Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 11.3: Poison

Ari snuck out the back, letting the thick fog mask his presence. He knew he could only stay there for so long. Since Sai wanted nothing to do with anything going on, Ari was not going to bring any trouble to him. There were people looking for him. And those eyes. Ari still remembered those unknown eyes following him as he left the encampment. Whatever was down there was waking and Ari did not believe it was just because of him and his blood.  

Slowly, Ari sifted through the fog. He could see well in the dark, but not in something as thick and dense as what surrounded him. It was to the point to where Ari could not see his own hand before him. As much as he wanted to turn back, he did not and kept forward. The coolness of the air felt like breath on his cheek. He did not like the feel of it because it brought on the same sensation he felt when he went into that temple. Ari held his throat, remembering the terrible sensation of a hand wrapping around his throat. 

The moonlight barely shined through the fog, but Ari somehow managed. Without the stars to guide his way, however, he may end up lost. Freir was the one who taught him direction with the stars. He was no good at finding his way as Freir was with trails and rivers. And Rein. Rein was talented at everything he did, so when Ari did fail, in whatever it was, he garnered Rein's disappointment quickly. 

Ari brought his head up and tasted the rain in the air. Some droplets fell every now again. The rain had bothered him once before. Even the slightest drop of it would send him back into the shelter that was Freir's arms. Why was it not bothering him now? Had he changed so much and so quickly? Ari swallowed dryly tasting the bitterness of whatever Sai had given him still lingering in the back of his throat. 

Still, Ari made his way through, not once ever looking back. He had to find his own way and Sai or anyone would not help him. What matter if he lied? There was such a thing as a good lie, was there not? They all had lied to him, after all. Sai was one the biggest liars of them. Giving him half truths. Sprinkling lies onto lies and making it into truth to appease him. Ari did not want comfort in those matters. All he wanted was the truth. 

His arms wrapped around him tightly, trying his best not to remember Sai's stinging words to him.  He was not dense and he knew what Auovin was, no matter the excuses he made to defend him. However, Sai could not see pass whatever bitter past they shared, so Ari took his words with a grain of salt. Sai was hiding something as they all were and Ari was the closest with Auovin to figuring out just what it was. 

Trinity... triangle? Ari thought more on Sai's words. His brows furrowed and his head began to ache, trying to piece together the pieces. If Harun, Ylanan, and Auovin were seen as gods, and they had some intimate relationship with one another... Where did Sai fit into all of it? He knew so much, and he was old, if not older than Auovin... so why not him as well? Why was he not seen as a god? The pieces were not fitting as they should. 

And Nolan knew what they were. He had always known and even tried to use him as bait. But for what purpose, really? Was it just to send them to sleep or was it for something entirely? And that dark place... Ari had reason to believe it was his father resting down there, but Ari was coming to believe it was not so... Whether he loved him or not, what sense would it make to try to kill him if he needed him? It was a thing that mattered not what you were. Ari had trespassed on its ground. Ari knew that was certain. 

And death is the same as it is for humans for them. Once dead, you cannot come back. Ylanan and Auovin both believe his father is dead, not sleep, so the words Inge was speaking to him that day were false, as they always were. Like with Egil, was he meant as a sacrifice to that thing resting down there? Was Auovin and Ylanan as well? Were there more like it somewhere? 

That very thought sent his heart down to his stomach. He hoped Cyrus was with Auovin. Auovin did terribly by himself as strong as he made himself out to be like. Ylanan had said he was weak without his horns and Ari found some meaning in them. He was once a great god. Ari thought on his markings and how he marveled at them. Somehow, Ari could imagine as he once was.