The Student and the Master

"So when do we leave?" asked Kaido, standing up. "Take me to this person you say is my mother."

"First, you must sleep off the teneb root," said Seialla. "I'll watch over you until it's time to leave."

Kaido wanted to argue. The new anger born in him when he woke with Skarred skin made him more impatient than an archer with a drawn bow. He wanted to see the woman who cursed him to this life and let her know his wrath. 

But will was not energy. The drugs in his blood collapsed him onto his bed the second he rose.

A shove on his shoulder woke Kaido up. It was the black-marked Skarred girl's face that hovered above him again, and again, those markings startled him. 

"You are a poor nurse," Kaido chided, rubbing his eyes. "Even I'm aware you used too much teneb for a simple foot injury. I should not have felt unbalanced after waking."

"I'm a fine nurse; I'm just not accustomed to working on men. I usually take care of children."

Kaido laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. 

"And they let a Black Skarred work with children? Would that not give the poor children nightmares?"

For the brief time Kaido had known this woman, Seialla had been all cold speech and stone-faced stares. But she actually glared at him with annoyance for once, though it did not last. She returned to her chilling serenity. 

"Perhaps the children in Muva are not as craven as you," she hissed coldly.

Kaido jumped to his feet and stood over the woman, close enough that the orange glow of his anger was visible on her face. Still, her face was all weary boredom.

"Your change of clothes is on the bedside table," said Seialla, absently. "The sun is soon to rise, and we need to leave while it's still dark."

She left him with his embarrassment. The new change of clothes could not cover it up. He needed a way to rein in the new monster inside him. He could feel its desire to swallow the world in fire, to answer every slight with scorch and every flout with flame. It smouldered at the back of Kaido's head. He knew that one day it would burn away all his sense, and he would be driven mad; the fate of all Skarred people. 

He found his companions at the bottom of the inn's steps, which he descended. The room was empty, but for them, yet they still wore their hoods low. The three exited the inn together, skulking through the street in the morning dark like thieves. 

"The leader of an expedition explains the how as well as the where before they take off," said Kaido. "You have yet to tell me how you mean to transport me to Muva."

"I don't plan on telling a man uncertain of his loyalties the details of how our revolution gets around," said Gayil.   

"Why would I betray my interests? My Skarred skin proves I am an outcast of the Empire. I have no reason to betray you."

The blonde man scoffed, shaking his head. "Then why do you still carry the weapon the Keirians use to kill my brethren?"

The sudden realisation that he was not wearing his edged-light sword drew Kaidos hands to his waist as he frantically searched for the weapon he knew he did not possess. 

"She is holding it for you," said Gayil, indicating at Seialla. "The Scorch too easily compels you, which makes you dangerous." 

The Scorch... An admittedly good name for the beast inside him that urged Kaido to attack Seialla for his sword. The Scorch's will beat against Kaido's own like waves against a cliff, slowly eroding the stone. The bastard prince hated the truth in Gayil's accusation, but he accepted he was right.

"What about my pegasus?" said Kaido. "Xaine said he would send him after me to meet us here. If you told me how we were getting to Muva, then I could follow you on Thunder's back."

Again, Gayil laughed at Kaido. "How would a flying horse find you in a city exactly?"

"Pegasus aren't skittish creatures like horses. They are made for war and tracking. If Thunder has my scent, she could track me within a range of thirty miles."

Gayil suddenly stopped and rounded on Kaido. The face that seemed trapped in a permanent smirk shifted into caution. His eyes wandered the street for whatever had shaken him. He eventually found it in the sky behind Kaido. Kaido stared in the same direction and could see nothing but fading stars. 

Suddenly, the sound of large wings beating the air reached him, followed by a familiar sight. A pegasus with white fur, a red mane and red wings descended from the sky. Thunder landed next to Kaido and smothered her master in her mane as he stroked her neck. 

"Was the danger you sensed the pegasus?" asked Seialla, pulling out the handle of her cantus blade. 

"No," said Gayil, "it's what was following the beast."

Kaido's reunion was interrupted by the same sounds that announced Thunder's arrival, but much louder. After escaping the pegasus's affections, Kaido looked up to see three pegasi with riders on them, all dressed in the white-and-green armour of the Volcanic Scouts. He recognised all three of the riders. 

On the right flank was Vetgar, a boy Kaido's age, with hair cut short that one could only see hints of his blue hair. The girl on the opposite flank was Fotiat, also of age with Kaido, with green braided hair long enough that you could still see it flowing out of her helmet. They were Kaido's fellow cadets, all training to become members of the Scouts. The fact that they wore the armour meant that they had taken the oath. Still, that was not the most surprising thing about the three riders. 

At the head of their formation was the man who truly raised Kaido, whose voice had guided the young prince even now in his exile. Captain Horros's beard jutted out of his helm, dancing in the wind. Even at a distance, Kaido could see the retired Scout's determined eyes. The eyes that looked at Skarred as beasts that needed culling. The eyes that would look at Kaido like unbutchered meat. 

Kaido ducked his head, fearing that Horros might see him. Fearing that he would disappoint the last man who believed in him. His companions did share his fear. They stood tall as mountains against the wind. 

"Do we run?" asked Seialla, clutching the cantus blade at her waist. All her nonchalance became fierce determination; Gayil shared it.

"Our transport is meant for stealth, not haste," Gayil growled. "And even if we rode the lesser's horse, there is no chance it could carry the three of us fast enough to evade these manhunters. Let's see how this plays out before we make a move."

Seialla nodded. Again they were speaking as though Kaido were not present. Deciding for Kaido what without his input. 

He could always run away. From these rebels, from Horros. With Thunder, he could run. Horros had told him once that he was the best rider he had ever seen. He could easily evade the pursuit of these three. But they had followed Thunder to this city. If those pegasi had Thunder's scent, it would just be a matter of time before they were caught. 

Again, the smirking blonde's decision seemed best. Kaido just hoped it would not escalate to violence. 

The three pegasi landed just twenty yards away from Kaido and his companions. Horros and his followers jumped off their mounts. The captain spoke with a battle commander's bellow. "Halt, villains! We have come to take back the Prince. We can take your lives too if you insist on making this more difficult than it must. You are under the arrest of the Volcanic Scouts. Yield!"

"Would you be Captain Horros?" yelled Gayil. There was enough venom in his voice to kill a dragon. His hand tensed around his cantus blade.

"I do not subject myself to the questioning of vermin! Surrender your weapons and yourself, then tell us the prince's whereabouts."

"You see I recognise you, Horros," yelled Gayil, clutching his hood. "Do you recognise me?" He pulled his hood behind him and activated his cantus blade. A dark red edge emerged from the handle, which glowed even as the sun edged out of the horizon. 

Horror painted the expression of Kaido's mentor. He stared at the Red Skarred blonde and muttered a name: Yekleidis.

"I am Yekleidis's phantom, his vengeance manifest," Gayil snarled. His smile was cruel as a destiny. "Fate has delivered you to me; I will deliver you to Death." 

Seialla held out her cantus blade, and it activated. Blackness itself emerged from the hilt. If the colour black could glow, it did. The two former cadets beside Horros activated their weapons, and light-red edged-light emerged from their hilts.

It was going to come to blows. Whatever history Gayil had with Kaido's teacher had overcome his senses. Seialla, a nurse who earlier suggested that they flee, was also prepared to fight. Something had to be done, but the only idea Kaido had was desperate, more likely to fuel the tension. 

Kaido stepped forward and removed his hood.