Talis grinned as she saw the organic lantern on Hansu’s head shine brightly in the dark cave. The Baterns that littered the cave’s ceiling swooped down almost as soon as they entered, and Hansu leapt into action just as quickly, snatching a number of them from the sky for his meal.

“Well, I guess we know now what he eats.” Kloe stated.

Talis laughed. “I kind of figured. Who’s a good boy, scaring off all those baterns.”

Aliope sided up to Talis. “I can scribe, ya?” He already had a graphite rod and a notepad in his hands.

Talis nodded to him. “Thanks for the volunteer.”

“It’s no problem. I’d just be growing plants. Plenty of hands to do that.” He flared a dark green series of Tatu on his right hand knuckles, each a small triangle.

“You’ve got all five?”

“What can I say? I’m a collector.”

Talis laughed. “Can’t you do just as much with one as you can with five?”

“It’s the symmetry of it all. You put a Tatu on one finger and it looks like you made a mistake. Two and then you gotta pick the right ones or you lose balance. Three and the other fingers just feel lonely. Four and-“

“I get it.” Talis cut him off. “Symmetry.”

“What about you then, huh? I heard you was supposed to be getting the light soon. What happened there?”

Kloe smacked Aliope over the back of his head from behind.

“Ow! I’m just asking!” Aliope grinned crookedly and ran his fingers through his hair, fixing the pieces that fell out of the tail.

“It’s alright Kloe.” Talis said. “I was hoping to get the Light, but they think I haven’t earned it yet.”

“Who, the council?” Aliope asked.

“We saw them yesterday on Vuna.” Kloe answered.

Aliope whistled in admiration. “You lot get around fast.”

“It’s a small world.” Istyn grumbled.

“I know it.” Aliope’s grin faded as Istyn spoke. “What about you then, scarred, you show up outta Erridium knows where and suddenly you’re ready to walk again? I heard you were out of the Walkers.”

“Came back, what’s it to you?” Istyn seemed to fade slightly as he spoke as though he was trying to hide something.

Talis shook her head and patted Hansu. The great beast was finished feasting on the fallen baturns and Talis gave her familiar a small mental push to lead him back to where she found him in the cave. “You’ll never get anything out of him, Aliope. Dark walkers are master secret keepers. Time to move”

“Guess you’d know right?” Aliope fell in line with the group as they continued forward through the cavern. “You and that Rewi go back, ya?”

Talis noticed Istyn grow darker again at the mention of Rewi. She turned to Kloe. “Where did Natia find this guy?”

“Super-fan here is something of a storyteller on the bountiful isles.” Kloe said. “It seems as though he spreads tales of your exploits to all the little children and anyone else dim enough to listen to his tall tales.”

“Can’t be tall tales if they’re true.” Aliope rebutted.

“And what tales might those be?” Talis asked.

“You and Kloe here, all your adventures. The stories make it back through the camps faster than you’d think, but not everyone has my dramatic flare, so I’ve taken it upon myself to tell your stories correctly.”

Talis watched as the man struck a regal pose as though he were about to burst into song at any minute.

“You’re not going to sing are you?” Talis asked teasingly.

“You’d be so lucky. My voice is smooth as coconut milk.”

“Too bad the package it comes from is as rough as the outside of the fruit.” Kloe chortled as she spoke and Talis laughed along with her.

Aliope blushed slightly. “You should be honored to have such an accurate history of your exploits dramatized for the masses. Who else will tell everyone about how on your first walk you slew a dragon before you even got your second Tatu?”

“That never happened!” Talis yawped.

“Ask the people of Tethi, they’ll tell you, since I told them.”

“Can’t go through a portal unless you’ve got two, everyone knows that.” Istyn groused.

“They made that rule after to protect scarred greeners like you.” Aliope replied.

“You keep calling him scarred, why is that?” Kloe asked Aliope.

“It’s what they are, the dark walkers. They don’t get Tatu, they simply cut scars in pretty shapes and call it art.”

Istyn’s right hand changed colors as Talis looked at it. Talis pressed her hand to her chest and stopped walking. “Aliope, that’s enough. We have a job to do. What’s more important to you, huh? Some petty squabble or saving our people?”

Aliope’s smile vanished and he hung his head, his black hair falling in front of his eyes. “Mali, Misia. It won’t happen again.”

Talis let go of her inspiration and continued walking. Aliope caught up a moment later. “Hey, you were using your Tatu on me, weren’t you?”

Talis grinned. “Maybe.”

“Lapo! You’re good!”

“Do you have to use old language so much?” Istyn asked in a grumble.

“Connects us to where we’re from, scarred. Mali, Istyn. It’s what we Erridites believe keeps us connected to the planet.” Talis noticed that Aliope’s smile returned as he spoke of his beliefs.

“You also believe that the planet was never meant to be called Erridium as well. Since Eridi is the old language word for dirty.” Istyn said.

“Ah, so you know the old language too!” Aliope replied with forced elation. “We should speak it one another sometime. It could be our own special thing that connects us.”

Talis grinned noticing how much this seemed to annoy the dark walker. “It’s just up ahead.”

“Where’s that?” Aliope asked.

“Where I met Hansu. There.” She pointed at the ground. “You can still see where Sida got attacked.”

“This thing do that?” Aliope asked and Talis nodded in response. “Yet you keep it as a pet? That will be hard to spin in a tale later. Why did you do it?”

Talis shrugged. “Wanted to see if I could. Better than becoming a meal.”

Kloe stood at the head of the group and raised a fist up. “Hold. You smell that?”

The rest of the team moved closer to her and Talis inhaled sharply. The scent of cooked meat filled her lungs and she held back a gag of revulsion. “Lapo! I hate that smell.”

“It’s got a scent to it, like a spice. Animals don’t spice their meats.” Istyn added.

“Could be some company up ahead. Istyn, give us some cover?” Talis asked.

Istyn nodded and from his chest came tendrils of black smoke that encircled the group like fog.

“How long can you hold that up, dark walker?” Aliope asked.

“Longer than you can go with out talking.” Istyn responded

Talis grinned. Within the wisps of the fog they could see one another, but only slightly. Talis patted Hansu on the head and gave a mental command using her Tatu for the animal to stay behind. She nodded at Kloe who took point with Istyn in the middle. They pressed onward. After a few steps a light emerged at the end of the corridor and the smell of meat was joined with the sound of people talking. No, not people. Children?

Talis stepped next to Kloe as they emerged from the cavern to see two great lights shining in the sky. “Two suns?” Talis whispered pointing upward.

The two suns were fairly close in the sky, one a brilliant yellow, the other white with a slightly blue hue.

“Well that’s new.” Kloe added.

The larger of the two women bent down and felt the ground which was covered in lush green grass. Talis joined her and noticed that many of the blades were wet with dew.

“Must be morning.” Aliope said in hushed tones. “Dew like this only comes in the early hours back on Matao.”

Talis signaled for the group to keep moving. As she looked around, Talis found it hard to not be in awe of her surroundings. The sky was a radiant blue and birds flew by overhead honking in a way she’d never heard before. The trees were abundant and as varied as grains of sand with some as small as a shrub and others reaching high into the heavens. The larger ones buzzed with insects that flew and crawled from one tree to the other. Ahead was a trail of smoke extending from above a ridge and the group heard voices. They grew silent and moved closer so that they could listen the conversation, Talis was shocked to hear that she could understand many of the words spoken.

“Are they speaking Netsuian?” Aliope whispered.

“That’s not possible.” Istyn added.

“Listen!” Aliope hissed.

“I heard that Jeha took out twenty of them himself!” Came a young voice.

“I heard it was a whole platoon!” Spoke another voice that was slightly older sounding.

“Maybe it was the whole army!”

“When will they be back?”

“They better come soon. The food is gonna get burnt.”

The pair of speakers were young, both sounding as though they had yet to come into their bodies yet. Talis moved closer to hear.

“Keep your distance. I can’t extend the fog that far.” Istyn hissed.

Talis ignored him and walked closer to get a better view of the children. She bent down and crept on her knees feeling the blades of grass between her fingers. In the clearing she saw a young boy with black hair curling over his ears as well as a girl with longer hair that was a light shade of brown. They both were fair of skin with small pointed noses and thick eyebrows. Both wore white tunics with ties at the neck and long sleeves, the bottoms of which hung loose over dark trousers that looked to be made of leather.

“I hope they find the good mushrooms.” The younger boy said.

“Wouldn’t matter, Floren, you’d eat a log if they found it.” The girl’s voice was teasing as she spoke and the boy turned red.

“Would not, Lina!” He responded.

What kind of names are Floren and Lina? Talis wondered as she crept closer.

“Talis, I mean it you can’t go that far.” Istyn’s voice was shrill, and Talis could sense fear in his tone. She stopped and pulled back.

“They’re just children.” Talis said.

“Children who sound as though they are waiting for someone.” Kloe retorted.

Talis’s Tatu around her eyes and forehead glowed orange. “Where’s your curiosity, Kloe? This is first contact with another civilization! One that somehow speaks our language!”

Talis pushed her Tatu’s effect onto her compatriots, sending an intense desire of adventure.

Kloe smiled. “Send the mouth.” She indicated Aliope with a tilt of her head.

Aliope’s grin pushed his eyes nearly shut. “I’m in.”

Aliope had an adventurous heart. He had felt Talis’s riotous touch on his emotions, bringing bravery to him that she must have assumed would help him, yet it didn’t matter, if there was something new to do, he’d be there for it. He stepped out of Istyn’s shadow cloud and into the bright daylight. He was surprised to feel that, despite this plane having two suns, it was cooler than Erridium.

He thought for a moment about how to approach the situation. Should he just go up and talk to them? They’re just children after all. With little forethought he made his choice and let out a loud cry.

“Cheehoo!” Aliope shouted.

The children both looked up, shading their eyes from the twin suns. Aliope stood a head taller than even Kloe, who was considered a tall Netsu. His impressive form barely contained by the green tank top he wore. He smiled.

“Talo!” He grinned, baring his white teeth. The children both exchanged a glance and screamed. They ran.

“Mala.” Aliope cursed. “Wait, hold up!” Aliope chased after them into the forest.

“He’s a fool.” Istyn said matter of factly. “Why did you send him again?”

Talis sighed. “He’s pretty good with words, most of the time. Natia says he works with children a lot.”

Kloe stood up. “We better chase after him.”

Istyn considered the option.

Unfortunately, Rewi, this world seems to be nearly perfect. If only we weren’t bringing the biggest idiots on Erridium to make first contact.

Istyn let go of the shadow cloud, exposing the three. Kloe took off in a sprint with Talis right behind her.

“Stay here, we’ll chase him down. Keep yourself scarce and we’ll be back as soon as we can.” Talis instructed him as she ran after the other two.

Keep myself scarce, I’m one of only a handful of dark walkers on all of Erridium, how scarce can I be?

Istyn walked to the fireplace and looked at the meat that was on a metallic rod with a crank attached. He spun the food once, noticing how cleanly it was skinned with admiration.

At least they eat meat here.

The smell of cooked food was enticing. The effects of his prolonged fast had nearly ravaged his body, reducing the Netsu to a shell of his former self and whatever spices they had put onto the meat filled his senses in a way that reminded him of his mother. Like him she was a believer of the traveller, the man who came to Erridium through the first portal and taught the Netsu how to walk the planes. He felt the loss of his token like a phantom limb. Why had he been so set on destroying it when Rewi spoke? What did it prove to anyone, let alone someone like him?

Istyn looked around the camp, at the six tents set up around the fire and found a rectangular wicker basket outside of one of them. He opened it up to see cutlery made of metal.

Interesting. He thought as he looked at the silverware.

He picked up a piece that had three tines like a small trident and inspected it before taking it back to the skewered animal and pieced its side, plucking a piece of pink meat seasoned with small black and red flakes. He placed the meat on his tongue and relished the taste of the perfectly cooked meat.

The sensation overwhelmed his senses and for a moment he let go of the burning hatred that drove so many of his actions. He released his shadow cloud and took another bite. Then another. Feeling thirsty he looked around for a drink and met eyes with a tall and muscular fair skinned man with dark hair and darker eyes.

“Please. Help yourself.” The man said. The stranger snapped his fingers and from the clearing surrounding the meadow men and women with arrows nocked in bows pointed their weapons at Istyn.

Istyn dropped his small trident and dark wispy smoke billowed out in all directions from his chest Tatu. In his right hand he flared his Tatu and emitted a purple glow.

“Don’t try it.” Istyn growled.

The man who spoke trembled slightly and the rest all lowered their bows. “How are you doing that?”

Istyn kept his Tatu burning strong. “Doing what?”

“Magic without song? It’s impossible, we’ve tried for…” He trailed off and signaled for those with the weapons to lower them. “What are you?”

Aliope felt the wind rush passed him as he ran. “Wait! Please! I’m not going to hurt you!”

The boy looked over his shoulder at Aliope and screamed as he attempted to pick up speed.

“Aliope, stop!” Kloe’s voice called out to him and Aliope turned to see both Talis and Kloe charging after him.

“Huh?” His voice reflecting his confusion as he tripped on the root of a tree and fell face first onto the forest floor.

His head was spinning as he pushed himself back up off the ground. Aliope looked up and saw the two children staring at him just a few body lengths away. “Mala, that hurt.”

“Don’t swear in front of children.” Talis instructed.

Aliope turned on his back and saw Kloe extending her arm to him, Talis by her side. He took it and stood up, brushed dirt and grass off his clothes and looked back at the young boy and girl.

“Sorry about that. I just wanted to talk.” Aliope grinned and realized he was missing a tooth on the bottom.

The boy snickered as he saw the grin. “You look funny.”

“No, you look funny!” Aliope’s voice whistled as he spoke through the gap in his jawline and the boy laughed. This time the girl cracked a smile as well.

The boy walked up to him and bent over, searching in the grass.

“What are you…” Aliope started. He stopped as the boy stood up holding a small white tooth.

“I think this is yours.” The boy grinned.

“Thanks.” Aliope took the tooth. “Florin, right?”

The boy looked surprised, but his companion stepped forward. “You were listening to us, before right?”

Talis stepped forward beside Aliope. “I’m Talis, the lumbering bilgo here is Aliope, and our friend back there is Kloe.”

The girl walked up beside Florin as the boy spoke. “What’s a bilgo?”

“You don’t have those here? Big furry creatures that steal fruit?” Aliope made a gesture, bending his hands at the wrists and pulling his elbows in at his sides making a scratching motion while bending over and vocalizing, “Hoo, hoo, hoo!”

The boy laughed again and Aliope smiled.

“Sounds like a simio to me. They live in the jungles south of here.” The girl said.

“Lina, right?” Kloe asked and the girl nodded. “We’re not really from here, so this is all new to us.”

“Where are you from?” Lina tilted her head as she spoke.

Aliope turned to Talis who spoke. “We’re from another world.”

To their surprise, the children look afraid once more.

“Are you Verlass?” Lina asked.

Aliope squinted as if trying to understand. “Verlass?”

“The others.” Lina continued. “They came generations ago. You’re not with them?”

Aliope shook his head. “I have no idea what’s talking about.” He said to Kloe and Talis.

Talis got down on one knee and spoke to the children. “Back at your camp you were talking about someone named Jeha. Can you take us to him?”

Lina nodded. “Come with us.”

Talis stood up and followed the two children who started the walk back to the camp. Talis walked up to the other two while Kloe took up the rear with Aliope.

“Let me ask you something.” Kloe said to Aliope.

“What’s that?”

“You see two children, I’ll say it again, children, and the first thing you think to do is to yell out an old world battle cry?” Kloe grinned crookedly.

Aliope blushed. “Seemed like it would get their attention.”

Kloe laughed.

They walked for a while in silence and Aliope played with the tooth in his hand. He wondered if he could pull from another part of his body to heal and put the tooth back into his mouth and summoned his Bless tatu. The lizard inked on his right shoulder glowed a bright green as he pulled strength from his right bicep. The arm suddenly felt very weak and he switched the tooth to his other hand. He placed in in position and released the Tatu. It held in position.

“How does it look?” He asked Kloe. As she turned she saw the tooth fall out of place and she burst into laughter.

“Did you try to heal yourself?” She asked.

“I was curious! I’ve never tried it before!”

Kloe continued laughing and ran ahead to tell Talis what just happened. Aliope shook his head, his bangs falling in front of his eyes.

Maybe I should have taken blight instead? I could have sapped the energy of one of the trees and healed myself that way, right?

Most healers weren’t also blighters, and even the thought of hurting a tree gave him a sick feeling in his stomach.

Heal the world, heal yourself.

He repeated the mantra over and over in his mind. The words of the Erridite religion that he held as scripture in his heart. Words to live by, words to die for.

From the distance Aliope heard a strange sound. He looked around trying to discover the source.

Is that… music?

“Anyone else hear that?” Aliope asked.

Ahead of him the two children stopped. Both covered their ears with their hands and dropped onto the ground and began counting loudly.

“ONE! TWO! THREE!”

“What are they doing?” Talis inquired. She ran up to Florin and shook him. “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

The sound got louder and Aliope could hear it better now. A gentle and sad melody played on a string instrument in the distance. The tune was perfect, as if every note was played with the soul rather than the fingers. Aliope found himself drawn to the music as it filled him with a profound sense of melancholy. His normally chipper demeanor was replaced by one of lugubrious and profound depression. Falling to his knees he burst into loud sobs as memories he held back for years of his long passed mother flooded his vision.

Kloe ran up to Aliope and shook him. “It’s alright! Aliope! You’ll be alright, you… can…”

Through a veil of tears Aliope watched as Kloe began to sink to the ground beside him.

No, not you too!

He reached for her and tried to regain his composure, but found himself incapacitated. Slowly he sank deeper into his depression, his father’s stern glance as he spoke in Aliope’s memory, “It’s your fault, maetha! You let her die! She would still be alive if you hadn’t-“

A change came over him, as though a drop of water fell onto his parched tongue. Then came the deluge. Aliope’s vigor returned as quickly as it had vanished. He wiped away his tears to see what had changed and saw Talis, her face alight with a bright red hue as her Tatu burned radiantly on her face.

“Listen to my voice.” Talis’s voice was strained as she attempted to help her friends. “You are stronger than this.”

The music grew louder. The strains of the weeping strings echoed in his Aliope’s mind. “You’re empty up there, maetha! You’ve got no brains, you’re always just going to be a stupid insignificant-“

“No!” Aliope cried out. His hands slammed hard into the ground and a burst of vibrant green energy pulsed into the earth. From the ground sprang up thick vines riddled with thorns. Aliope opened his eyes again as the prison of his own creation enveloped him. He reached out his hand and found Kloe. He grasped her forearm, wrapping his fingers around her strength Tatu.

“Fight it, Kloe. Help us.” He barely choked the words out as the vines climbed up his legs, barbs digging themselves into his skin as they wrapped around his waist and ascended up to his neck strangling the breath out of his lungs.

“Kloe, be strong.”

A burst of blue light filled Aliope’s vision as he struggled for air, then everything went black.