Chapter 58

Farming and Superstitions

To anyone who happened to spot the young couple traversing the ever-dangerous northern jungle basin, many could confuse the two for gods playing as mortals. Such tales were not too fantastical and were seen as a classic part of most stories of the old gods. Stories where the gods would come down to the realm of mortals and wreak havoc for a bit, then ascend upwards to the heavens to watch how their mischief unfolded.

Thus, when people saw the clearly divinely recognized Lykan who looked every bit the hunter with his myriad of weapons adorning his body followed by the whimsical beauty that was Nayali; it was only logical to assume that the two were divine beings who wished to partake in the affairs of mortals, if only for a moment.

While the two had gathered quite the few glances from farmers and field workers who caught glimpses of the two going through the untamed fields of the northern border lands, no one dared stop the two. Instead, the two were just watched until it was clear that they had truly made their passing through the fields and did not wish to cause mischief upon their lands. Such were the thoughts of the northern Sidherthan farmers, who often took a more ritualistic view to the world. Being at the border of the jungle basin, the lands where monsters roamed in on rivers of fog to destroy crops, it was not too uncommon to find the superstitious farmer. Instead, one would find it harder to find a farmer that didn’t have some sort of superstition built up from years of surviving the border.

This was the land of the between, the final boundary that were only settled by the heartiest or the most desperate of individuals. There had been no hard and fast rule as to which of the two would be the ones to survive, but those that did survive had a deep found trust for the supernatural once their baptism by supernatural travesty was complete.

There was no true set time limit to when one of the newly appointed farmers to the northern lands was considered indoctrinated. The main reason for this being that one needed to experience the warping effects of the ancient power that occasionally flowed forth from the jungle basin and into everyone’s lives. Only when one lived through and survived such a warping event could one be truly considered a native of the north. The surviving of such an experience was also what caused many to gain their own superstitions. The surviving of such events also caused many to be aware of the residual power of people and creatures that roamed the lands. Thus, when the true northerners first felt then saw the pair making their way through the fields as if nothing mattered, the locals took notice.

When the two seemed to make their way around settlements and houses, the locals all let out a sigh of relief. No good could come by hindering their path, was the thoughts that many locals had of the two.

Then when they left, none of the locals made a comment of the two.

“Hey who are those two?” Neil Gines asked nearly out of breath. It was clear he had been running for quite a bit and had likely run all the way to his neighbor’s farm from his own. Neil and his family were still new to the region. While he and his family had taken up refuge in the northern region over three summers ago, he was still not used to the area. He and his family were considered by many to be un-assimilated to the life.

“Two what?” Tytus responded.

“Those two people who just cut through our fields.” Neil pressed.

Shrugging to himself Tytus only said, “must have missed them.” This was a lie of course. Even now Tytus’ keen senses told him that the two were still on his property, but they were not stopping. His thinking was that if those two powerful creatures were not going to stop on his lands, then he was not going to stop them.

“What should we do about them?” Neil asked, trying to calm down though he was still excited from having run such a distance.

Looking at him Tytus only stated, “we should do nothing about those two.”

“But they are young, and they seem to be heading straight towards the jungle basin. Shouldn’t we warn them or something?” Neil asked.

Hearing that Tytus only chuckled to himself. “Warn them? If anything, we should warn the basin of their arrival. No, I think those two will be just fine.”

Hearing the words and the confidence that Tytus had in them caused Neil to pause. Neil respected Tytus a lot, had it not been for Tytus’ guidance the first summer Neil would have likely lost his farm. After that first year Neil made it a vow to always take the council the old man gave with utmost seriousness. Then a part of his words caught Neil and made him pause.

“You did see them?” Neil asked, suddenly feeling like he had been lied to.

Seeing the serious expression on Neil’s face Tytus only paused for a second then shook his head in annoyance at himself.

“Yes.” Tytus paused for a second, before realizing he likely needed to continue before Neil did something to draw the attention of those two beasts that had traversed his lands. “Those two are far more powerful than the types of normal people you are used to. While they might look human, they were far more powerful than anyone I have ever felt pass through these lands.”

“You can feel them? The presence of powerful people on your lands too?” Neil asked.

Hearing this Tytus turned his head and cocked an eye at the man, who had been barely more than a stranger to this point. Yet after hearing about this Tytus pressed.

“You felt them? Is that why you tried to follow them, to warn others of their existence?” Tytus asked.

Hearing the words of the wise elder Neil paused for a second as he genuinely tried to take in his thoughts. He had been running mostly on emotion up to this point, but after hearing the words from Tytus, his mentor, he had to agree.

“Yes, I guess that is what I was doing. I felt their presence on my land. By the time I identified their source I saw that they were almost out of my field. At first, I felt relief, but then I saw they were heading straight for your fields so I just ran.” Neil said, his words more a rambling mess of his thoughts.

Hearing the words, Tytus paused for a second then nodded to himself.

“Well young Neil. I think it is time that you brought your family over for a celebration.” Tytus exclaimed.

“A celebration? For people walking through our fields?” Neil asked, suddenly confused.

“No. This is a joyous day, as you have bonded with your lands. This is the first step of becoming truly accepted by the community.” Tytus said, gesturing to the fields that were owned by the Boyers and the Eliarchs to the left and right respectfully.

“Wait? Is that what you meant by becoming accepted?” Neil asked, his mind running back to the first year when everyone had been avoiding him. At the time only Tytus had taken time to come over and explain how the community worked. If community was really the word one could use to describe what the loosely affiliated group of northern farmers was called.

Nodding with a smile on his face Tytus answered, “yes. As I said before, we will not accept you until the land accepts you. The very fact that the land informed you of the presence of such powerful people speaks of its commitment to keeping you safe.”

Neil paused as he let those words sink into him. “So, wait, you could feel them too?”

Tytus nodded sagely.

“What do we do about them?” Neil finally asked.

“Not a damn thing. You let roaming dragon’s roam.” Tytus said.

There was a silence for a moment, then Tytus spoke again. “Go home, gather your family. I will gather the others and we will have a celebration here tonight to welcome you to the fold.”

“A welcoming ceremony? But didn’t you already host us when we first arrived?” Neil asked, suddenly feeling guilty for the hospitality offered by the old sage.

“Haha. That was just a meal. This will be a true feast as we welcome you to the fold.” Tytus offered. “Now go there is much to do.”

Hearing the words, Neil nodded and then began going back. As he walked a few hundred paces away from the house he turned to see Tytus still there staring at him. Tytus gave a gentle wave, “go on, this is not a trick.”

Hearing that Neil waved and feeling a bit silly about his apprehension turned to go back to his property. As he got closer, he was amazed that he could almost feel the boundary line between the two properties. It was as if there was a dull thrum when he was away from his land, and the closer he got to his lands the calmer and more alive he felt. Was this what it was like to become one with the land? He wondered to himself as he set foot on his property and instantly felt relief.

Then he realized the other important facts. He needed to get his wife and children ready, for they were going to have a party soon.

“Honey, you won’t believe what just happened!” Neil shouted excitedly as he seemed to know exactly where his wife was even though she was behind a small hill at the border of their property.

***

That night as had become an almost constant ritual for the pair. Nayali would lie down, while Lykan would go about a self-created process for cleansing the chaotic miasma that flooded through her body. This was a long process, one that was made longer due to it primarily being a lot of trial and error on Lykan’s part.

Had they been in any other situation or had a different dynamic to their relationship this would not be the case. The problem with the purification process was primarily due to the way the chaotic energy had woven itself tightly with Nayali’s own meridians. To forcefully pull away the corruption would be akin to ripping free the meridians that lined Nayali’s body. These complications caused Lykan to take a slower approach to his cleansing process as he didn’t want to torture the poor girl before him.

Even when he messed up and caused minor tears to appear on Nayali’s meridians she never cried out. Instead, she would just stare at him the entire time. In a way Nayali found herself wishing Lykan would make a mistake, not that she enjoyed the pain. The pain was unbearable as it felt like her soul was on fire and bleeding out simultaneously. Each time Lykan messed up in such a way he would immediately stop and go to Nayali’s aid and stare into her eyes, hoping she was okay. There was also the unspoken agreement that once such a severe accident was caused the two would stop for the night and continue again the next day.

At first Nayali felt Lykan was spoiling her. It wasn’t until after their first month together that she realized the truth, that Lykan knew of the pain intimately.

“Does it still hurt?” Nayali asked one day when her meridians still burned the next night. Only after Lykan saw that she was still in pain did he opt to skip not just the next night but an entire week to allow Nayali to fully recover. Seeing the devotion and caring side, Nayali realized that part of his compassion for her came from his own personal experience with the damage that his own meridians sustained.

Hearing the question and understanding why she asked Lykan himself only gave a faint smile that went nowhere near his eyes. “Honestly the blow to my ego is what hurts the most.”

It was at this point that the Nayali of old would try to press Lykan to leave Sidhertha that such a place was undeserving of a man of his capabilities. She knew that most of the alleged blow to his ego came from the fact that he was seen as useless by most of the people. There was also the fact that his one joy of flying had been denied to him ever since the injury he sustained. Lykan, for his part, would often shut down such arguments by simply leaving the room and not talking to her again for that night. The next day they would wake up and he would treat her as he always had with a calm but distant demeanor that spoke of him dealing with Nayali as a chore and nothing more. After the first month or so of such treatment Nayali stopped such actions and instead tried to spend as much time as she could with the reclusive individual.

Thus time went slowly for the pair. Lykan would heal Nayali or at least try to heal her of the corrupted Qi that flooded her system. Then he would stop immediately once he made a mistake and tore something ethereal. Those were the times that Nayali looked forward to the most. The reason she enjoyed such moments was not due to her enjoying the sensation of her meridians tearing, not in the slightest as that was the most painful experience any mage could suffer. No, what she enjoyed about such moments was that meant Lykan would spend a week fawning over and pampering her. This was partly why she made no motion or cries of pain when he messed up, it was clear from his actions afterward that Lykan was already filled with remorse for failing.

There was also the added benefit that now after so many months of constant cleansing Nayali felt better from all the hard work Lykan put into cleansing her, day in and day out. The overall effectiveness was slow, but the cumulative effects were amazing for she felt clearer of mind now than she had for a while.

After a certain point she even felt like she was coming back to being her true self, or at least back to her original personality from before she merged her power with the dark pillar.

So it was that the pair were so close to completing the long cleansing process that Nayali almost wanted to stop. Yet laying down, she looked up into Lykan’s eyes and realized that she would take this moment. Tonight, like every other night he took her hand in his, and then began pulling her corrupted Qi throughout his body.

In this case the poisonous Qi circled around his body once, before finding the broken meridians and being shot out into the nothingness. Tonight, as happened every night black ooze poured from Lykan’s neck only to evaporate upon contact with the air. This process would continue until either Nayali’s body gave out and her meridians started to collapse from the near constant drain. Or until Lykan himself reached his own mental limits and would stop. In either case, Nayali would just stare up at the man who was doing everything in his power to become her savior.

Nayali felt as the micro particles of corruption flowed through her channels. Then she felt a strange sense of joy and fear as the last and final piece of corruption circulated her body once, then made it to her hand before passing through their intimate connection.

A minute later black ooze poured from Lykan’s neck only to dissipate into the wild.

Lykan pulled a bit more energy through their connection but was surprised at the sudden lack of resistance. Feeling that something was off he asked.

“Was that everything?”

Hearing the question Nayali was at a loss. She felt internally, only to find that that was everything. After three long months of near constant cleansing, she was free of corruption. Feeling the sudden clean feeling from within her body, she paused as shock took her. She found herself answering before she could truly think of a good response.

“I believe it was.” Nayali said.

Then before she could take it back, so they could spend more time together, a message from the gods confirmed her statement as a golden light enveloped her.

Calamity Cleansed. You have been cleansed of the corruption of a calamity.

Calamity Cleansed. While not the most efficient method of cleansing your method of being cleansed was the most beneficial. As a result of the slow cleansing process that you undertook, you will maintain all bonuses received from the original infusion. Use this newfound power to help cleanse the corruption of the world.

Number of Corrupted Pylons Fully Cleansed: 1 of 49.

Number of Corrupted Pylons Defeated: 3 of 49.

Number of Corrupted Pylons Accessed for Power: 27 of 49.

After seeing the message, Nayali saw that Lykan too had received a similar message as he too was covered in a golden hue. After the hue cleared Lykan let out a smile that finally reached his eyes. Then collapsed to the ground next to her in a controlled fall.

Nayali wanted to react, but her position and her sudden shock from the message from the gods made it so she only managed to reach out a hand to grab Lykan’s head upon his descent. That however was enough as she managed to stop his head from crashing into the hard ground.

She watched as a trickle of blood began to pour from Lykan’s nose. Panicked by the sudden trail of blood Nayali sat up and took it as part of her job to try and care for Lykan.

The two sat in the middle of the forest clearing. For hours the only sign that Lykan was alive at all was the gentle rising and falling of his chest. A fact that she felt the need to prove by having her hand rest gently upon his chest, as she rested his head in her lap.

Finally, after hours of rest Lykan awoke, his golden eyes seeming to glow in the darkness of night like two golden stars. Seeing him awake brought an instant smile to Nayali’s face.

Seeing her expression and the fact that he was looking at her upside-down made Lykan first pause, then slowly regain his thoughts as he rose to a sitting position. Nayali wanted to protest, but Lykan was able to overcome her gentle pushing. Once in a seated position himself the two were nearly at eye level to each other. While Lykan was much taller than Nayali the height difference was lessened due to their both being in a sitting position.

There was an intense silence for a second. Nayali had so many things she wished to say, but in the end she only found herself asking. “Did you also get the message from the gods?”

“About the pylons?” Lykan asked for clarification.

Hearing that, Nayali nodded her head “yes.”

There was a strange sense of longing that suddenly came from Nayali as she realized the intimate moments, they had shared for the better part of the last three months was now over.

“So, do you want to head out to them at first light? Or would you want to train first?” Lykan finally asked.

Hearing the question Nayali was taken aback.

“What do you mean? Go to what?” Nayali was thoroughly confused.

Hearing the words Lykan looked at Nayali with a questioning glance.

“You said you got a message from the gods about the pylons, correct?”

“Yes…” Nayali answered still a little confused.

“You got the same message telling how many were left and where their relative locations are?”

Hearing that Nayali looked at Lykan in confusion at first, but then dawning realization filled her mind.

“Oh, you likely got more of a blessing from the gods. For me, my reward was that I got to keep the bonuses I initially received for merging with the corrupted pylon.” Nayali paused for a second, then spoke the second part of her thought. “I take it you got the location of the pylons?”

Lykan shook his head. “No, not just the pylons. I can also see dots that are moving about, I assume these are part of the twenty-four that were accessed for power. As that is the number of individual moving dots I can feel in my mind.”

Hearing that and seeing the strain on Lykan’s mind Nayali felt that she understood why there was blood trickling from Lykan’s nose earlier. The gods had likely forced a lot of information directly into Lykan’s mind.

Seeing his state, and that he was already starting to sway lightly in the gentle breeze of the night Nayali wanted to rest.

“I think we should rest, and only move once we are comfortable in the morning.” Nayali posed her thought.

Lykan opened his mouth to protest, but Nayali cut him off with the raise of one finger. “You just passed out from being given divine knowledge. Take a minute to unpack the information first. See if there is more information available first before we charge head long into a dire situation.”

Hearing these words and seeing the look of determination on Nayali’s face, Lykan felt himself nodding.

“Okay.” Lykan said as he began to fall to the ground, but he was stopped by two powerful, but gentle, hands.

Shocked Lykan looked at the two hands that were pulling him and directing his head to rest back in Nayali’s lap.

“Rest. It is about time that I return the favor you have granted me by being my caretaker for the last three months. The least I can do is offer you a calm night’s rest for once.” Nayali said as she gently guided Lykan’s head to rest once more in her lap.

Looking up, Lykan locked eyes with Nayali. Then seeing something in her eyes he smiled brightly. “A pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Lykan Vita, I hope we can become friends.”

Hearing this Nayali blushed for a moment but quickly regained her composure. She realized that he was right, before this moment she had a foreign power causing wild thoughts to fill her head. After hearing this, she paused and smiled.

“A pleasure to meet you Lykan Vov’Vita. I am Nayali Northstar, formerly of the royal Azani line. I too hope we can be more than friends.” Nayali said, making sure to point out that Lykan’s name had changed, even if only recently. He had served with distinction and valor and deserved to be noted for his actions. She also made sure that he knew she still wanted there to be more from their relationship than just friends.

Hearing this Lykan just smiled brightly for a second, before closing his eyes and letting darkness take him.

Nayali stared down at his gentle face that seemed far younger once his aged soul-filled eyes were closed. Once she was certain he was asleep from the rising and falling of his chest, Nayali felt her fingers gently glide over his smooth face as she brushed his jet-black hair with her long delicate fingers.