Western Istan Isles.
Ishenvale City Square.
Start of the 3rd Harvest.
112th Era.
Alyce kneels over the decapitated body of Duke Fendrik. She searches him for letters, notes, or perhaps even a diary. But for once, she finds none of these things. Standing up, she sighs to herself "Dammit, I suppose this is the first person of power I've killed, so most likely all of his documents are back in his keep." Alyce looks around, hearing the distant clank of guard armor as they still search for Cylika. "Perhaps I should move along the rooftops to get there... Might minimize guard activity and-"
"HALT! YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"
Just then Alyce turns around and directly into an oddly shaped shield. She's slammed back, her heels dragging along the ground. She looks up to see a lance being thrusted towards her, she jumps away but as she does an explosion blasts her even farther back. Alyce both stunned and surprised by these sudden attacks can barely even think for a moment about drawing her blade.
"Switch!"
As Alyce stammers back to her feet, she sees a reflection in the puddles of rain. A familiar yellow and purple glow. One of poor memories.
She raises her arms and begins to deflect the oncoming attacks. Twin blades, one thin with a diamond tip and the other shorter and wider flash before her eyes. She relies on pure evasive abilities as her shield was broken from the previous explosion. Another hit could, and would kill her. But an unlucky swing connects with her arm which was repaired mere days ago. Synthetic blood spews out of the wound following the arc of the blade. And then the sharp pain of Alyce's abdomen being run through the blade slicing her belts off. The final pinch of salt on the wounds was the crushing pressure of the wall behind her.
Her mouth explodes out blood, the force of the strike would have crushed any normal human's spine. She feels the blade slip out of her gut. And she falls to the ground. Barely able to hold herself up. Blood pouring out of her wound. The cool burning sensation of an Astrel weapon tickles the back her neck.
"You are under arrest for the murder of Duke Fendrik, and for obstructing official Merk business. Your final sentence is death. Do you have any last words scum."
Alyce coughs. "Hehe, so... Daddy finally gave his little girl his fancy sword..."
Adela steps back. "No... You couldn't be."
Alyce sits up, falling back on her butt. "Yep. The second I saw your blade's colors I knew it was you... Cousin."
"You're the... I thought you wanted to be a Merk! Why... Why have you been killing our comrades!"
"Would love to tell you... But I don't think I'm long for this world... Sadly you paid for my ticket. I wanted someone good. Not some whiny brat." Alyce's eye slowly fades and she slumps forward. A look of content on her face.
Adela kicks Alyce's body pushing it against the wall and takes out a vial of green liquid. Forcefully opening Alyce's mouth and pouring in the substance. As it courses down her throat, her wound begins to steam. And her body grows warm once more. Her eyes lighten back up and she throws up. Her wound now fully closed.
"Ah, fykin'... couldn't let me die could ya."
"You can die when I have my answers, Alyce."
"Let go of me!" Just then several guards march forth with Cylika in tow.
Adela stares at Cylika with disdain. "Who is that, guards?"
"A Helf-Elven we caught running from the direction of the bolts. We assumed she was the murderer."
"Well the murderer is here, I shall take care of them. You begin your rites for the burial of your Duke."
The guards look to each other. "Um, we don't preform rites. We don't follow your pagan gods and traditions."
"But... The Istan Isles are known for their extreme beliefs in the Skellean traditions. What changed?"
"The time, madame. We shall be taking the murderer into our custody. And we shall have her executed, along with this little Helf-Elven."
"No. She is a Merk, both of them are. They shall die by our traditions. And if you stand in our way of justice I will have you executed to the same torment." Adela stomps her foot, and the idle cat jogs over. Feeling the tension and hearing the quickening heart beat of his wife, Rio takes a defensive stance.
His booming voice rings out "Back off. This is our responsibility." His grey eyes gleam unblinking towards the group of guards. They, not wanting to receive the business end of the cat's lance throw Cylika towards them.
"Leave our Isle. And if we see your faces again we shall kill you." The guards turn and leave the Duke's body behind.
Adela stomps her foot, . "Rio, darling, please help Alyce up. And you, orange girl. Make yourself useful and pick up Alyce's blade and whats left of her arm." Both get to their assigned jobs. Cylika notes the blue haired woman's cold motherly demeanor, one common in the leaders of her old thieving parties.
Alyce smiles at the sight of her old friend Rio. The blind cat sadly could not return the favor. "So, you and Adela are still together, huh?" Rio merely snickers as he helps Alyce stand.
"Had no choice really. She's the only one who can keep me from slamming into walls."
"Hope you're still not upset over all those times I pranked you." Alyce makes an audible smiling noise as she grins him.
"Oh of course I am, and meeting you again means I get to think of ways to get back at you." Rio follows the sound of Adela's boots, his ears twitching with every step. Up ahead, Cylika is attempting small talk with Adela.
"Soooo, what's your name?"
"Unimportant to you pipsqueak."
Adela attempts to pick up the pace, the group heading for Ishenvale City's East gate. Due to the commotion and the rotting corpse in the square. The streets are barren, a first for Ishenvale City.
"Um, where are we going?"
"To our airship. We are departing for the Merk Academy."
"What's that?"
"Merk. Academy. Use your head."
"Man, you're not one for talking.."
Eventually the four make it to the gate. But are stopped by a group of guards.
"Stop. You are all under arrest for the murder of our Duke!"
Adela shakes her head and unsheathes her swords. One blade coming out of the other. She keeps her previos pace and the soldiers loose a volley of bullets, doing nothing to Adela. Not one even leaving a misty remnant behind.
A flurry of yellow and purple Astrel flies through the air as she passes them. The guards fall into pieces giving off the very same colors in a steam that boils their flesh. They eventually make it to their ship. Rio helps Alyce onto a cot on the ship and leaves her to rest. Merk potions may seem instantaneous but in reality they take hours to days to weeks to fully heal someone.
Adela leads Cylika to a room and before closing the door. She leans to her husband "Darling, if you would. Take the helm and bring us back home?"
"Should... Should he really be-"
"Yes, it is fine for him to fly the ship. He's blind not deaf."
"I don't see how that-" The door slams shut and Adela walks past Cylika. She sits and crosses her legs at a desk, and motions to a seat in front of her.
"Please, we have much to discuss."
Cylika looks at the seat, then back to Adela skeptically. "So what changed between now and before that gave us something to talk about?"
"Simple. We are now safe, as before we could have been ambushed at any time. I needed to be alert and not waste my time making small talk with an even smaller being."
"Does that also include not wasting time being polite to people?" Cylika finally gives in and sits in the chair.
"So, do you know the pink haired girl that we carried with us?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"She saved me from a prison caravan and then from being... Attacked."
"Did you by chance ever get her reasoning for why she has been killing people?"
"Um... Not really."
"How long have you been travelling with Alyce?"
"Um, about 5 days now."
"And what have you learned about her."
Cylika tells of Alyce's attainment of her broken sword Xun, and of her plush's story. And recounts the past 5 days.
"Hm, I see. Has she told you at all about the Merks?"
"Yeah, a bit... Why?"
"Well, I was thinking of offering you entrance into our organization."
"But.. Alyce said the Merks fell years ago."
"They did, but I'm rebuilding it. Like my father before me."
"Wait, this has happened before?"
"He brought it back thousands of years ago, nothing recent."
"WAIT THOUSANDS OF YEARS?!"
"Did Alyce not mention the increased life expediencies of Merks?"
"No she did... But... That's a long time to be alive... um.. How old are you by chance?"
"Me? I'm only 26."
"Oh, that's reasonable..."
"Oh that is important. How old are you ms........?"
"Oh right, I'm 19. My name is Cylika."
"Do you have a... Oh wait Helf-Elven don't get family names. I forgot. But back to the matter at hand. Would you like to join us?"
"What does it mean... To be a Merk?"
"When you join our ranks, you play by our rules. You live by no Isle's laws. You wield great strength, and even greater intellect. Your natural abilities increase and you unlock unique abilities as well. As a Merk you will be treated like a beggar on the streets. But as a queen in our holds. You will face many dangers and may even die completely on a mission. Your life is no longer easy. And never can be easy. And if you join, you will be put through rigorous training for the next two years. And at the end, you will subjected to the Awakening Ritual. Where you will either unlock your potential, or die after days of your own body eating itself."
Cylika stares at her feet. Contemplating the choice laid before her. "I don't want pity for this so... Please. Since the day I was thrown to the slums, I've just followed others. Doing what they said. And losing a lot because of it... So I thank you, for giving me this choice. And for that. I'll have to say yes. Under one condition."
"And that is."
"I get to be with Alyce."
"What?"
"If I die, I want to die being helpful to Alyce. She's already tried to do so much for me. She saved me twice, attempted to get me a stable job back in Ishenvale. And she didn't ask for anything in return. I just followed her like a lap dog as I always have. But she didn't treat me like the others ever did."
"I get it kid."
"Sorry if that..."
"No. It's fine." Adela hands Cylika two pieces of paper. "Welcome to the Merks, Cylika Rayne."
"W-what?"
"That's your new name. I met you under rain fall. So I see it only fitting. Take these two forms. If Alyce is too damaged to even hold a pen, do it for her."
"I-I... Uhh.."
"Well? Get a move on!"
Thanks for reading Ainavale! No, seriously! Thanks a lot. This series means a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you'll subscribe to read the next story! Thanks again!
Comments (0)
See all