During our first invasion into the eastern continent our forces managed to push themselves incredibly far into the humans' land completely decimating them beyond belief, but a few years into the destruction, the individual groups of humans united under one banner.
It was unlike anything we had ever faced before, and soon the beastkin were forcefully pushed out of the eastern continent, and the humans even attacked into our land as retribution.
This was the first giant loss the beastkin had ever faced, and the damage it did not only to our pride but to our people was immense, and on the war-thorn battlefields of our land, I found a young boy. He cried over the bodies of his parents, who had the animals aspects of their bodies craved out by the humans.
I picked him up and asked, “What is your name?”
“Ciarán.”
“I see. Remember this Ciarán, from today you will never grieve like this again.”
During this period, I had gone out to many different destroyed battlefields and had taken any of the beastkin children who were left without a family into my care.
I trained them much like how Konrad trained us, and one of them showed greater skill and technique than all of the rest. Ciarán wasn’t a genius but he dedicated more time and effort than anyone else as if his very life was in the balance.
He was determined and had the results to show it and when I asked him, “Why do you try so hard?”
He said, “I need to make weapons that are capable of defending you and crushing the humans.”
Patting his head, I say, “Remember weapons are merely an obligation we are made to make it isn’t the point of what I am teaching you.”
With a little bit of discomfort, Ciarán says, “Yeah.”
That was the first moment I should have noticed it, but I chose to be ignorant because I didn’t want to imagine his hate could be so strong so fierce, and that a snake was using that to poison my life.
As the war with the east started to intensify, the abuse of humans all throughout the empire did as well. The humans started to hear of the beastkin defeat, and to suppress any possible building dissent the humans were continually crushed in both body and spirit.
The mood towards the humans had moved from pathetic creatures who could never hurt us, to conniving creatures who may use this sign of weakness to pounce.
In a way many beastkin became scared of the humans they had seen below them, and this animosity started to spread to my workshop as well.
My men who had been peacefully working with the humans in the workshop started to have increasingly bitter attitudes towards them, and the animosity started to become so tangible I could smell it.
Soon my men came towards me and asked, “Master please remove them from our house.”
“I refuse.”
Slightly irritated my men say, “Master, we cannot trust them with all of your knowledge and techniques.”
“Nonsense, you seem to think those humans who you have treated as family would use that knowledge against you.”
“But you can already see it in their current work, that their quality has been diminishing each day.”
I flick the leader of the group in the forehead, and say, “That’s because of your horrible attitudes towards them that they cannot focus. It is called a self-fulfilling prophecy, and you need to cease such action. This should be the last I hear of this.”
I had thought in my head addressing the complaints of those who came in front of me would have been enough, but silence isn’t the same as a solution. All that locking their speech gave me was a false sense of security.
Until one day it happened. I was dragged forward to the current high king Fergus, and I was told a horrible truth.
“Yesterday during a meeting by the former head of the house of Faoláin, and the current heads of the house of Cathal, and the house of Cumhaill on the treatment of the humans throughout the kingdom because of our war east.
An attack took place in which all three of them and many of their attendant were killed. It was by a rogue group of humans who wielded these weapons.”
“How? How is this possible!”
Fergus struggles to speak, but then he manages to say, “And I wish I didn’t have to tell you about it this way, but your wife was one of the attendants to this meeting.”
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His words move through my mind like a spear through my heart.
Fergus throws the weapons in front of me, and I see the engravings on them, and I say, “These are the symbols of the humans from my workshop.”
“Yes, my friend. Your students used the freedom you have given them to enact some sort of revenge against the beastkin.”
Looking at the weapons, I say, “This is nonsense, without a doubt none of them would ever do such a thing! Let me speak to them and get the truth about this situation.”
Fergus says, “They are all already dead.”
“What?”
“They had committed suicide and left a note removing you from any involvement with their crimes.”
“Impossible,” I say as my head hangs low in disbelief.
Getting off his throne Fergus comes down to me, and says, “This whole event will be kept under wraps as we cannot allow such an event to increase the amount of abuse the humans are getting currently, it would destroy productivity throughout the empire.
But at the end of the day, someone needs to be punished, and regardless of whether you knew or not it was due to your actions that the humans were put in such a position. You may be a great hero my friend, but the deaths of red branch families are far too heavy to be pardoned.”
Fergus looks like he is on the verge of tears as he says, “You will be stripped of your title as head of a red branch family, rank of Ollamh, and will be forced to work hard labour in your given field for the next 20 years after which you will be put under a great number of restrictions in for the rest of your days.”
I have nothing to say in response except, “Can I please read the note they had left?”
One of the members of the Fergus'a Coil says, “You have no right to request anything.”
Fergus stamps his foot and the entire castle shakes, then he hands me the note, and I read it.
But as I go through it I realization comes to my mind. This isn’t their handwriting.
Many of the humans came from illiterate backgrounds and could only speak the saviour's song. Almost every single written word they know is something I expressly taught them, and the language here has some words they shouldn’t know how to spell.
I instantly look over at the weapons, and quickly scan them with my eyes.
Are those copies?
Suddenly a series of information surges through my head as I am dragged out of the room, and as I leave the high king castle, I see a group of my men, and in that moment my eyes move to each and every one of them to see what how their expression look.
Some look angry, some look sad, and my daughter looks like her heart is broken, but one in particular moves his face away from my gaze. Ciarán.
The confrontational boy's eyes completely move away from my gaze. And in that moment, it all makes sense to me.
I never thought, I never even had an inclination that his wrath and furry could be so intense.
I could say something and spare myself from all of this punishment, but I cannot bring myself to do it. I cannot bring myself to sell out one of my children.
I was forced from that day to live in humiliation. I was forced to constantly create weapons and aid the druids in their research to create more and more new tools of war to be used against the humans.
The days were tough and arduous, with the only thing keeping me going was the memory of the man my wife fell in love with, and the promise he made to one day see his daughter again.
And when that time ended and I got to return home, I found out Ciarán had married my daughter and had taken over our house as her husband.
I tried to speak with my daughter, but she denied me again, and again, saying, “YOU ALLOWED MOTHER TO DIE! FOR THE SHAKE OF A FEW HUMANS!”
She held power of the house and our land. She had full authority to ban me from ever coming back, so I had lost the only thing keeping me going and Ciarán had completely taken all I had.
I spent many nights sleeping on the street, and the rage inside me kept growing more and more. I wanted to let everyone know and destroy him, I wanted to get my daughter and my house back.
But I couldn’t bring myself to do this because it was my fault. That boy who I took in that day had nothing except for me, and I take sole fault for raising him to become how he is.
If only I was wiser, if only I was smarter if only I looked out more. I would have been able to fix his broken heart like I had done to countless tools, but I was too foolish, and too dazzled by my own dream to look at my students more often.
I had lost everything. But one thing I still had was knowledge and will.
I used all the knowledge I had gained to give private lessons to any who would take it while concealing my identity and got enough money to get myself a shop.
And on the day, I opened it, I found a small wonderbeast that smelt like an old friend in my shop, which I used to ride around.
I had lost my title and dream, but I still had the power to allow others to grow.
I decided to take on students and passed on my skills to them all, and I was still able to impact the world even if it was ever so slightly.
I wish I didn’t lose all I had gained, but more than anything what I gained from all I did was the ability to go on. So, if I can give that to someone I will be fine.
Staring at the family in front of me holding the decorated piece, I look to Setanta, and Aurelius then say, “Another good job.”
Putting his hands on my head, Setanta says, “Of course, my work will never be bad.”
Aurelius says, “I actually did all of the work on this one. But you can claim it because I know how much you wished you were actually as good as me.”
Setanta jumps on top of Aurelius’s head and starts to chomp down on him, and as the rest of the beastkin quickly moves to stop them, all I can bring myself to do is laugh and say, “Life can really always go back up.”
Location: Dlúth castle, home of the house of Serlasracht
Φ In my hands I hold my son, and say, “How has your work progressed recently.”
“It is going fine, but still compared to my big brothers, I think it is trash.”
Rubbing his head, I say, “You are merely 10 years old, both of your brothers are grown men, don’t allow it to bother you.”
Suddenly one of the servants marches in, and says, “My lord you have a guest.”
“I am with my son right now; do you think I care for any guest?”
Suddenly Bricriu walks past the servant, and says, “You don’t have time for me?”
I instantly compose myself, and say, “Please go play with your mother.”
Sensing my nervousness my son gets up and leaves the room with the servant, and I say, “Bricriu is there anything wrong?”
“Nothing of the sort, I just came to talk to you. Is that not allowed now that you are no longer a kid?”
“No. You can come and talk to me whenever you want, it is only thanks to you that I was able to get everything off decades ago.”
“That’s nice to hear Ciarán, but in regards to our prior deal there is something recently that has been added onto it.”