Rykka (Beastborne: Book 1)

Part 24: The Trickster's Nest

Luscania was unlike anything that Lithias had ever seen. In the first minute of entering the edges of the village she had already seen more people than she had ever seen in one place in her entire life. She was extremely grateful that after two unnecessary days of camping outside the village the three of them managed to combine their skills into a new ward to shield her eyes. It would be a constant drain on her essence and completely useless to a normal sorcerer after a few moments but she enjoyed that aspect. It had made her headaches much more bearable and her temper easier to control. Camping in the plains was difficult when one was trying to be discrete and Lithias had been cooped up with both Aakine and Othanis for the better part of 48 hrs. The three were all ready to fight each other tooth and claw by the time Lynsias declared her ready to finally leave her hiding place. 

Now, it was her and Lynsias riding side by side with their very odd trio of magkin trotting along behind playing a sort of violent game of tag. Lithias wished she was more surprised by how Cub had taken to the kilthra but it just gave her more of a notion of just how aptly he'd been named. Lynsias had assured her that they were expected within the Fort itself but it was clear they were not by the villagers, judging by the crowds forming to watch them ride through. The people that gathered all tanned skin that would never quite be as dark as her own with their own matching indigo hair and eyes. The citizens of Serenae were a beautiful people, Lithias decided as she observed them. It was only fair that she got to stare at them if they stared at her right? 

They didn't seem to think so as they all cowered under her gaze as if they'd been spotted by a predator. It took her a moment to realize it wasn't her that they were cowering away from. She had locked eyes with a young girl who was grinning at Cub as he danced by, just being missed by a lazy snap from Aakine, when the girl suddenly looked behind her with wide eyes. Lithias turned to see that Lynsias was looking over at them with a distant look in his eyes. He didn't seem surprised that the child was afraid of him more than the massive kilthra, even if they were playing like puppies, but she would not say he was unbothered. He accepted it, but it was clear he disliked whatever had given him such a reputation. The more they rode the more people backed away from him. 

That is, until they reached the last street that would lead them to their destination. Fort Balrin was not at all what she had expected. It was small, hardly the size of large army encampment, according to Althira, on the top level. To outsiders it would hardly appear as a fort at all. The real structure lied underneath. Winding tunnels and structures led to an underground cavern system that had been discovered at the beginning of the war with Nendonis. After years of building, digging, and spell work it was now one of the most well defended forts in all of Serenae if not the continent, and housed nearly a third of front line soldiers. Thinking on that, Lithias couldn't help but think that even as they approached the most populated street Luscania even seemed too small to maintain such a large group of people. For that reason, Fort Balrin had several nicknames such as Fort Mirage, The Tricksters Nest, and Shadow Fort. 

The people here were clearly soldiers, or families of them because they gave Lynsias an entirely new regard as they passed by. She saw their eyes linger on the three magkin and even herself but none dared to look at her directly, instead they lowered their eyes in respect and stood at partial attention as they passed by. Lynsias nodded at a few who were in uniform, the dusty gold color and dark brown accents reminded her of Wolf who seemed more than happy to be in the Plains again. She noted that many of the soldiers did eye him openly, many with an appraising look as they took in his distinctive markings. Wolf was eating it up, and Lithias spluttered as he tossed his mane in her bare face. Grumbling, she tapped him with her heel lightly. It was too warm to wear a mask and hood, too warm for her cloak all together, and she was not enjoying how exposed she was to people and horse hair alike. 

She looked over to see Lynsias watching her from the corner of his eye. Even though he remained as emotionless as ever she felt a surge of amusement from the tether. Scoffing she reached over and snatched the water skin he'd been drinking from out of his hand. They'd just finished eating their breakfast on the way into town. Apparently it was a little last minute when Althira sent word to Lynsias so they were in a bit of a rush. Lithias saw that several people were openly watching them interact now as she blatantly disrespected a Knight. A few even looked angry enough to confront her about it when Lynsias finally broke his stone expression and sighed exasperatedly. As Lithias took a large sip of his water, ignoring her own waterskin on her hip, she made eye contact with two female warriors who were watching from a nearby shop. 

Both had the typical Serenaen features, one was taller with her hair in loose waves to her chin. She had feminine features that hardly matched her muscular frame and dark brown uniform. The other was shorter and stockier with more rounded features and a few thick braids holding her hair back. She was wearing a similar uniform but what really stood out to Lithias was the swirling black tattoos along her cheek bones and chin. The lines were too far for her to see while moving but she was sure they held runes not unlike the ones that had once belonged on her home. The warrior's were watching her with a mixture of shock and suspiscion. They weren't necessarily outraged by her actions as some seemed but it was clear they didn't know what to make of her. 

When they locked eyes the taller one looked away immediately, in what Lithias knew to be a sign of respect to someone of higher social standing or military rank, but the shorter one met her gaze with a challenge. Lithias pulled the waterskin away from her face and turned her entire head to make it clear she was looking at her with full attention. She wanted to see if she could get a scent for the two but she and Lynsias passed quickly and she was forced to break eye contact. Even still she felt the warriors eyes burning on her back. Wordlessly, Lithias offered Lynsias his waterskin back. She felt his eyes on her. "Okay?" He asked, his voice low as he spoke Ice Tongue. Lithias absorbed the syllables as they rolled off his tongue, this would be one of the few times she'd be able to speak her father's language. From now on it would be Mountain Tongue until she could understand Plains Tongue. 

Althira had been helping her as much as possible but eventually it was clear that the only way Lithias would pick it up was immersion. She knew to most it was a lonely idea to not be able to communicate with the people around oneself but she found it easier. She had no need to speak to anyone other than Althira and Lynsias aside from basic communication. "Yes." Lithias finally responded, lost in her thoughts over the warriors and her new surroundings. "Good. Remember what we discussed?" He asked. Lithias swallowed hard. She didn't like this idea, she hardly agreed to do it, and she knew he knew it by the way he was reminding her. She nodded and sidled Wolf up even closer to Helhest, Lysnsia's dark stallion, the horse flickered his ears at her as they approached and she reached out and placed a hand on his flank. 

The beasts in the group had unfortunately grown extremely attached to her and she hoped once they were inside the Fort she'd still be able to visit them. She was already prepared to leave if they did not allow Aakine and Othanis to stay with her. Lynsias and Althira had both been unsure about that argument but after she'd refused to budge they'd eventually accepted with some talk about bribery and old friends on the council. She felt bad that they'd be going around the law for her but Althira assured her, perhaps a bit too happily, that they did this sort of thing a lot.

 In fact most Knights had their own sort of spy networks through all of the squires and soldiers they trained and traveled with. The politics behind society was something that Lithias had a hard time grasping. In fact, a lot of this was hard to grasp but she found herself scrambling with everything in her to figure it out as fast as possible. Whether she liked it or not, she was about to dive headfirst into high society in the middle of a war. Lynsias glanced back at her, he could clearly feel her budding panic. Calm washed over her and she mentally thanked him. Her fingers were twitchy with excess essence as they finally reached the end of the road. A rather unimpressive gate stood in front of them and was slow to open as they came to a halt outside. Lithias took one last breath before they entered Fort Balrin.