Part VII

(Solias)

"People of Haluen, please calm yourselves!" My voice projects across the temple space and out into the field towards the villagers. "We will have a gathered meeting for this situation."

"And when will that be, tomorrow!?" A villager shouts above me. "What if the fuune have us all by then!?"

A great roar booms from the villagers as they protest.

"The meeting will be held today, just please give us a few moments to gather our thoughts and facts." I try to speak above them with some victory.

They all grumble at me for more information.

"Listen, I understand that we don't have much time, I want to handle this as soon as possible, but we must also keep our heads and think before we act." The quiet finally hovers over us and I take that as my cue to leave. "Now please go and take care of one another as I come up with a strategy." I turn to walk back into the temple and come back to Shuute with Lord Thir.

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Solai slowly hides herself underneath the white horizon of Talious. All the men in the village prepare their weapons and stand by the icy walls to protect their home. Araius rises upwards into the sky to begin his reign of the night and Kranos. No one is sure of what will happen now or when it will, but there is an event that will explode out of slumber at any moment.

Shuute remains back at the temple since he is the one being targeted by our enemy, and if they want him they have to kill me first. I'm not sure what exactly this all leads down to, but I will fight for Solai.

The cold breeze freezes our warm breaths as we exhale. Stillness fills the land as Araius hangs over us.

I wonder if the gods are aware of this, of the plan that Kranos devises to overthrow them. A quick prayer runs through my mind as I wait for the enemy, if they decide to come tonight.

"Solias." One of the guards whispers to me.

I look to where he points and spot a fuune. Being cautious, I signal the others to hold steady. The beast is most likely a trap for the others to snatch us. If w attack now, then we're doomed for sure.

More fuune begin to emerge from the snow and wander about on the other side of the wall. In the distance I see a familiar figure coming closer until it becomes more distinctive. It's Uriu, just standing there charismatically and with no tension in his demeanor at all. If he's waiting for the right moment to attack, then he clearly did not think this through properly. All we have to do is wait until Solai arises again.

All through the night he and his army lie dormant at the gate starring back at us. They must be waiting for the day when Araius blinds Solai, which must mean that the day is coming soon, possibly even tomorrow. Does he honestly plan to kidnap Shuute just in time for that? What is their plan?...

My eyes grow heavy as the hours elongate the night, but I continue to glare at Uriu with my full attention while he snickers at me with his tyrannous smile. For a split second, only a short time, do I look towards to horizon and see the beams of Solai coming from underneath.

Uriu takes this opportunity to charge towards us and run up the tall and slick village wall. His sight is on me, I can feel it. He suddenly appears in front of me, balancing with his knees bent as his legs are split to be on the outside of me. Uriu heel palms my chin and then grabs me by the hips. He pushes us both off of the wall outside of the village and lightly throws me to the ground.

I quickly twirl to see a fuune trying to catch me and I immediately point the tip of my spear at it. The blade pierces through its body in a slight angle which gives me some advantage to the height of the others. I do my best to kill as many fuune as I can and the other villagers come down quickly to do the same. There's just so many of them, but we have to hold out so that Shuute will be safe!

A hand suddenly grabs the back of my neck and brings me to a stop. "You'll be very useful to us." I hear Uriu hiss as he tightens his grip on my neck. He lifts me up from the ground and sends in a rushing breeze.

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"But Noegi, you promised!"

I always bugged my cousin about his devotion to me. I was such a young and foolish child then. He was my big brother... Now I have Shuute to protect me... Shuute...

Who's that in front of me? That's not Shuute... My world begins to sway all over the place again. I'm back to the large puddle, or rather, contrasting sky... That figure from before is here again... Who is that? I know that person... Noegi?... How can you be here?

Water suddenly engulfs me into submersion and I awake with a jolt. A breath of fresh air quickly fills my lungs as I take in my surroundings.

"Geez, you humans are pathetic," Uriu exclaims as he puts a wooden bucket down, "I don't know why Solai wants to protect you creatures so badly."

Once again, I'm chained to a table. "How will this help you accomplish anything?"

With his villainous smile he chuckles and answers, "You are the only thing that matters to shutte, and nothing will stop him from saving his dame, not even his creator."

"Shut up! Even if Shuute does come for me, Kranos will never be ruler of Talious!"

His hand firmly smacks against my cheek and throws my face to the side. In a more silent but angered tone he relays to me, "You-stupid-little-girl!... Don't tell me you're completely oblivious to his affections. I'll say it again, you are the only one who matters to him."

"What did you do to him?! I know you did something when you took us to your caves; so what was it!?"

Another irritating chortle slips between his lips. "Not much, just a little ritual to allow himself to... Expose his inner power..." Uriu then continues to chuckle with his evil intentions in mind, whatever they are.