It was dark now. The sun had gone down. The dark grey clouds had swept in. The town felt as eery as before.

I was being escorted back to my cage. My legs numb, the blood dried up upon my thigh. If you saw me now, you'd think I was defeated.

"You good??".

I turned to see the man beside me. Klossi kil'ai was his name. We had become friends in this mental prison we were trapped in. He was bald and had dark brown skin with two long scars circling from his scalp all the way down to the back of his neck. Two long scars wrapped around his head almost like a halo or a loop.

He had tattoos brandishing his left arm and torso. With an ancient script etched into his back. Although scary he had become my comfort.

"If I say yes, will it stop??" I replied.

"Stay strong. Śeikl' spirit is with you. I've seen it".

"You don't know what it's like. He…. Has me tied up for six hours? Defiling me" I roared back.

Klossi crept his head back down into his thighs. Reaching out through the bars he left his hand out there.

"I do…." He mumbled out. Embarrassed and trauma flowed through his eyes.

"My sister was before you, from the boats across the sea, to the Desert and now here. They moved me all around. They think… I've forgotten how they raped her. Tannol and especially that ugly fucker Frinist" he sadly concluded.

I lay there in fear hearing his words. Gripping his hand, we sat together weeping sorrowfully.

"Where you from?? You speak our tongue?" I asked anxiously.

Wiping his tears, he responded weakly"Caciccaci".

"I'm from Caciccaci, they kidnapped me of course! The tale of the sel'nijj drove them this far. I learned and picked up six tongues as I journeyed across the world".

"Six tongues!!".

"Yes, guess its perks of being a merchant. A naïve merchant".

"Why, say that?? It's not your fault you and your sister were captured" I tried consoling him.

Silence overtook him.

"I wish, that was true!" he earnestly said.

Frinist came in blowing out the candles and torches.

He opened at my cage doors. Flinging my hurt cell mate into the cage. Open cuts and wounds enveloped his tough body exterior. Rushing to him, I firmly gripped his hands as he lost strength. He motioned for me to bring my ear closer as he struggled to speak. Klossi shook his bars in fear.

"The….. cane….".

His last words etched out into my mind as the last candle lost its flame. Laughs retreated back up into the stairs as we heard the doors slam.

With the last flick of the flame, I looked back at Klossi as darkness overtook the room.

We had gathered around for a campfire with the group. Aya, Shassii, and Ussu swayed from left to right with each other. Watching the crescent-shaped moon, shrouded by clouds. Singing a traditional children's song. Made up of an old dialect with some new words spoken by the Śeinq of today.

Everyone was happy for the time being.

Sannu was in his wagon looking for some snacks to eat. The pot was being mand by Quine who to everyone's surprise could cook.

Yannu crept up on her.

"Didn't know you were so self-sufficient" he teased, shocked at her skills.

She rolled her eyes in response.

"Am full of surprises honey, you just never noticed".

"I second that" Ussu chimed in, raising her hand.

"I didn't know too, that Quine was soo well on off on her own" Aya joked.

"WOW, do you all not know me?" Quine questioned offended.

"NOPE!" Everyone replied.

They all burst out laughing and the aura was comely.

Kairui and Sannu made their way to the group with a map.

"Okay kiddies, back to business now…." She instructed, laying out the map on the floor.

"We've got to figure out what, when, and where we are going tomorrow?" Sannu added in.

"Ahhh, we have to move again. Can't we sit and rest" Ussu moaned, flailing her hands around.

Yannu shushed his girlfriend pointing at her.

She stuck her tongue out childishly winging.

Shassii giggled seeing them go back and forth.

Ignoring them Kairui continued.

"Well anyway, we can't. They'll have the town by now. As the army seeps in they will come looking for the lake".

"Why, the lake??" Aya looked confused.

"Like I said to your friends earlier. It's not the lake specifically. It's what it holds" Kairui responded.

"What does it hold??" Aya probed.

"The key of Fruition!" Kairui said mumbling under her breathe.

Sannu bolted up…

"That again!!" Sannu asked in disbelief.

"Yes, that again… Now you know the seriousness of the situation, sit down and let me do the talking," She said in a revering manner.

Sannu fell silent again his face full of dread like a child, rubbing his dreads in confusion, riddled with worry.

He sat himself on a log beside the trio.

Yannu made his way next to Ussu. With her wrapping her arm around him as well.

Mystery filled the area.

"What's the key of frui...." Aya spoke up.

Kairui kept her composure and let out a deep breath.

As she explained the squeaks from the lake rang out.

"You all know of the Linniq".

Aya slumped her head down remembering her dad. Shassii noticed and rubbed her arms to comfort her.

"It's our history, our religion. Every child to non consecrated, Ābid to Śeinq have heard of it. What of it?"

"To make it simple. There's a great power in the lake and the forest. To a foreigner, this lake may seem like an aurora in the Desert or canyon and as the legends foretell, the Śeingtt will drain the lifeforce of all unwelcomed".

"But there's a way to access a power from the lake. Hidden deep in the forest somewhere lies a cave. Called the telling of the Śeikl'. There the power is bestowed upon children who live for the land".

"How do you know all this?? Quine quizzed her.

"No, foreigner may know of our tales. Our history!! How did they find out about the Sel'nijj!" questioned Aya refuting Kairui's words.

"Because I ….."

"That's enough!!!" Sannu stood up, cutting off the topic and discussion.

"It's only tales of old. None of that stuff exists. Nice campfire story joke Kai here, is playing a game on you all, to lift the mood" he dismissed, bringing the tension back down.

"Heh, yeah..... it was..... all a joke" Kairui shrugged it off rubbing her hair. The hairs on her back had been raised as she quickly tried to change the topic.

The trio sat idly confused yet intrigued. Quine didn't pay any mind to it and thought of it as a simple story. Aya and Shassii however thought back to the Fountain and the weird events that happened while the siege. They both caught each other's sight-reading each other's minds.

Yannu thought the two were acting or putting on a play or farce. Their behavior and origin piqued his interest the more they hid it.

He had heard of stories from his elders back in Caciccaci of a mysterious lake that birthed them and clothed them with power of the Śeingtt and Linniq. Whether it was the Sel'nijj of Eein was another question.

"Anyways to lighten up the mood. I can confirm there are no soldiers on our tails. Tomorrow we head for the forest for some herbs. I recognized some on the way back here after scouting" Sannu suggested.

"Yeah and we need to prepare to leave for the town ahead. We need to stock up and get information, then return, get the wagon and either leave for good or go our own separate ways".

The group lay quiet. No one had thought this far ahead.

Surely these thoughts would carry on with them into the night as they slept.

The sun rose again overlapping the surroundings. Peering through the canyons. The two rivers glistened brightly. The environment had shifted over another night. The army had now settled around the river banks on the city R'einsel.

The town changed as the citizens were rounded up. Near the fountain of the Śeingtt of Fortitude. On some steps fastened behind the Fountain. Stood the Commander.

Commander Nidd.

Standing fierce, the figure above him drew everyone's attention. Everyone muttered, chatting to themselves thinking who is he?? What does he want?

"All of you!! Listen to me" He shouted out in his native tongue.

"Commander, they can't understand you" General Nashal whispered to him.

"Damn, bring the slave! The one with the rapid tongue" he commanded.

General Nashal followed his command. Signaling to a soldier in amongst the crowd. Seeing the sign he headed off into the town to get

In the cage sat a dead body beside me. I woke up fatigued and distraught, picking up on his last wish as well as the words he spoke in my mind. He was a foreigner from lands afar. We shared the same skin tone, so I thought maybe he was a native. Maybe from Rhiniss. Our neighbors or so. To my surprise, he spoke an entirely different language.

"His words ring and sting the mind don't they" Klossi quizzed, looking at me curiously.

He had woken up before me, yet he was filled with energy. His wounds didn't seem to affect him today.

"Yes, you… you heard them too" I replied.

"Yeah, dead language!" he answered back stretching his arms around.

"I couldn't understand a word. Did you pick up on his tongue??"

"Like I said, Dead language. Best not to repeat what he said".

"Why??"

He silenced once again. Sealing his lips. Turning a bit away from me.

I could see more of his tattoos now. In the brightness of day. He always sat with his back away from me. In a fetal position, he was attentive in doing so for some reason. But in the night he slept shirtless, although he'd make it his daily mission to stress Tannol to let him keep his shirt on in the day. Even during torture.

The same ringing sound rang out in the vacum of my ears as I looked at his tattoos. Vivid images spiraled around in my mind. Leaving me dizzy and confused. He would slowly converse with me which would slow the dizzyness and pulsating sound.

"Sub-language or mixed dialect of the Caciccaci, he spoke to you. If he can't find a mate he will whisper it to whoever upon death" Klossi explained, glancing back at me again.

I held my forehead as it pounded heavily.

"What do you mean??".

Trying to get as many answers from him and keeping him talking was my best bet, I figured.

"Bastards tongue he spoke...."

"Think of it as a curse. Kind of. A blessing if harnessed well. For you a curse though".

"Like a kiss of death??".

"Kiss of death…"

"Exactly.."

"Why is it a curse for me?".

"You're not Caciccacian. It's forbidden. According to law, you would be killed"

"There's a long history dating back two thousand year history regarding our roots and Language".

"Your people. Or people relative to you, ….. neighbors even perhaps stole it from us. Trying to utilize it themselves" he reiterated, annoyed and disgusted.

I was so confused. What did he mean? Had the prisoner cursed me upon his departure from this world. The world we know of only consisted of Eein and Caicacci, who were the people he spoke of.

"We've been at this war for ages. I assure you" he reinstated firmly shaking his hair.

"How do I undo it?? This curse.. you speak of".

"Marry me??"

"What??" I lay in shock, taken back. Construing my face like a hurt puppy.

"HEHE"

He sat there laughing.

"A joke, a joke"

He gestured to ease the mood, he was the type to never be serious. Everything was lukewarm or a joke to him, that's at At least the side he always showed to me.

"You said our neighbors. You talking about Rhiniss?" I keyed the conversation back on track.

"Close but no. Am talking about Empire of Dhe'niejjhl rivaled only by the Great Caciccaci and Nal Naal'al Empire years ago. Decades ago,".

"Didn't take you for a historian" I joked in agony.

My limbs started to ache as I saw my hands blacken and a dark script emerged writing itself on my hands. The words squirmed like snakes beneath my skin.

"Well, life on ships and town to town. You find ways to kill time. Books specifically…." He lightly put it reflecting on his life.

"Bear the pain for the day, …... tomorrow your strength will return".

"URGH" i wailed out in pain, as the scripts twitched and slithered under my skin like a worms.

"Tell me, will you tell me how to lift the curse. If it's forbidden…. Can't I just return it to your people? Maybe" I pleaded.

"It doesn't work like that. We knew of your people…. sorry..... I mean the Dhe'niejjhl, their envy of us was so vicious. So we weaponized it. Your script gives you unmatched latent power but lowers your life force. I'll help …you control it so you can live longer".

"Some herbal remedies and treatments...."

"Thank you…... again Klossi".

"But why help me?? And who are the Dhe'….niejjhl and Nal Na…. Empires".

"Nothing a pretty lady should worry about.." he teased.

"If only the world was as small as they said it was...." he whispered to himself pitifully.

"In some ways, I'd like to see you make it out this hell hole. My time draws close I believe..".

His words were sad but he retained a smile even through his adversity.

"It's just going to be just us two in this cage from now on. Stop thanking me. You never know when I might go or disappear" he sadly eased in.

We sat quietly thinking over his words. Slowly a smile crept up unto my face.

Tannol stormed down the cellar. Banging on each bar.

Opening the cage next to me. He dragged Klossi out of the cage. I reached out but was too weak, all I could do was cry out.

"RAPID TONGUE!!"

"RAPID TONGUE GET UP!!"

Klossi heard and calmly said, "Be glad if it's now I leave. I get to go first to the Linniq before you. Stay strong and find inner peace".

Praying for him was too much as the humming sound came back into my eardrums, I simply could bless him as he stood up to leave.

"Sanni' Sai Śeingtt"

I was alone again, back into the corner of my mind. In my head, I thought of Aya and the rest and grew selfish. Maybe I should've pleaded death back at the bridge. Would they have granted me it?

With Klossi now gone what else is left for me. He'll rape and rape me until I give in or he'll do it just for fun anyway.

Falling weak in my bones from the pain. I pressed down on my tongue with all my strength. Tearing through till blood seeped from my Mouth.

This was it; this was the way to go

I felt my eyes give in…. I felt at ease. Finally at last my time was done. Time for me to pass away... The Butterfly with the yellow and blue wings flew in again. Landing on my nose. This time flying to my fingers.

The Śeikl had come to visit me one last time before death....

My consciousness gave in...