by Rain Oxford
“We don’t care about the gods’ judgment on the other side of the wall.”
“I don’t care either. I’m not saying you’ve done anything wrong. You wouldn’t risk your lives coming here to steal if it wasn’t necessary. I’m saying that you shouldn’t try for more when what you’re doing works. You can leave now and have food. Taking me will create problems.”
“You can’t scare us with your threats,” the woman sneered.
“I’m not threatening you. I want you to get away safely. Do you want to deal with the priests?”
“No.”
“Then you don’t want me. Either they come for me and you have to worry about them, or they don’t and you have another mouth to feed.”
“We don’t have to feed you.”
“Oh, I bitch a lot. You would end up giving me food.” I was starting to get antsy. The longer they were in that room, the greater the chance that Luca would be discovered. The man took a step closer, which also happened to be closer to Luca. “But…” He paused, so I continued. “If you insist, then I’ll go with you.”
A soft thud made both of us look. An apple-like fruit had fallen from a table and was rolling across the floor towards Luca. My curse strikes again. I had been certain they hadn’t missed a single scrap of food.
The fruit hit Luca gently, but he held still. The man went to grab it, then hesitated at the last second, and pulled on the blanket, revealing my brother. “Get up!” the man said, angry that Luca had been hiding. Without fighting, Luca scrambled out from under the table and ran to hide behind me.
“I’ll give you one warning,” I said. “I will go with you without fighting, because I know you’re doing what you have to do to survive. But if you hurt my brother, I will kill you.”
“You’re both coming with me, and you’re not killing anyone.”
“I’m not making idle threats or trying to scare you. I promise that if you hurt Luca, I will kill you in the most horrific way I can think of, which includes poking out your eyes and shoving them down your throat before you die.”
“And you’ll cut off his---”
“Shut it,” I interrupted Luca. “Don’t spoil the surprise.”
“Both of you go outside,” the man said. We did and five of the raiders surrounded us. “Get shackles. We’re taking them with us.”
“Where are the cats and dogs?” Luca asked me quietly. “Aren’t they supposed to be guarding the city?”
“I suspect they’re with the actual citizens of the city.”
“Oh. I was hoping we were going to live throughout the night, but never mind.”
Someone found shackles and chained Luca and me up. I wasn’t sure the priests really would come for us and I was even less sure we wanted them to. They took us through the wheat field, where the stalks reached Luca’s shoulders. I was definitely the tallest guy there, and that was why I could see the danger before anyone else could.
Hearing a soft growl, Luca and I both froze. The man behind me, who had captured us, pushed me forward. Movement to our right was followed by a sharp shriek from a man and a furious roar from a big cat.
“Velociraptors!” Luca cried.
“They’re not velociraptors. They’re probably the cats.”
“You tell me what the difference is when they’re chomping on my delicious face.”
“Keep moving,” the man said, pushing us both.
“Dude, I call you next to die,” Luca told him.
“This isn’t a movie. And if it was, it would be that woman who told him to take us,” I said. Luca and I had always discussed how and when people would die in horror movies, but to discuss it in real life felt a little morbid.
“Fine, but it’s not a cat she’ll die by; she’ll run from a cat and trip. Five bucks.”
I was so used to predicting deaths and motives in movies that it was difficult not to take the bet. “It’s way too crass to make a bet over a living person’s death.”
“Stop talking!” the man demanded.
Luca rolled his eyes and we continued in silence. Apparently, losing several members of their gang was par for the course, because while three more people shouted their distress, no one did anything about it.
Then a giant black dog stepped out in front of us. He was not wearing jewelry or armor like the other cats or dogs, but he was the size of a horse; he didn’t need it. Luca and I froze again. The dog looked over both of us before focusing on the man.
The man shoved me. “Keep moving.”
“Did you miss the dog blocking my path?”
“They guard the citizens of the cities. Stewards are not citizens.”
While the man spoke, the dog stared at me intently, like he was trying to convey some important message. He should have tried harder if that was the case, because I was drawing a blank.
We continued walking and the dog made no move to stop us. Apparently, his presence was only meant to scare us or warn the sand people not to come back.
We reached the wall, which had a ten-foot wide, circular hole through it. “A lot of good the wall does,” I commented as we walked through it. Outside was desert as far as the eye could see. Guarding the hole was another ten people and ten of the weirdest creatures I had ever seen.
They looked like komodo dragons with tall legs. They were about twenty feet long from snout to the tip of their powerful tails and five feet tall. Leather saddles were strapped to their backs.
“If the dogs are going to save us, now would be a really good time,” Luca said.
Unfortunately, no dogs or cats came forth to save us. I did, however, see a tiger watching us from the wheat field. At that moment, I had a theory. “I think they’re being told to stay away,” I said.
“What?”
“I think that dog wanted to save us, but someone was telling him he couldn’t.”
“Someone like a god?”
“Maybe we’re being tested.”
“Or maybe we are going somewhere important. Maybe we have to see someone or meet someone. I like that idea more than us just being unlucky.”
“I don’t think it has anything to do with luck.”
“No, you just think you’re cursed.”
We were shoved onto the back of one of the sand monsters behind a woman. Luca and I focused on securing our grip rather than getting comfortable.
* * *
Half an hour into our journey, we stopped under the guise of a water break. It wasn’t difficult to catch their worried and angry glances my way as they whispered to each other, though. They were not sure taking us was a good idea.
I ignored them and focused on the group. There were fifteen women and ten men. The man who had taken us was answering to three women while the woman who had suggested our capture demanded they stop questioning him.
“Women are dominant here,” Luca whispered, his attention on another group.
I nodded. “That’s what I was picking up as well.”
“The woman with the water jug there used magic to take it from that guy with the kicked-puppy face, so I think the chicks here have more power. What’s the plan if things go south? Do we make nice with the top dogs or the underdogs?”
“We’re outnumbered by both, outmatched by both, and strangers to both. If things go south, we’ll play it by ear and go with whoever wants us dead less.” They clearly hadn’t been planning on kidnapping anyone before they saw us, so I was expecting the worst.
“Get up,” the woman who we had been riding behind said. We stood and turned to face her. She handed me a flask of water, which I took a sip of. It tasted like water and I didn’t immediately die, so I handed it to Luca. We could get checked out by a doctor for contaminated water, but we wouldn’t make it home if we died of thirst.
“I’m Nathan,” I said. “This is my brother, Luca.”
After a moment of hesitation, she said, “You can call me Malie, but don’t think you can control me with it.”
“We only arrived a few days ago. We com
e from a world that doesn’t have magic. Trust me; I have no interest in using anyone’s name against them.”
“How did you come to wear a silver robe?”
“The gods want me to run an errand for them and the priests told us we had to wear them. We don’t trust the priests who tried to kill us both.”
She smirked. “Well then, you’re half one of us already. We’re going now!” she said loudly. Everyone packed up their shit quickly and mounted their beasts. Malie helped Luca and me onto the creature the right way and then put its reins in my shackled hands. “Stay with the group. The fastest way to die in the desert is alone. We won’t save you if you get separated.”
I nodded. She went to claim another beast.
“We leveled up,” Luca said.
“We are so far away from leveling up it’s not even funny.”
I could feel him rolling his eyes behind my back.
The bright glow of the colorful planet and the molten moon made it easy to see where we were going. Furthermore, the beast apparently naturally stayed with the herd and didn’t need any guidance.
* * *
We traveled throughout the night until we came to a village. It was considerably less fancy than the city, with more tents than wood or stone structures. The only structures that weren’t meant for breaking down in a hurry were on wheels. They were obviously on the move a lot.
One structure in the middle of the village was not mobile, however, and I happened to recognize the shape of it. “Isn’t that an obelisk?” I asked Luca quietly.
He had been half asleep, leaning against my back. “Huh?”
I pointed to the four-sided stone tower. “An obelisk.”
“No. The Greeks called it that. The Egyptians called it tekhenu, but I don’t think they were used as lookout towers.”
This one had a door at the base of it. It was shorter than the obelisks I had heard about as well; it was only twenty feet tall. “You know how American Chinese food is as far from China Chinese food as it can get?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m starting to think Earth Egypt is as far from Syndrial as it can get.”
He laughed. “I disagree. I think they started the same and grew apart, except Egypt grew further apart because it was so highly influenced by other Earth cultures, whereas Syndrial focused on and developed the Egyptian culture. It’s kind of like Japan’s Sakoku from 1623 to 1641, where it closed its borders. Maybe there’s even a world like ancient Japan. Oh! We should go there next! Maybe Earth is the universe’s melting pot.”
“Not unless they have coffee.”
“I want to see a Viking world,” Luca continued, not even listening to me anymore. “I bet they have dragons.”
We had reached the village and stopped the beasts. The sand people helped Luca down and then me, finally shutting him up about mythical beasts. We were probably the only guys who played Skyrim just to admire the dragons.
“What is the tower for?” I asked.
“They’re watching for an attack,” Malie said, as if it were obvious.
Luca gave me a look, telling me that the answer had been obvious.
We were taken inside a light gray, igloo-shaped tent and told to wait there. It was ten feet wide at the base and I had to duck to enter, as the opening was only five and a half feet tall. “I am really starting to feel like a troll here.”
The only things inside the tent were a small, metal table, two metal chairs, and a small bed. I sat at the table and realized it actually had a stiff cloth top, which was tan and dirty. I figured everything was dirty in the desert.
Soon, Malie returned with two pieces of bread and a key. “You’re going to sleep here tonight. We’re discussing what to do if the priests come for you,” she said, unshackling us.
“You are planning on double crossing them?” I asked.
She scowled. “We are discussing whether or not you’re safe with them. I know nothing about the priests except that they hate us because we refuse to worship the gods.”
“Do you deny their existence?” Luca asked with curiosity. I knew he desperately wanted a journal to write everything down in.
“No. We know they exist, but they only protect those inside the walls. Thus, we refuse to worship them. While there are some people here who knew the priests personally, I was born in the sand and never said two words to one. I think your best chance of survival is with us.”
Perhaps that’s why the dog didn’t stop us from leaving. “The priests can’t hurt us as long as the gods order them not to.” Unless they made an apprentice do it.
“Maybe, but that doesn’t protect you after you’ve played your part. We can help each other.”
“How?”
“Even what we took today isn’t going to last forever. We need someone on the inside.”
“And in exchange, you’ll let us return to the city?”
“If the priests give us what we want and you choose to go with them, we’ll allow it. However, we can teach you magic they don’t know. We can teach you to counter their attacks if they turn on you.”
“Can you elaborate?”
“The priests have been taught how to do magic the exact same way for a thousand years. That makes them extremely easy to outsmart.”
“I see your point. They’ve had formal training, though. They have books.”
“We don’t need books to teach us magic. We teach our children. They take children that have magic, so those children don’t have children of their own.”
“That’s why there aren’t more casters?”
“Right. Magic will find a way, but those with magic almost always pass it on. Magic has been in my line for generations, and it gets stronger with each generation. Almost everyone outside the wall has magic, and we’re all more powerful than the priests.”
“Then why do you live out here and not in the cities?”
“People in the cities believe what the priests tell them. They’re afraid of angering the gods because they don’t want to end up out here with us. They don’t realize that the priests interpret the orders and values of the gods based on their own interests. Thus, they hate us and the priests hate us for not obeying them. The gods don’t care what people do, not like the priests say.”
“You don’t hate the gods, then?” Luca asked.
“No, we hate the priests.”
“You don’t want to hurt anyone in the city, do you?”
“No. We just want food, which they have plenty of.”
“Have you ever hurt anyone?”
“Why would I have? We are all people. People have too many predators to kill each other.”
“Then I’ll help, but as soon as I do what the gods want, Luca and I are going home, so we’ll have to be ready when the time comes.”
Chapter 7
At sunrise, Luca and I heard some quiet cheering and went to investigate. In the center of the camp, in front of the tower, two dozen people were gathered around. We only got as close to the group as we had to get to see what was going on; two rock monsters were dueling.
The rock monsters were only two feet tall, so they weren’t exactly intimidating, but they were still impressive. I mean, they were monsters made of rock.
Their bodies were made up of many small rocks rather than a few large ones, which seemed like a bad idea until one of them punched the other through the stomach. The victim shattered, only to reform a second later and continue fighting, none the worse.
This was magic. These people had real magic. Not some levitating rocks and flashy staffs; they were trained on the field to survive using magic. This was the magic I needed to learn in order to control my curse and defeat the Painter.
* * *
It was morning when Luca and I slept, which made sense; no one wanted to be active during the hottest part of the day. We were natural night owls, but school and our jobs forced us to wake early. My sleep schedule was messed up worse than a sheep in a wolf farm anyway. We’re going to hav
e jetlag when we get home.
After a few hours of sleep, the heat woke me. Luca slept on as I headed out. Everyone else was asleep, so I grabbed my robe and headed for the tower. While the robe wasn’t my style, it did keep the sun from burning me.
I opened the door and entered the tower, surprised and relieved by the gust of cool air. It was like they were hiding an air conditioner, but as I gazed up at the winding stone steps, I figured it was probably some architectural trick. The base of the building was roughly ten-by-ten.
There was no other door except for the one I entered through, so I took the steps. The only light came from the opening at the top, which meant the steps were poorly lit. Since it likely never rained over the tower, they weren’t slick, so that was a plus.
At the top of the tower was a five-by-four foot hole to a wooden platform. There, I found two young women. One was blond, in her early thirties, and looked strict. The other one, a brunette in her late thirties, was staring at me with fascination.
Neither of them was startled by my arrival. “Did you need something?” the blond asked, her tone edging on hostility.
“No, I thought you could use an extra pair of eyes on account of how many people you have to watch over.”
The women glanced at each other before nodding. “Fine.”
I faced the sand. “Oh, right. What am I supposed to be looking for, anyway?”
“Anything. If you see anything other than sand, you tell us immediately.”
“Okay.” The three of us observed the sand with intense focus for ten minutes before I realized I had just volunteered to do one of the worst jobs imaginable. I would have been better suited to watching grass grow. At least sunlight didn’t reflect off of grass and blind me.
“I heard you’re from another world,” the brunette said.
“I am.”
“Is it a good world?”
“I imagine every world has its ups and downs. Earth has some great places and some crap ones. The same can be said for its people, leaders, educational systems, governments, styles, and values.”