In the second between the moment two fireworks went off, to the untrained eye, he would have seemingly disappeared from where he stood just moments before.

With soundless quick steps, he landed on the grass and into the vegetation of the woods.

If he was lucky, his targets would be nearer to the north of the Jancitei. With twenty-five brackets, the military’s soldiers from the higher numbers were likely there.

After some time, he became accustomed to the loud sounds of revelry the soldiers were making in the light of the fires on their bracket grounds. Their growling, hissing, collective sounds and thumps on outdoor tables and drums came across as brutish to him, something only exacerbated by the strong smells of various liquor. Faifethi culture forever existed as a confusing mess to him, and now and then, the shrieking and guttural growling of their songs and vocalizations made his face twist.

He eventually saw the flash of a gold and navy symbol above the building indicating the bracket he searched for. Within a tree, he watched them from afar.

Most to all of the soldiers dressed casually in half-uniform which consisted of their uniform pants and undershirts. Some individuals, most of whom were female, wore chest wraps, bearing their arms, collarbones, shoulders, and some abdomens, whereas the others, most of whom were male, wore similar wrappings that only covered their abdomens. Igni noticed several soldiers countered the plainness of such an appearance with jewelry, sashes, and other accessories.

They laughed and swung their heads in violent ways to the heavy beats from the drums, something that, while he had seen this several times before, never failed to come as a sort of culture shock to him.

His smile never waned; one of the people he searched for sat among them. He sat back in the tree, waiting patiently for the moment.

It came soon; a soldier glanced around, as if looking for someone. Calling out a name, the soldier stood from his comrades and spoke to another who was looking worriedly into the woods.

Igni watched closely, his smile waning by a bit. He waited a few moments, watching the shorter figure approach, then moved closer and landed with a purposeful thump near him.

At first, copper eyes widened, only to even. “Igni. Have you seen my little brother?”

“Lanad,” Igni greeted in a sing-song tone. “Been a while since I seen ya. How ya been, Lil’ Bear?”

Exhaling shortly, Lanad approached and walked past him, his gaze wandering. “I take that as a no.”

“Nah, I ain’t seen ‘im. Lemme help ya.” His tongue flicked out. “Ya got somethin’ o’ ’is?”

Reaching into his pocket, Lanad muttered, “Thank goodness I took this from him.” He brought out a red sash and held it out for Igni to inspect. As Igni’s tongue flicked out, memorizing the scent, he said, “He’s drunk. Really drunk; unusual for him. I think his raven is sick.”

Igni didn’t hear him, not entirely. Instead, he went still as his mind reeled.

This scent…s’familiar.

“Igni?”

Real familiar…

He opened his mouth to respond when his head snapped towards a direction deeper in the woods. “Follow me.”

Without prompt, he dashed off, and the soft spritzing of swift footsteps over grass indicated Lanad was following. They traveled surprisingly far into the woods before a scene became visible ahead of them in the thick verdant.

An unknown person dressed in dark colors faced a short topless soldier with reddish brown hair, a thick lance of vines impaling him against a tree trunk.

“Vadeen!” Lanad called, coming to a halt the same moment Igni did.

A low rattle grew in Igni’s throat, though he wasn’t sure why. The dark figure turned, revealing lifeless red eyes that made him pause.

“Indraht!” Lanad’s hands tightened into fists. “What the fuck…? How are you here?!”

With a hum, Igni held out his arm to prevent Lanad from moving forward and reached for his blindfold. “Wait.” Pulling the white cloth down, he revealed his eyes. He met the indraht’s dead gaze and peered in deeper, into the indraht’s very being. “This’ll take a—”

Help me—

It hurts—

Pain—

Help me—!

He hit the ground before he knew what had happened, blinking rapidly to clear his vision of unspeakable horrors. Heaving, he tried to suppress the desire to vomit while gasping for air.

“Igni!” Lanad crouched beside him. “What…what happen—?”

Eyes wide, he continued heaving, unable to speak or hear the present.

What felt like a hundred screams of a hundred pained souls overwhelmed his psyche. His mouth opened with soundless screaming as he could picture icy cold hands grasp and strangle his soul, causing him to shudder and finally vomit violently. Lanad yelped as acidic saliva and stomach acid scald the grass, causing it to hiss as it disintegrated.

“Fuck!” Lanad shouted as he jumped back.

It didn’t go unnoticed to Igni that the indraht man didn’t so much as flinch from any of this.

Between spittles of acid and gasps, Igni fought to look up into the red eyes, understanding too clearly why they appeared lifeless, then groaned and lowered to the ground. He was spent.

Too much happened at once. Someone found them, soldiers. They cried out in shock upon seeing him, the indraht, and him. The Raven. Shouts rang out, weapons unsheathed, and even a ship’s searchlight fell over them.

“Igni!” Someone ran to and brought him into their arms, and his tongue lethargically flickered out the moment he recognized the glowing lime eyes looking down at him.

“Bal,” he whispered.

The man’s heavily blemished face slightly scrunched. “Just rest. We’ll talk about it later.”

Igni was too willing to obey, letting his eyes shut tightly while pressing into the older man’s chest in a vain attempt to block out the noise.

Not the noise around him.

The screaming.

The screaming.

The screams of indrahti in unspeakable pain.