" The ancient beast wakes, and with this my victory is complete ! Tremble and cower before me ye false mighty, like the impotent and foolish pests you- "

Thunk

The man clad in flowing black and deep purple robes fell on the unfeeling polished marble, his head caved in by a rectangular chunk of cold steel with an azure sheen.

" Told you they never expect to get hit when they monologue. "

" ... And there goes the coins I'd been saving up for Melissa. "

The man armored in alternating layers of shining metal and red cloth smirked as the man draped in shades of green and brown sighed, taking out a leather purse and counting small pieces of metal in his hand. The adventuring team leisurely walked towards the warm body.

" Hands off, Mark. I got him with the brick, I get dibs on the corpse. "

" Eat shit Raend. "

In addition to the young blond and the ranger with graying black hair and bags under his eyes, three more followed:  An impassive and unconcerned old man that wore only a loincloth showing off a sculpted body, a white beard and a face that had the traces of someone who had laughed and lived through a lot; An ethereal woman gliding across the floor wearing nothing but colorful bands of silk and a skirt, gravity seeming more of a suggestion to her; And a scowling priest garbed in a white uniform with a shield, his head turning red. Apart from him, all of them still had their weapons sheathed.

Pointing his mace in my direction he shouted " Stop fooling around ! Do not tarry and identify the foul beast he unleashed ! "

The party's leader rolled his green eyes and turned towards me, making a point of taking his time. " What do we have here ... Hecatoncheires ? Aren't those supposed to have more than two arms ? " he said, confused and unsure.

The elder and the wind mage exchanged a glance alight with a sudden spark of interest. The priest's eyes widened in zealous rage as he blurred in my vision, rushing towards me. A loud clang resounded as the swinging mace was stopped dead before crushing my head, softly but firmly gripped in the old one's hand.

" Let's not get too hasty now, shall we ? "

" Step aside, old goat ! This is a relic of the old gods, it must be cleansed with utmost speed !"

I was instantly surrounded on all sides by the adventurers as the leader spoke up "I'm with Kegen on this one. Identify told me he was perfectly neutral, like a newborn babe. No reason to kill him." The ranger's wary look softened up a bit while the sylphid simply smiled brightly.

The priest looked dumbfounded, but quickly regained composure, hate and spite filling his gaze again as he brought back his mace to his side. " By virtue of his heritage, he cannot be allowed to live."

The woman gently shook her head " Can you speak ? Do you have a name ? "

A name ? I ... I did not remember receiving one. What did others call me ? Wait ... who were the others ? Were there ever any ?

I racked my brain trying to find an image, a smell, a voice of any that could have lived alongside me before. Of anything I had done or lived. I was fairly sure there had been a before, but I could not even recall who had birthed me, taught me, or if they loved me at all. Feelings welled up inside me, and though I intellectually knew and recognised what they were, I couldn't help but be hurt as if discovering them for the first time. They were loss and sorrow.

And regret.

Trying to find the answer in my environment, I looked at my naked body, and though I seemed similar to a small human, I held no shame and knew I was not one. Hecatoncheires was what the red steel-thrower had called me. It seemed fit for what I was, but not who I was. Thus, it was not my name. Realizing this, my conscience, my thoughts, felt as if they were not my whole self. Self. Such a peculiar concept.

" No. I don't remember if I ever had one. "

"Great, he can speak ! Hello there, my name’s Lyn ! "

" Then we must dispose of this evil now ! Nothing good comes from intelligent monsters. " That earned him a glare from the sylphid.

The old one's voice rose up after a few beats of tense silence " We are made by our choices, our actions. It is weak but sentient, and I think we should give it a chance. " The green-clad Mark nodded " I can get behind that. Let's take it with us while we travel back to Gaalran, it'll leave us some time to judge and decide what to do. " Anticipation sparked through his eyes “ But first : loot. "

They turned to different sides of the room, the priest always keeping his distance and never turning his back to me. His hate fell like rain on the rock of indifference. Eventually though, he relaxed marginally, and started perusing the various tomes and scripts around the place. A specific tapestry depicting a fight at sunset on sandy dunes caught his eye.

The air mage started plucking out crystals from an array that seemed to center on where I was standing. The old one just paced around the room humming to himself, but it felt as though his attention was still on me. His disinterest in what prompted the greed and want in his kin sparked my curiosity, and I shakily took a few steps up to him " What do you search ? "

Kegen chuckled " It is deeply fitting for a first question to ask in one's existence, as it may just be one of the most important. I'd say fun. And I do not mean the cheap indulgence in base pleasures or vain flattering of one's ego. "

Distantly, under his facade of unconditional calm and love, something changed silently. Despite not moving an iota, he seemed sharper. Underneath the relaxation, there was an undercurrent of readiness and violence, like a string pulled taut. Ready to lash out and pulverize, ready to pounce and tear to pieces. But it was not simply mindless violence; it was controlled in a fine but absolute manner, akin to a thin medical blade with the weight of a sledgehammer, directed firmly with infinitesimal precision.

"I mean the kind that makes you feel truly alive. The true thrill of giving your all. Of standing to win everything, and losing everything. Because that is the truest feeling there ever was. The rest is meaningless."

His small grin never left as he relaxed completely once again. Not as a deflating pocket of air, but something simply swallowed back, biding its time. In an instant, gone was the bloodlust junkie, returned was the caring, tolerant and happy grandparent of many generations.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

He evoked my interest. He had shared a piece of the thrill, and I wanted more. I decided to learn from him, and wait until it was proper to partake in a fight. This stopped me dead in my tracks. Why delay ? ... Part of what made him interesting was why he waited so. If he wanted to walk on the razor's blade, why would he even go as far as to camouflage it under this charade, if it held no meaning, no truth ? Why such a lie ?

A grin crept up my face, mirroring his own as we locked eyes. My questioning gaze answered only with his knowing one. I wanted to pry his secrets from him. To see what fabric his thoughts were woven of. To experience and live in the full what he had teased me with. I reveled in the rush and saw his own enjoyment a mirror of mine. He wanted to see me experience it too.

Life was so much more interesting than oblivion.  

It is with this in mind I observed the others again with a new vision, a new perspective. Would they be as interesting ? Would they be as fun ? I could not wait to discover and learn. This was true bliss.

Which one would I query ? The priest only wanted to see me unmade and would not share information that would interest me, if only out of sheer spite. No point wasting interest in him.

The airshifter had found an amethyst-colored gem the size of a fist, which seemed to garner her attention. I walked to her side.

" Why does it captivate you so ? "

She smiled at me, her orange eyes infectious with bubbling glee. " It looks extremely compatible with what I channel and cast, from what I gather.  Raend will tell me more about it though, he can Identify stuff. Very useful for NOT getting cursed. Those are a bitch and a half. "

" Tell me more. " I had no particular subject in mind. I just wanted more. More.

" Well, most curses activate on touch, but barely processed materials like this beautiful baby are usually clean. Which is stupid by the way. If I didn't want people to touch my focus or I definitely would rig the important materials. Plus, if you do it properly there shouldn't even be any interference. '' She sighed. " Alas, most are not well-versed enough in the scrypts to do something a little delicate. How much do you know about the arcane ? "

" Nothing. " She seemed somewhat taken aback by this, but her excitement quickly rose up to the surface again.

" Well lucky you, you have so much to learn ! You'll see it's fantastic. " I nodded. This one understood. I wanted to get hooked on this too.

She looked towards her find, then back at me and winced " But you'll have to wait a bit, I'm in the middle of looking through the loot right now. I can't really teach you. I'll do it later though, okay ? "

Argh. Waiting. Such a nuisance. No matter. I would be patient if it meant I could learn. "Okay."

She shined me another smile and returned to identifying, searching and taking various gems and powders, taking steps that propelled her to the top of the dome shaped room to ... study the structure ? The glyphs ? I did not know and I wanted to. I would wait. I watched her for a long time. Patience seemed an easy lesson to learn.

-

As we left the room where I had been and walked back through the way they came in, I saw the havoc and devastation they had wrought.

A mound of particularly fetid and bloated biomass of what might once have been a towering giant was pooling and running along the carved tiles, pus flowing alongside blood on the immaculate marble. Paradise stained by mortality.

As we passed under a sculpted gate depicting maws and hands, Raend lit a torch and the marble gave way to obsidian. The smooth walls were polished enough to mirror us, but they absorbed the light as the bottom of the sea did, and so did not reflect each other. I stumbled on the corpse of a man dressed in a similar fashion to the one who woke me. His blood had not pooled too much on his robes. I put them on, and though they were a bit small, they were loose enough it did not matter. They were sticky with cold sweat and blood.

The cold tunnel went on for quite some distance, slippery with red and littered bones. Some impacts to the glass captivated my attention as they redirected the light of the torch and our images. My curly black hair melded with the darkness, but the way my white skin was shattered mesmerized me. A lone fracture separated my head from the rest of my body, it made me smile.

When we reached the exit of the cave, the sun was not far from the horizon’s line. The soft dunes of the desert cast shadows upon us and the tunnel’s mouth, a few sparse trees or bushes growing here. 

We walked for a short time under a gentle breeze, before setting up camp at the bottom of a particularly tall dune, safe from the sun and the wind. Tinder was collected from the prickly bushes and dead trees’ branches. 

Mark took out a flint rod and with a swift motion of his knife created a shower of sparks that rained on the soon-to-be fire.

I liked fire. It started small and vulnerable, be it brought about intentionally or by happenstance. What started it did not matter to it in the slightest, it would just burn.  Burn and dance, consume and live. It needed no reason, it was a simple joy basking in its growing warmth and watching it progress.

The adventurers rolled mats on the ground in a circle around the fire and took blankets, Raend offering me one. I laid on it between the old man and the wind mage, mostly because I thought they did not mean me harm. Not right now, at the very least. 

Lyn and Raend shared an excited  look “ We have a guest and you know what that means !”

“ Yeeeah baby,  marshmallow time ! Wooh !” 

The priest raised his hands accusingly trying to start the argument again “ I still can’t believe you take this abomination’s defense !”

“ Oh come off of it Culain, he didn’t even know about the arcane ! “

“ Do you not see this is a lure ?! Something to lull you into a false sense of security and make it seem vulnerable ?”

“ He’s weak enough to get mauled by a sewer rat ! And not even a large one at that. ” 

“ I will forgive you for your ignorance, as you have not studied the Epics as I did. Hecatoncheires were some of the worst the old powers had to offer. They were unkillable, walking disasters of nature. Though weaker, they were the Typhon’s elder siblings. Does that mean nothing to you ?”

“ My point still stands, and if he is strong enough to befuddle Raend’s Identify, we’re already at his mercy. Now, you can relax or you can fuck off.”

“ We should kill it while we can !”

“ Fuck off.”

The priest’s face distorted with frustration, shooting me a glare with all the rage he could muster. He took his mat and left. An uncomfortable silence fell, though I was not affected and could tell they weren’t either. This had probably already happened, or they just cared very little about him. 

Mark stabbed a small pink and squishy thing with a stick and held it on top of the flames for a short time. Was it some kind of newborn ? I knew of few other things this pink, and Lyn had said ‘Baby Mashmallo time‘. How peculiar. He was quickly mimicked by the others, and they gave me a stick and a soft baby too. I imitated them, noting the distinct lack of resistance and blood as we impaled them. As soon as the babies turned black and brown they took them off of the fire and ate them. Better just follow along, maybe this was a cultural thing. 

It was the sweetest thing I’d tasted in … well, ever. Food was good. Did every newborn taste this good ? I would have to try. 

“ I like these Mashmallo babies. Give me more.” 

The old one snorted “ They aren’t babies, they're candies.”

“ Is that another phase of life ? “ 

Raend and Mark shared a concerned look “ No, it is a food made of sugar. “

“Oh.” Better not to start eating babies just yet then.

Kegen took up “ Usually, eating babies is frowned upon in all cultures, even the most savages.” 

“Noted.” 

Mark took out one of the pieces of copper similar to the ones he’d given Raend. “ Wanna see a cool trick, kid ? “

I nodded eagerly. I wanted to see and learn. “Watch me.” 

He rolled the piece on his knuckles and when it fell in the palm of his other hand he closed it. He breathed inside his fist and showed me his hands. They were empty. How could this be ? “Is that the power of the arcane ?”  They laughed.

“No, it can do so much more. It can raze cities, topple kingdoms and rebuild them in a day. It can make life easy or take it away. With enough time and magic, anything is possible.”

I was fascinated. I would learn magic.

“Hey you got something behind your ear ” said Mark, reaching to take it.

It was the piece of copper. Be it destruction and recreation of matter or teleportation, I gaped openly at this display of arcane might, earning laughter from the others and a smug self-satisfied smile from Mark.

“ Teach me ! “

“I can’t kid, it would break the magic. But you can keep the coin.” 

What a delicate spell it was, if shared knowledge of its workings would be enough to make it stop. Was it that way by design ? I did not want material goods, only to discover more. It still felt appropriate to be grateful though.

“You have my thanks.” Amusement and pride glinted in his eyes.

“Don’t mention it. Wanna see another one ?”

“ Yes !” 

The evening went on, the fire’s light never fading until I fell asleep.