"Katsíki."
I heard Yna call.
I awoke to find myself resting comfortably on her lap.
"W- what happened?" I asked weakly while looking around.
I realized that we were somehow back in Yna's cabin and sitting in front of us was Karish.
"You kinda went overboard with the sealing of the third level and passed out. Karish decided he'd fulfill his end your little deal and so he came here and inspected Coh. I think he was mildly pleased." Yna said only for Karish to scoff.
"Well? What do you think?" I asked.
It would be a stretch to say that I was nervous.
"From the day we first met, I recognized that you were… naïve. But your intentions are pure. They've always been. I… I guess that part of you is what made me slightly hostile towards your plans. However, this place, your goals… I want to support them. Even now, I think back to stories my father told me. Stories of when the Rendaro marched on the same battlefield as the very Dragons. We weren't destined to die down there. I see that now." Karish said as the light of the full moon illuminated half of his face.
"So… you're in?"
"I will announce that the vessel of lord Kenos is building a sanctuary and those who are willing are free to join him. As for those who remain in Eimval, we will use the underground structure as a foundation for a new city. New Eimval." Karish said and he looked rather pleased with himself.
What?
Did you think I was gonna tell him adding "new" to Eimval wasn't very clever or imaginative?
Heck no!
"Sounds good to me!" I said before crawling out of Yna's embrace.
I then tapped on the door, signaling that Yna open it for me.
She did so and I exited the cabin to find several Rendaro guards seated around a small fire.
I completely ignored them before munching on some grass.
Yna and Karish joined me outside while I ate away.
"So many trees."
One of the guards said.
I actually recognized him. He's one of the two guards who stopped me from entering what would become New Eimval.
"Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen so many."
"Do you think we'll be able to grow more crops here?"
"I think so, but do you really think that the Golden Knight will let us do as we please? No. She's definitely up to something."
Such things were said by the guards.
"Will you be staying the night or are you going back soon?" Yna asked.
"Sooner would be better." Karish said and by this point, I had eaten my fill of grass.
Yna and I accompanied the Rendaro to the Coh's southern entrance.
Karish looked at my dark wall with narrowed eyes before looking down at me.
"Expect guests tomorrow morning. I'll have them travel with a guard to ensure everyone is safe during the trip here." Karish said before turning to leave, but he quickly stopped before turning to face me.
"This place is the source of our water. Even after you purify the stream, the existence of Coh means we'll be using more of the stream's water. We should keep note of this."
"Got it." I said.
Karish nodded before finally leaving with his men in tow.
I let out a deep sigh before turning to face Coh's tall and dark wall.
I could see it.
A future where this place would house hundreds of misfortunate souls.
.
..
"Why are there only ten Rendaro approaching?" I asked as the morning sunlight revealed ten Rendaro walking towards Coh.
"Nine, if you don't count the guard." Yna said.
I sighed as they got ever closer.
I recognized the guard, but I was more concerned with the nine Rendaro.
"Greetings, Lord Katsíki. These are the Rendaro who wanted to come to your sanctuary."
"Err- yes. What's your name again?"
"Yog, sir."
"Yes. Why are there only nine? No one else wanted to come?" I asked.
"Well… not exactly. Quite a lot of Rendaro wanted to come initially, but Elder Karish asked why they were all so willing to abandon their place of birth and like that, a large portion of those willing to come reduced." Yog said.
I nodded while inspecting the group.
I'm not sure how Rendaro age and so I'd have to do some guessing.
Five of them looked fairly young. Mid twenties.
One of them was a narrow eyed old man. Two of them were women, one of which had a child. A little girl.
Under the light of the clear sky I was able to see just what the darkness from below was doing to them.
It was seemingly eating away at them.
I'd need to investigate darkness's effects further-
"Oh- don't worry, sir. He had nothing but positive things to say about this place." Yog said with an awkward smiled.
Was he lying just to make me feel better?
"Err… ok. What now? Are you heading back to Eimval?"
"Yeah. My parents decided to stay so there's that. Elder Karish did say that we guards are free to visit this sanctuary, although if I can be completely honest, I think he just wants us to spy on you." Yog said with another nervous laugh.
Yna guided the Rendaro into Coh via a set of stairs that led up to plateau.
I waved Yog goodbye before heading to where Yna had taken the Rendaro.
A small camp with relatively small wooden cabins.
I walked up to Yna's sighed and deeply sighed.
"Hello. From now on, this place will be your home. Feel free to ask Yna and I anything. Especially if you find yourself feeling ill. But before any of that, I must ask. Why did you choose to come here?"
The Rendaro all took turns glancing at each other, but it was the old looking one that spoke up first.
"It's true, no? That you are the vessel of Kenos, the Black Prince." The old Rendaro said.
"Black Prince?" I asked while looking at Yna with a questioning glance, but she simply shrugged.
"You know what, hold that thought. We'll speak of this later in private. The rest of you. Why did you come?"
"I came to see if life outside Eimval was any better?"
"I was just curious."
"You're a talking goat. Of course I was gonna come."
"I heard we were at war with someone in the third level."
"Wait, we're gonna live here permanently?"
Such things were said by the young Rendaro.
I turned to one of the female Rendaro.
"I… don't know." She said simply.
This left the last one.
She tightly clung to her child as she eyed me with an expression I couldn't quite distinguish.
"M- my child is sick. C- could you… heal her?" She asked. Her voice weak.
"Mmm… Yna, you prepared a place for situations like this, right?"
"Way ahead of ya." Yna said before accompanying the Rendaro and her child to a separate place.
"Why don't you all pick your cabins and get comfortable. I'll instruct you further later." I said before following Yna into a rather large wooden building.
All this use wood made me wonder if it'd have been better if we started using darkness to construct our buildings.
I didn't want to end up causing the mass deforestation of Coh.
I approached Yna as she inspected the now half naked Rendaro child.
I could see large patches of darkness that were seemingly plastered on her skin.
I looked at the mother to find that she too had large dark patches on her skin.
"Mmm… raise your hand, please." I instructed and the child did so.
I then targeted a patch of darkness on her hand and tried pulling it out, but the child cried out in pain and I saw that the darkness was coming out, yes, but it was also pulling at her flesh.
I stopped the procedure and watched as the mother tightly clung to her child, who wept loudly.
"Crap. I can't do anything without hurting her. Yna, isn't there an aspect of healing or something? Or does this world not have doctors?"
"Actually, yes. The aspect of life is a thing and there are doctors, but they are pretty rare. Here, let me just list all existing aspects: Life, death, light, dark, time, space, heat, cold. People with control the aspect of life can transfer life from one thing to another." Yna explained.
"Do you have any control over the aspect of life?"
"Nope. Just light and space." Yna said.
I nodded in understanding.
"Listen, ma'am-"
"Shiru."
"Shiru, I am currently unable to heal you or your child, but I promise I'll find a way." I said.
Shiru's face went through multiple emotions, from sadness to frustration and eventually acceptance as she lowered her head.
"Alright." She said before taking her child and returning to the main camp.
Dammit.
"Let's go talk to the old one." I said flatly.
I hadn't even thought about how unprepared Coh was.
Bah! I'd just have to push through and find solutions to problems as they came even though that sounded extremely reckless.
We eventually arrived at the place the old Rendaro had chosen.
He sat comfortably on a makeshift bed while wistfully staring at the roof.
"Hey."
"Greetings." The Old Rendaro said as he turned to face me.
I plopped down next to him and looked at his wrinkled body.
Yep. He too had dark patches, but he seemed content with their existence.
I wondered just how much pain the patches caused.
"So- err…"
"You can call me Farin."
"Yeah. I feel I should clarify. I'm not only Kenos's host. He and I are kinda fused. Although I know very little about him. We actually met pretty recently so I'm actually curious about what you know about him?" I asked.
"Well, most of what I know was told to me by my parents. They spoke of a grand betrayal. One which fractured the Rendaro. This all happened during the Great War." Farin said.
"When was that exactly?" I asked.
"Four hundred or so years ago."
So Kenos is around two hundred years old, huh?
"You called Kenos the Black Prince. Why?" I asked.
"Ah… I thought you would be the one to enlighten me on that. My parents described King Rahad as being the mightiest Rendaro leader. It was he who united the Rendaro after the Great Collision and it was he who led us in the war against the mankind and the Dragons."
"Oh yeah. The Great Collision. Do you know what the Rendaro home world was like before the collision?" I asked.
"Goodness no. I'm not that old." Farin said with a chuckle.
"That's question you should ask lord Kenos himself. Speaking of him, although I heard that he led one of the last Rendaro attacks on Lanceberg, I've never really heard anything else. I spent most of my life wondering just who he was and now here you stand. Vessel of the Black Prince. Perhaps we can discover more together." Farin said with a gentle smile.
"Of course! Actually-"
I raised a hoof and summoned a cloud of darkness. From that darkness came several sheets of darkness that were etched with various markings.
"Kenos gave me these to read and I'm pretty much done. Here, you can have them."
"My utmost thanks." Farin said as he grabbed one of the sheets.
Wait a minute.
I looked at the markings on the sheets and realized that they weren't in English.
How was I able to speak and read this world's languages?
Was it because Kenos and I fused?
Perhaps I had access to his mind just as he had access to mine.
Mmm…
I wondered if I could peer into his past.
What conditions would I have to meet in order to do that?
Also, I don't think Kenos would be very happy if I dug around his past especially by using such a method.
Maybe I should just ask him. I thought.
I then noticed that Yna was leaving.
"Where are you going?"
"Its getting late and dinner isn't gonna make itself. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything." Yna said before walking away.
I nodded to myself before returning to my thoughts.
Who exactly was Kenos?
Why was he wounded when I found him?
Who did that golden sword belong to?