Broken Earth: Unveiling the Secrets of the Worlds

Make a deal

Yusaf’s brother, Flugar storm the tent where he and the other are recuperating. “Yusaf! You okay?!” he screams loudly right after entering the tent.

              “Calm down big brother. I am fine, all I got is some small cuts here and there but nothing serious.” He said with a disappointed tone. His brother then smile and sighs in relief after seeing that his younger brother is fine. “You should be mindful of what you do big brother, I’m fine but that doesn’t mean you can storm this place whenever you want and disturb us. We need some rest you know?” He added.

              “Sorry about that. I’m just worried about you. Bu that aside, is sit true what you told the chief?  Some type of creature appeared?” Yusaf nod his head gently. “Yeah- we fought it and barely survived if weren’t for the weapons that we got from the humans that we made friends with.” Flugar could not believe what he said and turns to the others who also nod their heads.

              “Are weapons are the best so where there any uses for our weapons?” Ysa raise her hands and speak of the time when she tried to use their knife but then shattered before it could even make a few scratches on the beetle’s armor. “And just like that, the knife that I had with me shattered like glass.”

              Flugar felt disturbed after knowing that a new species of monster appeared with the ability to block their attacks with their body, he then thought of how they are able to deal with them if they ever decided to appear in their village. “The weapon, can I see it?” Yusaf then hands the katana that was given to him by Xerxes and reminds him that it is in a sorry state so he could not appreciate the beauty and sharpness at the moment.

              “That weapon is really handy but the monsters are agile as heck so we missed a lot but that did not stop us from killing them.” Flugar tried to slide his finger at the blade only to be cut easily. “Are you saying that this blade is not in a good condition?” Yusaf nod his head, completely convinced that the katana’s blade have dulled after that fight.

              Flugar shakes his head thinking that his younger brother finally started lying to him. “If that blade is dull then why did I just cut my hand just now? Or are you telling me that it is even sharper than that?” Flugar’s tone turns as if he is interrogating someone and Yusaf feels that his brother doesn’t trust his words.

              “Of course, I expect it to be dull when I can’t even cut through their armor and it felt like I am cutting through a rock. The sensation is really the same and close that I can’t differentiate the two at all.” Flugar pause for a moment before saying anything back in surprise. ‘Wait a minute- is he really telling the truth?”

              Yusaf flashes another disappointed expression directed to his brother for even considering of him to be lying and sneered at him. “I can’t believe you of all people would not trust my word. I can understand if the chief don’t trust my words since I don’t trust her either, but you? You are my brother right-“ Yusaf wants to express his displeasure but someone strike a blow on his head.

              The young elf wants to resort to violence but his eyes widen when he saw their chief staring at him. “Stop talking bad behind my back. And who says that I don’t trust you? For your information, I trust everyone in this tribe and that goes for you as well even thought you did nothing but give us headache.” Yusaf immediately shut his mouth like a zipper after saying too much.

              “Well, I think that your frequent trip outside brings some good news back and I can say that the news that you brought this time is really important. You might have just saved our village in total decimation. If what you say about those creatures are true then we are in a really bad situation.” The chief said with a sad tone.

“Yes, they are agile and strong. On top of that they can also fly at high speeds. With those in their arsenal, they can swiftly kill anything that is not fast enough to react to their speed.” The chief looks at everyone inside the tent and smiles after knowing that none of them lost some limbs after the fight.

“I’m glad that all of you came back alive. Yusaf, you mentioned that our weapons are not effective right?” the young elf then nod his head and tells her that is what Ysa told him. “Are you sure about that young lady?” Ysa nods her head gently and made the chief feel a little pressure with the situation that they are in. with no weapons to defend themselves with, their tribe be wiped out even if they are able to fight back.

“Chief, this is the weapon that they used to fight.” Flugar shows the chief the katana and upon seeing it, the chief says that the blade is in a sorry state. “Yusaf said the same thing but please do not be fooled by it’s appearance. I cut my fingers just now when I tried to inspect the blade.” The chief turns her head to Flugar with her eyes widened.

“What? Are you saying that it is even sharper than it is now?” the chief had the same expression that Flugar had when he hears the same thing from his brother. “Yusaf, will it be possible to strike a deal with the human that you have made friends with? If we have this weapon then we might be able to fight back.” Yusaf looks at the chief’s desperate face and chuckles.

“This is not a laughing matter young man. The fate of the entire tribe lies in what we can use to defend ourselves.” The chief says sternly as Yusaf apologizes to their chief. “I’m really sorry about that. But that is not the only weapon that we used to fight those beasts. They also have those iron metal pipe or something that can shoot projectiles and the last thing that disabled the monsters to fly and burned their wings.”

The chief and Flugar’s eyes glitter in excitement and interest of the weapons that they used. “Just from what you said alone. It looks like that that human is quite a genius. What did he use to disable the creatures from flying?” Flugar as and Yusaf takes is time to remember how to describe the weapon.

“I can’t really describe anything but it looked like he threw a bottle with some type of liquid in it and it went in flames after the bottle broke. It looked like those creatures are in pain so maybe it was effective than just disabling their flight, maybe it got to their flesh as well. We just did not have the luxury to let them harm us any more than we already were.” Yusaf says after recalling what happened that time.

“So you are saying that those will be able to take care of those creatures?” Flugar ask Yusaf after grabbing his clothes and Yusaf slaps his hand. “Have you been listening? I told you that we did not have the luxury to stare at them right? Maybe it’s my imagination but I think that’s what happened.” Yusaf is not sure of what he really saw that time but Carleon supports him.

“You did not see wrong Yusaf, I also think that they felt the pain from the flames. Some of them are taken aback by the flames that some of them are struggling to put off the fire but no matter what they did, the flames would not die off and we ended their lives while they are busy with the flames.” He said with his arms crossed.

“So it’ really is effective after all. Can we make a deal with him for those weapons? Since he is your friend then the possibilities for him to make a deal with us is high right?” Flugar then jump to conclusions but none of them thought that it’s wrong.

“We might be able to do that but I don’t think that it would be easy for us to use. The bottle broke because someone shot the bottle while its up in the air. Shooting a moving object with an arrow is hard enough and it is even more difficult if you put the weapon they use into account. In my opinion, these katanas are the best option for us. We are used to wielding swords and knives so we can easily adjust our fighting style.” Yusaf suggested basing from his experience on using the katana himself.

The chief thought about it deeply before making a decision and considering the pros and cons of each weapons that Yusaf mentioned. ‘I should not be making this decision alone. I must bring this matter to everyone and vote for the weapon that they prefer. Otherwise we will just be dead by our own hands.’ The chief says to herself and looks at everyone with hopeful faces.

“This will not be a decision that I will be making alone. Everyone in the tribe should on what to pick, can’t clearly have all three weapons since the human might demand something of the same equivalent or higher even if he is close to you. A human is a human after all. Their race has always been the greedy kind.” Yusaf felt the heavy words of the chief and wants to defend Xerxes against her but prevents himself from doing so.

‘If  they don’t trust my words then this can be resolved if they see it for themselves. Insisting that Xerxes and his friends are different from the humans that we know would only make them doubt him even more.’ His friends looks at him with concerned faces as the chief left to call an immediately meeting with everyone.        

“Then we’ll leave first. Please rest well and recover. Leave this matter to me and the others. You all getting back alive and bringing an information that would save our tribe is already a great contribution.” The chief said as she brought his brother along with her.

“Is that really fine Yusaf? They don’t seem to trust Xerxes at all.” Faras ask Yusaf and sees the sour expression on his face. Everyone else felt the discomfort when they heard the chief talk about Xerxes like he is the same as those greedy humans that they know.

“That’s fine. They will not learn to trust him if they don’t see and feel it for themselves. Defending Xerxes now would only make them more doubtful of him so please don’t say such unnecessary things that will only worsen how they see him. Breaking someone’s trust in this time when we need his help the most is the only thing that we don’t want to happen.” The three elves nod their heads.    

Meanwhile

“Casim, close the gates. What are you even looking at?” a young lady walk towards the human that Xerxes met in along with the appearance of the long necked behemoths. “I don’t really know myself. I saw and heard something flying in the distance, I felt like it was a bug or something because of the sound that it creates while it flies, but I think I’m hallucinating.” Casim says with a worried tone and continues to look around only to find nothing around them.

“Stop it, maybe you are just hallucinating. Close the gates, I have already prepared our dinner.” The woman says and Casim said just as he is told. “D you think that human that appeared will show himself again? I need to thank him for saving your life after all.” The woman says but Casim is also not sure when Xerxes will come again.

The two continues to talk about him until they enter the fortress hidden behind the weeds and trees. Unbeknownst to them, a beetle of the same humanoid figure is standing up in one of the trees, hiding itself from their line of sight.