The Four Territories

by Stevie Collier

  Esh realized it was the orphanage. He needed to destroy it or else he would never be free. He ran back down the stairs, his energy soaking into the amateur bandage he had made with a large piece of his robe. He shooed the kids out of the orphanage. Some disobeyed him but with just a flash of his sword they were instantly persuaded that being outside was a better choice. The orphanage was empty.

  Esh stumbled out of the orphanage, his world going blurry. He called upon his twin one last time.

  “Master…”

  “How can I take care of this place?”

  “The amount we need… would be deadly, Master,” It said with a smile which Esh read to mean, ‘Do it! Do it!’.

  “Can you do it? Can you destroy this place?”

  It nodded.

  Without thinking, Esh cut himself again.

  27 - Mission Complete

  The half-elf fell to his knees onto the ash road, his life’s liquid flowing steadily now. The ground rumbled and shook beneath him as a chasm formed underneath the orphanage. Esh laughed maniacally when he recognized the black mass extending from the ground and encircling around the four walls. It was the same beast that had swallowed Mehch and had tried to take control of his body. This only fueled his crazed laughter.

  Humanoids throughout the neighborhood panicked and fled as the massive black jaws became larger and larger. They ran past dying Esh without one single offer to help. Some even stumbled over him only to stand up and continue their escape. The orphanage was no longer visible behind the black teeth that closed in on it. There were sounds of metal bending followed by the cracking of the dried molten stone foundation as the orphanage was devoured in a single gulp.

  As fast as the process had started it had ended. The black monster had vanished along with the entire building. All that was left was a scar where the ground had come back together.

  “Oh no,” Esh said weakly when he tried to stand himself up. His body had not responded.

  He didn’t try to stand again. He fell slowly to his side as memories of his fake mother now passed freely through his mind, anger was no longer present to block their path. He started to sob. Alone on the street and his face in the ash.

  His cheeks burned as the tears dried up from the heat. He hiccupped and coughed; a string of snot fell from his nostril. A strange high had overcome him as the last bit of his blood dripped out of him.

  “How did it feel?” asked Rift, his shadow overlooking Esh’s broken body.

  Xep walked into view and knelt beside him. Gently, he turned Esh over onto his back and fed him the same sweet medicine from before.

  “Did those kids see your face?” Rift asked him. Esh nodded. “Damn. We better get him home and quickly.”

  Esh was hoisted off the ground onto one of their shoulders and was covered with a black robe disguising him as a victim from the recent molten rain. He must have passed out for it wasn’t long before he heard a door close. His face was met with cooling relief as the robe was taken off. He was set down and felt that he could actually stand. Looking at his arm he noticed that it had started to clot.

  “I have to get me some of that medicine,” Esh said.

  “I would have supplied you with some if you had given your mission more forethought,” answered Xep, climbing the rope down into the dungeon.

  “Mission? What mission? And where is Master Rift?”

  Xep ignored him.

  While Esh was climbing down behind him a delicious smell hit his nose and his stomach growled intensely. He was starving. In the middle of the sandy training grounds was a table covered with steaming foods and even a couple dishes of dessert. Rift was behind the table, his arms behind his back.

  “This ceremony isn’t usually performed so early in the training,” the Elder said taking a seat, “But each young agent is different I suppose.”

  Xep had already taken his seat, his robe laid across the back of his chair.

  “There is a ceremony?” Esh asked, running towards the food. “For killing someone?”

  “Sure is,” Rift said, taking his own seat. “But not just that, but for one’s first successful mission!”

  “But this…” Esh looked for his fake mother’s body but only found that she was missing. “wasn’t a mission. Where is she?”

  “Xep has taken the liberty to start her undertaking. That is, he is readying her for permanent sleep.”

  “Oh.” Esh looked down at the food not knowing what to say. “And what mission are you talking about?”

  “Please, have a seat first,” his mentor offered, waving to one of the chairs.

  Esh did take a seat and grabbed at the first piece of food he saw and shoved a large chunk of it into his mouth. It was delectable.

  “Did you happen to see anything strange in that male’s office?” Rift asked him.

  At first Esh shook his head no but he stopped his chewing to think. The desk had been a pretty bizarre piece of the room.

  “Anything at all?” Rift asked him again. He was leaning over the table with his hands clasped together under his chin.

  Esh swallowed. “Well, there was this large desk made entirely of the wood you talked about. At least, the texture looked the exact same as the hilt of father’s sword.”

  “Good observation,” Rift said, nodding his head. “And what do you make of it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Use your head, lad. Why would a middle-class owner of an orphanage own a piece of furniture crafted out of the trees of the Green terrain?”

  Esh thought about it for a moment. “Well maybe he bought it from someone… Or maybe it could have been some sort of gift.”

  “And that is exactly what it was.” The Elder sat back in his chair. “Long ago, before you were born, Korp had made sieges against the Green territory himself, with his own platoon of hired mercenaries. However, his goal was to not kill the elves but to enslave them. He became a rich male very fast but his small slavery empire did not last long.”

  “Did the Order shut it down?”

  “Didn’t have to. The elves come from a terrain much different from that of our own and that is why we have to wear the eco-armor just to cross unto their land. The elves had no such armor and quickly died of heat strokes just after they had been sold in our terrain. You can imagine how upset Korp’s customers were once they came home to a shriveled up elven humanoid on the ground.”

  “Did they get their money back?”

  “They tried that’s for sure, but Korp was a very needy male and had already spent all the currency.”

  “So since he was forced to stop the enslaving, why was me murdering him considered to be a mission?”

  Xep stood up and walked into the secret room. He returned holding a circular piece of metal and handed it to Esh. It was some sort of collar with a lock attached to the clasp on the back. The edges of the collar were lined with semi-sharp rods keeping the wearer from tugging at it.

  “One of our more talented agents gained information about a factory that was manufacturing these,” Xep said, sitting back down in his chair. “It seems our friend Korp was planning another enslavement mission. That same agent was able to intercept one of the supply caravans on its way to the orphanage. The agent destroyed it but brought this one back.”

  “Does any of this have to do with him killing fake mother?” Esh asked, handing the collar back to Xep.

  “She is the reason the Order knew of this in the first place. She was the one who leaked the information,” Xep answered.

  Esh jumped out of his chair sending it backwards, his hands slammed on the table. “And you knew about this!”

  Rift stood up to and punched Esh straight into the face. Flashes of light zoomed in his head as he flew backwards into the sand, clutching at his face.

  “If you ever address myself or your instructor Xep like that again there will be dire punishment. I allowed it when you found out the death of someone dear to you but I will no longer tolerate it. Do you understand
me?”

  Esh sat up holding his nose. “I… understand.”

  Rift gave him his hand and pulled him back up. “Good.”

  Xep continued as if nothing had happened. “I had no knowledge of any of this. I, myself, am no longer highly involved in aggressive missions… given my age.”

  “Does the Order know that it was me who killed him?” Esh could feel a trickle of blood coming from his nose and used a loin cloth on the table to stuff the nostril.

  “If they don’t know now they will soon,” answered Rift, pulling off a chunk of meat from some sort of grilled bird and placing it on his plate. “They don’t know about you but they will quickly become suspicious.”

  Xep nodded, “The Order will not believe that irony is the cause of all of this. First, they find out about the mission and the next thing they know the target disappears along with the entire building.”

  “So, what should I do now?”

  “Lay low,” Rift said with a mouth full of bird. “We will continue our training underground but for now you will no longer follow me up top. You will stay here and train or study all the way until it is time for rest.”

  “I have a question…” Xep said in a whispered tone. Rift and Esh both looked at him. “How did you kill that male?”

  Esh panicked. He had forgotten that Xep and his mentor had no idea that he had completely went berserk on his prey. What would they do if they found out that he had filleted the male alive? To be alive and skinned was something one wouldn’t even dare do to an animal they were going to eat, much less a humanoid.

  “I ugh… stuck my sword into the back of his head while he was staring out the window.”

  Rift shoved his goblet of hot slag out into the air spilling the majority of its contents onto the table. He gave a loud cheer, “Good job, lad! He didn’t even see ya coming, did he?”

  Rift beamed at Esh for a few seconds before continuing his attack on the bird meat, making the young male feel like a lying traitor. Xep, on the other hand, only stared at him with an unreadable face. He didn’t touch any of the food on the table but replaced his robe back onto his body. He pulled the hood over his head and left the dungeon. Did he know how Esh really killed Korp? Could he read Esh’s face? Did he know the truth?

  ACT TWO

  Act 2

  28 - Socially Awkward

  Five Years Later

  “That’s it! That’s it! Great footwork, now parry this! Great! Now, let’s see what you think about this!” Rift spun around with dazzling agility but it wasn’t enough. Esh could already see what was going to happen next. The Elder was turning a full circle using the momentum of this movement to bring a harder hit to his side. This was the only time turning your back to an enemy was an option, but it was too bad for Rift that Esh had already seen this move so many times before.

  Esh kicked at the Elder’s back as soon as he was turned, sending his mentor head first into the sand.

  “Well done!” his Master said, hopping back onto his feet with a grace unknown to any other ninety year olds. “I showed you that one, eh?” He pivoted his head and spat a wad of sand out of his mouth.

  Esh nodded, “Yes sir, you have. Maybe we should take a rest.”

  “To hell with your rest! Just because you’ve grown and I’ve shrunk doesn’t mean I still can’t whip your ass.” Rift charged at him and they began their usual dance of blades.

  It was true, Esh had grown much in the five years. He was now almost a head and a half taller than his mentor and about half a head higher than Xep. At the age of fifteen, Rift had introduced lifting heavy objects into the training curriculum and Esh was to perform these weighted exercises five sun-cycles in a row with two sun-cycles of rest.

  He quickly became addicted to his training and he often thought that it was just a way to forget what he had done to Korp. He was now waking up on his own and beginning his workouts before Xep had arrived or before even Rift had awakened. He also taught himself to hunt and cook due to his appetite growing immensely caused by his rigorous training.

  His muscles had grown large, strong and tight against his skin making him secretly very popular with the females of Reah. During the afternoons trash pickup with Rift, it was not uncommon for the females to goggle at him only to be stifled by their fathers. Walking around with a trash male was inconceivable and a disgrace. Especially if that male was a hybrid. It didn’t hurt Esh’s feelings, the only thing he truly cared about was his training.

  Physical training was only half of the curriculum. Alchemy had become much more difficult and time consuming. Esh was now in charge of gathering his own ingredients which was no easy chore. The more difficult the alchemical potion the harder and more dangerous it was to find and gather the ingredients.

  Esh also continued his studies in history, physiology, and tactics. He was even given some teachings in torture which included things such as bone breaking, stretching, and gouging. He cringed internally when the subject of skinning came up.

  “Well… I think that is enough for one sun-cycle,” Rift said, his hand on one hip and his breathing irregular. “I think it’s about time we got to work.”

  The Elder put a hand to his chest and hunched over trying to catch his breath. It sounded raspy and struggled.

  “Are you ok, Master?” Esh asked him, placing his sword in its scabbard. “You seem to be getting more and more tired, I think it best that you get some rest this sun-cycle. Leave the pick up to me.”

  “Are you calling me old, lad?” Rift stood up and straightened his back. “The moment I start giving away my work is the time I start descending into the grave.” He said this with a smile. “Now come on, we got work to do.”

  It was particularly hot this sun-cycle and Esh was forced to remove his shirt. The large scar on his chest was no longer pink, the sun had faded it into a light cream color. He now had many other scars around his torso to match. None were nearly as large but each had their own story and each Esh had learned something new. His backside held most of the scars for at the beginning of his training he had had a very bad habit of showing his back to the enemy. The habit was hard to break and he had suffered the consequences. Now, he only showed the enemy his front side, never turning to run… Unless it was a tactical decision of course.

  “What makes an honorable male?” Rift asked Esh as they began picking up the bones of some animal a large bird had dropped into the middle of the streets.

  “You ask me every sun-cycle, Master. You know that I know the answer.” Esh put a large bone in the trash bag hanging over his shoulder.

  “Not nearly well enough! It is the most important question. One of these sun-cycles you will be faced with difficult choices, choices that will have dire consequences for you no matter what you choose. The question of what makes an honorable male will be the deciding factor for those ultimatums.”

  When Esh was fourteen and had first heard this question he had rolled his eyes but he had changed over the five years. He was forced to mature faster than most other humanoids given his harsh circumstances. Rift and Xep had become father figures to him; they were truly the only humanoids he knew and he loved them.

  Esh stood up straight and looked his Master in the eye. “A male’s identity is created by the sum of all the decisions he has made in his life. He is only as powerful as his mind is strong. An honorable male is kind to others and stifles his lust for luxuries with generosity.” Esh did not take this description lightly. He made it a point in his mind to try and comprehend the message in a new way each time he recited it.

  “Very good,” the Elder said, his back cracking loudly as he picked up the last of the bone fragments.

  Esh was just about to ask his mentor if he was alright when a triage of young females around his age walked passed them. As soon as they spotted Esh’s shiny body rippled in muscles they began to giggle to one another. One of them even had the courage to wave at him.

  Esh blushed and turned his back to them. He knew what was coming. />
  “Ooooh, Eshie lad, I just wanna kiss you all over the place. Please let me make you fine dinners,” Rift cooed at him, leaning on his staff and shaking his butt in a taunting fashion.

  “Please, Master, you know I have no interest in them.”

  “Well maybe you should! You’ve been working hard for so long and with hardly any play if any at all! Training isn’t the only thing in life, lad.”

  Esh didn’t look at him, just nodded. “So you’ve told me, Master. But I enjoy my training, it is my play.”

  “You know, your father was addicted to his training and never missed a sun-cycle. However, he made time for himself. He understood that there is a balance in life and that there is a world outside the punching bags.”

  “What are you suggesting, Master?” Esh asked, now letting himself look at the females behind him. They had decided to stick around to watch him work.

  “I’m saying you should have a little fun! Go out once in a while! Go explore the city, go… Why don’t you go talk to them?” Rift suggested, pointing his head towards the females.

  “What? No… They’re busy.” Esh said, his face burning and not just from the Red sun.

  “Busy talking about you, I’m sure. Now go!”

  “Master, I can’t.”

  “Go! Go on! Shew!” Rift said, trotting towards him and physically trying to shove him towards the females, but Esh was far too large for the Elder to even slightly budge him.

  “Master, please…”

  “That’s an order! I shouldn’t have to command a nineteen-year-old to go and speak to young specimens of the opposite sex. Back when I was spry and youthful you can bet I made it part of my training to learn how to talk the talk!”

  “But I have never talked to a female before. What if they don’t like talking about working out? Or fighting?”

  “Oh God be good,” exclaimed the Elder, slapping his forehead. “You don’t talk about that kinda stuff around a female, you idiot! You talk about… flowers and… smelly good things…”