The Key

[Onya]

The girl was eager to leave. Far too eager, many thought. The mysterious ship had arrived a month earlier, bringing harsh news from lands the Moalians had never even heard of. The pale men from this ship had brought gifts for the islanders, and many more for the girl. She was the Key, they said, although none of the Moalians understood what lock she was supposed to open. They never questioned how a young girl could be a key, for they were used such fantasies from their own gods. There were misgivings, of course, loads of them. For one thing, the men were far too fair-skinned to be sailors. And the girl was so young... She had resisted along with her parents until the man had come in. A strange cloaked man from the ship, although before that day no one had seen him all month long. The man had somehow convinced the girl that she had to follow him. And now the girl wanted to leave everything she knew, her parents, her friends, her whole world, just to be the Key for people she hadn't known existed thirty days ago...

~~~

"Daddy, why is the sky blue?"
The wiry man winked down at his daughter. Kolli's eyes were dancing like underwater emeralds, in a slightly dryer version.
"There are two answers to that question, just like for any question", answered the man. "The answer of the poet, and the answer of the scholar. Which one would you like to hear, Coal-face?"
She wrinkled her nose and bumped her father with her shoulder. "I'm not Coal-face! My name is Kolli!" she shouted laughingly. "Now just answer me. Why is the sky blue? And don't pretend you might give me the scholar's answer. You never do."

Did the man know? His soft grey eyes took on a sad tint when he heard her words. How he loved the way she could predict his every word... Even while he remained unpredictable. But he felt that this was not to last. (He would have been right in any case, of course: childhood doesn't last forever. When adolescence rolls around, any sort of understanding between parents and children is broken at least temporarily. But that is beside the point.)
"Kolli, the sky is blue because long ago, the gods decided to pull the plug that was holding the oceans inside the world. Great terror was unleashed upon the lands, and life as it existed then was swept away by the fierce, churning waves. The ocean was made blue after that tragedy, to commemorate the awful sadness of those days. When the clouds rose to the sky, they told the story of the great tragedy. The sky wept, but sunrise caught it as it was weeping. Red bled into the horizon, and the color blue was fixed permanently into the sky. That, my love, is why the sky is blue to this day." His gaze was no longer on his girl. It looked through her into the unreachable depths of time.
"That is a sad story. I don't like it." She frowned. "This time, I should have asked Mom or Teacher for the scholar's answer."

Rammte shook his head, his brown locks brushing his shoulders.
"One day you will understand that stories are never completely happy. Unfortunately, that is probably the day you will forget what the stories mean."

The young girl jumped up then, ending the conversation that was becoming too deep for her (and more importantly, too long). The sea was plainly visible, as was the main Moalian harbor. And a ship was just becoming visible over the horizon, too big to be an ordinary canoe. "Daddy, let's go see the ship!"
Hand in hand, they walked down to the harbor (well, he tried to walk as she ran dragging him). Kolli waved to some of her friends who had also come to see the incoming vessel. After a few moments, she broke away from her father and started to play a version of tag with the other children. When the ship finally pulled in, the sun was beginning to set, clothing the horizon in pinks and oranges. Kolli ran around the docks and the merchandise that was being unloaded, returning to her father occasionally to ask a random question. When the men descended from the ship, she stared. They were so pale they almost looked dead... "TAG!" shouted a boy, knocking her forward, realizing several seconds too late the calm that had settled over the docks. The men from the ship carried a strange awe-inducing aura.
"Who are they?" she whispered. As Rammte shook his head, one of the strangers spoke up, as if in response to Kolli's query.
"Greetings, people of Moal. We are in Moal, correct? Good. I am Gantsh Wellareth. From Nalgeneth, capital of Elmenland. Well then, do you have a leader? A man or woman of influence? I need someone who's in charge." His brisk, matter-of-fact tone was utterly unexpected. It was contrary to his aura, which was made of calm, power, and something foreboding. His voice made you expect to see him rub his hands together, while his aura made you want to bow solemnly.

Before Kolli had a chance to ask where Elmenland was and what was wrong with this man, her father pulled her away. He retreated steadily inland toward Stym and the forest. From the corner of her eye, Kolli saw many others doing the same.

[Disciple Cain]

The shadows of two figures danced with the flickering candlelight, the only thing lighting the dim cabin of the ship. The red-robed man pulled the candle closer to his pocket book as he sat down, his tan-robed colleague standing beside him and peering over his shoulder. They went many moments in complete silence, studying the contents as the one sitting continued to flip through page after page. The was an obvious aura of anxiousness around the two as they read through pages that detailed what was ultimately a cataclysmic event. Should certain events come to pass, said event will occur and bring about demons and hellfire upon all lands. The events were written of in great detail and the red-robed man could only skim through them at the moment to show his colleague their contents.

Silence was broken when the tan-robed man spoke, "You know what the Guild says about prophecies, Mathras."

Mathras, the red-robed man, pulled his hood down and revealed a very grim expression upon his face as he nodded slowly, "Yes, Ander, we leave them to religious sects..." he exhaled through his nose as he pointed at the current page, "But these are signs of something more serious than what is given in their prophecies."

Ander frowned at the page and shook his head, "Some of the men believe you've brought them on a fools errand, Mathras..."

Mathras balled his hands into fists in frustration and opened his mouth to speak, but realized he may only end up shouting-- possibly loud enough for the whole ship to hear him. He took a moment to calm down and open his palms on the desk before he sighed and tried to defend his point, "Normally I would think myself to be insane by now-- had it not been for all but two of these events happening, I would, and they have happened exactly as written. Perhaps the Guild should not scoff at the magic of Divination... and if you need reassurance, then I will show you."

Ander took a moment to think it over as his gaze shifted elsewhere, but he nodded back at Mathras and leaned in to read.

Mathras flipped through several pages till near the end of the book. A passage detailing a Key. Not a literal key, but simply a symbolic Key that would allow them to unlock certain doors, again not in a literal sense either. The entire book, unfortunately, was written in not only a foreign and nearly lost language but was cryptic even for the language being used. Mathras turned to Ander and gave him a significant look.

"Don't you see, Ander?" Mathras pointed to the passages of the book, "This is not some fortune-telling from a two-bit sorcerer-- these are instructions having come from one of the greatest wizards to have ever lived, and we completely discounted his wisdom because we have lost the ways of Divination. The Key is here, Ander, but his words are difficult to decipher. How much I have deciphered has led us to Moal, so in Moal we will stay until I find just what that Key is..."

[Onya]

When it appeared that the ship was going to stay for a long time, Kolli's interest decreased significantly. What was the point of getting excited if she could get excited over it any time she wanted? Her parents had a different point of view: the news of the ship remaining in port meant that it would affect the Moalians over a certain period of time, instead of a small episode like regular ships.

Life continued as usual for the children of Stym: the village was not directly impacted by the dealings of merchants at the harbor, for they lived largely off of the forest as well as fish supplied by other villages. Kolli never remembered to ask her mother why the sky was blue. It wasn't very important, because she had already asked that particular question; she had just forgotten. She did remember to ask what Elmenland was, but apparently the entire island was asking the same question. It was very strange, but the more troubling question was this: how did that Gantsh Well-something person have such a gap between his actions and his aura?
The Moalians knew, obviously, that their ability to sense auras was not universal throughout the human race. They had never thought that some people may have achieved a superior degree of perception until they could control what their aura transmitted; but Kolli caught some heated "adult conversations" on the subject.
But the ability did not seem to be widespread in the pale men, and the main question about the others concerned their skin: how could it be so smooth and pale after what was surely a very long trip on the sea? These men could not be sailors, and yet they evidently came from a ship.

The next occasion in which she got to see the pale men up close was when the whole island was called to the Harbor for a gathering. This was in the second week following the arrival of the ship. The strangers were guests of honor, and this gathering had apparently been their decision. They planned to offer gifts to the Moalians. Kolli saw odd carvings and snakes of gold (a soft metal that didn't oxidize, present in modest quantities on the island, but which these men seemed very partial to) and fancy, shiny cloths. A few other trinkets were presented, but there was nothing truly useful such as food or tools. The closest they came to useful was the cloth, and still, to Kolli it seemed too fancy to be actually worn. After many questions that her parents struggled to answer, she decided that some of the metal trinkets might be tools of some unknown sort. Oh well, at least the ghost men had tried. (They might have given books except for the fact that the Moalians would probably not have comprehended them.)

After the gifts there was a feast, just like at every gathering; then Kolli and the other children went to the beach. The adults talked, drank, and laughed late into the night. Kolli played and fought in the sand, collected shells, and finally dove into the ocean. Having only one article of clothing (namely, the trousers) made preparing to swim a very swift business.

That night, Kolli was so tired that she had only one question: "Can shells be soft?"
"They wouldn't be shells if they were soft. They would be useless." replied her mother.
"Of course. You just have to ask them with the sweetest voice possible." replied her father.

[Disciple Cain]

Mathras' most recent discovery of the texts caused him to pound on his desk and exclaim 'Ah hah!', to which his candle responded by flickering, wavering, and then promptly falling off the desk in a pile of melted wax. Mathras swore and scrambled to pick up and salvage what was left of the candle, casting a light spell upon it to ignite it once again. The wax was bent out of shape, and there was still some left upon the floor of the cabin, but the wick lit up nevertheless and illuminated the room once again.

"I'm assuming you've found it, Mathras?" Ander called from up top.

"Not quite," Mathras responded, "But... but I do know that it is here-- here where we have landed, right now, and should still be here according to the text. The roundabout nature of his words are difficult to make sense of but it is here. But it's strange, the context in which he's speaking of the Key. He is speaking as if addressing the Key as a person."

Mathras immediately put the two details together and that meant that whichever person it was was living here in Stym, and from there... there was still more to read and to understand before they made an assumption. Mathras continued to scroll through the pages and look for clues that might tell them how to find them or what they were... anything that could identify the person, but to get through these pages would take another few weeks.

Ander stepped down into the cabin and looked over Mathras' shoulder again, "You should be spending time with the people here, getting to know them. Simply showing up suddenly and demanding the key from them wouldn't be the best plan of action, you know. "

Mathras shrugged off his statement and responded, "That's why the rest of you are out there. We're here to find the key, Ander... we can't do that if none of us knows who it is."

Ander sighed inwardly and shook his head, "No I... I meant you shouldn't let this be all do you day in and day out. You should take a break sometime."

Mathras let his palms slide off the table and to his side, then he turned his head to Ander and said, "Ander, this cataclysm won't take a break. I can't either. Now leave me."

Ander hesitated for a moment, but he nodded to his colleague and left him alone. In just a few more weeks, Mathras would have everything he needed translated... provided he could find out what one certain word means.

"It's like it's a complete nonsense word..." he said, then repeated the word out loud to see if it would ring any bells then, "kolli...?"

[Onya]

"Kolli, time to wake up!"
She felt a few light taps on her bare shoulder. Opening her eyes, she looked up into the smiling face of her father. She bolted upright, almost knocking him in the nose. "Daddy, I've got a question!"
"Oh, really? Tell me something new..." he smirked.
"Did Kirrtabol make dolphins too? I mean, I know he made the fish, but what about the dolphins? Who made them?"
The man smiled. "Get ready for school and maybe I'll answer your question on the way there."

Kolli stood up and quickly pulled on her trousers. Tying the yarn belt tightly, she looked around and noticed her mother's absence. "Where's Mom?"
Her father was preparing breakfast on the other side of the room. He came over to Kolli and, throwing her over his shoulder, he replied, "She woke early and she decided to run up to the Milky Way. Now how does that sound for an adventure?" His smile faded then. "She wanted to go fishing with some of the men, actually."
Kolli didn't see him become serious, but she heard his voice calm down all of a sudden. But she felt it wouldn't be fair to press the matter, so instead she scrambled out of her father's brown arms and into her chair. Her breakfast was made of pantre fruit and sweet salmon. Her father ate with her, listening to her chatter and mostly brushing off her questions. It was a miracle Kolli was able to eat so quickly with the stream of words constantly pouring out of her mouth. Her father did not possess that gift, so he preferred to remain relatively silent while eating.

Kolli picked up her school satchel, swung the strap over her head and shoulder, and then pulled her father out the door. He tousled her hair, and she tried to reach his. He moved towards the school while fending off her attacks, and gave in after awhile. Then he told her about dolphins and the gods and how she was asking the wrong questions for a nine year old and how the priests would have been shocked.
"Bye, Daddy! Hey, Ertles! How's your sister? What happened to your cheek?"

"Bye, Coal-face", murmured Rammte as she ran off eagerly to school. She somehow heard him and waved back.

[Onya]

"Listen carefully, men and women of Moal.
"A great tragedy looms over our world.

Gantsh Wellareth spoke gravely to the gathered crowd of Moalians of all shapes and sizes. His brusque, hurried demeanor had slipped entirely, leaving place to a vast solemnity. Everyone from the entire island who could possibly make it had come at his bidding. He could not fathom why they had come, for he had not even brought out the handful of tough, heavily armed Tolarkhs who had made the trip in case the islanders would not cooperate. But his spies had brought whispers that these people could sense auras, perhaps unconsciously, so they may have felt his need to speak to them.
Gantsh was prepared to bend the truth so that the people would feel the despair of his world. If they could indeed read auras, it was a dangerous game to play. But it was worth it, anything was worth it to get the girl.
The Key.

"Long ago, in the great land of Hrishore, the History of War begins. All war originates there, for that is the Mother War. The war that took place between gods and men."
He looked the crowd in the eyes as he spoke, his voice soft and dark as a shadow. This truncated history of the Book was half legend, half lies invented for the benefit of these Moalians after a few weeks of gathering their thought patterns.

"The war waged on and on, for though the gods had their powers, men had their fierce will and their desperate love for life. Two of the gods saw that the war would end with no tears, for there would be no one left to shed them. So they came disguised to a young man. This young man did not have a pure heart. He was not so young nor so ignorant as to be innocent or free of blood. But he was smart enough to ponder upon the war rather than blindly hate the gods. This young man was by no means extraordinary, but he had one quality. One great quality that was so profoundly developed, it could have engulfed the seas.
"The young man had the talent of open mindedness."

"So the two gods approched this young man and tought him the Art of the Future."
Gantsh was not so foolish as to pronounce the name Divination in front of an ignorant tribal populace. If he slipped up on his choice of words for the story, it could destroy his credibility as easily as jumping on the girl and dragging her onto the ship.
"Together, the man and the gods founded a new land. Elmenland. The gods protected it as best they could, and the young man studied until he knew how to call out to people's hearts and appeal for peace. However..."

"If I told you this man single-handedly wrought peace over the world, I would be lying.
"If I told you he and the two gods managed to bring back the peace, I would be lying.
"If I told you that he convinced the whole of humanity to aid him in his cause for peace, and that Hrishore was restored to peace by the force of those millions of souls, I would be lying."

"But I do not tell you those lies. You are no fools.
"I tell you the truth: peace was never returned to the world. The young man quieted the War, but it still lay waiting in the shadows. It has glanced into our world time and time again. But now comes the time when War comes back to the world of men. Now comes the apocalypse, in a form we cannot predict or conceive."

He looked over the crowd grimly and sadly. The many eyes were wide, some in fear, some in denial, some just because the story was captivating. None scoffed or shook their heads or could even take their eyes off of the strange pale man. He had chosen the right words this far. They believed him. Now it was time for the real appeal. Many things hinged on this point. Mathras could probably figure out a way to take the girl even if the Moalians didn't agree, but it would take much more time and effort.

"Listen carefully, men and women of Moal.
Our world needs your help. Only you have the Key to drive away utter destruction."

He waited for an answer. If they did not offer, he would be in a position of begging, which would make his case that much harder. A dark cloud seemed to pass over the assembly, until one man finally spoke. He spoke with general authority, though there had been no talking amongst the crowd. The man was neither young nor old. Young enough not to be slow and outdated, old enough to have experience. Gantsh also noted the charismatic voice and body language: these people knew how to choose a spokesman.
"What do you want from us, man of Elmenland? We have no knowledge of such an artifact on our soil or in our sea, and we do not understand what good it may do. How may we provide this key you speak of?"
It was a good enough response, so Gantsh proceeded.

"The open minded young man of the legend did not die without a legacy. His Art of the Future is mostly lost after so many centuries, but the man deposited his knowledge in a Book. The Book is a vast collection of metaphors, so that no single man may decipher all and use the Art to his personal advantage.
"We of Elmenland have ever been the guardians of the copies of this Book. Even now as I speak to you, one of these such Books lies in my ship. You may search the vessel as long as you like, you will never find it unless I give you permission.
"One of our number has translated a passage revealing the near future and the existence of the Key on this island. For the past weeks, he has been researching the specifics... Now I come to you with the request, and with your permission shall take the Key to its destiny.
"The Key is a child by the name of Kolli."

Gantsh resisted the urge of wiping his forehead or falling back into the ranks of his men.
He had dropped the bomb.

~~

Chaos erupted as soon as the words had left his mouth. Men shouted, women whispered, children cried.
Kolli and her parents were absolutely still in the midst of the turmoil, pushed around by thousands of bodies. Shocked. Completely and utterly shocked.

The hurricane quieted as Manera spoke once more. Softly. Soothingly. Sadly.
"Please, man of Elmenland. Explain yourself. What lock could a young girl open? Look for yourself. A small schoolgirl, hardly nine years of age. How can you expect us to give her up like this? How can you expect her parents to do such a thing?
"We know nothing of the lands you speak of. Your village, Nalgeneth, is a foreign name to us. You offer no proof that your story is true, going so far as to assure us you will not give evidence of your possession of the book. In these circumstances, why should we believe you? Why should we send this child to near-certain death?
"Come now, you cannot be serious. To save your world, we would have gladly given any object you asked. If it was an heirloom or holy artifact, we would have asked for compensation. But there is no compensation for a human being. You can give us no guarantee for her life, no prospect of seeing her again. No amount of compensation would suffice.
"Tell us, men from unknown seas. Convince us. More importantly, convince the girl and her parents."
He gestured towards Kolli who was still immobile and clinging to her father's hand. Her mother stood in a similar position, grasping her husband's arm with white fingers.
The crowd murmured its assent to the spokesman's words. Ordinarily this would have been a breach of etiquette: when the spokesman delivered words, everyone knew it was for the good of all and was fully supported. But the strangers would not know. They would need to hear the Moalians stand united beside Manera. Kolli felt this heightened support, and found the strength to look around her. Her family, her friends, her countrymen. The islanders would support her. There was no need to leave. No need to desert her father and follow this pale man who was not like his aura said. Her father held her hand tighter, if that was even possible, but it did not hurt. It felt good. It filled the numb hole in her stomach that had been punched out by the man's words.

~~

Gantsh turned back toward his companions. "I cannot", he said wearily. "I cannot convince them to send a child to near-certain death. They do not understand it is for everyone's own good, even the girl's. The power of the spokesman is too strong. We must leave."
"So you are giving up?" demanded another robed man. "We came here for nothing?"
Gantsh smiled wryly. "Of course not, Dantin. We will come back tomorrow. But without the crowd, without the publicity. We will speak to the girl herself and appeal to her childish sense of justice. We will sway her parents with riches and rhetoric." He looked his men in the face, including the fearsome Tolarkh.
"Make no mistake. This child will leave the island with us. I only wished to do it without using force, if possible. Too much destruction already awaits ahead."

[Disciple Cain]

Ander rushed down the stairs into the cabin. He sounded distressed, and his message was urgent, "Mathras, you have to get out there. Gantsh has already begun speaking to the people, and he--"

Mathras' hand balled into a fist and he immediately slammed it into the table, entirely ignoring the throbbing pain, and snarled, "I told the fools to wait until I had uncovered the whole truth of the key." He shot a look to Ander, one that apparently had unsettled his colleague, "Gantsh, of all people. The snake. I was already dubious of that man simply by seeing the contrast of his apparent nature and his aura... but I didn't think he had idiotic sabotage in him."

Mathras' eyes shifted around the room for a few moments before he looked back to Ander with a more calm expression and asked, "What is he saying?"

Ander shook his head and shrugged as if it weren't supposed to be a huge deal, puzzled at what got Mathras so flustered, "A nonsensical speech about a war between the gods and men, and the key being a way to somehow subvert their wrath perhaps-- Mathras I'm not sure if--" Mathras interrupted by storming off past his colleague. He then bolted up the stairs to listen to Gantsh's speech. He kept his hood down so that it would be difficult to recognize him as he moved into the crowd of his companions.

~~

Mathras had arrived just in time to listen to a good portion of the story... a good portion of it fabricated most likely to appeal to the people of this village, but he was also there to listen to it utterly fail as the Moalian's own spokesman had countered Gantsh with simple disbelief in his words that they would need the Key or that there even was a Key.

There was no war between the men and the gods... but they had uncovered something far more dangerous than the wrath of gods. They uncovered what the gods and men alike feared, and only barely managed to seal it away. Beings whose sole existence base on their hatred of life and their love for chaos and war-- Demons.

Mathras still had his hands balled up into fists, and didn't realize what he was doing until it had already been done. Somehow, after sifting through the crowds and looking Gantsh right in the eyes, Mathras ended up disregarding code entirely and planting his fist right into Gantsh's nose for his apparent treachery-- the kicker was that he had done it right in front of the Moalians and his colleagues. Now he was either in hot water, or on the spot and he'd have to take it from there.

Mathras turned to his colleagues and pointed to Gantsh, who may or may not have been knocked clean to the floor, and said, "Put him away and lock him up,"

There was about to be some dissension among his colleagues as Dantin expressed his outrage to Mathras, "What in the world are you doing, Mathras?"

Mathras immediately stared him down and snarled at him, "He has lied about nearly his entire story and he almost committed successful sabotage... to what ends, I am not sure, but his means are clear; put him away."



Mathras had an aura about him that was strange and difficult to determine. It was incredibly dangerous, as there was a raging fire within his heart, but there was a deep calmness on the outside of it. It was difficult to tell where the calm stopped and the flame began, but none of it was stained black with evil. He stepped past his colleagues and called out to the people of the village as he began to step toward them. In fact, it seemed as if he meant to speak while in the midst of them rather than safely by his colleagues.

"People of Moal, indeed this key that we seek is the child known as Kolli," Mathras reached into his robes as he walked and pulled out the very book Gantsh had mentioned, "And this is the text that he spoke of, saying you would never see it unless you had his permission. What Gantsh failed to mention," Mathras pointed back at Gantsh, "Is that the book has been in my protection,"

Mathras continued walking for a bit before he went on speaking, "There is not and has never been a war between the gods and men. The war that we fight is between much more sinister foes, and they will not let us surrender-- the Demons that await behind the Door spoken of in this book will wipe out every last living being on this planet that does not worship or work for them, and the only men who seek to open the door to that chaos are those who would seek to dominate all life upon this planet. The Key is not to open the Door. To save our world we need the key to lock and seal the door for eternity, and the only way to do that is to make sure evil does not steal or destroy the child. Dark ritual magic has been at work for years, and needs only a decade more to complete before it will end us all within days."

As Mathras was easily within earshot of the ones he assumed were Kolli's parents, with Kolli next to her father, he looked to them and spoke only to them rather than calling out to all the people around him.

Mathras held out the book plainly for them to see and on it were strange runes, not seemingly to be from any easily recognizable language, and then he spoke directly to them, "This book would do you no good as you may not understand the text within, even if you understood the language... but let it be known that we are serious. You have a choice to make. You can damn and condemn all your people by leaving the girl here and leading all the evil that seeks her to this place, or you can leave her with us and allow us to protect her. I have little proof that what I say is true as of this moment, but are you truly willing to gamble with the lives of all the townspeople here by disregarding our warnings and advice? I give you my word that harm will not come to her if she is in our care."

[Onya]

Kolli squeezed further into her father's arm as she peered up to the violent man. Why was he hitting people? For once Kolli did not dare to ask the question. She hardly heard the man's words addressed to her and her parents, but she heard her father's immediate response distinctly.

"You may not have my daughter."

Her mother answered more levelly but her eyes blazed in green flames.
"Are you stupid? The man before you told us a child's tale to lure us into giving him our daughter. You can't expect us to believe you after that. Or any of you strangers, for that matter."

Silence covered the crowd, then Kolli heard Manera's familiar voice: "We thank you for admitting his story was false. But now we cannot believe any of you. We have not seen you, we do not know you or your final goal. And you still affirm you have no proof. The people of Moal will not give up our child. This is our final decision, as far as our authority goes. This means if you think you can reverse this decision, you may discuss it in private with the girl and her parents. They have the final word, of course."

Kolli's hair had fallen in her face by now. She caught glimpses of the crowd shuffling, wondering whether they should stay for support or leave now that they had completed their role here. It was then that she noticed the aura of the man in front of her: it seemed to change depending on how you looked at it. When she glanced at it on the surface, it seemed calm and peaceful. But now that she turned her perception directly towards it, she could feel something strange. It felt like excitement and strength and anger, bundled up into something... dangerous. Kolli did not know much of danger, only that there were certain fish and plants to avoid. And you weren't supposed to go into the deep forest alone at night. And diseases and wounds were to be feared in some cases. But this felt deeper and wilder, like fire. Not the fire that was warm and cooked your mania until it was soft and chewy: this was like the fire that once destroyed half a village, and the fires that used to burn forests in the summer, a few generations ago when the weather was harsher. Or maybe it was like the purposeful jaguar eyes in the stories from when men used to try to best the wild beasts. Intrigued, she clumsily pushed the hair from her eyes and peered up into the robed man's eyes.

~~

Gantsh had lain on the ground, pretending to be unconscious, after Mathras struck him and while he gave his speech. When Mathras focused his attention on the three Moalians in question, Gantsh quietly picked himself up and slid behind the others from the ship. Dantin jabbed him with his elbow, and he knew that was for his failure.
"What a pest. He'll pay for hitting me in the nose. As if his appeal is going to work any better!"
He glared at Mathras and smirked when his story was refused too. Then he turned brusquely and hissed, "Get me out of here. I need to get my nose patched up." Nobody budged, so he walked towards the ship on his own. His two Tolarkhs showed up out of nowhere when he was about halfway there and took positions on either side of him.

[Disciple Cain]

The corner of Mathras' mouth almost twitched up into a scowl almost, and at that moment his the fire in his aura flared up for a moment, but he managed to hold it back. He closed his eyes and sighed inwardly, a sign of defeat. He was meaning to protect these people, but their crudeness and ignorance was making it difficult. He opened his mouth and raised a finger to protest the woman's words, but shortly closed his mouth and dropped his hand, shaking his head. There was no point in trying to reason with a mother trying to fiercely protect her child...

...and then child took notice of him. Mathras blinked at her for a moment, then looked directly into her eyes to see what he could see. He curiously tilted his head for a moment, then realized that despite the aura he assumed she could see... she wasn't afraid. She was looking for something. Mathras' stance relaxed, and with it his aura, leaving the cool blue to cover the deep and powerful flames beneath.

Mathras seemed to mouth something at her, 'What are you looking for...?'

[Onya]

You could tell this man wasn't from the island just based on the way he mouthed the words, Kolli decided - as if you needed that to see he was a stranger. But beyond the man's question, more interesting was the fact he actually thought her gaze was important. And his aura seemed to calm down just before he spoke to her. She opened her mouth to ask something, then forgot completely and her childish curiosity took over.

"Why are you all so pale?"

She blushed when she heard herself speak. Then she remembered what she had meant to ask: why the flare of his aura was hidden and what he was so on fire about. Well, she wasn't going to try asking again yet... Who knew what other embarrassing question she might ask instead?