Osias awoke the next day properly — without any abominations threatening to kill him.
Yet, Osias awoke feeling grim and uneasy. The memory of being chased was haunting him relentlessly. How many times has he dreamt of his own shadow pursuing him? He scowled sullenly.
Sleeping under a skeleton didn't help either… Last night, they made camp right where Kiran pulled the ancient blood of the titanic skeleton, directly below what should be the center of its spine, looming far above where his sight allowed him to see.
He yawned and stretched out his arms and legs before he rose to his feet and found Kiran beside him, stoking a small fire.
Above it, were slabs of pinkish-white meat. But Kiran noticed him and called out:
"Come. I killed it before you awoke. A small beast it was, scurrying around the head and jaws bones of the titan."
Shaking off the daze in his head, Osias asked:
"Inspecting the bones again?"
"Mm," Kiran huffed out before adding, "You cannot do the same."
Osias's ears perked in curiosity and then he plopped down heavily beside the low fire and joined Kiran as he avidly waited for the fresh and delectable-looking meat to cook. It's been a while since he had a meal that wasn't rotten… or a meal to eat at all.
"If you spill the blood from your enemies, much of it is lost given time. I haven't figured out why… but we cannot simply reach onto the ground and absorb blood essence from the ancients."
"I already know this—"
"I don't know why the blood of this titan is so plentiful even after so much time has passed." Kiran cut him off.
Osias nodded slowly, yet he had nothing to add or ask.
So he stared uncannily still at the fire and the cooking meat.
The calming sounds of the crackling fire were almost enough to soothe himself into a morning nap… if he was so eager for his own rib to be shattered by a black spear instead of the titan's. He silently laughed to himself under his crimson helm.
But his quiet wait was broken, and Kiran asked:
"Osias…. Did Garm ever tell you of the beginnings of the Blood Path? Or the other elders?"
"Like the tale of the Great Blood Ancestor?" Osias replied meekly. He didn't really know anything of the sort aside from the children's tale.
"No. I meant who came before Garm." Kiran curtly said, turning the large cut of skewered meat around.
"Then I don't know. That was before he and the other elders wandered the Wailing Chain then, right?" Osias said as he brought a hand to his temple in thought. "No, even before that I guess, the story of Garm's birth then?"
"Mm. I'll tell you then… it was a guarded truth only known by a few elders and myself, but we are all that's left so it no longer matters."
That's right, such customs were decided by the Kiran now. So Osias shifted a little closer toward Kiran and the fire, full of eagerness and expectancy. He was almost jumpy — who wouldn't want to know of Garm's secrets?
"The origins of our blood path is not entirely known. Garm is centuries old, but despite this, his father was the only known Blood Path Finder before him."
'Only Garm's father?' Osias pondered, but Kiran continued:
"But Garm's father was what you would expect a lone Blood Path Finder would be — a lawless brigand. He ruthlessly killed without reason and fed into his greed and desires. He took many women forcefully as he pillaged and wandered the Wailing Chain, raiding and pillaging. Garm was the eldest of these children born from defiled women. All the elders descended from this man. One of which was a half-brother, whilst others were a mix of half-kin. "
Osias… never heard of this. He didn't know of a genuine blood connection between the elders and Garm. Even Zevir didn't mention anything of the like — the elder with whom Osias talked the most.
"This was centuries ago, and almost all the broken families that were formed from that man's spree of pillaging and raiding have all died out. Age, strife, anything an Ordinary is subject to. A few dispersed lines here and there were under the Red Sky, but this spread of bloodline was nothing special."
It made sense. If the only survivors from that time were the elders, then all their families back then have died. All of them were centuries old, decrepit as they were. Only the strong could survive after all that time. Though Osias had many questions he wanted to ask, Kiran continued:
"Garm is a ruthless man, perhaps a trait picked up from his father. Even from his birth… Garm killed his mother within the womb, a common tale from those of that time. But upon her death, small movements were seen on her stomach. Bewildered, they tore apart the mother's corpse, only to find a frail infant. Too soon to be birthed, yet still oddly vigorous and strong enough to live. The villagers took pity on the mother who was so unfortunate to have been defiled and died not so long after. So they raised him."
"Garm was troubled, but he was smart. He knew that he was different. So hid his Innate Ability well enough as he came upon his First Ordeal. Upon his acquisition of power, he left his home village to find the man who ravaged his mother and sired him, in the search for answers. And Garm's connection with blood essence was strong — I'll tell you more of this later.
Garm quickly formed a trail and found his kin. Upon his findings, most died before their birth — the mothers couldn't provide enough essence of course. But Garm managed to find those who lived. Trained them up as the eldest and strongest of their Path aside from his father… Most who lived from then were the elders or a few Second Bloods of the Band."
"But late upon this trail, Garm found his father. His father was evading a particular clan he angered upon his raids, stepping on a mountain tiger's tail. There, Garm slayed his father upon obtaining the truth. The truth is that Garm's father is not a blood-born despite being of the Path of Blood."
Kiran paused, allowing Osias to digest the immense amount of information Kiran laid upon. But Osias had no complaints… it was a lot. Most important was what Kiran ended with — that a person who wasn't a blood-born sired children of the Blood Path and was of the same Path as well.
Of course, Osias knew that through the raids of the band, children would spawn from the pillaging. The mothers were not blood-born — simply regular women who unfortunately suffered at the hands of their raiders. However, some would birth blood-born children if they were lucky enough to not die from having these monsters growing in their wombs… but this was a father that Kiran was teaching him about.
"Garm's father was a Second Ordeal Path Finder. He was treading a Path of Blades of sorts upon his First Ordeal. But then he came upon something that altered his Path into that of Blood. An inheritance, a relic."
"Garm didn't obtain information upon this relic, or its whereabouts, or if there were others before his father sought to kill him. Garm was no fool, why would a wounded beast with its back against the cage not pounce at its pursuer? Even if it was his son… So Garm cut him down and reaved the corpse of its blood. He killed his mother, some of the village folk who raised him, and many more. To kill the one who sired him was of no concern."
Osias listened keenly and asked, "I see. Why did Garm or the other elders tell you this?"
"Because they named me heir of the Red Sky. Nothing more. Even upon my seclusion after my Ordeals, they pulled me out to teach me of this and many more."
Osias paused briefly in thought. He didn't know what to make of this lesson on the Band's history… so he asked:
"What is the reason you're telling me then?"
Kiran pulled the skewered meat away from the fire and handed it to him before replying:
"Both Garm and the elders scoured the Wailing Chain before the Band settled south. After settling down, they were just a mercenary band in name — by that time the Red Sky was a true faction. As nomads, the Band traveled from the Snowy Verge of the Northern Wind Union to our Great Mountain that was once in the Outer Valleys, unclaimed by the Tailed Brothers. The absolute north, the desolate south, and all the inlands between. The reason for there travels was both to find the remnants of Garm's father — their fellow blood-born, but also in search for these relics of the Path."
"Yet they only found a scare few of their kin and not a single relic was found… until they came upon the Great Mountain that we are familiar with. Deep within the hollow mountain held a relic of our Blood Path. Many elders fell that day in the battle against the Path Beast. And that is also the day that the Red Sky was called usurpers, damned into centuries of conflict with the Tailed Brothers. It is the entire reason why the Band settled along with safeguarding the relic."
Kiran paused once more, and in a quieter tone he added:
"Even I don't know what it is. None has reached the Fifth Ordeal — the qualifications to retrieve it from within the heart of the mountain."
Osias took a small bite of the fallen beast's meat as he listened. Feelings of entertainment, allurement, wonder, and curiosity flowed through him. He listened attentively to his elder brother.
He was always interested in the history and experiences of their people… that was why he frequently talked with the elders and the others even when he had little time away from the dark chamber. There was power behind knowledge after all.
But just when Osias thought Kiran was finished, he once more continued:
"Upon discovering the relic and slaying the monstrous beast that made the Great Mountain its dwelling, they made the hasty decision to settle the Red Sky there. All for one day when Garm or another Fifth Ordeal arose and claimed the relic. But when I heard this… I questioned why didn't they continue the search. Years upon years they remained on the Great Mountain, rarely venturing into the Outer Valleys once more."
"Osias… They believed there are more — a Second, Third, and Fourth Ordeal relic. The First Ordeal relic must've been the inheritance to the Blood Path that Garm's father came upon centuries ago."
That… that was plausible, Osias thought as he listened. It seemed that Kiran wasn't pleased with simply fighting a war against the Tailed Brothers, probably adamant about finding and retrieving the relics of the Path. But Osias didn't say anything in response as his mind raced onto the relics themselves.
If a First Ordeal relic was enough to create and propagate an entire Path, a Path strong enough that the entire Wailing Chain banded together to kill off… Osias began to entertain the possibility that he and Kiran came upon such a relic. Even the Second Ordeal relic would be an invaluable boon, they would be ascendingly more powerful.
Eventually, Osias's lips slowly curled into a smile, lost in his fantasies. So much so that the glistening fat of the meat that glazed his lips dripped, bringing him back to reality with a wipe of his hand.
"Brother, are we headed north because of this? Do you know where these relics are?" Osias asked excitedly. It's been ages since he has retrieved such pleasant news, perhaps the first ever since they came upon the Heron.
But Kiran washed his eagerness down curtly, "No." However, between a bite of the skewered meat, Kiran continued:
"Though, they must be in the Outer Valleys. As I came upon this colossal skeleton, I felt the same feeling that Garm and the other elders described as they came near the Great Mountain for the first time. But as I claimed the blood from the earth, the feeling disappeared. But even so, it was a fortuitous yield."
Osias sighed, a little disappointed. He was expecting Kiran to announce that they had come upon a relic. But like Kiran said, it was still a great yield.
"The Fifth relic was a secret of the Band, as well as the others. The First relic was only able to have been claimed by someone not of the Blood Path because it needed someone to alter. But because the Fifth required someone of the Blood Path, and of the Fifth Ordeal… we can only assume that the others are the same. A person of the Blood Path, and being at least the same Ordeal as the relic itself."
"I thought you couldn't risk telling me some secrets?" Osias quickly asked.
Kiran shook his head slowly before responding sternly:
"Because I alone can only do so much… If you ever feel as though you're on the verge of delighting in Blood Reave despite not doing so, tell me or investigate it yourself because it may not be the same."
"I see," Osias said quietly noticing the slight change in tone.
They ate in silence after the lesson on history was over. But they were quick to finish and began to leave the camp they made below the colossal spine.
However, just before disembarked from the grim shelter above them, Kiran willed his almost black True Extracted essence to split from his spear as he donned a familiar set of armor.
It was the same that covered Osias. But it was far larger and looked much more imposing in its dark red shade, fully covering Kiran's large figure.
Fortunately, Kiran even spared enough to strengthen Osias's own set.
With that, for the first time, Osias felt ready to brave the sunless expanse.