Open [Sanctuary Beach] Sea Monsters In The Sand

[Kavala]

Timestamp: 15th of Summer, 513 AV

It was one of those rare summer mornings where the breeze still kept the beach cool even though the night had been blistering hot and never had really cooled down. The denizens of The Sanctuary were lucky because The Within provided some escape from the heat due to its cliff nature. Deep in the stone, the place cooled off considerably. And it was for that reason Kavala was keeping her precious Denusk horses in the sea cave during the day rather than subject them to the intense daytime heat and let them graze at night. She was reluctant to pen them up just yet too, so she had the small herd of young iridescent horses running the beach, stretching their legs, and frolicking in the sand while she played with her son and stole a bit of quiet time with him.

"What do you want today?" She asked Tasival, gesturing out onto the sand. The boy paused, standing on his own and tilting his head to consider. Then he gestured out, babbling like only a near three year old could, making motions of humps coming out of the sand, and whispering the word snake and serpent. Kavala thought for a moment, then nodded, his gestures reminding the Konti of the images she'd seen on maps of sea serpents drawn in the margins with the words "There be monsters here..." intoned on the parchment guides.

Kavala knelt down quickly, hugged her son fiercely, and nodded. Ink, one of their Imperial Watchers who was on horse guarding duty, snuggled in for a pet as well before going back to stoically providing something for Tasival to hold on to while he toddled around. Unlike humans, Kavala had noted her Akontak son was just a little slow on learning to walk. Part of it was because he was very introverted. He'd study objects or scenes for hours, seemingly absorbing them, and it took her real effort sometimes to get him to play. The white haired dark skinned boy buried his hands in Ink's fur and held on to the huge dog as Kavala released him from her hug, stepped back, and tried to decide just where the best place to start would be.

Practicing her reimancy and art at the same time was always a plus. Kavala found working with stone one of the best things in the world, one of the most rewarding things, and she did so whenever she could. Today, it would be a stone sea monster for her son to climb on... hopefully to encourage him to move, to play, to be more active. Tasival wasn't a chubby little kid, but Kavala worried he'd loose something in his childhood if he didn't move around more.

Raising her arms, Kavala called the res in her blood, pooling it from her soul's djed and filling her hands with what looked like a layer of mist. That mist slowly oozed out, having no need for urgency or crudity. She pulled at the air around her, filling it with res which slowly morphered into black stone. Digging her hands into the sand, she felt the nature and texture of the sand and willed it to harden and change as well, solidifying under her touch and then going deeper... forming a solid base that would be unshakeable even in pounding waves. Kavala pulled upwards, manipulating res and transmuting sand to stone, and formed a small pillar of stone out of nothing. She drew it higher and then gave it shape, pulling fins out of the structure that was roughly the size of her body. At the tip she flattened it like a seals tail, and made it wedge shaped with a small flat place that almost looked like a seat small enough for a child. She pulled ridges out of the tail along the back side, giving more hand grips for a child interested in climbing, and then worked her way back down to the sand. The Healer eliminated all signs of sharp edges and thin pieces that might break off or hurt her son if he was climbing.

When it was done, the section was hard to picture as part of a whole. But it was a tail of some sort of monster sticking out of the sand. Further down, she'd make additional sections. Coils or lumps perhaps, as if a serpent was swimming through the sea, then last would be a high arching head with perhaps part of the creatures shoulders showing. She'd work on them in a moment. For the time being, she gently called Tasival over and got him started on climbing on the tail.

[Vanator]

Defense was his job, defense of the facility, and more so, those precious lives within it. Vanator would, and nearly had on occasion, die protecting the precious souls at the Sanctuary. He had plied his ax with ruthless, bloody efficiency not only in the defense of his home, but of his adopted city, Riverfall, as well. But as the Drykas pondered more and more the things Kavala had shared when he arrived, those otherworldly things, of Nysel and the Cytali, and whispers of a headquarters that would draw the attention of more sinister forces than the Zith, Vanator grew anxious not only to bolster Sanctuary's defenses, but hone his own ability to guard it.

His ranged skills needed improvement. The bow was secondary to his ax in preference, yet the missile weapon so much more effective in defense of a position. That is why, on that sunny morning, Vanator had dragged the archery target, a quiver of arrows from the armory, and his composite bow down through the Sea Cave. The beach was a beautiful place to practice. The gate had been left open, his recent check of the web around their home indicating that her precious new breed, as well as Kavala herself and his nephew, were on the beach. Heading down then, he could visit a short while before his sister moved on to other chores, and he could set up a hasty practice range in the sand.

Pausing at the cave gate, Vanator leaned the large target against the wall with its stand, unslinging the quiver and bow from his shoulder. A wide smile split his face. Outside, with the rolling surf and vast Suvan behind them, stood Kavala, Tasival toddling at her side with Ink protectively near. Denusk mares trotted by, their manes and tails seeming to shimmer in the morning sun. As he watched the Konti and Akontak, Van wondered if Mura was anything like he was looking at. To see his sister and nephew together, enjoying the beach, thrilled his heart.

For a moment longer Vanator lingered, watching Kavala shape the stone figure from nothing more than sand and res. His sister had become his anchor, from the time he arrived, to the recent return of Sybel. The Konti was a once timid healer who had become strong and powerful, even if few knew all of the truth. She was destined for greater things, Van felt. His feelings about what those may be were a mix of excitement, pride, and deep concern for her. What his part was in those greater things, if he had one, had yet to be discovered. His eyes darted down to the stone ring around his finger, its twin visible on his sister's hand as she shaped her stone.

Van still marveled at how Kavala manipulated her res. The elements she plied were not simply tools, but manifestations of her character, the duality of the firm foundation of her earth and the freeing strength of the wind. He knew his own fire was something that came from within him, revealing more of himself even as he learned to master the element he had been gifted.

Finally, after admiring the beginnings of her artwork, and seeing his nephew had spotted him standing in the doorway, Vanator set aside the weaponry and strolled out onto the sand. "What is your mommy making Tas?" Van questioned, scooping up the boy and giving him a firm squeeze. He carried him to Kavala and the stonework, setting the child on the seat-like fluke of the tail the Konti had just crafted.

[Kavala]

The little boy squealed when his uncle picked him up and flung his arms wide. Tasi could talk, and use whole sentences especially when he wanted something, but often he was more akin to a younger boy in that he wanted to spit words out in groups. And he did so, answering his uncles question happily. But unlike a normal child, he launched into his explanation like an archer firing weapons and his ammo was four different languages. In common, tukant, pavi complete with hand gestures, and in Kontinese he answered, giving words to his uncle that he knew his uncle would understand.

"Sea Monster, velispar, horror, huge, big, climbing toy, mine." He said seriously, and then threw his arms around Vanator and hugged him. "Hi Ankal Vanator." He said in perfect Pavi, but perhaps confusing the word ankal for uncle because they sounded so similar. Kavala's child was a hard one to undertand, namely because he was two different children with one body. Sometimes Vanator got the lovable one, the one that would talk to him and laugh and enjoy things little boys loved. But other times he had his hands on a dangerous one, both quiet and broody, a child of immense seriousness that had an uncanny watchful stare that put most people into a slightly defensive state.

Meanwhile Kavala drew up another stone coil, pouring res forth out like she had gallons to spare and manipulating it into stone to form a coil with a backbone ridge that could be easily climbed by a child. The coil was enormous, well over her head, and seemed to be something Kavala was going to leave as a permanent fixture to the beach. The top of the ridges were smooth where a person - be it a child or a full sized human - could sit and relax, enjoying the beach view. Paced out along the sand were X's marking the spot for four more coils - five total - and one bigger one that evidently would be where the head as going to go.

Kavala took great care in forming the stone, making it blend into the sand colorwise and rise up with highlights of darker stone on the underside where she'd made it look slightly snakelike with scales overlapping. The Konti was lost in her work for a moment. She knew Vanator was there, but wanted to finish the coil, namely to see how it turned out but secondarily to give him a seat if he wanted to relax and spend some time while she worked on the project.

"I thought to make the coils different heights, that way when the sea is in a bit more the monster will be in firm sand and we can use the jumps to school horses over as well as give the kids a place to play." Kavala threw that out there, rising suddenly and leaning back against the now finished coil. Her face lost its seriousness and a soft smile played across her features. She said the word 'kids' like there was more than one. Tasival was the only child at The Sanctuary currently though.

"Hi Van... how are you doing? He isn't bothering you is he?" Kavala asked, noting the boy was now trying to rumage around in one of Vanator's pockets, though her brother was keeping him fully away from whatever contents without actually seemingly doing so. "I bet you miss the fact that you missed out on Larik and Cadra's childhood. I bet they would have been terrors at his age." Kavala said, her face softening at the mention of the two kelvics whom she'd grown incredibly close too.

[Vanator]

Vanator adored his nephew, or nephews. Tasival and Shayru were beautiful, the child bearing the most admirable physical traits of both his parents. And, though any resemblence between the Drykas uncle and the Akontak nephew were well hidden in his exotic features, the boy was as dear to Vanator as his own children. It was the emergence of Shayru that helped Van, more than anything, begin to grasp the unique personalities inherent in Akalaks and aid in his better understanding of the men of Riverfall. And, oddly enough, there were aspects of Vanator himself that could identify with both brothers within the Akontak. Tasival was all love and giggles and curiosities, and Van felt joyful around him. But Shayru reflected much of the more sullen, darker side of his Drykas uncle, the one that wanted to be alone, that enjoyed the hunt and the kill. It allowed a bond to begin between them as well.

As the lively boy searched his uncle's pockets for the treats that were often stored there, Vanator looked to his sister. Kavala worked the stone with ease, the art of creating and shaping stone almost second nature after her extensive construction in the Within. And as with most of Kavala's projects, this one would have many purposes, as she explained, for both recreation and obstacle for training the horses.

Tas was now tugging on Van's breeches, and finally the Drykas reached in and pulled out a roughly cube shaped piece of candied apple. He handed it to Tas, leaning down and whispering loudly. "Don't tell your mom!" Tas finally released Van and began chawing on the candy. Vanator tossled his platinum mane and turned again to his sister.

"Bothering me, him?" Van quipped, thumb jabbing towards the toddler. "Constantly, a terrible burden that one is!" Van laughed at his teasing, stooping down to kiss the distracted boy on the head, then leaned against one of the large reptilian coils Kavala had made. He flashed the Konti a smile when she asked about the kelvic twins. "Yes," Van admited, "I wish I could have been there with them Kav. It must have passed so quickly, just a few months? Imagine toddlers with claws and fangs and talons! I used to wish that Pygmy had left them with me, so I could know them. But if she had, they would be dead too. I just hate that she had to..." Van paused, finding himself going down a road that he had fought to avoid. A small smile returned after a moment. "Anyway, I get to watch this little squirt grow up."

Vanator ran his hand along the surface of the stone coil, examining the detail Kavala crafted, then looked out to the endless rolling surf. He inhaled deeply of the sea air, as if to cleanse his whole being with the salty breeze. "I am so glad they are here now, though, and that I have you to help me raise them. I want more than anything for them to know what it is to have family. I know they never had that before. I really don't know what I am doing half the time, especially with Cadra. I believe now that there is a reason, I mean, behind us all ending up here." Vanator laughed lightly. "Not sure what it all means yet."

[Kavala]

Tasival grinned at Vanator, palmed the candy, and managed to tuck it away in a pocket out of sight and out of reach. A normal child might have stuck it in his mouth right away, but Tasi wasn’t normal and his dark brother was as calculating as an adult Akalak full grown. When Van bent down to kiss the boy on the head, Shayru artfully stole a second piece from the unattended pocket. After all, there were two of them, and they both wanted their own piece of candy. It was that second piece that got stuffed into the boys mouth to get chewed on immediately before it could be taken away or lost to another child or one of the many dogs roaming around always ready to steal.

It was evident by the boys’ reaction to Vanator that he was a favorite. Pale eyes watched their uncle adoringly, forgiving him for his humanity. As soon as Van leaned away, Tasi started climbing one of the new coils, enjoying himself and the challenge of getting a climb in that was well over Vanator’s head. The boy enjoyed the fact that his mother and uncle were there today, talking, without stress and under the brilliant sun. It wasn’t hot, for the season was still newly turned. But it was a perfect day, at least as far as the boy was concerned. The breeze was cool, and the gulls were already wheeling overhead curious as to if the people below on the shore would leave them any sort of payoff at all in terms of food treats.

To Kavala, who kept working on her construct, Vanator looked so much healthier than he had seasons ago when she’d first purchased him out of his slavery – underfed and pale. He had his muscle tone back and his hair had grown out. This skin was also deeply tanned from working hours out in the sunlight. There was nothing unappealing about her brother, and yet she still constantly worried about him. He spent too much time alone and had too many worries. There was a darkness on him as well, one that Kavala couldn’t quite pin down, but one she assigned blame to his slavery for. Captivity did something to a man’s soul. And what Vanator had to do for the Zith put many a burden on him as well.

“Its very good having them here. Both Larik and Cadra have gone out of their way to make themselves useful and keep being so every day. Cadra is a joy to work around. I swear she doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. Larik is fierce. I think his animal form suits him incredibly well. I’m not sure which came first, but I’m glad he is who he is. I worry less about the herds’ free grazing out on the grass than I ever have. He keeps good watch on them. And if you notice, sometimes all he has to do is fly straight up and he can see for miles… straight up, a few sweeping circles, and he’s got a pinpoint on them and can tell if they are fine or not. Both of them have added so much to our lives. Tasi and Shay’s too. They follow Cadra around like she’s some sort of big sister or surrogate mother. And sometimes they listen to her better than they do to me.” Kavala said, straightening from forming yet another coil and seeing to the details of the scales. She walked over to Tasi and climbed partially up the coil to kiss him on the cheek a moment.

“They know they have a family, Van. But more importantly, I think they’ve given back more to us than we could ever have given to them. I think in a lot of ways it’s because of them that we have a family.’ Kavala added, smiling softly as she leaned against the ‘tail’ of the serpent and watched Tasi climb n the third coil. She smiled a little at Vanator as he confessed he didn’t know what he was doing.

“You could have surprised me. I see Father in you day in and day out. All that training he made you sit through comes to a head every day, Van. You even sound like him at times. Things have been so much better since you’ve been here. We’ve needed an Ankal in residence. This place is only going to get bigger, with more people, and The Gods know I’m too busy being a healer and running that portion of it to be much good for anything else.” She said, smiling softly.

“There is one thing though… something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. “ Kavala started in, cautious but knowing this needed to be said. “It’s a delicate topic, something I wouldn’t tell just anyone. But you aren’t just anyone and I really would like to hear your thoughts on it.” Kavala went on, brushing the sands from her hands to stand straight and turn to face her brother. She then settled in the sand in the shade of one of the massive coils, as if she were getting ready for a nice long chat. Tasi crawled down and climbed into her lap, already stuffing a second piece of the candy into his mouth. Kavala didn’t seem to mind. She offered her hand to Vanator, inviting him to sit and get comfortable as well.

“I wear Nysel’s Mark. He’s the God of Dreams and Nightmares. This gives me the ability to Dreamwalk anywhere so long as I have a key. It is really helpful in finding lost things and lost information, even lost people. I could have found you if I had known you weren’t dead. But I thought all were lost in the djed storm, that’s why I didn’t look. I have since looked for father and your mother, and our siblings and cousins… aunts and uncles. And I found their Chavi… their lifelines cut short in the storm. I didn’t look for all of them, but the ones that I knew everyone else would be with were checked and they were all gone.” Kavala said, her eyes widening in sorrow. She knew Vanator suspected this, it was something they both had known likely was what happened, but confirmation was something else entirely and heartbreaking. “I put it off a long time because I knew it would hurt, and it did. The only thing I know for sure is that it was fast. One minute they were laughing and happy and then the next, in the night while most were sleeping, the Denusk Pavilion became no more.” Kavala said, pausing to let Vanator soak this in. It was something painful, but not something that should have came to a huge surprise to him.

“And there’s more… this Dreamwalking because of Nysel’s mark, lets me move along my Chavi.. my lifeline… and see the lives that came before. I know who I was prior to this life, and I know a lot of people here at The Sanctuary were with us in those lives as well. We all belonged to something called The Cytali. The Cytali take the search for lost knowledge to a new dimension leaving the anthropology to the explorers and adventurers and instead dig through the Chevena for lost information. Dreamwalkers search the individual Chavi within the Chavena for that which has been lost and learning it first hand from those that know by mining the memories of the past.” Kavala said, saying the words like she was reciting some sort of literature.

“You were in it before too. So was Caelum. Caelum visited here before and I suspect will be back to help us restart the Cytali again. It’s the reason I’ve been making The Sanctuary a fortress and the reason I’ve been expanding the outside. I want to put a Healer’s College above, not only to train good animal healers, but to mine from them the best and brightest for Dreamwalkers for Nysel.” Kavala said, laying this all out for her brother. She wasn’t sure what Vanator’s reaction would be, but she knew he needed to know and that some of it hopefully would resonate within him.

“This is the reason we need you so badly. Every one of these young people here need training, leadership, and all the skills father gave to you to lead a Pavilion. He didn’t teach me. I know medicine. But you...you are so priceless in this endeavor… so very much needed. And I think it’s just a matter of time before Nysel marks you and your children the same way I am marked.” Kavala added, reaching over to her hip to rub the hidden spiral there.

[Vanator]

Vanator sensed the gravity of the pending subject Kavala wanted to discuss, hinted in the soft, sincere tone in her voice and sober but loving set of the gaze she set upon her brother. The siblings talked often, but those conversations usually revolved around the daily operation of the Sanctuary, assignments of the staff, or concerns they had for the residents and family or animals they cared for. But as Vanator's strong, calloused hand reached out to take Kavala's smaller but equally strong and calloused into his own, he discerned this conversation was going to touch on deeper matters.

Vanator settled onto the sand, cross-legged across from Kavala. Ink trotted over to nuzzle the Drykas, snuffling his neck as the large dog sniffed him out before padding off to keep watch over the Denusk herd. Wiping the canine saliva from his neck with his sleeve, Van turned his attention to his beautiful Konti sister.

The healer began by explaining her Nysel mark. Vanator knew Kavala was much, much more than he or anyone could see. She had hinted at it when she inducted Van into Reimancy, a ritual that not only initiated Vanator into the magic and bound the siblings even closer together, but opened the Drykas man to the deities worshiped at Sanctuary, establishing Kavala as a form of priestess to her brother. Even then, Vanator could see the special relationship his sister had with Nysel.

Vanator leaned closer, eyes narrowing as Kavala explained that she could find people by Dreamwalking, a seemingly much more efficient method than the Web, which was still being mended across the Sea of Grass. A cold chill gripped Van's chest when Kavala revealed she had sought their family through this divine magic, and delivered the confirmation of what they had both assumed. They were all gone. The flickering flame of hope, small but present, was extinguished by Kavala's pronouncement.

Silence settled between the siblings for a moment, and Vanator tore his gaze from the azure of Kavala's eyes to the churning surf not far away. His head nodded almost imperceptibly in acknowledgement and acceptance. It was a bittersweet revelation. Final admission that his parents, cousins, uncles, aunts, wives and son were gone was a hard matter, only softened by the assumption that they had indeed all died. But there was a relief, a freedom of sorts, in knowing for certain their demise, and that it was swift. For Vanator, it was the last day of the old Denusks, free from the haunting possibility that one or more of them would crop up as Delani had. The fact gave him no more hesitation to bear the title Ankal, to claim the family at Sanctuary as the Denusk Pavilion, risen from ashes.

But Vanator sensed there was more, Kavala patiently lingering to allow her brother to accept the truth, before sharing more of the mysteries she had uncovered. Van gazed wide-eyed as the Konti revealed the revelations of her dreamwalking, and the Drykas limited understanding of it all compelled him to listen with astute attention as he tried to understand what had only been hinted at since his arrival nearly a year earlier. The suggestion of things such as past lives and Chevena had disconcerted the earthy Drykas. Still, ever since the ritual within the Sacred Circle, Vanator had known there was something more, and that he, somehow, was connected to it. Now, as Kavala explained her plans, the older Denusk began to understand.

He was to be part of this, the Cytali, because he had been in the past. The truth of it all was a bit overwhelming. Him, a Dreamwalker? After all that had happened to Van in the past few years, he stopped asking himself questions like that.

For a moment, Vanator could not put his thoughts together. Seeking knowledge through athropology and exploring sounded more along his strengths, but Van trusted Kavala implicitly. If she said he had, in past lives, been Cytali, and that he may be worthy to earn the same mark from the Dreamer as she, then he would accept it. Perhaps, it was the answer to the question of purpose that had plagued him for so long. After a chime of drawing in the sand with his finger, he looked up at Kavala. "So, you and I were part of this Cytali in another life? We knew each other before?" Van was trying to wrap his head around the concept. "Yes, Kav, I will help you. I will do what I can. I don't understand it all yet, but you can show me, help me to grasp it all. If I truly was part of this...before, certainly I am able to embrace it. I know I am here, the twins too, for some reason." Van's gaze darted to his precious nephew. He could not think of letting Kavala pursue such a monumental venture without him.

[Kavala]

She welcomed Vanator’s grip and appreciated the way he settled in the sand to talk things out with her. It was such a relief to do this, to confide in an Ankal. Kavala missed her father in that moment, but looking at her brother she saw hints of the older Drykas but knew inherently that Vanator was a better man. He was more flexible, more worldly, even if it hadn’t been by his choice. And though Eachaan had been the finest of Ankals, he’d been raised on the Grass with grasslander problems and in a time of relative calm that hadn’t prepared him for obstacles that had eventually killed him. Some things one couldn’t prepare for because they were outside of one’s experiences. But Van had seen so much, it wasn’t hard for him plan ahead and plan for the unexpected. His burdens weren’t Eachaan’s burdens, and in many ways they were far harder.

But Kavala had missed this… going to an elder, talking things through, getting sound advice or at least questions asked to her that would lead her in the right direction. She blinked back tears for a moment, grateful beyond belief that the Gods had spared Vanator a death and instead left him to lead in this life.

Kavala nodded, waiting for Vanator to process what she said. He wouldn’t fire a volley of arrow-like questions at her. Instead he’d let it sink in and his mind would work on it a while then he’d come back, with clarity, and ask for more information. Kavala knew her brother well and knew she might not get through to him on the first shot. But he was open minded and would listen.

“Yes, I believe so. I’m not sure what capacity you were involved, but I was an assassin and Caelum was an intelligence gatherer and recruiter/trainer. We were… formidable people in high level positions. But its less about the past than the future Vanator. We don’t live in the past or to correct the past. We live for a better future. The Cytlai have the unique ability to see into the past clearly, as if they were living the memories. Your interests, say archeology, can only dig through what is know.. the visible ruins on a map. But the Cytali can know with a certainty what was there before, and go physically to the spot where a city once was… a spot that might be empty sweeping grassland from here until the end of the world and start digging. It’s not a needle in a haystack if you know where to look. It’s a whole faucet of the reconstruction of the past for the benefit of our future with a huge dose of knowing with a certainty where to look and what we are looking for.” She explained, if that made sense. So in a way he could be both, dig in the dirt with his hands, but instead of the surprise of randomly trying to find things, he would have a certainty that whatever he was looking for was real.

“I don’t know what any of us would do without each other. Honestly, its hard for me to remember a time here without out Cadra and Larik… and even you. Things are so much easier with you three around. It’s just hard. I’ have to get this pregnancy out of the way. It’s making me weak, so very weak, and Riaris and I aren’t doing so well. In many ways he’s amazing, and in other ways he’s not what I need. They make no commitments and are often at conflict with each other. I'm glad you are thinking of marrying Sybel. She deserves happiness and to be cherished that way.” Kavala said, meeting her brother’s eyes. “I need to not fall in love so easily. Tasivals father didn’t love me back, and I’m not sure Riaris does either. They want children so bad, but I don’t know if they know how to be anything other than warriors. So once this baby comes, I can focus on the fortress, The Cytali, and my work there as well as getting the Healer's College going. No distractions. They aren't good for me anyhow. And I certainly am not planning on having any more children. Two is enough for anyhow." The Konti added. She sat up and looked Vanator in the eye, smiling slightly.

[Vanator]

Vanator listened intently to Kavala, his eagerness carefully veiled. The crashing surf, the snuffling dogs, roaming horses, even his precious nephew, all lost focus as the Denusk Ankal mulled over his sister's explanations. To actually see, to know history practically first hand? It was amazing. It was also a powerful tool, for knowledge of any sort provided power of one kind or another, and any power could be used for good or evil. Van fully fathomed the gravity of the Cytali's mission.

As Kavala began to speak of her baby, and her children's fathers, Vanator's heart ached for his sister. His hand reached out to take hers. If anyone deserved love, it was Kavala. She would lay down her life for another, driven to care for the sick and injured to the risk of her own life. She had opened her home to any in need, and a number of Kelvics and human's alike had come, lost, to spend time in her care. She had nurtured Vanator and his children to health, giving them back their lives. Yet, there was no one to return that kind of care. Vanator could, to some extent, but a brother could only go so far. She needed the love of a man. Ronan had left her, the bastard (Vanator had not forgiven the young Drykas for breaking his sister's heart). Then there were her Akalaks. At first, Vanator despised the Akalaks, for they way they treated their women, and Kavala. Slowly, he had learned it was their nature, procreation even more paramount among them then even the Drykas. How a Drykas and how an Akalak loved were very different. Kavala was used to being loved like he and Sybel did. In a way, Vanator felt a bit of guilt for being happy, in love. He prayed that, somehow, Riaris could love Kavala like she deserved.

Van gave Kavala's hand a slight squeeze. "The gods have brought us all together here, the one you deserve will come too, in time, Kav. I know it is not the same, but I will never abandon you, no Akalak, no Zith army, not even Sybel, will change that. Only when I know you have some one that loves you as you deserve will I leave you alone, and I will still keep a close eye even then!"

With impeccable timing, Tasival arrived with two fistfuls of sand that he happily dumped upon his uncle's head. With a wicked giggle, the toddler darted under a coil of Kavala's serpent and out of Vanator's reach. Shaking the grains from his head with a laugh, Vanator looked up again to Kavala, trying to regain his sober demeanor.

"There will come a time, Kav, when you will be too far along to do some things, to ride, and work so hard." Van started, his tone edged with big brotherlyness. "When that time comes, I don't want arguments, you will stop. Right?" We have enough hands here, and each of them willing to pull more weight if needed. I will not risk you or the baby."

Vanator's face softened again. The fingers holding Kavala's hand found the Denusk ring on her finger. He tried to turn it, but his sister's hand must have been a bit swollen. The thumb on Van's other hand crooked to brush his matching ring, forged by their reimancy elements. "Planning or not planning on children never seemed to make a difference when it comes to Denusks." Van teased, three of his own children being unexpected births.

His gaze turned again to the Akontak child, now lying in the sand laughing as Ink stood over him, licking the boy's face with a big canine tongue. "Winter will be good for planning, getting ready. I want to work on my reimancy, and learn more magic. I feel it Kavala, inside, that gift our clan possesses. For too long I have focused on fighting. Few can match my ax, but I will need more than a steel weapon for what the future holds." His eyes turned again to the glistening blues of his sister, locking his gaze with hers. "I like to kill Kav. When the Zith attacked, it was like being drunk, I killed so many, and I savored the death of every one of them, and everything I have killed since then, Zith, the bone-dogs...but I don't want to become a monster myself."

She knew his deepest secrets, the sick perversion the Zith had left him with. But there was one thing his sister did not know. No one knew. "Spring, two years ago. I came across a female Zith in the grass. I struck a deal with her, that we would spar. I don't know why, I wanted to kill her, like I wanted to kill them all. But I thought maybe I could learn their weakness. We wrestled, but she betrayed me, her claws coated with poison. I was furious, and to simply kill her would not satisfy my rage. So..." Van paused, his eyes darted out to the sea, avoiding Kavala's gaze, ensuring Tasival was out of earshot. "I raped her." Van swallowed hard, his voice hard, resentful. "I became the monster."

[Kavala]

Kavala laughed at her son’s antics and captured him for a moment after he attacked Vanator, cuddling him in her lap for a breath or two. She released him to let him go climb back on the newest structure she’d barely finished before her and Vanator sat down. He looked sheepish but indulged his mother while grinning wickedly at his uncle before making his escape.

Vanator’s touch brought her a measure of peace and she squeezed his hand in response, their rings touching with a gentle clink.

“I’m glad they brought us all together. It wouldn’t be the same without family. And thank you.. that means more to me to hear you say that than anything else in the world.” Because she knew if Vanator said it, he meant it, and wouldn’t let her down. The man had never literally let her down his entire life. She leaned back, feeling the stone serpents coil at her back, and glanced up to keep a watchful eye on her son as he climbed in play. He had latched onto the beast and was pretending to stab it multiple times like a warrior would then flung himself from the stone as if the beast had shucked him off. The sand cushioned his fall and he pretended to retrieve another weapon and attack the beast again.

“You are Ankal here, Vanator. When you tell me you think its time to stop, I will stop. I know father made the call on our mothers and their sisters and they obeyed. I would not disrespect you by doing less. And even if that means I have to drive a cart everywhere, I will do so in order to keep you from worrying.” She said quietly.

She laughed lightly at Vanator’s comment about the fertility of the Denusks as Ink joined in Tasival’s battle, evidently on the side of the sea serpent. Kavala was unsurprised. Canine loyalty was often fickle.

It was evident a warriors blood ran through Tasival’s veins because he dispatched the dog and went back to battling the stone giant. This time the dog joined in by barking at Tasi as he attacked the stone serpent. The others joined in and soon it was a free-for-all of Imperial watchers and blue skinned child.

When everyone settled down a bit and Van started talking again, it was Kavala’s turn to listen. He confessed things to her… about him liking to kill and how he felt the magic in his blood. Kavala knew these things already. Good warriors did so because they liked the art. They became truly great warriors when they knew their strengths and weaknesses and could admit them openly to others.

Then he dropped a stone on her head, not physically, but emotionally when he admitted that he had forced himself on someone. She sat quietly for a long time still holding his hand, her eyes staring into his and so pale now they looked almost blind. She opened her mouth a time or two, then closed her lips, thinking. Her eyes met his and then looked right and left, gazing first into one eye then the next as if one would betray the other and give her additional insight.. She didn’t understand. She couldn’t.

“Why… does that make men feel so powerful?” She asked suddenly, wanting to know, needing to know, and trying to keep from shouting at him, as rage rocketed through her. She didn’t care that it had been a zith. In many ways, that made it worse because Kavala saw them as worse because she considered them vicious animals. She’d never talked to one face to face or even had any exposure to her than killing them in mass when they needed it. But it didn’t make what Vanator did any less of a crime.

Tasival stopped playing immediately to stare at his mom, hearing that dangerous tone only rarely. The dogs too turned and looked at the two adults speaking.

[Vanator]

Vanator understood. He knew what had happened to Kavala, before the Akalak rescued her. He understood that his confession would have profound implications for her. It was why it was the only thing in his life he had held back from her. He had not breathed a word of his crime to a living soul, until that moment. Vanator was not even sure why he chose that time to reveal it to her.

She did not instantly revile him. Van's sister still held his hand, if loosely. She did not avert her gaze, as if unwilling to look upon his monstrosity. All the same, Vanator knew how the truth crushed Kavala. Vanator, more than anything, wanted Kavala to look up to him, as a brother, as her Ankal. To know she would endure deep disappointment, even disgust, at his vile actions, ground Vanator's soul to powder.

He wanted to look away, to break the searching gaze of the Konti's piercing light eyes. But Vanator did not. He allowed Kavala to peer into his being, hoping she could see some justification for his deeds. She would find none, for Vanator had spent years looking for moral release himself. The only way he could live with himself, was to proclaim daily that it was a treacherous Zith, not a person, the same beasts that killed Tara, that stole a year of his life and a lifetime of dignity, that had harmed his sister and invaded his home. Each encounter with the savage race laid another layer of condemning stones on the one female that bore the full execution of Vanator's vengeful hatred.

Kavala finally spoke, a simple scathing question that drove a spear through Vanator's heart. The accusation was clear and as convicting as the finger of Yahal himself. To Kavala, he was now no different than those men, the ones that had abused and tormented her.

Finally, Vanator could no longer stand it, and his eyes were torn from his sister's gaze. He avoided looking at Tasival, the child a glaring antithesis to his lecherous uncle. Van realized his teeth were clenched so hard his jaw stared to ache. Then the older Denusk turned again to Kavala.

"I don't think it had anything to do with power. It was hatred, evil hatred. I didn't want to control the Zith, I wanted to punish it, make it a scapegoat for all of them. I wanted to do something worse than kill it." Vanator looked down to their hands, the Denusk rings touching. "Kavala, it was wrong, terribly, horribly wrong. I didn't plan it. Gods, I didn't even know I was capable of it. I just, snapped." Van paused, finding his own revelations as he spoke. "I tried to make excuses to myself, that it was not a person, it was an animal, a monster. That it somehow deserved it. I was able to convince myself of that, for a time. But, after living with them," The Drykas paused, glancing skyward as if to gather his thoughts, or the courage to speak them, "I realized, they are not animals. As much as I hated them for all they had done to me, to us, I saw the twisted mirror of humanity in them. They care for their young. Sometimes, even I was shown care, as one would show affection to a favored dog. They want to learn, eager to learn about humans. They aren't just animals. The true horror came when I realized that I had not forced myself on an it, I had forced myself on a she, a person."

Vanator again peered into Kavala's eyes, not sure what he sought from them. Not necessarily forgiveness, or justification, maybe just understanding. "When they attacked Sanctuary, I killed so many, I went mad killing them. But, it was no longer my anger at Tamar's murder, or my enslavement that drove me to bloodlust. It was that every one of their faces reminded me that I had been no less evil than they that day with the she-Zith, and the sight of every one of them was a condemnation of my soul. I couldn't stand it."

Guilt-ridden and shamed, Vanator withdrew his hand from Kavala's.