Naveen

 

"Rina have you met the twins before?" I asked as I set a hand on her shoulder to stop her. The twins were giants even among our people. Easily ten feet tall and a mass of muscle. But they both were touched. Unwell in the head, created even more so by the white lines etched into their skin.

 

"Rina meet the twins." I said gestureing to the two giants who stood before us. Each had their hands around the handle of a winch and were winding up a chain with links nearly as big as she was. Above them all the dome to the Arena was moving slowly towards being closed.

 

One of the twins turned his head to smile gently at her. He didn't stop his work, only smile a simpletons smile and went back to work. "They will not harm you, they are gentle I promise. Unless you are a threat to the kingdom I'm afraid." I patted her shoulder before looking down into the thick mists that covered the arena floor. "Has Talon arrived yet?" I asked the Twins.

"Nuh uh...'e said 'e was gonna get ready. told us to close the ceiling and wait for em." The one who had smiled at Rina said with a small nod.

 

"We stay here. I and the twins can keep you safe...hm...you can not see it can you." I asked looking at her for a long moment. "I do not think you enjoy magic but with magic I can help you see as we see. I can part the mists for yo-." I cut off as the doors opened and Talon came in wearing his armor. There was a cheerfulness to his step as I adjusted his weapons and stood right on the edge peering down into the pit. "Twins get your bows. Either I come back up, or it comes back up. Shoot first ask questions later." he flashed a grin towards the four of us before simply hopping into the pit. A bone shaking roar rose from the pit as well as Talon's laughter.

 

Calan:

"I am going to have to touch you. I hope you know that. But I mean nothing behind it." I said as I stepped up behind her. I set my hands on her body, tracing from her eyes, down her face, over her breasts and ending with both hands together over her navel. When I removed my hands her vision would clear. She would see as we see. Greens and reds were a bit more muted. Blue was stronger and more vibrant. But most of all the mist would clear, it was still there like a thin fog. But it would not impede her vision as a white wall as it once did.

 

Talon: I stood in the middle of the arena, a sword in my hand moving in a blur as the beast attacked. The creatures of the mists were creations out of nightmares. A mixture of a fourlegged beast with fangs and claws, but it also had mishapen lumps, and barbed tentacles growing out of its back in tangled masses that grew and shrank at will.

With a grin I twisted under three tentacles before with a single slash I cut into two of the appendages. Before they hit the ground they dissolved into more mist. The creature was impossible fast, impossibly strong. And it fought like a demon.

 

Calan: I stood beside her at the rail. "He is the best warrior I know. He lives and breaths in combat. Savian was always like that." I said softly as I watched Talon laugh and flip over the beast scoring two long gashes down its back.

 

"Of course, but only because the odds were too great against him. Savien has always and will always be most at home in combat. He has never had a teacher for what he does, he learns by instinct and by watching." I said as Talon was forced back by the beasts rage.

 

"Because Talon was my best friend. No one could have been closer than Talon and Savien...but...Talon was my best friend. I knew Talon well enough that I could tell them apart....given enough time I could at least. It was only when I started fighting beside Savien that I truly knew who he was. Talon was a good fighter, but Savien....Savien was born for this." I gestured before us as my lord kept fighting before us.

 

"He does a good job, he mimics Talon perfectly. But after fighting along side both of them before Talon passed. I know how they fight. Different stances, how they hold a weapon. Their expressions and attitudes." I said softly, with a bow of my head. "But I still see him as Talon. He has become his own Talon. It is only in times like these and perhaps...like you saw yesterday. That I see the person he used to be."

 

"Yes. But..." I hesitated as Talon seemed to get into a bit of difficulty in the midst of guarding against dozens of tenticles all flashing at him at once. One scored a gash on his cheek another got a small rend in his armor. But he came out of it otherwise untouched. "Talon was training to rule. Savien was...not. Savien was what you could call...a wild child. Drinking, getting into trouble with visiting dignitaries...Talon was the more reserved one. The people loved Talon, they loved Savien too but not in the same way. It may have just been a respect thing, a wish to have his other half be remembered. But...I wonder if perhaps a part of Savien died on that mountain in the temple..."

 

"The problem I think is...that he doesn't know he doesn't have to be Talon. He wants his brother to be remembered, to build a legacy. He doesn't care what happens to his name to his own legacy. And that damages him because he knows. Should he die...that there is nothing left of who he is." I continued.