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Hundred Year Stare

  The stony fields of Sieren’Gul expanded for thousands of miles to seemingly endless extent. However, despite the plains large area, no life could be found. Not a trace. Most living things would find this to be an inhospitable mass of land, vastly different from the rest of the Old Kingdom. The only redeeming factor would be that because of how terrible the land would be for survival, no settlers had come, everything in Sieren ’Gul was entirely natural, from the mountains of the far off land up north, the rocks penetrating through the ground leaving dirt mounds in their wake, all the way to the body lying in the middle of it all, Sieren’Gul was one of the few territories that remained untouched, which made it all the more strange that a there had been a body lying on its grounds.

  The body that had lain upon the ground at a glance belonged to a small person, and upon closer inspection it made sense that the body was small, after all it belonged to a child. Splotches of dried blood caked the long jacket the boy had been wearing, his eyelids remained closed and blackened, his hair untamed and tangled, the black and gray scarf shielding his mouth and nose most definitely something he would be glad to have worn. Certainly a fitting appearance for someone unconscious in an empty field.

Finding a body in a place like this was most certainly something to be surprised with, but what was even more surprising was the second. There had been a stark difference between the two bodies, that being that the second one was standing up. Its skin as black as a night without the two moons, with stitch lines running rampant throughout its body. Its face, covered by a mask made of smooth bone, with three holes for the eyes and mouth. The creature's face sat stagnant and Stoic like a seasoned soldier preparing for an onslaught.

  Its head, previously staring off into the distance, snapped quickly in the unconscious boy's direction as his hand twitched. The creature's stare had been made of nothing but intent, purely indiscernible intent. The boy's hand twitched again and the creature standing over him moved not an inch, perhaps plotting something. The boy's eye flickered, then again before opening up begrudgingly. He groggily pushed his arm forward, dragging a mass of dirt along with it. His hand clamped down in a pile of it, squeezing it tightly into his palm. He sluggishly released his grip and pushed up on the ground below him, his arms shaking as they attempted to hold his weight, although quite skinny, the boy struggled to steady himself, he fell plainly on his rear, directly onto a mass of rock. He released a tired grunt as he landed. He stared at the ground, licking his lips feverishly to keep some level of moisture. He smacked his hands to the sides of his jacket creating clouds of dust. He then reached up to his eyes and rubbed them tenderly, as even a small amount of force would send pain shooting through his head.

  He blinked a few times before glancing up at the sun, only to find the light was being blocked by something standing before him. He placed his hand on his forehead as if to salute, allowing himself to see more clearly. His eyes then widened as the tall creature in front of him became apparent. It’s boney mask starting plainly.

  Ko instinctually reached to his side, but instead of a dagger he was left with his hand on a mound of dirt. His eyes flickered with disappointment at his lack of weaponry. He gritted his teeth and threw some of it the creature's way hoping that mixed into the dirt there had been at least some rocks. He then quickly stood up, running to his left, aiming for a large boulder to take cover behind. The creature's mask tracked along with his every movement. Just as Ko was about to make his final stretch, a root caught his left boot. At first Ko thought he’d went to dive, but quickly realized that was not the case. He swiftly turned tail, taking the impact on his back, His ankle turned and sharp pain shot up his leg. He now lay there, defenseless, and unable to move. He looked up to the creature, realizing the dirt had not done a single thing.

  “Damn,” He whispered under his breath.

  The creature had remained stagnant this entire time, so it was surprising to Ko when it began to walk. Its knees buckled backward and its legs bent the wrong way. Now that Ko had gotten a good look at it, everything about it was wrong. Creatures like this were never supposed to actually exist. Nevertheless, there it stood. It had stopped just above him, allowing Ko to really take in its size. His eyes darted around in every which way looking for something to help him here; he was not meant to die here, was he? He decided it best to just close his eyes and be done with it.

  But something unexpected occurred. “Good morning, master. It’s best that you do not throw dirt upon this one’s mask, it might become filthy if that continues.” The creature said, its mouth hole unmoving. Ko opened his eyes and all he could manage to say with his shocked expression was a quiet, “Huh?”

  The both of them sat still for a moment, the terror in the boys eyes working as the shackle to keep them both in place. “Uh-I-Eh,” All were attempts made by Ko to speak. After a few seconds of this he’d stopped trying all together, opting to stay silent.

This went on for an indescribable amount of time; then it spoke again, “Are you ready to depart?” The miasmic creature asked. Its voice was surprisingly calm. Its deep, soothing tone was a large departure from what Ko had expected, and finally after his long bout of silence his voice began to work.

  “Who- no what are you?” The scarf rattled as his mouth moved.

The masked creature, although its facial expressions were unseen, released a confused “Hm?” It bent down slightly, “Has the young master's memory of this one been lost?”

  Now Ko was the confused one, “Memories? Am I meant to know you?” The creature tilted its head to the side further amplifying its natural intimidation on the boy , “Well, even if that’s the case I don’t. I don’t remember much at all really.” Ko said, uncertain of his own knowledge.

  “Ah, so the young master has forgotten. If this one might ask, how much is ‘not much at all’?”

  “My name, that’s all. And a few other random bits here and there.” This time spoken with more certainty.

  “Hm, well, hopefully the young master can regain his memory in time, but for now, the young master may refer to this one as Syhlas.” The creature swiftly bent the knee and held out its right hand proudly. “This one is yours to command.”

  “This one- I mean my name is Ko.” He stared at the creature who had yet to leave its kneeling position, “By the way, why do you call me ‘young master’ ” He said with a slight tinge of disgust, just now noticing that the thing kneeling before him was completely hairless.

  “Ah, well…” Syhlas stood up unnaturally smooth, “The boy standing before this one is young, and is this one's master. It is simply two common words put together.” It motioned to its left hand, “Young.” It then proceeded to motion to its other hand “Master.” It pushed the two together, “Young master”.

  “I understood all of that before the bizarre hand gestures, my question was why do you call me master?” Ko asked, his scarf shuffling even more.

  “Well, it seems there are indeed many things the master has forgotten after all.” It said in its usual deep, yet this time almost gleeful voice.

  “Well, just call me by my name, it's a lot simpler.” Ko replied as he started to push himself off the ground, arms still shaking as he savored his strength. Syhlas held its blackened, Stitched, elongated hand out. Ko lightly slapped it away, afraid to touch it, as he forced his legs to support him. “Also, stop referring to yourself in the third person, it’s--Unnerving.” He said, dusting off the backside of his long-coat.

  “Understood.”

  “So, what now? Where even are we?” Ko asked, gazing around at the mountains in the far distance as his eyes just started to adjust to the light.

  “We are in Sieran' Gul, the large plain that separates the borders of the Old Kingdom and Faxium. As for the first question, we should most likely try to find civilization. A village or town would be our best bet, the nearest city is weeks away. But first, we should head to a river before diving headlong into crowds of people.” Sylhas reported in a very robotic alteration of its voice.

Stolen story; please report.

  “Uhm, well, yeah, let's find a river.” He said with an undertone of uncertainty.

  “Very well, we should be on our way, mid-day is quickly approaching.”

                            XXX

  Hours had passed, and the sun was hot, beating down on the neck of Ko, turning it beat red over the course of hours. Syhlas had been walking no more than ten feet away, not saying a word. The two of them had been silent ever since they had left Ko’s resting stop miles back. Ko’s lips were cracking as the sun sapped most of his remaining energy away. He was dehydrated for certain, and the only thing that had been keeping him going were nods from Syhlas when he’d asked if they were close. Syhlas had seemingly known a lot about the land, which most certainly is not something that Ko was going to make a complaint about, although he had begun to question it. Their meeting had been strange to say the least and trust was a bond yet to form between the two. But, so far things had gone well, beside his apparent lack of water. The two of them had made it quite a distance, Syhlas had been pointing to things in the distance and Ko had either shook his head yes or no. it was a wonderful system the two had made up that allowed neither one of them to have to speak.

  Ko’s chalky tongue ached as the sound of gushing water in the distance became close enough to determine that it was in fact gushing water. After all these hours spent walking he’d finally made it. At last he would be able to drink, and the final obstacle would only be a small hill that they had just begun to crest, and once they had, the sight of the crashing river before him would have brought a tear to his eye, had been able to produce those.

  Internally, he groaned to himself as he saw how steep the slope was; it would be a nightmare to walk down in his condition. But, in the midst of his self-pity, his eyes had caught sight of a dead tree. All hope that had been lost in the last couple of seconds had been regained.

  His muscles strained as he ripped a large piece of bark off the tree, he then placed it near the slope leading down to the river. He practically collapsed onto the bark, and nearly had pushed himself to the slopes when he was rudely interrupted.

  “What are you doing?” Syhlas asked.

  Ko looked up expecting to see Syhlas squinting in confusion like a person but was quickly reminded that the ability to squint was exclusive to those who possessed eyes. Instead, he was met with the same two bottomless voids that he had become accustomed to

“What? You think I'm going to walk down after all that? Gods no, I'm gonna use this to slide down” Ko shouted.

  “I see, be wary not to crash,” Syhlas responded in its ill-fitting voice. It then proceeded to get down on all fours. Its limbs cracking as it twisted its arms and legs into a spider-like configuration. Its claws dug into the ground, giving it more than enough grip to crawl to the base of the hill. However, Ko would bear witness to none of this as his speed grew increasingly fast as the momentum of his makeshift sled propelled him further down. He passed Sylas, not sparing it even a glance.

  Just as the slide was about to launch him into the rapids ahead, he bailed, launching himself into a pile of stones.

  “Shit, ow.” Ko cursed as his elbow collided with one of them.

  Syhlas, just a few feet away, creeped up to the river, and curiously stuck its hand in to collect water. It pulled its hand back up and tilted its head back as a trickle of water flowed into its mouth hole. It had only reverted back to its normal posture for a few seconds before lurching forward, spitting the water back into the rapids.

  “I never did understand why people drank this filth.” Syhlas silently muttered.

  “Wait, do you not need to drink?” Ko asked, his eyes squinted like a normal person.

  Syhlas snapped its neck in Ko’s direction, “No.” The word probably rolled off its tongue, implying it had one.

  Ko shook his head and turned around to gaze upon the valley that the river ran through. The stone clusters got taller and taller as he looked further and further to his left. The jagged rocks pointed towards the two moons, little pebbles danced on top, vibrating as the water crashed against them. Off in the distance Ko made out a town, or what he thought might have been a town. A floating platform, held up by eight chains at each corner, hung over the flowing rapids like a chandelier over a table. Multiple bridges led onto the mainland, some clearly wider than others, most likely used for carriages. Not to mention the scale of the all encompassing wall that surrounded the place.

  Although still a breathtaking sight, something strange was happening; the air had become thicker and more difficult to inhale. There also was a bright light hiding just behind the clouds that had been progressively getting brighter and brighter. Along with that, Dozens of men were prowling along the rocks, adorned in dull colored plate mail. It seemed as though they were trying to stay out of the line of sight of the guards on the town's wall.

“Strange.” He mumbled under his breath.

  He felt something grab his shoulder. He spun around and was met with Syhlas crouching down. “We should leave,” It looked up at the sky, at the bright light piercing through the clouds, then at the men on the rockside, “Quickly.” it followed up with, in a more panicked tone.

  Then, they both saw it, the light parted the clouds as he descended through. A man dressed in Blood red armor, around seven feet tall, descended towards the city. The man had gargantuan wings on his back that gave off a blinding white and orange aura of light. His armor covered every inch of him, no skin visible in the slightest, and in his right hand a spear was held, its pommel crescent shaped, its handle solid gold, and a blade that stretched a man's length at the least. Lightning gathered itself around the spear vigorously, lashing into the air like a whips. He was descending quickly and soon after he parted the cloud, it dissipated leaving a full view of what was behind him. One thousand or more bird-like creatures, draped in all white armor, With claws that were just as long as Syhlas’s flew like an army in formation behind him. They had beaks that curved at the end and their faces had dozens of eyes that were all squished together, a truly hideous sight. And with the worst luck imaginable, they noticed the thousands were scattering all throughout the valley, their eyes all darting in different directions, searching for something.

  Along with the thousand or so creatures behind the godly figure in red armor sat a sight just as grand, A large winged drake, all white just like the others. The dragon’s maw had two jutting teeth on the bottom row, causing them to stick out of its mouth with a closed jaw, as well as rows upon rows of other teeth just behind those. It could fit ten men in its jaws at the least. Its wings were covered in battle scars and holes. Further improving the beast's intimidation, were Its eyes, that were completely glazed over as if it were blind. It was also by far bigger than the man, its wingspan alone, big enough to cascade the entire town below into darkness.

  “Boy, we should leave now, The angels look to hunt.” Syhlas said with rare concern in its voice.

  Ko looked up with wide scared eyes, “Angels? W-wait, hunt? For who?”

  “For us.”

  “Us? What did we do? What do we do?” Ko said, tongue-tied.

  “I should not have led us here, it is my fault, young master. But, for now, it is your decision on what we do. I know it is unfair, the gods are cruel.” It replied.

  “B-but, I just asked you the same question!” Ko shouts in an angry whisper, making him realize that he was still a kid with petty outbursts.

  But, Syhlas does not so much as respond. It merely stood there awaiting orders from the young boy. Ko frantically turned his head looking for something, anything, to tell him what to do. Questions as vital as these were best not answered by children. But, now was not the time for fretting. He took in another deep breath, closing his eyes to gain a sense of calm. He then slowly exhaled, allowing his stress to slightly dissipate.

  “Can you fight them?” He asked serenely.

  “Yes, but most likely we will both die if I do. They are thousands, we are two.” It replied informatively.

  Ko looked down at the ground and squeezed the bridge of his nose, “Ok, then we’ll hide for now. If we try to run and get caught, those things will be faster. At least if we hide they have the possibility of not finding us. Plus, those guys in the rocks definitely are not with the red guy, at the very least they might be a distraction.” Ko articulated with surprising assessment for his age.

  “The master sheds his wisdom at last. Very well, we shall hide.”

  Ko scanned the area, less frantically than before, quickly spotting a miniature cave with vines shielding the entrance, not twenty strides away. It was small, and would barely fit the two of them, but it looked to be inconspicuous enough. He looked up at the creature next to him and nodded as they both began to sneak over to the safety of the cave.

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