FSE

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CHAPTER 22

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I awoke in a mass of bodies. My head fogged over from the alcohol I had been drinking. A mild headache in my right temple. The room was pitch dark, I had no idea what time it was, but judging from how tired I felt it was still extremely late. The room reeked of sex. At most I felt as if I had gotten two hours of sleep.

The four furs that we had been 'gifted' of their services, had been extremely eager to please us. Relentless in their pursuit of it; insatiable even. It had been fun, and extremely satisfying at the time. But now, laying here in the aftermath, everyone else fast asleep, I felt empty inside. It had been sex, very pleasurable sex, but I felt strangely hollow; as if the sex had not satisfied something inside of me, and instead left an open wound.

My mind went back to Shasmar. I hadn't felt like this when I'd been with her. I'd felt happy. I'd felt fulfilled. Maybe I had loved her. I certainly had cared for her. She had always brought made me smile with her vibrant personality. I wonder how she was doing? If some male had made a challenge for her? If she had been forced to mate someone she didn't love?

I slipped free from the bed; thankful I had been at the edge so as not to disturb anyone. After carefully slipping free of the leopards embrace, I walked across the room to the table with the alcohol. I remove the lid from the decanter, not bothering with a glass, I drank straight from the decanter. I took a mawful, gasped as the liquid burned my throat, hoping that the burning sensation of the alcohol would stop me feeling this way; taking one drink after another. Before I had realised, I had finished what had been left in the decanter.

I reeked of sex and alcohol. I stumbled towards the door, feeling the need to clean myself. Perhaps a nice bath would help me feel better? At the very least I would smell better. When I opened the door the cool air of the corridor struck me and made me shiver. As I stumbled through the hallways, trying to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the other guests, I was using the walls to keep my balance. I had drunk too much.

“Are you all right Sir!?”

“I'm fine.” I slurred. I looked up to see that it was Geralt. The ginger feline who had led us to the inn yesterday. I smiled and leant in to give him a hug. “Thank you Geralt!”

“You’re most welcome Sir. Are you sure you’re all right? I'm not sure you should be wandering the halls naked.”

I looked down and realised that I was in fact naked. I didn't feel any embarrassment. After all I usually wore nothing more than a loincloth. However, the evidence of my night’s activities was clear to see, and smell, to anyone who got close enough.

“I-I need a bath.” I slurred.

“O-of course Sir! Allow me to help you.”

I put my arm round his shoulder and allowed him to steer me in the right direction, focusing purely on the task of putting one foot-paw in front of the other so as not to fall and make an ass of myself more than I already had. I couldn’t be sure what we talked about on the way to the baths. I’m sure I rambled incoherently about various things as we walked.

“I'm sorry.” I apologised.

“You have nothing to apologise for Sir.”

But I felt like I needed to apologise. Only... Geralt wasn't the one I really wanted to apologise to. It had been nearly two weeks since I'd left Shasmar behind. Two weeks and until now I hadn't regretted my decision. Was it the alcohol? Or was it that it had taken a night of meaningless sex to make me realise just how much she meant to me?

Before I knew it Geralt had carried me into the bath house. At this point I was barely able to stand upright with Geralt's help. There was a young drake on duty in the bath house. He wore the similar outfit the other attendants had; a black loin cloth. He saw us enter and immediately came to help Geralt carry me to the pool in the middle of the room. Geralt supported me from above as the grey scaled drake carried me into the water.

The water was cold, but it didn't bother me. I was too drunk to care at this point. But I did enjoy the floral scent that surrounded me as I was lowered into the water. I waved my paw to make the countless flower petals floating on the surface of the water move.

“Please ensure he is well cared of.” Geralt commanded.

“Of course, Sir!” The drake nodded.

“I shall fetch some food and water.”

“Yeah... that sounds good!” I nodded, waving to him as he left.

I was so drunk right now. The full effect of the alcohol I had downed from the decanter now hitting me full force. My body felt so heavy I just lay back and rested my head against the side of the pool. The young drake slipped into the pool next to me and began to gently bathe me, scrubbing my scales with a smooth stone, gently scraping off the evidence of my sexual escapades.

“Thank you.” I muttered. “I'm sorry for the trouble.”

“It's no trouble at all Sir.” The drake smiled.

I stared at him as he focused on his task. He was so focused as he attempted to clean me. So careful and gentle. He was good at this. But he seemed so young. Thin and lanky, as if he had just had a growth spurt and hadn't filled out yet. He didn't carry himself the same way as the leopard, the tigress or any of the others servants I'd seen in the bath house yesterday. He didn't have that confidence, the sexual aura of the others. He also seemed tired, the kind of tired someone had when they worked through the night.

“How old are you?” I asked.

“Fifteen winters Sir.” He replied.

“And you work here? At night?”

“I'm very fortunate Sir.” He replied. His cleaning pausing for a second. “Master Geralt was kind enough to get me this job. My family depend on me.”

“You support your family?”

“Yes Sir. Ever since my father... I'm sorry Sir. I don't mean to bore you with my problems.” He apologised hurriedly and resumed cleaning me.”

I could tell from his tone when he mentioned his father that it was something upsetting to him. Long enough now that the wound it had left on him was not fresh, but still not a pleasant memory for him. Most likely his father had either passed away, or had abandoned his family. Leaving this young drake, as the eldest male, to earn coin to support his family.

“You don't need to call me Sir.” I said. “And you weren't boring me.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Don't call me that.”

“Sir?”

“Yes! Call me Malakye.” I demanded. “Being called Sir all the time... I'm not used to it.”

“I wouldn't dare...”

“You're meant to make sure I'm pleased, aren't you?”

“Yes S...” He caught himself. Not wanting to anger me by calling me Sir again, but too unsure of himself to use me name.

“Then call me Malakye.”

“Yes. As you wish... Malakye.”

“And what's your name?” I asked.

“Uh... Javel.”

“It's nice to meet you Javel.”

“You as well... Malakye.” He said my name with unease. Almost as if he was afraid, he would get in trouble for using it.

I smiled and leant back. He smiled and resumed his cleaning once more. A short while later Geralt returned with a tray of, what smelt like, freshly baked bread, cheese and fruit. I thanked him, turning around to expose my back for him to wash while I ate.

“Do you have someone you love Javel?”

“My family... I suppose?”

“That’s not quite what I meant.” I sighed. “Have you found someone to love?”

“No...” He shook his head but there seemed to be something more behind his answer.

“You sure?”

“Well...”

“Someone you like?” I asked. He nodded in response. “Do they know you like them?”

“Maybe... I don't know...” He seemed quite shy. Uncomfortable at the conversation. But he wasn't refusing to answer.

“Let me give you some advice Javel.” I blinked at him slowly for a few seconds and raised my paw to point at him. “Don't let love slip you by. You'll regret it.”

“But... what if they reject me?”

“Then they reject you.” I said bluntly. “It'll hurt at first. But at least you won't have any regrets! And regret... regret hurts a lot... and for much longer, than rejection.”

“O-okay.” He nodded. “I will try and remember that.” He smiled. “Malakye? Do you have any regrets?”

“Too many.” I shook my head. I crossed my arms in front of me as I hung on the edge of the pool, and laid my head down on them. “Live your life without regret…”

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When I was aware of my new surroundings, I wasn’t sure if I was floating or falling. I remembered that I had been in the baths, but there was no water. As I moved around in mild panic there was no splashing from the bath, I had been in. I was surrounded by darkness, yet I could see my body. Where was the light coming from? I flailed around as I tried to gather my bearings. I had no idea which way was up. I flailed around in panic.

Where was I?

I righted myself, or at least it felt like I had. I felt in control now at least. It was difficult to know which way was up. I looked around, nothing. Just darkness. This had to be a dream. I expected the spirit to make an appearance, but time passed by and nothing happened. He never appeared. It was just endless darkness everywhere I looked, and yet I could see perfectly well. It wasn’t that there was no light, it was that there was nothing to see.

“Where the hell am I?!” I asked aloud. My voice echoed around me time and time again, until it eventually tapered off into nothing.

I didn’t know where I was but what I was sure of was that this was not part of my own personal mindscape. If it was, I would know instantly, but I didn’t feel that connection. Even when the spirit tried to attack my psyche with nightmares, I could feel the connection to my surroundings. But I felt no connection with this space. But I also didn’t feel the presence of the spirit anywhere. I doubted that this was his mindscape which I had somehow wandered into. Perhaps it was the space between our relative psyches? If that was the case then I was likely in serious danger if he found me here.

I needed to focus on how to get back. I cleared my mind and began summoning on my spiritual powers. Normally it would take several moments for me to summon small golden light in the palm of my paw, but I was suddenly overwhelmed by the power flowing through me. Every inch of my body exploded with the golden light and I had to squint as I was being blinded by myself. I dialled the power down; it was very similar to how I controlled my nen.

What was this power!? It was not the usual spiritual power I was used to. It felt different, as if it belonged to someone, or something else. I didn’t want to find out, or meet, whoever or whatever was supplying this power. I gathered the power and projected it forwards. The large orb of light flew a couple of yards away and expanded, taking on the form of a door.

The doors were solid oak with polished brass handles. There was an intricate design of runes and pictures carved into the frame of the door. I couldn’t make out the runes, they seemed familiar and yet so alien to me at the same time. But upon closer examination the pictures were easy to make out, if a little confusing in their nature. There were two characters depicted among all the pictures, they were separate in all of them. After a moment the pictures began moving!

The sudden realisation flustered me, and made me nervous. This was no ordinary door! But I had somehow summoned it. I had no idea where this door led, but it was my only way out of this place. I reached forwards and pulled the doors open. One the other side there was nothing. Just the same endless darkness that surrounded me on this side. I stared into the darkness in confusion. I had summoned this door and yet it led nowhere?

I was about to close the door when I was suddenly pulled forwards with great force. I flew through the doorway at great speed and the doors slammed shut behind me.

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I jolted upright with a cry. I stared ahead and was completely disorientated. It took me several long moments to realise I was back in the bathhouse. I was damp and cold, and was laying on the cold stone floor. Eventually I became aware of the voice in the background slowly getting louder and louder. I turned to the source of the voice and looked at a young drake.

“Malakye!”

He was saying my name. I squinted at a grey scaled drake. It took me a few moments to remember his name, Javel.

“Are you all right?” He asked, worry clearly etched into his expression.

“What?” I shook my head. His words didn’t make sense to me.

“Are you, all right?” He asked again. This time with a tone of concern and a look of confusion. This time his words actually registered.

“Uhh… yeah, yes.” I nodded. The motion caused a sharp pain in my right temple. I reached up and began rubbing that spot.

“Are you sure?” He asked. “You were really out of it there.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“You drifted off and I couldn’t rouse you! I was barely able to pull you out of the bath in case you drowned.” He explained. “It’s dangerous to fall asleep like that. You should really go to bed.” His tone was one of concern. He was a kind hearted drake.

“You're right.” I sighed.

The thought of having to walk back to my room seemed like such a task at the moment. And the fact that my bed had five other furs in it right now made it a less than appealing thought to return. I stood up, and after a moment of steadying myself began to stagger towards the exit. I was still very drunk.

I thought back to the eerie darkness I had found myself in. Was that real, or had it just been all a dream brought on by the alcohol? It certainly felt real enough. But a place like that had never been described to me at all during my training. I would ask about it later. For the moment I just needed to focus on not falling over.

“Wait!” Javel called after me. I turned back and he was running over carrying something. “Put this on.”

It was a pair of shorts like he was wearing. It was then I remembered that I was still bare assed naked right now. As sexy as the garment looked on those, I’d seen wearing it, it was effective at concealing their modesty. With help from Javel I managed to slip into them and after thanking him I staggered off.

As I staggered through the halls towards my room I came to a stop as I heard someone yell. They were quite obviously angry, but I could not make out what was being said. I swayed and lost my balance slightly. I placed a paw against the wall to steady myself. Moments later the door just ahead of me was yanked open and a very naked, grey pelted wolf run out of the door, hit the wall on the other side of the hall in his haste, before turning and bolting down the hall past me.

“You useless mutt!” A feminine voice yelled. A moment later a very naked, red scaled dragoness stepped out from the room and yelled a string of obscenities down the hall after the escaping wolf. “Fucking useless whore!” She swore as she turned and our gazes met.

She was very attractive. Slender waist, large breasts, gorgeous eyes. Looking at her I immediately thought of Rose. She didn't have wings, and her head fur was black, but I couldn't help but see the resemblance. If you had told me that she was a close relative of Rose I would be hard pressed to deny them that. Looking at her I realised what the commotion was about. Her breasts and muzzle were covered in, what I could only assume was, the wolfs cum. It looked like the wolf had come early and displeased her.

“You there!” She scowled at me. “Get your tail in here and finish off what your useless mutt friend failed to do!”

“What?” I slurred.

“Are you drunk!?”

“Yes Ma'am, very much so!” I chuckled as I began to continue walking past her. She grabbed my arm forcibly. “What are you doing?!”

“I told you to get in here! I've paid good coin to have my needs satisfied! That wolf failed miserably! Now get in here or I'll have you reported as well!”

“Look, I...” My objection was cut short as she yanked me into the room. She was a lot stronger than she looked. It took every drop of focus I could muster not to fall muzzle first on the floor as she dragged me into the room.

“I don't care about your excuses! Get in here!”

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I groaned in mild pain as I am roused from my slumber by the discomfort of my hangover. I rolled over and sat on the edge of the bed. I hear movement behind me and remember the dragoness. I didn't look over at her though. She had literally dragged me into her room and forced me to have sex with her.

It was obvious that she thought I was one of the whores hired by the inn in order to service their guests needs. I had attempted to correct her on that fact, but she had rudely interrupted me, several times in fact. I could have refused her advances, I hadn’t been overly interested in sleeping with her, but I was consciously aware of the fact I had been quite drunk and hadn’t wanted to accidently hurt her by using force to escape.

The main reason I had stayed however, was remembering that my room still had five other furs sleeping in it. The chance of getting a more restful sleep was better if I slept with her and slept in her bed. Thankfully she hadn’t kicked me out afterwards, and I had gotten a decent sleep. But the hangover negated any benefit the sleep had offered me.

“Mmmm...” she groaned in satisfaction as I felt her shift on the bed next to me and a moment later, she was pressed against my back with her arms wrapped around me chest. “That was the best fuck I've had in a while.”

“Good.” I winced. My headache was getting worse. I really needed some food and water.

“I'll have to request you next time I come.” She murred. “What's your name?”

“Malakye.” I reply. “But I don't work here.”

“What?” She chuckled. “Of course, you do!”

“No, I don't.” I countered.

“Then why were you wearing a uniform?”

I looked at the ground where the shorts I'd been given had been thrown when she'd ripped them off me. I chuckled in amusement. But before I could give an explanation there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!” She called.

I was a little surprised she did that. We were both naked, and she wasn't making any attempt to hide her modesty before calling out to let a stranger into the room? I honestly didn't care though.

“Lady Rienhart, good morn...” I turned and saw Geralt. “Master Malakye! I did not expect to see you... forgive me. What you do is none of my business.”

“Master Malakye?” The dragoness, the Lady Rienhart questioned. I could feel her curious gaze staring down at me.

“That's what I was telling you!” I chuckled.

“But why were you wearing that!?” She scowled, aggressively pointing at the discarded shorts.

“Because I got drunk and started wandering the inn naked.” I explained. I turned to Geralt before explaining the next part. “Javel offered me those to maintain my modesty while I walked back to my room.”

“I understand.” Geralt nodded.

“I don't!” She growled. “Just who the hell are you!?”

“What’s wrong? The fact that I'm not just some whore for you to fuck and discard bothering you?” I asked.

“Ahem... in any case, Lady Jan'Zar and Lord Callen were wondering where you were. Shall I inform them, or would you like me to lead you to them?” Geralt asked.

“Wait? What!? Just who are you!?” Her tone had become less aggressive and more confused.

“Master Malakye is a personal guest of Lord Callen and Lady Jan'Zar.” Geralt explained.

“I'm really hung over right now.” I grumbled. “Do you think I could get some breakfast before getting my tail chewed out?”

“Of course. I shall arrange it at once.” Geralt bowed his head. “I shall inform the Lord and Lady that you will join them in due course. Where would you like to eat?”

“I...”

“He will eat here with me!” She stated forcibly.

Geralt looked at me, waiting for confirmation that I agreed to her demand. I just nodded. It just seemed easier to stay here and have food brought to me, rather me going to the food. Also, if I stayed here, I could avoid running into anyone, like Jan'Zar, who would rip me a new one while I was suffering from this hangover. Even though she was quite bossy and demanding, I knew I could at least shut her up by shoving my cock up her ass again.

“Very well. I shall have breakfast brought to the room shortly.” Geralt bowed and took his leave.

“Well now, you are an interesting one!” She said, once Geralt had closed the door behind him.

She stood up off the bed and straddled my lap, wrapping her arms around me and crushing her breasts into my chest. She was now flirting with me, rather than ordering me about. I guess she no longer viewed me as a simple whore. She spoke to me differently now. Acted differently.

“What is your story then?” She asked with a sultry smile.

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After breakfast I felt much better. My hangover was now nothing more than a mild headache which was easily ignored. I returned to my room, retrieved my loincloth and head out to join the others. They were behind the inn, where Jun’lao had trained us the previous day. There were a dozen heavily armed guards standing nearby. They seemed to recognise me as they didn’t attempt to stop me as I walked past them.

The weather was glorious, if you weren’t training. The morning sun was already uncomfortably warm, and there wasn’t even a breath of wind for a refreshing breeze. I fully expected to be given some punishment for my tardiness, a punishment which would be made worse by this heat.

“How kind of you to grace us with your presence!” Jan’Zar scowled as she noticed me approach.

“Sorry. I got a little drunk last night.”

“Give me a hundred laps around the inns perimeter!” She glared angrily.

I sighed in defeat. This was going to suck.

“Jan give him a break. We did agree to allow everyone to indulge themselves last night.” Callen interjected.

“Tch…. FINE!” She huffed. “Twenty laps! And be quick about it!”

“YES!” I exclaimed and took off to complete the laps before she changed her mind and increased them again.

I used my nen to increase the speed of my run. It was good practise, shifting my nen into each leg to propel me further and faster with each and every stride. By the time I finished the last lap around the inn I was sweating profusely. I stopped under the shade of a tree for a moment to catch my breath and cool off.

Once I had cooled down, I headed over to where the others were currently sparring with one another. Khaine was sparring with Jun’bak. Garr was barking commands at him as he fought, correcting Khaine on each mistake he made, or a move he could have done better. Jun’lao in comparison was standing silently next to him, watching his son fight without much criticism. Not that that was surprising. Jun’bak had been trained in martial arts most of his life. He was better than most furs could ever hope to be when it came to unarmed combat.

Khaine had an obvious strength advantage due to their builds, but he wasn’t able to land an effective blow against the avian. Jun’bak was just too fast for the wolf to keep up. Jun’bak had opted for a defensive fight, landing fast, light blows over a protracted period of time. As a result, Khaine was not taking much damage, but you could see he was frustrated. And that frustration was causing him to make more and more mistakes.

I could see the outcome of this fight already. Unless Khaine calmed down, or pulled off some upset, Jun’bak would likely immobilise him with a hold manoeuvre. A hold was the best option when fighting Khaine. His unique power which made him difficult to injure required a powerful brunt force blow, or an effective restraining hold to bring him down. This was why Jun’bak had opted for this strategy.

My expectation came true a few moments later as Jun’bak threw Khaine to the ground with a perfectly executed hip toss, grabbed his arm, flipped him onto his stomach and then rolled forwards, dragging Khaine with him, and finished with his legs wrapped around his neck and under his right arm. He had effectively immobilised Khaine’s right arm and made it difficult for him to even attempt to stand. Khaine struggled for over a minute before giving in.

Once Khaine tapped Jun’bak’s leg, signalling his submission, Jun’bak released the hold. They stood and then bowed to one another. With the fight now formally over I headed over to Callen and Jan’Zar who were standing a short distance away talking to a Masrur. I recognised him as the commander of the honour guard. Just as I got within earshot, they finished their conversation and he bowed before walking away.

“Malakye.” Callen smiled. “Do you need something?”

“I want to talk to you about something.”

I explained to them the experience that I had had the when I’d passed out last night in the baths. I didn’t leave out any of the details. I described every sensation as accurately as I could. Both of them remained silent and attentive the whole time I’d been speaking.

“And you’re sure it wasn’t a dream?” Callen asked. His tone seemed overly serious for the question.

“I’d never felt anything like it before.” I shook my head. “I’d passed out, but it felt like I was meditating. Only I wasn’t in my own mindscape.” The both exchanged a quick glance. That worried me. With that one glance I could tell that they knew something, or had some inkling as to what I experienced. “Do you know what it was?”

“A suspicion perhaps. There are three possibilities.” Callen frowned. “The first would be that it was in fact a dream, nothing more than that.” I was about to object but he raised his paw to silence me and continued to speak. “The second possibility would be that you slipped free from your mental scape and found yourself in the void between your mindscape and the spirits mindscape. A very dangerous place to find yourself. The spirit would be freely able to attack you there. And if that is the case then it is cause for concern.”

“Oh… what about the third option?”

“A higher plain.” He replied. “Or rather, a higher state of consciousness. You see what you described was… well its rather hard to describe.”

“Most mortals could never experience it. And if they did it would take a lifetime of intensive training in order to achieve what you did.” Jan’Zar chimed in. “So the chances of it being that are practically impossible.”

“I’m more concerned with the fact you may have inadvertently found your way into a dangerous situation.” Callen frowned. “We will have to be vigilant in the short term. You said you were drinking last night?” I nodded in confirmation. “Then as a precaution you shouldn’t drink any more in case that was a factor.”

“I understand.”

“Good. Now go and rest up before we head out.”

Jan’Zar didn’t argue his order for me to rest and not train. That meant that they were serious about how much danger I might actually be in. I just nodded and went to find somewhere to relax. We would be leaving in a couple of hours.

As we left, we were seen off by a huge crowd of furs. The heavily armed warriors of the honour guard made sure they didn’t swarm the wagon. We eventually made our way out of town and the crowd quickly. The honour guard continued to march in formation around us after we left town, with half of them marching ahead of us in a two-by-two formation, the other half following the wagon in similar fashion.

As usual I flew ahead with Master Jun’lao and the others. We still had four more days of travel before we reached the capital. But we would hit a new town every day on the way there, which was why we still had the honour guard following us. After four hours of flight we arrived at another, albeit slightly smaller, town. Master Jun’lao however knew the name of the inn were staying in that night. Our arrival by air caused a bit of stir, but we landed outside of the inn after spotting it in flight.

The wagon with the others arrived four hours later, during which time Master Jun’lao spent time training us on our wind bending techniques. After dinner both Callen and Jan’Zar joined me in my room. They both wanted to run me through my paces in my spiritual training. Obviously as a precaution to the unusual experience I had in the inn baths the night before.

The training was intensive, repetitive and exhausting. The techniques they focused on were the most basic and rudimentary skills, and while practising them had obvious benefits, those lessons never revealed anything of the true nature of my experience in the baths however. And I won’t lie in saying I wasn’t both curious, and nervous about learning the truth behind what I experienced.

When the training was finished, they left, warning me to make sure that I meditated rather than slept in the short term. I agreed and wished them good night as they left. I had hoped deep down that Callen had offered to sleep with me like he had back when I had first arrived in Aaru, with the excuse that I would be safer with him watching over me as I slept, when the truth was I wanted to try and rekindle our relationship again.

My feelings for him never went away. Thanks to my spiritual training I was simply better at suppressing them, and locking them away somewhere the spirit could not reach them. Being in his presence for this long had brought a few of those feelings back to the surface. But I couldn’t simply ask for him to stay with me. It would make me seem like a cowardly cub, afraid of the monster under the bed. My pride wouldn’t allow that. I had hoped that he would have made the offer but he never did.

As I meditated for the night, I was greeted almost immediately with the figure of my doppelgänger standing before me in the familiar campsite my mindscape regularly conjured for me. He was staring at me with intent.

“What did you do!?” He demanded.

“What are you talking about?!” I spat back at him, not appreciating his accusatory tone in the slightest.

“I sensed an unusual power from you last night. One which you should not have had access to.” He scowled. “Where did you summon it from!?”

Was he talking about the power I summoned to return home from the realm of darkness I’d found myself trapped in? If he was then he might have answers for me! But this could also be some elaborate scheme to trick me to return there. And if it was indeed the void between our mindscapes, then I would be vulnerable there, or that’s at least what Callen and Jan’Zar had heavily implied. He seemed to know, or at the very least seemed to be familiar with the power I’d summoned in order to create a doorway home!

“What is it to you?!” I asked.

He didn’t reply immediately. He glared at me with such intensity I had to make hold my nerve while looking him in the eye. I had never seen him like this before. It was as if I had offended him in some way, or as if he was some cub who was pouting because he didn’t get to do something he wanted to do.

“Where did you acquire that power!?” He demanded once again.

“I don’t owe you anything, so I don’t need to tell you!” I spat at him. “So why don’t you tell me why you want to know, and maybe I’ll consider telling you!”

He stared at me for a long moment. His aggression fading. He was actually considering it! He really was. I could see it in his eyes. But after a few moments he just huffed and turned away, fading out of my mindscape.

I would have to tell Callen and Jan’Zar about this encounter! But that could wait until morning. I got a feeling that unless he decided to return to answer my question, I wouldn’t be seeing him again tonight.

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We left early the next morning, I flew ahead with Master Jun’lao to the next town, and we would train while waiting for the others to arrive. In the evening Callen and Jan’Zar would resume my spiritual training. I told them about my unusual encounter with the spirit, but they didn’t seem to think it was a big deal. I could see the curiosity in Callen’s eyes, but I agreed with his assessment that it was too risky for me to interact with the spirit needlessly, and so each day of our journey to the capital passed by with the same routine.

Each time we passed through a new town it was always the same. We would be swarmed by crowds of furs just wanting to catch a glimpse of the Guardian Deities and their Champions. Each town was a just a little bit bigger than the last. And each time we would sleep and eat in luxury as the residents did their best to impress Callen and Jan’Zar.

On the fourth day of our journey, as we departed the last town before our final destination, we did not fly ahead of the wagon. Instead we soared overhead, keeping pace with the others. From here it was supposedly only four hours before we reached the Capital, which meant we would arrive and sure enough, a few hours later I caught a glimpse of the Capital over the crest of a hill in the distance.

I looked at Henzi, and like me I could see the excitement in his expression. He smiled at me and we all flew ahead and landed atop the hill and took in the view of the city in the distance. Even from this distance I knew I had never seen anything like this before. It sprawled out into the distance for what seemed like forever. And built atop a hill, in the middle of it all, was what has undoubtably the temple we were going to be staying in. It was huge! Even from here I could make out the large perimeter wall that surrounded it, and the steeples and domes of the various buildings within. The temple grounds itself looked to be a similar size to New Zangar back home. It was mind boggling.

“That’s the capital?!” I muttered in awe.

“Indeed.” Master Jun’lao nodded. “The largest settlement in Aaru, home to the Temple of the Guardian Deities, the capital city; Kartaan’doku Sheema. Although everyone simply calls it Kartaan.”

Kartaan’doku Sheema. The words meant nothing to me. Usually even place names had some deeper meaning to them in Old Tongue, but not this one. Doku was the only part that seemed to have any meaning, meaning prayer, or worship. The rest meant nothing. Something else struck me as odd, that this was the Temple of the Guardian Deities, not the Temple of Asurmen. If this was the size of their temple, just how big was Asurmen’s temple? And where was it if it wasn’t here in the Capital?

Once the rest of our group caught up, we resumed our journey towards the Kartaan. It took another two hours for us to reach the edge of the city, and we already had quite a large group of furs following us from the farms we had passed by. At the edge of town there was an even larger group of warriors who joined us and formed a protective ring around us, preventing us from being swarmed by the crowds who wished to catch a glimpse of Callen, Jan’Zar and the Champions as we made our way to the temple.

I had never seen so many furs in one place. The crowd that followed us to the temple was so large I couldn’t tell where it stopped, even after I took flight and flew overhead with Jun’bak, Hen’zi and Kao’lar, I could not see the edge of the crowd, the streets were flooded with bodies.

“This is insane!” I said as we followed the wagon from the air.

“So many furs!” Hen’zi chuckled. “How do they all live here!? I thought our hometown was big!”

“The Capital is very different from our homeland.” Jun’bak commented.

Jun’bak sounded like he had been here before, which made sense since he likely came here with his father. We continued to marvel at the sheer size of the crowd and the capital itself as we slowly approached the temple. We flew over the wall, which were manned by more warriors clad in the similar armour as the ones protecting the wagon, only their armour was polished silver, rather than the gold that the honour guard wore. The guards watched us as we flew overhead but did nothing to stop us.

The temple itself was the largest building by far in the Capital. And was surrounded by numerous others in a high walled compound. It was a veritable fortress. When I had guessed it was similar in size to New Zangar I was more or less correct, but it was mind boggling to think that that the temple alone was this size! The temple was like a town within a town.

The Rutan’dokra, the warrior force that the honour guard escorting the wagon had been selected from, resided within the walls of the temple itself. Even taking into account the need of barracks, facilities to feed them and the space in order to train them, there was easily space to house an army of highly elite warriors, that was the equal of any back army in the Mortal Realm, within the compound of the temple.

Immediately beyond the wall was a huge courtyard that led up to the temple entrance. We landed on the steps of the temple entrance and waited for the wagon to catch up with us. The crowd was still following the wagon as it made its way up the courtyard. The cheers were deafening. There must have been thousands of furs pouring into the courtyard after the wagon. Numerous other armed warriors moved and took up positions around the courtyard, not to stop the crowd but to control it. This was apparently something that they had dealt with before, and had procedures for dealing with the situation.

A number of robed furs, three priests of the temple clad in purple robes with white sashes, emerged from the temple along with what appeared to be four high ranked warriors, wearing polished metal armour that shimmered in the afternoon sun. They all bowed to Master Jun’lao who greeted them all in turn by name. Once the others had walked up the stone steps to join us the warriors knelt and the Priests bowed to Callen and Jan’Zar.

After the bowed their heads to them in return they turned to face the large crowd that had gathered. The Champions also stepped forwards and stood on either side of them. With a simple wave from them the crowd cheered. I was used to this reaction by now, but it was quite the spectacle to see a crowd of this size. After a few moments they all turned and made their way into the temple. I followed behind the priests and warriors who had come out to welcome them.

Once inside the temperature dropped significantly once we were out the afternoon sun. It was pleasantly cool inside. The temple walls were made of solid stone bricks, each one far too large for a single fur to move by themselves. The floor was made of what looked like granite. There were very few windows in the first hall, so the only natural light came from the open doorway we’d entered. There were numerous torches hanging from the walls lighting our path through the interior.

“Greetings Lady Jan’Zar. Lord Callen.” One of the Priests smiled and bowed, the other following bowed with him. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you Mallic.” Callen smiled at the elderly peacock. “It is good to be back.”

“Your rooms are already prepared for you and the Champions. We have also prepared chambers for your guests as well.”

“Reliable as always. Now please allow me to introduce you.” Callen motioned for us to step forwards. “This is Malakye and Khaine, they are the k’tan we have been training.”

“A pleasure to meet you.” Mallic smiled.

“This is High Priest Mallic, High Priest Garra and High Priest Nomu.” The other two priests, an albino lizard and a Golden furred fox bowed the heads and smiled at us as they we introduced.

“Nice to meet you all.” I said with a bow of my own.

“And these are leaders of the Rutan’dokra.” He motioned to the four armoured furs.

In comparison to the Priests, even if they hadn’t been wearing the polished armour, you could tell that they were powerful warriors. They gave off an aura of power in comparison to the Priests gentleness. Just standing at ease I felt an unease as they stared at me with scrutinizing eyes; measuring me as a warrior.

Among them there were two Masrur, a leopard and a falcon. They all wore similar armour, although there were certain subtle differences between them. Details I did not understand at the time, but I would soon realise- just how right I was to feel uneasy with their eyes upon me. Any one of them had the ability to defeat me, even if I had used my full strength. They could fight with Garr or Master Jun’lao and fight as equals.

After the introductions we were escorted through the temple and shown our rooms. Each room was small, but perfectly functional for a single fur to sleep in. The stone floors were covered with a simple worn rug, and simple bed and clean sheets and a small dresser for our personal belongings. A small window, no wider than a foot across allowed daylight to filter into the room. There were dozens of these rooms housing acolytes training to become priests. The upper floors housed the more advanced acolytes and priests. The upper floors were also where Callen, Jan’Zar and the Champions would reside.

After Callen gave us a tour around the temple, and showing us the training grounds and barracks the Rutan’dokra resided we were escorted back to the feasting hall to eat with the acolytes. As we entered everyone’s gazes were on Khaine and I as we got our food and then sat down at a mostly empty table.

No one approached us or tried to speak to us. I wasn’t sure if they were scared of us or had been ordered not to, but when we finished eating and retired to our rooms for the night as Callen had suggested. Undoubtedly tomorrow was going to be a busy day.