In the nest of Agars

Molly

Four days ago, Molly found herself on a foreign planet.

The way over was a horrifying experience she never wanted to go through again. As soon as her head went under the surface, it was impossible to breathe. The way the dark pressed around her was akin to being a thousand deep in the ocean. The only difference was that she could not move at all, could not struggle to go back up. She had never felt so helpless in her entire life.

The worst part was it lasted for a very long time. It felt like hours. When she was sure she was dead, dim light shone upon her eyes and air seeped back into her lungs, thankfully.

She was panting.

Beside her was Bill, who had suddenly woken up, still clasping to the purple blossoms as if it were his lifeline. Indeed, it was. For without it, they would have died long before their savior arrived. Somehow it scared away the butterflies. It was ironic; but it was as far as her deductions went.

Jin collapsed next to her, catching his breath in heavy lungfuls.

The place was dim. And Molly slowly noticed a stench. The whole place smelled. Of urine. Feces. Sweat. Dead things. It was worse than a neglected pigpen. The pungent rancid smell that assaulted her nose threatened her stomach to flip over.

As her eyes adjusted to the torchlight, she made out the figures of people all around them. Purple-skinned men donned in dirty dark cloaks. Who are they? She wanted to ask but her voice caught in her throat and what came out was a hoarse gasp.

Suddenly, they began crying. She could not point out who sniffed first but soon, they were all on their knees, purple fists over their hearts, weeping.

Their chorus was both despair and joy, of loss and hope. It was a delirious sound and it frightened Molly more than it puzzled her.

Among them, she soon confirmed, strewn were bodies dressed in the same dark cloaks. But unlike those who were on their knees, these bodies were unmoving. And Molly could only guess with gut certainty that the very smell of rot was originating from them. How many days had they been...? She swept her eyes around frantically, instinctively making a count of the bodies sprawled on the ground. The three of them were on a raised platform so she could overlook most of them.

She spotted tens upon tens of bodies lifeless, scattered among those who were still alive but in tears. She could not even begin to fathom what had transpired in that hall.

A moment later on, an elder approached them. The way his dazed eyes regarded them, and the way his hands trembled - he was barely holding it in. He ignored Molly and knelt in front of Jin who was already able to stand on two legs.

"Yosoter..," the elder burst with devotion, looking up at Jin's figure like he was a god sent down from heaven.

After he said it, the rest of the hall went up in a foreign chant, "Ti kiri yosoter! Kiri! Kiri!"

Molly thought the surprises were over just then the elder spoke amid the chanting and alas, she understood him! He said, "We've waited for so long."

Molly had since been in Ijbel for four days but she still could not grasp everything.

They were the Yosoyins - the Shadow Worshippers, although they preferred to be called Agar et Yosulti - the Sons of the Shadow Beast. The second one was a bit more tiresome on the brain, it having more syllables; so she called them agars in her mind. They addressed each other as siblings - sarse. After living amongst them, they called her a Sarse now too.

The agars were responsible for Molly, Bill, and Jin's teleportation to Ijbel. Them being sucked in by the shadow and going through such horror was not a spontaneous incident. Rather, it was a deliberate action.

But the price the agars had to pay was huge. Over two-hundred agars entered that hall they called House of Tolo to help perform the summoning. Only a fourth of them survived. Through out the summoning which lasted an entire earth-month, nobody moved from their spot. They peed and shit and died where they sat. It was after all a magic that transcended dimensions. Loss of lives were inevitable or so Old Sarse Karlok explained.

It was not only Old Sarse Karlok who could speak English. Astonishingly, a handful of them were quite fluent.

As far as Molly could understand from what he had said, they had been the ones giving life to the purple flowers, searching for the Wukten Yoso - or was it Wuktel? Wugpen? Anyway, it translated to the Shadow Champion. So for a long time, they had been laboriously sniffing out for their Champion. Apparently, it looked like an egg, albeit a hundred times bigger.

Unfortunately, they never found it. As the shadow god would have it, however, they stumbled upon the Shadow Incarnate instead. And who else could it be but Jin! As it seemed to her, an Incarnate did not necessarily have to be an egg.

So there was Jin, a human being, now worshipped like a god.

Now, Molly looked over from the windows of the House of Tolo as she watched a black army approach. From afar, they were like a creeping shadow on the ground. The faint traces of the beanpod moon floated above them all. Soon they reached the rock walls of the Fort of Rakalt.

Bill stood beside her, mouth gaping at the sight. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

Molly heaved a heavy breath. "We will not be involved in this. I've already talked to Old Sarse Karlok. They only need Jin anyway."

Right. As soon as they marched for east, Molly and Bill would be on their way to look for Connie and Elizabeth. But while they were still in Rakalt, they might as well make use of the opportunity to learn about this world.

It was a rather huge world, its terrains constantly shaped by wars that only cycled throughout its history. And now Jin was caught up in it.

Jin was at the frontgate to greet the Shadow forces. The Agars had informed their brothers and sisters about the arrival of the Shadow Incarnate. The Yosoy Latva were the first to rush here. Two more armies were already on their way.

From the window of the House of Tolo, Molly could barely pinpoint Jin's figure. But earlier, she remembered his hunched figure and the eerie calmness plastered on his face. She could not tell what he was thinking.

The army erected camp outside the walls. Rakalt was but a small Fort because the Shadow worshippers were actually few in number. It was the outpost nearest the Gray Line. And in a about thirty Ijbel nights, they were planning to march past that line and declare war upon the Light Worshippers.

By that time, Molly hoped she would have found some clues as to the whereabouts of her friend.

At night, as two moons gleamed from the opposite sides of the sky - one shaped like a half-pie and the other a beanpod - a feast was thrown in the House for the guests.

Molly had somehow been accustomed to the darkness and quiet of Rakalt especially at night. Now, it was filled with cheers. Hopeful cries. Triumphant hollers. As though they had already won the war they were yet to start.

The hall filled with alien voices, alien words, alien faces but the mix of mirth and heat and festivity was a rather familiar feeling. Emotions. It was a language that transcended dimensions.

Jin sat at the Grand Table flanked by the important persons of the party. Next to him was the Old Sarse and along the length of the Grand Table were the Commanders of the Yosoy Latva. They were all trying to warm up to Jin. Jin entertained them with smiles but his eyes were darting all over the place. Studying. Searching.

Molly tore her gaze away from him and she caught Bill staring at her. Or rather, Bill caught her staring at Jin. His expression darkened. "You thought he was gonna help us through? He's a god now. We're just practically strangers to him. We can't even talk to him without getting past his guards first."

He sounded jealous. But she could not blame him because it was true. They were just acquaintances after all. Jin already helped them once. They should not expect him to always look after them. But she had hoped that here, he could help her look for her lost friend. He had powers. They did not.

"You know, it's hard for him too. They shoved him onto a pedestal without asking him first. And now, they're controlling everything." Despite it, she had to defend him.

A young-looking Agar took an empty seat opposite them. "Sarse Molly and Bill, right? I'm Sarse Orkil. I never got to have a word with you before. I'm the son of one of the Council, Sarse Trug. Is the valk to your taste?" Orkil spoke English like it was his mother tongue.

Molly looked at the drink in her cup. To be honest, it was a little too sweet. She feared if she had more than a cup, she would hurt her throat. But instead she said, "It's not bad. The meat is good too."

Suddenly, Sarse Orkil reached out to touch her fingers that were holding the cup. The gesture was so gentle yet conspicuous. He guided her hand to touch their cups together, "For Yosulti." Their cups clinked. Ortil directly fixed his gaze on her eyes as he took a manly draft of the valk, not even hiding his motives.

Molly whispered along, "For Yosulti." She smirked at him awkwardly, pulling her hand away and sipped.

"What's your problem, dude?" Bill's voice was rough. And not even the giddy laughters from among the tables could drown the warning in his tone. The other Agars on their table looked on curiously.

Orkil seemed puzzled. "Are you by any chance...?" His gaze jumped from Molly to Bill and back to her.

"N-no!" Molly nearly choked.

"But she's with me," Bill clarified. "She's like my blood sister."

Orkil huffed, evidently scornful, "My apologies. I'll see you around."

When he was out of earshot, Molly nudged Bill by the arm. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Protecting you? Isn't it obvious?"

So she was supposed to thank him? "He's a Council's son. He has power here. We don't."

"Well, he's a perv and haughty."

"You're haughty too, you know?"

"What? Me?"

An attendant walked up to their table. "Old Sarse Karlok requests your presence at the Grand Table."

Meekly, they wound their way past tables of inebriated purple agars who glanced as they went by. Molly had never tasted liquor before but she knew that it was not as sweet as the valk they served in pitchers. She found it amusing how they were so drunk on sweetness.

The Old Sarse introduced them to the commanders' party. Suddenly, the leader of the Latvas who went by the funny name Olokolok mumbled something in agar language. Old Sarse replied in agar too. She could not understand a thing they were saying but it was clear that they were talking about her. Olokolok pointed at her and studied her from head to toe with his dark huge eyes.

A number of commanders were agreeing with each other. Molly felt heat creeping up her face. Somehow, she had to feel embarassed. She glanced at Bill but he seemed to have no idea too. Jin looked as clueless as well.

After the party, Molly sought for Old Sarse Karlok to ask what it was all about. But his attendants told her he was tendng to the Yosoy Latva and she could come back another time.

The next day, it was the same case but a different excuse.

Her concern seemed trivial compared to his business; thus she did not insist.

An Ijbel day is much much longer than an earth day. Her body clock told her so. Thus between each meal, she had ample leisure to make use of. She tried to study their basic language. The Yosoyins spoke Nilehoyosu but past the Gray Line majority spoke Nilehofulji.

In the afternoon, Bill did combat training. She made a mental note to start training too. This was a perilous world. Danger lurked at every corner. It did not hurt to learn some moves. Especially that they would be embarking on a journey soon.

Molly had trouble finding where Bill trained. He mentioned it was near the overlooking mountain.

The overlooking mountain - or the Kado Sayktur - was actually a huge obsidian-dark monolith that during the afternoon cast a huge shadow over the entirety of the Fort of Rakalt. Old Sarse said that it was brought here by the former Shadow Incarnate Kata to protect the Fort. Under it, a large number of enemies had been squashed unrecognizable. Their bones were still buried underneath it all. Since then, he said with marvel, the monolith had never been touched. It naturally eroded but the agars never dared take even a chip off it.

After asking around, Molly came to a clearing beyond the treeline. When she turned around a trunk, what she saw made her stop silent.

Holes on the ground. They had dug up holes on the ground. There were too many of them, lined perfectly. A number of agars were lowering boxes onto it, large enough to fit a person or rather an agar.

At once, the realization struck her. It was a cemetery. A few holes had been filled, marked by a pot of black flowers. She found it peculiar how they marked their graves.

And on one of those holes, a familiar figure stood by. Orkil.

She debated with herself whether to approach him. In the end, her curiosity won.

"Hello," she greeted.

The agars had a different way to greet people. Orkil greeted back, "The shadow looms behind you."

Molly scratched her head. "Oh, I don't know what to reply to that."

"Al par-ge ti yoso ten. I cast upon the shadow," Orkil answered for her.

"Oh-okay."

"Looking for your lover?"

She reddened. "Bill is a brother to me. But, who are these for anyway?" She asked, sweeping her eyes around at all the holes.

"A hundred fifty-six," he stated without a trace of regret. "They all gave up their lives to bring you here."

Molly suddenly felt she had to act indebted. They were after Jin. Molly and Bill were simply excess burden.

"I didn't get to know their names." Strangely, the agars never held a funeral. She blamed it on a different culture.

Orkil said, "This one is for my sister. She joined the chant since the start. She perished on the twentieth day."

The war had not even started yet. But there were already casualties. "I'm sorry. It must be so painful." Molly's mind did an automatic recall. Her sisters and brothers at the orphanage. She might not have loved all of them but still, they shared a home.

She patted him on the shoulder.

Orkil glanced over at her, peering his brows, "Is this a gesture of affection?"

"What? No!" She screamed.