Olimpia

My back stiffened in surprise at her voice, but I kept myself from jumping or lashing out, so I counted it as a win. Ignoring her immature provocation, I turned and slowly walked away, loosening up my arms with a couple of swings as I headed to where my bow lay.

I probably should have gotten it sooner, but I was distracted, and it is not like a few more seconds lying on the ground would hurt it. But if she was an enemy, it could have gotten me killed. Whispered a thought in the back of my mind.

Bending down to pick up my bow, I heard a whistle, which I ignored as I inspected the wood and string to see if there was any serious damage. Not seeing anything, I turned my attention to look at the arrows scattered over the ground. None looked reusable, as I could easily spot broken or cracked shafts, so I left them and turned to face the beastkin.

"So," I said, "How did you find me? What did you want me to see? And I guess I should ask… do you have a name? It seems a little rude to call you Woman or Beastkin the whole time we're together."

I could see the flood of thoughts flashing behind her intense eyes as they bore into me. Then she leaned forward slightly. I couldn't stop it. I didn't even realize what I was doing until my eyes moved back to her face after dropping to take in her appearance.

It was only for the briefest of moments, but I caught her perpetual superior smile shift slightly, becoming more assured and seductive, as she arched her back and stuck out her chest. Which sucked as she already had the advantage in this relationship, and this only added to it, even if it was a misunderstanding. Not to mention, supposedly getting caught looking at her figure was more than a bit embarrassing. Subtlety and control were traits I took pride in as a scout, after all.

I couldn't stop my cheeks from flushing slightly as I met her dancing eyes, which only made it worse. All the more so because it wasn't even worth the glance, not for sexual gratification, at least, and I doubted I could convince her otherwise at this point. While she was wearing what looked like skin-tight black and green leather armor, it showed off nothing of what lay beneath. It was the well-made, smushy kind of armor, though the word armor might be up for debate.

Armor is meant to defend against killing blows, and I could see nothing that looked like steel in its design. Over her chest, arms, and legs were contoured plates that looked almost like bark… If there was ever a wood that had a matte black surface that seemed to absorb light. Not to mention, who would bother to spend the time crafting such pieces when a cough could break them.

For what it was, the armor covered her vital areas while leaving her body free to move unimpaired, showing just how well-made it was and the skill that went into its construction. But what it was not was revealing. On the one hand, I was a bit disappointed, but at the same time, I was relieved, regardless of how she acted.

"Hmm… you're acting like it was hard to find you with your trainees following you like scared ducklings." I flinched at that, knowing she was right. "And I knew someone from your fort would eventually come this way. All I had to do was wait. It is simpler that someone of your skill and history showed up, though if you didn't, that would be fine, too. As for what I will show you, well, there are many things I could," she said suggestively while one of her tails ran down the side of her body, "but for now, follow me." A moment later, she turned and started running through the forest without making a sound.

I stood still for a second, a little shaken by her abrupt change of attitude. Then I shook my head, throwing off the thoughts as I sprinted after her. I had already committed myself, so I might as well follow through at this point.

If there was one good thing about the running, it was that I was unable to be concerned for long about dashing through an enemy-infested forest as I struggled to keep up. As I got about ten feet from her, she would speed up a little, easily keeping me at the same distance no matter how I tried to close it with the assistance of my tendrils.

Unable to keep up the pace and maintain my stealth, it wasn't long before my foot came down on a stick as thick as my arm, sending a crack through the nearby area as it broke. I saw her ear twitch in response, and I thought for a moment she might turn back or slow, but she only moved faster. It seemed she didn't care about anything but speed, and I just had to take it all on faith that she knew what she was doing and where she was going.

Putting my head down and sighing, we threaded our way through the forest as time passed. Gradually, the beastwoman let me inch closer to her, and when I got within arms reach, something started bothering me, and it was growing worse every second.

Focusing my mind on my passive senses of mental energy, I tried to feel the surrounding area, but I felt… nothing. That didn't mean shit, though, as whatever powers… the Woman had, they weren't based on mental energy. But I knew something was happening, even if I couldn't detect what.

I was hesitant to send out a pulse or use a casting to figure out what was bothering me, as there was a chance that it would rebound and knock me out again. It probably wouldn't, but the chance was there, and now was not the time to take risks. More than that, for all I knew, the enemy beastkins could detect the usage of mental energy, as my guide wasn't the most forthcoming right now.

So, I focused on my surroundings and let my eyes wander to whatever they were drawn to… The woman's movements were the most graceful I had ever seen. She wove around obstacles with an elegance that spoke of a lifetime of practice and the innate skill of the best dancers. But even she should have been making mistakes at the speed we were moving. Ahh, there was one…

I frowned as I noticed another misstep. It was small. Tiny even. But it was there. And there's another… No. Fucking. Way! It can't be… How is that possible?

While I was good at moving through the forest, I was making mistakes like hitting branches, kicking rocks, and stepping on twigs. Not major ones, but they were there. If I just put my foot down right…

The branch I was aiming for broke under my weight. I felt it. But if I was basing what I knew on what I heard, it would be like it had never happened and that my step was all my imagination. I slapped my arm through the branches of a bush I was running past. I saw the impact of the branches and leaves against my armor, and again, not a sound.

None.

Falling back a few steps, I slapped another bush, this time harder… and I heard the scraping of leaves and branches against leather. It wasn't enough, however, like everything was muffled. And still, I felt none of the power causing this. What is she doin—

My step stuttered as something in the corner of my eye moved, and my head snapped to the side as I looked for danger. When I didn't immediately see anything charging at me, I calmed down, but I continued to scan the forest. It took a few seconds, but I eventually found what caught my attention.

I was looking too far away.

There was a shimmer in the air moving along with us as we ran, a little spot that was slightly fuzzy, like looking through your eyelashes or those blobs in your eyes. Squinting my eyes, I focused on an area in the middle of the air a few feet from me that was shifting and morphing shape as I watched. Expanding my focus, I quickly spotted half a dozen more shimmers scattered all around us.

Opening my mouth, I finally asked, "What are you doing?" I tried to ask, at least.

My mouth opened. And it moved as I formed the words, and I even felt the vibration of air moving through my throat. A fact that had never been so apparent to me as in this moment as the vibrations were extremely noticeable when you tried to speak but didn't make a sound.

"Hey~!" I shouted, drawing out the word for a long breath, trying to make a noise.

"Do you have something to say?" Came the slightly mocking voice of the beastkin right into my ear, startling me… again. You know, because I was looking at her back. I ground my teeth together in annoyance at the smug tone and condescending attitude she had been treating me with, finally becoming fed up.

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Fuck it, I thought as I gathered my will and mental energy to I lashed out with a telepathic strand. I intended to wrap it around her head, then unwind the smallest of strands I could manage to touch upon her internal energy and connect to her mind.

My actions took only the smallest of moments, but during that instant, I did notice something strange. It was like my telepathic tendril was a block of loosely packed salt moving through water… A fact I didn't have time to properly consider. My tendril was barely an inch from touching her forehead, and the resistance of a moment before was nothing now as it hit a wall of power.

Our two forces connected, and like air filling a vacuum, I felt the energy surrounding her body surge for my tendril. The impact of the foreign force instantly collapsed the shield of mental energy and willpower that formed the shell of my strand. Given an opening, her power rushed into the gaps, which was the moment I felt my mental energy ripping itself free from my control as the two forces attacked one another, shattering the casting.

"Hurgh!" Grunted the beastwoman as her body stiffened and went limp as she fell to the ground.

Seeing her falling face first, I dove forward and sent two telekinetic tendrils to wrap around her armor and halt her fall. Surprisingly, the larger, more compact tendrils made it through her aura, managing to wrap around her armor.

The problem was that it took all of my willpower and a torrent of my mental energy thrown into the bonfire the interaction had become to keep the tendrils intact. From the moment I caught her in the air, slowing her fall, to when she hit the ground a moment later, I burned through a third of my reserves, and I couldn't keep track of my feet while I did so.

Smashing into the ground next to the beastkin, I grunted from the impact as I caught my breath from the physical and mental exertions. It wasn't the physical weariness that got to me so much as the hollow feeling of having a significant amount of my mental energy ripped from me all at once.

"Fuck… That wa—"

My words caught in my throat, and I froze in place. There were very few things in the world like the cool tip of a blade pressing into your throat. Once you experience it a single time, it is hard to forget the feeling regardless of the time that has passed, and it hadn't been that long for me.

"I saved your life," Hissed a low voice filled with fury, "And you attack me mentally as thanks?" There were a few seconds while the blade shivered as if in indecision, and her breathing grew heavier, "Maybe you and your people aren't worth the effort after all…"

"Wohhh~," I said, slowly turning my head to face her voice as her blade pressed further into my throat, but I continued to turn my head regardless. It seemed like she was close to a decision that was very bad for my future health. "I wasn't attacking you. And let's be honest and rational here. You were childishly provoking me, and I have nothing to gain by killing you." I said as calmly as I could as I looked into her narrowing, burning eyes.

Literally, her eyes were glowing with an inner black fire that sent out wisps of dark flame from the corner of her eyes. Her eyes became slits as she stared at me, as I probably was a little too honest and rational, As I saw my life balance on the knife edge. Finally, she spoke, extending my life a little longer, "How would I know that."

"Know what?" I asked in confusion.

"Thaaat. You'reee. Teellinggg. Thee. Truth!" She growled out through her extremely long, glistening fangs. They didn't look that long before. I thought as I tried to swallow with my suddenly dry mouth.

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion, "You ju… Ahh…" I trailed off as my eyes widened in shock. This had never happened to me before. Never even occurred to me. Then I thought of something, "Ohh! Can't beastkin smell lies…"

My voice wilted under her burning eyes, "No! We can't smell lies! We are not animals!"

In the Republic of Olimpia and even the Imperium, lying was nearly impossible on anything of a serious nature. One in a hundred thousand might be able to obscure the truth when someone was probing their mind. But it was easy to tell when someone was doing it and block the attempt if you knew what you were looking for.

The people who can partition their minds so one side can have thoughts and actions without the other knowing to prevent questioning were few and far between. So much so that most thought they only existed within legends and horror stories.

As a rule of thumb, if someone left their mind open, they were being honest and inviting anyone to probe it to confirm that fact. The most anyone did was ask another to open their mind to prove their honesty, not ask how to trust their word. Even a child could feel when someone spoke the truth to them when the speaker's mind was open.

I couldn't fathom living in such a world where you could never really trust anyone. How could a society function and trust one another, never knowing if anyone was ever honest? That's just… absurd. When the blade she was holding to my throat sunk a little deeper, I was pulled back from my thoughts to what was important. Thinking of a way to prove I didn't attack her.

Theirs no way to prove anything. Not without her scanning my thoughts. Which she can't. I would have to… Shit. I gotta attack her… again.

I closed my eyes as I gathered what was left of my willpower and mental energy. This would be tricky, and I may not even be able to do it. Not without killing one of us, at least. And I was getting a stronger feeling that whatever she planned on showing me was important.

Opening my eyes, I saw her glare, and she seemed to sigh as I shook my head slightly, "I thought not."

As her body tensed, I lashed out with my mental energy. I was not gentle. It was not a wisp of delicate power meant to probe. Instead, it was a hardened bar of steel meant to stab a thought deep into her mind.

From my three — Four? Two and a half? Eh, it doesn't matter at this point — encounters with whatever energy the beastkin used, I learned some things… Hopefully.

I tried to compress my energy as much as possible as it slammed into the aura that was shielding her mind, causing her body to freeze from the backlash. My telepathic casting drilled into the wall of energy surrounding her head, and it immediately started leeching away mental energy. However, I ignored the loss as I pushed the casting forward, struggling to touch her skin.

It was like nothing I had ever experienced before as if my tendril was being smashed within a vice. If I had less willpower, I might not have managed to resist the pressure until the moment my tendril touched her forehead. But at that moment, my plan stuttered to a stop as I couldn't continue. As soon as my energy tried to probe her mind and shift to its frequency, I met her internal energy, and time seemed to slow around us as I basked in the experience.

Her energy was… welcoming? No, that wasn't it. It just wasn't a hostel force that corroded my mental energy and will when they came into contact. Which, by itself, felt strange to me. It was unlike anything I had heard of or experienced before.

What was familiar enough to bring me out of the experience was that I could feel and hear her thoughts and emotions through the turmoil of our energies interacting. And she was overflowing with burning anger, hiding an underlying fear of death.

I could feel that she believed, in this moment that kept stretching and expanding, that I had betrayed her while she was trying to save many lives from both of our peoples. And all of the anger was directed at me. Fuck…This isn't going to end well, I thought as my resolve to act strengthened.

As more of my energy forced its way inside her mind, she became aware of my intrusion. And an instant later, she rallied her mind and hastily started gathering her power. Her first effort to push me out was futile, childish even. Her internal energy washed over the end of my bar like a soft breeze, but I felt the backlash of her failed attack, sending ripples of agony through her mind.

Moments after I felt the mind-blanking pain tear through her, she was gathering her willpower and energy, readying herself to lash out at me once more. Even as she readied herself for an internal struggle, the shell around her body was eating away at my bar of energy connecting us. All without her conscious effort, a fact I could say with confidence, being able to study her mind and all.

I stopped sending my energy into her body, as I was sure that would only harm her further, and I could already do what I wanted. Instead, I used my energy as a bridge for my will as I began compressing my thoughts and emotions into a short message. "It was an accident… I'm sorry…"

Even as I sent the thoughts, I was pulling my mental energy out of her body so as not to harm her. But my shift of focus and efforts to pull back only increased the pace at which my telepathic bar broke apart in the mantel of power protecting her.

My casting splintered into little more than a strand from the crushing and corrosive nature of the shroud, then a string, and still, I tried to pull my mental energy from the beastkin's mind through the shrinking bridge. Despite the challenges, I was able to remove most of my energy from her mind, but even with my best efforts, I couldn't get it all.

It was close. So close. I was pulling on the last remnants of energy with my will when the final strand of my bar snapped. To save time, I left my mental energy pooling on her skin, reinforcing the casting at the single location, a fact the mantle of energy didn't like.

When the last strand of my casting snapped at the border of her aura, my willpower, controlling my energy, went with it. All at once, the accumulated mental energy was compressed by the beastkin's external shroud, forcing my once energy next to her head out in an eruption as the two mixed and reacted with each other.

The battling energies bulged outward in a hostile cascade, connecting with the ragged end of my telepathic casting that I had yet to deal properly with. The explosion immediately started spreading down my bar of mental energy as the woman's mantle found a new foe.

Whether because of my mental exhaustion or the surge of mixing energies exponentially increasing the pull, I couldn't retain the integrity of my tendril as it was enveloped. As more of my power was consumed away, it shocked my mind, making me unable to pull back or cut off my reservoir feeding the casting. All I could do was watch as all, but the tiniest specks of mental energy still inside me were ripped away and consumed.

Completely hollowed out, the world around me turned black as I passed out.