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Sat 29th Jun 2024 08:30

I have a bad feeling about this-Part 1

by Talutah

Even though the fight had been called off we had yet to escape the grasp of the Phrat'ii. Once night had fallen the largely built phrat'ii warrior, who had introduced himself as Warlord Kun, ordered his fighters to get a campsite ready. By this stage they had pulled Gurval and Velanna out of the pit. As i sat there surrounded by Pharat'ii fighters, i started to worry about how my companions and i were going to get ourselves out of this situation. Plus i was worried for Gallant because I had not seen him since our fight with the Phrrat'ii. I was also concerned that this Warlord Kun could decide to kill us at any moment, it was surprising he had not attempted to kill Syrus considering the contempt he seemed to have for the Solen.
 
As Warlord Kun begun to address us i wondered why he was the only Phrat'ii in the group with wings. Velena must have had similar thoughts because she asked him about his wings, to which he replied that his was able to absorb the power of the people he destroyed which was how he got the wings. Warlord Kun then touched upon his request for us to help him fight the Solen, who had a base not far from here. He asked what my thoughts were of his request, noting that since i was a Lupo i would share in his hate for the Solen. Granted i had every reason to hate the Solen, given my peoples history with them. However spending time with Syrus had made me start to question if all Solen were bad, plus my people's war with the Solen was before my time so i was not exacly keen on starting another one. I asked Warlord Kun why the Phrat'ii in this land were fighting the Solen, he responded that the Solen had arrived in the land long ago and they have been figthing with them since. He did not provide any more information which left me suspicious of his true motives.
 
He continued to say that a dragon with the power of the sun would soon be reborn and his people wanted to kill the dragon to get the power for themselves. The Solen currently had the unborn dragon protected in the base, which is why he wanted to kill the Solen to get to this dragon. Sensing our hestitation with killing Solen in cold blood, he suggested that we instead find a way to disable the shield currently over the Solen base. They would then infiltrate the base to get to the dragon, killing any Solen that get in their way. He then mentioned that the Phart'ii fighter Lucid had killed before had been in possesion of a soul, and that soul could be Lucid's if we helped him fight the Solen. I figured he mentioned about the soul to try and sway Lucid into helping him. Although somehow i could not see Lucid wanting to have possesion of a soul.
 
My companions and i decided to discuss our options in a nearby tent, out of earshot of Warlord Kun. I did not feel comfortable helping the Phart'ii kill another creature just so they could have more power, even if it would hurt Gurval going against his people. Nontheless it seemed Gurval was not a fan of his race, he kept stressing to us that we needed to get away from Warlord Kun and the Phrat'ii. He also said that his own personal experience of seeing the Phart'ii take a person's soul made him dislike his people even more. Upon hearing that the Phrat'ii took a person's soul, i was even less inclined to help Warlord Kun.
 
As we continued to discuss our current situation the tent flap opened and a robed female phart'ii entered. In broken common she told us she was Lucid's slave and her name was Slender. Lucid was stunned at first, not knowing what to do with this slave. Mura suggested we question the slave to obtain further information about the Phrat'ii, which i thought was a good idea. Lucid told Slender to leave and wait for us outside out of the encapment, i was not sure how much she understood but she left anyway. After much discussion Lucid came up with an idea on how we could get away from the Phart'ii. We approched Warlord Kun and Lucid told him that we wanted to scope the lay of the land before making a final decision. Warlord Kun did not seem pleased with this suggestion and then pointed to a cage which Nakah and Gallant were imprioned in. My first instinct was to run to the cage and free them both. But upon further reflection i knew there was no way we woud be able to get them out surrounded by Phrat'ii fighters. I wondered why Nakah had not freed himself along with Gallant, also how did they end up getting captured in the first place.
 
Warlord Kun told us that we would have until the next sunset to disable the Solen shield otherwise he would kill both Nakah and Gallant. I though it was cruel for him to give us such a short amount of time to accomplish the task. Lucid tried to persuade him to give us more time but Warlord Kun would not budge. With Nakah and Gallant's lives on the line we had no choice in the end but to agree to Warlord Kun's request. My companions and i headed towards the Solan base, with its golden dome in the distance beckoning us towards it.