3 My Company

The Exiled Saint, Kade - "I helped them. I slew unimagineable beasts and ripped apart their enemies. I gave them everything, and they asked for more. They didn't want my faith. They wanted my soul. They wanted a slave."

The nastier details I’d rather skip, but by the time he died, I learned quite a few important details from him. The horror may seem unnecessary, but I’d like you to understand a simple fact. He was ready for what a normal man could do. I could tear off his fingernails and he wouldn’t say a single word. I could gouge out his eyes and he’d never let loose any truth. By using Deluge’s skills, I cut the interrogation to only a few seconds instead of a few hours.

Without any practical means of disposing the body, Deluge took over our conscious before he ingested the man’s corpse. He also absorbed the man’s soul into consolidation, the pool of souls he collects. I’ll elaborate later, but for now, I’ll say that becoming a part of consolidation is neither painful nor awful. Think of it as a sort of union of memories.

Regardless, I left Alfred’s house after taking a violin and leaving a suitable sum for its purchase. He may have had a family, and they may need the gold for the rough times to come. I give no mercy for those who assault me, but I wouldn’t wish starvation for his family as well.

With this in mind, I traveled back towards the inn where I spoke with a few of the other patrons. After drinking more than a few mugs of ale myself, I ended up playing a few songs for the people there. By the time Sophia and Joan arrived from their observation of the city, I was playing with two arms over my shoulders as several drunkards laughed and shouted beside me.

The entire romp permeated a heavy, almost suffocating nostalgia through my chest. I’ve been a part of many parties in my past, and that ended with half a village slaughtered. Still, fragments from those times remained good memories.

These thoughts raced through my mind as Joan and Sophia glanced from across the room. Being a part of the group, I noticed just how out of place they were. Joan’s short, white hair slid out from the edge of her leather hood while the brown tunic she wears hung over her curves, accentuating her seductive figure.

She’s lithe and athletic compared with most women, but that same hardness gave her an independence I found compelling. The sight always energized me and reminded me why I love her. She never needed me. Instead, she chose to share our lives, even though I’ve exiled her from her from her previous life.

On the other hand, Sophia lacked a provocative appearance, but her white, gangly frame and short height gave the undoubtable impression of a noble. That and her callus free hands implied a life free from working on a field, unlike everyone else present.

While it is true that Sophia’s never swung a hoe or milked a cow, she had a sharpness in her glance that left warriors unsettled. Her hands moved with the careful consideration of a surgeon while her steps were short and steady. Her eyes shifted around the room without her head moving, so she picked up details without others noticing her scrutiny.

Both stuck out like missing teeth in a man’s smile, though they both appeared far more pleasing to the eye. Regardless, the palpable anger radiating off them shocked me from my feigned stupor as I slid towards them. Pacing over the well polished mahogany floorboards, Joan propped her weight onto her hip while Sophia crossed her arms. They seemed more than peeved.

Without faltering, I grinned as I approached and said, “Care to chat young ladies? It’s rare to see such fire in the youthful, and-” I leaned towards joan before I stroked the edge of her hair, “It’s even rarer to see such grace.”

She swatted my hand away, but the gesture’s slow and playful instead of annoyed. Sophia on the other hand snapped her words like a whip across bare skin,

“You told us to be inconspicuous. Tell me, how is this is this inconspicuous?”

I leaned close before I pulled them towards me and whispered, “Keep your expressions normal. A man attempted killing me earlier. The situation devolved, so we’d best regroup outside the village and form some sort of plan. I have a few ideas of my own.”

They turned towards me before Sophia murmured, “Did you have to kill him?”

I frowned towards her, and with a surprising hardness, I said, “He was a seasoned killer. If not for my restorative powers, I would be dead twice over.”

She lowered her glance towards the ground before she said, “Alright then. I guess...I guess you had to.”

Joan placed her hand onto Sophia’s shoulder while saying, “Have some faith in him. I’m certain he had no other choice.”

Joan turned towards me before saying, “Right?”

I nodded before I said, “I won’t let those that try killing me live. Deluge rather enjoys the carnage. I find it distasteful, though often necessary.”

Joan rubbed the side of her head as she said, “Ah...I doubt I could kill someone, even if I needed to.”

I said, “It’s easier than you’d imagine. When you face the guilt in the aftermath, that’s where the difficulty lies. I pray neither of you will ever experience that sinking, hollow feeling.”

Their eyes sombered before I interrupted the mood by saying, “Forget what I said. For now, let’s regroup with Aether and Razor. Best not to dwell on subjects like these.”

We ended up leaving the town with a few heartfelt goodbyes from the other inn goers. Music and drink brings people together, and since my musical skills received recognition even at Mareovosa, I offered one of those delights at all times.

Music wouldn’t prevent the town from putting a killer on trial. Whenever the townsfolk would discover the death of Alfred, I would fall under suspicion as I came to town rather recently. Understanding this and the implications of the fact, we hurried towards our camp outside the city.

The sun set as we reached the encampment several miles from town. Our campfire casted the surrounding forest in a shifting blanket of dim light, and the casted shadows contorted into strange shapes. Even the simplest of nature’s creations became eerie abominations when put in the proper light, yet Aether fought this with his mere existence.

A blue glow radiated off the runes tracing across his polished, black surface of a body. He was a golem you see. A collection of living, black metal in his case. Standing at over 8 feet in height, he made my imposing 6’8 frame appear scrawny by comparison. His hands, large and solid as they were, could carve immaculate imagery into stone, and his voice emanated a deep calm.

Before Deluge had freed him, he sat imprisoned for several thousand years. Even with his brutal strength and nigh invincible body, he touched those around him with a peculiar gentleness unique to him alone. He lived in a world of glass, and his movements respected the fragility of everything around him. To represent him in a single word, he was kind.

His size and shine left our encampment safe at all hours, and as we discussed our investigation around the fire, he listened while glancing at the stars overhead. Joan discovered a prostitution ring in the city since one of their recruiters confronted her. They operated in conjunction with the arcanum, so I figured halting the activity may weaken their organization. It gave me a goal for the night.

This discovery inflamed my curiosity, but just before I set out, Sophia mentioned another interesting fact. She spoke with the town’s apothecary, and after several hours of discussing alchemical procedures, she discovered one of the town’s myths. Myths often offer a heaping of gibberish with a grain of truth upon the top, so we listened to her as she said,

“There’s a story about how a beast to the north has been invading towns. They made it sound like a flying reptile, but everyone believed the creature was a noble beast who subjugated the surrounding villages for food.”

Joan replied, “Like a dragon?”

I raised an eyebrow as I said, “A dragon?”

They glanced towards me with disbelief plastered on their faces. As I remember the events, my ignorance of all the stories and tales told to children resulted from my life up till then. My parents taught me at my home rather than letting a priest do the same in a church. As a result, my education splintered from what most people were taught.

I learned of song and music instead of religion and history. My mother’s voice and my father’s words carried all the lessons I needed in life, though my instruction lacked a few key points of development. This instance highlighted the lagging pieces while emphasizing the noble upbringing of both Sophia and Joan. That difference reared its ugly head more and more as our journey continued, but more of that will come later.

Fortunately, Aether and Razor understood little of human folklore as well, so in her echoing, almost tangible voice, Razor said,

“I would like to know as well, if you wouldn’t mind telling me.”

Joan and Sophia glanced around before they giggled with one another as if remembering who they traveled with. In the steady cool glow of Aether’s blue, Joan and Sophia explained what they understood of dragons, but I won’t bore you with the details. You’ve likely read a story or two of the sort, so their tales will tell you nothing new.

However, for the three of us who had never heard so much as a word about dragons and the like, we soaked in the words like a dry sponge submerging in water. We asked many questions, and by the time the lesson ended, Joan’s eyes slid open and shut with exhaustion.

Noticing this, I clapped my hands while saying, “We should let Joan rest. Besides, Deluge would enjoy all of your company.”

A groan escaped Sophia’s lips while Joan said, “I don’t understand how you all go without sleeping.”

Razor replied, “Our biology differs from yours heavily, but I do sleep, though I sleep less since I left my colony. Jack and Sophia never sleep, unless they’ve been gravely wounded.”

Since they’ve seen the those grave injuries in person, Joan and Sophia cringed at the comment before I said to Joan, “I sleep as often as you do. Deluge takes over my conscious whenever I rest. I couldn’t stay awake for so long as Sophia does.”

Sophia smiled at the border of light between Aether’s blue glow and the orange light of the campfire. She began talking about the alchemical processes with Aether as they often kept each other company during nights. Her childlike enthusiasm infected Aether before they chatted by the fire about our travels so far with Razor. I longed to join them, but other tasks took priority.

On the outskirts of our encampment, we placed a pile of gleaming Alexandrite in a circle. These crystals held many of the souls from the creatures we’ve killed for food along the way here, and they radiated a pleasant warmth without the risks involved with fire. Deluge allowed this since these specific gems held the souls forever, unlike other gems like topaz or amethyst.

He hated holding souls in gems as it went against what he was made for. When we first fused, he wanted to absorb and assimilate everything on earth so that he could hold it all in consolidation. Gems could hold souls, but only on a temporary basis since the souls leaked out. This would be like salting the land of a farmer.

Alexandrite was the one exception. The heated gem warded off other creatures as well, though Aether’s presence acted as our best deterrent. These little pieces of safety let Joan sleep without stirring, under most circumstances at least. She still lived out her past horrors in her nightmares, but Joan was strong. Her determination pushed through many obstacles up till that point, and no doubt that iron plated will of hers would take her even further still.

Without needing to, I carried her over towards her bed in my arms before I set her down on her pallet. I glanced over the sharpness of her features and the way her hair takes the tone of whatever light she’s in. In this case, a dim violet.

The scar running down her left side, more like a bolt of lightning than an old wound, carved webs of white down her face and right side. As I set her down, her head turned to the side of her dirty pillow. She had already fallen asleep in my arms.

She was raised as a noble before circumstances stole everything she’d ever known away from her. I caused those circumstances, and a part of me regrets each day of peace I stole from her. Still, seeing her sleep soundly eases that dull ache in my chest, and as my own exhaustion weighed down on me, I spoke with Deluge,

“I take it you’ll obliterate the prostitution ring while I sleep?”

In his haunting and sinister voice, Deluge grumbles, “Hah, hah, hah. Of course.”

I shake my head before an irrepressible grin grows on my lips. The smile transforms as my gums show under and over my teeth, and the expression becomes crooked. A chuckle escapes my lips before I say,

“I have something else in mind.”