Chapter 3 – The Four Slaves of the City of Storms (3)

Lo and Behold! Shig of Cornus has arrived. He has arrived to grace this arena and show us the might of the wandering mercenary. The wearer of the red cloak, the atoner, the blood-crazed bull of the North!

And so Shig stood tall in the middle of an arena. In front of him were two man-scorpion and three she-elves with flimsy bows in their hands and a quiver behind their left shoulder.

He is on the move folks! Oh, what a smash to the head! Will the man-scorpion hit the bull of the north? Oh!!! What a cleave to the neck! What’s this? The archer tried to shoot him in the neck!? What a big mistake! O wondrous people of the City! Look at this horned one! What a spectacle! Such rage in battle!

Shig kept his calm look of anger. Blood spilled down his right arm as he finishes off the she-elf that tried to shoot him. He looked at the she-elf who has despair on her face.

“Forgive me, I’ve no choice,” He spoke their language.

The elf looked at Shig. She made a heart salute.

“Your blade gives me honor.”

Although shamed, the elf had the honor to die with a weapon on hand.

“Human never understands do they...or is this their way?”

The other she-elves did a heart salute as they battle Shig. The man-scorpions rushed at Shig. He took a stance and readied his blows.

There it is folks! An overhead swing! One swing and he was able to cleaved the monster in half! What a monster! Truly worthy of the title of the blood-crazed bull of the north! A dodge people! A pirouette that ends with a wondrous splitting of a skull! And a throw! What a strength-filled throw! Oh! The elf’s heart could be seen! Take the heart bull!

Shig did what the loud-mouthed herald said and pleased the crowd by ripping the elf’s heart. The elf had this calm look on her face. She died with honor as she leans her back on the ground of sand. Shig presented the heart to the roaring crowd. Although he was disgusted, he needed to act like the crazed bull to please his master who watches from the sides. He looked at the master of his. He was extremely pleased with the other lavish nobles praising him. Shig wanted to smash his master’s head. But with how things are he pretended to act as a mad warrior until his foes were killed by his hand.

Roaring, the crowd cheered for Shig as he then raises his hands in return to the cheers of the human watching him and roared as if the bloodlust still affected him. Shig’s master had this smug smile as he orders his guards to chain Shig again. The ‘owner’ of the arena stopped Shig and his master. He praised Shig’s master and honored him with praise which made the Shig’s master smugger than he should be.

I promise that I’ll split your skull soon, Shig thought as he follows the guards back to the carriage. Shig stayed silent and the guards didn’t even bother him. Although they tried to act tough before, they all abandon that thought after seeing Shig fight. Shig sustained no injuries other than a few scratches during the matches and although they have flint-lock pistols and their own personal melee weapons, how can they compare to Shig who fought against Elves who had the blessing of the wind? It was foolish to provoke the crazed bull so they meekly guarded Shig.

The road that leads back to the mansion was filled with people. Merchants, peddlers, travelers, and Mercenaries litter the street. They made quite the hubbub. Shig looked at the window and noticed the giant moths flying above the city. These giant moths sprinkled glittering dust. Shig could see the dust particle fall and sway down. The people on the street who noticed the rain of dust particles quickly covered their mouth with a cloth. Shig too covered his mouth, preventing the dust particle entering his mouth.

The dust particle from the giant moths swells the mouth and bloats the nose. It causes about eighty-seven silver coins for an antidote. Shig didn’t have the money or even the freedom so he took care of himself while not mentioning anything to the clueless driver who watched the dust particles. The other guard seems to have thought to teach the man a lesson. After that short rain of dust particle, the driver who watched foolishly had his mouth and nose bloated. He was in pain and since he was unable to drive. One of the guards took over and drove forward. Shig kept his face calm. He looked at the ‘carriage’ that was powered by a liquid known only as Lebon’s fuel. This fuel allowed automobiles such as this to move. The design of the automobile isn’t that wonderful at the moment. However, such vehicle was now studied further and many talks of making use of it as war machines have begun.

Shig has lived for years and has seen things. From mysterious floating islands to giant blue mushroom forests that was home to many blue butterflies. Shig has seen the gray dolphin great lake where sentient dolphins ferry cargo and deal with any race in exchange for fish and vegetables. The humans have their own great kingdoms and such. Shig knew that there were talks of flying balloons being used as transport and that there are people daring to invent flying machines now. Shig was quite impressed by this, though he thinks that the humans, especially, the ones in this city of storms should learn to be more empathetic.

The carriage arrived at the mansion. Shig was then led back to where the others were staying. While walking, he glanced at the guards and took note. When he arrived he was welcomed by the sight of Kioko and Joshua playing patty cake. Leiko sat near the worn table and welcomed Shig. She looked exhausted. But she still had the time to greet Shig who looked and smelled blood.

This room was a Shig’s home. And seeing them, Shig’s determination to escape with them doubled.