The wind fluttered as the hero faced the demon. “This is your end, demon scum!” He shouted, clutching his blade. The demon laughed uproariously as it presented its claws. “Bring it on, ‘hero’. Let’s see how long you can last.” Both of them let out a battle cry and charged.
The two wooden figures clashed and twirled around each other, like mighty warriors engaged in a heated fight. My mind conjured up a fantastic battle between good and evil. On my left side was Sir Lightsword, fighting for the good of the people, against the dastardly demon Evilus, who had come to take away all that was good in the world. Both warriors fought ferociously, using their divine and demonic powers to outdo each other.
Suddenly, something hit me from behind, knocking me to the ground. Both figures flew out of my hands and landed somewhere in the tall grass. I turned around and glared at the person responsible. The older boy had already picked himself up and was walking back to his group of friends, who were doing absolutely nothing to hold in their laughter.
It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, and I debated whether to confront them about it. But, as always, I decided it wasn’t worth it. Escalating the situation would only result in a few more bruises and broken bones.
Sure, the caregivers would step in if anything too drastic happened, but their definition of drastic was fairly loose. After all, they said, fighting built character.
Not too long ago, a fight had broken out in the yard. I didn’t remember what it was about, but it must have been about something trivial. Anyway, the fight resulted in a girl breaking both her legs and an arm before the caregivers ended it. The girl's name was another thing I couldn’t remember. I had probably never learned it in the first place.
My thoughts were interrupted, not by a sound, but by the lack of one. A silence had fallen over all the children in the courtyard. They were all starring at the two people who had entered.
One of them was a caregiver, which was strange in itself. Free time had only just started, which meant that the caregivers shouldn’t have had any reason to interact with us.
Even stranger was the person walking next to her. She was wearing a plain white robe that covered most of her body. Only her head was visible, showcased her sharp features and green eyes. What differentiated her from everyone else were the two curled horns rising up from her head. We had learnt about non-humans, but this was the first time I had seen one.
Even though her height was extended by the horns, the caregiver made her look like a flower next to a massive tree. The woman was two heads shorter than the caregiver, which wasn’t unexpected given their hulking size.
She also didn’t look combat ready, lacking any sort of weapon. Most adults had some kind of visible weapon to show off their specialty. Granted, they rarely had to use them but it was considered a status symbol to carry a weapon.
Our teachers had told us that when we grew up, we would get our very own weapons. Most of the other children had been excited by the prospect. Not me. I had no interest in fighting. I would much rather spend my time making up cool stories. Unfortunately, this was not allowed, and the caregivers had repeatedly punished me for slacking off.
The caregiver looked sternly around the courtyard. “Stop staring and get back to whatever you do in your spare time!” She shouted. “You have 15 minutes remaining.” All the other children obeyed her command, while occasionally sneaking glances at the odd pair. I was about to go back to playing when I noticed them heading in my direction. I gulped. Had I done something wrong? Were they here to punish me? I was still debating whether to continue playing or to face them when they arrived.
“Candidate Sarvad!” I flinched at the caregivers rough voice and gave her a sloppy salute. Normally this would have drawn an immediate retort, but instead she just stayed back and glared at the other women with her arms crossed. “This is the boy.”
Instead of answering, the woman stepped forward and began to inspect me. A bead of sweat ran down my forehead, but I tried my best to stay still as she circled me. I'd caught a glimpse of her eyes and what I had seen wasn’t nice. Those green eyes had felt… cold. Not lifeless or cruel, like some of the other adults I had seen, but uncaring and calculating.
“Show your arm.” Her voice broke me from my thoughts. It was as icy as her eyes. I glanced at the caregiver, but she just nodded her head. Reluctantly, I complied and held my arm out in front of me.
Seeing the giant needle in her hand almost made me regret my decision. Before I could object, she plunged it into my arm. The pain wasn’t too bad, but the runes that suddenly started glowing on it almost made me flinch. I managed to stop myself and watched as the needle began to draw blood, filling a small vial to which it was attached.
After a couple of seconds, the woman removed the needle. I expected for the wound to start bleeding, but it immediately closed, not leaving a single drop of blood behind. I was still marvelling at my clean arm when the woman took out another needle and commanded me to show my other arm.
This process was repeated two more times and by the end I was feeling dizzy. At this point another caretaker arrived and called for the beginning of classes. The other children formed an orderly line and marched into the building. Some of them cast curious glances. I looked back, for once in my lifetime excited for class.
The woman seemed to have collected enough of my blood and had retreated a couple of steps to examine it. This was done with an array of tools that I had never seen before. It took a long time before she was satisfied and stepped back to the caregiver.
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“The test have returned satisfactory. Your payment for the subjects will be delivered shortly.” The caregiver didn’t hide her disgust from the woman. “You people are a plague upon our world.” Instead of being offended the woman simply laughed. “Who is worse, the storm that destroys the village or the monsters that prey on the afterwards defenceless villagers? Remember, half of the stuff you use to strengthen these children was developed by us.”
The caregiver gripped her sword but instead of attacking she turned to me. I was shocked by the sad smile on her face. Caregivers usually weren’t much for emotions. She crouched down so she was face-to-face with me. “I’m sorry, child.” I could only nod mutely as a tear rolled down her cheek.
“You now have a new home.” This brought me out of my trance. “Why am I leaving? Did I do something wrong?” The caregiver shook her head. “No child, it’s not your fault. It’s ours.” She stood and turned to the woman, who was tapping her foot impatiently. “You got what you came here for. Now leave before I make you.”
The woman rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow. Uncertain, I looked at the caregiver, but she had already turned away. Not knowing what else to do, I followed the unknown woman. The caregiver's words only now began to sink in. I was leaving.
A hole started to form in my stomach. Sure, I hadn’t really liked this place, but it was all that I knew. What would it be like to live somewhere else? Would it be better? Worse? I looked at the woman, but she was staring straight ahead. I shivered.
Gasping, I stumbled back from Sarvad. What had just happened? Those visions had been me but also somehow not? I tried to vomit but my essence form didn’t have a stomach. Sarvad was slumped against the wall, more chains having seemingly shot out of it to drag him back.
He lifted his head weakly, and I could see that the fire hadn’t left his eyes. But now it was directed at someone else. I could barely make out his next words. “Find her… and kill her. Kill them all for what they did to me and the others. They must face the consequences.”
Suddenly, the room around me changed and I was thrown back into my real body.
“Essence reserves at 2%. Removing User from mindscape.”
I groaned and sank to the floor. The pain wasn’t the worst I'd ever experienced, but it was definitely in the top three. Luckily, it faded quickly, giving me enough space to think about what had just happened.
Those had been memories. Not mine, but Sarvad's. And pretty old ones, considering the small height of that Sarvad. Some details of the vision were already starting to get muddy, but one thing remained: the horned woman. The same woman I had seen in the noble carriage, looking as if she hadn’t aged a single day.
But what truly made me shiver was the hatred. Sarvad’s hatred for her that emanated from him in waves. That wasn’t something I was about to forget. This woman was the reason for his insanity.
The pain had eased, but now my anger began to rear its head. I knew that the horned woman was probably part of some kind of organisation, but otherwise I knew nothing. My lack of information was frustrating. But how could I get more? I would have to discuss that with my two companions when they returned.
Moving on, the woman had also said something about ‘payment for the subjects’. What were the subjects that that woman had bought? Were they… I shivered in revulsion. I hated the idea of buying someone else’s life. A life was something so precious that I couldn’t imagine anyone selling it for those metal disks humans used. There were millions of them, whereas a life was unique to each person. Nobody in their right mind would sell their life.
Unless… it wasn’t their own life they were selling. I wretched but my stomach was too empty to throw up. The very thought of it was disturbing, but the memories were clear. Sarvad hadn't known it then, but those 'caregivers' had sold his life.
I was tempted to activate Calm Mind, but my mental reserves were still low.
Instead, I tried to push away the ramifications of what I had just learned. It didn’t work. The woman had bought Sarvad. For what reason? I didn’t know, but it certainly wasn’t good, considering the mental state I'd last seen him in.
The same woman who was hunting for me. What did she want? I slammed my fist against the table, almost breaking it in the process. Too much information was missing. If I was ever going to get anywhere, I had to find out who she was and what she wanted from me. Hopefully without going mad like Sarvad had.
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A knock at the door woke Guild Master Wane from his brooding. “Come in,” he called, hiding the anger in his voice. The door opened and in walked Mr. Entar. Without prompting, the man took a seat and frowned at Wane. “I assume you didn’t call me here because you've captured the target. Make it quick, I’m a busy man.”
Wane flashed him a strained smile. “Of course, Mr. Entar.” Entar wasn’t the man’s real name. Yet it was the only real information the Guild Master had about him. Judging by his appearance, you wouldn’t expect him to be anything special. His clothes were plain, and the only thing that distinguished him was the blade at his waist.
No, what made him special was that he was the Desert Viper’s only link to the mysterious contractor who promised to make them rich. And having received some of their gifts, Wane was eager to serve. Though there was one problem…
“This won’t take long,” Wane assured him. “I just wanted to talk about the current mission.” Entar raised an eyebrow. “What is there to talk about? This mission will either make you rich or end our cooperation. We have made ourselves clear.”
“Yes, I know that,” Wane replied. “But you see, I like to go for walks. And on my last walk I noticed something. Would you mind explaining this to me?” Calmly, the Guild Master took out the wanted poster and placed it on the desk. Entar glanced at it before looking back up. “What of it?”
Wane slammed his fists against the desk. “This wasn’t the deal! You said that this was OUR task. Then why is the city guard searching for the same person?!” The Guild Master leaned forward to loom over his business partner. “I swear to the gods, if this is an attempt to scam us, I’ll-“
“You what?” Entar interrupted calmly. “What will your little assassin guild do?”
Wane growled. “You don’t understand who you are messing with.”
At that Entar chuckled. “Believe me, we know more than you’ll ever know. We know the deepest, darkest secret of every nation. We stand in defiance of the gods and yet you think that you can threaten us?” The man scoffed. “You claim to know, but you’re just as ignorant as everyone else. And you are wasting my time.
He stood up and turned around. Wane clenched his fists in frustration. The urge to strike him was strong, but the Guild Master held himself back. “At least explain why you didn’t leave the job to us,” he called out.
Without turning Entar answered. “Your first strike failed. The perfect opportunity to quickly finish this slipped through your hands. My boss then realised that this matter was too important to be left in the hands of bumbling idiots. Be grateful that you still get the chance to complete the mission.” Wane could hear his smile despite only seeing the man's back. “Think of this as a race. If you capture the target first, all your wildest dreams will come true. If the city guard catches him, well, you know the answer.”
The door closed behind him, leaving behind a Guild Master who was just ready to explode. Never in his life had he been so disrespected. Worse still, there was nothing he could do about it. Wane had his suspicions about who Entar was working for and if he was right, he should do everything in his power to finish the job quickly.