The beast's back bulked and shook abruptly, causing Tais to lose his balance. He was tossed upwards and spent a suspenseful moment flailing his legs and arms in the air above the creature. Then he landed, luckily with his legs going on either side of the muscular body. He squeezed tightly with his heels, and grabbed as much hair as he could in both fists as the creature began to buck its back legs high into the air. The magical weapon had vanished and Vewwe was a mere shadow now, dancing to and fro against the far wall.

Tais let out a cry and hung on even tighter as the creature flung itself across the room. Moisture clung to his face from the vanishing of the halberd, and he licked his lips with a tingling sensation. He could still feel the magic's presence in the room.

Then, quite suddenly, as if someone had pointed it out to him with a simple nod, he heard something he had never heard before. Something that had previously gone unnoticed. He calmed his breathing and let his senses deepen. It was anger. The beast beneath him was radiating with anger.

"Don't let go!" cried Vewwe from the side of the room. Tais could tell from her voice that she feared the beast would notice her as soon as it was free of its rider. He grabbed for a better purchase and this time, as he reached deep into the fur and gripped the skin itself, he felt the pulse beating beneath him.

He blinked. Another clue. What must he do?

The animal ran across the room and then shivered down into a crouch, ready to pounce. Tais could feel the animal's intentions like the snap of a whip. It was going to dive at the wall and crush him into it. The beast's intention was like a compressed spring. It was obvious what it was going to do. The only way to reduce the damage would be to let the pressure off the spring, gradually and carefully.

Another clue.

Tais suddenly recognized the animal beneath him as a living puzzle, rather than as just a deathly enemy. His breathing slowed and his mind expanded. Then, like a gently probing doctor, he reached into the Orthrus and touched its intention.

It was like the lock. He could feel every individual piece within, but he just couldn't budge them. This time though, he could convince the cogs to turn and the wheel to move...because they were part of a living mind.

Tais flew from the creature's back and landed in a roll. He was on his feet in an instant, awaiting the gnashing teeth and the hot breath of the monster. All he saw was a great still shadow, sitting silently in the dark.

He peered forward, stretching his senses once more. The tension had subsided. The beast had been calmed.

"What have you done?" asked a wiry voice from behind him. Vewwe stepped into sight, a little orange globe of light between her palms. Her eyes were glazed with horror.

"The beast..." Tais said weakly, "It was angry...because we were intruding. I made sure it knew that we were of no importance to it."

Vewwe was still in shock. "How?" she uttered.

"I..." Tais was silent for a while, his entire body silently shaking with the adrenaline. "I calmed its anger."

There was a thick silence, but before Vewwe could interject, there was a hollow sound of metal, and a crack of light split the room. The door silently swung open.

"I think you mastered the test..." came a hesitant voice.

Tais shivered and ran for the door.

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From the hopeless trenches of the slave world, one man begins to hope, and from this hope, there blooms a freedom in his mind. The Delkori cannot enslave his mind...His mind is free. And soon, discovering the true potential of this freedom of mind, he escapes the slave world and moves through the mysterious and shifty other world to discover the true workings behind it all...
With deceitful voices in his mind, and traps at every corner that test his physical and mental powers until he is left stumbling, he grips his will power and continues on through it all...trying to find the light.
DUN DUN DUN..

Info for Authors:
The social hierarchy:
The order of the Delko from what I think is the highest to lowest goes as follows: Delkora, Delkorei, Delkori, Klendo.
The Klendo are the workers, the slaves, they work in the trenches and know only of the trenches.
The Delkori supervise the Klendo.
The Delkora include Huna, Vewwe and their "father". They are Mancers of varying degrees.
Above them are a few others. The Viscount Director has a degree of power over what goes on, but Huna's father could easily be doing things behind his back. Also, there is a man who is called the Surgeon who has a lot of power.

Tais's background is still unknown, but he was raised as a slave as an experiment, even when he has the mental powers of a Mancer. Huna's father was conducting this experiment and others on Tais...but then the Surgeon offered him a deal and he secretly took it. So now the experiments are much crueler and scarier and run by the Surgeon himself...and that was what changed Salla.

updated Jul 29 by olius_brightwell