Obehid thanks for the update jare I think Musa is scared because that place is near the boko-haram camps in sambisa forest obehid why did you bring us to the war zone na

Hmmm, I find something off in this port
My mind is quite worried about what this port represents. Musa is my favorite so I definitely worry out his safety. I just hope they come out without much hurdle.

The uspec who interviewed Nebud is smart, I like it. Obehid add a loyal Uspec to Nebud's squad. Please

1daful update dear. Thanks

Fazemood:
Hmmm, I find something off in this port
My mind is quite worried about what this port represents. Musa is my favorite so I definitely worry out his safety. I just hope they come out without much hurdle.

The uspec who interviewed Nebud is smart, I like it. Obehid add a loyal Uspec to Nebud's squad. Please

1daful update dear. Thanks

True. An uspec loyal to Nebud would be most welcome. He has so much enemies already.

decoderdgenius:

True. An uspec loyal to Nebud would be most welcome. He has so much enemies already.

Infact eh! I dey fear for the thing o

"Wow" is all I could mutter. You have a nice story up here, from yesterday, I've been immersed in this exquisite tale of yours.
More imaginations ....

@dragonstar14 I'm sorry that they can't all be very long. This is about the length of a single part sha. I wish I could post more parts at once, but I'm pretty busy now, so I can't write as often as I'd like to. I'm happy you're still enjoying it though

@phoenixchap I'm sorry to hear that you've been having a rough time. I hope it gets better soon, and I'm deeply touched that you made time to read this in such a hard period. Thank you LOL, you have vexed for Nebud oh! Hahaha. Well, I think in Nebud's defense, it did not want to tell Marcinus about Manus' poisoning, because it knew that it had to leave and that Marcinus and Manus would have to live together. Nebud probably thought it was better for Marcinus not to hate Manus. Aww, I think from the start Nebud has never really been the most likable protagonist. Well, we'll see what's going to happen to it in Chiboga...Thank you for the observations. As always, I really appreciate them.

@tunjilomo As in, you haven't even seen yet

@cassbeat hahaha, chai, in fact, I'm going to start writing in 6D

@ayshow6102 Thanks for reading! LOL! Musa should not be scared for that oh, thankfully, the spectral existence is seperate from the standard, and humans have to die to enter (...well, with exceptions, but this is set before the creation of the marked, so it's still true...). I purposely pushed it to the North because I feel like my regular human series is too south-centered, so I'm trying to make up for that haha

@Fazemood Musa is your favorite? This is news. Wow, I can't believe you noticed that uspec's brains. The way it started asking Nebud questions about one thing, took its mind off it and then just turned back around and hit it with that previous thing. Khai...anyway, about adding a loyal uspec to Nebud's squad...who knows where the story will lead us

@decoderdgenius Nebud has enemies? Hmmm...

@Jackossky Thank you! And welcome! You read all of it yesterday and today "WOW" I'm so flattered

obehiD:


@Jackossky Thank you! And welcome! You read all of it yesterday and today "WOW" I'm so flattered

Ahh!!! You took my whole day

Jackossky:




Ahh!!! You took my whole day

YAY!!! That's my goal, hahaha

obehiD:
@dragonstar14 I'm sorry that they can't all be very long. This is about the length of a single part sha. I wish I could post more parts at once, but I'm pretty busy now, so I can't write as often as I'd like to. I'm happy you're still enjoying it though
i understand
till Wednesday

@phoenixchap I'm sorry to hear that you've been having a rough time. I hope it gets better soon, and I'm deeply touched that you made time to read this in such a hard period. Thank you LOL, you have vexed for Nebud oh! Hahaha. Well, I think in Nebud's defense, it did not want to tell Marcinus about Manus' poisoning, because it knew that it had to leave and that Marcinus and Manus would have to live together. Nebud probably thought it was better for Marcinus not to hate Manus. Aww, I think from the start Nebud has never really been the most likable protagonist. Well, we'll see what's going to happen to it in Chiboga...Thank you for the observations. As always, I really appreciate them.

@tunjilomo As in, you haven't even seen yet

@cassbeat hahaha, chai, in fact, I'm going to start writing in 6D

@ayshow6102 Thanks for reading! LOL! Musa should not be scared for that oh, thankfully, the spectral existence is seperate from the standard, and humans have to die to enter (...well, with exceptions, but this is set before the creation of the marked, so it's still true...). I purposely pushed it to the North because I feel like my regular human series is too south-centered, so I'm trying to make up for that haha

@Fazemood Musa is your favorite? This is news. Wow, I can't believe you noticed that uspec's brains. The way it started asking Nebud questions about one thing, took its mind off it and then just turned back around and hit it with that previous thing. Khai...anyway, about adding a loyal uspec to Nebud's squad...who knows where the story will lead us

@decoderdgenius Nebud has enemies? Hmmm...

@Jackossky Thank you! And welcome! You read all of it yesterday and today "WOW" I'm so flattered

i understand
till Wednesday

obehiD:

@tunjilomo As in, you haven't even seen yet

I trust you implicitly in your inclination to awesomeness.

@dragonstar14 thanks for the understanding!

@tunjilomo I hope I don't disappoint

Part 2
-------

The Mine of Aurelion.

We’d spent a week in Chiboga now. A week with Musa stuck indoors. The imp’s previous excitement about coming to this port had quickly evaporated in the face of all the unknowns. It realized, upon arrival, once the haze of the excitement washed away, that it had no leads to follow on its search for the lost heir. According to Musa, the only clue that Sensu’s slave had given was that its master had last been kept by a yielder staying in the Chiboga pious camp.

Apparently, much had changed since Sophila became Kaiser of this port. In the past, Musa remembered Chiboga being a lot easier to transverse, even for imps. Now though, neither Musa nor I had been allowed to leave the civilian’s camp. There was only one gate leading into or out of the camp, and that gate was heavily secured. The only civilians that left were those with special permission to leave, or those headed for the hangar. There was no room for a casual exploration of the burg. So how was I to take the Kaiser’s eye?

I made a detour around the corner of a fancy dwelling. There were no hovels here, no low quality commoners’ homes. Everything in this camp was expensive. Of course, with an entry price of a piece of worth, I was not surprised by the lack of commoners here.

The fog was thick. Fog was common in the spectral existence, and so I did not find it nearly as disconcerting as the clouds in Katsoaru. But I had never seen fog this thick. The fog was translucent enough to see through, but the field of view was severely limited by the thickness of the fogs.

A cluster of green arrows pierced through the sky.

On closer inspection I could see that these arrows were actually uspecs. In the week that we’d been here, I’d taken several walks around the camp. In that time, I had seen more flying uspecs than anywhere else I’d been to. It made sense that flying here would be more prevalent, given the lack of portals. I still found that very strange, and extremely inconveniencing.

I was walking between a row of ‘lower-quality’ dwellings now. I noted the uspec soldiers standing at attention with their hands gripping their hoe-spear. There were several soldiers placed in sporadic locations around the base. On the days when I’d wandered out of the base, I noted a very heavy military presence on the common roads outside the several bases in the civilians’ camp. That was nothing compared to the soldiers at the gate.

My mind darted back to the imp in the suite we’d rented. Musa was not happy about the imp restrictions in this port. I found it startling. I’d been to several inns and walked along the streets on many occasions. In all this time, I’d still never seen another imp.

Again, my mind returned to pondering the mine of Aurelion, or Aurelion as it was more commonly called.

According to Musa, imps worked in the mines. The imp did not say if it had ever been to a mine, but it contented that working in a mine was worse than being sapped. I found it difficult to imagine that anything could be worse than being sapped. But, Musa said that when an imp was sapped, it lost its consciousness, and so it wasn’t fully aware of what was happening to it. There was no such loss of consciousness in the mines. And apparently, Aurelion was special because, unlike the other mines which were sources of several types of pansophic metals, Aurelion had only one type of the metal. Aurelion was a large source of pansophy conduit, the one pansophic metal which could transmit all pansophic lifeforces. It made the mine particularly useful to pious ones.

I walked out of the base, emerging onto the common roads. The fogs are much thicker here. I’d gone to the market the day after we arrived, searching for tomes on the port, maps, any type of information I could find. Not only had I returned empty handed, I’d found the market empty of necessities like aqua-sight. Luckily, I’d stockpiled a large amount of it before leaving Katsoaru. I had a few extra drops in each of my eyes now. It was enough to clearly see through the fogs, to the squadron of soldiers marching by.

The soldier leading the march had one cross attached to each of its earrings, and one imp eye on its face. It had its hand on the hilt of its sword. Nine soldiers in lines of three marched behind it. Each of these soldiers had empty outer eye-sockets and the simple silver link on their ears.

I still hadn’t uncovered the meaning of the earrings that the uspecs wore. In fact, the only time I saw uspecs without earrings was when I went to the common areas.

I walked into the fourth base. It was the largest base in the civilians’ camp. I liked it because it had the best inns. I could also tell that the uspecs who lived here were much wealthier than the ones that lived in the other bases. They rode in canoes with covers. And even the design of their canoes was much different from the other canoes in the burg. I inched to the side, just in time to avoid collision from a slight canoe racing down the road. The little I saw of the canoes showed that it was completely covered with an opaque top. The body of the canoe seemed to be made of a metal much finer than the common wood of the regular canoes.

I watched to make sure that there were no more crazy steerers, before crossing to the other side of the hard fog road. My favorite inn beckoned to me.

I found the inn’s design spectacular. It was made solely of fog, without a doubt, a waste of valuable amounts of form, but its beauty could not be denied. I placed my hand on the entrance and watched the fog soften. I walked in.

For inns in this base, this one was surprisingly simple. It had a single flat level with several round tables and varying numbers of chairs around those tables. Simple light sources lined the corners of the room. I walked over to a table with only two chairs, and sat on one of them.

The service in this inn was strange. I’d made a fool of myself the first time I came here, demanding a bill of fare. It wasn’t till much later, that I finally understood that the guests were expected to serve themselves. A large feast was laid out in the room behind the curtains, and the guests were expected to go into that room and choose whatever they wished to eat. For a standard fee, an uspec could eat as much as it desired. I liked this.

“Salutations sirga.” An uspec stopped by my table. This uspec, like most others in this port who weren’t soldiers, had silver studs on its ears.

I nodded in greeting.

“Will you be eating alone sirga?”

“Yes.”

“It will be half a piece of merit sirga.” The uspec said.

I pulled out a token from my belt. I’d spent a piece of merit the last time I was here, and in lieu of change, I took the token for another meal. The uspec took the token from me and bowed. I watched as it gestured to other servers to place the appetizers on my table. As they filled my goblet with chilled wine, and placed several pans of pastries on the table, I mulled over the extortionate price. Five hundred pieces of value for a single meal. But then, my suite was costing me fifty pieces of merit per night, so I couldn’t complain.

The serving done, I took a sip of the chilled fruit wine. It was good. It reminded me of another chilled wine, one that I had poisoned a little over a week ago. That thought had me rising from my chair, and moving towards the curtains. I grabbed a platter from a stack on a white counter and made my way across several counters, filling my platter with delicacies.

I especially like the soft rooster meat and certain sea serpents. I reminded myself to get some nama for Musa before I left. The imp was stuck in the suite, the least I could do was bring back its favorites. I heaped a generous serving of grain pudding onto my platter, before returning to my table. My first bite was a mix of tender nama flesh and sweet buns.

I liked the ambiance of the place. There was no music, just uspecs speaking amongst themselves. Some of the uspecs seated around the room wore no earrings. Others wore earrings. But, I noted that amongst the uspecs wearing earrings, none of them wore studs. They all had silver links with either crosses or rectangles attached to them. In fact, now that I thought about it, the only uspecs I’d seen wearing studs were the ones serving.

I turned back to my meal as I let the traces of conservations drift around me. I wondered if I would hear anything about the Kaiser. From what little I’d gleamed, the only uspecs who went to the Kaiser’s castle were soldiers and invited nobles. Would I be able to get myself an invitation? I doubted it. There had to be a way out of the civilians’ camp. An entire week here, and I was no closer to my mission than I’d been when I walked in.

“Nebud?”

I jumped when I heard the familiar voice. It took me a long time to place it. My mind raced through all the possibilities. Who could it be? Who would know me well enough to call my name so casually? I thought of the soldier that I’d met in the hangar, and ruled it out. The soldier would not call me by my name. Who then? How many uspecs knew me that well? It had to be a noble. Even as the thought crossed my mind, I cringed. I did not have a good record with nobles.

“Nebud.” The voice called again.

I could no longer avoid it. I turned to my right, in the direction of the voice. The first thing I saw was the arm. There were four golden armbands on that arm. The uspec wore a maroon coat which covered up the rest of its body, but I knew without seeing its features that it was soaru.

I stood and curtsied to the imperial one, my heart racing.

The imperial stopped in front of me. “Rise Nebud.” It almost sounded happy to see me.

I rose. An unfamiliar uspec stood beside the imperial. This uspec was a boga, it had nothing but a silver belt on. The hilt of a cutlass stuck out of the sheath on that belt. I also noted that this uspec had four bands around its arms as well.

Four silver bands.

I frowned at that. I had never seen silver bands before. Gold was noble, what was silver? The uspec had an earring dangling from each ear. This earring had four silver rectangles on each link. The uspec stared uncaringly at me. I noted two more uspecs behind them. Those two had black belts on their waists, and earrings with three silver crosses.

“Salutations imperial one.” I greeted.

It smiled. “Salutations Nebud.” It replied. “May we share your table?”

“Of course.”

Servers appeared. They brought another chair to my table. Just one, I wondered, staring curiously at the imperial. Why was it in Chiboga? Had it gone searching for me? That thought made me shudder.

The imperial was just about to sit when it shook its head. “Where are my manners?” it chided itself. “Banneret Nebud, this is Commander Arexon.”

Arexon? Why was that name so familiar? The uspec made no move to shake my hand. Grateful, I kept my hand to myself.

“Salutations banneret.” The uspec greeted with a nod.

“Salutations Commander.” I replied.

“Sit!” The imperial said, gesturing to the empty chairs.

Arexon and I both waited for the imperial to sit first. Arexon. The name floated at the back of my mind. It was so achingly familiar. It was just there, at the tip of my tongue. I knew this name, I knew it very well.

“Arexon!” I said, just before I sat.

The uspec stared at me with an eyebrow raised. It had four outer eyes on its face, two of which were imp eyes. “Yes banneret.” It said.

“Forgive me commander, I just remembered why your name was so familiar.”

“You read my progenitor’s final tome.” It said with an expressionless face.

I smiled. “Yes commander.” I could not believe it. This was Arexon, the offspring of Arigad, former Kaiser of the Uspecipyte port of Aboga. It was recalling this uspec that had helped me uncover the language I had in common with the okun, back in Katsoaru, when Manus had turned me into a swan. That thought reminded me of others. Aboga had fallen, I recalled, and Arigad had been killed. Sophila conquered Aboga and annexed the port. What was Arexon doing serving in Sophila’s army? I knew from the tome that I’d read, that this uspec was far older than I was. It should have been an imperial, the heir to Aboga. I found myself suddenly thirsty for the uspec’s tale.

The imperial cleared its throat, reminding me that I was standing. I sat then, and Arexon sat as well. Arexon, I stared at the uspec with awe. I felt as if I knew this uspec. It was a foolish feeling, when I’d only read about the first year of its life, but Arigad had written of it in so much detail.

I looked away when it became obvious that Arexon was not enjoying my staring.

That only left me with one place to turn to. I sighed staring at the imperial one. Manus. I shook my head. What was it doing in Chiboga?

“You left Katsoaru so quickly Nebud. Your departure surprised my sibling and me.” Manus stated.

I swallowed. Just the mention of Marcinus returned that pang of guilt. “How is the imperial Marcinus?” I asked, hoping to pull off a casual inquiry.

“Come now Nebud, there’s no need to pretend. I know that you and Marcinus were on a first name basis by the time you left our port.” Manus turned to Arexon then and explained, “Nebud is a close friend of my sibling’s.”

Arexon nodded, but it said nothing.

Manus turned back to me. “Marcinus is as well as can be expected. After it became shun and pater named me heir, it pulled into itself. It hasn’t left its suite since you left Katsoaru.”

Manus picked up a slice of cake and broke off a piece. It watched me as it chewed on the piece. I pushed down the ache elicited by Manus’ words. I transferred my gaze to the soldiers that were standing behind Arexon. They stood at attention with their hands on the hilts of their swords.

“Why did you leave Katsoaru in such a hurry?” Manus asked.

“I had to go.” I replied vaguely. I felt the brush of something against my feet. I looked down immediately, but saw nothing. My mind was playing tricks with me. My eyes moved to Arexon and I saw that the uspec was studying me intently. It took a sip from a goblet which a server had filled with wine. I looked away.

“And you came to Chiboga? What a coincidence.”

I frowned. “A coincidence?” I was suddenly made aware of a number of truths which Manus knew about me. The first and most perilous of which, was that I’d declared myself as Uspecipyte in Katsoaru. One word from the uspec and I would be killed in this Kuworyte port.

“Why are you in Chiboga, of all places?”

“I have always wanted to visit a boga port imperial one. I just chose Chiboga at random.”

“Did you really?” Manus asked sarcastically. It turned to Arexon and, speaking conversationally, it said, “Nebud has a knack of being in places at interesting times.”

Again, Arexon nodded, but it remained silent. I was starting to feel very uncomfortable with the way the uspec was staring at me.

I thought of leaving, but with Manus’ spectra, I wouldn’t get very far. What would the uspec demand for its silence?

“Don’t you want to know why I’m here Nebud? Perhaps you already know.” Manus said.

I turned my attention to Manus. “I do not know imperial one.” I swore.

Manus shook its head. “You had me fooled Nebud. Really, you did.”

“That was not my intention imperial one.”

Manus scoffed. “Of course it was.” Manus turned to Arexon. “Nebud is a great fighter, the best pugilist I have ever seen. You should challenge it sometime, you’ll be impressed.”

Arexon’s smile was unsettling. “I think I just might imperial one.” It remarked. The uspec had the body of a great fighter. It was about an inch taller than I was, and about evenly matched in bulk. It would be exciting to match my skill against one such as this.

“I look forward to it commander.” I stated.

Manus laughed. “Ever eager for a fight! Shall I tell you why I’m here Nebud?”

“If it please you, imperial one.”

“Oh, it pleases me, and your presence here pleases me a great deal more. I’ve just realized that you are exactly who I’ve been searching for.” Why did Manus’ words sound like a threat? “In fact, I’m starting to think that we are both here for the same reason. Are we not?” It stared with narrowed eyes at me.

“I am here visiting.” I stated.

Manus chuckled. “Of course you are. Very well then, I will tell you why I am here. Do you remember Nitan, Nebud?”

I shook my head.

Manus smiled. “Let me jog your memory. Nitan is the magistrate you identified as being present during Reynard’s death. Do you remember it now?”

“Yes, imperial one.”

“Good. I always thought it was convenient that you showed up right after Reynard died. How lucky that you came just in time to shed light on the events of that day? Now I know better. You are a mercenary Nebud.”

“I am not imperial one.”

“There’s no use lying to me, not when you’ve been caught. You were after Reynard on the inter-port trail, you wanted to steal its growth. When the growth was stolen before you could take it, you found out where Reynard was going, and decided to go there yourself. You came to Katsoaru for Nitan didn’t you? Marcinus helped you interrogate the magistrate. That is why you felt so indebted to my sibling, that is why you saved its life so many times is it not?”

“I swear imperial one, I never saw the magistrate after the night you showed it to me.”

“Your lies will not save you now.”

“I am not lying imperial one.”

Manus waved off my words. “Honestly, I do not even care. So, let us play your game. Let us pretend that you do not know why I am here, and I will tell you. Two days ago, Nitan confessed to me. It confessed that the yielders who’d been in that inn when Reynard was murdered were led by one called Isthum. Isthum is here in Chiboga. It has my growth cache and I am here to take it back. You are going to help me Nebud.”

Arexon seemed to be observing the entire scene with mild curiosity. It turned its focus from Manus to me as we spoke. Now it stared at me.

“I do not know of this yielder. Honestly, imperial one, you have misjudged me. Marcinus and I did not conspire to interrogate the magistrate behind your back. I swear.” I found myself saying these words more desperate to clear Marcinus’ name than mine. I did not want Manus thinking that Marcinus was a threat to it in anyway.

“I said I do not care about your lies Nebud. You will help me.” It broke off another chunk of cake and fed itself, before turning back to regard me. “You know, pater is searching everywhere for the uspec who stole Marcinus’ eye. It is offering fifty pieces of worth to whoever uncovers the identity of this renegade uspec and brings its head to the Chateau. And, Arexon was just telling me of the tale of the Kaiser’s bout which has spread to Chiboga. The mighty Sophila is eager to receive me and hear firsthand about the Uspecipyte warrior who won.”

Manus did not come out and say it, but its threats were obvious to me. My jaw clenched. I breathed in and then out slowly. “Of course, I will do anything I can to help you imperial one.”

Manus smiled.

I found it hard to eat after that. Manus asked for my address and I saw no other recourse than to tell the uspec where I was staying. By the time I left the inn, I felt as if I was suffocating. I rushed through the thick fogs, blind to the speeding canoes. In my haste to leave the inn, I’d forgotten to get the nama for Musa. I could not go back in, not with Manus there. I could not leave either. I resigned myself to once again, doing Manus’ bidding. What kind of luck sent me to the same state that Manus was going to? And the same inn? I should have eaten somewhere else. I should have stayed in my base. The stream of should-haves continued in my head as I turned around a bend. I was just about to walk out of the fourth base when I felt a hard object hit me in the back of the head. The blow was so precise that it knocked me to oblivion.

I fell to the hard ground unconscious.

ahh
nebud has entered into trouble oooo
I wonder how he'll get through this one now
and also why can't nebud fly yet he should have had at least enough feathers to enable him to fly ND also the magic of the eye he stole from marcinus wen will her use the magic
nice work obehiD

seriously manus is a bad news to nebud

Damn... Lemme be viewing jejely

Wow. This is getting more intriguing with every update. Uodate

Wow!!!!!it so good to b here once again, great work at obehid

Obehid thanks for the update obehid hope the blow that knocked nehud out wasn't aided with Panasophy because am really scared of that strange magic until my nehud is a master in that aspect and please can you let me to do the honor of supplying nehud with correct guns and bullets when the time comes for him to kill manus because I really dislike that uspec and it will be too merciful to kill him with cutlass or spectral

All road leads to Nebuds victory. That's all I have to say.

Thanks Obehid.

Am feeling sorry for Nebud
Thanks for the lovely update ObehiD

@dragonstar14 Thank you. So, the flying is really dependent on the uspec. Nebud's ailerons will start flapping when they are ready to. The magic is another story, but eventually we'll get to see what's happening with the spectra.

@Ultimategeneral lol, I agree oh

@cassbeat haha, please do, more twists and turns coming up

@tunjilomo thank you! I'm so happy you said that. Hopefully it keeps getting even more and more intriguing

@spixytinxy welcome back, we've missed you! Thank you, hope you had fun catching up

@ayshow6102 I like the way you're thinking. Was it aided with pansophy? We don't really know, adn we may or may not ever know that. Yeah, pansophy is not an easy magic to get, so, we'll see how Nebud manages with jus spectra. Will it ever get pansophy? We'll see. HAHA! it's really guns and bullets oh! But it can actually be more painful to kill someone with cutlass oh, if you know how to use it well. But I will relay your offer to Nebud

@Fazemood LOL! I like that, short and simple prediction. I hope so too...

@Omittesb thank you for feeling sorry for Nebud. Chai, its all alone in this strange burg. Anyway, let's see what will happen next oh.

obehiD:
@dragonstar14 Thank you. So, the flying is really dependent on the uspec. Nebud's ailerons will start flapping when they are ready to. The magic is another story, but eventually we'll get to see what's happening with the spectra.

@Ultimategeneral lol, I agree oh

@cassbeat haha, please do, more twists and turns coming up

@tunjilomo thank you! I'm so happy you said that. Hopefully it keeps getting even more and more intriguing

@spixytinxy welcome back, we've missed you! Thank you, hope you had fun catching up

@ayshow6102 I like the way you're thinking. Was it aided with pansophy? We don't really know, adn we may or may not ever know that. Yeah, pansophy is not an easy magic to get, so, we'll see how Nebud manages with jus spectra. Will it ever get pansophy? We'll see. HAHA! it's really guns and bullets oh! But it can actually be more painful to kill someone with cutlass oh, if you know how to use it well. But I will relay your offer to Nebud

@Fazemood LOL! I like that, short and simple prediction. I hope so too...

@Omittesb thank you for feeling sorry for Nebud. Chai, its all alone in this strange burg. Anyway, let's see what will happen next oh.

Patiently waiting then

Part 3
---------

I was plagued by an incessant throbbing at the back of my head. I blinked, my vision blurry, as I struggled to reorient myself. Where was I? A quick glance around the room told me that it was somewhere extravagant. It was a small nook with ivory colored flooring and a long plum lounging bed occupying half of the room. Two thick embroidered golden curtains pointed at two entrances into the room. There were two soldiers standing by both entries.

I’d been set on the bed, half seated and half sprawled. Drowsily, I pulled my upper body off the lounging bed. I tried to stand and found that my feet were wobbly underneath me.

With an irritated sigh, I collapsed back into the lounging bed, glaring at the soldiers in the room. The soldiers had black belts on, and swords attached to those belts. Their hands on the hilts of their swords reminded me of mine. I bent my head downwards, and found my sheath empty. The brush of a hard material against my thighs told me that they had not thought to look for my dagger.

The soldiers had three crosses attached to their earrings. Just like the soldier from the hangar, and the ones who’d been accompanying Arexon. Was Arexon behind this? Again, I glanced at the soldiers and found their gazes focused on the air in front of them. As I studied their unyielding bearing, I recalled my meeting with Manus. Perhaps, the imperial one was behind this abduction. Did it not believe that I would do as I’d promised?

I was just about to demand that the soldiers explain themselves to me, when I saw a young uspec, with studs in its ears, draw open one set of curtains. A soldier dressed as those in the room marched in. It walked a few steps in, turned to the side and announced, “Assiduity!”

Immediately, the soldiers all turned at once so that they were facing each other. They took their hands off their swords and saluted.

The young uspec ran to the other set of curtains and pulled them open.

Four soldiers with two silver bands on their arms marched into the room. They went straight from the first curtain, and through the second. An uspec with five golden bands around both arms marched behind them. The uspec was gone through the curtains before I realized who it was.

The Kaiser, Sophila!

I’d been brought to the Castle.

“In clover!” The soldier barked out the command.

The other soldiers returned to their previous positions with their backs to the walls beside the curtains, and their hands on the hilts of their swords. The one who’d walked into the room, marched through the second set of curtains, and the young uspec closed the first set of curtains, walked through the second, and then closed those behind it.

Tranquility returned to our little nook. After the silence was restored, I realized that my feet were a lot steadier than they’d been before. Steady enough for me to get to my feet, beat these soldiers up, and then fight my way out of the Castle. But even if I could, why would I want to do that?

I stayed where I was, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“In clover!” I heard a voice yell from the other side of the curtains. This was not the same voice which had made the announcement in here. “What is this I hear about Maraci’s offspring?”

“It is in Chiboga mighty one.” A familiar voice replied.

“I know that.” The other voice seemed impatient. “What I want to know Arexon, is why it is here.”

Arexon, that was why the voice sounded familiar. “It is here for Isthum mighty one.”

“Isthum? Sophian?”

“Arexon just informed me of this sirga.” A new voice stated.

“Well Arexon, why is Manus looking for Isthum?”

My ears pricked up at that. This yielder Isthum had to be important if the Kaiser was so concerned about it.

“Mighty one, I cannot say with full confidence, but, according to Manus, Isthum stole a halcyon’s epic’s worth of growth from it.”

“How much?” the voice snapped.

“Five hundred pieces of worth mighty one.”

“Where did this theft occur?”

“On the inter-port trail mighty one.”

“How is this possible Sophian?”

“It is not sirga. Isthum is closely watched. It does not leave Chiboga without my permission. Isthum has not left this port in years. Manus is lying.”

‘Manus is lying.’ The words reverberated in my head, echoing against my eardrums. Why would Manus lie? Or had it simply been misinformed? Perhaps the magistrate lied.

“Why?” I’d heard enough of the conversation to identify this as the Kaiser’s voice.

“I don’t know mighty one.” This was Arexon.

There was silence, and then the Kaiser bellowed, “that is not acceptable!”

A pensive voice spoke next. I recognized the voice as belonging to the third unknown speaker in the conversation. The one that the Kaiser called ‘Sophian’. “Who was this growth stolen from Arexon?”

“A one-band noble called Reynard.” Arexon replied.

“Hmmm. And where did this noble purchase the growth?”

“Lahooni.”

“Lahooni?” the Kaiser asked. “Arexon, do you think that it is just a coincidence that this Reynard goes to Lahooni and Manus comes here seeking Isthum?”

“No mighty one.”

“What happened to this Reynard? Did it provide Manus with the yielder’s name?”

“No. Reynard was killed on the inter-port trail. From what I pieced together off Manus’ conversation with the banneret, a Katsoaru magistrate was present on the inter-port trail during the death. It was the magistrate that gave Manus the name.”

“I do not like this!” the Kaiser yelled.

“Forgive me mighty one.” Arexon said.

“Manus knows.” Sophian declared.

Manus knows what? I pondered, completely engrossed by the conversation between the three uspecs.

“It is impossible.” The Kaiser stated emphatically.

“Not if that was the real reason behind Reynard’s trip to Lahooni.”

Another round of silence followed Sophian’s words.

“Explain yourself.” The Kaiser ordered.

“Yes sirga.” Sophian replied. “I believe that the purchase of growth was a deception.”

“Why would Manus need a deception to send an uspec to Lahooni?”

“According to Isthum, Calam sent the last brio to Maraci. It was in Katsoaru that Takabat intercepted it, and brought it here instead. Perhaps Calam sent something else to Kastoaru, something that would make Manus send an uspec back to Lahooni to investigate.” Sophian said. “Lahooni is openly considered an Uspecipyte port, but Salin knows better. The only way that it would allow a Katsoaru uspec into its port is if it was sent by Manus, with a purpose. What better purpose than to purchase a cache of growth?”

“Maybe it really was purchasing a cache of growth.” Arexon stated.

“Rubbish.” Sophian replied. “Isthum says that Calam sent a large cache of pansophic lifeforces to Katsoaru before it was killed.”

“Almost as if Calam knew that something was going to happen to it, and it was trying to strengthen another Uspecipte port before its downfall.”

“Exactly. That is why the plenum wants Katsoaru so desperately. They want everything that Calam sent to that port. With Manus as heir, they are close to getting what they want.” Sophian paused. “If Katsoaru already has a large cache of pansophic lifeforces, why would Manus need to purchase more?”

“If you are right sirga, then that means that Manus has five hundred pieces of worth to waste.”

“Katsoaru is a wealthy port, made even wealthier by Calam’s last gifts.”

“Still, five hundred pieces of worth is a lot of money.”

“Not if Manus was searching for something worth so much more.”

“The fabled wealth of Lahooni?” Arexon’s voice was filled with doubt.

“Rumored to be in the millions of worth. What is five hundred pieces in the face of that?”

“Surely, if Lahooni had that much wealth the plenum would have found it by now.”

“You are forgetting that Calam was a genius. There are few uspecs who could break into a lock that Calam designed. If Calam chose to hide the wealth, only the key could reveal it.”

“I still find it hard to believe that Lahooni could have been that wealthy.”

“Of course it was. Calam’s still unfound innovations alone are priced at hundreds of thousands of worth. Add that to the wealth that the line had saved over generations. And if Salin had found that wealth, it would not be living like a pauper. Why do you think Salin is so dependent on the plenum? Whatever fortune the uspec has comes from them. And that is probably why it was so eager to receive Reynard, and the five hundred pieces of worth the uspec brought with it.”

“That still does not explain why Manus is searching for Isthum.” The Kaiser stated flatly. “Unless…”

“Unless Manus knows.” Sophian completed. “Unless it found out that Calam’s final act was to send the last brio to Katsoaru.”

“It thinks the last brio is the key to the fortune of Lahooni.” Arexon stated with awe.

“And it knows that the trail ends with Isthum.”

“But how would Manus have found that out? Not even the plenum knows that.”

“Someone in Lahooni knows. Reynard must have found the person.” Sophian replied.

“But Reynard died on the inter-port trail.”

“If I sent you on such a mission Arexon, and you found the name ‘Isthum’, would you keep such sensitive information in only one place?”

“Yes sirga, in my head.”

Sophian chuckled. “Perhaps Reynard was as cautious as you. The magistrate could have met with Reynard before it died, and gotten the information from the uspec’s head through pansophy. Or perhaps not. Maybe Reynard committed the details of its mission to paper, and the magistrate found the documentation. Either ways, the magistrate found out, and it told Manus.”

“Now, what do we do?” Arexon asked.

“We kill the imperial one.” The Kaiser said.

Its comment must have been a joke, because the uspecs laughed.

“We kill Isthum.” The Kaiser stated. “That yielder has far outlived its usefulness.”

“But only Isthum has the…”

“Then find it!” The Kaiser snapped, cutting Arexon off.

“Sirga, the plenum wants Isthum alive. If we kill the yielder, they will not be pleased.” Sophian cautioned.

“This is my port!” The Kaiser yelled. “I am Kaiser of Chiboga and all its annexed ports. I own more than half of the mines in the entire existence. I do not care what the plenum thinks. I answer to no one but the Kuwor.”

“Please, pater, reconsider.” ‘Pater’? This was Sophian, which meant that Sophian had to be the Kaiser’s offspring, an imperial one.

I heard a loud sigh. “The plenum!” it spat. “I curse them!” Silence greeted the Kaiser’s words, giving me time to ponder on this new revelation. The Kaiser of Chiboga, although Kuworyte, was not in league with the plenum? I knew that this had to have some significance, but I could not think of exactly what that significance was, not when there was a little voice in the back of my mind, telling me that there was something very familiar about this ‘last brio’ that they spoke of. I’d heard it before, but I just could not recall exactly where I’d heard it, and why it had been mentioned.

“Very well, I will pander to the plenum yet again. Kill Isthum, lead Manus to the body and make sure that the uspec leaves my port. Then we will cater to the plenum. We do have the one thing that they want more than anything else. We have the last brio.”

“Yes, mighty one.”

“Yes, sirga.”

“Do it quickly!”

Suddenly, the young uspec came running out of the curtains, pulling it open and rushing to open the other.

The soldier with the crosses on its earring marched in, yelled “Assiduity!” and then saluted.

The Kaiser and its soldiers were marching out of the room before I could decide whether or not to make my presence known.

I was still pondering this when the room was empty again and the soldier yelled, “In clover!” before marching out.

“Is the banneret here yet?” I heard Sophian ask.

“Yes sirga.” An unfamiliar voice replied.

“Bring it in.” Sophian ordered.

The curtains were drawn and an uspec with a single silver band on its arm and a silver rectangle on its earrings, walked out. The uspec’s belt was silver, just as Arexon’s had been. Again, I wondered what the silver bands meant. This uspec had three of its outer eyes filled.

“Come in Banneret.” The soldier said, staring at me.

Again, I contemplated my odds at a successful escape. I did not like my chances, not when all the uspecs in this room had the magic of the boga eyes which could kill instantly.

I stood. On impulse, my hand reached for the hilt of my cutlass, only to find the sheath empty. I had to make a conscientious effort to keep that hand from wandering towards my hidden dagger.

The soldier held the curtains open, and I walked in.

Counting the imperial and Arexon, there were four uspecs in the room. From my quick survey of the room, I noted that it was some sort of office.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned.

Two soldiers had followed me from the other room. I found this slightly alarming, but I could not say why with any certainty.

There was a black desk towards one wall of the room. Arexon stood to one side of the desk, and the imperial, which I identified by the golden bands on its arm, stood in front of the desk. I noted that this uspec did not wear any earrings. It wore a golden belt instead and had a sword sheathed on that belt. I only needed to look at the uspec once to know that I could take it in a fair fight.

It had bulk, more bulk than Manus, but not as much as Marcinus. It was also fairly short, much shorter than the uspec it was standing next to. But, it had all of its outer eyes filled, which meant that it had the full range of spectra.

I was surprised to see that the last uspec in the room was not boga. It had the neck scales of an hooni. But it was also a soldier, one with a silver band around its arm, and a rectangle on its earrings.

I stopped in front of the imperial one and curtsied.

“Rise.” It said.

“Salutations imperial one.” I greeted.

There was a level of severity in the uspec’s expressions which I had not seen on any other. I was familiar with nobles who smiled, and those who frowned. But this noble was something else. I could tell from looking at its face, that it was not prone to smiling.

It was standing with its hands crossed behind its back, its bearing much similar to that of the other soldiers I’d seen. “I am the imperial undead, Sophian, sole imperial in the line of the Kaisers of Chiboga.” It turned to pick up a sheet of paper off its desk, turned back to me, and said, “and according to this log, you are Banneret Nebud, who hales from Mugakute. Is that right?”

I recognized the sheet of paper from the hangar. “Yes, imperial one.”

“Mugakute?” It asked, repeating the port’s name.

“Yes, imperial one.”

The uspec placed the sheet of paper back on the table and stared at me. It placed its hands behind its back, widened its stance, and then said, “you are lying.”

“I am not, imperial one.”

“According to Manus, you hale from the forgotten kingdom of Murekute, an Uspecipyte port.”

“The imperial Manus must have been mistaken.”

The uspec’s eyes all narrowed on my center eye. “Tiyoseriwosin?”

“Kuworyte.” I replied, without blinking.

“Yet you have just come from Katsoaru?” It stated.

“I was questioned on this in the hangar, imperial one, and I explained the purpose of my visit to that port.”

“So, you stick by your story?”

“Yes, imperial one.”

The look on its face did not change. It continued to stare into my center eye, and then it relaxed the gaze of its outer eyes, only staring at my center eye with its own.

“You are lying.” It stated, its voice filled with conviction.

I knew that it knew the truth. I didn’t know how it found out, but I knew that it knew. It knew that I’d claimed to be Uspecipyte in Katsoaru. Had Manus told them? That was the only way that the uspec could know with this level of certainty. But why would Manus tell them after I’d promised to help it?

The imperial one took a step towards me.

It stretched out its arm, moving its hand towards my arm. It was going to touch me. The uspec did not seem like the type for casual pats. If it knew that I was lying, then the only reason it would touch me would be to use pansophy on me.

I could not let that happen; I could not let the uspec see into my head.

I reacted.

I reached for the dagger in my belt and pulled it out. Then I struck out with the dagger, placing the sharp tip of the weapon against the imperial one’s wrist.

Even for Nebud, that was a rash action.

Moooooreeeeeeeeee plssssssss!!!!!

More plsssssssssssssssssssssss

Thanks for the update where's Musa Nw I thought that he was the one that brushed nehud leg @ the inn b4 he was captured

Nebud reaction is expected an uspecs had to demand respect to be respected. If the kaiser knew it was lying, why then try to use pansophy? It lacks merit it this aspect. Nebud should even go ahead and stab it's hand.

Manus is biting more than it can chew, I hope it chokes on its greed soonest.

Nebud was the key to isle of brio, could it be chusp in his head? If is him then the plenum have chew what the cant swallow once he has gather all his lifeform

Nebud my nigger , if it was me that's the perfect action I would have taken
nice one ObehiD