(Picture- Sketch of Isildilia's sword)
He led both of them through the Thislik gates. Despite the guards' disgruntled looks and regardless of their reluctance to let her and Dakelo through, they had had to move aside on Valin orders. They passed into the innermost circle, heading towards the palace. But when they were just a street away they turned suddenly to the left and headed down a different street. Here the houses were much grander; they were taller, wider and were a clear symbol of wealth and status. Valin stopped them outside one of them. It looked like it was big enough to house a few dozen people.
"Here we go." He jumped nimbly up the steps, but Dakelo and Isildilia didn't follow. "Is something wrong?" he asked.
"You live here ?" gasped Isildilia.
"Well, I've got to live somewhere," he said in amusement . Dakelo climbed the steps.
"Seems like a waste of space for one person." But even Isildilia could tell he was impressed.
"Let us go in." He opened the door and indicated for them to enter. Isildilia caught up and stepped in. She was blown away.
The foyer was nearly the size of her house. There was a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling and there was a staircase at each end of the room, leading to the second and even the third floor. There were multiple large doors, each decorated with remarkable detail. Both she and Dakelo stood there completely dumbstruck, mouths agape in their awe.
"Come on you two; stop standing there like a couple of zarkies." Isildilia had no idea what a zarkie was but she stopped staring to see where he was. He was at the eastern side of the room with the door open. They followed him into the room. It was like Valin's private library. Shelves upon shelves of books were stacked in messy heaps, as well as scattered across the floor. Piles of scrolls littered the only desk in the room. But there were a few fancy red-velvet chairs randomly around the room that weren't buried in the mess. Valin proceeded to kick and arrange the clutter in order to rearrange the chairs into a small circle in the centre. He may have been a Lord, but he was incredibly untidy. She wondered if there were any servants working for him.
"Please take a seat," he finally said. Once they sat down, he quickly left the room. He returned with a roll of bandages, and a bowl of hot water. He carefully saw to the wound on Isildilia's arm. She grimaced as he washed it with the water and tied it up nice and tightly with fresh bandages. Satisfied with his work, he went into the desk and brought out three glasses and a flask of sweet smelling liquid, which he served out to both of them before pouring himself one.
"Now then," he started as he sat down. He folded his legs over and held his glass slightly beneath his nose. "What would be the best way to start this conversation?" He was incredibly relaxed about the discussion, almost like he knew he would be having it. Both Isildilia and Dakelo sat rigidly and uncomfortably in their seats. Neither of them wanted to be the first one to speak.
"Who are you? Answer me truthfully," Isildilia finally asked. Valin peered at her from over his glass, and then set it on the floor.
"Yes, I guess that is an appropriate place to start. It is hard to trust the words of a man who isn't being honest." He leant forwards and pressed his fingertips together. "I did not lie to you when I said my name was Valin..."
"So what have you lied about?"
"It not what I have lied about, it's what I haven't told you."
She was about to say something else, but he held up a hand to silence her. "To put it as bluntly as I can, we are both not naturally human." She felt the bottom of her stomach drop out from that statement. She'd always known she was different, but not that different.
"And that was putting it bluntly?" mocked Dakelo.
"Naturally human?" she asked. "What does that mean?"
"All right, we aren't human at all."
"Then...I...you...look human? This isn't funny, not at all," she stammered.
Valin sighed heavily as he tried to find the words.
"As you may have known, there was a great war between the humans and beasts of this world - "they both nodded " - Well, fighting still happens to this day. It never stopped. It's just not on a large scale, or big enough to call it another war. At this moment, we suspect the humans' king is building an army, which he will use to eradicate all of us if he could.
"Now we are sick and tired of the fighting, humans had numbers, we had strength. It was a continuous no-win situation and we wanted it to stop. We tried to offer peace with the humans but, the problem is, we have no idea on how to communicate with them effectively. We do not know their customs. On certain occasions we've insulted them by our ways and things became much worse off. We had become so....out-of-tuned with humans that we forgot the most basics forms of their strict interactions."
"So what do I have to do with this?"
He continued on like he hadn't heard the question.
"Our kingdom is divided into four groups, five if you include the Royal Court. Each group is based on his or her element type; fire, earth, wind or water. Rare individuals will be trained within these groups, others just left to their own natural business. However, some of us are born with magical properties. These beasts are usually the ones who reside in the royal courts as protectors, for it has become a rare occurrence, normally sticking to bloodlines."
"Wait a moment," said Dakelo. "How do you know someone's element type?"
"I was just coming to that. There are those who reside in the court have the ability to determine nature type. Some, if not most creatures do not require this, as it is clear what their type is. For example; a fish who spends its entire life in water is not very likely to have a fire nature. Testing is rare; only those who are believed to be different, or possess any magical quality would be tested." He picked up and sipped a little bit of drink. "Each of the element groups is ruled by a Lord, who possesses more capabilities than others. I am in fact the Lord of Earth, so I'm a Lord in both the beasts' and humans' world. Above the four Lords are the King and Queen of beasts, who just happen to be your parents." Dakelo, who was drinking at the time, started to choke on his drink. Isildilia felt the blood drain from her face. For a moment, she forgot to breathe.
It's not possible, she told herself. She gripped her drink so hard her knuckles went white, and her hands shook so hard she was close to spilling it onto her lap.
She thought back to her family's discussion about telling her a secret they had kept from her. Was it this? Did they know of her heritage?
"Your human parents knew nothing of this," Valin said, answering her thoughts.
"They didn't?" Her voice came out as a small squeak.
"No, they merely found you where you were left."
"I was left?" she exclaimed.
Dakelo made a slight noise of disgust. Valin sighed deeply, 'I'm not getting anywhere here. This is why I said we struggle to communicate properly with humans. Right, I'll try to simplify it. When you were born, you were tested for your element type, since you were born into a high magic bloodline. But uniquely, you did not belong."
"So I had no element type?"
"No, it was quite the opposite. You had strength in all four. Such a thing had never occurred before. It was believed that you were a sign that peace was soon to be achievable."
"How is that a sign?" Dakelo asked. "You were merely hoping?" Valin ignored him.
"So... how come you and I are human-looking?" The conversation left so many questions buzzing around her head that she had to pick the first one that stuck.
"It took a few years to develop but, eventually, a magic ritual was written. Basically, the beast must give up his or her natural form to take on one like a human. But the process isn't reversible ...well...at the moment. Nor is it perfect yet."
"And my parents, my real parents, decided to do that to me?"
"No! You decided." She put her drink down, knowing she was on the verge of dropping it. She was just overwhelmed by the information. It was all just unbelievable. This had to be some sort of fever dream. That was it, she was still in her bed with a fever.
"I did?"
"Human children develop very slowly. You were seven months old when your human parents found you; at that time our kind are able to talk and move with ease. You understood the situation and freely volunteered. You wanted to help," he tried to reassure her. "You even picked that family yourself."
"But why can't I remember anything? If I was supposed to be so intelligent at seven months, then why don't I remember anything of that nature?"
Valin scratched his head, making his silver hair shimmer in the light. "That is something we are not sure about. You were one of the first to try the completed ritual, so the procedure itself wasn't completely secure. Also, you were a lot younger than the other volunteers so that could have been the reason. So when it became clear something had gone wrong and that you weren't focusing on your purpose, I decided to also undergo the ritual and find you."
"What was my purpose?"
"Questions, questions, questions," he muttered, resting his chin on his hands.
"Important, relevant questions might-I-add," she replied scornfully.
"Yes, I guess so. Well like I said before, we found peacekeeping with humans difficult." They both nodded. "Well, you were to, putting it simply, to devise a kind of report. It was to contain writings about human behaviour and how to communicate to them properly, things you would have learnt growing up amongst them. Things we could use to communicate successfully with them." Something jolted her memories when he said that.
"Right after I met you for the first time, a large raven approached me and mentioned a report."
Valin's eyes narrowed.
"He did, did he?" He stood up suddenly, which made them both jump. "Litz! Where are you, you feathered-brain-buffoon?" From somewhere above came a familiar cackle and something fluttered down onto Valin's shoulder. It was the raven from before.
"You called, my Lord?" Then it noticed Isildilia as well. "Oh, and Mistress is here as well, wonderful, wonderful." Dakelo recoiled in his seat. He had yet to come across a beast and the rumours that have circulated about them were terrifying. Litz saw his reaction and found it amusing. He flew over and perched onto his knee.
"A jittery one this one, isn't he? " Without a word, he suddenly threw open his wings and screeched. Dakelo fell backwards in his chair, crashing to the ground. Litz managed to jump out of the way and settled on Isildilia's shoulder. His claw dug into her shoulder, making her wince at first. Although he was still angry, Valin snorted in amusement when Dakelo fell. Dakelo pulled himself off the floor and placed the chair in its original place.
"Get that thing away from me," he spat.
"Thing? THING!" Litz screamed, "I would peck your eyes out this instant if you weren't in the presence of His Lordship."
"Litz, that's enough," Valin said. Litz turned to face him and bobbed his head in a bowing motion.
"Of course Your Lordship, I apologise for that outburst." He flew over and settled on the back of Valin's chair, refusing to take his eyes off Dakelo the whole time.
"I'll talk to you later," he muttered out the corner of his mouth to Litz. He looked over to her, but she remained silent. "Well?" he asked her. Her head snapped around.
"Well?"
"What do you think?" The question stunned her. It was easy for him to act so casually about the situation, but she was still dumbstruck.
"What do I think? This is just...insane. I was just a normal child with some...abnormal problems, I'll admit. Why should I believe what you have to say about my problems? I've only just met you!"
"Normal?" Valin interrupted, clearly offended by how she described herself. He stood up and grasped her shoulders. Before she knew it, he was forcing her to stand in front of the open window, keeping himself in the shadows.
She shrieked as it forced her wings out for a second time that night. Her back pulsated like a rapid heartbeat and she felt herself getting weak at the knees. Valin held her upright but winced as she dug her nails into his arms. Unintentionally, she started to sob again. Having that happen twice in one night was too much to physically bear. Dakelo went to leap from the chair, but remained halfway up, unsure what to do. Valin's grip on her loosened slightly and his tone softened.
"What part of this do you call normal? I'm sorry about that, Your Highness, but I cannot have you associate yourself as a simple, lowly human...."
"Excuse me, simple, lowly human sitting here." Dakelo interrupted.
"...The faster you learn to accept who you are the easier this will be for both of us." Her body started to shake, so he led her back into the chair. She glanced at Dakelo, who tried not to stare at her. She leant over and clutched at her stomach, fearing she was going to be sick. How could any of this be possible? She was more of a freak that she thought possible. She lived like a parasite on her family. What gave her the right to do that to them? What should she tell them? How could she tell them? The questions kept racing, only making her feel physically worse. Dakelo appeared to know what was going through her head, for he put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and, despite his deathly pale face, he smiled comfortably at her. It helped to ease her sudden discomfort until she recovered enough to speak.
"So, now what will we do?" Isildilia asked.
"We will leave."
"The city!" gasped Isildilia. "You mean... leave?"
"But of course. That's what I mean."
"I can't just leave."
"Why not? You do not have a choice anymore. It is starting to become too dangerous for you to remain here anymore, especially at night." Isildilia knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Why exactly do we have that problem?"
Valin chewed on his words before he spoke. "Like I had said before, the ritual isn't exactly complete. There is yet to be a completely successful transfer. Each problem differs with different creatures, some more obvious than others. For example; the Lithik who undergo the process still retain their large ears, which they have to hide under large headdresses." He chuckled at the thought. "Some are shorter than most normal humans. Others are half-beast and half-human. Hidins still have their webbed feet and gills, so they always have to wear gloves and scarves. Some still retain their tails or other parts of their original form, which is usually the most distinguishable. The whole moon problem has not yet been solved, which only seems to happen with us in particular. We do not know why that happens in that manner, for it's not related to us as a species in any way, but it can be irritating at times." He winced as he said it. "Eventually, it shall be perfected entirely."
"I can't just leave my family." She returned on topic.
"Technically they were your protectors and anyhow, I left them a note explaining the whole thing."
Is that it? she thought. I will never go home again and all that will be there for them is a note? I can't do that to them! She had to protest.
"Did you expect that I would agree to all of this?" He held up his hands.
"Now, now, Your Highness. If you were to cause any trouble I might have to take you by force."
"You wouldn't." But she knew deep inside that he would. Even Dakelo was starting to get aggravated, his knuckles turning white from clenching them so hard.
"Well, we have to be going now," Valin said. "Soon those bodies will be discovered and it won't be long before the magicians trace it back to here."
"They can do that?" exclaimed Dakelo. 'I heard many rumours about the magic users, but I didn't think they were that capable."
"Oh, they are capable of doing much more than that," he said with a wince . His words made Isi panic but she wondered if he was just saying that to scare her into going. It wasn't worth the risk if it could put her family in danger.
"Then let's go," she whispered, forcing herself to say the words.
He started to rummage around, gathering small items into different bags. Dakelo and Isildilia watched him as he produced items of numerous sizes and shapes including; books, cutlery, knives, and even what looked like a flute. Then he ran into the back room and returned holding two large packages, each longer than Isildilia's arm.
"I was going to give this to you at a later point, but things have changed. Luckily for you I had spares." He directed the last bit at Dakelo. They both unravelled their packages. Each of them was given a sword. A first Isildilia was very hesitant; she never liked the idea of using weapons, despite what rumours were spread around about her violent nature. Dakelo, on the other hand, lit up when he saw it. He unsheathed it immediately to study it.
His blade was broad and the metal had swirls of black engraved. The hilt was long enough to be a two-handed sword but was light enough to use just one. Isildilia felt compelled to also remove her sword. It wasn't the same as Dakelo's; the blade was thinner and lighter, and it had purple engravings creeping up the blade. The tip of the blade had a light gold metal encasing it. She knew where she had seen this before. Her wing feathers had the same pattern. This sword was specifically made for her.
The hilt was extremely decorated. The tips curved in both directions, the top curved right around then linked up to the blade. It was ridged and also had carved flowers and an inscription. She could not read it as it was in a language unfamiliar to her. The end of the hilt was a simple shape, but there were gems set into it, shaped like a flower. For a killing weapon, it was beautiful.
"You can admire them later; right now we must go," Valin said. He also handed them belts so they could wear their swords comfortably on the hip. Isildilia took a quick glance at what she was wearing. She knew it wouldn't last such a long journey, the same for Dakelo. Not only was the back of her dress ruined by the holes left by her wings, but one of her sleeves was torn off. She tried to point this out to Valin but he was already herding them out of the door. He quickly threw large cloaks to both of them and demanded that they put them on and they finally departed.
It was really happening.