《Lost Cities of Taeralis》 chapter 1 Rebirth, Orphans and Ash Marcus tried to blink and open his eyes, but they felt sealed off. He tried to focus and strain his eyelids to open them, which only ended in pain around his eyes. He tried to lift his arms to touch his face but found he could only move one of his arms. The other felt trapped under something heavy with an edge, so he dared not move it; with his movable free arm, his left arm, he pulled and felt a piercing pain cut across the back of his hand, leaving a shallow wound across his entire arm as he pulled it out. He reached up and touched his eyes, finding them shut by crusted dried blood. Ignoring the pain, Marcus rubbed his eyes, feeling the crusted blood fall off, and when he could finally see, Marcus found he was surrounded by ash, broken iron and the sound of crickets in the distance; it felt like he had fallen asleep on the battlefield. ¡°Where am I?¡± The place looked dark, and the air smelled of burnt flesh and wood. This was a battlefield. In the distance, he could see a large towering wall and a city beyond it. There was nothing like this on Earth. If there was, he surely would have seen it somewhere or heard of it, a city¡­ no cities built on and around a mountain. He should have known about such a thing if this were Earth. All he could remember was going to sleep in his apartment room. Marcus tried to pull his other hand free, but the pain in his back suddenly grew heavier and uncomfortable as he was pressed down onto the ground. He looked around behind him and cursed. It was not only his arm that was trapped; his entire body was under a pile of broken chariots, wagon wheels and bent irons. ¡°What the hell?¡± He tried to kick, but even then, he realised he couldn¡¯t move his leg. There was little to no space to move his legs. He looked around and, uncertain or unwilling to starve here, he called out. ¡°Help, anybody help.¡± ¡°Anyone.¡± ¡°Help!¡± he yelled. The wind blew, and suddenly, the cold he had been ignoring stung against his skin, causing him to shiver. A jacket would be good right about now, he thought. Wandering why it was so cold, he looked up and saw the black clouds that extended across the sky, blocking out all light from the sun and casting the entire world in gloomy darkness, the only place as far as he could see that the dark clouds did not appear to touch was the sky was the place above the city where the highest buildings touched the silver clouds. The entire sight felt unnatural, and even then, he would have to free himself to understand what was going on. Or it was simply a dream. Then all he had to do was wake up. His teeth chattered and clicked from the cold, and he tried to pull himself out again. He felt the pile of scrap iron shift, and then a scream left his lungs as pain lashed his leg; something had shifted and landed on his leg. All he could think was that his leg was broken. He tried to control his breathing for a time, and he could feel tears rolling down his cheeks; he ground his teeth, and after an even longer time of enduring the pain, he felt his eyes go heavy as the world went dark slowly but surely and his head hit the ashy soil. _____________________________________________________________ ¡°Where are you going?¡± a girl''s voice asked. ¡°Is this what you heard,¡± another voice tried to say, indicating something else. ¡°That¡¯s probably a monster,¡± a deeper voice said. ¡°No, I heard it this way,¡± a sharp voice replied to the three. Marcus heard the voices come closer. In his dazed state, he could not make them out clearly. All he could do now was wait for help to find him. ¡°There is nothing here.¡± ¡°If we go any closer, we¡¯ll be close to the forgotten forest.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a scared gremlin, it''s close.¡± the sharp voice said. ¡°She¡¯s right Clara¡± Finally, The children climbed over the mound and looked down to see a boy trapped under the rubble. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°There you see I was right,¡± She said a smug look on her face Clara could be stubborn at times, but this time, she knew what she had heard. Like every other day, she had gathered her friends and come to the Ashfields to scavenge for scraps of metal to sell for food or clean water in the lower quarters. Like the other orphans, it was desperation that drove her and her small crew of street rats into the land beyond the wall and even then, none of them dared move past the very centre of the Ashfields; none of them were brave enough even step a mile of two next the forgotten forest as they called, comfortable with staying in the Ashfields where the people from the higher city came to fight the Tides of monsters. Like many others, she was rejected by their mothers and fathers and left to fend for themselves in the slums of the lower city of the fifth wall. Even though the group treated each other like a small family, they were all of different races. They were mostly halfbreeds who could not fit with the Goliath giants, the Aasmar high lords and sometimes even the humans; they were offered no help to people of the city, and soon they got used to it, avoiding those and most parts of the city. The group of street rats looked up at the forest beyond the Ashfield battlegrounds, and they felt eyes looking back at them. ¡°Clara, we should hurry.¡± one of the children said, causing her to look away from the forest in the distance. ¡°Hurry get him out,¡± she ordered and the group of seven children looked down at the pile of iron scrap and war rubble. Marcus looked up from his daze and saw the different faces looking back at him, frozen in place. Finally, someone had come, and all he needed was a little to help out of this place. ¡°Help me,¡± Marcus croaked, lifting his one good arm. ¡°Is he alive?¡± ¡°Of course he is,¡± Clara said, ¡°Geneve, Zek get down there and help him.¡± ¡°Me, why me,¡± Geneve asked as she twiddled her large thumbs. ¡°Your the strongest, you should do it¡± Geneve and Zek were both half human and half Goliath. At fifteen, the two siblings were as strong as any common man and just as tall. Geneve, like Clara, wore a rugged, dirt-filled dress and covered her body in a brown rug over her shoulder. Zek, on the other hand, wore a dirty tunic shirt and trousers that left his bulging arms, three times the size of Clara¡¯s, out in the open. ¡°What do you think happened to him,¡± Zek asked, sliding down the mound of earth before stumbling into the pile of wagons and metals. ¡°Don¡¯t know but heard the noise when I was looking around for something good to sell in the lower quarter,¡± she said. Seeing what they were doing, a few of the other boys jumped into an earthy mound crater and started pulling out the scrap metal and wagon wheels and throwing them to the side. Others tied the parts that looked valuable on their backs with a cloth to be sold in the city. Once the large pile was lifted off the boy, Clara, their leader, slid down into the pit and looked down at the frail, bloody body of a boy with skin the colour of earth. ¡°Is he alive,¡± one of the boys asked, poking the figure of Marcus on the ground. ¡°Of course he is,¡± Clara said before looking at her second,¡± Gabe, is he alive?¡± Gabe, like Clara, was a human orphan. He was skin and bone. When he needed to see, he often squinted. He was considered the smartest of their lot, and some even said that he once lived in the higher walls. ¡°Who are you? What is this place?¡± Marcus asked, and the group of small children looked at him, confused. Marcus looked back at the dirty and scrawny-looking kids dressed in medieval tunics and lacking basic hygiene, waiting for an answer. He tried to move and was surprised by the pain and numbness of his body as he felt two beefy arms grab him, holding him like a child, a feeling he had long forgotten in the days after he left home. The two hands helped him to his feet, and he grunted in pain as he realised his foot was turned sideways and limp. A small, skinny boy looked at him curiously, inspecting his eyes. ¡®Wait¡­ what is he looking at and why am i so small¡¯ ¡°What is he saying? ¡°Clara asked Gabe, who turned and looked at her with a confused look on his face as he shrugged. The skinny boy turned back, grabbed Marcus''s eyes and opened them, looking at each one looking for something.¡°Clara, I think he is one of us?¡± Gabe said, and the girl pushed him to the side. ¡°What?¡± Clara asked, and all seven orphans looked at Marcus curiously. ¡°His eyes,¡± Gabe squinted from behind Clara, focusing on the boy, ¡°his halfblood.¡± They all squinted in imitation and looked at the boy''s eyes. One of his eyes had the golden iris of the Aasimar lords, and the other was clearly human. The girl, whom all the other children looked at for their decisions, came closer to Marcus, and he soon realized she almost stood as tall as him as he limped. From what he could remember, he was as tall as any man on earth. So why was he clearly as short as the thin girl standing in front of him, and why did he feel small and thin? Compared to the two burly children whose arms held him up, his arms felt smaller, similar to those of a child. The girl stood in front of him like an adjudicator. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± she asked as pushed her finger into his chest and narrowed her eyes at him. ¡°Listen girl I don¡¯t know what is going on but maybe I can talk to your parents or someone grown up?¡± The kids, no, the gang of street urchins, looked at each other and laughed at him, some pushing and shoving each other to the ground. ¡°We are orphans and you are like us," she pushed him harder. ¡°What?¡± Marcus asked, confused. When he tried to move, he felt the hands of the two large children holding him still where he was. ¡°How old are you, boy? Maybe you can join my guild.¡± she said, lifting her chin. ¡°Twenty seven,¡± Marcus said and the girl Clara looked him up and she looked over at Gabe who twirled his finger around his head. ¡°Twenty seven tides,¡± she tried counting on her fingers and gave up,¡± You look no more than fourteen tides old.¡± ¡°Clara, I think it¡¯s some sort of dark magic.¡± Zek said in a deep voice that Marcus did not believe a child capable of before quickly looking down and avoiding the intimidating girl''s eyes. ¡°Maybe we should ask him,¡± Geneve proposed, looking at the scrawny half-human half-Aasimar in her and her brother¡¯s hands. ¡°Was it dark magic?¡± Clara looked up at Marcus. ¡°Dark magic¡­ What is that? there is no such thing as magic,¡± he said as he suddenly felt the pain on his leg and arm. Clara turned back to Gabe looking for any answers and the skin thin boy twirled his finger round his ear. ¡°So where¨C¡± the white haired girl started, and before she could finish, the scrawny boy interrupted him. ¡°If you all don¡¯t have parents, Can you take me to whoever is in charge?¡± Marcus asked, using his hand to feel at his bruises before he was painfully yanked upright by the two giant children holding him. ¡°His right, I think we should take him away from this place," Gabe said, squinting at the dark forest that surrounded them. Clara, realising where she was, quickly looked up in panic.¡± Zek and Geneve curry him Gabe and the rest of you bring the metal.¡± As they walked at a hurried pace through the Ashfields, they dragged him along seemingly worried about the forest that surrounded the Ashfields and city more than his injured leg. They moved past other scavengers and made their way towards the city. chapter 2 Marcus looked up at the towering walls, the orphans helping him move past the gates of the city as they entered through a side gate much smaller than the large gate doors that stood five stories high. In the city, they moved along a stream that flowed through the many buildings in the ward. The water was stale and dark, and if he looked closely, he could see all sorts of debris floating in the water. At one section of the stream, he watched as a man lowered his hose and pissed in the murky stream, and he soon realised how old and back in time the city was. They turned another corner, and a group of ragged orphans came to a stop. Marcus looked up at a stall where a man with a swollen eye was haggling with a boy not much older than orphans who had found him. The two cursed angrily at each other, talking as they held onto a broken shield. However, they did not notice the group and Marcus until the small girl, Clara, stood next to the stall alongside them. ¡°Levin, get lost if you aren¡¯t selling anything,¡± Clara said as she stepped next to the boy and looked up at him. Levin was a halfbreed like any street urchin in the lower city, he was tall like a goliath, and his eyes were golden like those of the Aasimar lords, along with his lean body; this gave him an intense look. He was a tide or two older than Clara, but even he knew to keep his distance from the girl. ¡°What do you want, Clara ¡°? Levin turned to her and crossed his hands as he looked down at her. ¡°I have come to talk with the old man.¡± The old merchant, who wasn¡¯t any older than forty tides, looked aghast at Clara, and he pretended to be hurt. ¡°Hey, young woman, I am one of the youngest men you will see around here,¡± he said, folding his arms. She ignored the merchant and stepped closer to Levin, making the larger boy uncomfortable. Glaring at him as though she could look straight through him, she shook her head. Levin took a step back and raised his hand. ¡°Fine, do what you want," he said, walking over to a wall and leaning against it, looking at the girl and her ring of orphans. ¡°What do you have for me?¡± the merchant, Jethro, asked, rubbing his hands together with a mischievous expression. ¡°Gabe and you,¡± she pointed at one of the boys who held the wheel, ¡°bring the wheel over and put it on the table.¡± Jethro watched patiently as the two dirty, thin boys came over and, with some effort, lifted the wheel and placed it on his table. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see what we have here,¡± Jethro said, moving his hands over the chariot wheel. ¡°How much?¡± Clara asked. ¡°It¡¯s a nice wheel you have,¡± he pointed at some etchings. ¡°Here you see this looks like a sigil of one of the nobles. I can sell it to someone with a wagon as a replacement wheel. I can give you four small coppers.¡± ¡°Seven small coppers,¡± Clara countered, and to the side, she heard Levin scoff, she ignored the jab. ¡°Seven! What do you take me for?¡± Jethro crossed his arms, not willing to touch the burnt wheel. ¡°Six then.¡± From the corner, Levin scoffed again. ¡°Five and I see what else you have.¡± Jethro said. ¡°Fine,¡± she puffed out her cheeks and gestured for the other wheel to be put on top of the shabby table. ¡°Another one,¡± Jethro moved his hands along the wood of the wheel and placed his finger on his chin, thinking. ¡°Three,¡± he began to say but was quickly cut off by Clara. ¡°No four,¡± she glared at the man. ¡°Fine.¡± The shady merchant rolled his eyes. ¡°Hey are you in charge here,¡± Marcus asked, wincing in pain. This caused Clara to turn and glare at him. Marcus tried to take a step forward, but the hands of the two Goliath children held him back, causing his bent foot to flare up in pain. Jethro looked around and finally pointed at himself with a smug bashful face ¡°Me, of course, am incharge,¡± he said walking past Clara and towards the boy ¡°I have seen everyone of these ahm customers but not you,¡± he looked him up and down at Marcus ¡°never seen you before¡±. ¡°Leave him be.¡± Clara said. Levin raised an eyebrow, noticing Marcus for the first time. ¡°What, did the orphanage finally decide to throw him out?" he asked, moving closer and trying to get a good look. Jethro was like any human man¡ªnot too tall and not too short, either. Yet as he leaned his face towards Marcus, the boy frowned and glared at Jethro, causing him to notice the boy''s eyes. ¡°Oh my, another half blood. the Aasimar lords sure know how to keep themselves entertained.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? Asmor?¡± Marcus tried to say the word,¡± What is that?¡± Marcus had been short growing up and, like many, took on the bad that came with it. When he hit his growth spout, he was simply lucky to put all that behind. So when the shady-looking man left his stall and leaned over him, he felt angry. The way the man looked at him reminded him of being weak. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°You boy, you are Aasimar,¡± Jethro said, ¡°at least half-blood,¡± looking intently at Marcus¡¯s right human eye. ¡°His none of your business,¡± Clara stepped between them. ¡°Tell you what, he shifted his eyes to look at her with his mischievous grin,¡± Your friend needs healing, and I can heal him,¡± Jethro said ¡°Can you really fix my leg,¡± Marcus asked, still unsure if the man was a doctor or not or whether the magic that the children had spoken of would be what he would use. ¡°Yes, I can but It will cost you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any money.¡± ¡°Manney! What is that? I need coins, and don¡¯t worry; I am sure Clara is willing to pay,¡± Jethro said, extending his open hand in front of the girl. ¡°Are you trying to cut me?" she glared at a shady merchant in rugged clothes. ¡°Hey boy, if I pay for him to fix you, will you join up with me?¡± Levin, who had been ignored all this time, stood eyes focused on Marcus with a look Clara did not fail to notice. ¡°What?¡± the boy asked. ¡°I can pay Jethro to heal you and in return you help me and my friends.¡± Levin said. Levin was one of a few orphans in the lower wards and districts with the blood of the Aasimar lords in his veins, and it was this very blood that the orphans of the Aasimar were known for, half breeds like him who kept the eyes of the Aasimar lords were known more specifically for one thing. Like Levin, they were well known for being wild cards because they were either good at magic or they would show a basic ability for the craft, a gamble most of those who hired them were willing to take. ¡°No, I found him and he is with me,¡± Clara said, blocking Levin¡¯s path. ¡°How much?¡± She turned to Jethro. ¡°Seven small coppers,¡± Jethro showed her his hands, waiting for her to place the coin. Levin and Marcus both scoffed at the shady merchant and his blatant thievery. He had bought the wheels for nine small copper coins, and now he was asking for more than half of that. Clara was too stubborn to see it. She looked down at the hand, asking for her coin. She wanted to do the right thing, but it would mean giving up the coin she would use to feed her friends. Jethro and Levin knew this. They knew that beyond the rough facade the girl put on in front of everyone in the ward, she would do anything for those she considered her friends. She looked down at the coins and hesitantly placed seven of the small coins in the man¡¯s hands. Levin scoffed and walked back to the wall and leaned back against seemingly content to watch. Jethro closed his hand around the coins and beamed, ¡°Well, follow me and bring your friend along,¡± he said, heading back to his stall. Marcus grunted as the two half-Goliath kids lifted him and led him towards the stall, where they proceeded to place him on the cobblestone. ¡°How are you gonna fix my leg?¡± Marcus asked as he sat with his mangled foot stretched out. ¡°Am going to heal you. I may not look like it but I have a minor ability to heal,¡± Jethro said. Marcus was skeptical as he looked at the man¡¯s swollen eye. " Then your eye,¡± he gestured to his own. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you healed yourself, then?¡± ¡°Because I''m a merchant and people are willing to pay for magic.¡± ¡°Magic! You can¡¯t be serious,¡± Marcus tried not to roll his eyes. ¡°You two hold him down,¡± Jethro ordered Zek and Geneve. Marcus felt the arms clump down on his shoulders. Then he watched as the shady merchant grabbed his foot and yanked it back roughly to its normal position. Marcus screamed and tried to kick and get up. This surprised the two Goliath children, causing them to push down on the small boy even harder. ¡°Now,¡± Jethro said, and his hand glowed with a faint light as runic symbols floated above it in small circles and hexagons. Slowly but painfully, the ligament in his joint mended in a piercing pain as he clenched his jaw. And when the deed was done, the two Goliath half-bloods quickly let go of Marcus and stepped back, worried and uncertain looks on their faces. ¡°He is mighty strong! Thought he was going to throw me back. Are you alright Gevene.¡± Zek asked, feeling out his fingers. ¡°Am alright," she replied to her brother. ¡°Isn¡¯t healing magic rare?¡± Gabe looked inquisitively at the merchant, who simply shrugged and moved away from the group to catch his breath. ¡°It is, but I also have my secrets," he turned to Marcus. ¡°Well I¡¯ve done all I can, you can¡¯t run around,¡± Jethro said, breathing heavily, a thin shin of sweat on his forehead. ¡°You¡­You used magic,.... real magic¡­.it actually exists. What place is this?,¡± Marcus muttered to himself. ¡°Can you stand,¡± Clara asked, standing in front of him and placing her hands on her hips. ¡°Yes, I can. I think so,¡± he said, raising to his full height for the first time and standing a head taller than the girl. By his standard, she was about five and a half feet tall. ¡°You owe me for this," Clara said. Looking at him, Clara''s body tensed as she put on a brave front. Marcus scratched his head. " Sure, but I don¡¯t know what I can pay you back with.¡± ¡°You can come work for me.¡± Marcus looked at the young girl and then at everything around him. For the first time, he realized he truly was not on earth. What would someone do in his situation? He needed information. He needed to find out what was going on. He needed to survive, and he needed to understand what this place was and if he was still on earth. He looked back at the girl sceptically, ¡°And why should I work for you?¡± ¡°Because I have magic and I can protect you.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that what the cops are for?¡± Seeing the confused look on her face he amended his words to be more fitting of the medieval times. He hoped it would work. Because the roads here were made of cable stone and the people wore clothes he had only seen from pictures in his renaissance history classes. ¡°I meant guards, isn''t that what the guards do?¡± Everyone but Clara burst out laughing at him. Even the merchant laughed from where he stood, packing his stall on the wagon. ¡°You are funny, boy,¡± Jethro said, shaking his head in amusement. ¡°The guards don¡¯t care about anyone down here in the lower wards beyond the fourth wall.¡± ¡°Then I will go to the fourth wall.¡± This time, no one laughed, not even the shady merchant Jethro, they simply looked at him with pity while others just looked down avoiding his eyes. Clara looked at him and spoke, her voice could have been placed between fear and anger, ¡°If the guards find you out in the fourth wall after dark they will tie you to the pole, and you will be whipped fifty times.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right boy, fifty lashes will kill you. If I were you I would follow her. She is one of the good ones.¡± A pole and lushes with a whip he was disgusted by the thought. Marcus gave a shaky smile as he imagined someone taking fifty lushes, but he could not bear the thought. He looked down at his young body and knew that the merchant was right; he would die if he was subjected to fifty whips. After all, he knew that such a whip in good hands travelled at nearly the speed of sound. Marcus closed his eyes and nodded towards the girl in front of him. He would wait and watch. chapter 3 Guild, Coin and Debt The eight walked past the many buildings with broken windows and broken wooden doors and made their way from the outskirts of the city, where many buildings were abandoned, towards the direction of the fourth wall, where the buildings became more tolerable, where windows were sealed off tight, doors were nailed into hinges, and the worst anyone could complain about would be a leaky roof or a skulking rat beneath wooden boards. They moved past people with grim faces trying to sell them days-old food, past a drunk trying and failing to get back up on his feet and leftover human feces that smelled as they passed by many of the dark alleys. These are things a modern-day person like him would have never thought of coming across. On one of the streets, a dead body was left on the side of the building, clearly dead, eyes staring blankly in the distance, flies making his nose, eyes and mouth their home, and the smell... He shattered. He could only cover his mouth to prevent the bile that threatened to make him feel even worse. The dead body had an identical smell to that of human waste and urine. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Marcus asked, trying to keep a musk on his face and not show any agitation. ¡°We are going to the guild,¡± Gabe, the skinny-looking boy, answered. ¡°Like Merchants guild.¡± ¡°The boy looked at him curiously, getting a thoughtful look on his face. ¡°No, there is no such thing in the lower wards. There is only a hunter''s guild in the fourth wall and a merchant''s guild beyond the third wall.¡± ¡°Then what is your guild?¡± ¡°Our guild is the Rat''s guild; we protect each other,¡± Zek said in a rough, loud voice from behind Marcus. ¡°The Rats Guild?¡± He asked, cocking his head to the side, "What is that?¡± To the big boy''s dismay, he did not get the chance to answer, Clara spoke up, and he hung his head. ¡°No more questions, we are nearly there, you¡¯ll see,¡± Clara said from the front of the group. The rats guild was, to put it kindly, a large warehouse that resembled a hunger, with wooden and stone pillars supporting the earth above where the structure had been dug into the mountain. A less amiable man would have called it a large cave with supporting pillars, living burrows in all corners, and makeshift tents set up in the dark spaces where one could get some rest. It was a messy place to be in; it reminded Marcus of a lunch hall filled with children fighting, Sleeping, Eating, and, in some cases, partaking in sins of the flesh due to the lack of adult supervision, the oldest of whom was nineteen or in their early twenties. On the side were different stalls run by shady-looking men and women, who exchanged their coins for whispered secrets or well-concealed items. ¡°Follow me, we¡¯ll find a place to sit and I¡®ll get us something to eat,¡± Clara said. Like any other group, the eight sat on the ground, and Clara went ahead, dividing the dried meat she had bought as they walked through the guild building among her friends. The two Goliath children got the most, followed by Clara and Gabe, then the girl and the other two boys. Lastly was him, and to his dismay, he got three strips of dried jerky, which was less than what everyone else got. Marcus looked at the small, thin pieces of meat a foot more or less in length, and slowly, he nibbled on them as he looked around at the rest of the group and children in the sizable cave-like warehouse. Looking at the two Goliath children, he saw their skin was grey in tone. It had become one of his curiosities for some time during the walk. ¡°What are you? Marcus asked, causing everyone to stop their chewy struggle with the jerky and look between him and the two siblings. ¡°Their father was a Goliath, and that¡¯s why they look like that,¡± Gabe said, drawing his attention away from the pair, who made as little eye contact as possible. ¡°Wait so there are Humans, Aasimar and Goliath people?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Clara said, ¡°have you been living under a rock or something. And you don''t have to be rude.¡± ¡°Where I''m from there are only humans.¡± The group stopped eating and laughing and looked at him with confused expressions. He realized perhaps he should keep quiet until he knew more. "Only humans? then was it your mother or father?" Marcus looked confused. "What?" "The aasimar was it your mother or your father?" Clara asked. "Neither." "Clara, Don''t," Gabe said, shaking his head. At the end of the day, they had seen many like him, leaving in denial and hoping their reality was some sort of Dream. "So you have never seen magic or the other races." she recounted, looking at him pitifully. ''Yes. '' After all, he had never seen magic or the other sorts of people. Marcus then knew if he wanted to learn more about this world, it would be better if he shut his mouth, and observe rather than speak. Switching their attention back to their hard strips of jerky, Marcus saw a small group of half-giant kids approaching them from the wall; they pushed aside anyone who got in their way, moving as though they owned the ground they stepped on. It was not only him who saw the movement of the four boys. Zek, Geneve and Clara all tensed up, slowly taking bites of their strips of meat. The group moved forward, stopping when they stepped in the middle of a small dysfunctioning group that had taken Marcus in. The four were like Zek and Geneve in appearance, only much bulkier, more well fed and with dark strips of the goliath. The four looked around at their group, their eyes lingering on small rations they were all eating. "Zek, Geneve, what are you doing with these weaklings? They can¡¯t even feed themselves.'' The large child¡¯s eyes rested on Marcus and the jerky he was chewing on. ¡°So Clara, do you got our coin,¡± the largest of the boys asked, stepping in front of her. ¡°Not today Agmak I don¡¯t have your coin.¡± Agmak looked around at the small rations the eight were eating and cursed, ¡°This is horse shit, Zek. You should come with us. I will even forget about the coin you owe me. ¡°They told you they weren¡¯t gonna join you.¡± She stood defiantly in front of the large boy. ¡°They cost us the job and a lot of coin. You know it¡¯s two copper to keep them on your team.¡± Marcus slowly lifted his elbow, his eyes never leaving the side of the boy''s head. He nudged Gabe in the shoulder and whispered, trying not to draw the attention of the four large boys, "What are they talking about?¡± Seeing his interest, Gabe leaned in closer to whisper, ¡°Agmak and his friends were doing a job with the two, and you didn¡¯t hear this from me, but Geneve¡­ she doesn¡¯t do well under pressure. She froze and dropped the bag with a necklace that could buy Agmak and the rest of his boys enough rations for months until the next tide.¡± ¡°How much do they owe him?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± Gabe shrugged,¡± but Clara¡¯s been doing her best to keep them off Zek and Geneve.¡± Suddenly, the air around them went dry, and the temperature around Clara grew, causing Gabe and Marcus to look up at the girl. Clara stood in front of Agmak, her hands tense at her sides and her fingers glowing like hot coals as she looked up at him. ¡°Are you sure you want to fight me,¡± Agmak looked down at Clara with a smug grin on his face that only grew weary as his eye darted to Clara¡¯s red-hot fingers. ¡°That¡¯s innate magic.¡± Gabe whispered to Marcus as the boy looked at Clara admiringly. ¡°That¡¯s enough. You two, if you are going to fight, take it outside or to the pit.¡± A cold voice spoke loud enough that everyone in this part of the warehouse could hear him, and as quickly as it had begun, the two backed down, resorting only to glares. "Agmak, she keeps her word. You will have your coin.¡± the older voice reminded the other boy. Marcus turned to see the speaker, and in the distance, a figure in all black walked through the crowded cloth tents. He stood on a raised mound of earth and looked at them with unconcerned eyes. The man was tall and had a thin frame, but what actually gave him an edge that made Marcus¡¯s spine tingle was the nonchalance of his posture and the way he spoke, knowing that nobody would say anything to oppose him. With a flagon of ale in his hand, he looked around and stumbled across the cave towards the stalls that made up a sort of counter setting where many orphans and those with a coin in the southern lower wards come to sell and buy. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Who is he?¡± Marcus looked up at the lanky man walking away. ¡°He is the guild master, don''t get on his bad side, and If you get a chance to work a job he places with the merchants, do it right and you will be making as much coin as anyone in the lower cities.¡± ¡°You said Clara needs coin , how do ,uhm ,the members of the guild make coin then?¡± ¡°Ohh that¡¯s really easy. You can just do what you want. The guild is for protection but you could sell them anything if you can get your hands on it and there is also the protection fee. The guild pays a lot of coin for items from the houses of nobles and even better if you can tell them secrets about nobles.¡± Gabe bit and tore off a stripe of jerky. ¡°And how do we do that?¡± ¡°Only members of the guild who can use magic normally take those jobs.¡± ¡°So we can¡¯t help her.¡± Gabe shrugged,¡± if you have magic maybe you can help her get coin.¡± ¡°What if she can¡¯t pay them or refuse to pay them?¡± Gabe looked at him and shook his head. ¡°Zek and Geneve are Goliath. If she can¡¯t help them pay they will find someone else to help them pay.¡± ¡°Gabe and Marcus come with me,¡± Clara said, turning into their makeshift tent, the one Clara and her friends slept in. ¡°Gabe, how much coin do we have?¡± The small boy looked up and raised his fingers, counting in his head. ¡°Not enough coin, we can help Zek and Geneve pay but we won¡¯t have enough for days after that.¡± Clara shook her head and held her hands by her sides, trying not to lash out. She turned her eyes to Marcus. ¡°What can you do? Do you have magic?¡± ¡°Magic ?¡± Marcus looked confused, but Gabe was quick to respond. ¡°I don¡¯t think he knows if he can do magic.¡± ¡®Of course I think I know what magic is but do I believe it no. not at all.¡¯ Clara unfolded the rag running diagonal across her shoulder and waist and pulled out a folded brownish paper, gesturing for Marcus to take it. Marcus, looking confused, reached out for the paper with his hand unfolded and looked at its contents. Confused, he turned it over, and the same was true for the other side. He looked up at her, and Clara¡¯s irritation was so bland that Gabe could see it. The thin boy walked over to Marcus, looked down at the paper, and then back up at him. ¡°That¡¯s Katch paper, you push your magic in it and the paper displays what your affinities are.¡± Gabe turned, blocking Clara¡¯s view, and started a whispered conversation with the other boy. Clara watched them huddle together like mischievous rats and waited for Gabe to tell her the results of whatever they were talking about. Marcus looked at the paper, turned it over and still looked confused. ¡°And how do I do that?" he asked, keeping a sceptical eye on the other boy. ¡°Like this,¡± Gabe grabbed the Katch paper from Marcus¡¯s hand and held it on his own. He shut his eyes, and with a mighty effort of concentration, his face turned red. For all his effort, the paper showed no changes, but it remained blank. Just when Marcus was starting to doubt what the other boy was attempting to show him, the brownish paper started to glow, and words began to appear, symbols and runes forming detailed complexity. It would have been hard for someone to make out the mix of symbols and words, but Marcus was a software engineer, and sure, looking at code for eight hours a day was headache-inducing, but the symbols on the paper felt flat without that intimidating factor of code when you looked at it without context or understanding what it turns did. The paper looked like a DaVinci note with words and illustrated symbols. ¡°That¡¯s very tough for someone like me. See that,¡± he pointed to the symbols on the left. These are the types of magic, and these are the affinity patterns, " he pointed to the third part that was written in numbers. This is the amount of power for each affinity.¡± Marcus looked at the paper, concentrating on trying to understand the complex writing on the paper. ¡°Don¡¯t worry; this is not that impressive; I am not a mage,¡± he said, pointing at the symbols and the corresponding numbers. After understanding what Gabe had explained, this is what was written on the paper in brief form.
Gabe
Affinity Strength/ Weight
Light 0
Dark 0
Elemental 1
Arcane 1
Psychic 0
Shadow 0
Bloodline 0
The sections that the magic wrote in the middle were descriptions of the magic and spell and runic formations that the affinities were a part of or used for, like a personal recorded history. He explained that if he were to master a spell, it would appear in this section of the katch paper in the form of a complex spell formation that would disappear over time if it was not reinforced. ¡°You can use elemental and arcane spells then?¡± Marcus asked. ¡°No I can''t, I don''t have enough power in either affinity.¡± ¡°Are you two done talking like little gossiping girls?¡± Clara pulled the two boys apart and looked down at the paper. She read the name on the paper. ¡°Is he showing what to do?¡± ¡°Yes, I think I get it.¡± ¡°Well, go on let¡¯s see!¡± she pushed the paper towards Marcus, the letters symbols and numbers all disappeared as soon as it left Gabe¡¯s hands. Marcus grabbed the paper and held it before himself,¡± he focused on the paper trying to see the words but nothing happened.¡°I don¡¯t think it''s working. Am I doing this wrong?¡± He looked from Gabe¡¯s face to Clara''s. ¡°No, you have to send your magic into the katch paper if you want anything to happen," she pointed out. He looked blankly at the two and tried to imagine himself pouring his magic into the paper. After a while, and minutes of trying and failing, Marcus soon realised that he didn''t know how to inject magic in the paper, ¡°Is this supposed to feel like anything.¡± ¡°It''s supposed to feel like heat from a campfire," Clara said. ¡°No, that''s only because she has an innate spell ability of fire. I have heard it''s also supposed to feel like a cold or a shock. Did you feel anything like that?¡± ¡°No,¡± Marcus said trying to concentrate, ¡°how did it feel for you?¡± he looked at Clara. ¡°The first time I did it was in the winter in the cold. I wanted to warm myself and ¡®bum!¡¯ my hand caught on fire,¡± Clara said. ¡°When I did it felt like a buzzing that moved through my body. And into the paper.¡± ¡°Like a buzzing,¡± he looked at Gabe, who nodded smugly in response. ¡°Keep the katch paper. Keep trying until you can do it, she said. Let''s go to the fourth wall. We''ll sleep here and go to the wall in the morning. __________ It took most of the day''s hours for the group to reach the outskirts of the wall. Marcus soon came to realise that Srok was as large as any medieval city, with many people living ordinary but poor lives with poorer standards, water drawn from the wells dull and murky, and people preferred to stay in their houses, bodies that died in the street were left for the vultures until the guards forced people out of neighboring homes to clean and dump them out into the Ashfields. During the hours they took to reach the fourth wall, they slept in small abandoned shacks, and with no coin in their name, Clara had ordered the boys Nel and Linus to find them something to eat. For orphaned kids like them, finding food was relatively easy in a way. The water that flowed from the higher stratum of the mountain''s peaks was dammed at every wall and used in the cesspits and trenches to move the waste from the higher walls and Cities on the mountain to the base in the lower cities, then the waste was left to drain into the forgotten forest. The two boys found one of the trench''s holes, and Nel laid down his legs facing the trenches. Linus held a stone brick on the other end of the trench, Marcus watched as the two waited, and they stayed still, and Marcus watched a large rat the size of a rabbit curiously sniff at the opening; it slowly and cautiously moved its head out and sniffed the air. The large rat reached Nel¡¯s feet and sniffed it. The rat nibbled at the boy''s feet, and Linus, who was crouched down on the other end of the trench, swung down the brick onto the rat''s sizable head. "Yesss! There we did it," Linus said, grabbing the large rat. "Here, catch it, and make sure you cut it nice and good," he threw it towards Zek. The large boy grabbed the creature midair and started to skin it with a small knife he pulled out from under his tunic. ¡®Is this how the people, the children of this world, live feeding on rats when they cannot afford to buy food? What about sickness? What happens when they fall sick. On the other end of the narrow alley, Clara started a fire with her magic, and they huddled around it for warmth. Skewed on a stick, the large rat was put on the fire to roast. That night, Marcus did not eat, going through the next day on an empty stomach. Next to the Fourth wall but still within the fifth wall boundaries, the buildings were well maintained, and the streets were kept clean. Interestingly enough, none of the buildings were homes or Manors of wealth; they were a facade of civility, they were brothels, shady merchant buildings, and detestable tavern buildings. A place where all the rich came to play without consequence. ¡°Gabe, take Marcus to the streets to see how he does in the markets. They may be willing to give him more because he is an Aasimar half-blood.¡± ¡°Wait, are we going to ask for something,¡± Marcus looked around at them. ¡°No,¡± Gabe scratched his head pitifully, ¡°we are going to beg for coins in the market and if we are lucky even butchers will have leftover meat to give as well.¡± "Can¡¯t we work for the coins? It¡¯s better than begging." Clara, Zek and Geneve all looked down. "Listen, no one is willing to employ a half-blood especially one who can''t do anything," Gabe said with a lopsided grimace. "Marcus, we can¡¯t start doing that. Just do as Gabe does. It¡¯s much safer for everyone." Clara said, "It''s safer than searching the Ashfields." The two moved towards the gate in the fourth wall that led towards the fourth upper stratum of the city; the land was not flat enough to allow for cleanly constructed stairways. Instead, stairs were built on the steep slope mounds, and where the ground was easy to walk upon, the ground was left to slope upwards naturally, the two moved past the prison fortress, as Gabe had called it . It was a large circular building that was made of black stone and rose above almost every other building in the area and was filled with local militia guards, idly standing guard. The fortress prison was lodged into the soil and anchored the surrounding ground like a plant''s root and in the distance, the stairs continued up and led to the fourth wall''s gate. The guards idly looked at the two boys passing through the gate and did nothing to stop them, but the whipping posts that stood next to them reminded him that if they did not return by the late hours, they would be subjected to lashes and the bloody body of the barely breathing man tied to one of the posts did nothing to ease his worries.