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cherriex:
So finally @obehiD,been counting days for next and Saturday is a few hours already, fingers crossed.���������waiting.

obehiD:
Part 10
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I was lost.

Perhaps it was for the best. I tried to convince myself that there was some benefit to being away from the Yakubo, the lying traitor. I could not imagine spending another moment with it. Did it really expect me to believe that it had not betrayed my confidences to its commander? Of course it had. How else would Arexon have known of my close bond with my imp? It was, after all, not such a common thing for an uspec to care about its slave. Yakubo told Arexon, and Arexon found a way to use it against me. I could not stand either of them.

I took another blind left turn down another tunnel. I’d come across several blocks in the tunnels where I’d seen naked imps lying on the floor. I stepped over them and kept walking. The soles of my feet hurt the more I walked, as each step scraped them against the rough bumps on the ground. I sighed, stopping to rest against a wall when I reached yet another joining in the way. I could either turn left or right. Which way would lead me back? I’d left in search of an okun, just a little pond to stick my bloody feet into. My search so far was proving to be wholly uneventful.

The right tunnel seemed to have some sort of color mixing further along. I caught a light stream of red-yellow light. I assumed that walking that way would lead to another dig led by another gang. I was suddenly grateful that I had paid attention to Jojo’s speech. The different colors represented different gang territories, and I had to stay in the daylight digs.

I turned left instead and continued down my torturous trek.

Why was I in Aurelion? I barely bent my head in time to dodge a stalactite. So, I missed the stalactite, but grazed the skin on my forehead against a particularly coarse bump in the wall. It scratched my skin. A finger against the abraded skin showed that it was bleeding.

My frustrations mounted as I continued walking. My plan now was just to get back to the eating room. If I found my way back there, then I could get directions to the dig where Yakubo and Arexon where. As much as I hated their company, I found that I was now desperate to return. How was I to kill Arexon if I was separated from it? Knowing Arexon, the only way that I would get back with it, was if I found my way back myself.

As I continued on my walk, a troubling thought flashed through my mind. I walked past an archway which led into a small dig with naked imps packed together, lying on the floor. I heard moans as I walked by, and a number of whimpers. There were imps in there crying. I heard the sound of one retching, another who’d consumed the metal, I assumed. An image played in my mind of the imp scooping up its vomit and trying to eat it, all to put something in its empty belly.

When Musa had said that Aurelion was an imp’s worst nightmare, I realized that this was what it meant. I had thought that sapping would be worse, but nothing could be worse than this. At least sapping you lost your consciousness. There was no such mercy for the suffering imps in Aurelion.

And as I walked by this dig, the imps packed so close that where one ended the other begun, the troubling thought occurred. The thought was simple. In fact, it was a testament to my own abhorrence of Arexon that I had not thought of it sooner. I thought about spending the rest of my finite life here. I thought about what would happen if I was somehow trapped in this hellhole. What good would my hate do me then?

I had to leave this place. I could not be left here. This was the thought that troubled me, because it made me dependent on Arexon. I did not know a way out. And even if I could somehow find my way back to the pious ones, how would I demand that I be released. Arexon had the exit mapped out. I was sure of this. The commander and this mission were valuable to the Kaiser. If I killed Arexon in here, I would be trapped here, with the imps, as an imp.

I could not think of a worse fate.

I still wanted Arexon dead. I could not think of anything I wanted more than to take away the life of one that had brought so much anguish to me. But, I realized with a sinking heart, that I could not do it here. It was easier to make this decision as far away from Arexon as I currently was. I did not have to see it and have my hatred rekindled. My mind was clearer as I walked, lost in the maze of tunnels. And in this clarity, one thing became glaringly obvious. Arexon was my only way out of here.

I would have to find another place to kill the uspec then. Surely, killing Arexon would be easier than taking the life of the Kaiser Sophila, and its offspring Sophian. I just had to bide my time. I remembered another whose death I wished for. One who had forced me to procreate and then used my own offspring against me. I had found that my desire to leave the pits outweighed my desire to see the uspec dead. It was similar with Arexon.

All of this was dependent on me finding my way back to them. What if they moved? The imp, Aliyah, had only offered shelter for a night. If I did not make my way back before the night was over, they could have moved on to completing the mission of finding the last brio. In that case, the odds of finding them again would be greatly diminished.

I refused to panic. I would find them before the night was over. Arexon would be displeased. I wondered what my punishment would be once we returned to the land of uspecs? More scourging? The green room? Both would be preferable to the rest of my life in Aurelion.

I saw imps wearing clothes. They were walking through tunnels to the left of where I stood. They were my first glimpse of hope. I turned to the left, going after them. I found myself running when I thought that I might not be able to catch up with them. I ran to the end of the tunnel, just in time to see them, moving towards my right. I went after them, hoping that they would lead me back to the dig with curtains.

I walked silently behind the group. As we walked, I began to realize how easy it would be to lose time in here. How long had it been since I left Yakubo? I could not say. It could have been minutes or hours. If it was hours, then was it still night? Had Arexon and Yakubo already moved on? I refused to let myself think about it.

We walked past an archway. I stopped, frozen in shock as I stared at the dig. It was dark. I realized, as I stared into the darkness, that I was in the midnight digs. That did not mean that I was still lost though. From the tour which Jojo had given us, I remembered that the midnight digs were just by the daylight ones.

I made to move, continuing behind the group of clothed imps, when I felt a hand latch onto my wrist. The hand pulled me into the dark dig before I could stop it. Again, I was made aware of my lack of bulk. The imp grabbing me was obviously strong.

“You look lost stray. How about you give me that ring on your finger, and I’ll help you find your way back?”

I did not like the voice.

The dig I was standing in was completely dark. It was not like the previous midnight dig which Jojo had led us through. There it had been lit just brightly enough that I could make out shapes. Nothing could be made out in this dig. I could not imagine how the imp could see me.

“Let go off me.” I ordered, swinging wildly with my left hand. I felt the contact that my hand made against the imp’s face. But the grip did not loosen. I had packed all of my strength into that blow, but the strength of my uspec bulk was lost in this feeble imp’s body.

After a moment though, I was released. That shocked me. I took a step back and was stopped by a body.

“You really should just give us the ring before this gets unpleasant.” They wanted Calami’s ring. I’d forgotten that I was wearing it. The ring told me if an uspec had pansophy, but more importantly, it belonged to Calami. It was the only thing I had of my line.

“It looks expensive.”

I heard voices now, so many of them. Some spoke boga tongues, but the majority spoke an umani tongue which I had no knowledge of. I could not see them. But I could feel them.

I reached into my emotions.

There was pain. A slight pain, which was gone before I could reach for it. I assumed that was the pain from the weak blow which I had landed. That was the only pain in the room. There were no hunger pangs that I could feel, no wounds. There was also no anger.

I decided to change that.

I mustered all the strength that I could find in this weakened imp form, and put it into my elbow. Then I drew my arm forward, bent it, and drove my elbow into the side of the imp standing behind me.

I felt its anger and a slight pain. The anger was more potent. I took it and transferred it to where I believed the first imp was. I had never done this in the dark. I knew enough about emotions to know that they would not go unless I gave them another living host to transfer to. But, as I could not see, I could not say with certainty where to send the anger. There was also the little problem of the instability of polluted anger. The imp I gave it to would be driven mad with rage. But that rage would be unfocussed. In the dark, I was just as likely to be the target of its anger, as anyone else in the room. I decided it was a risk I had to take. Luckily, the imp hadn’t moved much.

I knew it worked, when I felt a burst of pain. I went into my pain emotion and reached out for the imp’s pain. I could still feel the imp standing behind me, so I transferred the pain I felt to that imp. It wailed with polluted pain.

The imp rocked forward, pushing me in the process. I found myself knocked against an imp.

Then I felt a fist slam into the side of my face. The blow was so strong that I fell to the floor.

I landed on a sharp point.

The pain I felt was indescribable. It took my focus from the rest of the room. I knew that I had been stabbed. I felt the sharp object inside me. My instincts told me that it was a pickaxe. I had seen nothing else in this place capable of inflicting the kind of damage which I felt.

I howled in pain when a leg stepped on my ankle, breaking the joint.

“The stray!” A voice yelled. “Hold her, she’s insane.”

There was commotion. I reached for the anger. It was hard to hold onto the emotion. There was so much of it now. But, the bleeding in my side was weakening me. It was dangerous to go into my lifeforce, but I had to. I allowed my mind to go blank, escaping the room, as I focused on my pain. The pain told me that the wound was a mortal one. I was losing too much blood. No wonder I felt so faint.

I tried one last time to grab for the anger, but I could not reach it. “Where is the stray? Turn on a light!” I realized then, that they could not see in the dark either.

I crawled with the pickaxe in me. My ankle was broken so I could not twist the joint. I had to move on my elbows. I tried to go as silently as I could. I did not know where I was going, but luckily, I did not slam into any imps. I kept moving, until I saw a flash of white light. I went towards the light.

“He’s leaving. By the door!”

I had just reached the tunnel when I heard that. I latched onto the biggest bump in the wall, which I could find, and pulled myself up with it. It was faster to crawl on my hands and knees. But I would not last long.

“There!”

I turned into another dark dig. This one was like the one which Jojo had led us through. There was light enough to see that it was empty. I could make out the shapes of the bumps in the walls. I was grateful for these bumps for the first time since I came to Aurelion. I used the bumps as a rail, a support through which I could pull myself forward. I noticed a crevice in the wall. It was not big, but it was big enough that my imp body could fit in, if I sat as I had in Arexon’s punishing green room.

I knew that if I could make it into that crevice, then I could hide there till the imps passed. It was dark enough that they would not be able to see anything more than my shape in the wall, which could easily be overlooked.

It was a struggle to stand.

Each time I tried to use my unbroken leg as a support, I fell back against the wall.

“Where did he go?” I heard the voices. They were outside the dig now. It would not take them long to realize that I could have come in here.

I put both feet against the floor, and I stood. The pain in my broken angle was almost unbearable. I did not need to go into my pain lifeforce to know that I was aggravating the damage already done there. But I had to stand to get into the crevice in the wall, and that crevice was the only thing that could hide me. So, I bit down hard on the insides of my mouth, silencing the cry of pain that would have been torn out of me otherwise.

Standing, I was just high enough to sit in the crevice. I sat, taking the weight off my broken angle. There was something strange in my mouth, a soft piece floating about. It tasted like blood.

I spat it out, once I realized what it was. My mouth was still filled with the taste of blood.

I had to lift my injured leg into the crevice with my hands. Then I pulled my knees close to my chest and I waited. I felt my energy draining as I stayed in the crevice. I left the pickaxe in my side. I could just barely remember reading in a tome, that it was better to leave objects such as these inserted, in the case of a stabbing wound like mine. Perhaps, the pickaxe could slow the blood loss.

“Let’s check this dig.”

I watched as several imp forms walked into the dig. I remained silent, trying not to think of anything. Not the smarting pain in my ankle, not the lightheadedness, not the blood in my mouth. I must have bitten off a good chunk of my flesh, because it felt as if my mouth was filled with blood. Liquid spilled out of it. I could not spit. Not with the imps in the dig. I opened my mouth instead, and let the blood, run down my face.

An imp stopped in front of me. I could not tell from its shape if it was facing towards me, or away. The lightheadedness was becoming even more severe.

“It’s not here.” A voice said.

“Then it’s in another dig.” Another replied.

“I want an imp covering every inch of the midnight digs and tunnels. I will not let a stray make a fool of the moon gang.”

aryastarks
The imps filed out, but they did not go far. I could still see hear their voices, speaking the umani tongue.

I knew that I was losing consciousness with each moment that passed. I felt drowsy. How much blood would I lose before I died? I tried to stay awake, to force my mind to stay active. But the weariness was too strong. My eyes shut, and my head fell back against the wall behind me.

olite93:
What a wonderful read... I feel so much for master calam and calami such good hearts... Please wats d freq of update. How often does obehid update

olite93:
What a wonderful read... I feel so much for master calam and calami such good hearts... Please wats d freq of update. How often does obehid update

ayshow6102:
thanks for the update obehid please don't leave Zane there and I observed that at the inn where arexon first met nehud it used Panasophy on it when it brushed its leg and during their fights it has been using Panasophy to hid his emotions so that nehud couldn't use it against it. I want to know if am correct and when is nehud going to get his frosted beast I want a serpent �

obehiD:
The gurus came forward then. They led the way out of the room, and I followed behind Arexon. Everything felt good. The cool hard ground, the clean air, the slight brush of my tail, the weight of my ailerons. I could not say what exactly felt different, but I knew that my time as an imp in Aurelion had given me a certain appreciation for my uspec body.

The landlocked canoe that was waiting for us, was one of the army canoes. These were the canoes which I’d seen patrolling the civilians’ camp in my first week in this existence. Now, I looked wistfully back on that time. The canoe was bigger than most. The gurus sat on the front bench, behind the serf steerer, Arexon sat behind them. I took my seat behind Arexon and then we were made to wait until Yakubo arrived. It was carrying the imp. The imp seemed to be putting up a fight. It kicked at Yakubo, landing blows against the uspec’s chest.

Yakubo endured it. It brought the imp over to the canoe and climbed onboard with it. Arexon gave the order and the canoe began moving.

As if realizing that its fighting was pointless, Aliyah stopped. I felt the stillness behind me when the imp reached this point. The rest of our journey was peaceful. The hard fog gates were opened prior to our arrival. We made a right turn and moved around the walls of the Castle. Those walls were made of flow flog, the boga equivalent to our lit okun, we steered all the way through the road, which was sandwiched between the Castle on one side and the serf army barracks on the other. Until we reached our destination. These gates were not opened prior to our arrival. In fact, the soldiers manning these gates approached us. When they saw Arexon, they saluted, and then turned back around.

The gates opened shortly after.

We docked in the Castle and were escorted to a strange area. I had only been to the Castle once before, and that one visit would forever be etched in my mind. The conversation that I’d overheard and then my first meeting with Sophian. The scourging. That scourging was the reason why Sophian had to die. I could admit that I’d been wrong. I’d been wrong to draw blood, but I had apologized. Why was that not enough? My mind darted to Marcinus then. I thought of the uspec and wondered how it was doing. Was it passed the stigma of being shun? I hoped it was. Marcinus had spoiled me. Not all imperials were like Marcinus. Okay, I conceded that point. Perhaps Sophian had the right to draw blood as well. But the scourging that it had subjected me too was far more than the slight prick of my dagger against its skin. But it was imperial, and I was not.

Okay, so perhaps, the scourging as humiliating and painful as it was, was my just due for harming an imperial one. I was willing to accept it. Why did it have to add a twenty-year serfdom? That was the one piece that I just could not forgive. I could not forgive any uspec who was part of that. I could not forgive Sophian or Sophila or Arexon. Perhaps I had earned the scourging, which I doubted, but had I earned serfdom for such a small mistake?

The room we were led to was large. It was filled with tomes. My eyes bulged at the sight. Beautifully designed shelves, made out of extravagantly colored hardened fog, filled the room. None of these shelves were empty. I suddenly ached for the wisdom in this room, for the knowledge buried in the pages of the tomes. This was where the secrets to Chiboga were held, here in this room were the details of the serf armies, of the old Kuworyte religion, of everything I longed to know about the port I found myself in.

We stopped in an open area in the library. There was a black desk, and behind it, two uspecs pouring over open tomes. I recognized both of them. One was Sophian, the other was the young, Sophi. Two gurus stood at attention behind them, and there were two more standing by shelves. The two gurus we’d come with halted by two more shelves.

“Assiduity!” Arexon called out.

We all saluted, Arexon included. We stood in salute watching as Sophian continued to point at its tomes. Sophi looked up.

“Commander!” it yelled, running towards Arexon.

“Sophi!” Sophian snapped.

The young stopped in its tracks. It turned around to face its progenitor, its shoulders drooped. “Forgive me pater.”

“Come back here.”

Sophi returned.

“Sit. Continue your study.”

“Yes pater.” The uspec sat on one of the stools behind the desk, and made a studious effort of reading the tomes.

Sophian saluted. “In clover.” Our hands fell back to our sides and we stood at attention. It turned to face one of the gurus behind it. “Fetch the pious.” It ordered.

“Yes sirga.” The guru saluted, before marching out.

Sophian’s gaze trailed over each of us. This uspec could do unemotional better than anyone else I’d seen. I realized that the most animated speech I’d heard from it, was just moments earlier, when it had snapped at its offspring. Then Sophian’s gaze fell on the imp and it appeared shocked. Its shock faded only seconds after it appeared. I had never seen anyone exert so much control on their facial features. I could not help but remember that cold face staring at me while I was scourged.

“You are late.” Was the first thing Sophian said.

“Apologies imperial one, we were delayed.” Arexon replied.

“By what?”

“We lost a member of our team.”

“Are you trying to be coy Arexon? Who?”

“Nebud.”

Sophian’s gaze darted to me. “And you decided that the uspec’s life was more important than finishing your mission on time. Did I not make you aware of the stakes?”

“I do not leave soldiers behind.”

Sophian’s gaze locked on Arexon’s face. Sophi peeked up from its tome, long enough to make sure that its pater wasn’t watching, then it completely discarded the tomes altogether and chose to watch us instead.

“You do as I say commander. And your mission was to be done with haste. Both of the soldiers you took with you were expendable.”

Arexon did not respond.

“Where is the artifact?”

“It was not there.”

“What?” Sophian’s face was as impassive as it had been in the start.

“It was not there. We checked everywhere.”

“That is when you were not checking everywhere for Nebud...”

“It was …”

“You interrupt me?” Even this Sophian said coolly.

Arexon was silent. “Apologies imperial one.”

Sophian sighed. “You do not want to fail me Arexon, not now.”

“We searched everywhere; it was not there. I checked every cove, even the ones that weren’t on the map we found in Isthum’s dwelling. It’s either Takabat never had the last brio there to begin with, or someone removed it before we could.”

“We will wait for the pious.”

Arexon’s jaw ticked. “When have I ever lied to you Sophian, why would I start now?”

Sophian stared at Arexon. “We will wait for the pious.” It said, before turning back around.

Sophi’s head dropped.

Sophian walked back towards its offspring and continued its lesson. At first, I thought the tongue they spoke was foreign. Then I listened closer and realized that it had to be a dialect of the boga tongue. There were words I could just barely make out, but the accent was too strong to say for sure if it was, ‘read’ or ‘red’, I heard.

“The pious, as you requested, sirga.”

Two pious ones walked in behind the guru. One held a jug with a cyan liquid in it, the other held a cyan goblet.

“Imperial one.” They both bowed in greeting.

Sophian’s head rose. “Commander, do you submit to an inquest?” it asked, its tone flat.

“Yes sirga.” Arexon replied.

Sophian nodded.

The pious holding the goblet, placed its free hand against Arexon’s shoulder. I did not need to be in the pious one’s head to know what it was doing. My curiosity was piqued though. Would they find out about Arexon’s pansophy? Or was Arexon’s pansophy strong enough to evade them? I could hardly stand the suspense.

Finally, the pious took its hand off Arexon. Both pious placed their hands on the cyan goblet as one poured the cyan liquid into the goblet. Then they both stopped in front of Sophian’s desk. Sophian pointed at the table and they placed the goblet on it.

Sophian took its time, pointing at more things on the tome, and speaking to its offspring, before it straightened. It picked up the goblet and drank its contents.

I saw its shock for the second time in that visit. “The uspec saved your life?” this shock did not wane as quickly as the shock of seeing the imp.

“Yes, imperial one.” Arexon stated.

Sophian stared at me. At long last, it pulled its gaze away and the shock faded from its face.

“Very well then.” Sophian said. “The mighty one will be displeased and disappointed in you Arexon. If only Takabat was not already dead, I would kill the uspec myself for this wasted week. You will have the rest of the day off, and then you will start battle preparations with your two new chiefs.”

“Two new chiefs?” Arexon asked.

“I gave you my word Arexon. I said that if the uspec merits the rank I will give it. It saved your life, I cannot very well reward it by taking away its eyes.”

For some reason I did not realize that ‘the uspec’ Sophian referred to was me, until the gurus appeared in front of us. They placed earrings on Yakubo’s ears with the silver rectangle instead of the crosses that it’d had. Then they moved onto me, and I was giving the same earring. I was a chief then, one rank higher than a guru. It was the lowest rank with three outer eyes. Marcinus’ eye was safe.

The silver band came next. We were both given one silver band which was fastened about our arms. And then Yakubo was given its new eye.

“Assiduity!” Arexon called out, once all the bedecking was done.

We saluted, but I could tell that none of us felt particularly grateful.

“In clover.” Sophian said, “I did you no favors, you earned it.” Then, “dismissed.” It ordered.

“What of the imp?” Arexon asked.

“What imp?”

“The imp we brought with us. It was very helpful to us in Aurelion. If you permit, I would like to keep it as gratitude for its help.”

“Serfs do not own imps.”

“I know, but you offered me one, once before. I would like to take you up on that offer now.”

Sophian’s dismissive gaze scanned the imp. “It looks like a collectible. Do you have lust?”

“No.” the imp replied.

A pious one grabbed onto the imp’s neck. It began its screaming again then, fighting to be freed.

“It lies.” The pious said, speaking over the crying imp.

Sophian nodded, not the least bit perturbed by the screams. “It will be given as a gift to the mighty one then. My pater likes imps such as this.”

“Please Sophian,” Arexon begged, “this imp was kind to us. It made our search easier.”

Sophian’s gaze devoured Arexon. “Is it now a great suffering to serve the Kaiser in its castle, making lust. Don’t worry, the imp will be given no other work than that. That is my reward to it.”

“Please, let me have it.”

“You think you deserve a reward for your terrible performance?” Sophian glared at the imp. “Shut it up.”

A pious touched the imp and it fell to the floor. Yakubo took a step towards the imp, but Arexon’s look stopped it. I could tell how much effort it took to keep Yakubo from running to it.

“Take it away.” Sophian ordered.

The unconscious imp was carried away by a guru.

“I dismissed you.” Sophian said.

Arexon saluted, turned and stormed off. Yakubo and I walked away at a much slower pace.

“I enjoyed watching Arexon get humiliated.” I said, once we were standing outside the library.

Yakubo shook its head. When it stared at me, I saw the pain of the imp’s fate etched into each furrow in its face, and in the wet gleam of its eyes. Then it spoke, its voice pained. “How can you be so ungrateful?” It demanded. “Arexon is the only reason you are still alive.”

“And I saved its life in Aurelion as well. Now we are even.” I replied curtly, annoyed by Yakubo’s mention of an act I wished to forget. I would not be bound to Arexon.

Yakubo sighed. The words trailed softly from its lips. “I am not talking about Aurelion, I am talking about your first day in the Castle. Why do you think the imperial one chose to have you scourged after it had given the order to have you killed? Why did it let you live? From what you just saw, does Sophian appear to be the kind that has second thoughts?”