《Zenith: Journey to the top》 Mini Surprise ¡°I bet it¡¯s all lies. I bet they just say that to keep us away from the logging operations. We¡¯ll go in there and kill one- bring back a head. Then we¡¯ll be drowning in the Morians, no? A little surprise for that bastard top hat¡± ¨C excerpt from a letter found on the mangled body of a wanted poacher in the Minnian swamps- It was addressed to his lover.
It stunk. That was my first thought as I woke up, my eyes seeming to take an eternity to focus. This task was not made easier by a disgustingly painful headache and a feeling like my guts were twisting in on themselves. I pulled myself to a standing position and instantly puked, the droplets splattering on my boots and the marshy ground at my feet. Judging from the humidity and the swarm of biting insects hovering excitedly around my face, I was in a swamp. Lesson number one of any swamp: Never simply endure the bites, swamp insects carry nasty diseases and have no qualms about sharing their gifts with you. I did not want to be stuck wandering through a swamp in the middle of nowhere suffering the debilitating effects of a fever, or worse. Hold on, I have no idea where I am. I was stunned. Try as I could, I couldn¡¯t remember who I was either. My headache throbbed, intensifying each time I probed my mind¡¯s depths. It was infuriating! Can¡¯t dwell on that now though, I thought, scanning the environment. First I had to make my way out of the swamp. I daubed mud on the exposed skin of my wrists and face to at least partially protect myself from the biting insects. It was a good thing I had good, water-tight boots on. Did I put them on knowing I¡¯d be coming to a swamp? Was my being here planned or an unlucky accident? I shook my head as if to clear those thoughts away. Now was not the time, besides I doubted that I would be so bereft of supplies if this was a planned trip. My first order of business was to secure a weapon. There were no suitably large trees from which I could break a branch off from in my immediate vicinity so I set off to find one-walking towards the sun as I lacked even a compass to guide my directions. Calling the footing ¡®treacherous¡¯ would be a huge understatement. The consistency of the muck beneath me seemed to be different with every step, one second being firm enough to take the edge off my fevered concentration, the next sucking in a foot and showing a great reluctance to release its prize. It was getting increasingly obvious that I would die in this swamp without extreme luck or external help. The landscape was nigh featureless and the need for me to constantly watch my footing robbed me of any ability to note the few landmarks. As a result, I was merely going around in circles, my aimless wandering accompanied by the discordant melody of a thousand different species of insect. It was exhausting, I had been wandering around the swamp for around three hours by my estimation and it was mid-afternoon. Alright, you¡¯re still fine. Rest up for a few minutes and you¡¯ll be up again. I was trying to stay positive but my inability to even find a measly stick to serve as a weapon was weighing on me. It certainly didn¡¯t help that the damned insects would not leave me alone. During the course of my wanderings some of the dried mud had flaked off and the smarter or luckier insects had gotten a few bites in. I patched up my mud ¡°armor¡± the best I could but if I was unlucky it was already far too late. I¡¯d end up fevered and raving in this forsaken swamp thanks to a few noisy bugs. Hold on Lost in my thoughts, I had not realized that the swamp was now deathly quiet and the cloud of insects buzzing around me had thinned. It was odd, but this was somehow much more terrifying than everything that had already happened to me, the back of my neck prickled and it seemed as if all my senses had sharpened. I was still trying to process all this when I heard a roar from a distance. Whatever had loosed that roar was at an immense distance and thus the roar was muted, however, the sound seemed to reach into my body and grip my heart tight. I was literally frozen still with fear even as I saw a massive flock of birds form on the horizon and darken the sky as they fled overhead, away from the dread thing that even now took flight behind them. The dragon was smaller than I expected considering all the commotion surrounding its emergence but it was still massive. It was at least sixty feet long, its hide rippling with dull green and brown scales. Its wings were similarly coloured and lacked scales, and its long, serpentine head was adorned with five horns, three of which formed a line along its snout. I was paralyzed with fear and could do nothing but watch as it descended and landed in the stagnant water in front of me. The resulting splash causing me to inhale the filthy liquid and fall to my knees spluttering. It slowly drew closer giving me a better view of its features. There were three black lines across its forehead flanked by two other, glowing vertical red lines and its yellow eyes glittered with a bestial intelligence as they focused on me with what seemed to be¡­recognition. It knows me...I thought as I got back to my feet. Strangely enough, I was no longer afraid, just very intimidated. The dragon seemed to recognize that with a snort that nearly knocked me over again, it turned its head while keeping an eye on me and blew out a stream of emerald energy from its mouth that seemed to linger in the air for a few seconds after the dragon was done. Seeing that I had noted the direction it blew the stream in, the dragon took to the air again with one flap of its wings, hovered for a few seconds to blow out another stream of energy in the same direction, and then flew off somewhat¡­ lazily. Well, who was I to argue with the giant magical lizard? I headed off in the direction the dragon had signalled, momentarily forgetting that I was in a treacherous swamp. That was a mistake. I didn¡¯t need to walk too much longer to find a copse of reedy, thin-looking trees. I fished around in the murky water near the roots for a branch that might have rotted off and eventually came up with a stick that was about four and a half feet long, conveniently tapered to a point at one end. I finally had a weapon. The next order of business was to find a patch of ground that wasn¡¯t totally drenched and perhaps build a fire. It was getting dark and anyone could tell you that the truly nasty swamp creatures are big fans of darkness. I found a small, elevated area through pure luck, rather than anything resembling skill.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. I was walking a straight path through the swamp in the dying light, without any deviations or turns when I spotted something that looked suspiciously like a large cedar to my left. I was correct. There was a small circle of mostly dry ground, raised slightly above the surrounding ground, like a hump in the back of the swamp if it was a camel. The irony in suggesting the swamp shared any characteristics with the environments in which humped animals were found didn¡¯t escape me. The raised circle was loosely surrounded by trees, the species of which I wasn¡¯t familiar with other than the cedar I had first spotted. It all seemed faintly suspicious to be completely honest, but at this point, I was tired and eager for the smoke from my fire to rid me of the insects that had plagued me since I woke up. It wasn¡¯t too hard to start a fire. The sticks I collected were dry and old and there was no shortage of them. This further raised my suspicions, but then again I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever been one for looking a gift horse in the mouth so I ignored it. I dug a small hollow for my fire, started it, then wearily laid my head against a nearby tree and drifted off to sleep. I really, really shouldn¡¯t have done that. There are few things worse than waking up from well-deserved sleep to find yourself looking down the maw of a very large serpent that¡¯s halfway through eating you. Very few. I woke up to see the snout of what appeared to be some sort of constrictor inches away from my face. This shitty situation was made worse by the fact that it had taken advantage of my unconscious state and wrapped itself around me with no resistance, crushing my body against the tree. It noticed I was awake and moved to finish me off by striking at my neck. I barely dodged the strike by leaning hard to my left and its snout smashed against the bark of the tree which allowed me a moment or two of respite to figure out how I was going to get out of the situation. My left arm was firmly squashed against my body and the constrictor¡¯s grip grew tighter every time I exhaled. My stick was close, on the ground next to my right hand and if I stretched I could probably reach it... The snake had recovered from its encounter with the bark of an evergreen tree and was now squeezing even tighter. I felt my eyesight start to fade as I lost any ability to draw air into my lungs. This was it, I was going meet my end here in this swamp, squeezed to death by an overgrown snake, without anyone here to witness it, without even knowing my own name. My body would probably be found in a decade or two, unidentifiable, no personal possessions besides my clothes and that stupid stick¡­if it hadn¡¯t rotted away yet. The stick! A flash of hope! I used the last of my strength to grab the stick and feeding on that hope, draining the little drop of hope for all it was worth, I jabbed at the constrictors tail, jabbed so hard that the tip of the stick splintered and broke. The constrictor uncoiled from me with a pained hiss and I was able to see it well for the first time. It was at least twenty feet long, yellow and brown, with black spots and red ridges down the middle of its body and at the side of its snout. The red ridges appeared to be faintly¡­glowing and I could tell at a glance that there was something very unusual about this snake. I couldn¡¯t stand, despite all my efforts. The only thing I could do was to point the broken stick towards the snake. An empty gesture, I wasn¡¯t any threat, I was just barely holding on to consciousness. Fortunately, the snake appeared to be unused to the idea of food that fought back so it turned around and fled into the swamp. It was terrible. I could barely use my left arm and judging by how much my torso hurt with each breath, one or two of my ribs were probably broken as well. It was early morning, perhaps an hour or two past dawn as I set back down the path the dragon had signalled. I had found a much longer stick amongst the trees and was now using it as a walking stick, limping my way through the fetid environment of the swamp. In a daze. Walking blindly in a straight line, with every step wracking my body with pain. I was contemplating giving up and letting nature take its course when I spotted what seemed to be¡­ smoke? Rising up from the horizon. I immediately set off towards it with renewed vigour. It¡¯s wondrous what a little hope can do for aches and bruises. In my haste, I tripped on a floating log and landed face first into the disgusting water. The ¡°log¡± then snapped at my ankle as I tried to get up. My terror soon turned to amusement as I looked at what had snapped at me. It appeared to be a very small crocodilian. At less than four feet long it was more of a caiman nuisance than a crocodile terror with the only slightly intimidating thing about it being that the protrusions on its back and tail were red and glowing softly, contrasting sharply with the dirty green colouration of the rest of its body. It charged at me with a roar that sounded too menacing to be coming from so small a thing. At another time perhaps, I might have been less likely to punt it ten feet across the swamp but I was tired and hungry and eager to see other humans even with there being a possibility that they were inclined towards cannibalism. It splashed into the water a few feet away from me and I turned around and walked on towards the smoke. I was brought up short by a sound behind me and received the shock of my life with the sight of the tiny reptile now standing upright on two legs and using its tail for balance. I was surprised to silence by that, I was even more astonished when the softly glowing ridges on its back began to flare with a savage red light and a small patch of water near the reptile began to ripple and rise, finally coalescing into two medium-sized balls of filthy water. Stunned speechless, my mouth hanging open, I was helpless to react as the lizard seemed to grin and the balls shot out towards me at an impossible speed. I could do nothing but accept my fate and grit my teeth as they sped towards me ¡­ and hit a barrier of earth that had risen up in front of me, inches from my nose. What just happened? I backed away and tripped again, landing a few feet behind the earthen wall that was even now receding back into the muck. The reptile looked just as surprised as I was but recovered fast enough to charge forward on a torrent of water. I rolled away desperately, filling my nose, mouth and eyes with water. I stood up and cleaned my face just in time to see three more globes flying at me only to be met by yet another muddy wall of earth. The globes hit with a mighty explosion of sound and in the ensuing silence the crocodile thing squealed with rage. The sight and sound of the little monster throwing a tantrum was too much to bear and I fell to the ground, bent double with laughter. That¡¯s right you little bastard! You can¡¯t hit me My smug attitude was uncalled for, I had no idea why he couldn¡¯t hit me either. My laughter was brought up short when the crocodile stamped its tiny foot down and I was launched into the air by a torrent of water. On my way down, while I was still confused and disoriented, two globes of water hit me dead center in my solar plexus. I was launched fifteen feet and only stopped by an old stump, the jarring impact nearly knocking me out there and then. I was conscious enough to see the victorious reptile flying towards me on a jet of water, murderous excitement in its eyes. It was perhaps, three or four feet away from me before what could only be described as a ¡°portal¡± appeared before me with a sound like a dozen sheets of paper tearing. The portal was semi-circular in shape and glistened with a soft purple light at its edges. The crocodile flew right into the portal and it closed, disappearing from view. A few moments later, another portal opened, this time high in the air. The crocodile fell through, still riding on its jet of water only to be impaled by a spire of solid earth that had risen up from the swamp. It was all finally too much for me and my consciousness started to drift away. Last thing I saw before I blacked out were two figures-a man and a woman. The man was stocky and broad-shouldered. The woman tall, so very¡­tall. Elastic Drool ¡°In all the fields of magical study, there is nothing quite as odd as a matchless or ¡®wild mage¡¯. They are truly unique, with each one possessing at least one ability that has never been seen before. Oh yes, I am aware that we have separated them into classes-each class encompassing all the matchless that fall into any of the four loosely defined categories. The ability might be something as insignificant as being able to keep a cup of tea warm indefinitely or might be something as terrifying as being able to grow into a 60-foot giant just by willing it. My point is, each one of them is utterly, magically unique. Each one of them is essentially a new, never seen before magical creature and that, my friends, warrants more intensive study¡± - excerpt from a lecture given at an academic conference by a renowned magical biologist, two months before the riots at Sarki.
I know that I said that there were very few things worse than waking up to the sight of an oversized snake trying to decide whether it wanted to eat you raw or whether a few toppings wouldn¡¯t hurt. I know and I¡¯m still not wrong- mind, but I think that the situation I found myself in when I woke up ranks right up there with that. There was an extremely short, old¡­ hag sitting on my chest. This would be odd in any situation, but it was made even odder by the fact that she seemed to be in some sort of ecstatic bliss. Unfortunately, nothing I did seemed to knock her out of it so I just lay there for half an hour, occasionally flailing my arms to no effect. It must have been quite the sight to see. I¡¯d definitely be laughing if I wasn¡¯t the one suffering. Since I was stuck for the foreseeable future, I took the time to actually find out where I was. It appeared I was in some sort of tent. That¡¯s about all I could see-since I couldn¡¯t get up. The drab colours of the tent¡¯s interior were however much better to look at than the wrinkled face above mine. To make matters even worse, a strangely elastic line of drool had started to emerge from one corner of the old hag¡¯s chapped lips. Fortunately for my sanity, the tent flapped open and a woman in soldiering attire walked in. She was young-early twenties at the most- black-haired, and very slim. She noticed me looking at her and threw a smirk my way before lifting the hag off my chest and flinging her to the side like a piece of furniture. I was so shocked I made to get up in a haste but the strange girl calmly laid a hand on my chest and pushed me back down. ¡°Calm down, idiot. She¡¯s fine, look¡± she said, gesturing over the hag that was even now still drooling happily on the tent floor. The stupid look on her face was somehow so funny in that moment that I burst out into laughter. Surprisingly, the mystery brunette joined in with me. Her laugh was clear and sweet yet mischievous, like the innocent laughter of a toddler caught doodling in its father¡¯s journal. ¡°So, do you want to tell me your name?¡± I said, after I had recovered from the bout of laughter. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I really don¡¯t want to be here at all, but I fucked up and the captain gave me imbecile duty¡± I laughed again. ¡°By imbecile, were you referring to? ¡° I gestured at the hag. ¡°I¡¯m talking about you, idiot. Get up! Captain¡¯s orders are to bring you to him the moment you woke up,¡± she said with an unpleasant grin. Suitably chastened by her casual insults, I allowed her to drag me to my feet, but my feet didn¡¯t seem in the mood for cooperation, so I sheepishly allowed her to support me on one shoulder. ¡°You still haven¡¯t told me your name you know?¡± I said, trying again. ¡°I know¡± came the reply. Ouch. We exited the tent into the hustle and bustle of a camp that was clearly under the command of someone who thought ¡®rest¡¯ was something that happened to other people. The command tent was just visible in the distance. This was a very¡­ large camp. ¡°Uh, exactly why does the commander want to talk to me?¡± I ventured, figuring that no insults would come my way if I kept conversation business-like. ¡°Captain,¡± she corrected. ¡°Captain, not commander. Trust me, do not forget to address the captain by his proper title at any time¡± ¡°Noted,¡± I said as I continued to observe the finer details of my surroundings. The tent we just exited seemed to be in the middle of three rows of similarly large tents. The tents in general seemed to be arranged in neatly ordered grids. The tents also seemed to be colour coded for some reason. The tent I was being kept in was white along with the other nine around it, next to these were blue tents, then silver, then brown, then red. There were two slightly smaller tents surrounding the monstrosity that was the captain¡¯s tent and they were both painted in a different manner from the rest. In addition to the standard paint on the tent flaps, there were also poles about fifteen feet high from which flew banners bearing the same symbol: a single green shoot at the center of a field of black and ash-grey. I was just about to ask my mouthy escort what the symbol stood for when she brought us to a halt and turned to face me. ¡°Listen, for your sake and mine you should answer any question he asks you to the best of your ability and as fast as possible. No fucking wisecracks okay?¡± She was waving her finger up and down as she spoke, it was an effort not to laugh. ¡°Of course¡± I replied. ¡°What gives you the idea that I¡¯m the type to mess around?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know¡± she admitted ¡± You just strike me as the type that could be on the headsman''s block and still be making jokes about his shoes¡± I didn¡¯t say anything of course. I could feel that she was correct. I had no memories of my past character to go by, but it definitely seemed like the kind of thing I could do. She took a deep breath and seemed to steel herself before she pushed open the gold flaps of the tent and pulled me in behind her. There was a thin, reedy man picking his nose at a desk just inside the tent. It was odd, there was another flap right behind him which presumably led into the main area of the tent. Presumably, this man was here to filter potential visitors to the captain. The man looked up and saw us, withdrew his finger from his nose and without the slightest hint of shame, started talking. ¡°Good afternoon sergeant, what is your business with the captain?¡± he gave me a quick once-over. ¡°And who is ¡­this?¡± Hold on. This girl that looked like she was barely five days out from her father¡¯s farm was a sergeant? I hastily re-evaluated all the assumptions I had made regarding her. ¡°Good afternoon Nathan, you know why I¡¯m here and you no doubt already know who he is. Do you have to play these games every time I see you?¡± she sounded tired and annoyed. ¡°Sergeant, I am merely following protocol¡± he said ¡°I¡¯m sure you understand, don¡¯t you? You know what the captain is like¡±. He sounded conciliatory but the slightly upturned left corner of his mouth and the mischievous gleam in his eyes told a different story. I could see her tense up and I quickly stepped in line with her to be in a position to prevent her from doing something as stupid as hitting her commanding officer¡¯s aide, although the smarmy, skinny bastard probably deserved it. She was just opening her mouth, no doubt to say something we¡¯d both regret when a booming voice came from behind the second set of tent flaps. ¡°Ah, corporal! Is that Sergeant Igni I hear? Send her in immediately!¡± Nathan sighed and waved us both in and I thought that would be the end of this strange scenario, but obviously Corporal Nat had other ideas. ¡°You know, sergeant, we wouldn¡¯t have to do this every time you came in here if you simply reconsidered my proposal¡± ¡°Eat shit and die Nathan¡± the sergeant replied as she dragged me inside again. I was once again reminded of how massive the tent was. Immediately past the tent flaps was a large sitting area that would beggar the homes of many a wealthy lord or businessman. There were lush chairs and cushions arranged tastefully in the large space, although everything was in somewhat garish tones of deep red and gold. The captain himself was lounged in one of the couches immediately across from the tent opening. He wasn¡¯t quite what I was expecting honestly. He couldn¡¯t be more than forty and had a square, clean-shaven yet attractive face with short brown and hair and only a hint of grey at the temple. I couldn¡¯t be sure- as he was sitting down, but he appeared to be shorter than me but with the ideal build for a soldier, his muscular figure obvious even when he was at rest. He smiled as we came in and gestured to us to take seats facing him. ¡°Good afternoon, I am Captain Larimar. Who are you?¡± he asked, before I had even gotten the chance to sink into the comfortable chair. I have to admit that I was taken aback. First of all, he was too different from what I was expecting. I was expecting a bad-tempered, pot-bellied man in his dotage but instead I was presented with someone who must have been the template for the concept of the ¡°ideal soldier¡±. At least, in looks. I was also caught off guard by how direct his question was. I didn¡¯t know who I was either so I was unsure of how to respond. For some reason however the sergeant started answering his question. ¡°I am Sergeant Igni sir. Appointed to this rank directly by you, two months ago¡± she said, snapping a smart salute. ¡°I know exactly who you are, Sergeant. Thank you for doing me the favour of answering anyway. My question was directed at the young man across from me that has spent the last three weeks under our care¡± the captain said easily. He didn¡¯t even glance at her.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Three weeks!? I was beyond shocked, learning that I was out that long really drove home the fact that my encounter with the midget magic crocodile had nearly killed me. The captain saw the surprise on my face and carried on. ¡°Yes, you are not mistaken. Your encounter with the Minnian crocodile nearly killed you. In fact, you really should be dead. You had several broken ribs, and the healers informed me that more than one of your internal organs was ruptured. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you again¡±. And he leaned forward to emphasize his point. ¡°Who, or what are you?¡± his voice was hard now, lacking its previous courteous tone. I was truly in the shit now. He wasn¡¯t likely to believe that I was an amnesiac, not to mention that the way he said his last question suggested that he believed I was something other than human. I couldn¡¯t even explain how I survived either, if my injuries were as severe as he said, then I should be dead two times over, but then again, it wasn¡¯t the oddest thing to happen to me since I woke up in the swamp. Well, if I was going to go down I might as well have some fun at the Sergeant¡¯s expense. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you all I know if you tell me what the Sergeant¡¯s first name is¡± I said, flashing a charming grin at the sergeant. Sergeant Ignis groaned and buried her head in her hands. The captain just looked amused. ¡°Very well, her first name is Shikha. Although I¡¯m not sure why you asked me that. I¡¯m sure she would have told you herself. Well then, who are you and what were you doing in Azanti territory?¡± ¡°I have no idea. I woke up and found myself in the swamp. I don¡¯t know how I got there, or who I am really¡± I replied. The sergeant groaned again and the captain grimaced. He stood up and gestured for us to get up as well. ¡°Well¡± he begun. ¡°I would have preferred if this didn¡¯t have to happen. I guess I¡¯m going to have to beat any information you have out of you¡± Whaaat? Wait, how does that even begin to make sense? He turned around at that and walked over to a nearby desk, pulling out a pair of brown gauntlets. I turned to the sergeant and asked. ¡°Is he serious?¡± I said. ¡°This is all an act right?¡± I asked frantically. ¡°Of course he is¡± she sighed. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to behave yourself?¡± ¡°What did I do? I honestly have no idea who I am or why I was able to survive the hits I took. I was hoping you people could tell me¡± The captain had finished drawing on his gauntlets and walked past us, heading for the exit. He stopped half way through the tent flaps and addressed the sergeant. ¡°Sergeant Igni, bring him to the sparring grounds, but first, get him kitted out. I¡¯m not a bully, after all¡±. With that, he left and I was left staring at Sergeant Igni ¡°You¡¯re the very definition of a bully¡±. She muttered after the captain. I raised my eyebrows at her, she snorted and started dragging me out of the tent. ¡°Follow me if you want, idiot. Let¡¯s see if we can prevent you from getting beaten to the edge of death again¡± She said, heading out past (and ignoring) the nasally laughter from the skinny corporal. So, I followed her. I strongly suspected I had no real choice in the matter. She led me to what must have been the quartermaster¡¯s tent. It was almost as big as the captain¡¯s but was situated behind the healing tents, which explains why I didn¡¯t see it earlier. He was a jovial, portly middle-aged man- exactly as I imagined, which was a welcome relief. I wasn¡¯t sure my sanity could take any more hits. ¡°Good afternoon Sergeant!¡± the quartermaster said, with a smile.¡± And this must be the young man we¡¯ve had in the healing tents¡± ¡°Yeah, he is¡± the Sergeant replied, ¡°I need him kitted out for a full spar¡± ¡°So you want him kitted out for a sparring session huh?¡± he said, a bit confused¡°Who is he facing? He only just woke up, no?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a spar, it¡¯s going to be a one-sided beat down. Especially seeing as he¡¯s going to be facing the captain¡±. She laughed. ¡°The captain! What in all the hells did he do?¡± he exclaimed, to the further delight of Sergeant Shikha Igni, whom I was slowly starting to dislike. I was also getting tired of them talking around me like I wasn¡¯t present, so I answered. ¡°I don¡¯t know! I don¡¯t know who I am, what I am, or who you clowns are. My last memories are of walking through a swamp that was doing its level best to kill me, getting beaten up by a midget reptile and waking up to an ancient lady doing¡­ something on my chest!. Just get me the gear and I¡¯ll go out there and get beaten into pulp by your captain, since it appears that¡¯s how he gets his jollies!¡± The sergeant and quartermaster were shocked into silence by my outburst, which was precisely what I wanted. I got kitted out with what must have been the standard gear. A head protector that protected my forehead and the sides of my face but left the top of my head bare for whatever reason, A padded chest plate, extremely tough leather hide boots and a pair of gauntlets. The equipment seemed to be solid, quality stuff, the only problem I had was that everything was a drab grey colour. What? I like looking good even when I¡¯m going to be pounded into the dirt. The quartermaster muttered a few words of encouragement as the sergeant and I left the tent but I wasn¡¯t listening. Given my experience in the swamp, it was certain that this was not going to be an ordinary sparring session or duel. The captain probably had some control over the elements similar to the crocodile back in the swamp. I decided to ask the sergeant about this, to see if she would provide any clues to what he would do and if there was anything I could do to make it through without being stretchered off. However, she surprised me by speaking first. ¡°What can you do?¡± she asked, idly kicking a pebble as we walked. ¡°Huh?¡± I replied, somewhat stupidly. ¡°I mean, what¡¯s your aspect? Fire, earth, water or air. Which of the four were you born with an affinity to?¡± ¡°Like I said, I have no idea who I am. That also extends to having no knowledge of any¡­ abilities I might possess¡± ¡°I was afraid you¡¯d say that¡± She sighed. ¡°The captain¡¯s a Duo, but that¡¯s not really uncommon. What¡¯s uncommon is his unusual mastery of both his aspects¡± ¡°I still have no idea what you¡¯re talking about¡± I said, frowning. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll try to make it a little clearer then. The captain has affinities toearth and water but prefers earth. He only ever uses water when he¡¯s serious so I doubt you¡¯ll see it today¡±. ¡°I¡¯m starting to understand. If that¡¯s the case, isn¡¯t this whole ¡®duel¡¯ pointless? I have no defense against him? I mean, can I even land a hit on him?¡± ¡°Probably not¡± she said with a chuckle ¡°Now listen, he likes to lead off with kicking a few rocks up and punching them at you with his fists. It doesn¡¯t have great range so if you just stay away from him you should be fine¡±. ¡°He¡¯s not going to be content with just shooting rocks at me all day, is he?¡± I asked. She had lost control of her pebble and it rolled into my path. I pointedly refused to pass it back to her, ignoring her dirty looks. ¡°No, of course not. You just really don¡¯t want to get hit by those rocks, trust me. I¡¯ve seen him shatter all the bones in someone¡¯s left arm with just one rock-after it had passed through a Matchless¡¯ shield¡±. Every word that came out of her mouth disheartened me even more. Here I was, with no memory and even worse, no idea where I was, about to be flattened by a strange magic soldier captain with my only help coming from his annoying underling. Why exactly was she helping me anyway? ¡°Uh, thanks sergeant. I can¡¯t help but to be curious though. Why are you helping me?¡± I asked. ¡°It won¡¯t be any fun if the captain takes you out quick. Every minute he spends in that sparring ring is another minute he¡¯s not making life difficult for the officers-¡° Ah, that explains it. ¡°-Also, something tells me you¡¯re not just some fast-talking idiot. I can feel it¡± she finished. She stretched out her right foot and stole back possession of the pebble. Right. She led me past the captain¡¯s huge tent. I idly wondered whether the size of his tent was a reflection of his ego and if so, whether it was him that made the decision for it to be that large? Sergeant Ignis nudged me back out of those important thoughts. We had continued on past the captain¡¯s tent into an arena of sorts, a circle fifty feet across and ringed by a stand of tall evergreen trees. Tall wooden poles were spaced out evenly in the circle. There was also a seating area for spectators to the right of the circle. Obviously, these ¡®duels¡¯ weren¡¯t an uncommon event. ¡°Oh wow! Most of the officers are here¡± Sergeant Ignis said excitedly. ¡°Look, those are the ones who brought you in!¡± She finished, pointing at two figures sitting in the front row and well away from the others. They were a hulking, muscular man and the woman that I remembered. I now saw her clearly for the first time. She was breathtaking really, a surreal beauty with platinum-blonde hair and startlingly vivid amber eyes. Her gaze flickered over to me and we made eye contact for a couple of seconds before she looked away. I suddenly felt drained and grabbed the sergeant¡¯s shoulder for support, but as quickly as the feeling came over me, it was gone. ¡°That¡¯s Lady Uro and her minder, Cust¡± the sergeant said, casting a suspicious glance towards my saviours ¡°She¡¯s beautiful isn¡¯t she?¡± she asked. ¡°Well, yes¡± I replied, unsure where this was going. ¡°Stay away from her. Again, trust me. You really don¡¯t want to get caught up in all that¡± I was just about to ask what she meant by that when the captain walked up to us with a smile on his perfect face. I wanted to hit him so badly. ¡°I see you did not run away¡± he said. The bastard was actually smiling at me. ¡°Trust me, I would¡¯ve if it was a viable option¡± I replied ¡°I¡¯m glad you did not. We would have had to kill you if you tried¡±. It really didn¡¯t seem like he was joking. ¡°Um, Sergeant Igni? I called, ¡°Exactly what is the point of this duel?¡± She looked at me as if shocked that I would even ask such a question, then apparently remembered that I was a self-proclaimed amnesiac. ¡°Its an old regional custom, practiced in the three southern nations¡± She began. ¡°I¡¯ll spare you the tedious history, but a duel is usually used to resolve disputes that are not easily solved, usually between two people. The winner of the duel is seen as just and right and the loser must concede his argument or do as the winner wishes. In your particular case, the captain wants the truth out of you, so if you lose the duel, you have to be honest with him¡± I could already see the giant, gaping loophole in such a practice. I decided to ask her about it. To ease my curiosity, if nothing else. ¡°Um, couldn¡¯t the loser just lie? Or even refuse to comply?¡± I heard the captain snort behind me. I refused to look at him. ¡°Oh no. They wouldn¡¯t dare,¡± the sergeant sighed and continued. ¡°Its my fault for not making it clear. It¡¯s an old custom yes, but it''s slowly turned into an article of faith for the major religions in the south. Trust me, you do not want the attention of the cults. It would be worse than the social exclusion and shaming that would befall you if you dared do that¡±. Alright, don¡¯t cheat during spars. Got it! Also there are creepy cults here, how surprising. The soldier that had been given the duty of being the arbiter of the duel walked up and asked us to step towards the centre of the circle. It was about to begin. ¡°That¡¯s strange. Where is Maximillian?¡± I heard the sergeant mutter as the captain and I walked away. The arbiter was explaining the rules as we entered the circle. ¡°No fatal blows, no assistance from those in the sitting area and no weapons apart from your natural aspects. The duel starts as soon as the stage is raised¡± Raised? What was he talking about? I found out soon enough. Six soldiers with brown tassels dangling off their uniforms walked towards the seating area and¡­ began to lift the earth under it. It was an amazing sight. They continued until the seating area was at least fifteen feet higher than it was before. Meanwhile, soldiers with red tassels walked out onto the circle, setting fire to the wooden poles. The brown-tasseled soldiers from the seating area walked toward the circle and created a depression about ten feet high and fifteen across. Finally, two soldiers with blue tassels walked up and filled the depression with water from large gourds on their backs, effectively creating a moat around the circle. It was very impressive. The referee was on a raised platform of earth inside the moat and as he held up a large gong the crowd fell silent. It was about to begin. Hes Dangerous ¡°The boy is well under control. Trust me, every precaution has been taken¡± - Miraculously extant scrap of paper found in the burned-out study of the Regnus mansion. After the fire that claimed the lives of 32 out of 34 members of the household.
Seeing the poles in the circle had given me just the tiniest bit of hope. My plan was to flit between the poles to dodge his attacks and hope he got tired enough for me to get a lucky hit in. I would have considered it a victory if I was able to achieve a single hit. Unfortunately, I was quickly disabused of that notion. Grinning, the captain clapped his hands together and the ground rippled and pulsed outwards, casting all the poles into the moat. The crowd of spectators applauded while the air was polluted with steam and the hiss of a dozen burning logs of wood being instantly quenched by cold water. Now I had no cover. The captain adopted a boxer¡¯s stance and stamped his foot down- sending half a dozen balls of earth into the air, hovering in front of him. The sergeant had said that I would be fine if I kept my distance. However, that was easier said than done. The balls came flying in at insane speeds and I was barely able to dodge the first wave. To make matters worse, he wasn¡¯t static in his movement, instead, he ran after me as I rolled, jumped and on one occasion, cartwheeled over and under the barrage of rocks. I didn¡¯t have infinite stamina however and the rocks kept getting closer and closer until finally, I spotted a rock headed straight for my head as I recovered from a roll. This was it, I was definitely about to be knocked out cold, or worse, have my head burst open like an overripe watermelon. My eyes were closed as I anticipated the hit but¡­ nothing happened. All I heard was a soft thud and the surprised shouts of the crowd. I opened my eyes to see the ball of rock, a few inches away from my nose but embedded in a wall of earth similar to those that appeared during my encounter with the swamp crocodile. The captain was surprised, but not surprised enough that he wasn¡¯t able to send two more balls speeding towards me. I stood my ground this time and watched the balls smack into the wall of earth that had reformed and was now chest height.
I abandoned my search for Maximilian as I made my way to the seating area. He was not here, which was odd. It was also a shame because he was the only one in the camp that was able to keep the captain¡¯s excesses somewhat in line. I would have liked him here as a precaution. I had this nagging feeling that this was going to get¡­ interesting. Shit I swore under my breath. For whatever reason, the seats were packed. I guess people would take any opportunity to slack off, but then again, it wasn¡¯t every day that you got to see The Geyser fight. Fuck! The only space left available was predictably a tiny area around Lady Uro and Cust. Of course! No one would willingly subject themselves to that. Unfortunately, that was my only option, so I sucked it up and made my way over. I made sure to keep Cust between myself and Uro though. Yeah, it was rude and obvious, but I have been called rude and obnoxious, so it kinda fit my personality profile. ¡°Hello, Sergeant Igni!¡± Cust¡¯s deep booming voice welcomed me. ¡° It has been a while, has it not? Good to see you¡± He beamed a perfect smile at me. The only good thing in my opinion, that had come from Lady Uro¡¯s presence in camp was the fact that Cust was present as well, providing a much needed silver lining to the horror of having to be around her. ¡°Afternoon Cust!¡± I smiled back. ¡° The captain¡¯s going to kill you when he finds out that you still haven¡¯t gotten a haircut¡±. Cust¡¯s bright red hair was several times the standard military length. It was genuinely amazing that he and the lady had been in camp for almost two months now and the captain still hadn¡¯t been able to get Cust to trim it down. ¡°Ha! I would like to see the old grump try¡± he laughed. ¡° He had me cornered a few days ago, but I slipped into one of the medical tents when his back was turned¡± ¡° Really? So that was why he was muttering something about disappearing Northmen the other day. He wasn¡¯t pleased¡±. I mused. I inclined my head towards the lady. ¡°Lady Uro¡±. I nodded. ¡°Sergeant Igni¡± she replied, without even glancing at me. And that was that. It was one of those situations in which two people didn¡¯t like each other, each for good reasons. Both sides knew this and as such there was no need to pretend otherwise. ¡°So, what is this about?¡± Cust asked eagerly. ¡°The kid just woke up, right?¡± ¡°Captain thinks that he¡¯s hiding something about his abilities and identity, so he wants to see whether a duel would get it out of him¡± I answered, my voice tinged with just enough exasperation. ¡° The kid is tough. I saw that firsthand, but I do not think there¡¯s any more to him than that. He just seemed very lost to me when we saved him¡± he said, with a little nod to the lady. ¡°His wounds were terrible. It doesn¡¯t make sense that he survived. Think about it. Gert said that he should be dead three times over¡± I was a tiny bit agitated myself. I had seen him when he was brought in, and I had honestly thought that it was a waste of time. I was convinced that he wouldn¡¯t last two days, yet here he was, three weeks later, squaring up with the captain and looking lively. Forty-five minutes ago he had needed my assistance to walk¡­ ¡° Uro and I see stranger things in this god-forsaken swamp every day we leave the camp. I do not believe he is a threat¡± I sighed. Cust seemed to be one of those extraordinarily trusting people. It was admirable, but in my experience, healthy paranoia was a good thing. Kept you on your toes. If I had been less trusting and more suspicious of seemingly harmless favours a few years ago, then I wouldn¡¯t be in this awful place. But hindsight is always perfect isn''t it? ¡° No Cust, she¡¯s right,¡± Uro said softly. ¡° There¡¯s something off about him. I can¡¯t quite put my finger on it, but it¡¯s there¡± You¡¯re one to talk Cust simply grunted at that and said nothing. I then focused most of my attention on the duel. The captain cleared out the logs, giving himself clearer shots at mystery man and was toying with him, like a sadistic red forest viper playing with its prey. To his credit mystery man was putting on a good show and dodging everything with incredible feats of athleticism but he obviously couldn¡¯t keep it up forever. ¡°Hey, Cust¡± I called. ¡°Help me think up a name for the kid. I keep thinking ¡®mystery man¡¯ but that¡¯s a mouthful¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Cust was puzzled. ¡° He did not tell you his name?¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Nah, he says he doesn¡¯t remember it. We have to call him something, right?¡± ¡°True, how about Lipka?¡± ¡°Nah, he looks more like a southerner¡± ¡°Cris?¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t really strike me as a heroic knight type. How about Vissen?¡± ¡°No!¡± Cust laughed ¡°I knew a Vissen. He was awful. Luk?¡± ¡°No, had a suitor named Luk¡± ¡°This is difficult. How about Zed? I had a cousin named Zed. He grew beets¡± ¡° Ohhh! That sounds perfect!¡± I gushed. In all honesty, though, I didn¡¯t really care. I had gotten bored after about the second name. Therefore if fate had seen fit to make mystery man the namesake of Zed the beet farmer, who was I to interfere?\ ¡®Zed¡¯ was getting visibly tired down below and the projectiles from the captain kept getting closer and closer to him. I had just turned to Cust to ask him how much longer he thought Zed could hold out when we both heard a sharp intake of breath from Lady Uro and refocused our attention on the duelling circle. Apparently, Zed had grown too tired to dodge and the captain had capitalized on the opportunity, but it didn¡¯t work. An earthen shield had sprung up in front of Zed and it had blocked the captain¡¯s projectiles. ¡°Ah, finally some real action,¡± Cust said approvingly. ¡°What is the matter Uro?¡± he sounded worried. I followed his gaze to Lady Uro who was somehow even paler than usual. She looked shaken and a bit wild-eyed. ¡° Just now, just now!¡± she breathed. ¡° His ripples were much bigger than they have any right to be. Something doesn¡¯t make sense. Am I making sense?¡± she asked. She really was flustered huh. ¡°Nope¡± I replied, relishing how petty I was being. ¡°Not at all¡±. Actually, I sort of understood what she was saying. Lady Uro was a Matchless and one of her abilities was a kind of magical sonar that allowed her to roughly estimate how powerful a certain object or person was. From her reaction, it was clear that something unusual had happened. Meanwhile, the cause of this disturbance was down in the dueling circle, he had stopped running and was now giving the captain the evilest grin I had ever seen.
¡°Might want to change it up captain¡± I called out, smirking. He simply grunted and charged me. The problem here was, I hadn¡¯t really thought much further past agitating him and I was now at a loss. What to do? He couldn¡¯t hit me with the balls sure, but I wasn¡¯t certain my earth shields were going to stop him from simply giving me a beat down with his fists. It was clear now that I did, in fact, have special abilities. The shields were likely an automated self-defence mechanism that acted independent of any conscious thought, but surely there had to be a way to exert some control over them, right? The captain was barely five feet away from me and I was running out of time. I focused my attention on the wall and willed it to move in a last-ditch attempt to avoid the forced rearrangement of my face and¡­ it did. The earthen wall surged forward, colliding with the onrushing captain and knocking the breath out of him. Since I had no real control, the wall kept moving forward, threatening to knock the captain out of the circle. I was already mentally celebrating my unlikely victory when the captain somehow managed to erect an earthen barrier around the edge of the circle that stopped him from being thrown out. He then proceeded to punch¡­ Punch! his way through my wall and come charging towards me again. As he charged, the barrier he erected crumbled and orbited him. It was terrifying, but I was going to stand my ground again. I was suddenly hit with an idea; couldn¡¯t I hit him with one of the rocks that were swirling around his head? I could certainly try, so I desperately pushed my will out, directing it specifically at one of the smaller rocks orbiting him and tugged it as hard as I could. The rock broke its orbit, shot out and struck his chest, not even half as hard as I had wanted it to really, but suddenly the crowd was dead silent and the captain stared at me with an expression mixed with rage and¡­horror?
Wait, did that just happen? Cust was wide-eyed between Lady Uro and I and gripping both our shoulders, as if for emotional support. ¡°Yeah, I guess it wasn¡¯t just me that saw that. Huh, big guy?¡±. I honestly couldn¡¯t believe what I had just seen. Glancing over to Lady Uro, she seemed to be surprisingly calm, considering her earlier outburst. Odd. ¡°Guess you were right, after all, Lady Uro. There¡¯s something really weird going on here¡±. She didn¡¯t reply. Just nodded, and took Cust¡¯s hand in hers, as if to comfort him. That tiny gesture was so disturbingly intimate that I couldn¡¯t help but to look away. Perhaps more than anyone else, the captain down in the duelling ring must have been losing his mind.
What the hell did I do? The captain stopped his advance and walked back to the other side of the circle, he raised his arms and the water from the moat rose out and snaked around him. The ground trembled as large chunks of the circle detached and joined the water in swirling around him. This kicked up a cloud of dust too thick to see through but by the time the dust settled, Captain Larimar had three balls of earth-more than five times the size of the previous ones-orbiting him. Oh shit. There were no theatrics this time, he simply launched two of the balls right at me. I stood my ground, confident that my shield would protect me. I was very, very wrong. The balls got stopped again by the wall. I could see them for an instant, lodged tight in my automatic shield, a second later, however, they burst open explosively, drenching me in scalding hot water and sending me flying out of the circle. I was on the ground outside the circle, in tremendous pain when I suddenly saw the last of the balls about to descend on me. This was it, the captain had lost his temper and I was about to pay for being an idiot. The ball never descended. As I watched, the ball was encased by a bubble which then shrunk, crushing it. I fully expected to be scalded beyond recognition by the boiling hot water that came rushing out but, as it turned out, I was also encased by a translucent bubble that turned out to be impermeable.
¡°Oh shit, Oh shit, Oh shit¡± I panicked. This was bad I watched Captain Larimar walk to the edge of the circle and gather up the water in the trough. That last little impossible trick from Zed had done it, The captain was being serious now and there was no way that he was going to come out of the duel unscathed. ¡°Cust, Uro!,¡± I pleaded. ¡°Do something!¡± Cust made as if to get up, but Lady Uro¡¯s hand on his shoulder kept him seated. ¡°No, there is no need,¡± she said calmly. ¡°What do you mean there¡¯s no need?¡± I was aghast. ¡°The captain might kill him if we don¡¯t do something!¡± ¡° He will be fine. There is no need for Cust to endanger himself¡± She replied coolly, affixing me in place with her violet eyes¡± I instantly felt weaker and struggled to stay standing. ¡°Haven¡¯t I told you,¡± I began, gritting my teeth and pointing at her with my right forefinger. ¡° To never use that shit on me?¡± the tip of my finger began to glow with a dark orange light. Cust calmly engulfed my glowing finger with one of his massive fists and shook his head at Lady Uro. ¡°None of that, both of you,¡± he said, pointing. ¡°Look¡± He was pointing at a figure clad in a lieutenant¡¯s uniform that was rapidly approaching the duelling circle. Ah, Maximilian Uro was right. No need to do anything then.
What was going on? I looked towards the circle to see the captain trapped in yet another bubble and suspended in midair. The slender sergeant was nearby and shouting at a short young man with his right arm outstretched, who was facing the captain. ¡°Maximillian! Maximillian stop! Put him down right now!¡± she yelled as she approached him. ¡°You saw what he was going to do¡± he replied, his voice surprisingly deep and gravelly. ¡°Why should I?¡± ¡°For one thing, he is your commanding officer,¡± she said. ¡°Also, I think you¡¯ve made your point¡± she pointed at the captain, who had his hands in a gesture of supplication. Without saying a word, Maximillian released the captain, who fell gracelessly from about ten feet up. Turning around, he sighed and walked away, the soldiers that had come to pacify the situation hurriedly stepping out of his way. Meanwhile, the sergeant had reached me and was helping me onto a stretcher that two soldiers had brought. ¡°Who the hell was that?¡± I managed, it was getting harder by the second to ignore the pain from the punishment I had taken. ¡°Lieutenant Maximillian Regnus. I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t have to say this but stay away from him as well. He¡¯s dangerous¡±. She replied, her face betraying worry at my condition. ¡°You don¡¯t say?¡± I muttered, right before I passed out yet again. Max and Zed ¡°¡­Despite my achievements, absolute control still lies within the realm of the gods. At least¡­ for now¡± ¨C excerpt from an address given by the God-Emperor Pathain of Obara, at the Silent Synod.
Apparently, I was out for ¡°¡­ only about eighteen hours this time¡± the sergeant was explaining as she sat on a cot next to mine, eating some kind of pink fruit noisily. ¡°You¡¯re lucky to even be alive right now¡± she continued. ¡°Lieutenant Maximillian himself had to come over and assist the healers in their work. The captain didn¡¯t go easy on you, huh?¡± I was in the old tent again. Fortunately, no drooling old hags appeared to be in close proximity at the moment. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could handle even more strangeness. The sergeant and I were alone in the tent, although I could see the shadowed silhouettes of two soldiers outside. Were they there to guard me¡­or keep me in? ¡°Hey! Hey!¡± The sergeant yelled, waving her half-eaten fruit inches from my face. ¡°Are you even listening to me?¡± I looked up at her- slowly, so as to magnify the effect and said. ¡°Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are Shikha?¡± I was expecting her to get angry, maybe yell at me for not using her proper title. Instead, she favoured me with an attractive smile, dropped her fruit on the table next to my head and singed off my eyebrows with two white-hot beams of fire. It happened fast. Blindingly fast, in fact. Fast enough that my earth shield burst from the bottom of the tent seconds after it had already happened. It was extremely disconcerting to realize that the smiling pretty girl sitting in front of me could have baked my brains out well before my previously indomitable shield could have protected me. Well, my duel with the captain had already shown that my shield¡¯s defenses could be bypassed, but still¡­ ¡°What? Nothing to say?¡± she said with a smirk that slowly morphed into a frown when I still didn¡¯t respond. The two fingers she¡¯d used to zap me- the pinkies, on her left and right hands- were still smoking. ¡®Oh, come on! I don¡¯t even get this reaction from my suitors,¡± she pouted. That finally got a response from me. ¡°You have suitors?¡± I asked, disbelieving. ¡°Of course, I do¡± she replied, cocking her head. ¡°I¡¯m an unwed daughter from one of the great houses¡± I was about to ask exactly what the ¡°five great houses¡± were when the tent flap opened and my saviour from the duel walked in. The Lieutenant was a short, slender man with pale skin and dull grey eyes. He was wearing a uniform like the ones I¡¯d seen on the other soldiers but coloured black and with the addition of two silver stars on his left breast. His facial features were just a bit too severe and stern to be called handsome but he was definitely striking and he carried an aura of danger wrapped around him like a cloak. It felt as if an especially venomous adder had just walked in. I couldn¡¯t suppress a shiver as his gaze swept over my face- lingering for a moment on the spots my eyebrows would have been in if the good sergeant sitting by me hadn¡¯t burnt them off. The Lieutenant raised his eyebrows as he glanced at Shikha, then gestured towards the tent-flap and a woman clad in white robes bustled in. ¡°Shikha, you have to stop letting people get to you.¡± He said with a sigh. ¡°I thought you had grown past burning off people¡¯s eyebrows. The captain did warn you that he would demote you next time you lost your temper, didn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°You¡¯re one to talk!¡± she shot back. ¡°I¡¯m not the one that was dangling my superior officer in the air yesterday.¡± Maximillian turned away, ignoring her, but I could see the faintest hint of a smile on his face as he bent down over me and gestured the woman in the white robe forward. She placed her palm on my brow then started a low steady chant. Each individual word was clipped and harsh, but slowly her hand started to glow with a soft vermillion light. At that point, Maximillian moved his left hand above hers and formed a bubble like I¡¯d seen in the dueling arena. Unlike those, however, this bubble perfectly encapsulated my head and wasn¡¯t translucent but was instead strewn through with streaks of violently pulsing maroon light. ¡°Ruin¡± he whispered softly as my eyebrows began to grow again. I could feel them sprouting from my forehead in the same manner that blades of grass peek out from the earth in early spring. It took just a few moments but my eyebrows were soon back to the state they had been before the sergeant had seen fit to erase them. Maximillian traced along my newly regrown eyebrows and apparently satisfied, nodded to the white-clad healer to leave. She did so, with a curtsy to both Maximillian and Penelope. Maximillian waited a few moments until we could no longer hear her footsteps as she walked away, then pulled out a stool from next to the wall and sat down next to the sergeant, who had resumed eating her fruit -even more noisily this time. Once he had made 6himself comfortable, he cleared his throat and fixed me with a cold stare. It felt like I was being sized up by a hungry snake... albeit one that was short, skinny and in a slightly oversized uniform. ¡°Who exactly are you?¡± the lieutenant asked, leaning forward and steepling his fingers. ¡° Your captain already asked me that¡­ before he decided to publicly humiliate me. The answer to that question is still the same¡±. I sat up in my cot and met his eyes before I spoke again. ¡° I. Don¡¯t. Know.¡± I said, clearly enunciating each word. ¡° My earliest memory is waking up and finding myself deep in this filthy swamp. Anything before that is a confusing, formless haze. Hell, I can¡¯t even remember my own name¡± Lieutenant Maximillian exchanged a look with Shikha at that, before turning to face me again. His glare wasn¡¯t any less intense, but his eyes held something that they hadn¡¯t before. Sympathy. ¡°Well, that complicates things a bit¡± he began, displaying a prodigious talent for understatement. ¡°I must confess that I don¡¯t know what we should do with you in that case. We cannot just let you go, not now¡± ¡°And why can¡¯t you just let me go?¡± I asked, curious. ¡°Not that I really want to be back out there, mind¡± I finished, gesturing vaguely out of the tent. Maximillian exchanged another look with Shikha and gracelessly changed the topic. ¡° I saw a bit of your duel with the captain¡± he started. ¡° How much do you know about what you can do?¡± ¡°Not a lot, if I¡¯m being honest,¡± I said, sitting up slowly. ¡° I mean I know more than I did when I first got up, but I get the feeling that I¡¯m barely scratching the surface of what I can do¡±. ¡°Explain¡± ¡°You¡¯ve seen my earth wall right?¡± I asked. Maximillian nodded. ¡° I don¡¯t really have any control over it, but it seems to act independently to protect me from harm¡± ¡° Such unconscious defenses are rare but not unheard of. Unfortunately, this might be one reason why the Captain does not believe you are harmless¡± ¡° I don¡¯t understand¡± ¡°You will, eventually. Don¡¯t worry about it. I''ll do my best to explain later¡±. He waved at me to continue.¡± Please, go on.¡± I was more than a little suspicious of how helpful and reasonable he was being. I worried that there would be a price attached to this, but this was a priceless opportunity to at least begin to understand an aspect of myself. I would have done almost anything for the tiniest drop of clarity. ¡° Yeah, so I eventually discovered that I could push my will out against the wall and make it move. Then I extended that into pushing my will out and seizing control of one of the Captain¡¯s own rocks. I paused, reflecting. ¡° It doesn¡¯t seem to work on anything else¡± ¡° You aren¡¯t supposed to be able to do that¡­¡± the lieutenant mused, his expression thoughtful. ¡° I was a long way from the duelling circle, so I didn¡¯t quite see what happened. I thought you had insulted the Captain to make him lose control like that¡± I knew it I knew I had done something to elicit that sort of response from the Captain. The shift in his behaviour was too drastic, too fast. But what did he mean by saying I shouldn¡¯t be able to do that? It hadn¡¯t felt any different from me extending my will against my wall. ¡° What do you mean?¡± I asked. ¡° Why shouldn¡¯t I be able to do that? Maximillian rose and left the tent without a word, gesturing at me to follow. I braced myself and made to stand, expecting a rush of pain. To my surprise, there wasn¡¯t even any tenderness. My skin was unbroken and healthy! It looked even better than before the duel. Sergeant Shikha watched me marvel at the healing job for a few more moments before she broke the silence with a sigh. I hadn¡¯t even realized she was still there. ¡° Do you remember what I told you about him?¡± she said, scowling. ¡°Who?¡± I asked, stupidly. ¡°The lieutenant, dumbass¡± she sighed, looking at me as one does a particularly stubborn stain on their favourite pair of shoes. ¡° Oh...¡± I racked my brain. ¡°I think I remember you telling me what he was dangerous, right before I passed out¡± ¡°Yes¡±. She stood up and tossed the remnants of her fruit in a wooden basket on the other side of the tent. ¡° He seems to have taken an interest in you. You should be careful¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked as I opened the tent flap. The lieutenant waiting for us in the distance. ¡°I keep forgetting that you don¡¯t remember or know anything.¡± She said, her tone coloured with pity. Shikha pulled me back before I could step out the tent. We were now face-to-face and I got perhaps my first chance to really look at her since I had met her. Her amber eyes - trending towards light red near the pupils - bore into mine. Her skin was sepia-toned and a stray lock of hair nested invitingly in the space between her eyes. She was actually really pretty.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Too bad about her personality though. ¡°Hey stop ogling me and listen¡±. Her frown turned into a slight smirk as she realized she had been dead on. Oops ¡° I wasn¡¯t ogling you,¡± I said, rolling my eyes. What can I say? It felt like shameless lies were my forte. ¡°Sure,¡± she said with a smile, then her expression got more serious. ¡° This is serious, Zed. You should listen¡± ¡° I¡¯m listening,¡± I said, a bit surprised by her tone. Wait, did she just call me ¡®Zed¡¯? ¡°Everything is tense right now. We¡¯re all on high alert. Maximillian does nothing without a deeper reason. Nothing.¡± ¡° Why do you think he helped heal me then? Also, why did you call me Zed?¡± ¡° I don¡¯t know. I think he¡¯s curious about what you can do. He might think you¡¯ll be useful to him in some way¡± she stopped and idly toyed with a lock of hair. ¡°What? We had to call you something. Do you remember your name?¡± ¡°No, I still don¡¯t¡± I replied. ¡°Do you have something better in mind?¡± ¡°No¡± ¡° Then shut up,¡± she said with a grin. ¡°We should go, he isn¡¯t impatient like the Captain, but we still shouldn¡¯t keep him waiting¡± We left the tent. Maximillian was still standing where I had seen him last, idly staring at the clouds. Somehow he reminded me of a curious little kid. I was about eighty percent sure that wasn¡¯t just because of his height, ¡°Zed,¡± Shikha said at my side. ¡° I like the Lieutenant, but he only sees people as tools and toys. There has only ever been one toy of his that he didn¡¯t manage to break.¡± ¡°Who is that?¡± I asked. She was trying to scare me off him, but it wasn¡¯t working. With every sentence, I was getting more and more interested in him instead. ¡°His sister.¡± Maximilian frowned at us as we walked up. He was in the middle of the walkway, right outside the medical tents. The other soldiers and healers gave him a wide berth. ¡°You took your time,¡± he said. ¡° Sorry Lieutenant, I was just telling him to return to the medical tents after you¡¯re done. We haven¡¯t quite decided where he¡¯ll be staying yet¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry about that Sergeant,¡± Maximillian smiled. ¡° I¡¯ll take him¡±. ¡°Wha-What? Um I mean, you¡¯re going to have to clear it with the Captain. Are you sure?¡± she stammered. ¡°I am. He¡¯ll be safe with me. The captain should leave him alone as long as he¡¯s with me. Right?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah, I guess,¡± she turned to leave. ¡° I''ll get going now, I have some other duties to deal with. I¡¯ll see you later Zed, Lieutenant¡± she nodded to him and left. Lieutenant Maximilian and I watched the sergeant walk away until she took a left onto the main road and disappeared from sight. Maximilian had a light smile playing around his lips. ¡° She gave you the whole speech about how you should stay away from me right? The one about me being ¡°dangerous¡± right?¡± he asked with a smile. For once, I did not have anything to say. I just stood there gaping, in the manner of a dumber than average fish. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± his tone was reassuring. ¡°I¡¯ve heard it all before. I¡¯m sure she also said the same thing about the lady Uro?¡± I nodded. Maximillian sighed. ¡° People always fear what understand. That has always been the case. The Matchless are no different.¡± ¡°Matchless?¡± I said. I was sure I had heard that title before. ¡°I''ll get to that. Come on, let¡¯s move. I¡¯d like to spend all day talking with you, but I do have other things to do¡± Maximillian and I walked away from the medical tents, through the camp and once again I marvelled at how organized everything was. Everyone was moving about in a brisk, lively manner and that spoke volumes about the person in charge. The captain might be a jackass, but he knew what he was doing,. ¡°I¡¯m not one for lengthy lectures¡± Maximillian began. ¡°I¡¯d rather show and do than cram and memorize. So, I¡¯ll give you a general rundown of everything I think you want to know - and show you some examples - as needed¡±. I nodded my assent and he continued. ¡° In this world, almost everyone is born with an affinity to an aspect of creation. The common four aspects are the elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. Of course, the world isn¡¯t quite as neat as some would like it to be, so some people have affinities to odder things. I''ve personally met people with affinities to ice and steam and the Temple of Lucian close by is full of Light affinity priests¡± That sounded really interesting. I wasn''t sure if this was something I had known before and had now forgotten, or if it was something that was entirely new to me. I was leaning towards the latter, however. The excitement I was feeling felt genuine and fresh. It didn¡¯t feel like a product of my memory loss. Wait, that didn¡¯t explain his bubbles or the portals Maximillian had been watching me closely, and he knew what I was thinking about. ¡° Yes, that doesn¡¯t really explain my abilities, or Lady Uro¡¯s,¡± he flashed a sad smile. ¡°The Lady and I are Matchless. We are unique.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± I said. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t¡± he frowned. ¡° We Matchless break the mold. Our abilities can be terrifyingly strong or pathetically weak and so far, no matchless has been shown to possess the same exact abilities¡± ¡°That sounds amazing,¡± I said. I was drawn to the idea of being unique. Of being the only one in the world that could do what I did. ¡° Is it really? Maximillian asked. ¡°What if I told you that until five years ago we weren¡¯t even considered human? We were thought of as a higher form of beast. ¡°What?¡± I was shocked. ¡° That doesn¡¯t even make any sense¡± ¡°It makes all the sense in the world if you believe the priests when they preach about where our abilities came from¡± ¡°What do they say?¡± I asked. Putting the discrimination aside, this world was getting more interesting with every sentence he spoke. ¡° The priests say that our powers were granted to us by the gods, who wrote them into the natural order. They say once, there were no affinities or aspects. We were little better than apes, but the gods took pity on us and granted us our abilities so we could be something more. There is some evidence for that being true, unfortunately. Once in a while, a god does take human form and walk among us. So we know they exist.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t see how that means that Matchless are not human,¡± I said. ¡° No one knows where the abilities of the Matchless come from. The gods disavowed any hand in it speaking through their priests and eventually, people twisted that to mean we weren¡¯t blessed by the gods. To the religious, not being blessed by the gods is little better than being a demon-worshipping heathen. Thus, the priests branded us higher beasts and the people followed¡± As he spoke the scowl on his face deepened. I got the feeling that I was getting to see just a little bit of the real person under his usual mask. His bitterness and anger seemed to be tangible things, saturating the air around us. ¡° Well,¡± he said as we came to a stop. ¡° We¡¯re going to find out exactly what your affinities are¡±. Our walk had carried us behind the Captain¡¯s needlessly large tent and beyond the duelling circle. We were in a clearing of sorts and in the middle of that clearing was a cauldron. The cauldron was filled with a strange milky-white liquid and was emitting a soft glow that was visible even then, at midday. It was nestled between two lit braziers filled with burning coals, ringed by a small depression containing water and surrounded by an odd script that seemed to be etched into the earth. The coals gave up a bluish-white, pleasant smelling smoke. The clearing seemed to be in a permanent haze. The mild gust of wind that blew across the camp never managing to dissipate the smoke. ¡°What is that?¡± I asked, gesturing at the fluid inside the cauldron. ¡°We call it the Tears of Asa. Supposedly the goddess Asa was sad about something and cried for seven days and seven nights, creating a large river of this stuff than ran through the world. I never really bothered to actually learn the theology behind it.¡± Maximillian gestured over to two soldiers that were stationed in the area, then continued.¡± It reacts peculiarly when it comes in contact with someone blessed with an affinity. Watch¡± The first of the two soldiers took off a gauntlet and reached into the cauldron. At first, nothing happened, but in an instant, the surface became a roaring inferno. It didn¡¯t appear to be causing him any harm, however. ¡° From what we can tell, it¡¯s all just an illusion. A very strong one. Illusions usually fall apart as soon as one is made aware of them. This one doesn¡¯t¡± Maximillian signaled the soldier to step back, as soon as his hand left the cauldron, the flames stopped, along with the heat and noise. ¡° The effect has nothing to do with actual strength. For example, if Sergeant Shikha¡¯s hand was in the cauldron, you¡¯d see nothing more than a tiny flame licking across the surface. Yet, she is far more powerful than he is.¡± He finished, gesturing at the soldier. I felt somewhat bad for him. Maximillian strode over and stuck his own hand in and¡­ nothing happened. ¡°As you can see, the Tears don¡¯t react to me at all.¡± he waved me over. ¡° It¡¯s your turn, put your hand in.¡± I was more than a bit apprehensive, but I did as I was told and stuck my right hand in, past my wrist. Honestly, it was rather disgusting. The Tears were cold and slimy and an odd tingling sensation spread out from my left breast as soon as my skin came in contact with the liquid. In a few moments, a huge, intricate mountain range spread out across the surface of the Tears, with one peak towering above the rest. It was packed with an extreme amount of detail. There were streams and lake valleys. even minuscule plants and animals could be seen. skittering across the hills and valleys. ¡°Hmm,¡± Maximillian said. He looked mildly upset for some reason. ¡°That¡¯s interesting. You should take your hand out now.¡± I did so, expecting the illusion to collapse back into itself as it had done earlier. It didn¡¯t. Maximillian raised an eyebrow at that but made no further comment on it. ¡°Seems your affinity is to earth. That¡¯s not surprising given your duel with the captain, but it¡¯s always best to make sure. You asked earlier, about your duel with the Captain. Why you taking control of one of his rocks was such a big deal?¡± ¡°Yeah, it wasn¡¯t any harder than what I did with my own wall. I don¡¯t understand why he got so upset¡± ¡°Watch this¡± Maximilian said. ¡°Davos, make a fireball. One of the soldiers stretched out his hand and formed a spherical ball of fire that sat in the middle of his palm. ¡°Now Sil, try to move it from his palm to yours¡± The other soldier took stretched out his palm, his fingertips nearly touching those of the other soldier. I could see the strain on his face as he tried to will the fire in Davos¡¯s palm across to his. A tiny tongue of flame flickered across for an instant, but that was all that happened. Sil gave up as Davos extinguished the flame, and they both returned to their posts. ¡° As you can see, influencing another person¡¯s flame is so difficult as to be functionally impossible. This applies to all the elements. We aren¡¯t entirely sure why - that¡¯s a matter best left to the scholars and theoreticians - but it is a truth that we all know and accept¡± He fixed me with a look. ¡°The real question is; Why can you do it?¡± Maximillian nodded to the soldiers and strode off, gesturing at me to follow. I was secretly delighted at being able to do something that no one else could, but I couldn¡¯t help but wonder what this meant for me. They surely weren¡¯t going to let me go now. ¡°You don¡¯t need to answer that,¡± Maximillian said, as we walked through the camp. ¡°I know you don¡¯t know.¡± He stopped and met my eyes. Expression halfway between excitement and sympathy. ¡°I know what it¡¯s like to have no idea what the next step in. I understand what it is to be alone. I can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll never put you in danger or that I can get you all the answers you need. But I give you my word that I¡¯ll try¡± Maximillian stretched out his hand for a handshake. I looked at him. He was short and domineering, I had been warned to stay away from him and I was certain that there was far more to him that I had already seen. I knew taking his hand would lead me down a path I could never turn back from. I also knew that I didn¡¯t know enough about this world to throw my lot in with him. But fuck it! So far - with the possible exception of Sergeant Shikha - he had been the only one willing to believe me about my memory loss. He was the only one that hadn¡¯t mocked me or beaten me to a pulp. So I grasped his hand. ¡°Excellent,¡± he said ¡° Come looking for me in the evening. You¡¯re under my protection now. I¡¯ll fill you in about the situation over the next few days¡± And with that, he walked away. Leaving me alone and with absolutely no idea how to get back to the medical tents. Brilliant.
The illusion on the surface of the cauldron shimmered and shattered into beautiful little motes of light as a miniature dust devil blew across the illusory peaks and valleys. A small vortex manifested itself in the milky-white liquid and the tiny whirlpool on the surface lasted for a second or two before dissipating. The Tears of Asa no longer gleamed with light but instead became dull and lifeless. As though all its magic had been drained away.