8/5/337

Vasuki

Vasuki could only think of one thing as the duo ran to the tavern. “It’s going to be gone.” He knew the fate of this town, he had only read about Vera – Daosr’s in books, but didn’t realize how they could cause such destruction until he had beheld the size of the creature. He rammed the door open, a terrifying roar in the distance shook his chest. He quickly looked back as he closed the door behind Audra.

“Vasuki, what’s going on?” Igon asked as he walked from behind the counter.

“There’s...a Daosr in town.” Vasuki said breathless. “Can the cellar hold everyone?” He asked, looking at the people at the table. They all had the same terrified look in their eyes. One began to get up to leave, probably to skip town.

“It doesn’t need to. The runes on the outside of the building won’t let anything destroy it. This building is as fortified as a fort.”

“Dad, why...how do you put so much faith in those runes?” He asked.

“It’s Nashatalian, the language of the Oath. If applied correctly they’ll uphold what they say. Before you were born a passing by Nashatal reinforced a lot of the buildings in the town. I paid him to do it to every building.”

“Before Vasuki was born?” Audra asked. “How long ago was that 20 years or so?” Igon looked disappointed.

“Every building made within the last 23 years will be destroyed.” Vasuki said hopelessly, looking at Audra.

“I was never able to do it myself, I didn’t want to risk you growing up fatherless.”

“What do you mean by that? Isn’t it just carving something into the side of a building?” Vasuki asked.

“A lie in Nashatal will kill the person that muttered it. Misuse of a word can lead to the same result. I only stuck with the simple things that I know. Like protect this structure from fire.” Igon pointed out, gesturing at the torches that hung from the walls.

“Thank you, Dad.” Vasuki said, his voice nearly a whisper from the knot that had formed in his throat.

The inn wasn’t full but it still had some people within. A man and a woman were whispering about what to do, a few times Vasuki had heard them talking about skipping town, but the distant roars kept them from that idea. Two men decided to have a nice conversation about their families. One was from the north, a town called New Ford, a city at the base of the mountains that separated the rest of Tristal with Ssirms Tundra. The other was from the south, somewhere near Erith. Vasuki had never been to these places but the conversations of others got his mind off of Nevenal’s fate, and Cabana’s.

Audra sighed in frustration and took the puzzle apart just to keep trying again.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked, shivering.

“Cabana mostly. And what might happen to the people that didn’t have a chance to escape.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too. It’s pretty hard to be optimistic after what we saw.” She replied.

“Daosr’s are known for showing up at the worst times. When no one is ready for it.” Vasuki added. “I don’t know how much of the town will be left after this. A lot of it’s going to be gone. If the thing is killed we can always rebuild but anyone lost can’t be replaced.” He finished before standing from his chair.

“Where you going?” Audra asked, she seemed on edge from his sudden change.

“To my room, so I don’t freeze you half to death.”

Before Vasuki reached the stairs, that led to the rooms, a group of four people burst through the door. Two men had blood dripping from their head, the woman had small gashes on her arms, the fourth was a man, whose shirt was torn open, a crest of a shield with a dragon behind it was tattooed on his chest 'A Royal Knight.' He was out of breath and was practically being carried by the group.

“I’m okay, I...I can walk.” The Royal Knight said, he was obviously tired but still kicking enough to walk and sit at a table. Where he nearly passed out against the table.

“Mai get us some bandages and medical supplies.” Igon ordered as she ran to the back. “What’s the news.” He asked the group.

“Besides a rampaging Daosr being held off by five-well four-Royal Knights and a bunch of destroyed buildings? Not much.” One of the men said.

“What about Cabana?” Vasuki asked. The Royal Knight at the table began laughing.

“Umbra? She’s been doing her damn job. She didn’t get that title for nothing.” He claimed.

“How...did she get it?” Vasuki wasn’t sure if he should be getting the info from someone other than her, but he didn’t seem the harm in acquiring public knowledge.

“Cabana became Umbra because of how good at killing people she is without being caught. She is an assassin, and that Daosr is learning just how dangerous she is.” He said smiling, not a hint of a lie in his face. “I just need to rest for a bit before I go back out there. She won’t hit the brakes till that bastard is dead. That’s how she’s always been.” There was a silence between the two.

“So she’s okay?”

“It’s nothing she can’t handle, Cabana Esen trained the current Amethyst; the most skilled Royal Knight. A title she used to hold herself.” Vasuki was surprised, he knew Cabana was extremely skilled but he didn’t know she had been the most skilled Royal Knight there was. Vasuki thanked the man then walked to his room, and laid on his bed.

A few moments of blissful peace, and Vasuki had almost forgotten of the Daosr, save for the occasional roar in the distance. Laying in bed he quickly began to feel his eyelids drift, he couldn’t help feeling tired, the stress was forcing his eyes closed. Just as his body was about to prepare him for a restless sleep he heard a knocking on the door. He sat up, stretched and yawned then stood up to open his door.

Audra was on the other side of the door, a closed puzzle box was in her hand.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He asked as he held the door open for her. She walked in and placed the box on the table.

“What do you think of Dragon Raiders?” She asked as she looked at the chest full of scales next to his table.

“I think they deserve what they get, if you’re willing to hunt dragon variants for your own gain you should be killed as well.” Vasuki answered.

“What if they were just doing it to survive?” She asked. “To create a life for them and the ones they love? What if they were desperate enough to do it?” Vasuki thought about it for a bit, he hadn’t considered the reasons people do it, excluding the lucrative business it could become.

“It’s still amoral and should be punished. Why are you asking this?”

“I'm not disagreeing with you, they should be punished for it. But the day Felix saved me, it seemed like one of the men who kidnapped me wanted me to get out of there but didn’t know I couldn’t cut rope with water. He seemed to be doing it because he was desperate. The leader of the three had a wife in Metal Edge, in his notes he didn’t seem like he wanted to do what he was doing. Just that he was doing it out of desperation.”

“And his life was cut in the blink of an eye?” Vasuki assumed. She nodded in response.

Vasuki continued “The man that screamed today...he knew what he was doing. He was risking his life to warn everyone-” The roar that cut Vasuki off sounded a little bit closer this time. Hopefully the people fighting it would throw it off course of the Tavern. “He risked his life to warn everyone, he was snapping everyone back to reality, and drawing it’s attention to him...I never expected something like that to be so agile. I didn’t think it would take his life like that.” He finished. Audra’s body began to shiver as she breathed in and out.

“Think I can borrow that jacket again?” She asked, Vasuki couldn’t help but chuckle.

The jacket was way too big for Audra but she still burrowed her way into it. She gave Vasuki a long stare before she decided on something.

“Come with me. And bring a pair of clothes to change into!” She ordered.

“Uh...o-okay?” Vasuki tilted his head in confusion.

With a set of clothes over his shoulder he locked his door behind him. Before they made their way over to room 23. He didn’t quite understand what she was doing but he was interested in finding out what her idea was.

As soon as they entered the room she shoved him into the bathroom, where a two filled buckets of water were sitting next to her bathtub.

“You deserve a bit of the luxury you gave me. You can fill the bath up and take as long as you want, there’s a fresh towel on the sink.” She claimed, before shutting the door, not allowing for him to complain or argue over the situation he was just shoved into. He wasn’t going to, he had only got to experience a bath like this once in his life.

The runes engraved in the bath put up one hell of a fight with Vasuki’s magic. They were constantly arguing, just when the water would get warm enough to relax he’d feel the water immediately start to cool down before the gently hum of the runes acted up again. Eventually this back and forth argument was becoming slower and slower, with the runes keeping their promise to keep the water at a nice temperature according to the person in the bath’s opinion. And soon his magic died down, that’s when he finally relaxed but something in his mind thought of something. Magic was absorbed from the earth under them, and there was a finite amount of magic someone could use before they experienced magic fatigue...how come he wasn’t experiencing that. He could keep up the chilly air all day if he was in a particularly bad mood, he made a mental note to ask Cabana if she was still alive after this.

After a good hour of relaxation, Vasuki finally decided to leave Audra’s bath. He dried off and dressed himself in a brown shirt and tied the legs of his black breeches at his mid-calf. He left the bathroom and found her sitting at the desk and reading a book. Looking over her shoulder he saw that it was one of the books they had supplied on the shelf in the more luxurious rooms, it was titled ‘How Runes Work.’ Vasuki had read parts of it before but he still wasn’t sure about the full process.

“You enjoy the life of luxury, Lizard Boy?” Audra asked, glancing back at him.

“Yeah, I really appreciate it. The rune work is extremely well done on the bath...I should head back. We’re not supposed to bathe in customer’s baths, not even in vacant rooms.”

“Is that all you see me as?” She asked.

“Well...it’s what you are here. You’re a customer and I’m one of the workers.” He claimed.

“Why not see me as a friend. You’ve helped me so much more than I could ask for. Everyone here is okay with their being a random Dragon Variant running around. That wasn’t the same for my home at Kiaveen, not everyone was okay with me...my existence. We knew of Nevenal but we didn’t know that just a little west and we’d be in a place that accepts everyone.” Vasuki smiled at her but thought about her sense of direction.

“We’re...east of Kiaveen though. Not west.” He claimed. She gave him a stare that just asked ‘Are you serious right now?’

“We’re west of Kiaveen right now.” She argued.

“I’m telling you it’s east not west.” Vasuki argued back.

“West.” Audra retorted.

“East.” Vasuki was certain of his directions.

“Are..you’re serious right now?” The question was more of an accusation.

“Yes, we’re east of Kiaveen.” Vasuki claimed, adamantly. Audra looked at the bookshelf, grabbed a scroll off the bottom shelf and opened it. Showing him that Nevenal was just a little left of Kiaveen.

“That’s west. Left means west.” She claimed. He looked at the cardinal directions in the middle of the two continents of Tristal.

‘Up is North, down is south, right is east...left is...west.’ He thought to himself for a while trying to find a way to excuse his stupidity.

After an awkward encounter with Audra and admitting his own stupidity he left, a now laughing, Audra to her own as he made his way to his own room. After throwing his dirty clothes in the corner of his room he looked at the closed puzzle box.

‘She’s been trying for a while to solve this thing, she must’ve forgotten it in here.’ He lifted the lid of the box and saw a complete puzzle, the intricately shaped blocks were now forming a rectangle that fit perfectly within the wooden box. He smiled at the thought of what she must have done when she completed it.

“Probably celebrated in her chair.” He said aloud, he couldn’t face her again. Not after the embarrassment he went through just a few minutes ago. He’d return it tomorrow.

Laying down on his bed the thought of that hot bath was enough to quickly coax his body to sleep. The thought of the Daosr just a few minutes away left his mind as there hadn’t been a loud enough roar for him to hear it in quiet a while. Sleep quickly came to him, much faster than he thought it would.

When Vasuki’s eyes opened he was in a forest surrounded by people he loved, and people he absolutely despised. They all stood in a circle, his mother stood closer to him than the others. She furrowed her eye brows in anger at him.

“How could you let me die!?” She screamed, then her body crumbled to dust on to the forest floor. His father stepped forward.

“You have disappointed everyone, son.” He said, venom and hatred in every word. Mai stepped forward.

“You should have spent more time with your family while you still had one!” She crumbled away as well. Cabana stepped forward.

“You let me fight alone, and that’s how I will perish, alone.” Her body repeated the process as the others. One by one, people began walking forward, every person he cared for. A step forward. Hate deep in their voice as they berated him, swore at him, cursed his existence, before they all crumbled into dust and all that stood was Audra and the people that he despised.

“You’re an embarrassment to this world, Vasuki.” Anger spilled from her lips like a dagger, just before her body fell to dust, all that remained was those he had hated. The people that had wronged him, the people that had tried to kidnap Mai, again. The people that sneered at him for not protecting his mother. The rich pricks that regularly vacationed at the Dragon’s Dinn that didn’t know just how terrible of people they were.

Vasuki’s hands felt heavy, as a shield and a longsword appeared in them. Strings wrapped around his limbs and moved him to their own accord, he let them. His blood was boiling. Each move he made was broad and carried unbelievable power behind them, he was no longer moving like a human but something akin to a monster. Until he slaughtered the people that had done him wrong, and soon enough he was alone in the woods. Darkness surrounding him, a voice above him boomed.

“You have heard of my will, you will conform to it! You will wear the medal of destruction, and you will be proud of it! You are my marionette!”