Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lucind stood up, shaking her head and grinning, when she saw how Maximos covered his mouth.

"No sweat. I mean, I had it, too." She smacked and lightly licked her lips. "I really love garlic, but well, it's always good to gather a few tricks what's useful against its side-effects."
When they left their table, Merice started collecting the used table and silver ware.

"Also...well, we both ate it, then it's not that bad anyway. I mean..." She glanced up at him, before staring at the elevator's door. "You don't notice it that much when you're together then...I mean, standing close together...chatting.." The door opened and the woman felt somewhat relieved, pressing the button inside to bring them downstairs.



Back on the first floor, Lucind grabbed a large plate to fill it with a bit of the various sweets they sold at Feimurgan. That fascinated, boyish excited look on Maximos face, that she'd seen many times in the past, filled her with a warming happiness.

Kara watched them two while she was preparing a turkey sandwhich, a half-amused smile on her face. Lucind pretended not to notice, but packed cookies - chocolate chips and macadmia nut - on the plate, as well as brownies, muffins, cranberry pie and four pieces of a rather unknown sweet: a soft but solid, gelatine like mass cut in small cubes; two of them were of a faint green and filled with pistachios, the others reddish brown, filled with sweet beans. The mass itself, Maximos would see, was really sweet and the cubes were rolled in powdered sugar.
For this time, Lucind thought, it sure was enough - else Maximos stomach might really decide to go into strike. Unless there was something else he really needed to try.

She decided to have a coffee with lots of milk and let him choose what to have: milk pure, or something else.

Finally, asking Max to carry their beverages, the Half-Siren walked up the spiral staircase into her room after opening the hatch. Out from under her desk she produced a small table and placed it right in fron of her bed: it offered just enough space for the plate and their drinks.

Lucind operated the control panel at the wall once more to lock the hatch that worked with a sensor and had already shut itself after they had entered. There were three codes for this unusual door. A simple one some of the employees and of course also Kara knew, meant to just keep any customers from entering; a second one, Lucind was using now, that was like a "Please don't disturb" sign: on the tiny screen on both consoles a key would appear. There was also a way to decode the second stage of the locking system - but usually everybody showed enough common sense to use a knocking-mode. The ring that was then to be heard upstairs told Lucind someone wanted something from her.
The third code however should provide protection in whatever case of emergency. The hatch then was strengthened by metal bars and additional locks which were handled manually. Lucind alone knew the numerics for that stage.

And by the way, the spiral staircase went up through Lucind's room, only to end on the house's roof - and down it led into the basement! However, there were only two hatches secluding Lucind's room.
But...what for the seemingly normal wooden door leading into the library? Did it hide special mechanims as well..?



Before sitting down, the blue haired woman took the pot with the ointment from her desk to give Maximos the same treatment like before...maybe only doing it a bit slower this time. After the cream was worked in, Lucind would gently wrap a soft, black scarf around his neck to keep it warm for a while.

When she had washed her hands and stepped out of the bathroom, it somehow hit her all over again, seeing him there.

"..."

Leaning against the bit of wall left of the bathroom door, Lucind stared at him. For a moment, it felt hard to breathe...

It took her a few second to realize Maximos was staring back and smiling at her: the tension in her body vanished, as well as the suffocating, overwhelming feeling.

Softly biting her lip, she let out a similar breath of relieve.

Lucind walked over to sit down on the edge of her bed, taking one of the chocolate chip cookies - the chocolate was still soft, liquid almost inside! - and the large cup in the other hand.

"Alright," she mumbled. "Where shall I begin..?" She munched thoughtfully, whiler her eyes wandered over the chest of drawers whose top was packed with frames and photos Maximos had studied before, as well as several candles of different size and colour and a two bottles of perfume.

The woman stood up again and made a few steps to reach the nearly ceiling high shelf left of the commode and pulled out a large, around one inch thick book: it was an atlas of Gaia. Lucind flipped it open and right behind the cover there was a world map stretching over two pages. There was Gaia, nearly in the center and a few other continents north, south and west of it. In the East, however, the third largest continent was entitled "Azum".

She didn't know if Maximos had ever had a look on a map of this planet. Also, she suddenly asked herself if he could read the alphabet that was used for the Gaian common tongue and some other languages. But...if he was able to speak Gaian then he sure could read it...?

"There are siren clans on every continent, mostly along coasts or wherever you can find water. But since we're not really befriended with everything that's got something to do with heat...ah well, I mean, of course we use fire and don't stay inside during summer. The Odenai's, that is, clans that are dedicated to Odenai and thus also have it in their surname. 'Varhetel', for example, consists of our patron's name, Var, and Hetel - that's our current clan leader.
So anyway. The Odenai's reside in warm areas. They can stand temperatures that are unpleasant...nasty, for my taste...but only as long as it's humid. Means, they love tropic sites, jungles and so on.

Err...where was I...ah, yes. You won't find any clans having their permanent domicile in Strata, for example. Only heat and sand down there." She pointed at it on the map. Then her finger wandered over to Azum.

"Here, mainly Odenais live, too. However...there's also a completely new clan. But from the beginning.

I don't know if you've ever heard about it, but Azum's history it anything but usual. Actually, it's like a living mystery. We're used to all kind of crazy stuff - I mean, you're from another world....which still feels extremely weird to think of.
But around 450 years ago, the land, Azum, was hit by a phenomenon that remains inexplicable until today. If it was of a natural origin, or magical or whatever, no scientiest, sorcerer, priest or other wise man can tell. Of course, there're enough rumors to fill the whole Levi Stadium."

Eating one of those small, soft cubes with pistachios and then taking a muffin - orange and poppy seeds - she carefully shifted backwards to sit leaned against the wall. The cup was sitting on her thighs, half held by them, while Lucind severed the top part, the little cap of the muffin. And then she gave Maximos a quick summary of Azum's history: how the land was devastated by an acid liquid, known as The Rain, how the whole continent was cut off from the rest of Gaia for many years and how it had turned into a land, that had fallen back on old traditions of making a living from agriculture or manual textile production - and in the same way featured the latest technical inventions: high-tech railway transportation, complex systems to keep a whole underground city alive or a new generation of synthetic fabrics that should withstand chimera blood - the latter hadn't yet worked out, but the exportation of such cloths was a profitable business.

From there, Lucind came to explain what chimeras were, that race - half human half animal - which had been a product of The Rain. She told him about the different kind of chimera, that there were "recessive" and "dominant" ones: those, whose animal traits vanished bit by bit over the following generations - a few types hadn't been able to survive at all; and those who remained what they were, as well as their offspring.

"The chimeras blood is just like The Rain...at least it's said to be." The half siren looked at him, taking a sip of coffee. "It's green...! Can you imagine that? I've heard about demons or other non human races where the blood's different from ours. But that of the chimera is green - and acid! And so far, nobody was able to decode it in its full composition. Quite scary...

What I also find highly interesting is that, even though we have many half-human races here, they are all different from the chimeras, be it cat, rabbit or ape chimera. Ah...did you know Sunstrike has a lizard inside him? I mean, literally. By the way, have you seen him since your return? And..." She looked quite dumbfounded now. "When....did you come back...actually?"

"Ah, no no! Actually, chimera are normal inhabitants of Azum just like the humans there," she said. "Of course, living door to door with them bears its risks, but they're part of the everday life there."

Then she would ask about Sun and look mildly surprised at his reaction but held back any further comment for now.

"I can relate. I participated in the tourney last year...mainly for private reasons, though..reconnaissance... I found out that fighting for the purpose of fighting is not my thing. Sure, I've been doing training fights whenever possible, but...not the same." She shrugged.

After another bite of the muffin and another sip of her coffee, Lucind went on explaining.
"To come back to the chimera. I said they belonged to Azum like any other being of its population. There're lotsa 'mixed' families since the human in them usually dominates the physiology. However...maybe you can imagine that, with view on the fact they're a 'product' of The Rain, that they constantly remind everybody of that traumatic day. By the way, the chimeras blood can't be exactly like the unknown acid liquid back then: one drop of The Rain was enough to kill one person. I've seen the effects of chimera blood. It can indeed cause nasty wounds and sometimes it's even used as a weapon. It's the amount that makes the difference. Fighting against a chimera can be troublesome, I can tell you that.

But research to protect non-chimera beings is also done to simply make living together with them easier. Or...to control them..."

And then the Half-Siren told him about Lahadam and Jitro, the different chimera politics of both countries and the smouldering conflict the had been growing ever since order and laws had come back to Azum and which had entered a critical phase over twenty years ago when Iobal, queen of Lahadam, wife of King Amralkais, was killed in an accident whose details remained unclear till the current day - but the king couldn't be more sure that it was a group of Chimera which did it. He had no proof, and even though his staff had never been known for his pro-Chimera attitude, they weren't able to gather enough evidence for a trail.

Still, the king enforced new and harsher restrictions which made it nearly impossible for the Chimera to lead a normal life in Lahadam - more Chimera than ever emigrated to the South.

"The situation escalated fourteen years ago, when Princess Smerla was kidnapped, or said to be, just by those Chimera who had killed her mother. There was a hunt...and a trail...but not many were left to be able to hear the judgement.

Many don't believe the youth was shanghaied, but that she ran away with her Chimera lover.
And the king's staff announced after a month the princess had been sent abroad to be safe of 'these beasts', to study and to see more of this world to be become a good queen one day."

Lucind picked crumbles from her sweater and jeans, pondering on what to tell next, before she decided to give Maximos a summary on the meaning of the Meohar Mountains and their inhabitants, most of whom being Chimera. That 'Meohar' was treated like a country of its own, that in the past, it was mainly home for those who didn't approve of the Lahadamean anti-Chimera laws and that in these days, the last remnants of peace between Jitro (together with the Clan of Dorya), Lahadam (and its Zoraidean Guard) and the Meohar tribes - two thirds of their members were of the hybrid race - were about to break away.

Mentioning the Battle of Pizaron, Lucind added: "About two hundred years ago, the Triumvirate of Jitro made the suggestion to give the Meohars the Valley of Meohar's friend, and the new queen strongly agreed. Aside from the mountains officially being given to the tribes anyway, it was an additional symbol of trust and respect. Both parties hoped to prevent another war with it."
Her finger pointed at the area around Nikalanta, south of Pizaron's Pass. "For the Meohars never had something like a leader or any form of government...some tribes have spokespersons, though...uhm, but this valley is more or less neutral ground. Or rather...the word of the Meohar is the law there, but up until a couple of years ago, it's been working out quite well, just a few minor conflicts here and there.

Still, ever since the death of his wife, King Amralkais threatens to take that valley away from the Meohar - which would mean a declaration of war not only against the mountain tribes, but also against Jitro, cause like I already said, the whole area once belonged to Jitro, and even if the Triumvirate back then made the valley a present, it obviously still considers itself to have...something like the older rights when it comes to the hard facts. If anything, it would be breaking a contract."

The woman decided to fill him in on the concret conflicts she, Vahn and the others had witnessed at the face later on and finished with saying that, even though the Chimera seemed to be the discriminated, the only victims, that there had always been injustice, mischief, wrong decisions and treachery on all sides.


Finishing the muffin, Lucind waited to see if Maximos had any questions, if he needed some more information.
Then she went jumped back to the Siren world and unfolded its connection to Azum. Maximos heard the same story she had told Vahn and Owle, the version that had been common among the Sirens of the West.
And she told him, before stopping once more to attack the cranberry pie, that, all of a sudden, those Azumerian Sirens had contacted their relatives and asked for help...

"I'm sure you understand the mistrust coming from us...I mean, the Western Sirens. Of course, there must've been Sirens from East and West running into each other every so often over the years, but usually everbody stuck to his own business, never getting into close contact ever since the second examination decades after The Rain had shown that all Sirens of Azum, not just those of the banned clans, had lost their connection to the lhor aven.

As far as I found out by the research I did before heading East, there had been many small clashes between the Azumerians and other clans...and not just here on Gaia, but all around the world. Nothing serious...skirmishes, you know. On the whole, however, searching the lhor aven for information was extremely difficult, closed doors and locks everywhere, so to speak. Which made everything not exactly less suspicious for me.


'Cause, the thing is that back then I had to be aware not only of a possible trap being set abroad - but also...or even more, I didn't trust my own people..."

Lucind gave him the rest of the explanation she had given Vahn and Owle, the special position she was holding, being the only halfblood who was able to use the lhor aven. And the problems arising from that.

"I think I was already being watched before my gate...my access was established, due to the fact that there had been other...ah..incidents which suggested my powers might be different, that my skills could exceed the usual limits of a Half-Siren one day." Here she stopped, and Lucind didn't try to hide that those 'incidents' were something, parts of them at least, she preferred not to think about too intently. Later Maybe. Maybe later...she would tell...

A mouthful of coffee ran down her throat, then she stared into the cup, loosely crossing her legs. "You know, back then, I mean, after you were gone, my clan leader asked me to visit the clan - everbody had felt someone new had entered our 'sea of unconscious'. Whereas I hadn't been aware of anything but that there was some kind of strange power blowout when I faced Nocturne which was cool but was also worrying me. And when Hetel broke the news to me I was an 'initiated' now, I knew that I....had lost another part of my privacy and just increased my potential to be a troublemaker. It has never been easy....the relationship to my clan." She looked upp and smiled at him. "But that would make us stray too far from the actual story. 'Cause I had to start at the beginning, even before my birth. But...we can make that another storytelling evening, if you like."

"However, when I got to know of my new ability and Hetel had told me she would be my teacher until it was save for me to enter the lhor aven alone, I mainly....experienced it as a burden. Even considered denying to use it at all. shut the connection.

But I didn't. Else I wouldn't be sitting here telling you all this." Grinning lightly, Lucind paused again, picking up the thread to go on with the Azum story.

"So, Hetel made it no secret that this mission was going to be a test - of what sort exactly I didn't know first. And Hetel was only the spokesperson of the tennin, the collective of all clan leaders living on this continent. And, like I said, I could tell she didn't feel good with all this but wasn't able to enlighten me with some real information...only gave me that cryptic message:

Make allies over there.
Not for us.
But for yourself.

During the journey those words soon unrevealed their meaning.

However, I didn't wait with making allies until I reached the coast of Azum. But more 'bout that later."

Lucind got off the bed and walked over to her desk to take a flat bowl from the window-sill behind: it must've been made of clay or something alike and enameled in shades of green and brown. Leaving the stuff it had held there - hair bands, goodies, a small pad and a few pencils -, the woman went on to fill the bowl with water. "Doesn't work that good, coming here from the tap," her voice sounded out of the bathroom. "But I'm too lazy to walk down into the garden now."

She came back and, asking Maximos to place the plate with the remaining pastries on the bed, she put the bowl on the small table instead.

"Now that I've swamped you with the basic background information, I'm going to show you a bit of my memories from the travel. And those of others, since I could collect a lot later on. Thought it could only be helpful to see everything through as many eyes as possible....'n' get a full image of what's happened over there. Just in case I missed something important.

Alright..."

Sitting back down on the bed, Lucind dipped her fingers into the water and, aside from the then caused ripples, movements of another kind were to be seen in the water, as if tiny, translucent creatures swirled inside the bowl. It stopped, though, when Lucind pulled back her hand after a couple of seconds. "Mhmm, should work. The water's still alive."

Upon performing a short, plain melody, concentric circles appeared on the surface and a quickly growing fountain mounted in the middle, getting broader and higher, until it finally formed a smooth hemisphere, or something more resembling one half of an egg.

"Welcome to Siren TV." She chuckled, looking sidewards at Maximos.



And then, she would tell him. About Azum. About what had happened. The great changes the journey had brought. The reason for her current state. What was likely going to happen in the near future.

She told him. Showed him.

It hurt. And healed in the same way.

Part I - Crossing the sea



"Yeah, show you." She smiled. "I could also connect to your mind for a direct transfer but...I'm still...tired. Wouldn't be really risky. Worst thing that might happen is that I can't hold up the bridge - but being unexpectedly disconnected isn't much fun, even if no serious damage would be done. I wouldn't want you to faint or something.

So, this here's the better solution for now. Disadvantage is just that we have no sound. But maybe I can show you a few things again later on, when I'm back in shape."

And to his second exclamation she replied: "We can only use water like this when it comes from natural sources, cause then you've got enough water spirits in it to work with. But here, being close to the sea - and I fear also due to the water and sewage works not being up to date - the tap water just contains enough spirits for simple stuff like 'soul mirror'."

Lucind concentrated and sang another short melody, which sounded more like a half spoken conjuration: the surface of the watery egg started to vibrate, a fine fog made of many, many tiny droplets built around the hemisphere, reaching over the bowl's edges without wetting the table, though - and a few seconds later, a picture materialized on the smooth surface. Maximos would probably recognize that the scene showed a part of Latent's port. The woman's first memory was from the morning they had left Gaia, so it was short before dawn, and Maximos first could see the Feiruza, then Lucind obviously must've turned around since the view swayed and Vahn and Owle appeared on the mirror.

The Half-Siren wondered if Maximos had had something to do with one or both of them before. She went on, watching his reaction: "These are the two I chose for my companions...or let's say bodyguards."

As the soul mirror suggested, the three persons were discussing something, until Vahn's eyes went past Lucind which made her turn around to see her brother walking along the docks, Kaled next to him and Yaranahe, Eshnared and Shankar behind them.

The Half-Siren explained Maximos who was who, adding that Kaled was a member of the Clan of Dorya, usually stationed at the border of Nikalanta, but during this mission he was Shankar's guard, whereas Yaranahe and Eshnared were permanent members of Shankar's staff: the latter was no fighter unlike the other two but worked as an assistant and diplomat.

"Okay. Gotta tell you a bit more bout the Azumerian Sirens." While Lucind kept on talking, she let her memory running, so Maximos would see both groups meeting and finally entering the ship.

"These four are from the new clan I mentioned earlier. They're calling themselves Aishwarya and at the beginning, only the banned Sirens belonged to it. But after The Rain, more and more members from the old clans joined them. However, I've learned that most of the Odenai and Brinen have held on to the animosity everybody must've had back at the time those clans were banned from Gaia - I mean, it seldomly happens, but banishment is an accepted penalty and thus the culprits as well as their clans were treated like outcasts. There're also other reasons for the mutual ignorance or hostility between both sides, but one step after another...dun wanna give you an info overkill." She chuckled softly, and set down the now empty cup on the floor.

"Hmm, by the way, maybe you've wondered why those four Aishwarya who had come to Gaia are looking different." Here, the memory movie would wind forward until Eshnared could be seen walking over the deck. "He's a fullblood, his ancestors belonging to the 'original' Aishwarya, so, he's directly related to the banned clans and therefore looks more like me. Whereas Shankar's parents are both fullbloods from the old Azumerian clans."

The mirror got blurry once more to jump to another recollection: Lucind was approaching the petite woman on the stern, where Shankar stood close to the wheel operated by the mate. Unlike during the first scene at the docks, the Azumerian Siren wore no heavy cloak, nor a hood, only a light scarf was wrapped around her head and shoulders. And when she turned around, a light smile crept over Lucind's lips while staring at the water screen: Shankar was...well, beautiful, to say the least. The eastern features* gave her an aura of breathtaking mystery and appealing foreignness.

"Nice to look at, eh? But you'll see that even though she's completely Azumerian, so to speak, she still looks different from the humans in Azum. Cause even though our clans living on different continents and in different areas have developed in their own respective ways, you can still tell their race - and not just due to our prominent ears and the skin that simply refuses to tan darker than a few shades of brown...or this olive tone here. Funny thing is I can't really grip what it is...

Anyway, Kaled and Yaranahe are halfbloods - and cousins, by the way."

She then introduced him to Tagis, the whirlwind of a captain, and the mate Prishazan, the stoic, bald man with the full body tattoo of strange runes who never left the ship. "At least Tagis told me she couldn't remember ever having seen Prishazan somewhere else than on a ship. He belongs to some kind of order that has its home out on the sea. Tagis mentioned something of a contract to wind or water spirits that made them quite potent users of elemental magic, but also forced them to give up everything and everybody being on the mainland. There're also stories that those men and women simply sold their souls to the sea, voluntarily choosing to be enslaved forever."

"And then, only a few hours after leaving Latent, we found out that someone else was on board. Someone I hadn't seen in ages - and who finally agreed to help me and join our party."

The mirror had turned blank after displaying a few shots of Prishazan. Now, Maximos would see a door being opened and, after stepping over the threshold and turning left, he had a free view on the main deck. And Sunstrike and Vahn standing at the railing, eagerly discussing..maybe even quarreling a bit.

"Weird coincidence...I can tell you." The woman shook her head. "But a lucky one!"


There wasn't much to say about the rest of the crossing. They'd had a few rough days with thunderstorms and heavy rainfalls, but otherwise everything went well.

"Even though the ship also ran with engines, it took us around three weeks to reach Azum's coast. Pleasant time it was... Even though you could feel everbody was alert up to a certain point, anxious even not to mention the upcoming mission in a way that would lead to detailed conversations...we still shared many nice moments, had entertaining dinners on deck, drank together, made music, exchanged facts about our continents..."

Various memories hushed over the mirror's surface: Lucind and Tagis sharing a bottle of that strong Azumerian wine; Owle chasing Sun with a dripping mop; Vahn and Kaled absorbed in a discussion - maybe about fighting styles or weapons; Larhien and Kaled playing guitar and something that looked like a sister of it, though less modern, handmade, and with an additional, thin string right beneath every main string which produced the instrument's special sound - the others standing or sitting close to them, humming, singing or just listening; all of them, even the halfbloods, in the common room, gobbling one of Sun's meals...

Lucind took a mental note that, once she could fully trust her powers again, she wanted to show Maximos one of those moments by connecting to his mind, for then he could hear one of the little improvizations** of Larhien and Kaled: it was a plain melody, nothing fancy. Yet, it had captured Lucind back then, with its calming, nearly meditative character.

There had been a couple of moments during the following weeks when the Half-Siren had dearly wished herself back to this evening on the Feiruza...




*Thought of Arabian features for all Azumerians.
**Might take a moment to upload, track has 10mb.

Note: Took photos of Jerusalem (and the Alhambra) for reference, but you wouldnt find a golden temple/mosque or crucifixes in Semyon. And again, loading of the mp3 files might take a bit.




Part II – Semyon


1. bazaar area

2. less crowded area/agriculture + wall

3. trading port

4. fishing and private port

5. industrial port + manufacturies

6. fishing villages along the coast

7. pasture, plantages + rice fields




"And then...well, and then we were suddenly there." Lucind laughed. "I mean, I had slept in after what must've been our hardest party, even Tagis failed to get up before dawn to have a first check on deck - when she suddenly came rumbling down, nearly kicking down the cabins' doors and shouted something like, 'We're there!! Land in sight, gettup idiots, there can't be any alcohol left in yer veins - no excuses!!'

And we were like, 'Uhhh, what the ********...' None of us really had a hangover...well, a bit maybe...still it felt like it took me forever to jump into my clothes. And when we stumbled outside, we were blind first, was so damn bright outside and even though it was in the morning, you could feel it was much warmer than it had been on sea."

While she got into telling him how they had arrived at the Port of Semyon, the mirror accompanied her, starting with the moment the crew staggered outside: for a second, the screen indeed went glistening white when the Half Siren's were hit by the sun light. A few colored dots were dancing all over the screen, and the viewer followed Lucind onto the deck. And then...

"It was...like...whoa."



She blinked, trying to put into words what she had felt back then, even though Maximos was observing it right now.
"There were...ships...boats, of all kind....everywhere! Good old sailing ships and the latest types of freighters. First I thought that was all to fill my view, it was really hard to tell where exactly the port ended cause...well, heh, Latent's cute in comparison to Semyon. It's ******** large...!"

Stressing her words with her facial expression and hand gestures, Lucind went on describing how it had taken her a couple of moments to find some orientation - and fully notice the buildings behind the docks: straight ahead, they were of a normal house's size, some smaller, some a bit taller. Those were the places where the daily business of trading and shipping or the registration of travellers took place, where bits and pieces of goods could be purchased; inns, pubs or the traders' or fishermen's homes could be found there. Basically, the chain of buildings spread along the port, only that the structure changed when you looked left: huge premises, warehouses that didn't look much different from those in Latent's port - they offered space enough for the thousands of tons of merchandise and products, imported from all over the world or ready to be shipped overseas.

And to the right, on the other side of the bay, the buildings were even bigger, halls and manufacturies were squeezed on the mainland's end. This was obviously the industrial part of the Port of Semyon, filled with cotton, metals, oil and the like. Thick wads of smoke were rising from countless chimneys.

"It was as if you could hear the clinking sound of heavy machines coming from there, whereas on the other side, it was...buzzing, no matter where you looked. There were people....people..." The woman laughed, shaking her head. "All over the docks, and behind, everywhere on the port's area. We were still a good way away from our anchorage, but..well, you can see it yourself: like a buncha ants."

The Bay of Tarafas was crowded with ships, and therefore it seemed nothing but chaotic the closer you got to the actual port. Somehow, however, there were no collisions, and one after another, every ship found its place or left the bay's funnel.

And behind all these masts, behind the port's buildings, about four hundred meters away, the town throwned over this busy mayhem: wrapped in its mighty, whitened wall, Semyon could've easily swallowed Latent three or four times. The roads and dirt tracks leading from the port to the gates - one of seven, and the largest ones - were rising ever so slightly. The fact that Semyon, Azum's figurehead, was built on a low mount, indeed gave you the impression of the the town watching over the port and everybody arriving.
Several houses, towers or parts of temples peeked over the wall, especially in the western area - and Lucind remembered that, even though all her senses had been flushed by the noisy port, she could tell this town was holding something big, something strange but luring, intimidating and intriguing in its massive body.

The memory was forwarded a bit, cause in the next moment, Maximos could see how someone watched Tagis communicating with someone of the port's personal in the control room, asking for permission to enter to docks' zone, identifying herself and the ship, its route and cargo. Well, in fact, you couldn't hear what exactly she was saying, but it was more or less obvious, the way she spoke into a mic next to one of the flat screens, checking a flip chart and seemingly reading out loud some data. This time, the scene wasn't seen through Lucind's eyes for the dark blue haired woman stood on the threshold, talking to Kaled and nodding.

Within the blink of an eye, the Feiruza was suddenly in the midst of the busy crowd of Azumerians - men as well as many Chimera - and foreigners, Tagis' men had already started opening the hatch and getting everything ready for unloading the Gaian products. It didn't seem to bother anybody how many passengers the ship had carried, because the whole group, inlcuding the Aishwarya Sirens were going off board without someone taking notes or asking them for their names. But maybe the captain had already given this information beforehand.

Walking between all those people on the docks, the quay, in and between the buildings, made it nearly impossible to keep direction, not to speak of keeping track with the others. They were looking through Sun's eyes now, and he turned around: Owle had called out for him, looking more than a little stressed out from being pushed back and forth in the crowd. He grabbed her hand to pull her close, and together they made their way forwards...or what seemed to be the right direction, trying to follow Kaled's form.
"Madness... I was told that it's only this extreme in the morning and the late afternoon. Can't say if that's right though, we left Azum on a morning as well, and I had the feeling it was even worse then.

- We would've liked to grab something from those stands there," she added, when fish and fruit selling merchants came in sight for a moment. But you can imagine we didn't hesitate to follow Tagis' advice to first get into the town, find accommodations and stuff and then have something to eat.

Anyway...you should've been there. All those....noises, foreign tongues, gulls everywhere and it smelled of..well, of the sea, of course, but also of thousand different spices and herbs, fuits, even of metal being welded and animals....between the docks and the wall there's a large cattle market, hold on a sec..."

The mirror switched forwards once more: Tagis and the others - Prishazan and the other seamen had stayed behind - were sitting on two carts each pulled by two creme colored donkeys, and off they went along the well built main road - seamed by palms and sturdy bushes -, together with many other carts, trucks, even steampunkish looking motorcycles and rusty pick-ups. And on their short way to the open gate, just when the carts had left the busy area of the port, they got a quick glance at said cattle market, placed between several low buildings and huts.

The whole plain between quay and wall made the port, and even right in front of Semyon's southern gate, Azumerians were occupied with processing different products.
Once they were inside, the business died in an instance: there were still many people walking or driving through the streets and alleyways, but in comparison to what they had just experienced, it was like being able to breathe in deeply. Probably also because the buildings standing close to each other worked as a sound absorber.

"Aside from the outer skirts of the town it's pretty much crowded and narrow, no matter where you go. You've got all those little streets and hidden paths in addition to the main roads, but...to me it seemed they just built up new facilities whenever needed, not giving a damn 'bout a reasonable structure. The town's ever been flourishing since the rest of the world realized Azum is no conterminated continent, a huge quarantine, but in fact can gain back its old splendor. Semyon's really Azum's gate to the world, and thus I wasn't surprised to see people running around with high tech devices whose purpose they couldn't even figure out.

I think you'd like the town." She smiled at him, while the scene on the mirror switched to display the interior of a modest hostel and everbody dividing up to occupy their rooms - the viewer followed Lucind, who threw a large duffel bag on a bed which visibly shuddered under the impact.
"It holds so many secrets, but also quiet, peaceful places....like this here, for example, got the memory from Tagis."
The scene changed back to the room Lucind was sharing with Owle, who opened the blinds: they didn't have the best view, but still being on the third floor gave you a better idea of how big Semyon was actually. The soul mirror turned black, and the woman looked at Maximos.

"Later on we assembled in Kaled's room where he told us, or rather the others that Tagis was going to get us someone who would bring us to Nikalanta, since it was there where we'd meet the Aishwarya council. From there, we would kind of travel back to the coast to start the examination to find out if the Azumerian Sirens could be reconnected.
Kaled explained that Bedular, the council's spokeswoman - and Shankar's sister - appologized for the detour, but she hoped, so Kaled, that meeting her in Nikalanta would make us learn more about this new world and the problem's arising in Azum's East...and that we would then understand why they had called for help."

"Oh, by the way. Back at the port we had the change to change our currency. Not that everybody had brought that much, but these days living in Azum is still unbelievably cheap in most areas. But I reckon that'll change soon, economy's rapidly evolving there and the governments try to catch up in many ways with the West. I mean, I dun think you're gonna pay the same there for...a kilo rice in, lessay five years, than you have to here, but you can see it coming, step by step. And I fear many won't be able to keep up then - and they end up having the same gap between rich and poor like we do here.
Ah...anyway. That's not our subject now." Waving a hand, Lucind reached down to pick up a bottle of water standing next to her bed.

"After the meeting we had a fabulous feast in a nearby tavern - the traditional Azumerian kitchen is awesome! -, then we split up: Vahn, Sun, Larhien, Owle and I decided to wander around a bit to get to see a bit of the town for we would be leaving around that time the other day."

"Tagis had told us we'd be rooming near to the bazar area...un.." Lucind took a mouthful of water, then offered it to Maximos. "As you can see from the map the town's divided into two, or actually three parts. There's the underground, the original Semyon, today mainly the seat for more manufacturies and the like. Many like to nickname it 'underworld', cause it seems to be the cradle for lots of illegal business.
And the visible town consist's of a 'normal' and less crowded area - and the bazar...it's a bit like Latent's merchants' quarter only that..." She grinned loopsided, running a hand through her locks. "If I used 'big' again, it wouldn't do justice at all. You've got to see it yourself. But first..."

The group could be seen walking through one of Semyon's smaller streets, while people passed them, walking as well, riding a mule or using surprisingly quiet vehicles reminding of the "steampunk" motorcycles they had seen during entering Semyon. Just as the town's wall, most buildings were whitened, whereas the rest showed its base made of sand colored stones.
They reached a square with a well in its middle from which several women were acquiring water, they stopped and apparently discussed the direction they should take from there. The view changed - to Owle's - when suddenly a thin man, probably in his fifties, approached Lucind, hesitantly tapping her arm. The way he addressed the woman suggested a good portion of respect.

Sitting on the bed, the Half-Siren smiled softly, watching the scene. "He asked me if I was a Siren...out of politeness, my ears can't be overseen, I'd say. But he indirectly wanted to plead for help - which he then did, begging me to do something for his granddaughter. Wasn't that easy to communicate first, it's ages ago I've learned bits and pieces of Azumeric, but since his Gaian wasn't too bad we managed. Said granddaughter was behaving really weird for a week and that no physician had been able to help so far - and the family couldn't afford to bring the young girl to a better educated specialist, a shaman or a priest.

I...don't know if you comprehend, but this request was...I mean, you see how dumbfounded I looked." She slowly shook her head. "Here...I usually don't expect something like this to happen. We are consulted here, too, but as I've told you in the past, my people prefer to lead its own life, more and more separated from humans and other races...which is a pity when you think of the fact that up until two hundred years ago it was pretty much like I've experienced it in Azum: Sirens were an all over acknowledged part of society, known for their therapeutical or diplomatic skills. To see that, for Azumerians, it's absolutely normal to go to see a Siren instead of a general practitioner or just to get an additional opinion, another view on different problems...made me feel like...I dunno.."
Lucind blinked, chewing her bottom lip.

"It touched me, I was so deeply moved...some strangers coming to me and trusting me and my abilities just because I was a Siren. That man seemed to be even more impressed when he realized I was from abroad. Similar scenes occured to me a few more times during our trip - and you'll see later how the Siren world, our customs are intertwined in people's everyday life.

To help the girl was no great deal. I told the others to go ahead, but my brother refused and stayed until he could be sure this was no trap of some sort, neither a mental, nor a physical one. Larhien checked the house and waited until I'd done a first inspection of the girl's mind. But even then he only left to wait outside...heh, always worried that one.

So, the girl had gotten into contact with a cursed object: an old, and I'm sure valuable hairpin, which had also been poisoned, on top of all. A physician had been able to cure the symptoms of the poison, but couldn't understand why the girl still remained in a paralytic state. It was a minor curse, still a quite effective one...and I think made to keep someone bound to yourself, to make someone your slave...another version of the widely known love potions."

"You see," Lucind smiled," she wasn't even unhappy since her mind was trapped in a beautiful, yet not accurately woven illusion: she saw herself living in a vast garden, full of fruits and candy and tame animals and so on. But the curse, the illusion wasn't connected to anyone, it had no source, if wanna call it like that. Therefore, in my opinion the curse had already been forgotten, maybe it had been part of a merchant's stock for a long time before somebody decided to use it for a poisonous tool. Nobody has 'charged' the pin, the curse but reacted on its own when the accessory was used - cause it was holding the girl's hair when I met her. In the end, I could free her and she took out the pin herself which broke the curse.

But I decided to watch her for a while, so when I finally left it was already early evening. Larhien had come back after a few hours to see if I was okay and we were both asked to stay for dinner. Only when I returned to my room in the hostel I noticed that either the man or his wife or one of the girl's parents must've slipped some coins in my pocket even though I'd refused to take payment...

That night, we all got wonderfully wasted, at least Sun, Vahn, my brother and me..without hitting the bottom line, though, hehe. Owle preferred to talk to Kaled up from a certain point..tsk, a bear of a man but nearly allergic to alcohol." Chuckling, she took a cookie. "Found out that a single glass of alcohol in whatever form is enough to knock him out - and people like him can't stand the idea of losing control in front of others.

Semyon at night's nice...all the little streets and corners..."
Lucind leaned back and glanced at Maximos, smiling softly.




After looking like an unusal indoor well for a while, the soul mirror started sending new images - it went pitch-black...no..actually, it was a twilight brown with darker shadows that turned out to be the furniture of a room.
"Ah..heh, that's me waking up, not important...lemme see," the woman mumbled. She hadn't payed enough attention at what point she resumed showing her memories, but preferred concentrating a tad more on the man sitting next to her. Thus she wanted to let the 'movie' jump forward when...

Bzzz, bzzz.

Bzzz, bzz.

On the desk, an eggplant coloured cell phone vibrated and Lucind got up to answer, flipping open the handy device: it was a wine merchant from another town with whom she had made several satisfying deals. She quickly exchanged a few words and, cutting the connection, turned around just to notice something that nearly made her jump and skip her memory in an instant: in the hostle room at Semyon she had sat up and was now slowly crawling out of bed - and what oneself doesn't really notice anymore since one saw it everday, became alarmingly apparent and hard to oversee now...she had slept in her light underware...and was about to lean forward and then a bit more than her bare legs would be visible and.... Memory forwarded. Hastily. This time, she felt really embarrassed, didn't blushed but hoped he wouldn't misunderstand. "...m'sorry..."

"I...uhm...I met Sun right after getting up." She explained, intently staring ahead at the mirror.
"I peeked out of the window, behind the curtain - Owle was still sleeping - I noticed he was lying on the flat roof of another part of the hostle, think it was the kitchen...he was enjoying the early light of that day." The mirror showed how Lucind, now dressed, climbed out of the window. The broad sills as well as the uneven wall structure made it easy to do so and soon she had reached the platform Sun was lolling on.




"We decided to visit the bazaar, have breakfast there. The previous day I didn't feel like visiting it after helping the girl, so then I saw it for the first time. We had to walk about ten minutes to reach this area. The bazaar is...it is a living area just like the rest of the town, but even more like this, it's a single...huge...market, stuffed with shops and stands..." Thinking back made her sound excited, and indeed Lucind wanted to see that crazy part of Semyon again.

"It wasn't as early as I'd thought first, the town was about to get busy, still it was pleasant, taking a walk through the streets...with that nice air...yet, especially in the bazaar area it could become extremely close, as if an invisible weight tried to press you down...at least for me it was like this - as you know I'm not that fond of permanent or extreme heat. Sun obviously enjoyed it, as you can see heh..

Speaking of enjoying. Sun had, of course, voluntarily decided to join and help me, however, at this point of our journey, even after weeks on the ship, the problems between him and Vahn, as well as the strange vibes between Vahn and Owle hadn't fully vanished. And all those parties we had were, even though nobody faked his joy, more of a time out, to delay any further discussions."

Maximos could see Lucind and Sunstrike strolling through alleyways, crossing broader streets that were more and more lined with stores or small trolleys on which men and women had put vegetables, dried fruits, handmade household tools or other accessories, trying to sell them to the passing people. A the while, the morning sun and the ice blue sky made the city with its white and beige buildings glow. The two of them sticked out thanks to their Gaian clothes, because unlike at the port, much less foreigners happened to visit Semyon itself.




Finally, they reached a side road which could be closed with an iron gate, just like many parts of the bazaar were right so during night to prevent too many people from entering the merchant's quarter, or that is, those parts where mainly the merchants themselves lived and not those that held taverns and other places of pleasure.

Before walking ahead, Lucind cocked her brows. "Must be...noisy inside there..." Ever since peeking out of her room's window, her Siren ears had caught the dampened sound coming from the huge trading area, a buzzing mix of laughter, shouting, wooden and metal tools being used, music... And the closer they got, the louder the sounds grew - and now she was staring into the short side street that directly lead into the mayhem: at the end, a curtain of brownish green fabric marked the entrance and supposedly also worked as a sound muffler.

Letting her look wander left and right over the merchants, the cry of a gull caught the woman's attention and the mirror showed how she tilted her head back and squinted up into the sky. Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes and obviously relaxed for a moment, until Sunstrike walked over to her after he had noticed she wasn't following anymore. Taking one of her hands, he asked something which Lucind answered with a smile and a nod. Then the redhead gently pulled the Half-Siren with him so that they finally shoved open the two parted curtain and found themselves back in....chaos. Blurred, noisy chaos.

Of course, and unfortunately, Maximos couldn't hear the extent of the mayhem right now, all those different voices, praising their goods, negotiating, laughing, quarrelling, singing - in many corners, musicians and dancers tried to earn a few coins, healers and fortune tellers of a rather dubious appearance offered their services, while all those merchants did their job, troubled to have an eye on everything, but every once in a while, a piece, be it just an apple or a precious garment, had vanished all of a sudden.

Just like at the port, the bazaar was stuffed - and although it wasn't really more crowded than it had been at the docks, it appeared to be so since everything was built narrower, and many parts of the (mostly) tiny streets or the aisles between the stalls were canopied with different colored cotton panels. This was why you often actually got the feeling to be in a market hall.

"We'd already hit highnoon, which is probably the craziest time to choose for visiting the bazaar...well, you see it yourself." Lucind grinned broadly, while the water screen showed how she had hold on to Sunstrikes arm after loosing him two times in the crowd. The two stopped at different booths to buy fresh bread, goat cheese, dried flesh, different fruits, small pastries filled with honey and-

"They had coffee there...! But what a coffee. It was so...so tasty. They put several spices in it, but the taste of the pure coffee alone was awesome... God, really need to import a few bags of those beans. They're grown in Azum's West, climate's just right for coffee plantages. And what I also loved was a certain tea preperation, called masala chai, which is popular all over the continent: to put it short, it's black tea brewed in a milk-water mix together with different spices, like cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorns, ginger and other stuff - depending on your personal liking. And people over there prefer to drink the masala chai extremely sweet.
Really need to make it myself!"

"When we nearly had everything together for a breakfast, Owle contacted me with one of her snakes...ah, right there...eh, you can't see the snake there, of course, hehe. I had left Owle a note before leaving and so she was asking me where we were right then, and after describing and transferring images of our surrounding, she picked a nearby entry to the bazaar and we met up in a calmer corner to eat together."

"However...while walking back..." Suddenly, the woman's lively face became all serious, and she let the memory resume where Sunstrike, Owle and Lucind could be seen strolling over the bazaar. During the next scenes, the view obviously changed between them, for the displayed memory turned into something like an amateur movie, using three hand cams.

"We were just having a look at self-made jewlery, when a man stepped in front of me, blocking my view. Just rolled my eyes at Owle and she grinned. But then..."

The man was arguing with the seller, and finally turned around, ranting and cursing - and with that jostled Lucind and Owle, practically shoving them apart. In the next second-- "....!" The man's eyes shot open when a tiny arrow with red feathers at its other end pierced his chest. Several things then happened at the same time. While the man collapsed, Lucind ducked and spun around, yelling at Owle who had shifted a bit farther away from her. Both women hastily scanned the area, until the Half-Siren jerked up her head, noticing Sun in the now growing panic, who was pointing at a low building opposite of them, shouting and gesturing.

"He had seen something...somebody on the roof, or rather, like that someone had vanished inside, so we tried to catch him as soon as he'd leave the house."

In the memory, Lucind looked back at Owle who nodded and answered something - and together they darted out from under the booth's roof.

The chase began. The three first split up to check the sides of the house, but the culprit slipped out through a window so quickly Sun could only watch him vanishing in the crowd. What was strange about that figure were that he was surprisingly small, and he jumped and hobbled...as if it was hard for him to use just his feet - his bare feet. And the next time Lucind caught sight of him, that person changed to....move on all fours. Until then, no details of his look were clear since he wore a cloak over his clothes that also covered his head.

It was more than difficult to follow him, and unfortunately Owle hadn't been able to detact the figure's aura with how fast everything happened and the alarm of the first moment. But somehow - not without bumping into people to no end - they managed to keep up with the stranger until they saw him swiftily climbing up a wall and....turning his head...the hood shifted and revealed one half of his face: a human like face, but not really human, dark, partly wrinked skin, a flat, short nose, small dark eyes, strong hair growth along the forehead and the jaw line, a slightly bulged mouth area...
The next moment, he jumped over the wall. Sun stared at the spot, a little more than just surprised.
Upon entering the area the wall defined, the found nothing, accept from a noble looking courtyard. Running around only brought the information that this was a temple, made for praying and contemplation - but the one who had shot the deadly arrow was nowhere to be seen.

Gasping for breath, they finally stepped out on the street. They were no longer in the bazar area. Both of them made a few steps in different directions: a last attempt to try and find the person who had nearly killed one of the women.

Because one thing all three of them had directly realized: if it hadn't been for the rampaging man, the poisonous arrow would've hit her...or Owle.

Before the water screen turned blank once more, Lucind synchronized what first Sun and then her had spoken.

"That...he was... He looked like..."

"A monkey Chimera, if you ask me..."




"We went back to tell the others what had happened. In the hostle, however, we met Tagis who had brought a close friend and workmate: Kemecha. I can tell you, a damn...crazy woman. We used to call Tagis a whirlwind, but she's nothing against Kemecha. But see yourself."

As soon as the mirror started sending Lucind's memories again, Maximos would see they were in a large room, probably the hostel's common room, everybody was there, including the other Sirens - and including Kemecha.

Without a doubt, this was a Chimera woman, a lion chimera, to be precise. She was about Lucind's height, but much more muscular and compact built: broad shoulders, heavy ribcage but slender waist, slim but sinewy arms, athletic thighs and calves. Just like felines, she walked on her toes, simply due to the fact that her legs were constructed like that of a lion - paws instead of feet covered with a thin brownish fur that spread over her ankles and her lower calves. Her hands were short, rather, her fingers were, though not in an extreme way, and her nails were thicker than human ones, nearly black and indeed shaped like short claws, couldn't be drawn back, though.

Kemecha's face sported a strong jaw and full lips behind which strong, partly pointed teeth were hiding: she showed a broad grin and waved when Lucind, Sunstrike and Owle walked into the room. Almond shaped green eyes with slitted pupils were narrowed and friendly wrinkles formed around them while greeting them. The flat nose, whose bridge was also covered with soft, barely visible hairs, the round, a bit higher sitting ears - lotsa fur here - and her bushy hair, tamed in with a single band, showing different shades of caramel and chocolate brown, and a lion tail made her 'catlook' complete. But despite the strangeness of the lion woman's aura, she could still be seen has handsome. In fact, Lucind had thought back then, there must've been many men, human men, who sure found her dead sexy.

"She makes some funny noises when she speaks..or well, it's completely normal for all cat Chimera...uhm, it's a bit like purring, growling or hissing, depending on her mood. By the way, she wasn't really worried when she heard what had just happened, said it didn't necessarily have to mean someone was after us in person since there were many different gangs that focussed on foreigners, hoping to get some special items. And she mentioned harem hunters, so , guys who captured people for someone's harem...personal collection of usually good looking beings..." The blue haired woman couldn't help laughing. "Maybe you can imagine Owle's and my facial expression - and the others had a good laugh and made stupid jokes.

Kaled, however, who had first wanted to know what that arrow had looked like, wasn't amused at all and pushed for us to get local wear as soon as possible. And this it what we did before Tagis and Kemecha brought us to Semyon's station.

Several decades ago, a Western investor initiated a rail traffic project, so today most of the big cities are connected by underground trains."

At this point, Lucind would stop to get herself a tea, offering Maximos something else in case he had finished his milk by then.

Part III - Train to Nikalanta

And so Lucind got them two mugs of tea from the kitchen before going on with the next part of the journey.

"Semyon's station is close to the port, and actually we passed the building when we had first entered the city. The difference was...yea, quite apparent. I mean, Semyon's really lovely, but it has its poor areas as well as it has its newer, wealthy places. But the station reminded me a lot of those that were built here during the last ten, twenty years: lot of glass and metal, marmoreal interior, modern lighting system, a few computers. All employees were wearing uniforms, like a mixture between our Western wear and the local clothes.

The Aishwarya payed our tickets, just like they'd taken care of the hostel bill.

Didn't have to wait long for the next train to Nikalanta...took us about two hours to get there."

Taking a careful sip of the fresh fruit tea, Lucind let the soul mirror show what she described and how they got on the train whose design was just as modern as the track with the digital information terminals or the neatly covered tunnel the train rushed through.

Just when all passengers had left and the waiting people streamed into the cars, a man approached Vahn and Lucind: he was clad in a dark, long coat, his brown hair ended only below his hips and was held in a loose tail. He had a three-day beard, and the air of a sad poet about him.

"That was a weirdo...but I wish would've had more time to talk to him. Know what he said to us? Asked if we were sure we wanted to do this travel. And then, when we said yes, he went on - and you see his intent look...his eyes, like...I dunno, a bit like he'd seen too much, as if he was constantly suffering. Well, he just added that we should think again about taking the train to Nikalanta since it was a city where peole lost themselves, their personality: 'Make sure you don't forget who you are... Don't lose your reality. Don't forget to make sure you still exist...'"

The mirror showed the respective images, especially Vahn's look was worth taking a photo of it.

"Only later we got to know a bit more about this guy.

Well, the ride was quiet, some of us napped a bit. After a while, Sun, Vahn, Shankar and Eshnared went to pay a visit to the gaming carriage, or more like, the Aishwaryans passed the gambling area to pay a visit to the diner."

Maximos could see that the rest of them, including Tagis and Kemecha, stayed behind in the saloon carriage where also a few strangers sat, sleeping, reading or just staring out...though a blurred tunnel wall with cable, lamps and occasional track workers wasn't overly entertaining. Two times the train stopped to let in more travelers.

No, in fact, the train stopped three times.

"The third time, it was brought to a halt. First we thought someone had pulled the communication cord. But then the lights went out."

From that moment on, watching the water screen was futile since it remained black for at least a minute.

"Owle and I were still paranoid from the last incident on the bazaar, I suppose, therefore she directly connected to me, sitting opposite. And while the other passengers started grumbling or worrying 'bout what was going on, I heard Kaled and Yaranahe behind me tensing up.

Then..after a few seconds - I had whispered to Kaled that we were okay - Owle and I felt and heard it in the same moment: the ceiling...something...somebody was crawling closer, using the ceiling like a fly. You know, only then I realized that also the lights in the tunnel didn't work, t'was pitchblack.

We waited...and I used the whisper again to inform Kaled what was going on...obviously forgetting that his ears worked just as fine...or nearly as fine as mine did. He didn't show back then, but I think that pissed him off. Anyway.

When we realized the thing was right over Owle I got my eshaton ready, I think she grabbed one of her knives. What happened then we hadn't expected though. At least I had thought that person would attack either with his hands, a knife, too, or something the like. But when he made his move and I shot up, I heard a confused noise coming from Owle and realized she was being choked with a string or something. All happened fast...Owle just transfered the word 'shapeshift' and I heard how she was shrinking into her cat form, cause that made the attacker lose balance, and in the same moment I launched forward, swinging my staff sidewards, hitting that guy's broadside - made him crash into the wall. But that didn't knock him out."

Suddenly, the screen was tinged red: the train's emergency light had been turned on - and Maximos would see a small slim figure hopping over the seats, being caught by Yaranahe for a moment, but it simply wreathed out of her hand's grip. Then it hopped on, making other passengers scream. At the very end of the large carriage, Sun and Vahn appeared in the door, and Yaranahe shouted something, possibly to catch the person.

"I demanded not to kill him - but as you can see Kaled had already gotten in position to use his staff - whereas I wanted to stop that person with a vocal attack. But..."

All of a sudden, the swift figure dropped to the floor, a tiny hole telling he had just been shot in the back.
In the memory, Lucind turned around - there was this man again, the one who had made this strange comments about their journey, the sad poet, as Lu had desrcibed him, holding a gun of a strange design. His eyes ever so tired, he was looking at the Half-Siren.

"All he said was, 'I told you...'. Then he simply left the wagon - we never saw him again. But Kemecha, who stopped Yaranahe from going after the man, informed us later that he belonged to a group called Asra, a tattoo on his wrist had told her. They're indeed poets...artists, or bards rather. And they travel throughout the continent, searching for love...yea, for love." Lucind smiled loopsided. "Truth to be told, I'm not sure how much of what Kemecha said was true or just the peoples' imagination, but those Asra are said to suffer their whole life for love, or from love, either because they've lost their one love, or can't find them. Many of them allegedly commit suicide eventually. And another rumor states they were addicted to Chimera blood...heh...bit too fantastic, but who knows.

Oh yes..."

She had noticed that on the screen they were already busy with having a look at the attacker - it was another Chimera, some sort of lizard or gecko this time. Most of his skin was covered with small, fine scales in different shades of green and he had no hair, but little suckers on his fingers and toes, and, even more than the monkey man back in Semyon, this Chimera was extremely slim. His face showed human features, despite his thin, broad mouth and the barely existant nose and the reptile eyes.

"I checked his pulse, but he was already dead. Had hoped to get some information 'bout his motives, his client or whatever.

By the way, since Kaled, Kemecha and Tagis were all part of the Clan of Dorya, the formalities were cleared soon after we had arrived in Nikalanta.

Ehh...have I already mentioned that Tagis is an officer of hight rank in the Clan?" She grinned. "Maybe I should take notes what I've told you hehe. So, yes, she is a Clan member, but on a hight level, and she was leading an investigation which was to find a traitor right amongst the Dorya people. But more about that later."

Lucind shifted a bit to find a more comfortable sitting position.

"What worried me back then in the train was Owle's reaction. Cause I really didn't know what was going on but felt more than a little worried that I had gotten her into two dangerous situations on two days."

The screen showed, from a third view, how Lucind - a strained look on her face - was talking to Owle, who lightly shook her head.

"She was okay with it...or not really okay, of course. Could see she felt uneasy about it. But she reminded me of the fact that, only a few minutes before the lights had gone out, she and I had changed our seats..."