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"Brother Ricunas," Tetonbaum gently warns him, "…She will be spoiled if you try her before the masters have their chance to apply their technique. Is it not evident what I have been doing before I may move her to our establishment?"

Brother Ricunas looks behind him. "She will heal whether I spear her with my prick or not. Weren't you leaving, Brother Soterios," Ricunas looks down at the woman's thighs.

"I was…" Tetonbaum does not leave.

"Was…" Brother Ricunas stuffs his member behind his cloth and removes his hand from Kasumi's mouth, "…Brother Soterios, are you telling me you have decided to…protect…this heavenly offer of flesh from me?"

"I would prefer you leave her be, Brother Ricunas. I have delivered her to this resting site under great pain."

"Pain to you is nothing, Brother Soterios," Ricunas turns his focus back to Kasumi, his hand moving over the poultice on her thigh, higher to her underwear. "A high th'ane—an I'lorie—you went through no difficulty obtaining her…Why not try her…She's so vulnerable," he traces the line of lunettes in the lace. "You could send her to heaven with your venom and she send us, too, with this ripeness." He takes a deep inhalation, his eyes greedy, "…You want, go first, and I will wait my turn with her."

Kasumi shakes her head vigorously, curling up her knees, her eyes wide and trying to see Tetonbaum.

"She is to be delivered to the masters…Unspoiled."

"Scorch the masters," Ricunas shoves Tetonbaum away, his eyes wild, "…It's been three years since I felt a warmth on my prick and without it, I feel less a drell…"

Tetonbaum composes himself. "That was unnecessary, Brother Ricunas. I am afraid I will need to remedy the offense."

Kasumi's eyes saucer as Ricunas reveals his prick again, and hooks his fingers—green, pale blue, yellow—into the membranous silk of her underwear. In the next instant, however, Ricunas gurgles and Kasumi whimpers…Blood, mixed with venom, fall onto her corset and dribble down her waist and thighs, Kasumi writhing her knees to stop any more from hitting her skin, soft high-pitched cries coming from behind the hand now falling away, Tetonbaum pulling the drell off her.

He turns his menjaga out of Ricunas's neck, and resets it in its sheath on his belt…Dragging the th'ane away, Tetonbaum looks at the mess on her body, her chest heaving against the corset as she stares at the nearly beheaded th'ane in his hands.

"Not one word about fraternity, my friend," Tetonbaum shakes his head at her, "…Not all brothers are likable."

Wrapping the former Brother Elumis Ricunas inside his wet cloak, Tetonbaum hears a faint little noise of disgust—he daresay—behind him, in the corner of the seacave. Kasumi is attempting to clean herself with her hands.

"No, no," he takes his own shirt off his back and bends one knee, having come over from the drell to give it to her, "…Use this," and he tamps around her waist, taking care to avoid her wound on her thigh as he cleans lower down…The opportunity does not give him any cheap thrills, but his care is arousing to her…

And yet Kasumi stares at him with suspicious distrust, "…Are you bringing me to your masters like you said to that one," she gestures with a toss of her chin, her eyes lifting and refastening on his colorful wavy crests.

"No…Not typical of myself to disobey, but…no."

"Why not," she asks.

"They would not let you go," he lifts the shirt and folds it over for a new patch, "…Something I have learned from my heart is that beauty should be free to be enjoyed—not doused nor caged…" He presses the last spot of blood and oil off her thigh, and looks up at her, "…Would you have truly united Ylyssus with his kin?"

"He has a father who survived," she replies, caught in those sapphires—he is caught in her chocolates, "…But he lives far from here…His mother is alive…Something not many drells share on this planet."

"The womb gives drell roots, roots that threaten newfound loyalty. We are taught to destroy these roots, per our masters' instruction. It is one of our final tests," he says somberly, seeing she knows in her eyes, "…Many fail it."

"You succeeded."

"I did," he nods gravely, "…A mother does not let her child fail."

A hair lost of its place in her immaculate braid falls below her cheek and Tetonbaum rises to tuck it behind her ear. Kasumi does not flinch from him. She has not, not once yet…Looking down at her face, he moves to kiss her on the lips. Her eyes are open, slowly closing. Tetonbaum stops before her mouth, her breath reminding him of berries.

"Do you give me permission…" he murmurs, heat so close…

"No," her eyes open and she moves away her face from his. Respectfully, Tetonbaum steps back and tends to dousing the flames, stirring the ashes, and collecting their belongings in the dark.

"We must leave here," he touches her hand and when she does not shirk from him—takes hold of his wrist in fact, "…You must wear what you can and hold onto my neck…We will climb, my friend."

Not looking down, Kasumi stares straight up to the ridgeline—barely discernible in the darkness, and so high up overhead. She holds onto Tetonbaum's neck, her braid in her hoods as she bears everything she could bring with them on her person. Hoping she is not choking him, Kasumi tightens her arms, her face burying into the soft hood over his head, and smelling a faint caramel scent as she noticed back when he was about to kiss her, and on other occasions. Tetonbaum climbs as if she weighs not a pound. He is good at pretending she is no more than a feather, at least, and taking her weight with the muscle in his neck, he climbs swiftly as he can through mist and cloud. His bright eyes focused on the ridgeline, two meters and counting less to go…The wind pulls and buffets his cloak along with hers, but Tetonbaum's fingers are meant for hard places and tight little grips. He carries her to the top, and once he sees the edge is clear of dangerous strangers or brothers like him, he climbs over and tells her she may slide down to stand atop the Asthur's head. She does kiss him, once on the outside of his cowl.

"That was heroic," she whispers. Tetonbaum's golden tebris fluffs with joy at her approval.

Moaning with the worst headache, Casnar comes to, "…What…hit my head…"

"A lamp post," Braith says, sitting next to him on a bed, "…Between Atmore and Sigany Boulevards…I tried to warn you."

He winces and rolls to his side, seeing her thigh peeking out from her robe, and then the pair of violet irises of his niece—little Vykka Vitale. "You look familiar."

"You're a sight yourself," Tor Vitale says and Casnar whips his head—regrets it—to wince at him, "…Casnar, what are you doing in Lothairaxl?"

"Tor…Is it good to see you…Sorry about your skyrunner."

"You may apologize to Iuls…She's livid." Casnar winces but not from pain. Tor chuckles and sits up in his chair in Vykka's nursery. "I've had a chance to meet your lovely friend, Miss Shepard, here." He gives her a glance from Casnar's screwing countenance, "…She says you came here to find something you lost, or was stolen from you, and you were caused great trouble over it, and this I agree with."

"To say the least…" Casnar gazes over his hip at him, "…You saw what they did to me…in Umay."

"I remember," he gestures to Braith again, "…I hope you don't mind. Seeing we uncovered a certain mark on her shoulder when we cleaned her injury," Casnar looks at Braith, "…She says she was shot by Souledivinie."

"They weren't aiming for me in particular," Braith reminds him, "…But it was my apartment."

"I'd surmise it as aiming for you, and him." Tor nods to Casnar. "I informed her of what happened—how you were mistreated back home on Rakhana."

"What are you doing here," Casnar asks, suddenly feeling sore for Tor revealing that past to Braith. He would have preferred to have had some say in what she learned of it, "…How did you come to be in Lothairaxl yourself."

"I should ask the same of you, and I did first…Doesn't seem like you wish to tell me. You are not supposed to be here, Casnar. You are going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Tell me something I don't know."

Braith picks up Vykka who is trying to climb into her lap from the floor. She holds the youngster and lets her feel her robe, still stained with dried blood, and with a hole through the shoulder from the gunshot wound—but it is soft and pleasant to feel where it still is clean. Casnar realizes Braith must still not be wearing any underwear and he looks quickly at her hem, tugging it down over her knee. Braith gives him an odd look. "I'm fine," she says with a roll of her eyes. A sheepish expression visits his patak.

The other drell chuckles, his personality genuine and friendly, and Braith likes how he reminds her of Thane. "Casnar, I don't know how you came to be here. It's not my business and it will probably call up only trouble, of which my family can do without…But I can guess why you came here, specifically," and he calls to the other room behind a hand, "…Tiran, please bring it inside. He's up."

Braith grins as she holds tightly to Vykka, looking over at the doorway as Tiran comes through, "…Casnar, try not to jump and hurt your head when you see what they've found…"

Holding the reactor in his hand, Tiran passes it to his uncle. "Vykka found it."

Casnar ogles the reactor, then Vykka in Braith's arms, "…You took it, you little thief."

"I resent that," Tor says in his daughter's defense.

Casnar sits up and plucks up his niece from Braith's possession. "Two floggings and extra naptime," he says as he holds her in one hand, the reactor in the other. His chest bared, Casnar has a bandage on his head. Braith stands on the floor beside the bed—Vykka's. He looks to Tor, "…Thank you…When I go home, if all works out I will make your family honoraries…You will be able to go anywhere—"

"No thank you," Tor humbly objects, "…We left to try our luck elsewhere. Iuls and I were tired of the politics, the secrecy, the danger…Always danger…It is beautiful," he says to Braith to assure her of the positive, "…And the Soterios-Sousan are good clan…Nualavera is special, has wondrous things about it, but too much is happening for us to feel safe there, Casnar," Tor turns his attention back.

"How so," Casnar asks—obviously affected, "…What has been going on?"

"The war is taxing on Nualavera," Tor explains, "…Many are dying, being sent to fight in Rakka. The morthwyls are fierce and they do not trust in drell word anymore. The Craig is fractious, and there is worry the Suighan see weakness…We thought it time to leave when you were taken away."

"You left my mother and father," Casnar asks, slightly resentful, "…And Cartira?"

"It was Cartira who told us we should leave," Tor opens his hands, "…Your mother is ailing. Mu'kalien is busy…The Craig demands much penance from them for what happened with your reactor and the failure to rebuild the factory in Bangal'roux."

Casnar closes his eyes, "…And what of Tetonbaum and Kolyat?"

Braith looks sharply at Casnar but says nothing.

Gnawing on her lip later, she tries to sort through the possible connections in her mind. Tor and Tiran have gone off to their rooms, Vykka being brought into her parents' bed for sleeping that night so Casnar and she can rest on a cot and toddler mattresses…It is much too small for Casnar, and Braith moves things around to make a larger bed using the two mattresses they have. The makeshift arrangement is still uneven and both of them try to sit together on it. Casnar eventually lays down, pushing apart the mattresses. He hears a squeak, takes out a doll that was stuck under one of the corners. It appears to be a black furry monster with big gold eyes and fangs. He laughs. "Look, a wuliton," he tosses it at Braith. The stuffed toy bounces off her head. "What's the matter?" He rolls over, the reactor on Vykka's nightstand. His eyes constantly dart to it, as if expecting something to carry it off, and back to Braith's freckles and frown.

Braith shakes her head. "No…It's nothing…"

Casnar takes her onto his side of the mattresses and makes her look at him, "…I can tell you're not happy. What's wrong?"

"My apartment was shot up, Casnar. It's going to be all over the news…Bad for work."

"Since when did that stuff bother you," he chuckles.

"I've probably lost a second cuff…No telling what Souledivinie did once they realized we fell out the window to escape…Surprised they didn't find us."

"The cuff is encoded," Casnar says to help her relax, "…and can be replaced even if again…That was bad luck. As for falling," he adds with some resentment, "…That was a running jump…You know it." She bends her stare at him. "I knew what I was doing!"

"Yes…" She leans away, stopping only so far as his extended arms and gripping hands allow her…He pulls her back.

"My reactor's returned…You made a miracle happen."

"I sure did not."

"I can go home…You can come with me."

"You have a split skull, Casnar," she gives him a serious look, "…Home does not sound like vacation to me…Your home…My home's a crime scene…And you've a murderous government hunting you down for escaping your exile…Damn it, I don't even know who else is helping you."

Casnar quails a little. "He's just a friend."

"Who?"

"You already know his name."

"It's a false name, Casnar."

"Not really…" He sighs and looks earnestly at her, "…That's not what's bothering you…Tor and Tiran both were talking about my relatives. Does it bother you my half-brother is an assassin?"

"A little…I'm wondering if your Kolyat is related to someone I know…A little too well."

"What do you mean," he suddenly grows suspicious.

"Casnar," Braith hedges, "…do you know if your Kolyat is related to Thane Krios?"

Casnar's tebris lifts. His face grows stony. "How the hell do you know him."

Unable to sleep, Casnar sits in the Vitale's kitchen drinking a glass of juice. He stretches the shirt Tor gave him to wear to bed. Tor is tall and thin, Casnar broad-shouldered and wider, and the linen barely covers him. He looks morosely at the door to Vykka's room. Braith sleeps in there alone, he believes. He wants to lay down with her…For some reason he couldn't get passed the fact the drell she'd been with was his sister's husband…Widowed but no less Irikah's husband…There was something wrong about it, he just couldn't shake it off his neck…Never a bigger turn-off had he experienced.

Thane…Why would she ever be with…Aaaugh!

Casnar whips his head back and forth in a blur, opens his eyes and relishes the ache in his head from being hit sideways with a lamp post, and sets his brow scales on his forearm, the reactor on the table not far from his opposite hand out over the center with his drinking glass. He hears the door open and sees Braith. "Hi."

"I'm going to catch a skycab and go sleep at my office…It's weird being in here, you mad over…" She leaves unsaid what they are both thinking. Casnar heaves a sigh, slides back the chair, and stands.

Walking over to her, he downs his glass and sets it in the sink, turning to face her as he does so. She looks expectantly up into his handsome face and he sees that vulnerable shine he has not seen really until now…It does the worst possible thing to him.

It summons his guilt, and all he does want right then is to tell her it's okay. "Right…You must know what happened to my sister," he says, trying to quiet his own pang.

She nods.

"It is very difficult for me to…associate with that drell…I feel like, he has tainted you…"

Now why did you say that! Casnar snarls at himself. She gives him an angry look, then softens it.

"Yeah, well," her hand lifts the mane of black hair shadowing some of her face, "…I'm going to go."

"Don't," he has her other shoulder, not the one he marked, as she moves from the doorway and stops by his touch alone, "…I need some time, but I can deal with laying in a nursery with you for the while of it." He forces a smile, trembling a little with memories of Irikah.

"You look like you're in…some pain," she notices his eyes.

"I am." Braith permits him to guide her back into the nursery and the light on the nightstand goes out by his fingertips.

A moment later, the door opens again and Casnar grabs the reactor off the table to bring it inside with them.

Inside the nursery, he holds her against his chest, spooning with her on the mattresses, smelling her hair—his venom in her shoulder—taking care not to pummel her with another session of wanton bodily demand…

But it cannot be helped…During the early morning hours, as quiet as can be, Casnar pushes into her…Braith's only her robe on and not any underwear so it's a simple maneuver for him, and she rewards him with cupping his buttocks and pulling his hips as he thrusts hard and slick through her heat…Kissing and letting their mouths muffle each other's panting breaths, Casnar rocks into her, carrying her off the floor to kneel on the laminated strips over a round rug with little critters chasing each other in circles on it while he bounces her off his thighs.

"What is that smell…Is that…Is that?" Braith goes to the door and peers out, then walks right into the kitchen."You guys eat bacon?"

Tor gives her a handsome grin and a wink. "I thought having a human here, the familiar savory scent would be rousing so I was up early and went to the store, visited the meat aisle and found these porcine belly strips for frying, I guess…Engineering degree does not make one a certified chef, no?"

Braith chuckles and reaches for a dried piece, waiting fresh on the countertop, "…I love bac—" Tor raps her knuckles with his narrow spatula, puts it back on its retainer as Braith nurses her hand and glares at him from narrowed thick eyelashes.

"That's for doing what you shouldn't have been doing in my daughter's nursery room last night…More this morning…Have you no shame."

Her freckles darken, "…You heard—" and groans, "…The smell…Drells have those ridiculous noses…That's why—"

"—The bacon," Tor murmurs simultaneously with her, approving his guest is quick-witted, but it is early and forgiving her for the slow start.

Braith stares up at his crests, "…You're the tallest drell I've met," she switches topics, "…Rakhïk? I didn't ask last night to avoid being rude, but now we're somewhat more familiar…"

"To the bone," he smiles, grateful for the smooth change, and scoops a few strips onto a plate for her, handing it to her out of the stack to the left of the stovetop. "Go…Enjoy." Braith takes a seat at the table as Tiran comes out of his bedroom, and the younger drell takes a look at Braith's blood-stain on her shoulder, his tebris paling at the sight.

Casnar comes out next as Tiran moves a chair over, and slaps Tiran heartily on the back. "Morning, Tiran, you look like your old drell," and he wanders over to Tor—who gives him a stern headshake. "What's your problem?" Casnar fends off the attacking spatula and grabs some freshly-served bacon strips, "…Aahhh—Hot!" He juggles and blows on the pieces and his hands.

"Serves you right," Tor says mindfully and nods to Vykka and Iulia coming from their bedroom together, "…Good morning, sunshines." He kisses Vykka on her crests and then plugs a kiss on his wife's lips.

Iulia turns and scowls at Casnar. "You are always trouble…You're always so smart, too…How do you always get into trouble, Casnar?"

Casnar sits back in his chair, a bacon crushed into the side of his patak's cheek-pocket as he throws open his hands, Tiran between him and Braith, smiling and chuckling a little as Braith looks up from nibbling one of her own bacon strips. "Iuls, you know you missed me."

"Hah…Your parents don't…Nualavera needs their reactor back, Casnar…And Cartira could have used your help," Iulia glances at Braith, but is still focused on speaking to Casnar, "…He's got too much on his hands."

"So I hear," he wags his next strip at her, "…Thank you, by the way, for finding my reactor."

"How are we going to pay for the skyrunner, Tor?" Iulia turns to pressing business, accosting her husband. "The hood's bent inward."

"It can still fly," Tor says, scooping up the bacon bits, "…We'll take it into a bodyshop and have it looked at, get an estimate."

"I'm not flying that with Vykka."

"I don't expect you to, darlings."

"I'll cover it," Braith interrupts, "…My insurance, my expense—my thanks for letting us land on it…Saved us both a bad end…" She holds up a cup of coffee Tor has set out for her, more in a steaming carafe on the table's center cork-pad.

Tiran and Tor both chuckle as Iulia bounces Vykka in her arms, "…I don't know what to say…Are you sure? Casnar should cover it…Likely he's the one who got you into such troubles…Poor thing."

"It's mostly him, but a little bit of my fault…I'm guilty for associating with him," Braith laughs. Casnar stares at her, Tiran's shoulders shaking with controlled mirth. Braith rolls her eyes from Casnar's expression.

"And, Casnar, I heard you weren't supposed to take a mate…Here you've taken a human!" She tuts, "…No offense, Miss Shepard, but Casnar's supposed to be wedded to someone of his own species…Family expectations and all…It's how the Sousan-blood is passed along, and thus the bond to their friendship-kin below Nualavera…And other than Kolyat, there are no heirs after Cartira and Casnar die…And what with Casnar being an exile, he's no longer a Tyrannus…You let a Serepta, no, worse—mark you." She stops, Casnar, Braith, Tiran, and Tor all staring at her while Vykka pulls at her mother's gown frill. "I'm tired, what do you expect after a night like last? It's true and you all know it, I'm not sharing anything unknown…The tower code is what it is…Casnar, you are a royal pain in the ass, and we have welcomed you, regardless of your current exile status, but I'm worried…You go back to your home with a reactor and plans to fix the factories, but you mark a human for a mate? That cancels out…Your father will force you to marry someone else if Cartira dies, and things the way they are as we only left a short time ago, your brother does not have long…Neither do you…Falling out of a window is not a positive sign that this is a prolonging route of life, Casnar…Who did you upset this time?"

"Other than you?…" Iulia continues to bounce Vykka in her arms, both looking at Casnar. He stands and pushes down the bad feelings symbolically with his hands smoothing the air with little pats before his chest, "…The reactor is in my possession. I need to go back, sort things out."

"They'll kill you if they know you're there," Iulia warns him ominously, Vykka's innocent eyes making the threat no less easy to stomach, "…Your parents are being watched, too…Nualavera is not safe to and from the city."

"Inside the city?" he asks, incredulous.

"Just the outside," Tor remarks, giving Iulia a quieting gaze, and lifting his dark eyes to Casnar, "…Nualavera is under a microscope these days, and no one goes near it…fortunately…The rachni deter them from trying to."

"Rachni…" Braith raises an eyebrow and the side of her face opens towards Casnar, "…What about rachni?"

Atop the Asthur's Head, the storm is eerily calm. Kasumi walks along in an invisible state, her cloak covering her form as she moves with him through a dark and dangerous landscape of drops, trips, slickness, sudden and strange formations of weathered trees and stacks. Tetonbaum can detect her, and continuously looks at her through the fog—seeing through both, her phantasm of seemingly clear, trans-reflecting cells in the tech she wears. Kasumi notes that he is looking at her—seeing her, "…I'm not hiding from you," she says from the air.

"I would prefer you keep it on—to protect yourself from others we may encounter, but those like me, you will have no chance against…I do not wish you to think it safe to wander from me, or to run from them if they find you…I look at you because I wish to be sure you understand this and stay close to me." He stops ahead, a crevice to their left that falls to the bottom of the island, it would seem to Kasumi…Tendrils of mist snag on the ragged cracks and promontories.

"You look at me because of something else," she says smoothly, "…I know why…Many have looked at me as you do."

But not so many have treated me the way you have been, she adds in her head.

He fluffs his tebris out of her sight, concealed mostly by his hood and blue cowl, "…I…You assume too much…But, yes, I admire you…" Tetonbaum waits for her to catch up to him, then continues along the crevice, pushing through fog as thick as rain.

Stopping again a few minutes later into their travel, Tetonbaum holds out his hand—to signal her to remain—and hides his gesture in the gather of his robes, "…Hello, Brother Grelan." Several forms appear in the mist, converging towards him.

Kasumi stands in her shroud of invisibility—a chill running through her at the sight of the ominous, tall forms coming from the fog, moving silently and as easily as snakes would creep to stop before Tetonbaum and she. "Brother Soterios," an old voice rasps, the arm greeting him with the sign of the Terje Tierrea, lowering from the brow beneath the concealing hood to the mouth cowl covering most of the face, "…Strange place to walk on such a night."

"Same I was thinking for yourself, Brother Grelan…The Head can be very treacherous to one's certain feet."

There is a soft rasping huff, almost laughter, "…Why have you missed meals with us…You swam from the wreck of the Silent Wave last night…Where have you been?"

"I had to rest…The waves were the worst I've swum, Brother Master. My apologies for seeming so weak."

"We know you are not weak, Tetonbaum Soterios, perhaps distractable…Come, Brother Ricunas has informed us you were seen leaving the facility…Now, be honest with your master, where is the woman."

Tetonbaum has already cast about with his power and knows the dark energy signatures of three others, waiting off in the mists. "She is with me."

Kasumi turns—betrayed by him—and leaps over the crevice, landing lightly as a cat on the other side despite her cut. Tetonbaum does not look, but in his head, he can see her lithe energy moving across the landscape, treacherous and fraught with falls. Her invisibility cloak does nothing for her against him—or the others.

Running swiftly and with measuring feet, Kasumi pivots from step to step, moving to wind her way through the mist and reach some place to hide…Th'anes are difficult enough as is to evade, but the mist may help her.

Unfortunately, this is their Isle, and mist and shadow is their home…

Kasumi slams into hard flesh, only a taste of soft, durable fabric softening the collision—and falls backwards, hitting her back and tucking her head to avoid banging her skull.

Her invisibility cloak falls open, and she is revealed to a gloved hand, black and thick as the rocks around her, reaching down to grab her throat.

Kasumi screams as they collect her, three pulling apart the cloaks and tools on her body and pocketing these among their own robes, wresting her to one, tying her hands and bringing the rope round her neck, "…You make another sound," a rough voice couched in intimacy whispers against the skin in front of her ear, "…We will violate you here while the others watch."

Kasumi stills, her eyes closing as the lips with the promising, vile touch against her temple move away.

"Brother Soterios," Brother Grelan comes close to him, "…You will have to explain to me why this woman was not brought directly to me…This has been a waste of valuable time," he says as the trio of I'lorie th'anes move into the vicinity of the group, carrying Kasumi by her arms over the crevice. She looks down into the open chasm they carry her over by, a bit of vertigo and nausea from seeing nothing but mist and the darkness between the patches of openings.

Tetonbaum avoids her seeking eyes.

Three of the most severe-looking drells—in pauldrons and cloaks—their crests smooth against their skulls like vipers, colors vivid and intense, tebrises dark, smooth against their buccals, necks as thick as tree limbs, stand above, gazing over the catch, "…Where'd you come from, and how did you learn Rakhïken," the one in the middle, the youngest, most mean in his patak's expression, speaks. His name is Rounis Roisminas, and he is a head shorter than the others. There is a long pause while Kasumi hangs in her bindings, held in a pit below. Water trickles out of cracks in the walls, disappearing into a puddle that drains chokingly-slow beneath her bare feet. She is naked, her clothes set above in the hold of her imprisonment. The invisibility cloak has been transferred along with her more unique equipment to Brother Grelan's spaces. Kasumi strains to lift herself, taking the stress off her shoulders by engaging muscles as she hangs. "Must be one of those boxes the off-worlders come with…We can remove it, teach her how to truly speak our tongue," the same one speaks. His eyes are gray and white, which give him a steel-like gaze, his tebris is broader at the base of his throat than the others.

The one on her right answers, "…She has been treated well by Brother Soterios…Look at the work he has done on her injury…She smells nice, too…Brother Grelan is inquiring on him…Maybe we pull her up and let her adjust to our venom, for Brother Grelan will likely order the treatment to another, if not Tetonbaum's."

"Let us go eat while she thinks about that possibility," the first says, discouraging the act, and with some disappointment—but obedience—they move with him from the lid of the pit as one other th'ane raises and sets it down across the opening, locking it in three places after submerging her in pitch-black darkness.

Kasumi twists again, and tries to work the bindings with numb fingers, envisioning the tie-up in her mind…It is all she can do.

Tetonbaum stands where he has been summoned, "…Did you have a relationship with the human woman," Brother Grelan asks as he sets out a glass for gran'wen that Tetonbaum expects to drink. Inside the wine will be truth-tell powder.

He shakes his head, "…No, she would not even acquiesce a kiss, Brother Master."

"You are fond of her…"

"Yes," Tetonbaum has nothing to hide, "…I am taken by her grace and perfection."

"Why, Brother Soterios…Have we not taught you to love only one thing in this world…"

"My love for the Terje is not broken…But one can love something beyond the code..."

Brother Grelan nods, "…I understand…You have been brought up differently from the rest of our students, due to your temperament and…your character…Empathy enables you to be merciful, and to get closer to those you must serve justice to, no…"

"I like to think it does," Tetonbaum answers honestly.

Brother Grelan turns slowly and gazes at Tetonbaum over his shoulder, clothed in a simple brown robe. "The woman will be tortured painfully, given to one of your brothers to enjoy…He will treat her also as he will be instructed to, and she will become one of the tools of this school…Does this vex you, Brother Soterios?"

"Greatly," Tetonbaum stares at the floor, "…Terribly, Brother Grelan, Master."

Brother Grelan holds the bottle of gran'wen in his hands after pouring it. "Perhaps you will not need to drink the truth drink, Brother Soterios…Do you intend to protest her treatment in any way, shape, or form, violence included?"

"Perhaps…My instruction from you is strong," his chest shudders, "…I do not know why I feel bonded to this stranger, but my heart demands to kill anyone who threatens her."

"Hmm…" Brother Grelan replaces the bottle in a rack hung above his buswax console, and turns to the glass he has poured, that stands alone on his desk. Picking it up, he adds a dark brown powder from a pouch he removes from the inside of his robing to it…

Tetonbaum raises his eyes at the new motion and realizes he is to be executed for his break with their laws. Brother Grelan removes his hood, exposing his dark maroon crests and raises the wine glass, "…Brother Soterios, I bid you good luck."

He drains it himself while Tetonbaum stares on. "Brother Grelan, what are you doing?"

"I am drinking your wine, Brother Soterios, and I am about to sit," the old master replies, closing his eyes some as the poisoned drink goes down…He feels the searing burn, but other than the soft contact of his eyelids together, does not show any more signs of the coming discomfort, "…What have I taught you about anticipation…" He proceeds to stand and walk over, behind Tetonbaum, and unbinds his wrists, removing the separator that has been placed about his neck, freeing the golden tebris that rises with anxiety, and as Tetonbaum unkneels and turns to follow him, Brother Grelan moves away and sits in his chair behind his desk, leaning back to look up at the drell looking down with questioning sapphires, "…There are things you should know, Tetonbaum…I have taught you much, and as your mentor, it is wise for me to realize I cannot teach you everything…When I was young, I wished so much to be rid of this burden we carry, the Terje Tierrea."

"That is sacrilege, Brother Master, for you to say," Tetonbaum gasps.

Brother Grelan nods and sighs, the burning started in his chest, "…It pains me to have to teach so many children in this dark, evil place what has long been championed by so many founders to our institution, Tetonbaum…But perhaps now the time has come for one seeming chance to redeem myself…I do not have long so listen well…It is for love that I release you from your captivity here…There is a chance for you to flee before it is too late…Your opportunity exists in that woman now hanging in a pit in the torture chambers." He closes his eyes, "…You must know, I have always been a close ally of your family…The family that will not claim you though your brothers, your sister—may she rest in peace—do and had…Bor Kratos is bringing the Birutise'aha into a dark age, and he is moving to wipe out the Sousan. The rachni cannot always keep Sousan blood-kin safe from those who covet them…But the Sousan can live on…In less then ten days' time, Casnar Soterios will return to Rakhana…You must prevent him. An assassination is pending for Cartira and the mother…It is well for they are weak."

"What of my father?"

Brother Grelan nods, "…Mu'kalien and I have spoken of it…He knows who and why it will happen."

"Nualavera cannot be without a sponsor patriarch!"

"No, which is why you must do exactly the opposite of what you have been taught to do with that menjaga…By the way, thank you for killing Ricunas…He was a pain," Brother Grelan sighs with the building inferno in his body, and Tetonbaum kneels to support his leaning head, his hand holding the other's crests as he weeps at his master's pending life, "…You must protect your brother, Casnar, and help him retake what is his legacy…Bring life back to Rakka…An army will be there waiting for him."

He sighs, looking at Tetonbaum's eyes, "…Go, fetch the woman, her belongings are in the closet, my dear drell child with the endless smile," Brother Grelan sighs one last breath, his head heavy in Tetonbaum's hands.

Hanging by her wrists, Kasumi works at the knot, trying to massage it out by small firm strokes of her fingertips…She whimpers at the fatigue and stress in her arms, the pooling of blood in her feet, and despair in darkness. How much time she has before they return and torture her?…She will not be lucky twice. Breathing out forcefully, she stops a moment to relax as well as she can…Her shoulders ache, her limbs feel tingly.

The water drains in the darkness, below her feet. There is a soft grating sound.

It does not come from above as reason would tell her to look to the lid blocking out the light. Kasumi hangs her head now and blinks, considering the strange glow below her…She can hear more water leaving the pit, and more light coming through by some crack in the floor…Suddenly there is the smell of seawater and a bright burst of blue light, crumbling away the rest of the detritus aged and clumped over the drainage gate hidden under her swinging body, and through it all appears Tetonbaum's eyes, aglow like a god rising from the pits of hell to climb up, lift her with his warm, powerful hands, and letting go with one, removes something from his cloak and reaches over her wrists to slice the tethers…Kasumi is pressed to him as he holds her and drops back down through the open drain, into another underlair of tunnels and labyrinth hollows beneath the facility of Merce'des torture chambers.

"Did you miss me," he asks, setting her down in the darkness.

"Tetonbaum," she whispers, so grateful as a shroud of warmth covers her nakedness like a babe.

Wrapping her in a cloak three sizes too big, he turns her to sit along the tunnel wall and kisses the side of her head over the cloth…Kasumi sighs as he delivers something soothing and warm from his fingers onto the rawness of her wrists, and massages down her arms to her shoulders, underneath to her lats, avoiding her breasts, but smoothing the cream over her upper chest and clavicles…She sighs in relief at the warmth and nerve-tingling sensation caused by the cream, and wishes she could thank him.

Tetonbaum picks her up, discarding the wristbinds he has removed and turns with her, carrying Kasumi through the dark passage to another area some fleet seconds later. He sets her down with the cloak about her, places his finger over her lips in the dark, "…Close your eyes and wait here, no stirring, no sound…I will return."

"You will," she whispers despite his warning, "…I know."

Kasumi shivers…A draft touches her face and she pulls the cloak tighter, enjoying the luxury of clothing right then…She doesn't mind the darkness now so much…Somehow she knows Tetonbaum will return and brighten that hell with his sapphire eyes and biotic glow, his warm smile to accompang her leaving that place.

He does return, and Tetonbaum helps her to dress into a new set of clothes she cannot see, but she can feel these be fitted about her, "…It will suffice better than what you were wearing, particularly for your injury…I have brought your boots, your cloaks, your gloves and your equipment," he pulls her closer, feeling for her body so he can move her into the items meant to help her escape with him, and he is distracted by the touch of one's fingers on his brow.

He can feel her breaths on his lips. Tetonbaum trembles as she kisses gratitude onto them, and his arms wind around her tightly.

The wind pushes at three strung-out figures, lashed to the wooden poles embedded in the sand and rock among the surf. Seacaws pull and fly from Calarainas's writhing bloody stumps, his fingers shredded to the splinters left by Brother Grausthona's persuasive technique. Davied sighs, raising his voice next and screaming again at the flying creatures tearing the rest of Calarainas's body apart…His colleague, Tisus hangs—the separator no longer on his neck, for his entrails twitch and jerk with the pull of seacaws and other tidal pool beasties of a dark and oily nature among the stones under his lashed form. "Why…" Davied moans, "…Why!"

Kasumi's skin is pale in the wan gray light of the dawn. She stands beside Tetonbaum, staring at the tormented figures set at the hidden exit from Merce'des cellars…Her blood feels thick, and so does her throat. "Wait here," Tetonbaum whispers and makes his way to the three pairs of bodies…Seacaws fly off as he approaches, disturbed and angered by his interference with their meals. Looking up from the entrails left on the ground—to the drell emptied of his bowels above—Tetonbaum weaves under the spits, avoiding the strings of intestines…Small crustaceans ply hungrily at the leftovers, some even crawling the wooden spits to attempt the wires connecting to the drell's limbs. Moving to the next body over to the first's right, he stares at the missing hands, the ragged dewlaps slung like torn silks hanging from the banrasa's neck and buccals…He was young, Tetonbaum sees, and also notes the agony in the deceased's face, a ghastly grimace of terror mixed with pain. The third is alive, that they know…Tetonbaum's eyes draw to the flicker of scales changing to match the fog and beach, almost as if it were a malfunctioning mirage in the air. "A chimilys," he murmurs, fascinated, reaching to touch the ankle through which wire and beak have torn.

"Don't touch me!" the chimilys sorely cries out.

"Quiet, and I will free you of your misery."

The passages hiss with the sound of many moving hurriedly to and from chambers in the school—in search of the missing high th'ane, Tetonbaum Soterios. Brother Grausthona is greeted by Ylyssus Tan'nanshul, who walks swiftly in escort of another high th'ane, "…What happened," Brother Grausthona demands, "…What is all this searching for, Tan'nanshul, Roisminas?"

"Brother Grelan is dead."

"Dead!" Grausthona clutches Ylyssus's arm over his robe sleeve, pulling him eye to eye with him, "…I don't believe it! When? How?"

"Poisoned by gran'wen laced with Naguln powder," Ylyssus informs him. Grausthona drops his arm from his hand's grip and looks at Roisminas.

"Naguln powder…That would have delayed his death for some time…Time enough to—"

"He was seen with Tetonbaum Soterios last," Brother Roisminas says, his face tense with anger, "…Surely he has some to do with it."

"A message must have been passed," Ylyssus says, "…To kill a master such as Brother Grelan, I am inclined to suggest it was planned…But not by Tetonbaum."

"Where is Tetonbaum now."

Seafoam rushes through pebbles, rocks, and gulleys on the east side of the island, covering the noise of Davied's moans and curses in his tongue as they move along the shore for two islands in the distance. Kasumi helps as Tetonbaum carries the chimilys—resentful of any aid by any drell with the cloak and hood of those recognized from Merce'des…

"His kind killed Calarainas and Tisus," Davied laments, "…Why is he helping us!"

Tetonbaum glances over his shoulder at the chimilys, whose legs are supported by Kasumi, "…I saved your friend, I was not a part of your colleagues' deaths."

"Does not matter, we are all dead anyways…Run, Kasumi, before it's too late!" Davied spits to the side. Tetonbaum looks away, his eyeridges hooding.

"Where is the boat you said you could find us," Kasumi asks while Davied catches his breath. She wipes her brow and looks to Tetonbaum from Davied's pained patak.

"Beyond those two islands," Tetonbaum nods to the distinct pillars—that once were attached to the main one they follow the shore around, ghosts in a misty sea. "We make it passed the farthest, there will be a boat anchored to the shallows. I can put both of you in it…There is room for two."

"And what will you do," Kasumi asks, Davied slitting his eyes at hearing her care in her voice, "…Swim?"

"I suppose so," he looks behind at her, adjusting his grip on the chimilys's arms he hooks by the elbows…Davied dislikes the position, but they move faster together, what with distributing his weight. Chimilys are only slightly lighter than average Rakhïk drell.

Wading through the surf at times, Tetonbaum shifts Davied higher, the chimilys cursing at the sting of salt water in his cuts…Kasumi's own injury burns, but she is better off. "Davied," she warns him, "…Stop, he hasn't done anything to you besides freed you…Quiet, please." She lifts his knees and wades slightly at a drag, Tetonbaum taking most of the load as they try to cross from one island to another. He adjusts his hold on the heavy chimilys and sighs at having to carry another body—unlike Kasumi's, however—over the bay between islands…Were it not for what Brother Grelan had told him, and Kasumi being secretly closer to her crew than she had allowed him to know when asked, he would have preferred to let Davied linger on the beach.

The first island angles over—like a tilted hammer—as they find refuge from the water under its ominous perching…Mist curls round them and Tetonbaum sets down Davied as does Kasumi.

"Is he tired," the chimilys taunts, "…So tough and stoic are these assassins…You want something?" He looks from Tetonbaum's gaze to where it lays upon Kasumi's back as she stretches her body of its aches, "…You want her…You can't have her…She is taken."

"Davied!" Kasumi hisses, "…No more!" She turns and glares at him.

"You failed." Davied turns his ire on her expression, "…We all failed…That ship…Were it not for that ship from hell! What hit us! And the drell we were sent for—He is still inside Merce'des! I know! I was told! How else would they have found us! He is oblivious to why we had to take him! And Calarainas is dead! The suighan will kill me, kill you for failing! Calarainas was tortured by those like him," he thrusts a shaky hand at Tetonbaum, who looks from the finger to Kasumi…She looks back.

"We cannot leave without the one, Ylyssus Tan'nanshul. We will have to come back."

"I have left him something," Tetonbaum says, "…He will find us."

"You left him something," Davied spits out, "…Now they will surely find us!"

The paper disintegrates in the water of the glass, leaving nothing behind of its existence besides an obsolete powder. Ylyssus moves from the small bureau by his floor bed, and looks about his quarters, seeing it for the last time…Leaving would mean leaving the women as well…And he regrets that. They depended on him for his charity and his help, but this was too important to pass on…Tetonbaum needed his help.

Grabbing his cloak off the wall, he wreathes himself with it and pulls his panels together, hiding his robes, swords, and the belt containing his menjaga, his wrist adorned with a bolsuna, its bolts ready to be used…Passing through the doorway to his chamber, he departs through Merce'des's lair of the school he has known most his life.

Would Tetonbaum lie to me? he wonders, as he looks about for anyone interested in his dressing to leave, and so armed as he is, but he sees no one—All are on the hunt for a missing th'ane and a prisoner who attempted to kidnap himself…He should remain, but if Tetonbaum is leaving the brotherhood to prevent such plans to destroy the Sousan bloodline, that means everything is about to unravel, even the Terje Tierrea will crumble…Something grave indeed is about to happen…He will be no part in its destruction.

"Brother Tan'nanshul," he stops his stride at the sound of his name, "…Where are you going?…You are supposed to be with the others." Ylyssus turns to the th'ane waiting at the other end of his passage, the door to the outside island within his reach…Brother Roisminas steps towards him. "You are feeling unwell?"

"My head, it still aches," he gestures to the bandaging, "…But I am going out this way, in case he went around the island's opposite shore to throw everyone off his trail."

"I will go with you," Brother Roisminas says, "…You are injured and should not travel alone…That is a sound idea, Soterios would do something like that."

Tetonbaum lifts Davied onto his back. "Lead the way," he says to Kasumi…Having described to her where to go, she moves into the waters, creating a splash with the slap of waves thigh-deep. The undertow is considerable here, and the bottom rocks can catch and break an ankle if one is not careful. They cross the second passing between the second and third islands, and Tetonbaum looks up at the seacaws all perched in rocky nests overlooking the second island tower…The going is slow as the water is rougher, what with being farther out in openness than the first wading they had to make and Kasumi teeters ahead of him. The waves are larger and shove at her as she shivers and chatters her teeth. Tetonbaum tries to warm her by walking beside her and rubbing her arm, breaking the waves with his body between she and the incoming tide. Davied remains sullen and quiet on Tetonbaum's shoulder.

Looking back over her shoulder at him, Kasumi manages a smile…She notices something beyond his joining grin, and sucks in sharply, "…Who are they?"

The ragged group stands atop the first island's pillar, some looking down as a few are descending on thick ropes to wade into the water for a closer inspection of the trio. Kasumi cannot see their faces. They do not look like the big th'anes, though some of them have sizes that would indicate they could have been recruited by the school—or kicked out for failing to accomplish the lessons. They do not wear the same uniforms the th'anes do either—ornate, well-threaded, and full of hand pockets. Tetonbaum puts his hand on her back, "…Do not rush…They sense you are running, and fear only excites them to the hunt..."

"Hunter-assassins?" she asks.

"They lack skill and discipline…Children who grew up without growing their minds if you understand…They are dangerous, no less." Kasumi stumbles and Tetonbaum rights her with a hand attaching swift to her arm, "…Mind your footing," he cautions, "...Now would be a fatal time to injure oneself further."

"Agreed!" Davied's body twists a little over Tetonbaum's shoulder, the chimilys arching to glare at them. "Would you two make it to the other shore," he snaps, "…They are coming!"

One of the hunter-assassins steps forward into the water, removing a long machete-like sword from his ragged gray clothes, and with a trill he starts after the trio.

Tetonbaum puts his energy into getting them to the opposite shore—now within reach. "They have decided to attack, hurry…" And giving Davied to ground in the shallows, he passes him into Kasumi's arms, "…Flee and find the boat…I must turn round and buy you time."

"Tetonbaum…" He pauses at her voicing his name. Kasumi closes her lips, unable to say anything more and with that, he turns as she helps Davied limp to the cover of overhanging roots come from the shelf of the island's boot.

Tetonbaum faces his predators…and taking off his cloak from his shoulders, he drops it into the water.

Unhampered by the water-laden material, Tetonbaum is free, revealing his brawny arms of colorful blue, red, and purple muscle…Removing his menjaga from its sheath at his belt, he glows with a fervent energy that matches his sapphire eyes, and as he wades back towards the middle of the waters to meet their stalkers, three begin a swifter stride and lope through the water while others are climbing down the heavy ropes. Calls and trills for one to be the first to kill the I'lorie—and take his head—fill the air among the windy gap between islands…

Tetonbaum hits the nearest three with a wave of seawater, hard as biotic power can make it…They go down in bursts of blood, rags, flesh and bone. Three more jog with hurdling knees hampered by the heavily-soaked rags through the tumultuous waves to replace them…Seacaws are driven crazy by the sudden buffet floating on the water's surface, still falling through the air and landing with splashes.

Two eyes go out as Tetonbaum drives a pinkie and thumb into the first of his next opponents, and grabbing his cloak from the water—sodden with wetness—he flings and wraps it around the fifth by the head and hood. Holding the cloak in a fist under water, he replaces his fist with a boot as waves crash into them, drowning the fifth while the sixth assailant rises with a sea rock from the bed below the water to strike Tetonbaum with…Tetonbaum, however, drives his menjaga through the other's belly, pulling his blade out, piercing it next into the enemy's neck, and nearly severing the head from the shoulders.

Kasumi and Davied watch from the shore, and hear a falling of water droplets to their lefts…Two hunter-assassins emerge from the water, having swum fleetly round the fight between island pillars to flank, or come from behind Tetonbaum…Upon seeing the woman and the chimilys, they seek to distract his focus by rushing the pair with battle cries.

Tetonbaum whirls, throwing a hunur off him, and casting a wall of air that churns the waters—enveloping the two hunur about to engage Kasumi and Davied. They are blinded, which gives Kasumi the chance to move Davied away…

Tetonbaum is knocked out of the water, through the air…He lands and breaks the surface of a wave, and clambers out of the water to see who hit him...A hunur converges with five others, this one bigger than the rest, his hood back, his eyes red, a cudgel made from rock and driftwood trailing water from his hands…The hunur has a scar down the left side of his black patak, the eyes lusting for his kill…Fixed on the I'lorie below him, he begins to swing the cudgel, preparing to bring it down atop his quarry's chest…

Leaping aside, Tetonbaum dives into the next wave—just avoiding the hammer coming down for him…The hunur waves the cudgel back up like a pinwheel, sending it round his crests before swinging it in pursuit of the th'ane. Diving deep, Tetonbaum swims below the waves, using the murk and darkness to find his way back to the giant, and erupting behind him, stabs his menjaga into the hunur's groin with a twist and savage grin.

Ylyssus and Roisminas hear the bellow of pain amid the sounds of fighting and turbulent cries for blood, and hurry over the beach stones towards the shoreline. Tetonbaum is seen moving between the hunter-assassins, hitting and dodging as he tries to take on all of them, the giant hunur limping with his grip still on the log in the water, trailing its end over stones.

Taking back his sleeve, Ylyssus aims his bolsuna ahead of them, …Aim true…

As the cudgel sweeps upward with a spraying arc of water, Tetonbaum turns to see the hammer making its way towards him again…A black line enters the skull of the giant and the cudgel becomes uneven in its passage through the air. Tetonbaum narrowly avoids its careening off-route death sentence again, bludgeoning another hunur in the shoulder—with a sickening crack of bones and cartilage, the lamed is bowled over into far waters. Two hunurs grab Tetonbaum's arms, a third running off the back of the falling giant to rush a knife towards Tetonbaum's bared chest and neck as he summons a wall of energy to ripple the air and water between them…The giant and the leaping hunter-assassin disappear in a spray of gristle and blood, blown away by Tetonbaum's powerful energy…He turns and whips the other two off him—into four more who lunge through the waves, but that grab onto his hands, one his waist, others at his knees and belt to drag him down as Tetonbaum stabs who he can before being pulled under the water's surface, blood staining the froth and foam. Kasumi runs to the shallows, screaming at the two th'anes running into the bay to join the fricasse, "…Help him!—Gods help him!"