The afternoon sun scorched the desert earth. We waited in the shade of a brothel until the dwarf’s rider arrived. I pressed against my wounded wrists, the wounds closed but the pain of Rowan’s talons were still fresh in my mind. Elix spent his time peering into the city with an unfocused gaze. His [Mana] dipped high and low as blue mists of the arcane seeped from his hands. Donovan, however, peeked his head inside the house of pleasure and enjoyed being taunted by the workers to get lost in the veils of silk and smoke.

Soon, while it neared the setting of the evening sun, a wagon arrived. Driven by an orc with a shaved head and patchy facial hair, he looked at the three of us with tired eyes. Between his jowls and his gnarled tusks that pressed into his upper lip, it was hard to piece together what he said. “You’th half-breeds tha’ Grash tol’ me to drive to Vakon?” he asked.

“That’ll be us,” I said. I flicked the side of Elix’s head and dragged Don away from an elf’s bosom to bring them both to reality. Our supplies for the journey barely fitted inside the wagon, let alone ourselves. Each of us sat on a crate of something that rattled. Shifting boxes of wood crushed us with every turn of the carriage wheel. This journey is going to be goddamn miserable, I thought. Please tell me this orc is dropping some stuff off soon.

It felt like I was sandwiched between boxes of cookware and the wagon’s dusty canvas. Through the ripped canopy, I saw the last of twilight that revealed the rising moons. The copper dust of Kyular and the gray powder of Gwelar showed themselves in full. Like two eyes of the Creator, they watched my every move, followed every step traveled.

I checked my [Map] to see if we were heading in the right direction, and sure enough, we were. This driver of ours was a total stranger to us; we knew not his name yet, but he made his disposition of us, and every other hybrid, quite clear.

“O’ly reason I’m doing this is to please Grash. I’d much rather have never seen you half-skins again. But if I did that, then Grash or the oth’s wouldn’t off’ me any more jobs.”

I rolled my eyes as I listened to the driver. Should I be thanking you or putting my sickle around your throat? I know we didn’t pay for this trip but it doesn’t mean I have to plead forgiveness for this inconvenience, orc.

I tried to close my eyes and not think anymore of the driver, but once the crickets stopped chirping and the lantern stopped squeaking, he would begin again. The silence of the night would forever be flooded by his gravelly voice.

“Damn city is a mess now. Damn world I’d say,” he snickered. The snicker turned into a chuckle. The chuckle turned into a great bellowing laugh that made me wrap my pelt around my head.

Fortune favored us as I saw the warm glow of a lantern hung beside a door, a sure sign that it was an inn accepting guests.

To my surprise, the orc seemed to be tired. I figured he would’ve rode and talked the entire way to Vakon… or maybe he would’ve if it wasn’t for the horses. But either way, we both had a decent sleep away from the driver. For only a few pieces, each of us had our own bed to rest on in the bunkhouse. The host seemed welcoming to hybrids, or at least happy to receive any coin they could. Silk linen wasn't provided for the bedding, but it beat sleeping on the grass or in that damn wagon. Now if only that orc didn’t snore so damn loud!

Eventually I had found the gateway to slumber, but I felt a harsh shove on my shoulder and a low-pitched voice telling me to “Get up, half-skin!” before I could enter through.

With my half-shut eyes, I gazed at the door frame to see the sunlight flooding the room, but it never did. I groaned as I saw my two companions rise from their beds.

“It’s not even dawn,” Elix muttered.

“It’ll ‘ill be soon. Vakon is a long ways aways and I ‘ave drops to make!” The orc then pushed us through the door as the temptation to huddle back under warm blankets encroached on our mind’s. One lumbering step followed another as he corralled us back into the wagon.

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“I can barely understand what he’s saying sometimes,” I yawned.

“You two sound the same to me,” Elix said.

“No we don’t… wait really!?”

“What was that?” Don said. “I can’t hear you over the drool pooling on the base of your tusk.”

I threw an ornate cup at him, which I found under the troves of junk our driver hauled. Brass pitchers and silver cutlery pressed into our backs while we tried desperately to get a wink of sleep. However, the rising sun, the trembling cart, and the bellowing voice of the orc decided that we stay awake.

He started with a great laugh after thinking of how we came to be. “Mus’ve been those damn elves that made you’ll. I know Irokirth is laughing his tusks off at you all!”

I’ll give him something to laugh at. Wait until he sees me present one of his worshipper’s decapitated heads. My knuckles turned white as I gripped my sickle. His back is to me. I could wrap my sickle around his throat right now. Dump his body. Take the carriage to Vakon or sell his wares and make way for somewhere else? While I contemplated the thought I felt the presence of a hand touch my own. It’s warm grasp enveloped my own, signaling me to hold my blade for a moment.

I waited for the phantasmal touch to tell me to strike, yet it never did. I knew not if it was my own imagination or the mysterious lady that has been stuck in my head. But I followed her wishes. A deep breath of dusty air entered my lungs and let go of the sickle. The bloodthirst had quenched itself for now.

* * *

The stars of unfamiliar constellations twinkled in the dark sky. The orc had thankfully fallen asleep at the edge of a forest. We camped in the woods far away from our driver, his snoring became as faint as the winds. But straw bedding would’ve been more comfortable than the crooked roots that bruised my back.

Our fire came to a smolder in the night, but none of us cared to rekindle it. The days of travel had beaten us beyond repair. The only way to survive now was through distraction. Elix concentrated on his spells while Don and I questioned the world.

“So what’s this I heard about you having a cursed ring and not having any [Mana]?” he asked.

I tsked, ruing this conversation. “Was wondering when you were going to ask. But apparently this ring I found in my guide’s pack of loot was [Cursed]. But it’s not like I cared. I was finally able to cast a spell.”

“You couldn’t before?”

“Not without trying. Hard to do when you don’t spawn with any [Mana].”

At this point, Elixir’s large eyes darted over, eager to hear more of my arcane affliction. “Yes, birdbrain, you heard what I said. I didn’t spawn with any points in any attributes. I wasn’t able to mark what I wanted and my bloodline didn’t give me any advantages except these teeth.”

“When you did have [Mana], were you able to cast?” Elix asked.

“Only once,” I sighed.

“Well it sounds like you’re bugged,” he said.

“You’re bugged!” I exclaimed.

Don started to chuckle, “Sounds like orc-boy here got nerfed!”

“Yeah,” Elix agreed. “Nerfed… since spawn.”

“You’re a bunch of assholes, you know that?”

“Anyway, do you have a [Core]?” the beast asked.

I raised an eyebrow and looked to the half-elf. “You have any idea what this bird just squawked at me?”

“Only from what he rambled to me on our travels to Hubloc,” he groaned. “It’s a [Skill] mages gain after learning how to cast without much effort. Muscle memory or whatever. It’s a load of bunk.”

“Stay mad, stealth archer,” Elix smirked. “He’s just mad because he can’t cast either.”

“I can cast, nerdneck! I just don’t want to waste time practicing it,” he mumbled.

“Uh-huh. But what I was saying was that the [Core] is the foundation of all magic. It is how we manipulate reality.” Elix’s palms glowed a dim blue that gradually turned brighter, casting the entire forest in an electric blue. “It is how we harness it. Shape it. Forge it!” A great anvil and hammer materialized high into the sky. Although it was an [Illusion], I heard the clang each time the hammer struck. The waves of the thundering impact swayed trees and scared birds from their nests. When it ended, Elixir was left with 35 points of [Mana] that we tell took a toll on him by his sweating brow and deep inhales of air.

“So when can I do that?” I asked.

The beast let out a great sigh, “Have you tried meditating yet?”