Yliastrium

"You think the Paladins are your typical knights in shining armor? No, they are not. Many of them are worse than the demons they hunt."

-History Lecture Series 338, Lady Martina Trevovsky

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Somewhere deep underground

Aramar 11 AE

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Teck looked back at the guardsman. "I take it you know how to wield Yliastrium."

They were walking towards one of the many tunnels that opened into the underground cavern lake. Teck was leading the way. How he's choosing which tunnel to enter, Yvaine has no idea.

Erik nodded. "But I don't know if I can last all the way."

"Don't worry, we'll camp when you tire out."

"I take it you know how to wield Yliastrium." Erik threw the remark back at Teck.

"Aye," replied Teck. "But I don't plan on wasting energy over something trivial. You light the way, I guard us against whatever braves our light." Teck stretched out an open palm to the side. The giant cleaver sword reappeared out of thin air and Teck easily hefted it onto his right shoulder.

Yvaine saw Erik's jaw tighten at that, seeming to want to retort. But he kept it to himself.

"The tunnels should be empty of Thralls for the next mile or so." Teck kept walking as if the sword bore no weight at all.

"Excuse me," Cray said, still in a low voice. "Don't you mean Grouls?"

"Oh. You don't call them Thralls here?" Teck replied.

Erik chimed in. "Thralls refer all creatures of Chaos. Grouls are just one of them."

"There's more?" Cray's voice raised a little in astonishment.

"Much more," Teck said. "Vilkasvarg. Akharu. Akharis. Grouls. Ogrems. Nagakin. A whole taxonomy of them. So, aye, much much more."

Yvaine's eyes involuntary darted to the Gale walking silently beside Erik. He didn't seem to mind. Or he purposely did not mind. His deep blue eyes just stared blankly ahead. Whatever he was thinking, Yvaine could only guess.

"Teach me," Cray said out of nowhere. "How to fight, I mean." He must have realized his utter inadequacy lately. They finally reached the mouth of the tunnel they were aiming for when Teck stopped and turned to face the rest of them.

"When you're primed. If, you're primed. Then maybe you'll be worth teaching. Until then, you will have to make do with more academic, rather than practical, lessons."

Yvaine had no idea what that meant. Cray must have been baffled as well.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell him." Teck looked at Erik.

The guard smiled at this and shook his head. "He's your slave. Not mine. And I'm not your slave. So you cannot obligate me to anything, merchant." Erik emphasized the last word.

"You remind me of someone. Insufferable son of a bitch," Teck scoffed. "Don't blame me if I happen to tarnish your patriotism then." He turned to Cray. "I'll tell you on the way."

Teck unsheathed a metal rod about two feet long from the back of his waist and tossed it to Erik. "Walk with me, Guardsman."

Erik caught the matte black baton and eyed it jealously. "I've never seen Yliastrium this concentrated. The ones in the settlement are practically duns. Where'd you get this?"

"I'm just a merchant." Teck winked mischievously at Erik. "Light it up."

Erik shook his head in defeat and just obeyed. He held the stick up and immediately it glowed a powerful white in his grip. The white light brightly illuminated a twenty feet radius around them. Yvaine had to shield her eyes from the sudden flash. Cray likewise shielded his eyes.

But the most drastic reaction came from the Gale. He literally hissed and jumped away from Erik and into the safety of the darkness.

"Aha!" Teck said, laughing. "I knew there was something about you, Gil."

Erik was equally stunned at the Gale's reaction. After a moment, he cried "Thrall!" and aggressively pointed the glowing rod in the Gale's direction. The rod's glow intensified and the Gale retreated further back.

"Easy there, lad," Teck said. "Lower the light. Our swift friend belongs among the sentient ones."

"Chaos is chaos, merchant," Erik glowered, without taking his eyes off of the spot in the darkness where the Gale was hiding. "Akharu are sentient too."

Yvaine understood Erik's caution. Rumors abound that the Akharu and Akharis have dominated the kingdom's forested lands. Indeed they are sentient, but they allegedly have such a superiority complex against humans that they cannot be reasoned with.

"The Dagren are of Chaos too," Teck retorted. "Yet they constantly fight the Thralls down here. And you seem to be trading pretty well with them."

But Erik held his ground and the rod kept its intensity.

"Creatures of Chaos are no different from creatures of Eidos and Kairos," Teck said. "The Caelans and the Alwyn skirmish from time to time. And human society is hardly united. So do not judge all creatures of Chaos as evil. There is no good or evil, only light and dark."

"He's not Akharu," Cray interjected. "Akharu have red eyes."

"No, he's not," Teck seconded. "Lower. The. Light." Teck sounded serious. "Or I will lower it for you."

At this, Erik visibly relaxed, and the light from the rod faded to manageable brightness.

Yvaine could now make out the silhouette of the Gale from the distance. He stood a good hundred meters away from them.

"So what are you, Gil?" Teck called. "And come closer."

The Gale approached them, hood and mask down, his face fully exposed to the now dim light. Cray and Erik shared uncomfortable looks.

"Nagakin," Teck said, awestruck. "I didn't expect any to still exist."

"There are not many of us left," the Gale replied. His blue eyes seemed to shine with menace. "Your kind ruthlessly hunted us down in the last century for simply being creatures of Chaos. Paladin."

Teck was visibly taken aback by this statement. Cray and Erik more visibly so.

"That..." Teck said, hanging his head, his voice low, "was unfortunate.

"But believe me, I do not share their sentiments." He resumed his authoritative tone and turned around towards the tunnel. "Since you favor the dark, you take the lead," he said to the Gale.

The Gale walked around the light, never taking his eyes off of Erik and Teck until he was a good few meters at the head of the party.

"Let's go."

*****

They walked in silence for a good hour or so. The light from the rod resumed its initial bright glow and illuminated the wide underground tunnel.

Teck and Erik walked beside each other. A good eight feet apart from each other. Yvaine and Cray walked a few paces behind them. Close enough to be within the safety of the light, but far enough from Teck's fighting space should the inevitable occur. The Gale could not be heard nor seen from ahead but Yvaine knew he was there. Probably scouting a significant distance ahead.

Teck was good on his word. They did not encounter any live Thralls yet. Here and there, they saw corpses of Grouls litter the tunnel – stocky reptilian humanoids that would have stood between 4 and 5 feet. They wore a haphazard assembly of armor. Breastplates that didn't really fit. A single shoulder guard. A single vambrace or a single gauntlet or a combination of both. A combination of leather and metal pads. An assortment of helms. Some wore sandals while others wore full sabatons.

Yvaine could even recognize a few sentry guard armor pieces from some of the corpses. The signature red and black breastplate of one Groul lying on his back with a cracked skull unmistakably resembles the same one Erik was wearing.

Beside the corpses scattered a variety of crude weapons. Swords. Maces. Hammers. Buckle shields. Crossbows. Bows.

Erik advised that they cover their backs and fronts with a buckle shield. The Yliastrium light might discourage melee attackers, but snipers do not need to get close to score a hit. And the light cannot dissolve physical incoming arrows.

The tunnel stretched several meters high and there are nooks and crannies above that would serve as good hiding spots for potential snipers. She felt awkwardly vulnerable, particularly in her legs, arms, and head.

So Yvaine, Cray, and Erik helped themselves to the buckle shields as soon as they found them. Yvaine felt particularly funny at how she must have looked. Her small stature did not go well with the relatively big bucklers behind and in front of her, making her look like a turtle. But a part of her does want to just crawl into her makeshift shell.

After the bucklers, Erik took for himself a decent spear and a shortsword. He also took a few daggers and holstered them, along with the shortsword, on his waist. He rested the spear on his shoulder with his right hand while his left held aloft their Yliastrium light source.

Cray took a particularly large maul, a spadone, and a shortsword. He sheathed both swords on the waist while hand-carrying the maul on his shoulder the same way Teck carried his magical giant cleaver. Like Teck, Cray didn't seem burdened by the collective weight of his gathered weapons.

Yvaine favored a short bow and a quiver of black-tipped arrows. She figured she wouldn't be much help in a fight of strength so she favored a ranged weapon. She also helped herself to two daggers. She doesn't know how to wield the other melee weapons anyway. All she could do is rely on her speed and pray it's good enough to land a good stab at whatever they might face when her arrows run out.

Teck just laughed at this but did not stop them. Neither did he follow suit. "I'll manage without them," he had said.

Yvaine noticed the corpses sizzle and smoke upon contact with the light from the Yliastrium rod. But since they walked briskly, no burning was completed. Teck and Erik did not see the point of burning the corpses anyway.

"Not bad," Teck finally broke the silence after a while, remarking at Erik. "So… Why'd you remain a guardsman?"

"Not your concern," Erik replied.

Teck just humphed. Silence reigned again as they continued their march.

"So... You're a Paladin," Erik broke the silence this time.

"Not your concern," Teck replied.

Erik likewise humphed in response.

"So... What did you mean by 'if I get primed'?" Cray interposed.

Teck glanced at Erik. The guardsman was just looking ahead, intentionally avoiding the merchant's gaze. So Teck looked back at the two slaves, smiled, and asked a question in return. "What's another word for Reaping?"

Cray thought for a while. "Harvesting?"

"Aye," Teck replied. "What you call your Reaping is simply a harvesting of the slaves who have reached their prime. You think it's a way to freedom? Nay. It's a way to death."

Yvaine became even more confused.

"There are three kinds of slaves in Maceria. Surfacers. Miners. And Fodders. Surfacers are your typical slaves. The prostitutes, farmworkers, house workers. The kind of slaves you can get your money's worth from. They're all over the surface, hence the name.

"Then we have the Fodders. The unhealthy ones. Slaves with no value other than the meat in their bones. They're sent into the forests of the kingdom as food to appease the beasts within.

"But the most important slaves in the kingdom are the miners."

"Because we mine the Torrensium stones that keep the economy running," Cray said. Yvaine knew little about the outside world. But Cray lived outside until recently. So she believed whatever information Cray shared regarding the surface as truth.

"Aye," Teck said. "But more than that, you belong to a very special group of people. Like our sentry guard friend here."

Erik glanced at Teck and seemed to want to say something. However, he held his tongue.

Teck smiled at the gesture. "Care to do the honors?" Erik shook his head in response.

So Teck continued. "You have Aether ancestry. You just happened to be slaves while he happened to be a citizen.

"You think the idea of sending slaves into their doom as food for monsters in the forests is monstrous? No. What's monstrous is what they do to slaves like you." Teck paused and looked up.

Cray was about to ask a question while Yvaine crouched in preparation.

"Excuse me." Teck just disappeared and in the next moment, the clang of sword on armor resounded above them. This happened three times before the hail of arrows came into the light.