Author Comment: I want to thank my Beta-Reader of everything he did for this chapter to come out.
The M'arrillians in Summer Vale continued their search for any humans outside of their control. Most of them believed any free humans had already left or been caught, so the effort to search was meager at best.
Bahrakatan noticed it as the creatures barely gave a few glances and the humans under their control didn't do anything else. One thing he began to worry about was supplies. They were running low in the city. Nothing came or left the city. That was except for that loud flying battlegear. What they learned from it was the many cities surrounding them and how even citizens had fairly dangerous battlegear to wander around. It wasn't just the military.
Bahrakatan didn't care for their conversation right now. His mind wondered about their actions in the Cothica. None of this felt good to him. When they caught the messenger, he had felt doubtful. Right now, seeing the city from what it was in the memories of the humans and now, it was just wrong.
This was the Cothica. What they were doing soiled the most sacred thing the creatures all believed in. He closed his eyes and sighed. His pincer clapped a few times. He should have cared more. He shouldn't have built the portal for the Cothica.
None of his fellow M'arrillians could build something like that. He regretted it, but it was too late now anyway.
Bahrakatan heard something and looked around. There was something that had fallen on the ground. He asked with his mind, (Who is there?)
He received no answers. He knew it wasn't one of the mind-controlled humans or M'arrillians, or they would already answer. Instead, he heard something quickly going away from him. On his own, he decided to investigate.
Chapter 100: The Free Mind Of Summer Vale
Bahrakatan followed the sound he heard. It was easy to locate it, as whoever it was wasn't that good at sneaking around. He used this chance to carefully listen to it and quickly realized it was the footsteps of a human. It wasn't that loud, but there was some kind of strange sound to it. He accelerated his pace when he noticed the human did the same. He was almost certain of it now. Only a human could be present. A M'arrillian wouldn't make such a sound. He then noticed something going towards an alleyway. He turned there and saw the silhouette of a human for a second. Curious, he closed in.
He stopped when he noticed there was a dead end and saw no one. Looking around, he saw a large metallic green container. He didn't like the stench coming out of it. There were also a few boxes around, he just didn't know what they were for. The wall was too high for the human to jump over it. Their kind were terrible jumpers.
Bahrakatan began to search for the human. He needed to capture him for his tribe. He stopped his thought and remembered his doubt, "Why did I do it?" he whispered to himself.
He reached the end of the alley and saw a board coming at him. He was smashed by it and the piece of wood broke in two. The creature gazed and noticed a pale looking human who held the remaining piece of wood in his hands. His blue-green eyes observed the M'arrillian own eyes. He had short black hair and wore a brown shirt and blue pants.
The human took a few steps back and hit the wall behind him, "S-stay back."
"Alright," Bahrakatan replied. The boy was an inhabitant of the Cothica. He couldn't do it. He couldn't follow what the others were doing. The words of the Messenger still echoed in his mind, "I-," he had no idea what he was doing right now. Still, he couldn't just take the human or try to control his mind. It was just too wrong for him now. He sighed quietly and gazed at the human, "I won't try to control your mind."
"You think I'll trust that," the boy was sweating.
Bahrakatan guessed he was dealing with a teenager. Seeing how he reacted, he might be aware of what happened in Perim, "You are a Chaotic Player right?"
He got no answers.
"My name is Bahrakatan, the Coralsmith," he put his hand on his chest. He didn't tell the human that it was his fault his tribe invaded the Cothica.
Instead of replying, the boy searched for an escape from the creature.
Bahrakatan sighed and crossed his arms. He sat down, "I have no intention of doing anything to you. Just put that down. You hit me and it didn't do anything to my exoskeleton."
The human dropped the piece of wood and gazed back at the wall. He was too small for it. Still, the human showed no signs of trusting the creature.
The Coralsmith couldn't blame him for that, after what his tribe had done, "What are you doing here? You should have left the city long ago."
"Without my parents?" The boy frowned.
Bahrakatan knew they had his parents. The human couldn't leave them behind, or there was something else.
"Is that all?"
"You caught me," he replied.
The M'arrillian guessed that he would be too much in the open. Maybe he tried to escape for a while, but didn't try to admit it was his plan. It had been many days and it was a miracle that the boy wasn't caught. He guessed that it was the Cothica after all, "Then you should leave when you can, human. You will be caught by an ill-intentioned M'arrillian eventually."
"I already see one in front of me. I don't know what you are planning, but it won't work on me."
Bahrakatan could feel the distrust from the human. He couldn't argue. It was for the best, even if it made everything more difficult, "Good answer," he sighed. He gazed at the boy. He could read his mind to get his name, but he chose not too. It would just make things even harder in the long run, "You should realize by now that if I wanted to control your mind, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all."
The human was well aware of that. He didn't want to mention it, or he might give the evil creature an idea. Bahrakatan sighed, "I already know that. Best not to mention it," he crossed his arms. He had no way of escaping. He knew the only way was to pass through the M'arrillian. His chances of success were almost zero.
"I simply want to know how you managed to avoid us for so many days," Bahrakatan asked, "And sorry for chasing you like that."
"Right," he doubtfully replied, then gazed to the side, "You aren't as observant as you think. I also know the town better than you," he replied, giving him the most general response, he could give. He didn't explain any of the little details of his hometown.
"Anyway. You need to leave the town soon. Milla'iin is going to expand more and more. He is going south for now and… it didn't go that well. Still, you need to go anywhere where there isn't a river. Many of my tribe won't last long without any large preparation and we don't have the gear to preserve a lot of water," he told him.
That gave the boy a direction to escape, "Yeah. They will notice me," he closed his eyes, then whispered, "And leave mom and dad," he didn't want to leave them. He knew they were fine for now. He had seen his parents under their control. The M'arrillians hadn't made them do anything too dangerous for now. He sighed and looked at the M'arrillian, "What are you going to do with the humans you control?"
Bahrakatan was taken aback by the question. He thought about it, "I know little of Milla'iin's plan. I know he wanted to come here and invade the Cothica."
"This isn't the Cothica."
"And take control of the mind of your lord," he added.
The boy snickered for a few seconds and put his hands over his mouth, "S-sorry."
"What's on your mind?" He didn't want to back down now that the human started talking. He didn't want him to close off because he was afraid to insult him. He knew the gag the human made was to hold up a laugh. The reason was unknown though.
"Good luck with that. The Lord is everywhere. Around us and within us," the boy replied as he crossed his arms, "He died for our sins. The last sacrifice humanity had to offer to God. The Lord offered himself up," he responded.
"He isn't alive anymore?" Bahrakatan commented, confused.
"I'm not here to share what's in the Bible anyway and-," he stopped when he heard something.
The Coralsmith also heard loud sounds coming towards them. He knew others Kha'ralls were coming to search for him, "Leave now." He stood up and approached him.
The human tried to protest when he was grabbed and put at the top of the wall.
Bahrakatan ordered, "Go human. I'll hold them back. Get away from here."
The boy gazed at the creature and then looked at the street and saw no M'arrillians or humans around, "Name's Remi. Remi Tremblay." With that he jumped off towards the other side of the wall and left.
One of the Kha'ralls came not long after the human disappeared. Bahrakatan turned around, "What is it?"
"I was searching for you. We received a report from Milla'iin and you didn't respond," the M'arrillian replied.
The Coralsmith realized he might have blocked any thoughts while he was speaking with Remi. He sighed, "Sorry. I focused on tailing something. I think it was a human, but I can't tell if he was under our control or not."
"We got them all. There is no reason to worry about it. We would know if one of them was missing. The families live in the same town," the other creature dismissed the possibility.
Bahrakatan was, for once, relieved by the laziness that some members of his tribe could show when they were certain of victory or success, "Anyway, what is the report you wanted to give me?"
"Milla'iin said that they failed to capture a group of humans. The four who served to guide the other tribes of the Cothica were there. They reunited and are together now. We lost sight of them and got a few of us."
"They killed a few of our tribe?" He couldn't believe it.
"Yes. Those battlegears are more dangerous than we expected. They also captured Aval'par and took him with them," he concluded the report.
Bahrakatan scratched his chin. He wasn't concerned that much about the failure. They were in the Cothica. Things might be stacked against them, "We underestimated them. They managed to show us what they are made of. The humans have the numbers, and power in their battlegear. They cannot cast the elements, so they have other ways.
"This is only a setback. Milla'iin is planning something else. This time, he wants us to be more aggressive. We will attack strongly, just like in this city. We will not show them mercy anymore. There are around 8 billion of them. We can afford to kill many until they are covered in fear, then their leaders bow down to us. Their Lord will follow suit," the Kha'ralls chuckled at their chances of victory.
"Yeah," Bahrakatan simply replied as he walked away. He didn't like this new plan at all. It wasn't formed at all, but it would get extremely bloody if it was put into motion. Whatever was growing in Milla'iin's mind, he wanted no part in it. He closed his eyes and wondered what he should do now. He had little time to actually make a definitive decision.
AC: This is the end of chapter 100.
Next: The Mysterious Island.
Maxxor and the group reached their destinations and discovered a few strange structures.
