I looked through the opening in the flask, frowning as the last few drops of liquid fell out. The cart I had managed to hitch a ride on bumped and rumbled as it traversed over the rough dirt road, as the forest around us fell away into wide, open fields.
Well, that was disappointing.
I had expected the flask to last me longer than that.
Shaking my head, I sat up and looked around, trying to get my bearings. The farmer that owned this cart had agreed to let me travel with him, as long as I helped pack up his crops and only ate my own food. Feeling contemplative, I took a bite out of a homemade piece of jerky and surveyed the clear, blue sky, facing away from the afternoon sun. The Giant’s Foot. That was my destination.
From what I had heard about the Giant’s Foot, it was an entire city built in the footsteps of the Great Traveler, with most of it being built into or around the cliff-like edges of its footprint. The city had begun simply as a way to gather and export Traveler’s Blood, a strange blue substance that could give anyone the ability to do magic-if they were strong enough to drink it without blowing themselves up first. Shaking my head, my hand reached out to my side, as it often did when I was thinking about the Traveler. My hand touched leather, brushing along the smooth texture that marked the flask that that stranger had given to me, many years ago.
Well over six years of training, and the seal placed on it still hadn’t budged an inch. Many times, I have wondered whether or not the thing was really testing my strength, or if it was just broken, and I was just wasting time. Ultimately, however, I decided on not disturbing the flask, in case I really wasn’t ready for it. I turned back towards the farmer, who was guiding the donkey pulling the cart towards our destination. The man appeared to be middle-aged, with the darker tone common in this region, and black hair that had streaks of gray. His expression was decidedly neutral as he guided us onward, his sharp brown eyes searching the clearing with intense caution.
That was a reasonable precaution. This area was notorious for crime and banditry, as the loss of Traveler’s Blood caused the local economy to shrink, and many people resorted to crime to refill their coffers. Though, if the two of them actually encountered any bandits, I doubted that either of us could have done much against them. The only weapons on board were a couple of pitchforks and the dagger I had hidden in my left boot, a woefully inadequate arsenal to handle a dozen bandits.
A sigh escaped my lips, and I glanced again at the farmer. He would be absolutely useless in a fight. But, everyone has their own set of skills, I suppose…
“How far away are we from the Giant’s Foot?”
The farmer blinked, seemingly pulled from his stupor as he looked back at me. A sly grin cracked across his sunbaked face, and he spoke in a loud, strained-sounding voice. “Ah, so you can speak after all!” He gave a chuckle, then looked to the sky with a frown. “‘Bout a day or so by cart, I’d say. Maybe half a day.”
“How do you know?”
He paused, surprised that I’d asked. “Coupla’ things. I know the time because of the sun, and so I know about how long we’ve been ridin’ for. I’ve been on this road fer enough trips to know some landmarks. Plus, you get a general feel for how long a ride will be once ye’ve been on the road enough times.”
Hm. Different skills, indeed.
I shook my head, and went back to gazing at the sky. The day began to slip away, the bright blues of the day turning to crimson as the sun bled out light on the edge of the horizon. The extended silence between myself and the farmer was probably uncomfortable for him, but I was not particularly interested in conversation, given the bad memories associated with our destination. Or, more the titan in general.
I was pulled out of my contemplative trance as the farmer spoke once again.
“We need to find somewhere to set up camp. We’re pretty close to the city, but ye do not want to get caught in the dark out here, I’ll tell ya.”
With a sigh, I conceded. This man obviously knew these roads better than me, and, as I said before, neither of us were prepared for combat. We set up camp, setting up a fire using some sticks we gathered from before, and set up our bedrolls- on opposite sides of the fire. By the time we finished, the sun had set, and the darkness came with its leaving. The flames provided the only real light to see by, the warm fire casting long, dark shadows around our resting spot. We scheduled shifts for each other to help discourage any bandits, which would start in a half hour or so. Somehow, the farmer always seemed to know what time it was to the hour, so he would let me know when the shifts started.
As we sat by the fire, the flickering shadows highlighted every wrinkle on the farmer’s dark skin, but his brown eyes gleamed as he looked over to me with interest and curiosity. “So…what brings you to the Giant’s Foot? Ye know, most people won't find good business there, and all the Traveler’s Blood is dried up. There are a dozen better places to be, and someone like you could easily find prospects further into the nation.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I didn’t like this man attempting to sneak a peek into my past, but I owed him at least a little for his generosity. I puffed out a breath. “Giant’s Foot is just a starting point, first of all.” I held up a finger as I counted off my reasons. “Secondly, somewhere rough like that has a high possibility of finding capable fighters, who are willing to do anything for the right price. I can find some people to help me in my future ventures. Third of all-” I cut myself off before I revealed too much. Did I seriously want to tell this stranger something that important?
Eh, what the hell. I doubt he’d try anything right now.
“Third of all, I have something powerful in my possession- something that I believe to be related to the Traveler. I hope I can find somebody who knows about the titan from the city.”
The farmer seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered. “Huh. Well, the only reason I’m going there is because food sells for top dollar in that place, and so I make quite a profit. Apparently, most of the land hadn’t recovered enough from the Great Traveler’s step to grow crops reliably.”
Silently, I thanked the farmer for not prying any more than that- hopefully I had made it clear that I was not willing to provide details about my past. The farmer looked up to the sky for a couple of moments. “-And with that, I believe I should get to rest. Your shift starts soon.”
I nodded and leaned against the cart, my eyes carefully scanning the area around us as the farmer began to get ready to sleep. As the night wore on, minutes blended into hours, the sounds of the forest only occasionally broken up by the crackling of the flames. I made sure that the fire didn’t fall apart, and tried my best to keep aware of my surroundings. However, as the sands of time wore on my focus, my guard began to slowly lower, and I leaned against the cart with a casual stance. I looked up to the moon above me, lost in thought. I wondered- would the city look like the remains of my home, barren and dead? Or would nature have returned, with the ecosystem reestablishing itself and reclaiming what the Great Traveler had taken from them? If that were true, would the forest at my parents farm have started to regrow? Would it be capable of being farmed on again someday, like what my parents, and their parents before them, had done?
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I shook my head, dispelling those thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for them.
“Don't move.”
Despite the order, I almost immediately jumped halfway out of my skin, turning toward the source of the unfamiliar voice and making a noise somewhere along the lines of ‘AHGAHABLAWHAEH?!?’
Not my most dignified moment.
The person standing before me was a woman in leather armor and a cloak, with frizzy black hair and a pair of glimmering hazel eyes that held an air of dark confidence. More importantly, however, was the loaded crossbow aimed at my face.
“Oh, and try not to do anything funny. My friends over there don’t particularly like it when people do that.” She said with a jerk of her chin towards behind me.
I glanced behind me. Another eight or so hooded figures had crossbows aimed at me. If they fired, I’d be peppered with bolts before I could say ‘goodbye life’. I felt a deep rooted anger start to boil in my chest- I hated situations where I couldn’t do anything.
“What do you want?” I snarled at the woman, though I suspected I knew the answer to that question.
The bandit gave a slow, easy smirk. “Why, all your valuables, of course. What else would I be asking for?”
I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have anything valuable, unless you count crops.”
The woman tilted back her head and gave a hearty laugh, then looked back at me, taking a step or two closer to bridge the gap between us- she was a few inches shorter than me, and a solid five feet away. “I like the attitude, but I know that’s a lie. What about that ‘something powerful in your possession’, hm? Power isn’t free, and it can certainly be sold for a high sum.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, hatred for this woman growing. She had listened to my conversations? Those were private! “It won’t be useful to you.” I growled, restraining myself from attacking the woman on principle.
“Ah, but that's the thing, friend,” The woman said, leaning even closer to me with a grin engraved into her face. “I don’t need it to be useful to me. I need it to be useful to someone else.”
I narrowed my eyes at the woman. She was a few inches away from me, and she had moved the crossbow away to give her snarky commentary. She didn’t look particularly strong, but I knew looks could be deceiving. If I was fast enough, I might be able to get the crossbow and use her as a body shield. Logically, I knew that I was probably not going to survive that move, but at the moment, I didn’t care. I was going to fight, and I was going to take down some of these bastards with me.
No matter the cost.
As my roiling hatred mixed with determination, the willingness to go down fighting felt like a spark in my mind. At my waist, I felt a soft click and something open slightly. I was so startled by the sensation that my suicidal plan seemed to dissolve into dust. Why had I ever thought about doing that. I hated these idiots, but I wasn’t going to throw away my life for that. I had something much bigger to kill first
Compared to it, these theives were nothing.
As I stood there, frozen, I thought about what could have caused that click. I didn’t have anything in my belt that would do that…
Unless.
Almost instantly, I dismissed the thought. It was impossible, and stupid. But if I was right…
I might be able to get out of this alive.
With a sigh, I took a step back, trying my best to look defeated. “Can I sit down for a moment?”
The woman’s eyes narrowed as she looked at my sudden change in demeanor with a hint of suspicion. Sweat began to drip down my neck. Did she suspect me? If she said the word, I was a dead man. There was absolutely no way for me to survive if she thought I was up to something. However, at a moment, a smile appeared on her face. “Looks like you lost your nerve, hm? Not so high and mighty now, huh?” she gestured vaguely with her hand towards the cart. “Sure, you can sit down, as long as you’re a good, obedient little boy. You can do that, hm?”
I let out a sigh of relief, and sat down. My ruse had worked. “Can I have a drink too?”
She scowled. “Why the hell are you asking?”
I glared at her. “I don’t want to make the decisions I’m gonna have to make without a few drinks in my system. Plus, I don’t have any weapons on me.”
Her eyes once again narrowed at me. I tried my best to not look nervous. After a moment of consideration, the smirk returned in full force, as she seemed to get a false understanding of the situation. “A man’s last meal, eh? Sure, have your drink. It won't matter soon, anyway.” She said with a cackle.
The other bandits still had their crossbows aimed on me, but sitting on the open cart gave me a little bit of cover. The thieves seemed to be getting impatient, but all of them were too scared of the woman in front of me to do anything about it. I carefully pulled out a flask at my side. It was old and worn, the brown leather slightly deformed by time and bleached slightly by exposure to the sun, though I supposed that made sense. I’ve had it by my waist for a little over seven years. When I brought it near my face, I saw a slight gap in the cap, and a rune that had been glowing before was dimmed completely. I tried my very best to keep the smirk off my face as satisfaction grew like a weight in my stomach. Finally. Years of training, years of fighting and learning how to get stronger faster, all that effort came to a head in this singular flask. I wasn’t sure exactly why it decided to open now of all time, but I wasn’t going to complain if it got me out of this mess. I looked inside and grinned. It was exactly what I thought it was.
Traveler’s Blood. An entire flask of the stuff. The blue, semitransluscent liquid glowed slightly from inside the bottle, but didn’t seem to glow enough to be visible from an outside angle. Well, better now than never. I tilted my head back and began to chug the liquid. It felt slimy, flowing down my throat at a pace that seemed unusually quickly. The liquid seemed to tingle as I drank gulp after gulp. It settled like a pit in my stomach, swirling with power and energy.
“Woah, woah, slow down there friend.” The woman said with a chuckle. “We still need to be conscious, for now. Try not to kill yourself in the process.”
I grinned. “I have to agree. I don’t plan on dying today.”
The woman scowled, and the other men surrounding me tightened their grips on their crossbows. “Hate to break it to you, but I don’t think that’s your choice anymore.”
“I beg to differ.” My grin grew wide as I tried to gather the energy in my stomach and use it.
Only to feel it not move in the slightest under my mental command, like trying to scoop up water with a fork. I blanched, slightly. What was wrong? I was supposed to gain power! I was supposed to be able to do something, change something about my life! What was happening?
A fist connected with my jaw as I began to panic, and I heard a crack as I fell to the ground with the force of the blow, pain splintering across my face. I spat blood into the muddy dirt, my hands smudging. I heard the bandit shouting from behind me, but I was too numb internally to process what she was saying. Slowly, I staggered to my feet, looking to the furious woman.
“You think you can say crap like that to my face, boy?! You can’t back claims like that up, so don’t say a goddamn word. You hear me!?!” She sent a swift jab to my stomach, causing me to keel over in pain.
I felt frustration and helplessness burn inside me as rage spun through my mind. Dammit! I was supposed to change things with this power! To grow stronger, so I can kill that goddamn Traveler! I needed power to change things. I needed to be strong.
I need to have enough power to defeat the Traveler. Strong enough that nothing and no one can stand in my way.
As the last thought entered my mind, I felt a rumbling deep in my spirit, in my very soul. And in my stomach, the magic inside the Traveler’s Blood responded.
And released.
Bright white, explosive energy rocked through my body, my vision blurring and my sides heaving with the pain of it gathering inside me. My skin began to crack and sizzle, the edges turning a bright white as the magic poured through me. I turned my head upwards, but the scream of agony gathering in my throat was overpowered by the energy releasing from my body. I felt like an entire, infinite sea of power and energy was crashing down on me, a complete tidal wave that burned my body and soul in equal measure. There was nothing I could do but kneel on the ground as beams of overpowering light exploded from my eyes and mouth, shooting out energy that cut through the night sky, a beacon that would be visible for miles. The energy shot out of my arms and legs in tendrils, and the force of the release caused the ground beneath me to crack and shatter, waves of power flowing off in increasingly powerful blasts. The bandits around me were reduced to dust as the power shone off again and again and again, a hammer pounding through me. Until, finally, the energy stopped its endless flow, weakening and weakening until it finally released me from its grasp. My eyes closed, and I finally fell away into sweet oblivion.