“Alright, Bossman, what’d you speak with the Rel priest about?”
She was unlacing his boot to remove it, waiting for a response.
When one hadn’t come by the time she got it off, she looked up at him. That was when he attempted to spit in her eyes. It was a desperate gambit to get the upper hand in a fight with her. But he’d severely underestimated the reaction time he was up against.
Armela not only dodged the incoming spit, she snaked a hand up and tore the man’s left ear from his head with her bare hand. He didn’t even have time to register what was happening to him by the time she had finished. He clapped a hand over where the ear had been and snarled, gritting his teeth against the pain.
“Well, that’s one… did you wanna try that trick again? Or can we get on with the questions now? Did you need me to speak up, maybe? Talk into your good ear? Hello?”
She waved a hand in front of his face, which only pissed him off more. Having the subject of your interrogation pissed at you wasn’t exactly ideal, but this was her show and I’d let her run it to its conclusion. We had enough information to make a start in Eprie, anyway.
“So, what’d you speak to the priest about?”
She pulled the man’s woolen sock off his foot and grabbed hold of his largest toe. He swallowed audibly but remained silent. Armela was delighted. With a quick twist of her wrist, the toe snapped out of its socket and was tossed over her shoulder like the ear and lower leg before it.
The leader let out a groan from behind his clenched teeth and huffed quick, short breaths in order to avoid fainting from the pain.
“I’m not moving on from this question, and I don’t wanna run out of bits to yank off your body before we get done with what I wanna ask… you don’t want me to make it…. Here…. Do you?”
She grazed her hand over his crotch almost lovingly. But the menace and unrestrained joy in her voice did more to antagonise the man than the open threat could.
“... spoke abo….”
Armela leaned in
“Huh? What was that? You’ll need to speak up if you want to move on!”
She could hear him just fine, just like I could. But she was forcing him to repeat his words for the group of people watching the exchange. Giving them some closure, if nothing else.
“We never spoke about nothin’! All that lousy priest did was tell me to deliver a message when I got ‘ere.”
My interest piqued; perhaps some correspondence about the wider operations meant for the warlord? The letter would be a good catch for me.
“Right! Hand over the message then; we’ll count that as a spared toe!”
The leader shook his head.
“There ain’t no letter, ya woolly whore! The bloke in robes spoke it to me. Said I needed to relay it to the heretic named ‘Vita’, whoever the bloody fuck that is.”
He spat in the dirt and winced as the trail of blood down the side of his head widened. Armela and I both shared a look of unease. The only plausible explanation for a random priest in Eprie to know that I was here, let alone my name, meant that they’d received a message from Rel.
Or, whatever being had been pretending to be Rel.
It couldn’t have been any sort of divination or scrying method, as they wouldn’t have even known to look for me, and it wouldn’t have told them my name. And to label me a heretic… the church was making its move.
The opening volley had already been fired—likely on the very first day I’d arrived here, based on how long it had taken the wagons to get here from Eprie.
Armela snapped a second toe from the man’s left foot.
“That was for the ‘woolly whore’ comment. Another insult like that and I’ll just take your balls next.”
The man was panting, trying to stay conscious through the pain.
“Well, out with the message then. What’d this priest have to say?”
The man sneered.
“Are you Vita?”
She hiked a thumb over her shoulder at me.
“He’s listening, speak up or the left side of your body is going to be exceptionally light compared to the right.”
She took hold of the third toe.
“Ahhhh fuck… whatever, you listenin’ Mr. Heretic? Ahem—Rel knows you, Vita the Reforged. Rel seeks you, and before long Rel will greet you.”
The brigand was mimicking the speech of the one who’d relayed the message. His accent refined, and an air of snooty poshness entered his affect.
“The coming together of our minds is inevitable, no matter where you run, or where you hide, Rel sees you. Do not fear the certainty of our union, for the light of Rel touches all. There will be much for us both to learn.”
Well, that was… ominous.
But not nearly as threatening as I’d thought my first contact would be. Sure, it could be taken as a threat, and that was obviously how the priests had interpreted it. But the hostility I’d expected just wasn’t present.
Instead, to me, it sounded much more like an invitation. An arrogant invitation, but perhaps that came with the territory of being a god. Maybe everything you ended up doing was packed to the brim with pomp and ostentation.
But it also sounded… desperate? I couldn’t place it. There was a begging quality to it, like Rel was imploring me to meet with them. There were layers to the message, but ultimately I came away feeling a bit sorry for the God, and that alone made me uncomfortable.
“W-well… that’s the message… are we done here? I’d like to go about my life with as many limbs as possible… so…”
The leader reached for his discarded sock, but Armela swept his hand up in her own.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Now, now, surely you didn’t believe we had finished our business! Really, we appreciate the message, but there’s some other folks here who would like to ask their own questions, isn’t that right?”
She turned to address the group, most of whom seemed sheepish and not at all interested in being at the camp any longer than they already had. A few of the prisoners though, namely the two dwarven women, along with the elf, bristled with a barely restrained rage.
The brigand leader squirmed a little where he sat at the prospect of his recompense.
“Listen here, miss wolf-bitch, killin’ me will change nothing! ALL YOU LOT WON’T BE RUNNIN’ LONG!”
He turned his head and bellowed at the gathered crowd of beleaguered victims.
“The people I work for’ll know what’s been done here; they’ll come for you all! And when they do, you’ll wish to your very soul you’d ‘ave stayed in those fucking cages!”
Spittle flew from his mouth as his desperation climaxed; a last-ditch effort to cow the victims into inaction. But as some people stepped back, the two dwarven women didn’t so much as flinch.
The elf woman, too, seemed wholly unaffected by the man’s threat.
I couldn’t be sure, but either their rage was overwhelming their fear, or they knew that, come what may, they’d get free and clear of it either way. Regardless of the reason, all three seemed more than ready to exact their revenge for what they’d been put through.
Armela stepped back from the man and addressed them.
“Noble Elf, esteemed dwarves, I leave this man’s judgement to you. I’ve been in the back of those bloody wagons. I’ve spent time in those fucking cages.”
She pointed a clawed finger at the wagons behind the group with a snarl on her lips.
“Had he been the one to bring me here, I’d have had him strung up in a tree with his own guts. But it ain’t my place to take your justice from you.”
With that, she walked over to my side and placed a hand on my shoulder.
She shook slightly, either from her own rage or the re-lived memories of what she’d been put through before my arrival. I reached a hand up and gently placed it over hers; her grip tightened around my shoulder.
Several things happened at once, then. Just as the three women were stepping towards the brigand leader, Seta messaged me to inform me that a small contingent of priests and guards had arrived in the village, and Nia’cyl awakened from her slumber. Splitting my thoughts, I focused on all three situations simultaneously.
“Vita! The priests are here now. They arrived not long ago and are meeting with the village leader to consult about the toys you gave us.”
I picked up on the fear in Seta’s voice immediately.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but my parents said they were going to tell them they knew nothing about it. Even though all the other children who were taken got one. I’m scared.”
An additional dimension of concern had been added by the revelation from the brigand leader regarding Rel’s knowledge of my existence. If there had been enough foresight to deliver a message to me here at the camp, then the priests arriving in her village almost certainly knew about my involvement with rescuing the children.
If they’d perceived me as a threat to their religion or the beliefs of the people in the village, things might get complicated.
“Stay calm, Seta. The priests surely couldn’t wish ill of anyone in the village. I’m sure all they’re going to do is lecture everyone on staying true to Rel’s teachings, and take away the toys.”
There was no way that was true. The church in Eprie was directly involved in a large-scale slave ring. They very much weren’t interested in protecting anyone.
“You and your family will be alright. I’ll be listening to what’s going on, but if you do find yourself in trouble, call out to me and I will do what I can to get you away, alright?”
She assented and went back to helping her mother with chores. For the time being, I would monitor the situation and let it play out. Once the priests had gathered the drones, I could listen in on their talks.
During that exchange with Seta, I was having an entirely separate talk with Nia’cyl, who seemed no worse for wear after her impromptu sleep.
“Welcome back from your journey into the Legion, Lady Nia’cyl. I humbly greet you and hope that it was a fruitful venture.”
I attempted to portray a deep bow using my words, fluctuating my tone to more closely resemble that of an admirer or star-struck fan. Starting things out with some humble grovelling always seemed to be a safe play in these kinds of situations.
“Well met, Vita. The Legion accepted my warmth; a great many things have been set in motion this day, not least of which was our pairing.”
Pairing? Nia’cyl had paired with me? Instinctively, I looked to the circle on the back of my hand and, etched clean through the centre, was an iridescent swirl.
It resembled smoke, a wafting curl of shifting fog. I didn’t have any clue what that really meant. A teasing tone entered her speech as she continued.
“We were quite taken aback that one of the fair Fae would take such a soul as yours to be their kindred. Many believed that you would be lost through the effort, but I am grateful that you have survived.”
She tittered musically, and it reminded me of discordant wind chimes.
“With this, we shall curry forth into unknown futures and shape what fates may yet test our mettle.”
I was momentarily so lost in the transcription that I needed to slow down my perception of time in order to process what she was saying. Even then, some of what she meant was lost on me, and I needed to replay part of what Seta was saying because I’d missed it.
Communicating with Nia’cyl likely would not get any easier, and dedicating most of my resources to deciphering her language every time she spoke was going to cause problems for me in the future.
I’d have to find some way of offloading this process onto a third-party system at some point. Otherwise, critical information would just elude me when it was needed most.
For how simple the words had been, the meanings upon meanings simply continued to pile up until the whole thing became a mess of chapters within stories within sagas. There was hope, love, warmth, peace, and certainty backed up against pain, loss, confusion, worry, doubt and despair.
She’d embarked on a path she couldn’t step off. For a being of whims and fleeting attachments, this had been like throwing herself into a vast ocean with concrete blocks around her ankles and praying she didn’t drown.
The weight of expectation practically crushed me, but it also bolstered my desire to not only live up to those expectations, but exceed them in every metric I could.
“Fear has no place among chaos; we give ourselves over to it every waking moment. In the maelstrom of that chaos, this bond was forged, and so it shall remain there.”
I wasn’t trying to reassure her—that would come across as patronizing—no; I was reassuring myself through my words.
“But I will not fear what was meant to be, and I will not bow to the strong winds of fate, for even the chaos has a master, and they have not yet laid claim to a portion of my soul. Do not yield, wanderer of the dark, for I face this with you.”
Putting on a brave face in the company of a being like her was probably the most transparent display of talking out my ass I could manage. But I meant what I said, and I believed that with her at my side, in whatever capacity that ended up being, we could come through whatever storms awaited us.
Or, at the very least, if I ended up failing miserably, I’d have the Legion to welcome me into their fold. It was a comforting thought, but something I would try to avoid if possible.
I still had a mission to accomplish.
She laughed again, which sounded like the susurration of gentle waves against soft sand. Apparently what I’d told her had lightened her mood considerably, which caused me to relax and breathe a little easier.
She had carried herself to me on the whim of destiny, without knowing who I was, what my goal was, or where I was headed. And while she likely could have turned from her path at any point, willed herself away to any other place or any other time. She had remained on that journey, through its pains and its upsets, for me.
If I could ease her mind, even by a fraction, I would be satisfied.
“Vita, would that you were older and all the bluster of youth were vanished from your bellows.”
She said this with a sigh of understanding.
“Be still and take heart that these times are good. We have come at last upon each other, and we shall sail forever on to what ends we could not know. Hand in hand, heart to heart.”
It was as close as she’d come to thoroughly dressing me down, but I could feel every ounce of affection she had put into her words. She believed I was to be something special, not just to her but in the grander scope of existence. And that was something that ravaged my mind all on its own.
To have someone of such unfathomable knowledge and power not only seek me out, but actively assure me that everything was going to be okay because we were together, brought me to the brink of tears.
It was one thing to be plucked out of time and space by some great unthinking algorithm; it was another entirely to have the overwhelming warmth and compassion of the Timeless Void Walker herself buffeting me.
“I am incapable of expressing my gratitude to you. I hope only to live long enough to see you fully satisfied with my soul. Thank you, my heart of hearts.”
I feared going much further with my bootlicking; for as gracious as she had been with me, there was a limit to how humble one could be without looking like a spineless whelp. If I were to live up to her, or my Gods’ expectations, then recognizing that limit would be necessary.
Which struck me as somewhat ironic based on the fact I was currently kneeling in the blood and mud with a blindfold over my eyes.
Nia’cyl ‘hmmm’d’ melodically as she settled into a cross-legged sit.
“There are still some matters to which I must attend in my own lands, beyond the veil of light and dark, so I will not be joining you on your endeavours here. My part in this play has come and gone as waves come and go; however, I will watch from where dusk meets night.”
So she was leaving, in a way. While I had hoped she’d travel with Armela and me, I supposed it was a little too much to ask of someone like her.
“When once again my time comes, expect me to be there, in your shadow’s shadow. Fill my heart with pride until then and do not forget the pledge of your wish, which I will carry with me.”
Understandable, but regrettable. There was nothing I could do about it, though, so I did the only thing I could do.
Said my farewells.
“My heart bleeds at such words. I will count the seconds until you are once again with me. May your journey be swift, and your tasks simple. I will do all I can to keep your heart next to mine, for without it I feel incomplete.”
She hissed out a polite snicker and then seemed to fade into the shadows of the cave. Melting into the inky black as though she’d always been a part of it. I could still feel her, though; a slight warmth in my chest and a gentle pulse from the back of my hand reminding me she wasn’t truly gone.
I still didn’t fully understand what the ramifications of our pairing were going to be. Or exactly how that process had been done. Eventually, I’d get some answers from her, but for the time being I felt assured by her continued presence through the soul bond.
Things had gone about as well as they possibly could have for me.
By the time I’d finished speaking with both Seta and Nia’cyl, the women who’d been taken prisoner by the brigand leader had confronted him and had thrashed him. His face more closely resembled a well tenderised piece of meat. His hands, arms, and legs were broken, and the unconscious body jerked violently with every strike of their boots.
He wasn’t dead yet, and the questions they’d been shouting at him had gone mostly unanswered. Anytime he’d attempted to say something, they’d stomped on his head, so it appeared to me that the questions were simply a perfunctory step in exacting their revenge.
Either they already knew the answers, or had decided that whatever information he’d had wasn’t valuable enough to listen to.
They weren’t at it long. After a minute or two, they stepped away from the motionless body.
The Elf woman panted lightly from the exertion, but the two dwarven women didn’t seem so much as winded. Collecting themselves after the vicious beating, they nodded among themselves and approached Armela.
