Two darkened hearts were to become one, but they were separated by the threads of Fate.
Now they find themselves stranded in a cold, hostile world alongside only a handful of survivors, ruled over by a dark, omnipresent force.
Though they are not to...
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The Everything Emporium at this time of the morning was as equally crowded as the night before, but this time mostly with people looking to buy and sell, not drink to their hearts' content.
Still, even among the new, armor-clad crowd, I happened to recognize some of the Emporium's patrons from the night before. The woman with the strange mask, the group of scholarly-inclined knights with their learned friend, and of course my newfound friends: Jolly, Thelma, and Hark. Thelma waved me over to where they stood in line, waiting for the shopkeeper to finish procuring a set of what looked like maps from behind the counter.
"Thought ye'd never wake, I did." Thelma said. "Glad t' see you're well-rested."
Hark, for one reason or another, looked rather excited. There was a new gleam in his eyes that told me he had recently received some exceptionally good news. Jolly, in contrast, appeared worried. He looked at me and smiled, but his eyes belied this expression of joy.
"Mornin', scrag." He said.
"What is the matter, Jolly?" I asked him. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Well enough, scrag." He said, not sounding well at all. "We'll talk soon. When we're in... private."
He motioned to all of the myriad people around us, and I understood.
"Who are they?" I asked, speaking in a low voice.
"Well, Wallkeepers, mostly. They're the ones with the silver key insignia etched in to their armor." Jolly said, pointing to the pauldron of a heavily-armored warrior ahead of us. "They're all real tough, and they work directly under Somatis. Then you have Somatis himself, who's a real important man around these parts, and one of the very few people who will probably get our technology fully restored. Then you have Angel, the masked woman, no one really knows her that well. Then there's the Emporium's cook, and its butcher. They got married a few months back, now."
"And what about those learned-looking adventurers up ahead?" I asked.
"Those are the elite Wallkeepers, they're a company of powerful warriors under Somatis." Jolly said. "They're a group of marked ones like you, and they guard the city gates."
"What do they guard Clemence from?" I asked, feeling as if I were about to finally get an answer to a question I had had for a bit of time now.
"Oh, they don't guard Clemence, scrag." Jolly said, looking around as if something was about to sneak up on him. "They guard us from what's inside the city."
"The city?" I asked him, a mix of worry and excitement filling me.
"What's left of the city that got pulled in to this new world." Jolly said. "It's so broken and warped that it's nearly unrecognizable. It's messed up in ways no human should be able to comprehend, and anyone who goes in rarely comes out. Mutants, monsters, traps, that's what you get in the Collapse."
"And why, pray tell, is it called the Collapse?" I asked.
"Because it's a symbol. It represents the collapse of our old world, our old way of life, and the birth of a new, darker, more evil one in its place. The old one might've had issues, but now-"
"Is that not a rather pessimistic way of viewing this place?" a voice asked, with a more noble inflection that even I could muster. "Is it not more noble to see this 'new world' as you have so rightfully named it, as a chance to begin anew, to avoid the problems of the olden years?"
"Somatis," Jolly said, smiling. "How goes the defense-building?"
"Howdy, Mister Peregride." Thelma said to Somatis. "Jolly 'ere was just gettin' our new boy into the loop."
"Mister Peregride?" Hark said excitedly, just as Somatis was about to speak. "You'll be happy to know that we just found one out there in the plains, just like you said!"
"Indeed, those are very fair tidings, Hark," Somatis said quietly. "But please, keep your voice down. Now, Jolly, to answer your question: the Wallkeeper Company has actually made a new breakthrough in technological re-discovery." Somatis, the bespectacled noble said, stepping forward. "If that is what you are asking of."
I eyed him, wondering silently if I had ever seen him before the night of the blue moon. He seemed oddly familiar, but I could not place his face. His long beard, mostly brown with a few odd streaks of gray, was well-groomed and kept. His eyes, gray and aged, looked at me with unmasked scrutiny. His eyes drifted to my right palm and a recognition came in to his eyes, replacing any kind of suspicion. He carried himself nobly and confidently, like any sorcerer should.
Cautiously, he raised his own right hand to show me his own mark, the same golden lines with the circle above them. It was identical to my own.
"Greetings to you, dear fellow." He said, offering his hand for me to shake. "I am Somatis Peregride. It is a pleasure to meet you."
I took his hand and shook it firmly. "I am Theris, the Bloodied." I replied. "I was a wizard, as well."
"A warrior-wizard, judging by that firm grip." He replied complementarily. "What school did you attend?"
"The Royal Academy of Arcane Studies." I replied. "With a double major in mental manipulation and physical manipulation."
"I see you cared little for the realm of gods and spirits, my friend. I, on the other hand, found myself enamored with the world beyond our own. Dimensions, echoes of past and future events, gods, goddesses, the worlds beyond flesh and blood were my passion."
"Where did you study?" I asked him, sensing that this was turning in to a contest of one-upmanship. The measuring of wands, as it were.
"The Royal Academy of Arcane Studies, top of the class of 1568." He said, smugly. "With a triple major in godly contact, spiritual manipulation, and the history of technological warfare. I gave the arch-apprentice speech at my graduation ceremony. Say, I could always use additional support in the Wallkeeper company, and would be happy to offer a fellow ex-wizard a position. I assume I am correct in assuming that you have been brought up to date on the magic situation, as far as safety is concerned?"
"You would be correct, Mister Peregride." I replied.
"Theris isn't interested, Peregride." Jolly said quickly and assertively. I was surprised at with what ease the words escaped his mouth, despite the obvious difference in status. "He's with us."
I silently wondered yet again as to the matter of why I was so important to them. Were such actions out of magnanimity, out of the goodness of their warrior hearts? An ugly, possible truth screamed to me from the back of my mind, and again I ignored it entirely. It shouted at me, without mercy, that I was nothing more than a resource, a tool to be exploited. This mark, as I would come to find out, would become the source of a great deal more trouble than I had bargained for.
Author's Note: Wow, chapter 12 already! Seems like way less time than that since I started publishing these :) I'm so happy and appreciative about all the support this story's been getting. Please vote and leave your feedback in the comments below. Thanks!
