by Brandon Chen
“What do you think you’re doing?” the other woman that the man had been talking to yelled. Attention had been drawn to the bar and many bystanders began to watch the drama unfold. “That was a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
“Harsh?” The man burst out in abrupt laughter, his loud voice silencing everyone around him. He slammed his jug down on the bar, shattering the bottom of the clay sculpture into hundreds of pieces. The remainder of the dark violet wine dripped off of the counter and dribbled onto the dirt. The stranger held the sharp, broken jug and snickered. “See, if I slit that lady’s throat then that would be harsh. But I’m in a great mood after drinking so much. I suppose I’ll let her live,” he murmured, lifting the broken jug over his mouth to let tiny droplets of wine drip onto his tongue.
The woman stared at him in disbelief and took a step back from the bar. “You brute!”
“Brute? Am I the one who’s trying to steal from another person? It’s pretty obvious that you two are in this whole scheme together. Get a rich foreigner drunk and then distract him by engaging in a somewhat interesting conversation while your sneaky friend snags whatever the wealthy guy has in his pockets. Yeah, that would’ve freaking worked, but I’m a better thief than either of you two will ever be.” The man snapped his fingers, sending a diamond ring spinning into the air. He caught the ring in his hand and held it out for the woman to see. It was her ring. “Ta-da! Missing something?”
“Y-You give that back right now!” the woman demanded and pointed at the stranger. “T-Thief! He took my ring!”
“Oh, wow. You’re really going to pull the blame-game on me, lady?” The man continued guffawing, hardly able to even contain himself. “Is stealing from a thief even a crime?” He stopped laughing and smiled when he saw that there were several mercenaries approaching from across the street, their weapons unsheathed. The stranger sighed, eying the men from the corner of his eye. “Hello, boys. I was just having a friendly conversation with this lady here. I wouldn’t recommend that you interfere.”
“You stole a ring from her, give it back!” a mercenary with an eye-patch snarled. He had dark, curly hair, rotten teeth, and a scruffy beard. He and all of his cronies were wearing black shirts and baggy pants. His name was Bator and he was the leader of the group of mercenaries in Yuusus.
“Alright, I totally get it. You had a bad day; someone called you Cyclops, right?” the man quipped, laughing at Bator’s eye-patch. “No worries, I’m looking to blow off some steam anyway.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a large crystal hourglass that gleamed as brightly as stars at night, and slammed it down on the table. Inside was golden sand that trickled down to the bottom half of the glass hourglass. “One minute,” the man commanded and suddenly the sand began to leak down the hourglass at an increased speed. “By the time the last grain of golden sand leaves the top half of the hourglass, our dispute will be settled.”
Bator gritted his teeth, annoyed with this foreigner’s cockiness. “You think so? There’s so many of us and only—”
The stranger leapt off his chair and kicked his wooden stool across the street, smashing it into one of Bator’s companions. The stool exploded into multiple pieces upon impact and the man fell hard on his back, gripping his bruised ribs in agony. The cloaked man’s red cape flapped through the air as he shot forward at Bator’s gang.
A mercenary slashed at the cloaked man but the stranger seemed to anticipate the movement, as if he knew that it was coming. He ducked low, sliding across the dirt floor, and came upward, driving a powerful uppercut into the mercenary’s chin. There was a crack as Bator’s thug landed heavily on his back.
But the mysterious man had no intention of stopping there and raced forward, reading all of the bandits’ attacks with ease. He avoided every slash, blow, and strike that rushed his way. His movements were like a gentle river, flowing and fluent. The foreigner easily forced himself closer to each of his targets and simply used his hand to chop them once in the throat, rendering them incapacitated.
Bator watched in utter horror as the unarmed stranger easily struck down his comrades. The cloaked man leapt through the air and kicked an opponent three times rapidly in the chest, sending the mercenary sliding onto his back. Landing swiftly, the stranger rotated his body and drove an unstoppable back-kick into the stomach of a bandit behind him. The thug was sent soaring backward and slammed the back of his head against the edge of the bar on the far side of the street, collapsing in a heap on the ground.
The unknown warrior finally turned his attention to Bator, who stood with his sword shaking as his hand trembled uncontrollably. His defeated companions lay groaning on the ground around him. The bystanders who witnessed the beating now pitied Bator, who stood alone against this skilled individual.
“W-Who are you?” Bator stammered, lunging outward with his scimitar. Ripping his sword in a downward slash, Bator watched with dismay as the cloaked man spun around the attack, avoiding it easily.
The drunk performed a front flip, driving the heel of his foot down into the back of Bator’s skull. The mercenary was forced down to the ground, slamming his face heavily into the dirt street. Blood streamed freely from Bator’s nose as he groaned, trying to grab at his scimitar, but his weapon was kicked away by the stranger. Bator grunted, watching powerlessly as the foreigner rummaged through the pockets of his unconscious friends.
The man pulled out a piece of parchment and raised an eyebrow as he read it. “Mercenaries, huh? That’s what you lot are. Ah! So you guys thought that I was going to come into the city and steal all your business, is that it?” The cloaked figure chuckled and ripped up the paper, letting the wind sweep the pieces away as he looked at Bator with an apathetic gaze. “I have no interest in completing pathetic contracts for mere copper coins. I’ve gotten past that; my goals are now much higher. Higher than anything any of you thugs can even dream to attain. Oh, look at that.” He walked over to the counter and snatched his crystalline hourglass, sliding it back into his cloak. “Time’s up.”
Bator clenched his teeth, clawing at the ground as he began to push himself onto his knees. “How dare you talk down to us like that…?”
“How dare I?” the stranger kicked Bator in the chest, sending the man sprawling onto his back. “You’re the one who picked a fight with me, remember? Don’t be so irritated that you and your cronies got whooped so easily. After all, it isn’t your fault that you were born into my world.” The color of his irises had changed from their ordinary brown color into a demonic red, glowing as brightly as the sun.
Bator lay on his back, holding his chest in pain. He gulped as he stared at the foreigner, in shock at the abnormal color of his eyes, fear surging through every inch of his body. The atmosphere around the man had changed to one of terror. The aura that this cloaked man radiated was dark and vicious, making Bator feel almost surprised that he hadn’t been killed. “W-Who are you?”
“My name is Tetsu Hayashi, the Demon Mercenary.”
Reunion
Yuusus was a large port city with a giant wall made of solidified, packed mud that ran around its entire perimeter. Its main entrance, a wooden gate, was left wide open for any journeying adventurers. Ares looked around in awe as he sauntered through the entrance to the city with Aleysha. The girl wiped some sweat off her brow and whistled, extending her hand to the grand city before her. “Here we are, Yuusus,” she breathed out a sign of relief after their long walk from the desert. They had to stop several miles outside of Yuusus to drop Amon off and then walk the rest of the way to the city.
The buildings in Yuusus were sculpted from solidified mud, clay, and stone to create massive structures that mostly had flat rooftops. Many of the people here were rich nobles from faraway lands, mercenaries seeking work, merchants, slaves and laborers, or simply wanderers who happened to stumble across the neutral city. Many enjoyed how busy the city constantly was. And it really was busy. Merchants were brazenly shouting over each other in an attempt to grab cit
izens’ attention. Meanwhile, people were walking about and dragging exotic animals that Ares hadn’t seen since he was in Persepolis.
Donkeys, giraffes, camels, and even monkeys. These were creatures that Ares hadn’t seen in years and he gawked in awe at them, as if it were the first time he’d ever seen them. It was nice, actually, seeing a living organism that didn’t want to swallow him whole.
Armed mercenaries who loitered around wooden benches and buildings were eying Aleysha as she walked through the streets. Some whistled and hooted at her, but she kept her face calm and continued forward. Aleysha explained that some merely found her attractive while others saw her as a threat to their business since she hoarded many of the contracts for mercenary work.
While Yuusus was lively, it was also very dangerous. Some of the mercenaries were overly brutish and extremely violent. Since Yuusus was a neutral city and did not belong to any particular empire, its law enforcement was weaker than that of ordinary cities. Some considered Yuusus to be lawless. A few of the mercenaries who lived in the city therefore abused the lack of enforcement and committed crimes, making it one of the most dangerous cities that Aleysha had ever been to. But it was also one of the richest cities due to the large number of foreign exchanges that occurred within the city. Yuusus prospered, and therefore Aleysha found it to be a fitting place to settle.
Aleysha and Ares walked past dozens of miniature shops that were set up. Merchants screamed out prices, raising their voices as they tried to shout over each other in a futile attempt to win over the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of customers that wandered through the sandy streets. Many of the rich pedestrians that strolled through the city were wearing stylish, colorful silks. The mercenaries, lackeys, and workers wore short, torn clothing that revealed their crispy brown skin, tanned from the long days in the sun. Some laborers could afford cloaks or silks to cover themselves, but most just wore whatever cheap clothing they could put on their backs.
Aleysha ducked into a small home that was crammed between many other houses that all looked identical. She waited until Ares entered her home behind her and closed the wooden door, exhaling. “Well,” she said, waving her hand through the air, “it isn’t much but it’s home. My mom’s at work and my brother is probably out completing a contract.”
“A contract, huh? He’s a mercenary too, then?”
“Yeah,” Aleysha said, placing her sword and shield up against the wall. The girl pulled a band from her pocket and reached up, bundling her long, flowing blonde hair into a ponytail. She then walked to her table and picked up a pitcher of water, turning to Ares. “Are you thirsty?”
Ares nodded. It had been so long since he had drunk actual clean water. “Thank you,” he said, smiling thankfully. He found himself examining Aleysha meticulously. She was very tan, clearly from many years in the scorching Dastian sun. Her muscles were toned, clearly from vigorous training. She definitely had a warrior’s body, which was impressive. He wondered what she was like on the battlefield and whether or not she had actually fought in a real war.
The boy blinked. He realized that he too had yet to fight a war, despite his title of God of War.
He accepted the cool pitcher from Aleysha, feeling chills creep up his fingers as a gentle tingle shivered through his body. He brought the pitcher to his lips and let the fresh water stream into his mouth, filling him with its purity.
Aleysha put her hands on her hips, watching with a raised eyebrow as the boy chugged down the entire pitcher with one, long, gulp. “You must be really thirsty, huh?”
“I live in the Lost Sands. Can you blame me? We don’t really have a natural source of water there.” Ares laughed, taking a breath after swallowing the jug of water. “Whoo! That hit the spot!” He thrust the pitcher at the surprised mercenary and smiled innocently. “More?”
***
Tetsu tucked the Sands of Time back into his cloak as he stormed away from the scene, annoyed. The first time that he had been home in months and no one recognized him. Maybe it was because he decided to shave the beard that he had tried growing out last year. He sighed, trudging through the busy streets of Yuusus.
Five years ago, he had collapsed just at the edge of the Lost Sands, and fortunately had been saved by a girl who had been walking nearby with her mother. He had been lucky enough that the family had adopted him as one of their own and took care of him. Since then, he had worked in Yuusus, making easy money as a mercenary. He was titled the best mercenary in the entire continent, known by all for his incredible swordsmanship. They all called him the Demon Mercenary because his eyes changed to red when he grew angry. He figured that it was genetics that made his eyes change such a way, or perhaps a mysterious form of magic that he had obtained while he was in the Forgotten Sands.
Tetsu had returned home to Yuusus to pay his adopted family a visit as well as share some of his limitless wealth with them. He felt obliged to pay them back for saving his life five years before. Finally reaching his home made of solidified mud and bricks, Tetsu rapped his knuckles gently against the wooden door. The roofs of most buildings in Yuusus were flat, and the lower-income families usually had houses made of wood, mud, brick, or a combination of the three.
The door creaked open and Tetsu smiled to find himself facing his sister, Aleysha. “Hey, Aleysha. You’re home already? I thought you were completing a contract that took you west,” he said, embracing his sister.
“Yeah, I was. But we ran into some Persians and got captured,” Aleysha said, hugging her brother back.
Tetsu frowned, pulling back. “Really? Persians have already turned their attention east?”
“They already dominate the entirety of western Dastia according to some of the mercenaries that I was working with. Looks like they’re coming east now,” Aleysha murmured, reaching up and rubbing her temples to ease her stress.
Tetsu glanced past Aleysha and saw a young boy sitting on the floor of their home, chugging a cold metal pitcher of water. The man frowned, pushing past his sister and walking into the house. His eyes widened as he stared at the boy. He shook his head in disbelief. “It can’t be….”
Aleysha stepped up from behind Tetsu. “What’s wrong?”
“Darien?” Tetsu whispered.
The boy lowered the pitcher and tilted his head to the side. “Wow, it’s been a while since anyone’s called me that.”
Aleysha frowned as she glanced between her brother and the boy that she recognized as Ares. Darien? Wasn’t that the name of the insane Persian prince who killed his parents? She remembered hearing that he had been exiled to the Lost Sands where … wait. The Lost Sands? She turned suddenly to Ares, her mouth wide. “Don’t tell me….”
“Prince Darien of Persia,” Tetsu exclaimed. “I-It’s me! Tetsu, remember?”
Ares’ eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet. “Whoa! Tetsu! I thought you were dead all these years, man!” He leapt up and hugged his old friend tightly. “Wow, you look so much older!”
“And you haven’t aged a day,” Tetsu said with a frown. “How is that possible?”
“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we? Come, sit.” Ares said, motioning for Tetsu and Aleysha to sit with him. “I’ll share my story!”
The boy told Aleysha and Tetsu everything about what had happened after he had been banished as a prince. For some reason, his story seemed to just flow out naturally. It was the first time in many years that he had shared so many words at once and he was glad to share his adventures with his friends. He told them of his treacherous journey after he became a god and how he had wandered the Lost Sands slaying legendary beasts of myth to push the limitations of his strength. His training in the desert had honed his power to nearly reach its maximum potential. He explained to Tetsu that he had saved Aleysha merely because she looked exactly like Ra, who had saved him in the desert.
“Aleysha shares every physical aspect with Ra!” Ares exclaimed, pointing to the gleaming shield that Aleysha had leaned against the wall of the hous
e. “Even that shield! I remember it from five years ago when I saw her. I mean, it could’ve easily been a hallucination, but isn’t it a little odd that I saw a mirage of someone that I’d meet in the future?”
“I suppose….” Tetsu shrugged. “Maybe Ra did it so that Aleysha would lead you to me. I mean, we were separated in the Lost Sands so that would make the most sense.”
“Perhaps,” Ares said. Maybe he was over-thinking it. Either way, he was glad to see that his friend was healthy and alive.
During Ares’ stay, Aleysha’s mother came home and prepared dinner. She welcomed Ares as one of Tetsu’s guests and didn’t bother asking for the details. The feast that she prepared was enormous for four people, but Ares ate like a gluttonous deity.
Set on a table was an amalgam of different foods spanning from seasoned curry to exotic eastern soups. Ares’ eyes twinkled at how much food there was at one place. Every time he had wanted to eat in the Lost Sands, he had to slay a ferocious beast. And even then it took forever to cook its meat, so he’d have to wait a while before he was finally able to eat it. Finding water was even harder. He either stumbled across some lucky oasis or had to dig holes deep enough to get some murky fluid that didn’t even look drinkable. Eating food like this made him feel like a prince again and he indulged himself with plenty of servings.
Tetsu and Aleysha watched as the youthful boy inhaled entire dishes on his own. His stomach seemed bottomless. Every time Ares raised his cleaned bowl into the air and asked politely for another serving, Aleysha’s mother smiled. She didn’t seem to care that the guest was hoarding all of the food for himself; she actually seemed flattered that he took such enjoyment in eating her cooking.