obehiD:
I'm done writing so posts are going to be coming everyday now until I've posted all the parts! Happy reading!

yipee! Everyday post.
can't wait to hear about what tip marcinus over.

wow! wow!! wow!!! wow!!!! wow!!!!! wow!!!!!!

Everyday posts will be highly appreciated obehid... Thanks for this update....

eROCK247:


My friend!!! Nebud has fought his way from the slums. Unlike other Imperials he was never doted on. Aside from Arexon, Nebud is the only imperial Uspec that has had to fend for itself from a tender age. E nor easy.

Albeit, a soon to be Kaiser should have some distinguishing qualities. It seems Nebud possesses none except from being the last brio. Even this is its ancestors doing.Right now, even Juke is besting it in combat.
I would prefer if Nebud shines in something. Having that quality that separates it apart from its lineage.

decoderdgenius:

Albeit, a soon to be Kaiser should have some distinguishing qualities. It seems Nebud possesses none except from being the last brio. Even this is its ancestors doing.Right now, even Juke is besting it in combat.
I would prefer if Nebud shines in something. Having that quality that separates it apart from its lineage.

To be fair though, Juke had five years to train with double swords while Nebud has only had about a year on the inter-port trail to train with its sword while it learnt to read and write and speak all the spectral existence tongues. And Nebud does shine in brawling, it is what it did all those years in the pits, its the swordfighting that it its not great with but its still a lot better than the average uspec

Part 6
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I found myself pacing the Castle halls for a long time after the meal. I thought of Nebula and how it would fare after I was gone. I thought of this place I’d come to and the war I’d brought my honoraria to fight. Arexon’s words from earlier in the day rung in my ears. It had scolded me for not thinking of the younger uspecs in my honoraria, their youth had been spent preparing for war and now they would die if I didn’t send them back. Chike had talked about Juke and Gamble’s training during the meal. It had talked about how strenuously the two uspecs had trained all to impress me. Juke had undergone a severe brawlers education so that I would be proud of it. It was eager to fight, to prove itself to me, but did I want it to? My thoughts trailed to Marcinus and the emptiness in its gaze. I did not want to think about Marcinus. It had caused harm to my offspring, yet I was expected to still care for it as I had done before the inter-port trail, before it had exposed Nebula to lust? If that was what Arexon expected, then it sought too much from me.

With the troubling thoughts in my head, I turned sharply, so distracted that I forgot that Matiu was walking beside me. The uspec stumbled and would have fallen if not for its proximity to the wall.

“Apologies,” I said.

It bowed but said nothing. It frowned and its gaze on me became intense. Its eyebrows pulled together but it remained silent.

I eyed the uspec speculatively, then I turned back around and continued my pacing. We ended up in the gym. This was one part of the Castle that I could never forget. It was where Sophian had had me whipped. The whipping post lived on in my memory, as well as the green equipoise that surrounded it. Both of those were out of my sight, but what I could see was the uspecs fighting. Gamble and Juke faced off against each other. Gamble ducked and swiveled with its blade stretched out. Just when I thought it would cut off Juke’s legs, Juke soared in the air and Gamble flapped its wings and joined the uspec. The land battle became a flight one. My gaze turned to Chike. The imp struck its sword out aiming at a green stomach. The uspec who Chike fought with turned its head away and then stuck its sword far right of Chike’s body. Chike stopped its blow an inch away from Matina’s stomach. I clenched my jaw and turned my attention to Matiu.

The uspec appeared to be staring in the same direction as I had. Its eyebrows pulled even closer together and the bottom corners of its lips tipped downwards. It sighed.

“Take them back,” I said.

Matiu startled. It turned to face me and frowned. “Sirga?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and continued to watch Chike’s battle with Matina. Chike swiped its sword slowly in the direction of the sword that Matina held out. Even with this slow pace, Chike was still able to knock Matina’s sword down.

I turned my attention back to its sibling. “Take Juke, Gamble and Matina back to the Isle of Brio to await Chuspecip’s recuperation.”

Matiu’s frown deepened. “I do not understand, sirga.”

What was there not to understand? I was speaking plainly enough. I repeated my order, but Matiu’s confusion was not eased. “Why sirga?”

I turned back to Chike and Matina. This time Matina managed to swing its blade in time to deflect Chike’s attack, but when Chike returned with a sword thrust aimed at Matina’s other side, the uspec jumped and then pushed itself even closer towards the sharp point of Chike’s sword. Chike pulled the sword back just in time to prevent Matina from stabbing itself on Chike’s blade. How could ineptness like Matina’s exist?

I turned back to Matiu. “Because I do not wish to see any more of my honoraria die.” We stood between two solid fog walls on top of a black solid fog flooring. The gym had no ceiling so traces of the cloud’s red lighting streamed through to where we stood. “Take them back Matiu.”

Matiu shook its head. It bowed to me, a slight neck bow. “I cannot sirga, we have all sworn an oath to protect you with our lives. We cannot go back on it.” It replied calmly.

“I was not asking Matiu. This is an order. Take them back.”

Matiu straightened. It looked into my eyes. Its gaze was piercing, each eye on its face stared into an eye on mine. Its mouth was set in a straight line and all of its eyebrows were pulled down in a corner, almost touching the ones beside it. It shook its head.

I glared at it. “An order, Matiu,” I reiterated.

“I must disobey you sirga.” It said the words evenly, with its pointed stare still fixed on my face.

My jaw clenched. “Is this what service means to you? That you pick and choose the orders to obey?”

Matiu’s eyebrows returned to their normal positions. “When the war is over and you are in your rightful position as Kaiser, you may punish me as you see fit. But till then, I will not go back on my oath to protect you.”

I took a step towards the uspec. My eyes narrowed on it. “Do not push me,” I warned.

Matiu remained undaunted. It was a brawler as I was, and it was older than me, so I was not surprised that it did not cower the way a younger, less trained uspec might.

“The only way to get rid of me would be to kill me sirga.”

I clenched my fists. There was conviction written in the set of Matiu’s face. Its eyes did not look away from mine. It stood tall and steady. It would not back down.

I fumed. An uspec let out a cry of pain. That cry took my attention momentarily from Matiu to the one who’d let out the sound. I had expected it to be Matina, but it was Sophi. It was being trained by an imp soldier. From the slight cut on Sophi’s arm, I guessed that the imp had cut the uspec. Sophi retaliated by slapping the imp across the face and then stabbing a dagger into its side. It spat more than a few derogatory slurs at the imp. The uspecs in my honoraria had stopped their sparring to watch Sophi with the imp. Those uspecs, mine, they were so young. I knew that they were all in or close to their twenties now, but to me they were still the young teens I’d left behind. How could I lead them to their deaths?

“You should not ask them to go back, sirga. They will not. They will only be hurt that you asked, and you will be enraged that they refused you. In this matter, I speak for us all. We will not leave you.”

Matiu’s softly spoken words enraged me. I looked at the uspecs and I saw them in their youth. I saw Juke, a brawler now, but I remembered it as the young uspec who’d been so eager to pour me wine and tell me stories. I had not been as close to Gamble and Matina, but they’d both been youths when I’d left. Chike and Matina resumed their sparring. Chike had to deflect another blow aimed at Matina’s side because the uspec was too slow to stop the attack itself. This latest display of Matina’s lack of skill was the last straw.

I marched into the gym.

Chike advanced on Matina and the uspec stepped backwards. It kept breaking its gaze from Chike to look backwards and the steps it took back were clumsy. Each time it looked away, it gave Chike a myriad of openings to attack. I watched the uspec and all I could see were the many ways it could die. It was an artist, a skilled one. I did not want its death on my conscience.

I wrapped my hand around the uspec’s neck when its retreat brought it right into my path. It jumped, yelped, and then turned around with its blade poised for attack. I would have been impressed by its eagerness to attack if it wasn’t swinging with its eyes closed.

Its swing was so slow that I had enough time to reach for my dagger and knock its sword of out its hand.

It opened its eyes. Those eyes widened and then they stayed wide. Its mouth hung open. I shook the uspec harder than I’d intended to. When I released it, it fell onto the hard fog ground. The fall sounded hard enough to bruise its hip, but the uspec didn’t cry out in pain.

“You are returning to the Isle of Brio.” I said, without preamble.

Matina’s wide eyes grew even wider. Then those eyes narrowed. It rose from its sprawled position and maneuvered itself to a single knee. It bowed to me. “It is my duty to protect you, imperial one, I will not leave you.”

I laughed. The uspec’s gaze rose to mine. The corners of its lips turned down slightly and its gaze dropped.

“You want to protect me?” I teased.

It looked up, saddened by my jest, but it nodded.

“Get up. Pick up your sword and show me how you plan to protect me.” I replied.

It eyes widened and its lips trembled. “Ye-yes si-sirga,” It quivered. Its legs buckled underneath when it tried to rise. After it finally got itself up, its arms began to shake. It was shivering when it picked up its sword. It stood before me, a quivering mess, and then gulped before saying, “I am ready sirga.” Its voice was low.

I sneered at it. It gasped and drew back at the sound of me unsheathing my sword. Its wide eyes followed my sword, and then rose up to stare at my face. It had no bulk, and less height than I did. It gripped the hilt of its sword with both hands. Its shaking was so pronounced that even the sword it held vibrated.

I swung my cutlass and in one swing I knocked the sword out of the uspec’s hands. It gasped and took a step back, where a real warrior would have lurched forward to retrieve its blade. I rose my sword high and brought it on a curved arch towards the uspec’s midsection. It froze and then turned with its eyes wide to stare at the approaching blade. If it was any other uspec I would have cut it in half. This one was in my honoraria, so I slammed the face of my cutlass into its side.

A whimper was the only sound of pain it made.

I pulled my blade back and rose to attack again. This time, the uspec was smart enough to reach for its sword. Since it was so eager to see what a real fight looked like, I reached for the sword before it could and then kicked it out of the way. The sword crashed into a stone post. Matina made to run after it, put I repositioned my blade and cut it off. It received a few more whacks from the face of my cutlass before it gathered enough wits to try to dodge them. When I brought my cutlass down on a high arc aimed at its neck, it bent low and I slammed my fist into its face. The uspec doubled over, blind to the returning swing of my cutlass. I whipped the flat side against its exposed aileron. It drew up and I slammed my left fist into its face and whacked the side of my cutlass into its body. It kept trying to dodge and I kept pounding it with my fist and with my cutlass. It could not escape the beating I gave it, but at least it tried. Matina was no coward. It had no skill, but it was no coward.

“That’s enough.” A green hand clamped onto my right wrist as I was about to deal another blow to the foolish uspec. There was only one uspec who would dare to stop me. I turned and found Arexon glaring at me.

Matina dropped to its knees. Its cheeks were swollen, its nose was broken, and I saw several cuts on its face. There were other lacerations over its body, thin lines drawn by the edge of my cutlass when I’d struck the uspec with it, and bruises from my fist.

“Is this how you will protect me?” I yelled at it.

Its shoulders shook. It placed its hands in its laps. Its back was bent, its head was bowed, and I saw pink drops fall from its face. It was crying. I was disgusted. I was disgusted with the uspec and its sibling and myself. I pulled my hand free of Arexon’s hold and stabbed my cutlass back into its sheath.

I turned to my left. Juke stared at me with wide, frightened, eyes. It gulped when our eyes met and looked away. Gamble was glaring at me, but the uspec wisely chose to avert its gaze before I could decide whether or not to get even more annoyed. Chike stared at Matina. Matiu stood to my left. Its expressionless gaze went from its beaten, weeping, sibling to me and then to the ground. It said nothing. I looked around and all I saw were silent faces. Most appeared baffled, only Arexon looked annoyed. Marcinus stood by the entrance with golden bands on its arms and golden bars on its earrings. It showed no emotion. Its gaze met mine and I found my eyes rivetted on the blackness of the empty eye socket in the middle of its face. When I pulled my focus from that center eye, the rest of its eyes were turned away.

The silence in the gym was deafening.

Arexon broke it. It called out to an uspec with a don’s insignia and a pious one’s fraise and told the uspec to see to Matina’s wounds.

Sophi rushed over. It extended its hand and helped Matina up. “You can see to it in my suite, pious one,” Sophi offered. The child stared up at me with a look of hatred mingled with intense distaste as it walked by, supporting a wounded Matina.

Arexon shook its head at me after they left the gym. It scoffed. “Was that necessary?”

“I want it to return to the Isle of Brio.” I said, unapologetically.

Arexon’s only response was a short round of dry laughter.

“It will not leave you, sirga. None of us will.” Gamble’s voice was steady when it spoke. The uspec met my gaze and tipped its chin upwards. “It does not matter what you do to us. We will not leave you.”

I clenched my jaw and took a step towards the younger uspec. Arexon restrained me with a hand on my shoulder.

I turned from Gamble to Juke, and the pleading I saw in the uspec’s eyes knocked the anger right out of me.

“Please sirga,” Juke begged, “please do not ask us to abandon you. We cannot.” It looked down at the ground as it muttered, “we cannot.”

What had I done to make these uspecs decide that my life was worth theirs? What could any uspec do to make another willingly give up their lives for them? I thought of Arexon and I derided myself. I was doing the same thing for Arexon. I, Nebud, was willing to sacrifice my life in a fight I could not win, because I could not abandon Arexon. But Arexon had earned my loyalty. It had risked its life countless times for me. What had I done for these uspecs to make them give me the loyalty that I gave Arexon? I did not understand it, but I knew that I could not force them to leave any more than Arexon could force me. If Matiu could watch me do what I just did to its sibling and still remain with me, then there was nothing I could do to force them to return. I walked over to Juke and clasped my hand around the back of its neck.

“I will not ask you to leave again,” I promised. Even as I said the words, I could not understand why I made the promise. I just knew that something eased in my chest when Juke’s head rose and it smiled at me.

“Gratitude sirga,” it replied, “we will not disappoint you. I swear it!”

The spot in my chest that had eased, tightened as I thought of the fight ahead. I could not lose this uspec. I just could not. But I could not send it away. I shook my head. “You are a fool for showing me this much loyalty.”

Juke grinned. “No sirga, I am not.”

I did not understand it. What did this young uspec find worthy of adulation in me? I smiled back, because I could not refrain from smiling in the face of Juke’s happiness. I released my hold on the uspec’s neck and turned back to face Matiu. I thought of apologizing for what I’d done to its sibling, but I did not. Of all the uspecs that had come with me, it was Matina I was most worried about. Its death would haunt me. And I knew it would die. It would die in the first battle it fought, and I would be haunted because that skilled artist would have died in my name. If I thought there was anything I could do to force the uspec back, I would do it. No, I did not apologize to Matiu for what I’d done. I could not help but despise the uspec a little for the bind it had placed me in. What use was Matina in a war when it could not fight?

I jerked my gaze away from Matiu’s solemn one and followed Arexon when it beckoned. Others came along with us. Chike and the other uspecs in my honoraria followed. As did Marcinus and several other high-ranking golden capons. Arexon led us to the library. It felt strange to walk into this room. I remembered the last time I’d been in this great library had been when I’d exposed Arexon’s pansophy to Sophian. We walked between tall hard fog shelves packed with tomes. There was a clearing in the middle. I remembered this clearing. It was where Sophian had stood when Arexon, Yakubo and I returned from Aurelion. There was a hard fog table in the middle. The table had the appearance of the stem of a hail tree. It was pure white and had lines etched into its sides. The top was covered with pieces and had portions of the inter-port trail and the Chiboga Acropolis etched into it. It was a war map.

I stood opposite Arexon and listened as it went into deployment details and the troop mobilization. It started with the flying squad. For that it focused its orders on Marcinus, who was apparently the highest commanding golden capon in charge of Arexon’s special flight fighters. At some point during Arexon’s detailed battle commands I turned and found Gamble and Chike standing behind me, Juke stood to my right and Matiu to my left. They had put themselves in position to surround me. Even here, where there were no enemies, they still sought to protect me. I took my attention back to Arexon. It spent a great deal of time firing questions at Marcinus and some other golden capons in the flying squad.

“Sirga,” a soft voice whispered urgently behind me.

I twisted my neck.

It was Matina.

The healer had done a good job. There was no sign of the beating Matina had taken left on its body. I wondered about the amount of growth that had been spent in the process.

“Sirga, may I speak with you in private?” It asked.

Matiu turned to its sibling. It rose an eyebrow in question, but Matina’s gaze was fixed on me. I wove my way away from the group of uspecs convened around Arexon’s war map, and followed Matina to the back of the library. We walked far enough away to be out of eyeshot of any other uspec. Matina stepped in front of me. I watched the uspec closely. Its head was bowed, it could not meet my gaze.

“Apologies sirga, I do not mean to be a disappointment.” It said. I heard the defeat in its voice, and I felt an uncomfortable stirring of guilt and pity. I did not like weak uspecs. I liked them even less when they placed their lives in my hand in the name of protecting me. So why did I feel guilty for beating it?

“You will die in this war Matina. If you do not want to disappoint me, then return to the Isle of Brio.” The uspec rose its head and I saw the pain in its tear-filled eyes. Its lips trembled.

Matina’s gaze dropped. “I am grateful for the time you spent training me in the gym.” It said, and I scoffed at its use of ‘training’. “I will learn sirga, I swear. But I cannot abandon you. I swore an oath to protect you. I cannot break it. My oath is my life.”

“You will be protecting me if you go back to the Isle of Brio.” I responded harshly. “Can’t you see that you are more of a burden than an aid? I am more likely to get myself killed worrying about you than I would be if my mind was fully in the battle.” The words were unkind, but I could not take the sting from them. They were the truth.

Matina’s eyes rose to meet mine. I did not think that I had seen an uspec who looked more broken. I had hurt it deeply with my words, much more than I had with the beating I had given it. But it had to be done. It bowed. “I will return to the Isle of Brio,” it said. “Forgive me for being such a disappointment.”

I exhaled and a knot in my chest loosened. I smiled. “You have done your best and I am deeply moved by your loyalty, Matina, but a war is no place for one with your skills. I am not disappointed. I am grateful to you for seeing reason.”

It bowed deeper, but when it rose its head there was no smile on its face. It looked to the ground and its shoulders were drooped.

I turned to return.

Matina stopped me with its words. “That is not why I asked to speak with you sirga.”

I turned back around.

“I think the imperial Sophi is about to betray you.” It said the words simply, without humor.

I frowned. “What?”

“When it took me back to its suite, it regaled me with tales of its hatred for you and the high Arexon.”

I shrugged. “We killed its line, it is only natural that it hate us.”

“Yes sirga,” Matina’s eyes still looked to the ground, “I know that. But it commiserated with me. It expected me to share its hatred of you after your training in the gym.”

I smiled at Matina’s adamant use of ‘training’ to describe what had gone on in the gym. If the uspec chose to think of it that way, I would not correct it. “I am sure you shattered its illusions.” I stated dryly.

Matina’s gaze snapped up to meet mine. “Of course sirga, I am grateful for your training. It is an honor to parry with you.” It looked away. “I said so, but the imperial Sophi did not believe me. Later, a messenger arrived and gave it a missive. The imperial one left me alone with the missive. It is in some type of code I do not understand, but I saw the name ‘Auxa’ written on it and so I copied the appearance.”

I stared at the uspec. “I thought you had no skill in pansophy.”

It shrugged. “It does not take much skill to move a lifeform into one’s self. It is moving the lifeform into something else that is a feat.” It rose its hand up, and in its right palm I saw the appearance of a parchment with words scribbled on it. The words were in the umani tongue I understood. It talked of a meeting with Auxa at a location that I did not know.

“This was very brave of you.” I said.

Matina looked at me. “It does not take much courage to copy a missive when the one it belongs to has left the room.”

I scoffed and took the uspec back to Arexon. Arexon studied Matina’s hand closely. Then it placed its hand on Matina’s and moments later the appearance of the missive was gone. Aexon transferred the appearance to an empty parchment. It stared at the words for a long time. Then its gaze rose to mine.

It smiled sadly. “You must have thought I was a fool when you saw Sophi dining with us.”

I did not respond. I did not think of Arexon as a fool, but I did think it had been unwise of the uspec to trust Sophi. The plenum had killed my line and I detested them for it. We had killed Sophi’s line. It was true that the uspecs of that line had not been particularly good people, but they’d been Sophi’s line. Of course, it would seek vengeance.

“I thought that if I took Sophi from Auxa and raised it myself then it could grow to be the kind of uspec that I’d hoped Sophian was. I had been raised as a serf under Sophila’s command. Sophila imprisoned my progenitor and stole my port, but I had still been willing to give it my loyalty. If it had not kept deferring the end date of my serfdom I would gladly have treated it as family. I hoped that if I raised Sophi as an imperial, it would grow to be a fair Kaiser. I had no intention of procreating. I meant to make Sophi my heir. I told it this. I told it.” Arexon’s jaw clenched. It stared down at the war map. No one else in the room spoke. I watched Arexon’s hands tighten around the parchment. After a while Arexon picked up a stone piece on its war map and crumbled it to dust. Then it gave the parchment to Marcinus. “Deal with it.” It ordered.

Marcinus nodded. “Do I have time to return to the barracks and retrieve a squad?”

Arexon shook its head.

“I will go with you!” Juke and Gamble both offered at the same time. Then they looked at each other and began laughing.

“Shouldn’t you ask our imperial for permission first?” Matiu asked.

They both turned to me with wide eyes.

“It is a low risk mission, Nebud.” Arexon said.

I nodded at the over eager youths. They left with Marcinus and two other golden capons. After that, Arexon had difficulty discussing the rest of its strategy. It spoke but the animation in its voice was gone. There would be several contingents of the regular army in the Acropolis. It would lead the first contingent and they would be fighting in the frontlines, in the hangar. The second and third were posted on reserve in the camps neighboring the hangar. There were two more contingents posted in the barracks and a last contingent stationed in the Castle. Arexon delivered the happy news that I was to lead that contingent. I turned the uspec down.

Its eyes fastened on me.

“I came here to fight not to wait the fight out in the Castle. You need me, sirga, remember my lit okun. I will significantly reduce the plenum’s numbers in your favor.”

Arexon nodded. “You are right.” Its gaze turned to Matiu. “I assume the honoraria would like to be stationed with your imperial.”

Matiu bowed. “Yes sirga.”

“Matina will be returning to the Isle of Brio.” I stated. “If you can spare an escort, sirga.”

Arexon appeared startled, but it was not as surprised as Matiu.

“Tina?” Matiu demanded.

Matina could not look its older sibling in the eye. “I am a hindrance here, sib, I cannot allow my wellbeing to distract the imperial one.”

Matiu’s jaw clenched. It looked away.

“I will send it with an escort of four. They will leave in the morning after the battle starts. The fighting will distract the plenum enough for them to sneak past.”

“Gratitude sirga.”

Arexon nodded. After that it went through some more strategies and it fired questions about the troop readiness at its capons, but everyone could see that it was distracted. Sophi’s betrayal weighed heavily on it. It came as a relief to all when Juke returned with word that Marcinus and the rest of the uspecs awaited Arexon in the Castle’s hall.

We left the library.

I found that every place in the Castle had memories for me. The hall was no different. Sophian had hosted a final banquet in this hall the night before its supposed war with the plenum. It was the same night that I’d killed Sophila and that Arexon had killed Sophian.

This time the hall was bare. There were no benches, just a group of uspecs standing in the middle. Marcinus and Gamble had blood streaks on their bodies, but they were the only ones.

Sophi stood between Marcinus and another golden capon. Beams of hatred gushed out from its young eye. It spat on the ground by Arexon’s feet.

“Two plenum soldiers escaped.” Marcinus said.

Arexon said nothing. It struck out and had its hand wrapped around Sophi’s neck before anyone knew what it intended to do. Sophi’s little fingers pulled at Arexon’s much bigger ones which were wrapped around its neck. Its legs swung in the air and its body writhed from side to side, but its struggling got it nowhere.

After a few minutes, Arexon released the uspec.

“Sophi gave them the location of our itinerary suite as well as a key to the quicksand hangars.” There were several loud inhales at Arexon’s announcement. I realized then that when it had held Sophi it had done so to use its pansophy on the uspec. Arexon turned to Marcinus. “Stop them.” It ordered. “They must not reveal the location of our quicksand hangars and that key cannot be allowed to leave this port.”

Marcinus nodded. It saluted and then rushed out of the hall.

I was still trying to decipher what the itinerary suite and quicksand hangars were when I saw Arexon pull out its sword.

There was no preamble. It said nothing, spoke no moving words or chiding criticism. It asked no questions. It simply separated Sophi’s head from its body, and then returned the bloodied sword to its scabbard. Sophi’s head made a loud thud when it hit the ground and it rolled for a while before coming to rest at my feet. I did not know if there was an omen to this.

“Get some rest,” Arexon ordered, “once the fighting starts tomorrow, there will be no rest until this war with the plenum reaches its conclusion. One way or the other.”

Arexon did not even spare a glance at Sophi’s head before it walked out of the hall.

I found myself unable to look away from the little green head. Sophi had just been a child. It had been a traitor, but a child. How could Arexon behead a child? I stared at that head and I could not bring myself to look away. The uspec had died with its eye open wide. The fear it had felt was suspended in its gaze. It had not seen its death coming any more than I had. Arexon had told me once that this was the only way to deal with traitors, to cut off their head. But Sophi was not just a traitor, it was a young uspec who’d grown up idolizing Arexon even when Arexon had only been a serf.

“Sirga?” Matiu called out to me.

I blinked. It was hard to pry my gaze from Sophi’s head. Why had the head rolled to my feet? Of all places for it to roll to, why me?

I forced myself to look away. Chike, Matiu and Matina were the only people left in the room. “Where are Juke and Gamble?” I asked.

Matiu shook its head while Matina explained that they’d left with Marcinus. Those two were so eager to fight. I chuckled, but I could not keep my gaze from wandering back to Sophi’s head. It was only three years older than my offspring. Maybe with time it could have grown into the uspec that Arexon wished for it to be. Maybe if Arexon had arrested it, instead of killing it. I refused to think like that. I would not start questioning Arexon now for Sophi’s sake. The young uspec had colluded with the plenum.

When I closed my eyes that night, images of Sophi’s head filled my thoughts. I thought of its head when it had still been attached to its body. I thought of the little uspec that had walked around the barracks with a tome in its hands. I thought of how it had quoted Arexon. I thought of the uspec as it had trained in pansophy and then as it had been with me, providing me with tomes to learn about spectra. I had never had much fondess for Sophi, but it had always been an innocent in my eyes. Now it was dead and I saw its head unceremoniously parted from its body and then rolling to a stop by my feet.

That was the last thing I saw before I fell asleep.

Matiu woke me up what felt like only a few hours later. “Juke and Gamble have not returned sirga. I sent Chike after them with a speed canoe an hour ago, but the imp is yet to return.”

I sat up in my bed.

Matina stood beside its sibling.

“Do you know where they went?” I asked.

“Itinerary suite.” Matina said.

“Do you know where it is?”

Matiu shook its head. Matina nodded.

I jumped out of my bed and strapped my belt around my waist.

“Let’s go.” I ordered.

Matina bowed and led the way. Matiu followed behind me.

I hope I'm not perceiving betrayal.

this one is strong! Thanks ObehiD for this wonderful update.

OluwabuqqyYOLO:
I hope I'm not perceiving betrayal.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Nebud might have pushed the brothers too much...even though I don't blame him. Matina is not meant to partake in a war.

I am scared for Nebud. I can't help the premonition that something bad is about to happen.
Everyday day update? It's like a dream come true. No, it is a dream come true. Welcome, Obehid.

eROCK247:


My friend!!! Nebud has fought his way from the slums. Unlike other Imperials he was never doted on. Aside from Arexon, Nebud is the only imperial Uspec that has had to fend for itself from a tender age. E nor easy.

And is that why it is so messed up?? It had better amend it's ways or it would make more enemy than loyalist.... Yet you would agree with me, it is messed up

Tuhndhay:


And is that why it is so messed up?? It had better amend it's ways or it would make more enemy than loyalist.... Yet you would agree with me, it is messed up

He's a brute.

Wow, wow, wow.. good job ObehiD, I'm liking Arexon more and more... In wartime no time for sentiments... When a head needs cutting you cut!!!

Ps: sent you a mail

Smooth278:
Wow, wow, wow.. good job ObehiD, I'm liking Arexon more and more... In wartime no time for sentiments... When a head needs cutting you cut!!!

Ps: sent you a mail

Thanks for letting me know! I've read it and sent a reply!!

Part 7
--------

Matina soared. I realized that it was the first time I had ever actively watched the uspec’s flight. Usually it flew behind me, but as it led our excursion, I had ample opportunity to watch it. Matina flew higher than most uspecs could. Uspecs that could fly consistently at that altitude were soarers. It was an interesting thing to note about the uspec, but my mind kept returning to troubling thoughts of Juke and Gamble. I’d assured myself that during the battle I would be by their side and so I could rush to their aid if needed. But this was a danger I had not anticipated.

Matina led us to a part of the Acropolis that I had not had reason to visit before. It was the Gold Capons’ Lodge. On a night like this, before the final battle, we found that most of the Acropolis was quiet. The guards standing on duty outside the Gold Capon’s Lodge recognized me and so they granted us access without asking any questions. We flew over hundreds of elegant dwellings, and a continuous path of black fog walls. Chiboga was a fog port, and so we had to fly low to see through to our final destination.

The itinerary suite was a solitary dwelling surrounded by wisps of drifting red fog. The fog that floated around this dwelling was a deeper shade of red than most, a crimson as rich as blood. It was that thought that crawled through my mind as we made our descent. The red fog extended towards us and it engulfed us, swallowing us so fully that it was impossible for me to see the other uspecs.

My skin prickled.

The itinerary dwelling was an odd structure. I’d seen before we’d landed that it was a dwelling with large holes cut out of the outer walls. I pushed my hand forward like a blind uspec feeling my way through the dark. The fog in Chiboga was thick, but it was not normally this thick. My nostrils twitched at the smell of blood. I could not tell if it was truly blood I smelled or if it was the crimson of the fogs playing tricks with my mind. The prickling which had started in my back, crawled all over my body, as if lines were being drawn on my skin with sharp needlepoints.

I heard sounds. I could not be sure if the noises I heard were voices or just my own thoughts amplified. There was something very strange about this fog. I was relieved when at last my hands felt out a hard surface. I ran my fingers across until I found one of the many gaps in the dwelling’s outer wall. I pushed the curtains aside without seeing them, and made my way in.

The fog had had me so on edge that my ears were keen enough to pick up the swoosh of a blade tearing through the air. I swung and pulled my cutlass out of its sheath. I was just able to dodge the blade aimed at my neck. I forced my attacker back without seeing the attacker’s face. But when I turned, and found my attacker rushing towards me, I froze.

My legs suddenly seemed unable to move and in that moment my heart stopped beating. The brown face of my attacker was one that I was familiar with, one that I trusted. In my stun, Chike would have cut my head off if Matiu hadn’t appeared at that moment to parry Chike’s attacks.

I didn’t even have the time to process all of this because I heard a shocked wail. I turned around and found Gamble advancing on Matina. It was insane. Matina, for its part, dodged the blows surprisingly spryly. It ducked when Gamble swung with both hands wrapped around its hilt, a blow forceful enough to chip the hard fog walls. Gamble retrieved its sword and continued its attack on Matina while Chike battered at Matiu’s blade.

Something was very wrong.

I felt for their emotions.

Chike and Gamble were so filled with polluted anger that I was surprised that they were able to attack with as much skill as they showed. Thanks to Chuspecip, and the time that the founder had spent inside of me, I knew how to fix this problem without having to transfer the emotions to others. I reached for my spectra and emotions at the same time. Emotions I knew well. It was easy to talk to their polluted anger through mine. It took a bit more effort to convince the quicksand to emerge. When I’d forced the quicksand out, I deposited their polluted emotions into the quicksand, the spectrum soul of anger.

Chike and Gamble both stopped attacking at the same moment. Their swords dropped, letting out a shrill sound as the sharp edges scraped against the hard fog grounds. They panted, and beads of sweat filled their faces. Chike’s shirt was soaked through, and Gamble appeared so dazed that it took the uspec a long time to register our presence. As soon as its sanity returned, it said, “Juke.”

There was something about the way that the uspec called Juke’s name that made my skin tingle all over again. It felt as if little etku creatures had entered into my body and were crawling underneath my skin.

“Where is Juke?” I asked, alarmed.

Chike sighed and Gamble’s eyes watered.

No. I shook my head and stumbled backwards. My chest tightened. It was as if someone had reached into my chest and had squeezed my heart. I could not breathe.

“Sirga?” Matiu appeared by my side.

I had to force myself to take slow breaths, but no matter how hard I tried, the ache in my chest did not loosen. I gripped the hilt of my cutlass so hard that it dug deeply into my skin.

“Juke!” I bellowed the uspec’s name.

“It is gone.” Chike stated with its gaze turned down.

“No. NO! JUKE!”

“They took it.” Gamble’s voice shook. “They took it.”

Veins in my head throbbed. The throbbing was so emphatic that I heard a sharp ringing sound echoing in my brain. I took air in slowly and let it out just as slow as it had entered. After a while the ringing sound dampened and the tightening in my chest eased. ‘They took it’ which meant it was still alive. It could still be saved.

I cast my gaze from the hard fog walls and flooring, to the roofless top. The area we stood in was circular with paths leading inwards to hidden chambers within the dwelling. The room was clear of fog, as if there was some sort of invisible covering which prevented the crimson fogs from drifting in through the coverless ceiling. Red light from the clouds streamed in in blinding proportions.

I was steady now, calmer. I turned my gaze on Gamble. “Who took it?”

Gamble’s looked down at the ground and Chike’s head was bent. “There was a pious one, sirga, and an irirakun, a kute-hooni crossbreed. The kun filled Juke with polluted emotions and they forced the imperial Marcinus to lead them to the quicksand hangar.”

“Where?” I demanded.

Neither Gamble nor Chike rose their heads. “This way,” Chike tipped its head to the side. “I’m sorry master, I should have done a better job protecting it.”

Chike pushed at a solid fog wall. I narrowed my eyes at the imp, wondering all the while if there were still remnants of polluted anger in it, making it act insane. But the imp just kept pushing, until Gamble joined it. They pushed at an unmoving wall, until a part of the wall fractured, and darkness was revealed. Crimson red fog wafted from that darkness.

“This way sirga,” Gamble called, right before dashing into the tunnel they had revealed. As soon as it entered, it was swallowed by the darkness.

I followed behind it.

The fog in this darkness was as the thick crimson fogs that surrounded the dwelling. My skin crawled at being surrounded by it. I knew that it was my imagination, but I felt a bit as if those fogs had formed hands that reached for me and drew me in, pulling me into the tunnel. It was not possible, but I could not fight the eerie feeling, and the prickling sensation in my back.

There were no walls that I could feel in this darkness. Once I walked in, all sound was gone. The soles of my feet brushed against solid ground, with a coolness that I had only found emanating from hard fogs. I felt the thick, clammy, fogs drifting around me and enveloping me in their warmth. My eyes appeared painted black. I could not see through to any solid forms. And I could not hear any sounds. There were others with me, this I knew, but I could not hear them. Fear was the emotion associated with fog, it was the emotion of the boga spectrums. Walking in this dark, foggy, tunnel, I had cause to feel the link between the emotion and the soul of the spectrum. My skin crawled and my heart pounded, but I forged ahead.

There was red light at the end of the tunnel.

I saw silhouettes, red forms in the red fog with red light illuminating them. They appeared as if they were built from the fog.

I walked into that fog and was pulled in, as one would be sucked in by quicksand. It wasn’t till I found myself standing on the inter-port trail that I finally understood what the quicksand hangars were. The fog I’d just walked through was one. It was quicksand with a changed appearance which had to lead, through the Acropolis hangar, to the inter-port trail.

I had never seen this in any other port. I did not know if this was something that Arexon had created for this war, to give its uspecs an extra edge to creep into the inter-port trail, but there were reasons why other Kaisers refrained from doing so. Any door leading out could be used to bring uspecs in. If there were more quicksand hangars like this throughout the Acropolis then Chiboga could be invaded.

I finally understood the extent of Sophi’s betrayal.

“Nebud!” Marcinus yelled.

The sudden call of my name startled me, especially as it was coming from a familiar voice that had not spoken a single personal word to me since my return to Chiboga. The startling was good. It forced me to look around and that allowed me to see the dagger that a plenum soldier had thrown at my head. I twisted to the right, caught the dagger by the handle and threw it back at the soldier. It stabbed into the hooni soldier’s chest and killed it.

Ten swords were unsheathed all at the same time.

I looked around me. Gamble somehow emerged from the quicksand hangar behind me. I thought about how the dark tunnel had not appeared narrow and understood how it could be possible that Gamble who’d left before me arrived after. Matiu, Matina and Chike, followed close behind.

The first thing I did was look for Juke. The uspec was still alive. Its limbs had been tied together, but it fought against the restrictions and whimpered. It banged its head against the foam ground. Luckily, the hardened cloud flooring of the inter-port trail would not do much damage to the uspec’s head.

The plenum soldiers rushed towards us.

Marcinus had no weapons on it, but it fought well with its hands. None of the soldiers attacked Juke. The ones not fighting Marcinus lurched at us. We fought back. I kept waiting to hear my uspecs crying out with polluted emotions, but no such cries came. Whoever the irirakun was, who’d infected Chike, Gamble and Juke, it was gone. I sliced at an uspec’s neck and then stabbed my cutlass into the back of a soaru uspec who’d been parrying with Matiu. I glanced down at the corpses and noticed for the first time a tail emerging from the back of the hooni uspec I’d thrown the dagger at first. The first uspec I’d killed was the irirakun. I looked up and saw Marcinus’ vicious fighting, why had it allowed them to be taken to the inter-port trail. I glanced back at the irirakun, Gamble said that it had forced Marcinus to take them to the quicksand hangar, but how? It must have had something to do with the irirakun, because once I killed it, Marcinus started fighting. I heard the swoosh of a blade, a sharp sound reminding me that the middle of a battle was no place for deep analysis.

I side-stepped an uspec’s dagger. Another uspec was about to lance Matina from behind. I grabbed onto Matina’s arm and held it behind me as I caught the worst of the uspec’s blade as a graze against my skin. The pointed end of the sword lodged into the hard cloud walls. I stabbed my cutlass into its neck when it tarried in trying to pull its weapon out of the wall. I kept Matina behind me as I forced my way towards Marcinus and the bound Juke.

“No!” Marcinus screamed. “Gamble stop!”

I frowned at Marcinus.

Gamble fought against the last plenum soldier left standing. The uspec wore a fraise, probably the pious one that they had mentioned. At the moment Marcinus yelled, Gamble had its arm around the uspec’s neck. It held the uspec’s neck in a vice, but the pious one lurched backwards. It pushed Gamble back and the uspec and Gamble fell into a hard cloud wall. Matiu and Chike, who’d also been standing beside the wall, were pulled into the wall as well, as quicksand pulls at one standing on it. All four uspecs vanished.

Marcinus ran towards the wall. It ran its hand over that hard cloud wall, but nothing happened, its hand just brushed over the wall’s surface. The uspec pulled its hand back, fisted it and then slammed its fist into the wall. It did this several more times before it kicked uselessly at the boundary.

I frowned at it.

Marcinus turned back around. Its earrings dangled from its ears and the red of the clouds bounced off the gold on the armbands it wore.

“The pious one had the key. We cannot return through this entrance.” It pronounced.

I forgot about Matina until the uspec sighed at Marcinus’ words. I released my hold on the uspec and turned my attention to the afflicted Juke. It was still on its belly with its arms and legs bound. I reached for the polluted emotions in it and transferred those emotions to a dying plenum soldier. I slit the uspec’s throat to end its suffering quickly.

“Sirga?” Juke blinked dazedly. I bent to a squat beside the uspec and cut off the bindings around its limbs. When it was free, the uspec jumped to its feet, rubbing at the rope marks printed into its green skin.

“Where is the nearest entrance back into Chiboga?” I asked Marcinus.

The uspec stared at me. Its lips were sat in a grim line. “On the other side of the plenum’s camp.”

I exhaled loudly. Then I sheathed my dagger and cutlass and studied the two uspecs in my honoraria who’d been trapped on the inter-port trail with me. Juke seemed to be coming back to its wits, now that the polluted emotions were gone. Matina stared fixatedly at the wall that its sibling had disappeared through. I took my attention back to Marcinus. The uspec stared calmly back at me. Its lips were relaxed now and its gaze appeared as emotionless as it had in Chiboga.

“How long will it take to get there?”

“At least a day if we try to go around the plenum’s camp.”

I shook my head. “That’s too long.”

“I’m more worried about the uspecs heading over here now. The pious one sent a missive with the location of this quicksand hangar. There will be soldiers on their way, and we will have to make it past them.” After saying that, Marcinus began rifling through the corpses. It retrieved a bow and a quiver of arrows as well as a sword belt. “We should probably leave. It will be better to face them on a more open path.” It did not wait for a response it just walked past us.

We were on a narrow road. I knew that Marcinus was right, we had to leave. I looked from Juke to Matina and then nodded.

We followed Marcinus.

Part 8
--------------------------------
On the Inter-port Trail
--------------------------------

Matina walked with its hands held behind its back. Its fingers were intertwined, resting just below the bottom edge of its sword belt. The corners of its lips were bent low and its shoulders drooped forward, but it held its head up, its chin jutting out to the path in front of it. My eyes trailed from the pursed lips, to the tight jaw, and the fingers digging into each other and the backs of the hands they lay on. Every once in a while the uspec’s arms would shake, then it would push its fingers deeper into its skin and the shaking would stop. Every time this happened, the eyes on the side of the uspec’s face closer to me, glanced my way warily, before quickly darting back, as if to check if I had seen the telltale signs of its agitation. But despite its fear, the uspec walked forward, along the narrow lane, within the walls of clouds, drawing further towards the troop of plenum soldiers we knew we would encounter.

I could not help glancing around, at the red clouds beneath my feet, and the red clouds beside me. I peered into those clouds, searching for traces of green hidden beneath the red. My hand rested firmly on the hilt of my cutlass, ready to pull the weapon out at a moment’s notice.

Juke was to my left. The uspec had both of its hands wound tightly around the hilts of its double swords. Every time we heard a stray sound, the uspec jumped and then its pupils flew from one corner of its eye to the other, and its head swiveled. When it was assured that there was no one behind us, and no uspecs, sprung from the walls, ready to surround us, its shoulders dropped slightly and it exhaled. Its gaze turned to me and it smiled the wide smile of its childhood, the one that sent the corners of its lips so far up that they grazed the periphery of its outer eyes. I smiled back at that.

We proceeded along the narrow lane in this vane. The only one who did not show the least signs of agitation, was Marcinus. The uspec walked calmly in front of us. It did not jump at the slightest sound, or look back when a change in lighting signaled at the emergence of a shadow from behind us. It had its bow slung around one shoulder, its quiver around the other, and its belt around its waist. Its hand did not rest close to its sword as mine did, they were by its side.

We walked for what felt like an hour on a narrow lane that seemed to have no end. In the time that we walked, Marcinus did not turn around once. The distance that separated us was a small one, a few feet, the length of an uspec’s longest finger. But somehow that distance was like a gulf and the aloof uspec that walked before us was a stranger to me. I stared at the back of its head and I could not help but see it in all the versions that I’d known. The kind imperial who I’d met in the inn in Katsoaru. The warrior who’d fought me and laughed in an expensive gym in a Kaiser’s palace. The charge I’d rescued from an inn of hired killers. The friend who’d spent a day in search of me. My eyes trailed from the green scalp, to the ailerons, and then the tentacles that hung from its waist. As my gaze reversed its direction I saw the version of Marcinus that had laughed hysterically on the inter-port trail. The one that had introduced my offspring to lust. The one that had blackmailed me, using my offspring’s wellbeing as a bargaining chip for more lust. Red light glinted off the golden bars on its earrings.

Those earrings swayed, tilting from left to right as the uspec marched. It was the only movement attached to Marcinus’ head that did not appear methodical. The uspec’s head was rigid, but the earring swayed autonomously. Until they stopped.

I knew that there was something wrong as soon as those earrings stopped swinging. Marcinus had stopped moving. It turned around and its turn seemed to be made in slow motion. It was the kind of soldier’s swivel that I had never been able to learn. One feet remained behind, while the other one was placed a few inches forward. Its arms did not flail, they remained firmly at its side as its body twisted, perfectly, like a spinning doll. When it was turned, it pulled the backward leg forward. I wondered if the uspec even thought about that turn before it had executed it. I knew what this turn meant, and so for the second before Marcinus spoke, when the lane we stood on was still silent, Matina’s arms did not shake, and Juke did not squeeze the hilts of its swords, for that second, I thought of Marcinus’ form and how well it had executed that turn. Marcinus the soldier.

“It is time.” Marcinus said.

I frowned.

The lane had gradually widened as we walked. Now we stood on a track wide enough to take ten uspecs standing side by side. In the distance ahead of us, I saw an end to the lane, but it was the type of end that led to a resting place. If there was a resting place in front, then there were bound to be offshoots as well, places were other lanes merged into this one.

“What do you hear sirga?” Juke asked.

It looked around and frowned. I was frowning too, in confusion. Both at Marcinus’ words and the posing of Juke’s question.

“They are a few minutes away.” Marcinus stated.

Marcinus had developed the eerie quality of looking through an uspec. It was the strangest feeling, but when I looked into Marcinus eyes, I got the feeling that the uspec was not looking back at me. Its pupils were always just a little bit shifted. It looked a hairsbreadth to the right of where I stood. So close that one could arrive at the mistaken conclusion that the uspec was actually looking at me. But it wasn’t. Those haunted eyes looked past me.

“How do you know?”

For a moment, Marcinus’ eyes moved a fraction towards me, and then it truly was looking at me. Then the gaze shifted by that same fraction, away.

“My hearing is boosted.” It responded without emotion. Pansophy. In the time I had been away, Marcinus must have gained the magic too. “They will be on us in twenty minutes. Prepare yourselves.”

Juke was ready. Its hands were poised by its swords and it looked calmly into the horizon. Its breath was steady now. We knew were the danger was coming from, there was no more cause to be jumpy. It had truly grown into a warrior. I was proud. I was worried for its safety, but I was also proud.

Matina trembled like a leaf under drifting fogs.

“You should stay behind Matina,” I said. As I said the words, I thought of ways that it could sneak past the fight. “Soar!” As soon as the answer came, I smiled, and relaxed a little. I turned to the shaking uspec and said calmly, “soar over the fight.” It soared when it flew. It could fly so high that none of the other uspecs would be able to catch it.

Matina held its hands together and then forced them behind it. Its arms were now hidden so I could not see their trembling. “I will fight, sirga.” It stated.

I shook my head. The uspec had acquiesced to my desire for it to return to the Isle of Brio. Just this evening, it had told me that it would do this. A few more hours and it would have been safe, back in our paradise. Just a few more hours. If Juke and Gamble hadn’t gone off with Marcinus. If the pious one with the key hadn’t gone through the quicksand hangar before we could. Two ill lucks and Matina’s life was back in jeopardy. I wanted to argue, but what was the point? “You will die,” I stated, resignedly. “If you try to fight, you will die. There are too few of us for me to guard you.”

Its shoulders shook, but it still held its hands behind it, to hide their shaking. Its sword shook though, as did its legs. “Then I will die.”

The words were spoken without heat. Matina did not question its fate.

“I can hear them now,” Juke said.

I could not look away from Matina. I did not like this uspec much, but I respected its courage. It had the courage and spirit of a warrior without any of the skill.

“How many do you think?” I asked the question with my gaze still rooted on Matina.

“At least a hundred.” It was Marcinus who replied. “From the stomping I hear, at least a hundred.”

I listened close and I could hear them too. The sounds I heard were a mixture between shuffling and stomping. I could not tell the number, but I could hear the movements. There were clinking sounds that accompanied the noise of moving feet. Those clinking sounds were of metal, probably from the swords they carried. My gaze was still fixed on Matina. It looked back at me and swallowed.

“You will assist me Matina.” Marcinus said.

Matina and I turned to the uspec. Marcinus looked at neither of us. All six of its outer eyes somehow managed to stare blankly at the empty space between me and Matina.

“I only have twenty arrows in my quiver. If you can retrieve the arrows I’ve shot, you can soar and hand them to me in flight. Do you think you can do that?”

Matina nodded eagerly. “Yes, imperial one!”

Marcinus nodded. It was a simple affair, a simple downwards pull of its head, just that one jerk and then it was done. Matina was still nodding when Marcinus turned back around.

“We should move forward,” Marcinus said, “it will be better if we take them by surprise.”

I agreed.

The walk that followed was much calmer than the one that preceded it. I knew now where the danger was coming from and so I was not nearly as jumpy as I’d been before. I did not look about once, I kept my gaze fixed ahead. The plenum soldiers would be merging onto our path from one of the lanes that fed into this one.

As soon as I heard the cry of alarm, I knew that the battle was about to start. The cry had come from a plenum scout who’d sighted us.

Marcinus nodded to Matina and the uspec dashed into the air, soaring so high that I had to narrow my eyes to catch glimpses of its green flesh amongst the red clouds. That soaring height would be the safest place for it.

When my gaze dropped back down to the ground level, I found myself the subject of six intense eyes. Marcinus’ lips were straight, its jaw relaxed, but it looked at me with a sadness that I could not describe. Its eyes appeared pained, but its lips made no movements, no gestures of sound. Twenty plenum soldiers fell on us, and Marcinus’ sad eyes remained fixed on me. Juke drew its swords out of their scabbards and the shrill sound which accompanied this movement boomed like a clarion call to arms. The ringing of several other metallic arms drawn against sheaths followed the sound of Juke’s blades.

The soldiers fell on us. What was twenty became thirty and then fifty. I could not look away from Marcinus’ sad eyes. Then a cyan blade appeared beside Marcinus neck, and the uspec drew out a dagger and stabbed it into its attacker’s center eye. The uspec’s cries of pain were the first to be heard that night. They were quickly followed by the death howls of two uspecs Juke slaughtered. Marcinus looked away from me and then it flew, darting into the sky in a single fluid move, that saw it poised horizontally, with its bow and three arrowheads resting against the hard fog grip. The arrows flew and more uspecs died.

I pulled out my cutlass, dodged an attack and then cut off an uspec’s head.

The fight had started.

I did not think of much as we fought. An uspec lanced me in the side with its sword while three others swatted at me with soaru tentacles. Arrows flew and uspec tentacles were severed from their owners waists. I had not time to look to the sky at the source of my salvation. All I could do was fight. Matina flew low to gather an arrow and three uspecs approached it. Juke dashed into the air on my other side. It fought savagely against the uspecs that rose in the air to challenge it.

Matina squealed.

Five uspecs surrounded me. Two of them were hooni, three were mejo. I heard Matina’s cries of pain and tried to tune the uspec out. I dodged a blow, threw my dagger at another and then rose my head quickly enough to see that one uspec had knocked Matina’s sword away, while another was about to stab its sword into Matina’s heart.

I did something foolish.

I had only my cutlass to throw, and so I did. I threw my cutlass into the uspec’s heart before it could harm Matina. It left me without a weapon to defend myself. I should have thrown a scale instead. I would have laughed at my stupidity if my attackers gave me time. They herded me. I reached for their emotions. In times of despair, I could always fall back on emotions. It took me a long time to find an uspec with pain. That was the thing with soldiers, they rarely fought with any anger. They fought to kill either because they were paid to, or because it thrilled them to do so. They were like me in that regard. But I found one with pain, an uspec close to death’s door. I snatched that uspec’s pain and then transferred it to two of the uspec’s who surrounded me. They immediately yelled out and then stumbled.

One swung its sword so carelessly that it stabbed another plenum soldier in the thigh.

Another soldier came at me. It was slight. I measured the amount of force it could have and decided to risk it. It swung its sword at me and I caught the sharp edge with my hand. The wound that left in my palm was deep. The sword went in all the way to my bones. But pain was nothing to me in the heat of battle. I wrapped my fingers around the sword’s edge, further piercing myself with sharp steel, and then wrenched the weapon from the shocked hand of the uspec who’d wielded it. Its lips parted and its wide eyes went from my bleeding hand to my face. I turned the sword around so that I could place my bleeding palm against the hilt. Then I cut of the head of the uspec who’d once owned the sword. It died with the absurd look of shock still etched into its features.

There were more attacks. More gangs of uspecs. They surrounded me so thoroughly that I could not see much beyond my fight. Thankfully these soldiers were commoners. They had no pansophy or emotions. They barely even knew how to use their features to fight. I killed many and for each uspec I killed another came forward to take its place.

Every so often I would incline my head to the roof of the inter-port trail and I would see a green dot darting above. I told myself that it was Matina and I continued to fight without fear for the uspec’s wellbeing. I used emotions and skill. My fist butted with as many heads as I could find. I was exhausted. There were cuts all over my body, and I was feint from the blood loss. But I was also excited. There was a thrill to this battle. It was simple and blood flowed freely. In the time that I was surrounded by the soldiers I was so thoroughly blocked that I could not see through to Juke or Marcinus and so for that time it was as if I fought alone. I had no worries, no thoughts save of my own survival.

Then the battle began to turn. More and more holes formed around the circle of plenum soldiers surrounding me. Then a red-green form hovered in the air above me. It descended and fought by my side. It fought with a bow in one hand a sword in another. I had never seen an uspec fight with a bow as if it was a sword. The deadly tip of its bow, stabbed into an uspec’s heart, had the same efficiency as the point of a sword. Another red-green form appeared by my other side. This one fought with two swords.

Twenty plenum soldiers dwindled to ten and then there was four.

I’d just stabbed into an uspec’s neck when I saw the last plenum soldier grab onto Matina’s leg and pull it down to the ground. The uspec was standing on the other side of us, across from a ridge of bodies. As soon as I saw this I let my wings flap. Matina just had to survive the night, then it would be back to the Isle of Brio, back to safety. I flew towards them.

I was too late.

Wow. Arexon should have known there isn't a thing like 'low-risk mission'. WTF?! This is exhilarating!

The suspense is killing... The story is about to reach its climax... Hopefully, someone will reach M before he is killed.

God bless you obehid for this early tonic

Wow so Matina is gone... But this fight no be here... I was just picturing it in my head as I diluted this episode.... Gracias Obehid

obehiD...did you have to end with "I was too late?"

Wow...wow...wow..
These days I just wake up .. enter the spectral existence.. enjoy the wonderful action and obehid does not disappoint. !
What is tomorow waiting for na?

popeshemoo:
Wow...wow...wow..
These days I just wake up .. enter the spectral existence.. enjoy the wonderful action and obehid does not disappoint. !
What is tomorow waiting for na?

Abeg,help me ask tomorrow oooo....m tired of waiting for tomorrow...

Matina did not die people, you will see tomorrow...... I couldn't believe my eyes when I read it, even people around me noticed but better you see for yourself

Part 9
---------

It happened slowly.

The uspec latched onto Matina’s arm when Matina tried to wrest free, but the uspec’s hold was too strong. It spun Matina around and then it stabbed the uspec in the side with its sword.

I blinked.

No, it didn’t stab Matina, Matina somehow managed to evade the blow. It bent so far to the side that the sword only grazed its skin. It left a red line in its wake, but that line was a little wound. Then, Matina used the plenum soldier’s hold to force its attacker closer and it stabbed an arrow into the uspec’s chest, between the iron spikes around its heart.

The uspec coughed blood and then it fell back. It clutched at the arrow shaft and gazed at Matina. Another vomit of blood came spewing from its lips. Then it slipped on its foot and fell. It died with its eyes open, right as I finally reached them, landing beside a kneeling Matina.

Matina knelt beside the uspec it had killed, and it wept. Pink drops of liquid fell from its eyes and landed on the foam flooring of the inter-port trail road.

Juke and Marcinus were not far behind me. I felt the impression of their feet against the foam ground when they landed. Marcinus walked away without speaking. It retreated back towards the pile of bodies we’d dropped. I watched as it silently pulled its arrows from the uspecs they’d been stuck in.

Marcinus looked like a specter floating amidst a field of bodies. Green and red over a light red flooring. The red light that fell on us now was at its darkest shade. It was the deep red of late night. The red that accompanied sleep. Soon there would be orange to dilute the severity of this bleak red. Red and green, blood and bodies. I felt nothing now when I stared at these corpses. Marcinus had been right, there had been over a hundred. And we’d killed them all, because we’d all fought with everything we had. Marcinus had fired arrows so accurately that none of those arrows missed their marks. Then there’d been Matina. Shivering, scared, Matina, had darted through the battlefield, retrieving arrows and giving them back to Marcinus so that it could shoot some more. We would have died if we had not had Marcinus and its arrows. If we had not had Matina and its courage to retrieve those arrows and ensure that Marcinus’ quiver was never empty.

I knelt beside Matina.

The uspec had not stopped weeping. It was bent so far forward that its forehead grazed the corpse of the uspec it had felled. It wept onto that uspec’s neck. I could not understand this. I did not know why Matina wept over the corpse of an enemy. When I’d taken my first life it had been from an uspec who would have killed me if I hadn’t killed it. I had felt no sorrow for its death. I did not understand Matina. But there was much about this uspec I did not understand. An artist who came to a warzone to fight. It was unskilled in arms, but it had done its best to aid our fight, and it had done so well, and with enough courage to stun me.

I placed a hand on the uspec’s shoulder and I squeezed. Before I’d tightened my fingers arounds its shoulder, I had felt its shaking, the sobs that came out of it were so forceful that they racked the uspec’s form. It stopped shaking after I squeezed. Pink drops trailed down its green face. I did not mean to, but I felt the uspec’s pain. I felt the anguished emotion.

“Forgive me sirga,” It stuttered through quivering lips, “forgive me for being such a disappointment.” The words were twisted and malformed by the tears that accompanied them. They were hiccupped out between breaths of air and puffed out with sniffles. “Forgive me,” it begged.

Why did it grieve as such for the life of an enemy it had not known? Why? I did not understand it. A part of me wanted to strike it to stop its tears. But Matina had unlocked a sympathy in me that I had felt for few others. I did not know how the uspec managed it. I pulled my hand away from it, disgusted with it and with myself. It should not be crying and I should not be sympathetic. What was happening to me?

“You are not a disappointment.” The words were meant to offer comfort but I was so disgusted that they emerged from my lips as harsh and cold. For a moment Matina stopped its weeping and it looked up at me. Then it bowed and looked down. I rose.

Juke’s expression was grim. It watched Matina with half of its eyes and me with the other half. Juke’s bearing appeared conflicted. The eyes that stared at Matina looked longing, while the ones that stared on me appeared apprehensive. Its body was bent towards Matina, but its toes pointed the other way, towards me. It had one hand suspended in the air towards Matina’s prone form, and another hand clenched to a fist by its side.

It smiled at me, but its smile was tight. “It was a good battle, sirga,” it said, “well fought.”

I smiled back at the uspec and then patted it on the shoulder. “Your skill pleases me more than I could say, Juke.” My smile widened when I thought of the little uspec from five years ago. “I am proud.”

Juke’s eyes widened. It was as soaked in blood as I was, but it had taken a moment to wipe most of the blood off its face. Now there was only caking blood over some of the cyan scales on its neck, and in patches and streaks across its body. It smiled. Whatever conflicts it had born seemed to fade away. Its indecision was gone. All of its eyes moved to me, and its body joined its toes in pointing in my direction.

“Gratitude sirga,” it bowed.

I smiled at it and nodded before walking away.

Juke followed. “This is the first life Matina has taken. The first one is always the hardest.”

I stopped walking and turned to face the uspec. “Is it?” I asked, and I heard in my voice a desperation I had not known I felt. The first life I’d taken had been easy. Not easy to take the life, as that battle had been very difficult and only won with emotions, but easy in the taking of the life, in the destruction of another’s living. It had meant nothing to me, but I suddenly wanted to know what it meant to others.

Juke swallowed and looked away. It smiled, but its smile was not the wide one that touched its outer eyes. It was slight. “I should say that the first life I took was easy for me, I think that would please you.”

I frowned. Would it? I did not know. I could not help but think of Nebula at that moment. What would it feel when it took its first life? Would it weep as Matina did? Had Juke wept too? Did all uspecs weep when they killed another for the first time? Was I the only exception? I shook my head. It did not matter.

“Sirga,” Juke said with a sigh, “I do not weep and so I did not shed a tear when I took my first life. But it was not easy, and I did not like it. Things changed after the war in Lahooni intensified. Since then, whenever I take a plenum life, I look on it as vengeance for the Lahooni lives they’ve taken. That makes it easier for me sirga.”

The road was silent. I wondered if there would be more plenum soldiers sent after these ones. Matina hiccupped and my attention pulled back to the artist. I turned to find Juke’s concerned look scouring over my face. I had taken many lives and I needed nothing to make the deaths easier. It was easy for me. I did not lose sleep thinking of the dead I’d killed.

“See to Matina.” I said.

“Sirga…” Juke called out. It stretched its hand out to me and I stared at that open green palm. There were calluses on its hand. I thought of my own hand then. The bleeding had stopped. Juke nodded. “Yes sirga.”

I smiled at it. I could not look on its face without seeing the young uspec from five years ago. I did not think that I would ever tire of fighting, but I was tired of the war. I was tired of the fear that gripped me whenever I thought of what was left of my honoraria and how close they came to death whenever we fought the plenum. To be imperial meant to have their lives in my hands and it was a burden I did not like. I wanted the war to end so that I could see them safely back. I’d already lost too many of them already. I turned my back on Juke and joined Marcinus as one more specter moving amongst the dead. I put all of my thoughts and attention into searching for my dagger and my cutlass.

My eyes caught on an uspec amongst the dead, one with only a center eye on its face. I was startled to see an uspec so young amongst the plenum soldiers. I stared at the uspec and I saw another face, a head that Arexon had unceremoniously parted from its body. This uspec appeared older than Sophi had been, but they were both still so young. I could not think of uspecs like these, the ones with only a single center eye on their face, and not be reminded of my offspring Nebula. I thought of Nebula and my heart ached for my offspring. There was a wound on the dead uspec’s neck, a single line tear along the side of its body. I blinked and the young corpse swayed underneath my gaze. The rip on its neck grew longer and longer until it wound all the way around its neck. Then that single center eye blinked. The pupil turned to stare right at me. I was looking at my offspring. Would Nebula die as this uspec had? What life awaited an imperial without its progenitor?

I stumbled and fell. The back of my head slammed against a soft padding with ribs underneath it. I blinked and the red light from the cloud roof poured into my pupils, blinding me, and there was darkness, only a black bleak emptiness. It swallowed me, like a carnivore devouring my flesh. It made me shiver as though I were in Nefastu again, being pelted by uncouth hail. The darkness burned like a crimson inferno made from mejo magic. It dug into my skin like bathing salts in an okun pool. My thoughts blurred until nothing made sense, and nothing was as evident as the darkness.

When the darkness finally cleared, the red light from the clouds was bright. The late night had past, it was early morning.

I blinked and tried to rise, but I felt dizzy. My brain seemed to be tilting on an axis in my skull.

“Sirga?” the tentative voice belonged to Juke. Even with my eyes closed I could recognize Juke’s voice. I smiled at it.

I blinked several more times and bit by bit I started to see more than red light. I saw a dark form bent over me, peering into my eyes. That dark, stationary form, began to move slightly, and then the black became green, and I saw cyan neck scales and the fronts of ailerons. I blinked one more time and my eyes swept over a wide smile that made the corners of the owner’s lips graze low outer eyes on its face.

“Sirga!” Juke was so close to me that when it exhaled its warm breath tickled my face. “You are alive! Imperial one!”

“Of course it is alive, it was only blood loss Juke.” This voice was harder to place. It was soft, and my brain associated it with singing and a sweet melody of chiming tines. The owner of the voice knelt beside me. “The imperial one fed you some growth pills sirga, you had lost a lot of blood.”

I nodded. Matina. The battle came back to me. For a moment I felt fear unlike any I had ever known. I grabbed onto Juke’s arms and stared widely into the uspec’s face. My heart raced and my tongue felt too swollen for words.

“Nebula?”

Juke frowned. “Sirga?”

“Nebula!” I screamed.

Then the moment passed and I remembered that the young uspec corpse I had seen belonged to a plenum soldier and not to my offspring. My offspring was safe in the Isle of Brio, being watched over by Fabiana, an uspec who would give its life for Nebula’s many times over. My grip on Juke’s arm loosened.

The dizziness had faded enough for me to look around. We were in an alley. My back rested against soft cloud walls. Matina hovered to my right, and Juke remained bent over, in front of me. I looked to the left and saw Marcinus standing several feet away. There was a bow and a quiver of arrows on the ground by its feet. Those arrows had saved our lives. The sight of Marcinus’ weapons reminded me of my own. I’d gone in search of my cutlass. Matina moved closer and its knees brushed against something hard resting against my thighs. I looked down. Someone had returned my dagger and my cutlass to their sheaths on my belt.

“Okun,” I croaked. Now that I had no fear driving me, I found my throat dry. And I was weak. Why was I so weak? Blood loss. I’d forgotten about that. I looked down on myself. The wounds were healed. Matina had mentioned a growth pill, pansophy medicine for uninfected wounds. My mind struggled to connect dots. I thought of the pill and remembered how it worked, how it used pansophy to send growth to the parts of the body that most needed it, but I also remembered that it needed the person using it to already have the magic of pansophy. My mind searched for more, but my throat itched feverishly. “Get me okun.” I swallowed to moisten my throat.

Juke stepped back. It nodded and then headed in Marcinus’ direction.

I looked around the alley. This was not where we’d fought. For one, there were no bodies, just an alley not even wide enough to take my fully sprawled length. There was an end to the alley on my right, not a natural end, but a gate that led to some other section of the inter-port trail. The only entry to the lane was to the left, where Marcinus stood guard.

Juke returned with a brown pouch. I took it gratefully from the uspec’s hand and poured some of its contents down my throat. The okun was warm, as natural okun from a pond is. It was not special, but it felt good against my throat.

Juke sat to my left. It leaned back against the wall beside me and stretched its legs out. I noticed for the first time that it appeared cleaner. There were still red spots on its skin, remnants of the blood of the soldiers it had killed, but it was no longer coated in it. Neither was Marcinus for that matter.

“Where are we?”

“Closer to the plenum’s camp.” Juke turned its head towards me, and our eyes met. “We cannot return to Chiboga in time to fight at the start of the war in the hangar, with the mighty Arexon, sirga. It is not possible.”

I sighed. I’d thought as much. I closed my eyes and I saw flashes of Nebula’s face floating threw my head. It was different having an offspring. I’d had one before but I had never been a mater, I had not been recipient to the unconditional love of one’s child. Before Nebula it would not have bothered me to see Sophi beheaded. I would not have cared that an uspec without outer eyes had been recruited by the plenum. None of it would have bothered me. But now I had Nebula, an infant, and I kept wondering if I’d been the one to take the life of the young plenum soldier. I gulped down some more of the warm okun.

Drops trailed down the edges of my mouth.

Sounds filled our alley. Soft, melodious notes followed by sharper ones. The shrill of metal on metal was altered against the thud of metal on wood. And then the sounds of the instrument was complemented by a whistled tune. Juke smiled. It closed its eyes, hung its head back and it smiled. It looked at peace.

Marcinus turned around. It’d had its back to us, but as soon as the music started, it turned. Its gaze fell on me and I saw sorrow etched into every feature on its face. Its lips were turned down, its eyes lowered, even its head was slightly bowed. Then its lips firmed up back into a straight line and it turned sharply, putting its back to us again.

I looked at Matina.

The uspec’s eyes were closed and its lips drawn together. It hummed and whistled, as it plucked at the mbira tines with its fingers. Why was I not surprised that the uspec had brought the instrument with it here? This strange uspec that wept after killing one that would have killed it.

Matina’s music was beautiful. I stared into the wall opposite me and I saw nothing but the outlines of hardened clouds. I thought of Matina shaking at the prospect of war, but still running eagerly towards it. It had retrieved Marcinus’ arrows and it had lived. An uspec had sought to kill it, but it had lived. The music was even more beautiful to me now because it came from an uspec who’d defied death. I had not thought that Matina would live as long as it had. Its talent deserved to live on. I thought of the Isle of Brio and my offspring and Fabiana, and I stopped my mind before it filled with pictures of the imp who’d chosen to stay behind. By the time Matina’s song ended, I felt relaxed. It was strange, this thing that Matina’s music could do.

“You have been standing there for hours, sirga, allow Matina and I to relieve you.” Juke rose to its feet as it said the words. Matina quickly followed. Juke’s gaze travelled from me to Marcinus and then back to me in a pointed manner that confused me. If there was a message in Juke’s look, it was one I could not decipher.

The two younger uspecs left and Marcinus walked sluggishly towards me. When at last it stopped, it sat about six feet away. It did not look at me. But it sat stiffly, with its body tightened, as if it was uncomfortable. I watched its throat move several times, as it swallowed. Then it relaxed a little and retrieved an arrow from its quiver. It pulled out a cloth and began to clean the arrow. It polished the weapon so thoroughly that all spots of red were gone by the time it was through. After the first arrow, it relaxed even further. Its legs widened and the back of its head rested against the wall. It cleaned another arrow, and then another. Then it stopped abruptly, its left hand was coiled around the arrow’s shaft and its right hand with the cloth, poised right above the arrowhead.

Its head jerked to the right and its eyes fixed on me.

I had seen many versions of Marcinus. It was the first thought I’d had when the uspec revealed itself as the imperial commander in the hangar. It was a thought I had often whenever I stared at Marcinus now and I watched the golden earrings sway on its ears. I had seen many versions of this uspec, and I was familiar with all but the soldier. I realized in that moment, as Marcinus’ eyes bored into mine, with its hands suspended in the process of cleaning its arrow, that I had no idea who this version of Marcinus was. And in that moment, in the look that Marcinus gave me, I saw how lost it was and I realized that I was not the only one struggling with placing the uspec’s identity.

Matina hummed a tune that took me back in time. Back to the night before. Back to Arexon’s eating room. Back to Juke and Gamble’s challenge against Marcinus. Back to the cold aloofness in the uspec’s gaze as it fought and won. Back to the song that Matina had sang at the time. Back to the lyrics that flooded my head as I looked into Marcinus’ eyes.

I hear it begging to crawl from the shadows
Asking the Lord for some light
Its life has been spent by the gallows
Now it wants them out of its sight

Matina’s humming continued and it was as if Arexon was seated beside me as it had been that night, whispering into my ear, ‘Marcinus has not been the same since it brought Moat’s corpse to me.’ Why did I care?

“How long have you been without lust?” I asked the question calmly.

Marcinus’ eyes widened. All six of them widened at once, startled. Its pupils moved around, studying the areas around it, as if it would find the answer to my question inscribed in the air. It was the most emotion I had seen from Marcinus since the first time I saw it in its soldier’s garb. Its eyes turned back to me and then it looked away. It went back to polishing its arrows.

First arrow.

Matina continued its humming.

Second arrow.

Juke glanced around. The uspec’s eyes were too bright, they gleamed with mischief. It whispered something to Matina and the uspec turned around as well. It glanced at me and then turned back around and began playing the mbira. The tune it played was soft and haunting, like a funeral hymn.

“Five years, two weeks and three days.”

I had not expected Marcinus to respond.

It did not look away from the arrow it polished.

“How is Nebula?”

My jaw clenched. Marcinus did not deserve to speak my offspring’s name. I looked away.

“How is Nebula?” Marcinus repeated the question. Its voice was low, barely above a whisper. There was a tremor in it. “Is it dead? Did I kill it?”

My gaze on the wall narrowed. I was so angry that I almost missed the pain that wafted out from the uspec. My fists clenched.

“I see it in my dreams, but I am not sure whose offspring I see, yours or mine. I see them all. All the lives lost because of me. I see them all. Is it yours or mine? Which child haunts me Nebud? Is it yours or mine?”

I glared at the wall. I could not look at Marcinus. I could not acknowledge the pain I heard in its voice. I could not give it what it so desperately needed.

“I thought I would die when I joined Arexon’s army. I joined to die. But the founder laughs at me. It will not let me die. So many are dead because of me, but it will not let me die. Why does the founder keep me alive, Nebud? Why does it mock me?”

I stared so intently at the hardened clouds that I could make out the loops of the edges of individual clouds. I had not noticed this before, but hardened clouds had a crystal structure to them. There was the soft foam of clouds, but there was also a crystal, glasslike hardness beneath.

“Moat died saving me.”

How was it that Marcinus was suddenly unable to keep its mouth shut? It had been silent for the entire time we’d been together now it couldn’t stop the words from spurting out.

“I was high on lust. So drugged that I ran right into the troop of plenum soldiers in front of Katsoaru. Moat yelled at me to stop. It yelled at me and ordered soldiers to hold me back, but I fought to be free and my fighting alerted the plenum to our presence. Ninety-six soldiers died in that one place. Ninety-six, because I was high on lust. I returned to Arexon with Moat’s corpse and only four of the hundred soldiers it had given me. Ninety-six dead because of my addiction to lust. Or is it ninety-seven? Tell me Nebud, does Nebula live? Does it live? Is it your offspring’s face that haunts me?”

I turned away from the wall.

Marcinus was no longer staring into the arrow it polished. It was staring at me, with pink moisture suspended in its eyes.

“Please, Nebud,” its lips shook, “does it live?”

I clenched my jaw and nodded. “It lives.”

Marcinus exhaled. It exhaled and several pink drops fell down its face. It cried silently.

“It has pansophy now,” I said, “Fabiana has taught it how to move its spasms inside, so it can fight. Fabiana sings its praises. It stutters when its speaks the uspec tongues but not the umani ones. I think one day its stuttering on the uspec tongues will stop too. You did not do permanent harm, Marcinus.” I had not expected to say the words until I’d said them, and I was angry at myself for the release that the words had given Marcinus. It exhaled in relief, but it still cried silent tears.

“I did not mean to take it with me. I did not know that it had followed me. You must believe me Nebud, I would never do that to an innocent. No matter what I thought of you, I would never do that to an innocent.” There was a moment of silence where I contemplated the uspec’s words. “I should have known it followed me. If I had not been driven by lust I would have known. But I did not lead it there deliberately.”

I nodded but I did not say anymore.

Marcinus turned back to its arrows. “Gratitude, Nebud, you have given me a small release.”

Then there was silence. Neither one of us spoke and Matina’s mbira stopped playing. I turned back to the wall and I saw the crystals underneath it. I looked at the clouds and I remembered others. I remembered my time in Katsoaru. I thought of Maraci and I recalled that Marcinus had had an offspring of its own. I thought of the uspec who’d befriended me in Katsoauru and the joy that I had felt for its friendship. Marcinus was the first uspec to show me what friendship meant, what it was for an uspec to be loyal to you. I had paid back its loyalty by taking its center eye.

“I could have taken you with me. I should have.” I said the words with my gaze still on the walls.

Marcinus said nothing.

“I knew that Manus cared more for power than for anyone in its line. You were my first friend Marcinus, I should not have abandoned you in that port.”

I heard a sudden, jerky, gasp. “You did all that you could.”

I shook my head. “I did the barest minimum. I took your eye and then I ran away, like a coward. I sent you down this road.”

“No, Nebud, you were on the founder’s path. Arexon told me much about you, it told me of how the founder has used you. You are not responsible for anything that happened to me after you left. But I am responsible for what happened to your offspring.” Marcinus paused, but I could hear a shakiness in its exhale. “Could you ever forgive me Nebud? Is such a thing even possible?”

My mind wandered back to Katsoaru, to the night that I had taken Marcinus’ eye. I had made up a tale about needing to return to the port I claimed to hale from, to save the supposed Kaiser who’d made me its banneret. Marcinus had wished to come with me and I remembered right then the words that it had said.

You are no longer alone Nebud. As long as I live, you will always have a friend in me.

Marcinus was the first uspec who’d given me its allegiance. I had been nothing but a banneret to it, but it had called me friend. I thought of the lust, of my offspring, and then I thought of Maraci and the offspring Marcinus had lost. I blamed Fabiana for my offspring’s death because it had died out of loyalty to it. Maraci, Marcinus’ mater, was dead because of its connection to my line. Marcinus’ offspring was dead because I had left it weak and ashamed. But my offspring had spasms…my offspring lived. I turned to face Marcinus.

“You should loathe me.” I said.

The uspec shook its head. There were no more tears, but there was something different about its face. It did not look quite as cold as it had before.

I sighed. “Perhaps we are fated to hate each other.”

“I do not hate you Nebud.” Marcinus said. “I do not blame you for anything.”

“Then you are a fool.”

Marcinus almost smiled. Its lips almost formed into a bow.

“I must be a fool too,” I said, “because I find myself unable to not forgive you. I see Nebula’s spasms but then I think of Maricus in its death bed and the pain that must have caused you. I see why you needed lust Marcinus, and I forgive you for it. I should not, but I do. We are both fools.”

Marcinus smiled.

‘It stopped chasing its lust, but it also stopped chasing happiness. I haven’t seen it smile since. There’s just emptiness now.’ Arexon had said. If Arexon could be believed, then this was the first time that Marcinus had smiled in five years.

“Matina!” Juke squealed. “They have reconciled! It worked! They have reconciled!”

A tear fell from Marcinus’ outer eye.

Cant stop smiling wide. Obehid this update is beautiful. Nebud n Marcinus atlast

Wow. Touching.