It’s the twelfth day now
I’m on my usual break, waiting for my mana to regenerate back.
Something I’ve been forced to do after tirelessly building the wall
Building, resting
Building
Resting.
And I have to say, building the wall has been going...
Okay.
I’ve got proficient enough to build the wall without wasting to much mana.
Making it noticeably easier to build
But ehm.
I really don’t see me building a wall big enough to fit a few thousand centaurs.
And don’t even think about the fact that I’m supposed to make it big enough for a hundred thousand
How do they expect me to do this?
Even trying to ask for some help makes them look at me funny.
Like I’m stupid for asking.
You are stupid for being stupid!
Anyway.
Speaking of stupid
The army has grown bigger
Groups of centaurs has been steadily streaming in for the past twelve days
Making me steadily lose faith in how I’m supposed to build the wall
And growing the numbers of centaurs from a thousand, to multiple thousands
Maybe even tens off thousands
It’s hard to count when there’s no official leader or government.
Oh yeah
They have no central leaders.
No Government
No way to organize a defence against this
Swarm?
...
“How are you guys supposed to defend this stepp?”
I asked the silvery centaur for the fifth time.
Receiving the fifth same answer.
“We have the- you call well?”
She stretched in place, answering nonchalantly without focusing on me.
“It’s called a wall. But I mean, just having a wall won''t help you, if you can''t organize a proper defence.”
She stopped her stretching, looking down on me with a funny expression
One where you found the individual talking incrediblystupid.
A look I’ve grown accustomed too during these twelve days.
“God say we need wall. No mention of orgonoise”
My face turned gloomy.
“I understand, but your god also told you to defend step at all costs, right?”
“Yes”
Fiddling with her hair as she absentmindedly responded
“Okay, then should you guys not use all means to make your defence better?”
Still playing with her hair, she answered without looking to me.
“Yes”
“Sooo, can''t you guys form a solid plan on how to defend the stepp and work together?”
“No”
Still playing with her hair, not looking at me
Looking at her hands.
Making me fume a little on the inside
Something that has not been a first for me.
I’ve learnt that trying to have a proper conversation with her only leads to suffering.
I’ve probably aged a hundred years during these twelve days
A moot point when you consider I’m immortal now
I think.
I let a big sigh seep out, letting my eyes rest on her silvery armour.
“Why not”
I asked, letting a bit of my frustration seep out
She, in turn, looked at me like she had teased her parent.
But quickly switched to a serious expression.
“We have no leaders, we are free individuals of free mind.”
She turned to look around
“We here only to defend.Our choice. ”
Then looking down to me.
“We not work togheter,choose tofight ourselves.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
She says this, but she’s obviously some sort ofleader.
Whenever she says something, the other centaurs follows
Whenever she moves, others follow her.
She even getsrespect from those that have come from outside, the smaller groups.
Her words sound very
Hypocritical.
“Then why is everyone here?”
“To defend stepp”
“It was a rhetorical question. No, they are here because their god has told them.”
“Yes”
My eyebrow roseup
“Then how can you say that they do it off their own free will?”
She rose an eyebrow in response
“Because they do”
“No, their god told them”
“Yes”
“Then they did not do it of-”
“They did”
Aaarg!
I don''t understand her!
How can she not understand what I’m saying?
She’s so goddamn stupid
How am I supposed to unite their clans if their leader is too stubborn to even know she’s a leader?
I took my eyes from her, looking around with furrowed brows.
Seeing the surrounding centaurs in groupsIf you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Talking amongst themselves, actively ignoring each other
Or glaring at one another.
I let out a big sigh.
At least, don''t start fighting each other
I have enough with building this wall.
I don''t wanna have to try tostop in-fighting.
Walking away from the silver centaur without a word
I left to search for my human friend.
Who seemed to thrive in this environment
Going from one group to another
Talking, laughing
Or, weirdly enough
Fighting.
But her fights always ended with laughter or a joking punch to the chest.
Although the first time it happened, I’m embarrassed to say, I over reacted.
Creating a section of the wall that was not connected to the rest
And making some look to me with
Awe in their eyes?
Or maybe just anger
Hard to tell.
After walking around for a while, asking some centaurs for the location of a certain human
I finally found her.
Being in a position that I should be surprised about
But were not.
For I saw her arm wrestle with a centaur.
How?
Well
The centaur was lying on its side, making it possible to use the ground as leverage.
Why?
I wanted to ask, but felt like I would get a stupid answer in response.
So I merely stood back and watched.
Both of their faces had turned a bright red colour.
Arms swelling in size.
Weins popping out on both of their arms
And their expression lookingcomical.
One looked to the sky with a mouth firmly closed
And the other seemed to try tobreak their teeth while their eyes almost popped out.
Both weredrenched in sweat
Almost forming a small puddle in-between their arms.
I leaned forward a bit, closing in on a nearby centaur who was watching
“How long have they been at it?”
The centaur answered without looking back
“The past ten minutes”
Ten minutes?
Wow, either they are both very strong.
Or very weak
Hard to tell from here
But one thing I knew, both of them must have a huge amount of stamina.
A few minutes later, and the human crumbled beneath the big centaur
Seemingly falling down on her face
Looking a bit shocked.
The centaur in turnlept to the air, shouting out a victories cry, getting the surrounding centaurs to join in on the shouting.
She quickly got up on her feet and shouted for a rematch
But got funny looks from the gathered centaurs
And a smug smile from the victories centaur.
I moved up, letting a hand rest on her shoulder.
But she seemed to not notice, a big frown on her face.
“It’s not fair! My hand slipped, I demand a rematch!”
The victorious centaur spoke up, sporting a big smug smile.
“Humans are weak, centaurs are strong.”
To that response, she seemed to fume by the ears.
“No! Humans are not weak. I’m just not the strongest!If I had put more time in trainingstrength, you would have been spaghetti!”
“Human just speak weak talk, I’m too strong for you. ”
“NO! I said I slipped, this does not count. I’m not weak! REMATCH!”
“Human is weak, no rematch”
“I wan-“
They continued back and forth.
No one really saying anything worthwhile.
But both talking nonetheless
Oh
It seems like this was not just a friendly arm wrestle match.
But some sort ofspecies vs species match?
I think
At least judging from the surrounding centaurs
Who seemed oddly invested in the arm wrestle match.
They had also moved behind the victorious centaur
Taking positions that isolated the human
As the group mimicked the victorious centaurs smug smile.
And believe me
Seeing a hundred smug faces looking down on you is not
A nice experience.
“Human, we can have race”
The victorious centaur spoke
Getting a whisper of yes’es from the group behind him.
“NO! You guys are cheaters, you have four legs th-“
“Cheaters? you call us dishonorable”
“No, you are just chea-“
But before she could finish, I felt a change in the atmosphere.
Some word seemed to have turned everything from a fun game.
To a deadly match.
I need to stop this.
“Hey, calm down. Let’s just walk away from here and take a breather”
I said, letting my arm on her shoulder squeeze harder.
Which finally made her notice me
Looking angry, seemingly not bothered by the hundreds of eyes on her
And seeminglyignorant of how she changed the atmosphere.
“You stay out of this! This is a matter of pride. ”
“Yeah, maybe it is, but you lost fair and square.”
“I did not! I slipped!”
Turning back to the victorious centaur
Who stared back, moving forwards with vicious eyes.
And speaking before the human could
“Are you calling me cheater?”
Hand resting on the side of a sword, smile smug, eyes glaring.
I took a step back, bringing my bow forwards, slowly
The gathered centaurs seemed to notice the shift in atmosphere.
Some even bringing their swords out
But
The human failed to notice.
“No, I slipped, we have to do it again!”
She said, repeating her words like a lunatic
Eyes angry
But holding her arms comically on her side.
Not reallytaking the situation serious
But failed to see how serious the situation was.
In a flash, faster than most would be able to perceive
The victorious centaur frowned
Raising his arm with a sword in hand.
But I was faster.
Bringing my bow up
Arrow on hand, ready to let loose
Everything happening in the matter of a second
But
A strong wind swept into the gathered centaurs
Making everyone fall over, swords clattering to the ground, shouts of confusion
The only one standing was the human who just looked around confused.
And me, bow still in hand but arrow far, far away
Then a familiar voice.
“No fighting the human. She is propheciesed to help with flat mountain.”
The silver centaur strode into the small clearing.
Which had formed to a semicircle by a vast amount of centaurs
Gathered by the loud commotions.
A few seconds of silenced passed
But eventually, the victorious centaur rose.
Eyes red with anger, but also
Anguish.
“The human call me cheater! She bring me nothing but shame in the face of defeat”
The silver centaur looked down on the human
Asking a simple but powerful question.
“True?”
In which she looked up
A bit confused, but seeminglyunderstanding that she might have messed up.
Or she’s just very confused.
Either way, her response was the same.
“No, I just wanted a rematch because my hand slipped”
The silvery centaur looked back to the victorious centaur
“Why you can''t fight again? Humans are very much weaker than us, there should be no problems.”
The victorious centaur took his eyes from the human, looking towards the silvery centaur
Bending down, hands clasping around the dropped sword
Eyes narrowing, looking between sword and centaur, sizing up.
Measuring.
“You calling me weak?”
The silver centaur yawned, looking like she’s been through this a hundred times
“No, I’m calling you coward”
Then, in the span ofa second
She brought her sword up, faster than even I could perceive
And knocked the sword out of the victorious centaurs hands
Making him stumble backwards, both eyes going wide
Looking, startled
And a bit terrified.
“This human is under my protection. She is weak.”
“Hey!”
The human responded, but getting ignored.
“Those that choose tofight her do so with the knowledge that we centaurs are superior in every way. Any faul play will be looked down upon and every loss shall be treated with respect.”
The silver centaur spoke with a practised authoritarian voice.
Getting a chorus of yes and nods from the gathered crowd.
Who seemed to have moved away from the victorious centaur
Instead, inching their way towards the back of the silvery centaur.
“Anyone does anything else and I will personallyfight them to the death.”
Letting the last words settle in before she turned around
Human close behind
And me gawking for a few seconds before also running close behind.
“Do you have to be so dramatic? It was just a game.”
The human said, face beet red and looking down to the ground
“Yes, it’s more fun like this.”
The centaur spoke back, a big smile on her face.
“But why the death threat? I mean, can''t you just tell them off?”
I said, getting a raised eyebrow in response.
“I already said, it’s more fun”
The silver centaur spoke, looking down on me with that familiar expression
As if seeing someone stupid and feeling sad for them
You little..
But just as quickly as she held that expression
It turned childish.
Forming into a wild smile, almost spitting before me
“No just joking little funny homan. I merely want them to know that I’m the strongest.”
My face turning a bit exasperated.
And wide
As this was the first time she had joked with me.
A joke that felt a little
Silly.
I quickly shook myself from the joke.
Pretending to have not heard it
“What if someone called your bluff?”
“Bluff?”
She asked with wide eyes,
As if something like thatwas out of this world.
“I mean like, joking with me, lying to them... Making them believe something that you would not actuallydo”
Her face turning from confusion, to a bitmore comprehending
“Oh no. I not bluff. I kill if they try anything.”
I stared up at her
Searching for a joke
Not seeing one.
But then...
What was the joke?
But before I could ask
I realised something.
Something that should have made me scared
But made me merely confused.
“What? You would kill one of yours?”
“Yes”
“Why?”
I asked quickly.
“I’m free to do what I want. They are too”
And got a quick response in return.
Turning the conversation quiet
Making me think
Think of one simple thing
Their culture is weird.
No
It’s horrendous.
There is no control.
No government.
No security.
Just...
Anarchy?
Or would they call it freedom?
I don''t understand it
How am I supposed to help them when I don''t understand them?
There''s so little I-
But before my thoughts could form properly.
The human came forward.
Giving me a light, but empathic pat on the back.
“Dont think too much about it, they are nice.. Horses. Just accept their weirdness and you’ll have a nice time.”
She said, looking at me with a wide smile.
Making me smile back
Hehe
Thanks
Sometimes, it’s nice to just
Not think.
I guess?
“Thanks”
I quietly said, almost a whisper.
She smiled wider.
“Hehehe, dont think about it. This place is weird, but it’s still fun. And all this talk about Swarm and the upcoming death and blabla just makes me nervous.”
She looked up to the sky
Eye’s wandering through it
But body staying still.
“So you know what I do?”
Letting her eyes rest on the sky,
But hands dance above her head
Forming small circles in front of her eyes
“Sometimes you just gonna live in the moment, you know.”
She said
Still looking up
Seemingly.
Searching.
“Life can shoot weird arrows at you, but you just got to take them, dance with them, feel their rhytmn as you continue marching forwards.”
She then looked down.
A wider smile than before
Eyes almost glittering
But looking a little moist.
“I’m reallythankful for being here, with you, with every centaur here. Even if the danger is coming, I’m still happy that I’m here.”
She let her hand go up above her head.
Resting behind her head, leaning backwards into an invisible wall.
Eyes closing.
“Dont think too much about it. If the wall is made, awesome. If not... eeeh. Uniting the clans? What if we fail? It’s not like we are responsible for their entire race’s fate.”
She then looked down on me
Eyes locking into mine
Making me shy away
Looking down to the ground.
“I’m just happy we are together. I’m happy I’m alive. I’m happy that I’m not alone.”
Eyes seemingheavy
Thoughts heavy
She stared at me
Smile wide
But not meeting her eyes.
“Oh hehe sorry. Just, tell me when you need help. I’m here for you!”
Saying that, she moved forward
Jogging a bitfurther ahead
Past the silvery centaur, waving at a centaur up front
A centaur I recognised
A very handsome looking male centaur
Who seemed to be extremelyhappy at being seen by the human.
Waving a little too fast, before awkwardly pulling it down fast, looking around himself to see if someone saw his unmanly performance.
And meting my eyes
Narrowing as he tried to see if I had seen
Which I had.
Smiling smugly at him
Getting a horrified response in return.
Hehe
Maybe she’s right
You gotta take pleasure in the small things.
Yeah
You should...
I should.
Entertainment is not forever
And you never know when you find yourself drowning.
Drowning in your own mind.
Something I would find quiet common in the coming weeks
An experience I would wish I would have never found.
Small things seem unimportant
But you would be surprised by how much you remember.
Even those that seem bad.