Chapter 31: Ashe
Volkar is a relatively idyllic place. Covered in fertile, rolling green hills, forests, and large plains, it’s environment is nearly as hospitable as its people. The oceans around Volkar are what you must worry about. The waters around the island grow deep quite rapidly and are home to myriad terrifying beasts of unknown power. Only the sheer strength of the island’s inhabitants, which is far above any other power on average, keeps the waters around the island somewhat safe.
Excerpt from the introduction to ‘Power Geography – Salor Takana’
The day after Ashe had talked to the queen, he was summoned to the throne room. As he knew absolutely nothing about the castle’s layout, Ashe had to follow along behind a servant and, along the way, he met Sammath who was following his own servant. Ashe gave the Volkarian a quick nod and a small smile before he focussed his attention on following the servant through the labyrinthine halls of the Arikaran palace. Finally, they came upon a huge set of doors. Ashe could feel enchantments layered into the doors, enchantments of a power and complexity that he couldn’t even comprehend but would one day hope to reach. When compared to Ashe’s enchantments, the scripts layered over the doors were like a huge ocean was to a puddle or even just a drop of water.
Completely silent, the doors swung open without even a touch to reveal the hall within. While absolutely massive and filled with beautifully carved columns, huge, stained glass windows, and ornate, slightly bleached tapestries.
The columns stretched all the way from the floor of the room to the roof, some twenty metres above Ashe’s head, with intricate, elegant patterns crawling up the sides of the columns. Stone vines snaked their way up massive, grey tree trunks and leaves and branches spread across the ceiling like a canopy. Birds, frozen in their nests and clinging onto the trees watched as Ashe and Sammath strode across the hall. Insects, legs lifted as they crawled up the trees, remained seemingly unaware of their passage. Ashe could practically hear the droning of crickets, the song of the birds, and the rustling of the leaves. Could practically smell the loamy dirt that the trees had lain down their roots in.
Grey water, frozen in time, tumbled down other columns to the floor below. Fish tumbled out of the falls, jumping out to whatever safer pools might lie below. Foamy sprays erupted into the air, tiny pieces of stone frozen in a faint mist, as the water crashed onto rocks protruding from the falls. Small pools seemed to swirl around as water caught in small depressions as it cascaded down. Ashe could practically feel the spray from the crashing waterfalls and the roar of the water echoed just outside of Ashe’s hearing. Somehow, he knew it was there and he could feel, but it was just out of reach.
Towering spires; giant stalactites and stalagmites; clawed out from the floor like huge teeth from a colossal, earthen behemoth. Some of them connected to form huge bridges from floor to ceiling while others hung, drops of water frozen in the moment before they fell from one to the next. Bats hung from the ceiling and guano coated the lower stalagmites. Solid glowworms somehow gleamed brightly, small pinpricks of light on the stone, and Ashe thought that they’d somehow been carved to catch and reflect the light from the windows to mimic the glow of the actual creatures. Just beyond his actual senses, Ashe could smell the stench of the bat excretion and the plops of each water droplet as they hit stone.
Finally, narrow cliffs stood tall, and Ashe felt them looming above him. Scree was stuck as it slid and bounced down the cliffside. Small, nearly dead branches and loose plants protruded from the cliff face. A nest, with a large vulture – its neck bowed down and plumage dirty – looking down over its domain, rested in the fork between one of these branches and the cliffside. Ashe could hear the call of the giant birds, even as the clatter of stone rose, unbidden, to the forefront of his mind.
Without further inspection, for Ashe knew there would be more details hidden within the columns, Ashe knew without a doubt that these sculptures had been Carved. Power emanated from the supports, as it had emanated from the doors, and waves of muted pressure seemed to push against Ashe. At this point, Ashe would have expected Cab to comment on the unnecessary display of wealth and power, designed to shock and awe as it was doing to Ashe, but the demon had been strangely silent since the day before.
Ashe wouldn’t have been surprised if the columns had been the only piece of decoration, with their complexity and power, but it didn’t stop there. Ashe’s attention was drawn from the insanely realistic, complicated columns to the tapestries. Clearly woven from priceless materials, some of which likely included glistening Diamond Webs, Spun Gold, Fire Threads, the core of a Threadwood Tree, and more. Those were the only seventh stage materials that Ashe knew could be woven or sewn into tapestries but he was far from a fountain of knowledge about rare and powerful materials. Gory scenes of battle, swords clashing, corpses littering the ground, blood leeching into soil, fear and anger marking soldiers’ faces, and powers being thrown about were woven with the peak of mortal skill into a number of tapestries.
On the remaining tapestries, scenes of plentiful bounty were depicted. Giant, delectable feasts filled with raucous laughter, sloshing drinks, and drunken revelry. Cornucopias overflowed with food and drink. Bands played in the backgrounds as people danced and cheered, sang and talked, ate and threw up their food, only to go back for more. Thieves darted about in the backgrounds, stealing food and scraps. Lush gardens, with blooming flowers, an abundance of crops, and animals growing fat as they lazed about, sunlight shining down on everything.
Finally, on the windows, the most mundane of the decorations, stood figures from Arikar’s past; the first King Bloodletter, himself; Tamir Dawnblaze, the first of the Dawnblaze line, Bloodletter’s general and righthand man; Varyan Sarin, the king’s assassin and spy, his shadow; Akora Thorne, the king’s lefthand woman, in charge of everything from ensuring the kingdom and army had food, to shielding and evacuating normal citizens from combat. There were more besides, but those were the four that Ashe knew of; legendary figures who’d built the kingdom of Arikar from the ground up.
These windows radiated the same power as the tapestries, showing that, while they were crafted with normal skills and not some sort of magical power, they were made from magical materials and Ashe guessed it was probably slivers of magical gemstones, which meant that the windows, like the rest of the rooms, were extremely valuable and quite powerful, when used correctly.
At the end of the hall sat Queen Bloodletter, seated on a simple chair. In front of her stood a number of figures, including some with black hair and red eyes, and Erin’s dad, whom he only recognised because of the hair. All of the others were complete strangers and Ashe wanted to hide behind Sammath as they made their way forward.
Each step seemed to echo around the massive chamber, bouncing off the walls and returning to Ashe’s ears multiple times. Finally, the two of them stopped in front of the queen, the group of people flanking them on either side. Queen Bloodletter, for she could not be called Anita at the time, rose from her seat. Polished, gleaming armour, inlayed with golden swirls, covered Queen Bloodletter’s chest, back, biceps, forearms, shoulders, thighs, shins, and feet. A velvety, blood red cloak hung from her shoulders and a simple crown of steel ringed her head, hair tied back in a simple braid behind her head. A ceremonial sword hung on the queen’s hip and she looked down at Sammath and Ashe, who were both shorter than her.
“Ashoka Sikke. Sammath.” Ashe bowed and Sammath just nodded as the queen began to speak in Shinian, “You are here today to receive my thanks for your aid in the removal of a slave camp from Arikar’s soil. As a reward, I offer you both Arikaran citizenship, along with all of the rights that accompany the title, including the ability to own land and you can base any businesses in Arikar, where they will be subject to Arikaran economic laws such as tax laws, import laws, and export laws.”
Sammath leant over to Ashe, frowning, “What is tax?”
Ashe’s heart palpitated as the Volkarian spoke over the queen. Ashe shot a worried glare at Sammath, trying to tell him to shut up as the queen ignored the interruption to continue her speech, “With this, you also gain the benefits of Arikaran citizenship, such as the ability to travel mostly freely within the other Powers,” The queen lowered her voice somewhat, “not that either of you had that issue,” before continuing her speech, “and so, with the issuance of these papers,” Queen Bloodletter removed some papers from a storage device with a flourish, “you can be considered Arikaran citizens in full. Contingent, of course, on your acceptance of this status. You may still retain your citizenship of your birth powers, given Arikar’s amenable relationship with both powers, should you choose to accept. Do you have any questions?”
Sammath raised his hand, “What’s tax?”
Queen Bloodletter showed remarkable restraint and patience when dealing with the annoying Volkarian, at least in Ashe’s opinion, as she answered, “Tax is something levied by a governing body on entities, whether individuals or groups, within the governing body’s land that is typically a deduction on any money earnt by said entity. The deduction is typically taken by the governing body so that it may make changes and enact policies, typically to further benefit their subjects such as paying for new roads or sewage systems.”
Sammath just blinked and opened his mouth, and Ashe could only marvel at how the queen didn’t even sigh or roll her eyes as she pre-empted the Volkarian’s question, “Are you familiar with Volkarian war tithes, which must be paid by the Volkarians remaining at home to feed their soldiers on the rare occasions that Volkar has gone to war?” Sammath nodded in confirmation that, yes, he was familiar with the war tithes even if Ashe wasn’t. “Well, where the war tithes require Volkarians remaining in Volkar to send food to the frontlines to feed the Volkarian soldiers, taxes instead require people to send a small portion of the money they earn to the government so that the government may ‘fight for the people’, as such, by using that money to build better infrastructure, enact policies that benefit the people such as lowering the cost of healthcare and medicines by subsidising healers, and paying people like the nobles that govern land or other public servants so that they may do their jobs properly.
“Does that make sense to you?”
“Not in the slightest,” Sammath grinned, “but thank you nonetheless. Do taxes mean anything to me?”
“They shouldn’t. Volkar doesn’t have any tax laws, so you aren’t required to pay taxes.”
“That’s everything, then. Are there any downsides to signing this?”
“Only that you may be drafted if Arikar goes to war, so long as the war is not against Volkar. There would potentially be others, but you come from Volkar which has no governmental body to enact laws beyond moral boundaries so there should not be any conflicts. That and the fact that you are expected to bow to me but, with knowledge of Volkarian customs, I believe a respectful nod will suffice.”
Sammath stroked his chin then shrugged, “I think I can do a nod. Alright, give me something to write with and I’ll sign it.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
One or two of the guests’ eyes widened with shock at how Sammath addressed the queen, but Ashe could see none of them wanted to disrespect her any further by speaking over her when she tolerated Sammath doing so. Ashe was practically shaking, though, as he feared that, by simple association with Sammath, he was going to be targeted later by nobles for ‘disrespecting the queen’.
A graphite stick was given to Sammath, who grasped the wooden handle of it and used it to sign his name on the document. Ashe was a little more prudent, saying that he didn’t have any questions but thoroughly reading the document. While it was written in Arikaran, a Shinian translation was offered on the side of the document for anyone who couldn’t read Arikaran. Slowly, not bothering himself with the nobles that patiently for him to finish his perusal of the document, Ashe found that, while he didn’t understand every word that was used, the gist of the document was exactly what Queen Bloodletter had said.
Requesting the graphite from Sammath with an outstretched hand, Ashe signed his name on the document too. Queen Bloodletter drew back the documents, tucking them into her storage ring, and exchanging them with another set of documents, which she handed to Sammath and Ashe. Ashe quickly glanced over the documents, noting that they were travel papers, before rolling them up and tucking them in one hand. Queen Bloodletter stepped back, “And with that, you are officially citizens of Arikar.” Queen Bloodletter returned to her throne, nodded at the end of the hall, where Ashe spied some inconspicuous guards that he hadn’t noticed on his way in, and the guards silently stepped out of the hall. As soon as the doors closed with a loud bang, everyone began to immediately chatter and the queen rose from her seat gracefully, stretching.
The queen’s armour disappeared, revealing simple, blood-red robes and she strode to the people that Ashe presumed were her children, with their black hair, pale skin, and blood-red eyes. Ashe and Sammath glanced at each other, not entirely sure what to do, and a hand tapped each of them on the shoulder. Both the boys jumped, turning around, only to find Erin behind them, her face as neutral as they’d come to expect from her.
“Welcome to Arikar, citizens.”
Ashe grinned at Erin, “Thanks. I don’t really know what I’m meant to be doing now but I have a few more options. The queen said that she would sort out a place for Sam and me to stay, if we wanted, and I think I’ll take her up on that for now. I still have a lot I want to learn and it seems like Arikar may be the best place for that at the moment, especially because she said that we can feed Cab with the executions that happen in Arikar.”
Ashe looked to Sammath, “What about you, Sam? What are you planning to do now?”
Sammath shrugged, “I don’t really know. I don’t really want to stay in one place for very long but we’re currently in the centre of Arikar and I want to go around and explore the city for a few days. After that, well, there are still a lot of places that I want to see in Arikar so I’ll probably visit those. But first, I need to get my powers under control. I can’t really do much if, every time I try to use my Concept, I feel like I need to throw up and can barely walk. It’s quite debilitating.”
“That’s understandable. I would not leave my house if I couldn’t control my powers properly,” Erin responded, “You can’t even defend yourself properly if you cannot trust yourself to use your powers.”
Sammath nodded with a tight smile, “Exactly, and… I’m sorry. You guys were right. I shouldn’t have asked you to expand my power when I did. I put you both, and the people in the camp, in danger.”
“Apology accepted.” Ashe replied, and Erin just nodded.
“And Ashe. I’m sorry about keeping Erin leaving from you. By not taking your advice with my powers, I put people in danger and, well, I showed that there’s still a lot for me to learn and grow from. I was wrong about that and I think I was wrong to keep her plans from you. You advised me against trying to push my powers and you were right. You showed wisdom beyond mine and also that I still have a lot to learn and shouldn’t presume that I am right. Can you forgive me?”
Ashe closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, “I forgive you Sammath.”
“Thanks.” Sammath looked unusually serious as he turned to Erin, “Now I need to know. Did anyone die?”
Erin frowned lightly, “Yes.”
“How many?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“I’m sure.”
“Three people. None during our initial assault but the guards that were sent out to find the cause of the commotion in the forest returned to find their camp pretty much destroyed and all of their companions dead. They took hostages when the soldiers came and three of the ex-slaves died in the ensuing fight.”
Sammath closed his eyes and took in a deep, shuddering breath and he clenched his hands, “I’m sorry.” He whispered and a tear welled up in the corner of his eye. Ashe gave him a quick hug, receiving a tight smile in return, and even Erin placed an understanding hand on Sammath’s shoulder. Ashe saw Sammath swallow and flick the tear from his eye, “I’m okay.” Sammath gave another tight smile.
“Are you, though?” Ashe looked the Volkarian in the eyes.
Sammath gave a strained laugh, “No, but I will be.”
“This might not be the best time to tell you this,” Erin interjected, “But this might be the last time I see either of you for quite some time.”
“What?!” Ashe and Sammath could help but chorus.
“What do you mean?” Ashe asked after.
“I’m being sent on another mission.”
“But didn’t you just finish one?” Sammath asked, almost half-heartedly, “You only just finished recovering yesterday.”
Erin shrugged, “That doesn’t really matter. There are missions to do, and my father is sending me out on them. I’ve already argued with my father enough today, just trying to postpone my departure so I could be here to say goodbye.”
“But… I thought… I thought we’d have more time before we had to say goodbye.” Ashe complained, feeling a lump begin to swell up in his throat.
Erin shook her head, “Sorry, Ashe, but I can’t delay much longer. I wouldn’t have complained about staying here for a day or two, but that’s just not how the world works. There’s a job to be done and I have to go do it.”
“I know.” Ashe sighed; his voice small.
Sammath gave Erin and Ashe a pained smile, “So… I guess this is goodbye, then.” Sammath spread his arms and, while Erin didn’t raise hers in response, she stepped close enough for Sammath to embrace her, “I guess I’ll see you around, princess.”
Erin raised an eyebrow, trying to glare at Sammath as she leant back in the embrace, “This is not the time, Sammath. In fact, this is probably the worst time you could’ve chosen to call me that. I’ve told you before, I’m not a princess.”
Sammath released Erin, stepping away from the girl and grinned, “Maybe not but you’re definitely a queen.”
Erin’s flat glare had Sammath skipping away with a chuckle and Ashe looked over to where Queen Bloodletter was talking with Emyr and she winked at Ashe, letting him know she’d clearly heard Sammath but didn’t really care. Despite the queen’s nonchalance, Ashe still panicked for a moment and waited for her to smite down Sammath where he stood.
When nothing happened, Ashe relaxed and turned to Erin. Feeling tears well up in his eyes and his chest clenching, Ashe rushed in to hug Erin, wrapping his arms around her waist and squeezing tightly. Erin reached down and ruffled Ashe’s hair before resting her arms loosely around Ashe’s shoulders in a loose hug.
Ashe let his tears flow freely down his face and his nose began running as he sniffled. “Now, hold on. He gets a hug and all I got was a reluctant log that made me feel like I was trying to hug a statue. How’s that fair?” Sammath broke up the bitter moment with a whine.
“It’s fair because I like him more.” Erin retorted with a slight smile as she ruffled Ashe’s hair one more time.
Ashe snorted at the resemblance to Cab as he pulled away wiping his eyes and nose with a grin on his face. Sammath gasped in shock, placing a hand on his heart and stumbling away from Ashe and Erin, groaning in false pain, “Oh. You wound me, cruel and venomous mistress of the heart. Your words are like wretched hammers to my fragile, glass heart.” Sammath fell to his knees, gasping and clutching at his chest, “Goodbye, cruel world. I must greet my new mistress, the brutal lady, death. She and I have danced together so much that she no longer feels like a stranger. The cold touch of her cruel lips is nothing compared to her frigid embrace and so, with my dying breaths, I beseech you, my companions, to take care.”
Sammath gave one final gasp and fell over, a solid thunk echoing through the hall as his cheek slapped the stone ground. Ashe chuckled and he even saw, for a small moment, a grin flash across Erin’s face at Sammath’s antics. Sammath cracked an eye open just in time to catch the flash of white as Erin’s mouth opened, immediately leaping up and throwing his hands in the air in triumph, “Yes! I’ve done it. I’ve done what no mere mortal has ever achieved. I’ve made the frosty queen smile. Haha!” Crowing his triumph, Sammath leant back and laughed, spreading his arms wide.
Erin raised an eyebrow, “I’m sorry to break the news to you, Sammath, even if I’m not actually very sorry, but you aren’t the one that made me smile.”
Like the water level in a cup after a long drink, Sammath’s joy seemed to drop, “What?”
“It was the expressions of everyone behind you that made me lose my composure for a split second.”
Sammath turned around, Ashe following the Volkarian’s gaze and noticing that every person in the hall was staring directly at Sammath. Queen Bloodletter was the most composed person in the hall, a glint of amusement glimmering in her red eyes, and nearly everyone else’s expressions ranged from shock to outright horror to something beyond complete mortification. Other than the queen, only Emyr had managed to remain composed, and Ashe suspected that the man’s face had probably gotten stuck in a perpetual scowl because he didn’t have any other explanation for how the man’s expression never seemed to change.
Sammath flushed red and he raised a hand, waving apologetically at the other inhabitants of the hall, “Uhhh. Sorry everyone. I’m done now. You can all go back to, uhhh, your nobly conversations and doing your noble things that nobles do nobly.”
Everyone seemed to have the same idea, eyeing Sammath reticently as they turned back to their conversations, and the beet-red boy turned around, scratching the back of his head and lowering his tone, “I’m going to be honest. I forgot they were there.”
Erin snorted lightly, “I think both they and we,” she gestured to Ashe and herself, “found that remarkably clear. Your little performance, while admirably dramatic, was shamelessly loud.”
Ashe nodded with a smile, “Don’t worry Sammath, I enjoyed it. You were quite funny.”
Sammath grinned, “Thanks, Ashe. I do try my best to be funny.” Sammath frowned, “Wait. Did you mean I was funny or I was funny?” Ashe just shrugged with a grin and Sammath poked him in the shoulder, “Which one do you mean, Ashe?”
Before he could think of an answer, Erin interjected, “It doesn’t matter Sammath-”
“It matters to meeee.” The Volkarian whined over Erin as she continued speaking.
“-I have something more important to say before I leave.” That got Sammath to shut up and both he and Ashe looked to Erin. “Much as you guys were irritating when I was trying to complete my mission, you both did your best to help me and, for that, I thank you.”
“Is that all?” Sammath folded his arms, glaring slightly at Erin, “I had far more important things to complain about so, if you’re done, I’d like to get back to that.”
“No, Sammath, that’s not all.” For the first time since he’d known her, Erin’s tone turned harsh. Sure, when she’d blown up at Ashe, her words had been harsh but her tone had just been irritated as they’d both been complaining all day and her patience, as legendary as it was to Ashe, had worn thin. Now, however, there was an undercurrent of danger in Erin’s tone and, as dumb as Sammath could be, he was smart enough not to poke her with a stick again.
“Alright, then. Go ahead.” Sammath waved his arm, telling Erin to proceed.
“Thank you, Sammath.” Erin hissed before her tone returned to normal, “Now, as I was saying before,” Erin pointedly glared at the Volkarian, “I was interrupted, you two fared remarkably well on your first mission considering you’re untrained, inexperienced, and I would wholeheartedly believe that one of you is more closely related to a circus monkey than a human-”
“I think she’s talking about you.” Sammath leant over and whispered in Ashe’s ear.
“-so, first off, congratulations on the completion of your first ever mission.”
“Thank you.” Sammath nodded to Erin.
“Even if I could have done better as a blind, deaf quadriplegic who has to rely entirely on a pet to experience the world.”
“I don’t think she quite grasps the idea of congratulating someone.”
“And secondly, provided you both agree to train until you meet my standards-”
“Yes, Erin. I will join your team of swashbuckling heroes and do battle against recalcitrant evildoers, saving the world one menace at a time.”
“Really, Sammath? Did you have to phrase it that way?”
Sammath shrugged, “What? Am I wrong? If I’m wrong that you’re going to tell us that we need to be trained up to your standards in order to join a team of your design in order to complete missions fighting against criminals and illegal organisations, you can tell me.”
Erin sighed, “You aren’t wrong, but you don’t have to describe it that way. It’s just so… dramatic.”
“I am who I am, Erin, and you’re not going to change that.” Sammath looked to Ashe, “So, what do you say, Ashe? Would you like to join the team that Erin’s building so that she can remain with us and maintain our friendship whilst maintaining the guise that she doesn’t care as the cold team leader with unnaturally high expectations?”
Ashe grinned, “I think I would.”
“Good, now that that’s settled.” Sammath rubbed his hands, “We’ll only be joining on one condition.” Erin raised an eyebrow and Sammath clearly took that as permission to continue, “I get to choose the team name.”