Elder Mash"noth summarily dismissed the others, repeatedly urging them to leave Lars behind in her care. She even released Lars from his bonds with a deft swipe of her claws, slicing apart the steel-like fibres of the hardened rope like it were made of weeds.In response, Zera"s hunting party as well as the Elder"s guards and servants protested greatly, repeatedly urging her in return that she should keep some of them around for safety.
Finally, sickened by the endless worried badgering, Elder Mash"noth exploded in rage, manifesting a wall of wind that buffeted everyone away. Some of the people crashed into the walls, while others flew out the windows and door into the streets. Only Elder Mash"noth"s personal guards could stay on their feet; even Katya and Gatyon were knocked sprawling to the ground.
Sir Kenneth on the other hand stood safely outside the door, leaning against the st.u.r.dy walls of the Divine Beast"s abode. He was virtually untouched. At most, some of his hairs were blown awry, nothing a casual swipe of the hand couldn"t fix.
He had wisely chosen to step outside and avoid annoying the taciturn lady… Taciturn cat…
"Good riddance! Which one of you toddlers is stronger than me in the first place?!? And do you think this harmless noodle, this weak-sauce excuse for a boy could even pull out a single one of my whiskers?!? What do you think I am, a weak old lady?!? I"m a Divine Beast, the second strongest person in this entire district!"
She then signalled with her eyes for her two guards to see the rest of the entourage out and turned away to continue her interrogation of the Outsider.
The ashen-faced people around could only smile in self-deprecation at their attempt to "protect" their mighty Divine Beast guardian from harm. They dusted themselves off once more and hesitated for a moment, before turning to leave at the urging of Mash"noth"s guards. No-one was hurt – they were merely stunned for a moment by the strong gust of wind.
After herding everyone out and shutting the door, her two silent and stoic guards then walked off into one of the rooms, leaving Lars face to face with the tiny house-pet – one who could easily rip his head off and use it as her kitty litter…
Lars" shoulders tensed up, once more sizing up the miniscule creature while Elder Mash"noth sat on her hind legs with eyes closed, grooming a few stray hairs on her paws, using her saliva to smoothen down her fur.
However, though she looked casual and relaxed doing this, an unseen pressure fell on Lars and he felt the back of s.h.i.+rt grow wet with sweat. He felt as if though every move, every thought of his were being laid bare before the cat…
"Is this… A special ability of her race…? To see through thoughts and lies… Wait, no – that can"t be! If that were the case, I"d already be ripped to ribbons for thinking that"s she"s just a cute floofy kitty…" Lars gulped and resisted the urge to let out a breath of relief, afraid that it would betray his inner thoughts.
"It looks like she"s just really perceptive… But I need to figure out why she immediately guessed I"m not from this world… And what story to tell…!"
Faster than any other human possibly could, Lars" spared a moment to thank G.o.d that he could still access his soul-imprint, despite not having any mana to use any spells. He then utilised his gift of Alacrity to the utmost, mind spinning frantically to form the best possible response.
At this time, his gift proved valuable, allowing Lars to sort hundreds of observations and pieces of information together. Every single fact or shred of info was observed, a.s.sessed, sorted and pieced together at 10 times the speed of a normal person"s thought – and finally he reached a conclusion – one that made Lars sigh for the umpteenth time this day, shoulders drooping in resignation.
"In this situation… The only thing I can do is to be forthright… Based on the townpeoples" reactions thus far, they wholly and fully trust the Truthstone… Which means they don"t plan to eliminate me before bringing me before it… My only worry is whether this Divine Beast here will let me live until then…"
Seeming to have realised that Lars was ready to speak, the snow-white feline wrapped up her grooming and wrinkled her nose before placing her gaze upon Lars.
"…Yes, I"m not from this world." Lars spoke carefully and calmly, trusting in his a.n.a.lysis and instincts that the truth would be the best policy; one that set him free.
He was met with the same gaze, the pair of limpid bright eyes only slightly wizened and wrinkled at the edges, with tiny crows" feet at the corners of her eyes.
Seeing that she was waiting for him to continue, Lars carried on.
"I come from a world of magic. I discovered a curious pathway, a hole in the ground that led to a realm with clues of relics of past ages and unique wildlife. And so…"
Lars licked his dry lips before continuing.
"And so I stepped in to the unknown pa.s.sage."
Lars paused, stopping for any questions. The pair of eyes before him blinked slowly, once, then twice; processing his words before nodding slightly.
"And then…?"
"…I… Entered a – a world of… Horror…" Lars" breathing became faster and more shallow as he spoke.
"A world… Of horror…?" Mash"noth began to have a bad, bad feeling at those words. She felt as if though the skin on her body were p.r.i.c.kly all over. If a cat could frown, this cat would have frowned a valley with her eyebrows.
Lars" shook slightly before he continued: "…A world of eyes. Endless eyes… And a creature without any…"
At these words, Mash"noth"s hairs really did begin to stand on end, and unconsciously she began to circulate her powers, as if to protect herself from the creature in the story the boy told.
"N-nothing I could do could hurt it or stop it. I couldn"t escape. And there was this dark altar, whenever I looked at it, I felt the skin all over by body crawling and my heart constricted as if in a vise…"
Lars stopped. All that was heard was the sound of breathing; one from a man and one from a cat.
"And, and then…? What happened…? How – how did you escape…?"
"…I ran… I ran, and ran and ran… But no matter how much I ran…" Lars began to sway back and forth in his chair, eyes becoming unfocused and mind frayed. He had his arms wrapped around himself, as if though comforting himself and to ward away the imaginary cold.
He wondered if it were just his imagination, but the flesh around his wound seemed to be wriggling. It wasn"t opening up or bleeding anymore but… Wriggling. Closing up. As if though it had come to life with his words.
Gasping, he continued almost subconsciously, reliving the fear.
"I ran! I ran and ran…! But no matter how much… No… No matter how or where or when I ran, I would always end up coming back to the same place…! Then…!"
He was panting by now, breathing raggedly and breaking out into cold sweat. It felt as if the room around them were dark and gloomy despite it still being high noon outside – the lights seemed to be swallowed up by the shadows around. His eyes darted around madly to the darkness in the rooms, the shadows. He thought he could see an – No! He could see the shadows squirming!
Blinking frantically, Lars tried to clear his head. He blinked once and the shadows were still again.
And then he blinked again and the shadows reached out to him and he screamed.
"NO!!!!! I"M DYING, NO! NO NO NO NO! ARGH!!!"
"Boy! BOY! Listen to me! It"s alright! You escaped! You"re safe here, don"t let it – don"t let the Taint corrupt your soul!" Lars couldn"t see it at that moment, so caught up in his trauma he was, but Mash"noth, the Divine Beast, burst out in a golden, burning warm flame that shot forth towards the shadowy tendrils.
The shadows recoiled the moment they were struck by the beams of light, as if encountering their greatest bane and were swept away by the glorious rays of divine dawn. In the blink of an eye, the shadows melted away, leaving behind only a single spot on the ground – like a runic shape of a black shadowy flame surrounding the outline of an eye.
Eyes closed, breathing deeply but slowly calming down, Lars" gulped in the air he thought he would never taste again and found himself continuing.
"I… I-I thought everything was over… Until a voice came, with a light and a golden bright fire…"
Lars opened his eyes weakly and looked to the white cat beside him who was still glowing in golden warmth, as if though comforting him and reminding him of her divine power and presence.
He found himself able to regulate his breathing and regain his strength, sitting back upright in his chair again and pushed himself to finish his story.
"And… Then I ran again… And found myself… Lost… I headed towards the nearest town, this, this homestead but I was captured by the Lady and…"
Lars calmed down as he reached this part, his shaking having stopped and eyes regaining their focus. He felt an itchy feeling on his lower back, right where the bite wound was, but he ignored it.
He couldn"t understand it, but as Mash"noth sat by his side, he felt comforted. He felt… Protected…
Warmth…
Safety…
Home.
His mouth opened, remaining open without the words coming out for a moment.
And then the words came out.
"I… I feel lost… I"ve lost all my strength and powers and… I don"t know how to go back to my family, my home, my people who need me…"
Lars" eyes began to fill with tears – tears he thought he had forgotten in the depravity of the Death Arena, tears he thought had been seared out of him with the countless lives he had reaped by his sword, by his hands, by his spells.
Somehow, somewhere, he felt…
He could open up and trust this cat…?
"But… What if I"m… Wrong… Like Robin… Like Gardner… Like…"
"Like my parents in this life and the last…"
"What if I betray myself…"
As if sensing his turbulent heart and thoughts, Elder Mash"noth jumped back onto his lap, snuggled up against his chest and let out soothing wisps of light and air, bathing him in comfort, as if a grandmother comforting her child.
"It"s ok… Shhh… Just relax… We"ll… We"ll take care of you and help you find your way home…" Mash"noth sighed as she swallowed the rage she felt against the Tainted Ones who stole so many lives and corrupted many others. Then she purred and rubbed her head the boy"s chin, nuzzling herself against the poor, lost teenage boy as he cried and hugged her back – a bit roughly, but she didn"t mind.