Chapter 26 A Storm.
I'm the storm!
And the world can't do without me!
Deal with it!
Mayan, the Ocean Fairy.
*Crack* *rooooom*
The whole world flips over and over, or maybe it’s the cart I am in. Someone is turning it around. The girls around me shriek in horror. They fall to the walls, the ceiling, and repeat. The food protests in my stomach as it keeps rolling along with the cart.
The world goes white for a brief moment, then I become dizzy. With a thumping headache, ringing ears, and a sore shoulder I realize I just fell on my head. I barely manage to gather my wits as the carriage keeps tumbling over and over.
Then it finally stops. One of the girls throws up, another cries only to be hugged by the third who whispers something calming in her ear. The fourth is dead, her head is twisted in an odd angle, her dead brown eyes gaze at an empty spot.
The fifth I recognize. The same girl who invited me to this cart, the one who asked if my hair is dyed. She’s visibly trembling, looking all around like a haunted animal, blood trickling down her brow.
“Ofika wos wos singa shaby!”
The booming voice outside is deafening. A large blue eye peeks through the open doorway at the side of the carriage. The eye itself is so large that only a part of the elongated pupil can be seen through the door. It sends chills down my spine, and goosebumps at the size of large eggs form on my skin.
The carriage shakes again, and the shakes send everyone inside tumbling up and down. I can see the ground ten meters down below the door.
The girl who asked me if my hair is dyed falls through the door. She screams for help in her language, and holds onto the doorway. A gigantic palm pulls off this little girl of thirteen springs, and I can hear her shrieks outside, followed by the horrifying loud crunch.
This is a man-eating monster, and the cart we’re in, is its candy box!
The creature peers into the carriage again. Even if I only see its pupil, I can tell it’s smiling. It’s happy that it caught some snacks.
I've had enough, if I am going to die I'll do it fighting! I run toward the doorway and place my single hand right in the middle of its snake-like pupil. “Myrsha ritsa!”
I only hurt it, but that’s more than enough. If it's going to eat me, I will hurt it on the way!
The carriage hits the ground, knocking the air out of my lungs. A pulse of sharp pain flash through my shoulder when my skeletal hand twists against something. I am lucky I fell on a pillow, but even with a pillow underneath, half of my body aches. I notice another young girl below the pillows, her eyes are closed, unconscious or dead I cannot say.
I wrap her hand around my neck and crawl out of the door that now faces sideways. I finally get a good look at the monster. A ten meters towering cyclops. Its legs are like a pair of thick pillars, and its large belly dangles over a shaggy loincloth. It’s hard to tell its exact skin color in the darkness, but with the flashes of lightning it seems gray as a stone. I can’t see most of its eye, its massive hands grabs its own head wincing in pain and howling in agony.
The large fire to my right tells me where the Muahni camp is. I manage to spot vague shapes of men running toward us due to the light their bonfire gives out. This creature didn't take us very far.
The cyclops waves his fist around blindly in the air. What a stupid creature… we’re not at your height! We’re down here! Keep punching the air up there please! Just don’t move and step on us!
I focus on helping the girls come out of the cart. I don’t know any of them, but they’re lucky they let me sleep in there. It feels good to repay the favor. We all run away toward the men, leaving the cyclops behind to keep punching empty air.
The men hugging their daughters is a heartwarming scene for me, but it doesn’t last long. They all know to move away from the monster. We run away quietly under the cyclops' roars.
*Craack* *rouuuoooom* *Crrraak* *rouoouooum*
A series of blinding lightning bolts light up the sky. They release roaring thunders as they hit the camp again and again, causing another set of screams to come from it. Then the small localized lightning storm focuses on our little group.
*Crack*
A blinding white flash. I can’t see or hear a thing. When my vision clears, I spot the bald man - the same person who welcomed me into their camp - as a dead smoking corpse on the ground. His smoking shoes lay a couple of meters back.
I can feel my hair puffing up with electricity as everything sinks in. It's an attack! The cyclops! the lightning strikes! It's a mage's attack, and I am the target! They're not 'lucky' for letting me sleep there, they're the unluckiest people in the world for letting me stay with them!
I change my direction randomly, running off toward the darkness. All I want to do is distance myself from them. If I am the target, the attacker will surely come after me.
I am, however, proven wrong. The lightning bolts don’t follow me as I expected. They keep on striking the good people who let me stay with them. Over and over, one flash after another. They scatter and scream, yet the lightning mows them down without mercy.
*Crackrack* *rooouuoom*
The kindly old woman who made sure I had everything dies with a spasm on the mud.
*Craaack* *roouuooouuooom*
That’s the leader who agreed to let me stay, smoke coming out of his beard.
*Creek* *roooooooooooooom*
The young man who asked me for a one-night stand collapses. Small flames slowly eat at his clothes, shedding light on his handsome - now dead - face.
The smell of burned flesh and leather is heavy in the air. Whether it’s because of me or not no longer matters. There’s nothing I can do for these people, other than watch them die in flashes that light the darkness.
I turn around and run. Running as fast as I possibly can, my heart racing with my legs. I refuse to look back. I refuse to hear the screams. I refuse to smell the burnt flesh. I have to run away from it all.
I can hear a horse galloping behind me, whoever is chasing me is hot on my trail. I turn around and almost shout 'hod myrsha'
It’s my horse. The same one I took from the carriage and rode on yesterday. For some reason it followed me. This little bit of luck surprises me. However, the task of climbing onto its back when it doesn’t have a saddle is too hard to do with a single hand.
I am surprised again when the horse just stands there near a large boulder to let me climb onto its back.
I've been riding this horse for only a day, I didn't even name it, why is it so loyal? I guess I'll never understand horses… What if it's being controlled by the mage? If that's the case, then I'm already dead, it's just a matter of time... I'll have to risk it.
I lean on its neck and hug it with my only hand. It gallops forward. Not too fast, but faster than my running speed. My innards are given a decent shake. Holding onto its neck with one hand, I keep feeling like I am going to fall.
Yet, I somehow stay on the horse’s back, the horse doesn’t even mind how hard I hold onto him. This is too unnatural, almost like this horse is intelligent. “I am going to call you Loyal from now on. I don't know if you're sentient and understand what I’m saying, but you're acting like you are. Or maybe I just want to believe you are. Take us far away from here as possible! Ok Loyal?”
He neighs in response, and the rhythm of the galloping turn steady. Up down up down up down. I can’t calm down, not with the lightning striking behind me in the distance. I imagine some horrible mage laughing to his amusement as he’s killing off all of those people. I imagine what his reaction will be like when he finds out I am not between those bodies, how upset he'd be.
A mage that can control a cyclops from the legends and summon lightning storms isn’t someone I want to piss off. But I have no choice about it, he’s coming after me whether I like it or not.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
*
{27} Lokamesh (May) the 25th
I ride through the night until dawn. I've lost the road and find myself on my own in an endless grassland. I have nowhere to go, and retracing my steps isn’t an option, only pushing forward. At least the sun and the blue pillar of the Sapphire Tower at my back tell me where west is.
I have no food or water. All the saddlebags that I've filled with food yesterday are left back at that camp. The only things I kept on my person are the money and the potions I took from Rushmia’s corpse. I was afraid these people would steal it.
How useful... Maybe I should try eating some magical gems.
I spend the day in a sore tiring ride through the hills, up and down all day long. One hill leads to the next with no change whatsoever.
Late afternoon I finally run into other human beings. From a tall hill I spot a large wheat field in the distance, and what looks like five workers.
Should I approach and ask for help? And put these people in danger too?! Not happening! But I need food, I need water, and a place to sleep. I'll collapse if I keep going this way… my life takes priority here... I have to try... I'm not selfless... I'm not Kolag... I want to live! I want to go home! And I want to see my family again... And if I have to ruin someone else's life for it?! I've already ruined and killed multiple lives for it. This won't stop me.
In the end, my physical needs overcome my sense of morality. I don’t want to care about these people, or think about the fact that they might get killed or hurt because of me. I desperately need to make a stop, and my own survival comes first.
Loyal pants, his skin is covered with sweat. I pat the neck of my black stallion and get off his back. He follows me, even if I’m not holding his reigns. “Just a little longer Loyal.” I say with a wince. Every step I take hurts, my legs are sore from both riding and the way the carriage fell. Walking is a living torment at the moment, but wasting a healing potion is not an option.
It’s near dusk when I finally reach the vast wheat field.
“Excuse me, can you give me food and a place to stay for the night? I am willing to pay for the trouble.” I address the oldest-looking worker in the group.
He points backward at a younger man and says something I cannot understand. Again, a language barrier. This is so frustrating.
I nod in thanks and address the younger man he pointed at. A tanned, black-haired man in his early thirties. “Hello? Can you give me food and a place to stay for the night? I am willing to pay for the trouble…”
He gives me a long look that makes me feel awkward. His brown eyes scan me over and over, creeping me out. “The Sapphire Tower?” he asks at the end.
I let out a sigh of relief, he understands Toml’a. I nod happily. “Yes, I am coming from there,” I admit. There is no need to hide it, the torn black robes I wear should give that away, especially for the locals... If he refuses to help… my mana is topped off… I can wreak havoc despite how tired I am… I don’t want to rob these people, but I will if I have to! I tell myself, steeling my determination.
He nods. “Walk with me,” he says in a quiet tone and a heavy accent.
I follow him, leading my fatigued horse behind me. If this man will provide me with food and shelter for the night, I don't mind walking with him despite how sore I am.
He doesn’t say anything, he just leads the way and I realize that 'walk with me’ is his way of saying 'follow me'. Or maybe I make him feel awkward somehow. It doesn’t matter to me. I just want food, a place to sleep, and a bath if possible.
The man leads me to a farmhouse at the edge of the field. To my relief, the farm is connected to the stone-paved road from before. I'll be able to continue on my way tomorrow, assuming no cyclops will show up tonight...
“Your name?” he asks when we are close to the farmhouse.
“Marisha, you?”
He nods to himself as if he confirmed something. I tense up. Is he a trap? Is this whole farm a trap for me? Focus. I’ll have to be cautious, but I can't see enemies everywhere just yet… Loyal wasn't mind controlled either...
“Jerro.” He says after a long silence. “Your name meaning?” He takes time to form each word. I can tell from his accent that this isn’t his native language. Why would a farmer in the middle of nowhere learn a foreign language? Nothing here makes sense…
I never knew the origin of my name, not until I learned Myrsha. Now I can guess that my name originated from the word ‘Myrsha’ in the gravity language. “It means a ruler, or attractive. But I don't think I am either.” I answer with a bitter chuckle lifting my bony hand with my healthy one.
He frowns and nods to himself, confirming something again. “You are the Queen then. It started." He sighs and shakes his head. "You might be both in the future, but destiny changes with time…”
The Queen? What is that supposed to mean?
One of his men leads my horse to a stable, and everyone enters the farmhouse with us. The place isn’t big. The walls are made out of wood, and are decorated by yellow and red flower vases on the shelves. I notice a wooden staircase going upstairs. The fireplace is made out of a hard stone, and the stony chimney disappears all the way up to the ceiling. In front of the fire there are a pair of couches, and a pelt as a rag, seems like wolf.
There’s a small altar and a painted statue beside the fireplace. It features a man in gray silverish robes. His face splits vertically. The right half is young, and the left half is old and wrinkled. A silver owl with large black eyes perches on his shoulder. Tiyadi, the god of time and death. Death worshipers… I never understood these death cults… At least most of them are content to wait for the day of death instead of bringing it... I hope this isn't an assassins' hideout... Some of them are prophets and oracles... is Jerro one of these? Anything can happen in this strange land…
The large table in the middle of this living room is prepared for dinner. An elderly woman adds another plate when she notices my presence. This elderly woman won’t stop chattering in her language. I don’t understand her exact words, but the general meaning of what she says is: ‘how are you? Lovely to see you, sit, eat, the food is warm.’
She’s circles me a lot. She moves her hand in my hair, massages my neck, pinches my cheeks, and slaps them lightly. I can tell she likes me, but I can’t understand a word she says, and Jerro refuses to translate. He only chuckles awkwardly a few times.
“I can tell she’s talking about me, can’t you tell me what she’s saying?”
Jerro shakes his head.
“Come on!”
He shakes his head again with a snicker.
“Would you tell me if I go on my knees and beg?”
“Please don’t.” He eyes the old woman worriedly.
“I will if you don’t talk!”
“Tsk fine! She said you're pretty, and that you'll make a good wife for me.”
“I don't think that'll work well for either of us, but thanks for the offer,” I reply with a smile. Being called pretty is still flattering regardless of the intention, especially with one of my hands being bare bone. Then again these guys do worship the Lord of Death, skeletal hand might be appealing to them...
He nods solemnly. “I agree, I already have another woman in mind. I also do not want an ambitious woman like the Queen as my wife. You are the death of this place. You are the death of my mother. And you are the death of my followers. And you might be the death of millions.” His brown eyes look into mine, his tone is grim. “Yet, death must come to us all, and death is a new beginning. You are a new beginning for me. You will lead me to my wife, to my soulmate. Even if I’ll have to serve you for a time.”
What the hell is he talking about? Why is he saying it like that? He's not wrong about the first part, but why would he let me stay here if he knows it… If he knows that, then he knows he can't stop me. I can rob these people and kill them all if I wanted to… That doesn't mean I'll do that!
Doesn't it?! I'm desperate enough right now... I need shelter and food, and if they stand between me and my life, wouldn't I kill them?
I don’t want to face these questions and shake my head. “What makes you say that?”
He chuckles mirthlessly. “A daydream, my daydreams are real. A blessing, or a curse from The Silver Lord of Time. I cannot stop the death you bring with you, I’m not supposed to. The Silver Lord needs to collect his due. But you will pay me for the damages. I want twenty of your magical gems and one of the magical healing potions in your pouch. It'll come in handy.”
I nod and count twenty gems for him. Each magical gem worth a hundred gold coins, and a single gold coin can provide a family with a month of living expenses. In the tower, having a hundred gems was considered poor, but out here in the world, it’s filthy rich. I looted over two hundred and fifty gems from Rushmia, I can afford his price no matter how steep.
Jerro talks with his elderly mother using his language, the other men around the table dispersed to their rooms. Considered Jerro called them followers, I am not sure whether they are workers, slaves, cultists, or something in between. Jerro's clothing is in a much better shape than theirs, so I figure he’s the boss of this place, even if he did join them with their work in the field.
After I’m done paying him, he hugs his mother tightly. The elderly woman attempts to swat him away, but he insists. She gives in at the end, pats his head, and breaks the hug, kissing his forehead. She turns to me and gestures me to follow her as she shows me to a bath.
She doesn't stop talking in her language as I take the bath. At first, I am annoyed by the chatter; I am too tired and can't understand a word. But after a little while, I decide to listen to her words and try to interpret the meaning behind them. The sooner I learn this language the easier it'll be for me to get by. I have no one to teach me and this is the only way.
This old lady is very chatty, and it feels like she mostly compliments my looks or talks about the qualities of her son. I begin to notice the patterns of her speech and make sense of a few words, but it's far from understanding the language or making a conversation.
The old woman pretends my bony missing hand isn't there, it's pleasant that she ignores it. Taking my time to check, I find out I can't move my elbow, only my shoulder. Nor can I feel anything below my upper arm.
After a long relaxing bath, the old lady gives me a change of clothes that are too large for me, probably hers. The long sleeveless chemise is awkward to wear. Both because it hangs on me, exposing most of my chest, and because it shows my missing hand out in the open. Not to mention how it keeps dragging over the floor with each step I take. But I am not going to ask for something else, I am too tired and awkward for that. I doubt she has something that'd fit me anyway.
She shows me to a bed. When I realize she just gave me her bed and is fixing herself some straw on the floor, I get annoyed. I help her with the mattress and insist that she take the bed. She's an old woman, I am in my twenties, and my body is the equivalent of a human in her late teens. I possibly brought their death by simply being here. Sleeping in her bed on what could possibly be her last night just feels wrong.
No matter how much she insists that I take the bed, I stand there like a stubborn mule, pointing at her and her bed until she sighs and lays down in her bed, chatting nonstop again.
She keeps chatting, she won’t let me sleep. Feels like she’s telling me her life story. I can’t shut her up so I listen. Trying to understand what she says, trying to grasp the language. And before I know it, I fall asleep.
*
*Crack* *rooouuuuuoom*
The thunder outside wakes me up and the lightning illuminates the dark room for a split second.
*~*~*
Power level: 2nd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10:
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5:
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems
Light: Affinity 3:
Water: Affinity 6:
Earth: Affinity 1:
Wood: Affinity 2:
Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 41 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light body. Alino’s Heavy body.
Focus capability: 9 patterns
Social status: An escaped apprentice from the sapphire tower, a wanted criminal.
Wealth: 252 gems.
Items: one simple healing potion. Two potions with unknown effects.
Companions:
Injuries and scars: Right hand, bone only from the elbow down, acid burns above the elbow.