by Brandon Chen
It was true that there was a town ahead, and as Alkaios slowly approached the small village he was met with silence. The rickety buildings were made of aged wood that looked ancient. Every structure creaked and looked ready to collapse at a moment’s notice. The town gave off the ominous impression that no one had lived there for decades. But that wasn’t possible. Alkaios had visited this town only two years before. It had been a lively, simple village with many friendly inhabitants that had greeted him when he had first arrived. Now there was nothing but silence. The only sound he heard was the trotting of his soldiers’ horses.
“Milord, something is amiss,” Alkaios’s general said, galloping beside his lord.
Alkaios said nothing and lowered his reins, swiftly dismounting his mount. Landing heavily on the dirt, he looked down and saw that the ground looked scorched as if a raging fire had just incinerated the earth. It wasn’t any ordinary fire either. The ash-filled ground made it look like the town had been transformed into a burning inferno the night before. But the buildings were still intact; none of this made any sense.
The king left his horse and walked towards the village. The moment that he stepped onto the village soil, he shivered, stopping in his tracks. He stared at the ground, feeling a menacing aura radiating from the village. It was an odd, chilling feeling that made him tremble in fear. The aura was filled with despair, pain, and misery.
“Milord!”
Alkaios snapped back to his senses and glanced upward, turning to see that there was a pile of skeletons in the center of the village. There was no flesh to be seen. The king swallowed the lump in his throat and slowly trudged forward, staring at the pile of bones. “What is this?”
“It looks like they were killed centuries ago. There’s no sign of any creature coming near the village to eat their flesh. If there was, there would be signs of gore and the bones would be scattered, not piled all neatly like this,” Alkaios’s general observed, scratching his chin. “Everything here looks ancient.”
“That’s impossible,” Alkaios said. “We were here only two years ago.”
“This is the work of Ahriman, the Persian god of darkness. The ancient lord has been awakened,” a deep, rumbling voice echoed in the heads of all of the humans in the area. Alkaios’s men dropped their weapons to the ground and clamped their hands over their ears, trying to block out the mysterious man that spoke in their heads. “He can awaken thousands of new diseases that could wipe this entire continent clean of life if he wanted. He withered away everything and everyone in this village to test his ability, thus making it so that everyone in the village aged a thousand years in only a second’s time.”
“Such power is possible…?” Alkaios muttered under his breath. He raised his voice to a yell. “Who are you?”
A vortex of whirling sand churned in front of the pile of skeletons, tossing the bones around in the blistering gust. The whipping wind settled down, the sand blowing away, revealing a glowing man standing before Alkaios. He had a hat crafted from the carcass of a dead white falcon. His eyes glowed as powerfully as the sun itself, and none of the humans could look the man in the eye. He was shirtless, his muscular, tanned, body glistening with sweat. The outline of the stranger’s body was glowing a golden color, making it rather clear that this man was a deity of some sort. “My name is Ra. I am the god that created Dastia,” the man spoke.
Alkaios gulped, unsure if he should be terrified or thankful that this god had presented himself before the King of Luxas and his army. Did he come to curse them? Alkaios didn’t want to take any chances. He quickly knelt before the deity, his head tilted down towards the sand. There was a dissonance of clanking as thousands of men followed their leader’s example, bowing down before the unknown deity. “Why have you come before us, Great Lord Ra?” Alkaios could feel the burning eyes of Ra upon him. Sweat began to form on his brow.
“I come to give you my blessing,” Ra said, turning to gaze upon the massive army that stood outside of the village behind Alkaios. He smiled, impressed with their organization. “You’ve combined the forces of a dozen kingdoms to amass an army worthy of challenging the infamous ocean of warriors that battle under Persia’s banners. Normally, I am not allowed to intervene in your mortal conflicts. But Ahriman’s awakening has changed the rules a bit in my eyes. The Persian god of darkness is in Persepolis, your current destination. One of my daughters is also on her way to that city, where her life will be in danger.
“I don’t expect your army to defeat Ahriman. But I want you to carve a path for a particular god so that he may march forward to challenge Ahriman. I’m sure you know of him. After all, you all worship him.” Ra smiled. “Ares.”
Alkaios licked his lower lip, nodding his head slowly. “He is our god of war.”
Ra snapped his fingers. In an instant, a bright symbol, a transparent, round, golden sun disk appeared above every single horse in the area. The mounts whinnied in unison, but didn’t do much else. The god lowered his hand to his side and cleared his throat. “I’ve blessed all of your mighty steeds with great speed. They’ll move at three times the speed of an ordinary horse and won’t need to rest. My blessing will wear off in one week. I expect that you’ll reach Persepolis by then.”
“M-Milord! Even with such speed we still may not reach—”
“I have also granted all of you safe entrance into the Lost Sands,” Ra said. “As long as you are with your steeds none of the creatures of the forsaken desert will attack you. Feel free to cut through the desert to reach Persia if that makes things faster for you,” he said. “All I ask is that you get there and challenge Persia’s army so that Ares may concentrate on defeating Ahriman. I’m sure that he could use the backup. In addition, might I ask that you keep an eye on my stubborn daughter?”
“W-Who might that be, milord?” Alkaios stammered, glancing up to look at the deity.
Ra grinned, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth that gleamed like starlight. “I believe you’re already acquainted. Her name is Aleysha.”
Infiltration
Tetsu groaned, his eyes cracking open as daylight shined onto his face. Wetting his dried lips, he leaned forward and turned to see that Kira was cuddling closely with him. Her arms were tightly wound around his forearm and she slept soundlessly. Tetsu sighed. That meant that he wouldn’t be able to move without abruptly waking her up.
The man reached over Kira and grabbed her broom, sneakily replacing his forearm with it so that the Magus cuddled with her broom instead. Tetsu slipped away silently, careful not to wake her up. The two of them had spent the night on his carpet while Ramses slept on the cold sand by himself. The Persian didn’t really seem to mind at all and was more than willing to let Tetsu and Kira share the carpet together.
Tetsu narrowed his eyes. Why did everyone insist that he and Kira were together?
For two weeks, the trio had traveled across the Lost Sands towards Persepolis. They avoided a majority of the dangers in the desert because they flew on Tetsu’s magic carpet and Kira’s broom. Overall, they had shot across the wasteland in record time, and made it to the outskirts of the Persian Empire without any trouble at all.
Tetsu clambered over a sand dune that lay stagnant next to where his group had slept. Peering over the peak of the hill of sand, the man finally found himself gazing upon the gigantic metal walls of Persepolis in the distance. Buildings made of clay were scattered along the inside of the city and Tetsu’s eyes locked onto the massive castle that towered upon a hill overlooking the rest of Persepolis. That castle was where his life had been torn apart five years ago. He exhaled any rage that had built up in his chest and smiled slightly. “It’s been five years, huh? Looks like I’m finally back.”
He turned and saw that it hadn’t taken Kira long to find out that she had been curled up with a broom. The mage stirred, yawning as she leaned forward. Her eyes squinted slightly, clearly still half-asleep. “Good morning, Kira.” Tetsu called down to her.
“Eh? You’
re up already, Tetsu?” Kira groaned, collapsing back onto the carpet. “I’m exhausted! Let me sleep more.”
“That would not be wise,” Ramses murmured, leaning forward and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “The morning is the best time to get into the city because the guards won’t bombard us with their questions. They’re tired too.”
“Is that so?” Kira murmured, scratching her head as she rolled over. “Fine, fine. Let’s get to saving Ramses’ family then.”
It took two hours for the trio to pack up their belongings and hike across the remainder of the desert to the entrance of Persepolis. The towering walls of the city were much higher than Tetsu had expected, making him feel like an insignificant ant in comparison. Behind Tetsu, the sun shined its light on his back from the east and he was thankful that he didn’t have to walk those two hours in the searing heat.
The group reached the front entrance of Persepolis, a giant, thick, metal gate that looked strong enough to withstand anything. A Persian soldier peeked his head over the top of the wall and yelled down at the three mysterious figures. “State your business in Persia and where you hail from!”
Ramses pulled back his black hood, revealing his face and the soldier winced. “I am Ramses, Magus of King Cambyses. Please allow my companions and me to pass.”
“Who are you bringing with you, Lord Ramses?” the soldier asked.
“Does it matter? They are of importance to the king. I will be bringing them to him directly,” Ramses spat. “Now open this accursed door. I’ve had a long journey and I just want to return home to my family. If you have any complaints, take it up with the king.”
The soldier nodded and yelled something to another man on the other side of the wall. There was a loud whirring sound and then the door creaked open, groaning as it slowly opened the entrance to the lively city.
Tetsu smiled as he walked through the entrance of the city. It was similar to how he remembered it. Luxurious homes were posted on both sides of the entrance for show, to give newcomers the false impression that Persepolis was a rich city filled with only affluent people. But Tetsu knew that poverty existed elsewhere in this city. There would always be imbalance in the social structure of the empire. That was just how things worked. Following Ramses through the paved streets and the armies of civilians that walked about, Tetsu saw that the architecture had hardly changed in his absence.
The buildings were just as he had left them. Even the blacksmithing shop where he had bought his original sword was still present. Seeing his old home again brought nostalgic images flowing back into his mind. His memories were still fresh in his mind, as if they had just occurred yesterday. Memories of him, Yuu, and Darien exploring the city with their escorts. Usually Cambyses accompanied them, but on one special occasion the three of them had slipped away from the guards and spent the day alone, playing hide-and-seek with the Persian escorts. In that time, they had explored a large portion of the city. They saw its greatness but also its hidden horrors. How overseers treated their slaves, how there were many homeless and starving civilians, how the disabled were left to die alone. Some of the images that they saw while freely exploring Persepolis were horrific and scarring.
That was when Yuu had adopted the belief that not following the rules would lead to corruption and disorder. He believed that it was better to live in the city blind than to see the terrifying truth of how some lower-class civilians were treated; it helped him sleep easier.
Tetsu lowered his eyes. Maybe that was true, but he hated the idea of having information hidden from him.
Still following Ramses, Tetsu walked past a group of injured slaves who were on their hands and knees, picking up the shattered pieces of a vase that they had dropped. Meanwhile an overseer was relentlessly whipping them, sending screams of agony echoing through the air. Tetsu halted. One thing hadn’t changed. The people. Civilians continued to stroll past this spectacle as if it were nothing. They were apathetic, not sympathetic at all to the slaves’ situations. Their ideology was that those slaves were of equal worth to animals. Not a single person would stop and help.
Clenching his teeth, Tetsu turned to the slaves. Kira reached out and touched his shoulder, knowing that he was eager to go and stop the overseer from being so abusive. But there was nothing that he could do about the unfair cruelty of slavery at the moment. Nevertheless, the mercenary shrugged the mage off and began to trudge forward towards the slaves.
The overseer who was whipping them frowned at the one pedestrian who was storming towards the dirty, bleeding, lackeys. The slaves looked like they were just loose skin slapped onto a skeleton. Their tanned skin told of their hard work in the baking sun, and their bony features showed how little they were fed. Their chapped lips and dazed look proved how dehydrated they were, while their bloodshot eyes expressed their exhaustion and lack of sleep. Their bodies looked like canvases that had been painted with swift strokes of slashes from the overseer’s cracking whip. They didn’t even look human. They looked undead.
Tetsu knew what it was like to be one of them, to be in that situation where they just barely clung onto life. He knew that if he were them, he would wish that someone would come to his aid.
The overseer lowered his whip, watching Tetsu curiously as the foreigner dropped to a knee. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a few loafs of bread that he had been saving for himself. Handing out the individual slices to each slave, the man smiled at the wounded workers. “You’ve done a good job so far. One day your hard work will be rewarded,” he said, rising to his feet.
“What do you think you’re doing? Those are my slaves that you’re feeding!” the overseer barked angrily.
“Your slaves?” Tetsu raised an eyebrow and turned to look the overseer in the eyes. His eyes flickered to an insignia that the slave-driver wore on his belt. The overseer was topless, wearing nothing except for torn shorts and his leather belt. His pudgy belly, clearly from too much eating, slumped over his belt. He looked like an absolute slacker. The fact that he was the one holding the whip enraged Tetsu. “That insignia there belongs to General Shazir, doesn’t it? That means that these slaves are actually his.”
“And?”
“General Shazir is dead. He was killed at a battle outside of Yuusus, a neutral city very far away,” Tetsu said, pointing to the slaves. “That means that these people are free, no?”
“General Shazir … dead?” The overseer gaped, absolutely stunned at the news. “How could you possibly know?” He frowned suddenly, looking into Tetsu’s eyes. “Do I know you? I feel like I recognize you from somewhere.”
Tetsu gulped, his face paling. How had he not recognized this overseer? It was the same man that Tetsu had gotten into a fight with five years before when he was with Darien and Yuu! This guy was still out here whipping slaves?
“He is dead,” Ramses said, intervening. He walked forward with his hands slid deep into the pockets of his black cloak. He sighed as the overseer quickly dropped to his hands and knees, bowing before the Magus. “I can confirm that your master is now deceased.”
“L-Lord Ramses! I was not aware that this was your companion!” the overseer said shakily. “But if it is true that Master Shazir has perished in war, t-then that would only mean that these slaves would be put on the market again to be sold. T-They would not be free.”
“Alright, I’ll buy them from you then,” Ramses murmured, reaching into his cloak and pulling out a golden coin for each slave. He tossed the currency onto the ground at the overseer’s feet and nodded towards the slaves. “Alright, I suppose the lot of you are coming with me. Leave the fragments on the ground. I’m sure this man would be more than willing to clean up the mess, isn’t that right?” He looked at the overseer, who nodded his head quickly as he scrambled to pluck up the golden coins out of the dirt.
The slaves all looked at each other, perplexed at how quickly their situation had changed. A flash of hope flickered in all of their eyes and their previous distraught looks
were wiped from their faces. They stumbled to their feet and limped towards Ramses and Tetsu, bowing their heads and muttering words of thanks.
Ramses simply turned away and continued to walk through the streets, assuming that the slaves would follow them to wherever they were going. He exhaled. “Tch, I thought that was going to get bad. You need to control yourself or you’ll end up drawing unnecessary attention.”
“Control myself? These slaves were being abused and no one was going to do anything about it unless I stepped in. That overseer could’ve had these people beaten to death!” Tetsu protested.
“That’s my Tetsu for you! Always helping people!” Kira clung to Tetsu’s arm affectionately.
“Huh….” Tetsu narrowed his eyes and sighed at Kira. He looked at Ramses’ back. “Thanks for helping, though. It’s true; things might’ve gotten chaotic if you weren’t there to shut that brute up.”
Ramses shrugged. “It’s fine. You’re one of those types of people who just can’t stand it when something unjust is happening, huh? You’re different from your friend, Ares.”
Tetsu frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“The banished prince stayed hidden within the Lost Sands while his empire transformed to become a superpower. The lower-class citizens in Persia now bear a much larger burden than before and suffer tremendously, buried so deep in debt that their conditions will never be improved. Some even end up in slavery. Meanwhile, the Persian army went on to conquer dozens of nations to the west, slaughtering thousands of people and pillaging hundreds of villages. And then there’s the Hayashi clan genocide.” The hairs on Tetsu’s arms stood up and his body stiffened. “Innocent people that were born into that clan were judged for a crime that was out of their control, their birth. Something so unjust would make many vigilantes leap for the opportunity to make a change. With Ares’ power, surely he is the best one suited to bring about that change. Yet he did nothing.”
