Savages
"You appear taken to Krytos Cindara."
"Taken?"
"You willingly guard him. Train him. If I didn't know better, I might say you'd taken a liking to the creature."
"Krytos lives for battle, as do I. That is all I can say."
"Of course."
Such was how conversations with Cindara usually went, Auros reflected. Short, disjointed, and often with a layer of contempt. The angelic warrior tried to hide it, but Auros had lived long enough, and dealt with enough dignitaries of the planes to pick up on subtleties the speakers of words would rather hide. And in Cindara's case, her feelings were clear. Even if the angel might not know it.
"May I?" Auros reached up to Krytos, to stroke his fur. With a nod, Cindara obliged.
"Good boy. Aren't you?"
The ape let out a sniff and Auros withdrew her hand. Cindara chuckled.
"Stick to birds, milady."
Contempt. There it was again. And not just because of animal handling.
Auros looked up at the angel, hovering there on her golden wings. Right now, the contempt wasn't even trying to be hid. Cindara was ancient, a servant of the Oracles, the elder to every Keeper. And yet, here she was, guarding a giant ape of one of those Keepers. Regulated to guard duty in the Trials of Strife. Frustrating, but necessary work.
"Funny, isn't it?" Auros said.
"What is?"
"This," the Keeper responded. Better to get it all out in the open. "You're the eldest of all of us, and one of our greatest warriors. And yet you have to stand on guard duty as mortals do battle."
"That is my duty."
"And is it to your liking?" Auros asked. "Do you believe in the trials, Cindara? Or is it something to hold you in place lest you try to take the Dharkwave by yourself?"
Cindara's gaze narrowed. It was a subtle movement, but Auros noticed nonetheless. Yet she stood firm, her lavender hair blowing along with the breeze. She was without armour, staff, or even Cryllios. But she wasn't afraid. And deep down, she knew that despite Cindara's frustrations, there was no reason to be.
"I do not mind the battles," the angel said. "I have seen them before."
"The Great War?"
"Yes, the Great War. Mortals defiling what the Oracles created. But…" The angel let out a chuckle. "Well, war is a universal constant, Auros. It's unending. It's in the natural order of things."
"I don't believe that. I've stopped wars before they even started. Diplomacy can-"
"Can stall conflict, but not end it. Tell me Auros, do you think the Dharkwave will respond to diplomacy? Will diplomacy stop pirate raids in Lyrie? The tensions between elves and humans in Gael? The grendlefang in Tempra?"
Auros lowered her gaze, her fists clenched. "No," she whispered. "I suppose not."
"No. And Krytos knows this. Fobus knew it as well.
Auros barely listened. The Dharkwave were coming. Someday, they would crawl out of Sheol, into Strife, and if the Army of the Light faltered, into the other planes as well. She could fight, to a point. Enough to subdue Malady at least. But war wasn't her calling. She knew that. And Cindara knew it as well.
"Krytos is from another world entirely, did you know that?"
Auros looked up at the angel, who was currently hovering in the air and patting the ape in a manner he seemed to enjoy. "Pardon?"
"Krytos. He's not from Strife or any of the planes. He's from a world called Newerth."
"I see," said Auros slowly, not sure how to respond – sort of a first for her. "And this world? What of it?"
"Worse than our own. Men battled beasts for aeons. Now men and beast stand side by side to battle the Hellbourne." Cindara looked back at the Keeper. "Never-ending battles Auros, the like of which not even the Keepers could imagine. No final victory or defeat. Just battle after battle. Imagine the Trials of Strife, only applied to an entire world."
"I would rather not," Auros said.
"No, of course not. But it is this world that the Oracles visited. And from this world that Krytos came. A survivor. A warrior. One who wasn't driven mad by the unending carnage."
Cindara's feet touched the ground. She was roughly the same height as Auros, but the Keeper nonetheless felt shorter. Smaller. Insignificant.
"Trust me Lady Auros, I do not mind guarding Krytos. Or watching mortals battle. Or at least, I do not mind to any extent that may hamper my duties or loyalty."
"I made no presumption-"
"Spare me Auros. You're but a child to me, like the rest of the Keepers." Cindara sighed. "You want to serve Strife, Auros? Then do your duty. Conduct the Trials. Defeat the Dharkwave before Strife becomes another world fallen to unending conflict. Another world like Newerth."
"I thought you said that conflict is the nature of things," Auros said softly. "Is it, Cindara? Can the Dharkwave be driven back?"
"I hope so," the angel replied, sighing. "I hope so for your sake, and mine." She looked back at Krytos. "War is the nature of things Auros. Whether we let it overtake us and turn us into savages no better than our foes is another matter."
Auros stood there and looked at the ape. The ape looked back at her. He did not speak, but Auros felt…something. Weariness. Sorrow. This creature had seen war. And now he was seeing it again. And once the Dharkwave arrived, he would see much more of it.
And it gave her all the more reason to ensure that war would not come.
That the world of Strife would one day no longer be defined by its namesake.