He couldn’t stay – he couldn’t. His aging caught up to him, and living in the lower city as a young adult looking for honest work wasn’t going to go in his favor. He had no parents to give him guidance. His pockets contained no currency, the last credits he came across was on his fifteenth birthday which he used to buy a special treat his taste buds never forgot: a loaf of bread and creamy, salted butter to make warm toast for breakfast – a lot better than the cheap gruel he always had. But he was now on the streets, a cold “Good luck, child.” from the headmaster was the only thing he had to take with him. He couldn’t eat words, unfortunately. He hadn’t eaten in two days—The orphanage wasn’t going to waste precious food money on someone who exceeded the age limit. 

It was a calm and quiet noon in the lower city; the sun was midway through setting, painting the sky in brilliant orange and red. The only noise being made was the distant sounds of cars passing and honking, police sirens wailing, and the chirping of small birds flying over Zachary, who was a young man with green eyes and a simple face, he had silver grey hair that was long, scruffy, and unkempt. His clothes were plain and slightly dirty, loosely fitting around his slim figure.

He said not a word to himself—conjured not a thought. He instead kept his gaze glued to the path in front of him, the path however was not a clear one. He made his way to an area that bordered the upper city where he stood at the edge of a decline, where at the bottom was a canal. He stood behind a road—the side of the road that faced the canal had a guard rail lining the side to prevent cars from driving into it.

He stood a few feet from a bridge that arched over the canal to let cars and people enter the glorious upper city. Zachary took in the view of it, seeing the Tower of Xenith standing over everything around it with its grand height, its old brick and stone walls blanketed by the sunlight and the surrounding buildings pierced the sky and their silvery-glass walls and gold roofs shined in the setting sun. He looked at the cold water reflecting the orange color of the sky back onto his face. The water was a lot cleaner than the murky, trash-filled, germ-ridden water of the canals in the lower city.

“Now what?” he said. “I’m on my own, I have nowhere to live, and I have no money!”. He took a moment to think until remembering something, “I just need to focus on my dreams. What were they again? Oh yeah, I’ve always wanted to travel the world, I also want to taste toast with butter again.” He then smiled with great ambition. “And my ultimate goal: to touch a girl’s breasts!” he exclaimed as he raised his hands into the sky.

“Hey! Keep it down, you freak!” a man shouted down at him from a nearby building.

Zachary laughed to himself, “Ok, now that I got my motivation back, I gotta see if I can get something to eat before nightfall.”

Zachary made his way back up and started to walk down the sidewalk in search of a meal. He made his way to a small convenient store. He entered it and made his way to an aisle where refrigerated food sat behind glass doors. He browsed the contents of the refrigerators and saw that all the food had a price, a price he could not afford. 

“This is crazy.” a man on the same aisle as Zachary commented to himself, scoffing at the food prices. “Food prices are a tenth of what they were last month?” The man took a bag of frozen vegetables in an annoyed manner, “What is happening to this damn economy?” he groaned. 

“That’s right, I don’t have any money.” Zachary remembered, slapping his forehead with his palm. He eyed a bag of frozen berries. A good choice for a meal that does not require an oven. 

“Steal it.” said his inner thoughts. 

“Don’t steal it!” his conscience exclaimed. “We may still be in the lower city, but police presence is quite high here. You’ve heard of the stories of what happens to thieves. Don’t risk it!” 

Zachary opened the fridge door and picked up the bag, “I have to. There’s no other way.” he justified. His hunger took hold of his decision. Zachary tightly gripped the bag and turned to face the exit. He then made a full sprint out, the store clerk noticing him and yelling at him to stop. Zachary didn’t listen, he exited the store and kept running no matter how much his mind protested.  

Just as he exited the shop however, a man who saw Zachary run out with the store clerk yelling, “Shoplifter!”, attempted to grab hold of one of Zachary’s arms. The man almost succeeded, landing his hand on the young man’s shoulder, but Zachary, being slimmer and faster than the man, was able to just nearly escape the man’s grip. Zachary may have escaped, but he forgot a crucial detail in successfully fleeing: Always watch where you’re looking. Zachary had his head turned back to see if the man would chase after him, after seeing that the man wasn’t, he looked back ahead only to crash into a person wearing a white hooded cloak. The collision knocked the two to the ground.

“Hey!” the person in the white cloak said as she turned around to see who caused her to fall.

“I’m so sorry!” Zachary said, quickly getting to his feet and grabbing the bag that fell under a nearby metal table.

Zachary had successfully gotten away, and with a proud chuckle, he made his way back to the canal. The sun had almost completely set; not much light illuminated anything near the canal except for a streetlamp on the side of the bridge. Zachary went on the bridge and sat directly under the lamp. He took a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his brow before opening the bag he risked his freedom for.

Zachary looked at the contents of the bag and saw that he had acquired a bag of mixed fruits from all over Sorim, “Score!” he celebrated, raising the bag up high. “Time to eat up! Thank you, goddess, for this meal.”. Just as he finished talking, a motorcycle with two riders drove by and the rider at the rear of the bike easily snatched the bag of berries. As they drove away, Zachary could’ve sworn hearing a faint, mocking laugh coming from one of the men.

All alone, his mouth wide open and his empty hand still raised up in the air—nothing but the faint sounds of vehicles and sirens filling the atmosphere; Zachary growled, slamming his hand down onto his knee, “Why do conveniences always work against me!?” he angrily yelled into the sky. He calmed down, accepting his situation. He took a deep sigh and brought his head down to see the concrete he was sitting on. He then pulled out a small envelope from the inside of one of his socks just above his ankle. He held the unsigned letter close and closely read each written word:

Dearest Child,

You don’t know me, but I am your mother. I know you must be confused, but it’s true. I only have a little knowledge of writing so I can’t put all my thoughts in this letter. Please, if you want to, take the Imperial Road to Gonwhin in Taril. I’m living there in the worker’s slums. I await your visit. 

“Hey.” a voice said to him.

Zachary paused, putting the letter back into one of his socks. He looked to his right, seeing a young woman sitting on the guard railing, wearing a white and red dress-like outfit, her head covered by the hood of a white cloak that draped over her back and ended at her ankles. The man looked into her silver eyes; her face being illuminated by the remaining sunlight. “You’re the one who bumped into me.” she said.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Zachary jumped to his feet and bowed slightly, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t see where I was running.”

“It’s ok, I’m not here to beat you up or anything. I just wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“I need to find the Tower of Xenith, I just arrived in Oreana.”

Zachary paused for a second before saying, “Yeah, it’s toward the city center.” pointing at the tall tower in the distance. The girl jumped off the rail, taking off her hood, her short, black hair flowing like a flag as she fell to the ground. She landed feet first and walked up to him, “Thank you…. What’s your name?”

Zachary stared at the girl’s face, “She’s beautiful.” he thought. “Zachary.” he answered. 

The girl smiled and said with a friendly wave, “Nice to meet you, Zachary. I’m Kiki. Kiki Lang.”

“So, you’re new in Oriana?”

“That’s right! I left home and now that I’m here in Oriana, I’m to become a protector just like my mother and sister.”

“A protector? Like those guys I occasionally see with the flashy outfits, similar to what you’re wearing.”

“Yep.” Kiki said with a chuckle.

“Sounds like a noble goal. I’m sure you’ll make a fine protector.”

“Thanks, but wait. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I’m just thinking about things. Trying to empty my thoughts.” Zachary said in a rushed tone.

“Why were you running? Was someone trying to hurt you?”

“I’d prefer not to say.”

“You look terrible.”

“I’m fine, just haven’t eaten in a while.”

Kiki reached into her pocket and took out a folded handkerchief, “Hear, it’s some bread. It’s not much but it’s something.”

“I shouldn’t.” he said.

“No, take it, please.”

Zachary took the handkerchief and unfolded it to reveal a slice of fresh bread, “Thank you.” he said, taking a bite from the slice.

“Well, I should get going before it gets too dark. It was good talking to you, thanks for the help.” Kiki said before walking off.

“Bye.” Zachary said softly. “Wow, that’s the nicest anyone has ever been to me. Guess the world isn’t so cruel after all.” He chuckled to himself, walked over to the edge of the bridge, and placed the handkerchief in front of him, savoring the sight of his bread. He took a piece of it and moved it towards his mouth and ate. He swallowed and moaned in satisfaction, “It’s good.”. He continued to eat until the bread was gone and the handkerchief was all that was left.

He then leaned against the bridge and looked down at the canal, seeing how it divided the lower city from the upper city. He felt a light breeze hit the back of his head and gave out a sigh. For a moment, he felt content, but that all changed when He looked and saw five young men walking down the bridge. The men were from the upper city judging from the extravagant clothing they wore. All five of them were drunk, laughing at crass jokes about demi-humans and Demonites while talking about partying and whoring all night at the best clubs in the lower city.

“They certainly look happy.” Zachary said to himself, a feeling of envy crawling into his mind.

The men walked pass Zachary, not paying him any mind. One of the men, who was more energetic than the others, took out a piece of paper and waved them around, “Thank the goddess for my father’s generosity!” he celebrated.

“I thought your father gave you credits?” another asked.

“This is even better. This is a financial grant containing the seal of the king’s council so anything we buy will be paid for by the crown. You will not believe how much I had to work around the property for father to finally get me one of these.” he boasted, putting the grant back in his pocket. before accidentally tripping on his own drunken clumsiness, causing the grant to fly out of his pocket due to only half of the paper was all the way in the pocket – the men completely unaware and too drunk to notice. The breeze carried the grant back to the middle of the bridge and it landed at Zachary’s feet. Zachary picked it up and ran over to the men to return the grant to them. The man who owned the grant checked his pocket for the grant to once again flaunt it found that it was no longer there. He panicked, turning around to see it in Zachary’s hand.

The man too drunk to rationalize what Zachary was doing with his grant flew into a blind rage and charged at him, “You dirty thief!” he growled. The man then punched Zachary directly in the nose, a loud thud could be heard as the man’s cybernetic fist made contact with Zachary’s nose. Zachary let out a cry of agony as blood rushed out of his nose. He quickly turned around and saw four other men surrounding him.

“You think you can steal from us?” the assailant asked angrily, grabbing Zachary’s shoulders and kneeing him in the belly.

Zachary fell to his knees, coughing violently. Soon after his knees met the pavement, boots crashed into his body, causing Zachary to completely fall to the ground and curl up in an attempt to protect his head. The men, not knowing or caring enough to settle things peacefully, joined their friend. kicking harder and harder, laughing with every kick. They weren’t concerned with logic or reason, they were drunk and saw their friend attacking some random person from the lower city—and like sheep, they followed in his lead.

“I’m so sick of you poor bastards, destroying the lower city and constantly taking things that we normal folk work so hard to earn.” the main attacker said in a sadistic manner. “You worthless animal.” another said. “Demi-humans are more human than you.”

“Am I going to die?” Zachary thought, the pain of each kick feeling stronger and stronger. “Please! Stop!” Zachary managed to muster out. “I was going to return it!”

“Oh wow,” the main attacker mocked. “A criminal trying to act all innocent. You’re just trying to piss me off even more, huh?”

The group kept up the beating until the main attacker was struck by a foot flying directly into the side of his face. The kick caused the man to fall to fly slightly in the air and fall to the ground, rolling as he made contact with the pavement, knocking him out instantly. The men stopped attacking and looked at the one responsible for their leader’s assault. It was Kiki, now standing boldly and staring them in the eyes with a determined look. “Leave him alone.” she said, one of her hands folding into a fist while the other one slowly reached to a pouch on her belt located on the back of her waist. The men stood there for a moment before taking aggressive stances and began moving towards Kiki, forming a circle to surround her. Kiki observed the men and saw that two were slimmer than the other two, who were a lot taller and bigger than her, she knew she couldn’t beat all of them at once. But she had to try.

Just as chaos was about to unfold, a man stepped in and with a revolver in his hand said, “All right, that’s enough! Off with you four.”

The men, obviously not wanting to lose their lives, ran away and left Kiki alone on the bridge with the man.

“Are you alright, young lady?” the man politely asked, putting his pistol away in a holster strapped to his upper torso.

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s him who needs help.” Kiki said, walking over to Zachary and kneeling down beside him.

“Let me take a look at him.” the man said kneeling down beside Zachary and inspecting his injuries.

“We need to get him to a doctor.”

“Don’t fret, I was field medic during the great war. I have experience with these types of things.”

The man gently pulled Zachary onto his back and saw his face was covered in blood and cuts.

“It’s too dark to make an observation, we need to get him to my place immediately.”

“What about a hospital?”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. He’s obviously from the lower city. Hospitals are only in the upper city and cost a fortune to pay for treatment and patient care. The lower city has clinics but half of them are either closed or privately owned by cartels, and I do not trust the cartels one bit.” He and Kiki took a side of him and carried him to a café located in the upper city.