Chapter Three: The Human Sea

It had failed, he had failed – he came to parlay peace but in the end all he received was death, bloodshed and a declaration of war.

Still he was alive; it was a mixture of luck and fate that had won him the day, and struck first blow in the second demonic war. But he could take no joy in his victory, not with the carnage that lay about him. The royal guard’s burnt, ancient pillars of marble stone cracked, and tapestries that wove the Federation’s history went up in flames. The house of Elliene’s royal family returned to brick dust and corpses. The princess, prince and their guards had all escaped having never attended the meeting in the first place, but the king and the queen lay immolated in the flames they had begun, still sitting high upon their’ thrones. His magic was worthless, it could not stop the flames, it could not heal their wounds, it did not hold the power to save, it could only destroy.

That was the nature of a curse, curse based magic could only ever serve death.

All his efforts seemed to be in vain. He’d established himself in no-man’s land gathered the individual clans of monsters and rallied them into a kingdom inadvertently placing himself atop them all. He never wanted to lead, just to create a haven for those persecuted as monsters. And when it came time to announce his presence to the rest of the world, what met him was scorn, dejection and an assassin.

Gorren pulled his cloak tighter walking through the flames pushing his way beyond the veil of smoke towards the doorway and his escape. “Stop!” the voice was clear and pure, breaking through the chaos, a dark figure stained with blood, facing him down. This was the man they’d sent to kill him, this was the man known as Hero; Taiva Orwich. His armour had been charred black, his face covered in burns, dark magic flickering from a ruined eye, a sword; its edge ragged and broken, clasped tightly in his hand. He was hero in more than just name it seemed. Even as his friends and family lay dead he stood to fight – it was an admirable display if nothing else.

He nodded a bitter smile making its’ way across Gorren’s face, as he dipped into a ceremonial bow towards the hero that even now drew closer. And from the folds of his cloak Gorren produced a knife wrapping the weapon in dark magic until it elongated into a spear and was pointed clear at his foe. “All I wanted was peace” Goren spoke and his words shook the air, a mixture of anger and hatred flickering to life within his eyes and mixing with the flames. Taiva smirked lifting his head upwards, his one good eye shifting in his skull.

“I’m aware... you’re just a fool corrupted by the darkness and clinging to the light. I’m old now, older than anyone has a right to be – but I’ve done my duty and trained my successor. She’ll come for your head Demon King!” The Hero smiled then, he knew he was going to die.

And die he did.

Gorren screamed, his voice was high and wavering splitting the calm of the night. He was sitting in his bed, back in the town of Dogshead, but the dream wouldn’t leave him. Not when two years after his death Gorren would meet Taiva once again. But he just couldn’t shake the image, burnt it into his head, that day he’d skewered the former hero alive and left him to die. It had hurt him, the man he’d long looked up to, his idol; slain by his own hand. Fate had a cruel sense of irony.

And then came the pounding off footsteps, the darkness fleeing as she appeared before him.

“Go, what’s wrong?” a light spilled into his room the door cast aside as his sister stepped in. She was dishevelled clad in a dressing gown, hair wild and eyes confused. Go saw her there, bathed in the light; alive, she was alive and it was like none of that horrible nightmare had ever taken place. And in the warm light of the candle, fresh tears fell slowly down his face. Livita smiled, laying the candle down upon his bedside table and drawing near sitting at the foot of his bed and pulling him close besides her.

“You’re okay now.” She smiled when she said it, she had no idea exactly what was going on, but her words were honest, honest and true.

And even as she spoke, Gorren felt his eyes close, a sense of peace he hadn’t felt in nearly fifteen years welling up within him. And ever so quietly he fell back to sleep.

Gorren blinked, he looked first to Eitta and then to his sister and then to the blacksmith – something was definitely going on.

Night had closed, the sun fading far into the west, the last hints of light dying out while the moon shone above. Several weeks of preparation had led to this. Hundreds of stalls where vendors shouted, and children ran now littered the once empty field outside Dogshead. Deals were struck, and bargains made, the entire scene suffused with a gentle shifting light the vibrancy of youth in full wing. Not that any of that reach him.

“Livi.” He shot his sister a glare, the young woman just smiled waving at him. He then turned his glare to the blacksmith, who was glaring down his nose at him, a mixture of pride and mirth on his face. And then he turned back to Eitta who just tilted her head at him in question. She clearly had no idea what was going on. How could it be he was the only one in Dogshead with half a brain?

Gorren sighed, Eitta had been shoved into an exquisite dress, well at least he thought so; he couldn’t claim to understand fashion. The dress was coloured pale cream at the top but as it fell down it turned a shade of deeper orange, images of butterflies having been dyed on the cloth in green and blue. But other than that dress her arms and legs were bare, she was probably going to freeze. He looked back to his sister, the young woman just smiling at him “You have three silvers, buy anything you like.” She gave him thumbs up and skipped away, the black smith just grinned down at him (for some reason Gorren felt fathers were meant to be more protective than this), that old man really was annoying. Well they were only four; exactly what was it he was going to do anyway?

He grumbled quietly beneath his breath holding his hand out to Eitta. The young girl just stared at him for a long moment before looking turning her pointed gaze to his hand, “do you want something?” she tilted her head in genuine question. She was utterly hopeless. Her father burst out in laughter jabbing a finger at the pair of them; Eitta’s face contorting into a mask of ill-suppressed rage. Gorren decided that the current scene had gone on long enough grabbing hold of Eitta’s hand and marching away from her father towards the outer ring of vendors and hopefully a bit of peace.

The Talent Festival was held in the field beyond the village, it was far enough away from farmland to avoid the smell and a good distance from the river to prevent any poor inebriated soul from meeting a watery end. At the centre of the celebration was a large empty ring in the centre of which stood a dais where the testing would be held. In short six simple things would be tested; strength, intelligence, speed, agility, endurance and magic. Those six ‘stats’ would be used to create a personal id, with which it was possible to travel anywhere in the Elliene Federation, and it was demanded by law for said id to be updated annually. As for why they held a fair to celebrate this he had no idea, he knew there was a story about it – he just couldn’t quite remember.

The duo stopped arriving at the farthest ring from the centre, just to the left of the road that bisected the festival and headed straight towards Dogshead. The blacksmith left far behind Gorren’s nerves were eased slightly, though the question of what he was going to do now remained unanswered. This whole event, his time being rewound, seeing people he’d known were long dead, it was wonderful, and terrifying and more than anything: exhausting.

This issue really had begun to stress him.

He shook his head the pressure on his hand growing tighter Eitta staring at him. “What now?” Her question floated upwards, he really did have no idea what to do. He wasn’t cut out for festivals or fairs or happiness in general, he had no idea what to do at a festival. What did normal people do?

“What do you want to do?” He questioned hesitant, Eitta staring off into space briefly before pulling him along by the hand. It was somewhat dizzying, the lights the sound the music, it was a barrage against the senses almost like a battlefield of sorts. Lanterns of every shade hung on ropes strewn above, bunting strung alongside them, while sweet and savoury aromas drifted from the food stalls scattered here and there, it would be the one time of the year the youth of Dogshead had a chance to sink their’ teeth into sugar and other rare delicacies. The testing was but a part of Festivals charm, they were selling everything from trinkets to trumpets and from that grand selection Eitta chose one stall in particular, he really shouldn’t have been surprised...

Books, that was the girl’s only desire; books and stationary. Eitta dropped his hand and ran forwards to drool over the stall, a young man grinning down at the two of them with an eager expression. “Now, young sir, madam is there anything you’re looking for in particular?” he executed a polished bow before standing up to rub at a shadow of a beard reaffixing the bandana tied about his head. Eitta ignored the man rummaging through his merchandise piles of thin books the pages pure and white ranging in grade from poor to average. There was no way they’d be able to afford an actual book even on their combined wealth of six silver but a note book was within reason. “It seems she knows what she wants, what about you lad. Or are you just accompanying your little girl friend” the man snickered giving him a grin. Gorren shook his head, his cheeks having turned slightly red. Why was he behaving like this he was thirty years old!

Maybe it was hormones kicking in or the lack there of.

“These.” Eitta lifted up three items, a slim booklet, a steel tipped quill and an inkwell.

“Two-Fifty Geld.” The Vendor nodded taking the items and slipping them a thin plywood box before wrapping a ribbon around the bundle, Gorren had to admit it was a nice touch.

Eitta moved without hesitation passing the three silver coins (each worth one geld*) to the vendor and took the box with palpable glee. She received a large copper coin in return (each worth fifty gild; half the value of a single geld), this put their combined wealth at three and a half Geld. Gorren felt his stomach churn slightly looking down at the coins lying in his palm, one side printed with the image of a unicorn the other the face of a wizened man, who happened to be the old king of Elliene. Coins with the face of his son were currently in circulation in the capital but the face on the coin didn’t change the value of the coin itself.

They began to drift after that, wandering from stall to stall pausing every now and then to spend a few coppers, picking up something to eat or playing one the games the towns folk set up. At some point he’d actually started having fun.

“So where to next?” Eitta asked with a small smile gazing about the stalls.

“I want to drop by my mother’s stall and check out the popular stores near the centre.” Gorren replied directing her down one of the busier pathways. They took a meandering jog Eitta trailing slightly behind coming up towards the row of stalls leading towards the centre of the festival, his mother sat down before her own stall, articles of clothing from the mundane to the fine, arrayed on a wooden table before her. “Hey!” He called out waving to his mother, the young woman waving back to him as they drew close. Gorren supposed he looked like his mother, they shared the same black hair and dark eyes, they were both slender, though he just appeared skinny; and they had a fairly similar temperament. On the other hand his skin was darker and his features more blunt unlike his mother.

“Go, it’s good to see you’re back in high spirits. And this must Marcus’ little girl, you’re Eitta right?” His mother laughed moving from behind her stall with a smile, Eitta gave a little nod her eyes quickly focusing on his mother’s wheel chair, the device creaking as she moved forwards. Gorren looked away slightly his mother pulling the young girl into a hug. “It’s good to see you’ve finally made a friend and with such a cute girl too. And thank you Eitta for putting up with Go, he can be an idiot sometimes but I’m sure he’ll protect you.”

Was it just him or did it seem like his mother was signing him onto something he’d never agreed to?

“It’s about time for the testing so you’d better get to the main plaza, I’ll join you when they make the announcement.” His mother smiled before pausing for a moment looking Eitta up and down, “before you go take this, you look cold.” She smiled wrapping Eitta in a long white coat, with a pair of tails and oversized sleeves. The young girl grinned turning to face Gorren, he gave her a little thumbs up before she took his hand and they began to run towards the main plaza.

Of all the places in the fair the plaza was by far the most crowded, it reminded Gorren of one of the big cities. he’d attended the Talents Festival in Tonsan, the capital of Ulgon once in his adventuring days, it gave off a similar feeling. It was amazing although the heat and the lights had started to become a little dizzying. Eitta picked up on this directing the two of them towards a stall selling a large variety of skewers, the each ordered whatever caught their eye; Gorren went with wyvern while Eitta chose chicken. When he asked for Wyvern, a family of dragon that could range in size from that of a small bird to ones the size of a house (though they were unable to breathe fire or use magic like their true dragon counterparts), everyone who heard gave him a strange look, even the man selling it seemed ill at ease. Wyvern was a fairly common meat, the issue was you needed to build up a tolerance for the food first, since as a relative of the dragon it was poisonous, barely so but still poisonous. It could make young children sick. A little touch of magic could fix it up fairly easily though. He ate heartily the two moving from the skewer stand to drop themselves on a set of nearby benches waiting for the testing to begin.

“Hey Gorren!” A young boy shouted pushing through the crowds to stop before their bench. Lorris; he was the son of a farmer, Gorren could neither claim they were close or distant but they did enjoy spending time together on occasion. If they lived closer together they would probably be friends, their strongest bond being their hatred for the ‘Town Boys’, who believed just because their parents lived within the towns walls they held some status those who lived in the countryside did not.

“Who’s this?” Lorris tilted his head slightly looking to Eitta. The young girl drew back slightly shuffling towards Gorren.

“Her names Eitta I met her yesterday at the library.”

“You can read?” the question came again.

“I’m not an idiot.”

“I still don’t believe that” Eitta whispered looking up at him. Perfect it seemed he was already branded an idiot, well hopefully tonight would prove them wrong. With his body exchanged all of his stats should have changed as well, all but one; the stat; intelligence, made up from a mix of traits namely: memory, reaction time, wisdom and knowledge would be mostly unchanged. Of course his old intelligence had verged on two-hundred, it could cause problems

And as this thought rushed through his head he heard it, a voice that had haunted him for years calling out across the fair “The testing is ready to begin, can anyone who wants their stats appraised gather in the plaza, we’ll start with the children then move on to everyone else. Skill tests will be held later!” Gorren looked up over the crowd and sure enough there he stood Taiva Orwich. His hair was grey; he was old – in his mid fifties if Gorren’s math was correct. His forehead was covered in wrinkles, contrasting against pale white scars that accentuated his face. But even at such an age he wore his armour with ease, he moved with the efficiency of a soldier, and a skill that time could not erode. He was one of the few lone humans that could have defeated Gorren in single combat, of course that was back when he had his full powers. Now he was little more than helpless. Not to mention besides Taiva his party stood, three individuals whose strength could not be understated fulfilling the ranks of tank, mage and archer. They were a fearsome force in their heyday and even now should not be underestimated.

Eitta tugged on his sleeve pulling him out of his reverie and dragging him towards the back of the dais. One of Taiva’s party members; their tank Juna Gorwich (his wife) began lining people up at the back, starting with the children then the adults. This was their one opportunity to update their id without a trek towards the nearest town which was five days away by cart. This year it seemed like four children would be receiving their id

This time it was Lorris, a young girl from the village and daughter of the tanner, followed by the carpenters son, and of course Gorren. The two inhabitants of the town seemed to be going to extreme lengths not to be near the ‘country-dwellers’ going so far as to complain before being shot down with a light tap on the head and a serious glare by the imposing woman overseeing them.

It was roughly six minutes before the testing began, and before the dais a sea of people gathered. Gorren remembered this day clearly, he’d been terrified standing before that crowd, but now it barely worried him. He’d stood before armies once upon a time.

“Okay, now let’s begin the annual testing!” Taiva laughed “And to start with a brief introduction. I am Taiva Orwich retired hero, today four young individuals are receiving their ids, this will be the first time they learn of their statistics. But I implore you to keep in mind, raw power means nothing. For humans to face off against monsters, races possessing ten or twelve time our physical and sometimes mental abilities, we must hone our skills as well as our stats. No man can stand on one leg alone. And with that in mind let me call out our first examinee; Anna Selban!” The young girl stepped forwards to a round of applause.

Taiva knelt down withdrawing a steel card from his pocket along with a small white ball. He muttered something to her beneath his breath and dropped the orb into her hands. He waited a short moment as the milky white turned to a pale green and he placed the steel card atop it. The metal itself then adopted a faint green hue before Taiva stood and prepared to read the results aloud. “Anna Selban; age four, speed four, strength six, intelligence thirteen, magic fourteen, agility fourteen and endurance sixteen!” He read in ascending order his voice growing louder with each announcement There was a short round of applause as Anna grinned taking back the card from Taiva’s outstretched hand her father waving from the crowd as she rushed forwards to meet him and the carpenters son was called up. It was fairly impressive getting four stats over ten at her age, but something was nagging at him. He could feel it something was off, he hadn’t noticed it before but now, it was on the tip of his tongue.

Lorris jabbed him in the arm knocking him forwards and forcing him up towards the stage Taiva gesturing for him to come it seemed it was his turn now. Gorren nodded slightly a mix of fear and guilt welling up within him. Even if Taiva was alive now it hadn’t changed what he had done. He fixed that thought firmly within his mind as he faced his hero. “Good luck.” Taiva smiled holding out the crystal its colour slowly fading from the previous red from the carpenters son. Gorren took the orb firmly in hand well aware of the colour it would turn: oily black like the darkest night. He released a pent up breath closing his eyes and clenching his fist, he stood like that for a moment and when he looked down at the sphere it was almost like a cloud of blight had gathered there Taiva’s expression becoming strained. The hero shook his head slightly and tapped the card down watching as the steel was dyed black and pure white writing appeared across its glossy surface. “Gorren Taross Magic two, endurance four, strength six, speed seven, agility nine, Intelligence.” The Hero paused swallowing hard, Gorren closing his eyes and waiting for his peaceful life to be thrown to ruin, “fifty-two.”

Silence fell over the scene, a mixture of disbelief and confusion rising in the hearts of all.