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[i]”He went this way.”

”If we send Tural to Bestik, he can call for reinforcements.”

“Find the boy!”[/i]

Velhass stormed through dense woods and brush, with no concern for where his path took him. It was too dark to see more than a few feet in front of him. But the darkness was safer than the distant glow of torches and swords. In that direction, there was only danger waiting for Velhass. Only [i]death.[/i] The Tekeri would likely follow him first if he didn’t take flight. Salaketh’s soldiers couldn’t all chase him down this overgrown thicket. The worst they could do not is anticipate his next move or send a scout.

But that didn’t mean Velhass was [i]safe.[/i]

His foot snagged on a loose root, and Velhass tumbled down the side of the hill, falling through brambles and dead leaves. The world seemed to fall away as he lost his sense of direction, thorns pricked Velhass’ weathered skin, bushes splintered and cracked. When the boy stopped rolling out of control, it was due to a tree he collided with face-first. His skull felt as though he had just been splashed with ice cold water, and he felt blood trickle down his lip.

The road lay up high overhead, and the distant shouting of Salaketh sounded as if they were moving away. But still, a chance of being captured was still a [i]chance.[/i]

[color=cornflowerblue][i]Do not stop moving.[/i][/color]

The distant moon and stars provided Velhass with just enough light that he could trudge through the gloam of the forest. He was careful not to make much noise, moving slowly and feeling out the forest floor lest he snap a twig that could alert the life mage, whose presence he couldn’t confirm or deny yet. Once he was far enough from the roads that no one could see him, Velhass climbed into a tree. Above the ground, he could see none of the Inquisitors in pursuit. Thus, he let his guard down for a moment.

Until he saw the fire in the distance.

Too large to be a torch, it had to have been burning for a while now. It couldn’t have been Salaketh’s men. Velhass saw shapes in the darkness moving around the flame, as a door was closed by someone . The motion was shaped like a person… Someone lived down here in this dense wood. And people had food.

If he could just sneak in and make out quickly enough, they wouldn’t miss anything.

Velhass dropped out of the tree and slinked forward. The fire flickered lively as he neared and saw that the house was in a clearing where the moon glowed brightly. The "house" looked… Pitiful. Barely any better than a hut, with what looked like ashes caked against the outer walls in place of mortar. The door had tree bark on it by the touch. A far cry from the architecture of the city. The poor sod inside might be dead for all he knew.

Velhass pushed the door open gently, it made no noise. The house seemed rather spacious on the inside. A single room, containing wooden barrels, plants hanging from clay pots chained to the roof, and a table. There was no fire inside. And this was no house, it was a storage room. There was a second door on the opposite side of the room, opened just by a fraction. Velhass could see light moving towards it. He turned to leave, then that light poured in from behind him. 

What he saw was not a fellow S’Tor, a Tekeri, or even a Glen. It was a creature with skin like gnarled bark, wreathed in smoldering flames and ash. Two bright pits of fire were the only semblance of a face that it bore. One of their hands was outstretched, and a mote of orange light was floating above, acting as a lantern of sorts. The flaming figure was hunched over slightly, and looking right at the intruder.

Velhass was terrified.

[color=d68300]”You are trespassing. Explain yourself, boy.”[/color]
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Shirik had tuned out most of the ongoings of the feast after Esedel referred to them as an "it." Things seemed to be dying down as everyone ate their fills. Hopefully people were a bit more amicable to each other now that they broke bread and stayed in one place together long enough to tolerate each others' presences. They noticed Kareet had gone over to see what was happening in the bushes with Kerchak. Along with that thought mage and several guards. That was weird, but their cultures tended to send people off on those things for loyalty's sake. 

Shirik may have very well fallen asleep at the metaphorical dinner table if they were physiologically capable of that... Or if they hadn't stood up to walked off out of boredom. But just as they stood up, some humans bumped into them. This human seemed a bit more... Rough around the edges than the rest. More decorated, more dramatic. Were they a warrior of some sort? 

[color=d68300]"...Metal? I am wood and fire. Play what, exact-"[/color] Shirik didn't know what "metal" was in this context. But then they overheard a similarly dressed human mention instruments, hearing this to be such by the sound of Zeynap's translator. They looked back to the woman with a slight head tilt. [color=d68300]"Ah. I see. Yes, I do in fact. If you are asking me to join a performance, bring me something with strings."[/color] Shirik's definition of music was no doubt fundamentally different from that of humans, especially metalheads with electrically produced sounds. But on Kanth-Aremek, there were plenty of diverse musical forms to draw from. Shirik, being as old they were, had picked up quite a few tricks from musicians all over the planet. All too often did they fill the silence of lonely years with gentle noise plucked from strings.

Velhass taught them their first song, in another time.
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