A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

His hands spread out over the armrests of the chair, and his indigo eyes stared at the mage kelremm. Stone broke under Alpontus's fingertips, and he slowly rose from his seat. Icniss appeared as though he might rip off the heads of Tarhuinn and her, but (f/n) didn't care. What mattered was that they had two less authors to concern themselves with. "Take a seat, Icniss. They'll be punished properly for this crime, and you can administer it to her husband. I'm sure that you can keep him better secured."

Reluctantly, the mage did so, and a sickening grin spread over his lips as he met Tarhuinn's gaze. To spite him, Tarhuinn looked away and rolled his eyes. Immediately, water slammed against the side of his face and forced him to face the mage. "You'll learn to respect me. You killed my father, and I intend to make you suffer for it."

"You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep." Another wave of water met him, and (f/n) was tempted to signal Tarhuinn to stop antagonizing him, but she found that she couldn't. Tarhuinn was right in not showing the mage any form of respect; he didn't deserve it, nor was he worthy of an apology.

"Icniss, enough," Alpontus ordered, starting to walk towards her. "You'll have plenty of time later." She visibly tensed in her seat, and Tarhuinn's eyes followed his every move. A smirk rested on Icniss's lips. The head author's hands rested on her shoulders, and low growl could be heard from her husband. "Did I ever tell you why the rest of the kelremm population began the tradition of killing themselves after their first partner? Not only was it having to go through the suffering of losing a loved one but also it was because their children were being killed off too. Everything from their previous partners was wiped out from existence."

Squeezing her shoulders some, he lowered his lips to her left ear. "I intend to do the same to you. You'll experience years of suffering by means of using the tree's life-giving ability."

"And, just how were their children killed off? Were you behind that? It wouldn't surprise me if you committed such an atrocity," she barked back, spitting on his face in the process.

A look of disgust swept across his countenance, and he wiped it off using the back of his right hand. Skin collided with skin, and she knew that a bruise would form on her left cheek. Tarhuinn tried to get out of his chair, but water slammed him back down completely. "You're lucky that I know how to restrain myself. Otherwise, you would've lost a few teeth, human, but I need to keep you pleasing to the eye."

Moving away from her, he leaned back against the table to her left. He deliberately kept his back to Tarhuinn as a way to demonstrate that he wasn't important for the moment. "I didn't kill them. Some of those were my own grandchildren. My children were spared by the graces of Cian, our lovely father if you will." His sarcastic tone said otherwise. "All of my children but one, however, killed themselves later or went off with the rest of the kelremm when this policy ended and are dead now."

"And, just what was this policy?" she asked, not that she cared. It was more to buy time for them. She was in no rush to be tortured, nor did she desire to have Tarhuinn in that room again.

"The wizard, Cian, had made a long-term agreement with a nearby kingdom. They would provide him with resources, and he would create them a weapon for battle. This kingdom happens to have shores on all sides of it but one, but on that side there are massive mountains that an enemy would have to traverse, and the passages aren't large enough for an army to cross efficiently. Most of an army would die as well from the cold weather of those peaks. Naturally, it makes more sense to attack from the sea, then.

"As you've seen, kelremm are quite the fighters and perfect for shoreline battles. So once we were created, he had raised us and, at the age of eighteen, he had started to have us breed. That's when he had discovered that kelremm could only produce a child with a human and that human life energy was needed to keep the child healthy. Despite us being part human ourselves, it hadn't been enough, and that remains the same today.

"We would have children with our human partners, and the humans would pass on. Our children had done the same, and their children were used as the first fighters for that kingdom. They had performed marvelously in battle, but the kingdom had demanded more and more. That's when kelremm had begun to grow weary and furious. We were only having children so that they could be killed in battle eventually.

"Even Cian had noticed the ill treatment of us, his creations, and he had put a stop to it. He had cut off his agreement with the kingdom, but they hadn't accepted that. They had refused to give back the still living kelremm. So, he had taken the five of us to the kingdom, and we had devastated them before we had guided the other kelremm back to this place. Frankly, his late response, though, left a tear in his relationship with us. It also had left a separation in the kelremm."

Pushing himself off of the table, he glanced back to Tarhuinn. "He's one of the results of the other side. Most of the returning kelremm had wished to have only one human partner and end their life afterwards to save themselves from the pain of loss. This group had happened to be a majority of the kelremm at the time, so the five of us couldn't stop them. We had looked to Cian, but he instead had offered to help them build a new home in the mountains while the rest of us had stayed here.

"We had found it much more beneficial to us to end having relationships with human partners or if we did have one to not treat it as serious. They were to be used if we needed more kelremm to watch the other group. This way, there wouldn't be any unneeded heartbreak. It's still terrible to lose a human partner, but you find yourself growing numb after so many."

"Your treatment of humans is deplorable. No wonder Cian didn't support you," she commented, her voice harsh and strong.

"It was his mistake. He left his angered children behind, and we formed our vast spy network in his absence. We studied his research, we found the tree that he had thought that he had hid so well, and we had captivated his daughters. When he had returned after several years, we had paid him his dues.

"His daughters had helped us to kill him, but they were more true to their father than us; they had wished him a quick end. We had promised him a swift death if they had agreed to give us two mages. The bargain had been struck, and we had executed our plan. Cian's body had been disposed of, and two years later his daughters had joined him."

Head falling forward, (f/n) couldn't believe what she was hearing. If the authors were dreadful before, they were now the definition of despicable and cruel beings. Their hatred consumed them to a point beyond the edge of reason. "You make me sick. You killed those who helped you as well."

"They were only humans. They're only good for children and, maybe, some entertainment; they're worthless otherwise. Besides, his daughters supported our views. They were willing to be brainwashed into our ideas even though they were contradictory to their own well being. It's not our fault that they were foolish."

"Maybe, but it's your fault for killing them. You still killed those who trusted you. You broke their trust, like Cian broke yours."

Laughing, Alpontus closed the distance between them and rested his hands on her left arm. "You compare us to him? That's childish. He could've prevented so much death if he had distributed the energy from the tree beforehand, but he had kept it to himself and had allowed many to die. Then, he had acted as though he had cared for all kelremm."

"Why, you just showed that you're similar to him," Tarhuinn chuckled out. Water slammed against him, but he kept laughing. "Apparently, your hatred also made you the fool." Narrowing his eyes, Alpontus made to stride over to him.

"He's right. All this time, you have kept the serum to yourselves; it sounds like you haven't even given it to your spies. You've allowed countless kelremm to die with their partners over the years, rather than give a small dose to each kelremm family to allow them even a few more years of life with their partner. Not only this but also you kill any suspecting kelremm or human that tries to search for you, and you've committed a whole complex to absolute fear of your presence.

"If anyone's worthless, you are," she declared, looking to both Alpontus and Icniss. "You're deliberately demeaning and snuffing out life. If you support such polices commit them upon yourselves; you have no right to force them upon others."

Alpontus shared a look with Icniss, and a scream left her. Her ankles and wrists burned, and she could feel tears prick at the corners of her eyes. Tarhuinn nearly wrenched one of his wrists free, but Icniss strengthened the bond. "And, you'll learn your place, human," the head author ordered.

"I know my place, and it's not as your breeding stock!"