The Rokkaia Chronicles

by Rhys Thomas

“What’s going up?” I asked more to myself as I made through the escaping crowd of waggoneers.

  Bowls were scattered and dashed to the ground as people rushed for cover, at the centre of all this, stood a small trog child. And before him was a Venyin man wielding a broken mug. The child was making distressed chirping noises’ as it clutched at its wounded and bloody arm.

  “Is that...” I heard Ariana say from behind me, but I was gone in an instant as the man stepped forward, to take another swing at the lizard-kid.

  Sprinting and shortening the distance I sprung up behind the man grab his arm with my right as he cocked it to swing as my left shot forward and I gripped the back of his neck. Then I bodily lifted the man and spun; throwing him behind me onto the ground.

  There was stunned gasp, as the Venyin watched me bodily handle one of their own with force. I saw Ariana walked by and place her booted foot on the back of the prone man’s head, pushing it deeper into the sloshy snow.

  And placing myself in-front of the trog child, I glared at the cowardly audience with a disgusted shake of my head.

  “You should all be ashamed of yourselves,” I shouted at them, turning away. “How I pity their unkind hearts, they’re more monster than you are,” I told the trog boy. His height reaching to just about beneath my waist. The trog child’s eyes were wide and frightened. Now that I had a better look; I saw that his face was more lizard-like and its scales were similarly to his mothers, though they were a darker shade.

  Small red tipped black feathers leafed out in a fan from behind his ears, his eyes were the most expressive thing I had ever seen. The green was so crystalline that it shun like a gleaming gem. Kneeling down to a knee in-front of the child I waited, he wore similar clothing to his mother, just without anything to cover his torso. Two of his four webbed hands and sharped black clawed fingers were curled into one another, as the other was clinging to the wounded arm.

  I held out my own hand and couldn’t fight the small kind smile I held for him. This meeting I knew; would change my life for the better.

  Hand in hand we moved through the still, quiet camp and made our way for Hurallan wagons, the old man looked amused, when he looked from me to the trog child and back again, then nodded his head imperceptibly.

  I stepped to the side as the child climbed the steps up into the wagon, he hesitated just briefly but with a glance up at me he looked back down and moved forward.

  I sent out a mental warning to Marisa who was still out hunting, communicating across the bond that we had a visitor. Ariana was just closing the door behind her when I let go the child’s hand and went about removing the furs. Instantly I felt him clawing at my body, it was frantic but not harmful in anyway. Looking down I saw that he was trying to grab hold of hand again.

  I looked to Ariana who had already finished removing the blanket she’d worn outside. Moving past me she gave me a cocked eyebrow and a smirk. With a barely audible sigh I lamented my days to come as a babysitter.

  ~*~*~*~

  Night came and with it, the weakness. I was out on patrol in the dark, it was hard as shit to see as everything was just snow and darkness and more snow. And it was all to the point where I was sick of it.

  “Who goes there?” I shouted out, as I saw a figure come around the wagons. The flurry and darkness gave me only vague impressions of shapes just beyond sight. I cursed my own stupidity, because I realised that I was that idiot-guy about to be made dead for saying who goes there.

  “Jooonnaaathan,” came a voice. It travelled across to me in a musical tone, the voice, or the imitation of a voice I knew well. It was Marisa’s. Shivering in fright I knew it wasn’t really her. Marisa hadn’t regained her human form yet, and I knew that even then, she wouldn’t approach without sending me a mental caress first.

  Then a large leaping shadow; swallowed the figure whole.

  I blinked and thought about chasing after it, “fuck that idiot idea,” I exclaimed into the night. These fuckers were back.

  “Jonathan!” The words came from directly behind me, Louise’s harsh demanding tones. I froze, feeling a clamp settle around my heart. What is going on, I gave a mental cry, spinning about and waving my torch at… Nothing. My torch passed through a formation of swirling snow.

  Then laughter drifted on the wind, mocking me for my madness. Was I honestly going crazy? No, I didn’t believe I was. The Sa’teigy or skin-walkers as the Venyin called them were back and taunting me with their illusions.

  “I know you’re out there,” I hissed. “Jonathan,” I whirled around flashing out with my torch. “Jonathan,” came another. “Jonathan-Jonathan-Jonathan,” the wind kept whispering my name and all I wanted was to curl up and run from this madness. But I’d faced the Sa’teigy a last night. Their true form was a large gangly figure with skin the colour of dark purple rotting flesh and arms that hung off its muscular frame down to its knees.

  They were seven feet in height and were covered in patches of matted fur with a large distended; bulbous stomach like they were incredible bloated and had a deer skull for a head with a nest of six pointed antlers. Their elongated bony snout would clack as the hollow sockets where their eyes used to be scanned the environment.

  Hurallan had explained to me that they were blind, and hunted others by feeding on their fear, and using their other senses to track down prey. I caught myself before shouting out in anger.

  It wasn’t my name anymore and they were dead.

  *Marisa!* I gave a mental cry, hoping she was would come to my aid. Before I lost myself to past memories. I had enough dealing with the intrusive memory’s from Wyatt, but the mix and blend of my own fear and anger was causing a swell inside of me.

  “Alaric?” Came a call and I spun to the voice half expecting to be confronted with the dead orbed visage of a dear skull.

  *Aria should be their soon,* came Marisa mental reply. Much to my relief. I had only survive my previous encounter’s with the Sa’teigy; because I had lost myself to raw anger and had lashed out in fright of my building fear. “Aria,” I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of my beautiful violet eyed companion. She was wrapped to the nines in furs and was holding her axe Thion at her side. “Thank god your here,” I said; reaching over to pat her shoulder, “and thank god your real.”

  “O-kay. From that I can only guess we’re dealing with something that is either a shapeshifter, or can form illusions or hallucinations,” She replied sounding unsure at first.

  “Yeah. Skin-walkers’ or Sa’teigy,” I replied, sliding my gaze back to the encroaching darkness surrounding the Venyin camp.

  “Shit, Sa’teigy are mind fuckers,” Ariana cursed from my side.

  I let out a light chuckle, trying to forget the verbal haunting torture I’d just received. “Yep, straight up fuck with your fears. Good thing they’re physically weak though,” I said and caught Aria nods out of the corner of eye.

  “Really wish you had told me now,” she grumbled at me. “I would’ve easily stayed inside. Alright; I’ll survey the other side, then we’ll give it till the 11th strike, then we’ll swap.” I nodded in affirmation. I really wasn’t the planner of our merry little band, more of the make shit up as I go along guy, and really hope it doesn’t get me killed. An hour passed and we swapped positions, yet no attacks came.

  “I’ll think they’ll attack just before dawn,” I hissed to Aria as I passed by her. “My thought’s exactly,” she whispered back. The snow was easing up now and I moved my limbs about constantly to remove any stiffness that was building.

  I got so bored that I started to mess about with my power, trying to contact my delve without going into a meditative trance. I try to picture my delve within my mind’s eye. I could feel its presents like a physical force within my mind. But it was hidden from me with the thinnest of veils to conceal it. Yet no matter how hard I willed or pushed; the veil simply wouldn’t give.

  “Am I overthinking it?” I asked aloud. Was I so caught up in the minutia of understanding
it all piece by piece, that I couldn’t see the forest for the trees.

  I heard a rustling from nearby and my attention instantly snapped to the disturbance. Crunch! I heard branches snap and the frosted snow being crushed as a Sa’teigy stepped out of the darkness and into the exterior area of our campsite.

  Bending down I gently as possible stab my torch into the ground. The wind would causing the candle housing’s, that hung off a hook protruding from one of the wagons to rattle noisily as the metal sheath, clinked and clanked.

  I brought out my trusty falchion, warping the weapon to hand noiselessly. “Jo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o,” came the stuttering voice I didn’t know; though it felt familiar. The Flurrying winds and snow abated even further, like the Sa’teigy present was calling it back. Squinting through blurry eyes at the forest behind the Skin-walker, I spotted several taller figures, though they hung back. The snout of the Sa’teigy skull clacked repeatedly, and I was certain it knew I was here.

  I closed my eyes and took a step forward, the ground crunching beneath my booted feet. My grip on the sword tightened a fraction.

  “None of it’s real, none of it’s real. None. Of this. Is real…” I repeated like mantra in a coarse whisper as I approached it slowly.

  “Jonathan?”

  “None of it’s real,”

  “I’m burnin,’ Johnny,” came Michael, his voice at least. It was a hoarse and dry sounding thing and it grated against my soul. Then I felt anger, no, fuck anger I felt an unceasing torrent of rage. It thundered and drummed up the entirety of my body.

  I knew I couldn’t give into the rage, but these fuckers kept taunting me with their shitty-little whispering words. I inhaled counted and exhaled, the cold climate making it so that every other breath felt like it was being squeezed through a flat straw.

  The clanking of the Sa’teigys bone snout grew closer. Then sounds assailed my hearing, clawing at my brain, slipping and sliding across the surface of my mind.

  Music of turbulent madness accosted my very essence like a slimy oil spill. I had no clue what they were, or from what manner of beast they originated. But it’s haunted wail was filled with madness and unbridled anger.

  My eyes shot open, and I stood surrounding by darkness. “Maylith?” said a voice in the darkness. It was familiar to me, aged in its warm tones. But there something else there now, a sense of despair creeping through the darkness.

  “I am sorry,” said a different voice, it sounded discordant and oily, and made my skin crawl.

  “What’ve done? No. No, no, no, I can’t feel her brother. Maylith?”

  “Her aether is with me now Rokkaia, as will be yours soon enough. Again, I am terribly sorry. It has to be this way,” and a part believe he meant it. Then a wail of grief and betrayal shook my soul and send it spiralling through the darkness.

  “Whadda you call them?” Came a young girls voice, it was playful and young. I could imagine the speaker practically skipping on the spot in excitement.

  “They’re called the Sti’gry, little one.”

  “Whadda they do uncle?” The girl asked, and the man’s voice laughed lightly. I could feel how immense the gratitude and warmth he felt being called uncle by this girl was.

  “Well Sal, they eat our nightmare, so that we may sleep ever peacefully. My brother made them,” I could hear the awe and pride he felt in that achievement.

  “Uhm, I don’t like him, uncle. He scares us,” the little girls’ voice quivered.

  The man sighed an expansive breath, “honestly little one, he’s scares me and Maylith as well.”

  Then a clap rang through the darkness, as the ceiling opened up into a vortex of swirling and crackling dark clouds. Two beady red pricks shone from the opening of the vortex. Then light appear, though faint crept into the periphery of my vision.

  I heard a muffled scream. Then another clap rang out. The jaws of the Sa’teigy slid off my face, and I came to full awareness realising that I was on my back in the snow.

  The dark blanket of sky above, as flakes the size of moths fluttered down with a listless grace. The Sa’teigy had been sucking on my fear only, so I felt fine. A little disorientated, due to the fact that I was sure I had been standing mere moments ago.

  “Ally, are you okay?” Ariana stood over me her axe gleaming oddly in the shadows occasionally casted by the torches on the ground beside us.

  Ally? I frown at the name. “Yes?” Then surer of myself I answered again, “yeah, just did a dumb-stupid thing,” I said, trying not to convey how befuddled I felt.

  “Well, don’t just lie there. I saw at least 2 or 3 more out in the woods,” she teases me and began to annoyingly kick and nudge her boot into my side.

  “Stop stepping on me, I get it. I’m getting up.”

  “Thought you liked being stepped on,” she said coyly, and I groaned.

  “Uhhh....,” I trailed off as I looked around for my sword. Finding it buried in the hollow eye socket of the Sa’teigy skull, that Aria had most definitely kill. Considering that the two halves of its body were twitching like an addict in need of a fix. “Gross,” I muttered as I bent to dislodge the blade.

  “Yeah well, maybe next time I’ll politely ask it to not eat your face,” Aria said, then flicked Thion to spin around her fingers.

  “I fucked up,” I said sheepishly.

  “You’re not really one for the whole thinking thing are you,” she replied with a cocked eyebrow.

  “Not particularly. I have some pretty shitty luck as well,” I said coming to stand by Ariana. “You killed one, so maybe they’ll leave us be,” I said hopefully. Scanning the deeper shadows of the forest and looking for any movements or something out of place. Expect I couldn’t see anything that stood out. “Do you think them being in this area has anything to do with why the goblins were here as well?” I asked Ariana.

  The Valakharian scout shook her head, “no idea. We’ve few monsters on Pyhronia that are here on Haroxi. But they’re smaller in numbers compared to here,” she answered.

  I nodded and gave up on staring into in forest, “I think they’ve left us for now at least.” The night kept on till the early grey light of pre-dawn hued the sky. “You good to stick around for a few hours more?” I asked Ariana.

  “Yes. Go and meditate, I’ve got this. Oh, and send Marisa my way as well,” she replied with a nod of her head.

  “Sure,” I agreed, and turned away just as she was unwrapping the layers around her head. Her black braid falling out as she tugged on it. Her ivory skin looked tender in the cold and early light of day. Then I saw the gaara tattoo slivering up her neck and spreading out in a web towards her eyes. Like a female Venom, I thought a bit jealously.

  Nodding smartly, I made my way around the campsite and to our wagon. Hurallan sat outside as he stirred a bubbling pot with a wooden ladle. He grinned at me when he noticed my approach. “Morning,” I greeted amicably.

  “Morning back, I heard them again last night. Any problems?” he asked.

  “Na, same thing as last time. Kill one and the other’s ran after.”

  He nodded at my words, “aye. It’s odd. What with all the things wondering this far north, especially with winter approaching as it is,” he said rubbing at his chin thoughtfully. I nodded stepping past him. Hurallan was a good man, and one I felt that knew more than he was letting on. But the old man was kind to us, so I wouldn’t push him.

  Though as of now, I was barely resisting the urge to not question Marisa and demand some answers.

  The things I was feeling, and have seen, the name I kept remembering and repeating constantly in the back of my mind. Rokkaia, who or what? I didn’t know. And something told me that this had nothing to do with Wyatt’s memories. Which felt like a peanut at the back of my mind compared to this new development.

  It was all connected somehow, and the one who had my answers was Marisa I was sure.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Inside I found Marisa slumbering, with Sishshik, the trog boy sat
cross-legged against the opposite wall from the wagon’s entrance. As I stepped through the threshold the troglodyte child sprung from his seat and ran to me. I caught him as he leapt at me, hugging me fiercely.

  I patted the trog child on the back awkwardly, “hey, Sishshik. You keeping Marisa company?” I asked the little trog-boy. He nodded enthusiastically, though Sishshik didn’t speak any language that I knew for that matter. He understood everything I or Ariana had said to him.

  Occasionally he would make a low strange warbling sound deep in his throat that made his chin rattle. Other times, he would chirp or whistle seeming more bird-like than any lizard. He began to chitter a series of whistling chirps excitedly at me.

  *Aria wants a word with you,* I thought loudly to the slumbering dragonling. Her predatory eyes barely shifted open as her head swivelled to glare at me, I smiled.

  *You know… If I didn’t love you so much, I would’ve eaten you by now,* she replied as a low hiss of air escaped her lips.

  Sishshik scooted around my hip from where I held him, he patted me on the hand when he saw that Marisa was awake. Dropping him down, the trog-boy moved over to Marisa and started smoothing down her feathers and scratching at her scales with all four of his arms, chittering all the while.

  Marisa practically preened at the attention, *see. At least someone here is well trained,* she thought haughtily at me. I smirked as I began to strip off my furs and armour, instead of warping them to my inventory I placed them on a dry rack over a heated bed of coals burning softly in a bowl. Unfortunately, my dimensional plane didn’t dry my clothing.

  *Please, I’ll have you know that I’ve trained enough for the petting I want to do to you. You’ll just need to regain your human form first,* I replied and heard her deep chested purring falter then pick up again.

  *You sure you don’t want me to stay? You know - in case you start torching up the place,* she asked me.

  I scowled at her lack of confidence in me, *I’ve been doing fine these last couple of days,* I replied and threw off all my gear, warping my falchion to my inventory. *What would you say if I told; I may be over-thinking this whole power-control-thing,* I informed her.