Aliases are alternative forms of a reference. They can include actual aliases for characters, nicknames, plural variations, gendered versions of some [Classes], and even typos.
“I dropped it once, okay? It’s not bad, no! And as for cutting it in half—I thought I saw a Shield Spider nest near me. They would have been over the kill—and me—in minutes. The hide’s fine. You can make boots out of what’s here. How much for it all?”
“You. You’re stinking up this place with dirt and filth. I can smell the things you’ve rolled in. You haven’t washed in—dead gods. I’m covered in Shield Spider guts and you smell worse! Take a bath before you come back here.”
One Soldier landed and crushed a Shield Spider with his feet. Then he turned and grabbed another one. It bit at his arm, tearing into his thick carapace, but he ignored the spider’s fangs. The Soldier smashed the spider repeatedly into the ground. The Shield Spider had an exoskeleton like armor, but after the ninth crushing blow the bulbous abdomen split and goo poured forth.
“He wasn’t ever good! He was always a monster! He’d push me into Shield Spider nests, make me run for miles without rest, hit me, abandon me in the middle of nowhere for hours…he was your skeleton, but you never controlled him! At all!”
The two regarded each other. Ryoka warily, Belavierr as if…Ryoka was a perplexing obstacle. She didn’t seem to need to blink except when she chose. Ryoka took another breath.
She turned and gestured. Only then did Ryoka notice the horse. It was standing in the forest, pawing the ground and snorting quietly. It was a giant of an animal. Ryoka stared. How had she missed it? Belavierr turned and walked towards it. The animal had no saddle, but she hoisted herself up without missing a beat.
Belavierr looked flatly at Ryoka and repeated the line word for word, without emotion or inflection. So saying, she turned, and the horse began to walk ahead, down the road towards Riverfarm. Ryoka thought that was it. But the woman remained turned in her seat.
Staring at Ryoka. Her ringed eyes never left Ryoka’s face. And the young woman was held by the gaze. The horse walked forwards, but Belavierr kept staring. For a minute, three, seven—until she was a distant shape heading towards Riverfarm. Only then, far, far in the distance, did she turn.
A distant horse and rider were heading towards the village. Ryoka stared at Belavierr’s back. At the dead people. Then she looked down the road. She could run. She could leave. But—Charlay was in Riverfarm. She’d taken the request. And Belavierr wasn’t the three strangers in the forest. She wasn’t Az’kerash. Or Teriarch. Or Ivolethe.
A distant horse and rider were heading towards the village. Ryoka stared at Belavierr’s back. At the dead people. Then she looked down the road. She could run. She could leave. But—Charlay was in Riverfarm. She’d taken the request. And Belavierr wasn’t the three strangers in the forest. She wasn’t Az’kerash. Or Teriarch. Or Ivolethe.
Then she ran towards Riverfarm. When she arrived, it was in time to see Belavierr walking down the main street. And as Ryoka drew closer, she felt the same presence. The same feeling that the shadows were moving around her.
