Young Flame

“What do you mean? How are we supposed to help with that?”

He wants us to stop the other mermineae moving through the Alps. That they are trying to reach the other side — the ‘beyond’, as they call it — isn’t surprising. We’ve passed thousands of them on our way through the mountain, after all. But I don’t know how he expects us to stop so many.

Instead of answering, he climbs the narrow walls of the fissure. “Come. We will assist with freeing your friends, then you can return the favour. That is what you want, yes?”

The merminea stops before breaching the surface and glances around with his camouflaged head.

He knows what I want on top of appearing to know where my team is being held. But the entire fact that he’s so willing to help me free them makes me suspicious. Why would he be so open to betraying his own kind?

Not that I have many other options than to follow him now. That eagle attacked me after only a minute of flight. I have no choice but to assume that is the standard out here. I’d been so happy to return to the sky after so long without it, but I’m now in another environment where flying is too dangerous.

This merminea knows how to traverse the surface. Hopefully, moving with him will let me learn how to avoid the predator of the sky. The most concerning thing to me is the high likelihood of this merminea being exactly like the others. If he has woven this idea of the ones holding my team being traitors, then I might be just following him into a trap. Maybe my flames scared them enough that they didn’t want to take me head on.

I have to discard the possibility after a second of thought. Why would this merminea save me from the eagle if he just wanted to lead me into a trap? It wouldn’t make sense.

So, despite my better judgement, I decide to trust him for now. Whether he wants to help me free my team or not will become clear soon enough. I just need to make sure to not to give him too much information. Nothing could have missed the firestorm I unleashed through the sky. There’s no doubt he knows how strong my flame is after that… I’d like to call it a fight with the four-winged bird, but struggle would be a more appropriate word.

I could stay in my falcon form and pretend to be unable to change my appearance, but I’d have to give up on the protection my outfit would offer. I’d rather not face the elements when any benefit I would get is limited.

As long as they don’t find out that most physical weapons have no effect on me, I should be fine. Hopefully, those eyes of theirs will be the only thing dangerous to me.

With my mind decided, I change the focus of my morphing. Instead of trying to regain my wing, I let my body return to my default form.

Despite asking me to follow, the merminea doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to move. His body remains stiff as he peeks out over the land. As he remains still, his fur visibly changes. The snowy white darkening into a grey and black to reflect the stone beside him. It’s quite incredible. Even as I watch him closely, he disappears against the stone he rests upon. Not even the outline of his body is visible.

He doesn’t complain that I take my time, patiently waiting until I’ve changed and donned my outfit.

Once done, I climb up the wall below him. I can feel his heat, but seeing his head move from what appears to be nowhere is rather unsettling. He fixes me with a stare as he inspects my body. I have my spear in hand and Grímr hides within the pack strapped to my lower back.

The merminea, appeased by my readiness, reaches his arm out to grab me. I drop off the wall before he can reach me. I’ll follow him, but I’d rather avoid his grasp if I can.

His hand freezes as I fall away from him. Grey eyes watch me with an intensity that doesn’t suit the cloudy, unfocused gaze.

“You are not able to hide, yes?”

I just stare at the merminea. What does that have to do with him grabbing at me?

“Great birds attack on sight. I will hide you so the enantiorn eagle does not hunt.” He reaches his hand forward once more, inviting me into his hold.

I groan. I’d really rather not, but if he’s right and the eagle above attacks anything it can see, that would explain why all the mermineae I’ve seen remain hidden.

With a sigh, I reach my arm forward, inviting him to grab me. In moments, I’m tugged to his chest and we are speeding along the surface again. It might have been easier on him if I’d remained in my smaller bird form, but with how much snow we’re running across, I’m glad to have the protection of my outfit, regardless of how many holes it now has.

His fur is rough. It feels like I’m being held against the grainy bark of a tree, but instead of the pleasant smell of wood and nature, he reeks of decaying meat and filth. This might be a weird thing for me to say, considering I’ve never had one myself, but when was the last time he bathed himself?

I’m bigger than I was the last time he carried me — nearly as tall as he is if he were to stand upright — but he has no issue hugging me against himself as he sprints along the surface. My legs squeeze at the sides of his torso to keep me steady. It is uncomfortable in his grasp. My knot doesn’t flare and force me to fight my way out, but I can’t help but squirm.

To distract myself from the uneasy feeling, I speak up. “So, what’s your name?”

“I am Caavaa. Forvaal.”

Caavaa? Forvaal? Are they both his name? Forvaal sounds familiar.

“Caavaa, why do you call the other mermineae traitors?” I ask.

“They go against the will of Kalma. All mermineae shall be punished for their hubris.”

“Kalma?”

“God of decay. We are her servants. When she learns mermineae flee the Buzzard’s Hunting Grounds, her wrath will not stop at only those that run. They are foolish to fight against fate.”

God? Does that mean this Kalma is like the two beings Ash told me about? Belobog and Chernobog; the gods of light and dark known to the albanic. Well, if she’s anything like Hund, I can see why they’d be worried. I’m not sure why a few mermineae leaving their homeland for a safer place would make this Kalma angry. It’s not like their entire race would travel through the mountains at the word of somewhere safer. The tunnels are far too dangerous to risk that.

“How do you plan to stop them?” I ask. It’s not like we can just kill them all, they are still his race after all. I doubt he’d be willing to go that far. Killing a few that are in my way isn’t above me, but I wouldn’t go killing them in the hundreds just for the sake of it.

“Close the entrance. That is why I want your friends; they opened the way, they can close it again.”

“Wait, what?” It wasn’t one of the mermineae that tore those holes in the enhanced stone? Is it the same person who left that pie?

“A year ago. Warriors with strange abilities took down great birds as they descend the mountain. Outsiders. Yet not hostile. They do not listen; not to our requests, nor our threats. You and your friends, we need to request your aid.”

We are moving quite far from the Titan’s path now. The land is near perfectly flat as far as I can see. Unlike the other side of the Alps, the mountains and hills seem to have ground down into a gradual slope over the lower elevation and the Stepps. No wonder those birds are so deadly; beside the fractured earth provided by the path, there is nowhere to hide.

If there were people from the pact nations that moved here, then they’d have to be at a level of strength greater than my team. There couldn’t be all too many of those, right? Maybe Remus will know who they are.

“You have powerful people of your own, don’t you? Can’t you seal the opening yourself?” I ask.

“No. Those of us with strength can only destroy. Gifted the decay eyes by the great Kalma, Forvaal can remove any boundary, but not rebuild it. Outsiders are needed to seal the passage, while we kill all the Forvaal traitors that may reopen the way.”

Forvaal must be a name for those with those cloudy, grey eyes. How could someone just be given power? I assume the decay eyes are what destroyed Bunny’s weapon. It must also be what Caavaa used to scare off that eagle. How powerful must this Kalma be to gift others with such strength?

The ones he calls outsiders… I wonder why they don’t respond to the mermineae. Assuming there were no lies in his words, he thinks that only those from the same place as them could convince them. If that’s true, he has a reason to try and free my team even without me requesting so.

But I can’t help but see the flaw in his thinking. Even if the people who came here are from the nations we came from, that doesn’t mean they will listen to us. There is no guarantee they’ll hear us out if they have ignored the locals.

Is this some misunderstanding in culture? I’ve seen plenty of differences between races and people as I’ve travelled, so I know that something that might be natural to one, might as well be taboo for another type of people. Is this merminea projecting his assumptions on how others will act?

If so, I have no plan to correct his mistake. If he knows that people from across the mountain aren’t all friendly with each other, he would be far less likely to help.

We speed along the snow for a while longer. It’s a struggle to be held as I am, but I push through the tension until the light disappears. I watch the path ahead of us, but we are already inside the hole in the ground by the time I notice it.

A shallow cave within the hard packed soil. The sunlight filters through the entrance behind me, lighting the small space. It’s more of a burrow, with enough space to fit only a few mermineae. Mermineae I can feel along the walls, but unable to see.

I’m unceremoniously dropped to the soil. It’d be annoying if I wasn’t so happy to be out of its grasp.

“Caavaa, what is this? And why have you brought it here? Does it don corpse-skin? Did you bring one of the centzon to us? Are you trying to doom us more than we already are?” a feminine voice squeaks from the wall as a merminea moves out of concealment.

“Fear not. It is an outsider, not centzon,” Caavaa says. “There was an explosion at the exit. I followed this one away from it. The quakes rumoured to follow the outsiders; this one is the cause.” He gestures to me with a clawed hand.

Wait, they’ve been hearing my detonations? I guess that’s why he assumed I was intelligent and not some beast when we met.

“They will help?” The female merminea turns her attention fully on me. “It’s small, no? the other outsiders were larger.”

“Yes. We free the outsiders, then they assist us.”

“I’m Solvei,” I introduce myself, somewhat annoyed at being called both ‘it’ and small.

My attention drags away from the two visible mermineae and lands on the one still hiding along the wall. I can feel the heat of its body, but still can’t spot its outline.

“Oh, I’m so happy you’re with us. The traitors don’t understand how much danger they are putting all of us in. Many of them have never met our god, so I can sympathise with their ideal, but the Forvaal should know better.” She speaks with such expressive words that her lack of body movement seems odd. “May the great Kalma’s wrath never curse our meeting. Solvei, it’s great to meet you. I’m Aana.”

As we lock eyes, I notice that while hers have the same shade of grey as Caavaa, they are nowhere near as cloudy. Her gaze is focused and intense.

“So,” I start, sending a glance to the merminea still hiding in the corner of this burrow. They know there is someone there, don’t they? “How do we plan to free my team?”

Caavaa opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by the third merminea finally coming out of hiding. “Wait. We have no assurance that they will return the favour once we free them, no?”

“A favour in return for a favour. You think otherwise, Muuro?” Caavaa asks.

“They are not mermineae, don’t forget. You wouldn’t trust a centzon or revontulet in the same conditions.”

“Both would murder a merminea before agreeing to help.”

“And yet both are intelligent species. These outsiders are different, how?”

Caavaa frowns, but doesn’t respond.

“This is still the best option we have, so I’m not against the idea,” Muuro says. “I just want some assurance that they will reciprocate the assistance we give them.” He stares at me. His grey eyes not as cloudy as Caavaa’s, but still far more than Aana’s.

What does he want from me? I push the bag holding Grímr out of his sight and grip my spear. His gaze immediately snaps to the motion and I realise my mistake. By trying to hide it, I’ve done nothing but attract his attention. I take a step back under his scrutiny.

Thankfully, he doesn’t push the issue, but he definitely knows I’m hiding something now. “Don’t worry so much,” he says. “Let’s just get to know each other first. The more we understand about each other’s intentions, the better off we’ll be.”

I don’t know how to feel. His smile is as fake as Gloria’s once was. My first impression of the other two has been… at least not bad, but Muuro sends off warnings in my mind. There is something off-putting about him.

“I’ll start then. I am Muuro, from the far western plains. Our goals are twofold; stop mermineae fleeing the plains and prevent our god hearing about their attempt. The three of us are here to infiltrate the traitors and work with the Forvaal clergy to save our race.”

He turns to the other two. “Is there anything you want to add?”

Aana speaks up. “I’m a local. I’m intimately familiar with the Euroclydon winds and how to survive them. Please rely on me if the Titan goes hunting.”

Uh, what’s this about a titan going hunting?

“No,” Caavaa says.

Are we not going to acknowledge what she said?

“Well then, it’s your turn, Solvei.” I can’t help but narrow my eyes at the way he says my name. He sounds friendly, but I can’t help but feel there are daggers hidden in his tone. “You saw me while camouflaged, how?”

The other two mermineae turn their head in surprise, but I know I wasn’t all too subtle with my gazes earlier. “I couldn’t see you. I felt you.”

“You… felt me?”

“Yes. I can feel the heat you give off.”

“Huh,” Muuro seems slightly off kilter, but recollects himself rather quickly. “Then. Next question.” His eyes narrow at the bag on my lower back. “You are hiding something, yes? Show us.”