“You there, Zan?” Luxley spoke.
“I am,” Zan said right away.
“Sorry for leaving you so suddenly. I had… issues. My dad is still being a dick!” he said. Zan consoled him and asked him what the issue was, but he said it remained, shoring up security, busy-body stuff resulting from Zan’s last visited.
“It’s complicated…” Luxley said. “Anyway, I just wanted to reach out and reassure you we are still good. And I am still alive!”
“I’m happy to hear. I was wondering what happened. Are you all good? Later today, or maybe tomorrow, I am heading into a battle. So I need to be fully prepared.”.
“A battle?! That’s SO cool! What’s it like?” Luxley implored Zan to say.
Zan took a few minutes to explain to Luxley what it was like. He seemed impressed.
“So, nobody actually dies?” Luxley asks.
“I have seen no one die — yet! It happens, though. I’ve seen the enemy control massive war machines with huge legs and big cannons. I’m always afraid how the next battle with be the one with death.”
Luxley said nothing. One of those awkward, mysterious silences came between them. Luxley, eventually, said, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright. It is not what I signed up for when I was born, but what can you do, right? It is merely the circumstances of my birth…”
Another silence. Zan thought he heard from the other end a soft sobbing noise, like Luxley was crying. He did not know how to bring that up without sounding too overly concerned when he and Luxley were still getting to know each other. Plus, Zan did not want Luxley to lose ‘face.’ Good way to drive friends away, he knew.
“What are you going to do after the battle?” Luxley asked with great strain, signaling to Zan he had been crying.
“Oh… I have no clue. I guess resume our search for the academic,” Zan yawned as he stripped down his battle gear and clothes.
“Academic?” Luxley asked, his tone changing.
“Yeah. Oh. So… without going into too many boring details. We found this list of locations where defensive structures from a super long time ago are buried. If we can gain control of these structures, we might be able to turn the course of the war. Only problem is the list is written in the Old Tongue Script. Which we don’t speak. So, I bet you can figure the rest,” Zan explained.
“Oh, yeah. That would be a bummer. Sorry. Is there not anyone nearby who can read the script? Do you know?” Luxley asked.
Stolen story; please report.
“If there is, we don’t know of them; that’s why we’re searching. Of course, it’s hard to search when there is also a war going on. Lots of interruptions. Especially when we don’t know how to ride a horse…”
Changing his intonation to that of a songbird, Luxley then announced something which changed the course of their budding friendship. “Guess what? I can’t hold it in anymore! I know the old tongue!”
Zan shot up in his bed. His heart beat. He felt excitement again.
“Dude… you being real right now? Do you really know the Old Tongue Script? You can actually read it?”
“Barely. But yeah. Plus, I have books about it. And an old teacher I could call upon. We’re going to get that list of yours translated, buddy. So… the sooner I have it, the better.
The sooner you will know about those bunkers. Do you think you could run it to me now?” Luxley asked.
Zan wanted to rush the list to Luxley. But he couldn’t, he realized. Though he had gained a burst of energy upon hearing Luxley knew the language, just thinking about getting to the White Chamber after re-dressing, then walking the Backroads, then handing it to him, possibly having to deal with unexpected issues… it all made him tired.
“I can’t,” Zan said. “I would love to, but I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m so tired, Luxley. I want to sleep. Then in the morning, I need to train a bit on a new tool, bike, thing I got.”
“So… after the battle?” Luxley asked.
Zan continued to think. “How long would it take to translate?”
Luxley began a response, then stopped. “Not super long. But potentially a while?”
“Potentially?” Zan asked.
“Uh… as I said, I am not a master in the script. I can only read it. Poorly. So, depending on the accent types and the dialect, it might take me a while.”
“How long is ‘a while’?” Zan asked, though this time with faux-fear.
“Maybe a week? More?” Luxley replied.
A week? That was ‘a while.’ What other option did they have? Zan thought it it was going to take Luxley a full week to translate the piece, then there was no reason not to run it up to him after the battle. Between now and the battle’s end, it would be three days, tops. So what was a week plus three days?
“I will run the list up to you after the battle. This time, though, before I come, I need you to do something for me,” Zan said.
“Oh? What it is?” Luxley asked, his tone curious.
“Last time I’ve been up to your place, being in my war-fighter gear has presented issues for me. Work out a disguise for me, please. An excuse. Something which will not set off alarms if I am seen… last thing I need is to get into a desperate life-or-death battle where you live and potentially end up killing your castle guards or whatever.”
“Good point!” Luxley said. “I will start working on a disguise or excuse or something as soon as we stop talking! Yeah. Good idea. Your whole deal has caused so much grief in the castle. Yeesh. One guy is sighted, one time, with no explanation and chaos from top to bottom. Not like I can intervene without giving away my position. I feel bad for the good workers who were fired because of it…”
Now Zan felt bad. People lost their jobs because of him?
“Luxley! try to do something for those people. If you can. I feel terrible they lost their jobs over me,” Zan said, nearly on the verge of tears.
“I will. I am sure they’ve found better jobs by now. I will check in on them and offer what I can. Maybe talk to whoever is in charge of security here.”
“Awesome. Thank you, bud.” a pause for thinking. Then Zan said, “I really need to go to bed. I will run that list up to you the soonest I can. Okay?”
“Okay. I will get to work on that disguise so there won’t be anymore drama. Sleep well, buddy. Talk to you soon. Over and out.”
“Over and out, buddy. Over and out.”