Chapter 26

I couldn’t tell anything about the person in front of the door, due to the way in which their cloak was wrapped around them.

“I’m sorry,” I said as friendly as I could, “is there something that I could help you with? Given that your current actions show that you are here to find us?”

The person turned to face us abruptly and Entivala had a sharp intake of breath, causing Amenthia and I to turn our attention to her. Her face was a mix of emotions and unreadable, as her mind tried to process who she was seeing.

“Kat’ilth’ana, what are you doing here?” Enti asked, concern hidden in her voice. “The last I saw of you was before I chose to become an adventurer.”

The hood was drawn back to reveal a young woman, around the same age of Enti and Amenthia. She was my height, with an ivory complexion, pointed ears and accents of flowers and leaves in her hair and on her skin. Her hair was a deep crimson, with high and low tones that created a near pearlescent quality to it. Her eyes were the brightest color of turquoise, as if I was looking into a jewel itself. She kind of reminded me of Poison Ivy in her look and Ivy was based off of the nymphs of Greek mythology. The characteristics seemed muter than I would have expected, meaning she could have been a half-nymph. One thing I could say for certain was that she didn’t look very happy with any of us at the moment.

“You have caused quite a stir back home Entivala,” Kat’ilth’ana spat angrily, “the royal family is in shambles and word has quickly reached everywhere that you had a hand in it! The northern forest kingdoms are in disarray, with multiple families vying for power and fighting has erupted! It has spilled into the neighboring villages, leading to conflicts and civil war, including mine. People are dying because of something you did, and you need to be held accountable for that!”

She stepped purposefully towards Enti but was stopped by me moving to stand in between them.

“Move out of the way!” she snarled, a look of hatred on her face. “Don’t make me go through you to get what I came for, human!”

I shook my head and refused to move, “I don’t think so, lady. Did you bother to find out why that turmoil erupted, or why the royal family is in shambles? No you just came here to exact some misguided revenge on rumors and half-truths.”

“The details don’t matter to me!”, the dryad screamed! “My friends and family are in danger, because of her! She will be taken back to seek judgement, and no one will stop me!”

I laughed and said, “Judgement? Are you kidding me? You want a scapegoat, but don’t worry judgement will happen, though not as you expect.”

“The boy is right girl,” came a voice from behind Kat’ilth’ana, causing her to turn and draw a dagger in preparation to defend herself.

“Lord Tyr, I apologize for my intrusion,” she said quickly, kneeling before the one-handed god. “You must allow me to take her back for judgement.”

“I must allow it? First you forget your place, Nymph. The gods may live among you all, but we are still the authority of this world. Only the gods, with the council’s blessing, can cast judgement, otherwise it is the council itself. This is especially true when the conflict arose from the judgement of a god!”

I saw her cower slightly at the power of his voice and the anger resonating at the arrogant nature of her statements.

“The king of the northern forest elf kingdom decided to ignore the laws that had been placed onto them by the gods when the world was made. He passed on the same mentality to his son, who tried to murder Pathios and Amenthia so he could have Entivala. She wanted nothing to do with him, as her Troth’ish’tal told her she was destined to be with someone else. Both showed direct defiance to our laws and had to be punished accordingly, the fallout is a result of their ignorance. I have let the council know what is happening, but I don’t think that it will turn out the way you expect.”

The nymph nodded, but her body language still was semi hostile meaning that there was something else going on.

Tyr stepped closer and said, “As for you young lady, there is the matter of how you got into my pact house. You are not a registered adventurer, nor do you have a crystal that would gain you access to our fast travel tube or access to our building. Then there is the matter of the dagger you have, as it is one used by a dangerous faction. So, you are going to tell me how you got inside, as well as where you got the trinket.”

Kat’ilth’ana said nothing and held her ground defiantly, which showed incredible courage, as well as foolishness on her part. Tyr closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye and grabbed her head with his hand. A shriek of pain came out of her as he lifted her off the ground as if she weighed nothing at all.

“So you got the pendant you are wearing from a traveling merchant who was visiting your village as well as the other ones in the northern kingdoms. He was also the one that sold you the dagger which you are currently in possession of. I will send the information to the council so that they can track this person down. As for you young lady, you entered a pact house illegally and attempted to take a member of this house against their will. The only question is what to do with you, as there is no telling what you could get up to if you were allowed to go free.”

I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to intervene, since it seemed that Kat’ilth’ana and Enti had some kind of history.

“Pair her with us, as a form of community service to the pact house and prove she won’t mean anyone else harm. If she completes it, she can either go free or she could become a contributing member of the pact house.”

Tyr glanced over at me with a curious look, but I noticed the hint of a smile and realized he knew I would do this.

“What of you Kat’ilth’ana?” Tyr asked, turning his attention back to the Nymph. “Are you willing to serve Pathios, until such time that I decree your service to us is done?”

Kat’ilth’ana nodded as much as she could within Tyr’s grasp and was subsequently dropped to the floor. He snapped his fingers and the pendant began to transform into a golden choker.

“Until further notice, you are bound to Pathios. All of your data will be tracked on his bracer and it will track your obedience during this time. Should you put a toe out of line, I will know about it and you will suffer the fate that he has protected you from. I know that the northern Nymph villages don’t get our transmissions, so see what Pathios himself has gone through”

He walked over to me and touched my forehead, then he walked over and touched hers. Kat’ilth’ana’s eyes widened and her mouth opened in a soundless scream. I was willing to bet that he was showing her not only the punishment, but the pain I went through from it, as well as how the recovery had gone. The whipping took twenty minutes, but it seemed as if he gave her a more concentrated version, as his touch ended after only a few minutes. Losing consciousness as soon as his finger left her forehead, she collapsed onto the floor in a heap.

“I hope that you know what you are doing Pathios, don’t abuse the authority that you have been given. I trust that you will do what is right and if this works the way I hope, we will gain another strong pact member and you another ally.”

“I will do my best sir,” I replied with a bow. “My only real question will be where she will sleep. There isn’t exactly enough room in the bed for four.”

Tyr smiled and said, “That will be up to you, she can share the bed, or sleep on the floor. While I put it nicely, she has been enslaved to you for the duration of the exercise.”

I looked at him in shock, “I am surprised that there are still forms of slavery on this world.”

“Yes indeed there are, but the circumstances are slightly different. Some do it willingly, because they are unable to find work or have the means to provide for themselves. This gives them a chance to live, at the expense of some or all of their freedom. Those whom they serve are limited in how they can treat or abuse their slaves. Most others are criminals that are beyond banishment, but still they are treated much more fairly than those had been on earth. It is not unlike the way the Vikings of old did with those they captured, but we learned to treat them far better than they were treated in Earth’s Past.”

“I think I understand sir,” I replied, “but what crimes would constitute that level of punishment?”

“Rape, arson, and theft are the primary ones, though there are many others that would also land someone there.”

I nodded and asked, “I was punished because I murdered someone and that had never happened before, could that have landed me in slavery?”

“Yes I see how that would be confusing,” Tyr said with a chuckle. “You were the first adventurer to kill another, whether in the same pact house or another. Since it had never happened before and because we wanted to deter the same thing from happening again, the council decided the most extreme public punishment would be the best deterrent. I apologize that I didn’t do more to insulate you from that punishment, as there are limits in how I can fight the council on a matter. That is why I tried to make up for it with having Entivala assist you, as well assist in getting Brot’k and the others for the armory. As for slavery, no that would be for attempted murder at the most, but more often than not they are exiled to the dungeon for that offence.”

I nodded, “Okay that makes some more sense. I am sorry I once again pulled you away from your pressing business sir, but I felt that this could have become another Torvius incident.”

“It is no problem Pathios,” he replied with a warm smile. “While I do have business of my own to do, I am charged with assisting the protection of a rebirth individual when they aren’t in the dungeon, though I can’t be following you all of the time, of course. Plus I still feel I have a debt to pay in regard to your punishment.”

“Of course sir and I thank you for doing that,” I said, giving the god a small bow. “I hope to endeavor not to have to make you intervene, but it seems that it might be an occasional thing. I have had more happen in my short time here, than in my whole life so far. Tyr, please consider the issue with Jonta finished, you have done more for me than I could have hoped for and I appreciate it.”

Tyr smiled and nodded, then in a blink of an eye, he was gone. I turned to look at the unconscious nymph before looking at my two companions. Amenthia and Enti both looked unsure of what we should do next, but for now I gathered up Kat’ilth’ana in my arms and brought her into our room. Laying her gently on the bed, I had Amenthia and Enti search her for other weapons. They found a more traditional dagger set, as well as a short sword and some throwing darts. The girls placed them within one of the footlockers and ensured they were sealed. With that threat out of the way, we sat at the table to discuss how we would move forward, as we waited for her to awaken.

It was a few hours later when we heard stirring from the bed and I looked over to see Kat’ilth’ana starting to awaken. I wondered what temperament would await us when she became fully conscious. Given her hostility prior to her punishment, there was a good chance she could attack. She slowly got up, her left hand rubbing her head where Tyr had touched her. She looked around groggily until her eyes landed on us. Her eyes went wide, and her hand flew to her weapon, only to find that it was no longer there.

“Your weapons were removed while you slept,” I said softly, trying not to agitate her. “Given your mission, punishment and apparent dislike of us, I felt it prudent to limit the ways you could possibly cause us harm. None of us know of the basis of the collar or if it has limitations to what you could possibly do to us. Given that there could be a punishment built in, we wanted to also limit that, in the hopes that it would lessen your distrust of us. Of course, I am certain that Nymphs have their own innate abilities that could be a threat, but I am willing to take a chance there.”

She looked at me with cold, calculating eyes and said, “Where are my weapons you filthy...”

She didn’t get a chance to finish her comment before she started shaking as if being zapped by a taser or lightning magic. I guess that answered my question of the collar dispensing discipline, if she did or said something out of line.

“Well it seems the collar will correct negative behavior or comments, so I would choose your words and actions more carefully. There is no telling how strong the punishments will become if you keep acting this way. As for your weapons, they are currently locked in one of our footlockers. They will be returned to you when you have proven that you can be trusted with them.”

She scowled at me and said nothing, but the slight grimace in her face told me that even thoughts could cause a response from the collar.

“Now are you ready to tell us the real reason for all of this, because there was more that you failed to tell Tyr. He could tell as well, but I don’t think that it matters to him the other reasons.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” she said with her anger and vehemence against us apparent. “You have ruined everything for me and despite this collar I will see you...”

Again she began to shake as the collar punished her and I shook my head in disappointment. I activated my bracer to check the time and saw that it had been a few hours since we had left our meeting with Brot’k.

“I am feeling a bit peckish,” I said as I turned towards Enti and Amenthia. “Enti, why don’t you come with me to get some food. Amenthia, if you could please keep an eye on our charge, we will be back shortly.”

Amenthia nodded with a smile and Enti and I left the room. We made our way downstairs and I could see, by the casual glances I gave her, that she was troubled.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked softly, startling her out of the thoughts that had been swirling around in her head.

She shook her head, “Not right now, but thank you for asking Pathios. I don’t understand the hate and anger she feels towards me, though most of it seems directed at you. Even if her family had been put into danger by the recent turn of events, she had never been close to them. That could have changed over the last few years since I have seen her, but I am not entirely sure that is the case.”