Satoshi POV
I quickly made my way to pick up Feriana from the guild. I wasn’t sure if she’d still be there but I didn’t have a choice. The entire place was in chaos. From the sky, I could see that the burns had started from somewhere in the slums and had destroyed everything in a radius of about 50 meters. The circle of destruction hence travelled in a straight line towards where I was and then expanded to about 500 meters. I could almost see what must have happened. This teenager was under the guidance of our mysterious summoner to reach me. Then some idiot in the slums must’ve have attacked him, thinking him a loner kid with no way of protecting himself. That would’ve been the trigger, then we all know the rest.
I discreetly landed somewhere with no one around and made my way to the guild. The news had evidently spread since even though this place was relatively far from the area of influence, the streets were chaotic with people running here and there in attempts to get away. At the same time, I could see groups of adventurers with mighty-looking shiny gear running towards the direction of chaos.
I kept both my guard and my hood, up. Now that the air around me wasn’t heated to abnormal levels I tuned my detection to a high range with maximum precision. There was no way anyone could sneak up on me, even that monster.
I entered the guild and it was similarly chaotic here. Everyone was shouting and screaming and running about. I couldn’t care less what they were doing; I just wanted to find Feriana and leave this place. And if I didn’t find her soon, I was prepared to leave by myself.
Suddenly I felt a presence running up to me from behind.
(Fuck!)
I thought they found me and almost burst their lungs but stopped in the nick of time when I realised that it was just the person I was looking for.
“Saattooooshhiiiiiii!!!!!!!”
She jumped on to me and I didn’t bother dodging; just softened her landing on me with a blow of air and then supported us both.
“I was ***** you!” (A/N: Italics => Beastkin language)
She said something to me but I was least bothered to try and understand right now. While she was still on me, I rushed us both out of the guild and without a care for any onlookers, shot up into the sky and sped into the direction of the wolf village. It was the farthest place I knew from here that hosted civilization. Not to mention, I had been intending to return there at some point of time to convey my gratitude for saving me. I just hoped that place was also secluded enough to not hear of whatever happened here.
“Satoshi.. What ***** back there?”
“Fight. Fire kid. Then. Die by monster. I run. Hold you. Run.”
“Monster?”
I was maintaining a bubble of air around us because otherwise we wouldn’t be able to breathe, not to mention the sheer air resistance at our speeds would rip us apart. The bubble also allowed sound to easily travel inside it hence we could converse.
“Monster. Big. Gold.”
I used the word for gold that I knew from the currency. I wasn’t sure if it would get help but it did.
“******..? King?”
“King? That ‘thing’ was the king of beastkins!?” (A/N: Satoshi shifted to his native language here. ‘’ are for emphasis.)
Feriana didn’t say anything at my agitation. It was possible that there was some miscommunication. No it was likely to be a miscommunication; aren’t kings supposed to be fat little obstinate dickheads who don’t care whatever happens in their kingdom as long as they are well fed? There was no way Feriana could interpret a big golden monster as king.
“King. Big?”
She nodded.
“Gold?”
She nodded.
“Strong?”
She nodded.
“‘Very’ strong?”
She nodded again.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
I did the action of showing a lion’s and hence, that monster’s facial hair.
She nodded yet again.
“Well, fuck.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A lot had happened in a very short time and I needed time to think. Once we had travelled quite a distance, I slowed our pace down as the heavy continuous usage of my ability was starting to develop a small migraine. We had left early in the day and now that I was much more practised and in control of my ability, I was hopeful we might be able to reach the wolf village before the night. Otherwise, I’d have to make a stop in that shitty lizard city.
Anyways, back to thinking. A lot had happened. First was that fire-kid. He was the same as me, someone who was summoned to this world; just, as I could control air, he could fire. Were there more, then? What that mysterious entity said came to my mind. We were both summoned to this place by him. And I should follow the fire kid to find him if I wanted what I truly desired. Well, that last advice of this mysterious entity was in the gutter with the fire-kid being dead ‘n all, though I don’t think I’d like to meet this entity anyways. Clearly, it was influencing the fire-kid’s brain in a way to make him subservient. I don’t think anyone in their right minds would ‘willingly’ go and meet someone capable of doing so.
There was just so much more to think of and so much more that didn’t make any sense. What was it that I truly desired, according to the entity? Even I wasn’t sure of what I truly desired. In fact, my one true desire was to be free, like the wind and I believe I already have it. Was it something I didn’t know or didn’t understand, for clearly there was a LOT of things in this world the same applied to. Could whatever he offered be more attractive than giving up my freedom? This was one thing I was sure the answer to: No.
Then what about others? Are there more people he summoned? Why didn’t he send one of them if “the fire ones are so annoying”? Were they like me, assuming they existed? That he couldn’t control them and was trying to seek them out? What purpose, in the first place, did he summon us for? What now that one of them is dead? Does he care? Does he face any retribution? If he was summoning us, why did I land in the middle of nowhere? Couldn’t he have chosen a better place for me to land?
A phantom pain shot up from my missing left leg and I relinquished that chain of thought. There was too much that didn’t make any sense about this mysterious entity. The only things I understood from all of this was; 1) I was indeed summoned by someone and it wasn’t a random phenomenon. 2) This someone wanted something from me. 3) There may be others like me.
No wait. There was something else. He'd said "Fire ones are 'always' so annoying." It wasn't his first time summoning? He'd summoned us before. Rather, people like us, from Earth, and given us abilities. This made even less sense. I wasn't even sure what questions to ask next. 'Why' was an obvious choice but it wasn’t enough. There were too many 'Why's. Why summon in the first place? What was it that he wanted to achieve? Was it not achieved? Why summon again? Why summon in such a brutish manner where his summons potentially die as soon as they arrive in this world and without a helping hand and away from himself? Was he scared? Maybe it was part of experience that he learnt to do it this way. Facing dangers and failing to adapt might make his offer more attractive. Much more attractive, considering that full-of-wrath fire-kid chose to accept it, assuming he had a choice.
I shook my head. This was leading me nowhere. I could consciously explore endless possibilities with no way of determining what was right.
I looked towards Feriana. She hadn't said a thing. For the chatterbox she usually was, even she could tell I was hard in thought, or maybe she herself was. As always, she had left her entire body weight in my hands, figuratively. It made it easy for me to make her fly. It was almost as if she was an inanimate object and I was just pushing her by my side.
I looked ahead. The lizardman city was visible in the distance, standing as a grotesque reminder of its existence. I really did not want to stay here but I was getting tired and the sun was starting to set. I would be able to reach the wolfman village but I’d be exhausted and I wasn’t sure if I’d exactly be welcome there. As much as I wanted to relay my gratitude, I’d rather stay alive and un-captured given the option.
“Ugh.. fuck it. We’ll leave this place the first thing in the morning.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I left Feriana outside the city somewhere I felt she’d be safe. I somehow managed to explain to her that I’ll find us a house for the night and departed to look for it. This time, with a much better hold on my ability, I was able to search incredibly fast and it only took me about 10 minutes of searching to find an empty place. I checked it out and it wasn’t like last time either and was easy to gain access to. I entered and from one look at the kitchen area, I could tell it was inhabited, just that the inhabitants weren’t home yet. I sighed and left.
I went back to Feriana with some of the food that I’d found in that kitchen that seemed edible. The sun had almost set and we hadn’t eaten in quite a while. I’d go do the search again in the night when the residents are more likely to be inside and I don’t have to worry about false positives.
We shared the meaty dish I’d brought back in a clean piece of cloth that I found in the same house. After we had taken a few bites in silence, Feriana started talking.
“Satoshi, I ***** tell you *******.”
I didn’t understand what she was saying so I just looked at her. I didn’t manage to buy new writing supplies in the morning but thankfully, I had my earlier notes on me. I had made it a habit of keeping them in my robe so I automatically took them with me if I ever went out.
“Long long(?) years behind(?), ******** five humans, *********** power of one of the ******** elements. They were ***************** magic like ***** of the *****."
I took my notes out but realised they were useless at the moment since the sun had almost set and there were no alternate sources of light in our vicinity. I just sat and listened to Feriana in hopes of practicing the language and maybe learn a few more words.
"I don't know if ****** is/are(?) but ******* say they is/are(?). It is **** said that **** have not been seen in tens-ten-hundred(?) year. But those humans is/are(?). We call them *********."
There was something about that last word she said that sounded familiar. It was used by that rabbit woman and even that lion king. I only remember it because of the intonation attached with it. As if it was the most spiteful thing ever.
"Every 300 years, they appear(?) with their ***** magic and *** destroy(?) to every other ****, be it beastkins, *****, dwarves, ***** or any other ****."
I wasn't able to figure out much but I had the feeling that this was important.
“Satoshi, I think you are the wind(?) *******.”
There was that word again. Elemental.
"****** say the destroy(?) lasts for one **** year and then the elementals(?) not-appear(?). ******** of the ******* elements ******, they are ****** and every time they appear ***** are burn(?), forests are ******, ***** are *******, **** kingdoms are waste(?).”
I could sort of see where this was going.
“I don’t know more than this. This is the ***** that is ***** told to us and everyone knows it. Some say that is a ****, a *********. I was thinking about it. Maybe people think like that because it has been few(?) time since the elementals appear(?). Maybe ****** 300 years.”
There was some clue to my identity in what she was telling me. There was only so much I could make sense of, at the moment but what I could understand was that my presence wasn’t exactly welcomed.
“And the ***** that just ******* behind(?) at the kingdom. I was at the guild. It was told that the fire elemental had appear(?). For the King himself to come and fight, it is a ***********.”
Feriana kept speaking but the rest of it was too confusing to understand. What I understood from the ‘story’ she was telling me, was that every 300 years or so, five humans would appear, each able to control one element. The people of this world call them elementals. And I’m supposed to be the elemental that is in-charge of air. Also, I’m probably supposed to bring about some sort of destruction? Well, count me out. I could totally see the fire-kid doing that, but not me. Na-uh. Nada. Nope. Why would I do something so troublesome? It’s a pain in the ass. I’d rather live my days exploring the world and enjoying my freedom. Fighting something like that kind of a monster that might kill me before I even know, it would put a stop to my plans so no, not happening.
“*********** was ********* in *********.”
Feriana’s talk, though from her expression seemed important had gotten way too incomprehensible that I couldn’t even stop and meaningful questions.
(I better go back and look for a place to spend the night.)