Ch. 16: Beast Tamer

After we had eaten breakfast and gotten ready, we said our farewells to Unydae and her escorts, who were preparing for the Assessment Ceremony. We promised to meet them back at The Capital in two day's time, and then left the city. K'heali had stayed behind in Undergrove, trusting that his student Kirune would do fine on his own.

Now we were traveling the rolling fields, the vast plains complimenting the rising mountains in the distance, a gray rise bordering the horizon. The sun beat down in a cloudless sky, so much different than the storm that had preceded it two days prior.

As we turned a bend along the beaten path, Illesior pointed up ahead. Nestled among a dip in the ground was a city, not quite as big as Undergrove but substantially large enough to host numerous aetyrim. It was surrounded by fruit trees and a river ran around the outskirts. In the center of the expanse was another stony courtyard, and after a moment's pause we raced towards the bridge that marked the entrance to the city.

As we entered the courtyard, Illesior stopped us all, looking at each one of us in turn. "My faithful warriors," He said, "I thank you for coming with me all this way, and even in the face of danger you persevered. I'll be sure to have you accompany me on future quests, and when we return to The Capital I'll give you all a raise in your pay."

We all nodded, and while I murmured my welcomes the others cheered, looking at one another excitedly. "More pay?" Sophi trilled, giving Kirune a high five. "Score!"

"Th-thank you, your highness," Kirune stammered. "But there's no need- OW!"

Sophi had punched him and hissed in his ear to keep him quiet, then forced a grin on her face as she turned back to the prince. "What he's trying to say, Prince," She said through gritted teeth, "Is that he's grateful for your utter kindness, and we will accept your offer gladly."

Illesior laughed. "I see. Come with me! I'd like to have you all join me on the balcony to oversee the Ceremony."

"YIP, YIP!" Sophi chittered excitedly, bouncing with pent-up energy. She thrust her fist in the air with a cheer: "Let's goooo!"

Strubin chuckled as Arius rolled his eyes, then collectively became shocked when Illesior added, "Aven, I'd like you to do the initial Assessments."

I choked. "What? ME? What am I supposed to do?"

"If you haven't noticed, Prince Illesior," Arius cut in with a growl, "She's younger than the rest of us, much less a White Mane. Why can't you do it yourself?"

Illesior stopped, then slowly turned to glare at him with an intense heat, his blue eyes blazing with indignation. Arius visibly did all he could to not flinch away from his fuming gaze.

"...What did I say about bringing judgment against the Albino, peasant?" He hissed, towering over him. Arius flinched but maintained his defiant stare, his tail lashing with envy.

Arius let out a low growl. "All I'm asking is why you place such high expectations on her. Why don't you put more faith in the rest of us? We're all aetyrim, just like her, not to mention all White Manes."

For once I felt that my brother was right. Why did Illesior have to put so much on me to live up to? Why did he have to set me apart from my friends?

Strubin was frantically making a 'zip it' motion across his throat, telling Arius to quit talking. But if Arius had seen it, he didn't seem to care. He continued to glare at the Prince, waiting for his response.

To my surprise, Sophi added her own two-cents to the tense stand-off. "...I agree with Arius, as much as I hate to admit it," She said slowly, looking from one person to the other. "Why do you show so much favoritism to Aven? What's wrong with the rest of us?"

Illesior's face softened. "...Have I always been this obvious?" He murmured. 

Arius rolled his eyes before the others could answer, scoffing. "If we didn't know any better, we'd think that you liked Aven, even though it's impossible to like someone who looks like a stalk of cotton."

My face turned red, and Strubin shivered with indignation, visibly trying to hold himself back from hurling his weight at my brother, resisting the urge to tear him apart.

"Don't say that!" Sophi said, looking shocked as she wrapped her arm around my shoulders. "Aven is amazing! She's super smart, charismatic, thoughtful, and attractive!" When I shrugged she added, "And humble, too! What's not to like about her?"

Kirune agreed, nodding thoughtfully. "She's intelligent, I admit," He murmured. "I admire her. She got us out of that ravine, after all."

"And she's smoking hot," Strubin added, coming over to hang his arms down around my neck, resting his head on top of mine. "Sophi hit the nail on the head when she said that she was attractive. Arius, if you weren't related to her, I'd ask you how you could be so blind!"

Illesior turned to fix Strubin with an unreadable gaze for a long moment, before turning back to Arius. "...I'm so glad you all have the same conviction I do," He murmured. "Aside from you, Arius. I expect better from you. If you don't change your stance, I'll have no choice but to remove you from your duties as Palace Guard."

Arius' mouth gaped open. "WHAT?! But-" He stammered, before hanging his head resignedly. His ears flicked back and his tail lashed angrily. Finally he let out a mutter. "...As you wish, your highness."

Illesior looked satisfied. "I'm sorry that I've been putting Aven above the rest of you lately. But it's for a special reason, one that I'm sure you will all understand in due time."

With that he turned and headed for the bleachers, motioning us to follow him.

I scampered after Illesior, and asked him deftly, "Illesior, I really, really appreciate your high opinions of me, but I… I don't feel comfortable doing the Assessments. Maybe you could… do it? Or have Kirune do it?"

Illesior turned to me with an affectionate chuckle. "Oh, Aven! Scared now, are you? Very well. I'll have Kirune do the initial Assessments, if you so wish."

I dipped my head. "Thanks."

Behind me, Kirune looked surprised. "Me? I should do it?" For a moment I thought he would decline like I had, but then he nodded, a grin crossing his face. "As you wish, your highness." He nudged me softly. "Thanks, Aven."

I shrugged. "No problem."

I turned back around to find Illesior perched on a seat on the balcony, patting the seat beside him. I heeded his call after a moment and took my place beside him, gazing out over the courtyard.

Suddenly on my other side, Strubin sat down and leaned up against me. On his other side were Sophi and Arius, with Arius sitting at the far end, sulking.

Strubin leaned over and kissed my cheek. "Isn't it great?" He said cheerfully, gazing around the courtyard. "Any minute now, we'll be watching someone else's first Assessment Ceremony, just like how we saw ours!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Illesior watch Strubin thoughtfully, his gaze unreadable beyond a sense of careful awareness. Suddenly I felt uncomfortable. There was a new tension between him and Strubin, but Strubin was blissfully unaware of his gaze, continuing to chatter excitedly.

Time passed, and eventually the courtyard began to be flooded with a crowd of Aetyrim, a sea of white bobbing up and down in the blazing sunlight. They all separated into lines, one side being the females and the other being males.

Kirune coughed and stood after a moment. He leaned over to murmur something into the Prince's ear, and Illesior nodded before prodding my side.

"I'd like you to join Kirune." He murmured. 

I glanced at Kirune, and he shrugged, looking nervous. I turned back to Illesior and nodded. "...Okay."

One of the resident Black Manes stationed in Xy'Kiln standing by us stood and blew his horn, motioning for the crowd to become silent. An eerie lack of sound filled the arena, and Kirune and I descended the stairway, heading for one of the lines.

I began to head towards the line of males but Kirune snapped his fingers at me meaningfully. I mouthed at him: "What?"

"Ladies first," He replied, turning in the opposite direction. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Will the first line of females line up at the front?"

Immediately the line shuffled up to the front, some of them looking nervous and others looking confident. They all stared straight ahead, and I could hear them breathing heavily with excitement.

Kirune motioned me to follow him and went to go stand in front of the first female, an elegant golden aetyr with green stripes and a straight White Mane. Her eyes stared at the ground, glimmering green and gold.

She lifted her gaze when we stopped in front of her and I froze when I saw the depths of her gaze, a burning fire gleaming within. Whether it was with determination, ambition, or even cold hatred I couldn't say. She looked unpredictable.

"N-name?" Kirune stammered, clearly feeling unnerved by her fiery gaze.

The aetyr looked at him and I in turn slowly, her strange gaze searching us like a Zenatile seeking prey. My pelt crawled with apprehension, then calmed slightly when she finally spoke.

"I am Zerhea. Zerhea Mordalian."

"Zerhea?" Kirune reached under his cloak and pulled out a small writing pad to scribble down her name. "...What's your birth magic?"

Zerhea's eyes gleamed. "I am a Beast Tamer."

I froze and frantically contacted Dukalis' spirit link. What's a Beast Tamer?

Dukalis sounded excited. You'll see. It's one of the most elusive forms of magic there is. It's part of a separate caste that, while you can be born with it, you can't learn it. So I don't actually have the ability to use it, but I can give it to the newborns of Aetyria.

I nodded and tuned back in to see Kirune speaking to her earnestly. "May you show us?" He asked her.

She nodded and lifted her gaze to the sky. Her lips moved but I couldn't hear anything come out. It was as if she was calling upon the gods.

Zerhea stopped and continued to stare at the sky expectantly. The other aetyrim all looked about them, and I began to feel uneasy. My tail twitched.

Suddenly a loud, strange noise rang out. It was like ten thousand people were all blowing their noses at max volume, all at the same time.

Before I could ask what was happening, a shadow fell over the arena, and a rush of wind ruffled my mane. I looked up and caught my breath.

A huge, monstrous creature glided over the arena. Where its head would've been was instead a giant pink appendage resembling a nose, and it was attached to a long feathery blue neck, which in turn connected to a plump body and finally a long tail. It had huge feathered wings and a pair of legs that ended in orange paws.

Kirune let out a low whistle. "What in the gods' name is that?"

The aetyrim in the arena began to scatter, some of them diving for cover and others standing up tall to use their magic on the strange creature.

Suddenly Zerhea let out a yell. "I have summoned this creature, my fellow aetyrim! Stand down! It will not harm you."

The creature let out another strange bellow and began to descend into the courtyard, its steady beating wings stirring up large gusts of wind in its wake. The size of it reached extraordinary lengths, making a Zenatile seem tiny in comparison.

It landed and swiveled its head to look at Zerhea curiously. At a closer glance, the pores on the strange pink flesh were actually a myriad of tiny black eyes, all of them looking around warily.

Kirune stumbled back, balling his fists defensively, while Zerhea reached out her hand to stroke the monster. It let out a noise that sounded like snot bubbling in someone's throat, and I could only assume that it was purring.

Kirune finally found his voice. "...What kind of creature is that?"

Zerhea turned to look at him, a condescending gleam in her haughty eyes. "It is a Hycross," She replied, her voice smooth with confidence. "They live at the foothills of the God's Headrest, but will occasionally migrate to the plains." She patted the Hycross' head. "This one's name is Oilug."

"...What did you say you were again?" I whispered in a trembling voice.

The golden aetyr lifted her head. "I am Zerhea the Beast Tamer."