Chapter 3
[Note: Third, and as of right now, final chapter. I need to write more!! I really wanna keep exploring these characters.]
'I knew that charr were supposed to be bloodthirsty, but I thought that was meant to be about their prowess in battle, or intimidating features. Not literally thirsting for blood.' the warm voice spiraled through Kairos' thoughts, trailing her own thoughts of wondering about how a rock gazelle would taste.
"You can't blame a girl for wanting to try new things. It's been months since I've had a decent dolyak steak." She argued back, still not entirely used to having mind conversations. Having a constant voice kept the other mist whispers to a minimum, but having her own thoughts heard was still sometimes unnerving. "Not sure the rock gazelle would taste the same. Too crunchy?" Kairos smirked to herself as she played the mental image of eating a rock gazelle, with any meat being made of rock cracking against her teeth. She had to stifle a laugh as she could feel the shudder of Vlast being squicked by the thought.
'You're not allowed to attack me like that. That wasn't part of the deal,' Vlast's voice came pointedly, although not angry.
"Hmm, but you forget that it is," Kairos said. "You said that in exchange for letting me try to channel your power from the mists, I would serve as a companion in showing you more of the world outside of the Crystal Desert. And that means we're friends now. Like some silly puppet show for human cubs." She smiled at the thought. That would be pretty cute, if a bit in poor taste, to have a skit about a dragon and a charr being friends for entertainment.
'If this is companionship, I would like to back out of our arrangement,' the voice of Vlast was flat, in that dry way that Kairos knew he was catching on to sarcasm pretty well. They had only been together for about a week now, but having someone in your mind 24/7 makes the bonding process go pretty quickly. Plus, she really enjoyed the company. She'd spent the better half of that time recovering at the temple of Kormir after the attack at the outpost, but now decided it's time to try to head back. The desert wasn't really the place for her, and she wanted to get back to Tyria sooner rather than later. While she hadn't learned much about Glint at all, Kairos thought that her newforged bond with Vlast was a higher priority.
And, as it seems, a really handy priority.
'It seems the sun has set. Would you like to try the "trick" again?' Vlast's voice echoed before Kairos could think first. Yes, the desert got mercilessly cold once the sun was gone, and she did want to try something out again. It hadn't gone well the night before, but luckily she'd still had her own supplies.
"Yea let me just grab some wood to burn real quick," Kairos replied, grabbing up some of the crispier looking shrubs off the side of the trail. With the last of the sun's light peeking over the horizon, she'd gathered a decent amount of scrub to keep some warmth for the night. Before getting it started, though, she took a moment to watch the sky alight.
'You should see it when there's crystal all around. The way the light catches and reflects, makes the brand look almost beautiful,' Vlast commented, and Kairos could almost picture what a breathtaking scene that would be. Or maybe Vlast shared a memory of his own with her. Either way, she was glad to have the thought.
With one last deep breath as the light slipped away, Kairos again turned her focus to her unlit campfire. "Alright, down to business," she said, getting ready for another night of experimentation. While she hadn't been getting much sleep since leaving the temple, the thrill of learning what new things she could do with Vlast kept her energized. "Let's see if we can keep it up long enough to catch this time?"
'I will try not to burn us, although it is mostly on you,' He replied, and Kairos could feel his focus sharpening in her mind. She tried her best to match that focus. Closing her eyes, she held out one of her hands so she could just feel the scrub brush gently against it, and she tried to dip into herself. Focusing on the energy emanating from her connection to the mists, to Vlast, and to the magics held even deeper. But mostly Vlast.
Magic isn't rare in Tyria. But it's unpredictable. At least, to Kairos. But she was beginning to understand how it works, at least for her. With Vlast. He was made almost entirely of magical energy, whether that be from being a dragon or by being dead and in the mists. It didn't really matter. What did matter was the feeling of using his magic. Vlast was sharp. And white hot. The kind of heat that feels cold, numbing. Pulling his magic didn't hurt, didn't cause pain, but it made Kairos feel that sharp, white hot cold that is often accompanied by pain, so it will take time to get used to. The feeling crackled through her mind, and then swirled up through her. She could almost imagine the magic as green fire, blossoming out of the scar on her chest. Furrowing her brows with determination, Kairos guided the flow of magic from her core down her extended arm. Holding the power as much as she could, she dared a peek at her own hand.
They'd done it! Her hand was alight with a small green glow of magical fire, and her fur wasn't getting singed. Although the brush she'd collected hadn't caught fire yet, she pulled her magic channeling hand closer. The flame danced across her hand, the soft green light illuminating the space around her. And she could feel Vlast's excitement mirroring her own, and his focus keeping the channel of magic open. Kairos moved her lit hand across the air in front of her towards her other hand, hoping to see if she could transfer the flame between them, when she noticed it wasn't just the magic she held that was giving off light. While still channeling Vlast's magic, her own stripes were no longer white, but instead glowed a soft green. Her eyes widened with surprise, and then lit up with excitement.
'That is a bit unexpected,' Vlast agreed, although it wasn't nearly as excited as Kairos' thoughts of "That's so cool!" as she whirled around to see if her tail stripes were glowing as well. She practically looked like one of the Mad King's glow skeletons!
'Kairos. The task at hand, focus,' the voice of Vlast cut through her childish excitement, although she could feel he was unable to hide his feelings of fond amusement at her enthusiasm.
"Right. The shrubs," Kairos turned her attention back to the tinder she was trying to light. She held her still flaming hand towards the scrub and grabbed a piece gently, hoping the magical heat would be able to start a normal fire. Luckily, the brush was dry enough and caught quickly, and Kairos drew her hand away as she felt the magic fading back into herself. The soft green glow was replaced by the warm orange of the campfire, and Kairos found herself feeling more tired than she could ever remember.
'Careful. I don't think you've channeled quite that much magic before, have you?' Vlast's voice almost seemed muffled to her as Kairos felt her consciousness slipping. She sat down, then curled herself up, utterly exhausted. 'Don't worry, rest it off. I might be able to keep an eye out...'
Vlast's voice faded as she fell to sleep.
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Kairos found herself awake, with a shudder of magical energy running up her spine and the soft green flames spilling out of her mouth. She blinked the sleep away from her eyes and noticed she was standing, although hunched over, with a few small flames flickering on the ground. A few paces away, a pair of sand lionesses were quickly moving away from her.
“Wh-,” Kairos started to speak, but her throat was super dry, and also still leaking out magical flames.
‘You weren’t waking up, and I felt we could have been in danger,’ Vlast’s voice reverberated through her mind. He was defensive, although she hadn’t really been angry at him. Kairos’ mind still felt foggy from waking up so suddenly, but she was mostly surprised that he was able to channel his own magic through her while she was still asleep. It was a little surprising, but she trusted Vlast enough to not be worried about. She gave a big stretch and she began to feel the magic around her retract. Feeling more awake now, she noticed that the sun had only started to rise. The desert was still cool from the night. She counted herself lucky that Vlast was able to somehow notice the dangers around. Guess he didn’t need to sleep in the mists.
‘I never slept much when I was alive, either. Too much like… too much to do. I…’ his voice wavered for a second. ‘I apologize. For making you… do that.’
“Hey it’s alright. You were able to keep those lions away, so it’s not a big deal,” Kairos said. They were a team now, so they had to watch each other’s back. Err, her back, together? Still, Kairos found herself a little intrigued by the fact that Vlast was able to channel his magic through her, even when she wasn’t awake. It probably was easier for him, since he knew how to actually use his own magic, whereas she had only really begun practicing a few days ago. She decided to write it off as a comfort, something he could do to help out in a pinch, and moved on to thinking about other things. Like getting ready to continue their journey.
‘I suppose your assumptions are fair,’ Vlast’s voice hummed in agreement. ‘I believe it would be best for us to continue “on the same team”, as you put it. Although I find your nonchalance at being controlled a bit… concerning.’
Kairos shrugged. She knew who it was in her mind now, and she trusted him not to hurt her. And she wasn’t really being controlled, just doing a little surprise magic channeling while she was asleep. It’s not like she’s been some kind of Vlast-branded or something. At that thought, she could feel an almost indignant sputter come from Vlast. It was just a thought, although he didn’t seem like the kind of dragon to do much of his own branding. And she was very much in control of herself anyway, being unconscious notwithstanding.
‘I could make my own branding, you know,’ Vlast argued. ‘I never did, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have ever. I’d even considered it. Having my own set of forces to combat Kralkatorrik’s waves of monstrosities. But…’ there was hesitation in his voice, like he was considering how much he wanted to tell Kairos. She’d gotten her small campsite completely packed away now, and was just about to start out again on the path to Amnoon. Hopefully they’d be able to make it there before the end of the day. Until then, she had nothing but time to listen to Vlast.
She could hear the echo of his sigh, pushing away any encroaching voices from the mists. ‘I guess there is no point keeping any secrets from you. It seems only fair to tell you. Yes, I never made minions of my own. I was… I was scared.’ Kairos could almost say that his voice was shaking, just a little bit. ‘It’s not becoming of a dragon, to be scared. But to you I will admit, I was afraid. I was afraid that the people I was defending would see my brand as that of the enemy. That they would see me as part of the enemy.’ Vlast let out a harsh chuckle, his disdain clearly only to cover that he would really be hurt if these people were to betray him.
‘But mostly, I was afraid my brand would become his. That it wouldn’t be mine. That if I were to indulge in this Draconic impulse to create minions, that I would become more like that which I was trying so hard to defeat. That I would… lose myself’ Vlast echoed through Kairos’ mind. What an awful thought. She believed that Vlast wouldn’t be corrupted just by using his own power, but she could see humans turning on him for trying. If the people in Elona were like the humans back at Ascalon, she could easily see them doing something like that.
‘You do not think very highly of these Ascalonian people,’ Vlast commented.
“Charr and Humans have a… complicated history,” She replied. How could she start to explain? The humans saw charr as nothing but mindless beasts. The charr retaliated in turn by treating the humans as spineless cowards and war criminals. Things were mostly different now, with the treaty, but the past still happened. The wars, the searings, atrocities from both sides, better left in the past. But the Foefire…
‘I… you don’t have to tell me,’ Vlast whispered, having seen the memories flash through Kairos’ mind. She’d heard stories, and she’d seen battlefields herself. She shook her head, no it should be over now. The wars are in the past. Tensions were still high, but the humans were allies now. The threat of the Elder Dragons is greater than whatever past wrongdoings and grudges were held.
‘This Foefire, does it have anything to do with the mists?’ Vlast asked. He must have felt her apprehension about the subject. Or seen her memories. Of the ghosts. And the musket, the canon she and Airen had made, about her first accident… ‘You don’t have to tell me, although it will be hard for me to… ignore your thoughts on the matter.’
“No, no, you’re right,” Kairos sighed. He’d told his secrets to her, she could at least tell him about her own. Starting with the Foefire in Ascalon, how it cursed the humans to never be able to go to the mists, and how her warband had gotten tangled up in some sort of technology to reverse the curse. How she had gotten wrapped up in it.
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‘How interesting. And this was how you became mist-touched? And began to hear the echoes of my mother in your mind,’ Vlast mused after Kairos had finished telling him her story. He’d listened to her, not asking too many questions, and finally being able to tell Someone about what had really happened to her made Kairos feel a lot better. And recounting the story had been a good way to pass the time, as they had almost made it to the city and the sun had yet to start setting.
“Uh huh,” Kairos hummed, after her first mist encounter is when she had first started to hear the voices, and echoes of Glint speaking. That’s why she’d come to the Crystal Desert in the first place, to see if she could learn anything more about the dragon who spoke to her. Instead she’d found another dragon, who really spoke to Her, and not just left old recordings of wisdom and magical energy. Funny how things work out like that.
‘I agree you could find the circumstances a bit humorous. However, I can’t help but find myself a bit disappointed that I am not able to speak with my mother here in your mind,’ Vlast’s voice had an edge of sadness to it. Kairos wondered why he wasn't able to find her within the mists. ‘I… maybe I could,’ He paused for a moment, considering how to explain. ‘I do not have free reign over the mists, and cannot just travel around searching for her endlessly. I am… not stuck, but tethered. To you, to our connection. And even so, as much as I long to hear my mother say she is proud of me, I do not want to hear of any disappointment in me. Allow me this childish desire.’ Vlast’s thoughts were followed up by a deep rumble of laughter. Kairos couldn’t really relate, since the opinions of her own parents meant nothing to her. Although, she hadn’t really cared much for the opinions of anyone, really. Except maybe her old ‘bandmates, but they were gone now.
‘Right, I remember you did tell me how charr don’t really have a bond with their parents at all. And besides, I really shouldn’t be so concerned about an old dead dragon anyway,’ Vlast commented, although he didn’t sound entirely convincing. Although, disregarding Glint for being an “old dead dragon” a little bit in poor taste, coming from another dead dragon? Kairos felt another of Vlast’s deep rumbling laughs. ‘I suppose, although Glint is actually dead. Whereas I am only as dead as you are alive.’ Kairos could feel her eyebrows furrow in confusion. Was he trying to imply that she wasn’t alive anymore?
‘Not in the traditional sense, no. You’re mist-touched. Someone who has been to the mists and has returned. Hold on a moment,’ Vlast spoke and Kairos stopped moving. They had reached the outskirts of the city, where refugee camps were set up almost everywhere there was space to stake a tent. ‘I wish to try something again once it is dark, and I think staying away from these people will be beneficial. They might find it… unnerving.’ Vlast explained. Him explaining it so ominously made Kairos feel what could be considered unnerved, but she also wanted to experiment more with their magic, so she agreed and found a spot some ways away from the refugees and set up a small camp. Luckily most of the warforged had been run out of the area, as it seems the war with the human god was starting to turn.
‘You’re mist-touched, Kairos,’ she didn’t think about how her name sounded in Vlast’s voice. Not at all. ‘But you’re more than Just mist-touched. You and I have a special connection. My path to the mists was interrupted by you, and such I am almost fully within you, and only a small amount in the whole of the mists. It is… hard to explain completely, but my being is tied up with yours now. And yours, with mine. So you are much alive as I am dead. And I alive as you are dead. Does that make sense?’ Sort of, but not really. Vlast had addressed something that Kairos had compartmentalized away as ‘best not to think about’ in her mind. She shouldn’t have survived the attack. She felt herself impulsively touch the huge scar on her chest. The scar that had formed almost immediately, stricken completely through her back to her chest, yet never having been a wound. No matter how tough she was, a charr just shouldn’t be able to walk away from an injury that intense.
‘I apologize to bring up the memory, but I want things to be understood. And because, if you understand, it will make what I am next proposing a lot easier,’ Vlast sounded so sure. That probably made sense, he probably knew the second he was connected with her exactly what their whole connection was. What it meant for him, and for her. Dragons knew things, and especially about magic.
“Why,” Kairos whispered, before she shook her head. No, he’d explained what had happened, it didn’t matter why. She and him had a connection, and so she was going to learn everything she could about it going forward, not backwards. What sort of experiment was he proposing to her?
‘I’ve been thinking, and I believe I have a way to improve our cohesion. See, we’ve been thinking about it wrong. It’s no longer My magic, but Our magic,’ if she didn’t know better, Kairos might say that Vlast sounded almost excited. It’s probably just her own excitement. ‘So, instead of trying to channel myself through you, just try to channel our magic as if it is your own.’
Seemed simple enough. Kairos held her hands up in front of her, and looked down at them. It’s too bad she didn’t have any magic before this, since she really had no idea what it felt like to use magic ‘as if it were her own’. Or really how to use magic at all. But, she had to try. She closed her eyes, and balled her hands into fists as she focused.
She felt the white hot numb of the magic blossom inside of her, a crackling energy that pooled at the center of her chest. The magic seemed centered near her scar, a fact that was not lost on her. Kairos focused on keeping herself steady as she channeled Vlas- no, Her magic. Well, it was hard to divorce the feeling of magic from Vlast, because she could definitely also feel his energy. Their energy? It was confusing, so she stopped thinking about it. Magic didn’t make sense with thoughts, but with feelings. She felt the energy bubble up to the surface, and she felt the crackling of sparks dancing across her fur. Her whiskers twitched and her tail flicked as she felt the chill of white hot magic settle across all of her. Then she opened her eyes.
Even though the sun had now set completely, the area around her was bathed in a gentle green light. Kairos twisted around, trying to see if her stripes were glowing again, like the last time. They were, the green light thrummed with magical energy as it pulsed and crackled across her fur.
“That went a lot smoother,” she said out loud, although the thought to speak hadn’t come from her. “Ah, that’s interesting,” Vlast spoke with her mouth. Channeling him really did bring them a lot closer. Their connection really must be a lot stronger than she’d originally thought. She began to feel fidgety, what with the high amount of energy she had channeled starting to spark between her glowing stripes. She felt herself pushing energy out into some flames, lighting herself a campfire from her outstretched hands. After letting some energy out, Kairos could feel herself calming down, and the energy went from a loud crackle to a gentle hum.
‘Fascinating,’ she felt Vlast, speaking in her mind again. ‘It seemed like while I was channeling our magic through you, I was also able to channel my words. I’ll keep that in mind. Hmmm,’ she could tell Vlast had another idea. ‘Do you know how to fight?’
“Of course I know how to fight,” Kairos almost laughed. “I’m a charr!” She was almost offended by the question. A charr that didn’t know how to fight?
‘I didn’t mean to insult. I just haven’t seen you actually use your weapon before,’ Vlast replied evenly. ‘But I was mostly inquiring because I thought you might have wanted to see if we could incorporate our connection to your regular fighting style.’ Ah. So that’s why he brought it up. Kairos felt herself feeling a little guilty about being so defensive. Back with her old warband, she hadn’t really been much of a fighter. But although they’d been a more artillery focused ‘band, she still knew her way around a sword like any decent charr. And she still had her trusty pistol on hand, even if the thought of having to use a gun again made her feel sort of queasy.
What did he have in mind? She questioned Vlast mentally as she gathered up her sword from her supplies. The poor old thing was standard issue, and hadn’t seen very many fights in a while. Still, the blade was still in good condition, she determined after giving it a few practice swings.
‘So you can use that sword,’ Kairos didn’t appreciate how smug Vlast sounded. ‘Show me some forms? Ok, you seem to only be using your one hand, yet your other seems unbalanced.’ He’d noticed she didn’t get her pistol out. She didn’t really think she had to explain why she was hesitant to use her pistol, after her first mist experience. ‘No no, it’s alright. I think this might actually work out better for what I was thinking,’ Vlast insisted. Kairos could feel the deep thrums of his voice in harmony with the thrumming of magic through her, around her. ‘Right, no, don’t think about it, just feel.’
So Kairos didn’t think, she just allowed the magic to flow how Vlast willed it. She felt the ripple and crackle of energy, the surge of white hot numbness, and felt the heavy snap of crystal breaking. Before she could really understand what was happening, Kairos could feel the magic fading back towards her center. And she found herself holding what appeared to be a sword in her offhand. Made entirely of green crystal, the blade was almost a perfect copy of her other.
‘Pretty impressive, isn’t it,’ Vlast remarked, not really asking a question. The crystal of the sword reverberated in tune with the voice echoing in her mind, and with the magic that still rippled throughout her body. Kairos was impressed, and she gave the new sword a few practice swings like she had her other one. It had been a while since she’d used two swords at a time, and she found herself stepping back into some old practice stances from the fahrar. The blades sang through the air easily in harmony with each other.
“Try to hit one of these,” Vlast said as two shadowy forms appeared in front of her. She rushed forward, feeling the flap of Vlast’s wings make the morning mist swirl around her feet. Kairos could feel as she swung and stabbed, letting her muscle memory and the impulses of magic guide her blades. As her amorphous foes dissipated, she looked back towards Vlast with a wild smile.
“How was that?” She cried out, excited for more. Before her mind caught up with the situation. The hazy form of the dragon may have made an expression, but Kairos had stopped paying attention to him. She closed her eyes. She couldn’t be in the mists, right? That wasn’t normal. Maybe channeling Vlast’s magic so much had made her accidently channel what he saw in the mists, too. That made sense, right?
‘Something like that, if it makes the most sense to you,’ Vlast’s voice was once again inside her head. Kairos opened her eyes again to see she was back in the heat of the Crystal Desert, with the sun beating down on her. Time worked differently in the mists. But time worked regularly in Elona. Somehow, here little training experiments with Vlast had lasted until almost midday in the desert. ‘I apologize, although we should be able to get on a transport back to Tyria at this time,’ Vlast pointed out. Kairos set her weapons down before giving herself a thorough full body shake. Well, it wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen to her, she thought as she packed up her little camp she’d made. She wanted to give Vlast’s crystal sword a more intense look over, but she would have time for that on the journey back to the Citadel. So, she set off to the airship port in Amnoon.
However, she didn’t get the chance to look at the sword on the flight. Once aboard, she relaxed her channeling, and slept the entire way home.