X e l l
Southeastern Mir - The Fall
Xell furrowed his brow, awaiting an answer from the skittish Youth who was clinging onto the map for dear life and also scrambling to hide some of the pieces of paper back into his rucksack. Some, however, he seemed to want to purge as he noted ripped pieces being hailed away by the wind. Like meaningless snowflakes that wouldn’t last.
He noted one document still lying beside Nikki. It, too, was picked up by the wind and smacked into her, but she plucked it off of her and placed it on the ground.
He raised his eyebrows as he thought he caught sight of some scrawlings on the paper.
‘Yonath Syrain?’ he thought ‘Is that his name…?’
Were these the pieces of a puzzle the Youth was trying to put together?
He appeared to let a lot of them he was desperately trying to retrieve to escape in the end. A helpless expression on his face. As he if any urge he had to fight was collapsed.
One piece of gold dust he was able to retain was a photo. One that appeared to have a much younger image of himself in. Two figures behind him trying to catch him before he fell. The air of a family composition, except none of them looked anything alike.
The Draconi’s head turned in morbid surprise as he noted the Lotori arrive and make an announcement.
"Guys," she said, coming up to the group, "I know we just got an earful from that mystic, but I think she's right about that pirate who's on our tail. We need to get moving if we want to get to my uncle's place so we can use it for cover.”
The Draconi continued to watch and folded his arms as the Coon tried to offer words of support to the broken Youth whilst placing a hand on his shoulder. This appeared to be met with dismissal as he jerked away and widened the distance between himself and the group resentfully.
“I’m not sure he’s one for hugs,” Xell smiled wryly, tipping his head towards Taffy with folded arms still “I don’t know if this is the 411 exactly, but I think his name might be Yonath. All the clues to his existence was in his backpack…” Xell pointed to it as the otter boy stood some distance away by now.
“Except most of the truth now has been cast away,” he spoke almost poetically as he pitched an open palm out to the skies. The Lotori and Nekomi following to see pieces of shredded and whole paper glide in their own different directions by the air currents in the sky.
“You know, he was actually about to talk to me,” Nikki brought her head back down raised an eyebrow at Taffy, hands placed on her hips defiantly.
“Would it have been anything more than a mutter or two?” Taffy retorted with a glare “anyway, like I
said, we don’t have time for this! Rather than waste our time on deep and meaningfuls, perhaps we should hightail it out of here. Maybe he'll warm up later.”
Various silent expressions of acknowledgement were exchanged across the board. The group turning to make their way on the dark path away from the arena of surrounding ominous statues. The large figurines watching with their contorted and harrowing faces as the assembly turned their backs on them. Howling winds continued to strain through the industrial metal work.
The group now comprising of Taffy leading the frontline, Max, Nikki, Sasha, Akaeyla, Yoni, and Xell himself. The more amicable members were supporting each other towards the more anterior part of the group whereas some of the other more reserved members were preferring to keep a distance from afar. All using their torches to pave the way through artificial light.
Xell made a deliberate attempt to walk side by side with Yoni for a moment. Although the extreme antisocial vibes given off by the Lutran-being made it clear that this wasn’t a time for long engaging conversations.
“I’m sorry I took what you said the wrong way,” Xell turned away from looking at him, to focus on the distance ahead. In an attempt to ease the burden.
“One thing I will say, however, thank you for your aid earlier.”
The Lutran offered nothing to say in return. That being a given, Xell reached into one of his pockets and retrieved the alcoholic beverage he had stolen off of Max’s plane earlier.
“Not sure if this is great for someone your age, but thought I’d return the favour.”
The youth did nothing more than hold a perpetual scowl, staring straight ahead, even as he found Xell handing the compact bottle over to him until it was within the Youth’s grip.
“Do as you will.”
The Draconi dispersed from the row the Lutran being was in and found himself walking around the periphery of the group. His mind drifting through waves of deep thought, and concentrating on the task at hand. Which was straight forward in itself, if his mental state wouldn’t oscillate like the burden of a pendulum.
Just as they were about to leave the statue garden for good, one monument caught his attention. Mangled and elongated with several metallic pole heads like a hydra, it had scales that were constructed out of shards of mirror.
It was that moment that made Xell take a small detour as he snared the reflection from the periphery of his eye. Quickly shuffling towards it, footsteps thudding upon the ground softly, he panted as he wiped the condensation and debris off of them. Exercising caution not to lacerate his skin upon the sharp edges. The refracted rainbows on the broken edges reminiscent of once a whole mirror image themselves.
Gazing at the web of fragments, he was horrified to see his own reflections looking back at him. The rich rocky grey tone having disintegrated to a pale skin tone that resembled an anaemic maggot. The bags under his skin, too, appeared to hollow his face out with the sickly blue hues.
The most unforgiving sight were his irises. Unrecognisable as that once focused rich azure look had dwindled to a hue he didn’t even recognise. The colour of blue that was slipping towards the red part of the colour spectrum. Fresh eyes being forced or rebranded towards an unnatural crimson. As of yet, they were looking a dull magenta, starved of vitality.
“Well well… look at you!”
Xell turned and almost leapt out of his scales to see the familiar face before him. Moonlight outlining the feline creature.
“Nikki?”
“Trust you to wander from the group to check yourself out,” she laughed, swishing her ears “but you can do plenty of that later.”
She too, looked into the shards and tidied up her bob of lush hair. Xell looking on with a frown, jumped scared again as he felt caught off guard when she turned back to look at him with a grin.
“Well, I’ve seen better myself, come on! Let’s get back to the group!”
He nodded once, before keeping up the pace with her as they jogged back towards the group. It seemed no one had noticed. Or if they had, they hadn’t said anything out loud.
There was a silence amongst all individuals as the even march continued on and on past the clearing of statues, through fields, until they eventually arrived before an entry which would lend itself into a new corridor of woods. All amassed amongst each other in a linear fashion. Tall with ebony like wood during this dark hour. The path ahead was long and winding, which had velvet like lavender mist hovering above the primitive cobbled path.
“This doesn’t seem to be getting any easier…” Xell stopped and put his face into the palm of his hand. He spread the fingers planted across his face and caught sight of Taffy’s backpack again. Grinding his teeth at remembering what it was he wanted from it.
“Yous gonna be a burden on us?” Max turned around to size the Draconi up and down condescendingly “no one asked ya to join!”
This statement was met with an aggressive counter turn on the heals as the Coon turned to glare daggers at the Spicati. The expression all too vivid despite the veiling night hour.
“I told you earlier! He’s with us… no one is leaving this group!” she said through gnarled teeth.
“Oi, who made yous in charge anyway? Or are ye gonna bitchslap me again Sheila?!” Max demanded “don’t ya think I forgot ‘bout that…!”
The Draconi’s head began to spin as the bickering flooded out. Tit for tat as one voice argued against another in the frontline of the group. Which did nothing more than to augment the rising headache within Xell’s skull. Hoarse whispers of
that Voice flowing through the visceral meninges of his brain.
The voices of the own group started to sound like chipmunks. Uneven tempos, before the pitch started to delve to lower octaves.
Digging both nails into his temples again to open up the fresh wounds he made earlier, blood oozed out as smogs of red started to infiltrate his vision. He coughed violently as the hazy scene around him started to flutter around him. Through his distorted vision, he could make out the arguing voices of the frontline, a pair of sceptical eyes from the back scrutinising him, the blindfolded hermit analysing the situation, and a couple of females trying to support him up. His legs unstable as the rest of his body shook furiously. Cold sweat oozing from his scales.
He couldn’t even remember nearly falling. He oscillated from side to side, trying to insist through his own garbled voice that he didn’t
need their help. Muscles feeling paralysed around the musel itself and uncertain if he got the words out. Smiling with eyes closed and trying to push them away, only to find he could hardly move.
“…el… ell…. Xell…. Come one!” his ears were trying to focus as on the voice being spoken to him. Jaded irises seeing both Nikki… and Sasharya. They hybrid’s look more concerned and awkward at the revelation unfolding.
“I… I can’t…” Xell winced, standing upright, not without cascading from side to side in a disorientated manner “I’ve been gone too long like this. I can’t do this anymore.” His face disappeared beneath the shadows of the bangs of his hair.
He forced himself away from the Nekomi and ran off.
Max and Taffy suddenly stopped in their tracks. Fireflies of torches buzzing around to catch the source of the sound. Shuffling through shrub and the glint of a metallic object caught by the moon in the abyss of barbed brushes.
“What was that…?” Taffy uttered in a hoarse whisper, turning to the group for answers.
As Taffy turned around towards the front again, her heart skipped a beat as she saw the distraught Draconi in front of her. Blocking their path as his stance twitched haphazardly.
“Please… there’s something in your backpack I need…” he said, coughing violently, hands hovering over his knife, albeit reluctantly
“please. Just let me have some.” He winced, his hands suddenly clutching his torso as he bent double.
Taffy’s constricted pupils were unrelenting within the paled saphhire irises, gasping even more as the Draconi made his next move. Suddenly looking up to glare at the both of them with crimson eyes that bore the sea of a thousand dead souls.
