“You have brought great danger amongst the non-beings,” the thing said. “And now they have decided to seek your presences in our sacred village.”
“And you almost kuh-killed us! How about a duh-damn warning next time you dead-”
“Barish, please,” said Esh, pulling himself out of the ground. He shook himself as an animal would and started to undo his boots to pour the dirt out. “We need to come up with a plan.”
“A plan for what? Luh-let’s just escape while we cuh-can and make for the closest border to the Blue territory.”
“We can’t,” said Esh.
“What? Why not? They’ve guh-gone to this thing’s village which is guh-great for us. We use this tuh-time to make our escape!”
“And that’s exactly why we can’t just leave. This… corpse… helped us and now we have to help him.”
“I felt your idiotic kindness through your touch,” the thing replied.
“Suh, see? He doesn’t want anyone’s help. He puh-probably just wanted to show off his abilities, either thuh-that or he got some sick enjoyment by sticking duh-dead fingers in our mouths."
“It is impossible for mortals to walk this land and make it to the blue shores alive.”
Esh put his boots back on and went to stand by the talking corpse. He knelt beside it and said, “If kindness is so idiotic, why help us? Why put yourself at risk?”
There was a moment of silence as the corpse just stared at Esh. Finally, it said, “I see… possibilities. I’m not a seer by choice, but by random chance. However, I have chosen a path as a scientist, a most cursed profession in these lands."
“But thuh-that doesn’t explain why you huh-helped us,” said Barish.
“I don’t expect the weak-minded to understand my cause. This land and its non-living do not prove fruitful to my endeavors. All just wish to moan and walk and produce asexually. Me… I wish to discover, invent, and bend sorcery.”
“Do you have sorcery abilities?” Esh asked him, trying to ignore Barish’s whining about being called simple-minded. “I ask because I know it’s rare to be naturally given sorcery powers.”
“It is not rare in the Purple territory, where all are connected to a line of sorcery. You could say it’s what fuels our soul-less lives. Some dead just choose to bend it more than others. And I am one who chose.” Its neck made a sickening crack as it turned to look at Barish, “I could have cared less if those males had cut you all down, especially this rude one. But… I saw a possibility for myself. A chance to discover and escape this unmotivated territory.”
“It wuh-wants to come with us? Esh, yuh-you can’t puh-possibly be considering this. It’s a corpse!”
“I have a name. It’s Shten.”
“Ok, Shten, we don’t want you stuh-stinking up our truh-travels.” Barish wrapped his arms around himself, shivering uncontrollably.
“You are not like your friend; you have no hybrid blood, meaning you cannot stand this cold as long as he can. As for the female, she will also live much longer than you. Without me, you will surely die of hypothermia before you even get halfway to your destination.”
“Wih-without yuh-you? What can yuh-you do for muh-me?”
“I’m a scientist. The shiny suits you’ve seen those males wear that keep them warm… They are mere relics compared to what I have created.”
“You’ve built eco-suits?” asked Esh.
“I hadn’t named them yet, but yes. Very similar to yours, actually. I’ve built several over the years, trying to master the dimensions that would properly fit an ever-changing me.”
“Shten, we need one of those suits,” said Esh, placing his hand back on its cold body. “We must get the-”
“Princess back to her kingdom. Yes, I know. Have you forgotten? I’ve seen through you, young Esh. But… I have two requests of my own before I so easily hand over my hard work to you.”
“Name yuh-your price, muh-monster,” said Barish, wishfully holding his hands out into the purple flames, hoping for some sort of relief from the cold.
Shten pulled itself out of the ground with an agility that did not match his looks. It was so sudden that Barish fell flat on his backside and crawled backwards on all fours trying to get away.
“Your words have increased my asking bid to a now whopping three requests,” Shten said. He twisted his head on the pivot of its neck until it peered over Barish upside down.
“Whuh-what are yuh-your requests, thuh-then?” he said, and Esh didn’t know if it was the cold or the fear that made the words difficult.
“First… apologize… to… me…”
“I’m suh-sorry,” he said without hesitation. He backed up a little more but Shten followed him with the same eerie form as one of the crawlies that poured from its broken off finger.
“Good… Now, for my second request. You three must help me rid the pests from my sacred village.”
“Done,” said Esh.
“Excellent… And finally… Take me with you.”
Barish quickly turned to Esh, but Esh didn’t return his disapproving gaze. There would be no negotiating in this because they had no platform to stand on. If it hadn’t been for this dead Shten there would have been blood, lots of blood, with the three of them being on the losing side. And still, Shten held their lives in his chilled palm.
“Done.”
Without even the slightest acknowledgment that the deal had been complete, Shten went on to say, “And I guess that neither of you speak the Ballahranian’s language?”
Esh and Barish both shook their heads.
“Ahh… That could be troublesome I’d imagine.”
“Wuh-why doesn’t shuh-she speak the cuh-common language?”
“Yea,” Esh agreed, “I though all four territories spoke the common tongue.”
Shten chuckled a bit, “One would think that the way in which our world was created all four territories would speak one language. But not the Ballahranians . Oh no. When the four territories came to be, these humanoids of the ocean, these merhumanoids, kept to their waters. They wanted nothing to do with us.”
“Wait, you know of how our world was created?” Esh asked, curiosity filling his brain. “And what’s a merhumanoid?”
Barish, who was still upset with the deal, stopped his shivering and actually looked interested in the topic as well. Being an ex-teacher and all, it made sense to Esh that the now gladiator would find this intriguing.
Shten shook his head, “The creation of our world is a topic for another sun-cycle. However, your question regarding her species. The Ballahranians are merhumanoids, yes, just like you are half elf and your freezing companion is full human.”
“Whuh-why didn’t the muh-merhumanoids wuh-want anything to do wih-with the rest of the tuh-territories?”
“Have you truly regarded what atrocities your territory has committed? Or have your biased history lessons not taught you that? And have you seen the complexion of the non-beings of my territory? It’s no wonder these creatures of the water stay far away from us all.”
Esh and Barish were silent, not really knowing what to say after that. Dashine, still wiping her mouth from the rotten finger that had been inside it, sat patiently on the side of the cold fire.
“Esh… I can help you three communicate. Would you like that?”
Esh nodded his head, “Yes, definitely. You can do that?”
Shten said not another word, but moved his hand to the dirt and tried to dig a hole with a finger he no longer had. He shrugged and used his middle finger instead, moving it in a circular motion until there was a small crevice in the ground. He leaned over it and vomited a vile green slime.
“Oh fuh-for the love of-”
Shten’s head flung towards the sky and belched out words that seemed to jump out of him in reverse order. He leaned his head over the hole again and spit two tiny drops of purple. They intermingled with the slime and a fizz formed on top.
“Drink,” Shten commanded, still hovering ove
r the repulsive looking discharge.
“I had a fuh-feeling you were guh-gonna say that.”
Esh, knowing a potion when he saw one, bent and sucked from the hole. The slime was strangely sweet and flew to the back of his throat without him having to gulp. He couldn’t seem to get enough of it and so he kept slurping.
Shten shoved him aside with one strong hand.
“Careful, the potion of knowledge is ever seeking its host. It will stuff you until your stomach or brain implodes. Whichever comes first.” He pointed with an invisible index finger at Barish. "Next.” There was a crazed and vengeful smile on his face.
Barish looked at Esh and back at the slime. The whole magic and sorcery thing was new to him, but Esh thought he was taking all of this rather well considering. He bent over and drank from the hole but this time Shten did not interrupt.
“Woah! Stop him!” Esh cried, jumping up to push Barish out of the way.
“Woops… My mistake.”
Barish leaned to his side and heaved a lot of the slime out of his mouth and nose. He groaned and clutched at his stomach.
Esh kicked Shten hard in the side, sending him spinning away. “One more attempt like that and I will send your dead head flying.” Esh followed him and crouched beside him and held his head up by a rotting ear. "Understand me, Shten, I am not in need of you that much.” He let go and went back to care for Barish.
“You will find that you are much more capable of speaking to your love, now,” Shten said from the awkward position the kick had left him in.
Esh looked at Dashine who had been sitting calmly and watching all of the events play out. Why had Shten called her his love. He didn’t feel anything like love for her. Sure, she was beautiful, but he didn’t think he loved her. Did he? How much could Shten feel and see just by a single touch?
“Hello?” Esh said, looking at her. She didn’t move and didn’t seem to have heard him. “Hello?” he said again. This time she shook her head and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Did you just… speak to me?” she asked.
Esh nodded.
Tears started to form in her eyes and spill over the bottom lid. She jumped up and hugged him tightly around the neck, sobbing loudly.
How long had she been kept in silence?
41 - The Wailers
They stood there hugging for a while, her head resting below Esh’s chest. He tried to ignore Barish who was mouthing the words ‘Kiss her! Kiss her!’ from behind her back. Shten also looked to be interested in the embrace; he was smiling and watching them as if they were some sort of strange experiment. And then the environment began to lighten up, making their surroundings more and more visible as time passed.
“What’s going on?” Esh asked, looking around and squinting his eyes at some large object he hadn’t been able to see before. Was he going crazy?
“What’s wrong?” Dashine asked, letting go of him and taking a few steps back. Her voice was crisp, thin, and fragile-sounding to him. Now that she had dropped their embrace he wished he would have kept his mouth shut and enjoyed it for a few moments longer.
The large object became more visible as did thousands of other similar objects in the background. Esh walked up to one and ran a gloved hand over it, its roughness catching on the material. The object swayed a bit. It was trying to move away from his touch.
“Dead trees,” answered Shten. “Some say our land is an old extension of the Green territory. The same say elves used to live and breathe on these lands. Until… An ancient and black energy appeared, bringing death and destruction.”
“Do yuh-you believe them?” asked Barish, walking beside Esh and touching the dead tree.
“I don’t know… But if they are correct then it means this energy is our creator.”
“I demand to know what it is you three speak of!” squeaked the Princess and Esh could see her clearly now, her hands crossed over her chest in a fit of frustration. She looked angry.
“Ahh! You must drink!” Shten said. “The drink will teach your brain to give you light!”
“If I may suggest something, Princess,” said Barish. “No need chancing the monster tricking you as he duh-did me. This is a dark place even with the ability tuh-to see. Luh-let Esh and I buh-be your guide.”
“I am no monster!” Shten roared, sending an unknown species spreading their wings and flying from their camouflaged spots on the dead trees.
Esh removed his hand from the bark, which turned out to be another of the flying things. It fluttered off with the rest leaving the tree much thinner than it had been before.
“Apologize,” Shten demanded.
“Oh cuh-come off it! You have your duh-deal so there is no more need to-”
Dashine had taken this chance to jump down to the hole and sip from it and just like Barish, the soup chose to violate her mouth with a continuous flow. She began to cough and grab at her neck, the slime unrelenting. Without any option, Esh kicked her hard on the side of her eco-suit sending her some feet away, the slime cut off from its source.
“Are yuh-you alright?” Barish asked, bending down and putting a hand on her back. Esh felt a rush of jealousy; he was the one who had kicked her and Barish was the one who got to comfort her.
“We best be going,” said Shten, a hint of anxiety in his voice. “Those flying black beasts are called corbs. They will be back with a greater force to take back their home. One isn’t dangerous… but a thousand are…” Shten flipped himself onto his back. He then placed both feet flat on the ground and raised himself unnaturally from his ankles. He cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders backwards, dust and flakes of skin flying off of him as he did so. “Off we go.”
The Princess stood, still coughing, and brushing Barish’s hand off. “I’m ok, thank you. What exactly is going on?”
Esh took this chance to redeem his kick by instructing her on all the things Shten had said. She was quiet and just nodded her head as she listened.
After Esh had finished, she just stood there biting her lip for a few moments, taking in all the new developments. Finally, she said, “Then we must be off with our kind friend Shten.”
Shten gripped both hands together and smiled, his rotting eyes seeming to somehow sparkle under the compliment. “Oh Princess, you flatter this dead oaf.”
“Kuh-kind? That’s the word you chuh-chose to describe him? Ruh-really?”
“Esh is right. If it wasn’t for his kindness then we would all have become permanent residents to this territory.”
Shten stuck his yellow tongue out at Barish who immediately tried to jump at him but Esh held him back with one hand.
“Please, lead the way, honorable Shten,” said the Princess with her unique bow.
With a giddy shake of his shoulders, Shten turned, crunching as he did so, and started to walk in what seemed to be a random direction. Besides the one landmark of their cold fire and hole of glowing slime, there was nothing. There was only black dirt beneath their feet, much like the ash back home, and of course the dead trees that were covered in the flying species Shten had called corbs. This was all there was for as far as the eye could see.
They walked for an eternity. There was no food or liquid to satisfy their basic needs and the landscape was so depressing that no one felt like chatting. And all along the way they could hear Shten mumbling to himself about how kind the Princess was or about how very doomed they all were. Barish’s skin was becoming a darker shade of blue and he would often stop to perform some sort of exercise to warm himself up and finish it up with a sprint to catch up with the rest. Shten was right, he wouldn’t make it much longer.
Shten pointed at the flying corbs in the sky that were now making their way back to their dead tree. However, they had brought a greater force with them, just as Shten had warned.
At first, Esh thought the thing was just another corb but more massive, but as they got closer he could see it wasn’t that at all. The massive flying thing turned out to be a collection of tin
ier corbs that had connected themselves into one giant one. They collaborated in such a way that the wings flapped and the mouth moved to give off the appearance of one living being. Or… one big dead being.
“In this world, bigger is better. The smaller you are the faster you will surely be absorbed and added to one’s collection,” said Shten as they walked beneath the flying horror.
“Cuh-collection?” asked Barish, rubbing the cold from his arms.
“Yes… All non-beings here are a collection of other non-beings. If you are lucky, as I was, you can consume a lot of littler things and force them to grow inside of you. As you can tell,” he said, stopping and pointing to the missing part of his head. “I’d like to complete my head and become as beautiful as the Princess.”
“Guh-good luck wih-with that,” Barish said, rolling his eyes at Esh.
“Thank you,” said Shten, without comprehension of Barish’s sarcastic words. “Anyways,” he continued, “The sun-cycle will come when something larger finds and consumes me. But until then, I hope to discover as much as I can about this world.”
“You seem to not share a lot of the qualities that your… er… other non-beings have,” said Esh, trying to figure out what exactly it was he wanted to say. “I mean, the others, the ones who took us underground, they were very quick to get back to their graves.”
Shten nodded his head, “Yes… I am quite different from my breed… I guess you could say that curiosity is a rare trait in the Purple territory.”
There was a distant scream that brought goosebumps up Esh’s arm. Dashine, without realizing it, walked closer to him and he imagined her grabbing his arm and hiding underneath it. Sadly, that didn’t happen. He sensed a lot of pride in her, probably due to her seat in life. And this thought dampened his heart. She was royalty and he was not. She was a Princess and he was… well… an assassin.
Shten picked up the pace, walking with a strong right stride and a weak left which made his body jolt with every step and added to his horrific appearance. “We must be going. We must be going. Doom be not far from us.”
The Four Territories: The Dark Assassin Book One Page 29