Salt of The Earth: The Fall of Barcelona

by Vlada Asta

  But so far he could only stay here and wait helplessly for what was to come. The city outside the window was free of any doubts, it just went on living. The crowd’s memory was short, and the horror caused by the arrival of the pack died down slowly. As if nothing had happened!

  The police officers were walking the streets, relaxed, winking at young girls they met and checking the IDs of those they didn’t like. They felt like royals next to the civilians, and that only irritated Sebastian more. When the pack’s approach was discovered, only the church warriors went outside to stop it. The police hid on the streets, nowhere to be found; they didn’t lose a single man that day.

  Sebastian opened the window, letting some fresh air in, and sat on the windowsill. That gave him an illusion of freedom – though it wasn’t very realistic. The city streets held him like a cage.

  A man dressed like a farmer was walking down the narrow street. He was old and shaggy, beaten by the life outside the city limits. Even arriving to Barcelona didn’t inspire him to take a bath, and now he was lazily waving off the flies that buzzed around him.

  The man was followed not only by the flies, but by two beautiful young girls. Neither looked older than twenty, they were healthy and fresh, in spite of being prostitutes. Their profession was obvious, identified by a line of flowers tattooed on their wrists.

  “Two weeks with me or no food!” the farmer announced, looking bored.

  “But we must remain in the city! Kind Sir, we will service you every time you come here…”

  “Either you’re going with me or forget about it!”

  They moved on, and their talk was no longer loud enough to hear, but Sebastian knew what was being discussed. The prostitutes of this age already had younger rivals stealing customers away from them, and they had to eat something! That farmer wouldn’t pay them in money, but he could give them food. However, he wasn’t interested in using their bodies for a couple of times, he wanted to make a little zoo of pretty young women on his farm. He didn’t achieve too much in this life, but he was brave enough to live outside the city, and that gave him certain privileges.

  That was something Sebastian wanted to leave behind. Being protected from fear came for a price, and this price was often unacceptable. The things that used to matter were no longer important, and in the city where there was one priest for every four civilians the amount of sin was greater than in any other place.

  But there was safety. For anyone who saw Hente eat their dear ones it was the most important thing.

  A knock on his door made Sebastian look away from the window.

  “Come in,” he permitted.

  The door opened, letting in the people he knew perfectly well. Gabriella looked unusually happy, her brown eyes were shining with joy, and she was holding a large bouquet of blue flowers in her hands. Ulmanas was better at hiding his emotions, but he was also smiling.

  Sebastian jumped off the window and moved towards them. Gabriella used it to give him a warm hug.

  “Do you even realize how much you scared us?” she grumbled. “I didn’t know what to think!”

  “It’s my work, and anything can happen.”

  “Yeah, but why do bad things happen only to you? Look at Ulmanas – he’s guarding temples and doesn’t make my hair go gray in worrying for him!”

  “Someone has to guard temples and someone must clean these lands of Hente,” Sebastian noted. “Me and Ulmanas add to each other’s work.”

  “I wish you learned from him instead!”

  “I’m not proud of making you worried, but I didn’t ask for this.”

  “Could it be any other way? You’re the only family I’ve got! I don’t want to find you in hospital after your missions, that’s just wrong!”

  Judging by the careless tone in her voice, Gabriella took the whole situation for an average mission. His squad encountered some Hente, there was a fight – those things happened! The civilians weren’t informed about the number of warriors that actually died out there.

  But Ulmanas knew more about it, his eyes gave him away. He was also a warrior, and he must’ve heard about whom Sebastian had brought with him. Naturally, he was affected by it. Sebastian didn’t know how he would react to such news: some warrior dragged a Hente into the city – the idiot should be killed on the spot!

  Things were different for him now. He knew Aeterni wasn’t an average Hente, and he could only hope the others would see it too.

  “What am I going to do with you?” Gabriella asked, stroking the side of his face gently.

  He knew it was her way of showing concern. Gabriella loved him like a brother, and he appreciated that. But he still leaned away from her touch. It wasn’t about her, it was just a defense mechanism he wanted to keep.

  “You savage,” she concluded with a chuckle. She wasn’t upset, she knew him well enough.

  “Just the way I am.”

  “How are you feeling? I talked to the doctor, and he said your wounds weren’t too serious.”

  “They aren’t,” Sebastian showed her his fully restored hands. “They want to keep me here for a while just to be on the safe side. I’m not happy about it.”

  “Oh sure, such a great warrior should never leave battlegrounds!” she mocked him.

  “It has nothing to do with it. There’s a thing I need to take care of, but first I need to get out of here.”

  “Maybe I can help?” Gabriella seemed excited. “I’ll do anything for you…”

  “Hm… I think you might help. There was a freshman in my squad, Brother Maximilian. I… he basically died in my arms. I would like to meet his parents if they live in Barcelona.”

  Sebastian wasn’t lying, he actually wanted that. However, he could wait and do it later on his own, but he wanted to keep Gabriella busy, so she would leave him alone with Ulmanas. Sebastian had to tell him something truly important.

  Gabriella became serious instantly. She put the flowers in a glass jar by the bed, hugged Sebastian briefly and headed for the exit.

  “I’ll do it today,” she promised. “You’ll know their address by the evening! Just… don’t blame yourself, okay?”

  He rarely asked her for anything, and now she was grasping the opportunity to be useful to him. Ulmanas recognized his strategy easily, but didn’t say anything. He followed Gabriella with his eyes until she left, and then turned to Sebastian.

  “I thought you trust her.”

  “I trust Gabby, but there are things she just can’t understand.”

  “And I will?”

  “Hopefully,” Sebastian nodded. “I’m locked in here, and not without a reason. I have a request for you… It may be dangerous, so I’ll understand if you deny.”

  “Say it already,” Ulmanas sighed. “When I came here, I knew I am to expect something like this from you.”

  ***

  Ulmanas had never been to this place before, he didn’t even know it existed. He would never learn about it if he wasn’t one of the most talented warriors of his generation – only they were sent to guard the prisoner.

  It used to be a residence in the past, which was now modified to keep Hente in it. The windows were blocked by bricks, part of the walls was removed to gain more space. They put a system of pipes with salt water inside, the best safety option in this situation.

  All of that was prepared long before Sebastian led that girl into the city. That made Ulmanas question if it was the first Hente brought to Barcelona to begin with.

  When his shift finally arrived, the interrogation had already been going for a few hours. The girl was chained to a large metal pipe surrounded by water geysers from all sides. If they were to be turned on, her death would be fast and unavoidable.

  Though even now her position wasn’t exactly safe. The prisoner’s perfect skin was covered in dark bruises and cuts, some of which were quite deep. Her face was partly swollen, her left eye closed by purple lids. Her right arm was twisted unnaturally, and the outline of her broken bone could be seen t
hrough the skin.

  So the rumors that reached Ulmanas were true. Nobody gave an official order to torture the Hente, but the permission to “talk” to her was given to the commanders of the squads that suffered the most during the last battle. And they didn’t hold back! They were prohibited to kill her – and nothing else.

  Nevertheless, she didn’t look tortured inside or mentally broken. The face of the girl covered in dry black blood was indifferent, she was looking straight ahead all the time. There was a feeling she would smile at any moment now, and that was just creepy.

  Back at the hospital Sebastian asked him to find out how she was treated. But Ulmanas couldn’t tell him about it! He didn’t know what to say at all. He saw that his friend was worried about the Hente, and he couldn’t understand it. Sebastian was one of the most confident and strong-willed people he knew. Could this Hente have influenced his mind in spite of it? But if she didn’t, why would he be worried about the creature he was supposed to hate?

  Now that Ulmanas saw her face, he could tell there was something truly special about her, something they had never encountered before. He didn’t know if it was good or bad for them…

  He stood by the wall together with the other warriors, he was to observe the prisoner from there. The commanders who wanted nothing but tear her apart were led away, and their place was taken by Father Abraham.

  Ulmanas knew him well. It was a tall and broad-shouldered man in his fifties, his hair turning completely white ahead of time. He was part of the military department: he formed new squads, provided them with missions and basically was the second in command after the Cardinal.

  While Cardinal Jeremiah was respected, Father Abraham was mostly feared. He had never given any obvious reasons for it – he was calm and collected, he rarely raised his voice, but one look into his eyes was enough to make anyone’s blood chill. Judging by the reaction of other warriors, Ulmanas wasn’t the only one who felt this way.

  Father Abraham didn’t pay them any attention. He walked to the center of the hall slowly, as if simply on a promenade, and circled around the prisoner. Not a single muscle moved on her face, and it was unclear what she was thinking about. Ulmanas suddenly caught himself admitting she reminded him of Sebastian in a way.

  “Many years ago, when I was a mere soldier, young and not too experienced, I was among those who studied the wild lands,” Father Abraham said. “We were searching for something we could use there, and trying to learn more about our enemies. One day we encountered a large pack of Hente. It was a horrible fight, but we made it without a single man lost. True, some warriors were wounded, but they could be treated and saved. Inspired by this great victory, we started looking for a place where we could rest. Suddenly we came across a forest lake. It was as beautiful as the place of our battle was hideous. Such a delightful contrast! Clear waters, emerald green grass, warm wind touching the crowns of the trees. We made our camp there, ready to help the wounded and get some sleep. We relaxed. And just as we started to believe this world was ours again, giant tentacles appeared out of the lake. They were so strong each of them could turn a warrior into a lifeless sack of bones. They attacked us so fast we barely realized what hit us. A third of the squad was destroyed in one blow. But we were warriors after all, and even though exhausted, we regrouped and fought back. It was the kind of opponent we didn’t know. A salt shot that was normally enough to kill a large Hente had little effect on this thing. When salt hit a tentacle, the creature would put it down into the water, wash the salt off and attack us again. We had to flee, because that was the only thing that could save us. From the fifty men who went on this mission, only seven returned home.”

  Ulmanas could feel chills going down his spine. Despite the years of fighting those creatures, he was still afraid of Hente. Even the average ones! But after meeting a monster like that, he would probably die from the sheer horror of it.

  Of everyone present in the hall at the moment, only the prisoner wasn’t impressed by that story.

  “That was Pulpo,” she explained. “Nasty thing. Even I would need a lot of time and effort to kill it. I’m sorry about your friends.”

  “I told you this not to know who it was, abomination. I simply gave an example of how a perfect picture turned into a trap. One of many! We can’t expect honesty from Hente.”

  “Through this you’re making it the world of Hente. But it used to belong to humans.”

  She was addressing him as if they were equals, not a shadow of fear in her voice. That seemed surreal to Ulmanas, he would never do it! But this girl didn’t feel like she was doomed, even with all the weapons pointed at her.

  “I’ve heard your story,” Father Abraham declared. “There are people who are ready to believe that, but I’m not one of them. I want you to tell me one thing only… how were you planning to betray us?”

  “I wasn’t. No reason for it.”

  “When have Hente ever needed a reason? You have only one passion – hunger!”

  “Yeah, that too,” the Hente admitted. “But my hunger doesn’t crave your flesh. How can I harm you? I’m alone here.”

  “One carrier is enough to start an epidemic.”

  “Sure, but first of all, I’m not part of the Clan that carries the infection. Second, if I did want to contaminate your city, why would I come here so openly and tolerate this humiliation? I’d just get into the city pretending to be a righteous woman and infect you all quietly. It’s quite simple, human.”

  “Call me Father Abraham, abomination.”

  “Call me Aeterni, human.”

  Ulmanas was scared to even witness it. He wouldn’t dare to say something like this to Father Abraham himself! But she was doing it like it was nothing.

  By that time Father Abraham was supposed to be burning with wrath, and yet he watched her calmly, standing a couple of steps away from her.

  “Aren’t you afraid to die?” he asked.

  “A bit. I surely don’t want to.”

  “Then why are you playing with me?”

  “I’m not playing,” the girl shook her head. Even that slight movement made the warriors around her tense. “I just see no use in pretending – lying to you or flattering. There are only two possible outcomes. Either you kill me or you treat me with respect. I am never going to become your pet. And your respect starts with addressing your prisoners right.”

  “Those are pretty words, but your actions contradict them.”

  “Oh really?”

  “Your wounds – I know you can heal them. But instead you’re posing here as an innocent girl beaten by cruel men. Why are you doing this? Asking for pity?”

  “Not at all. Nobody here would show any mercy to me. And by the way, I’m not lying, I never told you I can’t get rid of these traumas or that they’re harming me. I just don’t know how many of those clowns are going to attack me here. Each healing takes energy from me, so I decided to treat it all at once when you had your fun. But if my current look unnerves you, it’s easy to correct.”

  Her wounds disappeared in an instant. Ulmanas didn’t even have enough time to see all of them heal. One second they were on her skin – and then gone, and she was impeccably beautiful again. Two cold black eyes were watching Father Abraham intently.

  “You’re smart,” he commented. “But it’s not a virtue. It only makes you a worse enemy.”

  “Then why don’t you turn me into your friend?”

  “On what conditions?”

  “Can you promise me anything?”

  “No,” Father Abraham replied. “Your destiny will be decided by a council, Aeterni.”

  Ulmanas couldn’t believe his ears: Father Abraham gave in! He called her by her name, just like she had wanted to, demonstrating his respect. He had never done this before…

  The Hente also noticed that change in his attitude. She bowed her head reverentially.

  “Then I beg your forgiveness, Father Abraham, but I can’t tell you those conditions. I only want you to make
your opinion of me. I want every person who comes here to get that opinion. I know you’ll be part of the council when the time comes. Sure, you can execute me and continue walking that same old route. But where will it take you? Perhaps straight into the abyss?”

  Now Ulmanas could see why she impressed Sebastian so much. She didn’t have to lie or pretend to win someone’s trust; she simply spoke what she believed, and that was enough.

  Because many people were having these thoughts, but they were just afraid to admit it.

  Father Abraham turned around sharply and walked away. He stood by the door for a brief moment, long enough to say:

  “I forbid beating the creature. Each blow delivered to her will be considered the violation of my direct order, with appropriate punishment to be issued by me. Don’t talk to her, don’t leave her alone, and don’t touch her at all. Pass that to the following shifts.”

  “Yes, Sir!” the warriors answered in unison.

  Two of them went with Father Abraham to walk him to the door, and that left Ulmanas alone with the Hente for a short while. He was afraid of that moment, and he was hoping she wouldn’t notice him. He felt much better with more people around her! But the creature wasn’t going to make it easy for him… She turned her head to him and gave him an emotionless look.

  “I can sense Sebastian’s smell coming from you. Have you met him today?”

  Ulmanas nodded nervously. His voice was paralyzed by fear, but he couldn’t just ignore her, he remembered about Sebastian’s request.

  “Who is he to you?”

  “A friend…” his voice was trembling, and Ulmanas was ashamed, but he couldn’t change it.

  “Don’t be afraid. How is he?”

  “He’s feeling better… But he can’t leave the hospital yet.”

  “He needs his rest. He’s stubborn enough to harm himself. If he asks you about me, don’t tell him what happened here. Tell him I wasn’t beaten and they created the best conditions for me.”