"How did you do that to me?"
"Do what? You're in no position to be asking me questions boy"
'Boy? This little bastard'
"This is not your body isn't it? Tell me, how'd you manage a Drifter's body out of all things miscreant"
Shocked, Solstice was absolutely shocked, to the point where he almost stumbled even though he was only standing.
"Hah, you stumbling fool!"
The young knight soldier took ahold of Sosltice's face, and they met eye to eye. The young knights' eyes were very unique, they were not human in any way. The light blue iris, the standard rounded pupil, faded away into something inhuman. The light blue changed to amber, the pupil reshaped itself horizontally, not unlike a goat, and finally the white sclera turned deep black.
"Oh you and I have something in common! Both invaders, bodies not of our own, your situation I can tell, unintentional, mine very much so intentional, that part is where our commonality stops though".
The young knight, or whatever he was, let go of Solsitce's face and took a step back while continuing to study Solstice. His eyes reverted back to the soft light blue color they were once before, making him seem human again.
"Since your so clueless, I'll give you enough information to get by for the moment, first, you may call me Lord Rykel, however leave out the Lord part when regarding me around the others"
Lord Rykel stepped aside and pointed to the last human survivor, a beautiful young woman. The woman was exuding pure nobility, and had very distinct features. Her luscious green hair stood out the most, sleek olive skin and slightly taller than your average man. Solstice assumed that the person he was looking at was Lady Eryn, the one he and the knights were meant to escort.
There was something off with her at the moment.
"That is the young Lady Eryn, we are here to ensure she makes it to the Bright Castle, I'm sure you've seen it."
"Why are her eyes milky white? She's also standing very still, is she not worried about what's going on?"
"What did I say about asking questions! Ah, anyway, she's in a temporary state currently, it's due to her being a part of a very special bloodline. She's in a semi-conscious state. Dragons used to exist, they were considered minor deities and still are, they would sometimes assume human form and have children with them, she is the descendant of a particular dragon, one with a somewhat prophetic ability. She's most likely receiving random scenes of a potential future."
Solstice looked at Lady Eryn again, noticing details he had not noticed before. She was wearing something resembling a chiton with some changes, she also adorned a blue and gold cloth that wrapped around her shoulders almost like a scarf.
There was also undeniable proof that she wasn't entirely human, although not too prominent. Looking a little closer, Solstice saw two horn stubbles on top of her head, mainly hidden by her luscious green hair. She truly looked like a young goddess, which she was not too far off as she was quite literally a distant descendant to a lesser deity, a dragon.
"She must be very important then, but why in the world would she need to endure such a dangerous journey, this place is absolute hell!"
Rykel chuckled.
"You got that right, I myself am rendered powerless under that damned Sun's gaze. Lady Eryn must undergo a transformation that every generation of her particular bloodline has done once they reach a certain age. It's her time now, the Bright Castle is already prepared for her arrival, we just have to do the hard task of actually making it there."
A mutilated scream broke their conversation, the wooden automaton's last stand turned out to be quite fierce, it claimed another knight soldier as a victim.
"Don't mind that, that flea is on its last legs."
'Flea? This guy considers that horrifying automaton a flea?'
"Rykel…"
"It's Lord Rykel! Don't forget that."
"Understood…How should I prepare for when the battle is done, the knights are not fond of my being here"
"Ah, they are too tired to get rid of you, they may not like your presence but they can't afford to expend any more energy. Just in case, I'll provide you with the ability to take care of your own."
Rykel stepped up to Solstice once more, he took his forefinger and gently tapped Solstice on his forehead.
Solstice felt an immediate effect, first it came as a wave of drunkenness, although he never experienced true intoxication from alcohol, the sensation was the same. It lightened up to where he only felt a little out of it, and a new sense was made present to him, or senses.
He began to feel a very slight wave-like pressure of himself, like he was feeling his body exteriorly, which was uncomfortable for Solstice. Then it began to expand outwards, and he felt his mind become overwhelmed by the new sensations.
Solstice was feeling a wave-like pressure of everything and everyone within a 10 meter radius of himself, including his own body.
Rykel spoke.
"Drifters are quite the special bloodline themselves! They are derived from a god, but not a lesser deity like dragons and their child-born, no, but a true god."
Solstice felt like he was blind, but not at the same time. His new senses were confusing his old ones, almost like he forgot how to walk, instead learning a completely new way to walk, maybe even a better one.
Although it wasn't exactly the same, he remembered reading about how some animals from the old times used a way to navigate the world using a technique called echolocation, he felt that this might be similar in a way.
"And which god is that?"
"The Drifters are all descendants of the Solstice god, one of our creators, and the Hearth god's other half!"
"....."
Solstice looked directly into Rykel's eyes, and silence befell them both, only to be broken a minute later from a baffled Solstice.
'This…this is too much, even for the Wyrd!'
"Absolutely ridiculous! This is not funny at all! What kind of coincidence is this, is my life for your amusement?"
Rykel pointed to himself.
"Are you talking about my amusement? I don't understand what you're saying."
Solstice rubbed his face, and swayed a little bit, his new senses and his roughed up, tired, emaciated body were beginning to win over his ability to stay awake and alert.
'I want to take a nap and wake up from this sick joke'
"You wouldn't understand, or believe me if I told you."
"Haha, try me boy"
"No really you wouldn't"
Rykel waved his hand and scoffed.
"Bah, you're quite the strange fellow. Anyway, what you're sensing is the atmosphere, and somewhat of the 'World' itself. You should also be sensitive to any changes, especially large ones, precisely why a Drifter was requested to escort the Lady and her convoy to the Bright Castle, normally they would be able to sense to ever so slight change in air pressure before the Red Sun's gaze would descend, but you weren't capable of doing that until now."
'Great! Not really a combat ability but I guess it'll help me survive in some ways'
"Another aspect of your blood, you are in a way, somewhat considered a 'natural part of the world'. Normally, when the Red Sun's eye awakes, you best restrict your movement to that of a stone, unless you have a death wish, you however are practically immune, it basically views you the same as the grass, the trees, the wind, not something it would like to erase."
"You seem to know a lot about Drifter's despite not being one yourself"
The corner of Rykel's mouth twitched ever so slightly, a reaction that Solstice was barely able to notice but nonetheless noted. Rykel looked at Solstice, shrugged and scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, I've had my few instances with Drifters, they are not exactly the sociable kind, why did you think you were rewarded strange looks when you were attempting to be friendly with the knights."
"Are all Drifter's non-sociable?"
"No, not all of them…but those who aren't are quite the rare few, at least the ones I've come across."
Rykel opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, only to open his mouth to speak a second later, this time with his attention back to the ending battle.
"It seems like they've finished the fight finally"
Solstice turned back around to view the aftermath.
There were 2 standard knight soldiers left standing, bloodied and battered, and then there was their superhuman ally, the flail wielder. The flail wielder was gravely injured, his helm had been rendered unfittable so it was discarded at some point, revealing the hardened battle veteran underneath.
Short black hair, a stubble, a height almost comparable to Solstice's Drifter body, lean muscles where they could be seen from under his garments, a picture perfect knight leader.
Now adding many cuts across his face, small holes poked throughout his arms and abdomen blended in with shallow to deep cuts here and there, mixed with dirt in the wounds, the flail wielder had a far from happy expression, especially since their forces were now down two from this exchange. He was most likely thinking of the near future, he was easily the equivalent to twenty regular knights, maybe more, he understood that with such a limited force, now made worse, that he was going to have to do all the heavy lifting, more than ever.
The superior endurance and vitality wasn't limitless, superhuman or not, he was still very much a mortal man, the urgency couldn't be needed any more than right now. Which is why, instead of running Solstice off, he tiredly picked up a longsword from his fallen comrade, walked over and presented it to Solstice.
"Take it, I happened to notice your rapier is no longer with you."
Solstice reached for the sword and took a hold of it. The weight and feel was vastly different when compared to his previous weapon, a much thicker blade, not designed to pierce like a rapier. It's reliability to deflect more powerful attacks, and with that added benefit of now being able to slash at his opponents, Solstice was honestly a lot more confident utilizing this compared to his sleek elegant rapier.
Still, a problem was still present to him even when he had his old weapon, he never had formal martial training!
The veteran flail knight sized Solstice up and down, they were nearly the same height, with Solstice only barely being a little taller. Solstice couldn't tell what the battle scarred knight in front of him was thinking, but then he turned around, leaving him with some words to think about as he walked off to check on his injured comrades.
"Treat this weapon with respect, enough of our blood has been shed for you already, you best repay our courtesy now."
'Ah, I might just do that, if only I knew how to fight!'
The flail wielder reached his injured comrades and began assessing their overall injuries although it was clear as day that he himself was in a much worse condition.
Solstice didn't exactly have a proper sheath for the longsword he had been granted, so he simply let its blade rest on his shoulder lazily which was probably seen as arrogant, luckily his cloak was thick enough to have the sword not cut himself.
"See! I told you that they could care less at this point."
Rykel's eerily soft footsteps caught Solstice's attention as he was approached by the seemingly innocent young knight. Of course, Solstice knew that Rykel was not a young person, and most likely was not innocent either, so he would at least be friendly towards him for now.
"I'm assuming we're going to depart very soon once again to the Bright Castle, care to chat the rest of the way?"