Chapter 15: Ajal; Shauran 20th 344SR; 12:30

Ajal jumped a great distance through the air, carrying an unconscious Jack and fleeing the burning town of Logos. As he descended he focused his spirit on his foot, upon landing he kicked the ground, jumping high into the air once again. There was nothing but fields of grass and hills for miles, however, occasionally stone ruins that seemed lost to time.

“Hey! Over here!” Sarah called.

Ajal glanced over to the right to see the small group on a dirt path. ‘They made some good distance...’ He landed in front of the small group of people and dragged both feet to stop himself, crouching to absorb the impact of the fall. Sarah ran forward with a happy look on her face, which immediately changed upon seeing Jack.

“Wha- What happened to him?!” Sarah asked with a shocked tone.

John ran forward and fell to his knees.

“Oh no... No, no, no, I knew I shouldn’t have listened to him... Jack... I’m so sorry,” John sobbed.

“He isn’t dead...” Ajal raised an eyebrow.

“Huh- Oh…”

“Yeah, he isn’t dead... Idiot,” George cleared his throat as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

George held up the wagon full of children, he had stains of dirt on his black shirt and bruises on his face. Each of the resistance members seemed worn out. Their clothes were all dirtied or torn, and there skin was marked different colors in several places. ‘They never had those bruises before...’

“Why did Jack stay in Logos?” Reinhardt asked.

“I don’t really know... He did throw something at Alexander though... He really does hate that guy...”

“Heh... Who doesn’t...”

Reinhardt had a dark mark on the side of his face, and there was a bit of blood on his lip. His eye struggled to stay open as well. ‘These people didn’t stand a chance back there...’

A dark-skinned boy in the crowd stood up as he heard Jack’s name. He was about five feet tall, the same height as Sarah. He held his head while he shoved himself through the others, there was a red mark under his hand but aside from that he didn’t seem too beat up.

“Did you just say, Jack?” An unfamiliar voice asked.

Ajal glanced past Reinhardt’s shoulder at the man who approached. He was well built, skin sandy in texture and color. His hair was slicked back except for the bangs at the side of his head slightly covering his narrow eyes. His expression was filled with bewilderment.

“It’s him, he’s the guy who kicked Alexander Rael’s ass!” the dark-skinned boy ran forward and pointed at Jack who remained unconscious.

“Franklin, you’re a moron!” Sarah smacked the boy on the head.

“Ow! What’d you do that for!” Franklin pouted.

“For making such a big deal out of that scrawny guy! People got their hopes up!” Sarah scolded.

“How is that a bad thing! Tell her Ben,” Franklin spat back.

“There’s no way in hell Jack beat Alexander, you keep hollering because you’re a moron,” said Ben.

“I’m not!”

“Reinhardt is this the guy?” another short black-haired man pointed at Ajal.

“Yeah, that’s Ajal. Ajal this is Adam Rodrick, that’s his brother Benjamin Rodrick. The little one is Franklin, Franklin Huvic. We are what’s left of the resistance” Reinhardt introduced.

Ajal looked at the group of people, they all looked rather ordinary. Ajal couldn’t sense much spirit from either of them, ‘This is... No... Even underwhelming is putting it lightly...’ Ajal almost felt like scolding them for trying to fight against such impossible odds, but he held his words back. ‘Anyone with a level head wouldn’t try to fight against those odds... Is that just how desperate you all are...’ He glanced at Jack on his shoulder. ‘Even you... Charging back in like that...’

“Where’d you find this guy?” Adam asked Reinhardt.

“In the woods, north of the mines, surprisingly at the outpost we’ve been attacking,” Reinhardt turned to him and replied.

“And... You found this guy as well as Jack?”

“Yes.”

“What about the outpost? Did you find what that kid mentioned? What the angels hid?”

“Yeah, turns out it’s what Ajal arrived here on, but the angels took it and it’s been scrapped of its parts according to him... It was a suicide mission... We would’ve died for nothing.”

Adam took a step back and squatted down, sitting with his legs crossed with a weary and exhausted look on his face. He looked down in thought. Adam wasn’t as muscular as Reinhardt but he seemed equally mature.

“So... What now?” Adam looked up at Reinhardt.

“After what just happened... I really don’t know. Maybe it’s time to admit defeat Adam, the hybrid resistance uses us as pawns, the angels use us as pawns,” Reinhardt reasoned.

“But... You saw what I just saw. Right?” Adam pointed at Ajal. “This guy handled two nobles and two clan leaders... Who on this planet other than maybe Abaddon could do that?”

“What are you two talking about?” Ajal asked.

“Hey, sir... uh Sir Ajal-”

“Ajal is fine.”

“Could you just help us defeat the hybrid alliance?” Adam asked.

“No,” Ajal declined.

“Oh,” he replied with an awkward smile.

“I told Jack I’d help him... Not exactly sure how to go about that yet. However, I need to find someone who can fix my ship... It’s gonna be tough considering that technology is far less advanced on this planet,” Ajal explained.

“The angels will be coming after us... Where should we go?” John asked.

“Most of the non-unified made their way to the surrounding towns,” Franklin mentioned.

“Wait for a second... If Jack’s here... Who set Geral Murdok free?” Adam wondered.

“Geral Murdok?” Ajal repeated.

“He’s a criminal who runs the black market, he was imprisoned along with a bunch of other big shots in Lemen. But he recently escaped and no one knows how... The rumor was it was the infamous culprit who got away with injuring Alexander Rael. Him,” Adam pointed at the unconscious Jack.

“Black market? Where can I find this Geral Murdok? He sounds like someone with connections.” Ajal suddenly took interest.

“Geral Murdok went missing, but he’s somewhere on the continent of Hiria. I’d assume he’s in Murdok,” Adam answered.

“Murdok, isn’t that his name?” Ajal repeated.

“Yes, but Murdok Bay is a place that used to be called Maryn, before mercenaries and pirates took the town and skinned the town’s folk alive. Then barricaded the town with the corpses,” Adam explained.

‘That’s gruesome...’ Ajal cringed at that last part. “Why do people think Jack set that guy free?”

“The rumor is that the guards heard him say ‘Jack’ before the prison was attacked. Thanks to Franklin’s hype, people connected the dots that the Jack from Logos who supposedly defeated Alexander Rael is the culprit who set Geral free.”

“What’s the fastest way to Murdok?” Ajal asked.

Adam’s eyes went wide, he blinked in disbelief.

“Were you even listening? That place is a death trap...” Adam tried to warn him.

“What’s the fastest way to Murdok?” Ajal asked once more.

“Don’t worry Adam, confidence is something you have to get used to around Ajal,” said John.

Adam sighed as he shook his head.

“Going east is suicide... West is also tough, but it’s the only realistic way. We can take those kids to Ulkay, but to be honest... it won’t be long before angels find them. The trader’s bridge is in the west just past Ulkay, if we can get across it and through the ruined valley, we’ll reach Andurill.” Adam explained.

‘When I saw the cliffside earlier... I could probably go east alone, but they wouldn’t be able to. This guy may know his stuff, not like I have a much better choice than to depend on him...’

“Then from there, we should go to Argol. We’ll be able to go straight to Murdok through black market trade routes, we should also be able to meet up with the hybrid resistance there, Argol is part of their territory after all,” Adam concluded.

“Are there any more resistance members in the surrounding towns?” Ajal asked.

Ajal didn’t get a response, he observed the various faces. Lips puckered as if they had eaten something sour. Eyes looked down or to the side. ‘I shouldn’t have asked that....’

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“Well, we started with a lot,” George spoke up. “Most have been killed or captured... Which could also mean killing. But, yeah. The only people who I know aren’t captured are some of the big figures, any of the small fries like us are gone.”

“Big figures? You’re all small fry?” Ajal looked at the non-unified around him.

‘Well actually thinking back to it... Every time I get to the scene these guys are on the verge of defeat after some life-or-death battle...’ John walked in front of George.

“The big figures of the resistance are mainly the hybrid warriors, but on the non-unified side, we have a couple of strange ones. It’s hard to get in contact with them, they don’t contact us and they’re always moving...” John explained.

The group was alerted to the sound of marching hooves mixed with rolling wheels. Ajal turned and looked down the path to see an angel on a caravan, two horses pulled the caravan along the path towards them.

“Finally an animal... Here I thought there was none on this planet,” said Ajal.

The angel got off the wagon pulled by horses. She wore a green robe overtop the white dress shirt, on the back of the robe was the insignia of a skull-shaped fist. She drew a metal staff before she approached. The angel’s mask covered her face except for two holes to see through, they approached with an air of confidence and authority.

“You damn non-unified maggots,” the angel mocked. “You’ve got some nerve running from Logos, now get in the caravan so you can help fix the town you swine. I’ll get promoted to lieutenant for this, so hurry up!” she demanded and walked right up to Ajal who towered over the five-in-a-half-foot woman.

“Oh, well if it isn’t Jack, for a slave, it looks like you did most of the work, good job,” She complimented Ajal. “This one needs to be beaten often, he has a sharp tongue and often doesn’t recognize his place.”

Ajal looked at Jack and then back to the guard.

“You might as well keep walking and leave that caravan for us. You won’t be riding it anymore,” Ajal recommended.

“What did you say?” she tightened her grip on the metal staff.

She pulled her staff back and swung it, Ajal raised one arm and the staff broke against his wrist. The angel looked at the jagged tip of the metal, dumbfounded at what just happened. Ajal walked past her and struck the back of her head, she fell to her knees and on the ground with an audible thud, a chain mail underneath the white robes rattled.

“Let’s use that caravan,” Ajal pointed at the caravan with a smile.

The others looked down at the angel on the ground in silence, then back up at Ajal. They looked back down at the angel once more.

“I’m riding in front!” Sarah broke the silence and ran forward.

Ajal walked past the horses which stepped back as he approached. He made his way around the caravan and pulled the curtain to the side. He was met with the concerned expression of multiple non-unified who had been captured. They all cowered and kept their eyes locked on him.

“Uh, you’re free to go? We need this caravan, could you hop out?” Ajal asked the people.

“We... We can go?” a frail man with a thick mustache asked.

Ajal moved to the side and held his hand out, gesturing that they could go.

“Let’s go, everyone! We’re free!” the man with a mustache shouted.

Several non-unified scurried out of the back of the caravan and ran out. Ajal climbed inside the caravan to see a blonde woman in a white dress sitting in the corner, cradling a child in her arms. Her white dress was torn slightly and she was bruised in multiple places, but the child was spotless. ‘It’s a good thing I knocked out that angel before I saw this...’

“Welp, that’s enough space,” Ajal set Jack down against the wall.

“Hey?” Ajal tried talking to the beaten woman in the corner. “We’re taking this caravan west, get out while you can-”

“Did you say west?” Ajal heard the man with the mustache from earlier, he returned and suddenly poked his head back into the caravan. “You mean, to Ulkay?”

“No… Murdok,” Ajal replied.

“Murdok?!? Oh my- West... S-so... you’re passing over Andurill?” he seemed to be in disbelief.

“I guess?” Ajal scratched his head.

The man jumped back into the caravan.

“My name is Eckleflor, a slave from Logos! I can sneak you passed the gates of Andurill!” he suddenly announced.

Eckleflor wore slave clothing, but a black trench coat rather than the simple brown jacket overtop. He was a lanky bald man with a bushy mustache and eyebrows. His yellow eyes were very sharp, to the point that it gave Ajal a bad feeling. ‘Something about you gives me a bad vibe...’ Ajal looked down at the man, Eckleflor looked around awkwardly. Jack slowly regained consciousness, he rubbed his eyes.

“Where am I...” he looked around while he appeared considerably drowsy.

George’s head suddenly poked through the curtain, he hopped in and the entire caravan shook.

“Excuse me, sir,” John lightly shoved Eckleflor out of the way and got in.

John, Ben, and Franklin climbed in, and each of them rocked the large wooden caravan. Reinhardt passed the children from the wagon into the caravan, each of them still asleep somehow.

“Jack! You moron! Look at your clothes, where did all this blood come from!” John scolded.

“Yeah, moron!” Sarah repeated, poking her head in from the front of the caravan, she looked down to see a blonde woman cowering in the corner while she shielded her child. “Hey, who’s this girl... And who hit her? Who’s that guy with the weird mustache?”

“Weird?” Eckleflor looked down in shame.

Adam peaked into the back of the caravan.

“Oh hey, it’s Eckleflor, how have you been!” Adam greeted him, they appeared to know each other.

“Oh no... Don’t tell me you’re all resistance...” Eckleflor suddenly wanted to get out.

“Oh hey… John… You’re safe,” Jack weakly uttered with a smile on his face.

“Look at yourself, Jack!” John pointed at him.

“Jack?” the woman uttered, she stopped cowering in the corner and turned to see Jack resting at the other side of the caravan.

“Oh, that’s the lady Jack helped earlier when we got back to Logos. What’s she doing here?”

“Eckleflor, what’ll you need to sneak us past the gates, I’m assuming it won’t be free,” Ajal tried to stay focused.

“Eckleflor is sneaking us into Andurill? When was this decided?” Adam looked around.

“I simply want access to Andurill, that’ll be the terms, but nothing to do with the resistance!” Eckleflor told Ajal.

“Okay, if those are the terms..” Ajal looked down in thought before he turned to the woman in the corner.

“What about you?” Ajal asked the woman, but she didn’t answer, she just stared at Jack with a look of confusion and shock.

“I don’t care... Wherever I go they’ll take my child from me... And force me to be a slave,” she cut Ajal off.

Jack peeked his head out and noticed her there.

“That’s Lydia, she lives across from me. She hates me though...” Jack was barely conscious, his speech was groggy and unclear.

The woman gritted her teeth but looked confused as she stared back at Jack. John and George laughed at Jack who lay limp with his back against the wall of the caravan.

“I-I don’t…” Lydia stammered.

“Anyways, Adam... Get those horses moving. We need to move quickly,” said Ajal.

Ajal took a seat next to Jack where he could watch the scenery. The caravan began to move as the horses’ hooves rhythmically trotted along the dirt path. Eckleflor sat across from Jack, and Franklin also sat next to Jack.

“Ajal... Why is this guy here...” Jack asked, looking at Franklin.

“Hey man, me and Jack go way back,” Franklin waved at Ajal.

“No... No, we don’t...” Jack groaned.

“This is getting hectic,” Ajal sighed.

He looked around at the crowd of people compressed into the small caravan. It briefly reminded him of the life he once had. Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of golden items and everyone in the caravan suddenly took notice. Eckleflor’s reaction was different, his jaw dropped when he saw it.

“What the heck is this stuff?” Jack fiddled with the golden ring.

It was smooth but had a few scratches on it, Ajal took one of the coins and looked at it. It had a faint gold shine and the insignia of a feather on it.

“That’s... That’s the currency of Andurill... Where did you find that...” Eckleflor asked with an almost condescending tone, his eyes wide with an almost crazed look.

“It was someone else’s from Logos, I found it in a house with the door left open,” Jack held the pendant up and tilted his head as he observed it, it was oval-shaped and quite large.

“I think that opens up,” Ajal observed.

Eckleflor watched the two of them carefully as the caravan bumped and creaked. ‘This guy started to act differently when he saw the gold...’ Ajal opened the pendant to see a picture of a child.

“You recognize this person?” Ajal asked Jack.

“No...” Jack replied.

“Ring a bell?” Ajal took the pendant and turned it to Eckleflor.

Eckleflor shook his head, he took his hat off which revealed a bald head as he looked out of the caravan. ‘Maybe I’m overthinking things...’ Ajal handed the pendant back to Jack, and looked outside of the caravan, he felt his eyelids start to droop. ‘I’m tired... I’ve been walking around since the night and then fought those people... Not to mention my body is so stiff... I was so slow back there...’

“If anything happens just wake me up, I’m getting some rest,” said Ajal.

He closed his eyes. The sound of conversation, the creaking wheels, the hooves of the horses, all of it eventually faded away as Ajal slipped into a slumber. He rested his head against the hard wooden planks of the caravan.

* * *

“So this is where you were,” A familiar soothing voice made him open his eyes.

Instead of the caravan, he was met with a very familiar place. A small pond, where the water wasn’t connected to any external source. In the middle of the pond was an island, and a small waterfall only two stories high flowed into the pond.

He turned his head and saw the woman he loved standing in a field of white flowers. Her skin glimmered in the sunlight, and her short purple hair flowed with the wind. Ava walked forward as Ajal turned back to the pond, and she took a seat on the grass right next to him. ‘It’s just like old times...’

“I like this place,” Ajal replied. “The water’s clear, and it flows without ever crashing, it’s serene. It flows through a reservoir underground and backs up to the top of the hill where it spills over calmly, an eternal spring life uses to bloom,” Ajal explained.

He looked down and smiled as he dipped his hand into the lukewarm water, the water rippled, but the image of his hand didn’t distort. He noticed that he couldn’t see the reflection of his face, only Ava’s. The water suddenly rippled violently as the blue-haired child Ryu jumped in.

“Ryu’s here?” Ajal turned to see his team.

‘I don’t remember this... Wait... This isn’t right...’ The sound of a blade dragged against its sheath. Gale drew his blade, his expression remained unnervingly calm. ‘Ah... that’s right...’ Ajal began to remember what they did to him.

“Why did you do it... Why did you try to kill me?” Ajal asked.

Gale swung his blade. Ajal felt nothing. The blade passed right through him, but to his surprise, he saw himself fall over face-first into the grass. A puddle of red blood spread out underneath him. Ajal looked down at his own body on the ground before he looked at his hands, he had white sleeves. He looked down to see he had worn a white Imperial uniform rather than a black one. ‘This is... The emperor’s clothing?’ Ajal looked up at Gale who walked towards him, only to walk right through Ajal as if he wasn’t even there. All the members of his team walked past him.

“Enma... Aria... Crystal... Kono... Titan... Ryu... Kadyr... Ava...” he called their names but they each ignored him. “Why... why didn’t you say anything,” Ajal asked, his voice cracked slightly.

In the center of the lake was the small island, a single oak tree stood tall. Gale sliced the stump in two, it cracked as it fell over, and the leaves rustled and rattled as they fell into the water or hit the ground. The water of the lake was no longer clear, Ajal looked down at the water and saw a reflection, but it wasn’t him. He saw a dignified white-haired man who wore the Imperial Uniform given to the emperor of Imperion.

“Shin?” Ajal uttered.

He watched the mouth of the reflection move to repeat the same words, Ajal’s heart began to beat rapidly.

* * *

“Ah!” Ajal suddenly woke up.

Ajal looked out of the caravan, it had become dark, the sky was black, and it was much colder now.

“Bad dream?” Eckleflor asked suddenly.

He and Eckleflor were the only people who were still awake in the caravan. Jack was unconscious again. George and Reinhardt snored very loudly. He could hear a faint conversation between Sarah and Adam from the front of the caravan.

“Yeah...” Ajal touched his forehead, wiping sweat with the tips of his fingers. “Really bad...” Ajal added.

‘I’ll- just stay awake...’ Ajal shifted a little bit in place. ‘It’s way too cramped in here anyway...’ Eckleflor looked uncomfortable as well while he held a slumbering child in his hand. He had a strange focus on Jack’s pocket, Ajal noticed him glance at it multiple times.

Reinhardt held two other children, his mouth hung open while he snored. Jack’s eyes were closed, he had leaned on Ajal at some point. ‘You better apologize for the blood you’re getting on me...’ George held two of the children, they rested on his stomach. John held one while he leaned on George. ‘He’s... Also resting on his stomach...’

Franklin had his head against the wood while he held one child, he was practically asleep and hitting his head on the wood of the caravan each time it rocked or shook. ‘How is he sleeping through that?’

Ajal smirked at the people in the caravan, but seeing all of them only reminded him of the friends he once had. He rested his head against the wood once more, a cold shiver down his spine reminded him of his loneliness. As he tried to fall back to sleep he could only focus on thoughts ‘This isn’t my home... But... Is Imperion even my home anymore... Where do I belong?’

Ajal shook his head awake once more while he felt drowsy. ‘Damn...’ Ajal looked down at Jack who seemed to sleep so easily and he felt a little envious.

‘He looked at me weirdly when I was teaching Spirit Arts, almost like he saw aura... But... That would require level six... I wonder if he’s a natural. But that doesn’t explain why no one seems to know about Spirit Arts, it’s so simple and useful... And why are these people called non-unified? They look human... What the hell is happening on this planet…’