Samhir had been very quiet on their walk toward the village. Mikhail expected questions, an interrogation, a scolding; something from the man. But he remained caught in his own thoughts, automatically walking along.
"There are two sets of footsteps approaching around the bend. Maybe fifty meters out."
The Ipanish man did not even flinch as Mikhail interrupted the memories. He only nodded, "you can hear from that far away," suddenly back in reality, in the now dark forest, "-impressive." He patted his vest, found it missing his flask, forgotten and empty on the table at home. He sighed.
"So Mr. Ambassador of Tellan," Samhir quipped dryly, a rush of air whistling from his nose. Mikhail smiled. In his home country someone of the lower class regarding him in such a disrespectful tone would have been brushed off his shoulder. Perhaps not by another aristocrat, but to him it was expected in the struggle of class and his title was insular to safeguarding his sense of power. Here, in Ipahn, stripped of his title, equal to Samhir, the sarcastic tone hit with an edge. It was strangely humbling. Or perhaps his infatuation with the mans' daughter had made him more subconsciously submissive to him. "How do you know the fae?"
"I created the ward and watched over your house the first night the priests came to the village. The fae arrived not too long later." The thought of meeting the fae had him recalling his first encounter with a being of a higher realm.
An icy god he saw in the northern districts of Tellan, rare as it was to see one processing a physical form in the lower realm. He'd been forced to attend a ball thrown by a Tellan Lord for his sons birthday. As Margrave of the region it was his mothers duty to attend and as the youngest of her children he got the joy of being stuffed in the carriage with her and wheeled off to the freezing cold. The party had been stuffy, with a fireplace backdrafting smoke into the banquet hall and a sniveling young lord choking and hacking on the thick air. He looked like he might not survive to next spring.
Eventually Mikhail had enough and finally snuck away, made his way through a dripping and dreary castle and found himself outside, standing ankle deep in a snowy garden. Bare and gnarled rose bushes with snow pilling delicately on branches swirled in toward a central fountain. It was not the gleaming craftsmanship of the southern cities but that of the old tribes of the north. Cold, black and grey stone carvings. Knotwork circled and braided around a pillar that rose up a couple meters. At the top sat a heavy headed hammer, the old sigil of the family, and balanced precariously on the handle was a being. Its skin was the color glacial ice and it was dual gendered, with heavy breasts and a massive erection the young boy found to be quite humorous. Its arms were lifted, extending as tall as possible stretching toward the sky.
As Mikhail approached the fountain, the carved head of the being creaked, then cracked and ice rained out from its position as it turned very alive eyes on him. He fell back on his ass as the statue turned, its arms breaking free of their upheld position, snow and ice flinging from it in arches like wings.
A wave of energy unlike anything he had ever felt before hit him. Cold and wet. A dark, deep well of unknown intentions. Swimming at the bottom of the waters was starvation.
There was only a moment to be afraid, hair raising across his body as his stomach fell, and then the demon rushed forward. It was the only time he could recall the demon having jumped forward with quite such force before having met the fae in the woods. He was too young then to understand or perceive the threat of the god, but the demon that resided within him did, and it surfaced to protect him.
"Ahahaha, haha, Awe, has a little demon found his was into the realm of man?" Its voice filled the air in flamboyant chimes as icicles dropped from the vapors of its breath.
Mikhail was on his feet in an instant, wisps of black satin and scales peeling off his skin as he took hurried steps back and spun on heel.
"Awe." The being said sadly. "Leaving so soon? Aaha. I hope I see you again!" It called after him, waving like an old friend sending off his pal.
The demon had run him right inside, burst him into the hall, caught the attention of every guest, and then tucked itself away leaving Mikhail to deal with the embarrassment.
The northern Lord chuckled. "That pesky god in the garden scare you?"
Mikhail only nodded, still a little bewildered and stunned, while his mothers voice rose, "A god!? Really?" A murmur went through the small crowd.
"Ah yes, It came a few moons prior. Just sits up on the ol' hammer of Oarkin day in and day out." Lord Oarkin explained.
"That damn thing just sits out there with it's genitals on full display scaring anyone who walks by it." His wife cut in angrily, high tone echoing through the room. "I can't even enjoy my garden these days. I'm afraid it's going to come off the fountain and do something horrible."
"They say it is quite an honor for a god to find security in your lands." His mother cut in. "In this day in age there are not many safe havens left for the ancient ones."
The Lady looked at the Margrave in annoyance. Lady Oarkin was not born in the north. Her family were wealthy merchants from the east, residing right on the border of the Provinces; they had adopted the Eenoan religion three generations back. It was apparent that the lady was not accustomed or very tolerant of the beliefs of the north. "Well I wish it would find somewhere else." She visibly shivered. "It needs to go and continue on to the Northern continent like the rest of the old gods. This isn't their home anymore."
"Ah, I'm sure it will move on eventually. It seems to be some kind of ice god. I imagine it is only traveling with the winter." Her husband tried to soothe her, laughing nervously in the mixed company.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
There was another lapse of silence between the two.
The echoes of footsteps were even closer now. "Thirty meters or so."
"How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Hear so good?"
His hearing was not a trait of the demon. Neither was his night vision, or his strength. The demon could enhance these to incredible degrees but it was power the Maaroi were born with. "It is believed that long ago my ancestors mixed with the blood of ancient giants and that it grants us inhuman abilities to this day."
"Giants?"
Mikhail nodded. "Old creatures who used to roam the northern continent. Men who stood three meters high with ashen and burnt skin, and black eyes."
"I thought giants were things of legend." Samhir said skeptically. He was not well educated on mythologies or religions. Korin would probably have a better understanding of it all than him, but he was fairly certain that there was no verifiable proof of giant races.
Mikahil shrugged. The Maaroi family lineage was quite extensive and its documentation went from written archival to oral. The only thing for certain that anyone believed was that the members of the family needed to be strong to potentially host a demon. "It is simply a legend. There are many theories. Perhaps we are this way because we have mutant blood."
Samhir let out a lackluster bark of laughter. "If you're a mutant, I can fucking fly." He had tried so hard to build a pleasant relationship with the foreigner in the hope that the man was interested in his daughter. The illusion of love had taken him back to the sweet splendor of his own and it was something he so foolishly had casted upon Korin. He'd believed for a tiny second in some fake possibility that there would be this happy ending for her despite what he knew. Told himself that the fae forgot, that it was all just a bad dream. Reality had come down smacking him in the face tonight. Mikhail was no charming suitor, but a scheming politician, with unclear intentions. And his daughter was no woman searching for love. And she wouldn't be rescued from the mountain. No, she was some sinister unknown thing stolen away. And that damned fae was really real and knocking on his door.
He was in over his head and the fire in his belly was growing into his heart. The elders would meet them anytime now and everything would keep on happening despite his feelings. Samhir ground his teeth.
"Ah, Samhir. And Mikhail." The pleasant voice of Elder Ulias traveled from up ahead. He walked along steadily, hands clasped behind his back, seeming to enjoy the walk. Beside him Minora frowned, obviously in contempt of his leisurely pace. When her eyes caught sight of the two she charged ahead.
"Where is Korin?" Her voice cut sharp and loud into the night. The question demanded an answer as she rapidly came to a halt in front of Samhir. The elder spared a raised eyebrow to Mikhail before returning to Samhir. "Out with it Samhir. That girl had the whole village howling in a frenzy! You tell me where she is!"
"Minora." Ulias' voice was stern and low but clearly projected as he casually strolled up. Samhir could not remember a single instance of the man in a hurry to get anywhere. He was notoriously late to everything. "What's happened has happened and no one is none the wiser. Unless you keep yelling about it."
Minora let out a huff of air and rolled her eyes. "Where is your daughter Samhir?" She demanded again but this time in a lower tone.
.
"She's gone."
"What?" Minora looked incredulously at the man.
"I said she's gone." Civility had fled from Samhir. Chased away by the hostile fires of internal strife and intoxication. His daughter would have lived and died on this mountain if the elders, or the council, or the state had any say in it. They would have ensured it. Some weird small part of this whole situation brought some fleck of peace to his mind. At least she was off this fucking mountain. He feared for what fate awaited her out there, in the hands of her captors, but his mind was finally free of the worry of her fate at the hands of her current imprisoners. What would life here have been like for her? She couldn't even step foot in the village and most of the people avoided the mountain altogether. People lived longer and longer these days. Four hundred, five hundred years confined to a measly couple square miles of forest. She was just an animal in a cage here. That was if the fae never came for her. But they had and that was another daunting unknown variable for him to cram in with the rest of the chaos that filled his mind.
"She's gone?"
"Yup. We got in a fight. She started screaming and I started to scream, and so did Mikhail," He pointed to the bystander who nodded, face molded in mock anxieties, eyes steady in careful observation of the lying man. Cohesive dialogue in moments of devastation had always evaded him. So he simply wung it. Letting his grief guide him."Then she disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Snapped Minora.
"A fight?" Ulias questioned quietly and mostly unnoticed off to the side.
"Into thin air." Samhirs nostrils flared, his face red in the dark, and snapped his fingers- emphasizing his point.
"I don't believe you."
Samhir stepped wide, swung his arms in an ushering gesture. "Go ahead and go look for yourself. You won't find her anywhere on the mountain!"
With a huff and a flare of her nostrils, Minora stormed ahead, wading into the dark in a flurry of angry footsteps. "You better not be lying to an Elder, Samhir!" She called out as the dark swallowed her.
Ulias gently cleared his throat. "Is she really gone?" The old man had watched their brief confrontation patiently from the side while the foreigner had watched him. Samhir could rile up the woman and throw her into the lie but the old man was just a little too observant for that.
"Yes."
The elder did not reply. Instead he rubbed one of the large golden hoops threaded through a leathery and sagging earlobe. Pensive and thinking for a moment with the cool metal sliding between his fingers. He was more than aware that the man was hiding something, and the foreigners presence was suspicious at best.
After a moment he spoke, "You know what happens now."
Samhir nodded. He'd been made very aware of the consequences a long time ago.
It had been a trial to keep Korin. After the accident, it was apparent to those gifted in magical and spiritual energies that something was indeed different about her. The state wanted custody of the child. It was rare to find individuals with more prominent ties to the old gods and myths of Ipahn, but it did happen. Hundreds of years ago the Ipahnish Decree of Unity called for the dissolution of all soliciting and public spiritual and religious practice. It was to ensure the peaceful coexistence and fellowship of all citizens. Since then anyone in violation had a way of quietly disappearing.
Samhir had argued and fought with high councilmen and elders alike that her transformation was one of physical injury and that their paranoia was a relic from the past. It was finally Ullyais who stepped up with a solution and a promise to watch over the girl and keep her blessed. He had been trained in the healing and cleansing magics of the people of Evelien Empire. They practiced a form of magic considered 'godless' and 'straight from the cosmos'. It was acceptable enough. So she'd be kept on the mountain above Imore, under the careful observation of the elders. Should anything go awry the girl would be given directly to the state. Should Samhir or Ama attempt to flee with the child a warrant would be released for their capture.
"Teban has already called for a representative to be sent from the Ichar. A bounty will be put on her head come morning." Ulias pursed his lips. "I imagine the two of you will be questioned as well." He began to walk forward, after Minora. He paused shoulder to shoulder with Samhir and said real quiet. "Whatever scheme you're running, better be ran come morning. You and I are both aware of what it is like to deal with the state."
Only after the darkness ate Ulias too and his footsteps faded up the mountain, did Samhir speak again, voice angry. "You have deceived me and my daughter, following this silly little destiny of yours. So now you are going to use those fancy connections and titles you possess to find her." Mr. Ambassador of Tellan lived right next door to the Eenoans and it was the only lead available to him. "And when you find her, I want you to take her somewhere neither the government nor the fae nor those Eenoans ever find her"
Mikhail shuffled, the anger he had expected finally wielded at him. It was an odd and embarrassing feeling to be at the edge of Samhirs rath. He expected his demon to bulk, rise to the challenge, but instead it only trilled in agreement. "If I can't?" It was a horrible thought and the demon spit at him in anger, but there was a good possibility the Eenoans would kill her. They were, after all, crusading. Hiding the woman from a government would be easy but he had a sneaking suspicion that he might spend his whole life trying to keep her hidden from the fae. They lived in a world covered in fauna that he had learned was very eager to tattle on him.
"I'll kill you." The surety in his voice had Mikhail searching the other man's eyes in the dark. He was met with a hard stare, eyes lit with inner fire, deadly and reckless resolve. Without his daughter there was nothing left for Samhir. He had been an orphan from the capital with no family or relatives. Ama had left never to be heard from again. The village benefited from Samhir and the work he provided but he was first and foremost the father of the strange girl. Twenty two years later and loss was finally bearing down on him. That horrible hole of grief he'd always drowned out in alcohol torn wide open and sucking him into it. The fae had stolen the very essence of who she was when she was as a child. The village and the council had robbed her of her freedom. The Eenoans had stolen her away and the foreigner had shattered the mirage of normalcy; a self perpetuated illusion that had kept Samhir hanging on all these years. "I'll kill you and I'll kill those fae and the Eenoans and anyone else I feel like. And I'll do it whether it kills me or not."