Nameless continued until the dry heaving forced him to stop. The wizard handed him his canteen, and he washed the fetid taste from his mouth. “Come Nameless, we must look for survivors. Call me Caecus if you need my attention.” He turned to his strange mount, “Areion, guard against danger while we search what’s left.” The horse snorted and reared up onto his hind legs. Fire flared at his hooves and along his mane as smoke billowed out into a pair of black wings. Hooves struck the ground, and the horse stood posed to spring into action.
Nameless followed behind the wizard, considering how the day seemed to be veering into mythological territory. After some time of searching, to distract himself from the bodies they were laying out as they found them, he carefully said, “So is you horse a Pegasus?” The wizard Caecus, turned from the rubble to look at him, “If you mean in the sense of him being a winged horse that flies, Yes. But he is not one of the descendants of Pegasus. I will warn you not to make that comparison where he can hear you. He has something of a grudge against Pegasus and how all winged horses are compared to him.”
“That is a very specific reason, isn’t Pegasus an offspring of Poseidon? If your horse has an opinion on the matter, shouldn’t he be flattered?” “No,” the wizard replied, “It can be demeaning to a proud creature to be seen as lesser than something that is supposed to be of the same pedigree.” “He’s also a child of Poseidon? What’s he doing around here?” Caecus lifted his hand in a so-so gesture, “To the first, it is unclear. Memories can be vague over such long periods of time and clarifying specific details can be difficult with immortal beings who can be changed by how they are perceived or recorded. For the second, he just seems to like me, and is convinced if he is active enough, he might be able to outshine Pegasus.”
The two continued their search, Caecus showing an uncanny knack for finding the bodies in the ruins. Nameless continued to try and use conversation to distract from the morbid task. Eventually he came to the question, “Why are you speaking English?” “Would you prefer to converse in Latin?” was the response. “No, I̵̢̧̨̙͇͙͒̾̂͋̄̀̂̅́̂͆̑͌̍̊̕͝ ̵̢̡̨̡͎͖͍̱͚̣̹̗̜̦̼̀̇̇͗̉̆̆͜͜m̷̧̦͇̹̩̰̗̻̭̤͍͖̦̋̒̎͊̊̑̿̏͐̊̐̃̏͋͐̆̒͘͠͝e̵͚̝͍̞͙̭̯͙̩̲̹͙͎͍̱̞͖̍̍̊̏̈́̀̎͠͠ǎ̵̰͙͚̟̘̺͎̮̹̜͙͒͋̉͒̇̏̈́̉͝͝͠ͅn̵̫͛̈̿̎̈́̀͊́͊͜͠͝.̷̧̜͕̹̪̬͎̥͚̘̣̪̰̹̯͙̐̃͒̋̏̊̂͆͐͜͝.̸̛̛͎̺͎̰̝̜̰̝͖́́̔͐͊̉̕͠͠.̷̡̨̡̙̭̟̻͈͍̯̩̤̰͍̟̜̖̯̝̮̐̆́̓̕"̸̢̭̱̞͔̳̭̤̗̄̆̀̆̒̌̏̏̇͂͌͋͘͝͠͝ he trailed off. “How are you able to speak the language?” he finally said. The wizard paused, noticeably choosing his words with care, “It was obvious to me that you are a World Traveler once my Sight fell on you. During my earlier examination for critical damage you might have, I was able to determine English was a language you spoke. As for why I can speak it…. Well…. World Travelers are not common but remain not unheard of. Enough World Travelers have become significant enough to create changes in this world, that some of your world has sway on ours. As it turns out, for some reason, English tends to be a common language to be partially familiar with in varying forms of dialects.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Caecus shrugged, “I’ve yet to find a concrete explanation for why. I have come across fragmentary references to empires on which the sun never set, but it has seemed to be mostly hyperbole.” “Assuming you mean the planet Earth,” Nameless began, “The British Empire did have territories across the planet, and it really could be said that the sun literally didn’t set on it because of how widespread it was. A lot of people have somewhat known a bit of the language for various reasons since then. If this also helps, the global population has been dramatically growing in recent generations.”
The wizard considered this for a moment as they dug through the rubble, “Yes, that would explain somethings……there is some connection between population and the number of individuals that pass the threshold. The exact details are up for debate, but that would explain why the older dialects of different languages seem to be seen less often here.”
The two stopped short as they uncovered the bettered but still very much alive form of a woman. A small, tired smile passed on the face of the wizard, making him look much older. “I am glad my Foresight was wrong about the chances of anyone surviving here when the attack fell. If only there had been others that live. Come Nameless, help me to build a fire to warm her as I tend to her wounds.”