Harnio looked at the beasts laying on the foundation of a ruined building. He looked down at the ground and frowned. "I don't have much time it seems. I need to start."
He rose both of his hands and started writing in the air in front of him. He concentrated as the wind picked up their bodies frowning. "Regeneration… That's not a good sign… They've been eating lizards and other beasts it seems."
He slashed down with his hand wand watched as the body in front of him divide into two. Harnio stepped forward and looked at its body while its blood dripped onto the foundation. He blinked causing the world around him to slow down. "Interesting… Soul battery there. Its organs seem vaguely human, but also a mix of beast as well." He turned his head and pushed with his other hand causing a wall of wind to form around him.
"What about its brain I wonder?"
He waved his hand causing the halves of the body to turn the beast's head towards him. He drew a line with his finger and watched as the top of the beast's skull was pulled off revealing the large brain. Harnio frowned.
"It's larger than a humans… The secret to their evolution must be in there…" He sighed and lowered his hand causing the corpse to fall onto the foundation.
He looked at the blood that was starting to corrode the stone foundation. "Corrosive blood… Makes sense since its not real blood. Just the soul batterys energy."
He looked around frowning. "I need more time with these… Pity they're almost here." Harnio turned to the other body. "Two-legged walker… Let's see you a bit closer."
He waved his hand at the other beast causing it to float in the wind in front of him. He looked at it's features with a hand to his mouth. "It seems they've been also eating humans. This one looks like it has evolved to an almost human beast form."
He took a step back as he watched the beast's eyes open and stare at him in anger. "Regeneration is quite fast. Eat or be eaten it seems." Harnio waved his hand causing a wind blade to slice through the beast's neck.
"Rrrrroarrrrrr! Family Comeeeeee!"
Harnio cursed as he felt the ground shake. He watched as the light faded from the beast's eyes. He waved his hands causing both beast bodies to be cut into tiny pieces and fell onto the foundation causing it to be covered in green corrosive blood. He grabbed the soul batterys and placed them in his bag.
Harnio turned walking away from it frowning. "I needed more time, but I got a little information about them. Pity… I don't know enough of anatomy or I would've been able to get more information. I should study that once I finished with the mountain tribes language."
He felt the ground shake around him and looked up. "Being on the ground is not a good place to be. I need to be in the air." He looked up staring at the ruins around him. "There's no high ground in here… I hope the wind can hold me up for a while."
He blinked causing the world around him to go back to normal and started drawing in the air as fast as he could. He closed his eyes and felt his body being lifted by the wind until he was above the ruins. He looked at the distance frowning. "They're still far away… Hurry up the both of you."
He pushed down with his hand causing a wall of wind to form against the ground of the ruins. Harnio started panting and landed on the top of a small tower. "I… can't stay floating… in the air… for too long… At most I can do this…"
He sat down and pulled out his hammer and felt the inscriptions along its handle and head. "Hurry please…"
"Feed… Open the mouth… Feed."
Harnio looked around. "Who said that? What mouth?"
"Over stomach… Hungry… Feeed. You'll feel better…"
Harnio opened his robes and looked at the scar along his stomach. "I got this from falling off the tower. It isn't a mouth, is it?"
"Not from accident… From me…"
Harnio looked around him confused. "Not from falling? Are you the thing I saw from the tower?"
"Talk later… Feed. Open mouth… Hungry… Tired…"
Harnio looked at his stomach scar in confusion. "How do I do that?" He heard a voice sigh. "Just tell it to open, and feed… If not, then we die from the beasts below."
Harnio nodded. "I want to live here… Fine… Mouth open and feed." He looked down at his stomach and watched with shock in his eyes as the scar opened to reveal a large mouth. He fell on his back as he felt the mouth start sucking in the wind around him.
"See… doesn't that feel better now?"
Harnio nodded as he felt his strength returning to him. He looked at his hands as inscriptions started to flow around them. "That is my gift to you… Use it well to destroy those beasts under the ground."
"Stop feeding mouth… The enemy is coming…" He felt the mouth close with great reluctance and sighed as he stood up cursing as he tied his robes back together. "I'll have to study this mouth further… What a great feeling it gave me."
He looked down at the ground where the earth was starting to rise and pushed it with his hands.
"Boom!"
Harnio watched with a smile on his face as a thick wall of wind pushed the rising earth back down. He felt the ruin he was on starting to shake. "I need to get off here…"
"Walk… Take a step off. The wind won't let you fall…"
Harnio felt his heart rate increase as he stared at the empty space in front of him. "I won't fall?"
"No… One who is loved by the wind… You won't fall."
Harnio closed his eyes and took a step off the building. He opened one eye and looked down. "I'm not falling…"
"See… I told you…"
He opened his other eye and looked at the small ruin he was on and watched as it crumbled to the ground. He frowned at the ground. "This is my home… Stop destroying it." He pushed down with his hands again causing a large blast of wind to push against the earth creating a crater. He smiled. "That's interesting… I need to see what else I can do."
He frowned and put his hands behind his back taking steps in the air. "Maybe next time…" He looked up and smiled as he could see the Firewarrior and the tribes person running in his direction. "They'll be here soon. I just have to keep them under the ground until then." He frowned. "I hope they won't dig deeper under the ground and find the city…"
"They breath air… Take the air from their tunnels… That'll stop them from going anywhere until the others arrive." Harnio smiled. "That'll work. He looked down at the ground and used his finger to push down. A small hole formed in the ground. He watched as a few of the beasts climbed out and pushed down with his other hand causing their bodies to be squashed flat against the ground. He then lifted his finger and watched as a vortex appeared sucking the air out of the tunnel beneath the ground.
"Now we wait for the others to arrive." He landed on the ground with his hands behind his back and stood staring at the vortex. "It's beautiful… I hope it works and causes them fall asleep. As long as they don't start eating each other to survive."
He looked at the edge of the ruins and lowered his head. "They're back. I'll leave this to them then." He started walking in their direction and saw them panting heavily. He scratched his arms. "They're stuckkkundergrounddd the rrruinsss. I tookkk the airrrfromm their tunnels with the vortexxx. Resssttt, beforeee taking themmmouttt."
"See. I told you he's strong."
Harnio felt his face heat up and looked at the ground kicking a stone along the ground.
"Did you learn anything about them? How to fight them?"
Harnio shook his head. "Not enoughhh time… They can regenerate… Better to turnnn to ashhh or into tiny pieces so the other beasts won't eattttt them."
He heard the tribes-person curse. "Then there's nothing I can do except keep you safe Harnio… It'll have to be up to the ass over here."
"I have a name you know. Stannir…"
Harnio kept his head down as he heard Stannir's footsteps walk past him and stopped near the vortex.
"Harnio… Can you stop the vortex? I'll deal with them in a way that doesn't cause any shaking or explosions. Instantly turning them all to ash."
Harnio nodded and waved his hand at the vortex causing it to fade into the wind around them. He let out a long breath and sat on the stone. He heard the tribes-person come closer to him. "You can rest now Harnio. Leave it to us… Muscles may be an ass, but he's strong as well. He fought many of the beasts while I was capturing two of them."
Harnio nodded and sat staring at his hands in his lap ignoring the world around him. "What was that voice? What about the mouth? It's a pity I can't see those inscriptions on my hands anymore. I wanted to see what they did…"
Harnio frowned as he looked up and glanced at the tribes person back. He smiled at the bow. "Glad the storm bow is helping you."
He lowered his head as he heard her turn around. "Yes… It's helped a lot. I was able to save a lot of people using it… Just as you saved an entire city from being found by these beasts."
Harnio felt his face heat up and wiped a tear forming with the arm of his robe. "They'll never know… It's better that way."
"Why is that better Harnio? You should let the world know of what happened out here. Let people hear your name and your enemies fear it."
Harnio shook his head. "IIIII don't want that… I don't need to be known around Athlos. I'm happy to be in the shadows and continue my learning. Peaceful that way."
He glanced towards the Firewarrior and watched him place his hand on the ground. He felt the temperature of the ground increase causing him to start sweating. "I wonder what he's doing?"
He wiped the sweat off and stood up walking towards the Firewarrior he stopped at a distance away and looked at the ground in thought. "He's increasing the temperature of the tunnel… He's slowly cooking them just as if he was using a pit to cook a chicken… Interesting. I must study his technique further."
"Don't get to close to the ass, or you might catch his ass disease."
Harnio waved at the tribes person and continued watching the ground as it heated up.
"Pop! Pop! Pop!"
Harnio shook his head as he started to hear popping sounds coming from underneath him. "They're exploding… Is that from the heat?" Harnio frowned in thought. "They should be asleep… shouldn't they?"
"Harnio! Step back!"
"DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Harnio looked down and saw the ground starting to rise under him and he took a step into the air and floated above it as a long arm with claws swiped at where he was just standing.
"Thud!"
He stared at the arm as it was hit by arrows going through it and frowned. He looked at the Firewarrior's hand. "Firewarrior they're evolving, kill them now! Blast them, don't do it slowly!"
"Boom!"
Harnio looked around as the ground started shaking again and sighed as the ruins around him fell to the ground in giant heaps of dust. He stepped onto the ground again and pulled at the limp arm watching it fall apart into ashes in his hand. He frowned. "That was close…" He started panting and clutched his heart as it started racing.
"Harnio are you okay? Did it scratch you?"
Harnio shook his head and looked at the ground scratching his arms. "My… home… dangerous…" He turned and ran towards the hatch and climbed down in the tunnels. He ran as fast as he could until he was standing at the ladder taking him to the blacksmith. He gripped the rungs of the ladder panting. "Need… check." He climbed up the ladder opening the hatch with a swing of his arm and stood in his room for a moment before running outside to the forge. He looked around in the forger. "Blacksmith… are you here? Blacksmith?"
"Lad, I'm here. You can calm down. What happened up there? The whole place was shaking. It felt like the roof would fall on top of us."
Harnio sat on the stool and started taking in large gulps of air as he panted heavily. "Breath lad… Calm down and relax." Harnio nodded as one hand gripped the table and the other wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Harnio… are you in here?" He waved his hand at the Firewarrior and tribes-person while keeping his head down. "I'm here… They're fine…" Harnio sighed and closed his eyes falling unconscious.
"Darkness? I was in the forge a moment ago… Where am I now?"
"You could call this place your mind palace. It has a lot of space. You should fill it."
"Mind palace? Are you the voice who told me about the mouth?"
"Yes. That would be me."
Harnio looked around in the darkness. "Light…"
He smiled as the darkness faded as batterys started to light up revealing books, parchments, scrolls, pictures of beasts and animals and a map of Athlos. "That's better… Are these all the things I've seen and learnt about?"
"That's correct. This is my gift to you… Use it well. One warning though. Don't over feed that mouth of yours, we can't have you losing control can we."
Harnio nodded as he looked around for the voice. "I can't see you. Who am I talking to?"
"I've been called many names, but the name you can give me is Fuin. I love books and research as much as you…" Harnio looked around and still couldn't see who he was talking to. He shrugged his shoulders and gave up looking. "It seems you're like me, and don't like people seeing you."
"No… That's not it. I'm fading and dying. In this mind palace is all the information and research I've collected over my long lifetime. It's yours now." Harnio nodded and touched the hammer on his belt feeling the patterns across it. "Thank you…"
"I must fade now… They are worried about you… You should wake up and talk with them… Farewell and remember don't… lose… control…"
Harnio nodded as he looked at the large mass of information around him. He looked up as his mouth fell open. "It goes up that high… This'll take a long time to go through…"
"Harnio… Harnio… Harnio! Everyone. He's awake."
Harnio looked around and sat up in the cot scratching his arm and looking around the room. He frowned and looked down at his body.
"Harnio what happened up there? The other two have told me parts of it, but what about you, running here… I thought you died or something."
Harnio held his arms close to his body and shook his head. "I was worried that they tunneled into the city. They were evolving as they were dying."
"Did you find any information about the beasts?"
Harnio shook his head. "They attacked too fast. I didn't have enough time, nor the knowledge to understand what I was fully seeing. I learnt that they are still evolving and can also regenerate from any wounds that they receive…" Harnio watched as a tear fell onto his dirty robes.
"They learn… Also, now some of them can talk."
He heard the blacksmith curse. "It seems the guard will be fighting against these beasts and not just pirates and smugglers after the ritual… Harnio you get some rest and eat. You look like you've seen a ghost."
Harnio nodded. He looked at the legs of the tribes-person and Firewarrior. "They fought well… A good team they… can be… I think."
He closed his eyes falling into a deep sleep.