4 A Faithful Meeting (4)

Seeing someone casually ripping off their own skin made Aldryn jump back in shock, not expecting his opponent to mutilate his own body. Yet still, no blood poured out from the black gap that he could now clearly see between the white skin. When he glanced back to the ripped piece, he noticed how the skin started to disintegrate immediately upon touching the ground. It was not something that magic could do, at least no magic that the blonde knew of.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Aldryn asked with a wince, despite not really expecting to receive a reply.

The blonde knew pain, felt its various forms. They say that people are unable to remember pain, only re-imagine it. So it was rather horrible to see someone inflict it upon themselves. But seeing the straight face, it was obvious that it didn't hurt his opponent.

When the next blow came, the Apostle of Light could not help but look at the arm and noticed that the blackness looked like scales. Upon the next blow, he looked at the creature's face and noticed aspects that he could have never seen from afar. When the two of them stood at some distance, waiting for the other to attack, the young man looked like any other human, spare for the now mutilated arm. But when their weapons would lock and Aldryn could look at him from up-close, he noticed that the skin no longer seemed human. It became nearly translucent, hiding more such blackness beneath. If the priest concentrated upon a certain spot, he could swear that he could see scales beneath the skin stretched above them.

It was not a creature that Aldryn was familiar with. While the scales reminded him of the serpents that lived in the North, close to the volcanoes, none of them could do what the young man could.

"Do you believe that this is one of the serpents from the North?" the oracle asked his companion.

"I have never seen one such as this before", the fox replied.

"Neither have I. But if this is the one that has been killing the people, then it does makes sense. The serpents of the North are known for eating human flesh" the priest commented back.

"He doesn't smell like on either, nor were any of the found humans eaten", the Thrae said.

"Maybe he is a mutation? A new form of a serpent. Or maybe he is a spawn of a serpent and a human?" Aldryn suddenly exclaimed in his mind.

"Are you mad?" the fox laughed, "You said yourself", it huffed then, "The serpents eat humans and for them to have children together it would mean that two of them would actually have to be together. It is impossible. As for mutation, it's too sudden and strong. The creature is more intelligent than the serpents, it's faster and looks too human."

"Well if someone were to tell a story about the two of us a few decades ago, nobody would ever believe it and would say that its impossible as well", the oracle commented back.

"Well then, how do you explain the fact that he doesn't speak then?" the Thrae challenged back.

"Maybe he can't", was the easy reply.

"Can you speak? Or are you mute" Aldryn then said to the creature, surprising it.

The young man then stopped his attacks and looked at the oracle in confusion.

"Were you actually expecting a reply? the Fox asked exasperated.

'What a strange creature' the strange young man thought to himself, 'He's talking to himself' he then became amused.

"He obliviously doesn't understand the common tongue" the fox sighed them.

"Well if you are so smart, why don't you try and figure out what that is?" the priest snapped back at his companion.

"Well maybe I should, seeing as you are no good" the foxes voice then grew angry.

In less than minute, the two have switched places. The Thrae took over Aldrny's body and with it came some changes. The oracle's blond hair grew silvery white and translucent ears grew on his head. When his once blue eyes opened, they were replaced by ruby red, matching the permanent burns that were ever present around his eyes, which many confused with paint at first. While markings of a ruby colour spread all over his body, the only visible ones being on his arms and cheeks.

In that short time, the unknown young man watched the change with amazement. He has never seen something like this before. He watched as his opponent suddenly changed his appearance, after seemingly speaking with someone. It also took him less than a few seconds to not only take in the new changes, but also feel them. The one standing before him was no longer the blonde that he fought for hours. He could not explain it, but the presence itself changed. In the blink of an eye the creature felt a shiver run down his spine and his instinct screamed of danger.

'What the...' he begun to think, only to feel an ominous aura and his instincts screaming at him, 'There is something else in there. Poor thing. Maybe I can help if I beat it' he thought then.

Without fully realizing it himself, the young man has also changed his appearance and jumped into an attack.

The Thrae was also taken by surprise. It wished to speak with what could have possibly been some form of mutated Serpent from the North, yet just when it wanted to open its mouth to speak, the young man attacked. The fox felt something coming from its left and dodges, just in time to not be stabbed by the blade. It jumped away and created space between the two of them and took in the changes in its own opponent.

'Definitely something more dangerous. The other creature would not have been able to dodge me like that' the strange young man decided.

The distance offered the Thrae the possibility to observe the changed. There no longer stood a handsome young man, with milky white skin and pitch black hair and eyes. Were it not for the hairstyle, clothes and the weapon that he wielded, the Thrae would not be able to recognize the creature that stood facing it. It felt Aldryn sigh at the back of his mind, knowing that were it not for the fox, he would never have been fast enough to dodge such a blow.

"Thanks" the blonde said with a gulp, feeling lucky to have the fox with him.

"Don't mention it kid" the Thrae replied, "Let's just hope that my current strength is enough"

They both wished to properly look at their opponent, but never got the chance, as the first attack was shortly followed by another. In between exchanging blows they both understood that what they were facing was no Serpent of the North, but something much more dangerous. A creature of a truly unknown origin. Despite the scales that now covered his whole body, after getting used to the new appearance, the Thrae admitted that the young man still looked the same. He kept his human shape, despite no longer looking like one.

"Do we know of any other type of creature similar to this one?" Aldryn then asked.

"I know every type of serpent-like creature that exists in this world and none come close to this" the fox informed him rapidly, trying to concentrate on the fight.

Unlike during their previous round, the Fox now also had to look out for jabs coming from the tail that appeared at the base of the young man's spine. It looked heavy and had a pointy edge that looked rather sharp. Despite this, the creature had no trouble lifting it, or using it to be able to swing his body the way he wished it to go. He would also use the tail to try and trip Aldryn's host, but to no success.

The dragonic creature, for there was no other way that the oracle could describe it, also had a pair of great wings that it seemed to protect. He would sometimes use the blunt part of it to block some attacks, but it was always the part of the wings were bones were present. The apostle could also understand why. When stretched out, the wings obliviously had a weak point. Paper thin skin of a dark colour that would allow it to fly, but was obvious easy to damage. A pair of horns have also grown from the young man's head, those being the only feature that Aldryn could not understand the purpose of.

"Draconic you said?" the fox asked amused.

"That's right!" Aldryn exclaimed, "In the North they have legends of creatures called... Dragons? I think" he said unsure at the end.

"Yes... I also heard about them" the Thrae then replied, remembering its own time in the North and the painting that it saw.

"You think that it might be one?" Aldryn then asked unsure.

"What are the chances" the fox then replied annoyed. If it would still have a tail, it would slam it down on the ground repeatedly in agitation, "Too many things are starting to happen" it then commented.

After their chat, the two of them were nearly stabbed a few times, so their attention was switched back to their opponent. At some point, Aldryn even wondered how the creature facing him managed to retain its clothes. How they were not ripped to pieces by the wings and tail that spurted out of his body. Only after a few jabs where the blonde carefully dodged and ducked behind his opponent did he noticed the back of the clothes. It seemed that they were purposely made with those features in mind. There were two vertical holes on the back that he previously failed to notice. Interlocking metal disks were sewn into the material and there was no doubt in Aldryn's mind that prior to the transformation they kept the cloth at the back fastened. Same system was used at the back of the pants where the tail now stood.

The fight continued and the new-found ferocity even caused the fox to use some of Aldryn's skills, adding a bit of its own power to make them more effective. Whenever he swung the spear, he would use the Body of Steel to make the muscles in his arms harden and his attacks to become more powerful. Then, he would instantly release it and activate Wind Steps, to raise his agility and evade any incoming attacks. But despite having used some of their most basic skills, their opponent seemed to have natural strength and speed. It caused both Aldryn and the fox to feel somewhat jealous.

"Look at that" the blonde then suddenly snorted, "We finally have something in common" he commented on the emotions both of them were feeling at the same time.

"Shut up" the Thrae simply said, not enjoying being compared to his host.

'That thing also seems to be talking to someone' the young man thought unbeknown to them, 'Could it be...?' he wondered and then scoffed, 'No way' he scolded himself, 'That would be crazy and among all the things that others called me, crazy is definitely not one of them. My brother and cousin, perhaps… most likely. But not me! No! Plus there is no such thing as possession, it's all just scary stories meant for hatchlings. There must be a logical explanation to that creature and its ability to change forms' it continued to think, but couldn't help but wish to test out his theory.

The two exchanged blows for a while more and when it became apparent to the unknown young man that there was no bloodlust coming from his seemingly new opponent, the fight grew playful once again. The ferocity became an elegant dance that the two of them shared.

'The presence truly is similar' the serpent thought amazed, 'How can this be?'

"Well...He's not trying to kill us" Aldryn then told the fox, "That's good...Right?"

"Kids are so annoying those days" the Thrae only said irked, "Making an adult play with them" it sighed sadly.

"Hey!" the blonde then exclaimed in his mind, "You're the one who wanted to come out" he reminded the fox, only to be ignored.

When their weapons clashed and locked again, they looked into each others eyes. Both Aldryn and the Fox were stunned, never having seen such eyes before. They were fully black, from one end to another, but it was darker than its scales. It also seemed impossible to know where their opponent was looking at first, only to notice that the stars that seemed to have been caught in his eyes would move in a certain direction, as if following something. The creature was also amazed by his opponent's eyes. He has seen many humans by now, but none had eyes of such colour, neither the sapphire blue, nor the ruby red.

The two were locked in their battle and failed to notice anything else, even the sun beginning to hide beyond the horizon. Despite the lack of light, the two did not seem to stammer for one second. His opponent's natural eyesight being better than that of human, while Aldryn easily used one of his lifelong skills, "Fox Eyes" allowing him to see as if it was the middle of the day. The skill's name was ironically a popular topic of jokes for the blonde to tease the Thrae with.

"Ironic isn't it?" Aldryn would often say.

"Shut up" the Thrae never once failed to reply.

"Why? I got the skill long before the two of us met. If one should leave... It's definetely you" the blonde would only say with a pout.

The fight lasted for a long time. It was not until the Fox accidentally stepped into a small stream that was hidden beneath the grass was it that their fight ceased. The sudden temperature change and water flow caused a small shock to course through his body and lose his balance.

"How could you not notice a stream?" Aldryn yelled at it.

"Well I didn't see you warning me of its presence" the Thrae snapped back.

"Aren't you the one with better senses?" the blonde would argue back.

Before the oracle could fully realize what happened and get back up, the edge of a blade was pressed at his throat. For a moment, both Aldryn and the Thrae froze. They both thought that the creature standing before them will not hesitate to perform the killing blow. To their surprise though, he started laughing.

'That was so much fun' the serpent thought, 'I now understand why the others played this game often' he said and then became sad, since he was never allowed to play with others.

'Maybe this guy will play with me again?' the black-haired man then wondered, his tail wagging lightly.

In his excitement, the young man shouted something and pointed a finger toward the sky. In that moment, the possessed apostle felt a tingle in his ears and raised his arms toward them. Seeing this, the young man's eyes widened and he quickly slapped his hand over his mouth. At first, it confused the priest, not only has he never heard of such a language before, but also his opponent's reaction.

"We should switch back", the Thrae heard the voice speak in his mind, "This is the longest that you have ever possessed my body."

The sentence was received with a single nod before the oracle changed his appearance again. The markings faded back into the skin, while the hair darkened its colour from silver into blond. With a single blink the eyes turned back from red to blue.

'So it is possession' the serpent simply watched amazed, 'But no... How can it be possession if he can switch between the two seemingly at will?'

Observing the change, the unknown creature decided that its opponent admitted their defeat. While watching in fascination the changes that took place before his eyes, the young man also calmed down, realizing that his voice did not cause the same harm to the blonde human as it did to the others. When he was once again facing his initial opponent and the traces of the other presence faded, the young man has also decided to switch his appearance back. Soft, human skin once again covered his scales and black eyes replaced the night sky. The wings, tail and horns retracted back into his body, like magic, and the apostle could not help but stare, wondering how something like that could be possible.

'Just what is he?' he then wondered looking at the blonde, 'Other creatures similar to him died when they heard my voice...Yet he seems fine'

"So you can speak" Aldryn said after he got out of the water and sat on the ground.

An action followed by the black haired man, who also decided to take a seat near his new friend.

"He must not know the common tongue, but the language that he spoke in that moment, it sounded similar to that of the Old Religion", the fox whispered after noticing that this time, the young man did not even bother to hear them speak.

Aldryn tried again, greeting the serpent in the old language and this time, it caused the creature to look at him in surprise.

He tiled his head and waved his hand in greeting. This, in turn, caused the oracle to sit up in surprise and excitement. He eagerly nodded and waved his hand back, repeating the word.

After that, the oracle tried to speak a more lengthy sentence in the Old Religion, praising the beast's human appearance. This in turn, after a few minutes, caused the young man to slightly blush, confirming the Thrae's theory that he could understand the language of the Old Religion.

The young man shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped and looked at Aldryn. The blonde understood his worries but gestured for him to continue speaking.

"Kansaquirien" he said and a ringing resonated in the Oracle's ears.

This time, it didn't hurt, either because he knew what to expect and wasn't taken by surprise, or it seemed that the more he would hear that foreign tongue, the more he would get used to it.

It has taken him a few minutes just like his new friend to understand the word. He quickly noticed the similarity between that and a word of the Old Religion. If its meaning was similar, if not the same, then the oracle had no doubt that the two of them could understand each other.

Aldryn smiled and laughed, repeating the same word, only in the old language. Thank You, in the Old Language was Kansarim and he had no doubt in his mind that this was what the young man facing him wished to say.

The two of them spend the rest of the night laying near each other and admiring the night sky. The only thought racing through both of their minds was the similarity that the sky filled with stars had with the young man's true eyes.

Then, suddenly, the oracle heard his companion speak again and couldn't help but smile after understanding the words. He then introduced himself as Aldryn in the Old Language. All the while thinking, Klyran, what a fitting name. Even the old Fox now seemed to be content, after their fight has ceased.

'Finally' Klyran thought, 'Maybe this world is not so bad. At least I am no longer alone' he then smiled, looking at the night sky.