The Linken Cross

xxx

‘Wow, he seems to have quite a reputation, but I don’t judge a man before I get to know him myself,’ Cuma said.

‘Neither do I. I have my personal reasons to dislike that son of a bitch.’

‘The name’s Sylman.’

‘Viera,’ she said, ‘I’m the owner.’

‘Can I get a glass of pomegranate juice and a bit more information about this Cuma, please?’

She noticed Cuma’s finger on the scratched counter. ‘How do you know we serve pomegranate juice?’ she said, raising her brows.

‘I got a nose for things I like, miss. Besides, you’re the only establishment in Middle-East Alem that serves it. Word goes by fast,’ he said.

She served him a glass, saying; ‘one and a split.’

He dug in his pants, grabbing a coin piece and one split in half. ‘There you go. I suppose the conversation is free of charge?’

‘Ah, whatever, once in a while a wanderer like you comes by, curious about stories concerning that ex-husband of mine. I’m used to it.’

‘Ex-husband? My interest keeps rising, but I don’t want to get too personal if it bothers you.’

‘Too many know it already, it’ll be a campfire tale soon,’ she said.

‘Consider my ears pricked, sweetheart.’

‘Easy now, hotshot. Here we go again…’

Decades ago, the law keepers of Central disbanded, making their forced ideologies fade into twilight. Their leader and King, known by his title as The Conqueror, gave up on his beliefs, scattering his subordinates freely throughout the lands of Alem. By doing so, he returned the wild natures of our primal souls. Survival of the fittest became the rule of living again, and humble people like my family and I were being ruined by it. Bandits, killers, all the scum of Alem ruled these simple lands we lived in. They forced impossible taxes upon us, threatening to enslave all who refused. I still remember my father’s tears clouding the inn’s ceiling in beautiful rouge. The only option was to leave. That was, until he came along.

The man you just saw me kick out… when he first entered this inn, my God. He was this enigma of a man, demanding the attention of everyone around him before he even spoke a word.

‘I know you have troubles. I’ve come to offer my help. The name’s Cuma,’ he said. An Angel among us Demons, we’d all thought as his sweet words reached our ears.

‘Allow me to rest here until your collectors arrive, I’ll take care of them.’

‘W-what do you want in return?’ my father asked.

‘Add pomegranate juice to the menu, that stuff’s the best,’ he said.

We thought he was mocking us, but having no one else to put our faith in, we let him stay.

‘These men are powerful, stranger. You might not leave alive,’ my father said.

‘I don’t plan on leaving at all.’

‘Rumors say their leader is an Ascended…’

‘A pair of wings bring no freedom to those with clouded minds,’ Cuma said with the utmost confidence.

A couple of days later, they arrived. Eight men marched in without even acknowledging Cuma’s existence, completely opposite to how we felt the first time we saw him.

‘Cough up the money,’ their leader, Samson, said.

‘Yeah, cough it up!’ Cuma followed.

Cold Yu leaked from my father’s pores.

‘What are you saying, Cuma!? I thought you were going to save us!’

‘Who the fuck are you?’ Samson asked Cuma, equally confused.

‘Boss, I joined your gang a few days ago, don’t you remember?’

‘Oh, oh right, I remember…’ Samson said hesitantly.

‘Cuma, you… you…’ my father said, falling on his knees, putting his hands in his hair, broken and defeated.

‘You piece of shit…’ I said, gritting my teeth.

‘Yea-yea, hurry up and give us the money,’ he said, rubbing his betrayal in even more.

My father stood up and with shaking arms gave him all we had.

They turned their backs and started leaving. My fists were glowing hot with raging fires, but the look in the eyes of my father stopped me. The strong rule the world, and unfortunately, the strong are rarely fair.

Ten seconds after leaving, screams of agony reached my ears in harmony. I ran to see what was going. When I arrived, I saw seven of the eight bandits lying on the ground unconscious, with only Samson standing just as confused as I was.

‘What the hell did you just do?’ Samson asked Cuma calmly.

‘I need that bag, Sir, and I need you to never come back to this inn.’

‘Funny, I’ll end this quickly. This inn has dried up more than the desert. Time to put it out of its misery,’ Samson said.

The sand behind him shook like my heart did as from his back two orange wings manifested, engulfing the ground in a wave of flames.

He slowly rose as Cuma watched him.

‘Impressive,’ I heard Cuma say with his hands in his robe.

My dad had joined me to witness our demise.

‘Dad, we have to leave. Come on, let’s go!’

‘I don’t think I will, honey. I prefer to fall with the Linken Cross.’

‘Have you gone mad!’ I shouted as I pulled his arm.

‘Let me go, Viera!’

‘Dad, stop it. We’re going to die!’

‘Damn it, let me go, woman!’

While we were screaming at each other, Samson charged a ray of fire that would scorch our home and us with it.

‘Live or die, I don’t care about those so far beneath me. You’re merely one of many,’ Samson said as he pushed his hand forwards.

My dad and I watched, thinking; ‘this is it.’

As if he read our minds, Samson shouted; ‘this is it!’

Viera grabbed his empty glass and poured some more pomegranate juice.

‘What happened then?’ Cuma asked, as if he wasn’t there when it happened.

‘That’ll be another one and split.’

‘Damn it, I didn’t even ask for another glass,’ he said, tossing her the money.

‘Alright, where was I… oh right! ‘This is it!’ He shouted.’

‘Is it?’ Cuma asked as he suddenly appeared in front of Samson with his finger touching his palm. My dad, I, and Samson the most, watched in amazement and shock at Cuma in the sky.

Samson released his destructive blaze aimed at Cuma standing before him, but instead of burning him to a crisp, the flames shot backwards at Samson! Torching himself with his own fire. He let out a hellish scream, and after a few seconds, his burned body fell from the sky, landing with a smack amongst his henchmen.

‘What goes around… oh, don’t worry, he’s not dead yet,’ Cuma said as he slowly descended.

Still holding my father’s arm, we didn’t know what to feel. The amount of surprise tackling us stunned us stiff. And it wasn’t the fact that Cuma defeated him in the fashion he did, but it was the way he reached him.

Ascended Demons are a rarity, but everyone has at least seen one in their lives… those with the strength that lets them manifest wings, conquering the skies and giving them the ability to manipulate the Yu* from a far distance, putting fear in animals to the point they’d rather leave them alone then invoke their wrath. The sky had always been their property.

But Cuma… Cuma was flying without wings!

‘Impossible,’ Cuma said.

‘Even if you’re not from here, you must’ve heard the stories! I swear to the Eternal King, that man flies wingless!’

‘I don’t believe you. There has never been an unAscended roaming the skies, never I tell you!’

‘Sylman, I’m not lying!’

‘Whatever, he seems like quite a hero. Why would you dislike him?’

‘Because he only seems like one.’