₦airaland Forum

Thanks to everyone who replied to my request for taking the time to help me with this!!!

@stevyno1 Yes, that's definitely happening here. I think this kind of completes that missing link of how Nebud became Nebud (even where the name came from self) and how Takabat was involved, plus Gerangi and Isthum. Plus we see that Nebud and Fajahromo's fight is not even new. Another major thing is the revelation that Nebud is the last brio that everyone has been looking for

@HotB thank you for the feedback on clarity. You are clear oh! Thank you I'm going to have to figure out a way to make it clearer

@cassbeat I agree

@Fazemood Exactly! Everyone that has been looking for it, even talking about it in front of it, like if you remember Chiboga, anyway that's the major point I wanted to pass along with this update. There were other smaller points, but that's the major one. But, it looks like you missed the update with the wealth of Lahooni. Calam has already revealed to Nebud where the wealth of Lahooni is...No oh! How can it be fake, all that money, even me I'm salivating for it. No, it's not fake. Actually Gerangi's story...it's not finished yet, but I don't know if I'll say Gerangi was against Nebud, more like it was acting for someone else...that's all I'll say about that, I don't want to spoil it

@olite93 That's actually a great question! The ring is the key to the last brio...that's all I'll say for now. Is it unlocking something...well, we'll see

@ayshow6102 LOL why do you want to do such violence to Musa? Musa that we don't even know if it's still alive...I guess we will see

@doctorexcel thank you for reading and enjoying and taking the time to flatter me, lol

@Boludammie Thank you for reading and seeing the unveiling

@presh654 This your reasoning is FIRE!!! Anyway, I won't say anymore so that I don't spoil it, but weldone sha

Takabat sighed. “I have heard you my friend, now will you hear me?”

Gerangi was silent. Then, “Omo,” it called out. Hearing its nickname, Fajahromo rose from its stool and walked over to the pious one. They departed together.

There was silence in the room after the uspecs left. Gemma walked over to the curtains, drew it back and then stared out, its head jerking from side to side as if in search of something. Then it drew back into the room and pulled the curtains shut.

“What is the last brio?” It asked.

“The last brio is not a what.” Takabat stated. “It’s a who.”

Again, I felt the weight of eyes on me. This time I did not stir. I kept my gaze on the surface of the table, as those horrible words reverberated in my head. Gerangi’s words played on a loop, but I could not allow myself to hear them. I could not believe them. The repercussions were too great.

“Although we’ve done a good job of making the entire world think it’s a silly artifact.” Isthum laughed. “Calami would be proud of you Takabat.” The uspec sobered. “Now that your progenitor knows of the uspec’s presence, what will you do with it.”

“I need more time.” Takabat stated. “I need more time.”

“You could take it back to Katsoaru.”

“No!” Takabat snapped. “It will not be safe there. Its identity must be kept secret. No one can know who it is. No one can know what it is. No one can know.”

“But the mighty Calam trusted Maraci.”

“Maraci is a warrior, it does not have the wisdom to protect it. After all of this, all the sacrifices, we must ensure that Cala is safe.”

“I leave it to you then. I must return to Chiboga before my captors realize that I managed to escape.”

“I am sorry for the burden on you my friend.”

Isthum scoffed. “Someone needs to be there to watch over Sensu and plant the decoy in Aurelion if it ever comes to that. Who better than a common pious one? They will never suspect it. That is what makes your plan so genius. Bah! Don’t worry about me, I will be fine. They will watch over me, and protect me, for the sake of the precious last brio. It is you I am concerned for. Take care of yourself my friend.”

Takabat and Isthum walked over to each other and embraced. Then quicksand appeared underneath Isthum and it was gone.

“Is it true?” the words felt strange coming from my mouth. It had been so long since I’d spoken that I must have begun to doubt my own ability to do it. There could be no doubt now though, my mouth formed the words and the breath in my windpipes gave them sound.

Gemma gasped. Takabat stared at me with its mouth hanging open. My speech had shocked them.

Takabat was the first to shake out of it. “Is what true?”

“Is my sire gone? Or is that just another lie?” There were so many lies. I knew the lies. Gerangi believed that I was Sensu’s offspring, but I was not. I was Calami’s, the might Calam was my sire. And the last brio? So many different lies and games my head spun whenever I tried to keep up with it. But this I had to know. This I had to know the truth of. If my sire was dead, then what did that mean? Surely it could not be true. Gerangi said that my entire line was gone. But if my line was gone, I would be gone, and I was not. Maybe it meant gone as in gone from Lahooni?

Takabat knelt in front of me.

“I’m sorry Cala.” It said. “All I wanted to do was protect you.”

“No! Liar! Liar!!” I yelled.

“Quiet!” it snapped in a whisper. “No one can know you’re here. Please Cala, no one can know. You must be quiet.”

“NO!!!” I could not stop screaming. I screamed so loud my throat became hoarse. Tears ran down my face. Uncontrollable tears. Of all the lies, why did this one have to be the truth? Thoughts of my sire’s green face filled my mind. Would I truly never see it again? No. I could not bear it. There was too much pain, too much sorrow. I wanted to go back to Lahooni, back to the palace. Back to playing games with Chike and hearing sire’s stories. It told me so many stories. Why could I not remember any one at that moment? Other faces swamped my mind. Animaon and its toys. Animaon made the best toys. Its toys were magical, I’d thought that I would learn to make toys like Animaon did. And Chike would never teach me how to fight. Chike had sworn that it would teach me how to fight. It had taught my progenitor, and my progenitor had been the greatest fighter in the entire port. I had hoped to be great like my progenitor.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

The curtains were jerked aside. I heard the sound of footsteps.

Takabat’s hand wrapped around my arm and suddenly I could not speak. The yells of pain and grief were stuck in my throat. My tears continued to flow down my face, but sound no longer accompanied them. I wanted that sound back. I had to return to Lahooni. I had to return to Lahooni to mourn my sire. What did my sire’s death mean? Who was I to be now?

A strange hand clamped onto me and forced me around. An uspec about as old as Isthum stared down at me. The uspec had the tail of a kute.

“I am sorry for the disturbance pater.” Takabat said formally.

Fajahromo stood beside the tall uspec.

“What is this?”

Takabat bowed. “An uspec, pater, newly born.”

I frowned. I was not newly born. My mind fought between the urgent prodding of my grief, and the knowledge that the conversation taking place was one to be aware of.

“Why is it in my dwelling?”

“It is de trop, pater, its sires did not want it.”

The uspec frowned. “Sires? What of its progenitors?”

“Both died in giving it life.”

The uspec let go off me as if I had suddenly become foul. “It is irira?” the uspec asked.

Takabat inhaled. I could tell from that inhale that it had made a mistake. I did not know what it meant to be irira, but I knew what Takabat sounded like when it said something it wished it hadn’t.

“Please let me keep it pater, let me care for it.”

“No.”

“Pater please…”

“No! Nebu!”

‘I am sorry Cala. I will find you!’ the words drifted into my head, and I knew that they were Takabat’s. ‘I will find you and restore you to your rightful position, but until I do, it is better that you don’t remember any of this. You are newborn.’

Suddenly, I could speak.

I heard myself screaming. And then nothing. Why was I screaming? Tears filled my eyes, but I had no understanding of why I cried. Many green faces stared at me, but I knew none of them.

“Great one, you called?” An uspec walked in.

“Nebu, take this uspec to the slums. It is de trop.”

“Which slum, great one?”

“Whichever slum you please.”

My head ached.

It was not unusual for me to wake up from these dreams with a headache, but this one seemed so much more acute.

“Nebud!” The voice in my head called. I flinched. The loud volume of the voice only seemed to further exacerbate my headache. I did not bother asking what it wanted. I knew it would tell me in its own time.

“Go to Lahooni.” The voice said. “And take Checha’s eye. You must not fail me.”

A shiver passed through me. I could not recall anything from the dream that I’d had once I placed the eye into my socket, but there was something familiar about the name Checha.

“Checha.” I mused aloud.

“Nebud?”

I had forgotten that I was not alone. I jumped to my feet immediately. It took me some time to recall my location. The roiling ache in my head did not make remembering any easier. But, eventually, it came back to me. I was in Animaon’s quarters. Animaon, the uspec whose eye I had been tasked with taking last. Perhaps this Checha would be as easy as Animaon. That was a pleasant thought. At least I knew what Checha was not. It was not the Kaiser of that port. Lahooni had no Kaiser, not since my sire had been slaughtered. No, Salin was the custodian of Lahooni now.

“Did you say Checha?” Arexon’s frowning face stared into mine.

I nodded. The ache in my head did not abate. “Do you know the uspec?”

“Checha is one of the five Kaisers in the plenum. Why did you say its name?”

I laughed. I could not help it. The voice in my head wanted me to take the eye of a member of the plenum? Surely, I was not alone in seeing the hilarity of the situation. Each guffaw sent a spike of pain to my head, but I could not stop. In the face of all of this. The uncertainty of Musa’s life. Xavier’s wellbeing. Animaon’s self-sentence to the isle of shuns, and now this, the voice in my head wanted me to take the eye of a member of the plenum?

My throbbing head chose that moment to remind me of words that Arexon had said to me while it was still commander, and I an uspec soldier in a serf army.

“If the voice tells you to kill yourself, will you do that too?”

The question had seemed ludicrous then, but now, it did not seem quite so absurd. I did not need Arexon to tell me that going after a member of the plenum was a suicide mission. How far was I really willing to go in acquiescence to the voice in my head? And what would happen if I chose to disobey?

“YOU BELONG TO ME!” the voice roared, flaring to life in a way that it had never done before. I fell to my knees, my hands supporting my aching head. “YOU BELONG TO ME!” I let out a gruff cry.

My head pounded as the voice faded.

“Checha’s eye.” It said in a whisper before it was gone.

***One thing to note about this update is that it holds one crucial arc for the story, but it's also being told from the POV of someone who has no idea what is going on, so I need you to tell me if you're able to spot the HUGE revelation here, because I want it to be clear. Thank you ***

Part 15
---------

I missed my sire. Where was it? My eye darted to the side where another young uspec sat on a stool beside me. The uspec looked much older than I was. A year older, if I had to guess. How old was I? I did not know. Much older than the last time that I had seen my sire, that was certain. The last time I’d been with my sire, I had been unable to form words adequately. I had not been able to tell it that I loved it. That was before my sire put me into a coffer, and remanded me into another’s care. I do not even know how long I spent in that coffer. But when I came out of it, my sire was gone. I was surrounded by strange uspecs.

The last time I spoke was to my sire. I did not know these uspecs, and I did not trust them.

The young uspec’s head rose. Its eye met mine and it held my gaze for much longer than it usually did. Then it looked away, its eye sweeping quickly towards the other end of the room where its sibling entertained the visiting pious. Assured that its sibling was not watching us, Fajahromo climbed to its knees on the stool and struck out with its hand. It grabbed my skin between its fingers and pinched.

I ignored it.

The pain built as the young uspec continued to pinch my arm.

My mind darted to more pleasurable things. Like the memory of my sire. I remembered the green room that it had taken me to, the one that it had told me not to forget. There were other things not quite clear in my mind, like the names my sire mentioned in that room, and instructions that it had given me, but I could recall the green room.

Fajahromo’s fingers left me. It frowned, annoyed that it had failed to evoke a response. It wanted me to cry out, I would not. I did during my first days here, but then I got tired. I was tired always. Tired of not understanding. Nothing made sense, I wanted my sire back.

I wanted to gaze into its face. Its face was the first that I had seen. I never saw my pater. Pater died creating me. It was a thing of sadness. Chike was sad often, but I brought it joy. I missed Chike too. Chike and sire. Where did they go? Why had they left me?

The sudden pain was so unexpected that I jumped when I felt it.

Drops of blood pooled on my arm, seeping from the wound that the tip of Fajahromo’s blade had inflicted. The uspec smiled at me, delighted at my pain. I remained standing, staring with shock at the blood on my arm.

A firm hand grabbed onto my arm. It yanked the arm up. I turned to find Takabat staring at me. It was pious. I did not like it. It never smiled. Its face was too serious, like its sibling Fajahromo. I hated Fajahromo.

The wound healed.

Pansophy. Takabat had it.

“What happened?” Takabat asked. “How did you cut yourself?”

I thought it was stupid. Why would I cut myself? My sire would not have asked a stupid question like that. My sire would have known what had happened to me. My sire was a genius. I missed my sire. I missed it so much. Why had it abandoned me? I felt tears pooling in my eyes, and fought the familiar urge to shed them. Fajahromo laughed whenever I cried. I did not like to give Fajahromo reasons to laugh.

Takabat sighed.

“What will you do with it?” A pious one asked. This pious one was like Takabat, always serious. It was in its prime, much older than Takabat was. I knew that its name was Isthum. There was one more pious one in the room. That one was older than Takabat, but not as old as Isthum. Its name was Gerangi. I knew the name of every pious one who Takabat allowed to see me. Takabat kept me hidden. That was one of the many reasons I hated it. It was Takabat’s fault that my sire could not find me. I thought of all the reasons it could have had for sending me away. It did not matter the reason, I knew that my sire regretted it now. I knew that it missed me as much as I missed it. I knew that it wanted me back, but how could it find me when Takabat hid me?

Takabat was young. Very young for a pious. It was the first thing every uspec said once they saw it. They said it was too young for a pious. They respected it for its youth. Takabat frowned at me.

“I will do what I must.”

“What an interesting answer.” The other pious one stated. It smiled as it approached me. This was Gerangi. There was something familiar about Gerangi. It looked like an uspec I had seen before, even though I could not place exactly where I had seen it.

“I still do not understand why the offspring of some Lahooni noble is worth so much of your time.” Gerangi remarked mildly.

“Not just some noble, but a noble that the mighty Calam entrusted with the last brio.” Isthum turned its gaze to Takabat. Isthum’s lips twitched as it studied me. It stared at me as if we shared a secret. I looked away. I did not like being surrounded by so many uspecs.

Gerangi seemed impatient. “I understand that you needed the leverage of the uspec’s offspring to get it to disclose the location of the last brio, but now that you have it, surely you can do away with the young one? The longer you hold onto it, the more chances there will be of Sophila finding it.”

“I told Sensu that I would take care of its offspring, in exchange for the location of the last brio. It gave me the last brio. Am I to renege on my part of the bargain?”

“The virtue of youth.” Isthum remarked.

Gerangi scoffed. “You have the ring. Kill the uspec and be done with it.”
I knew that I was the uspec they referred to. I glanced up at Takabat. Our eyes met. It had the calculating look of one examining its options. Would it kill me? If I could not be with my sire, I did not want to live. I did not want to spend the rest of my life enduring Fajahromo’s pinches. Takabat’s gaze moved over to its sibling. It walked towards Fajahromo then. Takabat leaned on the table, studying the piece of parchment Fajahromo had been scribbling on. It smiled, its pride at its younger sibling showing fully as it read over the parchment.

“What is this?” Takabat asked.

“It is an acclaim, sibling, for the mighty Checha’s birthday feast.”

Takabat laughed. It rose to its full height and placed its hand on its younger sibling’s scalp. “Not even two years old, and its already politicking.”

Gerangi’s countenance was serious as it continued to examine me. “It learns from the great Fajahr. Perhaps you should do the same.”

The smile faded from Takabat’s face. “Do not deem yourself fit to lecture me on my progenitor.”

“You are taking a great risk, not only for yourself, but for everyone who knows of this. What do you think Checha will do when it finds out about this uspec’s presence here? And the last brio? Checha is offering Lahooni to the first uspec who gives it any information on the whereabouts of Sensu or the last brio…”

“We are pious, the games we play we do to protect our own kind. On that the three of us agree.” Isthum interrupted Gerangi.

“But Checha is offering Lahooni.”

“And what will a pious one do with a port? We stick to our plan. Either the plenum will succeed, or they will not. If the plenum succeeds, then we can offer them the last brio. It will still be as significant to them then as it is now. We play the smarter game by waiting.”

Gerangi mumbled to itself.

Gemma walked into the room. I liked this imp. It reminded me in some ways of Chike. If there was anyone I would speak to, it would be Gemma. But Gemma was loyal to Takabat, as Chike had been loyal to my sire. Whatever I said to Gemma, the pious one would learn of it, and I did not want the pious one to learn anything from me.

“Your progenitor has returned, master.” It said, bowing to Takabat. It turned briefly towards me, before it continued speaking. “The duke mentioned that it wishes to speak to you. It will come to your quarters after it has eaten.”

I could tell that there was something wrong. Gemma usually smiled. It did not smile now. Its fingers pulled at the skin of its hands.

“What is it Gem?” Takabat asked.

The imp’s head rose to stare sadly at Takabat. “Your progenitor knows.” It pronounced.

“What?” Takabat snapped.

“It intends to search your quarters master. It knows that you are hiding something here.”

I could feel the weight of the stares on me. I did not even have to look to know the glum satisfaction that Fajahromo would take from this. I did look though, I looked and saw Fajahromo smirking at me.

“Gerangi, I am sure you would like to greet my progenitor. Maybe even dine with it? Take Fajahromo with you.”

It was odd the way Takabat ordered Gerangi around. It was a thing I had noticed. I knew that Gerangi was a commoner, at least it had been before it became pious. It was not like Takabat who was the offspring of a duke.

“Kill it.” Gerangi spat out. “Kill it and give the last brio to Checha. They say that Checha is the founding member of the plenum. All members of the plenum are equal, but Checha is the most equal. Find favor in the Kaiser’s eyes and you will secure a place for yourself and your line. There can be no doubt of the outcome of this war. The only chance the Uspecipytes had lay in Calam. Now that Calam and its entire line is gone, the Uspecipyte cause is finished. Would it not be better to court Checha now, while the plenum is still relatively weak, than to try to gain favor when its strength is already solidified?”

I heard the words but I refused to believe them. I could not.

HotB:
I'm now addicted to Wednesdays and Saturdays. Keep it flowing ObehiD

Mind blown! LOL, thank you

I'm wowwed by all these wows! So I left all of you speechless like this? HAHAHA

@Fazemood Lol, thank you, I'm glad you liked it. LOL, I'm actually not big at all. I just happened to follow Don Jazzy right when Mavins was just starting and Don Jazzy was following everyone who followed him.

@olite93 Yeah, wouldn't it be cool if Nebud had pansophy...

@Smooth278 Thank you, but actually...you were wrong it was Animaon not Animaton, two different people

@decoderdgenius Ahh, please tell me oh, what have I proved to you?

Imps are our invaders Cala. They live forever. How do you think they would treat us, if we suddenly populated their umani lands? Would they welcome us and give us means and magic as we have given to so many of theirs? Umanis keep populating. They keep dying and they keep coming here as imps. What happens if they all rise against us? That is the wrath’s plan. How do we defend ourselves? Samu. It is not death, but it is the closest that the imps will come to it. Do not hate Calam for this Cala, in everything it did, it thought first about the safety of its people. It did not count only uspecs as its people, it counted some imps too. It counted Musa.”

I did not know what to say. Perhaps there was an irony to this. Calam created samus to destroy the wrath, but now the wrath was Musa’s only chance. Unless… “is there a cure? Surely you must have made one…”

Animaon shook its head. “I am sorry Cala, there is no cure. If Calam had one in mind, it carried it to its grave.”

“Musa.” The word came out pained, tinted with grief.

“Where is it now?”

“I took it to the wrath. Once, long ago, Musa told me of the power the wrath had with saving their own kind. I thought they could help it.”

“They cannot.” Animaon’s words rung with finality. “Calam made samu to confuse them. It made it so that they could never break it. I do not know the extent of the magic in it, or even how the mighty one got access to it, but samu is like no other uspec creation. It procreates, Cala, that was Calam’s genius, it created a creature which has a life and consciousness of its own. I completed the creation, but even I do not fully understand it.”

I suddenly wished that Animaon was wrong. I wished that Calam was not the great genius it was touted as. In this one instance I hoped the wrath would win against Calam, that they could find a cure. If they could not, then Musa was dead, gone. Forever. No, why? I knew so much now. Pieces of a conversation with an imp on Nefastu floated into my mind. Calam had been right. The imps did plan to take control of this existence away from us. Just like the plenum planned to take control from Chuspecip. So many different battles being fought on so many different fronts. But did Musa have to fall victim? According to Monica, the wrath was working with the other existences to steal control of this one. It was a fact that I could feel from Nefastu. There was something wrong with it, something that blocked my spectra. If the imps won, uspecs would become slaves to them. My mind darted back to the vision of uspecs serving imps in permafrost. That was what Calam created samu for, to ward off that future. I thought of the plenum’s involvement in this. Monica had also said that the other existences had only been able to get a foothold in this existence because the plenum had gone looking for ways to destroy Chuspecip.

It all came back full circle, to the founder, Chuspecip. To the last brio that the plenum needed to destroy it. To the ring that Fajahromo wore, the key to the last brio. And the last brio itself?

“Have you found the ring?” Animaon asked.

I shook my head.

“You must find it Cala. That ring is the key to your destiny.”

I almost laughed. “Fajahromo has it.”

“Only you can unlock it. Find the ring Cala.” It looked like it was about to say more, but it stopped speaking and turned to stare at the curtains which led into its quarters. My attention moved with it. I heard the clashing of swords then. These sounds followed the thuds of bodies falling onto the floor.

We did not have long to wait.

A bloodied sword parted the curtains to the quarters. I pulled out my cutlass immediately. Animaon did not seem the least bit perturbed. It stood composed, its bearing relaxed as it just watched the commotion unfold.

I saw the spikes first.

Dread filled me as four soldiers marched into Animaon’s quarters. These soldiers were all chiefs. They all had four outer eyes on their faces, a silver cross on their earrings, and a silver band on each of their arms.

“Assiduity!” one of the soldiers yelled.

Immediately, they swung their arms to their chests, saluting as Yakubo marched in. Arexon followed behind it.

Yakubo stopped as soon as its eyes met mine. We both stared at each other. Its bloodstained sword was held tightly in the grip of its hands. It had that sword raised towards me. Arexon’s sword was still in its sheath. It stared at me, and then stared past me, to Animaon. Arexon’s gaze froze on Animaon. It suddenly looked pale, as if it was seeing a ghost.

“It’s you.” Arexon’s voice was breathy.

Animaon smiled. “I am impressed high one.” Animaon stated. “No other has tracked Animaton’s identity back to me. How did you do it?”

It took Arexon a while to compose itself enough to reply. When it did, it said, “I asked the pious one a few questions. It was obvious from its answers that I knew more about its supposed creations than it did. Once I realized that, it was only a matter of…persuasion…to get the pious to confess. I did not expect you. It makes no sense.”

“Doesn’t it? Who else would Calam have sent?”

The words. “You are the one who gave Arexon pansophy?” of course! Arexon’s reaction to seeing Animaon suddenly made sense.

“Yes Cala.” It replied. “Calam wished that it could do more for you high one, but it was already spread thin. It had so many Uspecipyte ports that it had to defend from the plenum. It had not seen Sophila as a threat, and once it did, it became about deciding who was a bigger threat, one greedy Kaiser, or the plenum. Calam chose to concentrate its effort on the Uspecipyte ports fighting against the plenum. When your progenitor died, and you were left alone, pansophy was the only gift Calam could think to give. It was the only thing it thought would make a difference in your life. Of course, it tried to get you away from Sophila, but Sophila would not have given you away for all the money in the world.”

Arexon sighed. “Sheath your swords.” It ordered.

The soldiers placed their bloody swords back in their sheaths.

Arexon turned around. “Guard the room.” The four chiefs marched out, leaving only Arexon and Yakubo behind.

“Nebud.” Arexon said, by way of greeting.

I did not know what to say in return. I placed my cutlass back into my sheath and tried not to think of the words we’d exchanged the last time I’d seen it.

“Does Animaton live?” Animaon asked.

“Yes, pious one.” Arexon replied.

“What will you do now?” Animaon asked.

Arexon frowned, but it remained silent. Its eyes moved to me then. Its gaze scanned over, searching my body. “What happened to Moat?”

Moat? It took me a while to remember that that was the name of the soldier who Animaon had pretended to be. “So, you did send a soldier to lead me to Xavier?” I had thought that Animaon made that up.

“Of course I did.” Arexon replied. “Did you kill it for its troubles?” it drawled.

I shook my head. “I never saw it.” My gaze turned to Animaon.

The uspec smiled. “I told your soldier to return to its quarters. You will find it there when you return.”

A reluctant smile formed on Arexon’s face. “And then you took its place?”

Animaon nodded.

“May I ask why?”

“Cala and I had several things to discuss.” Animaon replied.

It turned to face me.

Animaon placed its hand into one of the pockets in its apron and pulled out a vial. It was a glass vial filled with okun, and…my eyes narrowed on it…an eye.

I gaped at it.

“I believe this is what you came here for.” Animaon stated, extending the bottle to me. “I have waited a long time to give it to you.”

I took it with shaky hands. It seemed too easy. Every other eye I’d needed had been taken by force. Yet this uspec gave its willingly to me. Why? “How did you know I needed this?”

“How did I know that you came here with Musa? How did I know of your friendship with the high one? Maybe one day I’ll tell you.” Its eyes twinkled as its smile widened. “Or more likely, when that day comes, you’ll tell me.”

I did not like riddles. I wanted to know how it knew, and why it was so willing to give its eye. How long had the eye been removed, sitting in a bottle waiting for me to collect it? I would have pressed the uspec more if we were alone. I could sense that I would not be getting any more secret nuggets about Calam or Calami with Arexon in the room.

“So what happens now?” Animaon turned its gaze back to Arexon. “What will you do?”

Arexon swallowed. “You are the plenum’s price for my port.”

“Am I?” Animaon inquired, lightheartedly. “And then you will kill all irira in Chiboga. And when the plenum asks you to procreate and to give them your offspring, just as they’ve asked you to give them Sophi? Will you do that too, to save your port. What will you not do?” Animaon’s voice changed, morphing into an uncanny representation of Arexon’s. “I am the tide we’ve been waiting for in Chiboga. Follow me and I will prove it.” It smiled sadly. “What will you say to those soldiers who so bravely chose to slaughter Chiboga nobles for you?”

Slaughter Chiboga nobles?

Arexon’s eyes widened, and then narrowed. “How do you know all of this? Where you there?”

“I know a lot that even I cannot explain. And I know this. Arigad should have done more for you, but it did not. In a moment of weakness, it chose to save its pride rather than ensure a good future for you. It knew that it could not defeat Sophila and it did not want to die a loser. Sophila’s anger at Arigad transferred to you. Yet you rose, despite this. You are more than you think you are Arexon, much more. Do not become less now. If you give in to the plenum without reason, you will never be able to stop. You will become someone that you are unable to live with.”

Arexon appeared dumbstruck. It cleared its throat. “What do I do?”

“In the future? That is for you to say, but in this moment, the choice is simple. The plenum asked you for Animaton, give them Animaton. It is not up to you to decide who the plenum should have asked for, or who they meant to ask for. Give them Animaton.”

“And when they find out that they were wrong, and I knew?”

“Then you start to play the game of rulers. Giving them Animaton buys you time. Time to prepare, time to decide the kind of Kaiser you want to be. And if you decide that ruling is not for you, it buys you time to run. Time is precious Arexon, save as much of it as you can.”

“And you?”

“I am shun.” Animaon stated. “I will recuse myself to the isle of shuns. That is one place the plenum will never think to look for me.”

Arexon nodded. “I will do as you’ve suggested pious one.”

Animaon nodded back. Then it turned to me. “Take care of yourself Cala.” It said.

I did not have the time to formulate my thoughts into a response, before a pool of quicksand appeared underneath the pious one, and pulled it in.

It was gone.

I stared at the eye in the vial in my hand.

Animaon’s eye.

The voice prompted.

“I should have known.” Arexon muttered to itself. “Put the eye in.” It ordered. “We will stand guard.”

I did not have to be told twice. Now that the eye was in my possession, the urge to claim it was overwhelming. I removed the eye from the bottle and placed it into one of my last two empty eye sockets. It did not take long until the world blackened and became nothing.

Part 14
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The guards placed me on a lounging bed in the center of the open quarters. With the motion of my eyes, I could see through to the other areas of the room. It was unique in its design. An okun lay to my left, a sleeping area with a full-sized bed to my right, and in front of me, the curtains which the guards had brought me in through. There were no curtains that I could see within the room itself, nothing to separate the cleaning portion, the sleeping portion and the entertaining portion, which I’d been unceremoniously dumped in.

There was a clutter in the quarters, which my mind seemed to find somewhat familiar. I could say with confidence that I had never been to a room like this before, but there was something about the discarded items which littered the floor of the area, that seemed to remind me of something else. What it was I could not say. My gaze focused on what looked like a tome lying discarded between my lounging chair and an odd chilled table in the center of the room. It was the size of this tome which captured my fascination. I had never seen a smaller tome. It appeared to be so small that the only way to adequately grip it would be by pinching it between my fingers. But how could a tome that small possibly contain information which could be read? There were lots of other oddities in the room, like strangely shaped goblets, and wire frames made of odd colors. Even the colors themselves seemed to hold a fascination. The flooring of the room had a color gradient to it. There was a color which I could not place close to the bottoms of my lounging bed, and then the color brightened with a pattern that seemed logical, despite the fact that I could not decipher the logic.

My gaze caught on the island around the okun. The floor there was made of a color which I recognized. It was the color of Calam’s ring, the one that I’d seen on Fajahromo’s finger. That color was one so unique that its presence here seemed portentous.

The curtains were pulled aside.

The imposter walked in.

It appeared the same as it had been when it left me to the guards. It wore a light cloak, one which exposed bare arms. It wore nothing else, so I could clearly see the mejo horns on its head, and the hooni scales on its neck. I realized then that it was irira, just like me. Though, it had pansophy, and it was obviously quite skilled at changing its appearance, so I could not know for certain what it looked like. Appearance, I had never seen it used as this uspec did. My limited knowledge of pansophy told me that this uspec would have to be greatly skilled to be able to change its appearance the way it did. It was one thing to completely take away one’s appearance, giving the impression of invisibility, it was another to take another person’s appearance and replace it with one’s own.

This was a young uspec. All of its outer eye sockets were filled, but again, it was missing its center eye. It was shun. But it moved around openly? It had power in this port. I could tell as much from its command of the guards, but how did it come to keep its power while being shun? It did not have the bulk of the soldier it had pretended to be. The bulk in its current appearance showed one that had no skill with fighting. What need did one have for fights, when they had magic as this uspec did?

It stopped in front of me, and then bent to a squat so that I could see its face. That face studied me with awe. There was something akin to recognition in the eyes that looked on me. Those eyes bore into my face, studying each eye, each line, its gaze dropped, and I was left with no recourse but to study it in return.

It sighed. “I have waited a long time for this day.” It said. There was a mixture of sorrow and gratification in its voice. If I did not know better, I would have said it was pining. It looked on me as if I reminded it of some great loss. I reached for its pain then, desperate to see what it felt. My search proved futile. I had forgotten how easily those with pansophy could hide their emotions from me.

“There is no need for that.” The pious stated, no doubt referring to my wasted attempt at reaching its emotions. It placed its hand on me, and immediately, I felt my motion return. My hand went to my cutlass as I made to rise off the lounging bed. “You are among family, Cala.”

I froze.

My gaze rose to the uspec’s smiling face. It took a few step backs, leaving enough room for me to rise from the lounging bed. My hand remained on my cutlass, but I made no move to unsheathe it.

Cala.

It had called me Cala, a name that few knew. Not even Musa had known what my progenitor named me. How did this uspec who appeared younger than I did, know? Pansophy, of course, it could have siphoned through my thoughts. But to what purpose? Why would it call itself family?

“Who are you?” I asked.

The uspec smiled at me. “Animaon.”

Animaon’s eye.

I blinked. What was the meaning of this? This was Animaon, the uspec whose eye I’d come here to take? But the eye was already gone. What did that mean? Surely the voice in my head would have changed directives upon seeing that the eye was no longer attainable. The uspec’s words troubled me. It had called itself my family. My first thought was that Calami could have had another offspring. But that was obviously wrong. If Calami had another offspring, Musa would know. Calam then. Perhaps Calam had another offspring? Even this did not seem likely. No, I was the only one of my line.

“Who are you?” I repeated the question.

“Family.” It replied.

I shook my head. “That is not possible.” I spat out.

“You have spectra, but you have not used it against me. You trust me.”

“You have spectra too, and your spectra surpasses mine. Using spectra on you would be futile. That is if your current appearance can be trusted.”

“Come Cala.” It said, ignoring my previous remarks. The uspec began walking. I was left with no other choice but to follow.

Turning around, I found the one part of the room that had been cordoned off from the rest. The uspec walked to those curtains and pulled them aside. I stopped when I saw the sight.

It was a maker’s lab. Of that I was sure. I had not seen many labs, but I had seen pictures in the tomes that I’d read, and this lab looked more disorganized than all the others I’d seen put together. Still, I could tell what it was.

I stood on the other side of the curtains, watching as the uspec walked around. There were stacks of tall shelves, all of which were filled with items I could not describe. I saw several bottles like the ones I’d seen in the entertaining room. These bottles were filled with colored liquid. There were pots and papers, ink and instruments. A cold draft filled the room. In my confusion, the warmth of the room had gone unnoticed. Now, with the cold draft, I recalled the previous warmth, and my excess of clothing. I took the headguard off.

“I like it cold in here.” The uspec’s voice drifted to me from some corner of the room that I could not see. “Come in Cala.”

I took a wary step into the lab. “My name is Nebud.”

“Is it?” I still could not see the uspec, but I could hear sounds associated with it. I heard the chiming of a bell, a strange sound in the room. Metal clanged against metal.

“Who are you?” I yelled. “Tell me. I have no patience for your games.”

“I am Animaon, Cala. I was as a sibling to your progenitor Calami. Calam took me in when I was barely five, and it trained me. I was its apprentice, the only novice that it ever formed a bond with.”

“You are pious.”

“Yes, Cala. Calam sponsored my ceremony. It was the greatest the spectral existence had ever seen. I think I felt Chuspecip’s sacred touch on me when I recited my vows to serve it.” The uspec was suddenly behind me.

I swiveled. My mouth hung open. The uspec standing in front of me now was not the same one that had walked into the lab.

“I thought of Calam as a progenitor. It never adopted me, but, I think in its own way, it thought of me as a ward.” I felt its sadness like a force emanating from it.

The uspec standing in front of me now was older, much older. It was still in its prime, not yet old enough that its features had started falling off, but I could tell that it was in the final years of its prime. It no longer wore its sleeveless cloak, just a black apron with front pockets. Its face was as it had been before, with its outer eye sockets filled and its center one empty. It was truly shun.

What did this mean for my mission?

Thoughts of my mission reminded me of another’s mission. If this uspec was the one that apprenticed with Calam, then it was the one Arexon was looking for. “You are Animaton.” I stated.

It smiled. “Not quite. Animaton was actually your sire’s doing. It mistook my name for Animaton, the first time it saw it written on paper. The mighty Calam was so great and so powerful that I did not dare correct it until I was much older. For five years it called me Animaton. When I finally told it that my name did not have that ‘t’, it laughed. Calami and Sensu both said that it was too late to change it, that my name would have to be Animaton from then on. Calam had a better idea. It called me Animaon only within the walls of its castle. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, Animaon did not exist. To them I was Animaton. At first it was a game, then as the plenum continued to grow, and we became a target, it became an advantage. I covered my neck scales then, so none outside the castle knew that I was irira. Calam found another mejo maker and paid the uspec to take on the identity of Animaton. And thus my alter ego was born.”

“Animaton cannot undo Calam’s thought bubble?”

Animaon shook its head. “Animaton is quite adequate, but it has no great skill. Your friend Marcinus is safe, Cala. What a turn your life took, but you still found a way to befriend Maraci’s line. Neither your sire nor your progenitor could have imagined the uspec you would become. They would be proud Cala.”

It suddenly felt as if there was a lump in my throat. I tried to clear my throat, but I could not make the lump go away. I blinked, trying to shake off the feelings which the uspec’s words stirred in me.

“Where is Musa? I had been expecting to see the imp with you. You did enter this port together.”

I was shocked. “You have been watching us?”

It shrugged, but it did not say more. I could not help but wonder what that shrug meant.

“Musa was bitten by a samu.” The uspec’s eyes widened. It shook its head, muttering. As it spoke, I remembered another detail about Animaton. It was said to have been the one who created samu. “It was you who made it.”

Animaon sighed. “As if I alone could create a creature so magnificent. Calam started it. It began in its final year, and it took me over a decade to complete what the mighty one started. In Calam’s death we lost one of the greatest minds this existence has ever known.”

I shook my head. Calam was responsible for Musa’s fate. “But why? Musa was devoted to Calam! And Chike! Both imps, both dedicated their lives to Calam’s line. Why would Calam create that which could destroy them?”

“Calam had no bad intentions towards imps, especially not those ones. It would have protected the imps that served it with its own life. As devoted as you think Musa was to Calam, Calam was even more devoted to the imp. Musa was Calam’s teacher. It taught the mighty one pansophy. Calam did not make the samu for imps like that, it did it for the other imps. Imps like the ones that call themselves the ‘wrath of Sada’. They seek to take over this existence. Once Calam discovered that they’d found a way to gather enough growth to undo sapping, it had to make another means of fighting them.

Animaton or Marcinus...I'm not going to lie, I'm impressed by the guesses...well read and see if you were right. Although, the last time we saw Marcinus it didn't have pansophy so...

@ayshow6102 It still has the ring, but the ring only works when it touches another person with pansophy. So it has to be in contact, the ring uses pansophy so it needs contact to work. Basically, Nebud can be around people with pansophy and not know it, unless it touches them with the ring.

@popeshemoo So the eyes are actually filled with a mixture of imp and uspec eyes. The uspec eyes define the range of spectra that an uspec can have, and the imp eyes activate and fuel the spectra. So an uspec cannot use spectra until it has two imp eyes (only two) no matter how many uspec eyes it has. But, if an uspec only has two imp eyes, then it can only use the spectra of its center eye, which normally corresponds to the spectrum that it was born to.

I mused on the uspecs words as we walked. The grounds we walked on were wide enough that the slimmest canoes could steer in them. Perhaps it could take three uspecs my size walking side-to-side. Hail walls enclosed the area. There was a beauty to the whiteness around us. The fine hail falling added a splendor which I could admire from within the comfort of my heated cloak. We reached a set of intersections, where we could forge ahead or take a left in the road, and the soldier turned left, without hesitation. How did it know the way to the heart of Cormeum? It said that it remembered mazes whenever it walked through them, but to know the way it must have walked through these mazes before.

“What else is in the heart of Cormeum?” I inquired.

It froze and then studied me for a second longer than I thought a soldier would. There was intelligence in its gaze, as if it understood why I’d asked the question I had. It continued walking. “The sovereign’s dwelling, sirga.”

“And?”

“Several quarters belonging to the pious.”

It was my turn to stop walking. As soon as I stopped, the soldier stopped as well, even though it had not been looking at me while we walked. I found its precise awareness of my motion eerily familiar. But my mind was working on other things, then, making other connections. Why would Arexon’s soldier have been to the heart of Cormeum before?

Several quarters belonging to the pious.

“Are Animaton’s quarters there?” I asked.

A brief smile formed on the uspec’s face. It eyes seemed to study me with a keenness that I found unsettling. It nodded.

I clenched my jaw, and then nodded at the uspec, signaling that it could proceed. With my actions, I made a choice. My eyes shut as I thought of this choice which I’d made. “Would you take me to Animaton’s quarters instead?” I asked, opening my eyes.

It did not even turn to look at me. “Are you asking me to?” it asked in reply.

I did not reply, and we continued along on our path. Moat did not ask for clarifications. It no doubt knew that my decision had been made. I suspected that this was why Arexon sent me its guard. I could not be in two places at the same time. I could not find Xavier and warn Animaton. I had to do one first. I had to choose which of the two was of a higher priority to me. If I decided to warn Animaton, I would risk losing Xavier. Once Xavier was sapped, the chances of me finding the imp was greatly reduced. And if I did not find Xavier, I could not trade it for Musa.

If Musa even lived. My mind chose that moment to remind me of the odds. What were the odds that my imp lived? What were the odds that it had been found by the wrath? What were the odds that the wrath could find a way to reverse the effects of the samu? And if I chose to save Xavier over warning Animaton, then I was ensuring that Arexon would find the pious one, and that it would capture it, and take it to the plenum. If Arexon took Animaton to the plenum, they would have the means to breach the thought bubble guarding Katsoaru and take the port. Marcinus would fight them, that was a certainty. And if Marcinus fought them, it would die. That too was a certainty. And so, if I tried to reclaim Musa, I would be killing Marcinus. But if I went to Animaton first, perhaps there was a chance that Xavier would not yet be sapped by the time I was done warning the pious. Maybe I could save them both?

It was a risk, but it was one I had to take, wasn’t it? Images of Musa flashed in my mind. The imp had always been there for me. Whenever I needed it, it had been there. Teaching me, fighting with me, fighting for me. Would Musa take such a chance with my life? Surely, I could not take a chance with its. But if I did not return Xavier to the wrath what would they do? If they had already found a way to heal Musa, then they would do nothing more than keep it. Musa, enslaved by the wrath? They were its own kind, maybe it would even prefer that. But it would live, whether or not I rescued Xavier. I could not say the same for Marcinus. If I did not warn Animaton, if I did not ensure that Arexon could not kidnap it, then Marcinus was dead.

A pang of sorrow filled me as I thought of a future where Musa lived, but it did not live with me. I shook myself. I owed Marcinus this. I owed it this.

“Marcinus.”

“Sirga?” the uspec turned to face me.

“Take me to Animaton.”

“The high one does not want you to go to Animaton.” It stated.

“What is your price?”

“Sirga?”

“You do not love Arexon the way that the other soldiers do. I can hear it in your voice. You are mimicking words that you’ve heard, but you do not mean them.”

“Very observant.” It said. “How can I love an uspec who would slaughter my own kind?”

“You are irira?”

It nodded. “The only good thing about Chiboga was that it allowed iriras to be free, to walk around without fear of persecution.”

“Then take me to Animaton. If I get to the uspec before Arexon, I can warn it about the danger it faces. If Arexon does not get Animaton, it will fail the plenum.”

It frowned. “You will sabotage your own friend?”

Arexon or Marcinus. Musa or Marcinus. Too many choices. Why did coming to the aid of one have to mean working in opposition to the other? What other choice did I have? Both Arexon and Marcinus had saved my life. I owed something of myself to the both of them. But Arexon had power now, it had other choices. If Animaton brought down the thought bubble, Marcinus would have no other choices. I had already taken away its power, would I allow its life to be forfeit too?

I shook my head. “Arexon is more than it thinks it is.” I replied. “If it fails in getting Animaton, Arexon will see that it has already failed the plenum and that it has no other choice but to fight them. It will not need to kill iriras. I do not know a more capable commander than Arexon. I believe that it can win.”

“That is wishful thinking.” The soldier shook its head. “No one port could win against the plenum. But I will help you. I will take you to Animaton.”

After saying that, the soldier nodded at me, and then it continued walking. I felt at peace with my decision. Marcinus was in the most vulnerable position. Musa would live if the wrath found a way to save it. If I could not spend the rest of my life with the imp, then that was a sacrifice I was willing to make. And if the wrath could not save it? Then Musa was already gone, and it made no sense to risk Marcinus’ life too. Even as I thought it, my heart filled with sorrow. Either way, Musa was lost to me.

A piece of me held onto the hope that Xavier would not be sapped before I could free it. Surely its sapping could wait a day or two? I just needed a few hours to reach Animaton, just a little time to warn it? And Arexon? I had not thought of the ramifications of my actions, on Arexon. If Arexon went back to the plenum without Animaton, it would mean invasion by the plenum. Surely Arexon had plans for this, battle strategies, ways that it could defeat the plenum. Could any one uspec, no matter how skilled, defeat the plenum?

“Prepare yourself sirga.” The soldier prompted, pulling me out of my thoughts.

My eyes went to the surrounding areas. We’d reached a curved open path, which was slightly wider than the area we’d been walking in. Six guards stood at attention in front of a blackened patch of hail wall. A closer inspection showed embroidery in the patch, signs that it was more likely hardened curtains, than hail.

Two of the guards stepped forward. “Turn around!” One of them barked. “You have no business being here.”

“We have reached the limits of our access. They guard the sovereign’s dwelling. We must move past them, to get to the pious Animaton’s quarter.” It whispered to me.

“Excuse me.” Moat rose its voice, as we continued our approach. “I have a question. I think we might be lost.”

“Turn around!” The guard continued to yell. These guards were not as finely dressed as Arexon’s soldiers. They had one outer eye on their sockets. They did not have the magic of mejo eyes, but I could see that Moat did.

We kept moving forward.

As soon as we reached the two guards at the front, Moat pulled out a dagger from its belt and stabbed it into one’s stomach, the other it stabbed in the knee. I drew out my dagger as well. Before the guards could sound an alarm, I threw my dagger at the one furthest from me, and then traded blows with another closer one. It did not take me long to free that uspec from its sword, and cut off its head. Moat made quick work of the last two. It was shocking how skilled the uspec was. Its skill far surpassed its rank. I wondered if Arexon was aware of this.

I watched as the uspec dislodged my dagger from the neck of the uspec I’d thrown it at. “You fight to kill.” It stated flatly.

I looked at the uspecs on the ground. The ones that Moat fought were wounded, but not dead. Mine were another story. “You do not.”

“Why kill uspecs who did nothing wrong?”

I frowned at its words.

It stretched out its hand, extending my dagger to me. As I reached for the dagger, I contemplated its words. When had I ever not fought to kill? When I sparred, when it was obvious that the other party was also not fighting to kill. But when the other party fought to kill, why would I hold back? The soldier’s words made me feel callous. I did not like this feeling.

It was with this thought in my mind that I stretched out my hand to receive the dagger. I had not meant to touch the uspec, but I did. My arm brushed past the pointed protrusions in the chest region of its cloak. Those protrusions appeared to have been made by the spikes of a boga. But when I passed my hand over them, I realized that there were no spikes on this uspecs chest, only the appearance of it. It had to have pansophy.

I pulled back. “You are no boga. All of Arexon’s personal soldiers are boga. You cannot be part of Arexon’s retinue. Who are you?”

It sighed. It happened in the blink of an eye. One second I was staring daggers at the imposter, the next I was frozen in place. It had taken away my motion, I knew this, but I could not believe how quickly it happened. The uspec wiped the blood from the dagger off on its cloak, and then it placed my dagger back into my sheath.

I blinked. I blinked. When Arexon had taken away my motion, I’d been unable to move any part of my body. But with this uspec’s pansophy, I could move my eyes. Did that mean that it was more skilled, or less?

I watched as the uspec reattached the head of the uspec I’d beheaded. The uspec still lay dead, but it was no longer decapitated. Then the imposter went about healing each of the soldiers that it had harmed. It must have taken their consciousness because none of them woke once it was done. Finally, the imposter turned to me.

It said nothing as it made its way back towards me. I felt lighter as the uspec lifted me over its shoulders. Perhaps it took some of my form? I was too bulky for any uspec to carry as easily as this uspec carried me. The only view I had was of the hail ground as we forged ahead, travelling deeper into Cormeum.

When at long last the uspec stopped, it dropped me on the floor in front of hardened curtains manned by three guards. The uspec released its hold of me, and I felt my bulk return. I could do nothing but watch as the guards bowed to the uspec who’d brought me here. I could not see its face, but I could see that its cloak no longer appeared as if it had spikes underneath it. The cloak it wore now was light, and sleeveless. There were no silver bands around its arms and no earrings on its ears.

Then it bent so that I could see its face.

The first thing I noticed was the absence of its center eye. If this was the uspec’s real appearance, then it was shun.

“Take it to my quarters.” It ordered.

“Yes sirga.” The guards replied.

Hands clamped onto my feet and arms. They struggled to lift me off the ground. As they carried me into the dwelling, I was left to wonder who the shun imposter was, and what it wanted with me.

Part 13
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Arexon’s guard led me through a maze. The Labyrinths was so named for the mazelike design of the entire area. This was a fact made especially clear in Cormeum. We walked through a mismatch of tunnels, our path taking us by various inns and several markets. The guard stopped in front of one such market.

I stared puzzled at the guard.

“You will want to purchase a cloak sirga.” It explained. “The journey to the heart of Cormeum travels through uncovered areas, where you will be exposed to hail.”

“There must be portals.” I stated. It had not even occurred to me that I would have to leave the building. We had walked from Arexon’s suite to the inn, and that travel had been through sealed areas. The air, as that here, was warm. It was not unbearably so, but it was certainly warm enough that outer coverings were unnecessary.

The guard shook its head. “There are no portals that lead into Cormeum, sirga. All the portals in Cormeum teleport out of it. The travel into Cormeum must be made on foot. Or with hooni spectra. Although, to use spectra to teleport within Cormeum, one must have advanced knowledge of the terrain. The maze in the heart of Cormeum moves sirga. What is the sovereign’s dwelling on one day, could become a pious’ retreat the next.”

Why was so much precaution taken in such a mundane place? I nodded at the soldier. “And you?”

“The high one has coats reserved for its soldiers at the exit to this base.” It replied.

I walked into the market. It was one made specifically for the purchase of clothing. It did not take me long to identify a coat of interest. I chose one that generated heat, like the cloak which I’d wrapped around Musa.

Musa.

Whenever I thought of the imp, it was as if a fist tightened on my heart. I tried to fight of my fears for its wellbeing, by convincing myself that it could not die. Truly, it was impressive the number of ways that I tried to prove this to myself. At times I tasked an unrealistic level of strength to the imp, other times I counted on its determination to find its heir. I could not allow myself to think that Musa could be gone, sapped beyond the point of reversibility. I could not believe it, I could not accept it, I could not think it. If Musa died, then what would I do? I shook that thought off, turning to my search for acceptable footwear with a determination the attending imp found awing. I picked out acceptable footwear, added that to the heated cloak, and then paid the required fee.

I was just about to walk out of the market when the soldier stopped in front of me. It held out a headguard of some sort, and gloves. “For your head and hands, sirga.”

“You bought it?” I asked, confused, “for me?”

It nodded.

“Why?” My suspicions were beginning to rise. I had known several soldiers in Chiboga, and none of them had gone out of their way to do me any favors. Arexon and Yakubo were the obvious exemptions to that, but I tried not to think of them.

“The high one told me to take good care of you sirga, it would be displeased if you were in any sort of discomfort. The gloves and headguard will shield the rest of your extremities from the chill.”

I grudgingly accepted the garments from it. “What is your name?” I asked, walking through drawn curtains the soldier held open.

It froze, as if shocked by my question, and then it smiled. “Moat sirga.” It replied.

I nodded. “Gratitude Moat.”

It bowed to me, and we continued walking. As we walked away from the market, I added the new headguard and gloves to the rest of the items that I had purchased from the store. The attendant had placed those items in a satchel bag which reminded me of the one that I’d discovered my wealth in. This bag was smaller than that. It felt odd to carry a bag after so long of having my belt as the only weight on me.

It did not take us long to reach the exit to the base. It was obvious that this soldier knew its way around. It did not stop to hesitate at any intersection or look back on any road not taken. There was no equivocation in its countenance as it led the way, only a determination which I could not help but find odd for a visitor.

“Have you been here before, Moat? You have quite the expert knowledge for a visitor.”

Again, the soldier froze at the sound of my voice. It was as if it did not expect to be spoken to. Why would the soldier react this way? Chiboga. I could tell from the bar attached to its earrings, that it was a chief. It would have been at an acceptable rank to guard the former Kaiser and its offspring. I knew them, and neither where the kind to be too familiar with a serf. A sudden surge of satisfaction filled me from the knowledge that they were both dead, and that I had played a major role in their execution.

The soldier turned back to face me. It was of a height with me. All of the soldiers that Arexon had on its personal guard where about the same height as it was, or several inches shorter. None came close to its bulk, but they all had bulk enough to show that they were fighters.

“No sirga, but I have a mind for puzzles. Once I have solved one, I do not forget it. Mazes are in effect puzzles sirga, I only need to travel them once to know my way through. That is why the high one brought me along with it.”

I nodded. The soldier flashed a brief smile before it turned back around. I found it slightly intriguing. Two guards dressed in nothing but belts, which had the sovereign’s sigil on it, stood on either side of thick curtains, made solid with extra form. There was another set of thin curtains to the side of the guard to the left, and long benches in front of the curtains.

Moat turned to face me. “If you will sit here and prepare yourself for the chill, I will go and retrieve my coat.” Then it bowed, and walked away, towards the side curtains.

I found myself staring at the soldier as it walked away. There was something about it, that I found odd. The bowing, I realized as I walked over to the benches. Chiboga soldiers saluted superiors. This soldier knew that I had served in the army, would it not salute me? But then, when I served, I would have been of the same rank as it, so maybe it wouldn’t salute me, but would it bow? Why did I feel as if its bow bore more similarity to a noble than a soldier who’d once been a serf?

I contemplated this as I fastened my footwear onto my feet. This time I had chosen to buy footwear that completely covered my feet. It might not prove necessary for the hail in Cormeum, but I was already thinking ahead, to Nefastu. When I had been on that road I’d mourned the loss of adequate clothing. I remembered thinking then that I should have bought covering for my head…like Moat had bought for me. Why did this connection suddenly feel strange? Perhaps Arexon had gone digging in my head, as it had so many times before, and it had told Moat specifically to buy me appropriate covering. That had to be it, I thought as I rose. I put the heated cloak on then and placed the headguard over my head.

The headguard completely covered my scalp, my ears, my neck, and even my face, to some degree. The material over my face was sheer enough that I could clearly see through. What I would have given to have covering like this my first time around on Nefastu. I placed the gloves on last, before returning the strap of the empty satchel bag to my shoulder.

Moat returned. It walked out in a thick cloak, obviously made of fine velvet. If the cloak did not have the sigil of Sophila’s line, I would have doubted that it belonged to a soldier.

“Fine cloak.” I commented.

Moat bowed. “The high one is very generous to its soldiers. We are fortunate to have it.”

There was something in its voice. The uspec seemed to lack the passion that Arexon’s personal soldiers had whenever they rained praises on it. It was as if the soldier was trying to copy the feelings in the words that it had heard others say. I nodded at it. Was I thinking too much into this soldier’s presence?

We walked over to the hardened curtains. The soldier extended its right arm, showing off the silver bands on its arms. That was the first time I noticed that its cloak was cut exactly, so that the slits in the cloak matched the bands on its arms. That level of precision could not be done for any other purpose than to show off those bands. This seemed to quiet my misgivings about the soldier.

The guard standing to the right pulled out a baton-like instrument from its belt. It glanced past me, before fastening its gaze on the chief. The chief had the three outer eyes specified by its rank, while the guard only had two, just enough to use mejo magic.

“You are only allowed access to certain parts of Cormeum.” It warned. “If you try to go further than you are allowed, the guards will have the right to stop you, and attack you if you resist.”

Moat nodded.

The baton touched the hardened curtains, and the form was removed, making them appear wavy. The other guard pulled at the curtains, parting the set, and granting us access to the rest of Cormeum. As soon as the curtains were drawn, I felt a draft of chill air.

We walked into the hail covered ground. I smiled as I realized that with the combination of the heated cloak and the headguard and gloves, the walk was not only bearable, but quite pleasing.

“Do we have access to the heart of Cormeum?” I asked, walking up to the soldier. I saw no reason to walk behind it anymore.

The corners of its lips twitched with a smile which did not form. “No sirga.” It replied.

“Ahh.” I found myself eyeing the soldier speculatively. “You are ready to fight for me to gain access to this place I seek? You will risk your own life?”

“It is the high one’s desire, sirga. You are valuable to it, and so you are valuable to me. I will guard you with my life.”

Again, there was something slightly off about the inflections in the words the soldier said. I was not entirely sure that it meant it. But why would it lie?

I turned my attention towards the sky. It was strange how the light from the daylight dots still found its way through the falling hail. “Would it not be faster if we flew?” My ailerons twitched with anticipation.

“Faster? Yes sirga. But not safer. It takes skill to fly amongst falling hail. Besides, in its natural form hail is uncouth, the hail only turns fine a few feet above us. We would have to fly beneath the uncouth hail, and flying beneath the uncouth hail is flying low enough that the sentries will see us. The sovereign no doubt has uspecs that it permits to fly in Cormeum, but we are not amongst them.”

“How would they know the difference?”

“The flyers wear special coats sirga, to mark their presence.”

ayshow6102:
My lovely obehid if u are using Glo I would be delighted if you can dm me your number so that I can share you with my unlimited data plan dats the least I can think of nlw

Sadly, I don't use glo. Thank you very much for the offer though, I really really appreciate it!

@tunjilomo You're right oh, it's now that Arexon has really started to see what it means to be a ruler, to be the one in charge of an entire port. If the plenum found out about Cala...well, that would be interesting

@olite93 Yay! I'm happy you see the twists, my plan is to keep supplying them. Yes, Nebud and Arexon both have strong points and are coming from different places, I guess we'll have to wait to see whose way of thinking wins

@ayshow6102 you cannot can it again? That's sad. I'm just starting to realize how complex it is. What part have you stopped canning? Basically, all that happened in this update is that Arexon and Nebud talked about what's going on in Chiboga. The plenum has told Arexon that they will invade Chiboga unless it brings them Animaton and it slaughters the iriras in Chiboga. Nebud is angry about both of the plenum's demands, but it is especially angry about Animaton, because Arexon told Nebud that Animaton can bring down the thought bubble protecting Katsoaru. But if Animaton brings down that thought bubble, then the plenum can invade that port (Katsoaru) which Nebud is certain would lead to Marcinus death. And that's what their conversation was about. Does that help you to can? Or can you still not can? hahaha

@doctorexcel that is a good point. No one knows what the plenum will do if they're able to get a pious one as strong as that. Your second point is also very valid. If the iriras are slaughtered in Chiboga then the killing of iriras could grow more rampant which could eventually lead to Nebud's death. Well, I guess we'll have to wait to see what happens

@Fazemood But that really isn't solving Nebud's problem of not wanting Animaton to get to the plenum. If Animaton is given to the plenum then Marcinus would be in danger. Plus, I think you're confusing Animaton and Animaon. So the uspec whose eye Nebud came for is Animaon, not Animaton. I agree that Nebud is not political, and Arexon is smart...I just hope it doesn't make the wrong choice sha. Happy new year to you too!

@maynation Thank you for reading!

@OluwabuqqyYOLO Thank you, I really appreciate that you want to support me! Instead of sending me money, you could buy a copy of Awakening when it is released. Thank you!!!

@HotB well, you know Arexon well. I'm sure it has weighed and considered very very many options, let's just hope that it's strategizing works. Thank you for reading and being wowed, I appreciate it

@Claire40 My fellow lady growing in grace!!! (Well, I'm assuming that you are also a lady growing in grace? hahaha...I like this your code sha) It's actually funny, I've had someone else tell me that they could identify where I went to school from reading a Marked book, it's like I'm drawing too much inspiration from there. Anyway, yes oh, your hunch is right and I'm very very very happy to see that you're reading Crimson Night and enjoying it (maybe even feeling a little bit nostalgic...?) Thank you, I will try to keep the flag flying to restore our strength (lol, don't blame me oh, I'm just trying to continue with the code you started )

I shook my head. It was a reflex, really, I did not stop to think. But I saw the frown on Arexon’s face. It did not believe me. The name did have a familiar ring to it. Animaton. Where had I heard of it? It was not the uspec whose eye I had been tasked with taking, but the name was so similar that I could not help but wonder if there was any relationship. And was there a relationship between the eye I had been asked to take, and the similar named uspec who’d served as apprentice to my sire?

“Animaton is known for its great discoveries. It has made many great technologies which combine pansophy and spectra, but it is most known for the…”

“Samu.” I finished for Arexon, finally realizing why the name seemed so familiar. Animaton was the clever maker that Monica had spoken of in Nefastu. I remembered thinking then how striking a similarity the name bore to the name of the uspec I had been sent to Damejo for.

“You have heard of it.”

I nodded. Hatred filled my voice as I replied, “it is the uspec responsible for my imp’s fate.”

“Ah.” Arexon’s gaze narrowed. “I have a proposition for you Nebud. I had worried before that your feelings towards Animaton might bias you against our mission, but if you do not care about the bond it shared with your progenitor, then I could use your help.”

“My help?”

“Yes. You’ve asked several times now what payment the plenum is demanding for the withdrawal of their troops. Animaton is half of it.”

“And the other half?” The question just trickled out of my mouth. It was as expected as an answering greeting of salutations, or a gratitude for services rendered. I did not expect the question to make Yakubo freeze in its chair, or Arexon let out a sigh of pain. Now I was truly curious.

“I suppose there is no harm in me telling you.” Arexon’s words seemed to be chosen carefully, as it paused after several phrasings. “The plenum has demanded the slaughter of all irira in Chiboga and its annexed ports.”

I inhaled sharply. “Will you do it?”

Arexon’s gaze locked with mine. “There are several soldiers that I value who are irira. When I announced myself as Custodian to them, I promised all my soldiers that I would protect them, that their care would be foremost in my mind. The plenum wants Animaton delivered to them, and all iriras killed. I chose to see to the former personally so that I could delay the latter. If I refuse to carry out either of the plenum’s demands they will invade Chiboga. They do not want another Kaiser like Sophila.”

“They want a puppet.” I scoffed.

“Nebud!” Yakubo called my name sharply.

I sighed. “I apologize sirga.”

Arexon shook its head. “You are right, they want a puppet.”

“And will you be that? Will you do what they’ve asked? Are you the kind of ruler who slaughters its own people to secure its hold on power?”

“What do you want it to do? If it refuses the plenum will invade. How many do you think will die when the plenum invades Chiboga? A hundred times more than the number of iriras in the port. Sometimes hard decisions must be made for the greater good.” Yakubo sounded resigned. If Yakubo spoke like this, then Arexon’s mind was made up.

Why did it feel as if Arexon was betraying me? I was not in Chiboga, I would not be one of the iriras who died in the slaughter, but those iriras were my kind. They were Arexon’s subjects. Surely the power of that position came with responsibilities.

“I have not decided what I will do yet.” Arexon stated.

“Have you not?” I asked sarcastically.

Arexon’s eyes caught and held mine. “I have not.” It stated. “I am taking care of their demands one at a time. They want Animaton more than they want the iriras dead.”

“Why?”

“Who knows.” It shrugged. “It could be for its mind. There are many innovations Calam made that the plenum has found no way to replicate or breach.”

“Katsoaru.” I gasped. “Breach. You are talking about Katsoaru are you not?” I demanded. My mind darted to Marcinus again. The uspec probably did not even know the danger that was coming to it.

“Maybe. The plenum does not confide in me. But I do know that the thought bubble which Calam created and installed in Katsoaru is one that the plenum has not been able to remove. Any Kuworyte that enters that port dies. So far they’ve managed to rely on turning Uspecipytes in the port to Kuworytes, but that is proving to not be as effective as they once thought. Once an Uspecipyte turns to Kuworyte the thought bubble kills them if they leave and try to re-enter.”

“Is Manus dead?” A surge of joy filled me at the thought.

Arexon grinned. “No. Manus is of Maraci’s line. In every lock Calam created, it allowed a master key. For the things it made for itself, the master key was the identity of the uspecs of its line. I believe it is the same way for the thought bubble. Maraci’s line is immune to its influence. Maybe even…”

“Me.” I thought.

“It would not surprise me if Calam made its line immune as well.”

“And no one can unlock this?”

Arexon shook its head. “No maker that the plenum has found has been able to undo what Calam did.”

“So they are hoping that Animaton will be able to, since it served Calam?”

“That is my guess.”

“Why is Katsoaru of so much interest to them?”

“Calam bestowed a lot on that port before it died. Pansophic lifeforces, wealth, food. I believe the plenum is planning the final staging to take over all ports. If a stronghold such as Katsoaru remains an impenetrable Uspecipyte port, then the plenum will never have full ownership of this existence, and Katsoaru will always be a threat.”

“But Manus is Kuworyte. Is that not enough?”

“Manus is whatever it needs to be to gain power. It became Kuworyte to gain wealth from the plenum. Now it is heir to Katsoaru, it has no more need for their wealth. It would not surprise me if Manus decided to revert to Uspecipyte.”

I could not stop my lips from twitching at the scornful way Arexon spoke of Manus’ swinging alliances. “You cannot give the plenum Animaton. If it can unlock the bubble to Katsoaru then the Uspecipyte movement is finished.”

“You do not care about the Uspecipyte movement.” Arexon stated flatly.

“Marcinus.”

“Is Manus’ sibling. Manus will protect it. The last I heard there was love between the two.”

I scoffed. “There is not love between them. Marcinus will never bow to the plenum. It would die before it allowed the plenum to own it. Manus would easily slaughter Marcinus if it proved to be a threat.”

Arexon shook its head. “This decision is the easy one Nebud. I will take Animaton from this place and deliver it to the plenum. I am giving you the chance to help me. You are still one of the greatest fighters I know. Animaton is well loved, but more importantly, well-guarded, here. I will have to kill those guards to get to it. I will feel better about my chances if I have you on my team. Fight with me, and I will fight with you.”

I frowned. “Fight with me?”

“I made some inquiries. The imp Xavier, the one you came here in search of, has been captured. It is being held for sapping in the heart of Cormeum. The heart of Cormeum is filled with pious guards, ones with pansophy. If you embark on the mission yourself, you stand a greater chance of being killed, than you do of rescuing the imp.”

I stared agape at Arexon. My disbelieving gaze darted to Yakubo. The uspec could not meet my eyes. These were uspecs I thought of as friends? “Are you saying that if I do not help you deliver an uspec who could be the cause of Marcinus’ death, you will not help me save my imp?”

“I have no love for imps. I do not hate them, but I do not care for them.”

“Aaliyah and Zane!”

“Are Yakubo’s pets.” Arexon spat out. Yakubo did not speak, it kept its gaze on the platter in front of it. “I treasure Yakubo and so I care for its imps. But they are imps, I care far more for my own kind.”

“Like you care for the iriras you will slaughter at the plenum’s behest? Or are we iriras not your kind?”

Arexon’s jaw clenched. It glared at me and I glared back. I had not thought that I needed help to reclaim Xavier, but if I did need help, I had expected these uspecs to offer it. Why? I shook my head, when had I become an uspec who expected the help of others? If I had not expected more from Arexon, I would not feel the betrayal which burdened me, like an ache in my chest.

Arexon sighed. “You fight for one, for an imp. I fight for the lives of so many more. Hundreds of thousands of uspecs in Chiboga and its annexed ports, and I am their only protection. If I fail, the plenum will kill thousands before they decide what to do with whatever is left of Chiboga. I do not have the luxury of being so moral.”

I suddenly felt ill. “I cannot help you.” I said, pushing my stool away from the table, “I will not.”

I rose to my feet.

Arexon stood too. “Stay and finish your meal.” It acquiesced. “We will discuss other things.”

I shook my head. I had my belt, everything that I had come to Arexon with. It was time for me to make my own way. I had to find Xavier. I had to find the imp before it was sapped. If I did not find Xavier, then Musa was lost to me, whether or not it lived.

I took a step back.

“Nebud…” Arexon called.

I turned my attention to the uspec and waited for it to complete its sentence. Whatever it had planned to say, stayed frozen in its throat.

Finally, it spoke. “I wish I could be the strong uspec you envision me as. I admit, I never truly knew what it meant to rule. Now, I understand a bit more of Arigad’s weakness.” It swallowed. “Take care of yourself my friend.”

My friend. I felt as if this should be more momentous, the moment when Arexon called me friend. But how could it? Arexon planned to kidnap a pious one and give it to the plenum. It did not care for the Katsoaru uspecs that would lose their lives if it succeeded. It did not care for Marcinus. A thought flashed through my mind then. What if I saved Animaton? The uspec was responsible for Musa’s current state, but I could not let Arexon give it to the plenum. I could do this for Marcinus. I could ensure the security that my sire tried to grant to Katsoaru.

My vision appeared blurred as I took one last look at Arexon and Yakubo. I stumbled out of the inn. Where was I going? There were so many paths; Cormeum was a maze after all.

Xavier. I had to find the imp before it was sapped.

Animaton. I had to get to it before Arexon did.

“Sirga?” A voice called from behind me. I turned to find one of the uspec’s who’d been guarding Arexon. It was one of the two who’d remained after Arexon’s cryptic nod.

I frowned at it. What did Arexon want?

“The high one sent me to accompany you to the heart of Cormeum. I know the way sirga, I can show you.”

I was shocked at Arexon’s kindness. I nodded before I even fully let my thoughts settle. The uspec bowed and then it began walking. I followed behind it. As we walked, a troubling thought crossed my mind. Did Arexon send this uspec to guide me out of kindness, or did it do so to ensure that I would not interfere with its plans to kidnap Animaton?

Part 12
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A silent reverence hung around us. That reverence seemed to punctuate the air. It was made clear in the wide-eyed stares we received and the whispers that immediately followed the stares. No uspecs came close, but all made sure to bow if the high one’s gaze fixed on them.

The high one.

Every time I thought of Arexon’s new title, I found that the thought was quickly followed with a snort of disbelief. But it was true. Arexon’s new title was made evident by the treatment that it received. Commoners fell to their knees in its presence, and nobles bowed. The depth of the bow was directly proportional to the rank of the noble. I took note of all of this with only the mildest interest. As fascinating as Arexon’s new life was, I had no time to dwell on it.

Each day that I’d spent in bed had been one more day away from Musa. It had been an entire day spent without knowledge of Musa’s whereabouts. Had the imps of Permafrost found my imp? Had they been able to restore its growth? Was Musa healed at this moment? Or was it gone? The last thought was one that my mind shrunk away from. It was too hurtful to think it, to even contemplate it. No, Musa could not be gone. Musa could not be sapped beyond the point of reversibility. Musa was strong. It was the strongest imp I had ever seen. Perhaps the samu was enough to best other weaker imps, but not mine. Musa had too much to live for. I was suddenly glad that I’d never told the imp of my bloodline. Musa’s search for the heir to Lahooni would keep it alive. Musa would cling to its lifeforces to find the heir. It had to.

The sound of laughter drew my focus from my frantic thoughts, back to the inn.

I lost count of the days that passed while I healed. True to its word, Arexon had given me growth to help speed up my healing. It had only done this after it received the tale of how I came to be in such a condition. Even now, feelings of irritation mixed with amusement as I thought of Arexon’s visits to me. How easy the growth would have been to give, but not Arexon. It would not give the growth until every detail of the story was told. There were times when I wondered why the uspec did not just take the thoughts from my head, like it had done so many times in Chiboga. Whatever its reasons, Arexon waited to hear the tale of my misfortune from my own lips.

In the end, it kept its word, and it gave me growth. It was only a day ago that the growth had been given, but I was already much improved. I felt no pain in my back, and only the slightest twinges in my leg. But my leg had healed well enough that the healers gave me leave to walk around on it. The first thing I’d done was make use of the cleaning rooms.

Arexon had been given a suite of rooms. The amount of fog in those rooms made it clear that it had been specifically designed for a boga, but I found the cleaning ponds more than adequate. No pond compared to that which I had enjoyed in the Hakute Lastmain. I still dreamt of the falling liquid and the long channel of okun.

Soldiers surrounded us. There were moments when my skills of perception seemed so acute that I wondered what was responsible for the difference. This was one of those times. I remembered what the soldiers had looked like when they guarded Sophian. I recalled the set of their lips, the resignation in their gazes. They bore no love for the uspecs they guarded, and so, they took no joy in their tasks.

It was different with Arexon. The soldiers seemed to stand taller, their chests puffed out slightly. They did not smile with joy, but they did not wear looks of blank resignation. It was obvious from their countenance that they performed this duty with pride. The soldiers, like Arexon, wore earrings. Unlike Arexon they wore the same silver earrings they’d always worn. Those earrings had led me to the mistaken conclusion that they were still serfs. Yakubo corrected me. Arexon’s army was not a serf army. Arexon had given all serfs their freedom. Thanks to Arexon, every serf that Sophila had kept enslaved in every port that it had conquered and annexed to its own, was now free. I asked why they wore the earring and Yakubo said it was a thing of pride to them. They wore the earrings because Arexon wore earrings. These soldiers would follow Arexon even it led them to their deaths. I could not imagine ever commanding the loyalty of so many as effortlessly as Arexon did.

Pansophy, a spiteful voice sang in my head. The voice meant to pacify me, but I knew that it was wrong. It was not pansophy that made me trust Arexon. Arexon had earned my loyalty in a way that no other had. I thought about Marcinus then, and heaved a sigh. Did Marcinus think of me as often as I thought of it? Marcinus and Arexon could not be more different. I recalled Marcinus’ mannerisms, its gentility, its kindness. I could not say that Arexon was particularly kind, or gentle, but it had a strength unlike any other. Perhaps that was what I found so intriguing about the uspec.

Ten soldiers surrounded us. We sat on a table far separated from the other uspecs in the inn. The soldiers were stationed closer to Arexon, and so the gaps between them were wide enough to see through clearly to the front of the room.

I stared at my platter, my mind entwined in the complex decision between eating the nama before what was left of the sea serpent, or completing my meal in the reverse order.

Yakubo laughed.

Our table was shared with two other boga uspecs. These uspecs were not ones that I had seen before. They were bogas who dwelt in the Labryinths. I had distanced myself from the discussion when one of them had decided to compose a poem in honor of Arexon. The other, in an attempt to outdo the first, was singing for the custodian. Arexon regarded both uspecs with an indifference that would have been insulting if it was not Custodian. At least Arexon did not immediately kick them out. They were both nobles, one of them was a majestic, the offspring of a duke, the other was a dignified, the offspring of a sovereign. If I was Arexon, I would have slit their throats. The one that tried to sing had a hoarse voice, and the one reciting poems had the skill of a jackal. Yakubo kept them entertained. It laughed at their jokes and clapped at their recitations.

“Right Nebud?”

The prompting in the words returned my focus to the conversations. Arexon did not speak much around uspecs it did not know. It allowed the boga uspecs to fawn over it, but it did not give them as much as a grunt of approval.

I turned to Yakubo and rose an eyebrow.

“The dignified one was just telling us about its experiences in Hakute. A funny tale of…”

Arexon cleared its throat. That simple sound was enough to stop Yakubo’s flow of words. The boga nobles turned immediately, their adulating eyes fixed on Arexon. I was surprised when Arexon’s eyes locked with theirs. One eye on the left of its face locked on the uspec closest to it, and another eye on the other. This was the first time that I had ever seen Arexon stare so intently at hangers-on.

“Leave us.” It ordered.

I coughed to cover up my laughter. And here I was thinking that Arexon was about to break its rule of not socializing with its noble born adorers. Thankfully Arexon had not changed that much overnight. The nobles hastened to their feet. They curtsied deeply to Arexon, and then they walked away.

“I don’t know how you stand them.” I remarked to Yakubo.

Yakubo chuckled. “They aren’t that bad, and they often have great tales to tell if you give them the chance to share their experiences. The tale that I was going to share with you…”

“Stop.” Arexon cut it off.

“Forgive me sirga.”

Arexon jerked its head at the entrance to the inn. “Our guest of honor has arrived.” It stated flatly.

Guest of honor?

I turned my attention to the door. There was a gathering of uspecs around one. Was that a member of the plenum? The uspec was completely covered. There was a dark veil over the horns on its head. That veil covered its face and the tops of its body. It wore a cloak to cover the remainder of its body. The cloak was so long that it swept the floor, blocking view of the uspec’s feet. It had gloves on its hands. Those gloves covered even its fingers. There was no slimming in the garb that the uspec wore. It was a single voluminous attire designed to thoroughly hide the identity of the uspec within. Even its ailerons had been covered with black sheaths. The covering was one that made it impossible to tell what size the uspec’s ailerons were. Not the plenum. I decided. The plenum had covered most of their body, but their face had been exposed. So, who was this uspec? And why was it Arexon’s guest of honor?

Although I did not know the identity of the uspec, it became clear that others did. As soon as its presence in the inn was revealed, the room stirred to life. Tongues wagged and uspecs rushed to their feet. So many dropped to their knees around this uspec. They knelt in reverence, as if in worship. This was not some royal they felt obligated to pay obeisance to. It almost looked like they were praying to it.

“A pious.” I said, before the thought was fully complete in my head.

“Very good.” Arexon stated dryly.

I turned my attention back to Arexon. The timing of my shift in focus proved to be opportune as the uspec gestured for its guards at that exact moment. The clearing of its throat was all it needed to get their attention. It nodded and eight soldiers saluted and walked away, leaving only two to guard the Custodian.

Now this made more sense. Arexon was not one to walk around with a large troop of soldiers. That was why I’d found it so strange when Arexon had announced that the group would be accompanying us. Now I understood. They had some other mission, something to do with the covered uspec who’d walked in.

“Who is that?” I directed my question at Arexon, as I knew that asking Yakubo would be a waste. If Arexon did not want me to know, Yakubo would not say.

Arexon’s gaze fixed on me. It stared at me for a while, its eyes studying my features as if trying to decipher a puzzle etched into my face. Then, when it was done, it returned its focus to my eyes. “That uspec was as an offspring to your sire. The mighty Calam took it in as a child and acted as patron to it. Calam taught it everything it knows. Now, it is the greatest maker to inhabit this existence since the great boga maker.”

My throat suddenly felt dry. What game was Arexon playing now? And was I involved? “What is its name?”

“Animaton.”

Animaon’s eye.

The voice in my head. It had been so long since I received its prompting that I almost jumped when I heard the voice. “Animaon?” I asked.

Arexon frowned at me. “No, I said Animaton.” It emphasized the ‘t’ this time. “Is the name familiar to you?”

@tunjilomo yes it does

@cassbeat Thank you, same to you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

@ayshow6102 thank you for reading and Happy new year to you too

@olite93 hahaha, yes it did

It all made sense now. The uspecs who had come to pick me up, the room that I had woken in, and even the presence of these two imps we’d met in Aurelion. I looked at the familiar cyan spikes on its chest, just before my eyes trailed to its ears. It still wore earrings. But unlike the last time I’d seen it, the earrings on its ears were golden, not silver. It had four stars, instead of bars, attached to the golden chains. My gaze moved to its arms. Those arms were covered with golden bands. Gone were the silver bands which had been there the last time we saw. Four golden bands replaced them.

“Sirga.” I tried to rise.

Arexon shook its head. “Don’t, you’ll disturb your leg. Sit.”

I let myself fall back on the bed.

Arexon turned to Zane. “Tell Yakubo that Nebud has woken.”

Zane nodded. “Yes master.” It walked out through the curtains.

Arexon walked into the room. I stared, watching as the uspec filled the space. Had it grown even bigger, or was it the gold that made it seem more imposing? The uspec walked over to the chilled table. It picked at pieces of fruit which I hadn’t known had been there, and fed itself, its lazy eyes crawling over my skin.

“What are you doing in Damejo?” it asked, after a long moment of silence.

I stared at the uspec. “I could ask you the same thing. The last time I saw you, you were in Chiboga, about to be invaded by the plenum. What happened? Are you travelling with the Kaiser?”

“The Kaiser?”

“The soldiers said that the Kaiser was here. I assumed they meant Sophi.”

Arexon chuckled. “They meant me.”

“What?” I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

Arexon walked away from the chilled table. It walked straight ahead, until it was standing by the okun, then its ailerons began to flap. Those ailerons lifted it just high enough that it appeared to float over the okun, then they deposited it on the other side. Arexon sat on the bed.

It smiled at me. “Sophila was a problem for the plenum.” It paused, as if contemplating its next words, before concluding with, “you can say that they did not mourn its death.”

“They let you take over? What of Sophi?”

“I am only the custodian of Chiboga. I made a deal with the plenum through the duke Auxa.”

I gaped at it. “That was why you had me deliver the message? So, the plenum never invaded? There was peace after I left?”

Arexon laughed. “Don’t look so perturbed, there is still danger in Chiboga. But yes, that was why I had you deliver the message to Auxa. It was for both our sakes. I knew that Auxa would have been the only one willing and able to help you pass through the barricade the plenum put around Chiboga.”

I scuffed. “And you could not simply tell me this?”

Arexon rose and eyebrow at me. It shook its head. “I could have told you. I chose not to.”

“Why?”

“Why? Maybe because you made me kill the one friend I’d had in Chiboga. Sophian may have been hard, but it had truly been a friend to me when I needed that friendship.”

A million denials swam in my head, but I fought down the urge to mention any of them. Instead, I swallowed and said, “Forgive me.”

“I already have. If I hadn’t, you would be dead.” Arexon eyed me steadily. “I was testing your loyalty Nebud, that is why I did not tell what you were delivering.”

I should have been more annoyed than I was. “And how did I do, sirga?”

“You are alive, aren’t you?”

I gritted my teeth. Even now, this uspec managed to push my buttons. I trusted it, I’d proven that in Chiboga, but sometimes I was not certain I liked it much. “Gratitude sirga, for this.” I gestured around the room.

“It is nothing. How did you come to be as you were? Why are you in Damejo? Where is your trusty imp Musa?”

So many questions. “It is a long story sirga.”

Arexon grinned. “We have nothing but time.”

“I do not have quite so much of that.”

“Tell me, and perhaps I’ll speed up the healing process.”

I clenched my jaw. The imp Aaliyah appeared then, carrying a tray filled with delicious looking morsels. It placed the tray on the bed, by me. “I brought a little of everything for you domina. What shall I get you to drink?”

I was just about to respond when Arexon cut me off. “Go to your husband. I will see to it.”

The imp curtsied and left.

Arexon stood from the bed.

“If you are Custodian, why did the soldiers call you Kaiser? And you still have not told me what happened to Sophi? Is it dead?” Did Arexon kill a young uspec to claim this power? How else could it become custodian?

Arexon took its time responding. It flew over the pond, walked to the chilled table, and poured two goblets filled with purple wine. Then it brought the goblets back with it. It handed one of the goblets to me. I took it with a bow of gratitude.

“The soldiers call me Kaiser because they want me to be. It is nothing but wishful thinking on their part.”

“And what do you want?”

Arexon’s cold eyes froze on me. This was a look that I had received many times while the commander broke me to its will. I could not help remembering all that had happened in Chiboga, the punishments that I had been subjected to at Arexon’s command. I took a gulp of my drink.

“Sophi is alive, of course.” Arexon stated. “I would no more harm Sophi than I would my own offspring. I told the plenum that Sophila was dead. The plenum needs to appear fearsome. They must invoke the emotion in all uspecs in this existence, if they ever want to rule it. I knew that they would want more than just an acceptance of an uspec’s death. I told them that Sophila was dead and offered to kill Sophian, as a punishment for its lines disobedience. They accepted.” Arexon took a sip.

“But Sophian was already dead.”

Its cold smile chilled me. “They did not know that. They accepted my terms. Sophian was punished for Sophila’s folly, and Sophi got to live. They will raise Sophi themselves. That is where Auxa comes in. Auxa belongs to the plenum. It will be Sophi’s guardian. The plenum will raise Sophi to be the kind of sycophantic Kaiser that they like, and then they will return it. When Sophi returns, I will hand over Chiboga to it. As a payment for services rendered to the plenum, Aboga will be reinstated as an independent port, and I will reclaim it, as Kaiser.”

I took another big gulp of my drink. “Congratulations.”

Arexon’s eyes held mine for a few moments before looking away. “We are not out of danger yet. The plenum demands payment for Isthum’s death. The bulk of their army remains around Chiboga until that payment is made. That is why I am here.”

“What payment?”

“Is it true?” The thick cyan curtains were pushed open. Arexon had an indulgent smile on its face as it turned to stare at Yakubo. Arexon never looked at me that way. I frowned. Why would I care how Arexon looked at me? I turned to face Yakubo. The uspec was all cheer as it made its way over to the bed.

“Nebud!” It exclaimed. “My friend.” It sat by me on the bed and leaned down. Then, it picked my hand up, and held it in both of its. “Salutations my friend. How are you feeling? When you collapsed in front of us, I thought we’d lost you.”

“I’m starting to think it is invincible.” Arexon drawled.

Yakubo froze. It jumped off the bed, turned to the side and saluted Arexon. I had my first good look at the uspec then. It had three golden bands on its arms. Gold, instead of silver. Arexon must have given Yakubo a big promotion, not just that, but freedom. Yakubo still wore earrings, but they were gold, like Arexon’s. Yakubo’s promotion came with two new eyes. It had only one outer eye-socket empty. The golden bands on Yakubo’s arms, and the extra eyes on its face, showed that it was a sovereign now. I found myself smiling at this.

“In clover.” Arexon ordered. “Relax, speak with your friend. I will leave you two to it.”

“Gratitude sirga.” Yakubo’s hand came down from its chest.

Arexon gulped down the remainder of its drink, placed the empty goblet on my tray and walked to the curtain. “Oh,” it turned just in front of the curtains, “see that it does not move out of the bed. We want the leg to heal soon.”

“Yes sirga.”

Arexon left.

“You were supposed to escape.” I said to Yakubo once the commander, no, I corrected myself, custodian…I shook my head. Leave it to Arexon to take an impossible situation, like the one I had left it in, and turn it into such an advantage. Arexon was the Custodian of Chiboga now. And when Sophi returned to take back control of its port, Arexon would become Kaiser of Aboga. Meanwhile, I was here, in Damejo, still following the voice in my head.

Yakubo chuckled. “I was going to, but I could not leave without ensuring your safety. I went back to look for you and I found the commander…” Yakubo cut itself off, “the Custodian, I mean. The high one told me what had happened. Then it said I was free to leave if I wanted to. So, of course, I stayed.”

“Of course.”

We both laughed.

Part 11
--------

A light tune drifted into my ears. Rhythmic notes followed the tune. Then I heard whistling and words uttered in the strange tune. It did not take me long to realize that I was sharing a room with a singing uspec. I tried to remember the last time that I had heard uspecs sing. Katsoaru. I could very distinctly recall the uspecs who’d belted out the Uspecipyte song, not knowing that the song would be their last. Visions of a bloody room filled my mind. The song that I heard now was nothing like the song that the Uspecipytes sang. It reminded me more of a tune I’d heard Musa sing.

Musa.

Reality hit me with a jolt. My memories came flooding in. Sophi. I was still alive which had to mean that the Kaiser had other plans for me. It did not mean to grant me a quick death. Would it torture me first? I could not help the shiver that passed through me as my mind darted back to the scourging which I’d been subjected to at its progenitor’s behest. What little I knew of Sophi did not point at the uspec being particularly mean. Not like its progenitor had been. Still, what would an uspec do when faced with the opportunity to avenge its progenitor’s death. I knew what I would do if I was in the young uspec’s place.

Memories of Chiboga came back to me with a clarity I found frightening. I remembered what it had been like to serve in that port. The games that I’d played. I’d thought it prudent to mimic Arexon, playing the part of a dutiful and obedient soldier so that I could draw closer to the uspecs I planned to kill. My plan had not worked quite as I’d expected it to, but the end goal had been accomplished regardless. Sophian and Sophila were both dead.

There was no point in delaying the inevitable. I opened my eyes.

Whatever I was expecting, it was not the sight I was subjected to. I’d thought to wake up in a cold cellar. Well, I could feel my back sprawled on a soft surface, and my ailerons in a net underneath, so I knew that it could not have been a cellar. An infirmary then. A bare room, with several other beds packed together. That was the most I could have expected.

The room I woke to far surpassed my expectations.

Lying on my back, my gaze was set on the ceiling above my head. That ceiling was made of the most mesmerizing hard fog. The fog had been given light, and so it shone down soft rays of light gold. Cautiously, I pushed myself up so that I was sitting upright on the bed.

I did not have to wait till my ailerons were fully removed from the nets underneath the bed to see that it was a spacious bed. With my wealth I had gotten used to expensive and extravagant dwellings, but this room far surpassed any that money could buy. This was a room for a royal. The last time I had been in a room so fine was in Katsoaru, with Marcinus.

The bed I lay on was much larger than any I’d ever rented. My mouth hung open as I stared at what I’d only ever seen in tomes. A chilled table. It was a table made completely of hail. The top of the table was formed into a shallow rectangular bowl. The sides of that table were low enough that I could see to the bed of hail within it. Several large pitchers containing varying colored wines rested in the bed of hail on the chilled table. Next to the chilled table there was a stool, and on this stool several glass goblets. On the opposite side of the room, there was a heated table. This table had a similar bowl-like top as the first, but unlike the other, a crimson inferno burned underneath it, heating the contents in the bowl. There was food on that table. I could not tell what each morsel was, but they all looked ravishing. How long had it been since I’d had a real meal? The last food I’d eaten had been dried meat and grain cakes. I salivated just staring at the food.

It took much longer than it should take any self-respecting kute, to identify the pool of okun that surrounded the bed. In my defense though, it was a semi-circular pond, constructed closer to the back of the bed, and so I had to turn to notice it. Thoughts of the okun reminded me of my filth and how long it had been since I immersed myself in the pleasing liquid.

I looked down on myself.

My tattered cloak was gone. I wore nothing on me now, save for the banneret neckcloth. My skin had been cleaned. There was none of the sludge that had stained me from my sojourn in Nefastu. My leg. It was no longer covered with blue pus. A white cloth had been wrapped around my thigh, and I saw a spot of red on that cloth. I moved my leg and felt an answering twinge of pain.

I gasped when the pain hit me. It was not as bad as it had been before, but it was still present. I had been seen to by a healer. I could tell from the diminished ache in my leg and the clarity in my mind. The spread of the infection had stopped.

A gasp drew my attention to a set of curtains to the right of the chilled table. The curtains ruffled as some more squeaking sounds came from that direction. I was just about to call out when the curtains were drawn, and an imp walked out from them. This imp wore a rich lavender tunic. Its skin was streaked, and its eyes gone, but it was obvious from its dressing, that it was the valued slave of a wealthy uspec.

“Domina.” The imp greeted with a smile. There was a sense of familiarity in the way the imp smiled at me. I could not say that I had seen the imp before, but it looked at me as if it knew me. Still smiling, the imp drew closer. It walked around the end of the pond in the middle of the room, and came to a stop by my bed. The imp perched on my bed in a way that no imp but mine had ever dared to do. Its hand drifted to my injured leg. “How do you feel domina?” it asked.

I jerked my leg away from the imp’s touch. For all I knew, the imp had pansophy. “Do not touch me.” I spat out.

The imp pulled its hand back in shock. I noticed then that it wore earrings. I had never seen an imp wearing earrings. The earrings were tiny hanging cyan spheres. This was an osin, I decided. But whose?

“Who do you belong to?”

The imp frowned. “Don’t you remember me domina?” it asked.

I frowned back at it. Why would I remember it? I had never seen it before. But it just continued to stare patiently at me, the smile returning to its face. There was something eerily familiar about that smile. It bode of a kind nature. A kind imp. Why did that seem to strike a chord in me. The imp had long hair which had been styled around its head. Parts of the hair fell in long waves, the others were coiled and pinned by little gems. The gems were so well sewn into the hair that they were almost easy to miss. Which uspec would spoil an imp so? And an imp that I knew, had to mean an uspec I knew?

It dawned on me at once.

A slow, reluctant, smile crept onto my face. The imp’s smile widened. “Aaliyah.” I said.

It nodded. “Yes domina. It is good to see you well and recovered. Shall I fetch you something to eat or drink?”

I shook my head, pushing myself off the bed. “I will see to it myself.” I eyed the okun longingly.

“No. Please domina, you are not yet well enough to stand. If you put too much pressure on your leg, you could undo the progress that the healers have made. Tell me what you want, and I will bring it to you.”

I studied the imp. It did not stop smiling as it looked back at me. I could tell from its face that it was genuinely eager to serve me. The okun called to me, but it would have to wait. If my leg was healing, I would let it. The sooner it healed the sooner I would be back to fighting form. I had a mission to complete, an imp to trade for mine. I nodded at the imp.

It rose from the bed and began the process of preparing my meal. It walked over to the set of curtains and pulled a strange wooden tray from it. The tray had the same bowl-like top as the tables in the room.

“Did you clean me?” I asked.

“Yes domina.” The imp replied.

“What of my belt?”

“It is in the connecting chamber domina, under the master’s protection.”

Suddenly, it dawned on me that I had missed a very important piece of information. The last time I’d seen this slave, it had been in Yakubo’s arms. I had given Yakubo a fortune to start a new life with its imp. So why was the imp here? Unless Yakubo had been unable to leave. This imp was still serving the Kaiser, then what was left of Yakubo? I remembered the uspec’s face. It had been a good friend to me. If not for Yakubo, I would have died when I went on the spur of the moment trip to kill Sophila. It was Yakubo who had watched over me, protecting me from dangers which I had not seen.

Sadness welled in my heart as I thought of the uspec. What happened to an uspec who was caught after it had helped to kill the Kaiser? The same thing that was about to happen to me. My belt was with the Kaiser. I was without weapons. But I had spectra, and young Sophi was yet to form any of its outer eyes. Of course, it had soldiers whose eyes were formed. But if Sophi planned to have me killed, then why set me up in a room like this? I could have been seen to by healers in an infirmary, not in this luxurious suite so obviously designed to accommodate one of a Kaiser’s line.

Thick cyan curtains in the front of the room were suddenly pulled open. “Babe,” a voice said. An imp wearing clothes matching Aaliyah’s walked into the room. The imp was tall. It had a belt on its waist, and the jeweled hilt of a sword sticking out of that belt. My eyes widened. I had never seen an imp armed as such. This imp was easily recognizable. I remembered it as Aaliyah’s partner, the imp that it had kissed and shared a room with in Aurelion. Zane. But what was it doing here, in Damejo?

I frowned. This was starting to get too strange.

“It’s awake.” Zane said, stopping by the curtains. It turned around, “it’s awake!” it yelled into the room behind it.

“Aaliyah.” I called the imp’s name carefully. It was smiling when it turned to face me. “Who is your master?”

There was a short period of silence after I spoke. The imp Aaliyah’s smile widened and then its lips pulled apart as it prepared to answer. Before it could, another voice cut it off, beating the imp to providing the response I desired.

“I am.” The hard voice stated.

I could not believe it.

I stared with my mouth agape.

Happy New Year Tunjilomo and Madosky112! Happy New Year everyone!!!

@tunjilomo hahaha, that's interesting...I guess we'll have to wait and see Happy belated Christmas to you too

@doctorexcel thank you for reading! So the issue with the healing is that there is no magic in the spectral existence for healing. What they usually do to heal themselves quickly is that they use pansophy to grow cut parts, so if they've been stabbed or cut or something like that, they can use growth. But with the infection that Nebud has, growth isn't going to be able to cure it, the skin can regrow, but the infection will still be there, and that's why it needs a healer. There will be medicine (and maybe even surgery) that it needs to fully fight it. So magic (neither pansophy or spectra...or really any of the spectral existence powers) can solve it. But, do the imps have the knowledge to do this? Pious slaves of healers would probably have the knowledge of the surgery, they may not have the medicine though. And honestly, even if they did, I doubt very much that they would waste it on an uspec, lol, but now I'm saying too much about these imps. We'll see more of their true nature later...

@ayshow6102 thanks for reading!

@decoderdgenius hahaha, no, not like Nebud's at all, too much suffering for the uspec. Thank you for reading!

Pandemonium. That’s what it was. Uspecs screamed. They ran as far away from us as they could. Their wide eyes registered their fear. I looked at the bodies around me. I was sitting in a bed of okun. Thankfully, it was not a lit okun, so there was a great chance that the bodies were still alive. I forced my mind to stay clear even as my lucidity slipped from my grasp. My vision blurred again. I shook my head.

I pulled the okun back.

“Over there! It’s a rabid smoke bear! Over there!”

No! I tried to stand, but I was too weak. Adrenaline raced through me, pushing me back to lucidity. The guards appeared. Ten, twenty, they just kept coming. They surrounded us, their swords pointed out as they formed a tight circle around us.

I do not know what strength I mustered, but I found a way to stand. Most of my weight was on the healthy leg which could support it, but there was still some on my infected leg. I felt the pain of trying to stand on that leg. It was overwhelming, but somehow how I managed to push past it. I hopped to my bear.

“Calm.” I said, stroking the bear’s fur. “Calm Marc.”

It took some time, but eventually, the trumpet sounds died down. The bear relaxed onto all fours.

“Give us the bear.” One of the guards said.

I shook my head. Words were too hard. I gritted my teeth. Why had the hail melt left so suddenly? I shook my head, forcing the distracting thoughts out. Where were we? Tall black gates appeared in front of us. The gates reminded me of those in Chiboga. Luckily, there was enough falling hail to assure me that I was not living that nightmare again.

“If you do not give it to us, we will kill it where it stands, and you with it, if you get in our way.”

Marc trumpeted.

“Banneret…” the words were a whisper.

“Give it to us!”

“Perhaps we should take the matter to the grand one. It is a noble after all.” A voice stated hesitantly.

Another scuffed. There were too many of them for me to see. Especially not when it took so much focus just to keep my attention on one uspec. I could feel the adrenaline that had rushed through me begin to fade. My grasp on lucidity was beginning to slip again.

“I have seen de trop that look cleaner than this noble.”

“Give us the bear,” the leader ordered, “or we will advance.” They took a step closer.

Marc trumpeted. I held on tight to the bear’s fur, trying my best to infuse it with calm which I did not feel. My free hand went to the hilt of my cutlass as the guards continued to draw closer. The hand on my cutlass shook. I knew that I would not last long in a fight. I blinked. The uspecs were starting to get blurry, green forms turned into wavy outlines. The outlines came closer. I could feel Marc’s angst by the shuffling of its feet and the trumpeting.

The bear jolted.

Clarity returned.

A line of uspecs had drawn close enough to attack the bear. Marc struck out its trunk in self-defense. It knocked three uspecs down with a single swing of its trunk. It was bringing its trunk back when an uspec’s sword, appeared in the air. That sword swiped my smoke bear’s trunk.

Blood trickled from its cut trunk.

Marc stuck its tusk into the side of the uspec who’d stabbed it.

“It has attacked an uspec! Kill it!” The soldiers ran towards us.

It was all happening too fast. I could not stand without leaning heavily on the bear, and even that brought me pain. Simple jerks of my leg hurt more than I imagined an infection could. But I could not allow them to kill this bear who’d saved me so many times in Nefastu. I pulled out my cutlass.

“Stop!” the voice that gave this order was new, different from that of the angry guards whose swords were so close to Marc’s flesh.

“I said stop. On the orders of the Kaiser of Chiboga, stop. That uspec belongs to the Kaiser, if you harm it, you will pay with your life.”

The guards stopped. My mind reeled. The Kaiser of Chiboga? Sophila? No, I shook my head, Sophila was dead. I killed it with the very cutlass I held. Sophi. Sophi was the only uspec of that line to remain. It was Kaiser now.

The guards retreated. They cleared a path.

Soldiers marched through that path. Silver earrings hung from their ears. The soldier in front of the line had a bar attached to its link. That rectangular bar showed that it was a chief, the same rank that I had been before I left the port.

“This uspec is a deserter of the Kaiser’s army. It must receive the Kaiser’s justice.”

“And the bear?” a guard questioned. “The bear attacked an uspec guard, surely it cannot live.”

The soldier shrugged. “My orders do not concern the bear, just the uspec.”

Hands reached for me.

No! I swung my cutlass in the air.

“Do you deny that you are a deserter of the Kaiser’s army and as such are subject to the Kaiser’s justice?”

I cleared my throat. It took a while for the words to come out. “The bear.” Two words. My head hurt. I wanted to sleep. My eyes begged for a break, for the bliss of oblivion.

“It is a fine bear. I suppose it will make a good gift for the mighty one.” The chief said. It stuck its hand into its belt and pulled out a piece of merit. It tossed the piece onto the ground by the foot of the guard who’d spoken last. “For the wounds of your injured comrade.”

“A piece of merit is not enough.”

“It is the piece or nothing. If your sovereign objects, tell it to bring its complaints to the Kaiser.” The soldier jerked its head at me, and then the bear. “Bring them both. Kill any guard that tries to stop you.”

This time I did not fight when the hands closed on my arms and led me away. I used my cutlass like a walking stick to support my injured leg. The pain did not stop, but I was just afraid enough to stay aware of my surroundings. What did Sophi want with me? How had it seen me? How had it known that I was here? The only reason that Sophi would go to so much pains to get me was if it knew what I’d done, if it knew that I was responsible for the death of its sire and its progenitor. No, Arexon killed Sophian, but it only did it to save my life.

What little I remembered of the young uspec was not flattering. I recalled it quoting Arexon. It had been a fan of the commander’s. Was it still?

We were led past the gates, onto a bed of hail on the other side.

“Bear!” I screamed, although the sound only came out as somewhat louder than a whisper. It was enough to get the chief’s attention.

“They are taking it to the den. It will be protected until the Kaiser decides what to do with it, and you.”

By the time we entered into a covered dwelling, I was too weak to walk. The soldiers were practically carrying me now, and I let them. I forced my eyes to fix on the silver links on the soldiers’ ears, and my mind to contemplate Sophi’s vengeance.

We stopped in front of hard fog doors which were manned by two gurus. The moment they saw the chief they saluted. Their salutes took me back to a time I had hoped never to revisit.

The solid fog drifted when the chief’s hand touched it. It marched into the room and saluted. “The banneret sirga.”

The room tilted. I tried to keep it straight, to keep my wits about me, but I could not. Danger lay on the other side of that door, but my mind could not comprehend it. The infection was spreading too fast, and my mind had been strained too much already.

I was led into the room. The soldiers released me, and I fell. The moment my body touched the ground, my mind went into the blissful ignorance of oblivion.

Part 10
--------

Riding out of Nefastu was like being inserted into the light after eons spent in darkness. It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulder. Fine hail fell. This hail was not hard like the pellets which had rained down on me in Nefastu. It was so smooth that I felt it like a gentle caress against my weathered skin. No chilled fogs drifted by me, there was no extra chill other than that from the pure white powder.

I took a deep breath and held it.

The purity of my emotions rushed in on me at once. I could feel my pain like a panting hound eager to hunt. I felt the power which I had harnessed from killing the pious ones in the room-vault. It all came back to me then, each emotion revealing itself to me with a purity which I had previously taken for granted. I was still cold, it was so cold that I shivered, but in this cold I felt some warmth, some comfort that I could not quite describe.

A landlocked canoe unlike any that I had seen before, steered by me. The fluid bottom of this canoe appeared to have some solidity to it. It was as if spikes had been erected into the sludge bottom. Those spikes dug through the hail ground, allowing the canoe to slide easily over it.

Marc trumpeted when the canoe passed us. It rose its front legs off the ground, waving them frantically as the steerer of the canoe turned to stare at us. I wrapped my arms around the bears neck, desperate to keep myself on its back.

“Calm down, Marc.” I whispered to the bear. “Do not be alarmed. It is only a canoe.” I imagined that this creature had not seen any contrivances like this. For a moment I wondered what it would be like to spend my entire life in Nefastu. I did not know how much time had passed, but even that time spent had been too much for me.

Musa.

The thought of my imp brought back memories of its sapped form. I knew that it would survive, it had to. The imps of Sada would find it, and they would heal it. Sada. That thought sent my mind reeling. A large migraine took hold of me. My vision blurred. I saw nothing, heard nothing. Suddenly, the world appeared void. My mind felt as if it had been hijacked, as though an alien army had invaded and was stomping all over it. I swore that I could feel their little feet marching on my brain.

So many different words drifted through my mind. They were words that I had never heard before. Out of the blue I was surrounded by people speaking a tongue that I could not understand. No, I shook my head, trying to come to grips with this strangeness. I could understand. I could almost hear it.

“Noble one?”

All of a sudden, my vision was clear. The pain that had filled my head was gone. The voices I’d heard disappeared. My opened eyes registered the guards standing around me. Six of them stood in a wide circle around us. They held their swords in both hands as their alarmed faces studied me. It took me a while to realize why they appeared so alarmed.

I remembered then that Marc was still standing on its hind paws.

“Calm.” I tightened my legs around the bear and pulled on the thick fur in my hands.

The smoke bear trumpeted, and then it dropped back to all fours. The rocking of the hail ground that followed, knocked a few of the guards down.

They jumped back to their feet. “Where did you come from?” one demanded.

“Nefastu.” I said, jerking my head backwards.

Gasps greeted my answer. “What were you doing there?”

I turned slightly to my right. Marc sensed the motion and turned too, so that I was facing the guard who’d asked the question. The guard looked at my bear, gulped, and then turned harried eyes back on me.

“Sightseeing. Is that a problem?”

The guard shook its head. “No, noble one.” They began to move away. Slowly, their swords still stretched out towards us, the guards took one step after the other, back in the direction that they’d come in.

“Wait.” I stopped their retreat with the command.

They stopped.

“I am bound for Cormeum. Which way is it?”

A guard jerked its head to my left. “Ride ahead until you see the road that veers off to the right. Go straight down that road and you will reach the gates to Cormeum.” After saying that, the guards warily turned their backs on us. I watched them leave. It was entertaining how many times they turned around to stare at the bear. I suppose I would have stared as they did, if I was in their shoes.

I gasped when a sharp biting pain tore through my infected leg. On an instinct, I jerked my leg, to my surprise, the leg moved. I focused on it then. The pain in my leg continued to grow as I pulled back the ends of the tattered cloak. Once the leg was revealed, I saw the cause of the pain. The hail melt which had numbed my leg was gone. With the melt gone, I could see the amount of damage that had been done, and how far the infection had spread. Blue puss covered most of my thigh, all the way down to my knee and slightly below. I tried to move my leg, raising it so that I could get a better view of the damage, but even that slight motion proved to be too much. My leg exploded with pain. I suddenly wished for the blissful numbing of the imp’s hail melt. And to think I had wanted the imp to remove its concoction.

I pulled at the bear’s fur, jerking so sharply I was surprised when the creature did not immediately foist me off its back. Instead, it turned to the left, in the direction I pulled in, and began trotting. Each step the bear made sent another spasm of pain down my leg. How could the infection have gotten so bad without my knowledge? I chose not to think of what would have happened if I had stayed in Nefastu for another day or two.

I clenched my jaw, swallowing the urge to cry out with the pain of my infections. I had to breathe through it. At least I had Marc. I jerked sharply, tugging on the bear’s fur when we reached the first right-turning road. Again, the bear obligingly followed my lead. It did not as much as trumpet annoyance at my rough handling. I stroked the warm fur, trying to convey the gratitude which I could not accurately express with words.

The further down the hail road we went, the harder it became to hold onto Marc. I felt my grasp on reality weakening. My vision blurred, my head felt full, and an inferno crept through my veins. Heat burned through me, warming me from the insides as the hail chilled my skin. I did not like these feelings. I could recall the last time that I had felt like this. It was in Nefastu, just before I passed out. I knew it was a result of the spread of the infection. I had to get myself to a healer, I thought, as my eyes drifted shut.

Something jolted underneath me.

The bump tossed my legs.

I howled out a cry so guttural it took me a long time to connect myself to the sound. There had been movement. I had been moving. But once the cry sounded, the movement stopped. I felt something warm wrap around my skin.

I opened my eyes.

Green skin swam in front of my gaze. I heard cries of panic, mingled with shouts of alarm. Shaking fingers pointed at me. Words were spoken in harsh mejo dialects. If I had enough of my wits, I would be able to concentrate on the words and filter through the inflections and varying strains that the different dialects placed on their words. But I could not. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I tried to focus on a single thing, a single face.

The warm thing released me, exposing that once covered strip of skin, to the harsh cool of the elements. There was a heat in me that seemed to riot against the cool of my surroundings.

Hail, I thought, as the loud sound of a trumpet broke through my thoughts.

My hold on the fur weakened, and then slipped. I had to catch myself to keep from falling on my head.

Musa. Visions filled my head of my sapped imp. I had almost forgotten. Musa. Nefastu. The cursed road, the pelting hail and blinding red chilled fogs. Snow jackals. An attack. A pack baying for the flesh of my imp. Marc. Marc saved my life. The smoke bear. I recalled it now, I remembered the feel of its trunk wrapped tightly around me, and the thawing heat that its proximity had provided. I remembered other things. I remembered bandits. A heated cloak, a cart of imps, fogs, death. The stab. My infections. I shook my head as my consciousness began to slip.

There was an imp Monica who had treated me. It had applied hail melt, hail melt. I shook my head, my teeth chattering as I tried to reconcile the cold with the heat. There was so much of both yet not enough of either. Too hot on the inside, too cold on the out. Monica. The infection was spreading too fast. We must have been riding for hours. I tried to move my leg, but I could not.

Suddenly, Marc jerked. It rose its front legs up in the air, kicking them high as it stood on its hind legs. Then it tossed its trunk around, trumpeting as it swiped its front legs. I tried to hold onto the creature, but it was swaying too fast and with too much force for me to maintain my fragile hold on its fur.

I fell.

The fall was hard.

The back of my ailerons slammed against a solid bed of fine hail. A cool wave crept into me. I heard my teeth chatter. It took some doing, but I managed to maneuver myself into a sitting position. My legs moved and the pain returned. This time I had enough of my wits to keep from screaming out my pain. But the pain was so much, too much.

The ground underneath me became wet.

I heard a voice scream. The scream was followed by the sound of a body falling on a wet floor. The voices increased. I could sense the anger in them.

I forced my eyes to focus then, past the haze of green outlines of bodies. My mind seemed determined to slip away. It wanted to rest, just as badly as my eyes wanted to close. I could not let them. I sensed danger around me. Marc’s trumpeting continued. It stood on hindlegs and swiped its front paws at green shapes.

My eyes focused enough to see that it was uspecs that my bear attacked.

@phoenixchap Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the update. Hope you had a great christmas!

@ayshow6102 Merry Xmas to you too. Thank you for reading the very long update even in if you had to keep drinking water at intervals while reading

@HotB Thank you very much for reading!

@cassbeat Thank you for reading the long update Yeah, I understand that, Nebud can be very arrogant. Glad you were able to make it through though

@Madosky112 I really like the way you're thinking and the way that you're putting things together. This is actually not linked to InCoSeM though. This story is set way before that time, so before the marked were even created....actually, wait oh, it's like you're understanding the story more than me, lol. So, actually in a way the things happening here are eventually going to be linked to the battle between the Benin community and InCoSeM, but not directly. because, like I said, this is way way before the marked were created, so before the communities were formed. Yes, there will eventually be a story based in the fourth existence and another in the supreme existence (I don't know if those stories will be posted here though). I'm going to return to the human world (to finish the Reckoning) before I go back to writing in a different existence. But those are coming soon...

@Boludammie Thanks for reading the special

@Smooth278 Thanks for reading the special long update

@ifud thank you, also, welcome to the comments section, saw your Christmas comment but I didn't give you a special welcome then

@Fazemood!!! Thank you and compliments of the season to you too

@doctorexcel Yes, it is very complex, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far, I hope you keep enjoying it

Monica shook its head. “It does not work like that sirga. Only the elders can command the hunters to search for an imp. You must petition the elders.”

“Then take me to them.”

Monica nodded. “Kalug will support you.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Remove the melt from my leg. I will walk on my own feet.” I did not like the idea of resting on an uspec with pansophy.

“Your infected leg cannot take the weight. Kalug will not use pansophy on you. You have my word. Kalug.” The uspec nodded.

“Fine.” I conceded.

The uspec appeared beside me. It reached down towards me, pulling me up with a strength that I had not expected from it. With the uspec supporting my weight, I was able to hop on my one working leg. It was an awkward movement, but it was enough to see us out of the sludge space and into a room which appeared to be made out of hail. No, I shook my head, looking around at the sparse furnishings, it appeared that the room was carved into the hail. We went through a set of curtains. These curtains led to a hallway carved from hail, just as the room had been. It was obvious that some infernos existed somewhere, because the hallway was far warmer than it had been outside. Just the thought of the cold made me shiver.

Several imps walked by us on the hallway. Each one waved a greeting at Monica and Kalug. I could not help but notice the way the uspec spoke. The imps that passed did not speak the mejo tongue that Monica and Kalug had spoken to me in. They spoke another tongue, an umani tongue, I guessed. The imps that passed stared at me. There were no emotions that I could easily read off their faces, and if they spoke about me, I could not tell.

At long last, we exited the curving hallway, emerging into the biting cold of Nefastu. Hard pellets drummed against my scalp.

“Would you like to clean before we meet the elders?” Monica asked.

I found the idea of cleaning for a meeting with imps, particularly repulsing. As much as the thought of an okun appealed to me, I was not willing to delay the search for Musa. Musa first, okun later.

I shook my head.

Cruel chilled fogs drifted around us, accompanying us as we moved. I shivered as the cold seeped in through what was left of my cloak. I tried to hop faster, but there was no escaping the foul weather. I was relieved when at long last we walked into a covered building, obviously heated with infernos.

Two of the tallest imps I had ever seen stood in front of a set of thick curtains. They smiled at my escorts.

“I will tell them it is ready.” One of them said with a smile, before walking in through the curtains.

We did not have to wait too long before the imp returned. It nodded and pulled the curtains apart.

I hopped into the room, leaning heavily on the uspec.

The room we entered was a great hall. I turned my head around just enough to catch glimpses of the seats carved out of hail. The ground was white, a well levelled, and thoroughly polished, hail ground. Although it was obviously hail, I felt no cold as my feet moved on it. We made our way to the center of the space, an alcove surrounded by drifting red fog. As soon as we walked through that fog, it hardened, forming into solid walls around us.

Three imps sat on high backed chairs. This was the first time that I had seen backed chairs. Uspecs did not sit on backed chairs as the backs would be an uncomfortable restriction for our ailerons.

There was nothing particularly unique about these imps. One of them appeared to have ended its umani life when it was much older than the other two. I could tell this from its wrinkled skin and white hair. None of the imps appeared to be imp young. They all wore robes.

Monica walked over and dropped to her knees in front of the imp seated in the middle. The imp extended its hand and Monica kissed a ring on one of the imp’s fingers.

“Rise my daughter.” The imp’s voice was high pitched. It was one of the younger ones.

“Thank you, mother.” Monica said, rising to its feet.

The imp that had spoken turned to stare at me then. If there was hatred in its gaze, it did not show. All I saw was mild curiosity.

“Who do you bring to us?”

“Nebud.” Monica said, “a banneret.”

“What is its desire?”

“To find its imp, Musa.”

All three of the seated imps turned to Monica. “Musa?” the older one said, repeating the name. “Of Lahooni?”

Monica nodded.

“It belongs to this uspec now?” I clenched my jaw refusing to take insult at the way the imp had referred to me.

Again, Monica nodded.

The imp seated in the middle rose. It walked towards me. Standing I could tell that it was not nearly as tall as Musa. “Nebud, are you willing to join the ranks of Sada?”

“No.” I snapped. My response came out as a reflex, prompted by the way that this imp had casually called my name. As if I had given it leave! I had to fight to hold onto my temper.

“Then what do you have to offer us? Why should we perform this favor for you?”

“I will pay.” I spat out through clenched teeth. These imps were plotting to hand over my existence to another, and here I was, offering them money to aid their cause. I stood, supported by an uspec who acted as slave to imps, only one of my legs working. I had been distanced from my emotions, a distancing which seemed much more potent here in Permafrost than it had been on Nefastu. I had no magic that I could easily reach, and no legs to stand on to support me while I fought. I had nothing but money to offer.

“We do not need money.”

I scoffed. “Everyone needs money.”

The imp smiled. “Not us.”

I frowned. “What do you want? Tell me and I will give it to you.”

“You will give anything to get your imp back?”

“If you find Musa and restore it to its health, I will give you anything you ask for.”

“Restore it?”

“Samu bite.” Monica piped in.

The imp nodded gravelly. “I can promise that we will try to find your imp, and that if we find it, we will try to restore it. That is all I can do. I can make no guarantees.”

“That is enough for me. When do we start?”

“We?”

“Yes, we. When do we start the search?”

“You are mistaken Nebud, you will not be joining in the search. Our hunters work best in their teams, you will only be a hindrance. Now you have brought this matter to us, we will handle it.”

“No.”

“It is the only way Nebud. Either we handle it on our own, or we do not attempt to help at all. It is your choice.”

I gritted my teeth. They had snow jackals trained to hunt for imp flesh in any form, I had nothing, not even two legs to walk on.

The imp continued speaking. “Besides, you have somewhere else to be.”

I frowned. “What?”

“You will pay us in kind. We will search for your imp and restore it, and you will search for our imp, and return it to us.”

I frowned. “What imp?”

“Several weeks ago, one of our imps went on a mission to the Cormeum. The imp has not returned. The payment we demand from you, in exchange for our service, is the rescue of our imp, from Cormeum.” The imp reached into a pocket in its robe and pulled out a hard parchment. “This is the imp’s likeness.”

I took the offered parchment. “Xavier.” I said the imp’s name as if it was a curse.

“You know it then.” The imp said, “good. Find Xavier and return it. That is your payment for our services.”

“I will find Xavier after you find Musa and heal it.”

The imp shook its head. “We will both commence on our missions at the same time. We do not know how much longer Xavier has before it is captured. If it has already been captured, then it won’t be long before it is sapped. You must go now.”

“I cannot leave without Musa.”

“If you do not leave, we will not search for your imp, and if we do not start searching for it soon, we may never find it. The rate of sapping from the samu’s bite is very unpredictable.”

I glared at the imp. Every fiber in my being wanted to lash out at it. I wanted to bend it to my will, to force it to give me the help I needed. But even I was not rash enough to do something that stupid. I could not help but remember Monica’s warnings.

“Fine.” I spat out.

The imp nodded. “Then our bargain is struck. Shadra.”

The hard fog walls of the room turned to drifting fog. An uspec with all of its outer eyes filled walked in through that fog. It bowed to the imp who had summoned it.

“Yes mother.” The uspec said.

The imp spoke to the uspec in another tongue. Moments later, quicksand formed underneath me. I was sucked into that quicksand and teleported outside. As soon as I was outdoors, my ailerons began to flap. I could not imagine why I had not thought of this sooner. Surely, I did not need my legs when I could fly.

I’d barely risen a foot into the sky, when the combination of pelting hail and swirling fogs picked me up and spun me in a vortex. It was as if the hail and fogs acted together to swat me from one end to the other. I could not see past the smog of red. I could not stabilize myself in the air long enough to dart in any particular direction.

Hard hands clamped onto my arm and pulled me back with it, to the ground.

“It is no easier to fly with one leg, than it is to walk with one. It is doable, but it must be learnt. If I were you, I would see to my leg so that I did not have to learn that lesson. You do not have the disposition to be shun.” It paused, eyeing me emotionlessly. “Besides, it is difficult to fly within the pelting of hail, but it is impossible to do so here, in permafrost, where the swirling fogs are just as those in Nefastu.”

It took some time for me to see after the spinning in the fogs, but once my sight cleared, I could make out the uspec that the imp had called into the room. It was this uspec’s quicksand that had teleported me out of that room with the imps.

A trunk wrapped around me, disrupting my thoughts.

“Marc!” I turned around. The uspec released its hold on me, as I transferred my weight to the smoke bear. In the bustle of being in this place I had forgot to ask about my newest friend. I ran my hand through the smoke bear’s fur, my spirits rising as it trumpeted. Suddenly, I was buoyed by Marc’s presence, and the imps’ solution. They will find Musa, I knew it.

“I will teleport you to the edge of Nefastu. You must cross to Damejo yourself.”

“How do you use spectra here?” I wondered. Did it not feel the limitations of this cursed place?

“Sada is generous.” The uspec said.

I thought of many things to say in reply, but I decided to save my breath. There would be time to deal with these Sada worshippers. Now was not that time.

“How will I find my way back once I have Xavier?”

“Xavier will guide you.”

Quicksand appeared underneath us. It sucked us in. Monica appeared just barely in my line of sight. I did not know what I thought of the imp and its tactics, and luckily, I did not have the time to contemplate this, before the imp, and all of Permafrost vanished. I was teleported to the boundary between Nefastu and Damejo.

Part 9
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Weakness.

Every muscle in my body screamed with it. Each pulse, each throb, each second that passed, ticked away on a tide of unbearable and unfathomably deep frailty. The feelings that had descended on me the moment I stepped onto Nefastu seemed to have increased, deepened somehow in their intensity. I knew that I was alive, I could feel the heat like an inferno surrounding me. I could feel the tickle of air against my skin, and the surety of solid ground underneath me. Even though I was yet to open my eyes, I felt my life, like a force within me. But the animation, the fire that burned with that force, was gone, somehow lost to me.

I felt this lack of animation in my emotions.

Under the equipoise my emotions were free from my magic. I found no power in them, nothing that could be harnessed, focused and then unleashed. In this hell, I felt that power. I felt the power in my emotions, and so was aware that the magic existed, that it was a distinct possibility, an actuality which I should be able to reach. But I could not. Something blocked my magic, something kept me separated from the power in my emotions. And it was this thing, this block which I had felt since I stepped foot in Nefastu, which removed the animation from my lifeforce. It made every breath I took the same, but somehow distressingly different and deficient.

It was with these thoughts running in my head, that I made my first attempt to move. I opened my eyes and shuffled my limbs, performing both actions simultaneously. The desired outcome was to push myself up using my arms and feet. What actually happened was that my arms twitched by my side and my legs did nothing more than flail in the sludge ground. While my limbs failed me, my eyes did not. They opened, revealing that I was in some sort of sealed containment. Glowing fog walls surrounded me. The fog walls were a shade of crimson which I had only seen in infernos created from the mejo magic.

I took a deep breath and tried again to force myself up. This time I managed to raise my arms up, and place my palms flat against the ground. I attempted to push myself up, using as much strength as I could muster, but my attempts proved too feeble to bear result. I stopped, choosing instead to take account of myself. What was my last memory?

Monica.

The anger that filled me was nowhere near as ferocious as it ought to be. The fire was like a dull ache in my stomach, not like the fire that should be raging throughout my entire body. This was another effect of the stunted emotions that this Nefastu wrought. I recalled the imp, Monica. I had trusted the imp. Musa had done this to me. Before Musa, I did not trust imps. I sighed. The imp Monica had used pansophy on me. But why? To what end?

I could faintly recall the conversation that we’d had before the imp had used its pansophy on me. I remembered it saying that Nefastu was a result of an invasion planned by the other existences. It was an invasion which the imps were helping to bring about, one that the plenum had unknowingly put into action. There were other uspecs, others that the imp mentioned were in league with the Wrath. Something about this thought made me feel strange. It was as if some connection should be made, as if the knowledge of uspecs in league with the wrath should remind me of something. Some action of import I had witnessed perhaps. Whatever it was, I could not recall.

Musa.

My imp. Again, my stunted emotions filled me. I felt pain and sorrow which were a mockery of what they were meant to be. I should have been in pain so forceful that the entire sludge ground filled with okun. My sorrow should have been enough to create clouds. But all I felt were pieces of it, like the pitiful remnants of a great feast, or the dying echoes of a loud bellow.

“Musa.” I said the imp’s name out loud, and was immediately surprised by the soft whispers which left my mouth. How many days had I been in this strange place? Did Musa live? It had to. I could not allow myself to contemplate alternatives, to imagine a life without my imp. No, Musa was stronger than the samu that bit it, it had to survive, it had to fight, to give me a chance to save its life just as it had done so many times for me. “Live.” My voice was hoarse. “LIVE!” I screamed as loudly as I could. “Please.”

“Sirga?”

The voice of the imp who had betrayed me trailed into the room. I still lay, only half sprawled, with my arms pushing parts of my body away from the sludge ground. I turned, just in time to see a section of the fog wall drift away. The beautiful shade of crimson disappeared, revealing nothing but white ice behind it. Chilled fogs swept in.

I shivered.

Monica walked in. The imp was well dressed. I could tell from the change in its tunic and the shade of its skin, that it had cleaned. Wherever we were, it was a place with okun.

I starred daggers at the imp as it approached me. It knelt in front of me, bending lower so that its face was closer to mine. If I’d had the strength, I would have wrapped my hand around the imp’s throat and squeezed until it stopped breathing. Of course its stun would only be temporary, but the knowledge of the pain I’d caused it would have done much to soothe my strange emotions.

A cool palmed pressed against my forehead as empty sockets peered into my eyes. I flinched as soon as the imp touched me. A gentle smile formed on its lips. “Kalug!” It called out. “Come and help me!”

I could not have been less prepared for the sight that greeted me. An uspec emerged, running into the space, to answer the imp’s demands. It was as if the imp was master and the uspec slave. The uspec that appeared was mejo. It had the slight bulk of one that was used to some form of fighting but did not have enough skill to be a great pugilist. This uspec had all of its outer eye sockets formed and four of them filled. It eyed me warily.

“Don’t just stand there, help me lift it up.” Monica prompted.

The uspec came over. It appeared to be about the same height as Musa. Just the thought of the imp, pained me. Survive, I thought. Just survive. The uspec grabbed onto my right arm, while Monica wrapped its hands around my left. Together they helped maneuver me to a sitting position. I sat with my back resting against the fog wall.

Then the uspec took a step back. “You should not stand so close, Monica, it does not mean you well.” The uspec stated, its eyes meeting mine. Pansophy. It had pansophy, it had to. How else would it know what I was thinking?

Monica laughed. “Yes sirga, Kalug has pansophy.”

I jerked my arm away from the imp’s pansophic hold. Monica released me. My eyes darted from the imp, to the uspec, and then back.

“You call it sirga!” the uspec accused.

Monica chuckled. “Go and fetch the okun fruit.” It ordered.

The uspec glared at me before walking away.

I was stunned.

“What…” I stopped to compose myself. “You treat that uspec like a slave.” I accused.

“We can be slaves, but you cannot?” it said with a smile. Then it shook its head, the smile falling from its lips. “There are no slaves here. I treat Kalug like an offspring because that is what it is to me. It was I who found the young uspec when it was shunned, and I who brought it here and made it one of the chosen few uspecs lucky enough to serve Sada.”

I scoffed. “We are in Permafrost then?”

Monica nodded.

The uspec returned with a glass bowl filled with black fruits. It bent so that Monica could easily pick one. “Thank you.” The imp said to the uspec.

The uspec bent and placed a kiss on the imp’s cheek, before walking away.

I gaped at the green skin and the ailerons that came into view once the uspec’s back was turned to me.

“Take this sirga.” Monica said. “It will give you strength.”

I remembered the okun fruit. It had been a long time since I needed the rejuvenating effects of the fruit, but I could not deny that I was in dire need of an energy boost. I took the fruit from the imp. For a moment I considered the possibility that it could mean to poison me with the fruit. I shook that thought off as ludicrous. If the imp wanted me dead, I would be dead already.

I put the fruit into my mouth and chewed slowly. As the fruit made its way down my throat, I stared contemplatively at the imp. Once the energy boost from the fruit took effect, I struck out with my arm, and wrapped my hand around the imp’s throat.

“Mama!” The uspec screamed. It ran into the space.

Monica lifted its arm in the air, stopping the uspec’s approach.

‘I thought you pulled away from my touch because you did not wish to subject yourself to my pansophy. Was I wrong?’

The imp’s words filled my head. Immediately, I released it. I frowned at it, disgusted with it, and myself, for my own reactions. Pansophy. Cursed magic. What genius uspec thought to gift imps with it? I thought of Musa and all the ways my imp’s pansophy had aided me.

I swallowed down my building desire to strike out at the imp. Instead, I concentrated on standing. I found then that while I was able to fully move one of my legs, I could not move the other. I turned to stare at my infected leg. My ripped cloak covered it. With rising degrees of impatience, I pushed the cloak off my leg, revealing the skin underneath. The leg that the jackal had bitten was white, porcelain, like the skin of the snow jackal that bit it.

“What is this?” I demanded.

“Hail melt.” Monica rushed to explain. “The infection was spreading. You were delirious before I took your consciousness away. I had to apply hail melt to the entire leg to keep the infection from spreading into the rest of you. The melt has slowed down the rate of the spread, but you are still infected. Only healers have the necessary means to remove the infection.”

I swallowed. “Remove it.” I ordered.

“Sirga…”

“Remove it!” I yelled. My voice sounded like mine again. I felt the power in it, just as I felt the surge of strength in the limbs that worked. “If you want to help me, like you claim, you will remove the melt so that I can continue my search for my imp. I must find Musa.”

“It is too late now, sirga. Whatever is left of Musa will be impossible for you to find. If anything is left.”

I glared at the imp. “Remove. It.” I snapped.

“You are stubborn.” It scolded.

On impulse, I reached for the dagger in my belt, ready to rip through the imp’s skin if it did not undo what it had done to my leg.

“Please.” Monica’s hand came over mine, stilling my hand on the hilt of my dagger, “don’t. You are in permafrost. As your kind does not take kindly to an imp attacking your own, mine does not take to an imp being attacked by an uspec. Enough of that happens elsewhere, it will never be allowed to happen here. If you draw imp blood in Permafrost, you will be killed.”

My eyes narrowed in disbelief. “How dare you…”

Monica shook its head. “This place is filled with escaped pious slaves. Hundreds of imps with pansophy. We also have several uspecs like Kalug, uspecs who are loyal to us, and who have pansophy as well as spectra. You may be a great fighter sirga, but you cannot win a fight against all of us. Please, do not try, I cannot see you hurt. I will not let you hurt yourself.”

I had reason to be grateful for the stunted emotions then. If my emotions had not been stunted, I could not imagine what I would have done to the imp for daring to speak to me as it had. It threatened me! For that alone I wanted to hurt it. I found myself filled with familiar urges which I hadn’t felt for a long time. I was suddenly driven by an inexplicable urge to make this imp suffer the way that I had done to the imp in my slum, and the imp in the pits.

Monica sighed. It pulled its hand away from me. “Sometimes you are so much like Calami it is as if I have a piece of my friend back with me. But other times you become a stranger, the kind of uspec Permafrost was built to destroy. When you speak to the elders, I would advice you to keep your murderous intentions to yourself. Too many of them have known suffering at the hands of uspecs. It will not matter to them who you are, they will kill you if they feel the urge.”

“When I speak to the elders?” I chose to cling to that, and not everything else the imp said. There would be time to dwell on all that I had learnt here, there would be time after I saved Musa.

“I brought you here because I know how much you want to find Musa. I could have taken you to Damejo, but if I did, you would have lost any chance of finding your imp. Here, you can ask the elders to search for Musa. We have snow jackals which we’ve bred to hunt imps, under the control of our hunters. If Musa is in a form which can be saved, our hunters will find it. They are your only chance.”

Hope surged in me. “Take me to these hunters at once!” I demanded.

“No!” I yelled. Marc trumpeted, as if sensing my distress. I calmed myself, stroking the warm flesh of the bear as I tried to slow my heart. “It cannot be gone. It just cannot. I cannot…I cannot lose Musa like this. Imps are supposed to be immortal. It was supposed to outlive me.” The words stopped. I stared determinedly at the road ahead. “It lives.” I consoled myself. “It is by that parasol tree, waiting for me to find it.”

Monica remained silent.

Its silence lasted the entirety of our journey through empty chilled roads which showed no signs of streaked skin. My determination kept me from dwelling on the stiffness in my fingers, and the bites of pain I felt in my ears. My wounded thigh was numbed, but I could still feel the infection like it was a living thing threatening to take control of me. My body cried for heat, but my mind could not give it. I could not relent.

At long last, we reached the parasol tree. Marc’s loud trumpets heralded it. A smile formed on my face as we drew closer to that parasol tree. The entire scenery appeared familiar to me. I recalled marveling at the picturesque splendor of the vegetation. The mixing of colors, the twinning of wispy stems, but most of all the drooping fronds of the tree.

The bent fronds hanging from the tree provided covering from the hail. It was a covering that kept the ground around the stem free from hail. It was sludge, brown sludge ground.

Marc stopped in front of the area of sludge. I jumped off the bear’s back before it could bend. It was a terrible fall. I landed on my right leg, but the weight was too much to be supported by the leg, and so I fell. I was glad that my eagerness to search the area did not lead to me harming the one working leg that I still had. I hopped on that leg, leaning heavily on Marc, until I could pull myself up. I limped, shuffling on my one dominant leg, towards the sludge ground.

As soon as I was standing in front of the stem of the parasol tree, one thing became glaringly obvious.

Musa was not there.

I looked around the area more times than I could count. Monica spoke, it said words that were in the mejo tongue we’d been conversing in, but it did not matter that the words were familiar, I could not hear it.

“Where are you?” I asked. “Musa.” It did not matter how many times I searched, the imp was not there.

I fell dejectedly to my knees. The sudden jerking of my skin pulled at the wounds previously sealed with hail melt. Blood and puss flowed together in a gory mix of red and blue.

My mind filled with visions of the imp. I remembered Musa teaching me how to speak the tongues I had become so adept at. If it had not been for the imp, I would never have passed as a noble. It was Musa who taught me the cutlass, Musa who taught me to read and write. Before Musa I was just an illiterate de trop from Hakute.

“Musa.”

Pure sorrow filled me. The strength of the emotion was enough to force through the blocks that the cursed road had placed on me. For the moments while the grief took me, I felt as one with my pain. The pain confirmed what the imp had told me. The pain showed me that the infection in my thigh was dire enough to make me lose my leg, and that the chill was terrible enough to kill me. I ignored it.

Sirga!

I focused on my surroundings. The imp was standing in front of me, touching me. Pansophy. I frowned. It looked like Musa. This imp. Red light blinded my eyes. I saw two of Musa.

Sirga. Stop this. Please, sirga.

The imp, Musa, my imp. I was delirious. Heat rose in me like a tidal wave, burning my system with boiling blood, while the chill of my surroundings cooled me from the outside. Red stained my vision. Red light, pure light, like from the clouds.

Clouds.

The area under the tree was filled with clouds. That was why there was so much red light. I had created clouds from my sorrow. I’d turned Marc into an imp. Another pang of sorrow filled me, pure and stirring as the first. I knew I had to turn Marc back. That was the last thought that filled my head before I passed out.

“With praising lips I thank you for the gift of this day and humbly beseech the peaceful tide of the next.”

Those were the first words I heard as I awakened. Shivers racked my body. I felt as if I was convulsing. My teeth chattered, my body shook, and my limbs flailed. A warm trunk wrapped around me, holding me in place. I felt the flapping of my ailerons, lifting me off the ground. The trunk held still, forcing my body to stay on the ground.

Finally, the shaking stopped.

I breathed in ragged breaths.

“You must return to Damejo. You must! You will kill yourself if you go on like this. Musa is gone, but you live, you must continue to live sirga, if not what did Musa die for?”

I glared at the imp. Placing my hands on the floor, I pushed myself up. I realized, as I moved, that I was much weaker than I had been last time. I could barely register the feel of the sludge underneath my palm. My extremities had numbed.

“Imps are immortal.” I whispered. “Musa lives. Even if all that is left is a single bit, I will find it.” I swore. “I will give life back to it.”

“The samu’s bite is final. Once an imp is reduced to that last bit, there is no magic that exists which can give it back the life it knew. Please sirga, please, I beg you, care for yourself. Please.”

I shook my head. “I cannot. I cannot leave here without Musa.”

“Musa is gone!” it threw its hands up. “But you still live. Live, sirga.”

“I cannot. Musa lives. I know.”

“How do you know?”

“It must. Call it faith.”

The imp huffed.

“Is it not faith that keeps you praying to Sada? Musa told me of your Sada. You live in the spectral existence, yet you pray to a god that resides in the fourth existence. It makes no sense to me, but you take it on faith, do you not?”

Monica exhaled deeply. It sat beside me, resting its back against Marc’s warm fur. “It is partly faith, but not fully. I know that Sada can reach this existence.”

I scoffed. “That is no more possible than Chuspecip reaching the fourth. The standard existence is the only place where all beings can reside.”

“Once, but not anymore.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“I was a pious slave, one of many that the plenum used. We taught them how to speak our tongues, told them how to reach out to the beings of the fourth and supreme existences. The plenum made a deal with these existences to gain the knowledge of how to destroy Chuspecip. The plenum thought that they were only giving them our portals from the spectral to the standard. They did not realize how much they had truly given.”

I turned to stare at the imp. “What are you saying?”

“The plenum gave the fourth existence the means to break through the barrier the Kuwor placed to separate the supreme, the fourth and the spectral. Can’t you feel it here? Nefastu is just the start.”

“My emotions. Spectra. They are somehow broken here, somehow harder to reach.”

Monica nodded. “The fourth existence will invade this one. It has already started, and the plenum is to thank for that.”

“How?”

“I do not know. There is much the elders know that they do not share.”

“You are helping them. You are helping the other existences.”

“The uspecs who have helped us will retain control of this existence. When the invasion is complete, neither the plenum nor Chuspecip will own this existence. It will be owned by the fourth and the supreme and controlled by uspecs loyal to the Wrath of Sada.”

My mind filled with terrible repercussions. My head ached as I tried to make sense of all of this.

“How? Why?”

“Chuspecip is the only…” Monica stopped speaking. “Sirga?”

My head felt full. I was burning again. I tried to pull myself up, but my fingers would not work. I felt the chill in them, the cold of the frost. They were numb. Had I lost feeling in my extremities? Monica’s head doubled and then tripled in front of me. Its words played on a loop.

I slid forward and fell onto the sludge ground.

“I am sorry,” I heard Monica’s voice, although I could not be sure if it was the imp I heard, or if I was making up the voices. “I must save you from yourself.”

I felt the brush of skin against mine, and then I was gone, lost to the world.

Part 8
-------

The smoke bear’s warmth helped to stave off the chill of the hail, but even with this warmth, I could still hear the chatter of my shivering teeth. With each bounce, I felt a jerk on the wounds of my infected leg and tried not to wince. I would not allow myself to think of what would happen if I lost the leg.

Shun.

I shivered just at the thought of it. If I lost my leg, I would be cast out from society as all imperfect uspecs were, and sent to the isle of shuns. Perhaps, I deserved it. Images of Marcinus flashed in my mind. I’d stolen the uspec’s eye, maybe this was my punishment. Hard pellets fell with punishing thuds against my skin.

“Where are we?” I asked, barely getting the words out through my shivering.

“Close to the isle.” Monica replied. Although dressed in much less than I was, the imp did not seem to be as discomfited by the cold. I credited its strength to its years of experience with the horrid weather. Pleasant thoughts filled my mind of going for a swim in a heated okun.

I felt the imp’s breasts press against my back and immediately jerked forward. I did not care what relationship it had with my progenitor; I would not give it the chance to use its pansophy on me.

“We should be quiet.” It whispered. “This area is rife with bandits.”

“How many?” I whispered back.

“Hundreds.”

“What do they search for?”

“Imps, mostly. The pious do not pay much for us, but these bandits are grateful for every piece of value they can scrounge up. Some of them hunt the wilds, animals in Nefastu, and try to sell them. There is not much money in that, but it is better than nothing. The most lucrative form of business for them is kidnapping. They celebrate whenever an uspec that is not shun, stumbles into Nefastu. Most shunned uspecs are blind. Those uspecs would give their limbs to get an uspec eye.”

“You are well informed.”

“We need to be to survive here.”

It did not speak any further, and I thought it prudent not to push. The silence left me with nothing better to do than dwell on the lack of feeling in my thigh. It got to the point that I poked at my own flesh just to feel the pain of the blue pus running out of my wound. That pain told me that I still had a functioning limb.

“It is supposed to be numb. That is the purpose of the hail melt.”

The imp had used pansophy on me.

“You have no secrets I care about sirga, and even if you did, I would not betray them. I told you, I owe Calami.”

I glared at the back of the bear’s head, choosing to direct my anger at it, rather than the imp seating behind me. If I harmed this imp, I would lose my only lead to Permafrost.

“I do not see Musa.” I said. “Are you sure this is the right way?”

“We are retracing your steps sirga. This is the only route the bandits could have taken from where you were, to the alcove they brought you to.”

The ground was covered with hard rocks and uncouth hail. There was no sign of life. The area we travelled was filled with parasol trees. I saw many of them, just like the trees that the bandits had kept us under. It took us an entire day to map the route that we’d travelled. In that day, I found no trace of my imp.

It was late night when we reached the white hail tree I’d seen the day I stepped into Nefastu.

“We should stop for the night.” Monica offered. “It would give me a chance to put more melt on your wound. Besides, it’s too dark to see anything.”

“I tried sitting by this tree before, it did not work. Too cold.”

“It will be warmer with the bear.”

I did not want to stop, but the imp was right, the red hue of the clouds had deepened the color of the fog, making it impossible to see through. Instinctively, I pulled my thighs closer, tightening my hold on the bear. It seemed to understand my sign, because it stopped moving, sat, and then bent forward so that we could dismount.

The bear’s trunk wrapped around me as I sat with my back against the hail tree. I continued to shiver, but I had to admit that the bear’s warmth greatly increased my chances of surviving the cold. I reached into my belt and pulled out a grain cake Musa had made before we left Chiboga. I’d brought three of them with me, and a few strips of dried nama meat. I hadn’t thought that I would be on this road for more than a few hours, not to talk of a day.

I pulled out the cakes, and gave one to Monica. The other I fed to the smoke bear myself. It felt strange to feed a creature so much bigger than I was. I was just wondering if it could feed itself, when the trunk wrapped around what was left of the meal in my hand, and threw it into the bear’s open mouth.

I chuckled.

“You are close to freezing.” The imp said as it applied the hail melt to my wound. “The bear’s warmth is aiding you, but you cannot survive in these conditions for much longer. You should return sirga, leave the search for Musa to me. I will find it, I swear. Go back to Damejo.”

I shook my head, shivering as I forced bits of dried nama into my mouth. “I cannot.”

The imp sighed. It said nothing, choosing to finish the rest of its remediation in silence. When it was done, it maneuvered to a kneeling position. It bowed till its head touched the floor.

“Sada I exalt you.” It spoke the one umani tongue I understood, the one I had come to think of as most common amongst its kind. “I worship you. With praising lips I thank you for the gift of this day and humbly beseech the peaceful tide of the next.” It kissed the ground and then pulled itself back to a sitting position beside me.

“Praying.” It said, by way of explanation, when it noticed that I had been watching it.

I shivered. The bear inched closer towards me. I felt the grip of the trunk it wrapped around me tighten. “Gratitude bear.”

The imp’s sockets closed. “Perhaps you should name it.” It said through smiling lips.

I was contemplating those words as I fell asleep.

For a second, when I woke, I forgot where I was, and what had become of me. I did not remember the infection slowly eating away at my thigh, or think on Musa’s absence. An ignorant smile formed on my lips. Then a blast of chilled fog drifted past me, bringing me back to the reality of my situation.

I shivered.

I opened my eyes and found Monica kneeling in front of me. It had a worrying frown on its face. “This wound does not look good sirga.”

“Marc.”

“Sirga?”

“Marc. That is what I will name the bear.” The bear trumpeted its approval beside me. I ruffled its fur as I muttered, “if you are the last friend I have, at least you will be named after the best friend I had.” Again, the bear trumpeted. Then, it wrapped its trunk around me, an embrace which felt both odd and fitting.

“We should go.” I said. The bear, sensing my need to rise, bent itself by me. The bear’s sprawled position made it easier for me to climb on without having to worry about putting weight on my thigh. Marc, I corrected myself. No longer just ‘the bear’, but Marc.

I felt the brush of Monica’s tunic against my torn cloak.

Marc rose to all fours. “Forward.” I said, fully aware that the bear could not hear me. “We are going back to where we first met.”

“Musa could be gone sirga.”

I froze on Marc’s back.

“I do not mean to offend you sirga, but I am simply attempting to state a fact. Musa could be gone.”

“Do not say that!” I snapped at the imp. My head swiveled. “If you wish to abandon this search, then do so, but do not say that.”

Monica’s head bent. It nodded.

Chilled fogs continued to drift past us, and hard uncouth hail pellets continued to fall on us as we made our way through paths that looked familiar. We kept going straight, following the path that I had followed on that first long night. I looked around frantically, my desperate eyes scouring the hail ground. It did not matter how thoroughly I searched, I could not find any sign of the imp. Still we continued on. That parasol tree was my last chance. I put all of my hope into that tree. I’d now convinced myself that it had to be there. If it was not on the route that the bandits had travelled when they took me to their encampment, then it had to be back by that tree.

Perhaps the bandits overlooked it. Perhaps they saw the heated coat and reached for it and Musa had fallen out in the process. Musa was sapped, all that had been left of the imp had been its torso. There was nothing on it, save for the streaks on its skin, to hint at it been an imp. And even if they’d realized it was a sapping imp, why would they have taken it? Surely, they would leave a sapping imp be. What good would an imp of that nature do them?

“It would make good meat for their snow jackal hunters.”

Again, I froze. This time, blinded by rage, I turned and wrapped my hand around the imp’s neck. I squeezed. I squeezed so hard that if it was not immortal it would have died.

‘If this will help you accept the truth, then do it.’

The words in my head jarred me. I released the imp, pulling away from it as if stung. The thoughts it had put in my head with its pansophy were gone now, but the memory of it remained with me.

“Forgive me sirga.” Monica said. “But I am only trying to tell you the truth. If the bandits saw your imp, they would have known what it was, the snow jackals would have smelled it. The bandits have no use for an imp who’s been bitten by samu. They would have given its flesh to the snow jackals.”

“No.”

“Sirga…”

Part 7 continued....

 
My bear. When had the bear become mine? I shook my head.

It did not take long to see the samu. It sat as it had been, perched at the bottom of the cart, by the imp who’d yelled for me to stop. I pulled my dagger out of its sheath and threw it at the samu.

The imp heaved a sigh of relief. It placed its hands on the wooden rails of the cart and I watched as the form was taken away, reducing the cart to goo underneath the feet of the imps that had been imprisoned in it. The imp had pansophy then.

“Thank you sirga.” The imp said.

I flinched at the word ‘sirga’. That title brought back too many memories of a port I wanted to forget. Well, I at least wanted to forget most of it. Sirga? I frowned, from an imp. My focus shifted back to the imp. I could tell from the way that the others huddled closer to it, that it was their leader. I counted seven imps. Three of them had the appearance of imp young, two seemed much older than the imp they huddled around. Five out of the seven were naked. The leader held the hilt of my dagger in its hand. I watched as the imp opened its hand and a cyan box formed in it. Pansophy, I deduced. As soon as the imp began to use the magic, I saw the samu’s tail twitch.

“It is not dead.” I muttered.

“Samu cannot die.” The imp replied. “They are made from imps.”

I frowned at that. “How?” I wondered.

“By a clever maker. A pious named Animaton.”

Animaton. The name was familiar. It sounded like the name of the uspec whose eye I’d been tasked with taking. Yet, it was different. I expected the voice in my head to choose that moment to remind me of its decree that I retrieve the eye it wanted, but there was no voice. My head was quiet. I thought there was something portentous about the absence of the voice, but I could not name it.

The chill of the drifting fogs was starting to register on me.

The imp’s box formed around the samu, imprisoning the creature. It yanked my dagger out, before completely sealing the box.

“Your dagger sirga.” It said, handing the weapon back to me.

Blood stained the blade. I wiped that blood off on my torn cloak as I continued to regard the imp. “Why do you call me sirga?” I demanded.

“What would you prefer?”

“Domina is the common reference.” I stated drily. The pain in my thigh was becoming something that I could no longer ignore. I tried to shift, put too much weight on the bad leg, and found myself sliding in the sludge. I fell and the solid ground underneath the sludge pushed the dagger deeper into my leg.

I yelled out a howl of pain.

The earth shook as the furry beast ran towards me. The smoke bear I was starting to think of as my own appeared behind me. I turned my head enough to watch it sit. Heat emanated from the red creature, like warmth from an inferno…or from my heated jacket. My gaze darted to that black jacket, the one that I had wrapped around my imp.

Musa.

The imp leader appeared in front of me. It reached out its hands, stretching them towards me, immediately, I moved away.

The imp frowned, but it stayed back, watching as I clumsily maneuvered myself into a sitting position. I leaned heavily against the warm fur of my smoke bear.

“Let me look at your wounds sirga.”

“Why do you call me that?” I snapped. “You are an imp!”

The imp’s sockets stared levelly into my center eye. “I am no slave, I call no one domina.”

The words were so familiar to words Xavier had spoken in the pits that I found myself recoiling. “Who are you?”

A soft smile filled the imp’s face. “I was about to ask you that myself.”

I did not understand this imp’s smile, or the way its features softened as it stared at me. All I knew about the imp was that it had pansophy. “Why did you not take the form from the wood sooner?”

“The samu. It is like the jackals in its hunt for imp flesh. Except, unlike the jackal, it hunts for pansophy in imps. If I had used pansophy, the samu would have attacked me. Once an imp is bitten, there is no recovery.”

The imp’s words filled my heart with sorrow. Again, I felt the emotion, but it was stunted, blocked in a way that I thought had cleared when I felt fear for Musa’s survival.

“Are you alright sirga?”

“Why do you care?”

Frown lines formed on the imp’s forehead. “You are nothing like it.” It muttered.

“Like what?”

“Like Calami.”

I jumped, startled by this imp’s knowledge. “You used pansophy on me!” I reached for my dagger.

“No!” It shook its head.

I pulled out my dagger and pointed the tip at the imp. Suddenly I heard the baying howls of jackals that had grown silent with the arrival of the bears. The jackals growled and howled, with a rabid frenzy. It did not take me long to realize why. The group of imps had approached me from behind. Their presence must have awakened the appetites of the snow jackals, pushing their lust for imp flesh past their fear of the large bears.

My bear trumpeted.

“Please put the dagger away sirga, I can explain.”

“Then explain.” I kept my dagger where it was.

It sighed. “My name is Monica. Calami found me in the mines of Aboga and released me from that gruesome place. I owe my freedom to Calami. It brought me here, to this road, and gave me caches of growth worth a halcyon’s epic. It was kinder to me than most of my own kind have been. Your progenitor helped me find joy in this existence.”

Monica. My mind reached for memories of this imp, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not remember its name. But its story, its story appeared familiar. It was the story of my progenitor bringing this imp here, which had led me to seek this place out.

“What imps accompanied you?”

“Sirga?”

“What imps accompanied you?!” I yelled.

It frowned. “Chike.” It said. Then, “Aaliyah and Zane,” it added after moments of deliberation.

I exhaled. “How did you know Calami was my progenitor?” I asked, as I placed my dagger back into its sheath.

The imps approached non-threateningly now. They formed a circle, seating behind Monica. A smoke bear trumpeted, and the yapping of the snow jackals quieted.

Monica smiled. “You muttered ‘Musa’ in your sleep. When the bandits first brought you in, you were muttering ‘Musa’. I heard that, and I saw the feathers on your ailerons. In my entire lifetime, I have never seen uspecs with feathers as those of the uspecs of your line. Nothing in this existence compares to the beauty of the cyan. That was enough to confirm it. One would have been a coincidence, but two together…” it shook its head. “And if I needed anymore confirmation, it is there in the way the smoke bear is drawn to you. Calami had the same way around the creatures. Calami loved all animals, but there was no bond like that it shared with Jess, its smoke bear.”

“Where did they take Musa?” I demanded.

Its smiling lips inverted. “I do not understand?”

“I came here with Musa. That jacket had been wrapped around the imp.” I pointed at the jacket on the corpse of the uspec I’d killed. “Where is my imp?”

“But…” it shook its head. It turned to the imps behind it and spoke to them in a tongue that I had never heard before. I was forced to watch with mounting levels of dread as the imps conversed. Then Monica’s attention returned to me. “There was no imp with you. The bandits only brought you.”

“Musa.”

“What is wrong sirga?” Monica’s concerned voice prodded. “Please tell me that Musa is alright.”

“I…” my throat turned dry. I had to swallow. “It was bitten by a samu.”

“No!” Monica exclaimed. “Impossible! Musa would never let itself be bitten by a samu. Of all the imps with pansophy I’ve met, Musa is the most careful. It would never use pansophy in the presence of uspecs it did not trust. Musa knows that any uspec with the means to could purchase those creatures. It would not risk it. Why would it risk it?”

My head dropped as countless observations about the imp suddenly came into focus. Musa, the imp with pansophy, who never used the magic. It had not used it in Katsoaru when it could have saved itself from hurt. The only times the imp had used pansophy in the presence of others, was when I was in danger. “To save my life.” I replied.

“I have never seen an imp more loyal to a line.”

I shook my head, but I could not voice the words. It had saved my life without knowing who I was, without knowing that I was the heir it searched for. All of my secrets suddenly seemed foolish. I should have told the imp who I was. I should have told it the first time I knew I could trust it. I should have told it. And why didn’t I? Because I was not ready to be pressured into claiming a title I did not want. Was that worth my imp’s life?

Musa.

“I must find it.” I placed my hand on the sludge ground and tried to push myself up.

“Wait. Let me see to your wounds first.” Monica pleaded. “Musa would not want any harm to come to you.”

I fell back to the floor. My mind darted to Musa. It was still sapping, I knew that. Had it already been sapped past the point of revival? Monica stirred the imps into action. Some of them were sent out of the encampment, others gathered things within. A timid imp brought my cutlass to me, and set it on the floor by my side. While the imps worked, I leaned heavily against the soft fur of the smoke bear. I felt its trunk come down and curl around my neck. The tight hold reminded me of the embrace of the swan’s neck against mine. Bitter-sweet memories of that swan filled me. I stroked the soft trunk as I remembered Marcinus, another person who’d cared for me.

The sudden appearance of cold stones on my thigh, jarred me. I jumped, startled by the hail.

“Pansophy alone cannot heal you sirga. You need a healer. The bandit’s blade was impure. The impurities from that blade mixed with the venom from the snow jackals’ bites. Ordinarily either of those two would fade from your system with time, but the two together have infected you. A pious healer will be able to cure you, but you must go before the infection spreads and you lose the leg.”

“I have to find Musa.”

“You could lose your leg sirga.”

“I have to find Musa.”

It sighed. The imp pushed the hail stones into my skin, until the area around the blade was numb. Then it pulled the blade out, and immediately filled the gash with melted hail.

“The hail will numb the area and slow down the infection’s growth, but it is not a permanent solution. The sooner you see a healer, the higher the chances of your leg surviving.”

“I must find Musa.”

“There is no cure for the samu’s bite sirga. If Musa is bitten, it is already gone.”

“But permafrost…”

The imps muttered, speaking loudly amongst themselves.

“I do not care about your secret hideout. I just want to save my imp.”

“There is no cure for the samu’s bite. But, our elders are working on it. That is why I am here. We were sent to steal the samu from a group of bandits. This pair found us before we could reach our target. Perhaps, if our elders have the samu, they will find a cure. But there is no guarantee that the cure will be done in time to save Musa.”

“If there is a chance, I must try.”

“You are more like Calami than I thought.” It turned around and spoke in the strange tongue to the imps behind it. A small argument ensued, but this argument was silenced by the only other dressed imp. Monica gave the cyan box to that imp, before turning back to face me. “I will accompany you.” It said.

I shook my head.

“You will have two more eyes to aid in your search. Plus, I will be able to apply hail to your wounds. Let me do this for Musa, please sirga.”

I gave in, allowing myself to be swayed by the imp’s words. “Thank you.”

The imp smiled. I placed my hand on the smoke bear’s shoulder and used the bear as a support to push myself to my feet. Then I bent and picked up my cutlass. I’d just put the cutlass in my sheath when I heard the smoke bear’s trumpet.

I frowned at it.

“I think the smoke bear wants to help too.” Monica said. “I think it wants you to ride it.”

The bear bent then, leaning forward so that it was sprawled low enough that I could easily climb onto its back. I sat on the creature’s back. Monica climbed on behind me.

“Be careful Jasper!” Monica yelled as the bear began to move forward, making its way out of the encampment. “Take the marked roads back. No chances.”

The single dressed imp bowed and nodded.

the mods have removed the ban on my account, so I'm going to continue the update. I already started posting Part 7, so I'll just go from there. StLukesLAG is one of the multiple accounts I created the last time I was having this antispam bot issues and I tried to use another account to post. I guess it made sense with the other story because that story was based in a school called StLukes so people would still know that I was the one posting. Anyway, it's still me, just ignore the part 7 I posted with that account. I posted that because my earlier post had been deleted. Now the mods have reposted that, so I'll just continue from there. Thanks for the patience everyone! Let me continue posting my super-long update Christmas gift for all of you

Part 7
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I still could not find Musa. I’d scoured through every inch of the land and there was no trace of my imp. The only imps here, were the ones in the cart. The three leashed jackals growled at the imps. They yapped with glaring canines at the cart, thrashing so forcefully that the shunned uspecs had hit them in the head a few times, just to shut them up.

The younger of the uspecs approached me. It, like its progenitor, had only one imp eye on its face. It was this uspec who had changed my position. Now, I sat more comfortably, with my hands bound by the manacles behind me. But my legs were free. That was an improvement on the chaining that I had awoken to.

The uspecs were soarus. I tried not to think of how the short tentacle stubs reminded me of longer and greater tentacles. Each time I thought of soaru, my mind darted to Katsoaru and the imperial who had called me friend. Now that imperial’s center eye was on my face, and it was shun, just like this one.

“Will you not tell me your name, noble?” the uspec asked. “If you tell me your name, pater will share the meat that it brings back from its hunt.”

The uspec stared hopefully at me. It wanted my name so that it could reach out to my line and ransom me. Fools. I continued to ignore the uspec, choosing instead to search for my imp. It sighed heavily. “The meat pater hunts is juicy…” it broke off and started mumbling, “how do I say juicy in the kute tongue?”

“Hungry?” it managed to say the single word in the kute tongue. Its progenitor was slightly more adept at speaking kute, but neither of them could form a complete sentence. I saw no need to make them aware of the fact that I could speak their tongue better than they could. My silence bought me time to search for my imp and formulate a way out of my chains.

I pulled at the chains then, feeling their restriction as the metal grated against my skin. The pain in my wrist served to remind me of those all around my body. I felt the wounds from the jackals’ scratches and their bites. Although the bite sites burned and stung, they did not bear undue discomfort. I just needed to figure out a way out of these manacles. I thought the uspecs were dumb enough to be tricked into releasing me, but if I attempted and I was wrong, I would be forgoing my biggest advantage, which was the fact that they did not know that I could speak their tongue.

A loud whistle sounded in the air. This sound was followed by the separation of fronds dangling from the parasol tree. Chilled fogs drifted in through the opening in the fronds. I shivered a little. The older uspec entered, letting the fronds fall back into place. I did not know where I was on the cursed road, but wherever it was, it was an area where the parasol trees were mature. The fronds had grown low enough to sweep the floor. It provided covering from the fogs and the pelting of the uncouth hail.

There was a light source on the furthest end of the secluded area, by the carts with the imps in it. That light source was the rarest I had ever seen, it was a crimson inferno, trapped in what looked like transparent metal. Whenever the inferno was burning low, the younger uspec would feed it with uncouth hail, and that hail would grow the inferno.

The older uspec dropped a creature onto the sludge ground. I could tell from the horns on its head that it was a kare. The sight of it reminded me of the hounds that I had killed using lit okun in Katsoaru. Those hounds and their cages. The memory took me back again to Katsoaru and the imperial one that had come to save me from the swan body I was trapped in.

The younger uspec stood up. It walked eagerly to the meat that its progenitor brought. Both uspecs conversed in hushed tones. The older one jerked its head at me, the younger looked at me, then back at its progenitor, before shaking its head. The older one glared at me, but it said nothing.

Both sat on the sludge ground on opposite sides of the dead hound. The older uspec cut off a chunk of the hound’s flesh with a dagger, and gave it to the young. Bile rose up my throat as I watched the younger uspec eat the raw meat. Blood trailed down the sides of its mouth as it bit into the meat, tearing off a smaller bite, which it then chewed and swallowed.

I looked away.

Something about the cart drew my attention.

The imps seated in it sat still. It was the first thing I’d noticed when I came in here. The stillness in their form was unsettling. It was as if they were afraid to move, as if any sudden movement could mean their death. But what would the imps have to fear that much? The cart appeared to be made out of wood. It was walled in on all sides with bars of wood. There was no lock, no door to unload the imps. The wooden bars would have to be broken for the imps to be released. That seemed like a particularly foolish design.

A shadow caught my attention.

I frowned, squinting my eyes at the imp’s feet. The shadow did not reappear. My gaze turned from the spot on the wooden floor where I had seen the shadow, to the imp standing by it. The imp was dressed in a rather fine green tunic. It had long hair which fell in braided locks down its back. The imp’s empty eye sockets turned to me. We stared at each other for a long time, before finally, the shadow reappeared.

Only this time, it stayed long enough for me to see that it was not a shadow.

It was samu, kin to the creature that had stolen my imp from me. Now I understood why the imps sat so still.

The clearing of a throat pulled my attention from the cart, back to the uspecs feasting on raw animal carcass. It appeared that they had concluded their feast, because the younger uspec dragged the remainder of the hound over to the jackals. Those rabid beasts thrust their bloodthirsty canines into what was left of the hound.

The older uspec approached me, wiping the blood off its face with the sleeve of its jacket.

I froze.

Slowly, my eyes went back to that jacket. I noted the rich black coloring, and examined the way it fell around the uspec’s body. Its skinny arms swam in the much larger arms of the jacket, and the bottom of the coat swept across the sludge ground. It was obvious that the jacket had been made for a much taller and bulkier uspec.

It had been made for me.

This was my jacket that the uspec wore. It was my heated jacket, the one that I had wrapped around my imp. There was something so unbelievably final about seeing the uspec wearing that jacket. My gaze darted to the jackals and my mind rushed to fill in the details. How had the uspecs found us? Probably the same way the pack of jackals had. Their jackals had been following the smell of imp flesh. Now my jacket, the jacket that I had wrapped around my imp to ward off the chill, was on the back of another, and my imp was nowhere to be found.

A mixture of fear and anger darted through me. The emotions were so strong that they broke through the block that I had felt since I walked into the cursed road. I felt that animation which had been missing since I stepped into Nefastu, I felt myself brimming with the power I’d drained from the pious ones in the room-vault. For the first time since I came onto this cursed road, I felt alive.

Swirling fog formed in the air in front of me. That fog surrounded the uspec wearing the coat I had cradled my imp in.

“No!” the shunned uspec cried.

“Pater?” The younger uspec ran towards me.

The older uspec was dead before the younger one arrived, killed by the magic in the fogs, the magic of the boga eyes, magic that I had wielded. I barely had enough time to enjoy it, before I found myself howling with pain. My thigh was on fire. It took me a while to realize that the jackal bite was the source of the burning pain I’d felt. My mind cleared of the haze of emotions, long enough for me to see the younger uspec shaking in front of me.

My eyes rose from the dagger it had stabbed into my flesh, to the uspec itself. The uspec stared at me with eyes filled with hate. One glance at the dead body of its progenitor was enough to tell me why it was so angry. It took longer for me to realize what it planned to do with its anger.

The uspec ran away from me.

I frowned.

The uspec ran to the cart. I heard the familiar sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath, just before I saw the uspec running back towards me, armed with my own cutlass.

I tried to move my left thigh, but the slightest twitch led to a burst of pain. The uspec ran towards me like a maddened thing. I heard the howling of jackals as I tried to put all of my weight onto my right leg. Somehow, I managed to push myself to my feet. A mixture of red and blue liquid seeped out of the wound in my thigh. How clever of the uspec to stab me right were the jackals had bitten me. I had not thought the uspec was that smart.

It reached me then. It swung my cutlass wildly. I ducked, hopping on one foot as I managed to evade the blade.

“Wait!” I screamed in soaru.

In its rage, the uspec did not even seem to register my use of its tongue. It took another wild swing at me. This one I managed to duck, but just barely. The sharp end of the blade chipped away at the stem just by my throat. My eyes stared at the chipped stem.

“I will pay you in worth!” I screamed. “Ten pieces of worth.”

“Die!” the uspec yelled back at me. “Die! Die! Die!” It swung at me again, sending the cutlass on another wild arch. I did not know how many more blows I could dodge. The uspec was inept with the sword, but even the ineptest uspec could hit a chained target.

Trumpets blared.

In the uspec’s rage, it did not seem to register the loud sound, or the chill that followed as a sleuth of smoke bears burst into our little encampment, ripping down fronds of the parasol trees.

It swung at me again. This swing was lower, aimed at my midsection, I made to move, but my movements, while painful, proved to be pointless. A smoke bear stuck its tusk into the uspec’s back. It lifted the uspec in the air, trumpeting as it stood on its hind legs. Blood flowed from the uspec’s back, onto the tusk of the bear. The uspec let out a pained cry as my cutlass slipped from its hand.

When the bear brought the uspec back to the ground, other bears huddled around it. I watched with a dreadful mix of relief and horror as the bears ripped the uspec apart with their tusks and trunks. Smoke bears are omnivorous, so I was not surprised when none of them tried to eat the uspec. I was surprised by the carnage when the bears stepped back, revealing green limbs scattered about.

There were four of them, four bears, but even that seemed too much for the space.

The bear that had stuck its tusk into the uspec approached me.

Another bear behind it rumbled.

The bear backed away.

I watched as the one that had rumbled came towards me. Its green eyes met mine, and its warmth surrounded me. This was the bear that I had fallen asleep next to, under the parasol tree. I could not say with certainty how I knew, as all the bears appeared much the same. They had the same size tusks, the same length trunks, and the same red fur around their bodies. But there was something in the bear’s eyes, something familiar.

It moved around me.

A calm descended on me. Standing, on its hindlegs, the bear was much taller than I was. On both legs the bear was just a little taller. It was standing on those hindlegs as it walked to the other side of the tree. Every self-preservative instinct nudged at worry. There was a large beast at my back after all, it only made sense that I should fear for my life. I glanced down at the ground, my eyes immediately rivetted on the dead uspec that the one bear had stabbed with its tusk. The bear in question, standing on both legs in front of me, shifted, as if sensing the direction of my thoughts. It threw its head back, sending its trunk in the air as it trumpeted. Answering trumpets sound came from the other smoke bears.

I felt a pull on the chains and jerked. My eyes darted to the back of the tree just in time to catch the large animal’s tusk making a determined path for my hands.

I froze.

The sharp end of the tusk slammed into the connecting link binding the manacles around my hands, and the chain broke. Metal links fell from my hands to the sludge ground.

I was free. The bear had freed me.

I took a step forward and howled.

In the chaos of the arrival of the sleuth, I had forgotten the knife the uspec had jabbed into my wounded thigh. I looked down at it now. Fabric mixed with red and blue on the injury site. I pulled a layer of torn fabric off, to better expose the afflicted area. Even the slight jerk of my skin, caused by moving the fabric, rose a dull pain in me. I ripped the shred of cloth off and threw it onto the ground. Blue and red liquid stained my green skin. I knew what the dark blue drops meant, but I decided not to dwell on that. Instead, I reached for the handle of the dagger, intending to pull it out.

“Stop!”

The voice startled me. I twisted my neck, turning just far enough to make out the face of the imp who’d spoken. I recognized it. It was the same imp that I’d seen the samu crawling around.

I walked to the imp instead. The first step I took was pure torture. My thigh burned as the hard ground exerted pressure onto the sole of my foot. I found that I could not stand on the infected leg. I had to limp instead, shuffling my right leg so that my left was never solely responsible for bearing the entirety of my bulk. It took much longer for me to walk to the other side of the encampment, but when I made it, I was rewarded with the sight of my belt.

Leaning heavily on the wooden rails of the cart, I picked my silver belt up, and strapped it around my waist. My cutlass was missing. It was still on the sludge ground, by the body of the uspec who’d tried to kill me. Three bears surrounded that corpse. The fourth, my bear, stood alone, its eyes trained on me from behind the parasol tree that I’d been tied to.

....ran into issues posting this, so it is continued on page 30, Ignore StLukesLAG's post that's just me trying to post with a different account

@Omittesb Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Will it meet a friend...I guess we'll see

@ayshow6102 Thank you for reading, not a snow bear frosted beast, but maybe another

@Madosky112 I like the way you're thinking, but are you right?

@cassbeat what indeed

@HotB thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it!

What I did see though, was beautiful.

The vegetation clung to the sides of the road. I could not see those further away, but there were shrubs close to me, purple and yellow stems twinning, with pink fruits budding from them. Green fought with red along some leaves. I thought, if I focused really hard on them, I could recall what these herbs were. My mind darted to the food I had thought to pack as my growling stomach pleaded its necessity. My hands had thoughts of their own though, and at that moment, they were too tired to move to my belt. Food would have to wait then, I thought as my weary eyes began to close.

I could not say what exactly it was that woke me. A feeling perhaps, I could not say with any certainty. But I woke with a start. My eyes searched around me, and my body prepared for danger. I pulled Musa closer to me.

I heard the growl first.

Then there was a howl, a loud guttural sound, followed by answering howls. I pulled Musa closer with my left arm, and reached for the hilt of my cutlass with my right. I stood slowly, careful not to drop the imp.

I had just risen to my feet when I saw the first one. It was the black eyes I noticed first. The black eyes stood out, like two glaring signs, in a mist of red. Two more black eyes appeared beside the first, and then two more. Before long, I was staring at, at least, ten pairs of eyes. The one that appeared first was directly in my line of sight. It moved forward first. The others moved behind it.

As the creature emerged from the fogs, its porcelain body became visible. I’d read somewhere that these animals looked like they’d been molded out of hail. I’d found it ludicrous at the time, but now, staring at them, I could understand why. I realized, with a rising feeling of dread, that I had stumbled onto a pack of snow jackals. Or rather, they had stumbled onto me.

I kept my hand on the hilt of my cutlass.

The one in the middle, which I assumed was the leader, growled at me. It kept coming closer, one giant paw after the other, until it stood so close that I could smell it. It was a large animal. Standing on both legs, the top of its pointed white ears reached just below my waist. The others were not as big as the one in front. Those black eyes continued to stare into mine.

Then, suddenly, the jackal leaned back on its hindlegs, raising its front legs up. Those clawed paws reached for the bundle in my arm, swiping down hard, almost pulling Musa from my grasp. Instead, the jackal returned with bits of my heavy cloak. It growled, revealing its canines for the first time, as it reached again for the imp. I remembered then what snow jackals were most known for. They were hunters, and their meat of choice was imp flesh. It was for this reason that many mejo nobles kept snow jackals as pets. It was said that the creatures were loyal to uspecs to a fault. A hungry jackal would eat its own leg before it attacked an uspec. But they craved nothing more than imp flesh.

This jackal appeared to be the exception. While it did not seem interested in feasting on me, it did not seem to mind tearing through me, if it could reach the reward of the imp wrapped in my cloak.

I pulled out my cutlass and plunged it into the jackal’s chest. The jackal skin was so like porcelain that I almost expected it to shatter, like fine glass upon impact with a hard surface. The jackal proved to be a living thing then, because it bled. It fell back, its mouth hanging open as it died.

There was a rabidity in these jackals which I had not previously noticed. They were wild snow jackals. I could sense it now, as they approached, all nine of the fearsome beasts running towards me. If the domesticated snow jackals did not eat uspec flesh, I had a dreadful feeling that these rabid ones did.

I felt for my pain, and the magic of the okun that came with it. I felt around and I felt the magic. I could feel the power in me, but again, I felt a disconnect, a difficulty in reaching it. It could be reached, I knew that, but as the animals attacked, I also knew that I did not have the time. I swiped with my cutlass, determined to take as many of them down as I could. Several stood on hindlegs, swiping with their paws at Musa’s sapped form. I tried to cut those first. It did not take long for the swiping paws to shred parts of my coat. I felt the paws sinking into my flesh as I continued to swipe at the animals. I did not know how many I had killed. Who would have known that these creatures would be so hard to kill?

I felt the sharp pain of fangs sinking into my flesh. The bite was at my back. I sent my cutlass behind me, before the jackal could tear out a piece of my flesh. That action left me open for more attacks from the jackals in the front. I continued to fight, swinging my cutlass at the creatures. A dying jackal bit into my thigh before it succumbed to the wound I’d inflicted.

There were four of them left. They did not seem to register the deaths of the rest of their pack. Their sole focus remained on reaching the imp meat in my arms. And so I continued to fight, even though I felt the blood dripping from the scratches and bites.

The sound of a trumpet filled the air.

The jackals froze.

I saw a figure in the fog, a red mirage that seemed to have been born from the fog itself. It trumpeted as it approached. The jackals backed away. A long red trunk came tearing out of the drifting fogs. The jackals howled, then they ran away, leaving in the face of a bigger threat. I only had a second to worry about the snow jackals’ bites and how infectious they were, before the rest of the animal appeared.

I realized then why the snow jackals had left.

It was a smoke bear. I had never seen anything like it. The bear walked in on two legs, its trunk swinging in front of it, and its curved tusks pointing outwards. It stopped in front of me, dropping to all fours. I felt the ground tremble. The bear’s eyes were a light shade of green. Those green eyes studied me.

I kept the hilt of my cutlass in my hand as I continued to observe. I did not know much about smoke bears. All I knew about them was that they followed fog. They were common where fog was. I also knew that some crazy uspecs chose to ride them.

The bear turned around and headed towards the vegetation.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I didn’t let my guard down until the bear disappeared, hidden behind shrubs and drifting fog. Without the heat of battle to warm me, I felt the effects of the snow jackals’ attack. The ground around me was filled with blood and the bodies of white creatures. I looked down at myself. My previously thick cloak was shredded in several parts. The grey of the coat was stained with red in the places that the jackals bit me.

The trumpet.

I jumped, the bear’s sudden appearance catching me by surprise. The red creature continued to walk towards me. It did not stop until it was beside me, and then it sat.

I stared at it.

Green eyes met mine.

I placed my cutlass back into my sheath and approached the bear cautiously. It did not move. Not even when I drew out my arm, and ran my hand over its skin. It allowed me to pet it. Then its trunk rose and for a second I feared it meant to pierce me with its tusks. All it did was let out a mellow trumpet sound through its trunk. I interpreted that sound as meaning the animal was pleased.

I sat beside it, mindful of my wounds. For a creature who’d been around so much snow, the bear was surprisingly warm. It gave off more heat than the heated cloak I’d bought. I found myself falling asleep by its side.

“Do you think it’s alive pater?” I felt a push on my leg.

“Of course it’s alive. Can’t you feel its pulse?”

My eyes were slow to open. I tried to rise but found myself chained to a tree behind me. Where was I? The last thing I remembered was falling asleep next to the bear, with Musa in my lap.

Musa.

The imp was not on me.

I opened my eyes with a start then.

One thing was clear, it was no longer day. How long had I been asleep for? I felt a burning sensation in my back and on my thigh. It did not take me long to remember that I had been bitten in those places. Had the bites truly been infectious then? I felt a chill around me.

Again I tried to rise, and again I was stopped by the manacles. My wrists had been tied to my ankles, a very uncomfortable form of restraint.

“It is awake pater!”

I looked around. Luckily my outer eyes could take in more of the scene than my center one. I noticed that I was in some sort of living area. No, I shook my head, registering the blue fronds of parasol trees. I counted at least three stems that my eyes could see. There was a cart too, not too far off from where my manacles were tied to a tree. Over ten imps sat frozen in that cart. They too appeared to be tied. I looked around trying to find my imp, but no matter how much I searched, I could not locate it.

A twisted fear filled me. It was fear, but it was somehow changed and less than what I truly felt.

The sounds of howling drew my attention back to the cart. Three snow jackals walked in through the bended fronds of the parasol tree. They had collars on their necks, collars which were attached to leashes. An uspec held those leashes.

One glance at it told me that it was shunned. It had a single imp eye on the outer perimeter of its face. The uspec’s face was filled with ugly scars. Knife scars, I guessed. Its eyes met mine.

“Welcome back noble.” Its voice was filled with emotions I could not place. I sensed anger, probably hatred too. It approached me, bringing the snow jackals with it. When it bent to a squat in front of me, I became aware of the fact that my belt was missing from my waist. Not that I could reach the weapons in my current state, but I still felt their loss.

“Hope you have a line that will pay for you. A hundred pieces of merit, we’ll be asking.” The uspec said. Its words alone told me that it was a fool. If it was smart, it would have searched my belt and found that in a single pouch, I had much more than it was asking for. “Till they pay, you’ll be our guest. If you don’t give us any trouble, we won’t give you none either, noble.”