I have been asking myself a lot of questions, and struggling to answer most of them. I do not know our current location, but from the taste of the air, the amount of oxygen and nitrogen in it, I know we are not on a Panvok world. Too much oxygen. A lot of carbon dioxide too. There is also the underlying smell of sulphur. The wind is blowing past us, and there are scattered clouds in the sky. It might rain later.
As far as I can tell, we are heading north. I have been following Psivee-En for several hours now, and he has not said a word.
I am trying to work out why I suddenly trust him. Part of my mind keeps on insisting that he is the cause of everything bad that has happened in my life. That is not true. He was responsible for several events of my life, not all of them negative. Yes, the clawing and biting and the… assault on my unconscious body, that was horrible. But it was my choice to bring my second child full term, allow him to hatch and to live his life. It was not my choice to be saved from death by Psivee-En, but then I wouldn’t have been alive to help spread peace between Rethans and Thanatians, to teach my kids the basics of magic and assist the Kalsa Warriors in gaining their freedom. Or be the reason behind Veeyel’s…
My mind stops there. I must stop blaming myself for that. It was those… those controlling bastards, the tyrannical general of special intelligence, who drove Veeyel to insanity. If I had known where they were holding him, I would have saved him. I swear, if I had known…
Psivee-En pauses. I try to ask him what is going on, but he silences me. I quickly guess why, there is something moving in the trees ahead of us.
Slowly, carefully, the something steps out, knocking down a tree. It is a Thraki.
“What are you doing here? Where are you going?” it asks.
“We mean no harm, creature. We are seeking passage to Skiavoun.”
The Thraki growls. “That village has been abandoned for centuries. Millennia even. It is haunted. Only the dead can step there.”
Psivee-En doesn’t seem surprised or anything and stands his ground. “That is fine. We are both not of the living anyway. I am of the now extinct Trehavok, and my friend here has been cursed with unlife.”
The Thraki is confused, but finally relents. “Very well. You may pass. But you should speak to the Raptors, find a cure for your non-existence.”
With a flap of its wings, the Thraki takes off, disappearing above the trees. I wait until it is gone before saying anything.
“Skiavoun? The unfinished Trehavok city that your kind planed to retreat to after losing your war?”
Psivee-En looks at me, nodding glumly. “Yes, Kayel. The abandoned village. It is the only place I know well enough to be able to constantly protect you. If Ayvee-En catches up to us… it will be messy… I will not let him willingly do what I unwillingly did.”
Something in the back of my mind begins to worry, but I push it aside and continue following Psivee-En. He has quickened his pace, so I assume we are close.
Suddenly, the path ahead of us opens out into a large lake. Directly ahead of us is a steep cliff, on top of which is a plateau. It’s the cliff face that is more interesting though, as layers have been cut into it. There were many empty shells, unfinished homes, never to be occupied. Psivee-En reaches out to me, offering his hand.
“Come. I will fly you up to where we will stay.”
I hesitate for a second, but accept his offer. He wraps his arms around me, and with a flap of his large, black and silver wings, we take off. The water below us is murky but shallow, and the thick trees hide anything else from view. We quickly fly up to one of the higher up layers, which has a single, semi-built home on it. Psivee-En puts me down gently.
“This was to be my home when the war ended. Things became troublesome towards the end of the war, with the other Trehan generals losing faith in me. I prepared, in secret, to ship a hundred fellow Trehans here. I paid a group of Cassids to build Skiavoun, but clearly, when I was imprisoned and frozen, they gave up and it was all left empty…”
There is genuine sadness in his eyes. He had seen more than enough tragedy. But that feral side, the… evil, uncontrollable side he had, it was gone.
“Kayel, can I ask… You have a lot of questions, I know, but I must ask you first. Do you trust me? Really?”
Before my mind kicks into gear, my mouth blurts something out. “No… Wait…” I panic. That wasn’t what I meant to say. “This whole thing makes no sense. You destroyed my life then you saved it. Multiple times. And now your evil brother who everyone thinks is good wants to do horrible things to me and… I’m supposed to be fucking dead! I… I have no idea what I am supposed to think or feel. I have really, really conflicted feelings for you. Which may be stokelmia but I don’t know for sure. But you… You are not the same Psivee-En I forgave. That Psivee-En was a complete wreck, on the cusp of self-punishment and suicide…”
I pause, taking a deep breath.
“You had two parts of you. Probably dypsyhia, or schizophrenia or whatever the medics call it. I know, I saw them whenever we were in each other’s minds. The terrible side that did what it did, and the good, repenting, caring side. That terrible side, you got rid of it. Somehow.”
Psivee-En doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t have to. Instead he silently walks into the half-built house, beckoning me to follow him. I do as he suggests, entering the clay and stone building.
It’s a perfectly decorated home. The home I always wanted…