The Keeper's Codex: Ashen Memories

by A. D. Wills

  Sappo took in a deep whiff of the morning sea air blowing down from the clear skies that the cawing seagull's flooded. “The air smells so fresh here.”

  “So this is what the surface looks like.” Snillrik hadn't seen anything other than some drawings, and maps, but they were rough and colorless. They didn't capture the pure blue sky, peaceful crowd of people, and cool dewy air that assaulted their senses. The way their hands felt in the clear, weightless air, every last sensation was a first.

  “Come on, let's get down there and buy us a wagon.” Caden butted in between both Snillrik and Sappo, putting his arms around both their shoulders with a wide smile in the direction of a stable on the outskirts of town.

  The three of them made their way into town, and right away, they were on the receiving end of some odd looks, at least Sappo and Snillrik were. Nothing that seemed malicious, but rather curious and confused. Most, if not all of them, hadn't ever seen an Ursine before—let alone a Vessi who so few in all of Gamriss have laid eyes upon. Caden on the other hand, didn't notice any of them with his vision tunneled in on the stables ahead.

  “What do you think, we probably have enough for a wagon of our own with this coin, right?” Caden blurted out loud for everyone around them to hear.

  “I think so...but maybe we should keep it down.” Sappo noticed the looks once exclusive to him and Snillrik, now shifted to Caden, and ones full of sneaking greed.

  Pacing past everyone gawking at them, Caden, Sappo, and Snillrik arrived at the stables. Somewhat run-down and weathered looking, it was still big enough to house at least twelve land-lizards at any given time which were cheaper than horses, with a few unhitched wagons sitting in the back.

  The stable-keeper stood behind a desk, back turned to three of them, even if he heard their eager footsteps creep their way up the dirt path.

  Caden knocked on the desk with annoying fury. “Hey, can we buy a wagon here?”

  The stable-keeper turned, showing his tired droopy face that looked about already finished with having to deal with three obviously clueless adventurers.

  “Yup,” was all he said, doubting Caden had enough coin that only merchants and traders would spend on wagons.

  “Awesome, so is this enough?” Caden plopped a full satchel of coin on the table.

  The stable-keeper's heart fluttered at the deep thud from the sack of coin. “Y-Yes, that just so happens to be exactly enough!” His expression brightened, fondling the heavy satchel of coin in his grubby hands.

  “So...can we get that wagon now?” Caden tapped on the desk to snap the stable-keeper out of his greedy gaze.

  “Oh, of course, my apologies. Right this way.” the stable-keeper led Caden, Sappo and Snillrik around the side to see a couple of land-lizards he led around to hook up to a brand new wagon.

  “Wow, so is this ours?” Caden ran his hands all over the new wagon.

  “Yes, and it's the finest wagon, paired with the two finest land-lizards I could possibly spare,” the stable-keeper poured on with a smarmy smirk.

  “I'm not so sure they look entirely different from any of the others...” Snillrik observed.

  “W-well, to the untrained eye, yes, these all look the same. But I assure you, these are the best any amount of coin can buy,” The stable-keeper picked up the pace, hitching the land-lizards up, and handed Caden a small whistle. “There ya go, everything you need is there. If you need to, blow that whistle, and they'll come running your way. Now away with you—I mean, safe travels!”

  “This is so cool we have our own wagon now!” Caden raced to the front, one leg up onto the seat, but held up for second. “Wait, I almost forgot to ask. Can you tell us which way's quickest to get to Tortsia?”

  “If you head past Vinesgrasp Woods, then you can't miss it. You'll get there in no time if you keep true to it. Whatever you do though, do not try cutting through Vinesgrasp. Last bit of warning to ya. I have to count all this coin you idiots gave me...” he mumbled off.

  “What?” Caden asked.

  “Nothing, just, get out of here already would ya?” The stable-keeper shooed them away.

  Sappo looked over at Caden who had a beaming sparkle in his curious eyes from the warning—raring to race into danger. “Maybe we should make sure to stay on the right path...” Sappo reminded Caden for good measure.

  “Maybe even just a little peek inside, eh?” Caden pinched his fingers together behind a sneaking mischievous chuckle.

  The three of them all climbed up into the wagon, ready to take off and snap the reins, when a group of guards ambushed them from all angles, leaving them nowhere to dash off even if they wanted. They didn't appear to be any normal city guards though. They all had fancy clothes on, and a royal blue badge with a gavel on it on their right shoulders. More importantly, their weapons looked just as fancy, and well made in their pristine, jeweled sheaths.

  “It doesn't seem as though you managed to get very far from Lord Inquisitor Tirli after all,” One of them said in a haughty pompous voice. “Though, I suppose it's mildly impressive you made it onto land at all."

  “Who're you guys?” Caden asked with his hands tightly gripping the reins, making sure Sappo and Snillrik were secure on the wagon with him.

  “It's really none of your business, or at least it doesn't need to be, but I'll indulge you. I am Danzen, a Halo of Lord Judocus, as is this one here, Gallant. Forgive him, he isn't very talkative, but rather prefers action.”

  Gallant opened his mouth, revealing a cut-off tongue. He stood there, brooding, much larger—at least a couple of heads taller than Danzen, with even wider shoulders. But he wore the same outfit, long white overcoat, fancy fluffy silver sash across their bodies.

  “A halo?” Caden interrupted Danzen's introduction.

  “It's an elite ranking among the Judocus family, and all Divine families for that matter, but it's of no consequence to you. Or, I suppose it is now that you've associated yourselves with this Vessi over here.”

  “So what do you guys want?” Caden asked, while looking around for an opening of any kind.

  “They're here for me," Snillrik admitted. “They're here to take me back to Avara.”

  “That we are, so if you would be so kind, please, come along with us now.” Danzen held out his hand with his tight puckered lips.

  “Nah, sorry. Snill's coming along with us,” Caden refuted.

  “I will grant you one last chance to separate yourselves from this situation. There's no need for me to lump you in with this Vessi, but this is your last chance.”

  “Huh? I said they're staying with us, didn't you hear?”

  “Very well then, congratulations. The three of you are now officially enemies of Lord Inquisitor Tirli, and by association, the Divines. Your prize? Having the pleasure of being hunted down for the rest of your miserable days. That is, if we weren't here to catch you ourselves."

  “Whatever. I don't even know who these Divines are anyway. And if Snill's the only one who can come up here, Tirli's not gonna come chasing us,” Caden shrugged at the declaration.

  “Insolent little...” Danzen ground down his teeth. “Seize them now!” Danzen had enough of Caden's naive stubbornness, and waved his guards onward.

  Caden whipped the reins to get away, but they weren't moving.

  “Did you think we would just let you ride off?” Danzen snickered, and directed the three's attention to the back where Danzen's guards held the back of the wagon—anchoring it in place.

  Caden jumped out of his seat, handed the reins to an unsure and shaky Sappo, and pulled his boomerang out. “Sappo, take the reins for a bit.”

  Gripping the side of the wagon, Caden leaned out the side of it, pulled his free arm back, and whipped the boomerang as hard as he could without any kind of control or aim to it. The boomerang took a wide entry to the point where the guards couldn't even see it in their peripherals, but swooped right back around—smacking them one by one, and forcing them to lose their grip just long enough for
the wagon to get going.

  Sappo whipped up the reins the moment he felt the wagon slack free, and create distance between them.

  “It actually worked!” Caden pumped his fist in celebration, throwing himself off balance and nearly falling out.

  Snillrik reached out, and pulled Caden back in with their long slender arms. “Please, do be careful."

  “Thanks Snill, you bailed me out big time there,” Caden looked back over his shoulder with a careless grin. “Uh oh...” Caden turned his sights back outside, and saw the boomerang swinging back his way at high speed. “Can you give me another hand here? I'm gonna need an anchor.”

  Snillrik held on as tight as they could, bracing their legs against the wagon to anchor themself, and Caden in place.

  When the boomerang flew over, Caden shot his arm up—snagging it and just managing to hold on through his arm violently whipped behind him.

  “Are they still following us?!” Sappo interrupted in a panic.

  “What's wrong, why're you shouting?” Caden winced right next to Sappo.

  “I don't know...I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing or how to react in this situation!” Sappo's voice kept escalating along with his growing nerves.

  “Don't worry about it, we lost the guards, it's just those two now,” Caden smirked, looking back over the wagon's top with Snillrik standing beside him.

  Danzen and Gallant remained, and gave chase behind them, side by side in a chariot. They might have fallen behind early, but their chariot didn't take much time at all to close the distance on their lagging wagon.

  “Aren't those the two we should be most worried about?” Sappo wasn't put at ease at all.

  “No worries, we'll take care of them too, just slow down a bit, trust me Sappo, I've got this,” Caden assured with an unshaken look devoid of fear.

  As much as everything within Sappo told him not to listen to Caden, he scrunched his face, closed his eyes for a few moments, and pulled a bit on the reins to slow up.

  Danzen and Gallant took the chance to catch up, pulling up alongside the wagon.

  “You're not going to get away by taking down some lowly grunts of ours!” An incensed Danzen screamed out, and reached for a crossbow.

  “Eh, I don't know about that,” Caden flashed an aloof look of brimming confidence.

  “You little brat,” Danzen fumed at Caden's defiant look, and aimed the loaded crossbow right for Caden.

  Caden didn't care about the crossbow, and pulled out his launcher to aim at the chariot. He tried keeping his arm as steady as can be, staring at the chariot's wheels rumbling beside them in a fury all while Danzen sized Caden up—his finger hovering over the trigger or when a shot presented itself.

  “Caden hurry!” Sappo shouted out—wincing his eyes firmly shut.

  Right on cue, Caden blasted off the launcher, shooting the line out that shattered the chariot's wheel in a thundering impact.

  The chariot buckled, and skidded around, throwing both Danzen and Gallant off balance in swerving off the side of the dirt road. In one last ditch effort, Danzen shot the crossbow, but the bolt sailed aimlessly, with Caden and the others roaring past them while they sat at a dead stop in a ditch.

  “Got'em!” Caden pressed the sides of his trinket, and after a couple tugging delays, it zipped right back into place. “See ya, nice try, but you're gonna have to do way better than that to catch us!”

  “I don't think we need to give them any extra motivation,” Sappo bemoaned.

  Caden, Sappo, and Snillrik stormed down the dirt path, cutting through the deep green fields of tall untamed grass—hurtling ahead together toward the unknown of the open world to discover themselves.

  Chapter 6: Caden

  Throughout the night, Caden, Sappo, and Snillrik took shifts at the reins. Unsure if their pursuers would regroup and catch up, none of them wanted to risk stopping, and being caught off-guard in the middle of the night before creating some comfortable distance between them, and Kirilia. Thankfully, the road was clear all night, and hey were treated to a serene view of open grassy valleys, tall concealing grass on either side of the road with the sprawling, and foreboding massive wall of Vinesgrasp woods beside them for most of the way.

  After crashing, and getting a couple good hours of sleep, it was Caden's turn to take over the reins as the sun soon rose over the dewy valleys to reveal the morning scene along their way into Tortsia, the shining city.

  “Check it out, we're finally here!” Caden turned to shout in the wagon upon seeing the outer reaches of Tortsia, and the surrounding area.

  Sappo and Snillrik winced, rubbing their eyes—creaking their stiff limbs after an awkward sleep, and joined Caden up front in a sleepy stupor.

  Right by the coast of the Osilia ocean, a shimmering wide river rushed into the rich green valley—flooding into four different canals circulating around, and into Tortsia. As for the city itself, they didn't see much of what was inside other than the initial pristine wall of polished ornate buildings reflecting the beaming sun, as if to be a shining beacon for the bustling merchants storming in and out of the city.

  “This place is stunning...” Snillrik saw Kirilia, but Tortsia was on a different level.

  “Yeah seriously, Dango wasn't messing around when he said this place was called the shining City,” Caden grinned at the glowing city with a warm look of satisfaction, having finally reached the first major milestone on his journey he waited so long for. “I can't wait to see what it's like inside though!”

  “And it looks...busy,” Sappo noted the hordes of merchants, travelers—anyone who was going in and out of Tortsia at an alarming rate.

  “Which means there are probably a bunch of contracts we can look at, or at least find something to do, right?” Caden put his arms around both Snillrik, and Sappo—sitting between them in the front.

  “I'm not entirely sure of that conclusion, but the odds appear to be in our favor being in such an important hub,” Snillrik dampened expectations, if only a little. “And shouldn't I wear a disguise of some kind?”

  “'Huh? Why?”

  “I am a Vessi after all, and the only one up on the surface."

  “Yeah, I guess, but who cares? We're wanted already anyway, and besides, anyone will be able to pick us out from the crowd with Sappo here,” Caden laughed without a care in the world.

  “That's not putting anyone at ease...” Sappo sighed.

  “Yeah, we could cover you both up, but that'd be pretty annoying having to worry about doing that all the time. If they see us, we'll just deal with it when it happens. No point worrying about it right now. And we're not gonna be here very long either.”

  “I suppose you're right,” Snillrik conceded with a creaking smile, no matter how irresponsible they knew Caden's words to be in the back of his mind.

  “But first, how are we going to check our wagon in through all of that?” Sappo asked.

  They sat there, wondering how to go about any of this with attendants running all over the place, parking and directing the clogged up stables they somehow kept moving along .

  “Hey, can we park this!?” Caden shouted.

  An attendant perked up on cue, and snapped his attention over. “Oh, excuse me, what can I do to help?” The attendant stopped in front of the wagon, running in place so as to not slow down even for a second.

  “Can we hitch our wagon here? We're leaving today though, so we only need to stay for a bit,” Caden asked.

  “Yes, but that will be fifty coin.” The stable-keeper held his hand out.

  “Alright, one sec.” Caden pulled out his sack of coin, and plopped in the required amount.

  “Very good, then please, take this and present it to myself or any other attendant when you want to leave. Then we will be able to retrieve your wagon,” The attendant handed Caden a thick purple colored chip. “Now, please feel free to enter the city as you will.”

  Caden, Sappo, and Snillrik shuffled their way off the wagon, but as they tur
ned around, they caught a glimpse of a large caravan all in black making its way out of Tortsia. It caught their attention when they noticed in the back, it carried babies in cages. They weren't screaming or crying, but rather sat there waiting—their skin oddly shriveled up.

  “Say, do you know what that caravan's doing?” Caden asked the attendant just before he was too far away to hear.

  The attendant furrowed his brow, as if the question wasn't worth asking. “It's time to deliver the rounded up newborn Withered to Lightsend. Actually, it's a little bit later than usual, thankfully not as many were born this month. Wretched things.”

  “Why're they being taken away though?” Caden had no idea of these Withered, or Lightsend.

  The attendant blew out a breath of pity at their ignorance. “When a mother gives birth, sometimes a creature known as a Withered takes the place of a normal human child. The newborn Withered always saps its mother of all her life for its own survival, leaving her for dead, a shriveled husk of herself."

  “What? How does that even happen?” Caden couldn't believe what he was hearing.

  “No one knows what they are. However, the Order of the Void, a church in Dyndar, claims them to be the embodiment of the mother's sins to punish them. Personally, I don't believe any of that, but all anyone knows, is that sending them to Lightsend lets them rot where they belong, far away from civilization.”

  Caden was lost for words for once. They were just newborns after all.

  “If that is all, then I have work to do,” the attendant interrupted, waving them away.

  The three of them stood in shock for a moment, getting one last glimpse at the newborn leaving the city, as they disappeared from sight.

  "Shall we get going then?" Snillrik broke the awkward silence.

  “Yeah, so I guess we just hang onto this for now." Caden flipped the purple chip around in the air, much to Sappo's concern, tracking it diligently with his eyes in case Caden fumbled it to the ground.