by Wolfe Locke
(Recommendation – Turn Away. One is here that you cannot handle in battle)
Should be fine though if we don't stay for long. She seemed like she wanted to check it out. Zander thought as he tried to ignore Rocktooth's disapproval.
“This was kind of a depressing neighborhood, even before the Harrowing,” Celeste said unaware. “It was all hip restaurants and craft beers. Ugly too and full of fake people. Some things never change.” She frowned, looking at the massive building and the overgrown green ivy that clung to everything. A dark shadow crossed behind a window. Zander noticed, but Celeste did not.
“Thanks for bringing me here.” she said as she touched Zander on the shoulder and walked into the courtyard and looked up to get a better look at the building. Zander tried to watch her without being too obvious about it. Her hips swayed side to side teasingly. Zander gulped and looked over at Rocktooth, who shook his head. We have water if you’re that thirsty.
“What was Arcadia like when you lived here?” he said, trying to distract himself without focusing on the level warning for the area. “Atlanta, I mean?”
She sighed. “It was complicated. Just like any city and traffic was terrible if you didn’t pay for an express pass. Things got crowded and it wasn’t always easy to get what you needed or where you needed to go You know what I mean.”
“Not really. I’ve never been around too many of my kind. Monsters and lack of supplies tend to keep our numbers low.” Zander replied with a tone of sadness. “There aren’t really cities anymore. Just ruins. The Draugr and other creatures of the dark are drawn to large groups of people, so we try to build small and stay small. It’s part of how we’ve managed to survive. That other stuff you mentioned, I’m unfamiliar with.”
“I should have realized, I’m sorry. I forgot the world I knew isn’t what you grew up with,” Celeste responded. “It’ll be hard to describe then. I’ll try to keep it simple. It was…” she paused and struggled to find her words. “Any group of people, even a small one, you’ll always have different personalities, good and bad, rich people and poor people. Atlanta was the same, just a lot bigger. There were huge houses with more space than anyone could ever need, and two blocks over there’d be people who couldn’t afford food. We were always okay—me and my parents—but we struggled sometimes. We always remembered those who had less than us, though. Even when we had next to nothing, a lot of people didn’t have half of what we had.”
“Being grateful for what you have is a good thing to value and puts everything into perspective, I think. What about your parents? Your family? Did you have brothers or sisters?” Zander asked curiously.
Her face darkened, and he immediately regretted asking the question. Of course, she doesn’t want to talk about her family. They were caught up in the end of the world. “I don’t want to talk about it. They weren’t in the group I was with when we tried to leave the city, they didn’t make it that far. That’s all I’ll say.”
An awkward silence followed. Rocktooth looked at him, the golem’s unblinking eyes drilling into him. Smooth. Really smooth. But it's time to go, we’ve drawn too much attention. You’ll learn though. This won’t be the first time you step in it.
“Come on, let’s go.” Zander said as he touched Celeste on the shoulder and motioned for their group to leave. “This place isn’t safe. Whatever is here, isn’t something we can handle just yet.” Celeste nodded, not really understanding, and they took off.
They walked away and looked for shelter elsewhere. Eventually, Celeste perked up. “There was really, really good food. Like…. Falafal, Arepas, Pho, and I don’t even know what you’d call it, but it was chicken wrapped in waffles.” she said brightly. “I wonder if any of it survived the Harrowing, or if those recipes turned into something else. You’ll have to show me when we get to your village!”
“Elf food might be different,” he said, grateful for a change of topic. “When magic started to flourish again, a lot of things changed. But you’ll be able to see for yourself. You haven’t eaten until you’ve tried some of our bread. If you’ve enough of it, you can survive forever on the road.”
Rocktooth came to a stop ahead of them, gesturing at a structure in the distance. Ah. There we go.
“Oh!” Zander said eagerly. “An M Golden Arches! We can shelter beneath those. The Draugr hate them for some reason, the Arches and they’re easy landmarks in case you need to meet up with someone.”
Notification: Now Entering “The Ancient Ruins – M Golden Arches”
Details: A staple of the idyllic time before the Harrowing, these arches are all that remains. This symbol of times long passed has become anathema for the Draugr and other monsters of the dark. You may rest here without fear of attack.
(Safe Zone)
Celeste laughed. “An ‘M Golden Arches’? You mean a McBurger’s? This is the safe zone? You have no idea how ironic that is. This is hilarious.”
“I don’t know what you’d call it. I only know what we call it.” Zander responded.
“Well, that is not what I mean when I said Atlanta had great food. Still though, I’d kill for a cheeseburger” she said with a laugh.
Zander shrugged. At least she seems in a better mood. “I’ve never eaten there. I’m unfamiliar with this “cheeseburger”. Whatever food was inside is long gone. Just like some of the buildings.”
“I guess so. Everything is gone, isn’t it?” Celeste muttered in reply as she looked at the ruins of the old fast-food restaurants.
They set up camp in the shelter of the yellow arches. Zander pulled out a pack from his [Spatial Ring] and unfurled a bright green tent from within it. The material was lined with olive green canvas patches and Zander quickly staked it down. It was an elf-style tent. Made of thin reeds braided together with foraged material from an old human military facility near his village.
“I only brought one,” he said sheepishly. “I wasn’t expecting to meet a friend on this trip. I can sleep outside tonight, though—you can take the tent if you like.”
“Oh, sure,” she said, cutting her eyes away from him with a smile. “That sounds like a good plan.”
“Rocktooth,” Zander said to the golem. “Can you patrol? I think we’ll be safe from Draugr here, but just in case.”
Patrol. Yeah sure. Not a problem. I see what’s going on here. Big set of googly eyes verse your trusted guardian from the Nether. Obvious choice.
Rocktooth stomped off in an exaggerated fit. Zander and Celeste sat in silence for a moment, listening to the sound of the golem’s footsteps as it circled the parking lot with those heavy, thudding footsteps, over and over again. Zander sighed and quickly summoned a Nether Owl to fly overhead and keep watch, seeing it the command, help Rocktooth keep an eye out, but if you see anything, wake me up. I don’t want Rocktooth wandering off and getting into trouble just because he’s being jealous.
The owl flew off and circled overhead for a moment before finding a perch. Celeste smiled at the owl. “That’s amazing. You can literally summon life with your magic.”
“So Rocktooth is a golem, right? And what exactly is a golem? You told me earlier it was an extension of your power, but I don’t really understand any of that.” Celeste asked. "Let's see some of that Elven bread you were talking about. Tell me everything."
Zander yawned and folded his hands over his chest. “That’s a conversation for another day. It’s too complicated for right now. For us demi humans, it’s like we can see magic. It communicates with us and grows with us. Get some sleep.”
Chapter Seven: The World Before
When they woke up the next morning, the Netherworld owl was gone, returned to the other side after the summoning magic had expired.
“They do that,” Zander said when Celeste asked, concerned about for the owl's safety . “They tend to leave without saying goodbye. Don’t take it personally. It’s the ways of summons. When they disappear, it’s never forever. It takes something truly horrible to destroy a sum
mon forever.”
Celeste nodded “I wasn’t going to be offended, I was just worried for it. Where I come from, birds can’t talk at all. So it wouldn’t occur to me to expect one to say goodbye.”
“Oh,” Zander frowned. “Okay, that sounds so… human. So, disconnected.”
Rocktooth grumbled at them as the golem came into view and saw the two of them up and moving.
Finally awake? I’ve been up all-night standing guard. Nothing to report. Draugr presence in the area is low. Some howls during the night and sounded like something had them riled up in another neighborhood, but nothing for us to worry about right now. You’re welcome by the way.
“You don’t need to sleep, Rocktooth,” Zander pointed out. “So it’s not a huge sacrifice for you. But thank you anyways.”
Still. Don’t forget who's been in your corner this whole time. Like when you fell down that well, I eventually got you a rope, right?
With the new morning and the sun shining on the horizon, Celeste looked around, eyes wide, taking in the ruined city around her. She looked a little shell-shocked. Zander felt bad. It must be crazy, waking up to find that your whole world and everything you knew is gone and everyone you ever cared about is dead. Except you, lost on the river of time. At least for him things had always been this way.
“How did this happen?” she said quietly, more to herself than to him. The words hung and were followed by a silence.
I should say something. “How did this happen you mean?” Zander replied, pointing out towards the ruins of the city.
She nodded. “Yes, all of it. The magic. The talking to birds. The elves. Summoning magic. The crazy monsters.”
He sighed. “It’s a long story. I told you.”
“Are we in a rush?” She countered, pointing up at the golden arch overhead. “You did say this was a safe place.”
“No,” Zander said. “We’ve got time now. Alright.”
He sat down and stoked the embers of the fire with a stick. Rocktooth had buried the coals overnight so they’d have something to start from in the morning. Celeste was looking at him expectantly, and he devoted his full attention to fire-building, avoiding her gaze. Finally, he put the stick down. He hadn’t really wanted to be the one to tell her this piece of ancient history—didn’t really even know where to start—but it seemed like the job had fallen to him.
“I told you a bit about the Draugr earlier,” he said. “And I guess you had your own run-ins with them before the Harrowing when they were, whatever they were before. So we can skip that part.”
“Yeah, I think zombies was the closest word to it.” she said. “I want to know more about magic. And more about you. You don’t seem human.”
That was easy for Zander. “We call ourselves post humans, but I think I told you this already. I’m an elf.”
“Like, a Lord of the Rings elf? Pointy ears, loves the forest, that kind of thing?” Celeste responded with a half laugh.
It’s not too late to leave her behind Zander. You can always get new minions. Zander shook his head, his eyes darting at the golem.
“I don’t know what that is. But I do love the forest,” Zander said earnestly. “That’s where I live. Surrounded by trees.”
“Ah. Okay. That sounds nice. And your people were, what, created after the Harrowing?”
“Not at all,” he said. “We may call ourselves post humans, but we’ve always been around. We were just hiding before.”
“Hiding from what?” Celeste replied
“From humans mostly. I don’t know if you’re noticed, but you’re a pretty destructive species. We’ve all studied the history. How you all waged war against each other constantly. How you used up all your natural resources to the point of catastrophe. How you made life miserable for demi-humans like me, back in your own time.” Zander replied.
“Demi-humans? I never met anymore before you.” she said, looking puzzled.
“You probably did and just never knew. My people could blend in better with your kind then most. But yeah, an elf is a demi-human. Same as minotaurs, satyrs, centaurs—that kind of thing.” Zander explained, an edge of irritability creeping into his voice.
“But those are all just myths. They don’t actually exist.” Celeste responded?
“You’re going to doubt me? Really? Demi-humans exist, they do, I’m proof of that. That golem walking around who thinks we should leave you here is proof of that.” Zander said. “And we always existed. We were all just underground. We fled to remote areas or tried to blend in with local human communities. It was easy for elves. We look pretty human anyway. My group hid for years along what used to be called the ‘Appalachian Trail’. In the ancient land of North Georgia—not too far from here.”
“Wait, really?” Celeste said. “That’s a busy trail, though. And the southern end is usually packed with hikers—or I guess it used to be. How did a group of elves manage to live there without being detected?”
Zander shrugged. “It was centuries ago, and I wasn’t alive yet. So I only know what I’ve been told. Apparently, they were able to blend in with the through-hikers. If anyone asked an elf what they were up to or got suspicious, they’d tell people they were going all the way to the end of the trail and that they’d hiked it six times before or something like that. That usually got people off their backs.”
“That makes sense,” Celeste said. “Those guys who walked the trail tended to get pretty weird.”
“The village I live in now is actually an offshoot of the original one. We can go and see the foundations of the old town when we get there, if you’re interested.”
“Might be cool.” Celeste nodded, “I’ll consider it. But wait—back to the story. Demi-humans always existed, yeah? So what finally made them come out of hiding?”
“Well, for one, humans were gone,” Zander sighed and continued. “But even then it’s complicated. You’ve seen by now that magic has been unleashed on the earth—and you’re an ice spirit, so you’ve felt it yourself as well. That magic was always there, even in your time. It was just sealed off so no one could access it. We’re not sure why, and we’re not sure who did that, if anyone. We’re also not sure why it suddenly became unsealed again. We just know that it happened.”
“Wow,” Celeste said. “So I may always have had the abilities I have now? They were just sealed off to me before so I couldn’t use them?”
“I mean maybe? I’m not an expert and nobody knows” Zander said, poking the fire again. “I’m not fully sure how it works. We can ask the Elders back at the village. They may know more. All I know is that once magic was let loose again, we were all able to come out of hiding. We’d had limited access to our own powers with the way things were. That’s part of why we didn’t want anyone to know about us. We weren’t able to fully defend ourselves without magic. But when we got those abilities back, it was a big moment. Apparently, for some people, it was like reclaiming our ancient heritage.”
“Wow,” Celeste replied with a bit of sarcasm that Zander didn’t pick up on. “That’s I mean good for you guys right? Fall of humanity and then poof, you get your powers back.”
“You should hear the Elders tell it,” Zander said quickly. “They do a much better job. It’s a really emotional story.”
“I’m sure it is,” she said, shooting him an encouraging smile. “I can’t fault you guys. Sorry.”
“But it wasn’t all good. When magic returned, a lot of bad things happened too. You’ve seen some of them. The Draugr. The ruined cities. I’m sure it was magic that made humans start turning into monsters. Not just Draugr, either.” Zander continued.
“Wait,” she said, looking horrified. “You mean, like the slime monster from the mall? That was a human?”
He sighed. “Yeah probably at one time. Unfortunately. There seems to be a pattern to it, too. They become something connected with the part of the world they’re in, or the kind of person they are. Not all humans become monsters, too. Only the bad ones who’v
e let bitterness and anger corrupt them. That’s what the Elders say, anyways.”
“Am I—” she swallowed. “Am I a monster? An ice monster? Or will I become one?”
Zander shook his head vehemently. “No. You’re an ice spirit. Totally different thing.”
“Well, that’s a relief!” She replied.
Rocktooth stomped up to them, ground shaking as he approached. They both looked up at him expectantly. “Include her too Rocktooth”
Found you something. It might be good.
The golem dropped a frozen pack of bacon on the ground in front of the fire. Celeste made a face.
“Bacon?” she said. “How old is that? Where’d you get it? That can’t be safe.”
Tell her it came from a freezer. It’s perfectly safe. She doesn’t need to know the freezer was a mimic I just smashed, and this was the loot inside.
But she shook her head when he told her. “It’s been frozen for centuries, then! That’s like eating a mammoth from the permafrost. No way. I’ll eat something else.”
Tell her there isn’t anything else. She can eat the bacon I’ve provided for its sustenance, or she can eat nothing. I won’t be fetching more.
Zander decided to try a gentler approach than the one Rocktooth was suggesting. “This is a rare delicacy among my people. It’s one of the few human foods we like to eat. Try it. You might like it. Maybe being frozen for a long time gives it some kind of special flavor.”
She grimaced at the meat as Zander pried it out of the package and set it on an iron skillet over the fire. “Cured bacon at least?”
“I doubt it’s cured, or spoiled.” Zander responded. “Like Rocktooth said. It was frozen. And with things being different now, I’m sure its safe to ok.”