Shadow Kingdom

by N. A. Oberheide

  The magicka constructed avatar shrank back into the eternal flame, yet another reminder of the far-reaching powers of the King. Well into dusk now, the street lanterns automatically lit up in unison with a soft yellow glow as the crowd dispersed to start the festivities. Naurus and Talfin decided to head to their favorite tavern, The Gullible Gull. The rustic timber and wooden pillars that made up the outside were a welcoming sight. It was hard to see through the windows, but cheerful sounds could be felt from outside. They entered through the heavily worn wooden door, revealing a main floor fast filling up. It was as enchanting inside as it was on the outside. Tree logs supported the upper floor and the sconces attached to them. The walls were covered in mounted animal heads, hides, fish skeletons, and such trophies all courtesy of the proprietor’s avid hunting habit. The smells emanating from the kitchen let anyone in the area know it wasn’t going to waste either. The lanky, blonde haired barkeep looked up as the two boys walked over. He was clearly busy, but always found a way to make time for loyal customers.

  "Hullo boys! What'll it be today?" He asked.

  "Two tankards of blood moon brew!" Naurus quickly answered.

  With tankards of the red tinged frothy brew in hand, they made their way over to a table to secure some seats. It wasn’t long before the first tankards were empty as the seasonal brew had a mild and nutty flavor was easy to enjoy. It was time for another round, but the earlier exchange of words with the enlisted man swirled in Naurus's head.

  "Talf", he started, "do you think that that beat up old guy really meant those words? That what we are learning is totally useless?"

  Talfin snapped out of making eyes at the barmaid. "Nay...nay. He's just' old an' angry. Ya know, those lifers in the service get that way. They canna' find a better job, so dey stay in long past their expiration date!" Came his half joking reply.

  Indeed, after the mandatory enlistment period some chose to stay on for various reasons, but it was no small secret that well-paying civilian apprenticeships were few and far between. Sell-swording and various grey market trades were becoming more and more popular in part because of that. Whether or not this was the King’s intention or a sign of other forces at play was anyone's guess. Soon the boys had finished their second round and got up to grab a third. They returned to the table and saw some different people sitting there, but hardly noticed as they took their seats.

  "We don’t remember inviting you to come sit here with us." Came an all too familiar voice from the end of the table.

  Naurus looked over to see his longtime rival, Swadil, at the end of the table. Swadil was of fair complexion, and never took a liking to those who he saw as inferior and different for whatever reason. Naurus decided to ignore him, but that didn’t work for long.

  "Hey, you milk-haired vampyr, we never invited you here! Move your ass so my friends can join us!" Swadil added with a little extra venom. Naurus bristled, he began to feel hot as his eyes started flashing around.

  "I'm sorry, was that a fart or were you trying to say something?" Naurus snarked back down the table with a sidelong glance. Swadil slammed his tankard down with a resounding thud, which seemed to suddenly hush the table and patrons standing around who looked over.

  "Naurus, you blithering half-caste, you heard me. Now get up or I'll come over there and make you!" Swadil said with increasing anger. Naurus felt his blood start to boil, few things set him off like someone insulting his heritage. He looked over, shooting daggers at Swadil.

  "What's that? You're going to take me to the whorehouse to see your ma? I can't wait..." Naurus shot back, a smirk coming across his face.

  Swadil slammed his fists down and shot up from the table. Naurus followed suit, drawing his sword in response to Swadil pulling his. Naurus figured this would be enough to deter his rival, but Swadil charged around the side of the table. This commotion suddenly cleared the area around the table, a sudden hush falling over the tavern. Naurus had plenty of play fights with toy swords, but he never thought the first real one would be here. A hot surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins as Swadil raised his sword. Time slowed down for Naurus, he couldn’t focus on anything but what was directly in front of him and his veins felt like they were on fire. He panicked and swung his sword to meet his opponent’s blade. Whoosh-CLANG rang through Naurus's ears, and a shower of sparks temporarily blinded him as he flinched and closed his eyes. He realized his sword was stuck on something directly in front of him and opened his eyes to see what it was. A familiar looking silvery sword was directly in front of him, almost parallel to the floor. The engravings up the fuller glowed with a deep golden hue, as purple flames enveloped and danced across the blade. Naurus already knew whose blade it was. He realized that both his and Swadil's blade were hung up on this sword, notching into it as they were no match for the rare alloy of the commodore's blade. Naurus meekly looked over to see Morra's fiery gaze staring down on him. She turned her gaze to Swadil, whose mouth snapped shut, seeming to realize this was not someone you wanted to trifle with.

  "Swadil, you aren't in my charge, but I know who you are and your commodore will be hearing about this. Naurus, you are coming with me. Both of you sheath your blades at once!" She commanded, as the flames on her blade grew more intense. The heat became palpable and started to hurt his hand and forced him to wince away. The discomfort on Swadil's face was obvious too.

  Naurus and his nemesis twisted and pried their blades off hers, sheathing them with shaking hands. Morra's blade suddenly extinguished itself, before being sheathed quickly in a twirling flash. She glared at Swadil and pointed at the door. He took the hint and shuffled off, every footfall reverberating in the dead silent tavern. After he was out the door, Morra grabbed Naurus by the arm, practically throwing him out the door. They proceeded a short way down the street, away from the noise and crowds. Suddenly, Morra spun hard about face, snapping her steel-shod boot heel down with a firm crack. Talfin was attempting to follow them, but Morra simply crossed her arms and shook her head at him. He scurried off into the night, leaving just Morra and Naurus all alone in a secluded alley.

  "Just what in the name of the King himself do you think you were doing back there?" Morra started.

  "H-he pulled his blade first!" Naurus stammered out.

  "Are you blind? Did you not see me on the other side of the tavern? I saw the whole event unfold from beginning to end. At no time were you cornered. You didn’t try to disengage or move away. Drawing your blade against anyone who is not an enemy of the kingdom is a grave challenge, not to mention an offense against the Royal Fleet's code of conduct."

  "But he called me a half—"

  "Do you think I didn’t hear every single word of your exchange? Even across the room it was clear as could be to me. I can hear anyone in a room like that, no matter how loud it is. I am not like you Naurus, and you are not like Swadil, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Some people just...weren't raised to embrace differences. Nobody is born like that, it’s taught and they learn it from someone or something. Our kingdom has a past that was built up and torn down on that sort of hatred not all that long ago…" She replied as her voice lightened up.

  "But why should I take his abuse, and let him draw down on me? I didn’t choose to be like this, but he never lets me live in peace when he's around!" Naurus said, getting flustered.

  Seeing this, Morra's gaze softened up. "I know...I know my dear cadet. He has that reputation, but his commodore will be talking some sense into him, I assure you. I can't just let you hack each other up. If you killed him, you would never see the light of day again. If he killed you, well I would be delivering some very sad news to your parents right now. Think outside the box next time, Naurus. Look around you and think before you act, since if you had done so you would have seen me paying particular attention to your table. Your anger is justified, but you must learn to channel it more constructively. I'm not going to punish you, not this time. Now please, just go home and stay there for tonight. I'll go cove
r your tab and smooth things over back at the tavern. Oh, and get your blade fixed before the next training muster." She said reassuringly.

  Naurus made his way the short distance back home. From the outside his house looked nice and traditional, if a bit weathered and worn. It was built with spruce wood and grey stone decorations. Small, rectangular windows let out a soft glow from within. Smoke gently curled out of the chimney. The house itself was surrounded by a modest garden, covered mostly in grass, along with a few flower patches. He opened the door to find his mother stoking the fireplace.

  “Hi Naury!” the grey-haired woman of slight build piped up, “your father will be home soon, but why aren’t you out and about enjoying the festivities?”

  “Well,” Naurus scratched his head, “I don’t really feel good is all.” Just then his stomach growled loudly. His mother softly laughed, clearly hearing it.

  “Of course you don’t feel good, you haven’t eaten in so long your stomach is crying! I made some fresh blueberry buckle earlier if you want some.” She said.

  Naurus couldn’t argue with his favorite dessert of all time. He grabbed a heaping bowl with plenty of cream, quenching the fiery booze in his stomach. As he was finishing, his father walked in.

  “How was the show, dad?” Naurus inquired.

  “Oh, it was fine, took a little tumble but thankfully nobody saw.” his father replied as he threw back his black cloak to reveal a shiny bruise around his eye socket. “I brought you back a little gift, thought you might like this.” He said as he handed Naurus a lapel pin. It looked to be little more than rectangular black shield with a red hand in the middle, palm out and fingers up. Naurus enjoyed collecting such trinkets as lapel pins and this would add nicely to his collection.

  “Thanks pops, but what does it mean?”

  “I don’t really know son, but it looked like something you would want.” his father halfheartedly explained. A bald and bearded man of some age, he was an acrobat by trade, at least that’s what Naurus was always told. He did private shows for exclusive clientele in the Kings District, so his family could never come along to see them. Naurus was promised one day he could see his old man do a show, but for now he only did private performances at night.

  “Well son come over here and sit a spell, tell me about your night.” He started, his voice becoming terse. Naurus came over to sit in the main room next to the fire.

  “Nothing happened dad, I was just drinking with Talf and didn’t feel good. You always warned me about boozing on an empty stomach!” Naurus joked and laughed, but his father didn’t seem amused at all.

  “That’s great, son. But are you going to tell me about your little mishap at the Gull?” His eyes darkened, making Naurus uncomfortable as his father’s ire always did.

  “Uh what? How did you—”

  “Naurus, I’m not going to repeat myself. A little birdie told me you crossed swords with that Swadil boy at the Gull. Now speak!” He barked. Naurus shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong…he called me a half-caste, I returned the favor, and then he drew his sword and came at me. There was nothing I could do, I swear!” Naurus explained with some exasperation.

  “Hm…” his father started, “That temper of yours has always been a sore spot. What he said to you was fighting words indeed. You see my boy, back when I was your age drawing your sword was an instant challenge, a duel to the death on the spot. You have it much better now, as too many youngins like you were dying to each other’s blades, so they had to put a stop to that. I’m glad your commodore was there, she saved your neck. Next time if she isn’t there…well that might be your last time drawing your blade.”

  “Well dad, are you saying I shouldn’t fight for my name? I shouldn’t fight to defend my honor?” Naurus shot back.

  “No son, you see sometimes you have to outwit your opponents. It seems you did that with your tongue enough to provoke his blade. But at that point is when your anger blinded you. You were scared, and fear begets anger. The problem was you forgot to look around. A long time ago when I was more hotheaded like you, something similar happened to me in a tavern fight when I had words with some halfwit prick kind of like Swadil. However, when he pulled his dagger to cut me up, I simply kept moving around the table as he drunkenly bumbled around unable to so much as touch me. The crowd roared in laughter and jeered. This so embarrassed the halfwit he slunk off. You could have done something similar, but I hope you can manage your anger before it becomes your undoing. I love you and never want to see you get hurt if I have anything to do with it.” He said in a stern but caring voice, scratching the long and jagged scar over his right eye and cheek.

  Naurus suddenly realized how tired he was and excused himself up to his bedroom. There awaited a comforting sight: his portly grey cat Mokhey curled up on his bed. A masterful display of dexterity and strategic manipulation of the feline anatomy quickly brought the purr machine to a room filling rumble. He dressed down and crawled into bed, the events of the night swirling through his head. He eventually drifted off to sleep, the rumbling purrs of his cat being the comfort he needed.

  A fitful night of sleep passed, and Naurus woke up the next morning to the sun peeking in through his window. Mokhey had tactically repositioned himself to allow his mass to absorb the maximum amount of sun, which happened to be right on Naurus’s chest. Figuring it would be better to get up rather than asphyxiate under the loving pressure of his cats’ mass, Naurus rolled out of bed and got his day started. After a quick breakfast of fried eggs and potato hash, he bid his parents farewell and set about to the first order of business: getting his blade fixed. This would be short work at his favorite local smithy shop, The Flux Crux. The cool nip in the air was quickly blasted away by a wave of heat as opened the door. The smithy, Amvir, was in the back working on his latest creations, stopping to greet his customer. Amvir, a bulky man with braided dirty blonde hair flashed his crooked smile at Naurus.

  “What’ll it be today, lad? Looking to defend yourself…or maybe deal some damage?” Naurus pulled his blade out and pointed at the notched edge.

  “No, I just need to get this fixed up.” He said.

  “Oh, I’m not sure I can handle that…I just might be able to do it by lunch!” Amvir sarcastically replied.

  They shared a laugh and Naurus made his way out, admiring the fine blades and armor lining the walls of the shop. One day, I’ll finally be able to buy anything I want in here he thought to himself, as he decided to waste away the rest of the morning with his favorite past time: reading. He made his way down to the Royal Athenaeum, one of the various government funded book repositories that dotted the city. Naurus walked in to the squat and unassuming grey stone building. Inside, the comforting smell of old musty paper, aging leather, and even older wood greeted him. Behind the main desk an old man was rifling through some books and papers, his long grey ponytail laying over his simple brown robes. His back was turned, completely lost in his tasks.

  “Naurus, what is it you seek today?” Came a sagely old voice, the man not even bothering to turn around.

  “Hello Ektor, I was wondering if you had any of those old atlases turn up yet? The one’s that were from the old empire?” He asked, causing Ektor to stop what he was doing and turn around.

  “Why yes, I was able to find this one just the other day! It’s the only one I have, so please be careful with it.” Ektor said as he set down a thick leather-bound atlas. Naurus grabbed his prize and made off to a quiet corner where he could pore over it in peace. This was a rather dark corner, and Naurus realized he had no way to light the candle on the table.

  “Ektor! I need a light please!” and almost no sooner did he say than did his kind and weathered old face came around the corner. With a quick snap of his fingers, the candle was lit. He couldn’t help but to laugh a bit. These sorts of cantrips Ektor used always entertained him no matter how small they were. Finally able to pore over his maps, Naurus noticed how much differe
nt some aspects were compared to more recent ones like they studied in school. He had been looking for something like this for a while, as he wanted to see what everything used to be like long ago. He didn’t want to read about it as all the history books were more or less the same in that regard. The maps had to be different, and they were in one important regard. He had always wanted to venture past the Unscaled Slopes off to the east, but his father strictly forbade him from ever going there. He was always told growing up that it was a haunted wasteland, filled with cannibals, barbarians, and even undead beings. History books and schooling glossed over these forgotten lands as a site of a once bloody and epic battle that forever scarred the lands as the invaders were repulsed and Astrania was established as a power to be reckoned with.

  It was written off as a land no one needed to visit, as it was inhospitable and hopelessly beset with bandits, carnivorous creatures, and even cannibals. That’s what they said anyway, and Naurus had a hard time believing this. The old maps he was poring over had obviously been written by cartographers that had visited the area, with a forested area on the other side of the mountainous Unscaled Slopes being clearly labeled Walsvern Woods, so named after the cartographer who first mapped it out. Small villages and towns dotted the landscape past that, with roads connecting them all and a rocky coastline that was well protected by a barrier reef making harbors nearly impossible to build on that side of the island. In more recent mappings, this land was simply labeled The Shadow Wastes and showed no signs of civilization ever being there. What both new and old maps did agree on was a few different pathways that lead from the windward side, where Astrania currently was, to the leeward side where this wasteland apparently was. The Unscaled Slopes were the de facto land boundary of the Kingdom of Astrania, at least as far as their island simply called The Dominion was concerned. Naurus could see on the maps that border guard posts were guarding these few entrances, but he never ventured so far as to the foot of the mountains. He only ever hunted with his father in the countryside well away from the pathways that were on this map.