Kalha

Re'Kha ran to the kitchen and pulled the lever behind a vat to open the granary. She placed all the items she grabbed within it and left the entrance open, rushing to the upper floors. She rummaged through every place, trying to find any item of value but failed to find any.

"Where have they hidden it?" She then rushed to the living room, scanning the floor by extending her Wind Qi perception. She wished to find any gaps through which air could pass. Thereby, she would be able to find the hidden room where the house owners stashed their valuables.

She kept watch on the scene beyond the house, noticing that the blackened-out cloud had arrived quite close to the settlement. It was the eye cluster she had crossed while on the back of the three-headed beast.

Now, they had left their confines and spread towards every direction, one of which happened to be the settlement she was in. Re'Kha calculated the time based on their approach, reducing the range of her perception to the confines of the house.

Now that the eye cluster was drawing near, she dared not perceive them in fear she would face a fate many times worse than death.

"There's no other choice then. I'll just have to make do with whatever I have." Re'Kha cursed, stomping her feet in anger. Just when she thought she could get some rest and gather her bearings did such a disaster arrive.

"Master, did you foresee this in your plans?" Re'Kha muttered, heading to the bathroom as she gazed at the mini tank situated near the ceiling. She gazed at the sharp space of blankness embedded in it, looking around to see a lever placed behind it, its end extending below to her reach.

She slammed the lever and watched the water tank lower itself to ground level, displaying a metal container within that was layered by granite. The sharp blank space she saw was embedded in it.

Re'Kha grabbed hold of the handle and lifted it, feeling that the weight was bearable. The container was only as big as her hand, emitting waves of heat. Thankfully, the handle was insulated enough while she moved her hands in such a manner the air would move from her hand to the container, preventing her from feeling the heat it emitted.

She quickly carried the container and placed it in the granary, wishing to do the same from the other bathrooms too. But, she was pressed for time, unable to retrieve any other. Re'Kha arrived at the kitchen and dragged a vat filled with drinking water into the granary, after which she closed the entrance.

She heard faint tremors from the floor as the screeching sounds resounded from everywhere. She also heard the sounds of something heavy slam into the doors and windows, intending to break through.

The buildings of the settlement were made from stone. They weren't built using stone but rather were carved into a flat hill by sculpting it until the ground level. So, each house was sturdy, having thick rock walls.

Moreover, the doors were made from metal the Burkurel Ju Clan created using their Metal Qi. They were tremendously tough, not to mention capable of resisting other elemental attacks to a fair extent. They were also layered with granite for aesthetic purposes and to further shield the metal doors from the elements.

The windows were similarly designed. They were a series of cross-linked grills closely lined next to one another. They formed two layers; both sides were further layered by a cloth to prevent dust and insects from coming in.

Therefore, it wasn't easy to break into the house. Re'Kha had further reinforced them using everything of value she could find in the house. But still, she was unsure if it would hold up long enough for her to survive.

After closing the entrance to the granary, she heaved a sigh of relief. Based on what she had scouted, the granary was air-tight, and the walls were the thickest here. Even the entrance was a large block of wall that took a lot of time to open and close.

Once she was inside, Re'Kha used the sword and a couple of metal spikes she found to jam it, preventing it from ever being opened from the outside. She placed her hand on the wall, hearing faint tremors course through it.

"The situation would become disastrous if the Kalhas settle here." Re'Kha sensed through her Wind Qi perception, seeing large vats stored with food. The granary extended through a flight of stairs and spanned the entire underground of the house.

There was a small space at the top where she placed all the items she had grabbed. They consisted of blankets, clothes, a pillow, herbs, a large vat of water, and the container she had ripped out from the bathroom. Finally, there was the rolled-out cloth banner set aside in the corner.

"I'll rest and recover as much as I can here until the situation outside turns for the better," Re'Kha muttered and began to scale down the flight of stairs. "My life is as good as forfeit the moment I gaze at the Kalha."

"But, for even the Kalha that had never left the Kuhera forest to escape is such droves, just what was the poison affecting master?" She shuddered, her emotions complex.

A Kalha was an eye that lived in cracks of rocks, and creases within tree barks, away from the sun. They moved during the night in groups, forming clusters, finding targets to prey on. Just a single glance at them would plunge the victim in a state of delirium where they would gauge their eyes out.

The Kalha would then take root in the spaces of the gouged-out eyes, controlling the victim. They would then control the victim to hunt for food, and spread fear along their wake. They were beasts that used Fear Qi, a delicious target for the Sha.

That was why Re'Kha had brought in the cloth banner with her. If left in the open, it would absorb all the fear Qi the Kalha emit and swiftly mature. Then, the situation would become many times worse. After all, the cloth banner was a large shell, so the Sha it could nurture would become a tremendously powerful being, the likes of which she couldn't ever hope to defeat.