position to attack. And
second…” Brian coughed, holding back his vomit. “I’m not feeling the best right
now.”
“Alright,”
Kivi said. “By the way, who was it that provided us with cover fire?”
Brian
looked up. He saw Seles and Mira were gone. “We were being watched by two
angels, one with silver blue hair and the other with pink.”
Kivi
looked at the handy work of Seles’s sniper fire. “She’s a good shot.”
Brian
looked unwell. “Well Kivi, let’s get back to the apartment complex.”
* * *
Brian
parted ways with Kivi as she went into her apartment. “Take care,” she said as
she went inside.
“You
too,” he said before going to his apartment.
He
flipped out his key card and inserted it in the slot next to the door. It
opened. The interior was dark. He stumbled in a few steps and promptly passed
out on the floor in front of the door. The lights came on to reveal Mira,
Seles, Baed, and Jesela. The four walked over to the unconscious Terran,
looking annoyed.
“Did
he drink more on the way back?” Mira asked.
Seles
knelt down and brushed his face. “No, he was this drunk during the fight.”
“What
are we going to do now?” Baed asked.
“Maybe
we should get him to his bed. I don’t think he’d like to sleep on the floor all
night,” Jesela suggested.
Seles
motioned for Mira to go to his feet. “Let’s roll him over and get this armor
off.”
Mira
did as Seles asked and the pair rolled him onto his back.
Seles
reached under the chest plate and pressed a switch. The exoskeleton folded out
a little bit and gave them a chance to slide him out of the frame.
“He’s
heavy,” Mira said to Seles as they carried him to his bed. Afterwards she and Mira
went back into the other room.
“I
think we’ll have to do this tomorrow,” Seles said to the other three.
“Well,
the Char Dom is a two night tradition,” Mira said.
“We’ll
just have to tell twice as many stories tomorrow evening,” Jesela added.
“Or
we could just start when he wakes up,” Baed suggested.
“Let’s
get some sleep,” Seles said. “We can discuss what we’re going to do tomorrow.”
Chapter 7 - Char Dom
Man,
I don’t feel sick at all. Technology is great. Brian thought
to himself. He wore the brown pants from the day before, but his shirt and
other clothes were gone. He opened his eyes and found himself on top of the
bed, covered with black sheets and matching pillows. The bedroom had white
walls and a white ceiling. To his left was a wall of windows. The morning sun
shined through brightly. He sat up cross-legged and noticed he wasn’t alone. Starting
from the right to left at the foot of his bed stood Seles, Baed, Jesela, and
Mira. Each wore a translucent dress matching their respective hair colors.
“Good
morning,” the four said in unison with smiles.
He
ran his hand through his hair. “Good morning to all of you.”
They
moved around the bed. Seles stood to his right with Mira to his left. Baed and
Jesela stood at the corners. After a moment each took a deep breath and
chanted: “ Char Dom, se jent ko.”
“Alright,
not that it’s not a bad thing to see all of you first thing in the morning like
this, but what are you doing?” he asked.
Mira
stepped forward. “This ritual is called the Char Dom . Since you’ve only
had a room on the Avoni up until now we haven’t been able to hold a proper
ritual.”
“How
does this ritual work?” he asked.
“Basically,
when a Rakna Maigar is newly anointed the Char Dom takes place,”
Seles explained. “Traditionally it begins on the first evening the Maigar returns home. Unfortunately you were too drunk last night.”
“Sorry
about that,” he said.
Baed
and Jesela bowed. “We’re going to start breakfast,” Jesela said as the pair
left.
Brian
ran his hand through his hair again before standing up. “Could either of you
tell me more about this?”
“To
put it simply, the Char Dom is a greeting ceremony