Chapter 2: The Chapter Names Are Somewhat Random If I’m To Be Honest
“‘And why, my son, do you choose to surrender your claim to the throne?’
‘Much blood has already been spilled for this ridiculous game we play. Blood holds power, father, and I shan’t see it splattered on the ground so that I can sit upon a glorified chair and wear a golden ring forged from the suffering of our people. If Silas craves the throne such that he’d sacrifice many lives, then let him have it.’
‘Very well, Prince Rinlith. I, Anak’tok Tycenies Willborn, true emperor of the Topri Empire, hereby declare that Prince Silas Willborn, now to be known as Anak’to, be heir to the throne.’
‘Thank you father, may you dream pleasant dreams.’
‘As to you, my son. May you dream pleasant dreams.’”
-From the Court Records of Emperor Tycenies Willborn on the eve of Hallow Dreams
Sister and Gregory had shed their mismatched accoutrements and donned a more era appropriate ensemble of clothes and light armor, and not without some generous help from Ash. It was surprisingly easy for the two monsters to convince Ash to help. The human was apprehensive at first, in no small part thanks to her initial impression of Gregory being that of a maddening creature whose mere presence scraped the insides of her skull, or that her first waking moment in the dungeon was that of being chained up and stripped bare of anything that wasn’t skin. Fortunately, and for inexplicable reasons, the human was quick to tamp down on those apprehensions, and she extended more than just a helping hand.
“Sure, I can teach both of you how to read Eastern,” Ash deadpanned, the two monsters slightly taken aback by such a frank response.
“Oh, errm, do you want something in return?” Sister asked, her time spent exploring the human kingdoms having endowed her with the knowledge that humans were always angling for something.
Ash’s lips curled up into a smile, her teeth beaming at the monsters.
--
Ash’s great grandfather had bowed out from the competition for the throne-- a rather common practice for royalty seeking to avoid bloodshed. The peculiar part was that Ash’s great grandfather was the crown prince, and most in that position would be averse to making such a decision. Turned out that his brother, Emperor Anak’to, was a cruel son of a bitch who’d set into motion a scheme to ensure that his line would forever sit on the throne.
So when Ash had first embarked on this pilgrimage, her horses were named vengeance and wrath, her carriage driver was fear, and her carriage itself was made of the finest and purest form of destruction, proverbially speaking of course. She had nothing but her pack and the clothes on her person when she had set out under the cover of night.
Three years was a long time, at least, it was long enough for Ash to come to the realization that revenge was perhaps not a very fulfilling goal, or a very safe one. It was what drove her to find strength, to put her life on the line in a single-minded pursuit of power. A powerful and overwhelming motivator, to be sure, but like all things that sat on one’s mind for far too long, it faded. As her craving for vengeance turned into a thirst, and as thirst turned into a desire, and as that desire turned into nothing more than a possibility, everything that she’d tamped down bubbled up to the surface. What was she going to do after the revenge? Was revenge even possible given her current status? How long would it take to reach a point where revenge was possible? Would she be willing to wait that long?
As it turns out, she was not willing to wait an unknown number of years and experience an unknown number of assassins and go through even more near-death experiences simply to go back to an empire that hated her. Her own honor could be redeemed, but for her whole family? No. The damage was done, and as much as she’d love to reveal the truth, the common people loved a good narrative more than the truth. Even if she took the throne, there’d be rebellions within the week. As much as she hated the man, he was a master of the political game. The people adored him, and respect had to be given to the emperor who so meticulously and thoroughly destroyed her family’s name.
By the time these thoughts started to roll around in her head, she was already two years and fifteen near death experiences into her journey. It wasn’t all bad, however. The extra year gave her time to think for herself, to get down into the nitty gritty of what she wanted for herself. She’d already accumulated a sunk cost of two years, and she wasn’t about to spend another two years to trace her steps back home. The assassins had stopped coming after her, hopefully because she’d let the last few live to send a message back home saying that she wasn’t going to come back, but it was more likely that the newer ones never made it far enough into the wilderness to reach her.
She was more than halfway to her destination, so she figured she’d see her journey to the end. She’d heard more than a few good words about her great grandfather, and nobody, not even the damned emperor Anak’to, had spoken out against his character. It was a gamble, but one she was more than willing to stake her life on, because if her great grandpap’s letter was true, there was much to be gained by visiting ‘an ancient monster most would find foul, but I have found it to be hospitable. Its feral nature apparently tamed and controlled. An unexpected light of civility in an otherwise ferocious and unkind land. It has further extended its generosity to me, willingly and without hesitation bequeathing onto me a holy weapon of immense strength’. His father may have suspected something, but there was more to grandfather surrendering his claim than he had let on.
Ash watched the two monsters make further preparations for the journey. The one that went by the name Gregory was leaving orders for his servants so that his dungeon could operate without him. He wanted to stake a wooden sign out front near where Ash had collapsed, reading ‘Dungeon is closed’, but the one called Second Sister dissuaded him. It was funny to see a monster go by such a harmless name like Gregory, and it was equally terrifying to personally meet a monster that claimed the name Second Sister. If legends were true, she was glad that Second Sister seemed to be equally as enthralled about humans as Gregory was.
Ash waited another ten minutes before the two wrapped things up and arrived out front. They were ready to head out. She was excited, this was going to be the most interesting experience of her life.
--
Gregory was, admittedly, a little confused at the human’s motives. His experience with humans was limited to mostly home invasions that often ended in some form of destruction, and from what he could gather, they were almost always motivated by greed. He wasn’t so ignorant as to mark down all humans as greedy, but certainly they were a species motivated by want-- be it riches or safety. So when the human desired simply to ingratiate itself into the community of monsters, specifically his and Sister’s community, well, he was confused. However, she seemed to give off a similar aura to first brother’s, and it didn’t hurt that first brother himself was also human, so he was inclined to let her in. Second Sister seemed to share a similar sentiment as well.
“It’s not up to us to decide, but both Grego and I like you so we’ll put in a word for you. The final decision is up to first brother, so we’ll see where you stand at the end of this road trip.”
Ash’s face blanched.
“First Brother?!”
Sister looked at Ash, her eyebrows scrunching up like caterpillars before realization dawned on her.
“Ohhh, no no no, we don’t mean First Brother, just first brother. It's both honorary and honorific, I suppose. He’s the one that brought us together, he’s also the strongest out of all of us, so that helps. I think you’ll be surprised when you meet him.”
Some color returned to Ash’s face, a gust of wind brushing up against her skin bringing attention to the droplets of sweat that had beaded up on her back. The last thing she wanted was to be scrutinized by the terrifying creature that claimed the name First Brother.
“Don’t you think you’re skirting the line a bit by calling him first brother? Surely the actual First Brother would take offense to sharing its name with a lesser creature.”
Sister winked at Ash in response.
“Don’t worry, we’re not the only ones that call him first brother. His title is, well, appropriate and earned.”
“Earned? He’s acknowledged, then why doesn’t he claim the name? Unless…”
Ash trailed off, whatever thoughts running through her hidden away. She did, however, look into Sister’s eyes, perhaps looking for an answer, but all she got in response was a smile. She sighed and dropped the subject. It didn’t matter much anyways, she’d meet this first brother sooner or later, and despite her apprehension, she didn’t intend to abandon the path she had only just embarked on-- a path wholly her own.
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“How long do you think it’ll take for us to hit Kreikar?” Sister inquired.
“A week and a half, maybe? Depends on how fast Ash can go. If we walk at this pace, two and a half weeks?” Came Gregory’s reply.
Ash blinked, “Kreikar? Is that the name of a city?”
“Yep, biggest city of monsters in the south eastern wilderness. You might be the first human to visit in nearly two hundred years.”
“Monsters have cities?” Ash asked, surprised.
“Of course,” Sister replied, somewhat offended, “we’re not just a mob of mindless creatures. Who says we can’t have rules and live civilized lives?”
“I thought the lot of you lived in caves or dungeons. Most monsters I come across are mindless beasts that simply do as their instincts lead. I knew there were sapient monsters out there, but I figured they were far and few in between. I find it miraculous to have even caught wind of one of you, let alone meet two in person...” Ash trailed off, realizing she may have just offended two very powerful creatures.
“Those creatures you mentioned are precisely as you say, mindless beasts, not monsters. We have our own pride as intelligent creatures. You better shelve those impressions, most of our kind aren’t as forgiving as we are,” Second Sister warned, a part of her glamour going down, allowing some of her aura to creep out and scratch at Ash’s mind.
Ash winced, the slight pain leaving just as fast as it had arrived.
“Stop bullying her Sister, you hardly even care anyways,” Gregory interjected, “but you better listen to her Ash, she wasn’t lying. Most of our kind would take great offense should you even draw the comparison. To address your… stereotype, many of us live in caves or dungeons intentionally. We don’t like company and simply desire to pursue various things in solitude. Others of us are old. Ancient. The stronger ones are likely to have come to sapience before humanity existed.”
Ash nodded her head, her decision to stay with the monsters already bearing more fruit than what much of humanity could offer. This was merely the beginning, one step of the beginning, the implications of this conversation a doorway into ancient and powerful knowledge that could very well remain forever hidden from humanity.
“What about the Named, like Second Sister?”
“Oh those brats, excluding Sister of course. The Named tend to be.. younger, arrogant-- confident in their strength. They like to compete with each other, and striking terror in the hearts of lesser beings has become something of a tradition. Not all of them are young, Sister, for example, is the very first claimant to Second Sister, really the only reason why she hasn’t claimed First for her own. She’s attached to the Name, you could say. As for me? I think I was the sixth claimant to Third, but that was before the merge,” Gregory explained, not one to hoard or hide knowledge.
"What about your name," Ash asked.
"First brother thought it'd be funny to give me such a docile sounding name. I didn't mind so it just stuck," Gregory replied.
He really liked this human, she was open minded, respectful, and aside from that one time, she hadn’t screamed or tried to fight him.
‘I really hope first brother likes her, it’d be a shame to have to silence her.’ Gregory thought to himself, a mental note he tucked away.
The trio continued onwards, walking through dense forest foliage. Ash and Sister had struck up a conversation about speciesism, the arrogance of humanity, toilets and shitting inside your home, and monsters’ rights in a society where monsters were integrated into human society. The conversation had the potential to be interesting, but Gregory preferred crafting and creation over philosophy.
The party decided to settle down and make camp for the night as less and less of the sun’s rays made their way through the fronds and fingers of various trees and shrubbery. They’d made good progress, considering one of them was slowing them down, but thirty miles in one day was much better than what Gregory had expected. Ash had informed them that anymore than that would be unsustainable for her, but it looked like they were on track for two weeks at the most. Sister and Ash had maintained their conversation all throughout the journey, the contents of their conversation-turned-argument having reached multiple heights before cresting and falling for some miles before rising again.
“But you shit inside your homes, you shit where you sleep and eat. That’s disgusting, filthy,” Second Sister hissed, the pitch of her voice deepening, indicating her disgust.
“Yeah, in TOILETS connected to PIPES that lay UNDERGROUND. The shit gets taken elsewhere, it doesn’t just sit there in some bung hole. We’ve piping and running water to wash it all away! You’ve travelled the human domains, you should know all of this,” Ash rebutted, pride tinging her voice at the mention of the technological marvel that was piping and running water.
“And that’s the other thing, you use clean, running water to wash away SHIT? What a waste! What a travesty! Do you know how many sick and dying I’ve met while travelling your stupid human kingdoms? Many of them die for lack of potable water!”
The two went back and forth, the conversation moving back and forth like the tide against the rocks of a cliff face. As for Gregory, he was content just to set up camp and prepare something to eat. The aroma of grilled meat brought an end to the other two’s argument, the three of them huddling up around a campfire that Gregory had started. The trio lay silent for a while, the crackling of the fire and the whistle of the wind serving as a backdrop to the sounds of wooden utensils scraping against wooden bowls.
“Hey can I ask you guys something?” Ash asked as she put down her bowl.
Neither Sister nor Gregory spoke a response, but the latter raised an eyebrow and gestured to her to continue.
“Am I strong?”
Gregory paused. The question wasn’t entirely unexpected given the conceit that humans often held. He was just taken aback by the abrupt timing of the question, but he was willing to entertain.
“Why do you ask?”
“You guys aren’t apprehensive about me at all!” Ash blurted out, “what if I’ve come to kill you? What if I robbed your home or stuck a knife through your back? But neither of you act like I can harm you, hence me being here on this trip that the two of you planned on a passing fancy to read my journals. I think I’m self-aware enough to understand that I can’t scratch either of you. You guys are terrifying, yet something as horrifically powerful as Second Sister takes no offense to me yelling at her about toilets and shitting indoors.”
“I suppose as far as humans go, you’d be considered stronger than most. There are a ton of you out there, and I imagine most would be incapable of safely traversing through the wilderness and reach my dungeon,” Gregory replied, his voice a nonchalant, even tone.
“It’s hard to argue against that, but what about compared to other strong humans? How far off am I from the Named?”
“Hmm, the only humans I’ve met are the ones who make it to my home, so compared to them, I’d place you near the bottom in terms of power. Afterall, you nearly died on the doorstep while others had strength enough to raise their swords at me”
Ash stayed silent, not terribly surprised but still, it didn’t feel good to hear that she was weak, given that she was one of few to travel so far into the eastern wilderness.
“What about my grandpa?”
“What about him?”
“You know, the human you’ve shaped yourself after.”
Gregory’s face glowed with the light of realization.
“Ahhh, so that’s why you looked so familiar. Yeah, I remember him, powerful, very powerful, for a human. Very cordial man once we got past the misunderstanding. What’s he been up to?”
Ash fiddled with her spoon for a moment, formulating her thoughts.
“He disappeared after he returned from his journey into the eastern wilderness. He wrote a letter only to be opened during an emergency, and well, I figured the family getting arrested and executed was enough of an emergency. The letter described his encounter with you and the possible power one could attain from seeking you,” Ash replied, her voice trailing off into a hushed whisper.
Gregory raised an eyebrow, a practice that he’d grown fond of. He’d have never expected a strip of hair to be so capable of relaying such a vast variety of emotions.
“I’m not here seeking some grand power from you. I’ve had some time to think about things and I just want to get away from it all. At best I was hoping you’d let me live in your territory, maybe get some protection. Didn’t expect to get taken on a road trip, but not anything I’m against. Like I said, I just want to get away.”
Gregory nodded his head and placed his hand on his chin in a contemplative posture, something he’d seen Sister do since her return from the human lands.
“Would you like to grow stronger?” Gregory suddenly asked.
Ash placed her spoon down and let it rest atop her bowl. There was a brief moment of silence, the sound of crackling wood backdropped against a symphony of night time creatures.
“Yes, I would,” Ash sighed “but I wouldn’t know what to do with more power. I just want to live a life I can say was my own, not breathe my last breaths on a bed having lived a life shackled to family, responsibility, and expectations.”
Her reply was met with Sister’s approving gaze, Gregory choosing to simply nod instead.
“A lot of times, that’s really all you could ask for, to simply live a life you can call your own. Personal strength is just one avenue you could take to reach your goal,” Sister said, shrugging her shoulders.
Gregory shifted, his eyes staring off into the distance, beyond the fire and into the darkness. The sounds of the night had grown quiet, not that Ash had noticed.
“I spent years fighting for my life. When I first left home, I could barely take down a wild boar, but just hours before I collapsed on Gregory’s front yard, I’d fought an ogre and found it to be more than my match. The growth was fast, but there has to be a better way. Part of the reason I came out here. I don’t want some grand power gifted to me, I know plenty of folks who enter blood contracts with powerful monsters who then sit on their asses for years thinking that they’d reached their peak. I want knowledge, you know? A means to improve my own personal strength rather than relying on an outside force.”
Sister nodded, a bit too enthusiastically, Ash thought.
“You’re not wrong, there are faster ways, more efficient ways for sure,” Sister said, a grin blooming on her face. “Strength often comes from a creature’s mana, musculature, and essence. Mana you can accumulate on your own over time, musculature you can condense and work on, but essence? That’s something you’re born with. But let’s say you piss off an ogre and it almost kills you, but you get away. Imagine said ogre is so pissed off, that it follows you over the course of a day and a half and it wants to eat you. What would happen if you push your body to the breaking point, somehow defeat the ogre, and drink its heart’s blood?”
Ash suddenly grew alert, her body tensing, prepared to spring into action should there be a need. She noticed that the forest had grown quiet, a telltale sign of a nearby predator. Her senses sharpened, and she heard it: the rhythmic thumping of a heavyset creature making slow, but calculated steps. The blood drained from Ash’s face, she turned to Gregory, but he was still looking off into the distance. He had known-- they had known.
“Nothing like a hands on approach when it comes to efficiency, right Grego?” Sister asked.
“But drinking a monster’s heart blood will kill me!” Ash stammered, panic creeping into her voice.
“Oh Ash, you’d be surprised at what your body can adapt to when it’s on the verge of collapse,” Sister said while giving Ash a playful wink.
Ash summoned a wooden buckler and raised her sword, shifting into a defensive stance. Ogres were stupid, terrifyingly strong, but just as equally stupid. Her last encounter had taught her that its movements were simple, as long as she played it safe, she had a chance. She took a deep breath, calming herself, the muscle memory of her body making slight adjustments to her posture as she recalled more and more information about the creature.
The thumping grew louder and louder, her heartbeat settling, refusing to grow in tandem with the sound of the monster’s footsteps.
Then there was quiet.