The Keeper's Codex: Ashen Memories

by A. D. Wills

The guards dropped their spears, and unsheathed their swords, slashing Sappo all over. They damaged him more than it would take to fell any normal beast, but none of it seemed to bother an infuriated Sappo. It was as if none of this damage mattered at all.

  This was Sappo's primal instinct that had been buried deep inside him all along; something that every trained Ursine can trigger at will, but until now, Sappo hadn't been able to, much to the disappointment of his Father.

  When any Ursine embraces their inner beast like this, they're numb to pain, their senses heightened, and bodies physically enhanced for however long their short-lived state lasts. But just because they're numbed to the pain, doesn't mean the damaging effects won't be felt afterward.

  The villagers watched on in gracious fear, still all tied up. Sappo might have saved them, but they didn't want to stick around to find out how in control he was. They noticed some of the guards' spears and swords scattered in front of them, and with the guards distracted by Sappo, they cut themselves free. But they didn't go unnoticed by the guards.

  “Don't let any of them go, kill them if you have to,” a guard shouted, and pointed over to the stumbling villagers.

  Some of the guards tried chasing down the villagers, but Sappo grabbed them from behind, and threw them down. Anyone who so much as tried to run from him, Sappo easily blocked them, even if it meant taking more damage himself. He wanted his prey to stay put.

  “Fine, kill this beast first. It'll be easier to chase and kill the others without it in our way anyway."

  Snillrik briefly peered over at Sappo, watching on in both cringing horror and amazement. They couldn't bear to watch the punishment Sappo was taking all on his own, especially not after being the one who told Sappo to do exactly this. As well as Sappo was handling himself, Snillrik feared how much longer he could last taking this much damage.

  “At least it seems like the villagers are getting away,” Snillrik remarked, watching the long line of villagers retreating to safety into the Inn. “But we need to hurry, Achi. Sappo needs our help.”

  Snillrik stared at the launcher hoping Achi would soon emerge with an answer, when he finally popped out. Snillrik caught Achi, and he let out a flurry of little chirps to brief Snillrik without any further delay.

  “How could I have been so foolish...How did I not think of that little circuit near the glynt being off?” Snillrik raced around the device in a frantic rush. “A simple tweaking here and there should do it, but I have wasted far too much time as it is.”

  Snillrik made sure the connections were all set, and everything clicked into place. They wasted no time in analyzing the distance with the looking glass, and pushed the device back with all of their meager might. Snillrik's frail legs barely moved it, but with Achi willing them on, Snillrik used everything they had to position it facing one of the buildings beside Sappo.

  “If I can just somehow angle the rubble to cut the guards off,” Snillrik took in a nervous breath. With Sappo right there, they knew the risks. “Regardless of the chances, it's all I can do right now. I don't have time for any testing or thinking.”

  With a press of the switch, the device launched the boulder it didn't fire before, heading straight for the house beside the guards and Sappo. It smashed into the house—obliterating what remained of it, cascading a deluge of rubble down in between the guards and Sappo. Dust and bits of stone blasted out on both sides, blinding Sappo and the guards, creating a massive wall neither could possibly get through.

  Snillrik leaped into the air and celebrated with Achi. No matter how badly they wanted to go after and give chase to Sappo who they rightfully thought they had dead to rights, they couldn't. They were reduced to a small number of guards now, and by the time they could get over or around the rubble, Sappo would have been able to retreat, and the villagers long since freed.

  The guards begrudgingly retreated, unknowingly about to realize their fight was now over.

  Sappo lumbered his way back down the streets, a bloody torn up mess, but he only lasted a few feet before collapsing face first. All of his energy and strength was gone, and he started reverting back to his normal self from his primal instinct.

  Amid their celebration, Snillrik saw Sappo collapse in the streets, and noticed a chunk of a nearby rooftop was dangerously close to falling on him. Snillrik didn't waste a moment, climbing a couple steps down the ladder, before jumping off halfway down, and bolted down into the streets, hoping they could drag Sappo even a few inches out of the way. Snillrik raced as fast as they could, but it wasn't enough. The rooftop crumbled, and crashed down onto Sappo's legs.

  Sappo couldn't even so much as roar out in pain, but instead a helpless whimper—looking around looking terrified and confused, hoping someone might help.

  Snillrik rushed to Sappo's side, and now that they were up close, Snillrik couldn't believe the damage all over Sappo's body, not to mention how he was still somehow conscious, albeit barely.

  “Achi, please get the villagers. I'll continue to try my hand here,” Snillrik ordered Achi who chirped away, and hopped down toward the tavern.

  Snillrik tried pushing the boulder off Sappo's leg, throwing their whole measly weight to push it off, but it was no use. It wouldn't budge even a little bit to let Sappo wriggle out from under it.

  “I am not leaving without you Sappo, don't worry, there has to be a way...there must be...” Snillrik panted desperately.

  Snillrik kept trying, until they were completely exhausted, and collapsed next to Sappo with numbed arms and legs.

  “Did...we do it?” Sappo muttered, seemingly regaining some semblance of himself again, but before he could wait for an answer, his eyes closed shut.

  “Yes, thanks to you we did,” Snillrik nodded. “It would seem we weren't so over our heads after all, my friend.” Snillrik wanted to reminisce in victory, but they couldn't bring themself to feel anything but pain seeing Sappo like this.

  Even on numb wobbly legs, Snillrik bit down on their lips, and got back up to try lifting the boulder one more time, when they saw the villagers racing down the streets, with Achi on one of their shoulders.

  “Come on, all at once now!” One of the villagers shouted, directing the crowd of them to push the boulder off.

  With a forceful unified heave, all of the villagers together managed to barely lift the hulking boulder up.

  Snillrik and a couple of others sneaked in behind, yanking on Sappo's big lifeless arms to pull him out. His leg looked battered and completely mangled from the crash, but he was finally free once the villagers dropped the boulder back down.

  Snillrik went try slinging Sappo over their shoulder, but the villagers gave Snillrik a firm, friendly push to the side.

  “You've all done enough,” one of the villagers said to an exhausted Snillrik, as they all lined up to carry Sappo away from the wreckage with their remaining strength.

  It was a struggle carrying Sappo's dead weight, but they managed to carry him along slowly with his legs dragging along the ground back to refuge.

  Finally, it was over for the villagers.

  Chapter 27: Boroku

  Yuliana directed the caravan through an abandoned desert wasteland. Chunks of ancient stone poking out from the red sand blowing all over the place. There wasn't any sign of life in sight. Not one little critter burrowing away, or a distant village either. It was as if this red dessert had been entirely forgotten about—completely erased, and untouched.

  Most of the ride there, Boroku was asleep on Yuliana's shoulder as he is now, finally relaxing for a bit. Yuliana pulled up on the reins to ease their approach, hoping to preserve this moment just a little bit longer. Unfortunately for her, they arrived at their destination.

  “We're finally here," Yuliana said to reluctantly wake Boroku.

  Boroku opened his eyes to the barren scene around them. “So we are, and I am sure Schiffer must have already arrived as well.”

  “Unfortunately...” Yuliana muttered in annoyance at the mere mention
of Schiffer.

  “I, for one, am looking forward to the three of us finally being able to meet like this again. After all, it's been so long.”

  “But as always, I'm sure he will make it difficult to enjoy.”

  “I can't deny Schiffer is...abrasive at times. But if he didn't truly care, then he wouldn't be here. You know just as well of that I'm sure.”

  Yuliana didn't concede anything other than a tired look of dread, and hopped off the caravan onto the piping hot sand. With Boroku a few feet behind her, she curled her arms halfway, palms up flat, closed her eyes, and the ground started shaking. Sand shifted apart all over the place, as the earth itself split open to make way for black stone steps leading down into the crater-like entrance revealing itself.

  Boroku took the lead down the steps, and upon entering, Yuliana snapped her fingers to cause the entrance to seal itself back up while a perfect line of flames ignited along the sides of the wall to light their way.

  “Ah, thank you, Yuli. Don't want to stumble and fall,” Boroku smirked in the cramped, but well-lit descending stairs on the way to an odd looking door at the bottom.

  There wasn't a lock or handle on it, nothing at all. Only a smooth black door, and Boroku pushed it open, revealing an ancient looking room on the other side.

  Everything looked as if it were from a different era entirely different from anything else in Ethril, let alone all of Gamriss. But while it appeared beyond old, it wasn't messy. Everything was kept in neat order. Ancient carvings on the stone walls that appeared to depict different odd looking ceremonies, and worn out texts stacked neatly on wooden shelves trimmed with rustic fancy plating for some added flair.

  In the center of the wide circular room, was a long black table, with three chairs—two on opposite sides, and one at the head. There, their third member, Schiffer, was already sleeping in one of the chairs waiting. His long silky silver hair tied up high, but it's so long, its tail cascaded down well past his thinly framed shoulders. Despite having striking elegant features like that of a beautiful prince, his mouth hung wide open in an unflattering position, snoring away.

  “Well, it looks like he found his way here without issue.” Yuliana rolled her eyes in disgust upon spotting Schiffer, and took her seat across from him.

  Boroku took his seat at the head of the table between Schiffer and Yuliana, and patiently waited a moment for Schiffer to wake, before he let out a sigh. “Schiffer, I'm well aware you aren't asleep.”

  Schiffer peeked open one of his sharp piercing green eyes, coupled with a devilish smirk. “Thought I'd make you two wait a minute. It's only fair after how long you two made me sit here. I mean, my ass has gone numb,” Schiffer scowled with a biting tone that hardly matched his prim and proper appearance.

  “You could have gotten up, instead of trying so hard, and poorly mind you, at fooling us,” Yuliana side-eyed Schiffer.

  “Hey, I wouldn't need to entertain myself if you weren't late. What, did it take longer than you thought to seduce those rebels into joining the fight? Can't say I blame them, an old hag like you—”

  Yuliana scrunched her face in annoyance, waved her finger, and Schiffer's mouth disappeared from his face. “Each time I see you, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly I get sick of hearing your crass voice.” Yuliana's furrowed tense glare washed over to a satisfying smirk at the silent wriggling of his face.

  Even Boroku couldn't help but let out a bit of a wry grin at Schiffer's expense, who clawed for his mouth in panic. “You do bring this upon yourself sometimes, Schiffer. Let's try and enjoy the fruits of our labors together though, shall we? We don't have many opportunities to meet like this, after all.”

  Schiffer looked back at Boroku with an annoyed dirty look, before he cooled off a little with a begrudging shrug.

  “I think he understands,” Boroku hinted for Yuliana to revert Schiffer's loudmouth back to its place.

  “...Fine.” Yuliana lazily waved her finger in the air again, and just as quickly, Schiffer's mouth reappeared.

  “Next time you pull something like that, I'll rip that wrinkled mouth off that fake fucking face of yours, you damn mage.” Schiffer glared with widened demented eyes, so easily riled up to the brink.

  Boroku sighed, holding his head in hand. “I should have known better than to exercise good faith.”

  “Oh? I would like to see you try,” Yuliana giggled at his expense. “You know well and good what happened the last time you tried to do something like that, don't you?”

  “That wasn't fair back then, and you know it.” Schiffer crossed his arms in frustration, and kicked his chair up onto its back legs, furiously rocking back and forth with his legs up on the table.

  “I think the two of you have gotten your initial pleasantries out of the way.” Boroku saw a small opening with Schiffer getting comfortable, doing everything he could to at least have some kind of peaceful meeting.

  “Yeah, let's start getting this shit over with. And I wanna know what happened at the tournament,” Schiffer butted in.

  “Ah yes, the one you were so intent on entering yourself when we discussed our plans. It went rather smoothly for the most part. A couple of unforeseen events, but they were more interesting than troubling. Obviously, I came out as the victor, and everything after the fact went according to plan, if that is what you're getting at.”

  “Come on, you know what I wanna hear. Obviously it went well if you're here, I want the juicy details though."

  “I suppose you won't let it go if I fail to give you a satisfying reply...” Boroku could tell by Schiffer's anxious rocking back and forth. “Unfortunately, I only competed in one bout, and it went rather quickly. I'm afraid there just isn't all that much to share on my end, Schiffer.”

  “So you just used your cheap tricks to win in the end as always. What fun is that?” Schiffer asked, pouting like a petulant child.

  “If I ended up facing the other finalist, Aldriss, I would not have returned in such pristine shape. Would you have preferred to see me beaten and battered—fatigued and worn out?” Boroku asked sarcastically, seeking sympathy.

  “Not like you could've died anyway...” Schiffer muttered with his arms crossed.

  “I'm afraid you once again misunderstand the very distinct differences between immortality and invulnerability, my friend."

  “Whatever, so this Aldriss, he's pretty strong then? You really think he would've given you that much trouble?”

  “Oh there is no doubt in my mind it would have been quite a struggle. He is a Starborn after all. Actually, there were plenty of very strong opponents I might have struggled with under more traditional circumstances. You on the other hand, I believe you could have defeated them all with ease.”

  “See, you should've just let me enter and win. If I would've killed him so easily, then everyone there would've lost their minds knowing their strongest guy didn't stand a chance, so how would anyone else?”

  “And that is exactly why you weren't chosen,” Yuliana interrupted with a scolding sigh.

  “What was that?” Schiffer turned to Yuliana.

  “What I exactly said,” Yuliana spoke to Schiffer as though she were teaching a child a rudimentary lesson. “If you killed Aldriss, or anyone else for that matter in the way that you so often gruesomely do, that would have raised more than a few concerns and suspicions. The point was not to announce our presence, but to get close to the King. We don't need any troublesome eyes on us."

  “Fine, but that doesn't change the fact I would've killed him, if I had the chance."

  “Oh I'm so sure. Your might and strength are so unmatched and feared Schiffer. Without a doubt, you would have torn through a handful of feeble foes. Is that what your fragile little ego wishes to hear?”

  “All I'm gonna say is that it's about time you admitted how strong I am...”

  Yuliana was tempted to cast another spell on Schiffer—annoyed at the rare bit of restraint he showed. Usually, he would have just lashed out at her
for that.

  “It's as Yuli says,” Boroku cut in once again, so as to not let Schiffer and Yuli's emotions boil back up. “The plan was to get close to Dreymond. Yes, you could have killed him first, but then we wouldn't have been able to get inside Faella to take down the barrier. We needed to take all of the appropriate steps.”

  “So you eventually killed him yourself? How was it, did he squirm? Did he beg for mercy?” Schiffer asked with craving eyes, as though he were picturing the very moment he was nearly salivating over.

  “It wasn't quite the spectacle you might imagine it to be,” Boroku dampened Schiffer's twisted imaginings. “However, that doesn't mean it wasn't satisfying to finally see his reign come to an end.” Boroku let out a peek of a smirk from beneath his usual calm serene demeanor.

  “Look at you, showing a little bit of excitement for once,” Schiffer seemed to enjoy seeing a bit of that side in Boroku he knew was always there.

  “Perhaps you are beginning to rub off on me, if only little, Schiffer,” Boroku joked.

  “Please, don't even joke about that...” Yuliana reviled at the thought.

  “Now, I hope you are satisfied with that, Schiffer?”

  Schiffer shrugged and rolled his eyes—seemingly satisfied enough, or at least new that Boroku wasn't keeping anything else from him that he might enjoy.

  “Good, then let's discuss the next matter at hand, the Summit.”

  “I'm sure that must have been pleasant,” Yuliana remarked with a dry sneer.

  “It was actually more amusing than anticipated, thankfully. The Dracus oh so desperate to free their people, only for their allies to rebuke Eszu's pleas. And it would seem that Tirli is getting closer, and closer to the Divines."

  “Bet it was pretty satisfying unveiling that shithole Faella to the world,” Schiffer snickered.

  “Indeed it was,” Boroku obliged. “But I would be remiss in all this if I didn't congratulate you a little first, Schiffer.”

  Yuliana loosened her head, rolling around in exasperation.

  “Oh yeah?” Schiffer kicked his legs back down.