Ortai Legacy

4 - Ortai (L)

"What?" Harker stared at the fallen weapon.

"Untie her, now." The fear in Mark's voice had Harker scrambling to untie me.

Slipping my hands free, I grabbed my polearm.

Mark backed away until he was standing by the ladder at the end of the tunnel. Breathing heavily, he raised his hands in surrender. "Please, forgive us. We were ignorant."

"Sure..." I looked at Harker's glow ball. "Can I have that?"

"Give it to her," Mark insisted.

Harker gave me the glow ball before skittering back toward the ladder. Lowering his voice, he asked, "What the hell did you see in that Interface?"

Thyr and the bug lady looked similarly worried, but it was hard to tell on such inhuman faces. Part of me wanted to take the ball and go before Mark could change his mind, but curiosity got the better of me.

"What's an Interface? I mean, I know the definition of 'interface,' but I've never seen one on a murder doughnut, so...?"

A strangled laugh escaped Mark. "Would you like me to demonstrate your weapon's Interface, Ortai Shiel?"

Everyone froze at the sound of my last name. Harker's four knees trembled. The bug lady's wings stiffened. Thyr hunched, looking very much like he wanted to curl in a defensive ball.

"Uh, sure. Demonstrate." I held out my polearm. "Why's everyone freaking out?"

Another strange, almost crazed, laugh escaped Mark as he shuffled closer. "Forgive us, Lady Ortai, but none of us have ever met one of your kind. The surprise is... difficult to handle." He cautiously touched the polearm's doughnut. "R-run your finger around the inside edge, and the Interface will appear."

"Uh huh." I hesitated. "What's an Ortai?"

His eyes widened. "Is that not the correct form of address? I would gladly use any form you prefer, but I'm afraid 'Ortai' is the only one I'm aware of."

"That's really not what I asked."

His feathers were slick against his scalp, and his head looked much smaller because of it. He pressed himself against the wall with his hands raised. "Forgive me, I misunderstood. You wish to assert what I know of your kind? I- I can comply. Forgive me if what I say is inaccurate; I only know what I've read, and no one has seen one of your kind in centuries, so what I've read may be out of date."

Apparently sensing my impatience, he hurried to say, "I only mention it to clarify that I mean no offense if anything I say is inaccurate."

"Got it. What's an Ortai?"

He shivered. "As I understand it, Ortai are immortal beings of pure arka who sometimes deign to assume flesh bodies to better communicate with us mortals."

"Cool." I ran my finger around the inside of the murder doughnut. A black disk appeared inside the ring. Glowing white words displayed my name at the top: "Liza Shiel." That was weird because my name was actually "Liza Shiel-Smith," but I had to agree that "Liza Shiel" was cooler. Something like "Alizara Shiel" would've been even cooler. Not that the Interface seemed interested in making me look cool—it said I was only a Level 1 Ortai.

"I hate to-" Mark swallowed. "-to intrude, but might I inquire as to your intentions, Lady Ortai?"

"I was going to go exploring, but this whole Ortai thing sounds cooler. So, what powers do I get?"

"Pardon?"

"If I'm this pure arka thing, I should have powers, right?"

"I believe so, but I'm afraid I have no way of knowing what specific powers you have. The legends regarding you are vague-"