Life swap

I prayed. In the sense that I was looking for help from a person above me. In retrospect this would be seen as palatable and in a sense, normal.

It would be surprising to hear that a young boy is praying at such an early hour. Yes, they would be shocked if they heard he was praying to the overlord. An evil being that transcended from a murky portal took havoc arm in arm to lay waste to Dremling. A continent made out of three adjoined countries with a border that someone could hop over.

The overlord spent many years destroying homes and castles, but somehow he disappeared.

From accounts of what soldiers saw there seemed to be a bright darkness that looked like it was zapping insects in the air and then it exploded. Nothing else happened except for the slow dawn that rested against cheeks. The soldiers would collapse on their knees and shout:

‘We have trounced the overlord!’

***

Many years have passed and I, Rien, have been praying for the past hour. I wasn’t hoping for the destruction of the world or anything. I just wondered if such a being had so much power then he must be able to give me anything I wanted.

Like the Gods those benevolent priests talk about, the overlord may actually answer my calls and give me something.

Seeing as he is powerful there is no reason to give me a beggar’s lunch. He only knows luxuries and I pray for the same thing. Many riches and power beyond compare.

I peeked one eye open to see if anything happened, but all I saw was the usual hearth that my father built when he was alive. You see he wasn’t a talkative man. What he did do was present inner workings through effort. A job well done meant he was happy and when he was sad, well, the outcome looked fine. It was just the function… Most of the time if it wasn’t decorative it would try to fall on you. Or even ruder, just try to kill you.

Perhaps it was because of the horrors of war. I guess humans do not bore of war. A thousand years ago they were nearly massacred by a single entity and still they persist to try the same.

I guess I could respect them in a way. Unlike the overlord, the people that cause wars wanted resources. A premise that, I feel, in no way regards the overlord. He could make anything out of thin air. The best we could do with the best wizards, is, at best, a tree. You see, the overlord would and could create anything out of thin air. However, even a thousand wizards could not replicate the extent he could.

And anyway there were not many wizards in Dremling. The few that were here was at best only usable for killing beasts swiftly. They control the elements, and metal was a rarity in the circle. If a person was born with an aptitude for metal, they would be immediately recruited into various magic organisations. The demand for them was still high. People with magic in general was a rarity.

And it was even lower in my farming country. Titus is the name. A country that was thoroughbred to become the backbone of wars. We provided food and water. We provided materials. And most of all we provided soldiers. Though they would come with pitchforks instead of armour and swords. We were not a warring country yet we still see some of the chaos of the overlord in the form of crushed provinces and sliced mountains. But the essentials of Titus remained the same. An abundance of farm land.

And near the capital city of Abel, lived a small village. And in that small village was me.

A young boy with only a handful of Kiels to spend on next season’s seeds and a hut made of straw. My parents died early. Though they did give me their farm and this hut. I guess it isn’t so bad, but those guys in the capital… They demanded crops tenfold within a month earlier this year. It happened periodically before, but it never happened when King Bala the second was still in power. Well from what my parents told me before they bit the dust. Now King Bala the third, a growing child was in power. Though that meant the advisors basically had the power.

Which meant they gave us very little chance to survive. One time a family nearby saved some rice to feed their children. You know what they did? They came and tore down their house and farm. I did not see them anymore.

Luckily for me I was the only person living in the household. Which meant I got to keep more of my crops. More often than not I would have to share the remaining with the rest of the village. The only reason they knew was because I was stupid enough to share my happiness to the others. They had rabid looks when I told them. In all of my years of living there I felt my first instance of betrayal. I thought we were close, but I guess not.

It wasn’t until the next two months before I started praying to the enemy.

***

“Rien you better not be hiding anything. We’ll search your house from the bottom of the well to the top of the roof. We’ll destroy the whole place if we need to.” The mayor said.

I always thought he was a kind soul, guess I thought wrong. He gave me candy when my parents were still around. Now- he was holding my collar with a forceful anger with surrounding neighbours circled around me. I thought only the nobles could be this savage, but I guess everything I thought was breaking apart since I was left alone.

“The rest is in the pot outside.” I said.

The mayor looked over to one of the villagers and nodded his head. The person running outside was the mayor’s son.

“Could you let go of me now?” I said, trying to loosen his hand.

He gripped tighter. “Not yet.”

His son came running back, heaving. “It’s there! It’s enough for all of us.”

The mayor let go of me and headed for the door. “Hmmph.” Turning back, “Next time I won’t be so gentle.”

I looked at him and those people go. I laughed a bit. Maybe because of humour and a little of morbid derision. When the mayor’s son uttered the word, ‘us’ I assumedly thought the meagre amounts of crops I had left was able to feed the village. I was a little choked up, happy. But as I looked around the room, it was just the mayor’s family.

I could not believe a mayor could do such things. Not when everyone was hungry and desperate. I snapped at this point. I prayed to all the gods. In a desperate attempt I thought a whole abundance of food would suddenly appear in the centre of the village. I was near the forest, quite a distance from the centre, but I was on a hill beside a forest. If I looked out the window I could see the centre, and if it did have a mountain of food I would have been a devout believer in the gods. And the mayor’s hostility just broke that possibility.

I started praying.

“Baer, unholy demon of the spirit realm. I plead to you as a single subject, a worthless life. But if you are willing and forgiving. Hear my plea. It is but a simple one. Bring death and destruction to this realm again. In return I will give you my life and all that it expands.”

I peeked open one eye. Everything was still where it was supposed to be. I sighed and started to walk to the door.

Suddenly a bright light blinded me and I felt limp arms touching me, grasping me.

“No! BAER, no! I did not mean it! I beg of you! Take them before me!”

The arms had a grip of a thousand men and as my eyes adjusted I saw a dark purple oval that floated in the air and seemed like a door way with many arms coming out to drag me in.

“NO! NO! N-“

An arm wrapped itself around my mouth and then another around my neck. Arms enveloped my whole body and then a single arm wrapped itself around my eyes. I was as blind as a bat.

I could not see. It felt like an eternity in darkness. It was darker than the nights I slept and darker than the blackness when I closed my eyes. The arms suffocated me, but somehow I could still feel my body, feel the functions of it.

And then my body felt like release. Like a snake untangling its prey.

I opened my eyes and saw a hall. A wide hall made of blue granite. Pillars rose from the ground as if strongmen were holding boulders. On those pillars were red with gold outline flags with two swords attacking each other. I noticed that I was sitting on a throne with steps that lead up to it. A red carpet that lead from a doorway close to the bottom of the steps was present. Statues and trophies were strewn around the room. Weapons of shiny décor and colourful patterns were present around the pillars. Four for each side of a pillar.

Yet these were the most ordinary things I could see within a room that held weird looking individuals. Two of them were beside my throne, standing like a statue. One held a spear while the other had two little blades that were sheathed. The one with the spear looked like a man with a lizard skin with human hair. His eyes were reptilian to a point that it seemed about to attack. The other with the blades was a tall person. He looked exactly like a person. Except he had a long tail with a bit of fur that hung at the end of it. A devil surely I thought.

As I looked down there were even more people. All were on their knees. I counted and there was seven of them. However, an eighth person was there, but he looked so out of place.

The two closest to the bottom step were identical. They looked like jagged creatures of ice that held the form of a human. Red dots within their icy face staring at me, silently. It looked like wherever I touch them there was a spike that could make me bleed. Dangerous.

The next two was more comforting. Two human females. But they were quite large. Muscular too. It seemed as though they were giants within the room. They did not have the traits of a normal woman. They had short hair and eyes like hawks. The rest of their body was filled with muscles that even I did not men had. A punch from them could probably kill me. Dangerous.

The next two were a bit of polar opposites. The one on the right had fully black armour on with black wings. Whereas the one of the left had white wings and wore a white robe. From this distance it looked like she had a halo on top of her head. Except it looked like a white crown that floated above her head. A bit more calming.

The next person, well the next two kneeled as well. Except the person that seemed out of place was struggling to kneel. Not because of anything weird, but his body seemed incapable of that motion. All he could do was try not fall flat on his face. He had the body of a brown beast and a face with a mane with feet like bugs. He had claws on those feet. When he was kneeling it looked like all he was doing was trying to bend his knees. I could see he was struggling as he was shaking while looking at the floor. The rest of the individuals were staring at me.

For the person on the opposite of the weird person. It was a woman. A fairly normal person. Brown and gold danced on her scalp and each strand of hair seemed like it was playing, my god, it was playing. Her hair was biting each other and moving about. She did not seem the least concerned as she looked at me.

The moments that I stared while they stared were the most uncomfortable feeling my life. I nearly forgot the hands that tried to strangle me as the atmosphere in this hall was choking me.

“THE OVERLORD, BAER, HAS RETURNED! REJOICE HIS GUARDIANS!” The one with the daggers shouted.

At once all the indivduals kneeling stood up faster than I could see.

“HAIL!” They all said simultaneously.

Baer? Where? I looked around for a large and ominous being that towered over everyone here. He must have heard my prayers. Which was why I was here.

The one with the spear coiled his back and looked at me close in the face and whispered:

“Lord Baer. It is time for your reckoning. Please command your guardians.”

I looked at him befuddled. Was Baer behind me? I looked behind me, but all there was, was the throne. Am I Baer? I turned around and looked at all of them.

My god. I am Baer.

***

As I sat in silence the piercing stares cut deep as the ‘guardians’ carried on looking at me with this malevolent awe that I never once in my life experienced. It felt like I was finally someone. At the same time, I thought about the consequences of being a fake Baer. If they found out I wasn’t the same person would they kill me? I went through many images of my head on a pike.

I recoiled slightly. I did not want that at all. The silence did not help either.

After an eternity in nothingness a tiny voice spoke up, although it had a devious crescendo to it.

“Master Baer. You are deep in thought. We, as guardians can see that. If it would humble you, would you like us to be removed from the room?”

Deep grunts of disapproval resounded from the rest of the guardians.

For some reason I could not pinpoint the location of that voice. Instead of the crushing silence I was racking my head around the premise that the voice was not here at all and was a figment of my imagination. But one of the guardians stood up. The ice thingy on the right side at the bottom.

“The master has no time to respond. It means we are intruding on his thoughts. Come, we best be leaving.” The ice thingy said.

The rest of the guardians looked at the ice thingy, at each other then at me. I don’t know why but they seemed sure that the ice thingy’s reasoning was correct after looking at me.

So in an orderly fashion they marched towards the wooden entrance that was really thick. I saw this when they opened it. I don’t believe a human could possibly open such a thing. Maybe those female giants but not the rest of those guardians.

The last one out was the ice thingy. As he was about to close the door he bowed and looked at me.

“Master Baer. I, Boreas am but your humble servant as do all your guardians. But if you ever need any assistance I will be at your command immediately.” Said with that tiny voice.

Somehow it was comforting to know someone cared, but that nudge of evil made me shiver.

The door closed and with it a sound of slamming doors. Yet it did not sound like that to me. It was the sound of freedom being cut off. If I ever wanted to leave this body and this life then the past moments were my only chance.

The two reptiles were the only solace in the room. But they stood silent and alert. As if enemies were all around them.

I rubbed my temple and stood up.

***

I didn’t think this through. Why was I standing up? I mean I am confused and all, but did I have the authority to stand up. I regretted my decision as I thought a spear was going to pierce through my chest. I closed my eyes and waited.

Hmm. I guess I won’t get in trouble.

I took a tiny step forward and glanced back to see the two beside the throne also take a tiny step, but still two steps away from me. I took another, they did the same. But still two steps behind. I took a few more steps. Still they stood two steps behind me.

I’m guessing these guys are Baer’s personal guards. Why would he need guards? He literally destroyed the whole continent in a few hours. But I digress. I did not want to think much about my predicament except for escape.

Once they found out I was not Baer… Well, I’m not sure what they would do, but I won’t be here to find out.

As I neared the thick wooden entrance and tried to grab the handle to pull a voice spoke up.

“Master Baer. You have to stay here. You still need quite a while before you are fully rejuvenated.” The one with the spear said.

“He’s right” The other said.

Not knowing what to do I just stood there contemplating my options. Should I run for it? No, they would probably somehow be faster than me. Stay here and let the opportunity for them to find out their master is not their master? Decisions, decisions. It doesn’t help that all my solutions end up with me dead. Wait. I am their master right? Doesn’t that mean killing me is forbidden? I mean kings were sacred. If they were killed, the person that killed and transpired with the killer would be executed. Meaning… I am invincible.

But how far can I go?

I coughed and heard my own meek words. “Why is that?” I asked.

I could not see their faces as I was too scared to look back, but the silence probably meant the end. I prayed for a swift kill.

“You’ve spent most of your power wreaking havoc on Dremling, so you would have to spend quite a bit of time before you can utilise any magic.”

I didn’t know who said that, but I didn’t need to know. It gave me hope. These people did not question a thing. Or maybe they’re too smart. They’re trying to lure me out. I think.

“I just woke up so could you remind me of your names?” I asked.

Silence again.

“We have no names, Master Baer. Unless you wish us to have them.”

I grimaced a smile. This means that I could call them whatever I want and not get caught out. Life just became a little bit easier. I hope.

I turned around and met their gazes. Their reptilian eyes freaked me out so I recoiled a little.

“So, ahem. Ahem. Could you leave me alone in here for a while?”

They looked at each other and made it seem that I was finally caught. I was preparing for the worst, I held my breath.

“Of course. We will be guarding outside the door.”

And like that they were gone and all that was left was me in Baer’s body and a room filled with colours I’ve never seen before. Probably too luxurious for a peasant like me. Despite that I admired all of the treasures. Some looked like weapons whereas things looked harmless and sometimes both. I found this out the hard way when I tried to open a small gold and emerald box only to find it biting me. I wanted to yelp, but the pain wasn’t there. I was just staring at my whole hand encased in the box and somehow wonder how I was going to get it out and not shaking my hand in desperation to get it off.

I did get it off. I yanked it off and my hand was unblemished. Well, Baer’s hand.

I think I had enough of exploring for one day, although the exploring was only in a big single room.

So the only thing I could do was sit in the throne. It was comfortable enough, well comfortable than most things I owned when I wasn’t Baer. And the only other thing I could do in relative safety was naming those people.

I thought about all the people, well, ‘guardians’ and couldn’t quite place them in a category. In a room they looked more out of place than a cow on the king’s throne. It was odd, they were odd. Was I odd?

Now that I mention it, if I was their so-called Baer it must mean that I look like Baer right?

To prove this hypothesis, I looked around the room in search of a mirror, or at least something that I could get some answers with. For example if I still remember that reflection of mine when I, many times looked at a pond or the well in the centre of the village, it means that their Baer is a continually changing entity that they serve on a periodic basis. As a result, there has been many Baers’ and I was the next one.

When I thought about it, it made sense. There was only one account of where Baer went on a rampage and seeing as though Baer, in my hypothesis, can live for a long time the continuity makes sense too. All of this could be disproven by the reflection of myself.

The effort did not take too long as I already surveyed the room. The result? There was nothing I could use to prove my idea which was disappointing. However another idea came to me.

I am Baer, and these people follow every word that I say right? I mean I did order those two guards and they complied. Meaning… Am I the most powerful being on this continent. No! I won’t think that way.

The more I give in to this new power, the more I will become corrupted. The faces of the mayors’ and his family was corruption enough. I didn’t want that. And anyway I remembered that they said I couldn’t use any powers. This wasn’t the only deterrent, I promise. But… I could use some assistance.

“Ahem! Uhh,” I uttered completely forgetting the task at hand, naming. But this mistake of mine was forgiven as the speared reptilian peek inside the throne room.

“Do you seek attention, Master Baer?”

I imagined my most masculine voice I could muster, “Yes, bring me a large bowl of water,” I thought about the murkiness of the water when I lifted a bucket from the centre of the village, “And I want it crystal clear.” I said, but I felt the nagging feeling that they knew I had no such thing as a masculine voice.

“Right away.” The spear said, stomping one foot hard on the floor and hastily walked out of the room.

The door closed and I was left alone again.

What to do but wait? Oh right! I can name them… But where do I start?

I guess the spear guy has been helpful. And he only has one weapon… So I guess ‘Primo’ would suit him. Yeah! That suits him perfectly.

That was fun, I think I’m beginning to get the hang of being a mighty ruler. It’s not so bad when you get used to it.

I thought about it a lot and finalised my ideas.

The dagger reptilian is Ajax.

The two ice brothers had to be called something similar or I would confuse myself searching for their name in my head a lot. So I considered colours, but they both look the same so as the mighty ruler, Baer I think they should have an identical name. This pair was hard so I effortlessly picked one, it is Icy. I would probably never forget that.

For the strong ladies I picked the most feminine as I thought they at least needed some sort of dignity. Aila and Abira was what I picked. I don’t know which name should go to who, but once I get to know them or at least see them better I can categorise them as such.

For the black and white two I thought it was appropriate to give them a very basic name and which I thought was clever. For the angel, Noir and the armoured, blanc. I thought mixing contrasting the character and looks would be a huge curiosity that nobles could feast their ears upon, and I found it hilarious.

For the last two individuals I could not really place in them in this world. They were so odd that I still remember their oddities. A fascinating, but peculiar sight if seen too many times and as Baer I would have to experience that frequently, leaving me in limbo in a state of confusion all the time. But as I was thinking about limbo the name of the very weird animal thing came to me. Limbo. It was the perfect word for it. It had no place in this world and I’m sure it didn’t have a place in others. Meaning it has to stay here where it is forever in darkness. A bit depressing, but I was happy that I actually found a name for him.

That happiness was shortly dismembered as the alive-hair-girl was peeling my nerves. Everything that seemed normal dropped as soon as I remembered her hair. It reminded me of a time when I was lost in the forest near my hut and leaves would fall where I could not see them. Which made them scrape against my skin and clothes. Either making a sound or the feeling of being touched creeped me out. So she left me in a perpetual sense of confusion and the perfect name came to me. Babel. I did not want to think of other names as this task left me without breath.

That period of sitting and thinking was the most excruciating thing I had to do in my life. Even when cutting wood was my most hated activity, this, this would top it all. I would gladly chop a million logs if I was spared from this pain.

I had a headache. It was like a tree branch was constantly slapping me using the wind.

That headache ceased when Primo came in with the bowl of water.

“Master Baer,” Kneeling at the bottom of the steps, “Here is your water.” He said. He stood and walked up the steps. He handed me the bowl with two hands and rescinded down the stairs and started kneeling again.

“V-very good.” I paused as I did not know what to say next, but then it came to me, “Ah, yes! Uhh, how do you feel about receiving a name?” I said.

“If Master Baer wishes it.”

“Alright.” His monotone answer left me unmotivated, “Then your name is Primo.”

He nodded and turned away, leaving for the door.

I sighed as I watched him go and then a glimpse of a reflection caught my eye. I looked down.

It was me! It was still me! My ideas are correct!

This moment of upheaval left me breathless and caused the headache to reign again.

“Ow.” I said as I held the side of my head.

I calmed down and took hold of the bowl tighter than before and looked at myself.

What do I do now?

***

My head was clouded by nothingness, a raw blackness that I would see at the last embers of a fire. So dark and so cold. It made the emptiness of the room sharpen and slice at my consciousness.

To be in a state of confusion was not an overstatement. It was crazier to think that I actually had the gall to do a stupid thing as to name those people. I am not one of them, neither am I Baer. The first thing I should have done like a good boy was to escape. This must be a nightmare as the only exit was through those thick doors. I left them for last as I hoped for the tiniest hole I could fit in and escape. It wasn’t wrong to think that over the thousand years a place like this would become derelict and broken. However, at my first and last look at the room it was pristine to the last detail.

I wanted to beat my head in. I’ve heard that noble children had people they could learn from. If I was one of them I could have figured out a way to escape by now.

I had slid from a few inches of wall to another examining for a trap door or an escape route. This was Baer! He must have had some form of escape.

A few minutes in hurried exasperation led to the conclusion that there was only one exit. An exit and option that I would not have dared to cross unless I wanted death.

I took a deep breath in front of the wooden doors. Somehow it looked larger from afar, but the thickness was true. The hinges the door hung on dipped a little. Heavy.

I grasped the handle and began to pull. That’s weird. I pulled again.

The thickness really was true. In my mind I thought it was an illusion, no, I hoped it was an illusion. Hoped that Baer and none of this was true. The wars, their power, their control. I wished none of it was real. When I blinked I hoped that I was standing in my hut and still praying to an entity and I would realise the time consumed praying would be a waste of time and went outside to till the farm.

But no. I was left in that empty room hanging onto a handle that was small compared to the door.

I pulled with little effort this time.

And it nudged. The door was opening.

I can’t believe it. I can be free! I couldn’t stop smiling as I pulled with all the effort I could muster and the door would slowly drag open.

I was so close. So, so close. Until a familiar eye poked through. Primo.

He stared at me for a moment in blankness, as if he did not feel anything at all.

“Master Baer. I want to remind you that your strength needs to recover. Time is needed. And opening a door like this before your full recovery is impossible.” He said.

Another pair of eyes peeked under Primo. Ajax.

“So, yeah. If you need anything, like opening doors call any of us. I’ve heard you have considered giving us names. So? What’s mine?” Ajax said with a joyous smile, but it looked like a predator’s smirk with a tiny tongue slithering in and out.

“Ajax.” I said, stunned.

“That’s great. What? You look funny.” Ajax questioned.

“I’m sorry. I just thought…”

“We were unquestioning monsters? We get that a lot.”

“Stop bothering, Baer.” Primo said to Ajax.

“Yeah, whatever,” Ajax responded. “I know you’re gonna have so many questions, but leave that till later. We have to keep up our image. Those other guys are not the same as us. Remember that.” He commanded.

I nodded.

“Good, now I’m going to close the door. Just sit on the throne like a good boy and everything will go much smoother.”

“But for how long?” I asked.

“Oh, you know. About a few years. Isn’t that long.” He said, then shrugged. “Just a few hours.” He added.

“What’ll happen in a few hours?” I asked as the gap in the door slowly rescinded.

“Discussion.” Primo said.

“Yeah, something like that.” Ajax said as he finally closed the door.

-

Just like he said, a few hours passed and Ajax plus Primo was besides the throne with me sitting on it. The other guardians had gathered too.

Looking stoically straight ahead I bent my head slightly to Ajax’s side and asked, “I. Thought. We. Were. Going. To. Have. A. Dicussion.”

“La-ter” he responded.

I looked back fully to the sprawled red carpet and saw the guardians again. All kneeled and all respectful. I wonder how they could just listen to a guy for millennia. Even King Bala had many uprisings in his repertoire.

I was cut short staring at them as one of the icy two stood up.

“Master Baer. You have gone a full day without issuing an order. Are your thoughts still plaguing you?”

I looked at Ajax. He shrugged.

“Uhhh. Yes. My thoughts are… Yes.”

“Yes, Master?”

“No, uhh.”

“No? Master?”

I was struggling to think of things to get him off my back, not like I had any in the first place. Like in the beginning my mind was racing, but my head conjured up something.

“I have an order!”

The guardians all stood immediately and swung their fists to their chest making a slamming noise. I could not believe my ears. They hit their chest so hard the room echoed. Nowhere have I seen strength that vicious. It was scary just looking at them, now this too?

“Yes… Uhmm. Stand guard outside.” I said.

“Right away” They all responded except the two beside me.

They all left like raging bulls on a mission.

“Well, that was surprising.” Ajax said.

Primo grunted in disinterest.

“Was it good enough?”

“Yeah, for our purpose anyway. Our purpose being a heart to heart talk. Would you like that Baer? Or should I say…” he looked at me for an answer, no dice. “Baer. I forgot they removed our real names. I apologise.”

I should have felt insulted but the lack of my real name made me a bit unnerved. How long have I forgotten my name? I still remember me praying. I should have remembered my name in that period. Why can’t I remember it now?

“Who removed my name?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why am I here?”

“I don’t know?”

“You don’t know? How could you not know? I thought this was what we were going to talk about!”

“Oh gods, no. Me and Primo have no idea either.”

“Then what are we talking about!”

“Your purpose.”

“My purpose?”

“Yes. It’s why you’re here and the only piece of advice or information I can give you.”

“W-“ Ajax interrupted me.

“If you would stop talking for a bit I could tell you. Now listen close. Me, primo and you are the only people that know we are fakes. Got it?”

I nodded.

“Good. However.” He paused. “Despite being real, we are, very, in fact, real. Real in the sense that these bodies, your body is the same as the Baer that caused the war a thousand years ago. And us two were his personal and most trusted guards. Trusted guards at that point. Now, we’re just two guys without any combat experience being labelled as the silent weepers. You’ve heard that name before right?”

I didn’t, but I let him carry on.

“Anyway, when I was praying to Baer An-“

“You prayed too?” I shouted in glee.

“Yes, him too,” Pointing at Primo, “Anyhow,” Stressing the word, “When I was in the darkness a voice came to me. It had me quivering, the voice was so sharp and cold you would believe it belonged to a savage beast. And it said to me, ‘Guide Baer.’ Now what was I supposed to do when it gave me that? I was just a farmer boy and now it tells me to somehow teach the villain that destroyed the whole continent? Preposterous. But as you can see, pieces fit together once I got here. Primo helped me on that front. Great noggin on that guy. He’s silent, but I’ll tell ya’ he’s feisty.”

I pondered in silence. ‘Guide Baer’? What in the hells does that mean?

“What did it mean by ‘guide Baer’?”

“How would I know? I thought Baer would know. You know, except Baer gave me an animal’s curiosity look. The same as us.”

“What about you Primo?” I asked.

He sighed in boredom and said, “I think this is a test.”

“A test?”

“I asked him about it before and he gave me the same reason. See if you can understand him.” Ajax said wondering off to inspect the valuable pieces on tiny pedestals.

Primo looked at him go and looked at me.

“I believe that as covenant believers of Baer, he has sent us in his place to make you great somehow. Since it gave us those two words, Guide and Baer. The only thing I can point to is the same great war that happened a thousand years ago.”

“But I don’t want that!”

“I don’t either. But it is the only conclusion I could get to. If you think you know better, please.”

He felt defeated. Primo made sense. The story checked out and a quest, an evil one, was on the brink of certainty. But he wondered. There could not be any possible way that this is all. Not possible that there is just one outcome.

“…Do you think we could somehow fulfil this quest by other means?”

“What other options are there? We don’t have any clue except that!”

“Well, it was so vague. It must have something to do with some sort of display of power? I presume? No, wait.”

He thought about the lack of Baer except in the period of the beginning of that terrible war.

“What if, what if we just need to keep Baer alive? I mean this Baer must have been here since the beginning of everything. He has too much power not to. That must mean a thousand years earlier some poor guy was in the same predicament as us and the people before them.”

Primo looked at him in disdain. “That’, that’s… Brilliant! I never thought about that possibility! I don’t think the part of keeping Baer alive is the goal though.”

“Oh? Let’s hear.”

“If it is true what you say, it means that before the villainous Baer, there was a lot of peaceful Baers that had power beyond measure. We had no mention of them. It means that we could do anything we want!”

“Anything?”

“Anything. Well, I think us two,” looks at Ajax, “Are needed to protect you while we do anything.”

“The words could definitely mean that. But I’m a bit worried.”

Primo glared hard at Rien as if to question him.

“What about if we’re not right? What if it kills us? Imagine what havoc it could cause.”

Primo had a sad tint in his eye. “Is it really that bad? The chance to be something and you throw it away.”

“But, what then? What would we have accomplished?”

“Look, we have to take this chance or we’ll be in this room forever. You want that? Being scared of a vague task? I don’t. And just remember what you had before. Only the worst lives would pray to Baer. You see Ajax over there? I bet you, no, I guarantee that his story would stay on your mind for millennia.

“I cannot possibly fathom his pains, but is it really true?”

“Even the murder of my family by a trusted friend was obsolete against his life. Weeping is not uniform for the situation. Rather it’ll just make you feel… Dirty.”

He looked at Primo and Ajax. He felt like these two had secrets even he had not ever seen or heard before. And it just made him curious. But that had to come at another time, he had to talk about this quest of his, theirs.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

.

A day after.

“What do you think we should do?” Rien said.

“Just repeat the past? Seems like a good choice.” Ajax said.

“No, no. I have a better idea. Say, do you two like the nobles at all?

“Not particularly.” Rien said.

Ajax shrugged.

“Then how about this. What if we orchestrate the riches in our favour? We take the gold the nobles so much and take it for ourselves. I have plans for it, but you two may want to use the gold for something else.”

“Depends. What is this plan?” Rien questioned.

“Remember how that friend of mine got to know my family? Well, he was from a visit from Abel. A place of riches and a place where beggars get stepped on. At least in the countryside they are people. But this friend of mine seemed different. Seemed sympathetic to our cause. We let him in and he left with a terrifying smirk. So, I say we take revenge. We kill all the nobles and give the people their riches. It’s only fair.”

“What about the nobles that have not killed nor hit or steal? Are you saying we kill everyone? Like Baer?” Ajax said with a deep tone.

“Yeah… Killing all of them seems… evil.”

“Ha! Have you seen those nobles? Not a care in the world and they kick a beggar in the face. Are you saying that nobles have a heart? No, I will never believe that. I won’t rest until they all die.”

“Is that all? Is that all you need to kill? Is it really that simple? Can you look someone in the eye and watch them die? Their eyes give you a thousand pins and you yourself had hammered each individual one in. Don’t tell me you can kill. Nobody is ever used to killing.” Ajax said.

Rien and Primo whimpered in both fear and sympathy.

“Well, enough of that. I’m sure you’re hungry.”

Rien and Primo both nodded furiously. And like that they stayed fully alert for Ajax’s outburst of rage again, but it never came. Instead Ajax led them outside the throne room and what Rien thought was to be another room, but as soon as he opened the door, Rien gasped in wonder.

The sight that could be seen was the amazement of an early dawn and up in the clouds the sun slowly caressed the land. The plants would awaken from their slumber and bloom in sight of the throne room.

Rien had never knew of plants that would immediately bloom. But the tension that still shrouded over him was intact and all he could do was stare like a child.

He wondered how he was so high above the clouds and was soon found with solution.

This throne room was built on a very high mountain with stone steps that looked dizzyingly deep if looked down upon. All Rien could do was look up, but he did not regret that. The sights he could see if he just turned his head, or even lift his head was a wonder.

On opposite sides the mountain was full of lush green that seemed misplaced for a beautiful meadow and the stone steps that were embedded into the mountain had large surface areas, but the design of each identical step was filled with coloured marble with icons that on each individual step. Rien could not fathom what they could mean, but they all had one identical aspect that made the unique designs seem boring.

That one aspect was the face of Baer. The face was in the middle of each designed icon and the facial features were all different. Some looked happy, few looked sad and as he looked down onto the first step to go down the mountain was a devious and malicious face of Baer that no other face had. It was truly an item fit for a nightmare.

But the sun had cast its rays and he soon forgot about it as the sun slowly dawned the flowers at the top of the mountain bloomed with red petals with white entails and a few yellow anthers that could be seen gasping for pollen. However, what was most beautiful was the chronological blooming. As the sun’s rays tip-toed to the whole of the world, it slowly descended the steps and two flowers for each step on opposite ends bloomed and as Rien looked down it looked to him as if a symphony of beauty was orchestrated just for him.

“Who made this?” Rien asked, jaw agape.

“Who knows? Beautiful ain’t it?” Ajax surmised.

“Yes… yes, it really is.” Rien clutched his hands.

Ajax smiled. “Don’t just be satisfied with this! You must experience the food here. I suppose it could be better than the noble’s pigs and cows. I’ve never been one to experience their food, but I can contest that the things you eat here would make you forget you had a life of poverty. If you had one.”

Rien stared at Ajax in amazement. It was just food. He could not believe the smile on Ajax’s face, it was even brighter than the sun that cast his own face in yellow. He had to trust that smile, if it was the only thing that Ajax had, then… Rien did not want to take it away from him.

*

“What is this place?” Rien said in amazement. He looked all over and his eyes sparkled as he saw the intriguing wildlife that lived in the forest Ajax led them to. There was a brown hided deer that had the most majestic stature he had ever seen. Like a king, it stood its head proud. “Isn’t this amazing?”

Primo was distant as he had a bored look on his face.

“Don’t get too attached. We’ll be eating them soon.” Ajax said.

“What? We get to eat meat?” Rien said innocently.

“Yes. Be ready for the amazing fat that- Well, its great. I can’t describe it. But I guarantee. Don’t feel bad for them. The guardians take care of them real well.

“I don’t feel bad for them. I just like how beautiful they loo-“

“Could you stop talking about our food? We have other problems.” Primo said, pointing at the guardians in the distant hunched over.

“What are they doing?” Rien whispered.

“Eating.” Ajax said.

“They don’t cook their food like us. They’re beasts. Disgusting. But that’s just a minor problem. We walked all the way here in silence. Doesn’t any of us have an idea of what we’re going to do?”

“About what?” Ajax said.

“The quest!” Primo said in irritation.

Ajax seemed dumbfounded for a moment. “Ah. I forgot.”

Primo sighed and said, “I have an idea. But I do not want those guardians to hear. Let’s get some food and get out of here.”

Rien and Ajax nodded.

Ajax and Primo suddenly stood straight and stepped on each side on Rien.

“Look busy.” Primo whispered.

Rien copied them and had his straightest back he could manage and his head straight in the direction he was going. Which had deer grazing. Young, old, tall, small. Those deer looked like a family. Rien could not help but feel some sympathy for the eventual killing of those animals.

As they walked the sounds of trampling grass and leaves signalled the guardians to look up from their meal and stood at attention with blood on their faces and chest. Monsters, Rien thought.

Soon as the Baer they saw in their eyes, they went back to their meal and sounds of crunching and gargling echoed through the forest which the helpless leaves carried onto the wind, making Rien cringe.

Rien slumped his back a little and said to Primo, “We aren’t going to eat like that, right?”

Primo shook his head and slapped Rien’s shoulder in silence. The sounds of crunching still around them.

The deer seemed too calm to be deer. They had their brethren violently eaten just a few steps away and they felt nothing. When Rien was still Rien, deer was a luxury and a rarity. They ran if they saw you and if you did not have a bow and arrow it was impossible to eat deer.

But this was different. The deer seemed dull and euthanized. Like some magic spell caused them to not run. But as Rien thought that, it became more probable in his head.

“Here we are. Choose your own!” Ajax said with a hop in his voice.

Rien hesitated, but Primo and Ajax went up to a single deer. One that had the most majestic horn out of all the deer. The oldest of the bunch as all others had no horns that could compare to this one.

Ajax took out his short daggers and lifted it high in the air.

“You’re not going to kill it, are you?” Rien said in exasperation, desperately.

Ajax turned around and looked at Rien with a gentle smile.

The blade plunged down faster than anything Rien had ever seen and the deer did not even seem pained. Ajax fiddled with something, but Rien could not seem from behind his back, so he came closer.

Rien was shocked. The deer had no injuries whatsoever. He pushed aside the two and touched the deer.

“But, but I saw it! You had your dagger in it!”

“You’re right. Here, you try.” Ajax said, handing Rien his dagger.

Rien hesitated, looking at Primo and Ajax to the Deer. He lifted the dagger, closed his eyes and plunged the dagger downwards. He felt the soft collision of meat and the insertion of the dagger. Both made his hand shake.

“Look.” Ajax said.

Rien opened his eyes.

“No pain.” Ajax said. “And you better pull it out or at least drag it down to get some meat.”

Rien decided between the two options and was curious about this deer. He dragged the dagger downwards and like a banana a piece of meat peel off and Rien took the bloody slice into his hand and pulled. It was stuck, so he cut off the connecting tissue that was still connected. Though he felt the urge to vomit many times.

As the slice came off, a light blue light surrounded the deer’s injury and quickly, Rien could see the tissue reforming and after a few quick seconds the bright and brown hide came back. The fact that the deer was still grazing despite everything that happened, Rien had to suspend his disbelief. This is a different life. This is Baer’s life. Nothing should be surprising, Rien thought.

“Good job. Though the slice you took was the tough meat. Still, pretty good anyhow.” Ajax said. He put his arm over Rien’s shoulder and guided him the opposite way. To the mountain. “You don’t want to eat that raw right?”

Rien nodded.

Ajax smiled. “Primo will come later. He has some religious issues before he can make it to the fire.”

“What religious issues?” Rien said.

“Before he prayed to Baer, he lived a life of solidarity and prayer. Though I don’t know which deity he loves so much, but he does this every time.

Rien looked back to see a Primo crouching.

“Why did that deer not die?”

“Magic. It’s the only way I could think of it.” He said flailing the piece of game. “And anyway, you won’t have much time to think about it when you have a taste of this.”

*

“Delicious!” Rien exclaimed.

“Yeah, I know.” Ajax said bored, but with a slight hint of amusement.

Primo shuffled closer to the two while eating the piece of meat he just charred, from a newly made campfire. They sat at the bottom of the mountain steps.

“It’s time. We have wasted enough as it is.” Primo said.

Rien and Ajax deflated from their previous amused faces.

“So, about Abel.”

“Yeah?” Rien and Ajax said.

“Surely you’ve heard of the new king?”

“Yeah, King Bala the third. Not much of a king though.” Rien said.

“Well, he’s just a child. It’s the advisors that we have to keep our eye out for and since you don’t have any mind magic…” Primo looked at Rien questioningly.

Rien smiled and held out his hand to Ajax’s face and closed his eyes. He concentrated on the thought to control Ajax’s body, but as he opened his eyes, Ajax was smiling.

“Not even a drip.”

“That makes our job a little harder, but I’ve already got a plan. You remember those expensive, valuables in the throne room? We could probably get a hefty sum for that. And since the advisors and nobles alike are rotten to the core- We could buy them out. You know, persuade them to live on the outskirts of Titus in luxury. They’ll bite as soon as they see how much money they’ll get.”

“But where does that leave us?” Rien said.

“We’ll tell them to put in a good word for us. Maybe a position of good social standing. Perhaps even their job. Perhaps even king. Who knows? You’re Baer.”

Ajax looked deep in thought. “But… Look at us.” He spread his arms, pointing at all of us. “We are not human. Well, we don’t look it anyway. Only Baer is.”

“Right… Any better ideas?” Primo said.

They all sat in silence. Rien stared at the open flame slowly dying out until a strange thought came to him.

“What if we create our own capital? You said we would get a lot of money right? From those things up there,” Pointing up at the highest point of the mountain.

Primo nodded.

“Then we just need a good plot of land!”

“That’s preposterous. Not only would it take a long time to build, but how would we know if it would create money? Much less invite people?”

“You said those guardians,” nodding his head upwards briefly to the savages still eating, “…are strong right? We could build a whole city that would best Abel in a duel of arms in a day! What do you think?”

“Baer is right, Primo. Hassling with humans is far too dangerous for us right now. The least we could do is smuggle the artefacts into Abel and sell them, but we shan’t show our faces. Not now. Not when humans don’t know. They need to experience new faces, new cultures, new races.” Ajax said.

“You want monsters in our capital?”

“Monsters? The only monsters in Dremling are those that live in castles and houses that indoctrinate their children to kill and torture other beings. Who knows, these, ‘monsters’, as you call it, may be more human than those that live in your villages and cities like Abel.”

“They will destroy our capital.” Primo said resolutely.

“Then we will deal with it.”

Primo stared at Ajax hard and then stood up to leave further into the forest. He had a look of disdain and worry. “Have it your way. Just don’t forget what I said.”

The night came fast and the fire died out way before it did, but the two sat staring at the tiny blue orb that hung far in the sky.

“Is this what Baer wants?” Rien said meekly.

Ajax shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. You’re Baer now. Whether it is us guiding you or a tree elk guiding you, or even you yourself. Whatever you decide just remember I am watching.”

Rien shuddered at the thought of a killer always spying on him and nodded furiously.

Ajax smiled, dusted himself off as he stood up and climbed the staircases.

The guardians were long gone. Rien did not know where they went, but they disappeared into the forest. He did not know. They could have been sleeping in a tree for all he cares. He thought that his village life was much simpler than this. So much simpler.

*

After a quiet night Rien woke from an uncomfortable slumber on his throne. Wispy voices of birds and buzzing insects sang to him. The sunlight seemed so unnatural when he looked up at the window panes. It crisscrossed at every turn making the room unbearably bright. Annoyed, he walked over to the door and opened it. He sighed in relief. The light could not get him out here.

“Baer, we have the necessary funds.” Primo said as his head popped up into view as he came up the mountain steps.

“What?” he exclaimed in surprise.

As if the weird flowers that grew as the sun hit them, they bloomed at the same time he responded.

“H-How?”

“Have you ever seen us sleep?”

“No? Well, generally my rule is not to intrude on one’s sleep. Which the sun apparently loves to do.”

“Yeah, funny. Well, me and Ajax went to Abel at night. Beautiful city, you know, if you ignored the beggars.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Primo shrugged and his face seemed to also question his actions. “The sooner we do this, the sooner we get our body back, I think. If not, at the very least, we’ll be living in luxury.”

“Good point. But how did you get there so fast?”

Primo walked up beside Rien and slumped his arm over his shoulder and pointed his body the north west and using his finger pointed to a shrouded brown tip that barely overcame the clouds. “That right there is the religious temple of Xolani. The goddess of charity. The nobles don’t care for it much, but the poor love it. One of their historical landmarks they said.”

“They said? Who said?”

“The people we were selling to. Black market dealers, ruffians, criminals, psychopaths.”

“I still don’t understand. If you went there at night wouldn’t everybody be asleep?”

“You don’t know much about the city do you farmer? Criminal rings keep some people on guard to warn them about possible breaches and soldiers coming for what’s due. All we had to do was explain our predicament, under a very dark hood of course, and it was done. Ajax has sacks of gold just waiting for us down there. Too heavy to bring up.”

“But what can we do with it right now? We don’t have any trade lines, or a city. Pretty hasty if you ask me.”

Primo shrugged again. “Well, we got the gold. That’s one less thing to worry about.”

“I guess it is.” Rien said regrettably.

*

Primo and Ajax worked way faster than Rien anticipated. From the makeshift bed he made in the throne room he was woken up rudely in the night by Ajax, saying such things as to hurry or we have work to do.

Only did he realise the extent of the ‘work’ when he opened the throne room doors. It was night, but at the bottom of the steps was a fiery blaze that slowly spread to the surrounding forest and shouting from Primo and grunting from the silent guardians. A scene of a slaver and his slaves. Rien grimaced at the sight, but the guardians seemed unaffected by the menial labour, carrying large boulders and cobble to places Primo pointed.

The fire lighted up the night sky and the heat shot upwards in a steady stream of uncomfortable humidity. Rien’s skin crawled with a chill as the sudden change of scenery made him realise the brutality of the world and the autocracy around it. The beauty he once saw was slowly being ravished and he was a conspirator.

He could see what Primo was trying to do. A filed down wall that acted as a garrison and defence for soldiers we did not have. For grotesque looking guardians, they had fine and quality handiwork when working with the quarry and the stones it produced. The wall surrounded the mountain, but it barely reached the 5th step. A reminder of how majestic the mountain is.

While the wall was what he thought he imagined it to be, the city seemed desolate. Empty with the charred remains of trees and branches. What was left was a plain of dehydrated soil that seemed tortured and gagged. He could not stand the look of it. How did the mountain have such lush when at the bottom was a wasteland that had no space for greenery?

“What work do you want me to do? I can’t lift things such as those monsters.”

“Monsters? Must I remind you that their your guardians? They would sacrifice thick and thin for your happiness, literally.” Ajax said. “But I digress. Primo needs your input for the layout of the city. He isn’t a creative genius, but he gets the job done. If you don’t have some words to say, then the whole city would look like a big block of dung.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

Ajax smiled. “Come with me.”

Ajax started to walk to the side of the mountain and walk into the greenery and then disappeared at the side of the mountain only to peek back. “Come on, and don’t fall.”

Rien followed and a few careful steps later they were behind the mountain on a very sharp, steep, but manageable section at the top of the mountain. They could see the whole area here and the wall was completed here too, though the clouds hampered his view a little.

“Look real hard at the wall there.” Ajax said, pointing at the outline of the sandstone wall.

Rien squinted and could about manage to see the outline. “What of it?”

Ajax sighed. He slipped his arm through Rien’s hips and tried to guide and secure him down the mountain, while trying not to let him slip.

Rien could feel his strength, like a rope grasping onto him.

As they treaded down the mountain where only rich soil drenched in the night’s drizzle touched, the design of the wall seemed different, abnormal from the one he saw at the front of the mountain.

“Was that Primo?”

“Why did you think I brought you over here? It’s bad isn’t it?”

“Well… It could use some adjusting and some tilting and some filing and… I’ll have a talk with Primo.”

Ajax grinned and slapped Rien on the back, but Rien was slipping and he quickly grabbed his shirt. “My bad. Let’s get you to your ‘work’.”

“My bad? What if I fell?” Rien said, but a thought crossed his mind. “What work are you doing?”

“I thought it was obvious?” Ajax said. He looked at Rien and after a moment, sighed. “I’m working to get you to work.”

“Meaning?”

“I think sleep is my job description right now. And the fact that I am awake is because my oh, so important job of waking you up. And I don’t really like to carry things too much.”

“So, you’re lazy.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way, but I feel that my sleep would help us out tomorrow.”

“For what?” Rien exclaimed.

“Anything, just not carrying things. Or building things, or much else really.”

“Then what else is there for you to do?”

“Killing those that try to kill you, of course.” He said, but his face turned sombre. “I just want to remind you that we’re your bodyguards and those guardians too. I wasn’t going to tell you this since Primo didn’t seem to get the same message from Baer.”

“You had another message from Baer?”

“Yes. I got the same message as Primo, but he added something. He added the amount of assassinations that you would get if you reveal yourself now. Even more important my job since you and Primo’s childish attempts to create a city. I don’t care for the city and I would like it if you did not tell Primo this.”

Rien was stunned the whole time Ajax guided him back to the front of the mountain at the top platform of the steps.

Ajax took a few steps down the mountain said, “You can tell him if you want, but… Well, even Baer does not have any magic right now does he?”

Ajax turned around to look at him. A face of a deadly and scary animal reflected in Ajax’s face. It was the first time since coming here that Rien felt he wanted to go back to his village. He forgot all about it when he came here. His fear reminded himself of a place where he could go hide, a place where he could surround himself and no one could bother or find him. A place where he could hide from that face that would follow him to the ends of the earth.

There was only one other occasion where he saw this kind of face. It was on the bony beast of the forest. It was called the cruncher. The villagers he talked to, gave it that name as it both ate the bones of anything and would not stop until it got the bones. He would hide under his bed, whenever he remembered the story. And that habit increased threefold when he actually saw the monster. He knew why it was called the cruncher.

It has a mouth full of both sharp and blunt teeth, perfect for ripping skin and grinding bones to ash. It moved with ferocious and grotesque speed as it’s bone structure made it run like a crazed lunatic. And the dark ambience of the forest crazed the fear in Rien and made him tremble for his life. However, it made him stronger than he ever thought possible. He ran faster than deer, or a flying sqiu with agility magic on it. (A small furry animal that hunted flat worms.)

His fear subsided as an onset of a noise based stimulant caused some surprise. The grunts that was continuous and regular became shriek sounds that made him inspect the noise, look for it. He found the source.

One of the icy guardians was still carrying a boulder as something small and dark crept closer. It was like the guardian had no sense of reason to just drop the boulder and run away. Like a manipulated beast, it did not drop the boulder and guard itself until Primo shouted: “To arms! Cruncher!”

The sound reverberated all the way up the mountain and he felt a sudden weight in his stomach. The sound made him freeze and everything he ate till then seemed to disappear. Everything he felt, saw and touched felt hard and cold. But he could not focus on anything except his stomach, on how empty it was. He felt amused that his mid-section was free, but it was different. It was a restricted freedom. He could feel, but he could not act. Anything he wanted to do, he could not do. He was alone with his thoughts and his thoughts hated him. The only thing that was conscious in him was the innate sense to run, just like he did many years ago.

So, he ran down the steps. The momentum built and grew larger and more dangerous by the second. As he neared the bottom he could see the guardians and Primo surrounding all the peripheral space the cruncher could manage. In a defensive stance, he thought them daft as he regarded them as mighty and strong.

His thoughts did not coincide with his body. While his mind was thinking of arbitrary things his body was in a perpetual sense of danger and his body did not sense that danger was in their direction.

Pffckkt!

The sound of Rien’s body and the cruncher’s colliding. It was so surprising the guardians was stuck just looking at the two bodies float in the air only to drop and skid many metres away.

Rien was unconscious, laying his body on top of the cruncher. The cruncher itself was angry and was waving its limbs around in a purpose to escape and possibly eat the thing that was on top of it. Then it made a realisation. The thing on top of it had its head hazardously close to its teeth. It opened his jaws and crunched.

*

What the cruncher crunched made it howl in pain. What it thought to be crunching was the tender, moist meat of a human, but it was surprised – an awful surprise – that its mouth had large wounds inside its mouth. It made an effort to find the source but as it surveyed around with its dark beady eyes it only saw darkness with a few embers that lit his peripherals.

Out of the darkness the embers grew on a dark silhouette. The cruncher had to exert a lot of effort to make out the thing that was coming towards it. A small sharp glint blinded it. As it reopened its eyes it could not see the embers anymore. Only a dark, illustrious black that reminded it of the time of its birth. A dim cave, alone with all the time in the world. The cruncher became silent, ready for death.

“You’ve got my dagger in there, mate.” A human voice said.

The cruncher grunted his disapproval and let his strength wash away.

“I’m sorry for this. This was not how I want it to turn out.”

The cruncher looked at the shadow again, the glint high up in the sky, like a diamond. As quick as the wind the glint came barrelling down towards the Cruncher till it could not see the glint anymore. It did not see anything anymore.

*

A large squelching, like meat being roughly cut, got caught on the winds and it made Primo squirm.

“Is it dead?” Primo said.

“More than you can hope for. Come help me bring this rushing idiot to the throne room. Who would rush at a cruncher without a weapon?” Ajax said turning his attention to Baer. “I respect the thought if you were trying to save people, but the only people here are the animals that somehow heal themselves. They’re monsters alright, but more human than any of us here.”

“He’s unconscious. Tell him when he’s awake.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Why not?”

Ajax smiled his most confident, but humourless smile. “Because I forgot.”

*

Following a hazy night, Rien woke up to a plentiful bounty of weird deer meat he previously thought unethical. He determined to forget the night, but Primo was not an eager one to let such a situation blow past him.

“Hello. Great night wasn’t it?” Primo said.

“Really, really great! So great I don’t even remember a thing!”

“Surely you jest! No one would forget such a spectacle like that. It was like magic. Better than the original Baer could even imagine. There I was planning the outlay of the city and this cruncher came by, which we could have handled easily, and this body out of nowhere comes crashing down on ‘im. It was a miracle. Tell me next time you get such a thought; I might as well join you if you risk your life so easily.”

Rien gave him a bored look and went to inspect the walls.

It took him quite a while before he could see the magnitude of the walls. It surrounded the mountain like a tight knit fence, circular. But that was not the big part of it. He did not remember the wall to be so much higher than he realised. When he looked down from the mountain it was tiny. However now as he edge closer to it he could see the roughed down sandstone with intricate patterns of nature. People, animals, vegetation. Small images carved out like sculptures indented into the walls and the intriguing part was that the images bored through. Rien thought it stupid to have holes in the wall, but the sunlight coming through the wall made icons on the soil. Ingenious, he thought. He did not mind the holes anymore.

He got sick of watching such a high wall that he wanted to be blinded for a few moments. Instead he went to talk to Primo about Abel. And if it comes up in conversation, the future of this city.

*

In the rich city of Abel, the king’s advisors held a meeting within the deep recesses of the castle, a place even the young Babel does not know about.

An old man outfitted in luxurious woven wool stood up around a stone table.

“We have problem, gentlemen. It seems a lot of money that was still in circulation in the city has been exported.” A few hushed gasps responded. “Yes, it is quite a problem. Mind you it was money that those dirty rats held on to. Still, it was money nonetheless. What this meeting is for today is the location of that money. I presume your workers have got some information.” The old man said, looking at a middle-aged woman that had fair bits of gold in her hair.

“You say graciously, but I am but a eunuch. Hardly deserving of the title of being called a man.” The woman with gold hair bits said.

“I work with men day and night. Surely you could excuse me this once Kress.” Said the old man.

“Well, I don’t appreciate it. If it weren’t for you, I would still be in my home. Stealing for a living. But now you got a string on me. And don’t called me that. Only people of the sewers can call me that.”

“By my name of Zared and the kings that bestow their trust in me I won’t bow down to your demands, woman. Either silence or you’ll be soon on the street, dead.”

Silence filled the room.

“…Right.” Kress said reluctantly.

Zared huffed. “Good. Wasting my time like that. I should have you whipped,” he pat down his clothing in habit, “But I don’t have any time for that now. Gentlemen. The Taps, the pure gold coins that hold this city together, is now lesser in the city than when I woke up yesterday. Why is this?”

The men all sat in a daze, in both ponder and enthusiastic glee that something has finally happened in their long days. But the silence carried on.

“Nothing?” Zared sighed. “Kress, would you mind telling me what you know?”

“I know nothing at all. I would know even less if I were speaking to an old man that wants my body in the street naked and dead.”

Zared slammed his fist on the stone table. There was little sound, but the force that he slammed his fist caused the other advisors to flinch. Kress did not.

“You say something now! Or you won’t say anything ever.” He reproached.

Kress grinned and folded her arms.

“GUARDS!”

Two men in armoured suits knocked and abruptly opened the door and stood in unison.

“Yes sir!” The two guards shouted.

Zared pointed at Kress with an exhausted face. “Take her away.”

The guards nodded and each took an arm of hers and started dragging her away. Kress still facing the room as she was being dragged. She was still grinning.

“Guess I’ll just talk about the missing Taps in my cell.”

Zared scowled. “GUARDS! Bring her back.”

A few quick metallic shuffles and the doors were closed and Kress had a smile on her face sitting on her stone chair.

“Well?” Zared said.

“Hardly a word that would make me talk.” Kress said.

Zared growled and in reluctance said, “Where. Are. The. Taps.”

“Mhmm. Still not any words I’m familiar with.”

Zared growled again and then gave her a loath smile. “Please.”

“See! You rich bastards do have some manners.”

“Then will you share your wisdom?” Zared said through his grinding teeth.

“Of course! Manners do wonders in my book. And of course the rich sum I’ll be receiving?” Kress lifted an eyebrow towards Zared.

He nods with a twitchy eye.

“…Then here is what I know.”

After a long discussion, questions and answers floated around the room. The advisors shouted, whispered and grunts. While the only prisoner in the room looked like the only advisor in the room. An effort of futility when others beside Kress and Zared spoke. A sight to behold when a prisoner helps your country more than the men born and bred in it. But after a long, long discussion that drew another day of Dremling they all sat in candle light as the white sun beamed down a gentle angelic light through a glass circlet in the ceiling, although tiny it became a source of energy.

“IF! You said there were two people. How could there be two people? That much money can’t stand on four feet. I demand you stop telling us these filthy lies and give us the cold, hard truth.” Zared paced around the room, stopped and glared at Kress, “Unless… You’re with them? Oh, it makes so much sense,” Zared laughed and was genuinely amused, “I can’t believe I did not see it. They told me you sewer rats were smart, but to this extent!” Zared grinned in hysterics, flailing his arms slightly.

Kress had a bored look on her face and folded her arms. “You think I’m an accomplice? AN ACCOMPLICE? I’VE BEEN STUCK HERE FOR OVER A MONTH!” Kress roared, but then sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I don’t have the tools to make deals in this place. I had to train a stupid tiny bird in my cell to stay still so I could wrap linen with rock chalk onto its leg. Trust me, I bet it took my men a few hours before they could figure anything out. Luckily for you lot,” Kress surveyed her finger around the room, “My men are very, very smart.”

They stared at each other with a fierce fire glooming in their eyes until an elaborate knock sounded.

Zared huffed. “You wait here,” pointing his finger to Kress and then quickly pointing down onto the floor, “The child needs me. I won’t be a moment.”

Zared strode towards the door, disappeared behind it and gently pulled the door closed. He rubbed his head in exhaustion and looked at a rigid guard looking straight at nothing.

“Where is he?”

The guard stood still, but a yellow sleeve with gold engravings peeked out behind the guard’s leg.

A restrained laughter came from behind the metal armour of the guard, enhancing the childishness of the voice.

“King Bala,” he said gently, “You shouldn’t be down here.”

King Bala revealed himself out from behind the guard in the most spectacular and flamboyant showcase, like he was the happiest child in the world.

Zared smiled a little.