One. Two. Three. Four.
Relik counted his breaths, a desperate, silent anchor. He walked the crowded streets beside Logun, dodging horses and carriages, trying to cling to the mundane. But with the memory of what he was expected to become, even breathing felt alien.
He focused on the cobblestones beneath his worn-out boots. Pebble in the ankle, he noted, forcing his mind to the physical discomfort. It was easier than dwelling on the impossible.
Easier than digesting how easily it was for Logun to dispose of those men. A second thought nonexistent, with his counterattack imperceptable.
This was not the life he had in mind just one sunrise ago.
The city sounds pressed in, the clang of metal, the merchant's auctioning but the screams and the sickening finality of Yabi's head rolling of his shoulders were louder in his memory.
He glanced at the back of Logun's head; he seemingly bounced as he moved. Appearing normal to most, but his truth was terrifying.
How could he simply shrug off the life of those men?
Three lives lost in his presence, sickened with nothing to expell from an empty stomach.
Yet what bothered the boy was that he ultimately understood that it was a necessary outcome. This cold, detached observation revealed a part of him he was in no rush to recognise.
Logun walked ahead of him, whistling, completely unaffected. How could he simply switch?
Relik's gaze caught the hilt of Yabi's notched axe peeking from Logun's pack, the only thing left of him above ground.
They turned onto the central avenue, the massive Remu Temple dominating the view. The symbol of divine authority, the place where his life had been rerouted.
They reached the gates, the sounds of the city fading into a profound stillness. Logun stopped just before the main steps, the casual mask gone, replaced by the quiet, steady intensity that was his true core.
Relik looked at him, the question finally escaping. "How?"
"I honestly don't know," Logun said, his voice low. "And even if I did, we wouldn't be discussing it here."
The implication hung heavy: information was being withheld. Logun turned and headed into the Temple. Relik followed, desperately trying to keep up.
The Temple Interior was vast, echoing, filled with soft light and the hushed sounds of prayer. Logun moved with a clear destination, heading toward a counter near the entrance, where a stern-faced merchant sat behind thick, tempered glass.
Without preamble, Logun pulled out Yabi's axe and laid it on the counter. "Looking to trade this in for coin," he said, back to his casual tone. "Good steel, still has some life in it."
The merchant pushed it back. "We do not deal in… salvaged goods of this nature, sir," he eyed the axe some more, "especially thise of such unfortunate circumstances."
"Unfortunate circumstances? It's a perfectly good axe! A little character, maybe! See? This notch here? Probably from a heroic battle against… a very stubborn tree!" He leaned forward, his voice dropping slightly. "This is what's wrong with the world today! No appreciation for honest acquisition! Capitalism, I tell you, it's ruined the spirit of enterprise! Back in my day, a man could trade a perfectly good, recently acquired sword without judgment!"
Logun launched into a rambling, semi-coherent rant about the decline of bartering ethics and the soullessness of coin-based economies.
Relik tuned him out, drifting towards a notice board to distance himself from Logun's absurd performance.
And in his attempt to distract himself someone captured his attention.
She stood only a few feet away, also looking at the board, her back to him. Human, plain, but radiating a subtle, quiet intensity—a feeling that drew him in a strange pull.
As if sensing his gaze, she turned. Their eyes met.
Her deep, startling brown eyes widened in an instant of unreadable recognition, surprise, and possibly fear.
The moment broke instantly. Her expression became guarded. She turned abruptly and walked swiftly towards a side exit, disappearing into a corridor without a backward glance.
"Relik! Really kid, wandering off?" Logun snapped him back. "And staring at pretty girls? We have important Guardian business to attend to. Still, focus, kid, focus!"
Logun, having finished his unsuccessful negotiation, dragged Relik deeper into the Temple, navigating a maze of corridors until they arrived at a long hallway lined with stations.
"Right then," Logun said, pulling out a pouch of coins for the waiting bellman. "A ride to Haraan."
The bellman, a young man with calm eyes, accepted the payment. He turned to the ground before his pedestal and began to draw, his finger tracing a faint, shimmering light that formed complex, beautiful patterns, interlocking triangles all enclosed by two revolving circles.
When the spell was complete, the bellman gestured for them to step in.
"Alright, kid," Logun said, stepping into the center. "Hold still. Might feel a bit… disorienting the first time."
Relik hesitated, staring at the glowing symbol.
He had seen it before but never once had he used it.
He stepped in beside Logun.
The light intensified. The world blurred, colors bleeding, sound distorting. He felt a strange sense of being stretched, then snapped back into place.
One moment, the Temple in Remu, the next, a grander, larger Temple in the capital, Haraan.
Relik stumbled, dizzy and nauseous. "Four days… just like that?"
"On your feet don't embarrass us."
Logun was already scanning the area, a familiar, calculating glint in his eye as he spotted a distant merchant's counter.
Logun turned back, his voice brisk, "welcome to Haraan! Your first mission: find our guild hall. It's… around here somewhere. Ask for directions. Can't miss it. Hopefully."
He clapped Relik on the shoulder. "Got a little business to attend to. Don't wander off too far!"
And with that, Logun walked away polishing the axe with a cloth, heading towards the merchant. Relik sighed, watching him go. He was alone, disoriented, and tasked with finding a guild hall he knew nothing about.
I hate this guild.