The day we said goodbye, we were 2,500 gnomes. We ended our journey, after facing the fury of dragons and the hatred of men. We separated the spoils between us and said our last goodbyes.

That day, we were 2,500 gnomes. We all agreed that it was time to enjoy the victory.

Little did we know that the blood and hatred we spread along the way would take its toll; that every action has a reaction; that every gesture has a consequence.

The day we said goodbye, we were 2,500 gnomes. A year later, only I survive, locked in my alcove, writing the memories of my life, waiting for the death that will surely come for me.

Bermal Sagmo – Reminiscences of a Gnome

*

The Dan-the-Lion inn is busy with the movement of guests leaving the place. The person in charge of the establishment, however, is not concerned about the wounded individuals that are put in the carriages, or about collecting the gold. This can be done by the others. She deals with more important matters, in a corner where no one can hear her talking to a vampire.

-It’s done. – She says. – The boy is hiding in a room on the boat, along with the soldier you assigned. No one saw them, so they should have no problem to get out separated from the soldiers.

-Did you explain to him what to do?

-The soldier-

-Thiago.

-Yes, that is his name. He knew the details of the plan. You seem to have trained him well. They will disembark a few minutes later and take the road that goes to Givray instead of Cortery, towards the Kingdom of Markav, to get out of Vivre as soon as possible.

Yvanna agrees, silently. Rinlia’s plan was to separate them from the rest, using the only soldier who had not been riding with the rest of the caravan, purposely concealed so that he could depart without Vivre’s soldiers noticing.

Once in Markav, Rinlia would order Barsen to gather two soldiers and “go ahead”, with the excuse of delivering the message to Fiandel faster. The real objective would be to gather a larger entourage to protect the two for the rest of the trip. In order to do that, they would disguise themselves as merchants and travel with large caravans.

With the gold that Rinlia would give Barsen, this should be an easy task. It would take more time to reach the destination, but it was the safest strategy, putting Arthur away from the soldiers of Vivre. The elf wished she could accompany them, but that would force her to abandon the soldiers who were wounded while under her command.

-Great job, as always. Here’s your payment, Marjorie.

The old woman receives the small leather bag, full of silver coins.

-I hope it will be enough to help. For what I saw, that poor boy has been through a lot of suffering already.

-It will be enough.

“If you knew who that boy is, you would be more concerned with your own well-being.”

-You are very quiet, my dear. In my memories, you didn’t have this expression in your face all the time.

-In your memories, I was a young vampire with a bright future, Marjorie. – Yvanna winks at the old lady. – Now I have a ranked position in the largest army in the world, with responsibilities that would scare that young vampire to death.

-Oh, but this situation won’t be for long, will it? – Marjorie returns the wink. – Not if the rumors are true.

-Oh, do you still have spies?

-They are no longer “my” spies. But yes, sometimes I hear rumors. Since you stopped bringing me news, I was curious. The mind becomes idle in a small village, you know? I needed to occupy my mind.

-And you decided to occupy your mind with rumors.

-I mean, not always. Just when it’s a very interesting rumor. Like the ones that can influence the composition of a royal family…

-You actually know about it.

Marjorie smiles.

-You are on your way to achieve your dreams. Of course, I know about it. I just…

-What?

-I just thought that you would do it while I was young. When we both could be two beautiful ladies strolling through the court of a great kingdom.

-We both know that such a thing would be impossible. We were never “ladies”, were we?

-I don’t know what you are talking about. I was always the behaved one.

They smile to each other, thinking about the past. Yvanna is the first to sigh.

-What’s it? – Marjorie asks.

-When we were young, I never thought that I would have to accept a marriage proposal to wear the crown.

-Oh, yes. I remember. You wanted to win the position, didn’t you? If it’s any consolation, look at it this way: You won the young prince. Close enough.

-Perhaps. – She shakes her head. – It’s time to go.

-Please, be careful. Since the last storm, the creatures of the forest have been restless. More attacks have been reported in the vicinities of the Great Forest and the number of disappearances in the lake has also increased dramatically.

-We will take all precautions. Bye, Marjorie.

-Farewell, my dear. Promise me it won’t be long before we see each other again. We barely had time to chat this morning.

-What about this: You will receive a seat of honor at my wedding and you can stay as long as you want in the court of Fiandel. Is this enough of a promise to you?

-In this case, I will see you soon.

-You won’t even have enough time to miss me.

-Oh, that is impossible. An old lady like me misses her friends even before she says goodbye.

*

The ship sways slowly over the lake. Resting in one of the small quarters are two men dressed in ordinary clothes, similar to those of travelers.

They remain silent for quite different reasons: One of them sinks into memories about the movement of a boat; memories of happy days in his past, as it had become a habit recently. The other also sinks into memories made inside a boat, bust his are memories of fear and despair.

Arthur shakes his head, trying to move away from those memories, looking at the soldier in front of him. He remembers the soldier from the days before his imprisonment in Vivre.

-Is your name Thiago?

The soldier, suddenly withdrawn from his reminiscences, faces the ex-prisoner.

-Yes.

-Can you tell me why we can’t leave this room?

-If we leave, the other Fiandel soldiers will recognize you. We need to stay hidden until they all have disembarked.

-And the owner of the ship won’t suspect?

-We won’t wait hours, just a few minutes. Enough so that we can leave without being seen by other passengers.

Arthur thinks about it, agreeing after a few moments. He would have remained silent; however, his wounds bother him and he wants to annoy someone. At this moment, he is using a hood and cloak to hide most of his injuries, making his deplorable state less noticeable.

-I would like to go to a more open space.

-This is not possible. You will have to wait until we are safe.

-I’ve been in jail for the past few days. At least put me in a room with a window or something. This place is worse than my cell.

-Ok. Go ahead. Do you want to die? You just need to go pass that door.

-Come on. I was just asking. You don’t need to get all angry.

-Whatever.

-Dude, what’s your problem? We’ve been alone for hours and you haven’t said a word. There’s nobody here. You don’t have to play the tough soldier.

-I was not playing anything. I was just thinking about other stuff. Besides, you seem to have been a lot more comfortable since you got out of prison, don’t you?

-What do you mean?

-I mean that you were much more respectful when you were afraid to die.

Arthur smiles with the uninjured part of his lips.

-Is this a threat? You won’t kill me. Not while your boss is interested in my magic.

Despite no being so angry, the challenge in Arthur’s voice prompted the soldier to give him a lesson. He decided to approach the boy, placing his hand on the fractured leg.

The pressure, although not so heavy, caused a sharp pain in the boy, who wanted to scream, but his voice was muffled by the soldier’s hand. Looking into his eyes, it was Thiago’s turn to smile.

-There are other ways to incite fear besides the threat of death. It is one of the things that you will learn.

He removes his hand from Arthur’s leg and returns to his post, leaning against a wall near the door. The ship moves over the waters of the lake, swinging a little harder. Sounds of intense movement above them indicate that everyone on board was moving to accommodate the large number of people in the available space.

-Maybe you’re right. – Arthur grumbles. – But you can’t blame me for wanting a break. Since I arrived in this world, I have been threatened by the sea, water beasts, soldiers, angry animals and even by members of royalty. And it hasn’t been a month since I arrived. And there is still the fact that I suddenly appeared in a world that I didn’t know existed until recently. You can see why I am a little overwhelmed.

Thiago smiles, involuntarily. Arthur notices and the soldier decides do explain himself.

-Oh, I was just thinking how weird it must be for you. To appear in a different world.

-It is so difficult to find someone who came from a different world?

-Yes. I believe that the last wave happened centuries ago. Perhaps there is some ancestral creature hidden society, but, except for that, I don’t believe that could be anyone else alive who came from another world.

-Well, that explains a little more why everyone is so amazed by my arrival.

They remain silent for a moment. Thiago, looking at his own hands, perceives it wet with blood from the bandages of the leg of the other. Despite changing the bandages frequently, it hadn’t been enough to stop all the bleeding. Rinlia’s orders said that, as soon as they were in Markav, while waiting for Barsen, they should find a healer to solve that problem.

However, he wondered if the boy would last much more. Such a deep wound would incapacitate less resilient creatures.

-You know… - He starts. – It is not only your arrival that causes problems for you.

-I know that. It is this magic that I can use, right? I just don’t understand why people are so afraid of it. Until now, I could have lived without hurting anyone. They just needed to leave me alone.

-You don’t understand. – He makes an effort to keep his tone as friendly as possible. – It’s not just the type of magic. Every kind of magic has already caused a lot… A lot of problems, you know? The problem is that yours is even more dangerous. It is dangerous enough to make animals, soldiers and even royalty afraid of its effects.

-But people learned to use magic, didn’t they? I saw the way Rinlia fought.

-Then you also saw the power difference between her and the other soldiers. The way she is a powerful ally, but she could also be a huge threat if she were against us.

-And that is enough of an excuse to assume that I am against all of you.

-Yes, but this is not my point. – Arthur’s confused look makes the soldier frown. – Haven’t you noticed yet? Unlike Rinlia, you have no option. You cannot choose to be our ally because your magic wasn’t meant to be used to our advantage.

The ship sways harder over the lake.

-What are you talking about? Didn’t I use the magic to my advantage before?

-Arthur – It’s his first time saying the name. – You still don’t understand? I thought they explained to you how your magic is dangerous because it uses the vital force of all the living beings.

The boy is confused. The sounds on the upper floors get louder.

-No, you are wrong. The magic I used didn’t feed on anyone’s vital force or anything like that.

-It did. Think about it. How do you think you’ve managed to use magic so far? Where did your strength came from?

Arthur remains silent for a few moments, reflecting on the times he used magic and took advantage of the strength of others to strengthen himself.

-You are wrong. There was one time when I did not use anyone’s help.

He immediately tells the soldier about the time he managed to find magic in the ground, when he was in the tower. He did not talk about the way he used the same process to give strength to the incorporeal, fearing that it would cause a strong reaction.

-You are the one who’s wrong. – Thiago says at the end of the history. – Did you forget where you were getting your strength from?

-Yes. From the ground. Several floors below the tower.

-Of course not. You were looking for vital sources at the bottom of the tower. When you escaped, didn’t you notice how many guards were in the lower floors, waiting for orders or for their next shifts? The first floor of that tower is the resting place of the region. The “ocean” that you noticed was actually the energy of the guards who were resting. Since they were many, you must have taken just a little of vital energy from each one. They must have thought they were tired, when, actually, you were the cause.

-What? No. This can’t-

-It is the truth. And you need to understand this truth if you want to understand people’s negative reactions to your magic. Their fear is not unreasonable.

The ship swing again, with much more force than before. The swing is strong enough to displace Arthur who, weakened, is unable to maintain his position, falling on the ground. Thiago tries to help him, but another violent swing forces him to worry about not falling over.

-What is happening? – Arthur asks, trying to get up, using the hand offered by the other as support.

Thiago shakes his head, without knowing anything about the situation. At that moment, the door opens at once. The image of a red-haired vampire appears in the room.

-We have to get out of here now!

-What is happening? – Thiago asks, holding Arthur’s arm. She approaches them, holding the other arm.

Another sudden swing. Arthur feels his leg bend and needs to put all of his body weight over the soldier’s shoulders.

-The lake. – Yvanna answers, guiding them towards the door. – The monster of the lake woke up. We have to go to the boats immediately.

-What? The… Monster?! Are you saying that the creature really exists?

-Do I look like I’m kidding? Let’s go!

They head for the exit, trying to walk in the narrow corridors among the large number of people who appear, confused, at the doors. Yvanna does not answer anyone’s questions, climbing the stairs towards the deck.

-What kind of monster is it? – Arthur asks when he finishes climbing and realizes that there is no creature in sight.

-Nobody knows. No one has ever survived to say what it looks like. – Thiago seems nervous. – At least no one responsible enough to leave clues on how to fight against the monster. The few stories that exists were told by people who fled the lake. I always heard that the monster was a fantasy created by the creatures of the forest.

-Well, whoever told you that was wrong. – Yvanna walks among the soldiers, who obey the direct orders of Rinlia and Barsen. The vampire’s soldiers are under the direct command of the elf, who takes care of positioning the wounded in the small boats available.

-Isn’t it better to stay on the ship? – Arthur asks when he realizes the size of the boats.

-We have to abandon the ship to have a better chance to survive. – Yvanna replies. – We took a look at what is below us and, right now, this boat is the biggest distraction available. It can be used as a distraction for us to escape. You have no idea-

She does not have enough time to finish. The next moment, the ship sways slowly, but for a long time. The waters, a few meters to the left, rise and, finally, divide into two parts. In the middle of them, a huge shadow is projected and, from there, the creature emerges.

It is something similar to an eel. This one, however, has huge gills around its neck, like a larger silver necklace. Her torso is made of pearly skin and she has fins that point upward, like small wings in the center of her body.

The biggest difference between this creature and an ell is the size.

This is an eel with – at least – twice the size of the ship.

-Arthur, hold on to me. – Yvanna orders. The boy doesn’t understand immediately. – Now!

He wraps his less-injured arm around the vampire’s neck. She pulls him forward, running across the deck to the bow of the ship, trying to get where Rinlia is with the few soldiers who didn’t get on the boats. Thiago follows them.

There is not enough time to fully understand the situation. There is no time to shout or to make complicated plans.

The eel opens its mouth and faces the ship. And, at once, she throws her body onto the deck, destroying and sinking the stern of the ship.

*

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