Chapter Ten

Talis kicked the last bit of dirt onto the fire.

"That should do it." She said as she scraped the mud off her boot on a log.

"Think it will be enough?" Kloe asked.

The taller Netsu woman was adjusting the straps of her bag in a rare moment of nervous tension as she spoke.

"If the Verlass are after us they'll find us with or without a trail." Jeha answered.

"That's reassuring." Kloe muttered.

"Don't mind him." Magda added. "He's been doing this a while, we both have. The only difference is that I haven't let it change my optimistic outlook on life."

She flashed a grin at Istyn who blushed. Talis watched the exchange and smiled. Istyn deserved a little happiness. The man blamed himself for so much. Talis took out her canteen and drank a long gulp.

"Where to, Jeha?" She asked.

Jeha pointed to the trail between the trees where Talis and her people had chased down the princess and her friend the day before. Talis looked back and saw Florin and Lina, both of whom were silently sitting near the smoldering campfire. She approached the young princess and bent down in front of her.

"Talo, we never were properly introduced. I'm Talis."

Lina looked up at her and Talis noted the girl's brilliant emerald eyes.

"Talo, Talis? Is your name meant to be that close to that word?" Lina's voice was soft as she spoke.

"My father named me after the word for greeting in our old language. He said that when I was born that it was right at the start of the day, as though I was ready to take on the world even when I was just a newborn." Talis grinned and flashed her pearly teeth.

Lina softened her expression. "I don't know why my name is what it is."

"Well, from what I understand, you probably don't remember your parents. Right?"

Lina shook her head sorrowfully.

"Maybe there's someone in your capital who can tell you the meaning of your name. Can we find it out together?"

Lina nodded and Talis smiled bigger. The Netsu held out her hands and helped both the children up to their feet.

"See, Lina?" Florin said. "I told you they weren't so scary."

"Except for that one." Talis said, indicating Kloe.

"I heard that." Kloe grumbled and smiled.

"What are we waiting for exactly?" Istyn inquired.

Jeha pointed to where a man wearing a red tunic that matched Jeha's was riding down the path on top of… a horse?

"You have horses here?" Aliope practically shouted.

Magda looked at Aliope. "You have horses on your world?"

Aliope shook his head. "We used to, before Kutune's last visit. Our people haven't seen horses for almost fifty years."

The animal had a black face and front half to match. The back half was mostly white with dots of black. The rider dismounted as he approached and extended his hand to Jeha who took it in their customary salute.

"Master Jeha. The council has received word of your victory." The young soldier stated in a breathy tenor.

"If that's what they would like to call the slaughter of over two dozen soldiers." Jeha grunted.

"Condolences were also sent for the loss." The soldier muttered.

Talis walked to the horse and extended her hand to its face where there were two flaps covering the horse's eyes. "Why is this creature blinded?" She asked.

"To prevent the Verlass from confusing or spooking the horse with their bardcraft." Magda answered. "They can still touch its emotions, however, if the rider can keep the animal from seeing any illusory magics, then it's less likely to become enthralled."

Talis stroked the face of the animal when from behind her came her own familiar. Hansu pressed himself against Talis looking for affection. "Are you jealous, boy? Oh, who's a good… whatever you are."

The soldier grimaced at Hansu before looking back to Jeha. "Your companions here are requested to accompany you to the capital where they are to report to the council."

"Our companions are not bound by the laws of our government and may go as they please." Rebuked Magda who stood by Istyn's side, placing a hand on his shoulder.

If that boy goes any redder they may mistake him for a cherry.

The young soldier became flustered. "The moment that they set foot on Tolacin claimed soil they were in violation of the-"

Jeha held up a hand to stop the man. "At ease, boy."

Talis gave a half-smile. She could have easily stopped the young man by manipulating his emotions, yet Jeha carried a certain gravitas by the position of his rank that allowed him to accomplish the same thing without the use of Tatu.

Jeha continued. "Our friends may come and go as they please, and if the council wishes to explore the matter further then they can talk to me, though I would think the council wise enough as to not aggravate an ally especially in these trying times."

"Of course, Master Jeha. They are, of course expecting you and…" The boy trailed off as he caught eyes with Princess Lina. "Shall I ride ahead and inform the council that you are en route?"

"See to it." Jeha grasped the man's forearm once more and nodded.

The boy mounted his horse, pulled at the reins to guide its direction back to the forest path, and kicked at its sides. He rode off with incredible speed. Talis looked over to Hansu.

Any chance you can go that fast?

"That went well." Magda muttered.

"What do you expect from a council lackey?" Jeha retorted. He looked to the rest of his soldiers and the group before continuing. "We have our orders. Those that are coming with me, finishing gathering the rest of your things. We walk in ten."

The remaining soldiers along with Aliope and Kloe went around the camp gathering the bags, tents, and food they could find. Florin walked up to Jeha and tugged at the bottom of the man's tunic.

"Master Jeha, what about them?" Florin asked with nervous hesitation.

Jeha and Talis looked to where Florin was indicating and saw the numerous dead bodies that still laid about the field around the meadow's clearing.

Jeha shook his head. "I'm sorry, but we can't take the time to bury them. If we stay here much longer, we're likely to become discovered. Our priority right now has to be keeping the princess safe."

Lina had tears in her eyes as she joined the conversation. "We can't leave them to rot. These are Tolacin, they deserve better."

Aliope looked up from near the remains of the campfire. "She's right. These are your soldiers. Don't your kind have some sort of burial rights?"

"If we do then they were abandoned years ago." Magda answered. "There's not much time to grieve when this war has lasted longer than any of us have been alive."

Aliope shook his head. When he looked up, his eyes were a dark green. "Then let us help."

Aliope bent over and placed his right hand against the grass-filled ground. The earth around began to tremor and give way under the strength of his power. Aliope backed up as he pressed his will into the ground at his feet and the hole grew deeper. Kloe signaled for a few other soldiers to help as they picked up the bodies and placed them into the fresh ground. Talis extended her left hand and her Tatu glowed yellow along her shoulder as a force of power pushed the piles of dirt over the corpses while Aliope willed the surface together with his power.

The earth now closed, Aliope reached into his pack and retrieved a single seed which he placed into the fresh dirt. Tears filled his eyes, the water dripped into the dirt and from the seed, a root took shape and thrust itself into the ground. His face turned pale from the exhaustive use of his Tatu he walked away from his creation. A tree with dark brown bark and extended branches now stood at Aliope's hip.

"Ia foi atu eli lalo lagia te o fil mesei ma o alofa tunea o On." Aliope said reverently.

"Alofa tunea o On." Talis repeated.

The words were said again by Kloe, Elei, and Sida. Only Istyn did not speak the words of the Netsu old language. Talis looked to Istyn and gave him a reassuring smile. She walked to Aliope and handed him her canteen which he drank quickly.

Jeha and the rest of Tolacin looked at them. Jeha stepped forward. "What did that mean?"

"It's a prayer for the dead that they may find peace with their god." Talis explained.

For a moment Talis felt the divide between her people and Jeha's fade. Just then, her mind granted her a memory, and the face of her mother appeared to her. The two of them stood over the grave of her father on the island of Matao. It was the moment that Talis knew she wanted more than the life of a fruit picker like her father. Now in this moment standing with her friends on a new world, one where they could ultimately find peace from the devastations of Erridium and the Oni people, one where they could find allies and friends, one not just where the Netsu could survive, but where they could instead thrive, in this moment Talis felt something she hadn't felt her whole life. She felt as though she found a home, and she knew that she would do anything to protect it.

"Concentrate, Sida." Istyn hissed.

The young woman stared at her scarred forearm and willed the Tatu to burn. A small flame appeared in her hand and extinguished just as quickly as it arrived. She grunted and flexed her arm.

"You can do it, Sida." Elei's voice was soft and welcoming.

"Or you won't and it will someday get us all killed." Istyn countered. "Which will it be? Are you willing to let us all down simply because you can't summon a little flame?"

"Agh!" Sida snarled. The flame appeared and extinguished itself a half dozen times. She shouted again through gritted teeth. "I can't do it!"

"Then you'll doom us all!" Istyn declared.

"Istyn, please, this can't be good for her." Magda pleaded.

"This is how it's done!"

"Ahh!" Sida yelled and collapsed onto the hard dirt, holding her right hand over the wounded Tatu. Tears streamed down her face erasing the dirt in their path.

Elei handed Sida a canteen. "It's alright. We can try again later." He said.

Sida pushed away the drink. "No! Istyn's right. If I can't produce a single flame, what good am I?"

She pushed herself up off the ground and walked away from the other three. It had been six hours since they had separated from Talis and the rest who left to take the princess back to the capital and the creeping walk while keeping their shadows up had taken a lot of energy out of both Sida and Istyn already.

"She has to concentrate, Elei or it's not going to work." Istyn admonished.

"Maybe that's how it works for blight, but not for everything." Elei offered. "She just needs to relax, it will come back to her."

"Or maybe it won't and I'll be stuck like this or worse, become ruptured." Sida offered.

"What's ruptured?" Magda asked. She pulled out some dried meat and handed it to Istyn who took it willingly while Elei shook his head no.

"It's a soul bleed." Sida answered. "It's something that can happen to Tatu users when they don't have control of their powers."

"It won't happen to you." Elei stated as he offered Sida a piece of mango from his pouch. "I promise."

"You don't know that." Sida snapped, pushing away the fruit. "I could explode in a ball of fire for all we know."

"Wait, really?" Magda's eyes went wide.

"We're not really sure how it happens." Istyn explained. "The Tatu is said to be on the soul, not the skin. The ink comes from a sea creature that is said to be created by the Forgotten God. They're called tatuni. They are large colorful tentacled creatures that shoot out ink when they are scared. Hundreds of years ago the Forgotten God showed the Netsu how to use the ink to create Tatu which He used to protect the Netsu from our enemies."

"That sounds like a fairy tale." Magda smiled. "But what does that have to do with being ruptured?"

Istyn continued. "We found out that if a person has misused their Tatu, or if they have too many and use them too strongly that the power becomes too great. It's happened only a few times in our history where someone will use the Afi, the flame Tatu and the fire burns out of control, consuming the Netsu with it."

"It can happen to healers to a certain extent." Elei added. "If someone like myself or Aliope use too much of our own life essence to heal others, then our bodies become forfeit."

"And there's no way to stop this from happening?" Magda asked.

"Supposedly there is with the light Tatu, but the council rarely grants it as so far, everyone who has had Onkui, that's what we call the Tatu of light, anyway everyone who has had Onkui has given in to the Tatu and become ruptured." Elei said.

"Though no one has been granted Onkui for at least a hundred years." Explained Istyn.

"So do the Tatu have to be put in the same place? Do they have to look the same each time? Can you put two Tatu in the same place on the body and have two powers?" Magda was speaking fast and Istyn's eyes went wide as he tried to catch up.

"Yes, every Tatu has to be in a specific part of the body for it to work. They don't have to look the exact same, though they should represent something about the Tatu such as a spear or a sword for strength while air is usually gusts of wind and such. No, you can't overlap Tatu as this, supposedly can also cause one to be ruptured."

"What about-"

Istyn held up a hand. "I think that's enough right now, why don't you tell us instead where we are going?"

Magda gave Istyn a pout. He shook his head and she released the expression.

"Fine." She looked out over the grassy fields that lay in front of their path. "The princess had been here for the last decade with the citizens of Montserrat. The group was discovered and all but killed by the Verlass, but not before they sent a message to the capital that they had the princess. The few that escaped with Lina and Florin were said to have left the princess and her friend at the camp by the cave to go out searching for food. I presume that they were also captured, and if they were that means that there must be a Verlass camp somewhere near here."

"Why do you assume they were captured and not killed?" Sida asked. The young Netsu stood a ways off from the rest of the group and Magda walked to her side.

"Faith, I suppose." Magda said resolutely. "If you don't believe in something you'll never believe in anything. That's what my mother used to say."

Sida looked out over the open field. The two suns were setting and the stars were beginning to appear in the sky, but she didn't recognize any of the constellations.

"You know back on Erridium the people often talk about these portals and where they lead." Sida sighed as she tried to make sense of the arrangement of the stars. "Some think they lead to different worlds like planets in the same galaxy. Others think they take us to a parallel reality where we are on a planet that could have been Erridium if not for the fall of a totem."

"The fall of a totem?" Magda looked up at Sida who stood a head and shoulders taller than her.

"Small statues made to look like people. They're mostly used to teach children about the past. Some of them have pins at the bottom so that the person on top spins. Kids play with them as toys, they spin them around and the person on top never lands the same way twice. It's said that other planets could exist the same as ours or yours, all just slightly different from each other or on a different speed of reality."

Magda interjected. "So if you had a totem that landed on its back, then ours could have landed on its face and that would create two different universes?"

Sida frowned. "I guess it doesn't make much sense. It's just another thing my mother used to say. She used to be a scholar who wanted to find all the lost texts of the Netsu."

"Was she able to find any?" Elei asked as he joined them with Istyn not far behind.

Sida shook her head. "She tried, but Kutune destroyed the ancient libraries a hundred years ago or so."

"Then we better go find these Verlass." Istyn responded. "If Talis thinks we can make a home here then we better do it before Kutune returns."

"When is that supposed to be?" Magda inquired.

Elei spoke up. "Last time was almost fifty years ago before the Traveller came and showed us how to open the portals. Her descent is what broke the world into what it is now; just a collection of tiny islands."

Magda squinted and pushed her spectacles up back in front of her eyes. "I don't understand, Kutune was a woman, an Oni, but now she's a… a what?"

"A godmade." Istyn replied. "Created by On, the sun God. The creator of the Oni, and brother of the Forgotten God, the one who made us. He created all the planets in the sky, and when he created Kutune, he drew a circle."

Istyn drew one in the air with his right hand leaving a shadowy ring where his finger touched the air while his left created a fist. He indicated his left hand. "This is Erridium."

Then he indicated his right hand, burning it purple with his Tatu. "And this is Kutune. She goes around On every fifty or so of our years, then when she returns her body tears apart our planet."

He swung his right hand around the dark circle and brought it close to his left which he pulled into a tighter fist as blight rained down from his right hand onto his left. "The last time she came it nearly destroyed our planet. Our scientists believe that her next descent will destroy the planet. All hope seemed lost until the Traveller came and showed us how to open portals."

"Who's the Traveller?"

"A man who claimed to be sent to Erridium from another world." Elei stated.

"He was from another world." Istyn added with an edge to his voice. "Ruta sent him."

"And Ruta is…?" Magda inquired.

"Another god. One from a different plane." Istyn explained.

"Or planet." Sida added.

"Possibly." Istyn rolled his eyes. "It really doesn't matter. The point is, there are other worlds, hundreds, and yet none of them have been like this." He gestured around himself to the world.

Sida watched as the last of the suns' rays descended over the horizon. "It really is beautiful here."

Magda squinted from behind her glasses. "I guess I just can't see it like you can, not after all the war and death that has blotted this land since before I was born."

"We all have a history of violence and death." Elei noted. "That doesn't mean it has to be our future. Come on, let's keep moving."

"What about my Tatu?" Sida implored.

"You can still make the shadows." Istyn said. "So you're not completely useless."

Sida let out a long breath and burned her Tatu across her chest. Wispy tendrils joined with Istyn's dusky blackness he created until a cloud of fog surrounded the party. As they walked toward the forest, Sida noted Magda writing in a notebook and walked up behind her, peeking over the Tolacin's shoulder.

"Anything good?" Sida asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I hope you don't mind." Magda showed her the writing.

Sida scowled. "Is this the same language?"

"Sort of, I use a shorthand when I write."

"I see. Wait, you hope I don't mind what?"

Magda blushed. "You said that your mother was searching for your lost texts. I thought that someday this may be chronicled by scholars. When the people of two different worlds came together to defeat a great evil."

"Are the Verlass evil?" Elei queried.

"Of course they are." Magda retorted. "They murdered our royal family. Not just this one time a decade ago either. When the cataclysm occurred they tried to kill off the royal family then too, and that was nearly two hundred years ago."

"Why did they do that?" Elei countered.

"They tried to trick the king and his family. When the worlds collided, the Tolacin king and his went to Fortstad, the Verlass capital to speak of peace. Something our planet has had for almost one thousand years. The Verlass used their bardcraft against the royal family and the war began overnight."

Sida furrowed her brow. "That seems vague to me."

"What do you mean?" Magda looked up from her writing at Sida.

"They used their bardcraft and the war began? Does that mean that all their magic is evil?"

"Of course it is, magic is inherently evil."

Sida gestured at the shapeless fog that swirled around them. "Is this evil?"

Magda looked around and saw Istyn exuding the black vapors from his Tatu while Sida did the same. Elei created an icicle in his hand and smiled.

"I suppose it depends on what you do with it." Magda stated.

"Then could the same be said of their gifts? Surely they can't all be used solely for the purposes of fighting and killing."

Istyn flared his blight in his right hand. "There are many on our planet that consider blight to be an evil Tatu." The snake on his arm glowed a bright purple as he spoke. "Yet I was able to use it to protect you and your people back at the meadow."

Magda swallowed. "It's what we are taught. It's what the council teaches us."

"Just because you are taught something does not always make it right." Elei declared.

Magda looked as though she wanted to say something else, but froze in her tracks and pointed upward at a branch of a tree above the group. "Quiet!" She whispered.

Sida followed Magda's gaze and looked up into the trees. The creature on the branch was far enough away that it shouldn't be able to see them, yet its eyes swirled with a blue piercing gaze. The body looked feline, with dark black fur covering it except for the tail which was a bright red and split at the end into two jagged barbs that danced behind the creature as it looked about the forest floor.

"Keep quiet." Magda's voice was tense as she spoke.

"Do you think it can see us?" Elei asked.

"I doubt it." Istyn replied. "We're two dark walkers strong. We just need to keep moving and hope it doesn't follow. Stay close."

Magda moved to Istyn's side. She put away her notebook in her side satchel and linked her left arm around his right bicep. He pulled her in while keeping his hand exposed, the snake along his hand was pulsing violet. Sida looked down at the Tatu on her left arm.

Come on, work you stupid thing.

They walked slowly without a sound as they picked up each foot carefully on their journey across the forest ground. Sida noticed that the woods were very quiet and thought that odd. She considered speaking up, but decided against it, lest the creature hear her. Sida looked up again after a few steps and saw that the thing was still looking directly at them. It leaned forward onto its front legs and a snarl came over its lips exposing gnarled fangs.

"Lapo." Sida cursed.

The others turned and looked at the creature as it lunged at them. Istyn pushed Magda away from himself as the creature landed on top of him. Its claws dug into Istyn's arm and he cried out in pain. Istyn swung his arm around with the creature still attached, but the animal would not let go.

"Hold it still!" Elei cried out as he created two large icicles, one in each hand.

Elei stabbed forward with the frozen daggers at the creature which whipped its tail around and wrapped red barbs around Elei's right arm which dug into his skin. Elei shouted, but his momentum carried him forward as one of the blades stabbed into the beast. It released its claws from Istyn's arm and pulled the barbed tail away from Elei. The creature landed a few steps off and bared its fangs at the rest of the group as though daring them to attack.

Magda reached into her pack and pulled out a crossbow. "It's a pianbol!" She shouted at the Netsu as she fired her weapon at the creature. A bolt loosed from the mechanism and pierced the animal in its side. The pianbol howled with pain and turned its attention to Magda who gulped as the animal prepared itself to attack by leaning onto its back legs.

"Come on!" Sida shouted at herself, looking down at her tarako Tatu.

The ink burned with a red intensity and a large bolt of fire sprang from her arm lighting up the beast's backside.

"That's how you do it!" Elei hollered as the creature howled.

Istyn's hand glowed with purple violence as he created a miasmatic bolt that he hurled toward the pianbol. The creature dodged the blast which hit the ground creating a hole in the forest floor leaving the grass around it dead. The pianbol looked up and howled loudly. Sida felt it penetrate her senses as the cry echoed in her head. She put her hands up to cover her ears as her vision was clouded with pain. When she looked up she saw the creature snarling at her, while behind it three more of the beasts snapped their jaws, their tails flailing behind them tauntingly.

Sida attempted to flare up her fire Tatu but felt her energy drained from the previous blast. She looked to the others who had also been shaken by the pianbol's cry.

"What do we do?" Elei pleaded.

Magda's eyes were wide as she latched herself to Istyn by wrapping her arms around his waist. The four creatures circled them, drawing the party closer together. Sida closed her eyes as she awaited the inevitable when she heard a strange sound. A melody came over the air. The tune was pleasant and rhythmic with a lilt like the notes were swinging from one to the next. Much to her surprise, the four pianbol seemed to almost evaporate as they heard the sound. Their bodies dissolved as though pulled away leaving no trace of their ominous forms. Sida looked around trying to discover where the creatures went when she saw a man wearing a green hat holding what looked to be a musical instrument up to his lips.

The man continued playing until the last of the creatures disappeared. When the pianbol were all gone the song slowed down into a decrescendo leaving a final cadence that was simple and tuneful. The man put down his instrument and smiled. His blonde mustache twitched slightly as he saw the Netsu and Magda.

He adjusted his white collared shirt and pulled at the strings of his leather vest drawing it closer around his chest then took a step toward the group and smiled. "Now then, which one of you tried to light my pet on fire?"