Chapter Nineteen

Babysitting

I paced around our cottage, my tails snapping behind me. Nalithor was still asleep but I had been up for an hour or two already. The more I thought about the way Sihix had taken over the situation and dealt with it himself rubbed me the wrong way. Nalithor and I were meant to work together as Balance. That much I knew. How we were meant to do that when the Lari’xan kept doing our job for us was another matter entirely.

“Ari-mrii,” Sihix whined, appearing in front of me and blocking my path. He leaned against the wall and looked down at me, pouting. “You’re distracting me with all those hot-headed thoughts of yours! Killing Lari’xan isn’t easy, you know. Of course, I will enjoy it if you decide to try.”

“I’m not going to try to kill you.” I snorted, crossing my arms at the smirking deity. “It’s just…why are you doing our job?”

“Well, dealing with a Lari’xan is a little beyond your realm of expertise,” Sihix answered, shifting slightly so I could move past him. He followed me toward the kitchen, continuing, “Oraetha is unstable and you have an affinity for wind. It was best for me to take care of the matter quickly. We can’t have Balance become unstable as well.

“The beast hearts were destroyed, as were the guards and their facilities.”

“Yes, yes, I’m sure you were thorough—but what about next time?” I stalked over to the pantry. “Isn’t Balance supposed to make it so the Lari’xan don’t have to interfere themselves?”

“Oh, Ari-mrii, we’re here to support you, not foist all our work onto you!” Sihix laughed, squeezing me around the shoulders. “Besides, taking on a Lari’xan is not something we expect you to do. Nor are you capable of it. Our intention is for you to help us find the prisons—let us deal with what is inside of them.”

“You think there may be more with ‘too much’ of a Lari’xan trapped inside?” I frowned, watching Sihix stroll over to the kitchen table.

“Indeed. I am considering assigning someone else to the task of finding them all,” Sihix replied, stretching out in a chair. He crossed one leg over the other and shot me a dangerous smile. “While I would enjoy watching you and Nalithor lose yourselves to your instincts within more of those contraptions, there is plenty of other work we need you to do.”

I sighed in agitation and began making breakfast. Sihix was making plenty of sense, so I found it difficult to argue with him.

“Make enough for me too, Ari-mrii?” Sihix drawled.

“Maybe if you tell me what other work you have in mind.” I glared at him over my shoulder.

“We want you to find the missing Zehylor children and the Exiles that are supposedly hiding in Falrrsald.” Sihix motioned with one hand. “If you deal with the prisons as well, you won’t be returning to Dauthrmir anytime soon—and we need you to return there in a timely fashion.”

“Zehylor kids and ‘Exiles.’ Right.” I grimaced. “You don’t want us to get involved with the prisons at all?”

“If you happen across them, contact me of course.” Sihix laughed. “That is where your involvement should end. I won’t have my favorites risking themselves by getting in over their heads.”

“You really believe that dealing with the prisons is too dangerous for us?” Nalithor’s groggy rumble made me glance over my shoulder again. He sat heavily across from Sihix before shooting me a subtle smile when he caught me staring.

“If pieces of Lari’xan weren’t involved, it would be fine,” Sihix answered, adopting a more serious tone. “My impression is that the bastards running the prisons will pull more and more of our power into them now that we’ve made such overt moves against them. If I hadn’t joined you, Ari-mrii would have lost herself to Oraetha’s power. We have to assume the other prisons may be worse.”

“Then, it is more efficient for the Lari’xan to deal with Lari’xan problems,” Nalithor murmured as I walked over to set tea between them. “Regarding the missing Zehylor children, we have no leads to work with. The same can be said for the pocket of Exiles that supposedly resides here.”

“Well, that isn’t entirely true. We know that they were skirting the border with Vorpmasia,” I pointed out, returning to cooking breakfast. “Do we want to retrace their steps from the Suthsul Desert and follow the border north?”

“Ari-mrii, pancakes!” Sihix whined, crossing his arms on top of the table and plopping his head down on top of them. “I’ve done so much work! I want a reward.”

‘When did my role as a deity turn into babysitting?’ I sighed and finished cooking breakfast while Nalithor and Sihix conversed. They discussed possible places the Exiles could be hiding, whether the Exiles were even Exiles, and why the Zehyloran demigods had been kidnapped in the first place. “So, we need to loop around to the south some more before heading east and then north?”

“Yes, we’re still quite far from the border with the Suthsul Desert,” Nalithor replied, sliding an arm around my waist once I drew close enough. He pulled me over to him and maintained his grip on me while I placed platters of food on the table. When it became clear he wasn’t going to let go, I levitated the remaining ones over from the counter. “Even so, are you certain you no longer need our presence here, Sihix?”

“Hmmm?” Sihix paused with a pancake hanging out of his mouth. “Your fwuffies can ‘elp me jus’ fine.”

“Honestly. Eat before talking.” I huffed, crossing my arms.

Nalithor guided me into the seat beside him, pulling me closer to his hip with his tail. I pouted and piled food onto my plate.

“Should we destroy the chambers first?” Nalithor narrowed his eyes at Sihix.

“No, I want the Vorpmasians to study the contraptions.” Sihix shook his head. “Troublesome as they are, they will be useful.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” I gave Sihix a look, earning a mischievous smirk in reply. “Try not to cause more chaos for us before we’ve fixed your mess, won’t you?”

“But you thrive in chaos, Ari-mrii!” Sihix cooed, motioning at me with his fork. “The more trouble I stir up for you, the better.”

“If you never want her to finish doing her job, certainly,” Yiltanys stated, appearing beside Sihix and grabbing the Lari’xan of darkness by the ear. “Do not create more work for them. At least, not until they’ve righted most of the current situations they must deal with for us.”

I eyed the two Lari’xan warily, watching as they walked out of the kitchen. Soon after, I heard the front door of the cottage close. Nalithor released an irritated sigh and leaned against me.

“I believe that was Yiltanys’ attempt at telling us to get moving,” Nalithor commented.

“I think so too,” I grumbled before wolfing down my food. “I’ll go get our things ready, if you want to go give the Vulin new orders.”

“Very well. Meet me outside when you’re ready.”

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