House of Lyrhayun

'Lidyir hasn't returned yet?' With this baffling thought, Syhin stepped inside. Condensing luminescent heavenly auras on his fingertip, he lighted the spacious room. Once he neared the pond, the youngling opened its tiny mouth, crying out to him for food. Fish crushed into a pulp, the meal for the hatchling prepared by Lidyir rested on a shelf. Beneath it laid a wooden staff, Lidyir's weapon of choice, covered with dried bloodstains. The blood, from Lidyir's hand, that he knew.

Glancing at the half-prepared state of the meal, Syhin concluded that Lidyir left in a hurry to outrun the storm. 'When he was training, he must have lost track of time,' Syhin thought, holding a smile.

Just two years older than him, Lidyir tasked himself to watch after the beasts two months ago when his father left for the city of Lar, the largest port city in the desolate southeastern island cluster. Two years ago, his father had bought Lidyir, along with two other young women, from a strange crew of slaver pirates of unknown origin. He exchanged a large amount of precious treasure for them, most of what he had collected in his lifetime.

Everyone in his family had become perplexed by his action. To this day, they talk about his puzzling behavior. Still, his family warmed up to them over time even though Syhin felt some distance yet remains. Though, to him, they were family; and Lidyir, he held the place of an elder brother.

Feeding the hatchling, Syhin cleaned the place, waiting for Lidyir to return. Enough time had passed for Lidyir to make a trip back from the House of Lyrhayun, but he hadn't returned. Syhin wondered why he hadn't returned, though, once he stepped out to lock the door, he had his answer.

A gigantic brunch darted towards him. Using a burst movement technique taught by his father, he jumped thirty feet backward. Then, to smoothly skid to a halt. Syhin felt he underestimated the scale and ferocity of this storm; this one surely spirals in from the vast inner ocean.

'Lidyir should still be at the Lyrhayun Clan.' After the thought crossed his mind, Syhin reasoned such shouldn't be a question. As one of the six great factions of the Death Swamp, the Lyrhayun were great hosts, always loving and inviting. They are learned of their guest; they tailor incentives and excuses for them to stay. And now, the chance presented itself, so they wouldn't surely waste it and let Lidyir leave knowing he was his brother.

Despite their excessive behavior, the Lyrhayun clan exerts a proud air, not straying from the family principles, coaxing the guests into their mold.

In Death Swamp, and in all the wetland east of the island dividing river, the Lyrhayuns held a place of respect in the minds of ordinary people. Thus, if someone found the opportunity, they would stay to experience a festive yet elegant atmosphere. That even without much or any persuasion.

When his father first arrived in the Death Swamp, they offered land to him as a friendly gesture after learning that he had a skirmish with the Sylfhonis Clan, their arch enemy. Since then, the Lyrhayun Clan has kept a close relationship with them. The agreement they had were few and informal.

They stay in their land and help them defend it if needed. And the rain fisher beast, if the Lyrhayun Clan require them to search for rare herbs, their elders could request to handle them. Earlier in the morning, they had made one such request. Lidyir, responsible for looking after the rain fishers, had gone to their clan estate to pick them up.

And with such a powerful storm on the horizon, it is best if Lidyir, a beginner at the martial path, stayed for the night. Though remembering a reoccurring matter, Syhin became stiff. Something he never wanted to remember, but this sudden recall immediately made him more cautious.

Syhin remembered his father placing his hand on his head, telling everyone to stay together until his return. He reexamined how Lidyir left things half prepared, showing the intent of return. He gazed up at the collapsing cloud as the wind strengthened, though the rain had yet fallen. Syhin decided to go to the House of Lyrhayun to safely bring back his brother.