The Invasion

by **Ssezzkero** on July 23rd, 2015, 7:54 pm

8th of Spring, 515AV
8th Bell, Morning
Makutsi's Tower

It was an invasion. There was no other way to describe it. And when Sezkero opened the door to the Tower that morning, her heart dropped. Not today. The snake groaned in dread as she took in the glowing sight. Small glowing rocks were littering the main room of the temple. At a quick glance, it looked as if the rocks were scattered coming from the plunge pool, almost as if they had crawled out of the sea water. Sezkero groaned, letting the heavy main door close behind her.

"I know." She heard the voice of Kal, who was perched halfway of the staircase, just out of reach of the closest glowing rock.

"What are they? And why are they here?" The snake looked up at the man, stepping carefully into the temple. The rocks nearest her were very scattered and it was easy to avoid them. She reached with her left leg to flick one with her sandal, but when her toes collided with the sharp rock, it didn't budge, resulting in a painful bump to her big toes. Gasping, Sezkero reached town to hold her toe, having expected the rock to move at her touch. "Zulrav's Rage! What are they!"

"Limpets, Ker. Kicking them won't do you any good." She couldn't see the grin on Kal's face when he spoke, but it was hard to miss the amusement in his voice. The man descended the stairs to come closer to her, and she gave a defeated glare at the man, as the throbbing in her toe declined enough for her to straighten up. Lifitng her head scarf from her head, the snake weaved through the limpets towards the hook to hang her scarf and pack.

“You know, we have the fundraiser tomorrow, what are we going to do about it?” Sezkero asked her Priest, turning to look for his answer. The man only shrugged, toeing at a limpet with his bare foot.

“You should see the plunge pool.” The human chuckled, stepping over to the big windows that bordered the front door. She watched the man straighten the curtains to keep the sun from shining through. It was not unusual to keep the big window curtains drawn tight on summer days, to keep the sun limited to small windows. The acolytes didn’t mind the dark so much as the heat, but with the glowing limpets residing in the main hall, the shade seemed almost amplified in contrast.

by **Ssezzkero** on July 23rd, 2015, 7:55 pm

“Oh no. Kal! This is bad, this is really bad!” Sezkero started to fret, skipping over the limpets as careful as possible, wary of the creatures’ sharp shells that her toes hardly stood a chance against, even if she kept her sandals on. As she neared the entrance to the cave-like plunge pool, there was no mistaking the glowing limpets were everywhere. Deep in the sea-cave at her feet, she could see the graceful figure of a Charoda, flitting between walls, obviously busy with something. “We can’t dance on limpets, and our guests aren’t going to want to walk on them either.” The snake rationalized, crouching down to examine the creatures.

[b]“Well, short of hitting them with a hammer, there is no way to remove them from the rock. I suppose we should just wait them out.” Kal suggested from behind her. Sezkero reached down to scratch the shell with her finger-nail, noticing the creature’s reaction. Before her finger could touch it’s shell, the limpet shifted ever so slightly, likely locking down on the sandstone that made up the floor of the plunge pool. Any tugging she attempted with her fingers was utterly useless. Sezkero swivelled on her ankles to turn her face up to look at her priest.

“Hitting them with a hammer?”

“I’ll show you.” He offered, waving her forward before turning back into main hall. Like children the two of them tiptoed between the glowing limpets until they reached the stairs. The stairs weren’t so crowded, as it was somewhat hard for the limpets to scale the dry granite. Kal plucked a simply hammer from the step that he had been sitting on earlier, waving the Iyvess over once more. “Watch.” The man mouthed to her, angling the hammer over the highest up limpet. He hesitated in the air for a moment before swinging the hammer down with an ear-splitting Whack! Ker gasped at the shock of the violent act as Kal did it thrice more before the shattered limpet popped off the step.

”Kal! You can’t do that.” The small Iyvess reached out to yank the hammer from the man as he set to work with peeling the shattered slimy limpet from the step.

”What? Why not?” The snake’s previously horrified look turned cold as her eyes narrowed on his blue ones. With an open palm, she motioned towards the dying mess in his hand.

”You’ve murdered the poor thing. How was this a good idea?” She stood, taking the hammer with her

”What do you mea-? Oh.” It took the priest a few ticks to understand her horror as Sezkero descended the steps and crossed the main hall to deposit the hammer in the supply closest beside the fireplace. She re-lowered the tapestry over the door once she had closed the closet, turning back to Kal, who had dumped the limpet mess in the plunge pool. She heard the whoosh of water as the Charoda came to the surface, and the snake flitted over to the sea-cave room to see what he had come up for.

by **Ssezzkero** on July 23rd, 2015, 7:55 pm

”You should see them down here. I’m used to the caves being more or less dark, but it is as isf Syna had come down under the water.” The deep flowing char accent reached her ears before she entered the plunge pool room. She waved to the sea-creature who nodded at her in return. ”I suppose you are trying to clean them up for tomorrow.” She watched the charoda fish the fragments of the limpet out of the water, examining them.
”We’ve got to find another way.” Kal looked at his feet sheepishly, and Sezkero elbowed him in the ribs playfully.

”Yeah, the brute here wants to smash them all.” She tried to lighten the mood. Her brain spinning for another way to remove them from the main hall.

”You could always ask them.” The Charoda let the limpet pieces fall back into the water, and placed his hands on the edge of the pool, ready to lift himself up.

”What do you mean?” Sezkero asked as she and Kal tiptoes back through the limpets to allow the Charoda to raise himself above water. The saltwater rolled down his rubbery skin with ease when the bare sea-creature stood up, stepping out into the main hall. Pool of wetness followed his weaving footprints through the limpets, but Sezkero and Kal didn’t mind as they followed him into the main hall. The Charoda didn’t go far before leaning down near a cluster of glowing limpets.

”I don’t have a lot of time, but I can help you. I have Oceanus, which allows me to control some sea-creatures if necessary.” He explained, which directed the Iyvess’ attention towards the Charoda’s upper back were the Gnosis stood out. It looked as if waves were crashing over his shoulders, pulled by unseen winds. When the naked Charoda placed a hand over the cluster of glowing limpets, there was a small popping sound as they released their suction on the rock. One by one, he plucked the now loose limpets from the stone, piling them in his hand. Ker stepped closer to the man, offering her hand for him to empty the now slumbering limpets into her hands. The Charoda did so, until her small palms could hold no more.

by **Ssezzkero** on July 23rd, 2015, 7:55 pm

”Simple.” He offered, turning to another cluster of limpets, and plucking them easily from the ground as well, this time piling them in Kal’s much larger grasp. ”You can just toss them in the pool now, and we should have the hall cleaned in no time.” Sezkero grinned at how easy it seemed, although the Charoda was doing most of the work, her and Kal were simply transferring the mass of limpets back into the sea.

”See, there is a more humane way.” She whispered to Kal, who gave her a sheepish glance as they tiptoed back through the limpets to let their load go in the pool. He only nodded, as if embarrassed by his previous solution. When they returned for more handfuls, the Charoda spoke up again.

”I Believe, that you have a Konti here who is also blessed by the Sea?” The Charoda asked, despositing a handful of calm limpets into Sezkero hands. She nodded.

”Our Shi’ra.” Kal offered her name, which distracted Sezkero as she realized how he had said it. Our. What did he mean by that? ”She has been out for two days. She was visiting a friend on the other side of town. She will return tonight.” Kal informed the Charoda as he received his own handfuls, and the sea-dweller nodded at them as they returned to the plunge pool to release the limpets once more. Ker glanced down to see the glowing shells slowly plunging into the sea-caves, their first load not yet reaching the bottom. Apparently the plunge pool was much deeper than she had originally guessed, although the Iyvess had never been in it. When Kal and Sezkero returned, another follower of Makutsi had found his way down the stairs and was speaking with the Charoda, offering his help as well.

This volunteer was a younger Akalak, considered a mere boy by the race’s standards. Kero wasn’t sure, but she thought he had just turned twenty-two a few season’s prior. She liked the young man, both of the brother’s within him, because of what he was doing. While he still trained to be a warrior, the Akalak was spending time with each of the towers within the city, in pursuit of furthering his culture and understanding the religions within his city. She didn’t much agree with the violent philosophies of Riverfall’s majority race, but she liked this particular Akalak’s pursuit of religion.

But thinking on the boy had only distracted her for a few trips to the plunge pool, before the word Kal had used earlier crept back into her mind. Our. It was such a simple word, but by putting it in there, it had confused the snake. He was speaking to a Charoda who was not particularly foreign to the tower, but neither was he close enough to know the names of all the Acolytes. Was the word meant to be inclusive? Inclusive of both herself and the Charoda? Or was it meant to exclude the sea-creature? Why had he said it like that?

by **Ssezzkero** on July 23rd, 2015, 7:56 pm

Sezkero’s train of thought was interrupted when they returned to the main hall, Kal and her, and the Akalak had gone. She could hear the click of the front door of the tower, and assumed the boy had gone out, but that left the main hall in a peaceful silence as the Charoda worked to relax the limpets from the floor. Glancing around, Kero could easily see that with only about twenty chimes of work, they had cleared a third of the main room, which was a satisfying chunk in such a short time.

”The reason I ask,” The Charoda spoke up again, speaking to both her and Kal while not disrupting his concentration on the glowing limpets. ”Is that, I won’t be here later tonight. Here.” He unloaded a hefty amount of limpets onto Kal’s hands, sending him back to the plunge pool before standing and striding over to another clump of glowing limpets, Sezkero in tow. ”My partner is making us a wonderful meal for my daughter’s birthday tonight.” The Charoda informed her, loosening more limpets and handing them off to her. She carried them back to the plunge pool, catching up with Kal who was releasing the last of his.

”Perhaps you should ask Shi’ra to help you tonight if they come back. I would think they wouldn’t, but if they do. Like I was explaining, I won’t be around, but she can surely help you keep these beautiful creatures safe.” When they returned, the smooth and hearty voice of the Charoda rang out again, as he moved to clear the stairs of the glowing limpets. Rubbery lips of the Charoda pulled back to reveal sharp pearly teeth with a smile, Sezkero returned it, before taking her load back to the plunge pool.

by **Ssezzkero** on July 23rd, 2015, 7:56 pm

”Thank you for helping us.” Kal spoke up when they returned.

”Yes, thankyou.” The snake agreed, watching the Charoda round up the last few glowing limpets that were scattered around the room. As he did so, he didn’t seem to use his Oceanus to do so, simply leaning down to pluck them from the floor. He strode back over to the two followers of Makutsi, dropping his handful in theirs.

”These have died.” The Charoda informed them, somewhat morbidly. ”If you wrap them in sea-weed and roast them over the coals in your fire, they make a great dish.” He said, offering each of the land-dwellers a smile. ”It is good you want them back in the sea, they don’t survive much once they dry out.”

”Thankyou.” Sezkero repeated with Kal as the Priest left to deposit the glowing limpets by the fireplace.

”It was very nice to meet you two, but I must go now. Else I won’t hunt anything in time for out dinner tonight.” The sea-grin was back, which pulled one out of Sezkero as she walked the Charoda back to the plunge-pool.

”Well, would you like the limpets from up here?” Sezkero offered, throwing a thumb over her shoulder in an offer to fetch them for the man.

”Oh, no. I had collected some earlier from below. I will boil my anyway, I don’t like them dry.” He explained and Sezkero nodded, crouching down as the Charoda slipped back into the pool.

”Well, please don’t hesitate to come back up.” Sezkero offered, a hand to the Charoda once he resurfaced. ”We do a lot more at Makutsi’s Tower than just put people to work.” The snake teased, and the Charoda nodded.

”I will.” He promised with a chuckled, pushing off from the wall. ”Perhaps I bring my daughter next time, she would love to hear about the River Goddess.”

”I would love to tell her about Makutsi.”

”Another time, my friend.” The departing words of the Charoda echoed in the cave-like room as he let his head slip back under the water, his slippery form darting between the salty currents back into the glowing cavern system below with ease. Sezkero sighed, rocking herself back to her feet and standing once more.

”C’mon Sezkero! Let’s roast these and you can keep the shells afterwards!” Sez heard Kal call from the main hall, where she could hear him going up the stairs to the Acolyte’s kitchen. ”The kids’ll love ‘em!”

by **Kiva** on December 29th, 2015, 7:42 am

Sezkero

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