Chapter 19 - Naheas Cowl III

Caline

Echen Forest

A crackling fire, chirping crickets, and winds that rustled through the leaves gave Naheas a calming wake. He sat up from his resting place, a pillow made of leaves at the head of a patch of Earth covered by what he recognized as his own Imperial army uniform.

'How?'

"Glad to see you're awake," a man's voice caused Naheas' neck to snap to the side.

Sitting next to the fire Naheas made to cook his food was a man, with dark skin, long black dreadlocked hair, wearing a simple black tee shirt and pants. Around his neck were necklaces made of string, seashells and beads. And on his wrists were matching bracelets. On three of his fingers were rings made of leather tied together by string.

Across the fire sitting on a chair made from what Naheas figured was a tree trunk, was a young woman, near to his age. She had almond shaped eyes, brown hair which was mussed, and around her was a long grey coat, that was clearly cut for a man, draped on her shoulders.

"Maia here told me an interesting story just a while ago," the man in black began. "About a man who was executed alongside Dr. Hajib Bajir, and her day as wolf where she encountered that same man in near this very camp, days later."

The man's words alerted Naheas. He was on to his feet in an instant.

"Settle down kid," the man said lifting his hand. As his hand arose into the air, the air around Naheas suddenly became heavy, heavy enough to nearly push him to his knees.

"What is this?" Naheas shouted angrily. Each and every move he attempted to make was restrained by an unseen force. The man in black formed a sly grin, and dropped his hand. The air around him immediately returned to its normal state, and Naheas found himself able to move. Warily, he moved to his feet, cautiously approaching the fire pit.

The man in black seemed to be amused by the tension emanating from Naheas' body. This might've angered him if it were not for the fact that he was sure this man was somehow responsible for his inability to move only a moment ago.

"What do you want?" Naheas asked curtly.

"Not a thing. I was merely traveling through Echen Forest when I stumbled upon a man singlehandedly fighting an Ao Jin Beast," the man in black responded. "An amazing fight by the way. Consider me thoroughly impressed."

The man's compliment caught him a bit off guard, but his face remained stone-like. He was not prepared to let his guard down over a bit of flattery.

"Did you know," the man continued. "The Ku Yongi adapted their fighting style from a form of martial arts created by a master of The Rai Jin High Council?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Naheas had become frustrated by the man's words. Nothing he was saying made sense. "Who the fuck are you!?"

Naheas reached for his blade, sure that talking was going to become pointless soon. He did not know who this man was, but as Naheas was presumed dead, and had no wishes to return to Ku Yong only to be hung again, he was sure..

I'm going to have to kill this man. Naheas went to pull the blade from his waistband, only to discover that it was no longer there. He looked to the man in black and..

'How??'

The man was twirling Naheas' makeshift weapon around his fingers.

"My name is Ayamon, Don of Argot, and member of the Rai Jin High Council," the man said. "What you just experienced, was my ability to exert control over gravity, the Gift I received upon my rebirth as Rai Jin."

"You keep saying that," Maia interjected. "What is a Rai Jin?"

"You now belong to a society intertwined but separate from that which you know." Ayamon answered. "Please, sit," he gestured to the empty space around the fire between himself and Maia. "The two of you have given me such wonderful stories to look back upon. In return, I'd like to tell you two a story of my own."

Naheas was reluctant, but still, now believing this man might be capable of manipulating the very air around him, he came to over to the fire, and gave the man his complete attention.

Maia, who this man claimed was the wolf he hunted and slept beside, did the same, and Ayamon began a tale that Naheas would accept to be the truth of the world.

"When this world began there were six deities that inhabited it. Each represented the six realms of Caust. Qui, who represented the Natural Realm in which we reside."

Ayamon delivered his words with passion, as if he knew them beyond any doubt to be true. "Agatha, who represented the Higher Realm, where Energy resided. Kan, who represented the Spirit Realm, where Spirit resided. Ao, who represented The Other Realm where Demons and Despair resided.

"Bao, who represented the shadow realm, which was an everlasting void, and Dao, who represented the Lower Realm, where the soul resided."

"What story is this?" Maia interrupted him. She clearly did not believe his story. The people of the Crescent Isles, which judging from her accent and skin tone was where Naheas assumed she was from, were a religious people, and they believed in two gods, which ruled good and evil.

"The history of our people. You may choose to accept or deny it, but you are both of a different breed. It is the only way you could have spent a day as an animal, and certainly the only reason either of you are alive to be here."

Ayamon needn't convince Naheas. He saw Caust for what it was the moment and boar and a stag he was sure he had slain emerged from the earth to save his life. Two worlds, living side by side, with one shielded from the other's eyes.

"Should I continue?" Ayamon asked them when Maia said nothing else. Naheas slowly nodded his head, and sighed in relief when Maia did the same.

"These deities met on our realm, and with their power together, created life. Man was made, and all but two deities were pleased at how they progressed and lived within their world.

"The two deities, Dao and Ao, interfered, showing men advanced technologies. When they were confronted about their actions they chose to fight the others. Their battle brought them to the top of a, then active, volcano you may know as, Black Peak Mountain.

"When the battle was finished, the land which was once a single mass split and the four continents on which we dwell today, and the people of these lands were separated. The deities each perished in their battle, and their essence was absorbed into the Black Peak, and from the dirt, grew white flowers that contained the power the deities held within them in life."

Naheas was reminded in this moment of the good Doctor Bajir, who told him a story much like this one during his final hours. Ayamon stopped only to breathe and quickly continued on.

"A few thousand years later, a man from the land of Jitania named Itos journeyed to the top of the black Peak. At the time he was merely on a quest to end his own life, according to his own recollection. But instead found the flower that after consuming it's nectar would create the first Rai Jin."

Rai Jin… Naheas' last spoken conversation ran through his mind once more. 'He became a god who lived for a millennium…'

"As Itos lived, he watched decade after decade as people he knew and loved passed on, and in his loneliness, he found a mate who he would take to the top of the Black Peak and there she too became Rai Jin.

"They were Itos and Valaria. The first of our kind, they lived together keeping the nature of their rebirths away from mankind. It was only when the Black Peak erupted, and through gas and ash, spread the power of Rai Jin across Jitania. When the people there became new, Itos and Valaria guided them into their new world, showing them what they were capable of, and soon formed the Rai Jin society."

"So the red clouds and rain?" Maia asked, a bit of skepticism still laced in her voice. "That was the essence of six deities in the sky?" She seemed like she might laugh at how ridiculous Ayamon's story sounded.

"We call it a Nest." Ayamon answered, unamused by her open mockery. "Whenever the volcano erupts, the Rai Jin"s Lilies are incinerated, and the nectar which holds the essence of the six deities is spread across the land through air and rain."

"This is blasphemy." Maia was no longer mocking.

"This is truth." Ayamon did not seem to concerned with whether or not she believed him. "Your companion here seems to have already accepted his rebirth. Though I suppose that would be only natural after experiencing death."

He was right. Naheas had accepted his story as fact the moment he'd finished. If for no other reason than the fact it was confirmation alongside an explanation of the very thoughts he had upon his (as Ayamon called it) rebirth. Naheas nodded his head, reaffirming Ayamon's statement.

"Believe me, or don't" Ayamon said to Maia directly and suddenly. "It is your choice. Nothing will, however, change what you are now. Like myself and the now hundreds of thousands that, without a doubt, are now spread across Caust, you are Rai Jin."

"What does that mean, though?" Maia asked, her tone still mired in skepticism. "I didn't even ask to become Rai- whatever! I don't want to suddenly transform un my sleep every night, or smell like wet dog every morning! What do I get from this?"

Maia was near screaming. To her, this was clearly an unfair circumstance. Though Naheas could not see why. His only goal in life had been to become recognized as a soldier and join the Imperial Guard. With that goal taken from him, he saw no point in fighting against whatever Gift he was given alongside a second life.

"If I am to be blunt, there is no point if you have nothing to achieve." Ayamon said to Maia. "Becoming Rai Jin changes either everything in your life, or absolutely nothing. You are free to decide what you do with the Gift you have been given.

"In my many years I have yet to meet a sungle Rai Jin with a worthless ability. There are an abundance of ways to contribute to our society, especially for any Rai Jin with combat related abilities."

"Combat?" Naheas spoke up, intrigued.

"Indeed. Especially with the rise of a new generation of Rai Jin," Ayamon answered. "There will be quite a few positions open in any Rai Jin organization. And quite frankly, if you're going to learn about our world from anyone, I am, by far, the best you could hope to find."

"And you can get me into one of these organizations?" Naheas asked. There was nothing he wanted more now than to gain more knowledge on this new world he'd been shoved into.

"Should you choose to come with me, yes," Ayamon responded, "I do not often take on apprentices, but, I am not one that believes in a coincidence. Though I would say our meeting is under less than ideal circumstances."

Naheas could not agree more to Ayamon's statement. "Come with you where?"

"For now, there is no set physical destination in mind," Ayamon replied, seemingly dazed. "You would be journeying deep within yourselves. It is the only way to master your Rai Jin abilities."

Naheas nodded in understanding. He knew did not know exactly why Ayamon was so interested in him. But he was surely interested in the man's guidance. Now knowing what he was and what he was capable, his wish was no longer something so small as a lifelong position as the Emperor's bodyguard.

No, he wished for more. He wished to learn the extent of his newfound abilities. He wished to find a new purpose for himself. With his story, Ayamon had given Naheas new hope for his future, and what might become of him.

Had he been here, Naheas knew Doctor Bajir would've enjoyed the company of a man such as Ayamon. Sitting with him only made him wish he had more time with the Doctor. More time to gain his wisdom, and learn more about him. The doctor, however, was no longer here to teach and speak to him.

Naheas decided here that he would follow this man.