The Oathsworn

by Liandra Jake

  Arend frowned. "Did you all plan this?" Myith shrugged.

  Tommori proudly handed Arend a stack of papers. Within moments of reading the first one, Arend glanced back up. Tommori nodded. "This means you can get supplies from the 1000-mile canyon, parts and support from the GTS, as well as provide Zeph's group with your help and their desperately needed parts."

  "We just need you to agree to it as a Kruxmaster to bump it up to the Alliances for approval." Zeph added.

  Arend looked back down at the contract in his hands and read through it. The others waited patiently as he read each word and considered each part he would have his name attached to. He frowned at one of the names towards the end, but he signed it nonetheless. As he gave the papers to Kyrel, he asked the question at hand.

  "When did you become a lawyer?"

  "My father pulled some strings. After some approval, I can do things like this. So don't go thinking you'll see me in court any time soon." Kyrel replied.

  Arend could see Kronth approaching from behind them. He immediately popped to his feet. "Sorry guys, I've got business elsewhere. See ya tomorrow!" He called as he hurried to her.

  "Take me up, elevator man!" She exclaimed as she jumped onto him. Once Arend had secured Kronth, he took her up to the top of the building. She was asleep well before his feet touched the roof.

  - - - Blooming Wasteland - - -

  "So Arend, are you enjoying your cheese?" Hunter asked in Pike's accent.

  "Verily so my good chap!" Arend replied, sipping tea from his cheesecup.

  "Though there's a bit too much grape!"

  "Quite so!" Hunter laughed.

  Corenden squeaked from below Arend. "Your corn shoes are clean, Master!"

  Arend woke up with a snort. He rubbed his head. 'Corn shoes? What the hell…' He thought as he slid out of his bed. He noticed Kronth was no longer there, and her bag was missing. Stripping, he stepped into his shower. He nearly fell asleep three times, once knocking his head on the wall in front of him. His drowsiness disappeared the moment he ran out of hot water.

  He pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain white tee shirt, expecting to get dirty later that day. He left Myith's goggles on his nightstand and tossed his shoes at the door as he spun from his staircase to enter his kitchen. He adjusted his hat and checked his phone as he made himself a breakfast burrito.

  'Corenden's hungover and pestering Janese, Nate and Rusty are cleaning up the grills…' "Hmm?" Arend frowned, flipping his burrito while staring at his phone. His other two Requests had been finished, and the Main Request Office was waiting for him to collect full payment on the work he already did and a small bit of compensation for the other work he signed up for. 'I guess my help really motivated them.' Arend thought as he left the pan on low to keep it warm as he retrieved his shoes.

  He cooked three more burritos as he ate the first. By ten, he was eating his second one as he looked over the Request board. He ignored the pats from the occasional passerby as he stood in the middle of the moving crowd. Arend was in the middle of his third burrito when Hunter bumped into him on accident.

  "Excuse me." He murmured as he walked past with a Request a few inches from his face.

  Arend stopped him with a hand, surprised when Hunter almost lashed out. "Whoa dude!"

  "Arend why are you here?" Hunter asked.

  Arend shrugged. "I need something to do while the Main Office transfers my money. They've been working overtime to try and pay out all the Requests. They were relieved when I told them I'd stop by at the end of the day." Arend explained.

  Hunter nodded. "Rent's due tomorrow and I need to get a bit more cash if my budget is going to look normal." He held up the Request. "Want to join me? It's a simple trip out to one of the outlying cities decimated by Celestial Rim."

  Arend shrugged. "Fine by me."

  Arend looked over the Request as he finished his burrito. Hunter was buying them a pair of standard train tickets to the city. The Request was a standard D Rank task. He and Hunter were going to help reestablish the city borders and clean up any looters or Monsters still in the city. Arend glanced up as Hunter joined him.

  "Track three, south bound." He said as he held up Arend' ticket.

  Arend offered him his remaining burrito in exchange for the ticket cost. Hunter bit into it suspiciously. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It's better than I thought! Did you pick it up from a cart?"

  "I made it." Arend replied. Hunter looked skeptical. "I can do more than grill." Arend said as he started for the bridge over the tracks.

  "I can say this," Hunter said with a mouthful of burrito. "It's worth more than a train ticket."

  Hunter had finished off the burrito as he and Arend sat in their booth. "It's a four hour trip there with a few layovers in between. I suggest you prepare for us to get to know each other better." Hunter warned.

  Arend took off his bag and placed it on the table between them. "Anything in particular you want to know?" Arend asked as he stretched.

  "How about some stuff about Kruxsetting?" Hunter asked.

  Arend raised an eyebrow. "I didn't figure you for an engineer."

  The conductor came down the walkway, calling his familiar call. "Tickets! Tickets!"

  Arend held it out with one hand, waiting for Hunter's reply. "How about how you can organize all seventeen types into six groups?" Hunter offered as the conductor clipped his ticket.

  Arend sighed, slipping his clipped ticket into his bag. "Back to basics then? Do you know all of them?"

  "Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Sun, Moon, Death, Ice, Nova, Wood, Vacuum, Electricity, Metal, Plasma, Crystal, Light, and Dark." Arend rolled his hand. Hunter shrugged. "Do you want the six groups to?"

  Arend shook his head. "You forgot Orenth."

  "Orenth isn't a type Arend."

  "What about Death then? How can the absence of Orenth be a type but an abundance of Orenth isn't?"

  "But isn't Death a tangible? Based on the accounts of your fight with Ros, it was a sort of pale/light purple."

  "Yes, but it's like a black hole in that sense. When Orenth gets too close to where the absence is, a small spectrum of light is released as a faint purple glow. It's why no kind of Orenth can affect it; it's not really there, a kind of nothingness."

  Hunter nodded. "I think I get it. So the idea of and Orenth type: the super saturation of something until that 'critical point' would put it in the same group as Death?"

  "Exactly! Death already doesn't fit in with Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Light, or Dark, just add Orenth as a group and cram Death under it."

  Hunter scratched his chin. "This reminds me of the 21 type theory."

  Arend' eyebrows shot up. "You know about that!?"

  Hunter shrugged. "Vaguely. Just that seven groups makes it work well?"

  Arend pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled out eighteen words in seven groups. "Let's start with the basic principles. Plasma and Nova to Fire, Ice and Wood to Water, Crystal and Metal to Earth, Vacuum and Electricity to Air, Sun to Light, Moon to Dark, and Death to Orenth."

  Arend circled the space below Moon, Sun, and Death. "The 21 type theory states that three types of Orenth still remain undiscovered."

  "I don't remember Orenth being in there though."

  "Yeah, the theory calls for four, but Orenth fits in with Death, but they might be part of the Group and not the source type. Some jokingly reference Soul or Life, but those are too spiritual for my liking. Joking aside, this means Light and Dark may have a third incarnation.

  "And going back to the jokes of spirituality, some like to refer to them as Ying and Yang; the whole good vs. evil trope the two groups get swarmed by. It sounds nice and all, but to outlandish and untestable. I like to leave that in movies and books, and keep the real science where I can test it."

  Hunter stared down at the paper in front of him. Taking Arend' pencil, he drew a line through Orenth and wrote above it.

  'M-a-n-a.' He circled it and spun the paper to face Arend.<
br />
  Arend snickered, doing the same thing Hunter did but writing 'A-u-r-a.'

  Hunter shook his head, laughing. "I got nothing."

  Arend pushed the paper across the table. "Keep it. It'll make for a good reference should you delve further into Kruxsetting."

  Hunter flashed a smug smile. "You're a little too late." He pulled out his Beat Drive, setting it on the table with two hands.

  Arend picked it up immediately. "This is…Impressive." He said with a nod. "Considering your inexperience, you modded my Drive fairly well."

  "You can tell it's a mod? Rusty and the others thought I put it together myself."

  Arend chuckled. "I know my craftsmanship, but I can't blame them. You weren't left with much to work with."

  The conductor stormed up with an irritated look. "Put it away. No open bladed weapons."

  Arend looked over at him, raising his eyebrows as he pulled out the Drive's blade and slid it into the sheathe Hunter provided. Throughout the exchange, Arend didn't break eye contact with the conductor. He walked away, grumbling to himself.

  Arend gently opened the Drive's case. Arend smirked. "Neat.A compacting function to make it fit in your coat, and a timed buildup and release. With the vibration of the blade compensating for the Drive's peaky output by disrupting the flow, and a standard loop to facilitate flow across the edges of the blade. It's almost like a chainsaw."

  "Although some Orenth stagnates at the sides of the blade. It makes for a neat effect, but at a loss of Orenth." Hunter replied.

  "Look into Orenth Channeling. It's something you can do with the blade to make the Orenth stick to wherever you want it to. It's something you'll have to figure out for yourself, but I can tell you leaving a bit to the sides of the blade will help prevent overloading, let you use it to block without disrupting flow, and still look cool." Arend said as he gave him back the Drive.

  Hunter sighed. "Of course you pull the 'riddling master' on me when it's something important."

  Arend shrugged. "A good teacher only helps when you get stuck. Showing you how to mod your own weapon is pointless. Especially if you already did all that yourself."

  Hunter nodded, stashing his weapon back into his coat. He leaned forward. "Alright, now let's get down to business. I think you should leave all the talking to me and focus your efforts on helping the town with the tough work. No offense to you, but people don't like when someone's so ridiculously strong. It'll also help compel them to tell me the truth since it would seem like I was your superior."

  "You are more experienced." Arend replied.

  "And you're recklessly rebellious." Hunter shot back.

  Arend and Hunter exchanged quips and idle chit-chat about various topics on their way to Vesculious, a city on the front of the first clash with Celestial Rim. They stepped from the train into complete desolation. Crumbled buildings barely standing threatened those who stayed within. Rubble was lined up in the streets to split traffic and leave the sidewalks open.

  The post office and train station were the only two buildings in sight that didn't have serious damage. The air was hot, thick, and stunk of blood and death. Arend vomited off the station platform. Hunter made it to a trashcan. The few people on the street didn't react to the two newcomers, faces ashen and cold.

  One assumed to be the mayor by his collared shirt and dusty tie, hurried over. "I take it you two are from a Guild?"

  Hunter waved a hand. "Yeah." He managed to say before vomiting again.

  Arend stood wobbling by the platform edge, wiping the bile from his mouth and spitting out what remained. "I hate working on an empty stomach." Arend grumbled.

  Hunter rinsed his mouth with the half contents of a small bottle before handing what remained to Arend. "We're from Dragon's Den." He told the mayor, handing him the Request. "I'm the brains and he's the brawn."

  The mayor nodded, smoothing out his graying hair. "So you people have decided to come? Names?"

  "Arend." Arend was a little irritated at the man's tone. The mayor's face twitched.

  "Hunter Wasteland. We're here to help, so at least try to keep a civil tongue." Hunter added the second part with the same irritation Arend had.

  The mayor sighed. "Sorry, sorry." He said sincerely. "I've been running around this place for the past week. You took longer than we originally thought." He waved them along. "My name's Hector Vinesworth. Mayor or Mr. Vinesworth will be fine."

  Hector led them south down the street. "The water's clean, thankfully. And the supply of food has been more than sufficient, but raids and Monsters are a problem. We've got plugs in the west wall, but the south was completely destroyed. I need you to protect the workers while we repair it." Hector's pace was a hurried step forward followed by a limp as he tried to make good time.

  "We can do both; work and protect." Hunter said.

  Hector glanced back. "No offense, but I don't think the two of you would be cut out. It takes a team to lift the slabs, and no one will trust you until you've carried out your job in your time here. But, like I said, no offense intended." Hunter gave Arend a nod when Arend glanced his way.

  Hector led them through the empty streets to the south wall. Arend and Hunter were thankful the stench was weaker there. Scaffolds and ramps were built from the spare materials of the devastated buildings. A crane was working at the far end with stone bricks larger than Arend' arms held out to either side. Presumably all able bodied citizens were working to move the stones, women, children, and men alike. A gate was lying on the ground where the two sides were destined to meet.

  Without a word, Arend walked over to the mass of stones and flipped one onto his shoulder without even a grunt. Whistling, he hurried to put it in place. Hunter found amusement in the silence that followed Arend' walk. Not even a whisper was spoken until Arend dropped the stone neatly into place.

  "Good work Arend!" Hunter called, hoping to get some kind of reaction. It worked; people broke out in a mass of hurried whispers.

  Hector was fully white. "He can't be human."

  "Not fully." Hunter admitted. "Part Pendragon."

  Hector shook his head. "They send a Monster." He said quietly.

  Hunter spun Hector to face him with a rough hand. "Arend is not a Monster." Hunter growled. "He's more than good natured and fights for everyone he can. Look at him." Hunter spun Hector back around.

  Arend was carrying one stone in his hands as he pulled two others in carts with a length of rope held in his teeth. Red flames boiled at his feet.

  "He is the reason you can stand and talk to me right now. Celestial Rim ripped through us like tissue paper until he showed up and wreaked fucking shit. He's a fucking hero you ungrateful bastard!" Hunter relaxed his grip slightly when Hector stopped struggling. "You're treating him unfairly based on an inhuman strength he chose to use for all of you. He almost fucking died for you people."

  Hunter stepped away from Hector. "I'm going to take a look at your supplies. I'll call in if anything's wrong, or if your doctors need help. Arend can handle things here." Hector watched Hunter walk away. He continually looked from him back to Arend until his secretary called him about zoning issues.

  Arend was left to himself, extending the base of the wall out stone by stone as the other workers stacked things up on either end. Two hours in, he had nearly reached the gate with his second layer. As he walked back to retrieve more stone, he saw a growing plume of dust in the distance. He cloud make out the shape of people riding on large boars when an alarm was called.

  "Bandits!"

  As everyone scattered, Arend chuckled. Retrieving a few crumbled chunks of concrete, he walked back towards the wall through the retreating crowd. When he hopped onto the wall, the bandits were close enough for him to hear their war cries. Letting a ball of concrete drop, Arend punted it at the man leading the charge. It bounced off his helmet with the sound of a bell and he slipped off his mount, unconscious.

  The groups had to stop to keep from trampling him. "That was your warning
!" Arend called out. "The next one's to kill!"

  He was met with a single bullet shot at his head. Arend blocked it with the other chunk still in his hand. He crushed it into fine powder, letting it drift away in the wind.

  Arend rushed at them, his heightened senses easily allowing him to sidestep the bullets shot his way. Before they could realize their mistake, Arend was upon them. Grabbing one man by the arm, Arend used him to beat the others. He was bruised and coughing blood when he dropped him with the remaining seven. The two boars that chose to fight instead of run when their riders were removed were lying on their sides with Arend' footprints stamped on what remained of their skulls.

  Satisfied, Arend returned to the city. He passed the gaping militia that had gathered to fight should he fail. "Looks like bacon's for dinner." He smirked as he returned to work with bloodied fists.