Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Selia

The five of them paused in front of a wooden door, the woman, Karya Ornn, one of the three heads of the House Ornn, glanced back and looked at them.

“We can have this conversation in private, if you want?” She asked Ryun.

It was only a bit rude, but Selia didn’t mind. She had been wondering if she and Erdania should even be present.

Ryun glanced at the two of them, and she expected him to send them away. Instead, for just a moment the link between them flashed to life as he spoke.

“No need,” he turned back to meet Karya’s eyes. “I don’t keep secrets from them.”

Selia blinked, she could feel the truth in his words through their bond and it… surprised her. She was not adept at reading it, and most of the time it was just a dim sensation in the back of her mind. He kept himself closed off from her, and he only rarely opened that link up.

“We don’t need to be here,” Selia sent to him.

“I want you there,” he responded.

The fact that she could tell that he was being truthful made her feel… confused. It was what she wanted, what all three of them wanted. Trust, a relationship built on openness and respect. It was just strange to see it unfold before her. This relationship was unlike any that she had before.

Karya and her husband exchanged looks, and then she shrugged. “Very well.”

With that, she led them inside the room. It was a small, cozy, meeting room, and they made their way to the center and sat on the couches there. The three of them sitting across from the two of them. For awhile they just studied each other. Selia had heard stories about Karya Ornn, of course, she hadn’t known her by that name but her grandfather had told stories about the Butcher of Dawn.

Looking at her now, the woman didn’t quite fit with that image. She was tall, fit and muscular, her hair was golden red and her features fair. She was beautiful, impeccably dressed, and just had the aura of someone composed and in control. Nothing like what the stories portrayed her as.

Her husband, Ender Ornn, looked almost the complete opposite of her. Unassuming, clothes simple, though obviously finely made. His hair was deep red, the same as some of the people she had seen in the ballroom earlier. He had a calm expression on his face and didn’t seem threatening at all.

“Now,” Karya started, her eyes on Ryun. “The big matter.”

Ryun didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he just stared at her, or at least that was what it appeared to everyone. Selia knew him well enough to know that he didn’t need to see you with his eyes to pay attention to you, so for all they knew his attention was on someone else. For a split second she got something from the bond. It went by too fast for her to be able to identify what it was, but she could tell that there was something that was bothering him. Finally, Ryun nodded his head and spoke.

“Yes,” he said slowly. “First, I would like to know who was it, and why.”

Karya glanced at her husband, then back. “My son, Erik. He was in the core on an unrelated mission, out of contact. He saw Nayra and Daria, and decided to save his sisters.”

Ryun narrowed his eyes. “He ignored Nayra’s explanation.”

“There was not really any time for him to listen, the Dome monsters were coming,” Karya explained.

Ryun tilted his head. “Why isn’t he here, telling me this in person. I would rather hear it from him, he is the one that owes me a debt.”

Karya gave them a sad smile. “Unfortunately, he was needed elsewhere. He is one of the strongest people in the Empire, while the rest of the family was allowed this short respite, he couldn’t be spared.”

That sounded somewhat hollow to Selia’s ears, but it wasn’t like they could call her out on it. They were guests in her home.

“You made sure that he wasn’t here.”

Selia blinked as Ryun did exactly what she thought they shouldn’t. She looked at the two, trying to see if they would be offended or not.

“I don’t know how things work in your sects, but here my husbands and I are the first and only authorities regarding matters of our House and its members. By the Empire’s laws, we can resolve any issues and matters of… debt. And we are in the Empire, it only seems fair that we do things our way,” Karya told him.

Ryun didn’t respond immediately. Selia could tell that he wanted to do… something. She had gotten better at reading the faint sensations coming from their bond, and now she could feel that he was… not really angry, it was more like resigned. It was a strange sensation for him to feel now. She could understand anger or frustration, had even expected it. Instead, it seemed like he was trying to hold himself back from doing something that he had expected to do.

It was Erdania who spoke before anyone else did.

“Who ultimately resolves the matter isn’t what is important,” she said, turning to look at Ryun. He glanced in her direction, but didn’t say anything, letting her speak. “What matters is that the blood price is paid.”

“Tell me,” for the first time since they met him, Ender Ornn spoke. His voice was soft, almost gentle. Ryun’s head snapped in his direction the moment he opened his mouth. “What does this blood price entail?”

Ryun held the man’s eyes for a few seconds, then turned to Erdania expectantly. Selia wondered if he even knew what the sects did in these kinds of situations. There were rules regarding it. If a sect member killed members of another sect unprovoked, a blood debt was incurred. How it was resolved usually depended on the disparity between the two sects involved. But some kind of payment was always required.

“You can pay in blood, or in something of equivalent value,” Erdania said. “The blood option would require the deaths of an equal number of equivalently tiered individuals from your factions. The second option requires you to offer us something that we will value more than the deaths of our people.”

Selia didn’t miss her use of the word “us”. It was strange, Ryun had told them about what happened, and the fact that he wanted them here, to help him deal with this was… encouraging for their future.

“Well, just like you,” Ender started. “We too value the lives of our people. So, what would you accept in order for this matter to be settled?”

Selia stayed quiet, she didn’t know what Ryun would want. He was… strangely unconcerned with wealth, and that was why she feared that perhaps the two people across from her didn’t understand that.

Ryun

Ryun had rarely in his life felt fear of another person. He had faced people who were stronger than him, but he never let that make him hesitate. For all of his life since the arrival of the Framework, he had lived his life knowing that he could overcome. He didn’t get nervous when facing others, not even when they were far more powerful than him. Karya Ornn was old, supposedly very powerful, if Nayra’s stories about her were true. But as they sat in the small room it was not her who had any effect on him. He didn’t fear her or her power. He knew that she had manipulated him, that she tried to… control and manage him. He didn’t hold that against her, she was doing what she thought she needed to do in order to keep her family and Empire safe. Ryun understood that.

No, he wasn’t afraid of her. The man sitting next to her however, her husband, Ender Ornn. He was… unsettling. He made Ryun’s skin crawl and his senses hurt. His body was lined with the Essence that he recognized, threads that spread through the plants all over the farms of the Empire, all over this manor and its grounds. Even the plants in this room had the same threads, and all of them connected back to him. He didn’t know what it was, but one thing was clear to Ryun, that, was power. He had been around powerful people before, he had seen people fight that could do incredible things. He himself had done things that few in this world could. And this man, sitting in front of him, looking as if he was a gentle man, he was terrifying. Ryun didn’t think that anyone else noticed it, but Ryun knew the scent, the feel of blood.

Ryun had soaked in the blood of people of Earth, and this man was the same as him. Ryun could tell.

When the man asked what he would accept as payment, Ryun tried to think about what he could say.

“You are asking us what the price of a life is?” Erdania asked them.

Ender tilted his head. “Well, that is what we are discussing, so yes. How much and what do you want to put this behind us?”

Erdania turned her head and looked at Ryun. She didn’t speak, or gesture, she knew that he could sense her movement, despite not looking in her direction. He was actually surprised how much both Selia and Erdania could pick up of his mannerisms.

Ryun met Ender’s eyes, and despite not really being able to see anything but the blank surface of his eyeballs, he could tell that there was a heavy intensity to the look.

“A life can be worth nothing, or it can be worth a lot, it depends on who you ask. To me, my people’s worth is… priceless. They did not need to die there, not for that reason. If they had died to monsters, or in war, it would be one thing. What your son did was unprovoked and unnecessary. I want to speak with him, I wish to know why.”

Karya sighed. “You will have your chance to talk with Erik, he will be part of your mission. But, I would appreciate it if we could clear things up now, between your sect and my House. If you still want to get something from Erik, then you can take that up with him.”

Ryun grimaced. He had given her his word that he would try to resolve this without conflict.

“Then, make your offer,” he told them.

“You are not really giving me much to go on,” Karya told him.

“It falls on you to make this right, not me,” Ryun responded.

She sighed. “Well then, perhaps you would be willing to give us some time to think of what we can offer? The gathering will last several days, you are welcome to stay as our guests.”

Ryun glanced at Selia and Erdania, trying to figure out if they would be willing to stay here with him for that long. Erdania gave him and them an answer. “That is reasonable,” she said. “We can stay.”

“Good,” Karya said and stood up, her husband following a moment after. “I’ll send Reyla to escort you back to the party while we arrange suitable rooms for you. I assume that you will share quarters?”

Ryun, wisely didn’t say anything. Selia answered her. “Yes, we will.”

Nayra

The night was a whirlwind of shocking developments for Nayra. First, she had finally been allowed off the Wall, then she learned that she was heading to a gathering full of all of her estranged family. Then she arrived and found Ryun there. The fact that he came, traveling across the Infinite Realm, the fact that he was here for her, it meant the world to her. The only thing that she wanted was to ask him about Anrosh, about the sect, how things were in the Frontier. Instead, she had to wait while her mother spoke with him. Then, she before she could process anything she found herself sitting across all three of her parents in a small meeting room.

“You already asked me that,” Nayra said after her mother’s question.

“I did, but now I need to know more,” Karya Ornn said. “What does he consider valuable? What would he take as a blood price for the lives of the people he lost?”

“I don’t know if there is anything that you could offer him. He had given his word that he would protect them, by killing them Erik had made him lose honor, at least that is what I believe he thinks. They are priceless to him, because they were his warriors. Those that came with us to the Core were most from the old sect, those who chose to follow him. Some of the most loyal among them. He valued them highly.”

“We can offer him items, weapons that will make him far more powerful,” father Olem suggested.

Nayra shook her head immediately. “He doesn’t care about items, he is a Cultivator, he relies on his own power. You might use items as part of your offer, but it can’t be all of it.”

Her mother looked thoughtful. “It wouldn’t work anyway,” she told her husband. “They are being granted everything that the Empire’s vaults have, potions, items, teachers. All so that they can be as strong as possible for the mission.”

She shook her head. “The truth is that he is doing the Empire a service.”

Father Olem grimaced. “We could still delay and deal with him after the mission, assuming that he even survives.”

Narya tried not to react, this was one part of her family that she disliked the most. The way that they casually discussed things that concerned lives of others. They were talking about dealing with Ryun. She knew that they could, but she also knew that they were underestimating just how much that would cost them.

“I don’t think that our daughter would approve of that,” father Ender said with a smile.

Nayra met his eyes, and felt herself relaxing. There was something reassuring in his smile, that made her feel at ease. How she wished that she could’ve felt this before she left the Empire. But the reality was that they had never been a family. She knew that they were trying now, but… it was just too late.

Father Olem tilted his head. “Then what else is there that we could offer? And why are we even doing this in the first place? He is a nobody from the Settled Territories. There is nothing that he can do.”

“I disagree. He is a Ranker, who has become very powerful in a short period of time. And… our daughter has thrown in with him. That should be enough.”

“Still,” father Olem continued. “If he doesn’t need anything from us then…”

“That is what we need to figure out,” her mother said.

Nayra tried to think about what she could offer to the conversation, but knowing Ryun… there really was little that he would be interested in. Maybe Void Essence, but her family didn’t have access to that, especially not when the Empire was at war.

“Well,” father Ender said slowly. “How about this?”

He pulled out something from his storage, a small fruit which he held in the palm of his hand.

Nayra’s eyes widened immediately.

Her father nodded. “This one was meant for you,” he said. “But I see now that you are going down a different path. So tell me, would he want this?”

Nayra tried to think. The fruit that he held could remove one focus from the person who ate it. It could fix someone’s advancement. But, she wasn’t sure if Ryun would want it. Perhaps, he did have a Class that he wasn’t leveling. Though, she didn’t think that he would jump on the opportunity. Still, the fruit in itself was valuable, Ryun would see that. If he had no use for it himself, he would know that it would be a valuable card for him to play. To sell or trade for something that he needed, if he ever found something that he desired.

“I don’t know. I think that he would see the value, but if I am being honest, I don’t think that he regrets much of what he has done,” Nayra said.

“Really?” Father Olem asked. “He is a Ranker, all of them regret something.”

Nayra shrugged. “I think that by now you know that he isn’t like any Ranker that you’ve seen before.”

“Perhaps,” her mother said. “We have time to think about it some more. Why don’t you go and speak with him daughter. I’m sure that you have a lot to catch up on.”

Nayra sighed in relief, she had feared that her mother would try to keep her away from them despite what she said in the ballroom. She couldn’t wait to hear what Ryun had to say, to hear news from home.