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Примечания : (Nilstilar, 2024-09-17)

“

"I'm going to exterminate them. All of them. Down to the last one."

"Very well, then. And what do you intend to do, my boy, once you have overcome this adversary? What are your plans for resuming the course of your life? I wish for you to aspire to reconstruction, rather than destruction."

Pü stared for a few seconds at his palms, which were soaked in haemolymph and shell fragments. His plans for resuming the course of his life? He didn't know. Since his tribe had been wiped out, his life had lost all meaning. As usual, the Voice that had accompanied him since the massacre had been right on target. And although she had proved extremely invaluable just a few weeks ago, helping him to combat the suicidal thoughts which were constantly inhabiting him, things were different now. Because for the young Zoraï, the advices lavished to him by the inner voice had gradually moulted into reproaches, the slightly haughty tone it adopted accentuating this impression. So, still full of the adrenalin of the fight he had just led, Pü replied curtly.

"I don't feel like answering your rhetorical questions, so shut up. Shut up, or go haunt another mind."

"Haunt another mind? I doubt very much if that is conceivable, my boy. However, no one can claim to know all absolute truths. To dispel any doubts, perhaps you should consider going in search of those who survived? That would allow us to fully assess my abilities. What do you think?"

Ignoring the Voice, Pü wiped his hands on the cold moss covering the ground, picked up his weapons and rose to his feet. All around him, the massive bodies of the insectoid creatures oozed a greenish liquid, a sticky haemolymph that dripped down the broken carapaces and spread abundantly over the plant cover, turning the frost into steam. Staring at the enemy's carcasses, he thought back over the weeks that had just passed.

Shortly after Pü had left the stump of the sky-tree in which he had always lived, now sealed into a gigantic tomb, a particularly harsh winter had fallen on the Jungle. A strangely calm Jungle, which he had expected to be infested with creatures. Deep down, he had hoped that this abnormally cold wave was the answer of Ma-Duk to the swarm of monsters. After all, as guardians of nature, the Kamis could master the elements, and during the winter most insects went into hibernation. Unfortunately, this was not the case: the creatures had not returned to the depths of Atys but had simply moved back to the nests they had built on the surface... Pü remembered the words of his father, who was convinced that the invasion of the monsters was intended by Ma-Duk to put their tribe to a test. Then he remembered the words of Grandmother Bä-Bä, who had told him that Ma-Duk had nothing to do with it, and that the invasion was in fact affecting the whole of Atys.

For the time being, what he had seen over the last few weeks proved the venerable ancestor to be right: on the road to Zoran, the country's capital, he had come across a few villages, all destroyed and empty of life. So far, the journey had gone smoothly. With the war, at least in this sector of the Jungle, totally won by the invaders, their troops had left. For all that, the monsters had not decided to abandon this territory. Quite the opposite, indeed. Very quickly, a large number of new creatures had invaded the region. Including those he had just got rid of. These specimens were more imposing than the lively soldiers with their brown carapaces and darted abdomen, arched under their legs and streaked with yellowish highlights, who had made up the bulk of the troops in the first wave of the invasion. But they were less so than the black and yellow-spotted monsters of the second wave, who had massacred his tribe, and even much less so than the huge, gleaming commander who had killed his father, uncle and brother... With no stings, fangs or organs for excreting noxious substances, these other creatures were fairly harmless. True, they had a powerful pair of mandibles, reddish like their six legs. But as far as Pü could see, this oral appendage was only used to cut up the vegetal matter on which they fed, and to gather resources which they stored on their broad, flat, moss-covered heads, in order to transport them to the heart of the large nests of which they seemed to be the main workers.

Pü was deeply angered to discover that after the carnage had come the looting. Had his loved ones been killed simply so that these new creatures could harvest the surface's resources in peace? Was Atys not generous enough to share its riches? But, as if to punish the idealism of this naive question, his memory soon brought back memories of the history lessons his mother used to give him as a child: the War of the Aqueduct began when the Fyros Empire was hit hard by drought, after the Kingdom of Matia had dried up the river Munshia and increased the taxes it levied on Water Route convoys crossing its territory. The longest war in homin history began with a quarrel over water, a resource that was nevertheless present in abundance in the Wide Puddle. At all times, access to the resources of Atys had been a matter of conflict... So why not imagine that these intelligent creatures were driven by the same motive?

This incongruous idea was just one of many. It was the delirious product of a sick mind. Broken. Forever scarred by pain. Ever since that terrible day, Pü had not stopped brooding. Nothing had ever succeed made him think about anything else. He tried to understand why his loved ones had been taken away from him. And finding no satisfying answers - none of them could be - he let hate consume him. Usually so calm and measured, he swore on Ma-Duk to eliminate every insectoid monster he would came across, gradually forgetting the search for survivors and the quest that the dying Grandmother Bä-Bä had entrusted to him. This madness had almost cost him his life and, used to the placidity of the harvesters, he had gradually let his guard down. Because, in fact, not all the enemy soldiers had left the Jungle. He made this discovery after slaughtering several workers busy cutting the bark off a large dorao tree, one of these slender, smooth-trunked trees whose tops formed the main bulk of the area's luxuriant canopy. As he prepared to leave, he spotted a group of creatures in the distance, similar to those in the first wave of the invasion, but with a more streamlined abdomen, like a scorpion's tail, and a carapace coloured green and white rather than brown. Well... it was rather the creatures in question who spotted him. Completely ignoring the herds of herbivores in their path, the monsters rushed towards Pü, as if they had been stalking him for a while already. Although the Zorai's first instinct was to draw his weapons, the Voice convinced him that he could not defeat the six giant insects at once. Unable to match their running speed either, Pü had no choice but to climb to the top of the dorao and flee into the canopy. And although the two smaller specimens managed to follow him, they proved far less agile than a human when it came to leaping from branch to branch. Over the following weeks, Pü came across these creatures on several occasions, identifying them as members of patrols exclusively hunting down homins who would have survived the swarm. This was a behaviour that again demonstrated the collective intelligence of this insectoid species that came from the depths of Atys...

Breaking the flow of his thoughts, the voice inside echoed in his head.

"If that is what you really want, my boy, I can quite remain silent. However, I don't think solitude suits you very well. In fact, after all the effort I've put in, I'm afraid you'll sink again."

With his eyes still fixed on the carcasses of the monsters he had just slaughtered, Pü felt his throat tighten. Once again, she was right. Annoying as it was, that mysterious voice was still a precious ally. His only ally. Whether it really belonged to someone, or was a figment of his imagination, it was the last link binding him to the vanished hominity. For he now seemed to be alone in the world.

At this thought, the Zoraï's heartbeat quickened and his hands began to tremble. Not from the cold, but from fear. I'd rather die than be alone. Anything. Anything but loneliness.

"You're getting very close, my boy."

From his perch atop a tall dorao tree, Pü was making the city of Zoran ot in the distance, built between the shores of the gigantic Temples Lake and the delta of the Ti-aïn, its tributary river. Following the watercourse, which meandered from the north-west, the Zoraï's gaze fell on the Great Mountain. The colossal root structure broke the skyline with its hugeness and cast its protective shadow over the western part of the country, known as the Dark Jungle. The source of the Ti-aïn, it was also, and above all, the only known departure point from the Canopy, several hundred kilometres wide and extending upwards until it melted into the network of celestial roots. Raising his mask to the sky to follow the course of the aerial ramifications, Pü was suddenly dazzled by Jena's astral light, which the drift of a cloud had just released. He shook his head and took one last look at the Temple-City. It was time to leave.

The homin fled the naked daylight by letting himself fall a few meters and landed on the branch where he had put his weapons and canvas bag. In this latter he kept, among other things, the relics that Grandmother Bä-Bä had entrusted to him before she died: the amber cube containing the secrets of the Black Cult, the set of orange dice she used to catalyze her power, communicate with the Kamis and foretell the tribe's future, her ceremonial dagger and the tattooing kit. To this day, Pü still didn't know what he should do with these relics, especially the dice, which he had tried to make work over the last few weeks, to no avail. He was desperate for answers, and with each passing day, the silence of the Kamis grew crueler and crueler... Having collected his belongings, the Zoraï finally set off northwards, leaping from branch to branch through the thick snowy foliage.

Two hours and twenty kilometers later, Pü was perched on the summit of another great dorao, this time overlooking the capital of the Zoraï people. The Temple-City had been built almost three centuries earlier inside an immense crater-like node of the Bark, like so many others in this labyrinthine region of the Jungle. The knot's circular flanks rose steeply to a height of around two hundred meters, and were overhung by a thick wall. In 2328, while the War of the Aqueduct was in full swing, the troops of the Fyros Empire arrived at the gates of Zoran in an attempt to bypass the Matis' southern front, and, as Emperor Krythos was convinced that the Theocracy was allied with the Kingdom of Matia, they tried to force their way through its ramparts. Unable to do so, and harassed by the Zoraïs Self-Defense Forces, the Imperial Army resolved to besiege and pound the capital with its powerful artillery, before setting off again a few days later to the north, where its main objective was. Observing the ruined state of the city walls from afar, Pü knew at once that Zoran had not escaped the cataclysm. If the city had always been able to repel homin invaders, it had been no match for the despicable insects from the depths of Atys... Examining in greater detail the closed doors and the large breach through which he intended to infiltrate, Pü noticed that some structural damage seemed to have been caused by deflagrations, as if the Zoraïs Self-Defense Forces had used powerful explosives against the invaders, with no regard for the city's infrastructures. Unless, of course, this was the work of a type of creature Pü had not yet encountered. Finally, having checked the surrounding area one last time, and made sure there were no monsters patrolling the perimeter, the Zoraï descended from his perch and climbed up the side of the knot in the direction of the makeshift entrance he'd spotted. If the city was still inhabited, taking one of the twelve staircases leading up to its gates would have attracted far too much attention.

Once he reached the foot of the wall, Pü found confirmation of the explosive nature of the attack that had caused this part of the enceinte to collapse. The ground was blackened and hollowed out over a distance of some ten meters, and the thick section of wall had simply been reduced to dust. He doubted, however, whether Theocracy weapons had been responsible for the damage. For all he knew, the Zoraïs Self-Defense Forces didn't possess such firepower. As relations between the Theocracy and the Pü tribe were extremely tense, the latter kept a close eye on the development of the Theocracy's weaponry. Just in case. And its spies had never revealed the existence of such weapons. Stepping into the breach, Pü recalled the only time he'd ever been to Zoran, accompanying his mother to a congress organized by the Council of Elders and bringing together all the country's Kamist tribes. At the time, the city's alleyways were teeming with passers-by, some of whom had copiously insulted the emissaries of the “Cursed Strain” - whose tattooed masks they despised - as the guard escorted them to the meeting point. But from now on, if he wanted to, Pü could go wherever he pleased. No guard or passer-by could stop him. For in front of him spread a Zoran in ruins. A Zoran that smelled of death.

Overlooking the circular city, Pü gazed for a few seconds at the destroyed dwellings built on the inner flanks of the knot, then directed his gaze towards the Zo'laï-gong, the most imposing Kamist temple in the country, enthroned proudly at the bottom of the valley and the pride of its inhabitants. The Zo'laï-gong was a pyramid with a square base housing a maze of prayer halls, where bonzes and sages received their followers, trained their disciples and attempted to invoke Kamis, as well as the main offices of the central administration and the private apartments of the Great Sage Min-Cho and his advisors. The top of the pyramid was flat, forming the Grand-Place, where the Elders gathered to discuss with the people and where important meetings were organized. It was here, in fact, that the tribal congress was held, to which Pü's mother had been invited as a representative of her tribe, and which Pû had attended. In short, Zo'laï-gong was not only Kamism's first place of worship, but also the seat of central power and the country's main institutions.

To honor the Kamis and affirm the greatness of Zoraï civilization, two centuries earlier the Theocracy had undertaken the construction, overlooking the Zo'laï-gong, of a gigantic architectural work completed fifty years later: an inverted pyramid floating some twenty meters above the Grand-Place, on which a smaller amber pyramid rested. This monument, even more impressive than the temple it crowned, rested on ambers with electrostatic properties, enabling the immense structure to levitate. In this, it put into practice the knowledge that the Karavan had transmitted to the Zoraïs in the past. For this reason, it was abhorred by the tribe of Pü, who had always dreamed of its demolition. All the more so as it was not merely decorative. In fact, the monument also had a large shaft of light running through it, originating in the upper pyramid, designed to amplify astral light, and extending into the dark depths of the temple thanks to a complex interplay of mirrors. According to the tribe of Pü, this edifice also honored Jena, the Goddess of the Day Star. The usurping goddess who came from the sky, a stranger to Atys, whom the Zoraï Theocracy wrongly worshipped as the Supreme Kami.

So it was with a sense of joy that Pü, when he looked up at the Zo'laï-gong, saw the state of the temple. The pyramid was partially shattered, and the floating monument, once so majestic, was no more. In its place was an immense cloud of debris, made up of blocks of varying size, some of which, having lost their levitating properties, had crashed heavily onto the temple. Pü didn't know by what miracle the insectoid creatures had managed to demolish the heretical edifice, and as his indoctrinated mind was about to thank them in thought, he was painfully reminded of the fate the same had reserved for his tribe. If the swarm of monsters had invaded the whole of Atys, then every homin had been affected by it, through his own death or that of a loved one. Friend and foe alike. In such circumstances, did rejoicing at the misfortune of one's adversaries still make sense?

Still overlooking the city, Pü gazed pensively at the cloud of debris for several long seconds, then turned his attention to the Grand-Place. And as he gazed at the top of the pyramid, something suddenly caught his eye. Given the distance separating him from the temple, he couldn't make out what was currently on the Grand-Place. No matter how hard he squinted beneath his mask, he couldn't make it out. Yet a strange feeling had sprung up inside him, and was now gaining in intensity. What had caught his attention was not of the visual kind, but of the psychic kind. Of spiritual significance. Something was waiting for him at the top of the Zo'laï-gong. Something was calling him. Or rather, someone. Yes, someone. He was quite sure of it. Someone dear to his heart. But who? All those who mattered to him were gone. The Voice tried to tell him something, but, caught in a kind of hypnotic trance, Pü barely heard it. Throwing caution to the wind, he hurtled down then the city's alleyways, at full speed, swallowing up the miles without even looking at his surroundings. When reaching the foot of the Zo'laï-gong, he leapt up the staircase facing him and climbed the steps two by two. As on several occasions during his frantic race, the Voice tried to call out to him, but to no avail.

When Pü finally reached the top of the pyramid, he was out of breath. Focused on his objective, he had mismanaged his stamina and made poor use of the Sap that irrigated him. Leaning forward, his hands resting on his aching thighs, the Zoraï watched the center of the Taki-hay, panting. He was looking at the back of the one he had come to find. The first living homin he'd seen in several weeks... Given the mahogany color of his hair, he was certainly a Fyros. But was it the one Grandmother Bä-Bä had asked him to find? Pü's heart soared, and at the same moment, a hand grasped the scruff of his neck and the blade of a dagger slid against his throat.

"If you move, I'll sever your head from the rest of your body, is it quite clear? I don't want that to happen, so don't play dumb. The boss is going to be disappointed if I kill you."

From the way the dagger was held, Pü knew at once that his assailant was less experienced than he himself was. Nevertheless, he had had the merit of bringing him back to his senses. The voice inside him immediately echoed in his mind.

"So that's it! Despite my advice to be more discreet, you've been very careless, my boy! The barricades, the hanged soldiers, the barely cooled mass graves: the city is still populated! And not just by mere survivors, if you ask me."

Alerted by the threatening whisper of his acolyte, the Fyros turned around. Rather puny, he wore a long braided beard, and held a bottle of liquor in his hand.

"Anybody here? Hey, who're you?" gabbled the Fyros, obviously drunk.

"Come and help me, I've caught a big fish!" replied Pü's assailant.

Pü stared at the homin and wondered again if he really was the Fyros he was supposed to find. Drunk, the stranger took a clumsy step forward and accidentally dropped his bottle. Pü followed the object with his eyes, and it shattered on the floor of the Grand-Place. Right next to a small, motiononless black shape, previously masked by the Fyros' body. A black shape with a strange spear stuck in it. A deep black shape with two small white spheres imprinted on it. A Black Kami, impaled. Instantly realizing that the Fyros had nothing to do with the psychic call he'd heard, Pü was overcome by a feeling of anger. Had these homins dared to attack a Kami? Neither thinking twice, he grabbed the arm that threatened to slit his throat and broke its wrist to disarm it. With his free hand, he caught the dagger as it fell and threw it at the Fyros, who received it in full chest and fell backwards. Finally, he grabbed his attacker's bruised arm with both hands and swung him over his shoulder.

Casting his gaze for the first time on the face of the man who had attacked him by surprise, Pü recoiled and let go of his arm. That face, or rather mask, was riddled with deep scars. Worse still were his horns, all cut flush with the skin. If this wasn't the first time Pü had encountered a Zorai wearing this type of mutilation, he'd never imagined he'd come across one here. What was an Antekami doing to Zoran? Like the tribe of Pü, the Antekami formed a tribe violently opposed to the Zoraï Theocracy. A tribe populated by Zoraïs who had never been able to accept the National Story and way of life imposed by the Cho dynasty over the past centuries. Yet the two tribes were not allies. Far from it. Unlike Pü's tribe, the Antekami rejected not only Jena, but all Kamis. Where the Theocracy and the tribe of Pü could at least agree on their common love for the Kamis, the Antekamis shared nothing with their people, apart from this blue skin and this mask whose growth they had never been able to prevent. This mask they mutilated to death as a symbol. On closer inspection, the Antekami were the exact mirror image of the Theocracy. The very negation of the Zoraï people.

Full of hatred, Pü grabbed the Antekami by the throat and lifted him with one hand. He had to kill this heretic. According to the teachings he had received, there was nothing worse than an Antekami. They were the dregs of hominkind, and deserved to be exterminated to the last one. As if by reflex, Pü began to strangle the Zoraï who was trying in vain to free himself. Then he met his gaze. A gaze filled with terror. Inspecting the man more closely, he realized he was dealing with someone rather young. The Antekami must have been around fifteen.

"Is that really indispensable, my boy? Probe your heart, you don't want to."

As usual, The Voice had hit the nail on the head. His father and brother were gone. His mother and Grandmother Bä-Bä were gone. His tribe was no more. Did leading the Sacred War still make sense? Over the past weeks, the question had often haunted him. On his deathbed, Grandmother Bä-Bä had enjoined him to wage the Sacred War "in his own way". What did that mean? Pü stared into the Antekami's terrified eyes for a few moments, as if searching for an answer. And while he found none, he did know what he didn't want to do at that very moment: kill another homin. His last murders, dating back to the time of his exile in the Kingdom of Matia, still haunted him. Then Pü brought his mask close to the Antekami's own.

"Zoran has fallen, he whispered. Min-Cho and his band of Sages are certainly buried under the wreckage of Zo'laï-gong. The Theocracy is no more, so your fight is over. And if the Kamis have allowed you to escape death, it's only so that you can spend the rest of your life in an act of penance. I will respect their choice, and for this reason, I will not kill you."

With a powerful gesture, Pü threw the Antekami backwards, who collapsed piteously on the staircase leading to the top of the pyramid.

"My boy, instead of giving a sermon, to which you incidentally don't subscribe, you should have asked the young homin the reason for his presence here."

In reply, Pü strode confidently towards the Fyros. Still on the ground, this one had removed the dagger from his chest and seemed to be having difficulty using the powers of the Sap to heal his wound. Reaching his level, Pü knelt beside the wounded homin and plunged two fingers into his wound. The Fyros howled in pain. With his other hand, Pü grazed the Kami's fur. It was strangely stiff. The Kami was as if paralyzed. Statufied. Restrained by this black spear made of shiny material and criss-crossed with fine vertical and horizontal lines. Yet its two white eyes seemed to stare back at him.

"Who are you? he asked his victim without even looking at her. What are you and your comrades doing here, and what happened to that Kami? Please answer me!"

"Please don't kill me! moaned the Fyros. My name is Lygridos, me and the others escaped from Zoran's prison after the Karavan left! They pounded the city with their ships, half the prison collapsed! Fuck, it hurts, stop!"

"The Karavan? questioned Pü, taking his eyes off the Kami. What was the Karavan doing to Zoran? Was it the Karavan who attacked the Kami?"

"The Karavan came to help the people of Zoran flee! Many were evacuated in large transporters. Many others were left behind, like us! After the evacuation, they pounded the city to kill as many insects as possible, with no concern for collateral victims! I beg you, stop!"

At these words, Pü understood why the city was in ruins: the damage had less to do with the giant insects than with the action of the Karavan. He then wondered if the Kamis had also intervened.

"Tell me about the Kami! What was he doing to Zoran? What happened to him?" shouted Pü, digging his fingers in a little deeper.

"We don't know about the Kami! We found him in a street, in this condition! There were Karavan agents in bits and pieces next to him. We don't know what happened, but it wasn't us who planted him, I swear!"

Pü brought his free hand close to the shackle, grazing it with his fingertips, and felt his skull vibrate. The spear seemed to be acting on his life seed. He withdrew his fingers from the Fyros' wound, grabbed him by the collar and lifted him unceremoniously onto his feet.

"Do you know if any other Kamis were present at the time of the invasion? Did you come across any others?"

"No, no others! Neither living nor dead! We've discussed it amongst ourselves, and it seems that only the Karavan has stepped in to help the inhabitants. Please! We only brought it up here for fun!"

"For fun? I'll free him, and we'll see if you're lying. If so, you and your comrades will pay the price."

In response, the Fyros groaned and staggered towards the staircase where the Antekami had fallen. Pü waited for him to disappear before resting his gaze on the spear. Two feelings of anger filled him. Anger at the way these barbarians had treated the Kami, and anger that the Kamis hadn't deigned to save his loved ones.

"I strongly urge you not to touch that object, my boy. You expose yourself to the risk of suffering a fate similar to that of this Kami. Or even worse."

The Voice was certainly right. But as he stared once more into the Kami's frozen eyes, and despite the rancor inhabiting him at the moment, Pü knew he had no choice. He brought both hands to the spear, closed his eyes, calmed his breathing and thought again of the precepts his uncle had taught him when alive. As his skull began to vibrate again, one of them came to his mind.

"Ma-Duk offers us the ultimate pain so that no sorrow in the world can ever reach his soldiers."

He had never been close to his father, but he was by contrast close to his uncle. Ke'val was his master of arms. He was the one who had taught him everything, in martial matters, and who had made him an accomplished warrior. He was the one he should have succeeded. He was the one who had given him the keys that enabled him to endure the present pain. For the instant Pü grasped the spear, he thought his head would explode. Then waves of pain spread from his skull and flooded his entire being. Just like when his mask was growing. However, in reaction, his body reacted other way, and all his muscles froze instantly. He tried to free himself, but that only multiplied the pain. He was swimming against the current. However, he had no choice. So, as during the growth of his mask, he concentrated on his seed of life and accepted the sensation. It was familiar to him. He stopped swimming and dove into this ocean of pain. And, little by little, his hands clenched around the cursed object, he exerted a pulling movement. Millimeter by millimeter.

As the last inch of the spear was freed from the Kami’s body, the effect suddenly stopped and Pü was able to free his hands. In the end, it had taken him less than a minute to remove the shackle, although it felt like the torture had lasted for hours. Exhausted, he fell to his knees. As for the Kami, he spread into a puddle of black hair, in which the two white spheres floated. The divine creature had lost all consistency. Worried, Pü tried to interact with it, but the tumult that arose from the sides of the pyramid convinced him to concentrate above all on his own condition. Something was happening. The Zoraï stood up, staggered slightly, then tried to infuse Sap into his body. Unfortunately, he struggled to manipulate the flow that irrigated him as he wished. The pain had given way to a feeling of general numbness: his body responded poorly, his senses seemed altered and his thoughts were confused. As if his seed of life had not completely recovered from the curse of the shackle. And if his condition was slowly improving, he knew that he would never recover in time. Because the rising racket, which mixed voices and the sound of boots, was now within reach.

Pü glanced at the Kami, still flabby, then unsheathed his sword in his left hand and hung his buckler to his right arm. By sparing the two individuals, he had allowed them to go and get reinforcements. He had to assume the consequences and protect the divine creature at all costs. Trying to optimize the time he had left, Pü closed his eyes and concentrated as much as he could on his regeneration. Several homins had already reached the top, others were approaching him. He could hear them. When he finally opened his eyes again, about fifty individuals surrounded him. If more than half were Zoraïs, not all were Antekamis. As for the rest of the group, it was mainly composed of Matis and Trykers. The Fyros were minority, just like the hominas. With quick glances, Pü analyzed his opponents. Some wore prisoner outfits, and all were armed. However, only a minority had the appearance of fighters. One Antekami, in particular, stood out. Not because of the large bloated cross that tore his mask, but because of the attire he wore: an outfit made partly of pieces of a Karavan armor. Chuncky and rather small for a Zoraï, his hand clenched at the end of a muscular arm gripped the handle of a large club with a head bristling with thorns. Pü stared at the individual for a few seconds. It was the first time he saw a homin equipped as Karavan Agents usually are. In response, the latter bowed his mask and advanced towards the center of the circle. When he reached three meters from Pü, he placed the handle of his weapon on his shoulder and spoke. His tone was mocking.

"At first, I didn’t believe them. But in the end, it’s not surprising. Who else but you could have survived this catastrophe? I’ve never known anyone as tenacious as you, Sang."

Hearing his father’s name, Pü was at first astonished. How could he know his father, and more importantly, how could he take him for him? Then he remembered the mask he now wore. To honor the memory of his tribe and respect Grandmother Bä-Bä’s last wishes, he had accepted the title of Black Mask, and had tattooed himself accordingly. His mind still numbed by the shackle, Pü answered without asking himself any more questions.

"I’m not Sang, I’m his son. Who are you?"

"His son? So Sang passed the torch to his elder? I didn’t think I’d see that in my lifetime. I hope at least he died pitifully."

At these words, Pü’s jaw clenched. Not because the Antekami had insulted his father, but because he had confused him with his brother. His brother, who had always been destined to one day become the Black Mask. His brother, whom he could have saved that day… Pü pointed his sword at his interlocutor and asked his question again.

"Who are you?"

The Antekami laughed, raised his arms, and then spun around. His club seemed to weigh nothing.

"Who am I, guys?"

Then, in chorus, the circle of homins raised weapons and yelled.

"Zunak! Zunak! Zunak!"

The yells continued until the Antekami lowered his hands and took a step toward Pü.

"This is who I am. Did your father tell you about me?"

The answer was no. Pü had never heard of this individual. His tribe was at open war with the Antekami, so it was not surprising, after all, that his father knew some of his enemies. But at this moment, his identity mattered little to him. The Kami's condition did not seem to be improving, and he himself had not fully recovered. He had to think of a way out, and buy time.

"No, my father never told me about you. But I'd be curious to know more."

"Ah? I'm disappointed. I was one of the leaders of the Antekamis before I ended up in the hole. Your father and I had a... passionate relationship. We promised each other a lot of horrible things. Now, I'm the leader of this little gang. And also the new leader of Zoran."

"Is it because of my father that you ended up in prison?"

"Oh no, not at all. He would clearly have preferred to kill me." he said, taking another step forward.

Pü analyzed the posture of the so-called Zunak, who seemed ready to attack. Behind the Antekami, he surprised two prisoners nodding to each other. These were the Zoraï and the Fyros he had spared a little earlier.

"Is that my armor you’re looking at like that? the Antekami added. I recovered it from the body of a Karavan Agent seriously injured by a kitin."

"A kitin?"

"Yeah, that’s what the Karavan calls giant insects. So, the Agent was in really bad shape, he needed help. Of course, I didn’t help him. I simply recovered his equipment. Have you ever seen an Agent without armor? The most shocking thing was when I took off his helmet…"

The Antekami leaned on his club and stared at Pü without saying anything. In truth, Pü was intrigued. Like many, he had long wondered about the real appearance of the Karavan Agents. Like the four homin peoples, they had two arms, two legs and a head. They also mastered each of the Atysian languages ​​and generally exhibited homin ways of being and doing things. In this, it was much easier for many to identify with the Karavan Agents than with the Kamis, with whom it was often complicated to communicate. But the Kamis had the advantage of exposing themselves as they were to the world, while the Karavan Agents remained walled up under their impervious and cold armor. Zunak stepped forward and continued. He was now a meter away from Pü.

"In my opinion, there must not be many people on Atys who have seen the face of an Agent. There are two things that surprised me. The first is the feeling of familiarity. Looking at him, I had the impression of having always known what he looked like, even though he was neither Matis, nor Fyros, nor Tryker, and even less Zoraï. It was as if he belonged to another people of homins. It was really very strange. The second is the way he reacted..."

The Antékami paused and gripped the handle of his weapon more tightly. Pü, although hanging on his lips, was preparing his counterattack.

"From his look, I could tell he was terrified. And I quickly understood why. In fact, he didn’t last long. He started to suffocate, as if he couldn’t breathe. Or rather, as if the air he was breathing was poison. Because he quickly started to cough up blood. Then the whites of his eyes turned red and the skin on his face began to rot. To turn black. I would say that it didn’t even last a minute. Just before he died, hairs had grown through his dead skin, and I even had the impression that his skull was deforming. Then…"

And without warning, Zunak sent the head of his club towards the mask of Pü. Prepared, the latter bent his knees and easily dodged the attack. He then leaned on his buckler to free his left leg and sweep the Antekami's legs. As the latter collapsed heavily on the ground, Pü had already gotten up, ready to welcome his many adversaries, already rushing at him screaming. Even if he feared it, to protect the Kami, he was ready to kill.

"My boy, despite your skills, it is impossible for you, on your own, to triumph over fifty armed individuals. You must resolve to flee. You have little alternative!"

Flee? And abandon the Kami? It was unthinkable. However, the Voice was right. Especially since he had not yet fully recovered from the curse of the shackle. Because if Pü managed to incapacitate the first enemies who came into contact with him, he was quickly overwhelmed by a cloud of blades and spikes. In the confusion, he heard Zunak yelling at his henchmen not to kill him, that he wanted to take care of it himself. This probably explains why his chest and head were relatively spared, which was not the case for his limbs, lacerated on all sides. When two spears finally skewered his thighs, Pü was forced to give in and fell to his knees. One of the prisoners, more daring than the others, took advantage of the situation to plant his axe in his stomach. A flash of pain passed through the Zoraï's body, and his vision blurred. He had reached the limits of his endurance in manipulating the Sap. He was no longer able to heal himself. He should have fled. Come back later. For the Kami. Pü dropped his sword, and in a final burst, threw him a look. It was then that the divine creature went into convulsions.

Dans une vision dérangeante, un tentacule noir surgit d’elle et transperça d’un coup précis le cœur du porteur de la hache. Puis la masse gonfla et d’autres tentacules suivirent. La confusion s’accentua et les hurlements guerriers se muèrent en cris de panique. Toujours cloué au sol, Pü se débarrassa des lances qui l’entravaient et chercha du bout de ses doigts son épée. Un Fyros s’effondra alors devant lui. Lygridos, le soûlard qu’il avait épargné. Dans sa tête, la Voix lui hurlait quelque chose. Mais Pü ne l’entendait pas. Il était totalement sonné par la boucherie chaotique qu’était devenue de combat. D’autant que le Fyros hurlait lui aussi. De peur et de douleur. Il hurlait la perte de ses jambes, totalement prisonnières du Kami. Ou plutôt de l’ignoble fente bardée de dents qui avait pris forme sur son corps gonflé.

"My boy, you must touch the Kami! He asks you! Can’t you hear him?"

Touch him? Hear him? Although he wasn’t sure he understood what the Voice wanted to tell him, Pü obeyed. He grabbed his sword, leaned on it to get up, and stepped over the Fyros, whose howls of pain had turned into cries of agony. While most of the homins had fled the Grand-Place, some were still there, including the young Antékami he had lectured. He was struggling with a tentacle trying to strangle him. Fearless, Pü slowly stretched out his hand towards the monstrous creature, never ceasing to stare at the Antekami. He was frozen with fear. In the end, he should have killed him. His death would have been gentler. As soft as the black fur of the Kami, whose hairs he had just grabbed. As soft and warm as the wave of Sap that had just passed through him. At that moment, Pü thought that the Kami was healing his wounds. Then sparkling amber lines superimposed themselves at the Antekami’s mask. Then at his body. Then at everything Pü was focusing his gaze on. The Kami, in particular, had traded his black fur for a dazzling suit of light. Confused, the Zoraï stared at him for a few seconds, then raised his head. In the sky of Atys, the roots of the Canopy had transformed into flaming, beating arteries. Pü followed them with his eyes until he found the Great Mountain, also filled with light, and whose base was lost in the sparkling sea that the jungle had become. It was when he lowered the mask that he understood that the alteration affected living matter above all. The City of Zoran, and especially its buildings, shone much less than the trees that lined its wide wall. The phenomenon was accentuated as the less bright elements of his field of vision faded, benefiting the most incandescent branches of the luminous network that he could now clearly distinguish. The hallucinatory vision was amplified when Pü looked at his feet. Realizing that he was now able to see through matter, he was seized by a terrible vertigo and nearly fell. Standing on the void, he observed new flamboyant and beating arteries, similar to those of the Canopy, located this time in the depths of Atys. They all seemed to irrigate the Jungle with their heat. And they all seemed to have their source in the same place. A place located at the center of everything, several thousand kilometers away. A pulsating globe, composed of light, even more dazzling than the cursed star of Jena. The sparkling heart of the world. Ma-Duk. Amazed, Pü stared at the abyssal star. It burned his retinas. Then, a liturgical chant rose. It was time for him to leave. Time for him to join it. Then, Pü tilted forward and sank into the Zo’laï-gong, as if his body had lost all consistency. In any case, that was the feeling he had before losing consciousness.

— Belenor Nebius, narrator

Шаблон:Портал The Great LibraryШаблон:Портал Zoraï