Esh would also pick fights, using them as practice. Bruises were the norm and he was soon feared just as much as hated.
He would have tried to pick a fight with Mehch, but he had always been under the protection of Korp. The orphanage headmaster left Esh alone, he had found his new toy. Mehch liked it.
Esh’s stolen food helped a lot with his growth, but he was still always fatigued due to the extra studying he was doing. He became top of his class once again and not just in Reahlic, but mathematics and history as well.
Mother became noticeably less attached to Esh, and this hurt him so bad. Yet… he knew why. She brought him trouble and he brought her trouble. He knew Korp beat her and beat her hard. He would come back one sun-cycle and stop him, no matter the cost.
5 - The Choosing
Esh sat with the other 14-year-olds under a metal roof held up by four tall poles. He looked down at the shoes he had spit shined earlier that morning to see that they were now smudged with soot. The ash in the air marked the shirt he had tried so hard to freshen up with excess liquid cans he’d found in random garbage bins around his neighborhood.
This was the happiest sun-cycle of his life, replacing the time he had found the secret grammar book on Vivreonish. Soon he would be leaving the orphanage for good and would be heading in the direction of prestige, to respect, and to acceptance. He was confident that he would be chosen for the role of soldier.
Three lieutenants came to the orphanage four weeks ago to run all the orphans through some sort of crazy physical test. They were forced to climb ropes, run long distance, fifty push-ups, and even had to complete a session of hand to hand combat with each other. He wasn’t surprised that he was the only one to make it through the running section. He had been training for this. Mehch didn’t even complete the rope climb, falling after making it five feet. Esh had to stifle a laugh when he saw how red the fat bully’s gut had become from rope burn.
Since no other orphans had made it to the fighting part of the test the three lieutenants were forced to bring a few other kids who had passed the test from other schools and orphanages. Esh took care of each of them rather quickly, especially after he took off his shirt revealing his scar and using it as a tactic of fear. Two of his opponents had even refused to fight, choosing to cry instead.
As Esh sat straight up in his chair, he felt a sense of pride for the first time in his life. He couldn’t help but puff out his chest around the other kids.
In front of the waiting fourteen year-olds was a podium surrounded by about thirty chairs where the kids’ future bosses would be sitting soon.
Kids chatted with one another excitedly. Through each of their mannerisms, Esh was able to tell which kids were from Reahlic royalty and which had been drug away from juvenile gangs.
It wasn’t long before a nasty fight between a royal and gang member erupted and ended quickly with both of them bleeding but it was the royal who was now missing an ear.
“What the hell is going on in here!” screamed a fat sweaty male who had just entered under the metal roof. Behind the fat male walked behind him two large males porting the menacing shiny armor and Esh instantly forgot about the fight. The fat important male turned his head and yelled over his shoulder for someone to call an emergency care unit.
The ceremony didn’t get started until the royal and gangster were transported out. The gangster didn’t go without a fight, but it only took one punch to the gut by one of the armored soldiers to silence him. Esh heard a crack and was sure the blow had broken a few ribs.
“Now…” said the fat male, wiping sweat off his forehead. He wasn’t hot, he was just too big for his body to handle, “We can start the ceremony!”
Strangers dressed in all sorts of different uniforms began to pour into the makeshift auditorium, most of them were not happy to be the representative of their trade. It was just another sun-cycle of work for them. The orphans were the only ones cheering, the other kids seemed unhappy to leave their homes or wherever they came from.
“Everyone sit down!” demanded the fat male, his eyes running through the crowd of orphans in disgust. “Last year’s ceremony took too much time and as you all know, the humanoids before you have work to do. So without further blabbing, let us begin.”
With a flick of the wrist the male had pulled a large piece of parchment out of his pocket and placed a monocle over his eye. Esh doubted the important gross male needed glasses at all, it was just another way of placing him higher in the hierarchy.
“Rotz!” cried the male and a young male in the back stood. “You are hereby sentenced to maintenance. Congratulations.” Before anyone could clap the male had read another name and then another.
“Grond! You are sentenced to guard duty at the prison. Darurah, sentenced to midwife.” The male began to read faster and faster and soon two or three kids were standing up at once. “… sentenced to painter! … sentenced to surveillance! … sentenced to mail! … sentenced to…”
Esh’s excitement began to lessen and lessen as the ceremony dragged on. Had they forgotten about him? The auditorium was now only him and about twenty other kids.
“Mehch!” cried the fat male and Esh’s head raised. The sentence came quickly, “sentenced to the army!”
Mehch squeaked and he fell over getting out of his chair. As he ran up to the two armored soldiers he turned around and gave Esh a smirk. How could this be? Mehch didn’t even make it up the rope! He was almost as fat as the male sentencing the kids and was no better than a piece of shit dropped on the side of the road by a shagra!
Esh made himself shake it off. He had come too far to let something like this get in his way. He knew he would make a better soldier than Mehch and he would prove it.
“Esh!” cried the announcer.
Esh’s heart raced and he stood with lightning speed, startling the fat male before he could even read the sentence.
“Err, um, yes… Esh, let’s see. Oh! Yes, sentenced to garbage duty. “Chindrah! Sentenced to…” and that was that.
The young, hardworking, scarred and mentally abused orphan stayed standing, sure of himself that he had heard incorrectly. He had just been sentenced to soldier, ya, that’s right. He would become an excellent soldier. He would walk down the streets and humanoids would yell his name. Lieutenant Esh! Lieutenant Esh!
Yet reality began to melt back into place. He realized everyone was staring at him, including the announcer who had stopped reading.
The ceremony was over and everyone was walking out with their new employer.
Beads of sweat mingled with tears at the end of Esh’s nose. He was all alone now under the metal roof. His misery took all of his attention away from the sun-cycle’s heat, heat that was more intense than usual.
How was it possible that he had not been chosen as soldier? He was by far the best! He was even smarter than them! It wasn’t fair! All that hard work… and for nothing.
Esh fell off his chair and pounded his fists into the ash, splashing the black all over his body. Tears ran down his cheeks as he kept smashing his fists, ignoring the pain. It was only until he noticed his fists were bleeding that he did stop. His head drooped and his forehead rested in the dirt. He closed his eyes.
But he knew why he hadn’t been chosen, because of his hair, his eyes, and… his parents. He would be punished yet again for being bred by a traitor and a loathed.
Ten minutes must have passed by before Esh realized he wasn’t alone. He could feel a presence behind him, and he opened his eyes.
Through his legs was the Elder, the male whom Esh had helped six years ago. His white beard had grown longer and he now wore large black sun shades.
And he was asleep.
The Elder was snoring very loudly which made Esh wonder how he had not heard it before. He stood up quietly and tried to make his escape before the Elder awoke.
The snoring stopped and the Elder leaned his head forward.
“Not too happy are you, lad?” he asked with a sm
ile. His teeth were surprisingly white, too white for someone of Reah.
“Why didn’t you ever come back?” Esh asked, turning back towards the Elder. It was the first question that popped into his head, a question he hadn’t even know was important to himself. But it was important.
“I never came back because I never left,” replied the Elder. He pulled a long cane he had strapped around his shoulder and placed it in front of him. “Why would I leave when you are so interesting to watch?”
Esh was instantly creeped out and at that moment he wished he could go back in time and stop his eight-year-old self from ever getting in the way of the orphans and their crude game.
“And besides, who else would protect you from that mean ole Korp.”
Esh’s eyes widened. This Elder actually knew about Korp? How could he?
“What do you know about him?” Esh asked, momentarily forgetting he was just sentenced to garbage duty.
“All I know is that he is very strange and very dangerous. He has problems in the head, I think.”
Esh was starting to believe Korp and this Elder were both crazy.
“However, I never did have to step in. Looks like he found someone else to play with,” said the Elder, standing up and turning his back to Esh. “Come along, we have to pick up all the undesirables that Reah has left on the street.”
“You might as well place me in that bag of yours,” Esh said under his breath. The Elder, with lightning speed, turned around and slammed his cane into Esh’s right temple making him crash to the ground.
He lay there holding his head, his body stunned. His cheeks burned out of pain and embarrassment.
The Elder bent over and put his face directly in front of his. Esh could smell alcohol on his breath. “I don’t ever want to hear you say that again,” he hissed. “Do you understand me, lad?”
Esh nodded his head and the Elder gave him a hand up.
“Let’s go, we have work to do.”
6 - Undesirables
The job was much worse than Esh had ever imagined. He wasn’t used to being under the sun for so long and it was really starting to get to his head. Luckily, the Elder brought along plenty of liquid canisters for him. Esh found himself pouring through ten maybe fifteen canisters a sun-cycle. The Elder didn’t seem to notice or even care for that matter.
What was worse about the job were the humanoids. By the end of his first sun-cycle he had been nearly drenched in spit which had cooked under the heat forming into a sort of film on his skin. The Elder was somehow able to dodge the attacks and make it home dry.
Esh never thought he would find himself wanting to return to the orphanage so badly, which was a luxurious mansion compared to where he now slept… on the street. It was true that most humanoids of Reah actually slept were they worked for it was a sign of hard work and loyalty to one’s chosen profession.
The Elder was no exception to this rule, therefore, Esh was forced to sleep on the sidewalks next to the street. He was essentially a homeless garbage male with no pay. Apprentices didn’t get paid until they were at least seventeen years old and had learned their trade. But what else was there to learn?
A month had gone by since the ceremony and Esh had changed a lot. He was stronger, leaner, and his skin color had darkened. He was now able to dodge a lot of the spit attacks from the citizens and even spit back when the Elder wasn’t looking. He also tried picking up trash in the graceful way that his mentor did. He didn’t like calling the Elder a mentor for was it really possible to train someone in the art of trash? Yet Esh really did only have two options, make the best out of this shitty job or kill himself. He thought he would try and make it work.
After the end of another long sun-cycle, Esh and the Elder retired to their usual spot by a bridge that let humanoids pass over a flowing river of molten lava. He was about to roll out his sleeping rug when the Elder grabbed his wrist.
“Are you tired of sleeping on the streets yet, lad?”
“What do you mean? As if I really have a choice,” Esh replied, looking down at the Elder’s fist. His knuckles were white with scars.
“Tell me lad,” said the Elder, his grip tightening. “What do you want in life?”
The question was unexpected and took Esh completely off guard. Why was this old garbage male asking what he wanted in life? As if he was supposed to answer that his life long dream had been to pick up all the trash left by the nice humanoids of Reah. He didn’t answer.
The Elder released his grip and threw his sleep rug to the ground and laid on it. Esh did the same and they spent the moon-cycle silently. However, the young male couldn’t sleep for the Elder’s question wouldn’t allow it. Had he really and truly wanted to be a soldier? Or was that just a mere facet to gain the love of others. What did he want in life?
The next sun-cycle was scorching hot just like the sun-cycle before and the sun-cycle before that. They made their way along the street until they found themselves in front of the army base which was surrounded by a handmade metal gate. Through the cracks Esh could see all the young males who had been lucky enough to be chosen training outside. The instructor would yell something out and the males would fall to their stomachs. The instructor would yell out other commands which had the young soldiers rolling, jumping and doing push-up after push-up.
And then he spotted Mehch. He was still fat and looked utterly miserable. This made Esh very happy.
The two males’ eyes met and Mehch made the same smirk that he had made at the ceremony. His demeanor changed and he picked up the pace, still smiling at Esh.
“What are you doing?” the Elder asked, picking up a dead animal, its face covered in the treads of a boot.
“Oh, um… I never have seen the army base before now,” he replied.
“No, I know exactly what you were doing. You were checking up on that Mehch child,” the Elder said, stopping his work and walking towards Esh. “That’s the one who gave you the scar, isn’t it?” He poked Esh’s chest.
Esh’s eyes fell to the ground. After a moment of silence, he nodded.
“Hmm… I’m sure good male Korp gave Mehch the punishment he deserved. Am I right?”
Esh looked back through the gate at Mehch who was still pretending to enjoy his boot camp training. “No, he was never punished. He actually became Korp’s right hand orphan.”
“I see,” said the Elder. “I don’t think that’s fair, do you?”
“No, not at all.”
The Elder smiled, put his hands on his hips and squinted up at the sky. “I don’t think you will ever get over this Mehch business if you don’t get a little payback.”
Esh’s lips parted and he looked up at the Elder. “Huh?”
“You heard me. Now, I am not a male of revenge but… come on, lad! This kid sliced you from your head to your leg!”
Esh smiled. Maybe it was revenge that he had wanted all along.
7 - Deceiving Looks
They waited until the sun revolved to its darkest side, the moon-cycle. The Red territory was dark. A few weeks ago, the King of Reah had passed a curfew, no one was allowed outside during moon-cycles unless you were involved in some sort of maintenance profession.
Taking full advantage of this curfew, Esh and the Elder found it easy to make their way to the base without any humanoids spotting them. They did, however, have to figure out a way to get inside.
Esh was coming up with all sorts of plans, such as climbing the fence or even cutting a hole. When he tried to convey these ideas to the Elder he would just stick a finger to his lips and shush him. After the third time Esh gave up and followed mutely.
They ended up at a door on the side of the building. The door opened and a soldier walked out. Before Esh was seen, the Elder had grabbed his collar and yanked him behind the wall. Again, the Elder put a finger to his lips.
Esh and the Elder peaked around the corner and saw that the soldier had turned his back, busy lighting a fume stick. Esh barely had time to blink before t
he Elder blurred before him and was behind the soldier within half a second. He twisted his arms around the soldier’s neck and choked him. The soldier, who looked quite bulky, didn’t have the strength required to even budge the Elder behind him. After ten seconds he had succumbed to the choke. The garbage male put the soldier down gently, turning to wave Esh to his side.
Esh didn’t move, his mouth open in amazement. What the actual four hells was that? Did this Elder, who looked to be in his mid-seventies, just take out a soldier almost three times his size?
“Will you come on!” the Elder hissed at Esh.
This time he listened and ran towards his mentor with his head down.
“How?”
“How did I do that?” the Elder asked, opening the door and shooing Esh inside.
“Yes, of course! How did you get behind him? How did you know how to do that?”
“These questions would be better asked later.”
Esh knew he was right and pushed the questions aside, focusing his mind on the task.
They slowly made their way across the dark hall. Esh couldn’t see worth a damn but it seemed as if the Elder knew exactly where he was going. Soon, they made it to another door, took a right, another door, took a left. How did this Elder know where he was going? It was like walking through a pitch black cave!
Finally, the Elder put a hand on Esh’s chest to stop him.
“We’re here,” he said and cracked the door open. They crept inside, luckily the room had a window and moonlight was able to shed some light on the dozens of beds stacked on each other. The Elder continued his stealthy strode, his nose in the air as if he could smell exactly where Mehch was lying.
The Four Territories Page 3