Kaldros climbed out of the tunnels, glad to be finally out of the claustrophobic undercity – Iniedra had decided that all the non-essential passageways would be sealed shut to prevent anyone else taking residence there, away from the eyes of the law and free to do whatever they wanted. The work on the tunnels would begin tomorrow, but right now the populace of Sarashak were free to celebrate, mourn or relax, with inns and traders offering many discounts on their produce.
The albino stopped in the middle of the street, and breathed in the cool night air. He let his mind wander for a second, brushing through the thoughts and feelings of the citizens – he was no mind-reader, but could still sense the overall feel of the unique city. Sarashak was bustling with many different thoughts of happiness or sadness, but the one that seemed to be on everyone's mind was the feeling of relief.
Kaldros breathed heavily, letting a smile creep onto his face as he thought that even though he didn't know if Khemet had been slain or not, they had definitely helped save this city. His short reverie was interrupted when a hand shook his shoulder. Expecting his twin, Kaldros was slightly surprised to see Meja grinning down at him, Jakhan was talking cheerily with Arethe behind them.
"It's a great feeling, isn't it?" he talked, and the smaller boy nodded enthusiastically, "So, what do you want to do? The whole city is celebrating,"
Kaldros was about to say something when his stomach grumbled loudly, and Meja laughed and said, "We should probably get you something to eat. Arethe, Jakhan, me and Kaldros are going to the Food Quarter, coming?"
"Yeah! That sounds good! We haven't eaten since breakfast," Arethe announced energetically, and Jakhan muttered, "Do you not think you should put some clothes on, little brother?"
Kaldros went bright red, his cheeks burning in embarrassment as he remembered that he only wore his black underwear, and the three others laughed.
"B-but, I'm really hungry. The last time I ate was yesterday," he stuttered, trying not to go more red as he realised that he was almost naked in front of a girl. Kaldros had never really interacted with a member of the opposite sex, although to be fair he hadn't really talked to anyone his own age other than Jakhan, and now Meja, his brief friendship with Atasha the closest he had ever got to a girl.
Arethe, sensing his awkwardness, grabbed his thin forearm and yanked his across the street, saying, "Don't worry! I'll buy you some clothes, it won't take long."
"Hey! Wait up!" Jakhan shouted as Arethe ran off with his twin, sprinting to catch up with them. Meja shrugged and jogged after the three, wondering when master Shintan would return and how the twins would react to him knowing that he was their grandfather.
Arethe and Kaldros emerged onto a wide avenue, flanked either side with stalls hung with glowing paper lanterns parading a wide variety of fabrics. Curiously, some were left unattended, and when Kaldros saw a piece of fabric with a small Dragon's Fang embroidered onto it he assumed that it they must have been Sultai traders. He tried to ignore the peculiar glances some of the adults were giving him, instinctively trying to hide himself behind the taller Jeskai girl.
"Oh! Before I forget," Arethe suddenly exclaimed, pulling something out from a pouch at her waist. Her hand emerged, holding some mysterious looking herbs, and she put them on Kaldros's wounded shoulder.
"Ow!" he yelped, automatically pulling away, and Arethe held the squirming boy.
"Stand still," she ordered, and the albino obliged, trying not to think of what the image would look like to strangers. Arethe wrapped a soft cloth bandage around the herbs, and smiled in satisfaction.
"There! Doesn't that feel better?" she asked, and Kaldros nodded as Jakhan and Meja caught up with them.
"Stop running off," they admonished in unison, and then glared at each other. Kaldros rolled his eyes as the two teens began to size each other up and sighed condescending, deliberately very loudly and designed to get the boisterous boys' attention.
"Alright, alright. But he has it coming," Jakhan snapped, and Meja sniggered at him. Meanwhile, Arethe had been browsing through the clothes on sale at a store next to them, and emerged with a small blue tunic and a pair of brown trousers, coupled with some soft sandals. Kaldros thanked her and put the clothes on, they fit perfectly on his small frame, and he was grateful to be actually wearing something.
"Can we get something to eat now?" Jakhan asked impatiently, and the other three nodded as they made their way to the Food Quarter. Meja and Kaldros walked off, the older boy talking to the younger about the numerous different types of meal that could be purchased, laughing as the albino let out a muffled howl after tasting an extremely spicy vegetable.
"They seem to get on well," Arethe offered, trying to make a conversation with the silent Jakhan, who watched his twin brother intently, "Jakhan? Are you alright?"
"I was just thinking about my brother, how it's good to see him with a friend. He never got on with any other aspirants in our clan – Kaldros only really tolerated me because I was his twin," Jakhan replied, "But yeah. I'm fine. Let's get something to eat."
"Ok!" said Arethe enthusiastically, running up to a brightly-coloured stall selling fragrant meals that made Jakhan's mouth water. They sat down at a table and tucked in, the boy ravenously devouring huge mouthfuls of food as Arethe shook her head.
"Did your parents never teach you proper etiquette?" she laughed, before gasping and putting her hand over her mouth, "Sorry! I didn't-"
"It's alright," Jakhan mumbled between mouthfuls of the succulent meat. Arethe sat silently for a few seconds, slowly munching on a crispy pastry roll.
"So," Jakhan suddenly uttered, "Now that you've actually met him, how would you describe Kaldros?"
Arethe contemplated the question quietly for a moment, and then smiled.
"You're definitely going to disagree with me," she replied
"Tell me anyway."
"Cute." Arethe said. Jakhan's mouth visibly dropped open, and Arethe giggled. He visualised Kaldros, the small albino with the long hair and red eyes, and smiled.
"Yeah, I guess he is quite cute," Jakhan admitted, and turned around in surprise when a hand tapped him lightly on the back.
"Who is?" Kaldros inquired, looking down on his twin, his crimson eyes sparkling with mischief, knowing that he had just broken into a private conversation.
"See? I told you so," Arethe declared, and Jakhan laughed. Vaguely miffed, the younger twin sat down on an unoccupied seat next to his brother, and joked:
"Well, Jakhan certainly didn't inherit any of the handsome beauty that I did,"
Jakhan pulled his smaller brother off the chair and into a choke-hold, his muscular arms wrapping around Kaldros's neck.
"You definitely didn't get any of our parents' strength, did you, my cute little brother?" he laughed as the albino scowled in annoyance. Jakhan made sure that this time he didn't squeeze hard but just held Kaldros in place instead, his twin's struggling achieving nothing.
"Gods, I just healed a bruise on Kaldros's neck. Please don't make another one!" Meja laughed, sitting down next to Arethe and chuckling.
Kaldros huffed and crossed his arms, giving up on trying to break free from his brother's embrace and sat on Jakhan's knee sulkily, casting a withering glance at Meja, who comically stifled his laughter.
"Aww, isn't my baby brother adorable when he's angry?" Jakhan teased, and the albino scowled, and spat, "I don't know how you've managed it, but "baby brother" is even more irritating than "little brother". We're the same fucking age,"
"Excuse me?" a small voice piped up, and the four turned to look at who had spoken, Jakhan dragging his smaller twin around with him. A young woman clad in brightly-coloured silks with her black hair tied up in intricate patterns holding a pen and paper glanced at each of them, Kaldros blushing bright red as she looked at him in his brother's grip. Her eyes lit up in recognition.
"Are you, are you the saviours?" the waitress asked, and Arethe spurted out the drink in her mouth.
"The..the "saviours"?" the Jeskai spluttered, and the woman nodded eagerly.
"Yes, you matched the soldiers' descriptions," she explained: "The Mardu brothers, the Winged Liberator, a small albino, the Warrior, muscular and protective of his little brother (Kaldros glowered at her and she quickly looked away), with the Jeskai Maiden,"
"So that's what they are calling us now," Kaldros idly mused, and his brother pulled him in closer, eliciting a gag from his twin as Jakhan's arm cut off his air as Meja pouted in mock anger as he realised he wasn't included.
"Wow, my baby brother is a Liberator now too! I'm so proud!" he sniggered, letting go of Kaldros when his face started to go red from lack of oxygen and he batted at Jakhan's arm.
"Thank you so much!" the woman cried, falling to her knees, tears of relief flooding down her face as Jakhan looked awkwardly back, "Thank you for saving our city!"
Arethe laughed, a light, tinkling sound that made the waitress smile, when Kaldros felt a familiar pressure at the back of his mind. He used the brief distraction of the waitress to slip away from the group, following his magical senses and darting off through the city. The three continued to converse with the woman, and the older twin noticed something missing.
"Where's Kaldros?" Jakhan asked suddenly, his voice becoming urgent as he looked around for his brother.
"He left a few minutes ago, had you been paying attention," Meja scolded, and the larger boy rounded on him.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Jakhan demanded angrily, grabbing the Jeskai by his collar and hoisting him up. Quick as a flash, Meja kicked the back of the Mardu's legs, knocking him and the table over as Jakhan pulled the older teenager down with him. The waitress yelped in surprise and scampered back as Arethe stepped in between the two, blocking a punch from Jakhan and glaring at them both.
"What is wrong with you?" she shouted, attracting the attention of a few other customers, "We won! Why are you both so angry?"
"He could have told me that Kaldros was gone!" Jakhan snapped, and Meja sneered at him, replying: "If you had really cared, you would have noticed him leave,"
"Are you saying that I don't care about my own brother? Who the hell are you to make assumptions? You know nothing about us,"
"Oh yeah? You clearly don't know anything about him,"
"WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?" Arethe screamed, silencing the shouting teens and making everyone sat outside of the food stalls look over. Tears ran down her face and she ran off, heedless of the direction and with no destination in mind. Jakhan made to run after her as Meja grabbed his shoulder, holding him still.
"Give her some time alone," he suggested, and Jakhan turned on him.
"What did you mean when you said I don't care about Kaldros?" Jakhan asked, his voice full of smouldering anger and threat as he shook of the Jeskai's grip.
"He's terrified of you. Are you blind?" Meja snarled, and Jakhan looked back confused.
"No he isn't. Why would he be? I'm not that bad," he questioned, thinking back to the night after the battle two days ago, when he had almost strangled Kaldros to death. He still hated himself for that, but his twin had forgiven him and had seemed to forget about it.
"You must be stupid. Did you not see how scared he was after you choked him?"
"He seemed fine to me,"
"Not ten minutes ago, you idiot! When you nearly killed him after the battle!" Meja barked, and Jakhan's shoulders slumped.
"He was frightened just after it happened, but he's fine now! He forgave me!" he shouted, an image of his twin's oxygen-deprived and terror-stricken face appearing in his mind. True, Kaldros had been scared then, but he was alright now, Jakhan thought.
"Kaldros just acts alright because he doesn't want to worry you. How can you not see that? When I healed his throat, he started shaking. I don't even think he noticed, but he is definitely hiding his fear from you!"
Jakhan pictured the moment when his brother had starting laughing, and noticed that there was an undertone of fear in his voice, especially when he had spoken. He was just too angry to notice it then. Jakhan felt extremely guilty as Meja continued,
"Kaldros doesn't want to confront you about it because he is scared about how you'll react. I'll do it for him instead," Meja said, and Jakhan looked back ashamedly.
"Did he say that to you?" Jakhan asked remorsefully, trying to put himself in Kaldros's position – how it must have felt for him.
"No, but I inferred it from how he was acting," Meja said coldly, and then hissed, "How could you do that to your own younger brother?"
Jakhan didn't answer and looked down at his hands, thinking about what it would feel like to have them choking the life out of you, and the Jeskai exhaled angrily.
"I'm going to find Arethe, and then Kaldros. You needn't do anything, you'll just mess up the situation further. Go back to the inn," he stated, and ran down the avenue, gracefully leaping up onto a roof and looking around for signs of the two.
Jakhan stood still for a moment, consumed by regret. And then, he pushed it away, and replaced it with determination.
He would find Kaldros, and then he would apologise to him, make sure that his brother was alright, damn what Meja said.
.*.*.*.
Ethlashi laughed maniacally as she unleashed a wave of corrosive darkness onto the group of Mardu in front of her, ripping the flesh from their bones. She reanimated the skeletons and used them to rip apart their former comrades, the last men standing of the horde that had attacked her personal force.
The foolish Hordechief that had led them, an impetuous bitch who had challenged the naga to single combat, now stood next to Ethlashi, infused with dark energies and using the twin scythes she wielded to great effect. The woman, who had shouted her name at the Sultai (who hadn't bothered to remember it), never got a chance to utilise her enchanted blades, as the naga had laughed contemptuously and blasted the Mardu apart with Black magic.
The invasion into Mardu territory had gone so well that the Khan, Sidisi herself, would soon be arriving with a fresh legion of elite undead backed up by a whole coven of rakshasa led by Feyomsi. Perversely, in a clan filled with backstabbing and lies, the ruling class of naga actually respected their current Khan, as she had proven herself to be a ruthless and ambitious Khan. Of course, they still plotted against her, as if Sidisi was usurped then the next Khan deserved the position, but they didn't actively hate her or disrupt her rule.
Empathic vibrations slammed into her mind and she grimaced, pain flaring up in her head. Ethlashi laughed, earning a worried glance from Nazek, the lieutenant that had merged his army with hers, who turned away as the naga glared at him. So, my brother has failed in his plan to take over Sarashak, she grinned, Dear Vasjai was always so arrogant and impatient.
This was perfect! Her own success matched against her brother's failure would let her gain more favour with Sidisi, and thus become more powerful in the clan!