"The Tidesinger?" Ria exclaimed. The night was slowly giving way to dawn, and the sky in the west shimmered orange at the onset of another day. The golden Ardoni seemed to radiate sunrays himself. "How is that possible?"
"During the battle of Mount Velgrin, I fought with Ingressus and have been following him ever since." Achillean replied, "I can elaborate on the details later, but first I have a few questions of my own." He headed to a ledge overlooking the shattered Vault.
"Where has the war gone?" He said, to himself more than to another person. "Where is King Rendor, and the rest of the alliance?" He turned around, searching in their bewildered eyes for an answer
"King Rendor is dead." Finally, Ria spoke. Her voice was calm, composed, like reciting from a book, but Senn thought he heard her choke at the words. "The Alliance with him. The Great War is over."
"The…Great…War" The Tidesinger repeated to himself. "Then it seems I have fallen out of time." He paused, pondering what takes priority. "Does Ingressus possess the other Prime Songs?"
"Thankfully, no." Hubris replied. "Thalleous Sendaris relocated all the Prime Songs recently to prevent this very issue. No one else knows where they are."
"And how old is Thalleous now?"
"Thalleous is dead as well." Senn limped out of the cave, crutching gingerly. "He died hiding the last Prime."
Achillean nodded his head in mourning. "Then we must make haste to ensure his death and many others were not in vain. Are you sure there is no one who might know where Thalleous moved the Prime Songs to?"
"No one." Ria shook her head. "He didn't want to leave any trail for the Voltaris."
"Actually," Senn piped up, "I know where one is." He instantly felt every pair of eyes focus on him. It kind of made him feel uneasy and awesome at the same time.
"Thalleous hid the Mobilium Prime Song in Crown Peak." He explained. "I was with him on the journey."
"Then we ride to Crown Peak immediately." The Tidesinger instantly set off down towards the main road and motioned the others to follow.
"Hol' it right there." Onyx blocked Grim, who looked at him questioningly. "We follow Ria's orders." Grim grunted affirmatively.
"Onyx is right." Grek sommersaulted from the roof of the cave's opening to join the group. "It's your call Captain."
"Crown Peak is the next logical step." Ria picked up her belongings from Masani. "Let's move out."
"A messenger bird just flew in." reported Hubris. The Knights of Ardonia were half way to Crown Peak and making camp on a small hill. "Galleous said we should stop by Ataraxia first. I think it's for you, Tidesinger."
Grek eyed the horses. "You mean we have to go back the way we came? When can I get off that thing?!"
Ria ignored his complaints. "Let's rest for the night. We'll head out at dawn." She instructed.
Senn sat down beside Grek who was turning over a piece of beef over the fire. The food was slowly turning into charcoal and crumbing to ashes. Grek, however, was still turning the meat like it's not done yet. After a few more rotations, he held the burnt piece to his mouth and took a huge bite out of it, munching like it's the best delicacy in the world.
"So Grek," Senn began, "if you're one of the few, where are the rest of the Jaggarthans?"
Grek gulped down his mouthful. "Wouldn't know." He took another bite. " 'ever met another one. I've 'eard we originated fron un of the unsharted islands east of Ardonia, bu' I doubt we still live there."
"How do you mean you've never met another one?" Senn inquired. "Didn't you have…parents?"
Grek swallowed with a grimace. "Nah, us Jaggarthans leave our children on their own, kind of like those turtles by the sea. When two of us meet, has to be a male and female, of course, we give birth to one single egg and hide it. Then the couple part ways never to see each other again." He looked more melancholy than usual and he chewed on his beef lost in thought. " 'Course," he brightened up, "they can meet again and hatch a second egg. After the baby Jaggarthan comes out, they have to defend themselves against everything, and uh, level up."
"So if you are the only Jaggarthan you've seen, how come you know all this?" Senn asked. "Is there some sort of Jaggarthan library or school you go to?"
"Nah," Grek pulled out a thread of sinew from between his teeth. "Haven't read a single page in my life. See, the smart thing about us Jags, is that we get all our knowledge from our parents, from when they produced the egg."
"If you are such capable hunters, why are there so few?"
Grek finished his charcoal steak with one fluid motion. "Before the arrival of the undead, we were often hunted and killed by other species, such as Felinas, humans, you name it."
"Why was that?"
"It's because we are a warrior species." Grek stretched, his muscles bulging under the firelight. "Fighting and killing fills us with adrenaline as well as the necessary 'energy' for evolution." He slumped. "A Jaggarthan only lives to be around ten years of age unless he fights and kills enough, in which case he will evolve to the next level and live another twenty… and so on. This process eliminates the weak Jaggarthans, and allows the strongest to live well over a hundred years." He smiled. "'Course, that means the strongest ones have more chances to make eggs."
"So before the undead arrived, you had to kill the other species to survive?" Senn shifted on the log.
"Yeah, we had to." Grek said apologetically. "You can imagine why we were hunted in return. But once the Undead arrived, we found we could satisfy our needs by killing them instead." Grek flexed his arms. "Jaggarthan's have been known to face hundreds of Undead in order to guarantee an evolution."
"You mean like the time you got Soulseeker?" Senn felt a stone was lifted off his chest.
"Heh, that was nothing." Grek took out his blade. "There was only thirty of…"
"Thirty?" Hubris interrupted angrily, "I clearly remember you saying there were twenty!"
"You said you were Class II." Senn continued, though he also remembered Grek saying there was twenty. "How many classes are there in total?"
"I think we can just keep going." Grek replied, "Though most of us don't make it past Class IV. Only the best of the best can make it to Class VI. I think there was one in all of my species' history that made it to Class VII. He took on a whole army by himself and won. I think I can recollect the legend someday." He looked dismal all of a sudden. "But I doubt I'll make it to Class IV. There just aren't enough Undead these days."
Hubris jumped in from the other side of the fire, "You could kill the Deathsinger."
Grek snickered. "Now that might do it! But I'd be a fool to think I could defeat the Deathsinger."
"He may be powerful, but he's not invincible." Hubris continued. "If you put a sword through him he'll bleed just like anyone else. You'll recall he only killed three of the four old masters. Aegus Nestoris, the master of my clan, survived. The Deathsinger was too weak for Aegus." At this the Tidesinger looked away, and went alone into the woods.
"But didn't he appear in Nestoris colors?" Onyx was confused, "Only the master of a clan can initiate an Ardoni into that clan. Some folks believe Aegus may have supported Ingressus."
Hubris' face contorted. "Rumors and lies! Aegus Nestoris never would have welcomed a Voltaris into our clan. The Deathsinger used dark magic or other trickery to appear in our clan's colors."
Just then, the Tidesinger walked back out from the woods and approached Senn. "Mind if I sit with you?" He asked, gently.
"Yeah, s-sure." Senn was startled, and quickly made space on his log.
They sat together. The others' voices drifted away as they both looked into the fire. Finally, the Nestoris legend spoke.
"I must confess, I am feeling rather lost as of late." He turned towards Senn. "I was hoping someone could expand upon what I missed these past hundred and fifty years."
The white Ardoni scratched his head. "I-I don't know if I'm qualified for that…" He stammered.
The Tidesinger smiled. "Did you know, before they called me the Tidesinger, I was a fisher from Nestoria? I had never used a Song in my life until the war."
Senn's eyes brightened. He had such humble beginnings yet the Tidesinger is undoubtedly the greatest Song wielder of all time. "You mean the Great War?"
The other winced. "Nothing was Great about the war. I lost many friends and brothers. So have many others. Millions were killed. Blood splattered the ground. That is why we must work to stop another war."
"I'm sorry." Senn apologized. "I lost all my brothers and sisters too."
"That we share." The Tidesinger said. "I would like to hear the history from you."
"Alright." Senn pondered, then began, "well everyone believed you and the Deathsinger were both killed. The Great… I mean, the War ended… and for a very long time there was peace… or so I've heard. About fifteen years ago Cydonia attacked K'arthen… or was it the other way around? Sorry, I only learned some of this recently myself."
"Then tell me about where you come from." The golden warrior replied. "I gather from your name that you were raised in Sendaria?"
"That's right. Sendaria." Senn smiled at the memories. "There's nothing quite like it. Ataraxia's floating islands, the forests of Conchord, Crown Peak's, Peak. They're incredible! But not like home." Senn's voice turned jolly and fast. "The houses built into the hills, the tunnels, the vast crop fields, the little Shrine, everything. And then…" He stopped and looked into the fire.
There was a long pause. Finally Senn continued. "And then the Voltaris came after the Prime Song, and destroyed my village along with everyone in it, and I was alone." His voice trailed off.
The Tidesinger was grave. "I as well lost my closest brother to the Deathsinger. Since then I have traveled to many strange places and seen unimaginable things. Yet everywhere I go there is a presence of evil. Before you can fight for what you believe is right, you must first learn and understand what is wrong. Otherwise, you may be destroyed by, or even become, the very evil you sought to fight." He seemed lost in memory.
That night, Senn went to sleep meditating on the Tidesinger's words. Surely, it's impossible to "become the very evil you sought to fight?"