I wont tell you again. Back. Away!

The voice struck his ear like a throwing knife. Its lilting, almost melodic tone was
practically unmistakable even as frantic as it sounded. Though he hoped he was wrong
in his assumption, he made himself approach the commotion he had heard across the
large bazaar he was currently embroiled in. The bazaar, despite the sweeping canopy of
linens held up by tall poles that covered it, was sweltering. Silencer found himself almost
wishing he didnt have to wear his scarf, sweating profusely as he was from the planet
Kanakdans close proximity to its binary star.
Silencer pushed his way through the crowd that had formed. As the crowd was
mostly made up of Ondo that stood much taller than him, he could not see anything
until he broke through to the front of the mass. His worries had been confirmed. The
voice had not lied to him. Vailarouk Keidal herself was here, brandishing her large
glaive, facing off against five very imposing Ondo guards.
Two of the guards were wielding their tri-pointed spears at the snarling woman
and taunting the three small figures that looked to be hiding behind Vailarouk. Another
two menacingly held serrated daggers out in front of them, pacing back and forth in
front of their targets like true predators. The last guard stood behind the others, aiming
down the sights of a gargantuan crossbow that was mounted to its thin shoulders.
The Ondo had always had a reputation of being a race of extremes. They took
their beliefs and customs very seriously, they did not tolerate offense against anything
they valued, and they were often not very open to things they didnt already understand.
Ondo planets were often run individually, unlike the large Humoti empires that could
span many planets. Magic was barely tolerated in Ondo territory, partially because the
Ondo had never been particularly gifted in the ways of mana, though they allowed a bare
minimum of it if it made their lives significantly easier.
Silencer suspected that the reason these particular guards were at a standoff with
Vailarouk was because of her heritage. Vailarouk was part of the Aldishuld, one of the
Universes many beast races as they were colloquially called. The beast races were
called as such because they had been touched eons ago by the Beastmother herself, so
named for her birthing the numerous and monstrous creatures that inhabited planets
all across the Universe. The Beastmothers interference in the evolution of these mortals
had caused them to mutate into more bestial forms, some more so than others. The
Aldishuld were some of the lucky ones.
The Aldishuld grew feathers were there would normally be just skin, their legs
and arms ended in cruel looking talons and claws, their faces were sharp and angular,
and wings painfully sprouted from their backs at a very young age. Though their body
shape was quite Humota looking in nature despite the extra wings, the other races could
feel the taint of the Beastmother on every one of them. Vailarouks wings were currently
spread wide and had been fitted with bladed armor on the outside for aerial combat.
They were truly impressive in their size, casting a large shadow over the guards she was
facing off against and showing off her rare speckled black and white feather coloring.
 We have you outnumbered and outmatched. Either come quietly, or start
praying One of the spear-wielding guards said.
The spear-wielders were clearly Fos, the most populous of the Ondos three
genders. The largest of the three, their broad shoulders and thick arms made them ideal
for front line duty and protecting the smaller genders. Their three legs sprouted from
below their waist, they jutted upward from a small knee joint before another much
larger joint connected the rest of the leg to the ground. While sometimes compared to
spiders legs, they were as broad as tree trunks at the bottom, and they provided a solid
base that could become immovable with the right training. The two eyes on the backs of
their heads were sealed shut, allowing them to fully focus with their other two eyes on
their intended prey.
Hah! Who will she pray to? I doubt the Beastmother gave her kind a single
thought once it spat them out. A dagger-wielder mocked, still pacing back and forth on
slightly thinner legs than its Fos comrades.
The daggers were held by two Losa, the rarest of the Ondos genders. They were
taller, thinner, and faster on their three legs than the Fos. While still physically
imposing, Losa were more cunning and crafty and less brutishly strong than the Fos.
Losa were often seen as craftsmen, some of the best blacksmiths in the Universe were
Losa Ondo, but they were just as often seen as excellent assassins. Their many thin and
dexterous fingers allowed them excellent control over smaller weapons.
I say we let her fly away Id love to try and clip those pretty wings of hers.
Said the Ondo with the crossbow. No observer could doubt the Akos skill, wide
prismatic eyes were staring unflinchingly down the sight of the crossbow being held with
no sway or hesitation. Silencer assumed this Akos was the commander of the guard
troop in front of him.
The Akos were usually the leaders of Ondo civilization as they developed almost
completely away from physicality and focused completely on mental capacity. It wasnt
an insult to say the Akos were the smartest of the three genders, every Ondo knew it
implicitly.
Akos were often considered the females of the Ondo by other races given their
smaller size, just as Fos and Losa were considered male. This was usually done by
those who came from bigender races and who didnt know the Ondo languages very
well. Most Ondo were okay with this distinction, if only to avoid having to explain the
actual words multiple times over. Despite being the smallest by a wide margin, the Akos
showed no less resolve in its stance against Vailarouk than its cohorts.
I followed your disgusting rules! I bought them, in full, using your own currency.
Now either clear us a path, or I will make one! Vailarouks shouted over the increasing
noise of the crowd goading the guards on.
 Though spoken with conviction, and perhaps her underlings had not caught it,
the Akos heard her voice falter slightly. It was a clear sign that her target was unsure of
her own skill.
Vailarouks words reminded Silencer of the smaller figures she was standing in
front of. Upon closer inspection, Silencer identified them as more Aldishuld. Children
clearly, the feathers covering their bodies were not as smooth or as bright as Vailarouks
feathers. Their faces still held a rounder shape as well, reflecting the much smaller
stature they had versus their guardian. Silencer could even see one of them was
beginning to sprout their wings as small grey nubs poked out of the childs back.
Vailarouks exclamation also gave Silencer more key information about the
exchange happening before him. Those children had been bought. This clued Silencer
into two important facts. The first being this particular sect of Ondo accepted slavery,
one of the most horrid examples of Order that mortals could display in Silencers
opinion.
The second being that this planet was the last place that any Aldishuld should be
right now.
We appreciate your business, really we do, the Akos said sarcastically, but you
coming here is an opportunity for us that we cant just let walk away. Im finally getting
off of this dump.
The Akos let fly one of the crossbows steel bolts. The bolt was almost invisible at
the speed it flew. Vailarouk prepared her glaive to deflect the bolt away from the
children, but the action was unnecessary. A loud clang rang out across the bazaar and
the bolt flipped harmlessly through the air, away from the crowd.
Vailarouks gaze followed the object that had deflected the bolt in midair. It
clattered loudly along the ground a few yards away from her position. She would have
known that sword anywhere, she had marveled at it when she had first seen it. It was
Maelstrom, the jagged nature of the blade and the dark grey coloring gave it away. But
that meant
Well I think Ive heard enough. Silencer said as he broke away from the crowd
and put himself in between the guards and his friend.
This is what we get for letting Humoti on our planet, they think they own
everything! One of the Fos said, readjusting his spear to point at the new enemy.
Not very smart though, he threw his only weapon. Amateur mistake. The Losa
that spoke brandished the serrated dagger and sprinted forward, its three legs basically
launching him at his target. His nimble fingers twirled the dagger to face upwards as he
brought his arm low to get under Silencers ribs.
His dagger only met air, and his momentary confusion was replaced with
blinding pain a moment later. Silencer had appeared behind the offending Losa and had
shoved his foot into one of his leg joints, the smallest one near his waistline. An
unsettling crack was heard over the rapidly quieting crowd and the Losa collapsed onto
his side, his dagger flying from his hands.
The other guards had not stood idly by, the two Fos surged forward prepared to
skewer the one who had incapacitated their comrade. They were not fazed by Silencer
summoning his swords and standing at the ready for their assault. The Fos fought
together flawlessly, when one missed a strike the other covered his openings. When
their spears clashed with swords the other moved to take advantage of Silencers split
attention.
Silencer had not been expecting the coordinated onslaught, though he did his
best to hold them off. He did not want to kill these guards, despite their jobs involving
the defense of slavery, he only wanted to create an opening for Vailarouk and the
children to run. He managed to get a hit or two in on the Fos legs, but their armor
deflected most of his attacks since they were not meant to be killing blows.
The Fos had begun to push Silencer back towards Vailarouk. Eventually they
were close enough that Vailarouk struck out with her glaive in defense of Silencer. The
long curved blade at the tip pierced through the weakest part of one of the Fos shoulder
armor and he recoiled, dropping his spear and retreating behind his comrade. Silencer
used this opportunity to wrench the other Fos spear out of his meaty hands by wrapping
Oathbinders angled cross-guard around the spears hilt and flinging it into the air. His
deep voice cried out in pain as Silencer reached up to elbow him underneath his jaw.
With both of his opponents now disarmed and retreating, Silencer brought his
attention back to the other guards and only saw the Losa he had incapacitated writhing
on the ground, the two eyes on the back of his head glaring daggers at Silencer, and the
Akos reloading her complicated shoulder-mounted crossbow. That meant one was
missing
Three high-pitched voices shrieked, piercing the ears of both of their guardians.
The world seemed to slow down as Silencer and Vailarouk twisted their heads in the
direction of the children. Vailarouk watched in frozen horror as she saw the other Losa
guard rushing towards the younglings from behind, dagger poised to strike barely a yard
away from them.
Silencer, running on pure instinct, warped himself in front of the children. He
grabbed the dagger-wielding hand at the last possible second and held it high above his
head as he and the Losa tumbled over each other. Vailarouk swept the children aside
with her wing as Silencer and the Losa grappled for control while rolling through the
area they just had been standing in.
The Losa got a few strong punches on Silencers side with his unoccupied hand,
but they had little effect. When another roll found Silencer with his back to the ground,
he quickly maneuvered his feet to push against the Losas chest. Using the ground for
stability, Silencer pushed his legs skyward and launched his opponent away from him
and back towards the Akos who had just finished rearming her crossbow.
Once Silencer had regained his footing, he was met with a disheartening scene.
The original Akos was no longer on her own, as more guards finally pushed through the
barrier of the crowd. They formed a tight semi-circle and forced Silencer, Vailarouk, and
the children to back away from them. With their backs against the wall of a nearby
building, Silencer prepared to himself to have to take the guards lives to escape.
However, a rough tug on his shoulder from behind caused him to abruptly take a seat on
the sand-covered ground near the three children.
Be prepared to run, Vailarouk whispered to the four figures that were now
behind her. She addressed the children in a language that Silencer did not understand,
but the children huddled together and nodded their heads.
Silencer understood Vailarouks intent immediately, placing himself in front of
the children but behind his winged friend. Vailarouk raised her glaive up into the air,
with the blade facing the ground. All eyes were drawn to the bottom of Vailarouks
glaive, now being held above everyones heads.
The staff of the glaive widened near the end, and a brilliant ovular jewel was
inlaid in the handle. Rather than shine one color, the jewel seemed to reflect outer space
itself, the Great In-Between as it was normally called. The vast majority of it was pitch
black, making the jewel seem to be endlessly deep. Bright, tiny points of light broke up
the darkness, shining with all the intensity that the stars in the night sky did.
The guards soon realized that this jewel was not just a pretty decoration. Quicker
than the blink of an eye, the star-like lights grew in intensity. They flashed a white light
so impossibly bright that it utterly disoriented everyone in front of the jewel, leaving the
children and Silencer unharmed.
Move! A voice called out, Silencer recognized it as Vailarouk who was already
ushering the children away from the dazed guards. Vailarouk smashed the blunt end of
her glaive into the helmet of a guard blocking their path before leading the small group
down a nearby alleyway.
____________________________________________________________
_
The alleys were wide, probably to make up for the Ondos relative girth as a
species, and luckily they were mostly empty save for a few stragglers that quickly ran
inside upon seeing the strange cavalcade bounding towards them.
As they ran, Vailarouk reached down to pick up the smallest of the children so he
wouldnt get caught in the clouds of dirt they were kicking up. Theyd left the guards far
behind, but Vailarouk insisted they keep running so they couldnt be tracked. Her
strides were long and swift, and Silencer was pleasantly surprised to see the other two
children not being held by Vailarouk were keeping pace without too much extra effort.
 They finally came to a stop in a small, deserted alleyway. Kanakdans binary star
was beginning to set, darkness falling over the sun-baked houses that spanned the city,
and the temperature began to fall rapidly.
Vailarouk lowered the smallest child back to the ground and furiously scanned all
three of them, searching for damage and injuries. Her voice was frantic, asking each
child multiple times if they had been hurt and reassuring them that everything was
going to be okay. Once they had all calmed back down, Vailarouk wrapped all three of
them in a crushing hug, even wrapping her wings all the way around them.
The winged guardian stood, patting each child on the head as she did before they
sat against the adjacent building, and turned to face her friend.
Saromisir must truly be watching over us both for you to have been here to help
us. I dont know how to thank you my friend. Vailarouks face exuded gratitude, her
every word was utterly sincere. She had always worn her heart on her sleeve and around
her friends she had never felt the need to hide her feelings. Silencer appreciated that he
never needed to search for an ulterior motive when he spoke with Vailarouk.
Vaila, I know Ive told you before that we dont think of Saromisir like that.
Doesnt matter if hes watching or not, Im just glad I was here. Silencer forced the
words out of his throat, past his exhaustion and the dust affecting his vocal cords.
Silencer knew Vaila was very invested in her faith in the Progenitors, the ancient
race that long ago tried to reach through the veil between dimensions to set mortals on
the path towards sapience, but the Spawn of Saromisir never worshipped Saromisir as
some other races did for their respective Progenitor.
Of course, forgive me my friend. Thats the problem living so isolated I suppose.
You can only learn so much from reading old scripture, Vailarouk said, casting a quick
glance at the children still catching their breath, I guess I owe you even more than I
already did. I dont even want to imagine what they would have put these younglings
through had I not found them.
Ill give you this one for free, Silencer replied, keeping his voice low so as not to
worry the children, those guards were lucky I wasnt in the mood to make a scene. If
theyre going to sell slaves the absolute least they could do is abide to their own rules
about buying them!
Vailarouk's face showed only remorse and sorrow as her voice came out low and
guarded.
I dont say this lightly, but this planet this planet is a blight on the Universe.
What Ive had to go through to get these younglings back I truly hope Telvasalis light
does not reach this planet, I dont want her to have seen the things Ive done.
Vailarouks eyes were distant as she spoke, seeming to stare into nothing as dark
memories consumed her thoughts. Her left hand gripped the base of her glaive that had
been replaced on her back. The veins in her clawed hands bulged as she tightened her
grip, trying to force the dark thoughts back into the recesses of her mind.
She was snapped out of her reflections as two hands clasped her shoulders. Her
vision cleared and focused on the figure standing directly in front of her, her friends
face breaking through the fog in her head.
I think Telvasalis would be proud of everything youve done for your people
Vaila. I only wish you didnt have to see the worst this Universe has to offer.
Vailarouk straightened, slightly comforted by her friends words. Hoarse though
it was, Vailarouk could hear Silencers concern for her in his voice. It was rare to hear
Silencer speak so kindly in a tense situation not unlike the one they were currently in.
As Vailarouk composed herself, Silencer observed her more closely. She was quite
tall, Silencers eyes almost met hers perfectly though hers were slightly higher. Her
wings only added to her height, as they were folded against her back they reached all the
way over her head in two small arcs. The armored tips of her wings dragged slightly
against the ground as she straightened her back. She stood with more conviction now,
the soft melancholy in her eyes was quickly replaced by steely determination. She rolled
her broad shoulders and fixed her glaive so it sat more comfortably on her back.
Silencer felt a small poke on his leg, removing him from his observations. He
looked down to see that one of the children had poked his thigh to get his attention. It
was the oldest one, he presumed, given the presence of the wing nubs sprouting from
her back. The child only came up to Silencers waist, her bright orange eyes shone with
curiosity and what looked to be a tinge of fear. After what they had been through,
Silencer was not at all surprised to see it.
Uh you are Vailarouk friend? The child spoke in broken Standard tongue.
Rather than try to answer in words and confuse her, and possibly scare her with his
voice, Silencer nodded his head. Vailarouk told the child something in their native
tongue that caused the little girl to smile up at Silencer. She squeaked out a phrase in
her language that, even given his limited knowledge of the language, he knew to mean
she was thanking him.
As the little girl returned to the others, the two children still sitting spoke the
same phrase to Silencer once the girl had finished explaining the situation to them. A
small wave was all he gave back to them before turning back to Vailarouk.
We need to get moving, you four should be nowhere near a planet like this.
The younglings are exhausted, I think we can afford to-
No we cant, Silencer leveled a glare at the winged warrior, better they be tired
than captured right? Not waiting for her reply, Silencer began making his way towards
the end of the alley. Being extremely careful to not show too much of himself, he peeked
around the corner to look down the main street that lead back to the bazaar in the
distance. They were in the outskirts of the city now, the result of Vailarouks
labyrinthine escape route tactic.
Silencer felt the rest of the group form up behind him, the children doing their
best to stay as close to the wall as possible.
How does it look? Vailarouk asked as she sidled up next to her friend.
This street is fairly empty, but we dont want to raise anymore suspicions,
Silencer took note of the few Ondo going about their daily routines on the road in front
of them. They seemed to be finishing up their days, darkness was quickly falling over the
city. We can move now but well have to be careful when we get closer to the city center
again.
Just give us a moment. Vailarouk lightly touched the back of Silencers shoulder
before returning her attention to her charges. She knelt beside them, gathering them
into a tight circle before encircling her wings around them again.
The four of them spoke as one, reciting phrases that immediately jogged
Silencers memory. Vailarouk had explained what they meant to her people before. They
were praying to their Progenitor, Telvasalis, to guide them and protect them from the
Old Darkness and the New was how she had translated it.
Silencer was never one for prayer, the Progenitors power was unfathomable to
those in the mortal realm. Saromisir, his own Progenitor, was no different. He figured if
they wanted to, or even could, intervene they would have done so in a major way eons
ago. Still, his Aldishuld friends, Vailarouk especially, were devoted to Telvasalis.
Revering her for being the one to save them from a life under the Beastmothers control.
He knew this prayer was important to Vailarouk, so he would let her finish no matter
how badly they needed to leave.
When the prayer ended the group slowly made their way back to the center of the
city, carefully avoiding guards and other suspicious citizens. The winding streets were
shrouded in darkness now, almost no lanterns or magical lights could be seen. The
children were doing a decent job of keeping up, despite their tender ages it seemed they
understood the gravity of their situation.
Silencer was dead set on getting Vailarouk and her company off of the slaving
planet, he had not known this sect of Ondo was so accepting of the practice. As the
group rounded another corner, with Silencer peeking his eyes out to search for danger,
Vailarouk broke the silence they had created.
My friend, not to pry or anything but what exactly are you doing on Kanakdan
in the first place? Vailarouk kept her voice barely audible. No infestation I pray?
Nothing like that, thankfully, Silencer replied just as quietly, Just repaying a
very long-standing favor to a friend. Trying to anyways.
 One of our friends? Dobrikash? Hes usually too stoic to ask for help. Zandus
maybe?
No Vaila... this was for a very old friend
Oh o-of course, my apologies.
Silencer swung an arm out to push Vailarouk back into a nearby alcove, avoiding
a patrolling Fos guard as he walked by. Silencer held them there until he was far out of
sight, he had caught the guards back two eyes scanning the area as well.
Vailarouk never enjoyed forcing her friend to think about the past, she knew it
could be painful for him. There was an awkwardness that followed them for the next few
blocks, Vailarouk kept a close eye on the children as she thought of a way to break the
silence.
I cant believe how different these Ondo are to the ones Ive already met. They
barely seem like theyre of the same race. Vaila said.
To be fair, youve only formally met two others, Silencer answered, also wanting
to end the awkward situation, At least to my knowledge. The sect that Oktinen and
Urdinne are from is much different than this one. Guess it doesnt hurt to be reminded
of that every now and then.
____________________________________________________________
The Portal Sanctuary was close now, of course, they couldnt actually see it. Given
the Ondos distaste of magic in general, most sects made their Portal Sanctuaries
underground. While most understood their usefulness, many were uncomfortable with
the idea of flaunting their magic use by building a massive building to house the portals.
Luckily, the Portal Sanctuary on Kanakdan was right in the center of the city. Even
though they could not see it, Silencer and Vailarouk knew they were almost there.
The security was much thicker near the center of the city, the group's progress
was slowed considerably as they found it harder and harder to find safe places to hide.
Small guard towers became more common sights, forcing Silencer and Vailarouk to not
only find hiding places on the ground but also to find aerial cover. Ondo had very strong
eyesight, darkness was less of a hindrance to them than other races. Thankfully, the
guard was sparse enough that they did have enough openings to keep moving and made
their way to an entryway to the Portal Sanctuary.
The entrance was fairly inconspicuous, a small stone building with no defining
features that held only a single door. Flanking both sides were simple apartments whose
inhabitants were all asleep, no lights could be seen through any of the circular windows.
A small pyrelight at the top of the stone building illuminated one word written in the
Ondo language's sweeping and flowing symbols. Silencer had learned that the word
roughly translated to "travel", apparently the Ondo didn't want to admit there was even
the slightest bit of magic being used in their civilizations.
 The doorway opened up to a bare room, the only defining feature being a
stairwell that led deeper into the ground. Two lanterns lit up the bottom of the stairs and
guided the group further into the crust of Kanakdan.
____________________________________________________________
_
Ondo mages were rarely seen, they spent much of their lives secluded and they
understood their necessary role in society. Despite the hatred of magic, most Ondo
mages elected to take the position themselves. Often they were individuals who
preferred seclusion and quiet to the everyday bustle of the surface.
Which is why Teyilk was so surprised at having a rather large blade held against
her throat on the way back to her bed.
The tiny Akos was understandably terrified, the blade had lethal looking
serrations along the part that was barely an inch away from her throat. She had felt a
presence fall behind her and froze utterly still as she felt the cold metal a hair's breadth
away from her neck. The voice she heard speaking to her sounded like it belonged in one
of her horror novels.
"Just don't move and I promise you'll get out of here alive." The voice was deep
and dark, as if the shadows themselves were giving her an ultimatum.
"I-I'm not moving, I-I promise..."
"Good. Now... I need a portal made to Dara'todez for five people. Can you do that
by yourself?" Teyilk knew the city well, she had prepared many portals there in the past.
She had at least triggered a portal there on her own in the past, though never under this
much duress.
"W-well I'd need a focus first, s-so I could contact them on the other side." She
hoped she hadn't angered the voice behind her, she silently prayed that it would be
satisfied with her answer.
"Give me your name and rank," the voice spoke quickly.
"U-uh, Teyilk is my name," she was unsure why the voice even cared, "and I'm
just a cadet I swear! I d-don't even know any combat magic. I just study and m-make
portals!" She wondered if she would have preferred to be Fos in this situation, so she
could at least use their secondary eyes to see what was holding her hostage from behind.
"Then you're exactly who we need," the voice spoke, "lead the way." The blade
was removed from in front of her throat. The breath she had been holding left her
quickly but had barely left her mouth when another pressure on her back put her on
guard again. Even through her thick cadet robes, she could feel it was another blade, this
one curved and smooth all the way down.
 Taking this as her cue to move on, Teyilk slowly moved forward towards the foci
storage archive. The focus would allow her to contact the mages in Dara'todez, so that
they could keep the portal stable from their end. Teyilk was quite familiar with making
portals but she was nowhere near powerful enough to start and maintain one on her
own. She briefly wondered if she should be asking more questions about what was going
on but her captors didn't seem to be in much of a talking mood.
Retrieving a focus specially tailored to Dara'todez was easy enough. As a city from
an "origin planet", it was a common enough travel destination that her Collective kept
plenty of them in the archives just in case. The small stone was perfectly smooth in her
hands as she cradled it all the way back to a preparation room.
All the while her captors never showed themselves, but the blade unflinchingly
held at her back was enough motivation for her to continue doing what they asked. She
placed the focus on a small, thin pedestal in the middle of the circular room. Gathering a
small amount of mana in one of her fingers, the blade pushing even more firmly against
her as she did, she gently touched the focus.
The stone quickly flashed green, before darkening again. The silence in the room
was deafening, Teyilk desperately wanted to look behind her but feared backlash from
her captors if she tried.
"Look, we actually appreciate this a lot and I'm sorry we had to do this to you."
Another voice finally spoke, this one far less terrifying. Higher pitched and much less
raspy, the sincerity in the voice caught Teyilk off guard. Summoning her courage, Teyilk
tried to reason with this kinder sounding voice.
"I know I don't really have any uh... leverage here but is there any way you won't
kill me?
"Get that portal open, then we'll talk," the darker voice said.
"There's no need to frighten her even more, she's been nothing but cooperative!"
The kind voice spoke in her defense, "We don't want to hurt you, we just want to leave."
"It shouldn't be too much longer... I hope." Teyilk kept her eyes glued to the
focus. It was still dark, but her message should have made it through. This wouldn't be
the first time the mages in Dara'todez made her look like a fool while they had "more
important concerns". She didn't doubt the mages there were busy, but it was hard to
care about their problems when there was a large blade against her spine.
Finally, the focus started flashing the same soft green color as before. Teyilk let
out a heavy sigh of relief, they were finally ready on their side.
"Open it," the hoarse voice commanded.
Gathering her mana in her right hand, Teyilk reached for the focus. Allowing the
mana to flow into the flashing stone, it began to flash faster and brighter. The stone
shattered into fine dust-sized particles, exploding outward. Teyilk held the fragments in
mid-air with her magic, using more and more effort to keep them all close. When she
finally had a solid hold on them she forced the fragments to collapse back into
themselves.
Combining with the mana from the mages in Dara'todez as well as Teyilk, the
fragments exploded outwards once more. This time however, the explosion seemed to
tear a hole in reality itself. The edges of the newly opened portal seemed to fade back
into the fabric of space around it. The center of the portal surged with the primordial
power of the Great In-Between, a rainbow of colors churning within it.
"I-it's stable," Teyilk said, "It's ready to go whenever you are."
"Thank you Teyilk," the higher-pitched voice said, "we've really appreciated your
help."
"Let's go." The hoarse voice spoke, before moving around her to finally be visible.
It appeared to be a Humota, but she had never sensed a mana trace like his on another
Humota before today. A fact she had not noticed until he had disappeared through the
portal.
The kind voice spoke words that Teyilk did not understand, and what happened
next baffled her completely. Three tiny, feathered creatures ran by her, also shouting to
her in a language she was not familiar with. They eagerly hopped through the portal one
after another.
Finally, the blade was removed from her back. The one with the kind voice was
apparently its wielder as the much larger feathered being circled around her. Its wings
were slightly spread and it still held the spear-like weapon pointed at her. Teyilk had
heard of the beast races of course, but this particular one had been much kinder than
she had been led to believe the beast races could be.
"Have a pleasant rest of your night," the feathered one said warmly. Her wings
extended, taking up almost the entirety of the small room they were in before they
flapped forward. This pushed her backwards through the portal while propelling Teyilk
back through the room's entryway.
Being held at knifepoint and being forcibly made to make a portal in the dead of
night was not something Teyilk had been expecting to do that day. Nor had she been
expecting to meet and help four members of a beast race. As she watched the portal in
the room blink out of existence and reality stitch itself back together, she briefly
considered passing out right there in the hallway. Deciding it wouldn't be worth the
lecture from one of the arcanists, she made herself head back to her room to sleep.
Perhaps she would wake up and this would have all just been a strange dream.
Glossary

Kanakdan: KHAN-ick-dahn
Ondo: ON-doe
Vailarouk: VYE-lah-rook
Keidal: kay-DAHL
Humoti: hyoo-MOAT-ee
Aldishuld: AHL-dish-oold
Humota: hyoo-MOAT-ah
Fos: FOHS
Losa: LOH-sah
Akos: AH-kohss
Saromisir: suh-ROW-me-seer
Telvasalis: tell-VAHSS-ah-lease
Dobrikash: DOE-brick-osh
Zandus: ZAHN-diss
Oktinen: OAK-tin-en
Urdinne: UR-deen
Teyilk: TAY-ilk
Dara'todez: dah-RAH-toe-dezz