PERSE

Kaspar barreled toward the forest's edge, praying to the Gods that salvation was where he'd left it.

He pushed himself to the limit, moving so fast he was afraid he'd trip over his feet, and that would be it. He'd be lost to the woods, its skeletal branches snapping him up like a fox in a trap. Kaspar’s pulse raced as a man's scream pierced the air somewhere in the gloom behind him. The night air almost glowed as Braxus, the winter moon, bathed the trees in an unearthly red, covering the forest like a fog. His legs ached, but he had no choice but to press onward, for if he stopped, the women of the Neurus woods would kill him like they had all the others.

Dark trunks whipped past as he flew through thick underbrush beneath low-hanging branches. Beads of sweat formed on his brow, cascading down to his chin as his heart pounded desperately. Each desperate beat demanded more oxygen. Kaspar breathed in deeply, pulling in a heaping volume of air. As a Lithegar, his Blessing allowed him to control his body's flow of oxygen, giving him nearly limitless kiiring, what his people called energy, to run. He pulled in more air as he ran, feeding his body like kindling fed a flame, injecting fresh kiiring into his bloodstream. This propelled him onward without fear of tiring. Out of frustration, Kaspar clenched his fists. While he both respected and understood his liege lord, Chancellor Pärn, for asking them to take on the task of securing the wooded region, it didn’t make the loss of his men easier to bear.  

House Pärn sat in the bustling city of Kauger in the southernmost region of Vasaak, the Neurus Lands, just north of the Neurus woods that bordered the Mountains of Separation. Callum Pärn, head of the house, had decreed that Kaspar and his band of twenty claim the treacherous woods in his name. Kaspar obliged immediately, duty and honor embedded in his bones.  Chancellor Pärn knew it was a fool's mission, yet he’d done it anyway. While Kaspar had come to love the Pärn family over time, he wasn’t blind to the fact that the chancellor was a land grabber. He was a greedy man by nature. His goal was to gobble up as much land as he could so he could puff his chest and stand taller next to some of the more powerful families. Without their willed estate, the Chancellor's family were nothing but kesks, those without any of the ten Blessings. They'd never amass genuine respect. Even the title of Chancellor was reserved for kesks, while the rest were Barons.

Pärn’s oldest son, Harding, had been invited to watch the decree signed and sealed. Raucous laughter had followed the signing as Chancellor Pärn rejoiced with his men about how they would soon have a more extensive holding in the south.

Here was the fruit of that labor. Kaspar, a piraat bound to serve the Pärn family, was finally tiring as he dodged ominous trees, attempting to reach the edge of the forest which felt like it never ended. There, he would be safe—he hoped. Returning to the Pärn manor with a loss would likely result in a severe reprimand, but that would tickle compared to what awaited him if he stopped running. 

He'd heard Prazon, one of the last of his battalion still alive, fall just over half an hour before. Kaspar had seen three meteors in the sky when it happened, like a small flock of birds, crossing the Braxus moon east to west. It wasn't an uncommon sight; thousands of stars raced across the sky every night—an event known as the Weeping. That time, however, the one in the center glowed much brighter than all others. Like great red tears falling from the sky, they had been almost entirely in line with Braxus when Prazon's yell pierced the air. The scream would have stopped most men in their tracks, but Kaspar knew better. 

Other sounds began to accompany his footfall. Faint, but he knew they were there. Whispering. A whispering that had a nagging, almost piercing sensation to it, like it was burrowing into his mind. It was the same whispering he had heard as his men had approached the large settlement they’d uncovered in the woods. Before they’d entered the town, three of his men had already been slain by the unseen women, their voices both haunting and captivating.

Now, Kaspar knew his kiiring was draining. His breath was already becoming visible before him in the early winter air. He knew there was no way he'd crest the treeline in time. He needed to find a hiding spot to rest and recharge. A few minutes would be all he’d need to meditate and allow his kiiring to build. While in theory, he could run indefinitely, the body had its limits. 

When the God Stones fell to the earth, the Lithegar stone had been the largest. Many people had eaten its shards, gaining the Lithegar Blessing and passing it down over generations for thousands of years. His people were plentiful and, at one time, had been prominent leaders due to their near-limitless energy and fighting prowess. The War of the Paradigm had changed that irreparably. Reverent leaders, those who had inherited the Reverent Blessing—that of an extraordinarily long life— had ascended after the war, and his people became nothing more than powerful pawns. Reverents established the Valivoim, an elective monarchy between a few notable families that rotated the King’s seat amongst themselves at will. 

Under the Valivoim, great houses spent fortunes on Lithegars to line their armies. Chancellor Pärn obtained such costly men only by inheriting them through his dying father's will. The family wasn't very wealthy as it was. He'd been obtuse to send a unique breed of man into the belly of the Neurus.

Finally, Kaspar saw an opening in the ground where the forest floor gave way to a small divot, a slope ending near a sizable rocky overhang. He used up what remained of his current kiiring stores and dashed underneath. Quickly, he crossed his legs and closed his eyes, breathing deeply and slowly. He followed the air into his lungs and watched it caress them as it passed oxygen into the rest of his body. He then willed his blood vessels to ignore the negative gasses expelled on his exhale and, instead, use it all as energy. This process had no explanation and no proper understanding. Kaspar and his people knew this. The God Stones had given many Blessings to the people when they fell so many millennia ago, all with little to comprehend. As he exhaled, Kaspar saw his breath. He was tiring, and his ability to convert all air into new oxygen would soon halt until he slept.

Suddenly, as he meditated, he heard rustles above his hiding place. Kaspar, who had his eyes shut, snapped them open in response. Fear escaped no man. He tamed his heart, immediately ensuring he didn't waste his new oxygen pool. He'd need to cut the trance short after all. As he slowly stood, he inched out from beneath the natural canopy and realized he could see the forest's edge not a few hundred yards away. Freedom. Safety at last. 

The sound cracked again, like dry twigs snapping beneath feet, and Kaspar spun on his heel with an otherworldly speed and grace. He pulled two long silver knives from the crisscrossed sheathes on his lower back and entered the traditional Lithegar stance. He held his right arm high above his head, blade pointed down, and his left near his waist, blade pointed up. Combined with his speed and precision, few warriors could match him. Bringing his attention to the space above the overhang, he found a rabbit sitting and chewing wildly on long grass ends. Kaspar's innate fear subsided, and he turned to make haste for the clearing. 

But the whispering returned. 

This time, it was on top of him. His heart pounded, and this time, he could not tame it into submission. Shivers flew down his spine as three beautiful women slowly emerged behind the trees before him. They donned flowing white linen dresses that just kissed the ground near their bare feet. Each had an elegant face, almost as if they had been shaped from an artist's dream and given life. However, Kaspar was not fooled; these women were far from beautiful dreams. 

Kaspar moved first, tapping his speed, willing the oxygen to fill him up. He cut around them, attempting to avert his battalion's fate. He reached behind them and suddenly, everything went wrong. A fourth woman, as beautiful as the others, stepped out from the trees before him and said one word. 

"Stop." 

Her voice was gentle yet filled with power. A second, deeper octave spun around the first, carrying the command and boring it deep into his brain. His body heeded the order, and Kaspar stood still. 

These had been his targets. Chancellor Pärn had tasked Kaspar and his company to extinguish the ladies of the Neurus Woods. Most resigned them as mere myths, women who lured unsuspecting men into the woods to mate and then kill them. The ladies, who had once been but a scary bedtime story, had gained one of the most potent Blessings after the God Stones fell into Antiquoria—the largest continent in the known world—the Blessing of Perse. It granted them the ability to force ideas into someone's mind through speech. The myth also stated that no man held the Perse Blessing; at least not anymore.

"Drop your knives and do not speak," said the fourth woman in white. She walked up to Kaspar as her newest orders took effect. His daggers fell into the dirt, and his mouth snapped shut like someone had placed a clamp over his lips. The three other women stood somewhere off behind him. He knew they were there, just out of view. Even though they did not speak, Kaspar was sure he could feel their power reverberating around in his head.

"My, my. You've been a busy bee, my vendi," the woman began as she stopped before him and reached to touch his face. Her touch shifted, and Kaspar felt fingertips on the scar-like tattoo that curved around the nape of his neck. "Ah, I was right. You bear the mark of a Child of the Sky. We are related, you and I. We may be the children of different Gods, but as the ten of them are siblings, we are cousins. And yet, my sisters tell me you led your simple band of men into our woods to slaughter us. My, how the Tavaline has tamed you." She caressed his hard-set jaw in her hand, looking deep into his eyes. Quickly, with a snap, she withdrew her hand and slapped him across the face. 

"Your men successfully murdered five of my sisters before you realized what you were facing,” she said. She bent over and picked up one of Kaspar's twin silver knives and spun it around, examining the craftsmanship and insignia in the handle. A jagged rock protruding from the ground split at the top with a vine growing through its middle. "Do you know how often we've fended off invaders from the Pärn line? Thirty. Thirty times that family has attempted to take these woods from us, and none of those times have they successfully killed one of us. And yet, this time, you succeeded and ripped FIVE of us from the earthly plane!" She smacked him again; this time, she broke the skin. Droplets of blood fell from the fresh wound on Kaspar's right cheek, mixing with his sweat and pooling at his chin. His eyes filled with tears. His training at war was failing him. Kaspar couldn't tell if it was remorse, his cosmic connection with these women, or the Perse commands filling his brain like toxic steam.

"Normally, we'd dispose of you all the same,” she continued. “But as you are the only one left, we will need you to send a message," the woman said as she stepped forward. Kaspar's synapses exploded as the new string of commands left her lips and entered his ear. As she finished, she slipped the dagger into Kaspar's shoulder. Kaspar winced in pain but still could not move or speak. "And for you, that will be a reminder of my sisters. Good luck, my vendi. Hopefully, the Gods will have collected us all the next we meet, and we can begin anew in the beyond." The woman and her sisters disappeared into the blood-red night, and Kaspar's faculties returned to him.

When Kaspar finally reached the manor, the day had broken hours before. He held his shoulder tight, wincing as he entered the giant stone behemoth. Guards at the front doors recognized him immediately. 

"Get the healers, quick!" one yelled. 

"Someone! Get Chancellor Pärn at once!" yelled another. 

Kaspar looked up into the grand entryway, the marble flooring and high golden chandelier swirling in his vision as his body gave out beneath him, everything collapsing into darkness.

When he awoke, he was lying in his small room at the back of the manor. A small woman dressed in a long brown dress sat beside him. Like her parents before her, Cordelia was the sworn healer and medic to the Pärn family. There were no Blessings in her lineage, unfortunately. The Pärns didn't have the kind of wealth that afforded a Terve. When she noticed him awaken, Cordelia immediately left the room. Likely, the Chancellor told her to report his return to consciousness as soon as he came around. Moments later, Chancellor Pärn entered the room in his formal wear of a white tunic beneath a golden vest and took the seat left vacant by the healer. 

"Well, now. I'm glad you are still alive,” the Chancellor said as he crossed his arms. “Tell me, Kaspar. Are the adversaries my family has been trying to root out of the Neurus finally gone?”

Kaspar was dizzy and could hardly sit up. He also noticed he was without most of his clothes. Likely, Cordelia had brought them to be washed - or burned if they were unsavable. 

Kaspar was nervous. He barely escaped the woods with his life. Now he lay incapacitated, defenseless, and naked under the eye of a highly temperamental ruler. They had a mutual respect. Some would even call it friendship, but a piraat was never truly friends with their owner.

"Yes." The word came out of its own volition. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaspar noticed his twin silver blades, shoes, and sheathe straps piled directly next to the bed.

"Well then! Well done! I'll have my loggers chart a course and begin clearing trees. Builders will follow close behind and start the new structures we've been designing. Time for expansion at last. My father had no faith in my capability. Look now! I've done what he could never accomplish." Chancellor Pärn grinned and sat back in the chair, tall and proud.

"My Lord, one of the last we killed asked us to deliver a message to you. As a dying wish," Kaspar muttered, a burning sensation building within his head.

"A message? For me? The dead have nothing to say," he said. After thinking for a moment, he changed his mind. "OK, I'm interested. What is the message?"

Kaspar went to speak, but it came out as gibberish and inaudible. The synapses in his brain began to fire unusually.

"What was that?" The Chancellor asked as he leaned in closer.

With one graceful motion, Kaspar grabbed one of his twin daggers by the handle and thrust it through the Chancellor's throat. The man immediately fell back into the chair and clawed at the blade, pulling it out and causing even more damage. Kaspar sat up as the life exited Chancellor Pärn. He clawed at his throat as he quickly suffocated, blood pulsating out onto the floor. In moments, the head of the manor and the southernmost region of Vasaak lay lifeless before Kaspar.  

Kaspar looked down at the body, speechless. 

What…what have I done?

A message indeed. Murdering his liege lord would be a death sentence. He needed to get out quickly. His newfound fear helped him ignore his wound, and he bounded to a wardrobe. Pulling out a new white tunic, he dressed in a fury. He pulled on new pants and found his shoes next to the bed. As he secured his knives and sheath, he looked down at the body again and noticed no blood had touched the golden vest. 

No Lithegar would be able to afford that. It could help him blend into crowds and be mistaken for having a more prominent Blessing or higher class. He pulled it off the corpse of Callum Pärn and found it fit him well. 

Turning to the windows over his bed, he flung them open and, noticing he was on the ground floor, jumped onto the grass below. Tapping his kiiring, he readied his body for a long trip somewhere.

As he ran, one hand on his bandaged shoulder, he could just make out the screams of discovery coming from the window behind him.

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