I moved away a bit while Nisi was sorting through the rock and ores we had obtained. So far she had not asked me about how I was able to break through the mountain the way I did, I was grateful for that. Because in all honesty I had no idea how to answer her. From the looks of things, it also looked like Xaseah and Bob might have had some suspicions, but they also chose to keep silent about it. But they not asking made more me uncomfortable than relieved. Nisi was someone I felt I could trust, but Xaseah and Bob were two total strangers, very, very strange strangers.
I looked at the part of the mountain that still had my pick imbedded in it, and I shuddered. Every strike given to this mountain would be returned in equivalent value, not just to the body, but also to the mind. And right now there was a massive crater on its surface, the amount of force needed to do that would have been extraordinary, I created that force, and I suffered a rebound for it. So the question is, how the hell am I still alive.
I remembered everything that happened when I was unconscious, I had thought that what I was seeing at the time was a dream. It was very real, lucid, freakish and scary. But right now it did not feel like a dream to me, it felt like a memory. It felt like my memory, but I could not be sure. I did not look one bit like anyone of those people in the dream, I was brown skinned and dark, very dark. My black hair was short, but still long enough that I could run my fingers through it. I did not know what I looked like, there was a shortage of mirror in the pit...…well I mean….I haven't come across a mirror yet...so that's that.
Every other person in that dream was fair skinned, and blank faced, though I suspected it's because of the nature of the dream. It really did feel more and more like a memory than a dream, but I could not understand how that could have been my memory.
As I far as I know, skin color never changed when someone made the transition to being a vampire, so in the end there was this biting question, about whose memory were those, and why the hell did they feel so damn familiar. I shook my head, as I felt thinking too hard about this was making me very hungry. The truth would reveal itself eventually, but for now I had to focus on the problem that was right in front of me.
I looked at my pick that was imbedded in the mountain and took a hold of it. I tried pulling it out, but it's head was stuck in too deep. I took a deep breath, and all of a sudden the shaft of the pick lit up once again, and the word BREAK appeared on it, written in full runic script, or as I have dubbed it....the English language.
I felt a warm feeling within my palms, but outside on my skin there was a comfortable coolness. I looked at my hands to see that they were glowing a dim dark blue. It was fascinating really, and I was so engrossed in it, that I did not notice the rune I had mysteriously etched on the pick begin to glow really fast, before suddenly.
"BOOM!!"
There was an explosion and I was thrown off my feet. The pick had exploded into multiple pieces, and many of them had found their way into my body. Jesus! It fucking hurts, but I could not help but wonder who Jesus was. Why was I calling him in my moment of torment, is he going to save me. To be honest I had no idea why random names and knowledge just kept on popping out of my mind and mouth today, but at that moment I didn't care because I was in so much pain!
Lord have mercy this felt worse than torture. Of course I have never been tortured so that sentence still has to be clarified. The entire pick was made of metal, and I could feel pieces of them within me, burning and searing my flesh. I wanted to scream, but quite a few of them had actually made their way into my throat, so unfortunately my lungs were not functioning now. I saw Nisi quickly rush up to me, and instead of showing me the pity I deserved the first thing she said was.
"What did you do now, you trouble maker? Must you always make things go boom and attract trouble to us . Seriously what am I going to do with you?" she muttered in a vexed and righteous tone.
But seriously how dare she say such things to me, I'm the great Kael Cor, well I was but that did not give her any right to talk to me like that. I was hurt, oh! My God! I think I'm dying, yet she's maltreating me. Where's the justice in this world.
For some reason I couldn't move my body, so she knelt down beside me and hovered her tiny hands over my body. Then she started moving her hands over my body, and as she did so, I felt the metals within me shake and vibrate. I let out a pained groaned as blood tears fell from the side of my eyes.
"Don't move too much, I don't have much skill with controlling metal, so this is going to hurt a little. I can get it out, but it's going to take a while. So don't move to much or you get hurt worse."
"Don't worry, I will hold him down for you."
We both heard a voice say.
Nisi almost bolted when she saw that the person who just finished talking was Asare, she might have seen him once when he escorted me to the tower, but he was still a guard, and much worse he was human. There was no way she trusted him.
But Asare held her down, clamping his palms hard on her shoulder, and making her cry out in pain. He had stopped her from running, but the very idea of him hurting her pissed me off. I shifted my gaze to him and glared at him through my pain addled body for all I was worth. How dare he.
"Help him." Asare said with a tone that left no room for arguments or questions.
Tch, that pretentious jerk, who does he think he is, acting all cool and mysterious. He's taking the spotlight away from me. But regardless, Nisi got down on her knees, and what followed was two hours of pure agony as she slowly pulled the pieces of metal in my body out, one. By. One. And believe me when I tell you this, it hurt a lot, but not as much as I imagined. Weird right?
About halfway through I started healing, slowly, very very slowly. But it was good enough for me as it negated the pain. I still had bloody holes in my body, but they were healing, and from the looks of things I was going to live. Hip, hip hurray. The downside was that because of the bloody hole in my neck, I couldn't talk, at least for an estimated four to five days.
"I know you can't talk right now, so listen to me. You? Gnome girl we need some privacy, so please move away."
I wanted to retort, or shove an insult at his face, maybe kick him in the balls. But I couldn't, at least not yet. Why the hell was he so antisocial anyway. I turned to Nisi and nodded my head, trying to apologize with my eyes as much as I could. She left with her head down, visibly upset. I wanted to slap Asare, but I was currently perforated full of holes so.....that would have to wait for later.
"I told you to stay away from people, and when I said it I meant everyone in this place. Even the fucking ants that crawl on the ground. Lord Kael you're making taking care of you a little too hard. With all this misbehavior what would lady Rhea say?"
The moment I heard that name, I moved with such speed that should have been impossible for my injured body. I felt myself bleeding, and the pain that came with it was nothing to laugh at. But I didn't care. I had to know, who. Was. Rhea.
From the look on Asare's face, he had made a mistake. He was not supposed to mention her name and he knew I would not let him go unless he told me who she was. But he did make an attempt.
"Lord Kael I told you to forget about your past since you remember nothing from it, besides most knowledge would only...."
It was a valiant effort on his part, but completely wasted on me.
"My....my…..Lord! What are you doing."
'What am I doing, well I've got a hold of your balls young man, and if you don't give me an answer, I guarantee you're not leaving here a man.' I thought to myself, while also giving him the most sinister grin I could possibly manage. He got the message, Loud and Clear.
"Fine! I will tell you." He turned his head sideways as if he was a young girl who just got taken advantage of. His cheeks were a bright shade of red. I let go, and he stepped back ten feet, keeping enough distance between the two of us. I shook my head, trying my hardest not to laugh so I don't aggravate my wounds. Then I nodded at him to fess up.
"Lady Rhea is your...she's your….."
'Well what is she, tell me goddammit. I want to know."
"She's your goddaughter my lord."
Ehh what? She was just a Goddaughter, and I spent nights unconsciously writing her name until my finger tips bled. That can't be it right. Asare noticed the confusion on my face, so he kept on talking. Good for him.
"You've raised her since she was a child my lord. Her father and mother had been friends of your family for years. But their house was burnt down by rogue fire mage killing both her parents. At the time you were only nine, but due to how close you were with her father, he had named you her godfather after you insisted. Her father had taught you how to use a sword and got you started on the cultivation path of a warrior, so that you would have a strong enough body to handle the strain and backlash from when you would start learning how to weave. You went into the flames yourself to save her, and your nanny who was also trapped in there at the time. It was also the first time you weaved. You raised her my lord, and she's the person you care about the most in the whole of Shearath.....She's going to be ten in a few weeks."
I did not remember this girl at all, a goddaughter? Wow that's serious. This is the real deal. I think the proper word would be adopted daughter or sister. I did not remember her, but there was this feeling deep within me, a longing and deep entrenched sense of worry. I looked at Asare and asked.
"How is she?" he looked up so quickly I feared his head would snap off.
"You remember her?" he asked with a tone a little too eager. I felt sorry that I had to disappoint him.
I pointed my hand to my head and said.
"This doesn't." then I moved my hand to my chest, directly over my slowly beating heart and said to him. "But this does."
"Then that's good enough for me." He said. He was about to keep talking before I raised my hand to stop him. Then I pointed at the mountain area that I had damaged twice in a row with my weaving.
"Asare, what the hell is that?" I asked with a perplexed look on my face.
The place that was previously occupied by my now exploded mining pick, was dripping a thick red liquid. But before Asare could say anything, Nisi ran past us towards the liquid, she squatted down and placed her tiny finger into the rapidly expanding pool. Then she said with open astonishment.
"We're rich!"
"Why?" I asked even more confused than before. But Asare answered and blew my mind.
"Because my lord, that's dasenite. And quite a lot of it."
Oh okay.....what?