- CHAPTER ONE-
New Harvest Era, Year 298. Somewhere in the state of New Aragon.
298 years. 298 years, we have been fighting to survive. And for what? For the remnants of our past civilisations. I have never seen the attraction of trying to hold on to a culture that decided to destroy itself nearly three centuries ago. To be honest, I know nothing about what life was like before the New Harvest. Our self-proclaimed government encourage silence over our past and are not afraid to make the loudest amongst us disappear.
All I know is that in the beginning of this era, the people wanted to forget about the events that brought about the end of the old world. That desire to wipe their memories became fear. That fear then turned to hate. Those born in the next generation grew up with that hate and made it grow. Now, several generations later, we are taught about how our species used to be monsters, and how the cataclysm of 300 years ago came to be, in order to cleanse us. The people in power have been indoctrinated by this all their lives and now pass the hatred onto the young. A vicious cycle.
I was born 57 years ago and have been stuck in this town, if you could call it that, for that entire time. We know that there is a government to the North of us that sends information and news. We know that we are told that the war against the Navarrans to the West is going well. I don’t see what we are fighting over. The land is barren and has been for as long as anyone can remember. The few patches of fertile ground are heavily protected and are barely enough to feed the mouths of New Aragon. So many people have died, are dying, and will no doubt die, because of our situation – an “everlasting hell” I would call it. Famine, drought, disease. It’s as if the world we live in was designed to try and kill us. Sometimes, we hear rumours of green lands up to the North, but those who say such things are the ones who tend to disappear…
A sudden noise brings me out of my half-dream. A man has entered my bar and is looking towards the notice board. His, long, dark-brown hair does nothing to cover his startling blue eyes. He walks towards the board, pulling an occupied chair with him. The fallen man who was on the chair staggers upright and yells at the newcomer but stops as the blue eyes pierce him with a gaze. The sharpness of the eyes takes me aback – It’s rare to see someone with eyes that betray such a fighting spirit nowadays. However, I also detect a glint of another emotion. Sorrow? Guilt? It’s probably not my place to ask so I go back to my bartending. Just surviving another week would be nice…
***
Zaliphone was annoyed. For one, he had not noticed that the chair he had taken was occupied. He did not want to pick a fight, especially as he was not from around here, and was glad when the man backed away. Also, he was annoyed at a piece of paper on the notice board. On it was written ‘Adventure & Gold. Sign up below.’ with a number of lines underneath.
“No names…” he muttered to himself. “Should’ve known that a place like this would be filled with cowards.”
He ripped the paper off the wall and went to sit at an unoccupied table.
“What now?” he thought. “I can’t go alone and the airship leaves at dusk.”
Just at that moment, the door of the bar slammed open and a tornado came in. At least, it seemed like a tornado. A man had fallen loudly through the door. The first things Zaliphone noticed were the tattoos. He was covered in them. His shirt, which only had one sleeve, showed a long red tribal design that ran all the way to the shoulder and behind the shirt. His left eye also sported a similar design, the red jarring with the dark blue of his eyes.
The man gave a large grin and bellowed. “People ! I heard there was gold to be found ! Where’s the monneh !?”
Zaliphone was surprised that such a lanky-framed man could make such a ruckus with just his voice. He quickly got up and pulled this newcomer into a chair next to him. Even his sitting down made a terrible clamour. Zaliphone made a mental note of not allowing him to do anything remotely stealthy.
“You would do better not to draw attention to yourself,” he hissed, into the man’s ear. “If people hear you shouting about gold, your words could trickle up to undesirable ears.”
“Says the person with the sign saying ‘Adventure & Gold’,” scoffed the other. “The name’s Alex Starfade. And I wouldn’t worry about my drawing attention,” he added, looking towards the entrance.
Indeed, a bearded dwarf had just appeared. Or at least, it seemed like a dwarf. There was something wrong about the way he walked. He had an eye patch and wore a trench coat. To Zaliphone’s dismay, the dwarf seemed to decide that he wanted to come see him.
“So you’re the idiot who decided to put the sign so damn high up that I couldn’t write on it?” Zaliphone nearly fell off his chair. The voice of this dwarf was that of a nine year-old girl!
“What on earth…” muttered Alex Starfade.
“Once you two have quite stopped gawking at me,” said the bearded dwarf, “you can add my name to that list and we can get going.”
“But… you… girl…” stuttered Zaliphone.
“Yes, I’m a girl. Yes, I have a beard and an eye patch. I even have a tattoo of a clown on my arm, wanna see?”
“That’s… quite alright, thanks,” replied Zaliphone. This situation was absurd, he had to be dreaming. “What’s your name so I can add it to the list?”
“I’m Mary Cow, but you can call me ‘Moo’, everyone does.”
“Mary… Cow…,” said Zaliphone, noting down the name. “Now I’ve put up this sign because…”
“Excuse me,” came a booming voice from behind Moo. One of the men who had been drinking at the bar had come over. “I couldn’t help but overhear something about an adventure and gold.”
“I don’t…” started Alex Starfade.
“You do!” said the man, who was unnaturally tall and whose face was obscured by a mask. He sat down next to Alex Starfade and scrawled his name on the paper. His handwriting was surprisingly neat, this man had obviously received an education.
Zaliphone coughed loudly to bring attention back to himself. “Right, you three may be interested but there’s not much time to talk or to wonder at beards, masks and noise levels.”
Mary Cow, stroked her lush beard. “So where are we going?”
“We have an airship out of here, going to the capital. We leave at dusk.”
“You trust us as simple as that?” asked the man in the mask. “You don’t even know my name!”
“I don’t really care at the moment,” said Zaliphone, already weary of the three people around him.
“Well if you insist on asking, it’s Arjahn Mjakhim.”
“Great, now that we’re all introduced, let’s get out of here and over to the airstrip. I’ll explain more on the way.”
They scrambled towards the door and made their way out into the open.
“Hey, you!” came a voice from a side alley. A man came out from the shadows. Zaliphone immediately recognised him as the man whose chair he had taken. With a weary sigh he asked “What?”
“You disrespected me. I think you need to learn your place,” and with that, the man pulled out a knife and charged…
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