[Veltzeh]: 39.The Heritage of Humankind.Tales from Kyerrion.18

Krezagon took part in the meetings of the other sergeants and slept in the newly constructed sergeants' lodge. Ey had not felt that happy in a long while and it showed; ey smiled pretty much all the time. Ey still continued crafting bolts and doing woodwork, but now other people followed it and Krezagon taught them. However, that only lasted for four days.

The homehan and femehan teams that had been sent to retrieve Tegafel and the galanfetzcan came back and had failed. It was decided that it was not worth the effort to use that much resources to find the wacod, but the captain thought that the mystery should be solved. Ey presented the issue in the meeting of sergeants and asked if Krezagon would like to take on the special project. Krezagon agreed, and the only reason was not that ey wanted to see Tegafel again. The other soldiers had a slightly hard time accepting em, so it would be easier to do work just among a small team.

Therefore, the next morning, the captain sent the team of six people off to its extended mission—it might take several years and the captain left the time limit mostly to Krezagon's discretion with the note that if it looked like it will last more than four years, it might be reasonable to just abort the mission. However, finding Tegafel was not the only thing the captain wanted Krezagon to do, and in fact the pursuit was just an excuse for another, more discreet mission. The captain wanted Krezagon to gather information about jinhaliares as well as the femehan rebels; what they seemed to be doing, where and why. Krezagon was not supposed to keep record of it or even really think about it to not seem too suspicious, but rather gather some vague ideas and share them when ey got back.

"Attention!" Krezagon's squad had gotten fairly used to em by now and they stood to attention without thinking twice. "We will be leaving on a mission to retrieve Tegafel Darrelter and the galanfetzcan who apparently helped em to escape. It might take several years... anyway, we'll go from town to town and ask for sightings of the two. Of course we'll act as messengers and investigators while at it to maximize our functions. We'll be given food and shelter from any local army camps or mayors within Kervanela. I plan on getting an international permission so we can cross borders as well. Any questions about the mission?" The soldiers were quiet. "Anything else?"

The soldiers were a bit quiet again, but then the tall nicod, Sorifel, went: "Which one of us will have to sleep in your tent? ...Soan."

Krezagon was taken aback and was a bit miffed that they had to ask. Ey did not know what to say, though, and when ey was about to say something, the gewacod, Riyhneon, said: "I will."

Freppet, the youngest nicod, looked a bit surprised. "But..."

"If the rest of you insist on being discriminative cowards..." mumbled Riyhneon suggestively, crossing eir arms on eir chest. The others did not care, though they were a bit miffed at Riyhneon's insults. They all were quiet.

"Go get your equipment. Let's meet at the camp entrance in sixteen minutes and we'll divide the stuff equally between us. Dismissed."

The soldiers dispersed, packed their gear and moved to the camp exit. Once there, they distributed some of the things slightly differently and went to get a few things that they were missing. Krezagon ended up with the heaviest pack and everybody noticed it. However, only Riyhneon seemed to care.

"Mh... soan... your backpack seems like it's the heaviest. Don't you want to give some of that to us?"

"I could, but it's more efficient this way. Because I can carry this amount just as fast as you can carry that amount," grinned Krezagon and pointed at the packs. "Let's see how well we fare and optimize our loads when we're sure of how fast we can move. Now, is there anything else, or are we free to go?" The soldiers were quiet, so they left.



They had thought that the galanfetzcan and Tegafel had headed south, so they left for Adenelihe and Elienhini. The trip took five days, during which nothing much happened. Krezagon and Riyhneon did not bother each other while sleeping, just like they had thought—though the others were not quite as subtle or understanding about it.

In Elienhini, they were resupplied and received information that some other traveler had seen a galanfetzcan and a limping femehan wacod on a road to Iertheine, though the two had not been seen in Elienhini.

Krezagon and eir squad left for Iertheine. They arrived there one night and ran into problems right away. Krezagon had barely made it to the entrance to the local military office with Riyhneon and Leitsel, the nigecod, when the captain spotted em from a distance away and immediately started yelling something about em being an impersonator or something of the sort.

"Soni, please calm down! I was promoted by a captain of Adenelihe —"

"Right! You ancods won't be promoted except in your dreams! You probably killed your sergeant and took eir bracers! And you, why are you obeying em? Brainwashed by an ancod far-walker, I bet!"

"I have papers proving this! They have the official stamp!"

"Throw em in a cell, guards! And em too!" said the captain and pointed at Leitsel. "And restrain em!" Ey pointed at Riyhneon.

Leitsel was about to start fighting with the two guards who grabbed em. "Leitsel, DON'T!" shouted Krezagon. "We're worse screwed if —" A guard put eir hand over Krezagon's mouth. Ey did not resist being taken to the cell and hoped that Riyhneon would manage to explain their purpose. Ey and Leitsel were stripped of their armor and weapons and were thrown into the same cell. The guards locked the door and were about to just leave them there. Krezagon took out some papers and waved them between the bars. "Hey! Wait! I have the official documents saying that... we..." The guards just ignored em and left. "What gzoozzing proshts..."

Leitsel sat on the hay and looked very annoyed and disappointed. "I KNEW this was gonna happen..."

Krezagon looked after the guards for a moment before turning at Leitsel and glaring at em, disappointed as well. "So that's how highly you think of me?" Leitsel looked away and was quiet.

Krezagon made two more failed attempts to get the attention of the guards while they walked by. After the second one, ey just sat down next to Leitsel, frustrated. After a moment, ey looked at Leitsel. "Mhmh... could you try to get their attention?" Leitsel fidgeted a bit. "Well, they could be just... ignoring me because..."

"Mh. Yeah."

The next time a guard came by, it was to give the two some water and food. They first took the food and then Leitsel said: "Hey, how long do we have to be here? It's obvious that —"

"Shut up. It's bedtime now!" the guard grinned.

Leitsel almost growled at the guard, but instead just turned away and started eating. After eating, Krezagon and Leitsel tried to sleep.



Krezagon was woken by someone calling eir name in eir sleep. Ey startled, sat up and saw someone peering in through the bars. Some words formed in eir mind again.

"Hey there. Are you in trouble?"

"What—?" started Krezagon.

"Don't speak, people will hear it. Just think. I'm a far-walker." Krezagon was confused. "My name is Taikehel Rethender. I'm living in this town and I noticed you were imprisoned without reason, so I thought maybe you'd like some help?" Krezagon wondered about the person's motives. "Well, I'd just like to help you. Okay, and I'd like you to take me with you. I don't really like it in this town and I can't travel alone. I'm not that good at surviving. And not too many people want me along and caravans are rare." Krezagon wondered why ey needed help from em—after all, a far-walker could influence anyone's mind and it should not be too much of an effort to make unfriendly travelers friendly enough to travel with. "Okay, it's because you're an ancod... like me. I've never met another one." Krezagon's eyes got a bit wider. Ey wanted to see the far-walker clearer. Ey got up and walked to the door of the cell, looking at the person there. Ey could not see too much detail, but the lamp from further down the hall gave enough light to see most features.

The far-walker was very thin but slightly taller than Krezagon and ey had fairly complicated clothes on em. Ey had a scarf on eir head and fairly chiseled facial features: sharp cheeks and chin, slanted eyes and somewhat narrow head. Ey was younger than Krezagon, but not more than eight years at the most. Ey smiled. "You look just like a soldier. I'm too used to seeing farmers and sellers and other far-walkers." Krezagon wondered if the other far-walkers were as thin as Taikehel. Taikehel grinned. "We're mostly fragile... many have potential and power in their bodies, but few in their minds. I chose to train my mind."

Krezagon made half a smiled and whispered: "How would you help? I'm not sure I want to do anything... well —"

"Could you just think to me? I wouldn't want to deal with people who are awake."

"Uh... how?"

"You did fine before. Well, you can learn to do it better but I understand you." Then Krezagon thought exactly the idea "Just like this?" and Taikehel replied: "Yes, just like that." Ey smiled again.

"So, how would you help?"

"Well, I can get you out of here right now if you'd like."

"That's against the law."

Taikehel was a bit quiet—ey was not used to being so strict with the law. Ey had cheated and stolen to get by and felt no remorse. "Well, I could make the captain just let you out..." Krezagon did not approve of that either. Taikehel was quiet for another moment and then came up with something Krezagon likely would not mind. "I could just influence eir mind so that ey'll easily believe your papers are real and legit and so on. How's that?" Krezagon was a bit suspicious of it, but thought that it would not do anything bad in the long run—eir papers were legit and the captain was just being a prosht.

"That sounds okay, I guess."

"So you will take me along with you?" Krezagon wondered what ey could contribute to their search party, and Taikehel immediately replied: "You're searching for something, right? I'm real good at that and I can notice if people lie. I can also detect far-walkers nearby so I would notice the galanfetzcan." Krezagon was disturbed by Taikehel just talking about their mission like it was completely familiar to em. "...I'm sorry, I'm just used to... you know. If you'd like, I can just not do it and ask you instead, but it's slower."

"Yes, I'd like that. This whole thinking thing goes way faster than speaking anyway. It gets a bit too fast for me."

"Yes, so... I'll be around and stalk the captain and 'suggest' to em that ey accept your papers without hassle. I'll of course stay hidden or otherwise inconspicuous, no one will know of it. Will you meet me later then?"

"I will. Where —?"

"I'll look for you. Maybe that proves I'm good at searching too." The far-walker grinned. "Let's meet again." Ey left Krezagon standing there, and Krezagon stayed up for a little while before going back to sleep.



In the morning, the guards came and took Krezagon's papers. Half an hour later, they were released with a few shallow apologies and restocked. Krezagon did not see the far-walker anywhere, so ey and Leitsel went to meet the rest of their team. Krezagon was a bit unsure about whether Taikehel knew that ey had planned on leaving right away. As far as ey knew, Taikehel might keep them waiting for a long time. The soldiers packed their gear.

"I met a far-walker in the prison."

"What?" went Leitsel. "But, weren't you... I didn't see anything."

"Ey came there at night and only woke me up. Nothing happened so I didn't bother to wake you up."

"Why? Did ey want to set you free from the prison like what happened to that Tegafel, soan?" said Leitsel with a smirk.

Krezagon grinned. "Heh, actually ey did. I told em no, though. That would've been against the rules and besides, we hadn't done anything."

"Yeah... But didn't that Tegafel claim ey hadn't done anything either?"

"Ey hadn't, but you know, homehans are too stupid to try to investigate," said Krezagon with a shrug.

"Why did ey want to help?" asked Riyhneon.

"Ey wanted us to take em away from this town. And ey wanted specifically to talk and come with me since ey's never seen another ancod before."

"So ey's an ancod too?"

"Yeah." The others were quiet. "Well, I can't really come up with a reason why we shouldn't keep em along."

"It smells like ey's trying to leech us," said Pouttel, the oldest nicod.

"Well, we're on a search mission, surely anyone with far-walker abilities would contribute a lot to it. It's easy for em to make up for it. Not to mention that ey can just calm down people and prevent stuff like this stupid prison trip from happening." The others muttered fairly affirmatively.

"But ey's not enlisted with the army, and can't be. Ey won't get free supplies from us," said Leitsel.

"I guess ey'll be able to pay for it." They were quiet. "So, does anyone have any more concerns or are you okay with em coming along?" The others nodded, and then Riyhneon turned eir head toward the town, seeing an ancod walking at them. The others turned to look as well.

Taikehel walked up to the team and made an official greeting genuflection. Riyhneon, Sorifel and Pouttel snickered—they were not used to manners. Taikehel did not care. "Greetings, people." Taikehel's voice sounded childish, like Krezagon's, but it was better controlled and slightly higher-pitched. Ey had slightly more practical clothes on now and ey looked fairly graceful. "I have excellent timing. My name is Taikehel Rethender and I asked to come with you."

"And I see no reason why I should deny it. Welcome," said Krezagon and made a military greeting gesture without standing to attention. Taikehel seemed slightly amused and smiled with half a mouth. "I am Krezagon Korielter." Taikehel sensed the hesitation about eir name, but stopped emself from reading Krezagon's mind further.

"Where will ey sleep?" asked Sorifel. Taikehel had a small bag of personal items and nothing even resembling a bedroll, much less a tent.

Taikehel sensed the concern. "I was hoping to be able to share a tent with one of you."

"We have three two-person tents and now there are seven of us."

"And you don't look like you could carry a tent," added Pouttel with a smirk.

Taikehel knew it was true, so ey started coming up with alternatives: "Would any of the tents fit three, then?"

"Hah, maybe three people like you," said Sorifel. "Three tall weedsticks."

"Hey, who's the mobile meat shop here, Sorifel?" said Krezagon. "Maybe you should apologize."

"Sorry."

Krezagon made a face and turned back at Taikehel. "Well... I and Riyhneon are the smallest and there's a little space in my tent. Maybe you would fit there." Krezagon looked at Riyhneon, who did not seem disgruntled about it. "Then again, maybe we should do night watch shifts. Those grents were close to surprising us a few nights back."

Taikehel sensed that the soldiers agreed on that and was the fastest to react. "That sounds just fine. Well, shall we go?"

Krezagon stood still. "Wait... We get our food and equipment from the army, but you won't. Do you have money to pay for your food?"

"Yes, I do," said Taikehel. Ey had hesitated since ey could not keep on paying for very long if ey got no chance to earn any money, but no one had noticed—mental hesitation for a far-walker was nothing to an other-walker.

"We'll hunt sometimes, I don't think we'll be charging you for that. You don't look like you eat much anyway." Taikehel made a somewhat uneasy grin.

They left.



Krezagon noticed within an hour that the far-walker was in terrible condition. Ey had no endurance at all and ey breathed heavily all the time. After three hours, ey had to stop.

Taikehel lay doubled over on a soft patch of grass. Krezagon sent Riyhneon, Sorifel and Freppet, the youngest nicod, to hunt for something and then went over to Taikehel. The far-walker did not turn to look at Krezagon. "I'm really sorry. I thought walking couldn't be that hard... I really thought that." Krezagon's practical side peeked in and considered that they should just leave Taikehel. "No, please... please don't leave me here. I won't make it alone."

"You would make it back to Iertheine."

"I... don't want to go back there."

"You're way too slow for us. You're carrying practically nothing and get exhausted in three hours. We can walk the whole gzoozzing day with our loads."

"I got too tired two hours ago already."

"Uh..."

"It's a far-walker thing. I make my body last longer just by sheer force of will. Block pain, force muscle movement and so on."

"Wow." Krezagon did not know whether ey should be amazed at what the far-walker could do or the fact that ey had gotten completely exhausted in just an hour of walking.

"Please don't leave me."

"If I did, wouldn't you just make me not leave you?"

Taikehel was a bit quiet. "I... I suppose." Ey sensed that though Krezagon was thinking practically, ey did not want to just leave Taikehel, mostly out of principle, but there were other things as well—Krezagon was fairly happy to have another ancod around, Taikehel's far-walker abilities were indeed useful and ey did not want Taikehel to feel useless.

"We'll just move slow for now then. I suppose your abilities will cancel the downsides of that some day. You'll gain more endurance by the day anyway, I suppose soon enough you'll be able to keep up, at least without a load. I'll take that bag of yours, I suppose it's a fairly lot of weight for you."

Taikehel smiled fairly relievedly.

Krezagon got up and walked over to where Leitsel and Pouttel were sitting. "Leitsel, you have a bit of medic's training, right?"

"Yes. Soan."

"Could you rub Taikehel's legs a bit? I hear that eases the pain and relaxes the muscles a bit."

"Uh, yeah... but um... why do I —?"

"You're the medic now. Go do your job." Leitsel hesitated for a bit, but then got up and went to rub the far-walker's legs.

Krezagon and Pouttel sat quietly for a moment.

"I have to ask," said Krezagon quietly with half a smirk. "Why were you so interested in homehan eicods?" Pouttel stared at em for a bit and stayed quiet. Taikehel tried to not laugh.



After about an hour, they continued walking. Taikehel was in bad shape and they did not advance much before it was time to sleep. Taikehel was put through some stretching and ey used eir abilities to relax eir body. The soldiers set up night watch shifts and did not take Taikehel into account, since the far-walker would need all rest ey got. They also arranged it so that one of them could always sleep a full night.

Taikehel crawled into Krezagon's tent after em and settled down to lie. Krezagon just lay still on eir stomach, watching that Taikehel did not do anything strange.

"You're not too used to having other people in your tent, are you?" asked Taikehel with a bit of a smile.

"No, I'm not."

"This tent smells of you... and blood..."

Krezagon glanced at the far-walker. "Really?" Ey wondered how Taikehel was able to smell the blood.

"I have a good sense of smell... but... why —?" Taikehel received a violent mental flash of Krezagon bleeding in pain. Ey shut up quickly. "I'm sorry." Krezagon did not answer.

Taikehel fell asleep very soon and Krezagon spent a while watching eir face.

The next day was worse for Taikehel, since eir muscles were terribly sore. However, after that, it started getting better, though the continuous strain was not very good for em.

Some days passed and they arrived at the next town. They spent a full day there so that Taikehel could rest, and that ey did. Ey took a bath and even did a few lie-detection jobs for the townsfolk. Tegafel and the galanfetzcan had been seen there as well, so the team was content.

They started moving again. The next town, Edentherne, was almost two weeks away. The team received some messages to be taken to their destination. It was said that the route there had become slightly dangerous, since some homehans had been seen there.