"That'll probably be easier said than done, but I agree," I said, opening the door and gesturing for her to go first. "Princesses first," I said wryly. She chortled but gave me a slight grin before heading back out of the room.
Within a few moments, we were back down in the main tavern. Kalia and Irun were by the door discussing something well beyond earshot while Krozz approached Ysevel and I with two small satchels made from some unidentifiable creature's hide that were filled with dried meats and bitter.
"Here, take these," he began, handing them to us. "It's a little parting gift, and… Well, just consider it an apology from me," he said, lowering his head a little. "We gratefully accept both the gifts and your apology. We hold nothing against you, as you have been very hospitable to us," Ysevel said, using whatever training she'd had in the royal court over her years in Myrdin.
He chuckled and scratched the back of his plated head. "Well, if you, uh, ever find yourselves back here, be sure to stop by. I promise to treat you much better now that Kalia has acknowledged you both," he said awkwardly.
I didn't even know he could feel awkward. So, that's new, I thought with a warm smile as I extended my hand out to him.
He looked at it curiously for a few heartbeats, wondering what I was doing. "It's a gesture of goodwill," I answered his unspoken question. He awkwardly stretched out his tree trunk of an arm, and I did what I could to clasp as much of his forearm in my grip as possible.
My hand barely even spanned the width of his forearm, while he made mine look like a small twig.
"I look forward to seeing you again, Krozz," I said, doing my best to be amicable. "Egin ketuon buraed ba," he replied, giving me a nod, but the look of confusion on my face made him emit the same bag of rocks sound that I figured was a chuckle. "It means It is the same for me," he said. "Ah, I'll have to see if Lady Kalia will teach me some so we can communicate better next time," I chuckled.
To say I felt fully comfortable in that tavern would still be a lie, as even with Lady Kalia's statement, we were still very much at her mercy. However, I could sense that Krozz wasn't a bad hegraphene, which brought me just enough peace to feel somewhat comfortable around him, at least.
Lady Kalia, however, still scared the living shit out of me.
"Time to go," Irun called out with a wave of his arm. Ysevel and I gave Krozz a final nod of farewell and made our way towards the door. "You still need to learn Elvish first," she muttered under her breath. "Only if you teach me," I said wryly just before reaching the door.
"We need to get moving. It's at least a cycle's trek from here, and we need to begin as soon as possible," Kalia said. "We're ready when you are, my lady," I said with a bow.
Suddenly, we all felt a massive pulse of mana, and I knew it was one I recognized. Without a second thought, I instinctively outstretched my hand, drawing from the dark mana and entered my third stage as I dashed out to meet whatever it was with my sword dragging behind me.
"Thoma, wait!" Irun called out but made no real attempt to stop me. I sped past him, knowing full well who it would be just outside the door. I put my full might behind my swing, but just before my blade reached my target's neck, something stopped my blade with a loud pwang.
"What? Why would you stop me?" I seethed, staring Kalia dead in the eye. "Because you have much to learn about the world, young Thoma," she said briefly. "I apologize for his actions. It seems he is still unaware of our agreement, Ardrin," she said, turning her head just enough to look at him. "What?" I said almost breathlessly as I stared at what I thought to be a familiar face.
His violet eyes sparked with golden tendrils, though his features were much more beast-like than human, with white sideburns that reached the edges of his chin and thick eyebrows shading his piercing eyes. He carried the unconscious body of someone I thought looked vaguely familiar but couldn't place who it was.
"Hello, nephew," he began, his voice much different without the mask. It rumbled like distant thunder, but it wasn't as distorted as before. "Nephew?" I heard Irun ask aloud as his surprise was evident in his voice.
That's going to be fun to explain, I thought momentarily before reverting my focus back to the matter at hand.
"It's been a long time, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impressed at your growth," he said, giving me a once-over with his eyes. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I seethed as my blade was still interlocked with Kalia's.
"Oh, you mean here as in this place? Like Lady Kalia said, you have much to learn about the world," he replied, looking past me at Irun and Ysevel who were approaching rapidly. "Athar! What happened to him? What happened to you? Why do you look like the Master?" Irun asked panickedly.
Ardrin sighed heavily, contemplating his answer, likely thinking the same thing I did earlier about explaining the situation. "The Undergod, or Nexis I should say, did this to him. To me, however, he did something else entirely," Ardrin replied, gingerly handing the body to Irun, who laid him down and began trying to heal him with dark mana.
"Now, I understand your evident confusion and anger towards me, Thoma," he began, turning to look at me. "However, dwelling on the past will do you no good, especially not now. I'm not here to pick a fight because if I were, then you'd already be dead without ever knowing what killed you. Instead, I'm here to deliver both a message and a warning to Lady Kalia," he said, raising his hands placatingly.
Every fiber in my being was screaming at me not to trust a word he said, but I soon felt Ysevel's small hand being placed on my forearm. "Thoma, we should at least try to hear him out. I know you're angry, but now is not the time for this," she said softly. Realizing she was right, I let go of the third stage and lowered my blade as I sighed heavily.
I hope you're right, I sent her briefly.
"There, see? That wasn't so hard, was it?" he asked derisively. "What happened to you two? Where is the Nethersong Mask?" Kalia asked. "The resurgence of Nexis Pelantyr happened. He tore the mask from my face and used its power in conjunction with his Leech mana to rip out his own core and use Athar's body as a vessel," he explained curtly.
Did he just say Pelantyr? I thought, feeling my stomach sink.
"He placed Athar's core inside of his alternate to leave me in his debt, so I cannot linger here much longer than I already have," he said, looking down at Athar's unconscious body. "Heresy," Kalia said, the word dripping with anger. "Has the concept of heresy ever applied to him?" he asked bluntly. "You should know the answer to that better than anyone, Lady Kalia," he continued.
While I couldn't see her exact expression from beneath her face plate, it was evident that her anger towards the Undergod, or Nexis, as it turned out, was deeply rooted; but how deeply was something I had yet to find out.
"The fact remains that he's returned, and he's almost at full strength, but there is one final thing he needs to do before that happens," Ardrin began, breaking my line of thought by staring directly at me. "He needs to return to the Between," he said gravely.
"The Wardens would never allow that to happen," Kalia said, taking a step towards him. "You're right, Lady Kalia, but that's exactly why he put me in his debt. He needs me to help him build an untraceable portal back to the Between and get there without them noticing," he said gravely. "Egeshe krag! How long do we have?" she asked in disbelief. "A little over a hundred cycles, if my calculations are correct," he said, turning to face the rest of us.
"How long is that in normal time?" I asked, still wildly confused by how time seemed to work here. "It's the equivalent of about a month in the Between," he said, taking a few steps towards me. "But as for you," he said, looking down at me as he began. "Lady Kalia told me about the pulses of mana she felt and rushed over here to find out who it was. I pray you didn't disappoint her," he said expectantly.
Shit, how far did that pulse even go? I thought, realizing she must have traveled a great distance given the state she was in when she arrived.
"I'm not sure what kind of mana it is, but she's agreed to train me," I said, being cautious with my wording. "Then I was right after all," he said almost to himself. "What's that supposed to mean? Is that why you cast that spell on me back in Coltend?" I asked, feeling my anger beginning to swell again.
"I cast the spell on you so you wouldn't kill Irun. Figuring out you had that kind of potential was merely an accidental byproduct of it, which is why I had Lady Kalia train Irun as hard as she did before sending him to collect you," Ardrin said, putting many of the questions I had to rest within a few words.
"Why not just ask your brother for help, then? Why go through all that trouble?" I asked dryly. Mentioning Taegin made his face visibly twitch, but he maintained his body's composure quite well.
Probably not used to having his facial expressions be visible, I thought, taking a mental note for later use.
"He would never agree to it, and you were a much easier target. Does that answer your question, dear nephew?" he asked derisively. "No, but it's a starting point," I sighed. "Good. Lady Kalia, I must return to Pyrdredd, as time is the one thing that is on no one's side," he said as he turned away from us. "Oh, and one last thing, Thoma," he said, halting his movement. "Failure is not an option," he said coldly, bursting off towards the sickly, green glow beyond the distant mountains.
I could feel whatever breath I was holding escape my lungs as I watched him disappear at an incredible speed. Kalia, however, immediately turned to me. "While I admire your bravery, do not do that again," she said, clearly referring to my arguably not entirely unwarranted attack on Ardrin. "Yes, Lady Kalia," I said, swallowing dryly.
"I know that you're not accustomed to dark mana and that you two have an obvious history, so I will ignore it this once," she said gravely before turning to face Irun. She squatted down next to him, clearly looking to see if Athar was showing any signs of consciousness.
"He doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but we'll have to wait and see what comes of it," she said, putting a hand on Irun's shoulder. "Bring him with us. I'll have someone look after him," she said, standing to face Ysevel and I again. "As for you two: I hope you're ready for what's coming next because it will not be easy," she said grimly.
Ysevel and I looked at each other, and without sharing words or thoughts, we gave each other a reassuring look. "We'll be ready, my lady," I said, answering for us both. "Good. I hope for your sake that the Duranjin thinks so, too," she said.
The what? I thought, lifting an eyebrow in genuine surprise.