Their torches are interfering a bit with my eyesight but the creatures don't seem to be doing anything different. If I had to guess, I would say they're waiting for us to act before making a decision.

Nahl's jaw tightens and grits his teeth while giving me a sharp salute while Uhla, behind him, merely nods with a nervous expression. I find it reassuring they're taking their mission as seriously as this instead of being disappointed that I'm sending them away because their role is of paramount importance if we fail.

“Make sure he does not come here, we will either return or we will not but he must not risk himself in any way.” I tell them with an insistent tone.

None other than an Exemplar would be able to quickly report the news to the Emperor. While Rasaec's motivations remain a mystery, there is one thing that is for certain and that is that he will defend 'his' Empire.

Siegfried knows little of what I am capable of but enough to understand how dangerous the creatures are if they can kill me, not merely defeat but end my life. With Nahl and Uhla to tell him what I've achieved in more detail as well as Idali's skill, the Empire will be made aware of the scale of this threat.

I take a deep breath to soothe my nerves, it would be foolish to consider these things enemies before interacting with them, it may lead me to trigger a war that would otherwise not take place.

As Nahl and Uhla trot away, I turn to Idali and Rowland. She's wearing a slight smile but I don't doubt she understands what's to come with what she went through back then on the galley.

Rowland, on the other hand, seems like he'll throw himself to battle to fight the fear nested in his heart, a reaction I understand more than I wish I did. I flick to the quiet Templar.

“Do you have a name?” I ask him.

“Not one you would care to hear.” He replies with an odd calm voice, without a shred of aggressivity. A Noble then.

“Well then, Templar, let us go and find out what these creatures' motivations are.” I tell him. A moment after he nods, I project a thin stream of flow out and form letters with the energy.

'They do not seem able to defect flow, but if they are able then it is unlikely that they know of our letters. Still, do not make use of the Lake's blessing unless you have something of utmost importance to communicate. Beware because I'm relatively certain they have long-range capabilities.'

None of the three directly acknowledge the sentences floating before them, which is reassuring but their eyes widen and they stare at me until I flick my hand towards our goal.

I tap my mount's flank and we depart towards the long bulbous skyship at a trotting pace. I let the Templar take the lead because, if he is ambushed, it may give me time to react. It may seem cruel, and perhaps cowardly, but I don't think my fast-beating heart influenced my decision.

The fact is that I have little confidence in fighting the unknown so I must use whatever advantages I can. Idali is fidgeting with her spear while Rowland is nervously holding onto his bastard sword.

“Let go of your weapons, we don't want to scare them.” I order while playing with my umbrella.

They follow my command but their expressions remain stiff as their eyes peer at the skyship. As we close the distance, it becomes easier for me to get an idea of the scales involved.

The skyship is about sixty to eighty meters long, not nearly as much as I thought, and the creatures are smaller as well. They range from one-hundred-fifty-centimeter tall tripods to the one-meter wide hexagonal-sphere.

The corpses of those defeated during the scavenging duels remain scattered throughout the valley but they've been stripped of so much of their bodies that many are indistinguishable from mere debris that fell from the skyship.

These things do not seem to have burial customs. It is baffling to me that their society appears to function with such cohesion despite their apparent lack of empathy. The hexagonal-sphere along with two tripods suddenly start moving.

The former floats to the lead while the latter move on its flanks. I notice, a bit late, that none of the creatures have any of their small arms out, obviously apart from the tripods who have four arms.

I couldn't see clearly from up the hill so I wonder where they're hiding them since they aren't wrapped around their bodies like Princess tendrils. As we approach, I start hearing low buzzing sounds coming from the skyship.

“Would you stop twirling that thing, you're making me nervous.” Idali grumbles.

“Nope.” Liz replies, rolling the umbrella's handle between our fingers to throw it for another spin.

/Iiiih./

A short and sharp piercing sound arises from the three creatures. I forcefully stop my instincts from reaching out to my flow while immediately snapping to Idali and Rowland so as to silently command them not to act. The Templar pulls on his reins, stopping our procession.

“Do you think that was a signal to stop?” I ask, wincing because of the ringing in my ears.

“Might as well take it as one, it's safer than assuming the contrary.” He replies.

“Hm, close enough I suppose.” I murmur as I estimate the distance.

About a hundred meters, it's far but not so much I can't aim at the cables linking the spiky shimmering platforms to the skyship. The issue is, it'll take more energy to reach with an air-blade.

I weigh the risk of provoking the creatures with that of stopping at a disadvantageous distance. The fog surrounding communication between species is thick enough that a misunderstanding on our part shouldn't provoke attack, even if they suspect it is intentional on our part.

The fact of the matter is that we aren't even certain they asked us to stop, it may just have well been a greeting, a warning, an acknowledgment of our presence, or simply attempt to find out if we understand their language.

“Keep going.” I make the call.

“Are y...” The Templar starts but interrupts himself. “Acknowledged.”

He claps his horse's reins and leads us off. Through my flow, I detect a pulse of weak kinetic force, weaker even than those I regularly felt on the hill. They've resumed scanning us, I'm certain of it, but the question is why now?

They may have a thought process similar to yours, that they can get away with some things thanks to the difficulty of speaking. That would mean they believe us able to detect their scans. Maybe it's something they can naturally do so they assume it's possible you can detect their scans with your senses.

I scowl and tap the side of my horse to have it go faster to meet the three creatures closer to their base. My action causes the Templar's horse to accelerate so as not to lose the lead while Idali and Rowland's draft horse struggles to keep up.

I catch a glimpse of the temple guard's expression tightening while Idali loudly swallows and Rowland softly chuckles to hide his fear. I'm having a hard time not reaching for the claymore strapped to the saddle as the night recedes before their torches and the creatures grow clearer.

The hexagonal-sphere has small silver angular lines across its entire surface which look like disturbingly unnatural veins. It doesn't help that it is floating for no apparent reason.

The tripods have this as well and their bodies are relatively similar to ours but their gait appears clunky and abrupt despite not losing in speed to the other creature. All three are also making odd buzzing sounds but lower than what's coming from the skyship.

/Iiz, k./ Another sharp sound arises but this time I pinpoint the origin to the hexagonal-sphere.

“Slow down.” I speak up.

We all reflexively pull on our reins and slow down until we come to a stop a couple dozen meters ahead of the creatures. Thump. The blood pumping to my head resounds in my ears.

“I am... let's say human.” I speak up towards the creature.

“Now might not be the best of times to joke around.” Idali says, disappointing me greatly.

/Oo, hsh./ The hexagonal-sphere makes another kind of weird sound I have no idea what to make of and starts spinning in place, further confusing me so as to its physiology.

“Point to stuff and tell it their names?” Rowland suggests.

“Where did you get the idea that would work?” I question.

“There used to be a time when we had to learn other languages from scratch, I did receive an education.” He replies with a suggestive expression. Cute little subordinate, he didn't mention the Rykz or Lisilese.

“Ground.” I deadpan while pointing at the ground. I wait a long time but the creatures don't react in the slightest.

/Iik, szhz./ It suddenly screeches, both startling and almost deafening us.

“Okay, that did not work at all.” I reproach Rowland with a glare.

“It takes a lot more than one try!” He protests.

“How about we...” I pause because Liz stirs. There was something odd about the timing of that strident sound. I instantly read her mind, something we simply don't do but this is a bit of an emergency so she helps me narrow onto the vague instinct she has. “Okay, start talking between yourselves about... let's say old Templar tales.” Old tales would be the least revealing about present circumstances and allow a long exchange.

The quiet Templar starts recounting a story I've heard a hundred times so I ignore their conversation to focus on the creatures facing us and those further. I also pay close attention to my flow but feel no pulse of kinetic force.

None of the creatures are moving or, as far as I can tell, doing anything. They seem completely focused on our interaction, which I would be if I was them. I let the others speak for a while before silencing them by raising a closed fist. A long moment passes in silence.

/Ii, grk, uuih./

The strident screech startles the others too and renders them even more on their guard but I don't even blink because the span of time that elapsed between our silence and its intervention feels the exact same as the one that passed before.

The manipulative little shits. Cool it, I'm on edge enough for two. That's because you're short. I almost lose balance on the horse at her pike. I throw her a mental glare as I expel thin strands of flow to shape letters in the air and share my conclusion with the others.

'They're doing these sounds to make us talk between ourselves, the only reason I can think of they would do this is that they're learning our language, assume they will soon be aware of the meaning behind every word we've so far spoken aloud.'

Rowland and Idali open their mouths but quickly think better of it as I turn to them. I glance to the Templar who raises a questioning eyebrow. I press my lips together, unsure of what to do.

“Ground.” The hexagonal-sphere speaks up with a slight buzzing interference in its voice. It then stops spinning with one of its sides directly facing me. “Humans.”

“Fuck me.” I calmly utter.

Despite my measured reaction, I experience a burst of terror at hearing the creature speak these words. From all appearances, it seems to have learned our language from a few samples and within hours if not minutes.

“What is this, on horse?” It asks, spinning towards Idali. Its voice is dry and the cadence at which it speaks does not vary.

“Idali.” I reply, unwilling to say human because it may contradict me.

She throws me a dark look that I barely notice, too frightened that their scans may have went through her skin to examine her without her knowledge despite her absolute control over flow within the confines of her body.

“No, thing-weapon.” It buzzes.

“A spear.” I quickly reply in relief.

“No, what is metal?” It insists.

“...” I hold my tongue, their interest in Vuskyt leads me to decide not to answer. “You ask a lot of questions yet haven't introduced yourselves.”

“We have no name in your words.” It replies, flipping back to me.

“You mean our language?” I ask to test their ability to learn.

“Yes, language.” It says. I suddenly notice it is no longer buzzing. “What metal is it?” It insists.

“I'm not going to answer you.” I flatly reply.

The hexagonal-sphere spins a little and I feel another barely perceptible pulse of kinetic force go through me. I take control of my traits to avoid giving any indication I've felt it.

“Answer for answer.” It speaks up after a small while.

“If you give me three answers as these are our lands you crashed on.” I return, trying to exploit their interest and buy time to avoid telling them of the origin of Vuskyt if the conversation goes much longer. “Deal?”

“Deal.” It decides instantly, which raises my guard and leads me to conclude they have little to no investment in this exchange.

“Are you fixing the skyship's damage?” I ask while glancing to the bulbous thing.

“No.” It lies. “It is too damaged.” Its skill in learning our language further baffles and scares me.

“How did you learn our language so quickly?” I probe.

“We had learning of it.” He says.

I interpret what it said to mean they'd known how to speak before but it doesn't make sense, especially since it seems to be exclusively using words we've spoken before. They would have directly engaged us if it didn't bother them to tell us they already knew our language. This is almost certainly a lie as well.

“What happened to the others? I see bodies.” I question.

“They have lost...” It trails off.

“Their lives? They died?” I suggest.

“They have lost their lives and died during the crash.” It lies once more. “We fix what we can.” It adds, maybe a sign of good faith or to encourage me from answering its question truthfully.

“The metal is Vuskyt.” I tell them as it is something easily found out.

“How is it made?” It asks.

There is no body-language for me to read but I would bet everything I have that it desperately wants the answer to the question, except my ring because I will never take the slightest risk of it leaving my hand.

How does it know its made and not mined? Shit, good point. Doesn't matter, you've made your decision already anyway. They lie, and have shown greed, trust is out the window. I'm not arguing against you, but be careful.

“It is a secret.” I tell it in an attempt to influence these creatures to keep us all alive for information.

“Tell us.” It says.

“No.” I calmly reply despite my accelerating heartbeat.

Zzb. A buzzing sound comes from within the hexagonal-sphere. One of its panels shift just slightly but I'm not certain it wasn't a reflection of our torches because it was such a small movement. I still expel thin strands of flow to swiftly communicate with my sweet little underlings.

'Take every defensive action you are capable of with the Lake's blessing, including protecting your ears by blocking the canals from sound. Your tasks are to kill the two tripods. Rowland, support the mute first.'

Golden light erupts from all three of them while I radiate out fifty portions to defend myself. The hexagonal-sphere shifts slightly a moment after my subordinate's postures grow straighter from the confidence their constructs grant them.

I'm quite certain, because the creature had no body-language to read previous, that it's action just now is because it noticed that their attitudes changed as I did and likely does not know what to do with the information so it chose to imitate us for the purpose to either defuse the situation or buy time.

Whatever the reason, I send out a hundred portions divided in ten to shape thin but powerful air-blades around us that I aim at the cables connecting the weapon platforms to their skyship.

“What did you do?” It suddenly asks.

“I haven't moved a muscle.” I truthfully reply but feel a cold chill because I assumed it wouldn't be able to tell that we used flow.

“What are these things on top of top you?” It asks. Its clumsy words along with its flat tone makes me uncomfortable because any other being I've met would express some level of discomfort.

“You mean eyes?” I offer because names don't give them any actionable information.

“Yes, what is the name of what they do and that of things around us?” It questions.

“...” I ponder for a bit but decide that this line of conversation gives us information as well while they already seem aware of the function of our sight, which wouldn't be too difficult considering we look at everything. “They allow us to see the shapes of objects like your skyship. I assume your other question refers to air.”

“Your eyes, not see air turn?” It asks, causing me to involuntarily freeze from the mistake I made. Just because they can't detect flow doesn't mean they can't detect the energy's effect on the world. “Your eyes do see.” It concludes. “What did you do?” It repeats the question. “How possible shape metal and air?” It presses.

'The creature has been forsaken.' The quiet Templar writes in golden energy.

The mute concluded as I did that their words mean they can't witness flow but reached a more superstitious conclusion than I have, which is that they never had the blessing in the first place.

“Answer.” It says.

“That buzzing's not going to frighten me.” I note with a corner smile. “This is a secret too.”

“What conditions for secret say?” It asks.

“None.” I utter coldly.

“You, you, you.” It says, turning one of its hexagonal faces to Rowland, Idali, and the Templar.

'Follow my lead.' I swiftly write in the air.

“I believe we should retreat, Jessica Freepath, they have not threatened us and answered questions.” The temple guard utters in urgency.

Shit. I swear under my breath because he spoke aloud. Yet the creatures don't react, at least not overtly, they don't seem to be afraid of us in the least. Just another foolish species.

'I know far more than you do, Templar, if you will not follow my commands then stand aside with your mouth shut.'

“... Acknowledged.” The man replies with a low determined tone.

“We are no threat.” It says, almost throwing me into a giggling fit with its blatant lie.