"What Cost Love?" Chapter 6

"What Cost Love?" Chapter 6

The threads of fate and destiny
Are woven into
The tapestry of time;
Ever moving,
They twist and intertwine.

The tapestry is mutable,
A continuing work;
Each strand a life,
Every movement a choice.

These choices,
Conscious or unconscious,
Generate those marvelous designs,
The events and occurrances
Which shape people's lives.

At times, gods take an interest
In the lives of certain mortals,
Those involved in tangles of fate.
It is from these instances
That legends are born.



He was surrounded by a gray mist, featureless and unchanging. Then....

Isaac.

"Huh?" Turning, he searched for the voice's source; though unsuccessful, he saw that the mist had cleared slightly, partially revealing his surroundings. What he now saw left him speechless: he was standing within a circle of ten enormous columns, whatever they were supporting lost in the mist above. Each one was easily five times as wide as Isaac was tall, at least he thought so; not being able to determine distance very well in the mist, they could have been much farther away, and thus much wider.

Isaac Coridas.

It was a different voice this time; deeper, more masculine. Yet the other voice had also been deep, despite its feminine quality; deep, resonating, as if from the throat of a colossal being.

Isaac closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and wished he had Melina's sense of smell. He opened his eyes and clasped his hands together, fighting the urge to fidget nervously.

"You have me at a bit of a disadvantage," he said in a calm voice. "You seem to know who I am, but I have no idea who you are."

He heard a giggle, obviously feminine despite its depth. If you didn't know who we are, you wouldn't be here. This voice was more youthful than the first, even bubbly.

Oh, stop confusing him, Ateli. A fourth voice, that of a young male, reached Isaac's ears; at the mention of the name "Ateli", a glimmer of an idea came to Isaac's mind.

"Stop" confusing him?

"Um...." Isaac was not sure what to say to get more information, but as it turned out, he had no need to; from up above him came a faint rustle, then a flapping noise, as of huge wings jerking down, launching their bearer into the air. Not knowing what the creature that had taken flight would do next, Isaac simply waited, though he did not have to wait for very long.

A thunderclap from behind and to the right caused Isaac to spin around, and he gaped in amazement at the sight of a great beast, huge bat-wings extended fully as it glided out of its dive to a landing. Its scales were opaque white, fading to ice blue at the edges, and its sharp claws clicked on the hard floor as it walked over like a cat, each of its four limbs wider than Isaac's torso.

Aw, you spoiled it, Zurusu, Ateli complained. We were going to have a big entrance and everything, but then you had to go and –

Shut up, Ateli. This new, female voice came from the white creature whom Ateli had called Zurusu. Honestly, you're worse than your brother!

Hey, leave me out of this! voice number four interjected.

Sorry, Exe, Zurusu responded contritely, looking up. You know how I am.

Yes, I do, replied the one called Exe, his voice humorful.

Looking back down at Isaac, Zurusu said, Now that that is over with: we are – damn, he's waking up!

And indeed he was. For a moment, he experienced the extremely strange sensation of being in two places at once; then his eyes flickered open and he yawned, startling the revikan girl sleeping in his arms.

"Huh, wuzzah?!" Melina mumbled as she was drawn from her sleep. Feeling the arms around her abdomen, she panicked momentarily, but her panic quickly faded when she remembered who it was.

"Mmm...." She stretched out her arms and legs, purring happily. "This is so nice...I don't want to move."

"I don't, either," Isaac responded warmly, his heart starting to beat a bit faster when he heard her voice. He felt a little lightheaded, giddy, and thought to himself, It's like I'm re-experiencing the feelings of my first crush.

A moment later, Melina's ears pricked up and she extricated herself from Isaac's embrace, sitting up and searching the area.

"I heard a twig snap," she explained, sniffing the air, then getting a weird expression on her face, a sort of disbelieving look. "Someone is trying to sneak up on us...and failing miserably."

"I've never been very good at moving quietly," said an apologetic voice from behind a bush across the clearing. The speaker stood up and walked into view, presenting a strange sight; he was wearing a red cloak matched in color to the wide-brimmed felt hat shading his eyes, and stuck to the cloak were a multitude of leaves and other detritus.

"My name is Torin Tillista," he said, trying to brush the mess off of his cloak, "graduate of the Tillista Bardic College." Giving up on his cloak, he doffed his hat and bowed.

"So...you're a bard?" Melina asked slightly hesitantly as she and Isaac stood up.

"That is correct," Torin replied with a slight tone of ostentatiousness. "Although," he added, frowning, "I don't think I'm a very good one. Nobody seems to like the poems and songs that I write...not even Shaelu...." He sighed.

"Who?" Isaac asked.

"Oh, you'll meet her soon," was Torin's reply; he hastily added, "If you want to, that is."

Just then, a short, armor-clad individual stepped into the clearing, causing Melina to start.

"I didn't even hear a leaf rustle," she muttered as she stared at the newcomer.

"Why're yae standin' around?" he asked irritably. "There's nae time!"

"Who –" "There's nae time!"

Melina began to hear a faint, repetitive sound, a percussive noise that she recognized immediately.

"I hear horses galloping," she told the comparatively half-deaf Isaac. The sound growing gradually louder, she added, "And they're heading this way."

"Uh-oh." Torin quickly took a small piece of rolled-up parchment out of his pocket, unrolled it, and mumbled the words written on it. The words glowed, the parchment crumbled into dust, and a few moments later, a white circle flashed outwards on the ground from the spot where the scroll dust had fallen.

Taking a few clumsy steps back, Torin watched as a white cloud billowed up and coalesced into a horse-sized form. Aside from its size, however, the was nothing equine about it. Its lithe, sinewy body was covered with small, smooth, mottled-green scales from the tip of its snub-nosed, tri-crested cranium to the tip of its long, tapering, frilled tail; the two-person leather saddle on its back was unusually constructed in order to accomodate its six long, digitigrade legs.

"A racing drake!" Isaac quietly exclaimed. "I haven't seen one of these since my first semester at the Institute...." The memory of barreling across the Institute's campus came into Isaac's mind, bringing a small smile to his lips.

Turning its head to regard the speaker, the drake opened its mouth and uttered an inquisitive "Rawrk?" Its head tilted to the side slightly as it studied Isaac, walking over and sniffing him.

"Rawrk!" The drake abruptly began to lick Isaac's face with its long, pointed tongue.

"Gah!" Isaac stumbled backwards, but the drake followed until Isaac tripped over a root and fell; though he held his arms over his head, the affectionate drake nosed them aside and simply continued licking his face.

Hand covering her mouth, Melina laughed silently at the sight of the large creature acting like an enormously overgrown puppy. After a moment, however, she remebered the (supposed) seriousness of the situation and walked over to the drake; curving her lips, she whistled a short, clear note, its pitch too high for human ears but within the range of the drake's hearing. At least, she hoped it was.

As it turned out, the drake could indeed hear the noise, and it spun around to look curiously at Melina.

Free of the overly affectionate creature, Isaac stood up and took a rumpled gray handkerchief out of his pocket, using it to wipe the slobber off his face.

"Yet another thing that needs washing," he muttered wearily, looking at the saliva-soaked handkerchief before reluctantly stuffing it back into his pocket. He headed over to stand beside the drake, which was now being petted by Melina, and said, "We should probably get going...though I'm still not sure we can trust those two." This second part was said as a quiet whisper.

"From what I can tell, we can trust them," Melina quickly responded. "They don't smell like they have any intent to harm us, and they're genuinely worried about what's approaching."

Just then, the stocky, armor-clad being, who had been stamping his feet impatiently, angrily said, "Hurrae up! Jodan ken't lead them on forever!"

Shrugging, Isaac grabbed a specific protrusion of the strangely shaped saddle and, and sensing his action, the drake crouched low enough for him to easily jump into the saddle.

Melina, who had observed Isaac's movements carefully, repeated the action of getting into the saddle and settled herself comfortably behind Isaac, wrapping her arms around his waist; when he leaned forward to grasp the two hardened leather handles built into the saddle, she leaned with him.

The pair of soft, round objects lightly pressing against Isaac's back caused his face to grow warm, but he had no time to say anything about it; the hoofbeats were now loud enough to be heard by human ears, and were rapidly growing louder.

Unexpectedly, two more racing drakes burst into the clearing. Only one had a rider; a human male, he wore leather armor and had an unstrung bow and a quiver strapped to his back.

"Get on, Rumik!" the rider called out to the dwarf. "They're almost here!"

"Yae're always in a rush, Jodan," Rumik said in response. "We'll ge' away in time." However, he wasted no time in jumping up into the saddle behind Jodan (which was quite an athletic feat, considering his height and the amount of armor he was wearing). Then, grumbling, he placed his feet in a pair of loops attached to the saddle and tightened the leather straps.

Meanwhile, Torin clumsily scrambled onto the remaining drake, looked over at Isaac and Melina, and asked, "Are you two ready?"

Isaac was about to say yes when Melina let out a surprised exclamation, then let go of him, leaned far to the side and quickly grabbed something, and straightened back up.

"You forgot this, Isaac," she told him, tapping his shoulder with something wooden.

"Huh?" He turned his head and saw that she was holding his staff, which he had completely forgotten. "Oh, thank you! Um, just put it...here." He pointed at a set of clips on the side of the saddle, possibly meant for a spear; at the moment, it was the best place to put the staff.

Melina nodded and did so, making sure to secure it, then put her arms back around Isaac.

"Ready," Isaac said, once again leaning forward.

"Then let's go!" Torin said, kneeing his drake into a strange galloping motion; Isaac and Jodan followed suit jsut in time, four warhorses bursting into the clearing as the three drakes exited it.

"After them!" shouted the rider of the leading horse when she spotted the last drake's leg vanishing behind a rather large bush. Not waiting for a response from her companions, she goaded her horse on and sped after the fleeing drakes (and their riders); as the did not have very much choice in the matter, her companions followed.

Glancing back, Rumik said, "They're gainin' on us." He scowled then, asking, "ken't these things go ennae faster?"

Isaac was thinking the same thing; manuvering around trees by leaning from side to side, he egged the drake on, getting it to move more quickly. Now it was all he could do to keep the drake from slamming into the closely-spaced trees; it was quite a stressful and exhausting task.

Meanwhile, Melina had squeezed her eyes shut as soon as they had started moving, the motion proving to be too disorienting; after a few minutes, however, she felt she had acclimated to the strange movements and so opened her eyes.

"Woah..." she muttered, her eyes widening at the trees flying past; she realized that she could no longer hear hoofbeats, though she didn't know if it was because of the widn rushing past or because they had evaded their pursuers. Looking over her shoulder, she could see no sign of pursuit.

After about fifteen minutes, the drakes slowed; Isaac sat up, stretched, then suddenly sagged back against Melina.

"Isaac?" she said, softly calling his name in a worried voice. Concerned as she was, she hardly noticed the growing sound and smell of rushing water. (Though Isaac was no longer leading the drake, it was calmly walking along on its own.)

"I'm...all right, Melina," Isaac said. "Just a little relieved that that's over with...."

Listening, Melina could hear that his breathing was shallow and quick, almost hyperventilation; moving a hand to his forehead, she felt dampness, sweat. "You're not all right," she told him, and wrapping her arms around his chest, she pulled him to her tightly; a scent that had been floating around the back of her nose (similar to how a stray thought floats around in one's mind) drew her attention. She knew that Isaac was producing it, which explained its strangeness, but ther ewas a hint of familiarity that she could not place. It clicked in her mind after she breathed in her own scent, however, and she mentally berated herself for not recognizing Isaac's stress.

"Um...Melina?" Isaac asked nervously, his face tinged with red.

"Yes?"

"Well, um...." He trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it; her action had comforted and relaxed him enough for him to notice, as he had earlier, the pair of soft, warm objects pressing against his back. "Your, uh...."

"Hm?" Melina tilted her head, her ears flicking forward a little.

"It's not that this isn't comfortable, but...." Sighing, Isaac then took a breath and finally said (albeit quietly), "...Your breasts are making me feel a little uncomfortable." Having finally said it, his blush deepened from a mixture of embarrassment and worry about Melina's reaction, and fearing an outburst, he quickly added, "I-it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm not used to it and –"

"It's all right," Melina interrupted quietly, removing her arms from his torso and slipping down off the drake; her ears hung limply, showing her own embarrassment, and she muttered, "I did it again...."

As she stepped to the side to allow Isaac to dismount, a thought came to her. It probably would've been a lot worse if I had big breasts. She found this thought to be strangely humorous, and by the time Isaac had gotten down and retrieved his staff, she was back to normal.

"That looks like some kind of summer villa," Isaac said suddenly, his gaze directed past Melina; turning, she saw an ornately designed, two-story building that did indeed look like a summer residence situated next to a rushing river (this is not to say that all villas are situated next to a rushing river; some are in the strangest of places, such as along a coast in an earthquake-prone region). Guess I was too distracted to notice it a moment ago.

"Oh, that's mine," Torin said after noticing what the two were looking at. Attempting to get off his drake, his foot caught on part of the saddle and he tumbled to the ground.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" he called out, rubbing the back of his head as he stood up. "...Huh? Where's my hat?"

"Righ' here," Rumik answered grumpily; Jodan and he had already disembarked from their drake, and he now held up the wide-brimmed red hat and tossed it to Torin, who caught it and placed it back on his head.

"It flew intae me face a while back," the dwarf added, passing by Torin as Jodan and he walked to the building; Torin shrugged and started walking as well.

"Um...what about the drakes?" Isaac asked, but when he looked back at the creatures in question, he was startled by a triple thunderclap as air rushed into the vacuums where the drakes had been moments before.

"That hurt," Melina said plaintively, hands over her ears.

"Sorry," Torin said sheepishly. "Forgot to say that they'd disappear like that."

Melina growled quietly but took her hands off her ears and started walking to the villa, Isaac going with her; Torin walked beside them.

It took them only about fifteen seconds to cross the distance to the two-story villa, and then they entered through the open door. Of the five people in the room (which seemed to be a sort of common room), Melina recognized two: Jodan and Rumik. Isaac, however, recognized one additional person: an elf dressed in the robes of an IMS alumnus. Is that...?

One of the remaining two, a red-headed elf, began to speak. "Greetings. I am Shaelu ves'Trinnysa; the two next to me are Keleir Kar-ehhal and –"

"Llenyll vir'Shetaames," Isaac said.

"You know him?"

"Who attending the Institute doesn't know of the elf who, three years ago in his ninth term, while attempting to summon a lesser fire elemental, somehow called a harem of succubi?" Isaac could barely keep a straight face as he remembered the panicked elf's cross-campus flight from the half-dozen scantily-clad, voluptuous, most likely nymphomaniacal demons.

Llenyll, too, remembered the incident, as evidenced by the ruddiness which came to his face at its mention; unfortunately for him, the others in the room didn't leave it at that.

"Why didn't you ever tell us about that?" Shaelu asked, trying to contain her laughter; Llenyll only became redder and didn't answer.

"Probably because he didn't want to talk about how he was eventually able to return the succubi to their normal plane of existence." Isaac's voice was contrite, having realized the consequences of his original, thoughtless statement, and he added, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up."

Llenyll understood that Isaac hadn't meant any harm, so he nodded and accepted Isaac's apology. "Just don't bring up any more embarrassing moments," he said offhandedly. "Otherwise, I might let slip a few things about a young, first-term student who, on his first day at the Institute, managed to &ndash" He broke off and chuckled when Isaac's face started to become red.

"Eh? What is it, Isaac?" Melina asked, her perked ears and the slight upwards curve of her lips showing her curiosity. She did not receive an answer, however, because at that moment, Shaelu decided that it was time to bring their conversation back to its original topic.

Clearing her throat, then stepping forward, she said, "You've already met Torin Tillista, Jodan Wei, and Rumik Dakthagor, so it's time for you two to introduce yuorselves. Well, actually, we already know your name, Isaac Corida." This last part was said somewhat sheepishly. "We have a contact within the Army garrison in Miske, and he alerted us to your...'unusual' actions. That is, how you were supposed to be serving as a mage for the Army, yet less than a day after your assignment, you wounded a superior officer and then vanished, taking with you the person you were supposed to help interrogate." She rubbed the nape of her neck in a sign of slight nervousness.

"Well," Melina said, wanting to fill the silence that then appeared, "my name is Melina hyai'feth Lihr uhre Yafyeliew. My 'official' name, I mean, with all the honorifics and clan words." She brushed a stray bit of hair away from her eyes and added, "My plain name is Melina Yafyeliew."

Keleir put her hand on her chin and looked down, thinking. "Yafyeliew...." She looked up. "Are you related to Sefhtes nha'e Leuferi meheihhr'feth Lihr uhre Yafyeliew?"

"Um...m-hm," Melina responded, her ears drooping slightly. "He's my father."

Keleir's eyes widened. "You're the daughter of the Great General!?"

Melina lowered her gaze, her ears and tail down. "M-hm."

"The who?" Torin asked, his confusion evident, and though they didn't show it to the degree he did, the others were confused as well.

Keleir sighed. "I suggest that everyone sit down; this might take some time. It's important, though, because the situation is worse than we thought." Having said this, she sat down in a chair by the wood stove and waited for the rest to be seated.

Shaelu followed suit, and then the rest did. "How is the situation worse?" she asked, leaning forward.

"That will require an explanation of who exactly Sefhtes Yafyeliew is," Keleir replied. "As all of you probably know, reviki have never been widely accepted in Imperial society, except as slaves," this last was said with a tone of sadness, "but there have been a few reviki who, through one way or another, have been able to achieve high positions. One of those was Sefhtes Yafyeliew, the first and only revik ever to command the Imperial Army of Verlock."

"So that's where I've heard the name before..." Isaac muttered under his breath.

"Hm?" Melina's keen hearing easily detected his words, though the fact that she was only a few feet away from him probably helped, as well.

"I learned about him in a history lesson."

"You did?" Keleir said, slightly surprised. "I wouldn't have thought that Imperial schools would teach about him."

"The fact that he's a revik wasn't mentioned," Isaac said, rubbing the back of his head.

Keleir chuckled. "I see. What were you taught about him, anyway?"

"I learned that he was the youngest person ever to command the Imperial Army, gaining the office twenty-two years ago when he was only twenty-nine. (The second-youngest Imperial commander, Nurua Vesshid, was forty-three when he gained office.) The reasons for this were his incredible tactical and strategic ability and his charismatic character; in fact, in his entire military career, he lost only one battle (though there were several instances in which he purposefully 'lost' in order to gain an advantage elsewhere).

"However, he retired only six years after, because his wife had born a child." Isaac blinked. "Sixteen years ago...Melina, are you sixteen years old?"

Melina nodded, then looked down. "So I guess...that was me...." She clicked her tongue, then said, "He never told me that he used to be part of Verlock's army, though; I've always thought he was some sort of mercenary, offering his services as a leader to different armies and groups like he does now...."

"Is he working for anyone currently?" Keleir asked.

"I think...Caretto."

"That would explain why he wanted you to kill me," Isaac said, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Though I don't understand how he knew what I was carrying. I didn't even know."

Isaac's words caught the attention of the rest of the group. "Excuse me, what?" "Huh?" "Wanted her to kill you?"

"Quiet down, everyone." Shaelu's voice held a trace of annoyance. After a moment, she said, "I was wondering how you two met. Did that have anything to do with it?"

Melina and Isaac nodded at the same time.

"This is what I remember," Isaac said. He then gave an abbreviated account of the encounter.

Some time later....

"It was like this for me," Melina said when Isaac had finished; then she repeated the account from her own point of view.

Some time after that....

"Interesting..." said Keleir. "So, the two of you didn't expect to meet again?"

Isaac and Melina shook their heads simultaneously.

"We – um...." He grimaced. "Erm, is there a bathroom?"

Shaelu rolled her eyes and sighed. "Go through that door and down the hallway, then go through either the door on the left or the right at the end of the hallway."

"That means there're two bathrooms?" Melina asked as Isaac hurried off. When Shaelu nodded, she took off in the same direction.

When they had gone, Keleir sighed and leaned back in her chair. "We need to be more careful," she said.

"Huh?"

"They're going to be staying with us, aren't they?" the revik responded.

"Well, yes, but...." Shaelu trailed off, confused.

"It's the girl. She herself has admitted that she is sixteen, yet I could detect no traces of the hormones that are produced once one starts going through heat."

"Meaning what?" Llenyll asked.

"First, revikan females normally begin an estrus cycle during their fourteenth or fifteenth year of life; only rarely does it happen later than that, and in those cases the first occurrance is much worse than normal. Second, while the revikan estrus cycle is easy to predict (as it occurs every other menstrual period), the first heat can occur at any time, any point in the menstrual cycle."

"But what does it mean?" asked Shaelu, not noticing Llenyll's look of shock.

"It means that at any moment, that girl could enter what is basically a week-long rutting season."

"...Oh."

"Fortunately, there are signs that appear a week or so before the onset, so it won't be completely unexpected."

Just then, Llenyll chuckled.

"What is it?" Shaelu asked.

"A thought suddenly occurred to me...Isaac will be quite busy during that time, won't he."

There was a moment of startled silence; then, Jodan, Rumik, and Shaelu started laughing uproariously. Keleir sighed, waiting, and Torin had a blank look on his face.

"I don't get it," he said.

Jodan and Rumik shook their heads wearily, while Shaelu lightly kicked Torin's leg. "You really are hopeless," she said, her warm tone belying her words.

"So, what have you been talking about while I was away?" Isaac asked. Melina had passed him as they had rushed to the bathrooms, so he knew where she was.

"Nothing much," Shaelu replied. "Let's wait for Melina to return before we continue our discussion."

After a few minutes, Melina opened the door and entered.

Once she was resettled in her chaiar, Shaelu said, "As I said earlier, we had some knowledge of your situation beforehand, but not much. How was it that the revikan girl who just happened to be being tortured when you, Isaac, were assigned to assist in torture –"

"Not a job I would have accepted on my own," he said quietly, and Shaelu sighed.

"How is it that it happened to be you, Melina?" Shaelu asked in closing. "How did it all happen?"

And so, Isaac and Melina relayed abridged versions of their experiences during the three days after their first encounter.


By the time Isaac (who had gone second this time) had finished up, a bloated, red-orange sun could be seen kissing the western mountains through the square window situated above the small, wood-burning stove.

"Hm...." Hunched over, Llenyll stared at the ground as he thought, his hand on his chin. "Headmaster Vun is known for his almost zealous patriotism, so it's likely he arranged your 'transfer' on his own; as the Institute is technically unaffiliated with any country or nation, most of the headmasters and -mistresses prefer to remain neutral when conflicts occur. However...." He sighed. "YOu came too late to notice the change, but ever since our dear Empress's ascension," said he, his tone indicating he considered the empress anything but dear, "the headmasters have been acting differently...the changes were subtle, but slowly, parts of the curriculum were changed and made almost propagandic, while other parts of the curriculum were left out entirely. Therefore, it is possible that a majority, maybe even all, of the headmasters were involved."

"Which could be problematic...." Keleir said.

Llenyll shook his head. "That's an understatement."

Shaelu sighed. "Why don't we worry about this later? It's getting dark, and I'm getting hungry. And I doubt I'm the only one."

"All right, then," said Torin. "To the kitchen!" He stood up and pointed to the hallway door, then began a sort of marching walk; it was marred only by a stumble halfway to the door.

"What's he talking about?" Isaac asked.

"Oh, we all help with making dinner. Come on, everyone." And so, the group headed to the kitchen.

"By the way, Isaac, Melina...."

"Yes?" the two said in response.

"There aren't enough rooms for anyone to have individual bedrooms. Before, Keleir and I did have individual rooms, but I'll have to give up mine and move into hers if you two are going to have a proper place to sleep. That does mean, though, that you two'll have to sleep together."

Isaac went red and Melina said, "W-w-wha –?"

Shaelu rolled her eyes. "In the same room, not the same bed."

"Oh...eheheh...."