Chapter 15: Inharmonious

“Second Leader Yurnal”, Zax frowned. He was willing to turn a blind eye to his attitude, but if his effort will be carelessly disregarded, than he will draw a clear line to stress his position in the chain. “First, if there is something I want to say, then either listen or don’t, but forget from telling me to stay quiet. Second, my agreement with senior Gid was to join as an outside contractor. Even if you count me as the seventy fifth member of Sinister Chain, keep in mind that I’m not doing a voluntary service”. His tone was harsh and he did not bother with watching for offending Yurnal too much. With him after the Black Core in Yurnal’s possession, their chance for friendly relations was meager, at best.

“Insolent child, you can’t even begin to comprehend what sacrifices had been done for your poor sake as an indigenous of New Earth. If it was not for the success in your task, I would have etched each one of them on your skin so you would know and not forget”.

It was not just Zax’s impudence that made Yurnal implode, but also the bottled up anger he contained since hearing about what transpired with his wife and son while he was on a mission.

Hostile intent started emanating from the two.

“Master”,

“Second Leader”,

The fifty members of the chain responded with trying to calm Yurnal, stepping back or sharing the same dissatisfaction with Zax.

“Settle down!” Gid Chu berated. “Yurnal, you yourself told me to hurry up with the plan, yet you ignite such disarray! Zax, whatever else you have in mind, keep it for later. Gadgel, Xiao Kirin, show Zax the cave. Everyone who is curious on whether today we will have a historic development in our battle against the five powers, wait outside the central edifice”.

With a look that says “this is not over”, Yurnal turned away, leaving in flight with most present members to the squared building at the center of the colony, the central edifice.

“Senior Gid”, Zax called him right before he, too, left.

Halting midair and seemingly able to read his mind, Gid said before Zax could speak. “You have done more than I can compliment for, Zax, you will naturally be rewarded for it”. He turned and flew.

No one said anything about the Solar Basil Leaf or the Diluted Element. They sure thought about them, but it was not the appropriate time for several reasons.

“Brother Zax”. The two that stayed behind, Gadgel and Xiao Kirin, repressed any unpleasant opinion they might have had on Zax, due to his confrontation with the Second Leader, and concentrated on his achievement to summon a genial mien.

“Brother Gadgel, sister Xiao Kirin”. Zax nodded. The mores of “brother” or “sister” were more common in New Earth than Ercas Mir. Being referred to as a “brother” produced a favorable first impression for the pair in Zax’s eyes. “Are you from New Earth?”

“I am”. The thin, pale skinned and fluffy light brown haired Gadgel said. “Roughly three hundred years ago immigrated to the surface with the help of Leader and Supreme Ruler Trey”.

“And I was born right here in this cave’s colony”. The red haired, reddish skinned Xiao Kirin said with a smile, amused by the abrupt surprise that plastered on Zax’s face. “See there?” She pointed at the colony to clarify. “Leader and Second Master established the colony, actually, created this cave, for members of the chain who built families in Ercas Mir. Usually the population isn’t that big, near full capacity as today, but after Leader and Second Master were informed of the success in your mission, afraid that the reprisal from the five powers will not discriminate between the innocent and guilty, they ordered the seventy two of us to bring back our families from the outside”.

Zax nodded.

“Brother Zax, Leader asked us to show you the cave, but there is not much to see and even if there was something, any Martial Mortal could use Sublime Soul Sense to browse the entire cave, except the central edifice”. Gadgel tapped Zax’s shoulder. “My guess was that he wanted to separate you and Second Leader. We all heard what happened with Savir and Yimin. Even if you did not really harm them, you should know how difficult it is for beasts and humans to procreate. The scare you gave Second Leader justified his outburst”.

“Are you, too, trying to make peace?” Zax raised his brow. If Gadgel wanted to get involved it was fine, but until Yurnal willingly give up the Black Core, any sort of peace would only be temporary.

“I am”. Gadgel confessed. “Sadly I can’t force it. So just considered what I said and if, in the end, you and Second Leader will come to blows, be sure not to involve the people in here, not that I think this solution will be in your favor”.

“Anyway”, Xiao Kirin said to mend the air. “Now that you know Leader’s intentions, it doesn’t matter if we’ll wonder around the cave or join the others. Maybe with you, the ‘Bringer of the Galactic Communicator’, we’ll be allowed in the central edifice”.

“Sorry to trouble you”. Zax followed the two. His impression of them did not change for inclining toward a natural stance on the matter between him and Yurnal.

...

The colony was the size of a small town, with most building being private houses and a few communal. Since it was a place of convergence more than the actual home of many of the beasts and humans here, its residents had a general familiarity with each other. The cause for the chummy ambiance was the mutual connection everyone shared, roots to another world below the ground. To them, who lived in Ercas Mir, able to learn about New Earth from their elders and at a certain age and make to decision of moving to the undersea cave, the idea of originating from the same place, somewhere the majority of them would likely die from old age before ever visiting, made them look at each other as distant relatives in times when they converged.