Before-notes:
1. I had to bump this story's rating from K+ to T just to be safe. There's nothing explicit, don't worry, but there are a one arguably mildly suggestive instance. If you don't think you're ready for that, simply skip section titled "Nowell's dream". Everything else should be fine. You won't miss any major plot events.
2. Just like Ayuthay's debt crisis, Morgal's civil war is inspired by real events, but not based off of them. Nothing is supposed to be based off any real group, country or whatever.
3. Tell me what you think in a review :).
CHAPTER 9: LIGHTS IN THE DARK (PART 1)
~+.:.|:|:~~~~:|:|.:.+~
Forest to the west of Sahha, night
Karis' breathing slowly normalized as she got herself off the ground. That beastman may have thought that he had at least knocked her out, but she was still quite awake.
The beasts seemed preoccupied with pulverizing Tyrell, so she took the opportunity to back away and escape their immediate range. Beyond that, though, she was lost for what to do. Of course she couldn't abandon him, but she couldn't think of an effective way to help him.
The thick forest drastically impeded her wind-based psynergy, as all the brush would absorb much of the blasts, protecting the beasts. Her knife would be nothing before all the beasts' claws, and using her bow would be too risky while they tangled with Tyrell.
Without any more hesitation, she began doing the only thing she could- continually healing Tyrell with her psynergy, to prevent him from dying. The beastmen didn't seem to notice; they were either distracted, couldn't detect it, or didn't care. It seemed lame and cowardly just to heal Tyrell while five or so beastmen ripped at him from all sides, without helping him fight, but it was really the best she could reasonably do. She desperately hoped that Tyrell, with the help of her psynergy, could hold out until she thought of a good idea. Well, he is a formidable warrior after all, she thought, trying to be optimistic.
Karis knew that this definitely wasn't a solution- eventually, she would run out of psynergy, and they would both would be doomed. But she couldn't the solution she was frantically searching for. I need to stay calm, she reminded herself. I must never let hysteria seize control of my mind. After all, that's exactly how Tyrell gets us into all these messes.
She had known something like this would happen the whole time, but true to form, the notoriously reckless Tyrell had charged off a cliff yet again. Perhaps I should expect, and plan for, things like this, rather than vainly trying to prevent them, she thought glumly.
Yet despite knowing the whole affair was completely Tyrell's fault, Karis still felt guilty. She had failed Sveta and she had failed Matthew. She and Tyrell had gotten caught in the crossfire of Morgal's civil war and pulled in, and she had failed to keep Tyrell out of trouble.
Suddenly, an idea emerged. She regretted doing this, because it risked revealing that she was an adept, but she didn't hesitate a second, for she was left with no choice.
The first djinni she called forth was Jolt, who could bring Tyrell back from the brink of death if necessary. Next, she summoned Breath, who took over the job of healing Tyrell. Third, she had Ether replenish her psynergy.
She had known that those three would not attract the attention of the beastmen. With her next move, though, they would know that she was alive and a threat to them. But she knew what she had to do.
She summoned Lull, who rose into the air and extended its tendrils of psynergy throughout the whole area. The four beastmen that were upon Tyrell spun around and stared in shock, while their apparent commander whipped around and made to lunge at Karis. Expecting this, Karis quickly scrambled backwards.
The commander, however, was stopped mid-jump, and fell to the ground, by the power of Lull. Lull prevented hostile actions by combatants for a set time period. Karis had no idea how Lull did it, but it always worked. This gave Karis the time to run backward far enough for her to make another move without fearing that the beastmen would smother her first, as they had Tyrell. Tyrell, meanwhile, used the opportunity to release himself from their bind. He slowly limped away from them, thoroughly battered and torn, but still breathing.
Karis then called forth a fifth djinni, Doldrum, who restrained the commander- the closest adversary- with inward-rushing wind currents.
Karis wouldn't be summoning any more djinn, as it would deplete her strength too much. Instead, she began slowly mouthing the incantation used to summon Procne. As always, she worried about bungling the summon. She saw Lull's ceasefire terminate, and the four beastmen that had been upon Tyrell charged at her. Her heart pounded out of her chest as she hurried backwards, still carefully articulating the words.
Suddenly, a shaft of light shot from behind Karis at the beastmen. Karis stopped her summon abruptly, biting her lip so hard that she cut it open. Had something gone wrong? Had she screwed it up? This wasn't supposed to happen.
The shaft seemed to solidify into an arrow, which planted itself into the chest of one of the four beastmen charging at her. The arrow then seemed to drill further and further into him, swinging back and forth as it dug into the flesh as it disemboweled him. He howled in pain as he fell, while his comrades reeled in horror. Karis averted her eyes, unable to take the hideous sight.
"If any of you move, you're next," a voice threatened from behind Karis.
-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-
Boat approaching Belinsk, night
Nowell lay asleep on a wooden crate in the cabin. She clutched the blanket and pillow as if she was clinging to them for dear life as she tossed and turned, her mind confounded by a strange dream.
-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-
Interlude: Nowell's dream- set in a pine forest
There she is. She dons a white robe. Her hand rests on a tree trunk. She had told herself all this time that there was no way she would come here tonight. And yet, here she is. Deep down, she knew she'd come in the end. And here she is.
And there HE is. He dons a black cloak. His left hand extends to the side, fingers outstretched. It's like the fingers are cutting the air as he approaches her. The dark of night obscures his face, but she knows he's smiling.
With each step he takes closer, the dread in her heart grows. She knows she must escape while she still can. Instead, she finds herself walking towards him. His right hand stretches toward her, threatening to snatch her up and never let go. Nowell wants that horrible thing to stay far, far away. But she sees her own right hand welcome it and guide it to her shoulder.
He pulls her in, eagerly but also gently, and she falls into his deadly embrace. He wraps himself around her, the black of his garment enveloping the white of hers, just like the darkness of night shrouds the white soil beneath them.
She had sworn not to come, but had come anyways. She knows that this is wrong, stupid and foolish. She knows this even as her lips touch his. There is no logical reason to do it and every reason not to. And yet logic has lost out, for here she is.
In the distance, she hears the roll of the waves of the ocean. The next morning, he will probably sail away in those waves. She will be leaving then too, by foot. It's just one night and soon it'll all be over. Hopefully nobody will have to know. And yet, she knows somehow that she will pay dearly for this night. In her head, she screams at herself to stop, but her body won't listen. All she can do is stand and watch herself be destroyed, for here she is.
-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-
Forest to the west of Sahha, night
The beastmen were mortified. They thought they were the predators, but now they were the prey. None of them moved or spoke, except for their commander.
"Show yourself," he called indignantly.
From behind Karis, a young human emerged from the bush. His bow and arrows both seemed to glow, illuminating the surrounding area. Tyrell could see that he sported light armor and medium length golden hair, wielding a bow of the same color. His arrows were thin shafts of metal. He looked to be a similar age to Tyrell and Karis. He was tall and somewhat thin, with fairly broad shoulders. His expression was more solemn than fierce. His bow was locked in on the soldiers, silently threatening them.
"This is all?" balked the commander. "Come now, my brothers. There's only one! After we're done here, cowardice will be remembered and punished."
None of his "brothers" moved an inch. The commander leered angrily at his subordinates, growling with frustration, and then swiftly turned towards the bowman, crouching on his hind legs in preparation to attack.
Without warning, something struck the commander from the side, and he cried out in shock. Then another one of the first bowman's arrows plunged into him. He struggled to remove the shaft from his chest as it tried to drill in. From the light of the glowing arrow, Tyrell saw another dart strike the commander's shoulder blade. The commander let out a bizarre sound somewhere between a howl and a yelp, and then collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The arrow continued its grotesque work on him as they all watched in horror.
"So, you thought we'd only send one of our men, all alone?" said a new voice from the bushes. This voice was deeper and more mature.
All around them, lightly-armed humans emerged from the bushes. It's the rebels!
"Good work, Baqsu," the voice said. "Now," he said, "you imperial slaves. You have a choice: surrender or die."
"We choose to surrender," said one exhausted soldier. "All we ask is that you understand that we are mere soldiers following orders. Please don't punish us for the crimes of our superiors."
His two comrades stared at him in shock and betrayal as the rebels came upon them with ropes. When the two resisted, the surrendering soldier helped the rebels to restrain them, before he too was tied up.
The apparent leader of the guerrillas turned to Karis. "We consider it our duty to help any kin in need."
He considers us kin? I guess that's because we're humans like he is, but I don't consider him kin; I don't even know him, thought Karis. "Words can't express our gratitude," she said. "Had you not come to our aid, we might not have survived."
Karis tried her best to sound sincerely thankful, but her anxiety might have shown. She worried she would be coerced into breaking one of her vows to Sveta, the vow to avoid getting involved in the conflict at all costs. She had been fighting with djinn and psynergy right before the rebels arrived on the scene. She could only guess how much of that they had seen. If they knew who she and Tyrell were, they would do anything to recruit them.
"They look fairly battered, especially the man," observed another rebel. "Perhaps we could give them custody for them to recover."
"Yes, we must," agreed the boss. He turned to Karis. "What do you say to hospitality?"
It didn't sound much like there was a choice, and Karis knew refusing would be absurd. "Yes, I cannot thank you enough," she said, trying to sound tired in order to mask her reluctance. It's the better option anyways, considering Tyrell's condition, she tried to convince herself.
"What're you saying?" protested Tyrell in between gasps. "We need to get through this place as fast as possible!"
And there goes Tyrell, exacerbating the situation yet again, Karis moaned silently. "Tyrell, you can't walk properly and you can barely talk!" she countered. "Come back to your senses. There's no way you can make it through like this!"
Tyrell opened his mouth protest, but then collapsed in coughs. He clutched one hand over the other's fingers, perhaps because he had been injured there.
"It's okay," wheezed Tyrell. "I'll come."
Karis was surprised- usually Tyrell was much more stubborn than this, no matter how injured he was. She speculated hopefully that maybe he was learning to use his brain at last.
-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-
Boat, night
Nowell woke abruptly from her dream, sitting up and panting. For some reason, the dream continued to haunt her. Yet, as she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what it was about it that terrified her so.
Perhaps it was just her mind's reaction to being rejected by Piers. Perhaps this is a function of some new fear of falling in love I might have developed from that, she guessed. No, that was too weird. But what is it then?
Maybe it was actually a premonition. After all, she had been pretty than she was in real life- she wore a long white dress and had very long hair. I would never dress myself like that right now, but maybe I will come to do so in the future.
She pictured an older version of herself dressed in a long white robe with long hair.
Gosh, if that's a premonition, it means I'll practically turn into my mom, Nowell thought, repulsed. Nowell, a girl of sixteen years, was horrified at the concept of growing into anything resembling her stuffy, traditional, boring mother.
-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-
Rebel camp in the forest west of Sahha, the next day
Karis slowly ate the porridge that she had been provided. It was essentially tasteless, but Karis figured that worked for the rebels, who ate for substance, not taste.
So far, the rebels appeared to believe that they were mere travelers, as she had told them, but Karis knew this was a flimsy lie. Who would travel right into the middle of a warzone? She had tried to fortify her story by saying that they were fleeing to the northwest area near Talon Peak (which was true) because that area's remoteness meant it would probably be untouched by the fighting. None of rebels had mentioned seeing her psynergy yet, but she couldn't imagine how they could've missed it.
"Hey there," said a voice from behind her. Karis turned around to see the bowman from the night before. She remembered the boss calling him Baqsu. He's probably an adept too, Karis figured.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you," Baqsu said.
"It's okay."
"So... I wanted to ask you, where are you from?" he asked, sounding somewhat nervous. Perhaps he was asked to try to recruit us since he's an adept too, but he isn't sure how to go about it, Karis thought. Her mind raced. She didn't want to reveal too much about herself, but she also didn't want to commit herself to another lie she couldn't defend.
"I'm from Kalay," she replied, opting for the truth.
"Uh... where's that? Anywhere near here?" asked the boy, sounding like he sincerely didn't know.
"It's not part of Morgal at all," Karis replied.
"Oh, is it in Sana? I didn't think it sounded Sanan, but I wouldn't know."
"No, Kalay is a whole different country. It's far away from here, far to the west and south."
"Oh, I'm really sorry," said the boy, blushing with embarrassment. "I'd never heard of Kalay before, ever."
Karis wasn't sure what to say.
"What's it like there? Are the people really outlandish?" Baqsu asked.
"Well, I guess Kalay could be outlandish to someone like you, but it's home to me," Karis replied hastily, trying her best not to give anything away. She couldn't wait for this conversation to end so she could stop worrying about revealing too much.
The boy winced. Karis felt a little sorry, realizing she had probably sounded a bit snappy. She shouldn't have responded like that to someone who thought he had saved her life the previous night.
"I'm sorry if I insulted you," he said, blushing again. "Where I come from, people are really poor and isolated. I never learned anything about the outside world, so I was curious. I didn't mean any offense."
Karis felt bad, listening to him almost frantically apologize. She didn't think anymore that he had a motive in talking to her, and it was pretty relieving for her to let down her guard.
"Where do you come from?" she asked.
"A small village on the road west of this forest... but it doesn't exist anymore," he said sorrowfully.
"What happened to it?" Karis asked, suspecting she already knew the answer.
"The army burned it to the ground and ate most of its inhabitants alive," he said matter-of-factly.
"That's horrible!" Karis exclaimed. "Did they really eat the inhabitants alive?"
"That's what the beasts do. They do it to scare us. It's not scaring me though."
"I saw the ashes of a village on the road here, and there were no bones... I wondered why," Karis said, still digesting the horror.
"It might have been mine," Baqsu said flatly. "Could you tell see the name on the entrance sign?"
"No, everything was burnt," Karis said remorsefully. "But at that time we were being escorted by an ox-driver, and it was his hometown."
"What was his name?"
"Atkunom."
"Oh, he fathered me. That's the village," Baqsu said.
"He had to split up with us to search for his family," Karis said, hoping to make Baqsu feel better. It didn't work.
"I doubt he'd even recognize me," Baqsu said emotionlessly.
"But how can that be, if he's your father?" Karis asked, confused.
"I don't even call him that. He was always doing his trips, trucking the grains back and forth... He barely ever saw my mother and all of his kids. Now they're all dead but me, eaten alive, while he does his job helping this cursed empire exploit us poor humans, charging us outrageous prices for just a bag of wheat."
"But he's your father, and he's looking all over for you," Karis protested.
"He may think he's my father, but I don't really have one. 'Boss is the closest thing. Atkunom was only my dead mother's husband."
Karis decided to change the subject to something less personal. "How did you know where the soldiers were in the forest?"
Baqsu grinned proudly. "We got one of them to. We captured one and got him to tell us the route they'd take. He was the one who surrendered last night. We let him rejoin his group, and he knew the whole time that we were going to ambush them."
"Why'd he tell you?"
"He was one of those self-righteous types who think they can absolve themselves of guilt by betraying their comrades. Of course, they can't."
"What do you mean?" Karis asked.
"They've murdered people, they've ate people alive. I won't forgive them, no matter how they try to make up for it," Baqsu said coldly.
"Isn't that harsh? Don't you kill too?"
"We freedom fighters aren't like those soldiers," Baqsu said defensively, blushing again. "We don't kill innocent civilians. But you gotta understand, these people ate my family alive. I'm gonna kill every one of those fiends that I can."
Karis was taken aback. "But what if the soldier isn't guilty?"
"They're all killers to me. Even civilian beasts are accomplices in oppression, but we won't harm them because that would kill our reputation."
Karis thought about what she was hearing. It sounded nasty, but she still thought Baqsu was a good person underneath it. Well, I guess having your family eaten alive can mess with your head, she decided.
"Say," Baqsu started, "where are you heading to next?"
"We'll go through Sahha and Kolima."
"There's a huge battle going on in Sahha, you know," he warned.
"How bad is it?"
"Well, the whole city is pretty much ablaze."
"Is Kolima safe?"
"Well, currently yes. But if the army takes Sahha, then Kolima's next…I know a path through the woods to the mountains that avoids any towns. I could escort you, if you'd like," he offered.
Karis wasn't eager to get further involved with the rebels. She pondered how she could politely refuse, searching for an excuse. Suddenly, she looked forward to see Tyrell marching purposefully towards her, looking quite healthy.
"Hey," Baqsu exclaimed, "what're you doing here, you should be back in the infirmary."
"I'm all healed now," Tyrell said.
"How is that? You could barely stand yesterday!" Baqsu exclaimed.
"I just heal really fast."
Baqsu looked at him incredulously.
"You- you should keep your hands off her," snapped Tyrell, jabbing his finger at Baqsu. "Don't you know she already has somebody?"
Baqsu quickly looked back and forth between Karis and Tyrell as his face turned as red as a tomato. "Forgive me," he cried, "I had no idea!"
With that, Baqsu hurriedly walked away, mortified.
"I just thought he was trying to coax me into joining the rebels," remarked Karis.
"I knew what that was when I saw it," Tyrell replied. "Matthew's my best friend, and if you wrong him, I'd be angry too."
"I know," Karis said, reminded of how she missed Matthew. "So, honestly, how did you really recover so fast?" she asked.
"This can heal," Tyrell said, tapping an elaborate silver ring on his ring finger.
"Where did you get that?"
"It doesn't matter right now," Tyrell said quickly, his ears reddening as he looked away from her. "We need to get out of here. I don't trust these guys."
"I don't really either," Karis agreed.
"I overheard some of them discussing ways that they could get us to work for them. They know we're adepts. I think we should get gather our stuff and get out while we still can," Tyrell said.
"I agree," Karis stated. "Thanks for consulting me this time."
"Oh, I only wanted to make sure I wouldn't have to drag you out of this place against your will. That'd be really awkward," Tyrell explained defiantly.
"Whatever," said Karis. "Baqsu did tell me, though, that there's a battle in Sahha right now."
"Well, we can go through the water system to get to Kolima like we did last time, right?"
"That's a good idea," Karis said. "The wells are fairly close to the south entrance, and once we make it to them, we're safe."
Even if he won't admit it, Tyrell is using his head more, realized Karis. She wondered why.
-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-
Rural Ayuthay, night
Arcanus knocked on the motel's door and entered. The lights were off in the atrium and the owner was asleep at the front desk. He knocked on the desk right next to her head and she woke up abruptly, shocked.
"Hello there," he said cheerfully.
"Hello traveler," she said, struggling to keep her eyes open. "It's… 159 coins for a room."
"Actually," Arcanus explained, "I was planning to stay in the same room as a relative of mine who is staying here."
The motel owner gave him an irritated stare. "I… don't remember anyone mentioning that."
"Perhaps he forgot. I'll pay you extra if necessary," Arcanus offered. "Is there a young man named Rief staying here?"
"Yes… I believe so…"
"Could I please be escorted to his room?" he requested.
"Are you sure… he wants to be awakened… at this hour?"
"Oh, I'm sure he'll be exuberant to see me," Arcanus assured.
The hotel owner painfully got herself up from her desk and walked out in to the lobby. "And what's your name?" she inquired, slightly suspiciously.
"I'm called Nowell," Arcanus replied.
-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-
Next: Chapter 10- Lights in the Dark Part 2
Author's notes:
1. "Baqsu" is from Korean bagsu, meaning "revenge". Originally it was going to be in Yakut like "Atkunom" was, but… it was too tiresome to try to find Yakut translations online.
2. This chapter was getting really long, so I broke it in half. I know I promised to you all that (1) you'd see Rief in this chapter and (2) it'd be the last chapter with politics. Well, that was true when I said it, when it was still one chapter. Now, that's true of the next chapter… which should come out soon.
3. Please don't hesitate to review- I really want to know what you guys think when you read this :).
4. The poll on my user page regarding who should be paired with Myalkni~Amiti is still ongoing.