It had been so long since it all began. They'd put leagues behind them, over mountains, through hot badlands, under starry skies and by lakes that glittered like the sun itself. So long since they'd seen home. The trip to Nouri hadn't been so kind, nor as fruitful as Aizkorri and Yin had hoped it would be; they were no safer there than they had been in Ayelahai. In fact, it just seemed worse for having so little resources there to themselves. A chance meeting and a little luck, some dire warnings, cryptic advice and a terrifying chase and flight had thrown them headlong to Latori, a land where the dead have learned to dance. Or so they say. Of course, Yin had been very skeptical of the instructions to 'attend a funeral and beseech the dead for the answer' -what good would talking to a corpse do? And how would one even try to ask to interlope in a stranger's funerary celebration? And yet those twins in his keeping had seemed very convinced indeed. At their insistence, and with a strange sort of ease, the deed had been done. A wild and delirious night in the marches of the Latorian outback, one that Yin would scarcely forget despite fervently wishing to, brought about that answer from the night-living dead. A meeting was to be arranged.
In the days that followed, Sania and Samir argued and anguished over the possibilities of this entreaty from a being of such regard. And likewise, the four of them pondered just what kind of offering they could even begin to make to afford any sort of help. An empty plea was nothing. It could yield only refusal. It was soon clear they had only one thing that might interest their would-be benefactor. The vial, and that strange liquid within it. At the suggestion, the twins had hesitated, Yin thought he'd even seen a hint of fear in Samir's eyes at the very suggestion of surrendering it; perhaps the one thing that had been responsible for saving their skins thusfar. Sania's breath had hitched at the idea but she warmed to it slowly. Perhaps some demonstration of it might win some sort of approval before the deal was struck so that it would not be offered wholesale for no return? It had taken three days to convince her brother that it was to be done -if only because there was no other way. Not a day too soon, as that night a messenger arrived -her curiosity had been piqued she had agreed to the meeting.
He'd left Aizkorri in town, the revelry of the previous week's funerary festivities alone made him doubt the safety of this plan and to risk any more than what had to be was not something he could allow. They'd met their guide at the edge of the woods, a stocky, portly-seeming man well-covered in his robes and hood drawn up under a tightly-woven straw hat. They hadn't made it but perhaps a few hundred yards into the woodlands before he revealed himself, drawing back the hood that they might become more familiar. Of course it was a lasius! Those mysterious and beguiling tsourai of fossa-and-gorgon persuasion. With vodou tradition and a penchant for racous behavior, Yin had heard a tale or two of their ilk in the past, and indeed they had been mentioned by their baffling counterpart in Nouri. But to see them was surely a most auspicious occasion, was it not? Or perhaps it would have been were it not for Yin's -albeit ostensible- good fortune to be in near-constant contact with tsourai these days.
Somewhere along the way, he lost track of time. They'd been walking for what felt like hours -or did it feel like minutes? It was difficult to say. The sun never moved from the peak of dusk, casting a haunting red pall over the misty swamplands. What was this strange feeling of...lost-ness? Yin wasn't quite sure if he had gone anywhere nor for how long, but the trees were moving, the path beat on, but time seemed to look the other way. All the while, Sania and Samir kept close at his side as their guide led them along, as if for once they were there to protect him. The lasius that led them was by no means a silent figure, prattling on about the court, the festivities -for apparently it was he whom they had spoken to in that crazed night, though Yin could not recall any such creature present- and even the trees around them. Anything and everything was fair game. But at last it seemed they must have drawn near because he silenced his laughter and assumed a more reverent tone as the swamps gave way to a clearing. And in it, the trio were met with a sight of sights.
A court was already in session, a gathered crowd of delegates, though small, stood under a ragged cloth pavilion, streamers bedecked the clearing where they were incongruously tied to tree and wooden pole and even an occasional colossal pillar of bone, the lattermost of which gave the sahash pause at the sight of them. At the center of it all, amidst a ferocious display of trophies carved and arranged of bone and skull, a curious throne was enshrined in a canopy of tusks wrapped in dried sinew and tanned hides. A veil of ribs cascaded from the height to form a menacing facade before the rattan papasan nested with downy olive cushion below. The thronw was not empty. Lounging within, legs akimbo, with an air of boredom, a lasius loomed. But she was no ordinary kind, and it was plain for Yin to see. She seemed immense from here, so much larger than the others gathered near her -or was that a trick of the light? Perhaps the throne was designed to give such illusions. She was winged, as well, but in the pinkish-red fire of the perpetually-setting sun, he could see one of her wings swaddled in bandages, splints holding what may have been shattered bone. Did tsourai heal as well as mortals, he wondered? Surely they did. Her gown was more elegant than her peers', a smooth, clean cloth with balanced adornments. Her face was concealed by that veil of bones. This had to be her: Leeheyma, Queen of the Lasius. And yet, at the sight of her, Yin became keenly aware of a raising of hair on his neck as the twins shifted their footing, slipping more pointedly behind him, close to his back, each grabbing at his arms as if looking for comfort.
At their arrival, their guide bid them wait at the edge of the clearing as the gathered onlookers chattered among themselves in not-so-whispered tones. Over this hubbub, Yin could barely hear the lasius delegate as he introduced them, announcing them in a parody of courtly fashion, that could only be called a crude facsimile of such pomp. Without so much as a word, he saw the queen's arm rise and dismissively gesture to the liason and he turned to look back at the trio. Somehow, Yin was beginning to feel as if they'd made a mistake. Ushered forward, that lasius abandoned them now, leaving them standing only a scant few yards away from that enthroned figure as he moved to melt away into the crowd that watched them and now gradually hushed. Even so close, her eyes were hidden away from them, though the set of her jaw told Yin that it was best not to tarry about it. The three of them exchanged glances and almost in unison dropped to their knees slowly in reverence. Best to treat royalty as it is, Yin supposed.
He heard her speak then, if only for the sake of formal address. Her voice was rich, husky, and heavy with an accent he could scarcely begin to place. "I hope you have not come to waste my time nor bore me." Came the rolling demand. "Come then, Yin, is it? You have a look about you that I do not like. But considering the rarity of your company, I will grant you this audience." He could feel the twins tensing around him. He'd been with them so long, it was as if he could share in their feelings now. ...Was that right? He couldn't recall having so keen a sense of it before. Bizarre. His mouth was dry as he tried to speak, while Sania and Samir remained stone silent. How as he supposed to even try to address her? He couldn't delay in this moment.
"Great Queen," he began, "we are here because we are being hunted by something we are unable to escape. We beseech you for aid." As he spoke, he slowly rose to a single knee, hand reaching to the small leather case at his side to fetch from it their one great treasure. That magenta vial that had, for all he could tell, saved their lives time and again. As he withdrew it, the air seemed to become tense, as if the wind had frozen around them. The twins stared at it, the congregation fell deathly silent, intrigued perhaps. That was what Yin hoped for, at least. But as he looked down at the bottle in his hands, he was taken aback. It was different. Perhaps again the light was playing tricks on him, but even this close, it couldn't be otherwise: the vial was black, a golden glow where magenta once was. Perhaps he might have expected it, this thing was beyond him anyway. But he knew what was contained within was of a power that could surely interest even one so lofty as his current company. Suppressing a sense of shock at the change, he pulled from it the stop and held it before himself. "We do not come empty-handed." Not one twitch came from the queen's figure nor face, what he could see of it. But what had he been hoping for? A demonstration was needed.
Shifting his grasp on the vial, he tilted the tube and pronated his free hand, cupping his palm under the glass rim as he prepared himself. Just a few drops would suffice to show. "Should you wish it, we offer this." He heard Samir's feet scuffling in the grass and a sharp inhalation from both of the cats as he slowly tipped the golden-glowing vessel. What met his eyes was not what he expected. The liquid he poured was neither the familiar pinkish hue, nor the anticipated gold, but instead jet black. Ink. It felt strange on his fur, on the skin beneath, entrancing even. He closed his eyes, an Ayelahain sign of respect in his offering. Sania turned to unabashedly address her brother, the sound of shock in her voice. "Did he tell you this was the plan!?" She already knew the answer. Samir shook his head, brow furrowed in deep concern. What was the idea of this? "It's dangerous." A look of confusion and lost direction crossed Sania's features. "He shouldn't touch it!" She hissed. "It's too late..." Came her brother's reply. They didn't stop him: he'd caught them both by surprise and done it.
All the while, the Queen of the Lasius looked on, unflinching, eyes locked on the pooled ink and the stranger who held it. Until...
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It is another art from the seria of Yin's story based commissions we are doing for our friend, Caervec. It's... to be continued, I guess xD Just read the story, it's speaking for itself.
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Art and original world/designs, Lasius characters © Lingrimm
Yin and the Twins, story/text © Caervec