by Pirateaba
“Probably. But that doesn’t mean I’ll go. It’s okay, Durene.”
“No! Stop being so nice!”
“Durene, calm down. I’m not upset.”
“I know! But—it’s not nothing! Stop being so nice to me! What I am—I’m not Human! I’m not normal! Don’t pretend you don’t care!”
“I care. But I know you.”
“No you don’t. You can’t see—you’d never trust me if you could see.”
“That’s what the villagers have told you. But they’re wrong. They look at you and see a monster but they are wrong. They. Are. Wrong. Do you understand that, Durene?”
“…I can’t. No.”
“Durene? Where are you going? Durene? Durene!”
I’m on my feet as the door slams open. The cold winds of winter rush in, and I hear massive footsteps thumping away. I run after her, shouting.
“Durene!”
Only after I’m outside does it occur to me that maybe I should have given Durene more space. She’s right; I was treating this like nothing. I should have shown more of the surprise swirling inside of me.
But I didn’t want to hurt her feelings and I still meant what I said. How could a girl that nice and caring be a monster?
And now I’m running through the snow, without my cane. I slow the instant I realize that.
Oh shit. The snow is deep around me, I can’t see, and there is nothing like a path that I can follow.
I’m lost.
For a few seconds I just turn, trying to look for my tracks in the snow. But I can’t find them. I shout for Durene, but she’s not coming back. I’m by myself, and I can already feel the cold piercing my clothing.
This is probably a blind person’s worst fear. Without any tools I can barely find my way around, and without people or landmarks in this freezing weather—I’m so dead.
I start walking forwards, trying to feel for anything that reminds me of Durene’s cottage. I don’t have a choice. Either I could stay and hope Durene comes back—and she could be gone for hours—or I try to return to the cottage.
I only ran a little bit outside. But that distance could be miles as far as I’m concerned. This damn snow! It’s falling from the skies and making everything unfamiliar. Even my tracks—I try to kick up as much snow so I can find my way back.
Okay. Let’s go…ten steps this way. No? I feel nothing familiar, so I try to retrace my steps. I find my tracks and get back to roughly where I thought I was before. Now this way. No?
…Where did my tracks go? I spin around, confused. The snow—it’s too thick! I bend down, but my hands feel only the same level of snow around me. It’s as if I never started walking in the first place.
Oh no. I’m starting to panic. I stumble forwards, feeling my way ahead.
Gah! Damn it, I just ran into a tree. That’s bad. I’m in the forest. I try to turn back, but I’m not 100% sure I’m not going further into the forest.
Another tree. And now I’m trying to listen for anything that can help me find my way to Durene’s cottage.
I might die out here. I take a deep breath.
“Durene! I’m lost out here! Can yo—”
I trip. My world shifts and I hit the ground hard. Something just caught my foot! Not a tree root—
I scramble back towards whatever it was in the snow. I’m praying that I tripped over one of Durene’s plants and I’m in her garden.
It’s not a plant. It’s not anything like a plant. Instead, as my aching foot could attest, the object is heavy and partially buried in the ground. I feel at it.
Not a rock…the outside is rough and coarse. A bag? Yes! I can feel the opening here, and two drawstrings. Curious now, despite the cold, I undo the strings.
Is this some kind of bag of fertilizer? But no, why would that…
Hold on. My fingers encounter something hard in the bag and jerk away. I touch again. Something clinks as I shift it.
Round, hard, circular objects. Lots of them. I feel them, lifting one up and dropping it.
“What the hell…?”
Clink. Clink.
There’s only one thing that makes that kind of beguiling, attractive sound. And the weight of it! I pull at the bag, but I can’t even get it to shift in the frozen ground.
Is this what I think it is? Really?
“Laken! LAKEN!”
I hear someone shouting my name in the distance. Immediately I stand up and bellow back.
“Durene? Over here!”
Immediately, I hear crashing through the woods. Branches splinter off Durene as she crashes towards my location, showering me with snow. I splutter and then feel two arms around me.
“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize you were out here!”
“It’s okay! Durene! You’re squishing me!”
Immediately she lets go. I gasp for air—I’d heard of a bear hug, but this is the first time I actually felt someone literally squashing me.
“Sorry!”
“It’s okay. I’m really glad you found me. Durene, I’m sorry.”
“No, I—”
I grasp her arm. She falls silent, and I do too. For a few seconds, I just listen to my heart beating, and hear snow softly falling in the background. Durene’s skin is rough under my palms. Rough, but not unpleasant.
“This is the first time I’ve really touched you, you know.”
“Really?”
“Really. You’ve helped me along, but I normally grab your clothes.”
And she never let me touch her before that. I feel Durene gulp as I hold her.
“Oh.”
We stand like that in silence for a little while. Then I feel the chill seeping into my bones.
“I guess we should go back.”
“Right! Let me carry you.”
Durene wants to lift me up, but I shake my head.
“I found something in the ground. Can you pull it up?”
“In the ground? Where?”
It takes me a few seconds to find it. Durene covered it when she ran over. But when I show Durene she lifts it up. It sounds like she’s uprooting a huge amount of soil and I cover my face as some of it flies at me.
“What’s this bag? I’ve never. Oh.”
Her voice goes silent all of a sudden. I feel around, and then find the bag in her hands. I reach into the open top and pick out two of the heavy little circular things within.
“Hey Durene. Would you mind telling me what you see? I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but…”
I tap the round object against the second one and hear that delightful chime of metal on metal. Each coin is heavy, and as I weigh them in my hand I notice the rough, smooth stones in the sack as well. Well, well, well.
“I could be wrong, but I hope I’m not. Because unless I’m very much mistaken, this is a gold coin. And this would be buried treasure.”
I’m remarkably calm about that bit. That is, until we get back to the cottage and start counting.
“It’s all gold!”
Durene exclaims as I place another coin on the careful stack of five on the table. I have to move carefully so as not to knock over my stacks, but with Durene’s help we’ve tallied the contents of the mysterious sack at last.
“One hundred and forty one gold coins and eight gemstones.”
I sit back in my chair and reach for the mug of tea. Durene pushes it into my hands and I savor the warmth. I still feel a bit cold after my little exploration outside.
“It’s a fortune. A huge fortune! Where did it come from?”
“I have my suspicions.”
I can sense Durene’s curiosity. I smile. The treasure I found managed to calm Durene down. She forgot about her woes to bask in the radiance of gold. Myself, I can’t see the appeal. It’s just heavy metal to me, but I’m told it’s quite valuable.
And in this case, it’s literally more money than Durene has ever seen in her life. By her estimates, I could literally buy Riverfarm six times over. At least.
She has no idea where the money came from, and I tend to doubt that someone would just leave a fortune in the ground like that. But there might be another explanation for my good fortunes.
“[King’s Bounty]. It has to be my Skill.”
It tickles my sense of humor a bit that I got a skill probably meant for [Kings]. I didn’t really have time to even wonder what it meant, but this is a pretty good sign of what the Skill does.
“You mean you got money because of a Skill?”
“Perhaps. It might be that I can’t be poor if I have [King’s Bounty] as a Skill. You know, like how a [King] should never be poor? Haven’t you heard of something like that happening before?”
“No. Never! But—I have heard of [Treasure Hunters] that can find buried treasure. But why would an [Emperor] have that skill?”
“Perhaps because any ruler should have money? Doesn’t it make sense that the Skill would be doing this?”
“Yes, but Skills aren’t normally this powerful! Not at early levels!”
“Right. You mentioned that. Normally people received weaker skills the lower level they are. Only when they’re above Level 30 do the skills become powerful, right? But maybe this is a crummy skill for an [Emperor] by comparison.”
“I can’t believe it. I can’t.”
“It’s certainly useful, although I wonder how we’ll spend it. There’s not exactly a lot of shops around here.”
“We?”
“I told you Durene, I’m staying with you. And you helped me dig this thing up. Without you, I would have frozen out there in a few more minutes.”
“But—”
“Durene.”
I reach out and touch her. This time I get one of her sides. She freezes, but I trace my hands upwards. I find her face, and feel her trembling.
“Durene. I’m going nowhere. And I don’t care if you’re half-Troll or half-Goblin or half-Frog. You are who you are, and I like you for that. You can run, and I might not be able to follow you in the snow, but when you come back, I’ll be waiting. So why not just stay?”
I feel silly, and I’m sure what I said didn’t make too much sense. But Durene trembles, and I feel wetness at my fingers.
“I don’t know what to do. I want you to stay, Laken. I do. But what if—what will the others say?”
“What they say is their business. Not yours. I’m asking you if I can stay here, Durene.”
“Yes. Please.”
“Then that’s settled, then.”
“But you and I. I don’t know what I should—I must be so strange to you.”
“Only a bit. But that’s because I don’t know you just yet. I know a lot but…Durene. Will you let me touch you? I can’t see, but I want to get to know you.”
“You—what if you hate me?”
“I never would.”
“Then—can I touch you?”
“Of course.”
A rough hand, a finger gently brushes against my face. It feels as light as a feather. I feel at Durene’s face, tracing the contours of her features, trying to understand her in my own way. She touches me, gently, as if she’s never touched another living thing before.
Slowly, I work my way down from her face. Durene shivers, but her touch is just as light. I am curious, and so is she. There’s no words, but I think we understand each other completely in that moment.
No more secrets. No more hidden truths and untrue and unkind words. Just a light touch; an intimate question whispered from one person to another.
And there’s more touching, but I won’t talk too much about that. The snow falls heavily, as inside, Durene and I explore one another. We are who we are. No more.
No less.
Day 24
I feel like I shouldn’t share much of this day either. Let’s just say that today the pile of gold and jewels went nearly completely untouched, until we accidentally knocked the table over. Turns out gold coins hurt when they’re dropped on your body.
Day 25
Mm. More of the same, really. But we talked about the future. We talked, and I made her laugh. As we did before. As I hope to do.
Day 27
A bunch of kids called out for Durene as she and I were having breakfast. They needed help; a roof had collapsed in the village under the weight of the snow and the villagers needed Durene to lift a beam.
I told her not to go. Durene wanted to help. In the end, I waited for her to return. When she did, she was upset.
Tears, hot and wet, fall on my fingertips. Durene’s skin feels a bit like cracked stone as I brush against her cheek. Swords or arrows would have a hard time piercing her skin.
But words? Words cut deepest of all.
“I don’t know what to do. I’m not a monster! But they just think I’m like my father. I don’t know what to do. Laken…”
Neither do I. But I can’t bear to see her crying.
“I can’t do anything. Just lift things. Like an animal. That’s all I do. I can’t build or cook. I can barely grow things—”
“Shh.”
It takes her a long time to get to sleep, but eventually it happens. I sit up, anger and sadness fighting like snakes in my belly. What can I do? What could—
What could I do for her?
And then I have it.
Day 28
“Is it like a [Knight]?”
“Almost. But better. After all, any ordinary monarch can make a [Knight]. But only an [Emperor] can give someone this class.”
Durene shifts next to me. I hold her hand, and feel her quiver.
“I’m not sure I’m a warrior.”
“Are you a [Farmer]?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Then try this. They weren’t always warriors. Culture just interpreted them that way after a while. Before that they were just servants. Great warriors, true, but they served Charlemagne in more ways than just in combat. I think.”
I haven’t actually spent that much time studying the etymology of that class, even though I once played as one in a D&D session. Oh well.
“If you want to be one, I’ll make you one.”
“Just like that? It sounds too easy.”
“It’s not. I’m the only [Emperor] on this continent; only I can choose who is worthy of this class. And of all the people in the world, there’s no one I’d want to be with me than you, Durene.”
“I—please. I don’t want to just be a [Farmer].”
“Then, kneel.”
I feel her bend down in front of me. I reach out and place my hands on her shoulders.
“I knight you, Durene. I name you as my [Paladin], my foremost champion who will protect and serve me. Will you do this?”
“Yes.”
She whispers it, then says it louder.
“Yes!”
Something changes. Just a bit. I bend down to Durene and give her a kiss. On the forehead, then elsewhere.
“Is that part of being a [Paladin] too?”
I have to laugh.
“It would be a surprise if it was.”
She rises, and I feel something different about her. It’s subtle. But it comes to me as I’m sleeping. Perhaps it’s not confidence; not yet. There’s no marked change in her, no sudden shift. But there is one thing she has now that she never had. And it’s growing slowly, like one of her seeds.
A purpose.
Day 29
“I’m…I’m a [Paladin].”
So Durene says as I wake up. I smile, and hug her, and then she laughs and shouts it.
“I’m a [Paladin!]”
Day 30
A lot can happen in a month. In the weather’s case, the atmosphere changed from a nice, pleasantly warm fall to a blizzard-filled winter almost overnight.
Even now, it seems like the snow won’t stop falling. Twice Durene’s gone out to clear a path. She does it quickly and efficiently—even the deepest snow tends to go flying if she exerts herself.
A lot can change in a month for people as well. A young wom
an who would run from children and names has turned into someone else. Someone confident enough to chase away the obnoxious little monsters who tell her she has to help out a village full of idiots and bigots. She walks and speaks with something else in her now.
And I, I changed quite a lot as well. For one thing, the young man named Laken Godfray suddenly became an [Emperor] and found someone to love. That has to be worth something.
In a small cottage a few miles outside of the village of Riverfarm, I sit. I am the Emperor of the Unseen, Protector of Durene’s House. I have one subject—or should that be consort? She is a half-Troll, a young woman named Durene.
And she is beautiful. She was a [Farmer]; now she is a [Paladin]. And what that means neither of us know. I have a bag of gold, and a village full of fools that can’t accept Durene for who she is.
I have no sight, but I have a dream. A grand one, where Durene and I leave this place that she could never call home. Or maybe we change it. But either way I know we will do it. I am an [Emperor], and for her, I would change the world.
And so we shall.
Together.
3.02 H
Ceria Springwalker stared down at her skeletal hand and for a brief moment, wondered what would happen if she cast [Ice Spike] at point blank range at her face. She’d probably die instantly; in the worst case scenario the shard would lodge in her flesh and brain but fail to kill her.
It was just an idle thought, but she was half-contemplating it. Even horrible mutilation would be preferable to the current situation.
She looked up at the other two members of the Horn of Hammerad sitting around the small fire they’d built. The hazy smoke drifted up, a beacon to any monsters looking for a hot meal. Hopefully none would come; Ceria had tried to camp far enough away from the Ruins of Albez for that, but nasty surprises were always an adventurer’s concern.
Across the fire, Pisces sat on the ground, mumbling quietly to himself as he reviewed his personal spellbook full of notes and spells he was studying. His robes—never too clean at the best of times—were filthy, and he reeked. In fact, he smelled so bad that even Ksmvr, who didn’t really have much of a sense of smell, was sitting far away.
