Hawke stopped talking and stretched a little. Twilight was beginning to fall, but even in the dim light, I could see how pale he had become as he told his story. If he hadn't made it clear that he intended to tell it to its end I would've suggested again that we stop. Instead, I waited until he calmed himself. It didn't take long.
“The first few days we spent out there were beyond terrifying. Our only connection to the outside world was a small device that received the occasional news report. All of them told the same thing, though: cities were in ruins, entire countries were being swallowed into the sea, and the death toll was in the millions and growing every day. We wouldn't have believed it if we hadn't experienced firsthand the terrible storms that rocked our little boat so much we feared we would be dead before long too. It felt like it really was the end of the world.
“Our supplies only lasted a couple weeks or so, and we knew we wouldn't last if we didn't brave the shore to scavenge for more. So one night we crept in as silently as we could to the nearest land. The sight that awaited us made us wish we hadn't.
“I'll spare you the worst details, but I can safely say that the reports we had heard did no justice to the carnage we saw. The destruction was so great that it was a miracle we had been able to find anything in that mess. I think the only reason there were still supplies to be found was because there were no survivors.”
I shuddered at the thought of a whole town reduced to the same state that the bandit camp we found in the Madness had been left in. Hawke seemed to take my shiver as a sign of cold and took a short break from his story to start a fire in a nearby pit I hadn't noticed until the flames began to flicker to life. The heat that rolled over me did make me feel a little better, and once Hawke had warmed himself to satisfaction, he spoke again, his eyes still transfixed on the fire.
“We spent a couple days scrounging up everything useful we could find. Unfortunately, we had to leave most of it behind when we caught sight of our first grinel. You've seen one yourself, how similar they are to people yet unfamiliar enough to make your skin crawl.
“We bolted for the boat as soon as we grabbed up all the supplies we could carry, but we almost didn't make it back unscathed. The only thing that saved us was the grinel's inability to swim. We vowed then that we wouldn't set foot on land anytime within that foreseeable future. Thus began our life of piracy.”
He took off his glasses and sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “It may just be a weak excuse, but let me say that I'm not proud of what we did at that time. Everyone was confused, including Uraj and me, and we were all just desperate to survive. Desperate enough to stoop to stealing from other people.”
“I thought you said no one else was…alive, though?” Part of me didn't want to talk about this, but I was finally learning more about Hawke, and I didn't want to stop now.
“We hadn't found any survivors on land, sure,” he said with a nod, “but like I said before, we weren't the only ones who thought to escape to open waters. We came across more than a couple boats that were free sailing, just like us. And just like us, they were also low on supplies and looking for any way to get more, even if it came down to robbing others.
“When that first crazed person jumped onto our boat waving around a kitchen knife and demanding our food, I was sure I was going to die. Fortunately, Uraj's career as a blacksmith had forged his body as strong as anything he had worked on, and he clocked the guy out cold before they could make good on their threats. The attacker became the victim, and we took all he had save the tiniest scraps to hold him over a couple days before dumping the poor fool back on his boat and casting off again.
“We lived this way for months, preying off any boats we came across. Thanks to some fishing supplies we 'acquired,' we were able to live off the ocean itself when food ran low. When water became an issue, though, we had no choice but to head ashore again.
“Eventually, we became bold enough to make regular raids inland, avoiding the ever-growing number of grinel and returning without injury thanks to their dislike of the water. Food and water slowly became less of an issue, so our raids started focusing on finding ways to pass the time when floating out on the blank expanses of sea and ocean we so regularly saw.
“I managed to collect a small library of books of all types. Fiction and historical pieces were great for killing hours, but my favorite by far were survival manuals and instructional booklets. Those gave me goals to work towards, and I would spend untold hours practicing how to tie different knots or proper ways to prepare the fish we caught. With nothing but time on my hands, I got quite good at applying the skills I learned from the booklets.
“Uraj, on the other hand, had taken to constructing a small kiln toward the back of the boat. I had concerns about open fires out on the ocean, where a single mishap could sink us for good, but he insisted that he could keep it under control. He kept true to his word and spent his own time working metals and trying new forging techniques.
“Over time, we started feeling a radical change occurring in us. Then first sign of this came from his unnatural control of the forge fire. Whenever the furnace would look like it was starting to flare dangerously, he would simply hold his hand out and it would calm. When I asked him how he did it, Uraj shrugged and told me he just knew he could.
“I started spending less time reading and more time watching him at work, paying close attention when he pulled this stunt. Over time I began feeling a bizarre sensation coming from Uraj whenever he controlled that forge fire and was determined to see if I could do so as well. It took some weeks of study and experimenting, but to both our astonishments, I was able to do so eventually. That was our first brush with essence and a major turning point for our lives.”
Hawke had trailed off, and I jumped a little as I saw him sweeping his hand in front of the campfire. The flames swayed back and forth, following his every move. As he lowered his hand, the flames died down to a small flicker before he turned back to me.
“We had lost track of time for the most part, but we had lived on the sea for at least a couple years before we finally decided that we couldn't keep that life up forever. We had to find some place where we could dock for a while.
“Uraj and I had been cruising out of sight of land for weeks, but instead of heading back to where we normally raided, we decided we'd take our chances finding some other land. With any luck, there would at least be fewer grinel somewhere far away from where we were.
“That gamble almost cost us our lives, as we drifted for a month over a seemingly endless expanse of water. When water supplies ran out and we were almost driven mad enough to drink sea water, we caught sight of land. It was a miracle that we managed to make landfall and find something safe to drink. The land we had found was this very continent, what we now know as Astra.” He gave the ground a little pat.
“Luck held out for us as we found no sight of the grinel here, but we kept to the shoreline for several months in case they were simply lurking further inland. Once we were able to establish a reliable source of water, we turned our attentions to the strange power Uraj had been exhibiting with his forge.
“It didn't take long for Uraj to discover this power extended to any type of flame, not simply that produced by his furnace. Though he couldn't explain to me how he performed these incredible acts, I was still able to mimic him given enough time and observation of what he did.
“I turned to my archive of books I had accumulated over the years to see if there was any record of such phenomena. The closest I could find were accounts of the inner energy of the human soul, mostly through religious texts from all over the world. We eventually settled on calling it essence, as we found it tied to our state of mind and physical condition – an 'essential' part of living, so to speak.
“We continued to hone this power over time, slowly but surely gaining a better grasp of it while I continued to see if I could find any more information on it. My search ended up ultimately fruitless, but our practice bore results one da
y when we encountered our first grinel in years.
“The creature ripped through the ramshackle cottage we were squatting in near the beach, apparently looking for nothing other than something to destroy. Uraj had tried his hand at forging blades for our protection, but they were no better than steel rods and proved utterly useless against the demon. As it drew towards us, Uraj and I tried our hand at using our newfound power to burn it alive with the flame from our cook fire, but the grinel laughed off the flames just as easily as it did the swords.
“The creature lunged at me and grabbed my arm, ripping it off with its horrible gnashing teeth. I fell back screaming, and in a last desperate effort Uraj lunged forward and tried to smash the creature with his bare fist. Surprisingly, this worked.
“The grinel hit the floor, its face swelling up and a few of its teeth scattering across the floor. In spite of the searing pain I was in, I could clearly see that our attacker wasn't done by any means. The bruising it had taken was subsiding before my eyes, and new teeth were already growing in where there had been only bleeding sockets before. Through this, though, I also noticed the energy that was radiating: the creature was also using essence, albeit differently than what we were used to.
“Uraj started assaulting it again before it could regain its bearings, but his blows were no more effective than our hunks of steel had been before. As it tried to stand and attack again, I could feel Uraj's essence well in his panic and he threw another punch with all his might. This one did the trick, sending the creature reeling. He seemed to understand at the same time I did that our essence was the only thing that injured these creatures. A few more blows infused with the energy were enough to finally subdue it.
“We tied the grinel up with some spare rope from the boat, and none too soon. It awoke angry, snarling at us in their guttural language. Even though Uraj had worked it over thoroughly, there wasn't a single mark to be found anywhere on its body. Somehow it had completely healed in the short time it took us to bind it.”
Sudden thoughts of the grinel Hawke had saved me from in the Madness came to mind. “That sounds a lot like–”
“–Scab Kahlot?” Hawke finished my thought for me. “You're right, this creature we fought and the one who attacked you were one and the same. Watching it heal twice so quickly made something inside me stir, and I had Uraj do something horrific. I had him rip the beast's arm off.”
I closed my eyes reflexively, remembering when Hawke did the very same to the demon just days ago. He laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
“I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have told you about that. But just like what you saw, Scab's arm grew back good as new. As it did, I watched as closely as I could, and as I observed, I could feel my essence radiating through me. The next thing I felt was a terrible itching from the stump that was left of my ravaged arm, and in moments I had regrown the limb just like Scab, good as new.
“Both Uraj and I were equal parts shocked and horrified, but it also taught us something new about these still mysterious powers of ours. We had always assumed that the essence and the powers it bestowed were tied to fire, yet my impossible recovery made it clear that there was a lot more than we initially thought. We buried Scab Kahlot alive, realizing that we couldn't kill it, and started studying this power anew.
“It didn't take long to learn that Uraj could not learn how to heal in the same way, no matter how hard he tried. Not wanting to risk a limb, we stuck to making shallow cuts across our palms, but Uraj's wounds acted no differently even when he concentrated his essence as much as he could. On the other hand, my wounds would close up in seconds, even without any conscious thought.
“The only thing we felt could explain it was that our essence reflected our past lives: Uraj's skill with the heat of the forge gave birth to control over flame itself, while my life of obsessive study had given me the power to learn things just by observing them. Even the powers of others.”
Hawke had told me about this power of his before, but I had yet to see it in action. It explained why, on our journey to find the pieces of his essence, he had so many powers when he had made it clear most people only had one. It immediately made me wonder, though, who had this original power of his?
“The difference in our powers was an interesting discovery, but we were more interested in the fact that we found something that hurt the grinel. It was clear that average weapons were practically useless, which was probably why mankind's armies failed against them. With this essence, however, we could fight back and maybe start doing something about these monsters that destroyed the world.”
“Why couldn't your armies just use essence to defeat the grinel then?” I asked.
“Before the Pilgrimage, when the grinel entered our world, essence was nonexistent,” Hawke shrugged. His eyes narrowed in thought. “Uraj and I always assumed that either the power that opened the portals during the Pilgrimage flowed into us and became our essence or otherwise just awoke a power we always had but weren't able to tap into until then. It's strange to think that the event that brought about the end of our world also gave us a tool to try and fight back.
“And that's what Uraj and I did. We started traveling inland soon after, dedicating every waking moment we could to learning more and more about this power. Our first few encounters with the grinel after Scab were close calls, but between my now indestructible body and the raw blacksmith strength of Uraj, we were able to actually destroy the grinel we came across. We were relieved to learn that Scab Kahlot was an exception to grinel physiology – while they are very durable, other grinel don't regenerate in the same way. Our victories emboldened us, and before long grinel began to seek us out in revenge for their fallen comrades.
“They weren't the only ones looking, though. We started to run across small groups of human refugees who, through grit and luck, had been able to avoid the grinel much like we had. They banded with Uraj and me and rallied behind our battles, becoming bolder with each of our victories. Though we tried to teach them how to use essence, it almost always resulted in failure. However, the more faithful of them still followed us into battle, even if all they could do was distract a grinel long enough for one of us to finish them off. It was a tedious and bloody war, and many died, but humans continued to come out of hiding as stories circulated of our victories. Our numbers were swelling every day.
“Eventually, we had crossed from one shore to the other, and our followers were in the hundreds. It was growing more and more difficult to continue wandering with such a massive group, so we decided to take another gamble and attempt to establish a real settlement. It took years of toil, blood, sweat, and tears to put together even the most meagre of housing for everyone, but my power helped as I scoured any book I could scavenge on construction to make things even the slightest bit easier. It was a small boon for us that the grinel had no use for books and so left them alone, though to think of all the useful information that was destroyed during the Pilgrimage…” Hawke winced.
“The years dragged on, and though grinel attacks occurred regularly, we had the power to drive them off each time. A few other settlers showed promise in using essence, and Uraj and I taught them as best we could how to use their power. The abilities they developed further proved our assumption that lifestyle and personality reflected the power. There was a carpenter who could craft incredible things from the most useless looking scraps, a young man with a dozen pets who could communicate with animals, and even a woman who told fortunes for fun but could move objects with the power of her mind alone. Though they weren't the strongest physically, their powers gave us another slight edge in our unending battle with the grinel.
“Their powers also gave us the option to start expanding our settlements further inland. As the numbers continued to swell and more space was needed for our people, Uraj and I started taking groups to find new places to plant roots. With more essence users cropping up here and there, we could leave some of the defense of the new towns in their hands while we co
ntinued to explore the more hazardous areas.
“Humanity was beginning to recover, albeit slowly. Years turned into decades, and Uraj's body, once so mighty, began to give way to the march of time. On the other hand, the regenerative properties of Scab's power had halted my age completely – I still looked in my prime, even when I was well over seventy.” That reminded me of what the Medicine Man had said the night we came into camp about his own age.
“So you're really over 400 years old then?” I asked.
“That's right. I started aging again when my healing power was taken, but the regeneration takes you back to when your body was at its healthiest. I put on some muscle working on the plantation for all those years, so I'll probably stay like this from now until…” he looked at his hand, still covered in callouses, “…whenever the end does come.”
I thought of Hawke's friend Uraj, who he had watched grow old while he stayed the same as always. To watch people you cared about and spent time with die seemed so terrible, just the thought made me clutch at my chest.
“And what happened to Uraj?” I asked.
“He still lives.”
We both jumped at the new voice that cut through the night. The Medicine Man rounded the boulder Hawke leaned against, barely visible in the firelight. His eyes were fixed on the smoldering remains while Hawke glared at him.
“Taken to eavesdropping, eh?” said Hawke with an unmistakable bite to is tone. The Medicine Man shrugged without looking up.
“It matters not. Most people in these parts know the story of the Grinel War: we are the descendants of those first people you settled here with. Though the tales they tell are a lot more colorful than that dry account you just gave.”
“Uraj is still alive?” I asked.
Broken Soul (The Scholar's Legacy Book 1) Page 13
