Apollodora V

17th of the Month of Ice, 15:52, after Midnight

The kick is not a surprise, but Dora's mind has been a muddled mess since what happened at the mausoleum and she takes it to the side without even bothering to dodge. It's a strong kick and Dora's breath stops for a second before returning with a vengeance and making her hyperventilate, seeking more air to fill her lungs.

She falls, hands grasping uselessly at the grass under her as she tries to get up again. Dora looks up and glares at Vyshe Ardashir, that stares at her like a child looks at a dying bug; a disinterested pity for something that will fail as it tries to survive. Dora growls and gets up, huffing and puffing, with a pulsating pain on her side.

She cannot hesitate. She asked specifically for this, for a trainer that wouldn't hold back and fire Asha users always preferred the advantageous close quarters combat to other types. The Haruspex didn't have a weapon tailored to their Asha like the rest of the Vyshe. They depended on their body and perfect control, on their ability to choose the ideal moment for a firey punch or a whip of fire to push their opponent back. Fire was not as easy to control as water, it had to be adapted to its user, like some earth Asha users preferred to use sand like it was water to fight instead of perfecting a metallic alloy.

The Asha had many uses and it was in the hands of it user how to be the best with it. Like ancient wood users that had discovered that plants' poisons could also be generated, or how water was also ice and steam, earth was not only the dirt under their feet, but also metals and crystals. It was the user the one that defined the Asha. But fire, like lightning, had less variety in that aspect. They were both volatile if shot incorrectly and, while powerful and damaging, they were very limited as they were.

"You okay?" Asks Vyshe Ardashir like an afterthought.

"Yeah" groans Dora, hand palming her side for a moment before straightening herself and taking her fighting position again.

She had told herself that she would land a hit on him before their session was over, just a little revenge for the whole unburying her uncle and opening her mind to the terrifying possibility of being eaten by the earth itself at some point in her life.

Just a hit. She can do it. He's not even using fire yet and she has. She would even take scorching his shirt.

"It's not a bad start for a first lesson" says Vyshe Ardashir with a shrug.

"I can do better" snaps Dora with a growl "Let's keep going"

Vyshe Ardashir tilts his head and Dora fears he is going to stop the session, but then, he nods and makes a motion with his hand for Dora to come at him.

And she does.

And she fails, spectacularly.

She hadn't expected the sidestep and Dora had eaten grass as result. She curses loudly and punches the ground in frustration. Then, she rolls and looks up at the night sky, where the stars and the moon watch her fail.

"Maybe tonight wasn't the appropriate one to start" says Vyshe Ardashir "We can talk about the grave first, if you want. It clearly left you rattled"

It did. It very much did. Artemy had promised to explain, but he had never done so, escaping each conversation Dora tried to start, she had almost spent an entire night following him around and tonight she hadn't even tried to ask him, she had done her duties, lunch and then she had escaped to train with Vyshe Ardashir. But, going back to the main problem, the whole Uncle-Mikhe-is-gone had left her rattled and scared. Vyshe Ardashir had acted like he expected to find bones instead of the rotting body. How?

"What was that?" Asks Dora "What ate Uncle Mikhe?"

"The Og did, or well, Neth did" says Vyshe Ardashir and Dora's brain doesn't really comprehend a single word, like they are being spoken in a different language "This city is a parasite that feeds off nomad's memories and dead bodies and in exchange, it gives us the Asha"

"That's not a parasite" can't help but interrupt Dora, making Vyshe Ardashir stop and stare at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Hmm?"

"What you said, that's not the definition of a parasite" continues Dora "Master Eddala explained it to me not long ago. A parasite only brings sickness, it doesn't give anything back to the host, it only takes. What you speak about is called mutualism.The Og gives us more than the Asha, it gives us food, water and even the land we live on"

"Mutualism? No" bites out Vyshe Ardashir "A gift, a land, food and water…like we ourselves treat our cattle…would you call the farmers and the cattle as having a symbiotic relationship?"

Dora frowns. She…wouldn't…But that was different!

"Do not extrapolate to unrelated topics" she says with anger "The Og keeps us safe-"

"Do they? Would you call the Perse Blight of a few years back a way to keep us safe?" Scoffs Vyshe Ardashir "Murdering children as they tremble in the pain of their brains melting inside their heads?"

That brings out a gasp out of her. How dare he? But then, she wonders about something.

"If…if that's what you believe…why become Haruspex?" She asks, barely holding back the sob that threatens to escape her. How could he be so hateful towards the Og, towards Ayth, that had saved him and so many others from the Outside?

Nima stares at her and then huffs, Dora flinches at the sound, was that…a chuckle?

"I wanted respect and power, of course" he explains with a crooked smile " Respect from those that had spit at me when I walked by and cursed me just for existing, the Vyshe are a position of power, I wanted that more than anything. When my father gave me the chance I took it"

"So you don't have faith? How can you guide the people if you don't believe what you speak?" Asks Dora, more angry than confused "You're just lying to them…"

"I know they exist, they took me from my home after all, but I don't believe their intentions are truly as pure as you think I…It doesn't matter…"

"It does matter!" Yells Dora sitting up, then, as she sees Vyshe Ardashir flinch back, she lowers her tone "It does…"

How could it not matter? This was her faith, the faith of the entire city, it mattered to her what her gods were doing to her and her people.

"I understand" says Vyshe Ardashir in a gentle voice as he crouches next to Dora. He drags a hand through his head and sighs.

"Do you?" Asks Dora as she looks at him "You had another god before the Og, right? Artemy told me the outside people have other gods"

"They do" says Vyshe Ardashir, with his eyes closed, like he is reminiscing about something "I did. But I no longer do. I have the Og now and I serve them. But I cannot forget that they are what took me from my other home and forced me to stay here"

"Is the Outside that wonderful?" Asks Dora, taking grass in her hands and twirling it.

"Not really" chuckles Vyshe Ardashir "It's filled with wars and famine, I escaped one and my great grandmother escaped another. I don't want to return to that. But I wish for the chance to see the sun again"

Dora knows who Vyshe Ardashir's great grandmother is. Masuma Ardashir had been a Master of the Archives. Dora had never met her, the old woman had died a long time ago, but she had seen her painting in the Archives, where all the previous Masters stood in eternal watch. A beautiful woman in youth, even with a scarred face, like she had been burnt with something. She had been a good Master, giving the Archives its current filing system, Master Eddala had talked about her in their last lesson on Nomad achievements like a gushing fan, it had been amusing to say the least.

The sun…she also knew what that was, but couldn't imagine it. A star so big it lights the sky and makes it change colors, filling the Outside with light. It's the reason why nomad's eyes are so bad in the dark, they can only live in the light, diurnal creatures, Master Eddala had explained.

Vyshe Ardashir sighs and gets up, offering a hand to Dora, that reluctantly takes it.

Both of them now stand in the middle of the backyard of the Haruspex's house, Dora dirty and sweaty and Vyshe Ardashir the same way he came out of the house, not even out of breath.

"Come on" says Vyshe Ardashir as he waves towards the house "I have homework for you, since the session was a failure on both of our parts"

"Homework?" Says Dora with a raised eyebrow, but follows nonetheless.

The house this time is quiet, Lady Ardashir and heir probably at their home, only Vyshe Ardashir's naga is present, sleeping at the top of a bookshelf. Vyshe Ardashir leads her to the kitchen where he motions for her to sit, she does as he starts to rummage around one of the kitchen drawers until he pulls out an inkstone, an inkstick and a brush.

Dora blinks but watches as Vyshe Ardashir takes a seat in front of her, taking the inkstick and starting the process of making ink to write. Dora just watches in silence and wonders what the ink is for. Is he going to write her homework down? Why not just use a pencil if that's the case?

"Give me your hand" he orders and Dora does, he turns it, putting her palm upwards and taking the brush on the other hand and dipping it in the ink.

With curious eyes, Dora wonders what is he going to do.

"Ink is not Bisha, but for this it'll work" says Vyshe Ardashir as he paints a circle in her hand, not too big, just enough to see "I want you to train your concentration, for that you'll heat up the skin under the ink of this mark.Think you can do it?"

Dora nods as she looks at the dot and then stares at Vyshe Ardashir.

"It's all about control" continues Vyshe Ardashir as he lets go of her hand and raises his own. His tattoos start to glow with heat, but just the Bisha tattoos on his palm and no other part of him "This is the reason why the Bisha are the weapons of choice of fire users. It's like cheating, it gives you a physical point to concentrate on"

"Wouldn't it be better to be able to do it without the Bisha?" Asks Dora

"It's not about working hard, but working smart" Chuckles Vyshe Ardashir "You can try to reach the same point I'm at without them, but it will take you years and a lot of time wasted"

"So, a Bisha tattoo is a good idea?" Asks Dora as she clenches her hand in a fist

"That depends on what you want" responds Vyshe Ardashir "Let's start with this. If it fades off, put it on again, next session we'll see how good your control is"

"Okay" Nods Dora and gets up, then she remembers something else she wanted to ask the Haruspex "Why did you ask Artemy? To unbury uncle. You could have done it without asking for permission"

"I hated your uncle very much, but only in life, his dead body has done nothing to me, I found it appropriate to ask for permission as I would have asked anyone else if I had chosen another body" answers Vyshe Ardashir honestly and Dora frowns sadly.

"Why did you bring him with you? If the body had been there, you could have hurt Artemy's feelings" says Dora. But even as she says it, she doesn't believe it, Artemy wouldn't care. Dora just wants to know about what's going on between her brother and the Haruspex, because something is clearly going on, and has been going on for a while, Dora is not stupid, she has eyes, her brother sighs like a lady in love every time the Haruspex enters his line of sight in public.

"I would never have done it if that had been the case" says Vyshe Ardashir "Artemy is very precious to me, I would never hurt him intentionally"

Dora smiles widely and tries to forget about Artemy's impeding marriage to the Saaga's second born. Lady Loa is not a bad person and Dora feels like both Loa and Artemy are going to get hurt in the end of this marriage fiasco.

"I'll complete this task and you'll see my true potential" promises Dora as she looks at the dot on her palm "Then, we can start training, for real this time"

Vyshe Ardashir smiles widely, his scar distorting his face into a ghastly visage.

Yes, Dora can do this. She is the second born to king Zeno Drest, after all. If she can do this, she doesn't deserve her title.