Primal Dawn

“Topaz informed me that the Dungeon had been cleared.” Peter waited, preferring to stay silent rather than be interrupted. “She also informed me of Kaze’s passing.” The long pause seemed almost intentional to bait Peter into saying something, but he did not relent. “I am not a religious man. There is not much sympathy to be had for those who spit upon us, outside sharing a common enemy.” Rand took one step closer, piercing eyes observing Peter closely. “But how. Could a hero. Have died?”

The question arrived, but Peter felt it was not finished yet.

“If the Church of Pura sends a messenger here, searching for him. I will be asked that same question. And so. I repeat. HOW. COULD A HERO. HAVE DIED?”

Behind Rand were all five of his primals. Behind Peter were his… three, if he included Fira, who was standing particularly close behind him for whatever reason. Surrounding their large group were the rest of the inhabitants of Shantee - a spectacle had quickly formed when Peter had inquired about formally taking over the leadership of group four before their departure.

Rand’s Telenic was floating close by. If Peter wasn’t so angry, he’d find the situation amusing. There were rules regarding the usage of their truth-detecting capabilities, and Rand was breaking only the important ones. Gaia’s phrasing… would cover this. Rand was a fool and not asking the right question, so it was just a matter of…

“Or why don’t we just get to the heart of the matter? Did you have anything to do with Kaze’s death?”

Any opportunity the previous question had presented was gone. Peter tried to steady himself, but a slow boiling rage building inside him seemed impossible to calm. There was only one way out of this.

He hadn’t been involved in Kaze’s death at all.

Peter didn’t hurt Kaze. Didn’t lay a single finger on the man. The one who did the majority of the work was not even his primal. Why, Fira was simply practicing her fire abilities, and Kaze stepped out of the portal and happened to walk into them. Surely, Peter was innocent in all of this.

“No,” Peter replied, his voice cold and dull, as he carefully watched the Telenic.

“Gardi?” Rand asked.

Nothing to do with his death. Nothing at all.

Gardi’s eyes glowed a faint bright pink around their edges and focused on him. Peter expected some sort of sensation or feeling as she worked her ability, but there was nothing. Either humans were so weak that they could not detect their minds being rummaged through - a terrifying thought - or something was amiss. Gardi blinked. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth as if to scream, then crumpled to the ground. 

“Gardi!” Rand yelled, rushing toward his primal. As he lifted her, Rand attempted to get her to stand, but her legs took to the ground like noodles. Her head rolled back over his thick wrist and stared at the sky. The pink glow was gone, and while one eye seemed normal, the other appeared… cloudy. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” Rand barked, grinding his teeth as he turned to look at Peter. His other four primals didn’t seem patient for an answer and instantly posed for battle, as did Peter’s.

The stupidity of the implication surprised Peter more than Gardi’s sudden collapse. “And what did I do? You think I can knock primals out just by looking at them?!”

“HEALER, I NEED…” Rand paused as he looked toward Gaia. “Need…” he started to repeat as his voice tapered off.

“Gardi!” A worried shout came from outside the crowd. The mob of tamers parted to reveal Zilas running toward the Telenic. 

“Gardi…?” Peter muttered while watching the man. Zilas brought out a potion and quickly emptied its contents into her throat. Watching the scene unfold - Zilas feeding the primal while Rand clutches her limp body, both tamers’ faces marred with worry. They wore the same expression. And as he stared some more, the two tamers’ attention briefly ignorant of Peter’s existence, he realized they wore similar faces too.

Once the entire bottle was empty, Gardi began to emit a low gurgle. “She’s choking!” Ruby cried out. They scrambled to flip Gardi upside down and the liquid came flowing out looking no differently than it had going in. Peter had once heard that if a potion had taken effect and the drinker vomited, it would come out looking like water. Gardi let out a large gasp once the red liquid stopped trickling from her teeth, but she still did not speak or move.

Rand’s heavy breaths explained faster than any words could. “IF YOUR HEALER DOESN’T…”

“For what reason? So she can continue to interrogate me?” Peter growled. “This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t broken the law. You could have just asked me, human to human. Instead, you dragged your Telenic into this, and now for some reason she-”

“NOW!” Rand roared. Ruby seemed half-about to rush forward at that yell. Peter could feel his own heart thumping. All too often since he arrived in Shantee, he’s felt himself surrounded by enemies.

But Gaia, just like yesterday at the entrance, spared him from responding. “Apologize,” she said abruptly, with her usual sweet and soft-sounding demeanor. “You’ve insulted my tamer with your accusations, and I won’t heal her otherwise. And by my guess you’d better hurry, else tonight’s stew will be a bit thicker than usual.”

There was no doubt that tamers weighed a primal’s appearance when considering adding them to their team. Indeed, the act of taming was vital to maintaining their status as a partner, and so such a thing was important to consider. But beauty does not consist of only one’s looks. Things such as personality, quirks, and other minute details mattered a great deal, but were difficult to ascertain with ferals. Peter once overheard a primal talking at the inn where he’d stayed in Wildburry whose voice resembled nails against rock. He’d been fortunate in that regard so far. Every time he heard Gaia speak, her soft voice carried through the air like bell chimes in the breeze.

And her words were like bricks.

Shantee became silent so quickly that Peter half wondered whether he’d gone deaf. If Rand’s shouting had been any closer, he might have.

“You heard her,” Peter said quietly, unsure he wanted to continue on this path. To the others he must have looked like a villain, but apologizing for Gaia’s outburst or suddenly giving in to Rand’s demands would make him look weak.

Neither Ruby nor Rand’s other primals seemed enthusiastic about this. But it wasn’t up to them. “SORRY,” Rand finally said through his teeth, the quietest yell he was capable of. His hands were curled into fists and trembling. “P-LEASE, HEAL HER.”

With a nod from Peter, Gaia stepped forward and chanted, “Heal.” The Telenic’s body was wrapped in a green glow as she used her ability. Gardi’s breathing began to hasten, and the surrounding primals tensed with it, but then she calmed, her eyes began to flutter, and Peter could see the one foggy eye cleared up somewhat.

Then Gaia stopped.

“WHY-”

“She’ll need more healing, slowly, and over time,” Gaia interrupted matter-of-factly. “She’s accumulated something similar to the feral’s curse, so you’ll have to help in the way a proper tamer would know how to accelerate the recovery. If my tamer permits, I’ll check on her once we’ve returned from the Dungeon.”

“Final call for group four,” Peter said aloud with a stern tone while looking toward Rand. Rand gritted his teeth and whispered something to Ruby, who promptly retreated inside the shack and returned with something in her hand.

“Here!” she said with anger as she handed Peter the summoning stones he was owed as a leader.

It was no surprise that the nearby tamers hadn’t joined him. The morning’s events were a bit dramatic and most would not want to get themselves involved at such a time, but Peter had high hopes for the coming days.

Gaia was the first to leave Shantee, and soon Peter and the others followed suit. Outside she’d been waiting for him, her smile tall and wide as she stared at him expectedly.

After a moment’s thought, he grabbed her by the back of the neck and gently pulled her closer, leaving a small kiss on the cheek.

Gaia’s eyes widened, and her grin grew deeper.