Ander

Ander bounced up and down in excitement despite the early hour. A rapping on his door had awakened him well before sunrise. Now, Ander was left to wait impatiently for the shaper to arrive. He had only gotten a few hours of sleep, but this would be the first time meeting another shaper, and the thought had him giddy with anticipation.

“Stop moving around so much,” Mora growled, “It’s far too early to have that much energy. Now, sit down and be patient.”

Ander reluctantly took a seat at one of the empty tables bouncing one leg up and down, still unable to contain his excitement. Mora eyed the bouncing limb, but didn’t say anything.

Ander suddenly wished he hadn’t eaten so quickly earlier in the morning. He had stuffed himself with the leftovers from his trip and then with breakfast from the inn’s kitchen. He wasn’t hungry, but if he had some food it would at least give him something to do while he waited for the shaper to arrive.

“Why is she coming so early in the morning anyway?” Emren asked, trying to pass the time.

“Spectralia has become far more dangerous in the past few weeks, especially for shapers.”

“Why is that?”

“I’m not certain. Like I said last night, I don’t really know much about it. Asha will be able to explain much better than I can.”

It wasn’t long before a knocking could be heard at the door to the inn, and Ander felt his chest tighten as emotions began to run rampant through him.

Mora walked over, unlatched the door and pulled it open. There in the doorway stood a girl with long black hair. She looked to be around his age, and she had an unruly look to her, accentuated by an unrestrained caste to her dark brown eyes. She immediately focused her attention on Ander.

“Who are you?” She asked, “Taking on a guarded expression.”

“He’s a guest,” Mora said, “His name is Ander, I thought you should meet him.”

“Why is that?” the girl asked, handing a satchel to Mora.

“He’s a shaper Asha.” Mora said offhandedly, taking the satchel and moving off to enter the kitchen.

“Really? He looks like a chump.”

Ander’s jaw dropped. This was not what he was expecting. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but this was not it.

Ander let out a nervous chuckle, I can’t make a poor impression on the first shaper I meet, he thought, standing up and shuffling nervously.

“I’m Ander.” He said, donning a smile. “Good to meet you Asha.”

“Hey Mora,” Asha called out, “Where did you find this bumpkin?”

“Be kind Asha,” Mora said sternly, her voice coming from the kitchen, “Ander is from the Tenzen Valley, and this is his first time in Spectralia. Why don’t you show him around the city? I’ll throw in some extra food for a week if you do.”

A calculating expression appeared instantly on Asha’s face, and she examined Ander for a moment before she smiled, the calculating expression leaving just as quickly as it had arrived.

“Sure,” she said, “I would love to.”

Ander didn’t like the look of that smile, but he was happy for the opportunity to see the city. This would be his greatest adventure yet.

Mora walked in from the kitchen; the satchel now full.

“Bring him back in one piece before midnight, or you won’t be getting anything more from me.”

Asha nodded, taking on a serious expression as she turned toward the exit.

“It’s time to go.” She said, walking toward the door of the inn.

“Wait, just like that?” Ander asked.

“Of course. Do you have something else better to do?”

Ander flushed, and followed the girl. As he moved closer to her every sensation in his body seemed to go haywire, and he froze up for a second before he continued to follow Asha. It was one of the most uncomfortable things he had ever felt.

That’s what a realm of influence feels like Ander thought. No wonder people hate it so much.

“Be careful.” Mora called out to them as they left.

Ander turned back to give her a small wave goodbye before closing the door behind them. When he turned around Asha was already moving off, and he hurried to catch up to her. It was still early enough in the morning that the streets were empty except for a few street vendors setting up their wares for the day. Asha steered clear of them. No doubt wanting to make sure they didn’t feel the touch of her realm of influence.

“Where are we going?” Ander asked as he caught up to the girl.

She glanced at him, the wild look in her eye once again apparent.

“You haven’t seen Spectralia before, huh? I guess I’ll give you a little tour. We gotta go quick though. Hurry up.”

Asha quickened her stride until it was almost awkward for Ander to keep up. He wanted to ask Asha more questions, but she didn’t seem like she was in the mood to talk, so he focused his attention on the surrounding city.

When he first entered Spectralia it had been dark enough that the city’s features were almost completely obscured. The lighting was still poor, but he could make out a little more than he had the night before.

Ander gaped at what he could see. Brick buildings that reached far into the sky, far higher and more beautiful than he had ever seen in Payra.

He wished he could inspect everything more closely, but Asha kept her pace study and Ander often had to jog to catch up after falling behind while staring almost everything they passed. It was all so new and interesting to him. After yet another quick jog, Ander noticed where they were headed. It was a little lighter after their walk and that light illuminated a majestic sight.

In the center of an empty square, a massive tower reached up into the heavens. The tower was far taller than any other building Ander had seen. As he and Asha drew closer, he could make out carvings and reliefs of different plants and animals covering every inch its surface. Asha stopped and grinned at Ander's stupefied expression.

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“This is our first stop on our tour. What do you think, Chump?”

“It’s beautiful.” Ander said in awe.

“Sure is,” Asha said, “Novians are scum, but they sure do know how to make an impression.”

Ander frowned at that, but before he could say anything Asha was off once again.

“Come on Chump,” She called back, “We need to keep to a schedule”

Emren hurried after Asha, but he kept looking back at the tower long after they had left the square.

The longer they walked the more people there were on the streets. It wasn’t long before they had to constantly cross from one side of the road to the other to keep anyone from entering their realms of influence. Ander’s attention soon passed from the buildings to the people. Ander smiled as he recognized them from the stories that Cyrus had told him. There were silk-wrapped desert dwellers, bare chested easterners, and pale skinned Shaelens. There was even a group of merchants dressed all in different shades of purple.

Ander was so busy staring, that when Asha spoke it caught him off guard.

“This is the grand forum of Spectralia. It’s where the Arbiters play their petty games with the lives of the people they oppress.”

She said it with an ugly sneer that didn’t match the stately building in the distance. From what Ander could see, it was a perfectly circular domed building ringed by columns of marble. There were inscriptions on each of the pillars, but they were far enough away that Ander couldn’t read the words.

“What did the arbiters do to you?” Ander asked.

“You’re clueless.” She said, shaking her head. “Come on, let me show you. This wasn’t much of a tour, but we need to get back.”

Once again Asha set a quick pace leading Ander through streets with more and more people in them. Instead of taking the main streets that they had been using earlier, Asha led them through narrow backstreets, and Ander was surprised at how quickly the roads deteriorated as they moved onward.

After the beauty of the city behind him, the juxtaposition was startling. Street after street of buildings caked in soot and grime greeted him as they continued walking. Asha kept glancing behind them, and it had started to make Ander nervous. The walk seemed like an eternity, especially with all the looks that Asha was throwing behind their backs.

Ander was about to ask what was wrong when they rounded a corner and Asha suddenly grabbed Ander’s arm and hauled him into another nearby alleyway. Ander opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Asha fixed him with a glare so intense he shut his mouth without speaking. Asha turned back to the entrance of the alleyway and looked out, almost like she was waiting for something.

They stayed like that for a full five minutes before Asha finally turned around.

“I don’t think anyone is following us.” She said, “Let’s go.”

She started walking once again. Twice, Ander tried asking why someone would be following them, but Asha simply ignored him. When he asked a third time, Asha told him to be quiet, then sped up her pace.

Ander sighed and followed in silence through dark alleyways until they reached a group of buildings that looked even rougher than the others in the area. Asha walked up to a door on the largest building and let out a whistle that sounded almost like a bird call.

Ander felt the realm of influence of another shaper come over them before the sound of a bolt unlocking could be heard from inside the building, and the door opened revealing a smiling man.

“You’re back.” He said, “We were afraid that you had been taken when you didn’t return on time.”

“Yeah,” Asha said, pointing a thumb at Ander. “Mora asked me to show the kid around, said she'll give us extra for it.”

“Wonderful, come on in.”

The man stood to the side and let them enter. Ander almost gagged as soon as he stepped through the doorway. What’s making that smell? He wondered, doing his best to breathe through his mouth to limit the effects of the smell.

Asha walked into a larger room without seeming to notice the stench. When Ander entered the room, the smell only intensified. The origin of the smell became apparent as he looked around. The room was packed full of unwashed bodies, most of which were slumped forms lying on the ground. Almost every person appeared sickly and weak. Dozens of shapers shared the space, their realms of influence mixing. The people in the room looked pathetic, and Ander saw several coughing weakly.

“I’m back.” Asha called to the room and held up the satchel holding the food from Mora’s inn. Several of the shapers that appeared to be a little healthier than the others lifted themselves up and crowded around Asha, who began to dole out the food. The next actions had a mechanical feel to them, as if they had been performed many times.

Each of the shapers that received food took it to one of the slumped figures around the room, and handed the small to them before returning for more. After they left for a second time Asha handed him a hunk of cheese and roll.

“Give this out to someone who hasn’t gotten any yet.”

Ander nodded and walked toward a figure laying on the ground not too far away. He knelt down by the figure and saw that she was a woman with a thick layer of sweat on her brow. Her eyes were closed, so Ander gently shook her shoulder. She coughed weakly at the touch, but her eyes opened even though she seemed to have difficulty focusing on him.

Ander pressed the bread and cheese into her hands, but she coughed once again, not moving to eat. Ander looked around the room, then stood up and walked to Asha.

“Is there any drinking water?”

Asha nodded toward a full water skin half hidden underneath a nearby blanket. Ander grabbed the skin and returned to the sick woman. He once again knelt down next to her, and lifted her head, cradling it in his lap, and trying to help her to drink the water. After a little effort she took a few sips.

Ander’s heart almost broke for this poor woman when she coughed, and some of the precious liquid spilled from her mouth. She was so weak, just drinking water seemed to drain her strength.

Ander lost track of time as he slowly coaxed more of the water into the woman’s mouth. Eventually, she stopped taking water and Ander switched to the food. After drinking, she seemed to cough a little less, and she eventually ate the entire portion of food.

Ander’s vision was blurry with tears by the time she took the last bite. This poor woman was only one of many in the building who seemed to be dealing with the same sickness.

Ander’s legs ached when he finally moved from his position. He gently laid the woman’s head down and walked to where Asha was sitting down on the floor with her back to the wall the rest of the food long since dispensed. Ander took a seat next to her, trying to find his words.

“Why don’t you bring a healer here to help these people?” Ander eventually asked.

“No healer will come to help a bunch of shapers. We’re hated. Loathed by the people of Spectralia.”

“They can’t possibly hate you so much they would let these people die.”

“You just don’t understand, do you? Us shapers, we’re stuck in a cycle. People hate us, they won’t do business with us, they won’t give us jobs, except for the most menial and dangerous that there is, and even then, there’s never enough to go around. Without work, we can’t eat, these people can’t feed their families. They get desperate, and desperate people do things that they wouldn’t otherwise. Almost every shaper eventually turns to crime, which makes the people of Spectralia hate them even more, and then they are even less likely to give the next shaper a job. The cycle just keeps on turning. We can’t escape it.”

“But surely, there’s something you can do. These people might die if you don’t do something!”

“I’m doing everything I can,” Asha said, her eyes losing the vacant expression and gaining that wild intensity that he had noticed when they had first met. “I bring them food and water, and I try to care for them, but it’s not that easy.”

Ander stared into those dark eyes, mesmerized by her intensity for a moment before realization dawned on him.

“Does it have to do with all the shapers that have been disappearing?”

“Yeah, people are hunting us, and they won’t stop. We thought it would die down eventually, so we all tried to hide and bunker down, but the disappearances keep happening. Every person who leaves this building runs the risk of being caught and bringing down the hunters on every person here. We can’t leave to work or anything unless it’s at a time when no one is on the streets.”

“Who are they? Why are they interested in shapers?”

“I don’t know, but they’re dangerous,” Asha said, her expression darkening, “And no one will stop them.”

She sounded more frustrated the longer she spoke. The last few words, about no one stopping them, were especially bitter.

“You’re talking about the arbiters” Ander guessed. “They won’t help the shapers.”

“Yes, the supposedly fair and just arbiters. The same people that claim to mediate and create a place of equality for all. They would have directly driven us from the city long ago except one of the codes forbids it. Instead, they make laws that only let us move around the city at certain hours, all in the name of our ‘protection’. They will also give us the most menial and degrading government sponsored jobs that no one else in the city wants. And all the while we suffer, they applaud themselves for their kindness.”

“The truth of the matter is they never really helped us before the hunters came, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t help us now. Those fools are probably sitting on their thrones happy that shapers are disappearing, so they won’t have us in their beloved city anymore. The only reason we’ve lasted this long is because of Mora. She gives us what food she can and that has kept us alive for now. She’s given us a little more time, but I’m afraid if this continues, we’ll all soon be dead.”