Choosing their paths with the greatest carefulness, the two made their way to the edge of a clearing where they found her, propped up against a yellowing maple tree, emaciated and filthy. Reiba, former lady of House Archne, had swapped padded corsets and silky locks of reddish mahogany for faded leather and a head full of knots and grease. And though she tried to hide it with a wide-brimmed hat woven of flax and linen, two bees, one on each ear, stood out as if in attack formation in dark permanent blue. The coughing had ceased, though her breathing was still hoarse and uneasy.
She dozed lightly, in a most ungraceful manner, her mouth agape and chin down. Keubroc caught the eye of of Lord Vaughn who trailed behind him slightly, giving him a nod to alert him to her presence, then cocked his head slightly as if to ask for instructions at this point.
Lord Vaughn nodded back at him, indicating to Keubroc that the time was now. Subdue, apprehend, and interrogate. Take extreme caution to not kill - she will be useful alive he had said - but do not let her get away, even if that means her death. If she survived, she might face the judgement of her peers while demonstrating the effectiveness of Imperial protection and justice.
Vaughn could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of closure. This venture had been tiresome and he had disparaged his own oversight that let the former Lady Zaexyl slip away in the first place. It was a failure, plain and simple, and the Silent Scholar would not look kindly on his error. Yet resolving the matter cleanly might still reward him with redemption.
Keubroc entered the clearing silently, with Vaughn at his back, crouched behind a thick oak. Soft socks of leather had replaced his hard boots from the previous days, slowing his progression, but reducing the noise he made. He did not expect to reach her before she woke, but he'd be as close as possible to subdue the woman.
Yet as he crept within a wagon-span of her resting place, her eyes flared open. Reiba did not take half a second to rouse her emaciated self and jump up from her spot. She tumbled to her left, fleeing into a thick grove of dense understory brambles. Keubroc had no trouble following the cracks and whips of a woman crashing through brush without regard for her own skin and he followed in hot pursuit.
She did not run for long but by the time he had caught up to her, she was under the boughs of a dancing oak. (put into notes for another descriptive opportunity: a tree known for its multiple stems leaning over the ground in an array of creative strands.) There knelt Reiba in her sleeveless vest, a linen over jacket at her waist, and a jeweled dagger clutched tightly in her left fist pointing straight down to the leaf cluttered ground. He put his hand to his sword.
"Do not move a single muscle more, soldier, or it will die."
"What are you talking about woman?" he asked not a half second before he noticed that the leaves and dirt rose and fell slightly, and that flesh of purplish blue could be seen in some parts. Something, or someone, was under the earth, but as to who, or why, the Second Sword was at a loss.
"What is that?"he said, not fully concealing his surprise.
"Are you an Empire man or not?" she replied, and though her words were feverish, her resolve remained strong; her eyes darting about as she mentally recorded every detail of the man who pursued her.
"So you may say."
"Then no doubt the great wisdom of the University on High can shed some light on this mystery," she spat, still not letting her eyes leave his. With her free hand, she cleared away the dirt and debris from the face of the creature. It appeared to be in repose and the commotion had not roused it. It's eyes, quite human in appearance, were closed, but two great horns that originated at its temples made it clear that it was anything but human. "you are so knowledgeable about every aspect of this world surely a this creature is at least known to you, if not owned by you. What was it doing in our province? What hideous new allies has your Empress wooed to her side?"
"I've never seen a creature such as this." Keubroc answered as calmly as possible. "It means nothing to me."
"Feh!" she scrunched her face in frustration, "Yet you haven't moved. If it isn't yours, then why concern yourself with its death at my hand?"
"I'd like to end this peacefully. Will you return with me?"
"Rel's host take you and your tyrant Queen!" she screamed as she plunged the dagger into the chest of the creature.
At least, that was her intent. She didn't make it very far before Vaughn, sneaking behind her, delivered a swift elbow to her back and she dropped the dagger and crumpled to the ground. Vaughn circled her prone body and her eyes widened at the sight of his massive form. He kicked the dagger well out of her reach before grabbing her vest at the sternum and pulling her up to meet his face.
"This world means nothing to you anymore. Your life is over. Whatever your plots, you will reveal them and you will die." and he threw her again to the ground. "The method in which these things occur is entirely up to you." he later added. He motioned over Keubroc and without missing a beat, the Second Sword was soon at his side, thrusting the woman's wrists and ankles in brass cuffs.
Blood coursing though the veins of his neck and hands, he felt alive with adrenaline. More than one loose end would be tied this night. Wide hands set to work removing the debris from the creature. The sun had long since left the sky, but its hue still made a stunning appearance of orange pink and red streaks in the sky. It should be safe for it to wake.
"Tttch-chkitkit." he intoned, raising the interest of Keubroc instantly. "Wake up. Tttch-chkitkit"
In moments the creature opened its eyes, and though it got up, it crouched down in front of the two men in submission. It was still quite dirty, but made no indication that it was concerned with its appearance. That is, until it caught glance of the now bound Reiba.
Vaughn quickly caught this and smirked in devious thoughts of what could be, but he put it aside. "Keubroc."
"Yes sir." the man turned his attention to the bei'thal.
"This is a gegleth. Are you familiar with the term?"
"No sir."
"Good. That means we are doing our job. This is a species we discovered a couple of generations ago. About the tail end of the Lor Phe period - so perhaps 100 tides ago or so. They've lived symbiotically with the Soa for longer than the Keeper's existence, should the myths be true. Hence their name. It's a Yibouhese bastardization of the Soan word 'geokeh'. (linguistic note, Yibouhese has no other sound following the "eh" vowel than "th" so much like how a spanish person will add an "eh" sound to an s-word in English, the Yibouhese add it in front of a "th") Tell me, what do you know of the Soan language?"
"Nothing, I am afraid." the younger man admitted.
"Then that makes two of us," Vaughn chuckled, "But so my teachers have taught me, I can pass on this tidbit to you. A 'geokeh' is a mythical ghost that steals children from their beds at night when they are naughty."
Keubroc laughed nervously, "Is that what these creatures do then? Kidnap misbehaving children?"
"The truth is these creatures are terribly good at getting things done without being seen. They are expert diggers, strong, dependable and they eat little more than dirt, like a worm. If you can pay their price, they are fiercely loyal, and ask no questions about their job. Their only flaw is that they are a subterranean species and easily dehydrate and die in the sun. They must dig themselves a bed to sleep in by day if they are caught outdoors." Vaughn looked over to the still crouched figure. "Tttch-chkitkit, eat and be off. Keubroc will follow you shortly."
The figure got up and began dusting himself off, helping himself to the clumps of dirt that fell from his segmented arms. "What is their price?"
"Nothing less than the continuation of their species." Vaughn chuckled. "Soon enough, you'll learn more about them as you study to become bei'thal. Civilians never see them, but for a bei'thal, the gegleth are ubiquitous. Find your things and get that armor back on. You'll have to do without sleep tonight. The gegleth can only travel at night so you will have to sleep in the day with him."
"Him?"
"Yes, all gegleth are male."
"Every single one of them? How is that possible?"
"Yes. You will find out soon enough. No more questions now. I need to get him to the University on High before Coldtide celebrations. We may be able to figure out how to make this all work afterall."
Keubroc look about him and picked up the jeweled dagger that Reiba had dropped and glanced to the east where somewhere his pack and breastplate waited to be found. Vaughn had already turned back to his prey as he examined her bound body for anything of interest; weapons, communiques, artifacts.
Keubroc approached the man as he physically invaded Reiba's privacy, and was rewarded with facial reactions of fear and disgust. "I still had more questions for you." he said as his plunged the jeweled dagger between the collarbone of the shirtless man. Vaughn slumped to the ground and blood escaped his coronary artery and spurted through the wound. His last seconds of life afforded him only the deepest look of hatred and malice to his murderer.
"It will be a lot harder to learn now." Keubroc added mournfully.
She dozed lightly, in a most ungraceful manner, her mouth agape and chin down. Keubroc caught the eye of of Lord Vaughn who trailed behind him slightly, giving him a nod to alert him to her presence, then cocked his head slightly as if to ask for instructions at this point.
Lord Vaughn nodded back at him, indicating to Keubroc that the time was now. Subdue, apprehend, and interrogate. Take extreme caution to not kill - she will be useful alive he had said - but do not let her get away, even if that means her death. If she survived, she might face the judgement of her peers while demonstrating the effectiveness of Imperial protection and justice.
Vaughn could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of closure. This venture had been tiresome and he had disparaged his own oversight that let the former Lady Zaexyl slip away in the first place. It was a failure, plain and simple, and the Silent Scholar would not look kindly on his error. Yet resolving the matter cleanly might still reward him with redemption.
Keubroc entered the clearing silently, with Vaughn at his back, crouched behind a thick oak. Soft socks of leather had replaced his hard boots from the previous days, slowing his progression, but reducing the noise he made. He did not expect to reach her before she woke, but he'd be as close as possible to subdue the woman.
Yet as he crept within a wagon-span of her resting place, her eyes flared open. Reiba did not take half a second to rouse her emaciated self and jump up from her spot. She tumbled to her left, fleeing into a thick grove of dense understory brambles. Keubroc had no trouble following the cracks and whips of a woman crashing through brush without regard for her own skin and he followed in hot pursuit.
She did not run for long but by the time he had caught up to her, she was under the boughs of a dancing oak. (put into notes for another descriptive opportunity: a tree known for its multiple stems leaning over the ground in an array of creative strands.) There knelt Reiba in her sleeveless vest, a linen over jacket at her waist, and a jeweled dagger clutched tightly in her left fist pointing straight down to the leaf cluttered ground. He put his hand to his sword.
"Do not move a single muscle more, soldier, or it will die."
"What are you talking about woman?" he asked not a half second before he noticed that the leaves and dirt rose and fell slightly, and that flesh of purplish blue could be seen in some parts. Something, or someone, was under the earth, but as to who, or why, the Second Sword was at a loss.
"What is that?"he said, not fully concealing his surprise.
"Are you an Empire man or not?" she replied, and though her words were feverish, her resolve remained strong; her eyes darting about as she mentally recorded every detail of the man who pursued her.
"So you may say."
"Then no doubt the great wisdom of the University on High can shed some light on this mystery," she spat, still not letting her eyes leave his. With her free hand, she cleared away the dirt and debris from the face of the creature. It appeared to be in repose and the commotion had not roused it. It's eyes, quite human in appearance, were closed, but two great horns that originated at its temples made it clear that it was anything but human. "you are so knowledgeable about every aspect of this world surely a this creature is at least known to you, if not owned by you. What was it doing in our province? What hideous new allies has your Empress wooed to her side?"
"I've never seen a creature such as this." Keubroc answered as calmly as possible. "It means nothing to me."
"Feh!" she scrunched her face in frustration, "Yet you haven't moved. If it isn't yours, then why concern yourself with its death at my hand?"
"I'd like to end this peacefully. Will you return with me?"
"Rel's host take you and your tyrant Queen!" she screamed as she plunged the dagger into the chest of the creature.
At least, that was her intent. She didn't make it very far before Vaughn, sneaking behind her, delivered a swift elbow to her back and she dropped the dagger and crumpled to the ground. Vaughn circled her prone body and her eyes widened at the sight of his massive form. He kicked the dagger well out of her reach before grabbing her vest at the sternum and pulling her up to meet his face.
"This world means nothing to you anymore. Your life is over. Whatever your plots, you will reveal them and you will die." and he threw her again to the ground. "The method in which these things occur is entirely up to you." he later added. He motioned over Keubroc and without missing a beat, the Second Sword was soon at his side, thrusting the woman's wrists and ankles in brass cuffs.
Blood coursing though the veins of his neck and hands, he felt alive with adrenaline. More than one loose end would be tied this night. Wide hands set to work removing the debris from the creature. The sun had long since left the sky, but its hue still made a stunning appearance of orange pink and red streaks in the sky. It should be safe for it to wake.
"Tttch-chkitkit." he intoned, raising the interest of Keubroc instantly. "Wake up. Tttch-chkitkit"
In moments the creature opened its eyes, and though it got up, it crouched down in front of the two men in submission. It was still quite dirty, but made no indication that it was concerned with its appearance. That is, until it caught glance of the now bound Reiba.
Vaughn quickly caught this and smirked in devious thoughts of what could be, but he put it aside. "Keubroc."
"Yes sir." the man turned his attention to the bei'thal.
"This is a gegleth. Are you familiar with the term?"
"No sir."
"Good. That means we are doing our job. This is a species we discovered a couple of generations ago. About the tail end of the Lor Phe period - so perhaps 100 tides ago or so. They've lived symbiotically with the Soa for longer than the Keeper's existence, should the myths be true. Hence their name. It's a Yibouhese bastardization of the Soan word 'geokeh'. (linguistic note, Yibouhese has no other sound following the "eh" vowel than "th" so much like how a spanish person will add an "eh" sound to an s-word in English, the Yibouhese add it in front of a "th") Tell me, what do you know of the Soan language?"
"Nothing, I am afraid." the younger man admitted.
"Then that makes two of us," Vaughn chuckled, "But so my teachers have taught me, I can pass on this tidbit to you. A 'geokeh' is a mythical ghost that steals children from their beds at night when they are naughty."
Keubroc laughed nervously, "Is that what these creatures do then? Kidnap misbehaving children?"
"The truth is these creatures are terribly good at getting things done without being seen. They are expert diggers, strong, dependable and they eat little more than dirt, like a worm. If you can pay their price, they are fiercely loyal, and ask no questions about their job. Their only flaw is that they are a subterranean species and easily dehydrate and die in the sun. They must dig themselves a bed to sleep in by day if they are caught outdoors." Vaughn looked over to the still crouched figure. "Tttch-chkitkit, eat and be off. Keubroc will follow you shortly."
The figure got up and began dusting himself off, helping himself to the clumps of dirt that fell from his segmented arms. "What is their price?"
"Nothing less than the continuation of their species." Vaughn chuckled. "Soon enough, you'll learn more about them as you study to become bei'thal. Civilians never see them, but for a bei'thal, the gegleth are ubiquitous. Find your things and get that armor back on. You'll have to do without sleep tonight. The gegleth can only travel at night so you will have to sleep in the day with him."
"Him?"
"Yes, all gegleth are male."
"Every single one of them? How is that possible?"
"Yes. You will find out soon enough. No more questions now. I need to get him to the University on High before Coldtide celebrations. We may be able to figure out how to make this all work afterall."
Keubroc look about him and picked up the jeweled dagger that Reiba had dropped and glanced to the east where somewhere his pack and breastplate waited to be found. Vaughn had already turned back to his prey as he examined her bound body for anything of interest; weapons, communiques, artifacts.
Keubroc approached the man as he physically invaded Reiba's privacy, and was rewarded with facial reactions of fear and disgust. "I still had more questions for you." he said as his plunged the jeweled dagger between the collarbone of the shirtless man. Vaughn slumped to the ground and blood escaped his coronary artery and spurted through the wound. His last seconds of life afforded him only the deepest look of hatred and malice to his murderer.
"It will be a lot harder to learn now." Keubroc added mournfully.
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