The High Humans (2/3)
Once they're all set on the large platform in front of the castle's main gate, All the Lareen soldiers quickly straighten themselves out, while Lyr is just grateful to be alive right now.
After Lyr gets his bearings straight again, he looks up at the gate and gawks at its size. His gaze travels upwards until he sees a huge, arching sign stretching over the top of the gate.
' "Strangers… welcome…", ' Lyr reads in his mind. 'What an odd thing to say over a fortress gate.'
'All right, Mr. Belna,' Lena suddenly says through the telepathic enchantment around her neck, 'You're up. You've brushed up your Brancotte, right?'
Lyr coughs uncomfortably. 'I've never had anyone to talk to in this language other than my teacher… so it'll sound a little rusty.'
'Whatever. Just don't say anything unless you're directly translating for me. I don't want you saying anything uncalled for or stupid,' she warns with a dire edge to her tone.
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Before they even reach the castle's front gate, they see nearly a dozen pointy-eared men and women – all in various, relaxed postures.
Some of the strange creatures are sitting on the ledge with their legs dangling off. Some are leaning against the walls with their arms crossed. A few are actually standing at attention with their weapons drawn. All of them are wearing metal armor.
'Huh,' Yesee wonders, 'they looked a lot more harmless when seen through the scouting drone. In-person… their eyes seem pretty scary.'
She doesn't know how to put it into words, but the strange aliens all reek of death. Yesee's instincts are telling her, 'These pointy-eared aliens have killed people before – a LOT of people.'
Despite Yesee being a soldier, the idea of standing in front of someone who's personally taken a life is intimidating for her.
Sure, she's a soldier, but her nation has been at peace for so long that there hasn't actually been a war in her lifetime – not even her grandmother's lifetime.
Of course, this is entirely the reason why Yesee – a soldier – is so weak to Death Aura. With the aliens' aura overpowering her, she can't help but look away in fright.
Oddly enough, all the soldiers look away from the pointy-eared folk, yet Lyr's eyes remain fixed on them.
Instead of thinking about the strange Aura these creatures have, the only thing on his mind is, 'Is that authentic Brancotte armor? Why would they still have that after so long?'
'Well, it COULD be a copycat design,' Lyr thinks. 'The Brancotte Empire was a very influential culture of its time, and people tend to copy the aesthetics and designs of the dominant culture. Plus, Brancotte's designs were quite practical at the time, considering the kind of technology they had. Practical designs tend to get repeated even more often.'
The Lareen soldiers are hardly given time to correct their bearing before the only pointy-eared alien that is dressed differently steps up and addresses them…
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(A/N: To show the difference in language easily, Brancotte's language will be in < >, while Lareen's tongue will be in " ".)
"Um…," Lyr coughs to get their attention. He then says in their language, He points behind him.
After Kaalhyme finishes talking, Lyr turns around Lena and says, "The man says his name is Kaalhyme. He says that we're to be brought into the castle and that we won't be harmed, so long as we don't misbehave."
"And if we refuse?" Lena crosses her arms. "We have to report back to headquarters soon. We can't afford to dilly around."
Lyr translates.
Lyr translates everything he just heard to Lena and the soldiers.
Hearing that these people aren't going to let them go so easily, Lena can't help but get a little nervous. 'Are they going to imprison us? How are we going to get home? Tch. I wish we could've brought the war golems with us.'
Being captured by enemy mages while not having her best weapons beside her makes her feel quite vulnerable.
Alas, there appears to be a strange barrier around the fortress that's blocking out the signals between the scouts' controllers and the war golems.
'Well, that's another bit of information I'll need to bring back,' Captain Lena sighs, 'We'll need to have fewer enchantments that rely on Spirit Threads.'
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(A/N: Since the Brancotte Tongue is mostly used, I'll frame it in " ", while the Lareen's tongue is framed in < >.)
After the company of human soldiers is taken inside the gates, the first thing they notice is that the walls and floors are opulent, like some sort of ancient palace. The walls are lined with small portraits bearing the faces and names of pointy-eared people, along with small collections of belongings below the portraits.
They barely step into this foyer, and their… hosts (Captors?) already start to separate them.
"Which one of you is in charge?" the alien called 'Kaalhyme' asks.
After Lyr translates, Captain Lena steps forward.
"Alright," Kaalhyme promptly says, "You'll come with us. The translator will come with you, as well as the mage." He turns to the rest of the soldiers. "The rest of you will be kept in some guest rooms until it's time for you to leave. If you don't poke around, then you'll all get to keep your lives."
Captain Lena is tempted to just fight back or attempt to escape at this point, but she holds back the urge. She knows very well that she's in enemy territory, and provoking these people isn't a good idea – especially when her war golems aren't available to her.
All the soldiers look to their captain – clearly unhappy with the idea of being separated, but Lena only nods her head at them.
They have their orders now, so the Lareen scouts all fall in line behind their pointy-eared captors, and they follow them down the hall.
The only aliens who stay in the foyer are a male and female pair.
The male alien is well over 6 feet tall, and he has long shaggy brown hair. He has a small comb stuck in his hair whose only purpose is to keep the hair out of his eyes.
The female alien, on the other hand, seems to take much greater pride in her appearance. The woman seems to have modified her uniform to be slightly different than her other colleagues – that, or she simply has a different rank. Either way, her clothes are much more stylish than the other aliens.
The pointy-eared woman also has long, yellow hair that reaches to her knees and shimmers like gold. Her body is thin and wisplike. Frankly, she looks just like a fairy out of a storybook.
"You three," the boy alien says. He lifts up his hand and points at Yesee, Lena, and Lyr. "Come with us."
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The first 20 minutes or so of walking is spent in complete silence. All the halls more or less look the same, though they'll occasionally come across rich, inviting gardens with ripe, delicious-looking fruit growing there.
As they walk deeper and deeper into the alien's territory, the 3 humans start to notice that the oppressive, black pressure in the air is getting stronger.
Sensing the human's discomfort, the golden-haired alien smiles apologetically and says, "Sorry about the Aura. We don't get visitors very often anymore, and I forget that living people normally can't handle it."
Lyr translates, and when Lena and Yesee hear this, they just grunt and silently trudge on.