"Katsíki?"
"Mmm?" I looked up to find a Han looking at me with a rather frightened expression.
I looked at myself to find that plumes of black smoke were rising from my body.
"Oh- sorry. I… was just lost in my thoughts." I said with a weak chuckle.
Han nodded and we resumed our journey south.
Standing gloriously in the distance were the mountains that were part of the Ash Wastes.
Han and I were on our way to inform the Ash Wraiths of what was coming and Han was completely prepared for any situation.
He was fully clad in the armor of what I dubbed the United Expanse Forces. Or the U.E.F
It was a complex set of gear that was inspired by many earthborn things.
Every soldier wore a form fitting suit that was made of a mesh of darkness.
I incorporated what little I knew about Kevlar and made the suit as durable as possible while keeping it comfortable and breathable.
Soldiers would then wear their uniform above it.
The uniform soldiers in Coh wore was a dark grey and above that uniform was the real heavy stuff.
Farin and I came up with three categories for the over-armor that our soldiers wore. Light, medium and heavy.
Han was a medium class soldier and so the dark plates he wore were thick enough to absorb a ton of damage while being light enough for him to be mobile.
The key to my dark armor, aside from its durability, was the fact that if a Golden Knight were to strike it with light based attacks, the armor would simply shatter while releasing the energy as heat. This would spare the body from a lot of the attack's impact, but it'd still sting a little… a lot.
Anything was better than getting cut in half.
Everyone was given helmets as well, but Han chose not to wear one allowing all to see his rather handsome face. His hair, like almost everyone in our army, was cut short.
I, on the other hand, wore only the mesh of armor while wearing a grey gown on top.
Yna and Farin had decided that it'd be best if I was always easy to carry, so heavy armor was a no go. Not that my small legs could support it.
The land near the Ash Wastes as as dry as everywhere else in the Expanse.
Few trees could be seen and even fewer sources of water were available.
Which is why Han and I carried leather backpacks with a small amount of supplies.
Trade between New Eimval and the Oasis was going well, but I think Yna and the others were keeping certain details from me so that I wouldn't freak out.
.
..
Han eventually raised his hand, prompting me to stop.
He then unsheathed his dark short sword before pointing at a Boulder down the way.
I raised a curious eyebrow before watching as a large beast emerged from the other side of the Boulder.
It was tall, muscular and covered in pitch black fur.
It's face was a mixture of a dog's and a pig. Strong sharp features with a flat and round nose. I didn't even wanna look at its needle like teeth.
Farin called this creature a Lopus and-
It was using magic!
Wisps of darkness rose from the many spikes on its head and I could tell that it was siphoning darkness from deep underground.
I noticed that the beast had an old rope dangling from its neck, but I brushed it aside as the beast let out another roar.
Han cautiously approached the Lopus while I remained where I stood.
The beast eventually noticed us and after letting out a deep roar it sent darkness into the ground.
The darkness then moved toward Han at a blinding speed before emerging as a bed of spikes.
Han leapt high into the air before landing near the beast.
He then dashed towards it, tackled it to the ground before stabbing it in the neck.
The beast let out a death whine as Han dug his sword deep into its neck.
A moment passed and Han eventually stood up.
Part of me felt a little disappointed that the fight was so short, but I also wondered just how strong Han was.
Maybe I'd need to see the aftermath of Yna's training in detail once we returned home.
I'd simply ask him to remove his clothes and-
Nope!
I shook aside all perverted thoughts before running up to Han, who stood up and dusted off his armor.
"Wow. That was quick."
"This one was young."
"Oh." I said before noticing something.
There was a dark magician crouching beyond a nearby hill.
I could tell because they were passively absorbing darkness.
"Han! There's someone up that hill."
Han turned to look where I was pointing, but the space in front of him suddenly warped and four tall warriors appeared around him.
They were all dressed in thick furry clothing that hid most of their features.
They wielded in their hands simple spears and daggers while also carrying bows on their backs.
"Han!" I cried as the warriors reached out to grab him, but Han kicked the one in front of him, sending them falling backwards, he then quickly mounted her before grabbing their neck and placing his sword on it.
"Stand back or she dies!" Han barked.
The warriors all backed away, but I quickly noticed that the one who could use dark magic was gathering darkness beneath Han.
Did they want to create a bed of spikes beneath him?
Wouldn't that also hurt their comrade?
I had no time to think and so I absorbed all of the warrior's darkness which may have been a mistake because they passed out shortly after.
"What did you do?" One of the warriors asked.
"That was me." I said as I walked up to Han.
"We are from the north and I assure you, we mean you no harm." I said while raising my hands.
The warriors didn't seem convinced and continued glaring daggers at Han and I.
"Let her go."
Han released his hostage and she quickly ran to her unconscious comrade's side.
I returned their darkness to them and crossed my arms.
"We come with a warning: war may soon engulf the Expanse. Be prepared for the worst."
The warriors glared at me as we stood in the afternoon heat.
I rolled my eyes before plopping onto the ground next to Han.
"Do you think they can talk?"
"They can."
"Then what's stopping them?"
"I do not know." Han said.
"Well? Say something!" I cried.
The warriors all looked at each other before turning to face the tallest one.
They were all about a meter taller than Han and their slender bodies emphasized their height.
"Who are you?" The one I assumed was their leader asked.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Katsíki, vessel of K- Kenos, prince of the Rendaro and Host of Darkness." I said, but the warriors all narrowed their eyes, possibly in disbelief and so I raised my hand.
"Don't believe me?"
A deep thunder roared above as the sky darkened.
I stopped my dramatic display at just whirling a bunch of darkness in the sky all why breathing out plumes of darkness.
The warriors all looked up in fear, but just as quickly as the dark clouds appeared, they disappeared and the sky returned to its normal bright self.
The warriors all returned their gazes to me with looks of horror.
Crap!
"You know what? Go back home and get me your leaders or something!" I snapped and, after grabbing their still unconscious comrade, they slowly walked south towards the mountains.
Han noticed my rather upset self and so he gave me a pat on the back.
"At least no one died, right?" He asked, but I couldn't help but pout.
Why were they so upset?
They attacked us first!
"I guess you're right. I just wish they were more open to discussion with heavily armored strangers." I muttered as Han and I sat in the heat of the day.
An hour passed as we sat.
Then another.
"Maybe we should just leave them. Maybe they'll do just fine against the knights once Coh, Eimval and the Oasis burn down."
"Please don't speak like that, even in jest." Han said with a rather serious expression.
"Sorry."
A moment passed as we sat in the heat.
I reached out to grab some water from Han's bag, but just as my hand touched the leather punch, several low roars filled the air.
We both hopped onto our feet as several Lopa appeared atop the hills around us.
I hadn't really sensed or felt them approaching, meaning there was either a space or dark magician nearby.
"What should we do? Those are adults. Also…"
"Yep. I see it." I said while eyeing the harnesses on all of the Lopa.
"Mmm… kill them all." I said as the ground trembled.
Han nodded before dashing towards the south most Lopa.
I, on the other hand, created a dark wall that trapped the Lopa in with us.
Whoever was sending these Lopa here was definitely watching us.
I wanted to prevent them from gathering information on us and so I built a thin, but dark wall that was about ten meters high while Han engaged in furious combat with the dark beasts.
I watched as they swarmed around him, but using only his sword and his fist, he killed his way through each and every one of them.
One of the beasts sent out its claws to maul him, but with his hand, he grabbed the beast's paw, pulled it close and stabbed it in the forehead.
One of the Lopa got a lucky strike and hit him in the back, sending him tumbling forward.
The beasts all leapt to pounce him, but he crawled away before sprinting onto his feet.
He turned to face the beasts, but before I could watch the frenzy ensue, I felt a sharp pain in my left arm as my body was suddenly jerked around by something.
I looked to find that entire left arm was inside the mouth of the Lopus.
I gnashed my teeth because if it wasn't for my under armor, I'd have lost my arm.
Also, the armor prevented the beast's teeth from ripping my arm off, but it only slightly reduced the pain I was in.
"Ah!" I cried before trying to claw out the Lopus's eye.
My small soft hands couldn't do anything and so I recalled the time when they changed.
I watched as my arm darkened and my nails elongated.
Armed with a new, dark hand, I pulled out the beasts eyelid before plunging my fingers into its eye socket as it thrashed my small body around.
We both let out pained squeals, but I forced my dark hand further into its head before pulling out a large chunk of its otherwise small brain.
The beast then fell, but it's muscular jaws were closed shut with my arm still inside.
I grabbed the retarded dog's snout and pulled it open before falling backwards with my now free arm.
I fell backwards and quickly stood to check on Han, who was standing on a pile of Lopa corpses.
I approached him while looking him over.
As expected, his armor had barely taken any damage, but I'm sure he had a few bruises and cuts here and there.
Han eventually noticed me.
His eyes widened and he rushed to my side at the center of death circle.
"Are you alright?" He gasped as I looked up to find that the sun had begun to set.
"I'm fine." I said while wiping away tears I didn't know had fallen.
"You… this is why I said we should bring more people." Han said while inspecting my limp left arm.
"We came alone because I didn't want Coh to lose too many people if things went wrong." I said as Han pulled out a long strip of cloth from his backpack.
He then bound my arm so that it would hang from my shoulder.
I wanted to cry every time my arm moved and his weird knot insured my arm wouldn't move around too much.
"Still…" Han muttered.
"Anyway, let's introduce ourselves to our hosts." I said as the dark wall dematerialized, revealing that we were surrounded by warriors clad in thick furry clothing.