A Nagas tale

When push comes to shove

December came quickly pushing the cool air into something a little more colder. I have been sticking to Kogen for the last two weeks knowing he felt as paranoid as I did. I wanted to keep probing the ancestors for some information about that city. I look at my notebook on the table as I eat some arroz con leche. I had shown Kogen how to make it for me since he has become a bit of a helicopter husband. This has been my saving meal every morning to avoid throwing up. He's avoided making a lot of food to accommodate my newfound aversions to foods or smells. "I am free today, is there anything you want to do?" Kogen asks. I turn to him and mull over what I want to do. 'I could ask to go baby shopping, but I would buy too much.' I push the rice around. "Do you mind if we go visit the ancestor today?" I ask. He thought for a bit as he ate his breakfast. "Alright, but you need to stay close," he answers. I nod "I know." I smile ready to probe the ancestor some more. He sighs "I feel for the poor guy." Kogen chuckles. I giggle "He is the one who is beating around the bush." I grumble. He nods "I hope he gives you an answer so you can stop obsessing over the city." he sighs. I giggle before turning my attention back to my food. 

The ancestor watched the barrier that blinded him from looking over his descendant. 'Ah, your mother and father are so cruel for not letting me see into their home.' He grumbles. The small wisp floats around him playing with the chains that hold his soul down. 'Do you think they will come to thank me for informing them about your new sibling?' He asks the wisp. It swings on the chain nearly falling. The ancestor catches the wisp 'My how lively you've been since you felt your sibling.' He chuckles. He turns his eyes to a disturbance by one of the sealing stones. 'Audrey!' He calls out to her. Audrey turns to the mountain as she steps out of the house. "Kogen! something happening." she slaps his arms before grabbing him and dragging him towards the mountain. 'Audrey! send your mate to the eastern sealing stone! something is interfering with it!' He orders. Audrey nods and gets out of the gate "Kogen! we need to go to the eastern-facing sealing stone!" She stops seeing a group of wisps quickly open a rift in front of her. Kogen picks Audrey up and jumps through the rift. Audrey gasps Kogen quickly hides her inside a nearby tree before attacking two auraless snakes. He rips their bodies apart before throwing them away from the sitting man statue. 'Audrey! those are snake beasts that are under the leviathan tribe' The ancestor scoffs. She nods "This isn't good." she mutters getting out of the hiding spot she walking up to Kogen. She looks at the statue her eyes spot the damage on the statue and frowns "This holds the ancestor's aura." she mumbles. 'we need to put up a barrier.' Don speaks up. She nods "I agree but why are they targeting the sealing stones?" Audrey pulls out her book and frowns "These take so much aura." she grumbles. Don sighs 'There is a way to infuse stones with your aura to keep the barrier up without you being near it.' He tells her. She nods flipping through the pages. "Alright, this is it." She looks around the forest. "I will clear the area Audrey don't go anywhere." Kogen shifts into his beast form before going to check the area. "Why are they targeting the sealing stones?" Audrey asks Don. 'I am not sure, They never went after the stones in my world. They only focused on our blood.' He tells her. She frowns walking around the small clearing where she picks up a few stones. 'Audrey they are messing with the other stones!' Ash alerts her. She looks out at the forest. "what are they planning!?" she grumbles. 'Audrey there is a spell you can use to communicate with the base.' Ash tells her. She nods "Alright I'll get Kogen to mobilize his troops." She answers as Kogen walks back into the clearing. "Kogen! The other stones are being messed with," she tells him. He frowns "We need to." "I will get them moving." He answers. He bites his thumb and draws a few runes on a nearby tree before he chants a spell. "Attention all troops We are on High alert for a base attack! All troops enter opening rifts in the area and protect the sealing stones from any attacks." He sends the order. Audrey walks up to Kogen "The wisps will guide them to the stones!" he nods "Follow the wisps of aura they will guide you to the stones!" he informs them. She looks at the stones she gathered. 'what the hell is their plan?' she frowns 'Grandpa Ash you need to tell me what is going on!' She turns to the mountain. 'I understand I cannot keep this information hidden anymore.' He sighs. Kogen takes the stones from Audrey "Show me the spell and I will cast it." he offers. She nods knowing how much of a toll it would take on her. He infused the stones with his aura and used his blood to set the spell into each stone. He buries the stones into the soil around the statue before chanting the spell. The barrier forms hiding the stone from sight. "we need to go to the others!" Audrey points to the open rift. He picks Audrey up and walks into the rift. They did this process with the other four stones. Kogen looks at Yuri who is inspecting the statue of a man lying on the ground. Audrey looks at the man drawing the final one in her notebook. "They look... like," she murmurs feeling a pit form in her stomach. 'Nagas.' Don murmurs. She nods "Audrey, we have bigger questions that the ancestor needs to answer." Kogen states what Audrey was already thinking. "Yeah, I don't think we should waste any more time," she whispers. He picks her up "We need to go, Yuri keep surveillance around the stones until we can figure out why they are targeting these statues." Kogen orders. Yuri sighs "All alright," he doesn't argue. Audrey looks at the drawings in her notebook feeling uneasy with the stones. "This is... so ominous..." she whispers. Kogen walks into the rift leading them to the cave. "why?" he asks. She pulls out the old notebook she used for researching Don's stones. "The stones Don used in his world were made of his scales." she shows Kogen as they stop at the mouth of the cave. "W... Why are the statues made to look like Naga men?" she asks. 'Audrey, I need to tell you what makes our world different from Don's.' The ancestor speaks up. She bites her lips before nodding. Kogen walks into the cave following the soft orange wisp he knows to be his child. They get to the end of the cave where Audrey knows the ancestor rests. 'Kogen hasn't been down this far.' She takes a deep breath as she casts a spell for illumination. The cave is illuminated brightly revealing the sleeping naga. Kogen steps back startled by the sight. "This is Ancestor Ashthoren." She introduces him. His eyes examine the large titan in front of him. "Ash this is my husband Kogen Zer." She introduces. A figure forms made of the aura of a man who is about Kogen's height with a bush beard and dreadlocks. "Audrey, my child I would love to talk more about the little one but this is important." He holds his hand out to them. Kogen puts Audrey down carefully. She nods "I need to know everything." she tells him. He closes his eyes letting out a deep sigh. "I would have loved for you to have finished your training but you handle spell casting so well and fighting hand to hand is out of the question with such a reliable husband." he looks at Kogen. "You two need to follow me." he guides Audrey and Kogen towards the back of his head. "this is a path." Audrey looks around at the wall. There are no markings or letters. Ashthoren stops halfway down the path and turns to Audrey and Kogen. "I will tell you the side of history I've hidden from my descendants and the other tribes." He looks at Audrey and Kogen a proud smile tugging at his lips.