Home and Prison

The stem of Raj spits out a boat, a speck compared to the massive, round opening. The nose of the wooden vessel points down, but rights itself after a moment, bottom toward the land below. The misty waves trailing behind it curves with the movement, dissipating several feet behind. The paddles, push through the at a steady pace under a bright blue star.

Cage scans the new world presented to him with wide eyes. In the south, a forest rises some hundred miles away. Trees like skyscrapers bunch together to hide the land below, each with different colored leaves, some green, some red, and some blue. The north and west are covered in grassy fields with barren mountains littered among them. The knee-high blades of grass are a lively green, and dance with the bouts of wind blowing over them. Between the waving blades, Cage sees figures moving, peeking out to greet the newcomers. Wildlife, most likely.

Cage wrinkles his nose as a terrible stench wafts in his nostrils. He leans over the side of the boat, looking down. Another part of the field, but the grass is nowhere to be seen. Gray stone and brown soil mix together, stained a brownish-red in large patches.

Bodies litter the barren section of land, some with blue, purple, and crimson skin. Rajin, Cage thinks, though he has not seen the ones with red skin. Many piles of different bodies are strewn across the battlefield with pale skin covered in plates of silver armor. Spears, swords, and shields lay atop and to the side of each pile, a golden hammer engraved on the face of each shield and breastplate.

"Utherians," Kyro grimaces, looking over the miles of bloody land surrounding them. ]His hand twists on the Orb, carrying them eastward.

"It was just after you and Mavyl left," Ingen says, eyes to the sky as he lounges on the nose, arms hanging freely off the sides, "The period between each invasion is getting shorter. They're determined."

"Worried?" Kyro says, glancing at Cage, who still leans over the side, eyes to the ground below. Kyro's long sword leans against the wooden bench beside him, the hilt rising to the level of his chest as he sits.

"Not in the least," Ingen replies. His War hammer leans against the inside of his thigh, head down against the wooden floor of the boat.

Cage furrows his brows as they pass over the silent battlefield, "Your people don't wear armor?" he asks. The dead Rajin soldiers wear cloth robes much like a jiu-Jitsu Gi, sleeves cut off at the shoulders, and trousers cut at the knees. Their weapons are nowhere to be seen.

Kyro shakes his head, "Too heavy. It makes the soldiers slow," he says.

"But it's dangerous. One cut, one arrow, and you're dead," Cage says, straightening himself.

Kyro scoffs, glancing at Cage. He lifts one hand from his sword and points to his stomach, "The only thing a Rajin soldier worries about is a lost limb or pierced heart. Any other wound is quickly healed," he says. Kyro clenches his jaw as his skull begins to throb. I don't need it, he thinks, beating the words into his own head.

Cage looks at the cut in Kyro's leotard, humming. There should be a deep gash there from the centipede, but only a pale scar stretches across the muscle. Still, the Rajin looks pained by something. Cage noticed something was wrong during the fight with the centipede. When he called Kyro to give him the Rage Stone, the man looked angry, and frustrated. That is, until he realized what Cage was offering.

The Rage Stones. The strange ways of the Rajin army. Their willingness to follow these Epochs. Kyro's incessant mood swings. Something is wrong with all of it. Something deeper than simply making soldiers stronger with strange crystals. Cage thinks about it for a long while and retreats into his mind.

An hour passes, the colorful forest zipping past to the south, dancing green fields to the north. The trio floats silent and Kyro glances down at Cage, who once again leans over the railing, his only arm holding his chin up as he looks to the forest. Perhaps, if all goes well with Yoru, Kyro can ask his sister to teach Cage about the universe. Combat is one thing, but the thought of having to explain this world and everything beyond it exhausts him.

"We're here. Finally," Ingen says, still leaning back over the nose of the boat with his head hanging off the edge, massive chest, and abdomen exposed to the sky. He leans up, exhaling and stretching, then grabs the grey bag from near his feet.

No response from Cage, as Kyro expects. Cage becomes like this often, Kyro has noticed. Eyes unblinking, movements almost unnoticable. It's as if he is asleep, off in some dream world, leaving his body on auto-pilot. The Rajin raises one hand, putting his thumb and middle finger together for a thump against Cage's head. A pale hand catches his wrist, and Kyro raises a brow.

"What is it?" Cage says with furrowed brows, glancing at Kyro.

Does he just choose not to listen? Kyro chuckles, humming and gesturing with a nod forward. Cage looks to the east, standing from the bench to see over Ingen's massive frame.

Several miles ahead, Cage sees a mountain, one much larger than any of the volcanos on Kalar, or any other mountains he has seen here so far. The boat he stands on is at least a few miles above the ground, yet the tip of the almost silver mountain reaches its level easily. The would-be sharp tip of the jagged mass of stone is instead flat and smooth, creating a makeshift platform that reflects the blue light shining on it. A statue of a massive man rises from the platform, one hand steadying a war hammer as the head sits at his feet, and the other pointing forward to the south.

The mountain's slope spreads wide in all directions like salt poured on a table. Though on the south side, the slope cuts off into a sudden cliff midway, leading into a massive shallow cave-like opening all the way to the ground below, as if something took a bite out of the stone. From that unnatural cave, a white stone wall extends a couple of miles from each side, curving to create a half oval with a narrow walkway lining the top. A massive iron gate rises in the center of the curve with engravings across the metal, though Cage can not make out the details from here.

Rectangular towers line the wall, each rising several feet from the walkway with pointed roofs. Inside the wall, a maze of buildings bunch close together, the only things separating the connected roofs and walls being the stone streets. The whole city looks like this, each building and home built with white marble or brown-reddish brick.

Under the curving overhang of that cave, much larger buildings rise from the ground, all of them built with slick and shiny stone. One tower rises high in the back of the cave, seeming to be built into the wall. Its finer details are obscured by shadows, but Cage guesses that it must be important.

"Is that where you both live?" Cage asks, still standing, eyes looking over the ant-like figures crowding the streets.

Ingen hums, rummaging through the bag as it sits between his legs, "Not anymore," he says.

Cage furrows his brows, "Where then?" he asks.

"There," Kyro says from behind, pointing to a section of land outside the walls.

Cage turns to Kyro, then follows to where the Rajin points. A few miles south of the city wall, surrounded by fields of green and patches of stone and soil, shoddy wooden huts rise from the ground. There must be at least fifty of them, Cage guesses, all built close together with a dirt road splitting them into two sides. To the south, the road disappears into that colorful forest several miles away, and to the north, it stretches toward the city.

A few miles past the huts, a wide river runs parallel with the dirt road, stretching both ways in a similar fashion. However, the true length of the river is hidden by that massive mountain behind the city.

"Why outside of the city?" Cage asks. He studies the huts as they float closer, scanning black eyes over the dome roofs built with straw and sticks, and walls that are merely wooden planks jammed into the soil. A strong gust of wind will send these sad constructs tumbling.

"It's always been this way," Kyro replies

Ingen grunts, "The people are all too caught up in their own pride, even the women. Collectors are eyesores, stains upon the honor of our perfect people," He adds, tying the bag closed. He had been checking it, making sure all that is meant to be there, is indeed still so. Their run from the Massor was frantic. Terrifying. Fortunately, he had not lost anything in the process.

Cage hums, glancing at Ingen. The massive Rajin's demeanor swings even more than Kyro's. He wonders if the reason for this is the same, or if it is something different. Though Cage is still ignorant as to the reason for Kyro's constant instability. He makes a note in his mind to ask when things settle, and hopes to remember. If he is correct, then absorbing the centipede has made his memory stronger.

It makes no sense to Cage, not in the least. But, better to count your gifts before questioning them. Cage turns, glancing at Kyro, "So you are not allowed in the city at all? Not even to visit your family?"

"Yellen. The city is called Yellen," Kyro says, "And Collectors are allowed in the city under the watch of guards, but only for work."

"At least it gives us something to do between runs," Ingen chimes in, lifting his warhammer and laying it on his shoulder, "Anyway, prepare yourselves. We will no doubt have questions to answer."

Kyro and Cage nod. Kyro lifts his palm from the orb until only his fingertips are touching it, then the mist-like waves beneath the vessel begin to thin. As this happens, the boat falls in a diagonal glide toward the huts.

As they glide, Cage sees a group of Rajin approaching from Yellen, riding large beasts down a dusty dirt road leading to the huts. There are six of them, all tall and broad with blue or purple skin, swords, spears, and hammers attached to their persons. They wear the same cloth robes and tunics as those fallen soldiers, but these are white with grey lining. Silver, black, and grey hair sprout from their heads, and each of them has more wrinkles in their faces and bodies than Ingen and Kyro combined.

"Who are they?" Cage asks.

"City guards," Kyro responds, sighing, "They've come for the stones."

The boat nears the ground. Now that Cage looks, almost every hut has an identical vessel beside it, though the black orbs are nowhere to be seen. Undoubtedly to keep Collectors from using the boats for personal reasons.

Rajin men wearing those black leotards stand and sit around the many huts, all of them only sparing a glance for the arriving party. Cage earns a few confused looks, but only for a moment.

"You have a visitor, Kyro," Ingen says as the boat lands beside the hut at the end of the line, nearest to the city, and the approaching guards.

Kyro hums, looking at the approaching group of guards who return their own distasteful gazes. Through the line of broad shoulders and trotting beasts, Kyro sees a woman with sleek silver hair that falls to her shoulders and narrow yellow eyes, like golden stars. She wears a black silk dress that clings to her toned body.

Kyro lowers his head under the piercing gaze of the woman, and his heart twists in his chest. The vessel lands softly beside one of the huts, Kyro and Ingen soon stepping from it.

"You know her?" Cage asks with furrowed brows, joining the other two as they step from the boat.

"Yes," Kyro says with a subdued voice, "She is my sister."