Day 27:
Music
“Which means we can’t trust anyone we run into to not turn on you, or give you up to Leader Fox,” Cass added tartly. She looked between the two older men. “There is no way we’re going to get you out onto the field to cut off the incoming Kret. Especially not now that you’re injured.”
Elias glared at her. “I don’t care if we’re stuck behind lines but someone has to go out there and cut the Kret off especially if the Crell are within our walls.” The man winced but kept talking. “Make sure someone - a good, solid team - gets sent out there, Cass. If you don’t, the Crell will overtake us because of the Kret inadvertently helping.”
“I can still take a team out, Cass,” Tolnoran offered softly. “I can take Artemis with me out of any hands that could be working for Fox.”
“I can go with,” the healer offered, gaining a surprised look from the three soldiers. “Once I have him stable, there will be no reason for me to stick around. I could send in one of the people I trust in case you do have to move.”
“Who?” Elias asked.
“Hylin.”
He could make out the impressed look on Tolnoran’s expression from here. “That’s one of the newer recruits, isn’t it?”
The healer nodded. “He’s very good at what he does and is very trustworthy. I’ve worked with him before. He’ll make sure the Captain doesn’t bleed out should you need to move and that way you have a trusted healer with you.”
“Get Hylin here” Elias softly ordered. Trill hopped off of the healer’s shoulders and bounded for the door. Ysle followed after as Elias continued, “Once he’s here, head out with Tolnoran and Artemis.”
The door closed behind Trill and Ysle.
“What of Beth and Lora?” he piped in, gaining some of their attention.
“Staying with us,” Cass put in. “They’ll be safer here and we could use the spare hands anyways.”
Bethany nodded sedately as Lora offered, “I’m ok with that.”
“Do you know how long it will be before Trill returns with Hylin?” Elias asked, returning his attention to the healer.
Silence met his answer but there was a pause in it, a stretch of patience that held well. “Trill saw him on their way here. If he hasn’t moved far from the original location, a few minutes.”
Tolnoran perked up at that. “Your connection is back, then?”
The healer nodded. “Was the moment I had Trill in my arms.” A thoughtful look crossed their face. “It was weird, though. I hadn’t even realized it had been severed until Trill was in the room.”
“It’s holding, though, right?” Cass interjected, concerned.
“No interruption in it yet,” the healer confirmed. “Trill’s currently taking a shortcut on the off chance Hylin was where he had been last.”
Elias looked to Tolnoran. “What of Ysle?”
“In the hall keeping watch.” Tolnoran’s expression tightened. “Where’s Trevak?”
Elias moved his good hand up to tug at something loose around his neck. “Never have I been so grateful for their ability to manipulate their shape. Trevak’s been a leather cord around my neck safe under my shirt once it was too dangerous for them to be out.”
In the minimal light, it looked like nothing more than a leather cord as Elias had described. But even in the minimal light and some distance away, he could still make out the leather cord moving. It was mildly off putting.
Tolnoran reached out, running careful fingers over the small Trevak as Elias continued, “I hadn’t wanted to risk their ability of getting us out of there quickly with them getting shot. Not when I had already compromised the both of us from the initial volley.”
Cass scoffed. “You shouldn’t have shoved me. I would have been fine and your Tor would have taken out the majority of the Crell in a single hit.”
Elias shook his head. “There were Bound in among their ranks. Serious ones. Trevak would have just provoked more chaos.”
“There were other Tor?” Tolnoran inquired so softly, Artemis barely pieced together what he had said despite the few feet between him and the huddled group.
“Three, that I saw,” Elias ground out, wincing from something the healer was doing. Their body obscured what little Artemis would have seen of it. Dlmor slipped out from under his touch and wandered over to the healer’s side. “Had I sent Trevak in, there was a high chance they weren’t coming back.” Closer now, the light it was giving off illuminated the healer’s grateful expression; he was certain it illuminated the wound as well. “Trevak may be able to hold their own but in close quarters with three others backed up by guns would have been a death sentence.”
The mini Trevak returned to its normal size as it moved onto Tolnoran’s arm. “I’m glad you didn’t risk it,” the larger man offered, spare hand burying into Elias’s hair. Tolnoran pressed his face into Elias’s hair, clearly careful with how he pulled on the injured man. Elias didn’t seem to care, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes.
Artemis’s attention drifted to Cass as she shifted her weight. “Still think it would have been fine.”
Elias chuckled, offering in turn, “You have never seen Tor have at each other in close quarters, have you, Cass?”
She gave him a dark look. “Seeing as you’re the only one Bound to one in the outpost, no. Most encounters I’ve seen you and Trevak take on have been out in the dunes and you two were able to handle far more of those, Bound or otherwise, with far more weapon fire to avoid.”
“That may be true,” Elias spoke, conceding, “but close quarters like the hallway with nowhere to hide or gain any distance means that we’re fighting with our backs against the wall. Belvren are more suited to that fighting style. As are Jaun and Kret, though I would suggest not letting Jaun or Kret into such a fight if there’s nothing in the way of the gunfire. At least Belvren can be built to take that kind of hit.”
“Elias,” he spoke out, gaining all of their attention. He caught the mild jump from both his sister and Cass, curious to know if it was more out of not remembering he had been there or the suddenness of the man’s name off his lips. “What of Dlmor and Ruhn?”
The man carefully shook his head. “They’re not common among the ranks enough to know their fighting skills well.” A thoughtful look crossed the man’s face. “Though, from what I have seen of yours specifically, Dlmor seem to fight similarly to Jaun and Kret - close, quick, and viciously - while also utilizing the same traits Tor or Belvren use when it comes to form manipulation. Again, from speculation, Dlmor seem able to shift from offensive to defensive without much trouble. Jaun and Kret, they are more offensive while Belvren and even Tor are used defensively. Tor can wreak havoc but in tight places like a hallway, it can be a hindrance.”
“And Ruhn?”
Elias sighed sharply and winced. “Ruhn are a different matter. I’ve never actually witnessed one in a fight that wasn’t holding a mimic.” The man looked to Lora. “Does yours fight differently than a normal Belvren?”
Lora shook her head. “I had inherited my Ruhn just before my older brother passed. I took over in his connection when I was too little to really understand it. It’s why I’ve just stuck with the name Belvren. Most people understand when I share how little I had been why I call it by its creature classification rather than a proper name without understanding it’s because my Bound is a Ruhn.”
Tolnoran straightened up. Trevak slid onto Elias’s shoulders as the larger man announced, “Trill is returning. Hylin is with them.”
Elias waved them off. “Get going you three. Before he catches sight of all of you.”
“I’m not done stabilizing you,” the healer countered sharply.
Elias gave them a flat look. “Hylin will be here in a matter of moments. And I’d much rather allow him the chance of blissful ignorance when it comes to Artemis’s whereabouts.”
Tolnoran stood, placing a hand on the healer’s shoulder. “Come on. You won’t win this argument.”
The healer huffed but got up. Dlmor trotted back over to Artemis’s side, slipping under his hand. He petted the top of the creature’s head as he started for the door.
The hallway beyond was just as dark as the room they had been in, barring the light coming from the end of the hallway on his right. The left was still pitch black.
“Do you want me to carry you?” Dlmor inquired, nuzzling against his palm as he tried to ignore the flare of a headache. It wasn’t bad but he hated the reminder it was there.
“We’ll see how difficult the terrain is,” he offered softly, starting down the left stretch of hallway just to get out of the doorway.
His hunch apparently had been right as Tolnoran gestured at the healer to follow Artemis’s lead. Artemis could barely make out Ysle at the other end of the hallway trotting towards them. Just beyond, a person stepped into the hallway following a little bounding form. The healer gently grabbed his arm and led the way, glancing back regularly.
They were well into the darkness of the hallway by the time the new person reached Tolnoran. There was some talking but none of the sound made it to them. The little bounding form continued into the shadows towards them and leapt at the healer once close enough. The healer wrapped their arms around the small form, face pressing into fur with a sigh of relief.
Tolnoran started for them, Ysle at Tolnoran’s side like Dlmor was at his. It wasn’t till Tolnoran was upon them that he realized Dlmor wasn’t giving off any significant light. Tolnoran’s entire being was dark; even the healer was shrouded in darkness standing up against Dlmor’s other side so close, they were almost brushing up against Artemis’s arm. “You two ready?” the man asked in a soft whisper.
“As ready as we can be,” he offered in turn.
Tolnoran nodded. “Then let’s be quick. Come on.”
The larger man took the lead, though where Ysle ended up walking was hard to tell. Artemis kept his hand on Dlmor. Whether the healer did as well or not, he couldn’t tell.
Dlmor pressed into his leg, forcing him to turn left without tripping over himself or the creature. The healer’s footfall followed with. Artemis could make out light some distance ahead of them. A gentle Transference told him this area was not normally this dark. Dlmor could tell the area was normally an active one to some extent and that the entire place being dark was unusual. It brought questions to Artemis’s lips but he didn’t ask them. For some reason, things seemed too dire at that point to speak up about them.
Something clanked before the sound of a door opening filled the hallway. “Come on. This way,” Tolnoran directed. “We have to go down two levels to get to the armory.”
He was marginally confused before Dlmor confirmed there was indeed a stairwell beyond the door Tolnoran had opened. For some reason, it was dark there too.
“This seems like a safety hazard,” he found himself commenting, hearing the door shut behind him as Dlmor stopped him at the top of the stairs. He knew it was the top, could almost see them, but he knew he shouldn’t. It was too dark.
“It is,” Tolnoran growled. “There should be emergency lights illuminating this at minimum. The Crell must have cut a line or one of the Ilnu.” There was a sigh of defeat. “Dlmor, do you mind giving us some light and leading the way? Artemis, keep to the right hand wall and follow it down four flights of stairs. There should be a nice large 2 on the door once you reach it.”
Artemis traded Dlmor sides, hand going to the wall rather than the railing. He got an odd sensation of curiosity but there were no real words to it, nothing of substance that he could infer Dlmor’s intent behind the Transference.
Dlmor started to glow again, looking like the night sky once more. They started down the stairs, steps echoing up and down the concrete tower as they went. After a moment, Artemis thought he was hearing something at the edge of the echoes as he let his hand skip over a door with a large yellow 3 spray painted onto it. It wasn’t till they made it to one landing before the landing that held the door they needed when he realized it was music.
Elias glared at her. “I don’t care if we’re stuck behind lines but someone has to go out there and cut the Kret off especially if the Crell are within our walls.” The man winced but kept talking. “Make sure someone - a good, solid team - gets sent out there, Cass. If you don’t, the Crell will overtake us because of the Kret inadvertently helping.”
“I can still take a team out, Cass,” Tolnoran offered softly. “I can take Artemis with me out of any hands that could be working for Fox.”
“I can go with,” the healer offered, gaining a surprised look from the three soldiers. “Once I have him stable, there will be no reason for me to stick around. I could send in one of the people I trust in case you do have to move.”
“Who?” Elias asked.
“Hylin.”
He could make out the impressed look on Tolnoran’s expression from here. “That’s one of the newer recruits, isn’t it?”
The healer nodded. “He’s very good at what he does and is very trustworthy. I’ve worked with him before. He’ll make sure the Captain doesn’t bleed out should you need to move and that way you have a trusted healer with you.”
“Get Hylin here” Elias softly ordered. Trill hopped off of the healer’s shoulders and bounded for the door. Ysle followed after as Elias continued, “Once he’s here, head out with Tolnoran and Artemis.”
The door closed behind Trill and Ysle.
“What of Beth and Lora?” he piped in, gaining some of their attention.
“Staying with us,” Cass put in. “They’ll be safer here and we could use the spare hands anyways.”
Bethany nodded sedately as Lora offered, “I’m ok with that.”
“Do you know how long it will be before Trill returns with Hylin?” Elias asked, returning his attention to the healer.
Silence met his answer but there was a pause in it, a stretch of patience that held well. “Trill saw him on their way here. If he hasn’t moved far from the original location, a few minutes.”
Tolnoran perked up at that. “Your connection is back, then?”
The healer nodded. “Was the moment I had Trill in my arms.” A thoughtful look crossed their face. “It was weird, though. I hadn’t even realized it had been severed until Trill was in the room.”
“It’s holding, though, right?” Cass interjected, concerned.
“No interruption in it yet,” the healer confirmed. “Trill’s currently taking a shortcut on the off chance Hylin was where he had been last.”
Elias looked to Tolnoran. “What of Ysle?”
“In the hall keeping watch.” Tolnoran’s expression tightened. “Where’s Trevak?”
Elias moved his good hand up to tug at something loose around his neck. “Never have I been so grateful for their ability to manipulate their shape. Trevak’s been a leather cord around my neck safe under my shirt once it was too dangerous for them to be out.”
In the minimal light, it looked like nothing more than a leather cord as Elias had described. But even in the minimal light and some distance away, he could still make out the leather cord moving. It was mildly off putting.
Tolnoran reached out, running careful fingers over the small Trevak as Elias continued, “I hadn’t wanted to risk their ability of getting us out of there quickly with them getting shot. Not when I had already compromised the both of us from the initial volley.”
Cass scoffed. “You shouldn’t have shoved me. I would have been fine and your Tor would have taken out the majority of the Crell in a single hit.”
Elias shook his head. “There were Bound in among their ranks. Serious ones. Trevak would have just provoked more chaos.”
“There were other Tor?” Tolnoran inquired so softly, Artemis barely pieced together what he had said despite the few feet between him and the huddled group.
“Three, that I saw,” Elias ground out, wincing from something the healer was doing. Their body obscured what little Artemis would have seen of it. Dlmor slipped out from under his touch and wandered over to the healer’s side. “Had I sent Trevak in, there was a high chance they weren’t coming back.” Closer now, the light it was giving off illuminated the healer’s grateful expression; he was certain it illuminated the wound as well. “Trevak may be able to hold their own but in close quarters with three others backed up by guns would have been a death sentence.”
The mini Trevak returned to its normal size as it moved onto Tolnoran’s arm. “I’m glad you didn’t risk it,” the larger man offered, spare hand burying into Elias’s hair. Tolnoran pressed his face into Elias’s hair, clearly careful with how he pulled on the injured man. Elias didn’t seem to care, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes.
Artemis’s attention drifted to Cass as she shifted her weight. “Still think it would have been fine.”
Elias chuckled, offering in turn, “You have never seen Tor have at each other in close quarters, have you, Cass?”
She gave him a dark look. “Seeing as you’re the only one Bound to one in the outpost, no. Most encounters I’ve seen you and Trevak take on have been out in the dunes and you two were able to handle far more of those, Bound or otherwise, with far more weapon fire to avoid.”
“That may be true,” Elias spoke, conceding, “but close quarters like the hallway with nowhere to hide or gain any distance means that we’re fighting with our backs against the wall. Belvren are more suited to that fighting style. As are Jaun and Kret, though I would suggest not letting Jaun or Kret into such a fight if there’s nothing in the way of the gunfire. At least Belvren can be built to take that kind of hit.”
“Elias,” he spoke out, gaining all of their attention. He caught the mild jump from both his sister and Cass, curious to know if it was more out of not remembering he had been there or the suddenness of the man’s name off his lips. “What of Dlmor and Ruhn?”
The man carefully shook his head. “They’re not common among the ranks enough to know their fighting skills well.” A thoughtful look crossed the man’s face. “Though, from what I have seen of yours specifically, Dlmor seem to fight similarly to Jaun and Kret - close, quick, and viciously - while also utilizing the same traits Tor or Belvren use when it comes to form manipulation. Again, from speculation, Dlmor seem able to shift from offensive to defensive without much trouble. Jaun and Kret, they are more offensive while Belvren and even Tor are used defensively. Tor can wreak havoc but in tight places like a hallway, it can be a hindrance.”
“And Ruhn?”
Elias sighed sharply and winced. “Ruhn are a different matter. I’ve never actually witnessed one in a fight that wasn’t holding a mimic.” The man looked to Lora. “Does yours fight differently than a normal Belvren?”
Lora shook her head. “I had inherited my Ruhn just before my older brother passed. I took over in his connection when I was too little to really understand it. It’s why I’ve just stuck with the name Belvren. Most people understand when I share how little I had been why I call it by its creature classification rather than a proper name without understanding it’s because my Bound is a Ruhn.”
Tolnoran straightened up. Trevak slid onto Elias’s shoulders as the larger man announced, “Trill is returning. Hylin is with them.”
Elias waved them off. “Get going you three. Before he catches sight of all of you.”
“I’m not done stabilizing you,” the healer countered sharply.
Elias gave them a flat look. “Hylin will be here in a matter of moments. And I’d much rather allow him the chance of blissful ignorance when it comes to Artemis’s whereabouts.”
Tolnoran stood, placing a hand on the healer’s shoulder. “Come on. You won’t win this argument.”
The healer huffed but got up. Dlmor trotted back over to Artemis’s side, slipping under his hand. He petted the top of the creature’s head as he started for the door.
The hallway beyond was just as dark as the room they had been in, barring the light coming from the end of the hallway on his right. The left was still pitch black.
“Do you want me to carry you?” Dlmor inquired, nuzzling against his palm as he tried to ignore the flare of a headache. It wasn’t bad but he hated the reminder it was there.
“We’ll see how difficult the terrain is,” he offered softly, starting down the left stretch of hallway just to get out of the doorway.
His hunch apparently had been right as Tolnoran gestured at the healer to follow Artemis’s lead. Artemis could barely make out Ysle at the other end of the hallway trotting towards them. Just beyond, a person stepped into the hallway following a little bounding form. The healer gently grabbed his arm and led the way, glancing back regularly.
They were well into the darkness of the hallway by the time the new person reached Tolnoran. There was some talking but none of the sound made it to them. The little bounding form continued into the shadows towards them and leapt at the healer once close enough. The healer wrapped their arms around the small form, face pressing into fur with a sigh of relief.
Tolnoran started for them, Ysle at Tolnoran’s side like Dlmor was at his. It wasn’t till Tolnoran was upon them that he realized Dlmor wasn’t giving off any significant light. Tolnoran’s entire being was dark; even the healer was shrouded in darkness standing up against Dlmor’s other side so close, they were almost brushing up against Artemis’s arm. “You two ready?” the man asked in a soft whisper.
“As ready as we can be,” he offered in turn.
Tolnoran nodded. “Then let’s be quick. Come on.”
The larger man took the lead, though where Ysle ended up walking was hard to tell. Artemis kept his hand on Dlmor. Whether the healer did as well or not, he couldn’t tell.
Dlmor pressed into his leg, forcing him to turn left without tripping over himself or the creature. The healer’s footfall followed with. Artemis could make out light some distance ahead of them. A gentle Transference told him this area was not normally this dark. Dlmor could tell the area was normally an active one to some extent and that the entire place being dark was unusual. It brought questions to Artemis’s lips but he didn’t ask them. For some reason, things seemed too dire at that point to speak up about them.
Something clanked before the sound of a door opening filled the hallway. “Come on. This way,” Tolnoran directed. “We have to go down two levels to get to the armory.”
He was marginally confused before Dlmor confirmed there was indeed a stairwell beyond the door Tolnoran had opened. For some reason, it was dark there too.
“This seems like a safety hazard,” he found himself commenting, hearing the door shut behind him as Dlmor stopped him at the top of the stairs. He knew it was the top, could almost see them, but he knew he shouldn’t. It was too dark.
“It is,” Tolnoran growled. “There should be emergency lights illuminating this at minimum. The Crell must have cut a line or one of the Ilnu.” There was a sigh of defeat. “Dlmor, do you mind giving us some light and leading the way? Artemis, keep to the right hand wall and follow it down four flights of stairs. There should be a nice large 2 on the door once you reach it.”
Artemis traded Dlmor sides, hand going to the wall rather than the railing. He got an odd sensation of curiosity but there were no real words to it, nothing of substance that he could infer Dlmor’s intent behind the Transference.
Dlmor started to glow again, looking like the night sky once more. They started down the stairs, steps echoing up and down the concrete tower as they went. After a moment, Artemis thought he was hearing something at the edge of the echoes as he let his hand skip over a door with a large yellow 3 spray painted onto it. It wasn’t till they made it to one landing before the landing that held the door they needed when he realized it was music.