The Keeper's Codex: Ashen Memories

by A. D. Wills

  Aldriss knew it was over, his sword reverting back to its rusted useless form—putting it away with a look of confidence as he walked toward Thungar.

  Once the dust settled, Thungar was seen slouched against the wall, and all of the armor that once encased his upper body was now gone, smashed to pieces. His arms laid lifelessly at his side, though Thungar seemed to be fine, or as fine as one could be after a strenuous fight like that at least. Being conscious at this point seemed to be a victory in and of itself to those watching on.

  “You know, you might've brought down the arena if I didn't end it.” Aldriss stuck out his hand.

  “Come on, you're saying I can't control it? I was only going to put you under some rubble is all,” he jested back, as Thungar took Aldriss' hand and stood up on shaky legs.

  “The winner....Aldriss Brynmor!” Lorin shouted out, and the crowd rose up to their feet, clapping and cheering, throwing whatever they could down into the arena that might be received as a gift. They were honored and felt privileged to have seen two Starborn fight with what they thought was all their might.

  “Look like we gave 'em a pretty good show though,” Aldriss said, supporting Thungar on their way back to the healers. “Now you can get back to Betheca and the kids after getting that outta your system. But I've got to say, that fight had me getting all nostalgic for a bit there.”

  Thungar pulled Aldriss in close with the one arm around his shoulder. “Me too, it made me remember all those good times we had together...” Thungar sobbed, and openly wept tightly squeezing Aldriss.

  “Alright, enough of that!” Aldriss grimaced. “You know you got me a couple times too, so take it easy!” Aldriss reverted back to his shell, while Thungar couldn't stop smiling through his dirtied tear covered face.

  Calaera leaned over the railing to catch her Uncle's attention before he left through the tunnel, when finally, Aldriss looked back and raised his fist in the air looking directly at Calaera with a confident brash grin. He was glad more than anything to finally give Calaera a proper showing, but as much as he would like to defy his brother, he held himself back as always when it came to Calaera, even if only a little.

  Calaera waved back with a proud look over at Aldriss. Even if they weren't all going to meet as a family, this was enough for now. Seeing Aldriss fight like this after all the stories he's told her, this was everything and more than she could have ever imagined.

  “I only wish they wouldn't have left such a mess, but knowing the two of them, I should be happy we have an arena to finish the day in.” Dreymond watched on as some of Lorin's assistants that helped with the tournament tried their best to clean up, but the large craters left in the walls, and jutting rock near the middle of the arena, would need to be repaired another day.

  “Now then, let's not keep the crowd waiting,” Lorin scrolled his finger along the ledger. “Without any further delay, Yango of Estrana will fight Sahar—former general of the Kuxori army!” He shouted out with hardly any delay between bouts.

  The crowd— still on a high from the last bout—continued to rain down cheers. They knew nothing of Yango, but most knew of Sahar from Old Kuxori. He was an honorable and formidable general during the War of Regions, and had caused many headaches for Ethril, to say the very least.

  Usually, someone who formerly represented the enemy wouldn't receive such an ovation, but he surrendered gracefully to Ethril and King Dreymond, while aiding them in the very end when he realized the cruel errors of the Kingdom he served. Due to his late contribution, Dreymond ensured that he would be entirely pardoned of any crimes by association, and have his name known across Ethril as the honorable warrior he truly was. Without Sahar, Ethril wouldn't have had the necessary information against Kuxori that aided them so.

  “Alright, Yango, Sahar...get out there,” Reiner relayed Lorin's announcement to the room of fighters.

  Sahar shot up to his feet, and clutched his sword—attaching it to his hilt that was covered by his desert garb draping down past his waist. His short black hair, with streaks of gray on the sides of his head that matched his neatly aged beard. Even twenty years later, and nearing fifty, Sahar still looked to be in as great a shape as ever, and wore a determined look—itching to get out there in front of Dreymond.

  Beside him at the entrance to the arena at his feet, Yango sat there sound asleep. He snored out loud without a care in the world, clutching his scythe, much like a child would hold their favorite toy or blanket at night.

  “...Idiot,” Bels muttered, and whacked him on the top of his head.

  Yango snorted, and blinked his eyes about the room confused. “What's your problem?” Yango rubbed his head, and asked Bels.

  “It's your turn, so get going already,” Bels mentioned.

  “About time...” Yango said through an elongated yawn—stretching out his arms and legs before pulling himself up by leaning on his scythe. “So how about it Bels, want to make a wager while you have the chance?” Yango proposed with a greasy grin.

  “Just shut up and get this over with,” Bels rolled her eyes.

  “Oh come on, I'll make it worth your while. Besides, may as well make this a little interesting,” Yango pleaded, entirely ignoring Sahar standing next to him. “How about if I don't win in one minute, I'll give you all the earnings from my next bounty, no strings attached. If I win though, you'll talk it out with Zeke for me. I'm pretty sure he's still pissed off with me, and I don't want to hear him ramble on about it again."

  Bels turned to Yango, as though he was a fool for even offering such a juicy wager, but she knew well and good of Yango's propensity to gamble for the sake of it. On the other hand, Yango knew of Bels' weakness for any coin she could get her hands on, and played on that for the sake of his own amusement.

  “Sure, why not,” Bels agreed. “Doesn't look like you've got an easy opponent like I did though. I'd guess it'll take you at least two,” Bels examined Sahar up and down.

  “We've got a deal then!” Yango stuck his hand out, and Bels obliged, squeezing with her freakish strength. “Come on, I've gotta use this in the fight you know,” Yango waved his throbbing hand around.

  Sahar cringed at the blatant disrespect—fighting his urge to erupt. “Are you about finished?” Sahar interrupted, tightly clutching his sword.

  “You could've just gone ahead if you wanted to, or do you want me to hold your hand on the way out there? Man, you're needy,” Yango snickered, heading down the tunnel to emerge alongside Sahar.

  Curious about her wager with Yango, Bels got up to get a look at the action in the tunnel, but was cut off by Reiner.

  “You're not allowed to watch, get back to your seat.” Reiner went to place his hand on Bels to shove her away.

  “Out of the way, old man. This won't take too long, so go have another drink.” Bels threw Reiner against the tunnel wall with ease, leaving a small dent with an effortless motion, and cracking his fragile back.

  Reiner slumped his way back through the tunnel, grumbling to himself.

  While Yango took his spot, Sahar took to the center, and faced toward the royal balcony looking directly at Dreymond, and fell down to a knee.

  “My King, let this fight of mine be a symbol of my loyalty, and thanks to your family,” Sahar proudly shouted as he leaned on his planted sheathed sword before him. Regardless how many years had passed since the war, Sahar lived every day grateful to Dreymond and the Brynmor family.

  Dreymond stood up to acknowledge Sahar with a warm smile, and a subtle shake of his head. “You have done more than enough to earn your place, Sahar. Your deeds will never be forgotten, as you can see,” Dreymond pointed out to the crowd who joined in standing with King Dreymond. “There is no need to bow here.”

  Yango lazily leaned on his scythe, tapping his foot and rolling his eyes. He was itching to get the signal from Lorin the fight would begin.

  “Thank you...” Sahar gave one last thanks, and headed back to take his spot.

  Lorin raised hi
s hand, and shot it down to start the bout.

  “I won't disappoint—” Sahar turned around with some final assurances Dreymond's way, but was cut off.

  Yango tossed a small knife in the back of Sahar's knee—buckling him down to the ground without warning. Yango approached in seizing his opening, and booted Sahar square in the face, tossing him down flat on his back, and holding the edge of his scythe against his throat.

  The crowd let out thunderous boos and jeers down at Yango, who didn't care in the least what they thought.

  “I'd give up if I were you, or this is gonna get pretty messy for everyone watching,” Yango threatened through a tired yawn riddled with impatience, pressing his foot down on Sahar's chest.

  “You would fight with such dishonor? Where is your pride as a warrior?” Sahar grimaced in a focused fury, looking over at his sword that was well out of arm's reach.

  “Sorry, not really the warrior type. Maybe you shouldn't have turned away, that was pretty cocky of you, you know,” Yango hung his head wanting to get this over with. “I wouldn't try anything. I hate to kill for free, but if you make me lose this bet, then I'll make an exception.”

  Lorin nor Dreymond could do anything about this situation. The bout had begun, and anything was fair game at that point. As much as the crowd called and craved for a reset of the match, doing so would set a terrible precedent for the upcoming matches.

  “Come on let's go, you're running out of time here.” Yango was only a few seconds away from the one minute cut-off he and Bels wagered on. To hasten Sahar's decision, he pressed his scythe against Sahar's throat, drawing a line of blood that dripped down to the ground.

  “I concede defeat...” Sahar clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth with welled up tears in his eyes—his pride and honor completely shattered in front of everyone including the King.

  “The winner...Yango,” Lorin reluctantly announced. Along with the crowd, Dreymond, Calaera and himself were rather disgusted.

  “Thank you, thank you!” Yango waved, and blew kisses to the crowd booing him out of the arena.

  “What a coward,” Calaera spoke up, utterly reviled at how Yango presented himself.

  “It's beyond shameful that someone with such strength would resort to those lowly tactics,” Dreymond mentioned. He didn't know who Yango was, but could tell he possessed enough strength where he would have been able to at least fight Sahar face to face.

  “My apologies, it's because of me that a man of such low moral makeup is here,” Lorin cringed in disappointment at himself. “I could have sworn that I did sufficient research on everyone...”

  “There's no way that you could have known anyone like that would be in the tournament before they got here. You're not to blame at all, Lorin,” Dreymond reassured Lorin.

  “It's as father says, there's no helping someone like that unfortunately slipping through the cracks,” Calaera agreed. “Let's just hope that someone can teach him a lesson. I think the crowd agrees with me in that hope.”

  “Then let us all be rid of this sour taste,” Lorin cut in with his ledger in hand, agreeing to put that last bout behind them.

  Chapter 12: Caden

  Sappo charged with the reins in hand as far from Tortsia as they could possibly get. He didn't care if he had them going the right way or not. Getting away from being caught was all he cared about. Lucky for him, Snillrik, and Caden, they had such a far head-start from any of their pursuers, by the time guards mounted up to give chase, they were long gone. But one still managed to latch on along for the ride.

  For the time being, their once hooded pursuer was still knocked out from hitting her head, so Caden and Snillrik went into the back to keep an eye on her. She sat there unconscious, with her icy blue skin, leaning her head with tied up.

  “I've never seen someone like her before, have you?” Caden asked Snillrik, unable to take his eyes off her.

  “No...” Snillrik shifted their eyes over, wondering how Caden could forget. “Everything up here is new to me, other than what I've read, and seen a few drawings of.”

  For a while, Sappo kept his usual paranoid pace, but they since slowed once the sun's glow stopped shining into the back of the wagon, day giving way to night in the setting amber sun ahead.

  “Um...Caden, have you checked the contract yet?” Sappo asked over his shoulder.

  “Oh yeah, no not yet, I totally forgot about that to be honest,” Caden grew a wide guilty grin.

  “Is something the matter?” Snillrik inquired.

  “We might want to check the contract, and the map. I think I took us farther than I realized...” Sappo mentioned.

  Caden and Snillrik popped up from the back of the wagon to get a look, and gazed upon the expansive, empty, illusionary flats in every direction they looked. Not a mountain, or so much as a rolling hill in sight, and the ground reflected the pink, orange, and red sunset, giving the illusion they were walking on the sky itself. Fitting to the name, it felt like one giant illusion, everything still, silent, and almost ethereal.

  “Whoa, this place looks amazing...” Caden's slack-jawed awe couldn't stop scanning around. “I can't believe you just wandered into a place like this though Sappo,” Caden joked.

  “Would you please just look at the contract,” Sappo groaned.

  “Oh yeah, here,” Caden unfurled the folded piece of paper. “Huh...”

  “What is it?” Snillrik asked.

  “There's not much here. All it says is 'come to Qwayke. They're here.'' Caden read off, and handed it over for Snillrik to examine.

  “Odd...I wonder who 'they' are,” Snillrik pondered. “Impossible to glean anything from so little, but at least it appears we have our destination.”

  “Is it on the map?” Sappo hurried them along.

  Caden pulled the map out of his pocket, already mangled, curled, and crumpled from his poor handling of it, but still in one piece at least. Running his fingers along the map.

  “I don't see Qwayke anywhere on here, and nothing called 'shiny cool flats' either," Caden shrugged.

  “I don't think that's what it would be called...” said Sappo.

  Snillrik looked over the map, but didn't see anything either. “Perhaps we should stay here for the night, and figure out our next step.”

  “The land-lizards could use some rest too after that,” Sappo agreed. “But it doesn't look like there's any water, or anywhere to stay other than the wagon.”

  “What about over there?” Caden casually interrupted, pointing ahead to a distant gathering of trees in a little pocket of the flats.

  “Seems a little weird though,” Sappo suspected.

  “Why?” Caden asked, totally aloof.

  “I agree with Sappo, it just seems to have appeared out of nowhere,” Snillrik added.

  “Well, we'll never know if we don't check it out right? May as well just take a peek at least,” Caden pleaded his case.

  “Alright, but if anything feels off—” Sappo began.

  “Let's go!” Caden pumped his fist in the air, cutting Sappo off.

  Trotting down the mesmerizing flats, the sun quickly set, and the sunburst ground below was replaced with a dark blue carpeting of stars ushering them toward the oasis. Upon approaching it, it appeared as real as anything else they've seen. Stretching palm trees that were so tall, they curved in, unable to handle the weight of the giant coconuts just waiting to pelt any unlucky passersby below. With lush colorful plants all over the place, humming cicadas, crickets, and floating mystical fireflies that lit up the foliage, it was quite the stark contrast from the surrounding empty flats.

  “This is perfect to set up camp for the night! We can get a fire going and everything,” Caden scanned over every inch of the oasis visible to him with eager eyes.

  “And what should we do with her? Should we...tie her up?” Snillrik asked.

  “Nah, she could've probably killed us back there anyway, but she didn't,” Caden waved off any concern.

  “That's
not reassuring at all. What if she decides she wants to kill us this time when she eventually wakes up?” Sappo asked, a face flushed with fear.

  “Guess we'll figure that out when she wakes up. Besides, we don't even have anything to restrain her with, right?” Caden reasoned.

  The three of them worked around to the back of the wagon. Sappo grabbed his cooking essentials, and food Snillrik bought, while Caden, and Snillrik carried the stowaway through the oasis to find a place to camp for the night.

  “You don't think there's anything...dangerous here, do you?” Sappo asked, darting his eyes all over the place.

  “Who knows, but there might even be some cool ingredients for you to try out,” Caden beamed at the thought of a new dish, courtesy of Sappo.

  “You think so?” Suddenly, Sappo wasn't so concerned, and looked around to see if he could spot some nearby berries, or anything that looked remotely edible.

  “And besides, if anything attacks us, it's probably too late anyway right? We're already here,” Caden foolishly laughed off.

  “I-I'm sure it's just fine,” Snillrik tried to cover up for Caden's lack of tact.

  The three of them cut through the lush oasis, shoving big fawning leaves aside, while Sappo picked a couple of odd looking berries, and juicy grubs here and there. It appeared as if no one had ever been there though. There wasn't a clear path, or any obvious open area to make camp for the night, not until they poked through an opening.

  “Check it out, a pond!” Caden shouted full of glee, and sprinted off without regard for their captive.

  Snillrik's slender frame couldn't handle carrying the captive, and crumpled—dropping them hard on the thankfully somewhat forgiving ground.

  “Oh no. Oh no no no, my apologies!” Snillrik cringed with bated breath, watching their captive wince, and groan themselves awake.

  Caden didn't have a care in the world, totally unaware as he bolted to the pond, stripping his clothes down to his underwear, and leaping in with reckless abandon.

  “What should we do? I knew we should have tied her up—I knew this would happen,” Sappo rattled off, dancing around, wondering where to go.