"Hello to you, sir. Is this Fort Kamdainn?"

A simple, polite voice had never spiked so much fear in Xoris before. His body froze, mind only focusing on one thought. He'd been chased out by soldiers, people armed with swords, khopeshes.

So what is Kraim doing here?

"It... It is," the Warden answered, sounding confused. "May I ask what you and your Fae friend are doing out here in the Outskirts? I thought your folk tended to stay in their respective castles?"

Fae? Xoris' hands clenched at the thought. It was that ruler, no doubt, the one who had blinded themselves. Now they were looking for him too? They were working together? The very thought send another shiver down his spine, even out of sight.

"I would like to be in my castle. However, when a certain trespasser breaks into our realm on behalf of your sekhif king to slaughter a third of our people, it's quite another matter," the Fae ruler growled, their lower voice still recognizable.

"...excuse me, slaughter?" the Warden asked gruffly. He sounded confused, the question wary before he switched to anger. "No one here is about to murder a third of a populace, or anyone for that matter. Now who are you?"

"Ah! Apologies for my... travelling companion, Sovereign Ilysi of the Fae here," Kraim was explaining. "My name is Kraim Azjuri. I'm the advisor of the kingdom, and I understand that a certain paladin used to live at this residence? I'm aware by now that it's moved out, but we've already searched its home and found nothing but books. It wouldn't happen to be staying here, would it? If so, I'd like to have a little... chat with it."

The last words made Xoris' skin crawl. He was going to have to fight them, or let himself be taken, and he wasn't comfortable with either option. Not here. Flashes of fighting, memories of the elated feeling of blood soaking into his skin ran through him again, and he squinted his eyes shut, tipping his head back against the wall. He couldn't act like that in front of his family.

"It?" The Warden's incredulous voice shook a bit at the word before he cleared his throat. "... if by paladin you mean Xoris, the child I raised, then you'd do best to address him by name. And besides that, we haven't received a letter from him in several tallies, and I couldn't tell you exactly where he is." The Warden delivered each line smoothly, easing some of the anxiety pounding in his chest as Xoris continued to listen.

"Then why is there such an abundance of heka in this fort? I thought it was your duty as a Warden to make sure there aren't Beasts near here," Ilysi hinted coolly, clearly not believing him

"I'm retired, and your kingdom cut off our supplies the moment I became lame. Beasts come through here often. I simply protect my family."

The Fae began to shout. "What you're protecting is a-"

"Ilysi, please." Kraim cut them off, hushing them. A small pause held the air, Xoris continuing to push himself further into the corner. Across the room, the others were staring at him, only making his heart race faster, but there was nothing he could do but listen. "You do know that harbouring a Stained is an offence punishable by death, correct?"

Xoris hated the smile to Kraim's voice as he continued. "Of course, I am very much against executing Humans, but The Thing of Eyes and Teeth? Well..." he trailed, no doubt folding his hands together the same way he always did. "Let's just say it tends to be far less generous."

The bout of silence that came after raked at Xoris, sweat beginning to drip down his forehead as he slid down the wall. He couldn't make the Warden choose between the others and him. Asim, Ifeh, Naeh... they were just children.

I never should have come here. Of course there wasn't enough time. Sleeping, eating, talking... All you had to do was give news and you failed!

"I know how the law works, imy Azjuri," the Warden told him, still politely addressing Kraim by his title. "That being said, you won't find him here."

"Ilysi here claims that it feels like a Stained has trespassed through here though, and you know how Fae are at perceiving heka. You aren't suggesting that they are a liar, are you?"

"Not at all, but one reason I can think of for that is that two of the children I raised are proficient majes of the High Court. They've been working on a project that uses a mix of Stained energy and majik to attack Beasts."

Kraim paused for a moment. "Wait, this is Fort Kamdainn. You raised Merkos? The creator of the artefakt?"

Instantly, Merkos bolted off of his pillow, shooting Xoris a look before bounding off, no doubt towards the door. "Yes! That would be me."

"Pleasant meetings, after all the letters you've sent in for funding. I'll admit I've been preoccupied with other matters but... have there been any updates? May I come in and look at it?"

"O-oh well... It's not completely done yet, obviously. And some of the majik isn't flowing as-"

"I understand. Can I still take a look? Surely, there is no reason not to show the overseer of the High Court the very project he gave you the resources for... unless you are hiding something?"

"No! Not at all. Sorry... come right in then."

What? But, there's no way that they won't see me! Why would he even suggest that? Xoris' eyes flit around the room, finally landing on Alaina as if she had an answer. She returned his gaze with her own sharp one before making her way over quietly. Her hands guided him, stepping out of the main room and back into the kitchen. As footsteps sauntered past the room, one set heavy and comforting, the other light and quick, the second came to a stop.

"Surely, the project isn't in your dining hall, is it?"

"No it's upstairs," Merkos prompted. "You can simply follow me."

"Oh, I'd just like to take a quick peek in here, if you don't mind."

Xoris' breathing hitched as Alaina finally stopped next to him. Without warning, her hands were at his arm and on the back of his neck. Instantly, his skin felt as if it were being torn, the feeling of her majik seeping through him to rip each aspect of his heka, eating away at it. A light-headed sensation wracked at his brain as blood vessels burst at the contact, hot, quick, and agonising. He would have cried out, but Alaina's hand wrapped around his mouth right as Kraim peered into the kitchen with the dark-haired Fae ruler right behind him, freezing him in his place.

Yanking forward, he writhed under her touch, trying to pull out of her grasp. She held tight though, bringing tears to Xoris' eyes as Kraim's own landed on him. They... they did betray me. They're going to turn me in, and I never... His thoughts cut off from there. He had told them what they needed to know, right? So whatever happened after this, did it matter? He didn't really need affection after what he'd done, and yet—

I thought they would be different.

His gaze flicked up to Kraim, chest growing numb. After all, if this was what they thought he deserved, then who was he to argue?

Kraim's focus was distant though, almost seeming to look past Xorisdespite staring right at him. A pale hand reached up to push the blond tips of his hair out of his disbelief-filled face.

"There's nothing in here aside from a basin of water that we haven't fully filtered yet. Is that the Stained energy that caught your eye, or would you still like to see the project I mentioned?" Merkos also peered around the corner with an expression of relief hidden to Kraim with him standing behind.

What? But I'm right here. Can't they see me? His body still seared at Alaina's touch, but as Xoris managed to turn his head to try and find her, he couldn't make out anything.

What?

"No, I just..." Kraim shook his head. "Nevermind. I would still like to see the artefakt."

"Speak for yourself. I'll be waiting outside." Ilysi crossed their arms, green dress twirling as they turned on their heel. "And as for you." They turned to Merkos. "Your kind needs to stop messing with the Stained. They're cursed things, not something to be trifled with. Either kill it off or leave it alone before it comes for you. Good day." 

With that, they walked out.

Kraim only lazily waved a hand at the warning though, that uncaring smile still on his face. "Never mind them. Lead the way."

Only once their footsteps echoed overhead did Xoris hear a sigh of relief, Alaina removing her hands from his skin. Then the destructive feeling of her majik faded, leaving Xoris to hiss in pain, gritting the fangs slowly beginning to protrude from his gums. He clutched his arms, now coated in webbing, purple blotches. "What did you do?" He tried hard to keep the accusing tone out of his voice, but the pain soured his words all the same.

"I was making sure we couldn't be seen! What happened?" A fearful look filled her face as she reached out to examine the cracked, branching purple shapes of the blood seeping beneath his skin. "Did I do this to you?"

"I-I thought you were attacking me. ...It hurt so much." Tears pricked at his eyes as the fear of betrayal crawled back to him like dark roots from a growing tree of despair. A lump formed in his throat as he sank to the floor, clutching at his knees. "I thought you were going to turn me in."

Alaina plopped down next to him with a sigh. In a moment, her arm braced itself across his shoulders, not quite an embrace, but comforting all the same. "Xoris, if I'm being honest, when you first mentioned to us that you were Stained, up in that room, the thought did cross my mind. That's what we're all fighting against, right? The heka, the Stain, the Beasts that keep attacking us... but you're not like the other Beasts."

She pulled back, holding him at arm's length to stare into his eyes– his original, Human eyes– with her own silver. "You're still funny, sweet, caring... I don't really know what I'm supposed to do with all this information, but if what you told us is true, then you've been like this your entire life, and we just didn't know. So I suppose nothing really changed, deep down, and if that's the case... then I don't want to change anything either. I protected you growing up, and now I'll protect you from the Fae or anyone else that's going to try and hurt you. I can't promise that I might be off put at times, but I'm going to try my best to still be here for you, all right?"

Xoris felt the girl jump a bit as he reached over to take hold of her again, pulling her close. "Thank you." It came as a whisper.

"H-hey! Don't thank me. I injured your arm. I deserve nothing." She pushed him off, moving her lopsided bangs out of her face to examine the mark. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about how majik might react to your... condition. I'd offer to heal you, but I think it would just spread."

Xoris nodded. It didn't hurt much now, with her settling her majik until it rested in her chest like a raging core of light. His body did feel a bit sore, but he would manage. He didn't know why the other races' majik was so... wild and unpredictable, but it didn't work well with the more ancient heka that he'd come to share a bond with. Too much contact could be fatal. He'd much rather heal on his own at that rate.

" — as I said, it's not a bad attempt, but that's what I would call it. An attempt. It might be useful someday, but Humans are down to the last ten percent of their people, nine by the next tally, if my estimations are correct. We simply don't have time to wait. Either it gets done soon, or the High Court will drop you."

Kraim's voice echoed down the hall, and Xoris was back to pressing himself against the wall, Alaina moving to the door to stand guard.

"I assure you, imy Azjuri. I can get it done by then. I just–"

"Need a bit more time?" The words sounded kind, but something in Xoris twinged in anger. He'd heard it all before.

"...yes. So you understand then?" he could hear Merkos asking.

"I do, but unfortunately, while everything runs through me, I'm not the deciding factor. The Stain is. If we can't kill it off soon, then everything is for nothing. That's why I am on my own mission. We're all under pressure at the moment, but we are Human. We'll pull through. All right?"

"...Yes. Thank you." As much as he agreed though, Merkos sounded close to tears.

"Good! Then I wish you luck. Until your next report, farewell."

Xoris only felt it was safe enough to come out once he could no longer hear the sound of soft shoes against the sand. Entering the main room, his face grew hot under the countless stares, and he almost wished to return to the quiet of the kitchen rather than face his family's judgement once more. They circled around him now, all sitting on pillows around a single table on the floor while he stood before them all.

"Xoris," the Warden began, tone warning. "I thought you said it was soldiers who were after you, not the leader of the High Court and Fae."

'Slaughter?' The word echoed hollowly in his mind once again. No, he couldn't let them misunderstand. He had to explain himself. "I... I didn't think they would follow me. Though I'm not surprised, given what happened. It was just that the king sent me to gain their loyalty and I was trying to get them to listen and-"

"The king ordered you to slay the Fae?" Merkos tilted his head at him, eyes wide as his mouth began to tug downwards in thought. "And you fought them? They said a third of their population..."

"It..."

It sounded so awful when Merkos phrased it like that, but it wasn't that bad, was it?

No, it couldn't have been.

Slaughter wouldn't have sent an excited thrill down his spine as he remembered carving through them, one by one. It wouldn't make his lips twitch upwards even now, bringing a sense of elated pride through his heart. No. He had done wrong, and he wouldn't deny that any longer, but slaughter? Slaughter implied killing hundreds of people. There would be regret if that were true. That had just been taking down his enemies. "It was necessary. I fought them before they could betray the kingdom. I didn't have a choice."

It had been the right thing, he knew that. He wasn't some evil creature who would take cruel, twisted enjoyment from a massacre, so why were his hands shaking almost as much as his voice?

"And now the king is after you too?" Alaina prompted.

"Yes."

"...I just asked because I wanted to know who your enemies were." The Warden sighed, tugging his fingers through his brown hair if only to slick it out of his face. "Although it seems like roughly everyone at this rate."

"R-right." Xoris scratched his teeth nervously. "... Which is why I should probably get going. I already told you the news I came for, and I can't have you deal with all that." Anything was better than putting them in danger. He turned to the stairs, preparing to gather his things.

"Wait!" Luina was already up, taking hold of his wrist. "Where would you even go? I don't want you to leave. It's not safe out there. What if... what if they kill you?" Tears were shining in her eyes, desperate as they clung to her child, unable to handle the concept of losing yet another.

A certain line of logic played out in his thoughts at her words. ...Where would I even go? The Fae had mentioned that they had gone to his home, so they knew where he lived, and he doubted they had left it untouched, if they even left it there at all.

A pang shot through him at the idea of losing everything he'd even owned, and worked hard on. He'd had countless notes, books, even a story concept of his own that he'd kept in a private journal. He'd been overly critical of the concept, for sure, and at times viewed it as a pitiful attempt at creative writing, but having it destroyed? After countless turns of focus, rewriting and dedication?

His stomach plummeted. It felt like the whole world was against him, so where could he go? His gaze drifted down to his hands, the scar on his left trembling. Am I to just... live outside, like a Beast?

"Can't you just stay here? We'll protect you, I'll get food for you... whatever you need, at least until you aren't wanted anymore?" Luina's gaze flicked between her husband and Xoris at this. "Please. I can't just let you go out there to be killed for some kind of vengeance that wasn't even your fault."

"But..." he trailed, looking at everyone's fearful faces, raw from crying, bags under their eyes from the general lack of sleep. He had caused this. "I don't want to intrude... or-" The sight of Fae blood on his hands and the savoury taste of Human flesh filled him for a moment, rows of fangs beginning to push out of his gums as much as he tried to force them back. Or do anything.

"Nonsense Xoris!" Merkos called out from the couch. "I'm... I'm sure it'll be fine. Just like old times!"

"Yes, like old times," Luina echoed, hands fumbling to untangle her already straight hair. "Really, it's no trouble at all."

A general chorus of agreement began to fill the room as his family nodded along. Something about their smiles seemed... strange, but they were finally happy. Accepting. In fact, the more he looked at them, the more normal they all seemed. Surely nothing was wrong then. Xoris winced a bit, offering up a smile of his own.

Right. This was his family. He could just stay here, where he belonged. Why had he ever thought otherwise?

"Why are we going to keep a monster?"

Everyone turned their head to look at Naeh, sitting on the floor with a nonchalant look on her face.

"Ah! Naeh dear! How could you say such a thing?" Luina reprimanded her, scooping her small frame up off the floor. She brought the child over to Xoris, as if having a better look at him would change her mind. "I know you've only just met, but I raised him, just like you. He's... not a monster, and I want you to treat him like you would Asim, or Ifeh, or anyone else in the fort. There's no difference."

"But it's dangerous. It's not my brother at all." The child's golden eyes scrutinised him for a moment, her gaze making him flinch more. Part of him wished she hadn't said anything at all, that he could just go back to everyone else's open arms, but in the same turn, Xoris couldn't exactly argue with her.

His stomach clenched in anxiety at the idea of continuing to stay but... I want to. And after all, why couldn't he have both? Live as both a Stained, and a Human? No one said it had to be a choice.

With that he extended a hand to pat the girl's bright red hair, even as she wrenched her head away. He went to smile again, comforting this time as he made sure to retract any extra teeth fighting their way out. "You simply need to give me the chance to be a brother to you. I'll prove myself, for sure, so just give me the time and patience for that, all right?" he asked.

Then he turned to the rest of his family, the smile extending to a confident grin. The more he thought about it, the less reasoning he could find as to why he shouldn't. Where was the harm in sleeping in his old room, sharing meals with the ones he loved? It wasn't as though he was some violent creature with no control over himself. Any thought he'd ever had was just that– a thought– one that he could shove off like anything else. The incident at the castle, Rajul... they were mistakes, but this was it. This was his opportunity to move on from that. 

"In fact, I'll be a better sibling to everyone, because I think I will stay."