A Meal For Criminals

Alyra shivers and pulls the thick coat tighter around her body. She sits close to the campfire, which has nearly gone out twice since Cage and the others left. Snow falls and surrounds her, and she has to shake her head every once and a while to keep it from piling on her hair. She could wipe it off, but that would mean exposing her arm to the torturous cold air.

During her life, she has passed through the gates of Yellen more times than she can count. However, the previous trips have consisted of a short walk down the road and back or a picnic by the river. Not once has she ever stepped foot in this forest. Why would she? Every Rajin woman knows what lurks under the foliage of these towering trees. If something is needed, animal meat, pelts, fruit, or plants, the men are sent out with a rough drawing of what is needed.

They rarely return with the right things, but not much can be done about that.

Yet here she sits, teeth chattering, wiping her nose on the coat every few minutes. And to make it worse, her only company is a complete stranger that's twice her size. Alyra looks over at Krash, shivering all the while. The Tanzide seems to have relaxed since Cage and the others left. He lies on his side close to the fire now, snoring loud enough to alert every beast within a mile.

Thank Betor for those herbs. Krash may be able to hold his own with that massive fur-covered body of his, but Alyra would be ripped to shreds in seconds. He must know this, because the man sleeps like a dead rock. She's tried to wake him, and her only reward has been unintelligible mutterings and louder snoring.

"Must be nice," Alyra mumbles, yawning, "The only way I'll sleep is with a knock on the head."

Before Krash drifted to the realm of dreams, Alyra had spoken with him for a while. Krash told her about his crumbling home, his trip here, his threatening of Yoru, the mistake of stepping foot on Kalar, and finally, Kyro's words of torture if Krash lied about hurting his sister.

Alyra had seen Yoru after the second meeting with the Tanzide and didn't see any bruises or cuts on the ex-Head Scribe's body. Yoru could have hidden them, but that doesn't seem likely. Yoru can hide her emotions from even the most observant people, but a bruise from a man this size?

The conversation was a nice distraction from the toe-biting cold, but either way, it's not her neck that's on the chopping block. Alyra is just ready to get away from this cold and be off to... wherever it is the others plan to go.

Alyra imagines what it will be like traveling through the Praesi with the others. Will she see with her own eyes the places she's only read about? Not all of them, she thinks, there are thousands of planets in the Praesi. They don't have seven hundred years to visit each and every planet like Tiren.

Even if she did, there's a good chance that most of the planets Alyra visits will be controlled by races like the Utherians. Conquerers.

Alyra has always wondered, Why are they doing this? Are they searching for something, or are they simply too greedy to be satisfied with their own planet? Perhaps Yoru knows. She will at least have theories. She always has those.

Alyra twitches. She strains to hear over the low whistle of the wind. Voices. She pops up, the coat falling from her shoulders, her excitement distracting her from the cold. She walks quickly toward the edge of the forest to meet Cage and the others, stepping over fallen trees and dragging her feet through piles of snow.

Soon, she can see Yellen in the distance through the line of trees. Alyra smiles wide as she sees people—their features hidden by the thick swath of falling snow—walking down the dirt road toward the forest. She runs along the trees to get closer until she finally reaches the road, "Cage! Yoru! Kyro! Ingen!" Alyra yells, standing in the middle of the road and waving.

The voices go silent. The figures come into view. Alyra frowns. Her eyes widen. Three men grin at her. Collectors.

"Is that... a woman?"

"Oh ho ho. It's been too long."

"Why don't you come over here, girl? You look cold."

These men mean to hurt Alyra, or worse. Why wouldn't they? They have nothing to lose but their lives. That's how it is with criminals.

Alyra steps back slowly, "Help!" She screams at the top of her lungs, earning pitying laughter from the Collectors.

They come closer. And closer. The taunts continue. Then, something flashes from the corner of Alyra's eyes. The Collector on the left freezes, the hilt of a sword jutting out from one side of his neck, the blood-stained blade visible on the other side.

The other two Collectors gawk at the dead man as he topples and thumps in the snow. Their minds are still in the process of realization when they meet the same fate. The last thing they see is a pair of pitch-black eyes, dark and empty as the bottom of an endless chasm.

Alyra covers her eyes with her hands, lips quivering. She lowers them, and her heart slows its thundering beats. Cage walks over to her, a dark mass sinking into his right shoulder, "Yoru?" She asks hesitantly.

Cage smiles, halting a foot or two before her, "She's safe," he says, looking her up and down with worried eyes, "I heard you scream and came as fast as I could. Did they hurt you?"

Alyra shakes her head, peeking over Cage's shoulder at the dead men, "No, they..." She pauses, brows furrowed as only footprints and blotches of red in the snow meet her eyes, "...Where did they go?"

Cage opens his mouth to speak. Quick footsteps interrupt him.

"Did you have to slingshot yourself off the tree like that?" Ingen's voice rings out through the forest, following behind Kyro.

Cage turns and looks at Ingen, smirking, "Did you really think I'd wait for you to start moving those logs you call legs?"

Kyro slows to a walk and stops beside Cage, grey eyes looking down at Alyra, "Why did you leave the campfire?" he says, glancing back and grunting, "I told that damned lion to watch over you."

"I heard voices, and I thought you all were back..." Alyra says, looking between Cage and Kyro. Her lips thin to a line, the memory of those twisted faces still fresh in her mind, "I'm sorry. I should have waited," she says quietly, eyes drifting to the snow under her slippers.

"Don't fret over it. Just be careful from now on," Cage says, touching her arm gently, "Wherever we end up, you should keep in mind that men like that exist everywhere."

Alyra looks up at him, nodding slowly. Her nose has turned from the usual red to a deep violet from the cold.

"When you let your guard down, which you eventually will, call for one of us like you just did. We'll come," Kyro says, earning a nod from Alyra.

"Good. Now, we should go back and wake Krash," Kyro sighs, turning and walking from the road and into the trees, "I think I know where we can get a boat that will carry all of us."

Cage's eyes linger on Kyro and Ingen as they walk away, then drift to Alyra.

"Are you ever going to tell me about those powers of yours? You don't have to, but..." Alyra musters a faint smile, "...I'm just like Yoru when it comes to secrets."

Cage hesitates. He remembers Yoru's words, 'a relationship with no secrets'. It sounds like a great thing, yet for some reason, when Cage looks into Alyra's expectant eyes, he feels... terrified.

"I will," Cage says with a smile, fighting past the fear, "But let's get out of this cold first, okay? You're shaking."

Alyra nods, the mention of her violent convulsions only making it worse, "Yeah, yeah. That sounds good," she says, turning and following Kyro and Ingen, arms crossed tight under her chest, teeth chattering aggressively.

Cage follows behind, eyes glued to Alyra's small, shriveled-up figure, her black hair and dress spotted with flakes of snow. The terror still crashes around in his mind, even more so now that he's agreed to tell her everything.

His power is to take, to make things and people disappear from reality without a trace. Cage knows that his powers are the reason he was able to kill Ludan, the reason he's still alive, and the reason he can keep others safe. However, there's been a voice in the back of his mind for a while, whispering to him, warning him.

Ludan's words about evil were not just righteous ramblings, and Cage knows this, even if he doesn't want to believe it. With Yoru, he felt no fear because his powers could save Kyro and Ingen, and they did. But how will Alyra react? Will she see the good Cage can do with his powers, or will she see them as the product of evil, as Ludan called them?

And more importantly—the question that truly terrifies him—will she see Cage as a man or a monster?

Either way, he said that he will tell Alyra, so he will. Maybe things will go well, if not at first, then later. They will be on a journey together, after all, and neither Cage nor any of the others know how long it will last.

---

"Holy..." Cage mutters, staring out from the tree line with wide eyes and parted lips, "There must be at least a thousand of them."

"When we served, there were three thousand," Kyro says, squatting beside Cage.

"There's probably more now. Another five hundred, maybe even a thousand" Ingen chimes in, chuckling as he leans on his warhammer behind the two others, "Two years is a lot of time for more babies to be born, and Rajin men enjoy making them just the same as any other race."

"Three thousand..." Cage whispers to himself. Miles away, far from the border of the forest, little black dots clump together on the flat, snow-covered field near the stem, stretching parallel to the forest and disappearing over the horizon. Like blades of grass in the wind, the figures shift and move in waves, slowly moving closer to the stem.

Quiet echos of marching footsteps and steel being sharpened are carried to Cage's ears by the waves of cold wind. There's another sound like a dog howling, but deeper. He must be hearing things, there are no dogs here, nor Skoans. Not close enough to hear, anyway.

Alyra steps up beside Cage, Krash's massive coat wrapped tightly around her, leaving only her head exposed to the cold. She peers out into the field with narrow eyes, brows raising after a moment, "So they do sing. I've read Records of soldiers talking about it, but I thought it was just another lie they tell to make their stories seem more grandiose," she says.

Alyra saw Ingen's diamond-encrusted injury earlier, but Kyro quickly let her know that curiosity will have to wait until they reach the branch.

"What do you expect them to do?" Kyro asks, seeming slightly offended, "Even Rajin soldiers get tired after an entire night of marching. They need something to keep their minds off the ache in their knees."

"The songs were my favorite part of being a soldier," Ingen says happily, meeting Alyra's eyes with a wide grin, "Want to hear a little something?"

"I do," Cage says.

"Absolutely not," Yoru's commanding voice rings out. She stands beside Alyra, looking up at Ingen with a glint in her eye, "Every beast in the forest will come running toward us for your bellowing."

Cage and Alyra both look at Yoru with equally confused expressions. Cage then looks at Kyro, leaning close to whisper in his ear, "Is he that bad at singing?" Cage asks.

Kyro chuckles, "No, he's actually quite good. It's just..." He jams a thumb toward Ingen, "...When he gets into a groove, the word 'subtle' doesn't exist. I used to be able to pick out his voice over thousands of other soldiers singing the same tune."

"Oh..." Cage says, glancing back at Ingen, "...Just loud then."

"Very loud," Kyro says, sighing as he seems to remember something. He stands and turns, looking at Krash, who sits on the edge of his boat a few paces behind the group, "Yoru, will you come here for a moment?"

Cage watches Kyro and Yoru walk over to Krash, the foliage of the trees casting dark shadows on their figures. Kyro says something that Cage can't hear to Yoru. Yoru speaks, then looks at Krash, who's head has been lowered since the two siblings came over.

More words are exchanged, and Krash raises his head to look at Kyro, a hopeful look in his eyes. Kyro speaks, nods, then turns and walks back with Yoru. Krash stands with a smile on his fur-covered face, then drags his boat across the snow until he's right behind the group.

"Well?" Ingen asks as Kyro returns, violet-skinned hands on wide hips.

"Krash was telling the truth. He didn't touch Yoru," Kyro says, looking down at Cage, "I was harsh on him out of suspicion, so I felt the need to make that right. I told him that we would escort him to the Stem of Mammoria if you gave the okay. What do you think?"

Cage pauses, brows raised in surprise, "Uh..." He mutters. Kyro gazes down at him expectantly. He remembers the Rajin's words, where they go is up to Cage, the others will only guide his hand. Still, it feels strange to have that kind of power. If Cage makes the wrong decision, what happens after is his responsibility. Especially the deaths.

"It's on the way to the Trunk, right?" Cage asks.

"Yes," Krash says from behind, sitting on his boat again, "Mammoria is three planets over from Raj. A week-long journey, if we are quick about it."

Cage nods, pausing. He plans on heading toward the trunk, so there will be no detour, "Okay. We'll follow you there," he says.

Kyro stands and bows low, white mane dropping past his face, "Thank you."

"Right. That's settled, so..." Kyro says, speaking loud enough for the entire group to hear, "...Let me fill you all in on how we're going to get this boat."

Cage listens to Kyro speak for the next few minutes. By the end of it, Alyra looks as if she's minutes from folding in half, Yoru shakes her head in exasperation, and Ingen mutters the same three words under his breath, over and over, "I knew it. I knew it. I knew it..."

And Cage? He only smiles. It wouldn't be a plan by Kyro if it didn't involve a high probability of dying horribly. Of course, that's when he's not half-dead from withdrawals.