The knight remained lying down with his face in the dirt when he awoke. He'd never died before that. And now he wished he still hadn't.
The problem wasn't the dying, it was the reforming. Blank as his mind currently was, despite not remembering being dead, he knew he'd been in pain. Excruciating pain. The exhaustion was still there, his limbs were heavy and it was hard to breathe, and his joints still had some of the lingering burning. Could he just stay there until it went away? If nobody had come looking for him, a few minutes or hours longer shouldn't make a difference.
The pain and exhaustion were, of course, not the reason. The reason was the cold in his stomach, the chattering of his teeth. Fear. His Master was ruthless and mistakes were not tolerated, much less one that would mean...
The knight opened his eyes. His failure... would mean either his Master had overwhelmed the invaders on his own... or...
"Káfis!"
Kathréftys clenched his teeth and growled. Instinctively more than anything; he was actually relieved to hear that voice, for as annoying a mispronunciation that was. He tried to stand up and settled for standing on his knees, stretching out his membranous wings to shake away the stiffness. The small child was looking at him with those black eyes, bright with the unmistakeable glow of happiness.
So someone HAD been sent to fetch him. Odd for it to be the kid. Kathréftys watched him, expecting orders, a thought, a sliver of conscience.
The boy kept staring. Kathréftys began to worry. Few times in his admittedly not very long life had his Master abandoned him to his own thoughts. Usually, only for a few seconds or so. Never without an order for him to complete. Yet, he waited for minutes, and nothing came. Kathréftys wasn't used to thinking by himself, the experience was quite unsettling. With too much space inside his head, it was like his lines of thought escaped him every time he came close. With some struggle, he managed to formulate an idea.
"Kieran. Did Lorde Dáskalos send you?"
The boy shook his head in a negative. Disobeying orders was not tolerated. Neither was leaving without an explicit one.
"Where is he?"
Another shake. It took him a while to make sense of that, and when he did, a cold wave spread from his stomach. That meant they had lost. No doubt, due to his failure.
"Did he... shatter?" He expected madenning screeching to assault his mind, the response to rebellious thoughts. But none came. Kieran raised his hands.
Kátis couldn't figure out what to think next and looked around them. They were in a valley, surrounded by green mountains with colorful wild flowers all around. The sky was a beautiful blue, with a few soft white clouds floating lazily around, and a mild breeze blew deliciously against his wings. He grimaced. They were in Oneisíleio; the Original world. That should mean the portal home was somewhere above; if his shards hadn't somehow been moved, that somewhere was right above his head.
"Stay here," he said to Kieran and stood up. His knees wobbled a bit. He hesitated, waiting for a confirmation, a prohibition, anything. With no reply, he flapped his wings and rose into the air.
He circled higher and higher. From far below, the portal was almost invisible, but he should be able to see it from the clouds. However, no matter how high he flew, he couldn't spot it. He circled in place, the rarified air beginning to make it hard to breathe. Down below, Kieran was just a tiny spot on the green. Kátis went back to his side.
He could almost hear an echo when he began to formulate a thought, making it impossible to string two ideas together. His mind had been linked to his Master's ever since his creation. Day and night, rare were the circumstances when his head hadn't been full of thoughts, ideas, considerations and memories of long ago. Being on his own was... unnerving. He didn't know what to do. He didn't have the slightest indication of what his Master would want him to do.
A growl came from his side. He looked down at the boy.
"You're hungry?"
A nod.
"What are you waiting for, go..."
FIND. HIM. FOOD.
A wave of relief fell over him and Kathréftys sighed loudly.
"Master, where are you? Should we return home?"
No more words came. Kátis looked back at the boy, now less disoriented with an order to follow. Obediently, he gestured for Kieran to hop onto his back and the two took off.
It wasn't hard to find a mango tree nearby. Oneisíleio was the land of the lazy; Kathréftys wouldn't be surprised if they'd found a way to make meat grow on trees, just to avoid the trouble of farming. As such, food was readily available everywhere. Too simple. That place disgusted him. His wings cut through the peaceful air with such ease that he considered walking.
He realized how tense he was on the way to a mango tree they found from the air. At first, he thought it was his wings stiff from being reformed minutes ago, but then realized the problem as he was leaning down to land. It was the air--mild, easy to cut through. Not a single tricky gust tried to knock him down. A few birds flew by them when he landed. He'd have puked if his stomach wasn't empty. He hated that place. He would burn the entire planet to the ground if he could.
Kieran climbed up the tree and Kátis worried for a second that he would be bitten by something, or get poisoned. He slapped the thought away. As if danger existed there. The boy would kill any threat before it could reach him. Kátis had the feeling that even if he fell from the top of that tree, he'd bounce on the floor, intact.
He needed to get out of there. His hand was itching to reach for his sword and slash at the bark.
"Hurry," he urged the kid. "Get going or I'll drag you down by your hair."
Kieran made a noise with his mouth full. Kátis ignored him and tried to call his Master's attention again. Would he order them to return? Hopefully not stay, he wished from a corner so hidden in his head that not even he himself was aware of that hope. Though there was the possibility that they'd be ordered to take their Originals' place, lower their kingdom's defences. If there was some killing to be done, he'd gladly stay.
He hopped to the side to avoid a projectile. A mango hit the floor where he'd been standing. He looked up.
"Hey! Throw another one and I'll throw you in the first river I see!"
"So-ih."
Kathréftys clicked his tongue. If Lorde Dáskalos didn't need the brat, he'd...
PROTECT HIM, he heard. Only that and nothig more.
He looked up at Kieran, who was entertained by his eating once again. Lorde Dáskalos had created both of them for the sole purpose of helping him take over the Original world; a place of peace and dreams, of beauty and calm. The place was still disturbingly peaceful and didn't have his omnipresence, the feeling of his mind spreading throughout its grounds and skies, so the plan had clearly failed... due to his ineptitude, certainly. But he was still alive, and if he still wanted Kieran alive, did that mean he intended to try again?
Kátis's thoughts were not answered, which bothered him enormously. Kieran dropped from a branch and offered him half a mango.
"Stay here," Kathréftys said and took off into the sky in order to have a better view of the area. To east lay the ocean, to west a mountain range. Odd, he hadn't seen any mountains in his time in the Original kingdom. Though he'd been distracted with more important matters. Judging from the the sun, they had around six hours until night fell. That was enough to find a safe place to spend the night. Kátis went back to the ground to get Kieran, then took off towards north.
The problem wasn't the dying, it was the reforming. Blank as his mind currently was, despite not remembering being dead, he knew he'd been in pain. Excruciating pain. The exhaustion was still there, his limbs were heavy and it was hard to breathe, and his joints still had some of the lingering burning. Could he just stay there until it went away? If nobody had come looking for him, a few minutes or hours longer shouldn't make a difference.
The pain and exhaustion were, of course, not the reason. The reason was the cold in his stomach, the chattering of his teeth. Fear. His Master was ruthless and mistakes were not tolerated, much less one that would mean...
The knight opened his eyes. His failure... would mean either his Master had overwhelmed the invaders on his own... or...
"Káfis!"
Kathréftys clenched his teeth and growled. Instinctively more than anything; he was actually relieved to hear that voice, for as annoying a mispronunciation that was. He tried to stand up and settled for standing on his knees, stretching out his membranous wings to shake away the stiffness. The small child was looking at him with those black eyes, bright with the unmistakeable glow of happiness.
So someone HAD been sent to fetch him. Odd for it to be the kid. Kathréftys watched him, expecting orders, a thought, a sliver of conscience.
The boy kept staring. Kathréftys began to worry. Few times in his admittedly not very long life had his Master abandoned him to his own thoughts. Usually, only for a few seconds or so. Never without an order for him to complete. Yet, he waited for minutes, and nothing came. Kathréftys wasn't used to thinking by himself, the experience was quite unsettling. With too much space inside his head, it was like his lines of thought escaped him every time he came close. With some struggle, he managed to formulate an idea.
"Kieran. Did Lorde Dáskalos send you?"
The boy shook his head in a negative. Disobeying orders was not tolerated. Neither was leaving without an explicit one.
"Where is he?"
Another shake. It took him a while to make sense of that, and when he did, a cold wave spread from his stomach. That meant they had lost. No doubt, due to his failure.
"Did he... shatter?" He expected madenning screeching to assault his mind, the response to rebellious thoughts. But none came. Kieran raised his hands.
Kátis couldn't figure out what to think next and looked around them. They were in a valley, surrounded by green mountains with colorful wild flowers all around. The sky was a beautiful blue, with a few soft white clouds floating lazily around, and a mild breeze blew deliciously against his wings. He grimaced. They were in Oneisíleio; the Original world. That should mean the portal home was somewhere above; if his shards hadn't somehow been moved, that somewhere was right above his head.
"Stay here," he said to Kieran and stood up. His knees wobbled a bit. He hesitated, waiting for a confirmation, a prohibition, anything. With no reply, he flapped his wings and rose into the air.
He circled higher and higher. From far below, the portal was almost invisible, but he should be able to see it from the clouds. However, no matter how high he flew, he couldn't spot it. He circled in place, the rarified air beginning to make it hard to breathe. Down below, Kieran was just a tiny spot on the green. Kátis went back to his side.
He could almost hear an echo when he began to formulate a thought, making it impossible to string two ideas together. His mind had been linked to his Master's ever since his creation. Day and night, rare were the circumstances when his head hadn't been full of thoughts, ideas, considerations and memories of long ago. Being on his own was... unnerving. He didn't know what to do. He didn't have the slightest indication of what his Master would want him to do.
A growl came from his side. He looked down at the boy.
"You're hungry?"
A nod.
"What are you waiting for, go..."
FIND. HIM. FOOD.
A wave of relief fell over him and Kathréftys sighed loudly.
"Master, where are you? Should we return home?"
No more words came. Kátis looked back at the boy, now less disoriented with an order to follow. Obediently, he gestured for Kieran to hop onto his back and the two took off.
It wasn't hard to find a mango tree nearby. Oneisíleio was the land of the lazy; Kathréftys wouldn't be surprised if they'd found a way to make meat grow on trees, just to avoid the trouble of farming. As such, food was readily available everywhere. Too simple. That place disgusted him. His wings cut through the peaceful air with such ease that he considered walking.
He realized how tense he was on the way to a mango tree they found from the air. At first, he thought it was his wings stiff from being reformed minutes ago, but then realized the problem as he was leaning down to land. It was the air--mild, easy to cut through. Not a single tricky gust tried to knock him down. A few birds flew by them when he landed. He'd have puked if his stomach wasn't empty. He hated that place. He would burn the entire planet to the ground if he could.
Kieran climbed up the tree and Kátis worried for a second that he would be bitten by something, or get poisoned. He slapped the thought away. As if danger existed there. The boy would kill any threat before it could reach him. Kátis had the feeling that even if he fell from the top of that tree, he'd bounce on the floor, intact.
He needed to get out of there. His hand was itching to reach for his sword and slash at the bark.
"Hurry," he urged the kid. "Get going or I'll drag you down by your hair."
Kieran made a noise with his mouth full. Kátis ignored him and tried to call his Master's attention again. Would he order them to return? Hopefully not stay, he wished from a corner so hidden in his head that not even he himself was aware of that hope. Though there was the possibility that they'd be ordered to take their Originals' place, lower their kingdom's defences. If there was some killing to be done, he'd gladly stay.
He hopped to the side to avoid a projectile. A mango hit the floor where he'd been standing. He looked up.
"Hey! Throw another one and I'll throw you in the first river I see!"
"So-ih."
Kathréftys clicked his tongue. If Lorde Dáskalos didn't need the brat, he'd...
PROTECT HIM, he heard. Only that and nothig more.
He looked up at Kieran, who was entertained by his eating once again. Lorde Dáskalos had created both of them for the sole purpose of helping him take over the Original world; a place of peace and dreams, of beauty and calm. The place was still disturbingly peaceful and didn't have his omnipresence, the feeling of his mind spreading throughout its grounds and skies, so the plan had clearly failed... due to his ineptitude, certainly. But he was still alive, and if he still wanted Kieran alive, did that mean he intended to try again?
Kátis's thoughts were not answered, which bothered him enormously. Kieran dropped from a branch and offered him half a mango.
"Stay here," Kathréftys said and took off into the sky in order to have a better view of the area. To east lay the ocean, to west a mountain range. Odd, he hadn't seen any mountains in his time in the Original kingdom. Though he'd been distracted with more important matters. Judging from the the sun, they had around six hours until night fell. That was enough to find a safe place to spend the night. Kátis went back to the ground to get Kieran, then took off towards north.
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