Rise of the Retics

by T J Lantz

  “Fayte!” Gnemo screamed at the top of his lungs. “Gargoyles, coming fast! From the water!”

  Tyranna watched as the faerie leapt from her position in the crows-nest and flew toward them, her bow nocked and at the ready.

  The first gargoyle broke through the surface of the water, her pursuit slowed, but not broken. The look on her face showed that she was clearly not happy with the underwater chase.

  An arrow though her eye sent the body of the gargoyle sprawling down into the depths of the cold, unforgiving ocean.

  Seeing her sister die right in front of her, the second gargoyle switched targets and lurched toward Fayte. It let out a horrid sound, a cross between a screech and a hiss. It pierced through Tyranna and sent a shiver down her spine. Fayte knocked another arrow and aimed it at the charging creature.

  That was the last thing Tyranna saw before crossing behind the Rover’s huge white sails. Within seconds, the three of them were soaring into the clouds, safe and on the way to Rosehaven

  Chapter 12

  A New Home

  Tyranna

  Rosehaven

  October 27, 1503

  Tyranna had never known that such exhilaration had even existed. She had spent the past three hours flying several hundred feet above the calm ocean waters, at speeds that most birds would give their right talon to be able to achieve. The smell of the ocean, the feel of the wind sweeping through her long blond hair, and the strange secureness that came from being atop such a well-muscled animal combined together to offer Tyranna a fantastic ride.

  Once they had reached safety, her only problem was that the wind made it far too loud too converse with Gnemo as he steered the reins. She tried several times to ask a question, only to enter into a fierce back and forth of what-did-you-says and I-didn’t- catch-that-ones.

  She wouldn’t have minded the difficult communication much, but during one banter she was pretty sure she accidentally swallowed a very large bug, so she stopped trying after that.

  Well, actually, it would be a lie to say that the wind was her only problem. She also desperately needed to pee. She tried to ask Gnemo if they could find somewhere to land, but his response was something to the effect of also not liking ham. At that she decided it would just be better to hold it.

  Finally, when she felt like her bladder was just about to burst, they arrived at Rosehaven.

  “There she is,” declared Gnemo, pointing around Melvin’s mane toward the land off in the distance. “That’s Rosehaven, your new home.”

  As he approached the landmass, Melvin slowed, spread his wings as wide as he could, and glided in just over the surface of the ocean. There was a clear view across the water as the afternoon sun sat behind them and rained down pleasant warmth upon their backs.

  The sight of Rosehaven was far more glorious than Tyranna had even imagined. The large island’s majestic cliff face shone a brilliant alabaster as the sun bounced off it. It made the entire place appear like a huge puffed out cloud sitting in the middle of the ocean. The cliffs stood several hundred feet above sea level, rising up from a long white sandy beach, the only part of the island that Tyranna could see being accessible by boat. Large wooden docks, much like those she had seen at Gluesk, jutted into the calm blue waters. There were a few small ships at the docks, with creatures scurrying about them.

  As she more carefully studied the cliffs, she noticed that a long winding pathway had been carved right into the white rock face. From where she stood, it looked quite steep and dangerous to travel.

  “Why do they make it so difficult to get up there?” Tyranna asked.

  “Defense mostly. The Coalition has never found us here, but we can’t be too careful.”

  “Where will I live while I am here?” Tyranna asked as they soared over the long wooden dock floating beneath them.

  “We’ll be going to the Alabaster Tower, home of the Lord Protector. It’s about two miles from here, not very far. There you will get to meet the ruler of Rosehaven, Lord Laszlo. Hopefully, he’s already worked out a foster family for you. They usually try to match children with someone with similar bloodlines to make the transition as easy as possible and attempt to preserve the cultures. I’m not sure exactly what they’ll do with you. Shifters are very rare magic, indeed. Only come from a combination of human and elf blood, which as I’m sure you could tell earlier from Stella isn’t held in the highest regard here. To be quite honest with you, I just can’t see the elf community taking you in.”

  “Oh,” answered Tyranna.

  “How much did Branchy tell you about Rosehaven, before he…?” Gnemo drifted off, not able to finish the sentence.

  “Not much.”

  “It’s not a simple story, Tyranna, but it’s one you’ll need to know to understand life here. You see, when the humans decided they no longer wanted to share the world with us, the war came fast. Our history books say it took less than two hundred years for the humans to reduce the retic population from over twenty million, to somewhere under twenty thousand. They struck quickly, burning out forest villages, collapsing cave dwellings, even hunting us at sea. Entire species were eradicated. Whole cultures were eliminated from history. If it wasn’t for Lord Laszlo unifying the retics, organizing a resistance, and founding Rosehaven, there might not be any of us left at all.”

  “The same Lord Laszlo who’s in charge now?”

  “The very same. He’s a bit on the elderly side. Well over a thousand, if the stories are true. He’s been here in Rosehaven for the last six hundred years, ever since it was first settled.”

  “Seven or eight hundred years old?! What species is he that he lives so long?”

  “No one really knows exactly. He’s a powerful sorcerer, and magic like that is generally only found in creatures with one retic parent and one human parent. A few of the races have some magical abilities, but usually very limited.”

  Tyranna sighed. There was so much she didn’t know.

  “Why have I never heard of any of this before, Gnemo? How is it that the human history doesn’t talk about this war or the retics or any of this?”

  “During the time of the Great War, which humans call the dark ages, all knowledge of retics was destroyed. Many humans, as I’m sure you have heard before, believed that they were created in the image of their god. Therefore, our very existence was an affront to that notion. We were very different from them, and if it’s one thing humans hate, it’s things that are different. They can’t even go a decade without killing each other over having a different skin color or worshipping the same god, but calling him by a different name!” Gnemo paused for a second to collect his thoughts before he continued.

  “In addition, we had many lands and valuables coveted by the human governments and religious organizations. They wanted them, and they were going to have them no matter what suffering they had to bring to us. Our communities were destroyed and we were rewritten into your history books as nothing more than legends and myths—monsters to scare little children into good behavior and proper living.”

  Tyranna couldn’t believe everything she was hearing. She knew there were many wicked men in the world, but she never realized how much power they wielded.

  That story, Tyranna, leads us to the one sacred law of Rosehaven. No matter what, no citizen of Rosehaven is ever to give information of our existence to anyone. The humans’ belief that we are legends is fine with us. It lets us live our lives in relative peace and obscurity, provided we stay hidden here on Rosehaven. That law allows us to be free and happy.

  “How do they keep it secret from everyone?”

  “To get it over on the common folk, they simply call it the Great Inquisition. They tell their people they are looking for heretics and non-believers, and I guess in a way they are.”

  “Are you talking about the Spanish Inquisition?” Tyranna asked excitedly. She had learned a bit about this back at Lipkos.

  “Yes, exactly! With all your knowledge, I may have mistaken you for a gno
me. We don’t know exactly why, but the past year, the Coalition has found and killed more retics than in the hundred years prior, all under this inquisition.”

  It was hard for Tyranna to believe all that was happening in the world and she had no knowledge of any of it. She had always felt so smart and well-educated, but today she was nothing more than an ignorant little child learning basic skills all over again. Armies went to war and entire species went extinct while she played games and learned to read books. “How many of those books are lies? How many hid the truth from the entire world?” Her thoughts filled her with emotion—anger at her ignorance of the world around her, sadness for the people whose lives have been destroyed by the wicked, resentment at the very church she had trusted and loved, but who waged secret wars for power. Tyranna clenched her fists tight and gently bit her bottom lip, trying desperately to push her emotion away. This was the first day of her new life. It was a day for happiness, celebration, and new adventures. It wasn’t a day to be wasted by feeling angry and vengeful.

  After a few minutes of flying silently past golden fields filled with wheat and corn, Tyranna had calmed herself sufficiently. The warm sun beat down on her skin, reminding her how far she had traveled. Just a few hours ago it was autumn and the weather turned cold, yet here it seemed more like a pleasant early summer day. Above the fields small birds circled, each a mixture of vibrant, bold colors, like a group of tiny rainbows darting across the sky.

  “Well, there’s the city wall up ahead,” Gnemo remarked as Melvin set down upon the dirt road. “Melvin, head back to the Rover.”

  Melvin let out a loud, powerful neigh, showing he understood the command.

  “Gnemo,” Tyranna said cautiously. “How do you even know the Wild Rover is alright? Things looked pretty bad when we left.”

  “Ha! Brownstache may be a little full of himself, but it’s not without good reason. He’s been in and out of far worse jams than that. I’m sure Melvin will find him without a problem. After all, that’s what Melvin’s been trained to do his whole life. He’s as much a part of that crew as anyone else.”

  Gnemo’s explanation came as a relief to Tyranna. She’d already been the cause of several deaths this week that she knew of, she really didn’t want any more on her conscience.

  As they walked across the dusty dirt road that split the fields, they stopped speaking—each too excited about what lay ahead to be able to express themselves to the other. Tyranna didn’t know it yet, but this was also the first time Gnemo had been home in almost four years.

  Soon, from seemingly out of nowhere, the tall brown grass subsided, replaced with the mighty fortress walls of Rosehaven’s inner city. The walls extended to either side of the road by at least half a mile, made with thick dark stones stacked and formed thirty feet high. Every fifty yards a matching stone turret jutted atop the wall another twenty feet, offering clear views of the island’s countryside for miles. Surrounding the city walls was a large dark blue moat, easily twenty feet thick and extending to the base of the wall. The front gate was wide open with a long wooden bridge stretched out across the moat, offering a grand welcome to her new home.

  Just inside the drawbridge, two guards stood vigil in front of a stone archway. Both were giant sized men, each easily reaching twelve feet tall. Tyranna figured they must have each weighed at least a thousand pounds, as the immense girth of their bodies left little room to pass in between them. Each wore dark brown leather pants and nothing else, showing off their round hairy bellies and massive calloused feet, stained brown with caked with dirt. Despite the immense hair on their bodies, both were clean shaven from the neck up, their massive bald heads bright pink from standing in the sun all day. In their hands they carried a long steel halberd, towering several feet above their heads and coming close to the height of the walls around them.

  “Beefeaters they are,” remarked Gnemo in a voice as small as his stature. He was careful not to let the guards hear him talking about them.

  “What?” replied Tyranna, not understanding what Gnemo was referring to.

  “They are actually a race of giants, but beefeaters is what we call them because that’s all those two will eat. They won’t touch fish or chicken, and they are completely convinced that vegetables will kill them. I don’t even want to get into their opinion on fruit—it’s barbaric. All they eat is beef . . . and a lot of it. Our stock was very low here a few years back, and we had to go and pick up twenty-five cattle to try to start it back up a bit. Let me tell you, they were the worst cargo we have ever had. Smelled like a cyclops before bath day.

  As they entered the open draw bridge, just a few yards away from the towering carnivores, both gargantuan men took a slight step toward each other, completely closing the gap into the city. Their massive girth blocked even the slightest view inside.

  “Who go there?” asked the one on Tyranna’s right as he motioned with his hand for her to stop.

  “Good morning, Jin. It is Gnemo Gnogglebottom, from the Wild Rover. We arrived a little while ago. I bring with me Tyranna Wolfskin, formerly of Lipkos Monastery, to her new home here. The Lord Protector awaits our arrival.” Gnemo’s words were calm and confident, though they did little to make Tyranna feel less tiny standing in front of the guards.

  “I see if you on list, little gnome creature,” replied Jin. He turned to his partner, thought about what he wanted to say for a moment and then told him, “You check list. See if girl name on list. I wait here and watch tiny people.” Grunting an agreement his partner turned and walked into a stone building a few feet behind him. The building was barely big enough to let the beefeater in, and he had to duck as he entered. He returned a few seconds later with a small piece of white parchment. He was using two fat fingers to hold the tiny note up to his eye.

  The enormous guard took several minutes to look at the list, carefully mouthing each name slowly as he read it in his head. Finally, he handed the list to the first guard and declared with all certainty. “Her name confusing. You look now.”

  “Tonix say, I look now.” Jin relayed the statement down to Tyranna and Gnemo, quite unnecessarily.

  “What you say girl name is?” Jin asked, having already forgot.

  “Tyranna Wolfskin,” replied both Gnemo and Tyranna in unison, both their patience beginning to fade.

  Jin studied the list very carefully for what seemed to Tyranna to be an eternity. He looked at it close up to his face and then pushed it further away. He turned it sideways, upside down and backward, but still could not find her name.

  “I no see her on the list. You look and tell me if you see name.” Jin took to one knee and handed the paper to Gnemo.

  Tyranna glanced over his shoulder and saw that it only had one name on the entire thing and it was hers “Oh, there it is! That one is me.” She pointed to the only name on the list.

  “Oh. You right. It was hard to see. You can go in now.” Jin and Tonix each moved to the side, finally allowing the two weary travelers access into the city. Gnemo tipped his tall blue-green hat to them as he passed.

  As the two guards separated, a whole new world appeared in front of Tyranna’s eyes. Everywhere she looked creatures of all shapes, sizes and colors hustled through. There were numerous gray stone shops lined up on either side of the cobbled pathway, with hundreds of customers happily haggling prices and bartering for the goods they needed. Never once in her life had Tyranna seen so many creatures at one time, not even back at the harbor. Her heart raced with excitement as she darted her eyes from one side of the path to the other, trying to take everything in at one time.

  “Ah, quiet this afternoon,” remarked Gnemo as he sniffed the air. “And it smells like old Flak is roasting pig today. We’re lucky; it’s one of his specialties. We should definitely have lunch right after we see Lord Laszlo.

  The wafting smell of roasting meat and freshly baking breads sent a pang of hunger through her stomach. All she’d had since yesterday was a few nuts and berries, plus the snack that
had been left for her in Gnemo’s room. She nodded her agreement to Gnemo’s suggestion of lunch..

  “If you’re alright with it, after that we can visit my family. I have a cousin just about your age who I think you’ll love. She’s a bit of a unique young lady, but she’s very sweet.”

  Tyranna had never had a girl for a friend before. Or for that matter been friends with anyone her own age. She was delighted by the suggestion.

  “Allow me to be your guide, Tyranna,” said Gnemo in a loud and proud voice as they continued their trek down the busy cobbled path. “The large open building on your left is the blacksmith. The Greybeards run that place, a very large dwarf family. It’s very easy to tell a Greybeard kin because each one of them looks like a tornado full of soot just hit them. Rumor has it that when they’re clean most of them actually have red hair, but that’s never been proven since no one alive has ever seen one clean. The older dwarf in there hammering is Angus Greybeard. He’s the master smith and the patriarch of the family. If you ever need metal working done, doesn’t matter what kind—steel, gold, silver—he can do it all. He keeps the Rover busy with supply requests, that’s for sure.”

  Tyranna peered inside the smith and saw that Gnemo wasn’t exaggerating. Angus was an older dwarf, barking orders to his younger apprentices like they were his servants. He was the perfect image of filth, sweating buckets from the intense heat of the forge. His hair, face, and body were covered with soot, ash, and smoke. His long beard was so disheveled it look like each individual hair picked a direction and tried to escape from his face but just couldn’t get far enough away to make it to freedom. Tyranna saw that Gnemo had waved a hello, but Angus was too engrossed in his work to notice the little Gnome’s gesture.