06 - Them

“Damn, it reeks. Couldn’t we have a meeting in a nicer abandoned city,” a playful, light, voice complained in the darkness.

“Shut up. There might be other people around and we can’t afford to be compromised,” a more stern yet feminine voice stated.

“People? Who the hell would want to stick around this shithole? It smells worse than a dead man. Can’t quite beat you though,” the first voice teased. The footsteps of both the male and female echoed through the deserted town as they weaved through broken bricks, half burnt wood, and the corpses of man and beast alike.

“We can’t afford to take any risks. Things have already started falling apart since the military caught on to our presence in the northern areas, so the last thing we need is for any of us to be discovered,” the female said, ignoring the male’s taunting.

“What does that have to do with us meeting in a newly-destroyed town? Surely there could have been a better place to have important discussions,” the male argued. As the two debated, they slowly made their way over to the center of the town where four other shadowy figures lay in wait. Suddenly, the woman wrenched the male backward.

“Watch your step. The last thing I want to do is hear you bitch about cyclops' guts covering your leg.”

In front of the male sat a creature that looked slightly humanoid. However, upon closer inspection, anyone would notice its singular closed eye and abnormal size. It was slouched against a partially destroyed wall, but about half of its torso and its torn up legs were laying lifeless on the street. However, since it was dark out, the male wasn’t able to see the corpse on the ground.

“Bitch? I wouldn’t bitch.”

“You’ve made a bigger fuss about less. Remember when Meirákio accidentally ate one of your olives?”

“Can you blame me? Olives are amazing!”

“He was the one who made those olives, you dolt.”

Stepping around the corpse, the duo continued to argue until the town square entered their vision.

“What happened to being cautious of people,” the male spat out, realizing he was losing the argument.

“Shut it, we’re getting close,” the woman said, getting tired of rebuking the adolescent.

“Tell me to shut it, you’ve been talking more than I have,” the male grumbled before walking silently.

As the middle of town filled their vision, the woman noticed the four figures waiting around the broken clepsydra that barely stood in the center of the town.

“Apologies for keeping you all waiting,” the woman politely and formally stated.

“Apologies? Do you know how long I’ve had to sit in this dump, waiting for you to get here? You better be more than sorry, Órimos,” an obnoxious, yet somehow charming voice yelled.

The full moon hovered brilliantly in the middle of the sky, surrounded by millions of stars that lit up the night sky. The light produced wasn’t enough to allow most people to see clearly, but the shadows of most things, including people, could be spotted.

“Skyla, if you wish to get out of here, I suggest you let us start the meeting as soon as possible so as not to waste any more time,” a muscular silhouette reasoned.

“Dear gods Voós, I’ve told you a million times to talk like a normal person,” the woman called Skyla screamed as she made exaggerated movements with her hands, stretching them outward.

Clearing their throat, the shadow in the middle clapped its hands as to draw the attention of the group. “Ahem, hello everybody. Thank you for responding to my message by coming here, so without further ado, let us get started. First of all, Skyla, Voós, would you mind telling me the statuses of our weapon stockpiles in the northern cities?”

“So far, eight of the twenty towns we hid supplies in have been checked by either the astynomias or the military, with five of those eight having been busted. Currently, the military is checking three different towns, two of which I predict will be found out due to the lack of members in those areas,” the muscular man explained, “however, I believe that with a bit of extra resources, one of those two storages can be saved from clearance.”

“…Yeah, what he said,” Skyla added, “So anyway, what do you want me to do now?”

“Hm… Voós, what is the salvageable village called,” the man in the middle inquired. For someone who appeared to have the leading position, his silhouette looked astonishingly normal.

“From what I can remember, Ftochós,” Voós responded with a respectful tone.

“Skyla, would you mind going there and ensuring the safety of our cargo?”

“Ugh, yeah fine. Man, why do I always get stuck with the boring missions,” Skyla murmured unhappily.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, however it is absolutely necessary that we are able to hold on to as many resources as we can, so thank you for your cooperation,” the supposed leader said. “On another note, Meirákio, have you sufficiently prepared for the academy?” The leader looked over to the figure on the far left. They appeared to be an adolescent boy, around the age of 13.

“Yes sir! I’ve been practicing controlling my powers, so no one will find me too suspicious,” the boy answered enthusiastically.

“Excellent. Ah yes, before I forget, Voós, how is Moró doing,” the leader asked kindly.

“Currently, he is laying low in one of the northern cities. So far, he has drafted about 300 normal citizens and has obtained favor from three nobles,” Voós answered.

“Is there anyone he has taken special notice of,” the leader inquired, curious.

“Not to my knowledge, sir,” Voós replied.

“Sir, it’s nice to see you and all, but why did you invite all of us here? Yeah, this is pretty important, but was it really so important that all of us had to come here,” the newly arrived male echoed before getting elbowed in the ribs.

“Agóri, that’s eno—“

“Please don’t worry, Órimos. His question is quite valid after all,” the leader interrupted.

“You see, the reason I brought you all together here on this day is because I’ve thought of a way to deal a massive blow to the army.”

…

‘Ugh, where am I? Why can’t I move? What is happening? Did I die?’

Questioning reality inside of a black void was Fíle. He felt like he was encumbered by some sort of black substance that prevented him from moving.

‘Am I really dead? No, there’s no way… There’s no way it can end like this, with me not even knowing how I died. Am I just dreaming? But it feels too real to be a dream.’

At first, Fíle was in denial. There was no way his life could end just like that, without him being able to do anything of importance with his life. However, soon, an abnormal sense of peace washed over him.

‘So I really am dead, huh? Last thing I remember is going to sleep, so was I murdered? Did I get some sort of illness? Oh well, not that it matters anyway. There’s nothing I can do, so what’s the point of thinking about it?’

As his mind wandered and he started contemplating his life choices, he was filled with many emotions, but no matter what he thought about, he couldn’t seem to feel happy about anything he had done.

‘I wonder how Nazarius and Aunt Gyn are holding up. Will Aunt Gyn be able to take care of herself and Nazarius without me? Well, it’s not like she didn’t have a job…’

As he thought about his loved ones, he couldn’t seem to feel anything but regret.

‘Is this divine punishment for all of the times I stole from shopkeepers? Or perhaps for lying to Aunt Gyn so much… Huh, I wonder how Àndras is doing.’

Àndras was Fíle’s older brother who he hadn’t seen in years due to him being in the army. Since Fíle was adopted, Àndras and him weren’t actually related, but that didn’t stop either of them from caring for each other. However, due to Àndras’s cold attitude, Fíle had thought he disliked him for some reason or another.

Suddenly, as Fíle was contemplating his older brother's feelings toward him, a bright light shone in front of him.

‘So I really am dead then Nazarius, Aunt Gyn… I’m sorry for leaving you so early. I hope… I hope my death doesn’t bother either of you too much…’

The light in front of Fíle shone brighter by the second, encompassing the darkness that surrounded him. Suddenly, the light started dimming. As the brightness waned, so did Fíle’s thoughts until, finally, everything went dark.

All of a sudden, Fíle’s eyes snapped open as he sat up as fast as he could. Looking around, he noticed Aunt Gyn standing at the side of his bed with surprise coating her face.

As he stared blankly at her with his mouth agape, he came to the realization that he had not died after all. As he started to understand that he would live to see another day, tears started streaming down both his and Aunt Gyn’s cheeks.

Practically jumping onto the bed, Aunt Gyn ran over to hug Fíle.

“You’re alive, you’re alive,” Aunt Gyn wailed, practically strangling Fíle in the process. However, Fíle didn’t care. He was just as happy that he was alive as she was. Hugging her back, Fíle took the time to appreciate how much Aunt Gyn loved him.

Sealing his eyes shut, Fíle and Aunt Gyn did nothing but hug for a solid minute before Fíle finally opened his eyes, noticing a man staring at him at the foot of his bed.

“Miss Gynaikeíos, apologies, I know you and your son are having a bit of a moment here, but would you mind letting me talk to him alone for a minute?”

…

Nazarius was stumped on what to do. Should he run? That was the most rational thing to do, but the fact that they had found him once means that they had most likely found a way to track him, which means that if he went home, they could harm his family.

As he thought about his next actions, the door of the carriage opened abruptly, cutting Nazarius off from any further thought. Not knowing what to do, Nazarius ran into the crowd of people, who were still shaking in fear over the quaking ground. Peeking between the shoulders of two people who were still standing, Nazarius looked upon the scene of Dysosmos and his servant stumbling out of the carriage.

Dysosmos seemed to be screaming something at his servant, however over the sounds of the chaos surrounding them, it was practically inaudible. But, despite the madness, Nazarius was able to make out bits and pieces of what they were talking about. From what he was able to understand, Dysosmos seemed to be asking the servant about the earthquake to which the servant said it would end shortly.

After that, they started talking about something else, but the sound of a newly-collapsed house covered that conversation. As Nazarius continued to spectate the two, Dysosmos started frantically pointing at the residential street that they had stopped next to. Remembering that he had just left that street, Nazarius started to panic, thinking that they really did have a way to track him.

As the servant said something, Dysosmos looked back over to the street, seemingly finding something.

The next thing he shouted was quite audible.

“GET OVER HERE YOU LOUSY, INCOMPETENT FOOL!”

As Dysosmos yelled louder than thought physically possible, Nazarius noticed that someone had started to walk out of the residential street.

When Nazarius saw the face of the man who had nervously strolled out from the road, he was filled with the worst feeling of dread he had ever felt in his entire life.

The guard was back.

Looking around for a way to flee, Nazarius started running into the marketplace with a look of pure terror on his face, not even bothering to look back on the scene he had fled from.

…

‘I’m fucked.’

That was the only thing the guard could think as he saw his boss step out of his carriage at the end of the street he was checking. After spotting him, his boss started frantically screaming. Despite not being audible over the shaking, the guard knew exactly what he was ordering him to do; ‘get over here’.

As the guard nervously walked, he started reflecting on his life. The excitement from when he was accepted into the academy, the crippling sadness when he heard that his father had died, the rage he felt when that rich little shit stole his spot in the Kalýteros branch, all of these things rushed through his brain as he walked to his all but guaranteed death.

And finally, as he arrived in front of Dysosmos, knowing what would happen next, he closed his eyes, accepting what was about to happen.

“I’m sorry. I was unable to capture the kid.”

As he winced his eyes open, he saw the pure, unfiltered rage on his boss’s face. Looking around at the land that would soon be covered in his blood, the guard noticed all of the scared, confused people sitting on the ground, fearing the events that were occurring.

Looking around, the guard observed something odd. In the midst of the chaos there was a child running toward the marketplace as fast as he could. As the identity of that boy registered in the guard’s head, he leveled his spear and prepared to attack, a look of unadulterated anger flashing across his face.

…

‘What is going on? Why is the ground violently shaking?’

As the earth violently shook, Àndras stabilized himself by putting one knee on the ground. Assessing the situation, he looked around and noticed that cracks were starting to litter the road, especially around the area of a particular shop. Unlike most stores, which were simple stands that had their wares on full display, this one was built like a house. It was made out of brick and had a nice, wooden door at the front of it.

As Àndras noticed the cracks forming, a child, around Nazarius’s age burst out the door with a face full of fear. His black hair was covered with small pieces of rubble, likely originating from the collapsing ceiling.

As he looked around, likely to ascertain the situation, the building behind him started to cave in. Realizing this, the boy started running into the streets.

Looking away from the boy and towards the shop, Àndras noted that the rubble wasn’t falling outward, but rather that it was collapsing inward, as if something was dragging it in. As the thin layer of floating sediment settled, Àndras noticed a gaping, red hole laying where a building was a second ago.

“A trypa,” a few people, including Àndras, muttered.

Realizing that this was not a time to pick up groceries, Àndras started running home in a panic.