Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 45

Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 45

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Sivantic.

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Industrial surrounded the pier, but after them came residential and commercial zones, entirely dedicated to satisfying the needs of the people. The teeming masses I saw initially in the industrial areas, with the small stores between workshops, doubled as we entered the new section of the city. The roads were more winding, each block smaller, and the buildings gradually grew in height. The scent of the city was strong, garbage and the scent of food being cooked in restaurants intermixing, along with the scent of the unwashed. The sailors hadn’t smelled very good, but the journey had been short and I stayed above deck, hear the varied assembly of various scents, ranging from hunger-inducing too putrid to simply foul, was almost nauseating.

“How does disease not travel through your people? Everyone is unclean.” The As’Kari had to produce water and we stayed clean in the depths of the Great Desert. Children and even the elderly participated in it to ensure that everyone could drink and cleanse themselves before returning to their homes to rest and recuperate from a day’s toils. Clothes were regularly washed and even our mounts were cleansed. It kept us cool, prevented disease, and was a skill that many mastered before they reached five years of age. However, here in this land with running water, the city was filthy and so were the people. “This invites sickness and disease both.”

“I am afraid water is being conserved in our lands, until the reservoirs are filled. Many of the bathhouses have been closed.” My surprise must have been evident, as Harold continued to explain after my silence. How could there possibly be a lack of water in these lands? “The tree of light required much to grow swiftly, Sir William. It is no mere construct of light. It is a living thing rapidly forced to grow and exude immense amounts of light. It is much like the great insects your people ride through the Great Desert. It did not come to be from nothing. It is not merely an amalgamation of all the light we can gather. It is a true tree and its reach into the earth is vast indeed.”

His words gave me pause, but it fit with the existing understanding that I had on this world. The power within everything in this world manipulates and enhances, but it does not create. Water extracted from the air. Flame is made through gathering ambient heat. Frost by driving heat away. Those with finer control could manipulate force itself, the underlying motion surrounding us all as the world rotated and spun and flew through the cosmos. We could simply touch everything directly through the usage of our power… including other living things without willpower as strong as our own.

“You have quite the keen mind. The princess told me of your ability to remove her from your dream, but it is surprising to see in person.” Harold spoke contemplatively, bringing me away from my thoughts. I wondered how I looked to him. He was a learned elder, and obviously well versed in the intricacies of this world. How did he see the figure before him, with such a learned mind and strength? “I cannot imagine the desert folk exiling a talent such as you. You must have left them by your own volition.”

“The As’Kari tribe sought to subjugate the rest of the Great Desert. I opposed the plan. I believed that their strength and power was enough so that in just a few generations they would naturally usurp it all.” There was much that they had that the other tribes did not. However, perhaps most importantly, I taught them how to heal and care for themselves and better feed each other. That foundational factor allowed so many children survive, and many warriors see another day without becoming crippled. They were set to grow at an exponential rate and dominate through sheer population alone. Kan’Is, however, decided to go on the path of conquest. “I had planned to leave even before this eternal night fell. Sheer coincidence made it so that I encountered one of your prisoner ships, and joined the survivors into these lands.”

“Dame Catherine, yes. She spoke highly of your power and talent, as did Knight Averi. Lord Lucien did as well, of course.” Harold mused and nodded to himself. I could only assume that Dame Catherine was the female warrior that I first met long ago. I barely recalled her, but she must have made her way to the heartland of her nation while I busied myself with saving as many of the frontier as I could. “You may not believe it, but they are amongst the strongest of our people. In our lands, warriors that you consider the norm are outliers.”

“It is because your people have made it so that the consumption of monsters is looked down upon. A machination that has been made, I am sure, to make your people easier to control.” To my surprise, Harold nodded at my words. Some part of me felt incensed, but I saw the logic behind the action. Their actions would’ve caused bloody civil war if their population was as mighty as the As’Kari’s. They kept the people weak as to better rule over them and achieve what they desired. “Now, I am sure that you have reversed that action. Your people are now being fed more and more of the flesh of monsters. The royal family is eating it themselves as a sign of solidarity… but they have been all along.”

“You are almost entirely correct, young man. The fact you have missed, however, is that the royal family sups upon truly powerful beasts. Wyverns, Dragons, and their kind. Such has been the case for more than eighteen generations, and each successive generation has been stronger than the last.” Harold gestured at the tree above us. The mountainous, terrifying thing that arose from the ground the moment the endless night came and then began to shelter this land and even the lands beyond through its sheer size and scope alone. “The tree of light above us now is only possible through the continuous expenditure of power and the might of the royal family and its branches. They are managing the tree, extending its branches, and in time they will repel the darkness enrobing our sky. However, as you may have already noticed, the burden is a heavy one.”

I recalled the moment of true darkness when the tree of light suddenly ceased.

“That was a singular moment of failure in the routine?”

“Indeed. A simple fever took a cousin of the princess while she was meant to mind the tree with eleven others. Typically, sickness does not befall the royal lineage, but when they expend themselves so much… they grow weak enough to be as frail as regular mortals.” Harold shook his head and sighed, before wryly smiling and moving his hands from his robes. There were burn scars all over his hands. Barely healed and just weeks old. “I ignited the tree and aided the rest while a spare was brought. That moment was when Dame Catherine’s reports came to light and your existence could no longer be ignored.”

“You wish for me to be a spare in case one of your royalty grows sick?”

“Nay, with the power you hold and your immense might, you can fill the tree’s reserves for more than a year and barely be troubled. That will give us time. Time to make things right.”

“Right?” I questioned, and Harold paused, before slowly nodding his head. “What do you mean by right? Securing the lands once abandoned? The people who were left to die? Or, perhaps, to bring low the fomenting rebellion? Kill the source of the parasites?”

I made it clear with my words that even if they sought my aid, it would have to be bargained for. They look upon my power and strength and desire it, but I have not heard any offer for them to do better.

“… Is that what you wish for your aid, then? For us to cease fighting those who have rebelled, and to save those left behind, as well as the destruction of the monsters that forced this night upon us all?” Harold spoke with great care, and I stopped to look at him. He said those words in a gentle and grandfatherly manner. However, I could feel something else. Machinations. Plotting. My instincts told me to not say yes and simply look at him. Eventually, at my silence, he nodded. “We can accomplish that, if you wish for it. The power you offer, the simple fueling of our protections against the night, is worth those things.”

“Because all those powering your great tree, will be able to act. Able to even capture me and force me to continue fueling it.” Harold may pretend to be calm and wise, but I know exactly what the people he served has done. What he has abided by. They operated off necessity, but not just that. They worked to ensure their own power and strength, too. While the rest of the world is struggling, they are doubtlessly preparing for what will come after this trial and they see to remain in power thereafter. What better way to do that than to retain the strength that they must expend to keep the tree of light alive? “No. I will not give you my power and leave myself defenseless in your capital, where your strongest and mightiest are. I offer you my services to achieve what I desire, but I will not endanger my freedom.”

These people would not hesitate for a moment to shackle me in their strongest bindings and have me empower their great tree.

To Harold’s credit, he did not contest my words and simply nodded at my assertions.

He did not speak against his people, but his silence at my accusations made it clear that I was correct.

With that in mind, we travelled together for a bit longer before the carriage stopped.

…

The city’s inner districts were filled with large, square buildings of indeterminate purpose, but many people walked between one another the other with arms laden with books. Some had carts filled with ledgers, and others even carried scrolls. Many wore robes and had glasses on their person, while they walked briefly from building to building in a hurry. Some flew and entered through patios with attendants waiting. There were fewer stalls and peddlers on the streets, but some carriages were parked and showcased foodstuffs for purchase and they were frequented by many robed individuals.

I had thought that I would meet the princess at a chateau or the palace of the city’s governor.

Instead, it seemed that I was to meet her in a center of bureaucracy.

Harold and I dismounted and entered one of the brown, square clerical buildings that took up entire blocks, and within there was organized chaos. Lines of people waited to enter the room. Lanes were set aside so people could trudge rapidly with what they carried to the destination that they needed to reach. The rooms were all neatly labelled for people to navigate. Through open doors, I spied many desks and people fretting over papers, writing reports, and simply reading papers brought in.

Much like the hall of scribes and elders in back in the dessert, and the few government buildings I entered into my past life, this was a place of bureaucracy.

A place where information was taken in, processed, and sent forth to those who needed information to act.

To those who had the power to affect change.

I wondered if this was a display of power by the one who requested my presence, until Harold opened the door to the room we sought out.

It was an office filled with wizened individuals in robes pleading their case to a young woman behind a desk covered in papers.

“Your plan holds merit, Master Callidus. You have my seal.” With a simple statement, she reached to her left and a servant waiting for the order poured wax on the paper she looked over. Within moments, the princess pressed her sigil upon wax before handing it off to the bowing elder before her. Her eyes were sharp and hair short. She wore a pale white suit with silver trim. Though many looked upon her, she was resolute and firm. A staff officer, or perhaps even a general. Her gaze settled on Harold and she looked at those waiting in line. “A guest has arrived. Please, rest for an hour and return. Archmage, give me your report.”

The various wizened men bowed and left hurriedly from the room, and we were left alone with the young woman and her servant.

My eyes met with hers and she gave me a nod, before turning to her trusted advisor.

“He is as powerful as Lord Lucien described, and his mind is more than capable of what you described to me, your highness.” If this was the same young woman who came to my dreams, I was sure that she took liberties with her appearance. Though the memory was faint, there had been something ethereal to the young woman. Something bordering on divine. If it was all a mental fabrication, I had to take care, as she was willing to play on the desires of people to believe in mysticism and revere the unknown. She looked nothing like the figure I remembered. “He also refuses to go to the capital.”

“And the reason why?”

“That after all he has seen, he does not trust the crown to not imprison him and have him feed the tree of light forevermore.”

“I see. Good. You know how this farce is played.” The young woman stood and gave me a small bow of courtesy, which I returned as a matter of course. “My name is Lassandra. Fifth in line for the throne, and least gifted of them all. My brothers and sisters are a dozen in number, and each one is more powerful than I. That is why I can be here, attending to the nation, while they empower the tree of light at the capital.”

Her words were plain and blunt. Her motives clear and concise.

“I am using this moment to gather power and make a play for the crown, and to do that I need achievements and accolades… such as the destruction of the parasites, along with the end of the fomenting rebellions at our borders.”

She locked her gaze with mine.

“I have need of your power, to accomplish such things. Tell me what you desire and I shall make it so.”

I had prepared myself to be wary of a snake with a duplicitous tongue, so I was unprepared when I was met by a lion filled with pride and naked ambition.