It was just another hot day in the city of Auret.
No one expected it to be like that.
After the dark forces occupied the city, the assumption was that things would change for the worst. Human sacrifices, wives and daughters being abused for amusement, starvation, death by enforced slave labor, maybe even genocide.
None of that happened. Life...hasn’t actually changed. With the exception of who policed the streets, collected coin, and gave orders, life still went on as normal. The new masters have stated that there will be changes but added that they want to preserve the city as is.
Near the south entrance of the market, an old lady yelled a few orders at the younger women who worked in back. They were still in sight but far away enough to work comfortably fast without messing with the counter or each other. They quickly went about preparing food for the line of customers who queued beside the stall. It wasn’t a really big stall. Just a tarp over a few stoves and a wooden counter the old lady was able to scrounge up. The food she served was nothing special. Honestly, a meal anyone could make. But people were willing to pay and she was eager to take their coin.
The streets are filled with a bustling crowd moving about, some with animals, some wearing armor with their blades stowed beside them. Some stopped by a few other vendors to inspect their wears, others seem to be in a rush.
There's a noticeable shift in the crowd.
The crowd quickly made room for a Dark One.
Taller than a man and more shapely than one, to the old lady, worn and shrivelled with age, it might as well be a giant. It wore a cloak as black as night that ended past its knees, it wore matching pants and thick leather armor in place of a shirt that covered even its neck. The helm it wore, black is it was, glistening under the sun, yet it was not metal. It’s visor, wider than it had any right to be, was made of tinted glass that failed to mask a pair of eerie purple glowing orbs. The helm had a weird apparatus where the mouth would have space to breathe, it was round and thick. The gloves it wore looked like it breathed a little and also had a metal plate on the back.
The old lady held her breath before she realized the giant held no weapon. It had a large steel shield strapped to it's back and a bandolier with dark items, about the size of her fist, that glowed a familiar eery purple color in weird patterns.
The Shield Bearer.
It garnered something of a reputation. More docile than the other Dark Ones and but was not above the use of force. That exact same one was making its way to the old lady’s stall, just like the number of times it had before.
It quietly strode to her stall, skipping ahead of many people who were lined up, but none said a word. It produced a metal container from its coat and hunched a little to set it on her stall.
“Today’s special,” it said in a deep but raspy voice.
The old lady nodded, she didn’t show fear, she refused to do so. Fearful as she was, it was her own act of defiance.
She grabbed the container, opened it as she had before and proceed to fill the thing herself. The girls under her had become more than competent, but she was not going to leave this to chance. She was not going to risk upsetting the Dark One and have her stall destroyed. She quickly went about filling the container with rice, savoury bean paste, spiced meat, and thin flexible flatbread made from floured corn. After she was done, she briskly moved to give the giant his purchase. Truthfully the amount she packed didn’t seem like it would be enough to feed the thing, but she brushed it off. The Dark One wanted and paid for it. That was good enough for the old lady and the fact that a Dark One trusted her stall enough was good enough publicity.
It pulled out a few coins from its coat when it froze. It slowly turned its head. The old lady followed it’s gaze down passed the line, two muscled idiots had drawn their blades. It stood tall as it placed the coins on the counter and stowed its purchase. Calmly, it began to approach them.
She could faintly hear the argument. Something about taking the last smoked meat from a vendor. Regardless, they both looked ready to shed some blood and exact a pound of flesh in return. Then she noticed it. Someone with dark skin donning a dark blue cloak trailed behind the Dark One.
“STOP!” The Dark One’s voice boomed as he stopped a few steps away from the two young men. “Fighting is prohibited here. If you have grievances you wish to resolve by combat, head to the Colosseum.”
“Fuck off! This is between me and this Bastard!” One if the young men shouted. “He’s about to feel what a master crafted blade feels like!” He taunted while brandishing his axe.
“OH-I’ve been waitin’ for this!” Shouted the other as he waved around his double-edged sword. “When I’m done, you’re gonna be begging me to end your life you yellow bellied bastard!”
As the two shouted, the old lady couldn’t help but eye the slim figure, that’s how she caught a glimpse of the wicked dagger. She could only see the point but it was twisted and looked more like a spike.
“...Isn’t that straight from that one western anime?” The Dark One asked. Suddenly the two young men and the slim figure behind the giant froze. “I think, anyway. I guess Weebs have their moments,” it shrugged.
“NOW!” A feminine voice shouted. It was the slim figure who shouted before she leapt with great strength onto the Dark One’s back. With the left hand, she grasped his shoulder while her right hand wield the twisted dagger and brought down!
Quick as a snake, the Dark One grasped the hand before the blade could draw blood. The man with the sword brought it down to slash, but that too was within the Dark One’s grasp. The last man with an axe, however, was able to do an exaggerated spin hit the Dark One at his left side, there was the sound of something breaking. For a heartbeat, it was as if time had frozen.
“What?” The man wielding the axe let out, surprised not to find blood if the old lady had to guess.
“Yeah, it’s not a cosmetic choice-” The Dark One replied in very a casual way, it was a bit unsettling.
“AAAH!” The girl suddenly screamed as she dropped the dagger, the Dark One’s grip visibly sinking into her flesh.
“There’s an actual reason,” it grunted as it used its incredible strength to hoist the girl over his shoulder and bring her down like a hammer on top of the young man who didn’t think to let go of the sword that was still in the Dark One’s grasp, “I wear this crap!”
A sickening crunch was followed by a cacophony of pained screams. The other men and women had their weapons out but they were unsure how to act. The honest folks without one quickly backed away from the scene, but couldn’t help but witness the events that are transpiring.
“Oh fuck this shit,” the man with the axe suddenly said, dropping said weapon and turned to run.
“...Wait really?” The Dark One let out in an exasperated tone as it saw the young man run away. “...No-wait, really?” People made way for the running man, unsure of what to do. The Dark One let go of the sword that was still in its grasp and lifted something egged-shaped from its bandolier. It took a weird stance, lifted it’s leg up as its body fell back a bit before it snapped forward and threw a purple glowing object.
The object sailed overhead, spiralling as it did so. It was not long before it came down and hit the man on the back of the head. Unsurprisingly, the man fell over, but as he did so, the ground sprung to life! It acted like a living creature that quickly caught the man. The man let out a very feminine scream as he fell to the ground while his body was quickly encased in a cocoon made of dirt.
“Still got it,” the Dark One said with a proud nod. It then turned to watch the various men and women holding their weapons. “...I’m going to assume all of you are trying to impress me, sorry but it's a wasted effort.”
The Dark One pointed to a tall plateau that overlooked the city. There lies a large glistening structure built into the cliff face of the plateau. It was a tall and wide structure made with lots of glass, so tall that it reached the top of the plateau. It had so much glass it looked fragile, almost as if throwing a rock was all it would take to break the whole thing. But that was not the case at all.
“Head to that building if you are looking for work. Can’t guarantee you anything, but I doubt you’ll find work of that nature anywhere else in this city. If you have business with me, however,” it stretched, loud cracks followed, and then it gestured to the people who attacked it, “I’m afraid you will have to wait your turn.”
Aside from a few pained moans, silence reigned amongst the armed men and women before they finally put their weapons away. A good number went back to their own business, but quite a few headed to the glass building.
The Dark One shook its head at the sight before it focused on the people that attacked it earlier. Then slowly turned, scanning the crowd before it’s gaze settled on a man with a horse and wagon, yet said wagon was empty. The man was young, a bit of hair on his face, long brown hair, light tan. He wore a white shirt and brown pants. The man winced when it saw the Dark One approach him.
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Merric did not see his day going this way.
Honestly, he didn’t know what he was thinking. When the three walked up to him and explained their situation, everything felt clear. It felt…right. He snuck them into Auret in his wagon, unafraid of the what ifs and could be’s. He had a great and unshakable desire to do this, damn the consequences.
He quickly sold off his family’s harvest with their help, cheaper than he was used to but it didn’t matter, they needed the space. After room was made, he waited until they had a plan. Once they got one, they told him his part. He would wait nearby and move in after they dispatched a Dark One. He would carry the body, and drive everyone out of the city before the dark forces occupying it had any idea of what was going on.
Honestly, he didn’t know what was worse: the fact that he was somehow okay with the plan or that fact he was now carrying the writhing and injured bodies of the very people he snuck into the city to the glass structure built into the cliff face of the plateau. The ebony woman’s arm and leg were bent the wrong way, the man who carried a sword could barely breathe in his bindings, and the man who ran was still encased in dirt and was crying. Their would be victim walked beside his horse, waving to its brethren as it saw them and they waved back in an eerily synched manner.
They were not men. Never men, let alone human. Merric saw the aftermath of the city’s conquest. The things looked like pale men without a thread of hair, but the skin color was too unnatural and the eyes, they did not look right. Also, it lacked its genitals. He caught a few glimpses from the corpses he helped clean up for coin. It had only one hole, like a chicken. The thing beside him was nothing more than a puppet made of flesh. The old wizard his family had given shelter to had said as much. Yet the one beside him it acted as a person would, if a bit eccentric.
They finally arrived at the glass structure. It was tall and box-like, an impossible feat yet there it was. There were three puppets waiting by the door, and unlike the one beside him, they were well armed.
Merric’s heart raced when they approached. There were only three culprits, why did they need four Dark Ones?
“God damn,” one of them said in that same voice deep and gravelly voice, “one I understand, but three?” It lifted its left hand, signalling Merric to stop. “Didn’t think you had it in you.”
“I know how to do my job,” the Dark One beside Merric replied, standing a bit straighter.
“Grouchy,” the other replied in turn in a manner that really unnerved Merric, they’re supposed to be puppets, “meant no offense by that. Real proud of you, man.” One of the Dark Ones beside it slapped the back of its head.
“You get the memo,” the hitter replied.
“Yeah, yeah, on my way up,” it said as he walked passed the three, “can you guys handle the weebs?” It asked as he glanced at them.
The last of three snorted with a wave, “I’m sure we can manage.”
The Dark One with the shield shrugged and moved inside the structure.
The first Dark one that had spoken up earlier walked forward however, it didn’t approach the heroes, it approached Merric. Merric’s heart was racing. It looked at him as the other two moved to collect the heroes, reached inside it’s coat. It pulled out a bag. Merric let go of the breath he didn’t realize he was holding in.
“We appreciate your help,” it said as it tossed the bag towards him. Merric did his best to catch it but he still fumbled and ended up dropping the bag on his foot. He felt the contents. Coins.
“Don’t spend it all in one place,” he heard the Dark One reply in jovial tone as it moved to collect one of the heroes.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
He breathed in.
He wanted to punch it. He wanted to rip that damn helmet off and beat the damn thing to death with it! He wanted to save the heroes and take back the damn city, his damn city! If he could get one of the heroes free, he could get away, it would be possible. He might even get rewar-
“AHH!” Merric flinched when he heard the scream of pain along with a sickening crunch.
“Nah uh,” he heard one of the Dark Ones say, “no Ged-I mind rapes today, homes.”
Ged-I? Merric thought to himself in confusion.
“Hey kid,” a different Dark one said while tapping on the wood of his seat, causing him to jump. “Best you get going, before you see something you don’t want.”
Merric didn’t ignore its words. He quickly took the reigns and had the horse moving away from the glass structure.
When he was far away enough, he shivered and breathed a little too fast.
Again, he had no idea why he thought like that. Rip a helmet off and beat the Dark One to death with it? Where had that come from? Puppet or not, he just saw what was known as one of the more docile ones casually use the ebony woman as a club against the man who wielded the sword, what could he possibly think he could do?
He shook his head as his breathing settled.
He looked at the bag of coin he was given. He opened and quickly counted it. Enough to make up for the harvest he unloaded for cheap. As he rode back home, he started to think about ways to stay away from Auret, just for a while, for his sake...
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Past the automatic sliding doors were tiled floors that gleamed beneath the bright overhead lights. Despite the blistering heat outside, the air inside the structure was crisp and cool. There were a few indoor plants, a hand full of Dark Ones loitering about as guards, a few chairs that were currently occupied.
“-DON’T NEED A SITTER!” the Dark One heard as it entered the building. It steps echoing in the lobby. In front of the Dark One was the front desk where one of three receptionists, a man, was currently talking with a group of warriors the Dark One had directed earlier.
The front desk was always manned by three people. It was in front of the elevators, but the elevators were hidden behind a wall that had the company’s log on it. It didn’t know if it was an actual wall or fake wall, it didn’t really care either way, it was just idle curiosity.
“I’m afraid it’s company policy,” it could hear the receptionist say as it walked by.
“You well you can shove that policy RIGHT UP YER-”
“WHAT MY PARTner,” a man beside her cut in, stopping the woman in mid-curse, “means to say is that the point of hiring us is to avoid sending your own people, usually. Is there a specific reason one of your, ah...”
“Personnel?” The receptionist offered.
“Yes, that, any reason why we must be accompanied?”
“Several, the main ones relevant to you is that we treat all of you,” the receptionist motioned to everyone, “as employees despite being private contractors. And while you are contracted with us, however briefly, you are entitled to the same benefits as us employees. Benefits such as health coverage, which is deducted from your pay-BUT,” he quickly put his hand up when he saw the woman from earlier about to shout, “we understand that it would be upsetting. To remedy that, we require each private contractor to be accompanied by our personnel as training, which would be reflected in your pay.”
“Training?” The man asked.
“Yes sir, we enlist the help of private contractors such as yourselves to assist us in their training. That way they have a better idea of how to interact with people such as yourselves in general. You honestly don’t even have to talk or train it yourself, just think about it as an extra hand.”
“You actually train these things,” someone else asked.
“Absolutely, they’re useless otherwise,” the receptionist replied.
It couldn't argue with that logic.
It had made its way out of sight, behind the front desk. Walked to the nearest elevator and pressed the button. The door opened and the Dark One walked inside without turning around. The elevator had buttons on both sides. It pressed one, and a pleasant DING rang out.
As soon as the door closed, mist spurted into the room with a hiss as the elevator moved up. The Dark One didn’t react.
After a few moments, the elevator stopped and the doors in front of it opened up. It walked forward to a short hallway of metal and glass. On both sides were capsules, the ones on the left wall are for equipment, the ones on the right are for the Dark Ones.
“You know the drill, Brian” a voice echoed into the room from the speakers, “Strip, then put everything into decontamination. Anything you want to be brought in goes into the box.”
“You sure you never worked at an airport before?” The Dark One, now named Brian, asked.
“Hurry it along, smartass, Grace wants to see you.”
“Yeah-yeah,” Brian waved before he removed his gear, neatly placing it in the designated areas in the capsule. First was the bandolier, then the shield, whatever coin was in the pockets, some forms, and then finally the metal tin with the food he bought earlier. However, when he pulled the container out, it split in half.
“Ah-fuck!” Brian quickly cursed as the food and one half of the container hit the floor. “How the hell-”
“Bummer.”
“Shit,” Brian sighed as it rubbed his head. He sighed and just picked up the metal scraps. Once the equipment was stowed away, he began to disrobe. As he did so, an erotic saxophone, accompanied by a steady rhythm of drums (mostly gently hitting of the cymbals), and piano started playing. “Really? Old ass strip music?”
“Strip.”
Brian flipped the bird but continued to do so until he was butt naked. He was pale and hairless with purple glowing eyes. He moved to the other side of the hallway as the equipment capsule closed.
“Hey, is it weird that I’m used to this part,” Brian asked as he entered capsule meant for “Dark Ones.” As Brian did so, he pulled the dark metal tube at the bottom of the capsule and inserted it into the hole between his legs.
“Hmm, is it weird that you are used to doing something you have to do everyday….”
“Jeez it was just a thought,” he said as the glass slid closed and the capsule began to fill up with a clear but thick viscous liquid. Brian quickly reached around the top and grabbed another tubular apparatus, bit down the mouthguard tied it around its face. Then Brian closed his eyes, the purple glow still noticeable through the eyelids. A few moments later, the glow died down.
A few floors up inside the building lies a cubicle with a large metal capsule that gently hummed. In a moment, the metal capsule shifted from a horizontal position to a vertical one. The capsule slid open for a man to step out.
“Rrmmmm,” he groaned as he stretched, “it always feels like I woke up from a restless nap,” he muttered to himself. He blinked a few times to see his cubicle. He had walls, a computer, a video game controller, a computer chair, and a mini fridge underneath his desk. The benefits that were somewhat pointless seeing as Brian spent most of his time in the capsule instead of his desk and when he wasn’t in the capsule he was working out. And not by choice.
He sighed as he reached into his mini-fridge and pulled out some soda in a gray can. Low in sugar but very fizzy and citrusy, practically to the point of making his eyes water. Honestly, he liked it like that.
“Hey Brian,” he turned to see one of his coworkers, Alex. “Grace wants you in his office.”
“Be right...baaaah,” he let out as Alex already walked away. Alex was still upset with him. He just shook his head and finished his drink as fast as he could.
With a quick jog, he made passed a bunch of cubicles to a big office. The door was open so he didn’t bother knocking. Inside were two people, one standing to the left and one behind a large wooden desk that was ridiculously shiny.
“Hey Lester, Grace,” Brian greeted as he entered the large room, faintly hearing the door behind him close. The room was actually right at the edge of the building. You could see all of the city, and how the repairs to the walls were going. As a result of the view, the room was quite bright. There was a bookcase to the left of the room, a small patch of fake grass and a set of clubs to play golf with. A set of couches with a small glass table with a glass bottle of hazel colored liquor in the center.
“Sit!” Lester commanded from where he stood, pointing at the chair in front of Grace’s desk before he folded his arms again. Said individual was calmly sitting down with a smile. Brain took a seat and took in the desk. It looked really expensive and large. The desk held a few things, a stack of papers, a pen with an inkwell, a computer monitor to the side, some picture in a frame he couldn’t see from where he sat, and a golden desk nameplate with the name “Eric Grace” engraved on it.
“Thank you for coming in, um...” he fumbled for a bit.
“Brian Sosa,” Lester answered while glowering at Brian.
“Brian,” Grace continued, “do you know why you are here?”
“Ahhh...I got jumped by three people who I then captured,” he ventured.
“Yes and you did a splendid job,” Grace said with a smile, “we are processing them now.”
“I’ll interrogate them later,” Lester added.
“Yes,” Grace said, “now tell me about the attack.”
“Um...not much to say,” Brian said with a shrug, “I thought it was going to be a violent dispute, then I heard something I swear was from ani-um, eastern animation from the reality I’m from, then I got jumped.” He paused to see if either of the two men wanted to say something. They didn’t and he took it as a sign to continue. “Then the girl yelled something climbed on my back and I took care of it. One of them tried to run away but….ya know.”
“Yeah I saw the recordings,” Grace said with a wide smile, making Brian wonder why he’d even asked what happened. “Out of curiosity," he began with sudden interest, "did you play football in your past life? Um the brown egg shaped ball.”
“Ah...yeah, touch American football, you know, with the flags and stuff. All my friends were into it.”
“Moving on,” Lester said loudly.
"Ah, right, right,” Grace agreed after getting side-tracked, “were you aware that they were heroes?”
“Not, not right away, but near the end, yeah,” Brian said with a confused look, wondering if there really was a point to this. “Like I said, they said something that sounded like it came from my reality so I figured they were summoned here or some crap.”
“Ah right,” Grace said as he rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry about that, must be the age. Anywho, the reason I ask is because your golem should be dead.”
“...I’m sorry?” Brian let out after he processed what he heard.
“You see Brian, we have been...worried about your progress. You have been with this company for a while now and...well."
“You’re behind the company physical fitness standards and you are behind in your synch level with your golem,” Lester said. “Against three heroes and what we’re now sure is an enchanted axe, you should be dead.”
“Wait, that was enchanted?” Brian asked in surprise.
“Apparently,” Grace answered, “it set off a bunch of warnings. We think it might be something that ignores magical defences and cuts the flesh and armor, ignoring resistance.”
“But...it didn’t. I mean-”
“It did,” Lester cut Brian off. “Did you notice how that lunch box of yours was cut in half?”
“...yeah?” Brian answered, unsure of where this was going.
“That was something of limitation,” Grace continued, “I’ve seen it before. It probably confused whatever meat was in that lunch box for flesh and the box itself as armor. Your uniform even had a cut, didn’t you notice?”
“No. So you mean-” Brian began but Lester cut him off.
“You got saved by that lunch,” Lester said. “That’s a limitation of the weapon, it can only cut one person at a time.”
“And maybe that axed saved the real you as well,” Grace added. He saw Brians confused expression, gave a tight smile and continued, “we’re...w'ere having the meat tested. See, either that axe confused any meat as a person or the meat itself….” Grace didn’t bother finishing.
“...” Brian just looked at him with his skin slowly going pale. “...I always bought my lunch from that lady,” he finally said.
“We’ll let you know if it’s something you should worry about,” Grace said with a warm smile. Brian did not find any comfort in that smile. “Now Brian, your golem, did it feel weird at all?”
“Yeah, it did actually,” Brian said, trying to focus on the conversation instead of the possibility that he had participated in cannibalism. The two men shared a glance before they looked at Brian again, making him want to tug his collar but he resisted the urge. He realized they wanted him to continue. “This morning, when I checked my synch level it was almost at 5, but, during that...fight I guess,” Brian shook his head. “It was like, the golem, it knew what I wanted before I did.”
“A higher synch level,” Grace said. He brought his hands to his desk and a keyboard and trackpad materialised, both looking as if they were made of light blue glass. He quickly typed something in, used the trackpad, the two looking like rubber glass. "According to this…" Grace began, "You are at level 6, almost at 7."
"Really?" Brian asked with his eyebrows raised. “Then-”
“Everyone else is on their second golem, close to level 2, your still behind,” Lester interrupted him once again.
“And with this, you can start on the next golem and hopefully catch up,” Grace added. “Which brings us to the last topic at hand. Why, out of everyone, did they choose your golem?”
“I...I honestly can’t say,” Brian said.
“Well, we think its because you have something of a reputation in the city. I mean, you don’t carry a visible weapon, just a shield. Also, you’re ver-”
“Whoa-whoa-whoa, wait,” Brain interrupted his boss, “are you...blaming the victim?” He pointed at himself.
“Yes,” Lester said without missing a beat.
“Oh c’mon that’s bullshi-”
“LANGUAGE,” Grace said loudly while banging his desk, shutting Brian up. “Brian, I have no cursing policy in my office, you know this. Now look, normally I’m on the other side of this but-”
“Oh c’mon sir,” Brian whined, “it’s like blaming a girl for getting raped because she wore a green shirt!” Grace gave a tight smile.
“Color isn’t the issue here, Brian.”
“Fine-that she wore a long-sleeved sweater instead of a blouse,” he quickly said.
“That’s not the issue here either,” Lester said. “You were seen as a weak enough target.”
“So what, if my golem was armed to the teeth that would be better?”
“Either way,” Grace loudly, his smile gone, “we’re going to require that your next golem is equipped with a more visible weapon in hope to deter a repeat of this incident. Is that understood?”
Brian was still upset, but he nodded.
“Good. You can take the rest of the day off and tomorrow as well, you can start on your next golem the following day.”
“You also get a bonus,” Lester said, “spend it wisely.”
Brian nodded again, a bit calmer now. When they didn’t say anything he took it as a sign that he could leave.
“Brian,” he heard Grace say as he opened the door. “We know that this is a tough adjustment, believe me, I get it. No one wants to be the villain. Despite it all, this organization is a family and we do mean well, even if we can’t show it as much as we’d like.” Brian moved his head a little and gave a nod before he left the room, closing the door behind him.
“...What do you think?” Grace asked, still looking at the door.
“A synch level of 5 jumping up to 7 on a new hire? No way,” Lester said, still eyeing the door.
“I concur...I’ll have the golem take a Turing Test, we'll figure it out from there,” Grace said to which Lester nodded to.
“I think we should move up the schedule,” Lester said.
“Oh really?” Grace asked, turning to face him.
“Yeah, you can ask the other supervisors. A lot of the new blood is up to their second golem. With something like this happening, better to cut the rot early.”
“I see,” Grace said as he leaned back in his chair and putting the tips of his fingers together. He tapped his index fingers a few times
“I’ll speak with The Big Bad Kahuna,” Grace finally said, “honestly I think he’ll go for it. Till then, we got three ‘heroes’ to interrogate.”
“I’m on it,” Lester said. “So," he began as he rubbed his hands with a smile on his face, "how far can I take it?”