Chapter 239: Chapter 236: Time Has Its Ways

“Greetings,” Rairok yelped in Eleaden Standard as we all entered his lair.

To my and Stella’s surprise, the insufferable guy, otherwise known as Knight Commander Taiult, bowed his head. “Greetings to you too.”

“It’s an honor to meet you,” I greeted him as soon as I regained my composure, and Stella did the same.

“These two belong in a cage. They insisted we put them here,” the man went on to explain. He didn’t seem to try to hide his annoyance at the fact, nor that it was because of Rairok that he had ultimately agreed to our absurd request. “I assume you don’t mind?”

“Indeed, I do not, Knight Commander Taiult.”

The man nodded and motioned the knights to the two cages on the other side of the lair. “Put them over there.”

“Aren’t those cages a little small for humans?” Rairok asked. If not concern for us, then curiosity about human behavior and reasoning in his voice.

I held up my hand - well, both of them, since I was shackled - as I had a word to say. “If I may . . .”

“What?” The Knight Commander rasped.

“I’m a shifter, and I’m bigger in my beast form - a cage over there would do.” I pointed to the one I’d spent several nights in, the one where I’d learned the truth.

“Fuck, why don’t you just ask for pillows and - wait, you want to shift? Here?” The man paused and gave me an is-the-bitch-crazy look.

“Isn’t this a great opportunity to prove to your superiors that I have what it takes to be on the front lines?”

“Fucking Eichenralke and their honor,” he said, spitting on the ground. “Honor, my ass. You guys are just fucked up in the head.”

As the two knights laughed at his crass remark, Stella and I looked at each other knowingly and shrugged. There was no point in arguing with him. 

“Whatever,” he muttered when he didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for from us. “Put them where they say, boys. In the end, it doesn’t matter. A cage is a cage.”

A snide remark about if it didn’t matter why he made such a big deal about it in the first place tickled my tongue, but I kept it to myself. Even though I didn’t like him, I didn’t make a habit of needlessly pissing off the people around me.

“Well, happy?” He asked with a sneer once we were both locked up.

Could I ever be happy to be locked up behind bars? No. But in light of the situation . . .

“Thank you for your willingness to listen to us and for your understanding,” Stella said politely - which I thought made the whole piece sound even more sarcastic - before I had a chance to open my mouth, most likely thinking I might say something that wouldn’t help our plight in the end.

The man grumbled something so unintelligible that even I could not understand what he was saying and turned on his heel. “Rairok,” he gave the beast a polite bow and headed off with the two knights. Just when I thought I had seen the last of him, he halted for a moment as they were about to disappear into the corridors of the cages. “Later, I’ll send someone to bring you some feed and buckets.”

Another surprise. I didn’t expect him to send anyone, considering the way we pissed him off. My guess, regulations. It was hard to say exactly how the violation of one or more of them was handled here, but apparently the obnoxious Knight Commander was unwilling to indulge in it himself.

Anyway, the time had come to face Rairok. I took a breath as he fixed his eyes on me and bowed my head. »It is an honor to meet you, Rairok - again,« I added, speaking in beast talk, a small detail to gain his trust.

He paused slightly at my words, but it was that one word that caught his attention, as I had hoped, or rather, as he had told me it would in the previous cycle. »Again? I do not remember ever meeting thee. Though sometimes people look the same to me, I would remember you.«

»Then I offer a connection - to share my life, to refresh your memory.«

It was possible to make the connection one-sided, as well as to select only specific memories to show, however rude. Rairok told me that even if I were to offer it to him, he’d never say yes. Well, he wasn’t wrong.

»Thou art not my kin, so I will overlook thy rudeness. But know that offering a one-sided connection shows thy lack of knowledge of the ways of my kin.«

He was wrong about that. Taking control of mana, I brushed my eyeballs with it, a trick he taught me. It gave my eyes that odd gleam he - and the poster girls - had in theirs. »I didn’t mean to offend you, but show my trust in you. Believe it or not, the blood of your kin runs through my veins, Rairok.«

There was nothing wrong with him hesitating. I, too, would have doubts, wondering if this was some kind of ruse, whether I was under the influence of Eleaden and the planet was trying to get to him through me. »I intend to spend the night here in my beast form; perhaps that will ease your mind, and in the morning . . .«

»There’s no need for that,« Rairok stopped me, a little amused, I’d say. »Thy concern for me is most unexpected. Not unwelcome. But unexpected nonetheless. One might even get the impression that thou deemest me weak.«

»That’s not . . .«

»Yet I would have to be blind not to see that thou art trying to gain my trust, human woman. A name might be a good start, since thou knowest mine.«

I was more than aware that neither Stella nor I had introduced ourselves. »I offer more than just my name - my life and the truth.«

»All too willingly.«

»I wouldn’t if I didn’t trust you.« Sure, it sounded too cheesy. Even I wouldn’t be convinced. But what else could I do when I didn’t want to tell him my full name out loud; when telling him less than that would be a lie he would see through? It was not the way to gain trust.

»Please, Rairok. I . . .«

He rolled his eyes and moved. A few steps, and he was at my cage, his presence weighing on my shoulders. Just a warning. »I have faced my inner nightmares many times. Do not think I am not prepared.«

»I wouldn’t dare harm you,« I whimpered under the weight that lifted the next moment.

»We shall see,« Rairok said, taking the final step toward the bars. »But allow me to warn thee. If I sense any foulness in thee, I will destroy thy mind.«

That gave me pause. The previous-cycle-Rairok hadn’t mentioned being able to do anything like that. It didn’t even make sense. The connection was much deeper than the mind. Nevertheless, I had no doubt that he could do it. The Rairok I knew wasn’t a liar, so I nodded.

He nodded back. »I assume thou knowest what to do?«

»I do.«

I pushed my forehead through the bars as far as I could and closed my eyes, easing myself off. To say I was ready to share our lives would be an exaggeration. If anything, the nerves were getting to me.

Our foreheads touched. A cold sweat ran down mine; his was warm and furry. That was the last thought before I cleared my mind and thought of myself. It wasn’t long before I was him and he was me. We were one, sharing our lives. His flashed before my eyes like the last time. He watched mine. The flashbacks of the present came, and I saw myself through his eyes again, finding the sight as bizarre as before.

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Rairok pulled away, and I gasped, catching myself not wanting to let him go. Once again, I felt like I was losing a piece of myself.

“Korra?” Stella asked, glued to the bars of her cage. “Are you all right? You’re crying again.”

I was; tears were streaming down my cheeks. This time I knew why, though. It was Rairok, his lingering touch that I clung to, his pain that made me cry. All I had to do was focus on myself, to realize that I was just me again - alone.

After wiping away the tears and assuring my next-cage neighbor that I was fine, I looked at Rairok. The beast in question had stopped crying not long after I had, and he seemed to be coping better with the truth of this place and himself than he had the last time. In fact, he recovered in a few breaths, his big eyes finding me.

“I stand corrected and humbled, Korra Grey - forgive my rudeness.” The way he could give the words of the human tongue - which he used out of courtesy to Stella - the same meaning as those of the beasts made it strange to listen to him. However, it allowed me to know that he was apologizing for both his previous mistrust and his lack of respect for me as the Guardian of Idleaf. He understood our situation and shied away from using my full name.

“Good to see you too, Stella Palemoon, a friend of Korra Grey’s,” he nodded to my cage neighbor.

“You too, Rairok,” Stella returned the gesture.

“No need to apologize. It’s more than enough that you understand,” I said, and paused, looking him over. “Are you sure you don’t need more time?”

“There is indeed a lot to take in, but there is no doubting the truth of what we have shared, no matter how uncomfortable it is to know. The point is to find the silver linings and focus on those.”

Silver linings: that free will had survived into our era, and so had its kin, huh? “I see.”

“So thou wishest to learn the ways of my kin?” He said after a moment of thought, gauging me with his gaze.

“Yes.”

“Then show me what thou knowest.”

Well, there wasn’t a whole lot. After all, there was only so much I could learn in three days. One of them the eyes thing. It is said, at least on Earth, that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and in the case of the Witty Deers, this was indeed the case in the past. It was through their eyes that they made the connection. No longer. They have moved beyond that. Now they only use their eyes for more basic purposes. To see at night and to assess others, the predators, and their enemies.

Without knowing anything about my eyes, about their origins, I could see very well in the gloom thanks to them. But if they were truly the same, they should allow me to see at night as in the middle of the day and to notice every detail of my prey. Nevertheless, so far I have worked out how to move mana around them without my eyeballs exploding. Not a very pleasant experience.

Well, as far as the presence and the ability to create a silencing field were concerned, it was a matter of control. Something they were masters off and I was sorely lacking. So, nope to that.

Furthermore, the Witty Deers stood out for their great intelligence, a thing I strongly suspected that I had not yet inherited - if at all.

My shortcomings aside, with almost a full day ahead of us and under Rairok’s guidance, I set about training. And not just me, but Stella as well. She may not have had the eyes I had, but that subtle mana control was invaluable - the moss on my head definitely appreciated it and grew greener. Though admittedly, recalling my eyes exploding a few times last cycle, she was reluctant to give it a try at first. Not so much heeding Rairok’s advice about presence. According to him, even someone like her, a level 100 plus human, could exude her own presence. Sure, appropriate to her strength, thus level, not as cheat-like as mine, but a presence nonetheless.

The obvious question was, what to do with such a presence? Unless the enemy was half your level, you had no chance to give them a scare, which is what I used mine for. Rairok’s answer was just as obvious: to withstand the presence of the stronger. Or better yet, learn to suppress your own to the point where you could hide from the senses of predators.

Well, I did my best to follow his advice. After all, my presence was like a girl with a shotgun who knew where the trigger was, but that was about it.

 

***

 

The day flew by and the evening came sooner than we knew. Not so much the meal. I almost gained the impression that the insufferable Knight Commander had forgotten about us, or rather, was deliberately ignoring us, before Reid and Amari showed up with bread - and buckets. The way the time stuff worked was quite remarkable. The asshole could have sent any of his people, but he sent those two again.

It was quite fun to see them, though, especially since we kind of knew their ways - what triggered them, what they in turn liked to hear.

Anyway, after eating our rations of old bread, I shifted into my full beast form, ready to face Eleaden’s lure. At least, I wanted to believe that I was, having experienced its temptations in my full beast form in the previous cycle. Wishful thinking. In my full beast form, the whispers of the beasts cut into my soul. They were more of a command than a suggestion, telling me to give in. I didn’t. Not in the last cycle and not now. There may have been some whining and crying involved, but I persevered.

And so, with the first night behind us, we were about to meet Grand Commander Maignes.

“Good morning, Dia Eichenralke,” the man greeted us from behind his massive desk as we entered his office in his huge tent. His aide and Magus Vejahr were here as well.

“Thank you, lads. I’ll take it from here,” he said to the two knights who had brought us here, sending them away with a wave of his hand.

“And you two, please have a seat,” he pointed to two chairs in front of his desk. “According to reports, you two have taken this place by storm. In particular, Knight Commander Taiult, in command of Cages, was especially harsh in his reports. Could you share with me how you came to know about Rairok?”

After introducing us to the magus, who was there to test whether we were telling the truth, or rather whether our intentions were honest, Stella and I retold our made-up story, our intentions for coming here, and answered all of his prepared questions.

“So let me get this straight. You’ve heard of Rairok being here prior to your arrival,” Grand Commander Maignes said after a pause for thought, and I nodded. Lying about not knowing about Rairok would be too obvious. “You confirmed the fact when you came here, for you have his blood in your veins; you felt his presence and saw the need to greet him.”

“It’s common decency.”

Magines sighed and rubbed his temples. “Beasts and their simple view of the world. Sometimes I envy them. And you, Grey, seem to have picked it up after them. Not surprising, considering what you’ve allegedly been through. Don’t worry; as I said, I won’t judge you for your past. What matters is your intentions, whether you have come to fight alongside the Elea-Den’s 3rd United Army or to stab us in the back,” he said, looking at Magus. “What is your verdict, Vejahr?”

The man gave him his pitch about us not knowing what we wanted to do here, before once again assessing that we would probably be useless on the battlefield. You had to love the guy. But to be fair to him, it seemed to be a common theme around here. No one believed that we would be of any use on the battlefield, Dia Eichenralke or not.

“Well,” the Grand Commander spoke after some back and forth between us. We had a few questions - it would look strange if we didn’t - and he had a few of his own off the list. “You’re qualified to endure the nightmares of the front, as far as I’m concerned.” He said the same thing last time, word for word. It did us no good. “But whether you’ll be of any use is for High Commander Ronnu to say. I’ll put you under her command. Knight Bakrihk, who is waiting outside, will take you to her.”

And he did. We met her in her tent, wearing only her underwear like last time. We fought her in the open space between the tents just as well, this time knowing what to expect and even better coordinated. Yet, the outcome of the fight was no different. She didn’t break a sweat while we were out of breath. 

Well, at least I didn’t eat the mud this time.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect much. It’s good to have low expectations, you know. You avoid disappointment - and in your case it paid off. I was not disappointed.” 

Yeah, there it was, her assessment of our performance.

“But you didn’t impress me either. You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that. You’re not afraid to go all out, and that stunt at the Cages shows that you have no fucking problem facing the beasts. I actually laughed my ass off when I heard how you handled that asshole Taiult. But,” she paused and gave us both a hard stare. “For one-star warriors, your skills are sorely lacking.”

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