20 The Nameless

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Gus Blechen - I saw Solomon fight a dragon once. Poor thing had no teeth. by the time he put it's soul in a gem. The soul didn't even struggle. It ran in fear into its new prison, away from him.

Our trip towards the capital proved adventurous in comparison with the others. The mild, temperate weather was mesmerizing, as were the sights. The mountains, towering above the forested landscape, created marvelous sights, some taller than clouds. Even the air saturated in a kinetic energy, as if the air itself shook in anticipation.

That feeling only grew as we neared the capital of Nelastra. All these sights seemed normal, but the oddest aspect of our journey were the caravans traveling towards the city. Armed to their teeth, the hardened hearts of the guards surprised me. Through the eyes of Jack, I saw missing chunks from faces, their arms, and even their eyes. Muscles rippled from their lean figures, and each and every sword held some enchantment, often times hiding souls stronger than bears or fassars.

The merchants peered at us without fail, their eyes often amazed. A group of three humans walking on a road that only armed caravans would walk. We seemed alien, I’m sure.

The missing bricks and broken trees and crushed carriages became regular fixtures on our path as we traveled. The woods weaved into an endless canopy of bright green. In bizarre and unnatural formations, their branches crawled across one another, even through the trunks of other trees.

Some simple animals, like squirrels or rabbits, ran in herds. Each pack developed a unique characteristic. Many recolored their fur into the black and brown of the trees. Others owned teeth too large for their jaws, and several grew horns from the center of bloodshot eyes. Like a living nightmare, the insects evolved into abominations.

Large as a forearm, spiders crawled within webs hidden by the shadow of leaves. Spraying toxic powder, moths as large as chairs stabbed saber like mouths into trees. They gorged until their fat, full bellies swelled with sap. It was at three days from Nelastra that we saw the first wolves.

We’d camped during the night. Aether and I stood guard over the others while Razor circled overhead, alert and attentive. They both struggled with their guarding duties. The ceaseless waiting, it tired and bored and bothered them, but I never faltered.

Though I lacked the instantaneous bursts of willpower that Jack could produce, my patience was unmatched. I was willing to endure for far longer than the others. My mind needed no stimulation. I’d stare into that incessant sea of dark for hours, crunching on any insects that grew close. If not for my persistence, Joan and Sophia would wake with their arms and legs chewed to the bone by a four foot centipede.

It was during one of those nights that the wolves reached us. Sitting on a cold, hard boulder, I watched the shifting shadows. The gentle sound of rustling leaves and Razor’s humming let me listen for any suspicious sounds. The full smell of earth, oak, and water enveloped the wind. Aether’s glow illuminated the forest in a blend of blues. In its own eerie and unusual way, the forest was daunting yet moving all the same.

This peace shattered as symphony of steps came our way. A caterpillar crawled towards us, its vibrant shade of green turning to seafoam as it entered Aether’s glow. It caught my curiosity, so I stood before jumping towards the creature.

The green flesh underneath the creature provided a thin, nearly translucent layer between its insides and the air. These organs shifted and squirmed, curving underneath its skin like an enormous pile of moving intestines. Hooks lined the creatures face along with a thousands of tiny, moving teeth. The wrinkled mass crawled towards me with its fat, bloated frame wiggling back and forth.

Curious as I was, I let the creature reach my leg before offering the creature my limb. It snapped onto my shin, the curved claws hooking into my flesh before the creature began burrowing into my insides. Of course, I felt nothing. The limp, useless limb accepted the punishment without pain as I severed the nerves to it before allowing such punishment.

Like a swollen sack of pus, the monster began squeezing its organs into the wound. The thn membrane deflated as the skin of my leg swelled before I leaned towards the eyeless creature and grinned.

A malicious grin on my face, I said aloud, “This is not a body you’ll want your organs in.”

Regaining control, I tensed and flexed the fibers in flesh until they sliced the creature to slivers. My muscle assimilated the nutrients within seconds before I devoured the leftover sack. It tasted like well marbled meat. This would be the king of delicacies.

At that moment, I found an egg pouch nearby with tiny worms crawling under a thin membrane. They smelled the same as that caterpillar, so I walked several dozen feet towards them. I chewed and chomped its larvae, relishing in the fatty, sweet taste before the heavy handed sound of strides entered my ears. Rising from my hunch, I turned towards the sound as the hairs across my back bristled before a herd of wolfs sprinted through a patch of tree trunks.

My vision stayed sharp during the night, even under this thick canopy, so the details of these beasts showed through the blanket of black. The same curiosity formed just as before at their appearances. Each carried a different, shambling frame.

The first two had an extra half a jaw jutting from their neck. Like an insect’s mandible, it jerked around as drool poured from the creature’s neck. Insect legs sprouted from its torso while a scorpion’s tails stabbed out both the wolves’ backs. The left most monster’s neck twisted towards the wrong direction. Something had gotten inside them. Now they starved for their own hunger and the parasites.

It gave me an appreciation of Jack’s apprehension when he first learned of me. The oozing, pussy wounds scabbed over while patches of maggots writhed in the black, decaying flesh near the beetle’s protrusions. In one of them, the insect within moved its limbs, actively eating its way out.

One of the wolves stood behind the alpha with an emptied membrane on its back. Between its legs, a swollen, distended stomach dragged against the ground. Like cracks on dried earth, stripes of missing fur along with shining scars engraved the walking organ sack. It moved slower than the rest, as if every movement shot agony through its body.

This may have given the impression of a batch of repelling and repugnant creatures, yet the alpha washed that all away. Like a colossus, its steps shook the earth. It’s sharp, jagged teeth glowed white in the darkness. The elegant, yellow iris composed its entire eye, and the sharp, smooth marks of black across the white fur enhanced the wolf above a beast. Like a god of the forest, it eyed me as the others circled around.

Aether and Razor came towards me, but I shouted, “The insects of this forest are voracious. Focus on guarding Sophia and Joan. I won’t require assistance. I doubt such crippled wolfs will pose much a threat.”

The alpha growled, deep enough that I feel my skin shift and my bones rumble. A greedy grin snaps onto my face before I enlarge my upper body and elongate my arms. The popping of bone and tendon takes over the sounds of the woods until I finish my form.

I glance towards the alpha before and growl back. The guttural, grisly roar rears the other wolves back before lift my arms and pound the ground in front of me. The roots snapped and the ground concaved. Vines whipped around me, slapping the other wolves circling me. Their high pitched groans sliced into the air before the alpha steps closer, unafraid and undaunted.

Respecting its resolve, I pace up towards the creature before it snapped it maw at me. Ready for it, I slammed my palm into the side of its neck, redirecting its mouth towards the ground. I grabbed it before slamming my other hand on its mouth.

The fur withstood the punishment, tougher than steel wire. Its skin did as well, surprising me further. This resilience hid another fact. As I glanced at its belly, ribs poked from under its skin. Though lean and limber, the alpha’s shoulder and hind leg muscles were smaller than I’d thought. Even when faced with a superior force, it drooled uncontrollably. It was starving.

Its legs squandered and jostled beside me, tearing into my meat with its exceptionally sharp talons. Barbed and serrated, the shot agony into my side, but I held firm until the creature ceased moving. After several minutes, I displayed my dominance. Like an ascendant power, I stood over it before leaning close and saying,

“I can see it. Your kind, you own a knack for language, don’t you?”

It blinked before squinting towards me and growling, so I rpelied, “We may not understand one another, but listen here, little pup.”

I matched my eye right beside the glowing, yellow iris of its own as I said, “Your race…It’s fascinating. Graceful yet deadly. Elegant yet mortifying.  I enjoy looking at you, so how about a little deal?”

I bared my teeth with a smile as I said, “I’ll remove the parasites from you, and you’ll leave us alone. Of course, if I ever see you again, I expect to see you at your full glory.”

After a moment, it growled again before I let it go as it jerked away. Even though the beast shot away, it stood still with the others, so I walked towards the one with a bent neck. It needed help the most, so I laid my hand on its fur before incorporating my hand into it.

Pained moans expand the creature as I explored it, but after gaining an understanding of the beetle’s size and shape, I slowly removed my hand growing a long, sharp spike from my hand. The four foot horn jutted from my palm, so I jerked towards the wolf and stabbed right into its chest.

Well, in sense. The blade pierced into the brain of the beetle, killing the creature instantly. The wolf howled in agony, so the alpha shot towards me, its drool dripping from its jaws. Having prepared myself, I lifted my foot before slamming my heel into its neck. My limb pinned the creature before I held the infected wolf with my right arm and slit the creature’s belly open with a claw from on my left index finger.

The wolf howled while tears fell from the alpha’s face as it struggled against me. Snapping its jaw, the white wolf strained with all its soul behind every attempt, but starvation left it sluggish and sickly. Despite its howls, I continued my operation on the other wolf.

After creating the incision, I reached into its guts and pulled the beetle’s corpse out. The wolf convulsed, unable to endure the anguish, but with all my strength, I never let it escape my grasp. After several seconds and broken ribs later, I laid the beetle on the ground.

The beetles exposed back opened to squishy, mushed insides. Several intestines along with a liver and pancreas attached to the insect, each halfway through transforming into the beetle, so I sliced them from the parasite’s back. With that done, I pushed the organs back in and sewed the wolf’s side shut using the silken thread.

The alpha wallowed in tears with its eyes closed, so I let it go before it glanced at its faint and flimsy companion. Jerking up, it walked around the other wolf. Inspecting the surgery, it began licking the wounds, even the maggot infested ones, so I stopped it.

Glancing towards me, I said, “Let them run their course. Either you let the maggots eat or an ocean of flesh eating bacteria.”

The wolf hissed before jerking its head away from me. Satisfied, I healed the others much the same way before the alpha and I exchanged glances.. Satisfied, I operated on the others much the same way before the alpha and I exchanged glances. These creatures held an incessant and sustained vitality, surviving even that creative parasite’s machinations. The creatures here, they feasted on the aura proliferating off the remnants of Gaia. They evolved.

That may be why the wolves listened to my guttural growls. Within consolidation, we owned a piece of Gaia, though the fragment had been silent for many months. The creatures around us desired the force in that fragment. We wouldn’t give it to them, but that fact provided a useful tool in this area and in Nelastra.

So the wolves left before I reached back towards the larval sack. The wolves would heal from their grievous wounds by the virtue of Gaia, and so I relaxed as I enjoyed the midsummer meal.

As I licked the fatty, mushy slop from my fingers, the snapping of twig tore my eyes back towards our campsite. Atop the hill stood Sophia, her mouth covered as her knees shook.

My skin absorbed the rest of the material before I walked towards her, my voice hard, “When did you leave the campsite? Better yet, why did Aether and Razor let you leave?”

She blinked before saying, “I wanted to see it. How you fought. It’s very different from Jack’s own methods.”

I rolled my eyes before charging up the hill until I reached within five feet of her. Slowing my steps, I said, “It’s grotesque, isn’t it?”

Pursing her lips, Sophia replied, “I don’t know. You’re a living, breathing contradiction.”

I smirked as I said, “In what way?”

She wiped back her banes behind her ear before crossing her arms as she said, “I mean, Jack would have just killed those wolves. What you did was disgusting, but I mean, you saved them.”

Without empathy or sympathy or even understanding, I replied, “Their souls were weakened. I wanted to assimilate them when they were at their strongest.”

Stolen story; please report.

Sophia frowned before saying, “They were actually beautiful. Like, really beautiful. I just…I want to not hate you, yenno?”

“Actually no, I don’t.”

“Well, I mean I literally threw up in my mouth at all that, but then you let them go. It’s like you did all that bad stuff, but it turned out good in the end. I think that’s how you do things. You just do it as fast and efficiently as possible to get what you want. You aren’t ughhh…I guess evil as I thought?”

My arm swelled as I lifted it and stared at the limb. I said, “That parasite gave me an idea for combat. Discharging fluid into them until they burst from the inside. That or perhaps laying self-replicating eggs.”

She cringed back before I tilted towards her, raising my eyebrow with curiosity, “Tell me, do you believe that is evil?”

She shook her head before saying, “Ugh, that’s fucking gross, and yeah, that’s evil.”

I nodded before glancing back at the limb as I said, “It’s strange. That parasite deserved life just as much as the wolves. I killed it for my own purposes, yet somehow that is moral.”

Stomping onto a meandering millipede, I picked it up before tearing a chunk out of its carcass with my teeth. I swallowed and said, “You humans will enslave entire species for your own ends, even each other for a few pieces of metal. That, Sophia, is evil.”

She winced with her eyes closed before she glanced back towards me and said, “That’s more for progress than just gold.”

In frenzy of bites, I swallowed the green millipede before turning towards her and saying, “Tell me though, what are you all progressing towards, and what cost? We’ve spoken of what they did to Petra. If that is progress, I’d rather be a mindless ant crawling in the dirt.”

Like petrified wood, she paralyzed at my words before I walked right beside her and said, “Think on it at the campsite. I’d rather avoid the roots from planting seeds in you.”

Peeking downward, she saw roots ever so slowly twisting and turning around her foot. Like a glacier, they spelled death for those who stood in their path, so after ripping them from her, she and I returned to the campsite that laid a hundred feet from us.

Having seen yet another method of planting traps, I tinkered with the prospect of using roots and seeds in my biology, but the concept seemed impossible. Plants utilized distinct and disparate methods for building themselves. However, the plant monster within the dragon provided a useful basis for my studies, so I progressed, albeit at a pace slower than wadding through a river of mud.

That sluggish speed plagued us each day as we neared Nelastra. The insects gained size and creative methods for delivering their poisons. Fast as fire, snakes traveled on the branches of trees by wrapping their bodies around a branch and snapping towards other branches. The trees here, they moved, though at a pace indiscernible to the naked eye of a normal human.

Yet I was no normal human. I studied each and every adaptation. These species fought fiercely with their evolution instead of their might. I approved. It reminded me of my own fights, though at an impeded pace.

During this time, I developed many ideas for using our tissues against other creatures. They would prove useful in our fights against the saints of Nelastra. Isn’t that right, Jack?

While they were an ordeal in their implementation, I couldn’t have denied their pragmatism. Deluge turned every evil, grotesque, and grim feature into one of our own. By the time we reached a few miles from Nelastra, we’d picked up an entire army of horrors, each boasting their own special brand of bane.

Understanding Deluge’s apprehension, I helped with these…adjustments at times. I hated them, yet we needed them all the same. We neared the capital, and at this point, I feared for our lives. Joan struggled each night as she slept with shallow slumber. Sophia bit her fingernails until she bled. Even Razor meandered back and forth with anxiety.

The center of our group became Aether during this time. He helped with his utter and absolute confidence. He feared nothing, and all feared him. Regardless of the rumbling we heard at night, no creature came near us besides the most desperate of deviants. His soothing calm, it carried the sensitive psyches of our troop. He dissuaded the surrounding nightmare from coming to us.

And it was horror that hid behind the shadows, make no mistake. Deluge may make it sound fun, but this journey tested us. It proved how perilous the climate could be. In vivid detail, I remember seeing the city of Nelastra for the first time, and how relieved I was.

That relief washed away at the curious construction of the city. In essence, it blew us away. We crossed onto the top of a hill were a break in the forest gave us a view of an enormous, awe inspiring mountain of clear crystal.

As my eyes adjusted to the sight, I perceived the miracle in greater detail. Sheets of thick, translucent plates interlocked in a dome covering the largest city ever seen. Like the comb in a beehive, the hexagonal plates covered every cranny and crevice of the city. Clouds crashed against the structure at its peak, and flocks of birds swarmed around it, like black dots dancing around the shining construct.

At the center of the city stood a palace of alabaster and gold and crimson coral. Multi-tiered and defying the earth’s pull, it rose well above all other buildings, like a chapel in a small city. The towering, stained windows depicted scenes of saints raising gems overhead or of Gaia’s mother tree.

The banisters of green and gold and white, hung from the towering wall that surrounded the divine fortress. The mansions of the aristocracy laid out around that palace, basking in its effervescent aura. Waterfalls and fountains poured over the sides and ends of the mansions, as if bragging of their abundance.

However, as you gazed away from the center, the city changed. Plainer homes covered the outer circles while the staples of horses and other animals lined the outer circle, yet no slaves lived here. Mountains of rock had been crafted and created into Golems. They carried children on their back. Roads riddled with only earthen thralls spanned throughout the city. In certain spots, golems acted as supports for a building midway through construction. The seeped into every aspect of society.

With our goal so close, we picked up our pace until we reached within a mile of the entrance. At this point, we saw something unthinkable yet inevitable - wooden shacks with humans around the city.

An entire population swarmed around the city, yet like the forest around them, the feverish energy in the air warped them. They separated into different tribes, each with their own traits. Some stood level with my height as blue veins showed through their pale skin. Certain tribes carried one eye, creating a race of cyclops. Other humans covered themselves in sheets of fur with wolfish teeth.

Joan and I attempted speaking with them, but only the brightest and most brilliant among them could speak the language of Gelnan. Their words were choppy and husky and harsh. These few speaking members shared an intelligence matching any other human, though with a different perspective.

Their oppression became clear quite quickly. Those who spoke attempted selling us food or forest fruit. The exposed how the enclosed city operated despite being barred from the outer world. These humans hunted and harvested the food of the city, and they exchanged their produce for various goods that Nelastra created.

Surrounded by these hellish monstrosities, the city had an endless supply of souls for their soul forging and gemchaining crafts. These provided elite guards and merchandise not found elsewhere in the kingdom, if not the entire continent of Alta. Just like the remnant of Mareovosa, the three remnants here provided the corruption needed for their economy.

These shanty towns transformed into elaborate treehouses and underground taverns as we neared the city. Children of all races ran with one another, laughing as only children can. Groups of men sat around clear pools, fishing as they chatted another lazy day away. Couples strolled down the road, each of them in their own little worlds.

The canopy casted a pleasant shade on almost everything, though pieces of light found their way to the forest floor. The flattened earth and cleared forest offered a natural playground for any child, and the snappy songs of birds rippled their entrancing sounds. The soft ground eased my feet Joan, Sophia, and I chatted until we reached the entrance.

A missing piece of hexagonal plate offered itself up as the entrance. An entirely unnecessary wall covered any sight of the city within just behind the crystal dome. As we approached, a series of check points along with a horde of traders and merchants blocked our entry.

Just as before we’d reach into the city of Nern, we stood for several hours in line, waiting on our turn. Now, I wouldn’t want you to think of me as an eavesdropper, but my ears couldn’t help but hear somethings, sometimes. I know, I know, deplorable, but I’ve done worse. The conversation between two merchants roe above the others for my own interests.

A balding man with a gut said with a smooth, deep voice, “I can’t believe how cheap golems are now. I’ll be ruined at this rate.”

A thinner, younger man replied, “Just trade em in for marble here before goin off to Nern. They started makin a new kind of golem. Even the fancy folk here in Nelastra could learn a thing or two.”

“Aye, I suppose you’re right. Besides, the palisades buyin any extra golems at a flat rate. I’ll lose somethin, but not everythin.”

“Yeh, they’ve been preparing for the Darkened One. I thought that was a load of bull until I heard they saw it at Nern, travelling North. One person I spoke with actually saw it. He said it wasn’t no monster. He said it was god.”

The balding man reared back as he said, “What? How in the icy hell is that demon a god?”

The thin man spoke in a hushed whisper, “Quiet down. We don’t want anyone getting any wrong ideas about us. I thought the same thing till he told me about it. It stood as tall as castle and had black fire on its back. It lit everythin around it with light somehow, and…Well…”

The bald man leaned in close as he said, “Well, spit it out then.”

“It killed man without even touchin em…Then it brought him back to life.”

The balding man’s face paled as he said, “A dead man? Are you sure?”

“I’m just tellin yah what I heard. I don’t know what to think myself.”

Their conversation veered towards philosophy from there, so I tuned them out before Joan whispered, “It’s a weird feeling having so many people talk about what we did.”

I nodded before whispering back, “Eh, I’m kind of used to it. People did that all the time at Mareovosa.”

She raised her eyebrows as she said, “Hmmm…They really did do that a lot.”

Sophia elbowed Joan and said, “Talk about something a saint would discuss.”

I puffed out my chest and spoke with deep, spokesperson voice, “Why, hello there young maiden. You wouldn’t be needing any help with distresses you may be having? I heard they frequent damsels such as yourself.”

Sophia’s face wrinkled as she suppressed a laugh while Joan just giggled. Trying to maintain her stern voice, she said, “I’m being serious.”

I replied, “Ah yes, of course you are! As am I, fair damsel. Anytime you need me, I’ll come help you, though I’ll have to carry the white horse instead ride it. All my wieght’s in my ass you see.”

They both burst into laughter before the carriage in front of us moved forward, letting us reach under a fifty foot arch of marble. A old, grumpy custodian stood hunched over a pile of paper covered with names before he glanced up at us and said,

“Name and occupation please.”

I beamed my brightest smile as I said, “My name is Jericho, the saint of Nern and dragon slayer.

A pair of gold framed glasses laid on his face, so the wrinkled old fellow pushed them up his nose as he rolled his eyes without moving his mouth or face. He adjusted his weight on his chair before leaning onto the marble opening between us. Setting his chin on his interlocked hands, he spoke with skepticism dripping from his words,

“Alright then, Jericho. Would you happen to own a document verifying your identity? The bishop should have given you one, if you’re really Jericho.”

Unlike before, I prepared the scroll before leaving Nern, so I pulled the document from my pocket and handed it towards him, red ribbon and all. He broke the wax seal before reading a few lines of the document.

His eyes opened wide as he continued before rewrapped the document and handed it back towards me. He stood straight and tall as he clasped his hands and said, “I do apologize for the air I had earlier with you, Sir Jericho. We’ve had many fakes come through here. So even though you looked noble and strong, I was dubious of your identity. Please forgive me.”

I laughed before patting his shoulder as I said, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it. You’re just doing your job. Anyway, these are my companions-“

“Oh, I won’t be needing their names Sir. As a saint, you get access through here at any time with anyone. We won’t be bothering you anymore.”

I nodded before saying, “Alright, sounds excellent. I wish you well in the rest of your days.”

“Yes Sir, and may the stars shine on you in your quest.”

With that little exchange resolving itself, we paced into the city through an opened set of steel gates, polished until they reflected like mirrors. Multi story buildings surrounded us with an enormity of inns and taverns. Dancing, music, and street performers offered entertainment at every juncture. The town brimmed with prosperity and animation.

No abnormal humans were there. In fact, as you stepped past the barrier, the resonating energy that permeated the surrounding area stopped entirely. The air stayed stagnant yet clean and cool and fresh. The absence of all wind unnerved me, but that result made sense.

The lack of wind only accentuated the estranged isolation, permeating every piece of well carved cobble or misty fountain. Like an island in the middle of an ocean, the people here spoke with their own accent. They walked with a lazy leisure unlike anywhere else I’d been. Every man, woman, and child held enchanted items, many walking beside golems who carried their possessions.

Deluge’s roars echoed in my mind when we first saw a street performer using actual gemchains in his performance. Marvelous as the sight was, I cringed on the inside. Gemchains required an absurd strain on the souls within the gems before they evaporated for a burst of power. Using souls for mere entertainment, well, the prospect left a bad and bitter taste in my mouth.

On the other hand, Deluge endured a deeper frustration than I did. We’d compromised since, but his goal when we first arrived involved absorbing every living thing and uniting their souls into what he calls consolidation. Destroying a soul to him was like watching a baby burn alive.

All our plans revolved around not rampaging in the middle of Nelastra, so he watched with his mind humming in hatred. Like a maelstrom of malice and misery and malevolence, he stormed in my mind.

He and I kept that rage inside us, for now. I calmed him with soothing phrases like, “Don’t worry, we’ll probably eat that guy later.”

Those seemed to work.

With those crude sayings cooling his fresh fury, the others and I walked towards the palace. In this city, it served as the greatest chapel. There we would receive the blessing of the head pontifex. No one I spoke with understood the process in detail, but it involved touching an obelisk before being graced with Gaia’s holy light or some nonsense like that.

I thought I’d put on my most serious of faces before preceding through the process. It ended up becoming much more than that. As we reached the palace wall’s doors, guards stood atop the wall with a dozen men guarding the doorway.

As if touching the sky, the wall encompassed an entire field of view. The three of us paced up, insignificant as ants, before a guard donned in silver stepped forward and shouted,

“State your business.”

Pulling out the document, I said, “I’m Jericho.”

He jerked the document from my hand, stretching it out with a brisk pull of his hands before handing the document back without a word. An awkward pause overtook us before he ran back towards the others and shouted even louder,

“Here is the living Saint Jericho, slayer of dragons and fighter of golems. The oracle has spoken of him, and with her guidance, we let him through.”

They slammed their feet together before saluting with their hands across their chests. The clanging of steel on steel ripped over the hum of flowing water before the stomping of golems could be heard. Ropes tensed as the doorway opened, revealing the luxurious walls of the castle.

An enormous garden lined around the walls, though many wide, open spaces littered the area. At our left, a mountain of a man stood, shield and sword shining. Donning the insignia of Bastion on his left shield, his eyeless and elegant helmet turned towards me. Despite the silver scales and formidable plates all across him, he said, "So your the Jericho I've heard so much about."

"Might I ask who you are?"

"Solomon. The Immortal Saint and protecter of Bastion."