Blood of the Fallen. Book 1: Swords

Beware of Fake Cotton

Devlin woke up in total darkness; unable to see his legs or his hands in front of him. He remembered being taken and thrown out. Is it Night time? Instinctively, he called forth light, and his fingertips illuminated instantly. He knew at once he was dreaming, as he could not perform magic in the real world.

He set out to banish the darkness when he heard a beating heart.

“Break the veil, Dream Master.” The voice echoed everywhere.

Devlin gasped and opened his eyes. He laid on the ground with knee high grass. Tall trees around him. The breeze caressed his face, the skies above the color of blood.

“You are finally awake,” said a man sitting on a large slab of rock. He wore a black coat with frayed ends, black shirt, black pants, and the same reading glasses Merlin wore. But unlike Merlin’s, the man’s glasses were not transparent, but black.

Devlin called forth light in his hand, but nothing happened. Real world. He looked at the man; wondering if he could trust the stranger. He could have killed me, he thought, but still. “Am I in Gaeus?”

The man pointed to Devlin’s clothes. “I’ve never seen browns in real life. Can you trade them with me for Gaean clothing?”

“No,” Devlin said without a thought. The clothes were from Merlin.

“Yes, you’re in Gaeus. Your clothes will mark you here. I’m telling you for your own good.”

“I’ll live with it.” He got up and surveyed the surroundings. “I’m Devlin. Sorry for the late introductions. It’s just..”

“You were taken. I know. I saw you get dumped here.”

“You did?! Did you see who took me?”

“Sorry kid. A portal just opened, and you suddenly popped out from it like liquid excrement.” The man laughed. “Oh, excuse me for my manners. I’m Alephon. So which Errtan are you? Convict or Peasant?”

“Peasant. Convicts wear orange.”

“Why is that?”

“Easier to see a bright color if they escape.”

Alephon laughed. “Who could escape from the penal colony? Oh wait, there is you.”

“Taken, remember?” Devlin said in a sharp tone. He weighed the situation. Should he leave this man or stay with him for a while? The man seemed useless. Devlin had some knowledge of Gaeus from Merlin’s papers and books. He should leave this area in case his abductor returns. “Alephon, what’s the name of this area?”

“The Concaves, a wild piece of uninhabited land. Uninhabited by humans at least.”

Devlin searched his memory for a place called Concaves but couldn’t find anything. He wished Merlin kept a map of Gaeus. “Is this a new place? I don’t remember reading about it.”

“Reading?” Alephon contained his laughter. “This place has been here since I can remember. But they didn’t name it until a few years ago. It used to be called the wild forest. You know, like any wild forest in Gaeus.”

“Do you work with the one who abducted me?”

Alephon sighed heavily. “Kid, normally I will slap you for suggesting I’m a criminal. But you’re out of sorts right now, and an Errtan. So I’ll forgive you…this one time.” He spread his arms wide. “Leave. Go wherever you want. But make sure you survive. This place is a jungle of monsters. Alone, without a weapon, you don’t have a chance.”

“You’re alone,” Devlin said, probing for information.

“No. I have this.” Alephon tapped his sword. “And this.” He tapped his mind. “Knowledge and experience are everything, kid. If you want to survive, then better stick with me. I know my way out of this place, and two people will be harder to attack than one.”

He’s alone, or at least that’s what it appears like. Is he working with three horns? Devlin’s mind raced and weighed the possibilities and solutions. First, he had to get out of the area in case three horns returned. Second, whether Alephon is part of it does not matter right now. The man could take him away from the abduction area. If Alephon is innocent, then it works out. If he’s guilty, then Devlin would have to deal with three horns later. Going with this man should buy him time. “I’ll go with you. Do you have a weapon I can borrow?” A test to see if Alephon trusted him. Also, it was better to have a weapon.

“I only have one sword.” Alephon reached into his back pocket and handed him a knife. “It’s a small thing, but that’s the only other weapon I have. We can probably find something better around half an hour.”

“Half an hour?”

“I’m a scavenger. I saw an airship crash before you pooped out. Site should be half an hour away from us.”

Devlin hadn’t seen an airship before, but he contained his excitement. He had a larger issue at hand. It made little sense to be abducted and left alone. Devlin gripped the knife tightly. “How long was I out?”

“About half an hour. Tried to wake you, but you were out. My conscience would have nagged me if I left you to be eaten alive.”

Add a tile to the innocence board. “Do they normally dump people in the Concaves?”

“I don’t know kid. You’re the first one I saw getting dumped here. She, he, or they probably left you to die. It’s hard to survive out here, much less if you’re unconscious. I’ve scavenged enough in this place to know when to come out, when to hide, where to hide, and how to scare the monsters a bit to buy some time. But some monsters you can’t scare. That’s why I’m also a fast runner.” Alephon grinned, “Let’s go. I watched over you while you slept. You should at least reciprocate and help me scavenge the ship’s wreckage.”

“And after that?”

“Then we get out of the Concaves before it gets dark. Head to the nearest town.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Devlin trusted the man for now. “Let’s go.”

Deep in the forest, they followed the path of broken branches, which turned to broken trunks and uprooted trees. Finally, they saw the deep trenched soil and damaged air ship ahead of them.

“Ah. Hope we can get some excellent pieces.” Alephon said as he ran to the ship, leaving Devlin behind.

Both the ship and Alephon impressed Devlin. The man in black ran with the grace and agility of a light-footed deer. Devlin shouted, “Are there survivors?”

“There’s no one inside the ship.” Alephon pocketed his dark glasses as he peered into the ship’s broken window. “They probably bailed when the ship lost power. This thing could hold around five people.”

“So they might be somewhere around here?”

“Maybe, maybe not. But they are most likely dead.”

“How can you be sure?”

“All ships have those life bubbles that people use during an emergency. Those bubbles are programmed to take them to safety. But lodestones power them, like the ship and the rest of Gaeus.”

“Lodestones?” Devlin’s memory accessed the pages of the comprehensive book of Gaean dictionary and grammar. He learned the Gaean language by flipping through the book’s pages. Devlin smiled at recalling Merlin’s astonished face as a five-year-old boy conversed with the wizard in fluent Gaean. He could have done it earlier, but the book was too heavy for a baby. Lodestones, a piece of stone shaped by magic and science for a purpose…absorb god particles and convert them into energy to power…

“You don’t have them in the colony.” Alephon said, interrupting Devlin’s thoughts. “Go to the front of the ship. You’ll find a sconce shaped dragon with a stone in its mouth.” Alephon went through the open hatch and rummaged through the seat pockets.

Devlin went around and saw the sconce below the window. A red dragon with wings like a bat, snaking itself upward with a crimson stone in its mouth. So this is what a dragon looks like. That old dictionary should have pictures. The stone was as big as his fist. “I see it!” he shouted through the broken window. Devlin looked at the stone. It should have an emerald glow with green lightning crackling around it. “Um, are you sure this is a lodestone? It’s red and looks like a painted stone?”

Alephon pointed above as if Devlin could see him. “They changed color when those crimson clouds appeared. Stopped working. I believe they got polluted by those clouds. You know they inhale god energy or whatever they call them nowadays. Infinite matter? Dark matter? Whatever. Those clouds are probably toxic to them. I came back from a town and people were shouting superstitious nonsense like it’s the end times.” Alephon came out of the ship with a bag of medical supplies. “Sort these. Throw away items that have red stones. If there’s a lodestone with a different color, then show me. But that would be impossible.”

Devlin squatted at the front of the bag. He looked up at the crimson clouds. His memory found definitions for red clouds, but nothing for this phenomenon. Also, these clouds grew and expanded. If only I have King’s Sight. “There’s no way to make the stones work again?”

“Maybe take away the clouds?”

Devlin frowned. “The town you mentioned, is it near here?”

“It’s a one day run. But I’m a warrior. For you,” Alephon appraised Devlin, “It will be more than a day.”

Devlin’s head slumped. Maybe weeks. “What kind of warrior are you? Devlin said, still appraising the man.

“The highest one can aspire outside the Riddarklassen. A Sword Knight.”

A sword knight. Impressive. Devlin thought. The best knights in Errt would only be equivalent to Sword Paupers. Mondo was not even a Sword Pauper. Devlin’s knife would be useless against Alephon. He took out a tile from his mental board, even though his gut leaned towards trusting the man.

“Oh, you don’t know about the Riddarklassen.”

I do.

They’re the best warriors of Gaeus. Able to handle any weapon.” Alephon said.

Because of a mind sword.

“And they’re all female. And beautiful. You think they will be a muscular army, but they’re not. They look like your fairy tale princesses.” Alephon moved to the other side. “I didn’t find weapons for you. Keep sorting while I open the storage compartment.”

Devlin touched the ship’s hull. Looks like metal, but it’s not. “Do you know how I can get home to Errt?”

Alephon laughed, then controlled himself. “Why would you want to go back to the penal colony? It doesn’t have magic and technology. It doesn’t even have obliterates!”

Obliterate, a place where a person may urinate or defecate in a large bowl where urine or fecal matter flushes to a system to be disintegrated at an atomic level. I want to see one. He shook his head. “Errt is home.” Arthur and Father need me. “Besides, Gaeus might use horses if your lodestones are not working. Then we’ll be at par with you.”

“We still have obliterates!”

“How can they function without a lodestone?”

“They don’t.” Alephon conceded. “You remind me of someone. Anyway, your best bet is to go to the God Office of Prison and Probation. Ask them how to get home. They’re called Gaeus Prison Department in your world. Errt really has a way of erasing any mention of god offices.”

“Can you show me the way?”

“I will, but don’t get your hopes up. With no power, everything is in chaos. I’m not sure if there will be anyone working there during this time.”

Devlin trusted Alephon more. But, true to the Errtan’s nature, not completely.

“Why is the Prison Department called the God Office?” Devlin knew the answer, but small talk normally gave away some information about the talker’s beliefs, background, or the world he inhabited. It was the perfect weapon for spycraft.

“Not just the prison, but every bureaucratic office. They’re all headed by gods.”

“Like gods above?” Devlin pointed up.

“No, not like actual gods. But people or creatures given immortality to run the offices.”

“Immortals?”

“Yeh, we have them. They are not real gods. The real ones are the Ancients.”

“You pray to the Ancients then?”

“I don’t. But most do. They pray for the Ancients’ return every day.”

“Why don’t you?”

Alephon went back inside the ship, “Because people don’t understand poop.”

A gentle breeze blew from the thicker part of the woods. The wind carried a parade of floating cotton like balls which twirled around Devlin in a gentle dance.

Alephon’s head peered out of the ship’s door. “Avoid those…”

“Ow!” Devlin shouted. The white fluff pricked his skin as it broke into smaller, sharper pieces.

“Damnare!” Alephon drew his sword as he stepped out of the ship while avoiding the white fluffs.

“Ow!” Devlin yelled. More prickly pieces attached to his arm. The fluffs turned scarlet with his blood and released a sweet jasmine odor. They detached from Devlin’s arm. The wind scooped them up and blew them back to the thicker part of the woods where they disappeared.

“You’ve been marked!” Alephon looked at the thick woods; searching for something. “Run!” He pointed in the opposite direction. “Run for your life. Now!”

Devlin ran. He looked and saw Alephon go back inside the ship. Devlin stopped. “What are you doing?”

“The ostrake is blind. Hunts by scent. I’ll attack from behind.“

Ostrake? Damnare! The definition of the word flooded his mind. The knife would be useless. He needed to run fast.

The sound of crackling leaves and rustling tree branches emanated from the thick woods. The ostrake’s head peered out from the dense foliage. Its tongue flicked to smell the air.

Devlin ran without looking back. He willed his legs to stop shaking. Damnare. “I can only run for a minute!” He shouted at Alephon, knowing the man could not reply. “Kill it fast!” Scitte. He doubted he could outrun the monster or get helped by Alephon in time. But run he did, as he had no other option.

He looked behind to check the creature’s location. He regretted doing so. His legs gave way. The ground greeted him when he saw the ostrake come out of the thick woods.

The ostrake was thirty-six hands tall. It had the head and neck of a cobra, the body of an ostrich, the wings of a bat, the roped tail of a rat, and a scaly fowl’s feet. The animal’s back looked like the shell of a giant tortoise, with spiky holes that opened and closed to inhale and exhale the white fluffs in the air.

The monster flicked its tongue; tasting the jasmine scent in the air. Alephon stayed quiet inside the ship, waiting for the ostrake to go past him. The ostrake tilted its head in Devlin’s direction. Its grayish eyes hauntingly blanked. It scratched the ground with its talons a few times. Holes on its back opened; releasing white fluffs in front of the animal. The ostrake hissed and bared its fangs as it ran straight for Devlin.