16. A Firm Hand That Acts Decisively

I sat on Yna's lap while she and the Arcusus stared at each other intently.

I needed to dispel some of the tension.

"So… you're the leader of the Foph."

Calëb's eyes widened as she stared at me.

"Your pet goat can talk?" She asked.

"I'm not a pet. Also, my name is Katsíki and she is Yna. Would you mind if we got straight to business? A lot has happened to the Ia and I'm hoping that we can openly talk about them seeing as your people killed some of them." I said, but Calëb simply stared at me.

I caught a glimpse of the rising sun in her eyes.

Pitch black eyes that were so expressive, even though, like with other Rendaro, I couldn't quite tell exactly where she was looking.

"Mmm… before I converse with the goat, I must ask, where are your servants or- how do you say… entourage?" Calëb asked.

"Oh, I don't have any. Its just me and Katsíki. Although we've taken in a few Rendaro as of recently. Do other knights come here in large groups?" Yna asked.

"It depends. If it's silver knights, they come in groups with a few servants. If it's Golden Knight, it's usually one or two with several servants." Calëb explained.

"Oh? What do they do when they get here?" Yna asked.

"Foph men are strong. Knights often demand several of them for work. They take women too and although some of our men return however few, the women never do. How do you not know this? Are you a newly made knight?"

Yna shook her head.

"No. It's just that I've been hiding for a long time. Anyway, as much as I'm enjoying our little chat, the one you should be talking to is this one." Yna said as she tapped my forehead.

"I see. Well, go on, little one. Make your demands." Calëb said while crossing her arms.

"I have no demands to make. I just wanted to inform you that a bunch of your men attacked Eimval recently and that a lot of lives were lost."

Calëb raised a single eyebrow.

"And?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"What am I supposed to do? Hand over the guilty Rendaro so that you make an example of them by killing them for all Foph to see."

"No, I don't want to kill anyone. I just think they should be held accountable for their actions. I could simply take custody of them." I said and like all those times before, my chest ached painfully, but I kept my cool.

"Mmm… what happens if I say no? Don't get me wrong, I don't want to face the wrath of the Golden Knight, but I'd like to know what kind of person- goat I'm dealing with." Calëb said.

"I see. Well, if you don't hand them over, I'll leave you with a warning. If Eimval is attacked again by the Foph, whether it's by your command or not…"

I glanced at Yna to find that her eyes were wide and glowing brilliantly.

"… Yna and I will ensure your people suffer fates far worse than death." I said with narrowed eyes.

Was that line edgy as hell?

Yes.

Did I care?

No.

Calëb nodded thoughtfully before looking up.

"Then I'll have to refuse your request. My warriors will not be coming with you." She said.

I clicked my tongue internally before taking several deep breaths.

"Oh. Well, then our business is concluded. It would be best of you informed all of the Foph of the consequences should they mindlessly act again." I said as Yna grabbed me to leave.

"Wait. I've taken quite a liking to the Golden Knight and it seems like you're her master… somehow. Could you both stay the night? Perhaps we could learn more about each other." Calëb said, but at this point she had stopped looking at me and was back to looking at Yna.

I remained completely silent as the two stared at each other before eventually sighing.

"Unfortunately, we have urgent business back home. Maybe we could hang out some other time." I said while rapidly tapping on Yna's knee.

I wanted to get very far away from the Foph and I had no interest in whatever was going on between Yna and Calëb.

"Aww, at least have something to eat before you leave." Calëb said with a pout.

"Why are you so keen on having us stay?" I asked while eyeing some of the food on the carpet.

I saw strange fruits, roasted meats and jugs of what I assumed was water.

"Hey. It's not every day that you meet a Golden Knight who doesn't want to beat you to a pulp. I feel like a mutual friendship could benefit all of us, no?" Calëb asked as I crawled off of Yna's lap.

"Go on." I said as I walked towards a fruit filled bowl. Well, I assumed all the bright looking things were fruits. Some of them glowed even, but I didn't care. I was hella hungry and so I dug in.

"You two are allied with the Ia… for some reason. How about you ditch the mud crawlers and work with us. We're planning on doing something very big very soon and any help would go a long way." Calëb said as I ate something that looked like a grape, but tasted like a lemon.

I cringed internally and raised my hoof to gesture that Yna take over the conversation.

"Let me guess, you're planning on launching a war on Lanceberg." Yna said as I munched on strange glowing orbs.

"Correct. The kingdom of man has been weak for decades and we have been preparing for the perfect opportunity to strike." Calëb said while offering Yna a glass of what appeared to be wine.

I wondered how people made booze in this world. Not that I wanted to drank any.

Yna accept the glass before taking a sip of the pale red liquid.

"Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course." Calëb said.

"You're severely unprepared."

Calëb sighed with a lowered head.

"True. Fortunately, we're talking about something that may take years to happen, so we have time. I just want to make sure that I have allies when that time comes." Calëb said, but Yna's eyes narrowed to an extreme degree. This meant that her eyes now appeared to be bright gold slits.

"Tell me the real reason why you want me." Yna said softly.

Calëb chucked before downing whatever remained in the jug beside her.

"Ha! I should've known you'd see through that." Calëb said while wiping a non existent tear from her eye.

"So, what is it that scars you to the point where you'd ask me, a knight, once sworn enemy of the Rendaro for help?" Yna asked as I finished the last of the bizarre fruits.

I then turned my attention to the meat-

Crap.

Still can't eat meat.

"I want you to protect us. The Foph, I mean." Calëb said with a rather serious tone.

"You're still dancing around the main problem, my dear." Yna said with an equal amount of seriousness.

"The knights. I'd like you to stop them from further ravaging the Foph." Calëb said.

Yna nodded before looking at me.

"Well? What do you think? Should we help the people responsible for murdering several Ia?" Yna asked.

I could tell that she enjoyed asking me that.

She enjoyed watching me react to intense situations.

"I… think we should start small. We've only just met. You're gonna have to earn our trust. One way to do that would be if you apologized to the Ia-"

Calëb broke out into a fit of laughter, interrupting me.

"Sorry, but that's not happening. I'm not sure if you're aware, but the Ia left us to die on this dark plane during the closing days of the Great War. If I personally ever see an Ia, I'd- what was that you said? I'd make them suffer a fate worse than death." Calëb said with a smile.

Part of me wanted to hide behind Yna, but I couldn't keep doing that forever.

"Mmm… fine. Stick to the previous conditions I stated. We'll have to find other ways to create some sort of trust between us." I said as the sun bathed the Dark Expanse in its brilliant light.

I wondered if that was really "The Sun". I was on a different world and so chances are that the bright ball of light in the sky was just another star in the cosmos.

I sighed and turned to Calëb once more.

"We'll give you aid should you need it, but my warning still stands." I said as Yna finally stood up.

She then grabbed me before grabbing a piece of meat from one of the bowls.

"Goodbye, for now." I said as Yna and I walked away.

Calëb remained seated on the carpet while got further and further away.

.

..

"Waa!"

"What's wrong with you?" Yna asked while carrying me across the dark expanse.

"I'm just… tired!" I cried, but Yna simply patted my head as we approached Coh.

We returned to Kenos's throne room and I was delighted to see that Yog was awake.

He looked at me as Yna and I approached and I saw nothing, but pain and fear in his eyes.

Yna placed me down, allowing me to walk towards Yog.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"I- I'm in excruciating pain… but I'll live. I hope. D- does Eimval still stand?" Yog asked.

"Yes. Were the Foph openly violent when they arrived? One of them told me that they tried talking to you guys."

"Talk? They taunted us and their beasts nibbled at the wounded and all we could do was watch! Those bastards- those fiends don't talk. They saw that the Ia were trying to build something and they tried to destroy it." Yog said with gnashed teeth.

I gave Yog an understanding nod and looked at the other survivors who were still unconscious.

"Rest up for now. Yna and I will take you back to Eimval as soon as you recover-"

"Did you kill them?" Yog asked and even though tears were welling up in his eyes, he seemed beyond furious.

"W- we killed one and gave the Foph a warning-"

"What?" Yog yelled prompting everyone to look at him.

"Those savages don't care about things like warnings. Once their leaders hear of this, they'll attack Eimval again and the next time-"

"I already spoke to the Foph leaders. She's the one I gave the warning to, actually." I said, but Yog simply clicked his tongue while turning his head away.

"Rest up." I said before walking up to Yna, who stood in front of Kenos's throne.

"Do you recognize that sword?"

"Of course. That's the Golden Prince's sword- well, part of it." Yna said.

"What do you mean?"

"The Prince's actual weapon is a Lance. That sword it's the blade that's supposed to sit at the Lance's tip." Yna explained.

I wondered just how big the Golden Prince was seeing as his sword was at least as long as a normal human was tall.

"Why don't you try using it?" I asked, but Yna shook her head.

"Meh. I don't wanna. I mean, look at it. Imagine fighting while carrying that thing. Not only that, swinging it around would leave you open to so many attacks."

"I see. Well, let's take everyone back outside. I'll cleans the stream some more while you continue developing this place- oh yeah. Tell me of you need materials. I can make bricks, planks and whatnot out of darkness." I said before leading everyone out of the cave, but before I left the cave, I descended further into it while cleaning it using blasts of darkness.

I eventually found myself heading upwards.

I created stairs, making the process much easier, but I quickly remembered exactly where I was.

My heart began beating ever faster as I emerged out of the dark tunnel and entered what looked like a regular forest with regular trees, but I knew different.

This is the forest where I experienced all manner of pain.

The place where it all began was just a little further north.

I wanted to see it.

The place where I was seemingly reborn.