Flashback [Kabrin Road] Light and misfortune. (Irriari)

[Torias]

Late morning 21st Fall, 509 AV I had a horse then. (And a better hand at writing than I do now.) It wasn’t for riding, Gods no - but my body was fragile and due to be replaced soon, and the beast was glad to carry my things in exchange for a few handfuls of barley. I can’t recall if I named it, but I must have called it something. For the ease of storytelling, I’ll refer to it as Harriet. I do remember it was female - as was I, at the time. “It is unseasonably hot,” Torias muttered, noticeably annoyed, to a horse that would be later called Harriet. The drab brown cowl wrapped around the Nuit’s face and neck was doing little to keep out the heat of the Cyphrus sun. The sky was clear and sapphire blue; Lady Syna was putting in a fearsome effort to speed the decay of Torias’s most recent host body. She felt as though her ichor might start boiling inside her skin. Torias sent a curious glance over her shoulder at Harriet, following reluctantly at the behest of a lead made of rope. It was a smaller breed than most, a mongrel of some unsavory traits, making it useful only for children or carrying supplies. Its burnt golden hide shimmered almost like silk in the savage sun, its mane and tail a slightly lighter hue. It was still a young creature, strong and able, and it bore the burden of Torias’s rucksacks without any visible comlaint. The pungent smell of death, made worse by the beating sun and the mare’s acute senses, made the animal uneasy, so it followed at a generous distance. Horses seemed able to adapt to the odd niceties of their masters. They did not seemed the mind the tame dogs in Endrykas, despite being a descendant of its natural enemy, the wolf. However, the odor of decay must have been too steep of a compromise, as Harriet never seemed to let down her guard when her Nuit owner was present. Such was life - for the horse. Perhaps Torias would feel merciful and sell the animal off at the first opportunity. Truth be told, the mare was Nuit’s first defense should she come under attack by beasts or men. Both valued the flesh of a live horse more than that of a year-old corpse, giving the Nuit time to escape. Ideally, however, Torias would prefer that they both lived to see their next destination. Vultures, that’s what Torias had to worry about, but they were easier to negotiate with than wolves or glassbeaks. “Then, the sun and I have never been the closest of allies,” Torias continued on, rather wanting to break the monotony of gravel crunching under heel and hoof. No one was around to think Torias mad for talking to herself. Secure in this fact, she repeated the meaning of her words in another, half-forgotten tongue. The sound pleased her. “But she does keep the scoundrels away, I’ll give her that.” Torias smirked at no one. “Most of them.”

[Irriari]

Irriari grumbled loudly at a nearby crows that chirped and cawed in front of her. The devilish creatures were always far enough ahead that the zith saw no reason to exert herself to attack them. There were always more crows. Today was the first day in which she was earnestly trying to fly in the daytime. Her enemies in the grasses knew that zith rarely flew during the daylight hours, and she hoped that they would be less likely to search the sky for her kind. Such an exercise came at a price, however. No matter how quickly she moved or how she tried to shield her eyes, the sun pierced through them and produced splitting headaches that plagued her until the sun went down.

The zith clenched her teeth and flew onward, making sure to dip below the clouds every few chimes. It was easy for the zith to lose herself in the joy of flying, especially when she used it as a way to distract herself from the pain that was emanating out of her temple. She used the Kabrin Road as her guide to navigate the grasses, and slept within a half mile walk from the road.
As she descended further downward, Irriari saw a figure riding a horse along the road. She could see that the horse was moving slowly, but the sun obscured other details. The zith smiled before flying downward. As Irriari approached, she began to see the details that would determine her course of action. The woman on horseback didn’t have a bow, which meant that she was likely safe, if she remained airborne. The zith was still too far away to see if she carried any other weapons on her person, but she didn’t care all that much. If it came down to a fight, the horse would be a liability.

After a chime of flight, she was flying thirty feet above the woman and her horse. Irriari flapped her wings lightly to keep herself aloft before addressing the woman on the horse.

“Why would you be riding by yourself in the daylight, human? Do you think yourself safe, because you’re on this road?”

She laughed lightly, hoping that this woman would be more feisty than the last.

[Torias]

A new, strange voice shattered Torias’ notion of being alone on the road. She paused immediately, beginning to look around in an attempt to identify the direction of it, although it sounded as if it had no direction at all. Torias began to wonder if insanity had begun to work its claws into her mind, and sent a brief, suspicious glance in Harriet’s direction. No, it was there. A silhouette in the blue, patched sky. A winged silhouette. Torias was warned about these creatures, but was also told they only took wing at night. She was also not aware that the Zith knew how to speak. At least, not Common anyway. They had always been described as mindless beasts. My accent was thicker then, too. I was still in the long process of shedding my mortal coil. My blood, my heritage, my ancient culture, the things I had once wept and bled for. I held my native tongue dear to my heart, and to this day I have difficulty adopting Common as my primary language. It seems unreasonable, when you consider how many years I had already spent as a Nuit. How long it had been since I had seen my home. “Any who think themselves safe in this world are cursed with terrible arrogance.” Torias’ reply was perhaps not loud enough to carry through the air toward the flying creature, but she hoped her senses were acute. The Nuit’s stolen lungs were not strong in their deathly state. “You must fly closer, for I am too weak to shout.” Harriet, who had stopped when Torias did, remained unaware of any imminent danger. It wandered at the end of its lead toward the high grasses and began gorging itself on wild greens. The Nuit gave the animal a heavy look. It was likely not long for this world. “Prithee,” Torias continued at the same moderate volume, whether the Zith had deigned to come closer or not. Her Common sounded unusual, riddled with archaic words and bent by a twisting accent. “Am I to be robbed or murdered? I must say I would be at least a little disappointed if I did not reach my next destination.”

[Irriari]

The human woman continued riding her horse, nearly oblivious of the voice that sounded from the sky above. Irriari peered down at her prey, curious as to what she would do what she realized that a zith was above her. More than likely, she would freeze or run. If she ran, Irriari knew that the horse would tire before long, and its human rider would be easy to pick off. Humans were rash, in that way. Instead of understanding the flow of combat as it was, they refused to recognize the inevitable of their situation. Many new slaves to the colony showed the same arrogance, and they had paid dearly for their bravado. Humans were far from immortal.

Irriari saw the tenseness start in the woman’s shoulders and arms as it moved through her body. Smiling at the sight, the zith drifted lower, spiraling down slowly. Her lazy demeanor hid an eagerness that surged through ever nerve in her body. Finally, she would have prey to hunt again.

The voice of the woman that greeted her was quiet. Even with her exceptional hearing, the zith had to move down further still. The casual tone that the human spoke with intrigued and infuriated Irriari. Perhaps the woman was too tired to care about her misfortune. Whatever the reason for her nonchalance, Irriari was determined to make her regret the day she had stepped on the Kabrin Road.

“Disappointed?” Irriari spat the word out, disgusted.

“You should be afraid, human. I don’t care about your observations on human arrogance. I know enough about your kind already. You’re vermin. You’re a scourge upon the world, and I cannot wait to hear how calm you are when I’m tearing you apart.”

With that, the zith landed and shrugged her bag and bow off her shoulders to the ground below. Irriari was still thirty feet away from the woman when she began walking forward. While it was hardly a good idea to leave her bow on the ground, Irriari was more curious as to how the human was going to react. Besides, the Elders weren’t here to chastise her anymore.