Chapter 6: The Baael and In’tites

[Discovering truths buried beneath the thin veil of normalcy.]

For the inaugural mission of the Crush Squad, defending the city against a near-literal tsunami of Baael wasn’t quite what Vincent was expecting. He took a moment to readjust himself, taken a little aback by the quickness of Simon’s surprisingly relaxed attitude.

“Haz- Kozari, we’re going to move to the top of the wall to find the Prime!” Vincent said with some modicum of authority. Kozari nodded, just finishing putting in her earpieces. They rushed to the staircase on the left side of the inner gate, which was flooded with soldiers running up and down, shouting over one another.

“You, with the bedhead!” One of the soldiers at the base of the stairs called out to Vincent as they approached. “This area is off-limits to civilians and guards right now, get to a safe place!”

Vincent flashed the insignia on his phone (a sigilized bear head with horns on its sides), saying, “I’m Vincent Laverse with the Saruja Crush Squad. We’re here to take out the Prime Baael.”

The soldier didn’t look convinced, but gave them a quick once-over. “If you’re with that task force, fine. I won’t refuse a warrior’s help in a situation like this.”

He pointed to a spot to the right side of the over-gate landing. “Captain Tenmus is currently scouting for the one at this nest. Tell him Second Lieutenant Darda sent you. We’ll need you to help hold off the regular Baael until we find the Prime.”

Vincent nodded and motioned for Kozari to follow him. As they reached the top of the stairs, he saw more claws scratching the wall just below the edge. There were guards and soldiers with spears and small guns, attacking any Baael that reached too close for comfort. Among them was an older bald man with a short but large gun over his shoulder who was barking orders, taking a moment here and there to shoot a wide blast of ceramic down the side.

“Captain Tenmus!” Vincent said loudly as they approached. “We’re with the Crush Squad, and we’re here to take out the Prime Baael. Darda sent us up here.”

Tenmus looked at him for a split second before shouting another order to the wall’s warriors, then turned back.

“You’re the group that Barolo is training.” He glanced at Kozari, who was now looking down the wall and punching any Baael that dared crest over. “We have a marksman looking, but we haven’t heard anything yet. The swarm is too thick, so we’re trying to thin it out.”

He pointed to one soldier standing next to the edge, but with no weapons. He had a device held up to his eye and was slowly scanning the swarm. If Vincent had to guess, it was an Essence measuring device – he knew that Prime Baael generally had a more powerful Essence presence than other Baael as a result of being bigger or stronger.

A large claw reached over the wall towards the soldier, and he ducked to the side without dropping his device.  Vincent dashed over to the claw, and drew his sword with as much speed as he could muster, slashing at the claw in one fluid motion.  There was a metallic ting before the claw and paw flew past them, dissipating into Essence after only a moment.

“Shouldn’t you have a line of defense?” Vincent asked, parrying another misty blade that rend towards them.

“It’s a waste of life to have three or four soldiers guarding one scout,” the soldier said.  “Besides, you’re here, aren’t you?”

Vincent shrugged as he cut the talons of a flying hawk/wasp-type Baael, then slashed again to cut it in half.

The soldier raised a hand after a few moments and shouted, “Sir! Prime Baael found, Sir!”

All three moved to see where he was pointing: out into a forest about two hundred meters from the edge of the swarm was a lone Baael – a black horse with what appeared to be three glowing violet eyes, a thin horn, and six legs, staring at the wall with a cold, patient gaze. It seemed to tilt its head upwards slightly, looking more at where they currently were.

Vincent felt something… uneasy with the way it looked at them – though, any Baael that had a mind to stare at a mortal creature was creepy in its own right. He grabbed the hilt of his sword, and said with conviction, “If that’s my target, I’ll take it out.”

“We’ll clear a path for you,” Tenmus stated. “You’ll only have a few minutes once we do before the swarm reconvenes, so move fast.”

Tenmus shouted down to the soldiers on the other side of the wall. “Maz-Mages, clear a path!”

Four soldiers moved toward the bulging gate as most of the others moved away. Together, they began chanting a spell with their arms outstretched. Essence began forming a blue and red bubble around them and started collecting at the edge they were facing. “You’ve got about a minute before they finish casting.”

Vincent nodded and tapped his earpiece. “We found the Prime. I’m heading in to engage it.”

There was a crackle of static for a moment, then Simon’s voice came through: “Understood, but remember not to take it on alone. I know you’ve fought Baael before, but the ones here are much different – especially the Primes.”

Vincent had already started running down the stairs as Simon said this. He had motioned Kozari to follow him, but she wasn’t behind him when he looked. He weighed the option of going back up to get her, but he knew he only had a small window to get to the bottom, and then another to make it to the Prime.

“No problem,” he lied.

He reached the bottom as the spell was reaching its apex. “Can you handle a Prime alone, Laverse?” Darda asked, his face wrought with worry. Vincent checked that his mic was off before responding. “I’ll take it down quick and easy,” he said with confidence.

There was a high-pitched sound, and the remaining soldiers keeping the gate at bay dove out of the way of the spell. Vincent watched as the collection of Essence pooled together into a tightly-compressed ball – there was a beat of complete silence, followed by the ball ejecting into a long, wide beam of lightning within a fraction of a second. The beam only lasted for about a second, but in that time, the ground between the casters and the target had lost about an inch of material, and the Baael crowding around the gate were either gone or paralyzed.

“Go now!” Tenmus called from atop the gate. “They’ll only be stunned for about five or so minutes!”

Vincent ran as fast as he could, weapons ready and eyes focused on his target. He knew that he could close the distance between him and the Prime in that timeframe, so the biggest issues were killing it fast and getting back. As he passed the gate’s arch, he heard Kozari’s voice shout something, though he couldn’t understand it.

A single Baael had followed him past the swarm, though it lost interest rather quickly when he got within shooting distance of the Prime. Now that he saw it up close, he could tell the differences between a normal Baael and a Prime – while normal Baael seemed more like living shadows with a general shape, this Prime Baael was very physical. Its body looked like it was made of purple-black tendons, and while its basic form resembled a horse, the edges of its body seemed to flicker like a dark flame. It was almost like looking at a mirage close enough that you could reach out and touch it.

“Honor to meet you, Prime,” Vincent mocked. He drew his sword with a flourish as he shot at the Baael with his pistol. It jumped quickly backwards, dodging his bullet as if it could read him pulling the trigger.

Vincent clicked his tongue, and shot again, moving to close the distance and to try and slash at it. It dodged deftly out of both attacks.

“What in the Hells?” is what Vincent tried to say, but was cut short as the horse tackled him, its horn barely missing his gut, but piercing him, nevertheless. He crumpled to the ground for a moment in pain, and looked up just in time to dodge its hoof stomping at his head.

“Damn horse!” he shouted, firing two more shots at its front legs – neither hit as it backed away. A sickeningly ethereal whinny came from it that almost sounded like a taunting laugh.

Vincent collected himself as he got to his feet. This wasn’t the best decision, he remarked callously. He kept his gun trained on the Baael, which was circling him slowly. There was a crackle in his ear, followed by Kozari’s voice.

“Are you okay?!” she shouted into her mic. “That looked painful!”

More than the stab wound, he had aggravated the injury he got from fighting Kozari, both from running all this time and from the hit just now. “I’ll be fine,” he said, trying not to sound too much in pain. “This thing is smarter than it looks, it’s just dodging my attacks.” He watched as it continued pacing around him, then suddenly stopped. It looked almost content, for some reason.

Simon’s voice came over the earpiece, shouting, “Don’t let your guard down!”

Vincent reacted just in time to miss the scythe of a large mantis/wasp-type Baael that had apparently sneaked up on him. He glanced around. Three Baael had come to join this fight as the horse kept his attention – a bear-type, the mantis/wasp-type that almost bisected him, and a wolf/rat-type. He had gone from one enemy to four in a minute, and he knew he was outmatched.

A green line flew from the walls to Vincent’s position, swerving to pierce through the upper abdomen of the mantis, causing it to dissipate in a violent gale of Essence.

“I told you not to take it on alone!” Simon yelled. “I have four more of those, and Rinny’s on her way to you, so don’t die!”

Vincent returned his focus to the field – even with the mantis/wasp-type gone, it was a three-on-one fight until Rinkyu arrived.  He eyed the Prime Baael, which snorted angrily at losing an ally. It let out a strange howl, and he felt the movement of the other two in response.  The bear-type reared up and swiped its arm sideways into Vincent as the wolf/rat flanked his left and dove to bite.  He was able to swing out of the way of the wolf’s teeth, but the arm of the bear slammed into him with heaviness matching its size.

Vincent felt his insides shake as the bear threw him a few meters away – he quickly forced his hands to grip when he struggled to his feet, realizing he’d loosened upon the hit.  Although his right side was a little numb, he could feel and see his weapons in his hands, though when he looked at the Baael, he was definitely seeing doubles for a moment.  He shook his head, and aimed his gun at the wolf, ready to fire.  They were unusually slow, despite their ability to hit him, so he shot at the wolf’s feet to test something.

As he (sort of) expected, it seemed to dodge his bullet with a predictive knowledge that was uncommon for a Baael.  Were they mentally connected?  It would explain how they were so organized, and why they could avoid him so well; they were using three sets of eyes to watch him, at three different angles.

The bear was beginning to move towards him, and he emptied his clip into its head – three more bullets were wasted as it easily dodged back and forth.  The three Baael made gurgling sounds as they slowly bared down on him.

He then heard the incredibly quick footsteps of small boots and glanced over to see Rinkyu running at an impossible speed. Her mouth was wide open, and he could have sworn that he could hear her inhaling from almost ten meters away.

The jewels in her boots glowed with a powerful blue light, and the one in her choker with a whitish-green one. Suddenly, she was next to Vincent, and she screamed at the top of her lungs – which, to Vincent, was the loudest sound he ever heard, almost causing pain in his ears. A wave of wind Essence expelled from her in a cone, causing the two weaker Baael to dissipate, and the Prime Baael cowered in pain as the wisps surrounding its body evaporated. Rinkyu held her scream for a good minute, though the only further damage it did to the Baael was stunning it.

The scream tapered off and fell into a hard coughing fit, but she pointed at the Prime Baael in front of them that staggered about uncontrollably.

“You need to kill it,” he could hear her cough out. Now that it wasn’t moving (or at least, not as much or as quickly), Vincent forced himself to ignore the pain and attack it again. He reloaded his handgun and shot two of its right legs with three bullets each, causing it to bleat and bellow a deep, depressing cry. He raised his sword with a sense of well-deserved revenge and brought his blade down on its neck. There was more resistance than a mortal creature’s body, but with the amount of force he used, the cut was clean.

The Prime Baael howled as Vincent approached, and its voice was cut off with a squeak as the blade severed his head. The Baelis Essence it was composed of blasted away in all directions with a deep screech that echoed all the way to the walls. The pulsating mass of Baael slowed gradually until they began receding from the wall, as if they had lost interest in attacking.

“Let’s head to the next location,” Vincent said into the earpiece, though when he took a step forward, the world started spinning around him. Without a doubt, he had been poisoned when he got stabbed, but the fact that it took so long to affect him was strange. He stumbled to his knee and held his head, dropping his gun.

Damn it, he thought. His body wouldn’t move as much as he wanted, and a slow, deliberate pain was creeping through his abdomen to his limbs and neck.

Rinkyu’s mouth was moving, but whatever she was saying was inaudible to Vincent as the swirl of colors started to grow darker. The thought, “Am I going to die here?” kept crossing his mind, until it was the only thing his brain was asking.

A warmness began radiating from his abdomen – not an unwelcome one, but a gentle, inviting one. The pain was slowly dissipating, and his vision was gradually getting lighter and less swirled. There were words being spoken, though he only caught the end of what was said.

“…and you don’t think before you act. You need to learn to rely on your teammates better.” The words were Rinkyu’s, as Vincent’s sight readjusted properly to her kneeling over him with a palm outstretched – she had cast a healing spell, it seemed. She had a strained look on her face, a mix of stress, disappointment, and anger that Vincent knew well – though he had never expected to see it on Rinkyu’s face.

“You’re an idiot, basically,” she finished, her head turning to meet Vincent’s face. He wasn’t sure if she had said all of that thinking he was unable to hear her, but after a moment, he was certain she was venting in the hopes that he’d been listening.

“You’re an idiot.” She repeated her last words with a bite. Vincent was unsure how to move forward with this situation. He tried to say something, but it came out as an airy whisper. He cleared his throat and tried again:

“Sorry, I’ll try to rely on you guys more.”

Vincent took a moment to stare at Rinkyu, who stared back with the same face of disappointment, until she finally relented and turned away with a sigh. She stood up quickly, dusting the dirt off her as Vincent struggled to his feet.

“You should be relying on us all the time,” she growled. “We may not know each other well, but I assume mercenaries understand ‘camaraderie’? We’re your team, so work with us instead of working alone.”

Vincent wanted to say something in response, but she was completely right. He turned away and caught a glimpse of something small coming quickly in their direction – in fact, directly towards Rinkyu. Although he was still a little groggy, Vincent forced his arm to intercept whatever it was, twisting the blade in his hand to act as a second line of defense. There was a loud “ping” as the creature deflected off it, and they could see what this strange creature was.

It was small, so small that he would’ve missed it had he been moving – it had the body of a praying mantis, the wings of a moth, and a head reminiscent of a lamprey, to say nothing of the Baelis Essence radiating off it or the fiendish stinger that protruded at least two inches out of its abdomen. Its ten or twenty eyes were bulbous and black, with a rim of red in each like eclipsed suns.

“Too bad,” it said with a distorted voice. “I was hoping to infect at least one of them. Master will not be pleased.”

It was glancing between Rinkyu and Vincent with each of its eyes. Vincent wasn’t sure what to make of this creature, but the fact remained that it had attacked them. He readied his sword to take a slash at it, before it had a chance to strike again.

“Oh, well that’s interesting,” the creature mused, focusing most of its eyes on Vincent. The voice was still distorted, but it seemed… different. Its eyes shifted to golden rings when this happened, and its cadence noticeably changed. “Maybe we can get some platinum in this sea of copper someday soon.”

The eyes dissipated back to red, and it creased its face into what could pass for a smile, albeit a disturbing and menacing one.

“We’ll be keeping our eye on you two In’tites.”

Vincent swiped his sword at the vile creature, but like the Prime, it deftly evaded his slash, disappearing in a puff of Essence. He searched for a moment, but couldn’t see or hear it anywhere nearby. He lowered his sword cautiously.

“What in the rings of Hell was that thing?” he rhetorically asked, as Rinkyu shared his face of confusion.

***

Vincent returned to the wall alongside Rinkyu as quickly as his legs would move. The sound of static was all he could hear when he tried to contact Simon about the tiny Baael-like creature, so maybe his communicator was broken. The warriors at the portcullis were not cheering their small victory or mourning the loss of their fallen allies – there were still some at the edge of the gate, arms at the ready for another possible wave, while others were leaning against the inside wall, exhausted and depleted.

Darda was speaking to his captain when they crossed the boundary and waved them over. “It looks like the Baael along the west walls are receding,” he said with a barely hidden sense of relief. “You look a little worse for wear, but you guys did it.”

Captain Tenmus had one hand on his ear – apparently communicating with other stations – and added, “That was probably one of the quickest takedowns of a Prime I’ve seen, besides our leaders. Not bad at all.”

The two began to applaud them, though Vincent was quick to correct them.

“If Rinkyu and Simon weren’t watching my back, I would’ve had an early grave,” he said with no hint of joking. “Besides that, there was a weird Baael-like creature that attacked us after the Prime evaporated.”

Tenmus’s face grew serious. “Another strange Baael?”

“Yes, sir. It looked like a miniature cross between an eel and a bug, and it talked to us in common Ingle.” Vincent turned to face Rinkyu, and confirmed, “Right?”

To Vincent’s confusion, Rinkyu had a face of shock and stupefaction. “It said something,” she began, “but it definitely wasn’t in Ingle. I didn’t understand it at all. Did you?”

Simon advanced towards the group as they discussed, and Kozari descended from the wall upon his approach. He was obviously more serious than he usually was, and Vincent had a good idea of why.

“Are you okay?” he said loudly, and with a hint of anger. “You could have died if Rinny and I hadn’t come to your aid!”

Tenmus and Darda stepped aside as Simon went directly to Vincent, and continued berating him.

“Even if you’re the leader, you can’t take risky maneuvers like that on your own, especially when the Baael are acting strangely! I told you not to go alone, didn’t I?”

Simon paused for a moment, his face starting to turn red with anger. He took a few short breaths, and reiterated, “Don’t ever fight a Prime Baael alone again! Notify us of its location and size, and then we’ll proceed together.” His voice was slowly calming down, but it remained stern, as if he was talking to a child.

“Dr. Listrean,” Tenmus urged, “We have just learned of a strange incident that occurred after they felled the Prime.”

Simon faced Tenmus. “A strange incident?”

Tenmus nodded. “Apparently, your comrades here came in contact with a strange, tiny Baael that Laverse was able to understand. We were in the midst of discussing it, since it seems the other Baael have retreated.”

Vincent explained what he heard from the creature – that it was apparently targeting Rinkyu, and now had its eyes on Vincent as well, and the term “In’tite” it used to describe them. Simon pondered for a moment in silence.

“I’ve never heard of the term ‘In’tite’, so maybe it’s a pejorative term from a specific region? Or maybe it’s a loanword – a word borrowed from a different language?” Simon shook his head. “I’ll bring it up to Regnah, but it’s not ringing any bells for me.”

Tenmus added, “I’ll send the info we have up the chain to see if any higher-ups have heard of this creature or the term before.” He turned away with a hand motion to Darda for him to follow, his other hand on his earpiece once more.

Vincent was now able to stand on his own, and did so. “Thanks for healing me,” he said to Rinkyu. “Having good spell knowledge is lucky for our team.”

Rinkyu looked at him with confusion again. “It was just a generic healing spell… It was nothing special.”

“Didn’t you take care of my poison?”

Rinkyu’s face drained as she almost exclaimed, “You were poisoned?” She quickly looked over his injury, now scarred and mostly healed.

“I thought you were a member of the Poison Squad?”

Rinkyu shook her head quickly, glancing up to him for a split second before focusing back on his scar. “The Poison Corps deals with rescuing people from the poisonous bogs surrounding Saruja and medicating people who have been. I don’t know any actual affliction-curing spells.”

She breathed in sharply after looking for a moment, and sighed. “I see a residual, but you don’t seem to be poisoned right now…” She looked at him with a hard stare masking confusion.

Vincent was equally confused – if she hadn’t known he was poisoned, and hadn’t cured it, what did?

He glanced at his wristlet – he hadn’t taken it off since he first arrived. Originally, it was red with a lighter red making up the pattern, but now there was a small sliver of violet moving within the weaved pattern. Maybe it had absorbed the poison slowly? It would explain a lot, though it also brought to mind more questions…

He’d think about that later.

Vincent tried his best to avoid the barrage of questions and criticisms that came his way, but eventually apologized properly for his hotheadedness. Simon, though he was still fuming somewhat, accepted his apology begrudgingly, while Rinkyu relaxed her stare of disappointment. Kozari, though worried, was the only one who was not berating him. “If I was in your stance, I would fight alone too,” she said with no sense of decency, to Simon’s vexation.

“We’ll put together a new schedule to address the lack of teamwork,” he said with a deep sigh. “I think we could all benefit from learning to rely on one another, regardless of today’s events.” He turned to the direction of the housing unit and began walking home – the rest of the team followed closely behind. In Vincent’s mind, however, there was still a lingering question.

“Hey, Simon,” he called. “I thought the barrier only went down once a month, on the 30th? It’s only the 21st; that’s a huge time difference.”

Simon turned his head to face Vincent, his face grim once more. “That’s another reason I’m contacting Regnah. This was not scheduled, so it’s some kind of tamper or problem with the glyph.”

***

The rest of the morning was busy, to say the least. Vincent was told to file an official report for Knite-Siege, containing every detail of information he could muster on the Prime Baael he fought and the Baael-like creature that targeted him and Rinkyu. Simon took Rinkyu with him to visit Regnah, both to maintenance their equipment and to tell him what they encountered ahead of the report. Kozari decided, since she could not help with either of these, to go to the nearby gates and help with labor chores, such as moving the deceased and cleanup of damaged wall bits.

Vincent reclined in his chair after about forty minutes of writing, with all he could remember now on the pages in front of him. A courier had delivered report paper and an Essence pen the day previous, luckily for them – while not noticeably different from normal paper, it read the signature of the Essence pen’s writer and marked each word with his magic imprint. He was experiencing a lot of firsts here in Saruja, and the maztech was especially interesting to him, in part because technology was so foreign to him.

He switched to his normal pencil and paper and wrote a secondary report in his journal – he began jotting down theories of what an In’tite was, why this creature would be looking for them, and why only he understood the creature. Another half-hour passed as he wrote, and when he finished, he took a deep breath. It felt easing to unload all of this information, but at the same time, he felt stressed because of all of the unknowns he faced.

There was a knock at the door of the unit; he would have missed it had there been any other noise in the unit, though it took a second knock for him to realize what it was. He hurried lazily down to the main door and opened it to find a surprising visitor.

“Arc-mage Écartés,” Vincent said, astonished. “What can I help you with?”

The Arc-mage smiled coolly, and answered, “I’m here to see you, actually, Mr. Laverse.”

Before Vincent could respond, her face was inches away from his, and he could feel something… different about her. Her eyes, though black, had a tinge of white deep within them – he could only notice it this close up. It seemed like she was searching him… searching within him, for something that he couldn’t understand.

“I heard from Captain Tenmus that you encountered an interesting creature, and I had to know more,” she said, a cold smile across her face. “I would like to know everything you learned about it in your short encounter with it.”

“I just finished my report, actually,” Vincent said, trying not to sound intimidated. There was something about this mage that scared him – a mercenary who had triumphed over the leader of the SSM, and had felled a Prime Baael just hours ago. “If you’d like, I can bring it down for you to read first. I assume the information will make its way to you anyway.”

Warbelle stared at him for a good minute, then her smile became warmer, and her gaze relaxed. “That would be wonderful,” she stated.

Vincent brought his report into the living room, while Warbelle sat on the couch. He brought a chair from the dining area over, in part a little scared to sit next to her. As he handed her the paper, he noticed that all of the words disappeared from the paper once her hand made contact. “What just happened?” he asked, confused.

Warbelle chuckled. “It’s for security,” she said. “The paper will only react to the Essence pen and the Essence of those approved – in this case, the writer, the King, Knite-Siege, and me, though everybody but the writer needs to expend some effort.”

She demonstrated by expelling a small wisp of Essence from her finger to the paper, which activated the parchment and again showed his writing. Once more, Vincent was impressed.  He did, however, realize the problem with writing a secondary report in his non-guarded journal – maybe he’d have to destroy that copy.

Warbelle read over the document quietly – it was only three and a half pages long, but she took almost thirty minutes to read the entirety of it. It seemed like she was retracing some parts, though he couldn’t be sure. Once she finished, she addressed Vincent.

“From a cursory read of this report,” she said as she placed the document back on the table, “it seems like you encountered either a new type of Baael or a maz-beast.” She folded one leg over the other and added, “Maz-beasts are incredibly hard to produce though, so my guess is that it’s a new type of intelligent Baael in cahoots with some spellcaster.”

Vincent nodded. “I haven’t seen anything like it in my travels, and a Baael that can speak to others seemed out of my element, so I’m glad someone has some sort of input about this creature.” He crossed his arms in thought. “Not even Simon knew about it.”

Warbelle stared at Vincent for a moment before asking, “Are you aware of what an In’tite is, Mr. Laverse?” She shifted the conversation abruptly, without any sort of segue. Her face was unreadable, just like at the meeting, though she wore a similarly bewitching smile as she talked.

“I’ve never heard the term before,” he admitted. “I was actually hoping Regnah might know what it meant.”

“I’d be happy to enlighten you, if you wish.” She leaned closer to him, and her smile became neutral. “Though if I do, you might find a new view of your world that is… unpleasant.”

Vincent didn’t know what to make of this, but his nervousness around Warbelle was not disappearing. If she truly knew what this was, though, he wanted to learn.

“Please tell me,” he requested.

Warbelle smiled once again and began her explanation. “Are you aware of how Baael come into our world?”

Vincent was unsure how to respond to this, so he simply shook his head. He wasn’t entirely sure what this had to do with In’tites.

“Baael are actually residents of another plane of existence, called the Dark Plane. We are residents of the Material Plane, and there are creatures called Azrael that are residents of the Lost Plane. These three planes intersect at some points, and when a creature passes the boundary at these points, they appear in the Material Plane.”

Vincent wasn’t deeply educated on where Baael came from, but he was following somewhat. “Okay, so Baael sometimes pop into this world by accident?”

“Yes,” she continued. “If the space is unoccupied, a resident of another plane will coalesce here. There are some other methods, like rituals and sacrifice, but those are… less successful.”

Vincent asked, “So what happens if the space is occupied?”

Warbelle’s face became stony and grim. “We’re not entirely sure, but there’s a good chance that this is how Prime Baael are created: a common Baael that gets shunted into another’s Essence several times.” Her gaze became unbearable as she added, “This is also how we expect Baaelites to be born.”

Vincent had heard the term “Baaelite” in passing, but never understood what it was. Reading the confusion on his face, Warbelle clarified. “A Baaelite is the term for a creature born of a Baael and a Hjina. A Half-Baael, to be precise.”

Vincent didn’t like the sounds of this.  “Okay… wait, do you think I’m a…”

“Baaelites are rare because they need to be born from very specific circumstances,” she continued, ignoring his half-question, “but there are very clear indicators that a person is a Baaelite. While there are various individual indicators, having an attachment to Baelis Essence, a high metabolic rate uncommon of a mortal race, and the ability to speak the Baael’s language are key traits.”

Vincent didn’t like this. There was no possible way he was a Baaelite. Sure, he had hazy memories of his parents, but that was likely because they’d passed away while he was young. He ate more than normal, but it wasn’t unnatural for a Hjina… though, that was likely because he was a faux-soldier for most of his life, and a vagrant the past three years, and never had the money for large meals.

“Two specific individual traits marked of them,” she added, “are scars of unknown origin and strength that rivals a Czeathe.” She tilted her head, her eyes emitting that distant white glow once more. “To be more on topic with the explanation, In’tite is generally a slur for a half-breed – from the term ‘nothing’ in Old Irian.”

Vincent felt a cold realization washing over him.

“Vincent Laverse, you seem to be a Baaelite – a being that is half Baael and half Hjina.”

***

The explanation had ended just as abruptly as it started, and Warbelle had warned Vincent that if something was targeting half-breeds like this, it was cause for concern. She had left Vincent after this, giving him the parting promise that she’d not tell anyone – she had mentioned that the reason Baaelites were so unknown was because they were usually dead by adulthood, either through abuse from slavery or distrust from their peers.

“I personally do not have a hate or love for half-breeds either way,” she had said, “but you seem harmless enough to keep alive.” She added with a grim smile, “If you do end up being a threat, I will personally erase you.”

With that parting promise, she had waved goodbye, and disappeared in a flash of Azras Essence.

Vincent had some valuable time to process the new information – since it was about 45 minutes to Regnah’s lab either way, he figured he had at least an hour before the majority of the team returned. He sat down in the main room, deep in thought. Baaelites were rare and hidden, so it made sense that he’d only heard of the term here and there. He tried to remember everything he could about his life before the SSM – the faces of his parents, any siblings or extended family, when and why he had left Torelle in the first place. Nothing was completely clear in his mind, and this frustrated him even more.

He stood up and started pacing between the kitchen area and the main room. Was there a specific moment he became a Baaelite, or did it happen before he was born? Was he responsible for his parents’ deaths? What were the costs that came with a half-Baael body?

Another, less disturbing question came to his mind with that last question: what were the benefits of this body? Warbelle had said that he was physically stronger and more resistant to toxins than a Hjina, so did that mean he was sturdier as well? He also wondered about his innate connection to Essence – Ernesto had mentioned during training that his control was “odd”, so maybe this was due to his Baaelite nature.

The more he thought about it, the more questions arose, with no answers clear to him. Eventually, he reached for his cigarette pack, walking halfway to the staircase before realizing he had only one left. He sighed heavily and scratched his head. It would be best to save it for nighttime, when the smoke wouldn’t waft into the open windows downstairs. He made a mental note to find a place to buy more, and would have to pace out his smoking to make them last. It felt like it had been ages since he last smoked, though he had avoided it partially out of concern for Rinkyu. His body wasn’t tensing up like it used to, but there was still a nagging want to smoke. He was also struggling to decide if he should tell the group his new dark secret.

He pushed those aside as best he could to put the needs of the unit ahead of his own wants, and decided to start preparing dinner (there was some frozen fish that was nearing the end of its thawing period, as well as some large florets of broccoli waiting to be chopped).

By the time the fish was ready to be segmented, he heard the wheels of a car braking near the entrance. Simon and Rinkyu entered a minute or two later, Simon with a long backpack protruding past his back, and Rinkyu with a brick-sized bag and a long, thin bag over her shoulders.

“We’re back,” Simon called out lazily. “Sorry that took so long.”

Vincent waved from the kitchen. “Welcome back. I just started preparing dinner.”

The two put their bags down behind and beside the couch. Simon approached the kitchen and leered at Vincent’s ingredients over his shoulder. “I’m interested to partake,” he said with a smile. “After dinner, we have gifts to present.”

***

Vincent’s meal was plain, to say the least – he had only worked with a handful of spices when it was his turn to cook in the SSM, and it was very common to overcook or undercook with a campfire. In contrast, he had access to no less than twenty spices here, not including salt and pepper, and the gas fire on the stove was much more manageable than a campfire. It was an experience to cook this way, but he also admitted that he was much more inexperienced than he’d thought, as he tried to learn how to distribute the heat and seasonings.

Kozari returned much later, just after the rest of the group had finished eating. She seemed a little exhausted, but still maintained her happy demeanor. Simon waited until she had finished her meal to present to the group.

“So, before we get to our discussion for tonight, Regnah has finished your prototype customized weapons.”

Rinkyu wandered over to the bags they had brought in and gave one each to Vincent (the long and thin bag) and Hazkura (the smaller bag), though the third bag remained at the couch. Vincent unzipped his bag to reveal a sheathed sword – the sheath section was surprisingly wide, but the length was just over what his current sword was.

“For Vincent,” Simon announced, “Regnah has made a trigger-release sheath with a blade that can channel Essence.” Vincent noticed a button on the hilt, and sure enough, the blade ejected from the sheath about fifteen centimeters when it was pressed. “The sheath also cleans and sharpens the blade, so remember to sheathe it regularly.”

Vincent put his new tool away as Kozari opened hers. “For Kozari, Regnah decided improving your already impressive strength would be the best option.” She pulled from the bag a set of (what appeared to be) arm and ankle bracelets made of a thin, flexible metal. “Those pieces project hardlight gauntlets, and will reduce the impact you feel when punching or kicking, but at the same time will increase the force that you hit with. He said it wasn’t easy to calibrate those without knowing your limits, so you should check in with him regularly to make sure it stays good.”

“It’s cool!” Kozari said excitedly. “When can I try them?”

“We’ll probably test both of your tools on our next training day, far away as it may be.” Simon cleared his throat and put on a serious face. “Now then, I’d like to bring up our lack of teamwork.”

Vincent’s body tensed as he prepared for another berating. “As individuals,” Simon began, “we are each confident in our skills, and that is the first problem.”

Kozari raised her hand and asked, “Is it bad to be confident?”

Simon shook his head. “Not necessarily, but with confidence comes pride, and with pride, comes assurance of victory, or at least, the feeling of it. We want to avoid that because each enemy is different, and similar enemies may be more dangerous than you realize.”

He started walking over to the couch as he talked. “The second problem is that none of us have worked with consistent teams over the course of our lives: Rinkyu, though, has a fair bit of kinship with the Saruja Poison Squad, and could probably share her knowledge of that sort of teamwork.”

Simon reached into his own bag and pulled out a medium-sized hardcover book. “I’m not personally very skilled in team-building exercises, but I’ve got some colleagues that have published sociology and psychology books on team dynamics. I think that it would be prudent for our workshop leader to read over them.”

“Wait, you’re not going to be leading these exercises?” Vincent was genuinely confused, though after a moment, he snapped his head to Rinkyu. She was red-faced and looking straight at Simon like a deer in the path of a fast-moving cart.

“Rinny’s going to teach us?!” Kozari had caught on just as fast as Vincent and shouted with joy. “I wanted to hear her speak more!”

Vincent shot a look of worry towards Simon, to which Simon winked and smiled. “If you’re concerned,” he stated, “she’s been doing social exercises with Regnah since she arrived here three years ago. She’s probably the one most used to groups with social necessity… not to offend.”

“Our goal in these lessons is to be able to rely on each other,” Simon addressed the group again. “Learning to lean on others when needed and splitting duties to better structure our team. As our group grows, we need to be able to make them feel welcome and supported as quickly as possible.”

He faced Rinkyu. “I know I’m the one who suggested this, but are you going to be okay teaching a group? Even small groups can be hard to manage.”

Rinkyu nodded fervently. “I need to become less passive if I want people to listen to me. I want to do this, for myself and for the Crush Squad.”

Vincent was impressed with her resolve, though admittedly, she had impressed him a number of times since he got here. “I look forward to your class,” he praised. Kozari also expressed her excitement at the upcoming class.

“I’ve taken the liberty of updating the group’s schedule to match our agreed-on week…” Simon listed out the weekly routines for the members, while simultaneously sending out copies of the schedule to each. Everyone confirmed their individual planners and met with a look of agreement.

“Now then…” Simon’s face grew serious – Vincent recognized this as the face he made when the siren was sounded earlier. “In addition to our trainings and maintenance, Regnah has requested that we keep an eye out for any suspicious individuals during our downtime or commute.”

He looked around the room before continuing: “As I suspected, someone was involved with the deactivation of the barrier this morning.”

Vincent leaned in, hands clasped in front of him. “How easy is it to deactivate the barrier?” he asked.

“Well,” Simon explained, “just to enter the Old Tower’s upper levels, you need an escort from the military that is at least a Captain. To deactivate the barrier glyph, you’d need at least three Maz-mages with exceptional skill, or an Arc-mage that knows the glyph’s weaknesses.” He crossed his arms. “There’s not many people I can think of that can accomplish this so quietly.”

Vincent agreed. Off the top of his head, there were only a handful of people that could achieve access, and only one that he could name that had the magic prowess.

“It couldn’t have been Warbelle… could it?”

Rinkyu and Kozari looked at him when he deduced this, and Simon closed his eyes. He didn’t seem surprised by this, so maybe he had thought the same thing.

“I won’t dismiss it,” he said after a moment, “but that is a pretty powerful accusation for a squad that was almost vetoed by her. Unfortunately, we’d need a clearer accusation than just baseless assumption to convict anyone, especially someone as respected as Lady Écartés.” Simon opened his eyes and looked to the group again with a difficult smile. “Besides, there’s no known reason she’d suddenly turn on Saruja after ten years of dutiful service.”

There was truth in what Simon said – in addition, if she had just deactivated the barrier, she wouldn’t have had the power to teleport to and from the Crush Squad’s residence, as well as *re*activate it. Vincent was aware of the difference in magical power between him and an Arc-mage, but he also knew that discharging and recharging such a large-spanning barrier glyph in such a short period would kill most mages, and even an Arc-mage or a Grand Mage would feel weak after so much Essence drain.

“What about Ernesto?” Vincent asked.  He felt a little bad for accusing someone who seemed so diligent, but he was the only other caster that Vincent knew about in Saruja, at least by name.  “He fits the criteria of being a powerful spellcaster, and if he tricked or controlled Barolo somehow…”

Simon raised a hand.  “I understand you want to get a jump on this,” he said, “but we need evidence before we accuse anyone.”  He met Vincent’s eyes, and added, “Especially Barolo’s team.  They are favorites of Knite-Siege and King Atrus, so we need clear-cut evidence for them to be detained.”

“We’ll do what we can with the little leeway we have,” Simon announced. “For now, we’ll do as I said, keeping to our planned schedule and keeping an eye out for clues or suspicious people.”

***

~22nd day of Rhuvu, Year 1403~

Vincent was once again awake before everyone else. This time, however, he was woken by a tensing of his nerves, as if someone had squeezed his entire nervous system at once. He felt short of breath, and his arms and legs were shaking – not violently so, but uncomfortably and irregularly. He shot up in his bed, grabbed his cigarettes and lighter, and rushed out to the balcony. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and the cool winds of the desert were scraping by his face as he struggled to activate the flint.

After a few minutes, it finally lit, and he took a deep, slow drag. There was a little calmness that followed, but there was still a powerful stress enveloping his body. This was a withdrawal unlike the ones he was used to… and it was painful. Every couple seconds, as his body tensed rhythmically with his heartbeat, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen where the Prime had skewered him.

Vincent choked on the smoke, and let the cigarette fall out of his mouth as he crumpled to his knees, gripping his chest with both hands. The pain was unbearable, even compared to the wounds he suffered in battle, and the poison he was subject to the previous day.

Aggressively, thoughts were filling his head – he saw the many faces of those lost in the SSM insurgence, and heard the screams of those he killed; his former subordinate, the allies he had fought with, and Cestalian. His body shuddered with each voice he heard, and a cold sweat covered his body. Every memory was complemented with the sound of his own handgun firing or the sound of his blade swiping through the air.

He started trying to take deeper breaths, but it felt like each inhale made the pain worse. Despite this, he breathed in and out, in and out, until slowly he caught his breath, and his pain began subsiding.

Vincent flattened to the ground, rolling over his shoulder to land on his back. He lay and gasped for a few minutes. He had never experienced withdrawal this severe before, and he wondered for a moment if it was due to his lack of drinking – he had basically quit cold turkey when he accepted the job, since he hadn’t had the time to stop and find a bar or liquor store since he got off the caravan.

“Are you okay?” He heard Rinkyu’s voice call out to him. He tilted his head to see the balcony doors, and Simon and Rinkyu were both out of their rooms, faces full of worry.

He wasn’t sure how to answer that. If he said yes, they would know he was lying, and the already-delicate balance of trust they had would start to crack. On the other hand, it was likely that they would pry into what happened if he said no, and he didn’t have a clear answer for that. He flashed back to the Baael assault, and how he lied to Simon – he felt regretful after the fact, but he knew he should have been honest and listened to his team better… especially as their leader.

“I…” he started. He was having trouble putting anything into words.

“…I don’t know. I think I’m in withdrawal.”

Rinkyu and Simon showed faces of pity – Simon’s more of worry, and Rinkyu’s, of disappointment and what looked to Vincent like uncertainty.

“Come downstairs, and we’ll check you out,” Simon said gently.

Simon had Vincent lay on the couch while Rinkyu rummaged through some books on a shelf – what few were on it, at least. Simon had grabbed a device from his room that looked like a wide metal bowl with a handle protruding from the base, and was waving it around Vincent’s head and chest.

“I think I’m okay for now,” Vincent attempted to placate. “I think I just haven’t done my usual routine in a while, so I’m feeling a little pent-up.”

Simon seemingly ignored him for a few minutes, though he finally responded after Rinkyu came back with a book titled “Psychotherapy II”. He put the device down and looked at his phone.

“The drugs and alcohol had an influence, but I think those are just the surface problems.” He turned to the table of contents, then flipped to a page about halfway in. “I think… you might have just suffered a mix of a stress-induced hysteria and something akin to post-traumatic stress.” He glanced at Vincent while he read the book, Rinkyu acting as a bookstand for him.

“Sudden onset panic attack… tightening chest and muscles contracting… difficulty breathing…” He continued listing off possible diagnoses and symptoms until finally he closed the book. “A stress-induced panic attack and Essence bleed,” he stated confidently. “It’s likely a side-effect of the Prime piercing you and leaving behind an Essence tag of some sort before it passed.”

“A what?”

“An Essence tag,” Simon reiterated.  “It’s a spell-like effect that some people and Baael use to inflict damage through memories and trauma.  The Prime must have sensed your lingering attachment to the SSM.”

He scratched his chin and added, “I don’t know why it would cause such a powerful panic attack, though.  Generally, it acts more like a hallucinogen rather than making you relive the experiences.”

Vincent felt a growing tightness in his chest again – this time, it remained in his chest. Should he tell them about what Warbelle had said? He felt a tinge of guilt leaving them out of the loop, but he also remembered what she had said. Baaelite were treated similarly to Baael – for obvious reasons – and he knew if he let more people know what he was, it would put them all in danger.

“…There are some things that are weighing on my mind right now,” he said after a brief silence. “I need some time to process things, but I will try and tell you guys as soon as I’m able. I won’t let this affect my work as the leader, I promise.”

Simon and Rinkyu shared a look, but Simon sighed with a defeated smile. “At the very least,” he said, “you’re giving us notice that you’re relying on us.” Simon patted Vincent on the shoulder. “If we end up needing to adjust the schedule temporarily, just let me know. For now, get some more sleep. Our training schedule doesn’t pick up until Monsday, anyway.”

Simon retired to his room, as did Rinkyu (after double- and triple-checking that he wasn’t in pain, and providing him with the locations of the pain medications she kept stocked), so after a few minutes of empty thought sitting on the couch, Vincent reclined once again, vying to sleep here for the remainder of the night.

He didn’t drift into sleep as quickly or as gently as he’d had liked, but he decided to try and organize his thoughts. Vincent had, in no small words, experienced and accomplished more than he – or any other person – thought he could, especially in the course of seven days… not to mention the miraculous vote that saved the unit, despite the vetoes. There were moments where he wasn’t sure what to do… and moments where he was entirely too sure, for his own good.

His eyes heavied as he continued to think. The Prime Baael he faced wasn’t particularly clever or strong, but Vincent’s overconfidence and hubris caused him to take damage, worry his teammates, and nearly jeopardize their first mission. The teamwork classes would be something that he would need to focus on with his best intent. Not only that, but he’d need to learn to take in physical information as quickly as possible to progress further in the Harpwing training sessions. Liane especially seemed to share his urgency in learning the basics, though he didn’t know why.

Vincent finally began to relax and drift off. The last thing he thought about was In’tites.  That strange Baael – or, more correctly, Baael-like creature – seemed to know more than Vincent what he was. In’tites… half-breeds, though not rare, were impressively disliked by most people. Many half-breeds ended up as slaves, this much he knew. But a half-Baael sounded unrealistic – Baael were clearly not the same as mortal creatures, so even the “shunting” between planes seemed impossible… though, he had clearly witnessed one result of this in the Prime.

“Why is it hunting us?” Vincent heard himself whisper. Was it a desire to cleanse the world, in likeness of Cestalian? Or was it more of a greed to collect strange creatures that had limited numbers?

A thought crossed Vincent’s mind as he pondered this in his sleep-drunk state. “Why target a half-Retura?”