CHAPTER TWO [PART SIX]

Hell

103 Years Since the Citadel's Founding

Year of the Void-Scarring Talon, Month of the Egg.

I hopped on my feet, throwing a few punches in the air to limber up.

“Will this be a fair fight?” I asked.

“Fair? You survived some Feasters and it’s made you arrogant. There are much more dangerous things in Hell than Feasters. Look at yourself, and look at me.”

I couldn’t blame him for that assessment, but he was the one who criticized me for thinking he’d been sent along because of his size. Being underestimated had its advantages, but it also meant people thought they could take advantage of you, which meant more conflict. Looking intimidating and strong meant fear, and that generally meant people avoid you. Oh, but then again, there was another layer to that conundrum. Other powerful people might feel the need to challenge you, and that was its own issue. There wasn’t a perfect solution to avoiding fights, it seemed.

“I’m afraid I don’t have a mirror on hand. But if you say I don’t have to worry about your sisters, then that suits me.”

I wagered there was a good reason neither sister would be involved. They did not carry torches as Gazon did, probably to avoid drawing attention to themselves. And they had to make sure the kobold did not get away.

“So arrogant,” the first sister spoke.

“But it’s a bit cool,” the second added.

I glanced over my shoulder at the second one, my interest piqued, and that was perhaps a mistake. Gazon sped forward, I should have remembered that he was deceptively fast. His mutated arm slashed horizontally but a timely duck allowed me to avoid it. The spear strapped to my back wasn’t as lucky, the bladed end snapped off and left me with but a wooden stick. Though my eyes tracked the falling spear’s end, and I grabbed it, immediately thrusting it downwards into Gazon’s feet. It pierced through, drawing blood in the process. I tried not to grimace at the mildly grisly sight. The sight of his foot being pierced did not sit well with me. He sneered, stifling a groan.

“You’re too slow, brother!”

“He’s too fast,” he snapped back.

His arm swung downwards and I stepped away, before pushing forward off the ground, feinting an attempt at his head, but instead, going for the torch and striking his wrist hard enough for him to drop it. I kicked sand atop the torch in a hurry, plunging us all in the darkness, and hurriedly stepping out of Gazon’s reach.

“That’s cheap,” Gazon snarled.

“I don’t really want to fight. Why don’t you leave… Gate, was it? Peculiar name. Why don’t you just let her go, and be on your way?”

“That’s not an option.” Gazon looked around for the source of my voice, cautiously approaching.

“I guess you have your reasons for kidnapping her. Prawx did say she was important.”

“With Gate in our possession, even we can live like those who once resided in Heaven.”

“That valuable?” I glanced at her once more. The ivory-skinned kobold was well-equipped, with a cloak full of pockets, and I suspected hidden ones too. A belt filled with vials. Though not really geared for a fight. “Yet you seem to have caught her so easily.”

“It’s as we suspected. Her survival was predicated on staying on the move, and remaining isolated. We just needed to outsmart her. And we did.”

“And now I’ve outsmarted you. Coming in the night was reckless. Even if I was weak, you can’t really hope to beat me if you can’t see me.”

“Don’t let him embarrass you like that, ‘Zon. Catch him!”

“How do you expect me to catch him if I can’t see him.”

“You’re the one who came up with the plan. Think of another one.”

“Hey, the rope just went loose!”

“It’s cut!”

I carried the kobold in my arm, a safe distance from the trio of bandits. She did not seem particularly grateful, or in any way emotive, with regard to her predicament.

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“Come back here, Avatar. We’re not done with you!” Gazon’s roar came from deep, enough to frighten me just a bit, even if I did favor my chances in a fight.

“But I’m done with you,” I replied.

“Don’t be a coward, fight me!”

“Not worth it. Besides, you ought to patch your foot up. I’m going to return to the haven. If you need me, you’ll find me there. I think if you want to keep up, you’ll have to trust your sisters to go ahead again. Make sure they’re holding hands though, otherwise they may be liable to get separated and possibly lost.”

I was talking too much, and the siblings were following the sound of my voice. I decided it was best not to let myself get carried away and ran off, despite fruitless cries from them for me to wait. The sand slowed me down some, but between Gazon’s injured foot, and their inability to see in the darkness, I was able to make some distance before too long, getting far enough away that they were out of sight. I placed Gate down and removed the remnants of her wrist bindings in the process.

“Why did you run away? You could have dealt with them then and there. With some finality.”

“I’ve never dealt with anyone with finality before.”

“I did not get a proper look at you before, but you’re new to Hell.”

“Only a temporary visit. You can call me Avatar.”

“Gate. Prawx sent you?”

“He figured something went wrong.”

“Are you one of his new guardians?”

“No. I was just passing by.”

“That’s a shame. It appears he could make good use of you.”

“Yeah. She’s down three guardians, now. She has my sympathies, but I have other obligations.”

“People are always looking for work in havens. He’ll find someone to replace them, I’m sure.”

“He’ll have to do it soon. I don’t think Gazon and his sisters will just sit back.”

“More reason why sometimes you have to put aside your self-righteousness and do what needs doing.”

“This isn’t my fight. He asked me to find you and bring you back. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m not in the business of killing.”

“So be it.”

“Do you mind if I ask you why you’re so valuable? You keep these havens running?”

“I lend my help to the havens. We try to make Hell a bit more bearable.”

“And that doesn’t sit well with some. How exactly do you help the havens? You don’t seem to have much about you. Well, not enough to keep them all going, at least. What are those? Potions?”

“The havens know they can’t rely on me entirely. But I can alleviate the pressure, from time to time. These vials are potions, though they’re just a portion of what I offer. I’m called Gate because of what I can do. Within me lives another world.”

“Heh?”

“You’re new to Hell, it may sound unbelievable to you.”

“I guess I did enter this world through a door in the middle of nowhere, but another world within you?”

“One where I am able to store an infinite amount of resources, should I access them.”

“You’re a walking caravan?” I wondered if she’d have understood her if I called her a walking bag of holding instead.

“More or less.”

“How?”

“It’s a long story. You’ve a lot to learn about Hell.”

“I have a lot to learn about too many things. I’m afraid I don’t intend to spend enough time in Hell for learning about this place to be all that worthwhile.”

“You will try to escape?”

“Let’s skip the part where you try to dissuade me. You aren’t the first. Not to be rude, just a tired conversation.”

“Fine, I won’t bore you with warnings. I’ll keep my history lesson on Hell brief since it won’t be of much long-term use to you.”

“There’s still time till we reach the haven, I guess. Go ahead.”

“Hell wasn’t always a desert wasteland.”

“Ha. Let me guess. Relentless exploitation of Hell’s resources. Climate apocalypse. And voila?”

“Weapons of mass destruction came into play long before this planet’s resources were depleted. But the original inhabitants of this planet were technologically advanced, beyond anything you can imagine.”

“I don’t know. You haven’t been off Hell in a while, have you?”

“I’ve lost count of the decades. Or was it centuries?”

“Maybe the rest of the world’s caught up. I’ve seen some pretty unbelievable things.”

“Perhaps. But that matters not to me. I’ve made my peace with Hell. Now, these original inhabitants weren’t inclined to simply be wiped away without a trace. Some of them had the intuition to find a way to survive. They reached a new state of being, converting their… souls… or minds… or whatever you might constitute as them, into a cluster of minuscule artificial beings. So small, as to be invisible to the eye. And for a long time, they wandered this planet thoughtlessly. My people discovered it long after this mutually assured destruction among these inhabitants had occurred. And by then, these precursors had changed drastically. Their way of thinking and being had evolved in a completely alien way to the manner in which you and I think. When prisoners began being offloaded onto Hell, some of them were infected with these artificial beings, reaching some sort of symbiosis. These precursors were able to alter our very biology in incomprehensible ways. Some of these alterations were simple enough. You saw Gazon’s arm.”

“I figured it was some sort of odd magic.”

“And the world within me is another example of this symbiosis.”

“I see. What you can do must be a valuable commodity on this planet.”

“Exactly. I am going to be pursued for as long as I am alive. It’s something I’ve long ago learned to accept.”

“But you were caught so easily.”

“I wanted to learn who was pursuing me. And if Prawx had betrayed me. He wouldn’t be the first. I’m often underestimated. That or greed blinds people. I’d intended to kill them after I found who’d employed them. You could say you saved them from that fate, although if they choose to pursue me, they won’t be as lucky a second time.”

“Then I didn’t rescue you.”

“You couldn’t have known any better. I know Prawx didn’t betray me though, and that’s comforting. I’ve gotten used to the betrayals, but they still disappoint me.”

“They were working for someone else, you think?”

“Could be. Or they may have done it of their own volition, knowing someone out there would pay. Still, any number of people could have also hired them. There’s a lot who stand to gain from the fall of havens, mainly those who run the mining factories. And they have the resources at their disposal to afford… well, my disposal.”

“I guess that means they’ll leave Prawx’s haven alone once you’ve finished your business there.”

“I expect they’ll be hoping to catch me on my way out.”

“Quite the perilous life you live.”

“It’s Hell. We all live perilous lives. I won’t take your help for granted, and neither will Prawx. You’ll have a place to stay for as long as you need it. Your time here, however brief you hope it to be, will be a bit less perilous, for the moment.”