บท 7: Alliance
Kaja was growing restless, so far his leads to Moskov proved to bear no fruit as he and his comrades traveled east and found nothing. No one has ever seen a hide or hair of The Spear of Quiescence, even in the two previous villages they came across told them they've never seen Moskov or Alice who was always with him. He's good at covering his tracks but not quiet perfect, "there's always a slip up" Kaja thought, he and his comrades trudged forth, he was determined to find to finish what he started it was foolish to give up when he went out of his way if it meant to put the empire's mind at ease. If Tigreal thought that slaying Moskov makes the empire a bit more safe then who was he to say no?
As they crossed a bubbling brook, Kaja's ear picked up the sound of several footsteps ahead. he gestured for his men to stop and split up. Kaja flew to a branch and waited for the party to pass by, he could see his men in the surrounding trees, hiding by the leaves and waiting for his command. The footsteps became louder, the crunching sound of boots against tall grass was evident and when the party showed themselves, Kaja sighed in relief. It was only a couple of men scouting the area, probably from the nearest village.
"A short rest would be good for us" He thought, he waved his hand to let his comrades know that it was okay.
He flew down gracefully and landed just a few meters away from the crowd of men in iron armor and swords "Greetings gentlemen" he started, they weren't hostile that's for sure as the men turned to him and stared him down, as if analyzing his intentions. "I don't wish to fight, my men and i are here on a quest"
"What kind of quest do you speak of" one of the men asked, he had golden armor with intricate marking on his chest plate, one marking stood out to him and it was a skull with a broken horn. "We are creatures of justice and light, we seek to eradicate Moskov, the Spear of Quiescence. I am curious as to know if you happen to have any knowledge of his whereabouts" He inquired.
The supposed leader of the troops looked behind him as if to look for confirmation from his men, he turned back to Kaja looking hesitant "We have never heard of such a name, but we did have some unusual visitors from our village the past few days, would you mind describing what the spear of Quiescence looked like?" he asked, Kaja felt hopeful. Maybe the lead wasn't so useless after all.
"He's an abbysal creature, with dark purple hair, yellow glowing eyes and a stitch across his face. On his left hand is a powerful weapon, a spear deriving from the power of darkness and destruction" The leader looked slightly surprised, he paused to think for a second and then gestured for Kaja to follow "Come with us, i have reason to believe our chief may have insights for you of this Moskov person that you are looking for"
Kaja smiled triumphantly and signaled for his men to come along, "Keep sharp my brothers, we are still unsure of their intentions even if they may have information about Moskov, we can never be sure" he whispered to his men before proceeding to follow the party. He hovered just beside them and tried to memorize the path as much as he can, but no matter how many landmarks he could find and recognize the clumps of trees blocking their view always looked the same.
After a few minutes of following them, they walked through a veil of vines that obscured the view of a quaint village wedged between two mountains surrounded by water almost like a mote.
"A hidden village" Kaja commented
"Yes indeed" the leader smiled looking proud of the land before him. "Our chief has done so much to protect us, the least we could do is give our undying devotion to him"
It truly was a lovely village, the people looked really friendly as they came to greet them, one little girl came up to him with a confused expression but nevertheless he could see that she was amused and curious about his species, after all it's not everyday you see a Nazar, let alone the king himself.
Kaja smiled at the little girl as she scurried back to her parents.
"Come, our chief will be delighted to meet you"
They led Kaja and his men towards a house that overlooked the village and opened the door. They hovered for a second and proceeded to enter, the walls were maroon and the blinds were open letting the sunlight in. there were stairs leading to the second floor by the right with railing draped in red cloth and a fireplace opposite the window. On top of the fire place was a shield that had a gold marking engraved on it, and it was the same skull with a broken horn.
A figure exited the door from the left and looked up in surprised to see them "Ah visitors i see" The chief was a jolly man, with black eyes and auburn hair delicately combed to the left side, he wore a white shirt with a sleeveless brown vest on top, black pants and leather boots that reached just below his knees. He looked like an average villager, as if dressing to be humble and be one with his people. Kaja made a mental note to give credit where credit was due, the chief genuinely looked like he could be a decent leader.
"I assume my men brought you here for a reason" He asked, his voice was gruff and grainy but it was firm and commanding at the same time.
"Yes chief, they are in pursuit of a certain person by the title of The Spear of Quiescence, i have reason to believe that he might be the same person that infiltrated our village the night prior" the guard explained.
"Infiltrated?" Kaja inquired. Moskov infiltrated this village? why would he? he has no reason to harm the village...unless they did something to him or what was left of his humanity.
"Yes, It's very unfortunate to say that because of my carelessness an outsider has managed to infiltrate my village and had left many of my men wounded and weak" he paused for a second and chuckled lightheartedly "Anyhow where are my manners? I am Eveister the Chief of the Zyron clan, but you may address me as Eveister"
"I Am Kaja, King of the Nazars, and these are my comrades. Tell me Eveister, does this intruder of yours have dark purple hair and golden eyes?" Kaja inquired, his heart suddenly picking up speed in excitement. a look of recognition came over Eveister's face and then a mischievous smile decorated his lips.
"Yes indeed, i get the impression we are after the same person Nazar king, in fact may i have a word with you privately? your men looks tired so while we talk i am more than happy to let them stay in the west wing, my assistants will accommodate their needs i assure you" Eveister suggested, as Kaja's men were led away he fluttered towards the chief. The sinister chief chuckled mentally, the Nazar looked like the distant cousins of Damatorums only these are hunters and not sappy peace lovers, the wings did look promising but Eveister's craft was specially for Damatorums alone.
"So the Spear of Quiescence, has he really made an appearance in your village?" Kaja asked again, this could be just another abyssal creature that somehow looked like Moskov so he didn't have his hopes up just yet. "I'm afraid that might be him, you see two days prior from his appearance i had a very precious possession, a very beautiful woman that i wanted to take as my wife. and as i was about to ask her hand in marriage, she was whisked away by a dark creature, he came in a puff of smoke, darting from one place to another with a blink of an eye, i believe his name was Moskov" Eveister cackled mentally at the lie,nothing like a good lie to be seen as a victim.
Kaja frowned, it made less sense than what he initially thought. Moskov was not one to invade a village let alone fight for something as stupid as a woman, apart from Alice no one ever gained his respect or attention. But Kaja smiled at the fact that Moskov actually did come here and could still be around. "So he came to take your future wife away. tell me did he not have any other intentions?" the Nazar King asked.
"He did attempt to end my life, he managed to escape my grasp before i could eradicate him sadly, i reckon he will evidently try the next time to end me and he might even have taken my lovely wife in hostage somewhere" Eveister had to stop himself from the mirth rising in his veins, if only he could get these Nazars to help him.
Kaja was hesitant to ask an alliance, he knew there was something missing from the supposedly emotional story, if there was anything he knew of Moskov was that he was not the emotional type, he came to kill that was for sure...but why? did he see this village as a threat? or maybe this was just another mission from Alice. Either way Kaja had nothing to lose, as long as he knew Moskov was here and may even return he had a reliable place to take him.
"I have a proposition for you King of Nazar" Eveister started
"You and i are after the same enemy, i want to propose an alliance to help take him down, it will be beneficial for both of us" He continued.
Kaja landed on the ground with small thump, to have a whole village as an ally it would be a huge advantage, the more heads put together the easier the task will be.
With a doubtful look, Kaja finally held out his hand of claws to which Eveister took.
The sun already dipped in the horizon when Moskov came to his senses. His eyes fluttered open and he took a moment to analyze where he was, he was met by stalactites on the ceiling, some had droplets of water dripping down and some were small enough to warrant a steady stream of water.
"So a cave then" he had thought. Moskov tried to recall what happened, He remembered fighting, a pair of wings surrounding him, the wind in his face and Eveister..escaping, or rather they escaped from him.
"Wait..Where-" he looked around, hoping to find the familiar sheen of silver blades on soft black feathers but he couldn't find the person he was looking for. "Onyx?" he called out and tried to sit up Moskov groaned at the sudden pain on his side, he looked down to see a white cloth wrapped around his middle.
a makeshift bandage that was reddened with blood, it looked like it was left there overnight.
"where is she? did she actually leave?" he thought, he tried to stand up only to sink down on the floor once again, Ah, stupid wound. He sauntered over to the mouth of the cave to look at the surroundings, they were currently in a cave atop a high mountain overlooking a village, not the Zyron clan that's for sure, no this was a different village. He gazed at the clouds with different hues of blues and oranges, it was twilight time. Moskov sighed, he really shouldn't be surprised that she left, after all she did her part in helping, they just failed to do it. Onyx must have seen the opportunity to flee their alliance in favor of returning to her own village, she was free from Eveister now so she had no business to help him anymore. A small part of him felt hurt but he shook it away, after all it was a normal situation for him, he should have gotten used to it by now.
"What are you doing?" A familiar voice asked him, his head turned to the side to find the person he was looking for, Moskov breathed out the air he didn't know he held till now and looked at the items she was carrying. Food and medicine no doubt.
"You're not supposed to get up yet you idiot!" she reprimanded, Onyx walked over to the wounded man and slung his arm around her neck "You're...here? i mean, you didn't leave?" he asked.
"Why would I? we had a deal remember? i'm not leaving till we catch that demented Chief and i do my part of our deal" She led them both towards the wall and placed Moskov down gently.
Moskov still looked confused but in his heart he felt the small weight off and he hated himself for ever feeling it, she was just fulfilling their deal, it wasn't and shouldn't made him feel so light.
"But..that was your chance to get away and return to your village, why'd you stay?" He asked again, feeling a spurt of courage in him. Onyx's silver eyes narrowed in slits but she kept her head down as she unwrapped the cloth she was carrying "We Damatorums live for vows and secrets, when we vow or promise something it is in our blood to fulfill that promise no matter how hard it would be, it's just in our instinct" She explained, she took out fresh white fabric and started to rip it into a long thin piece, she moved to slowly unwrap the reddened makeshift bandage on Moskov's middle and winced "That looks rather painful, be still alright? i need to change your bandages"
Moskov still wanted to prod on his questions, maybe the pain was fuzzing his head, or making him feel other emotions, this was why he never like getting injured it always reverts him back to somehow being a human, a sympathetic human.
a few minutes later Onyx sighed in relief and took the old bandages away, she looked at the wounded man before her and frowned, he didn't look sick but rather really confused. Maybe it was because of the aftermath.
"Do you feel anything funny? pain from other areas perhaps? or are you just hungry? " She asked, Moskov chuckled but was suddenly replaced by a painful hiss, yes it will be painful to laugh for a while, it felt like there was a broken rib or a swollen wound in his side. "I don't require food, i'm technically dead" he said bitterly, it wasn't as if he wanted to be alive anyhow he just wanted to fullfill what he was brought back to the world for, all these missions and obstacles are just part of the journey and when he finally kills The Khan only then will he be able to find true peace in his heart.
"Just wondering. i did manage to snatch up some food and a few clothes, but seeing as you don't really have a need for them i'll take them off your hands" She gathered the various clothing and walled out of sight. Moskov had to sigh once again, it was supposed to be a quick mission and Evesiter should have been captured by now, but then again maybe he underestimated the enemy a little too much. He still wanted it to be over with quick but the more he felt the searing pain in his side the more he wanted to just sit back and let it heal for as long as it takes for his power to regenerate him.
Onyx emerged a few minutes later wearing a white long sleeved shirt with black gloves that reached to her elbow, the back of the shirt was cut in a U shape from the shoulder to the lower part of the spine to let the base of her wings have room to move, she tied a brown leather jacket around her waist as black pants hugged her legs and brown leather boots that reached to her knees decorated her feet, her dark blue hair was also tied up in a high ponytail and she let her bangs fall to frame her face delicately.
"It's the best i could find" She mumbled.
she moved to sit a few meters away from Moskov and began to much on what little bread she managed to get from the said village. Onyx smiled, she hasn't had any real meal like this ever since she was imprisoned by Eveister, and now that she's out she could scavenge and hunt better, after all hunting is one of her past times.
"How long was i out of it? " Moskov broke the silence. "About a day or two" She replied and ripped off a piece of bread, popping it in her mouth. Moskov ran a hand through his hair in frustration, he didn't expect for this mission to take longer than it should have been, of course he had been in missions that took way longer before but this particular one was getting in his nerves for some reason. "We've wasted so much time already"
"We don't have to rush it, besides we're still the talk of the town and it's going to be harder to reach him than before"
"It wasn't supposed to take this long" he complained.
Onyx chewed on slowly, keeping her watchful eyes on Moskov. her expression dropped but the flare was evident in here eyes, somehow she was hiding such a great emotion without showing it but it was as if he could see right through the facade, he's seen it many times before from different people, living with cynical humans will take a toll on someone. "If you're really that keen o capturing him you should at least wait for a few days and let that wound heal"
"I heal faster than any other creature i know" He scoffed.
"Even better! now will you quit talking and rest? I can't take care of you forever" There was a hint of mockery in the sentence but Moskov couldn't help but see it as a weakness in his part, he really didn't want anyone to take care of him, let alone give this much time and effort in keeping him alive for another day, it had always been him and himself alone, he didn't need another to worry about.
"Sorry, i don't recall asking for you to take care of me" he spat back growing more and more agitated by the second, he didn't know why and quiet frankly he should have been thankful that someone was there but his pride was still but a stone wall.
Onyx frowned, she looked like she was about to up and leave but she held her ground "Well i'm taking care of you anyway, a simple thank you would suffice. But i reckon you won't say it so i'll go ahead, you're welcome" and with that she stood up and walked into the mouth of the cave. She didn't know why he was so aggressive with everything but then again he was injured, and she shouldn't expect him to be the happiest person to be with right now, he probably was a little dizzy and all she did was provoke him. Onyx suddenly felt the small guilt build up inside her, maybe she shouldn't do things he never asked for, maybe that would make this whole thing more tolerable.
"I'm going to go and scout the area, rest up and please try not to get up this time. I'll be back" and with that she spread her wings and took off into the night.
Moskov shook the thought going back and forth in his head, he felt guilty but the pain overshadowed whatever sympathy he had for anyone at the moment, the world will have to wait until his head cleared of the fog.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง