than I had expected. Than I’ve ever felt. Thank — gah!”

Rithi was against Ivalié's spine. He had plunged a long dagger into the fat of his back, and was pushing it deep with his body weight.

The staff illuminated.

"Rithi!" Cedric gasped.

Okella shut her eyes.

And then, Ivalié vanished in a flash of light. Rithi collapsed. The blood began to pool around him.

"Rithi, you damn…"

"I'd call that…" Rithi muttered. A white jacket began to form around his wounds. A golden pauldron on his shoulder glistened in the moonlight. "A win!"

X

They paced behind Uco at an uncomfortable distance, through the uneasy jungle terrain.

Tirolith eventually spoke, "I'm sorry I couldn't do more than—"

"It's fine, Tir. I think you did just enough. If not more.” Faunia nodded to the ice still stuck to Uco’s back.

She smiled, but then awkwardly rubbed her hands together.

"You know…" she admitted, "I won't be able to vanish anymore for a while, without my armor."

"Tirolith!" she shouted.

The girl giggled and ran away, after Uco.

Faunia sighed and rubbed her head. "What am I supposed to do with you...?"

Uco, too, turned back to nod Faunia to his side.

She jogged just enough to reach him.

“What is your business with Daegos?” he asked.

“Daegos?”

“The demon plane.”

“Ah—Etheria. That’s what we call it.”

The cat looked to her shoulder, which had once been cut. So quickly had it been healed, though the blood still showed where the wound had been.

Then he turned to the sky.

“Something wrong?”

“A daemon flies up this way on occasion. So long as he avoids this jungle, our conflict remains cold.”

“Then, I’d guess you have a plan, should he disobey your border?”

He nodded.

“I’m interested in that. Kogar—the one who patrols the woods of Calamon—must be stopped.”

“Kogar?” Uco shifted his head to either side. “Yes. Kogar, I recall. Kasian’s son.”

“His son?”

“No more details. Not until Riviji. Not until we know your intent, so certainly. My brothers will escort us.”

“Of course. I intend to follow your customs and rules to the best of my abilities. Where are your brothers?”

Uco stopped walking. Suddenly four more sets of golden eyes appeared above them. Then appeared their black forms, four more azar dropping down to join them.

As they landed in sequence, Uco named them: "Dayue, Hael, Kalest, and Vesivar."

Faunia smiled. "So good to meet you all. Then, shall we?"

Vesivar, a black-furred azar with a yellow eyepatch, approached with a desperate sniffing of the air. "Your... Faunia, you speak with a..."

Uco cleared his throat.

"Ah, yes, yes... I am Vesivar. I am... a scholar."

"A scholar?" she asked. "You attend a school, then?"

"No, ah, how do I say... Ethus ecola des kata? Des kata?"

Uco groaned and rubbed his face.

"I am a learner of worlds. Ah, I am knowledged. I tell you truth, I give information. You give me... food?"

"Food? I have Cromers, but I..."

"Cromers will do no good in Alisa." Uco interjected. "Let us keep moving."

"I want to learn about your homeland. Vesivar, will you teach me?"

The azar nodded heartily. "There are six leaders to Alisa."

Uco began to walk. The group followed.

"Half that of Calamon." Faunia took out her notebook.

Tirolith leaned her head down to Faunia's boots, watching to make sure she didn't trip on anything as she wrote.

"Ah, they desire one of each... house—the azar, the sel, the frex, the exca, the frey, and one of man, though he is usually a... well... diplomat! From the outside!"

"I see."

Vesivar eagerly held out his hands. "Your notebook. May I see it?"

Faunia finished scribbling and nodded.

He took it and flipped through the pages. "You have notes on your daemon."

"My Etherian, Tirolith. But yes, I've got notes on her. And the rest."

"I do not understand, Kogar is your... enemy. But, ah, you fight by his tools?"

"The means aren't the issue here. The issue is how we use them."

He pouted as if trying to understand.

"Kogar uses his to kill indiscriminately. He's power hungry. The Twelve are power hungry. But Tirolith is kind. And Serkukan, when reined in by Cedric, can be controlled. In the right hands, they're powerful tools to do good by."

"How did you receive these, ah, tools?" he handed the notebook back to her.

"I was given Tirolith by Cedric. He's…" she thought about it. "He's my friend. Sometimes. He received Serkukan and Tirolith both some time ago, but we've used them since to fight other Etherians."

Dayue, a shorter azar with half of the whiskers and fur missing from his right cheek, shifted his lips.

Uco growled, "We will bring you before the oligarchy. We will ask them for their help. I will act as your sponsor."

Vesivar interrupted, "No, ah, allow me." He smiled.

Faunia smiled in return. "Thank you. How far is it from here?"

"It will take us a few weeks if by foot. It would be faster through the trees, and even faster underground."

"Tirolith, you up for some tree hopping?" Faunia joked.

The girl smiled innocently.

Uco nodded. "Yes. That will be the fastest route this day. The sakkava retreat to the tunnels as the heat grows. The trees have threats, but none as great."

"We're fit to fight."

"For your Etherian, I would agree. But your practical skills are lacking, girl."

"I…" her stomach dropped.

"She can fight." Tirolith threw an arm over Faunia's shoulder. "She's strong."

Uco growled again.

"Up." he commanded.

Fssshww!

Uco bounded into the trees on an impressive jump. Soon, his brothers were following.

"How do we…?" Faunia began, but Tirolith was already floating over her shoulders. The girl's hands went under Faunia's arms and launched her up from the ground. "Woooaaaaaah!"

Dayue turned back as he landed on an oversized leaf. "Quietly! Or the noise will rouse beasts aplenty!"

Faunia turned a glare on the nonchalantly smiling Tirolith, but found that she couldn't hold her frustration in — they both laughed as they landed on the leaf behind the squad of azar.

Dayue and Uco shook their heads.

"Ready, Faunia?" she asked.

"Ready."

And there again went the two as they bounded over the trees in tow with their escorts, away from their would-be predators…