Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 40

Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 40

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Sivantic.

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Interlude: Gale

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I spoke and Halga listened, while we walked towards the largest building of the taken city. The scent of refuse and human body odor suffused the whole of the place. I had once been used to it, however the physician insisted on daily cleaning of the body and examination of the skin. After we discovered the parasite, and how it changed the body of the individual to its own ends, it became common practice. We also tended to our trash, burning or burying whatever could not been cleaned or reused or turned into mulch, which was very little.

Everyone worked back at the village, everyone cleaned themselves, and contributed to the defense and survival of others.

Here, in this captured city, I found nothing like that.

Halga noticed my glances and pauses and grunted to gain my attention.

“It’s not pretty, but this town was sabotaged before we took it. That was the last act of the city’s nobility, besides breathing their last against our finest.” Halga explained, and saw that I did not fully understand. He shook his head, then pointed at the nearest sewer nearly overflowing and with rats pecking at food. “The sewers have ceased to function and we’re in the process of remaking it. The trash used to flow out of the city through the large pipes built in. The system that created water and forced it through the piping has been shattered.”

And, outside of the city, the land was upturned, broken, and barley useable.

“The lands outside still need to be reclaimed. We’re barely able to get enough water for people to drink, let alone bathe, and settling people near the wells would invite attacks from monsters. Our army is pushing the front and only troops at rest are here in the backline.” Halga ran a hand across his shaven face. He smelled clean, or at least of well-maintained metal arms and armor. Even his tattered cape was bereft of filth, and his hair was clean and combed back. This man upheld the standards of knights as best as he was able. “We’re holding this city and living here because we must. It’s the only way to push the front. Right now our focus is getting the craftsmen district working, so that we can start making arms, armor, and weapons, and other things.”

Halga pointed at a store, which I realized was in the process of being repaired and the trash being cleared  out.

“Time is our greatest enemy now, especially if what you say is true.” Halga grunted and I looked past the rubble, the refuse, and the dilapidated state. People here wore clothes that they scavenged and they were covered in filth, but they were keen-eyed and working beneath the light of lanterns. Here the reach of the tree of light was faint, like dull moonlight in a winter day. It was hard to see their faces unless I focused, but through the muck and filth there was effort and strain. “We are also lacking in people. Barely anyone can be spared from the front, if we wish to keep the loyalists back.”

They were enduring and they were trying to live as well as they can.

I came to a simple decision.

“I can help fight against monsters, and provide power if needed.” I held out my hand and did as I was taught by the physician from the nightmarish Great Desert, where monsters that could kill thousands were considered prey to be hunted. In my hand I visualized power gathering, and felt a pull within my body. He had described it like clockwork gears being forced to spin, but while his was metal and sturdy, within my own body felt like stone that could be chipped from overuse. In time, I will grow stronger. I already have. However, for now, I needed to be precise, to not waste, and to be slow and sure. Like a hunter stalking prey. The sphere of power formed, invisible, and I instructed it to gather water. With but a single turn of the gear within, I created a sphere of water from the chilly air of autumn. It was enough to fill a pail, or rather enough water to drink for a week. “If you have a vessel to be filled, lead me to it, I shall lend you my strength.”

Halga paused and looked at the orb of water for a long time, before speaking once again.

“I see. You were not claiming falsehood regarding your master. If you can do this, after mere months of learning, then he is a mighty being indeed. One that will surely be heard by the crown… if only he came here instead.”

“He could not.” I found myself speaking on the physicians defense without a hint of hesitation. Once I had been frustrated with his adherence to peace and to talking. He had saved us, but he would not take up arms against us. However, in the end, I merely showcased by own lack of understanding. “These monsters that we found are beyond brutal. They are cruel, malicious, and seek to take the world entire. They spread like a disease and they will infiltrate, they will corrupt, and they will kill until we are all bodies for their spawn to inhabit.”

The remains of their spawning pool after the physician put it to the torch remains in my memory. The fact that they needed children to inhabit, that any other becomes nought but a crazed beast under their control, and finally the creature that we had faced. The creatures were not just strong and deadly… but also intelligent.

Intelligent enough to make allies, if they needed to.

Would they not seek the enemies of their enemies, if they had such intellect?

I continued to walk alongside Halga, but I carefully strengthened my body. It was a careful process. Many times over in training I tore myself apart. It took time, effort, and study to understand the truth of my body, of all the strands of muscle, their different points of contact on my bones, and more. However, I had listened, I had trained, and carefully, I gained the strength of powerful Knights out of necessity.

No.

I had done so out of jealousy and a desire to overpower them.

To make them fear me, as they did the physician.

Though born out of anger and hate, the power nonetheless came to me and invigorated me. From the tips of my toes to the top of my head, I strengthened my skin, then my muscle, and then bone. I made sure the mask I wore was tight and brought low the lenses that would cover my eyes. The physician game me his spare, instructing me to cover my face entirely whenever I could, in case something or someone tried to force the disease upon me.

If Halga noticed the new strength I enrobed myself with, he did not mention it, and we continued to walk together.

I hoped my precautions were unnecessary, as we reached the first of the city’s inner curtain walls.

The construct was many times taller than height. Tall enough that Knights could not leap over it, and thick enough that it can withstand the bombardment of magic with the aid of the glittering white stone that covered its surface. The walls were scorch-marked, and some craters were present upon it, but it stood strong. Work crews on scaffolding pealed of broken parts to reveal untouched layers. The brought up new, large panels to repair the damage.

The damage to the gate was not so easily replaced.

The gate was a massive one, made to easily fit the passing of more than fifty men standing shoulder to should. Two wide lanes fed into it for carriages and transportation. Two lesser doors were at each of its sides, for people to pass through upon paths that lined the streets. The main gate had a large metal grate that was meant to be lifted and lowered at sunset and sundown, while behind it was two immense wooden doors reinforced with wrought iron. The point of entry was defended by guard towers embedded into the wall and at the top I could clearly see the placements for siege weapons.

If all were orderly and secure, it would be open and a constant stream of people would be entering and leaving through it barely stopped by guards.

Here, in this city, the guard stations were smoldering craters on the wall, the siege weapons were nowhere to be found, the side gates were filled with rubble, and the main gates were ruined. Only one lane was open and that was thanks to the efforts of a tunnel carved into the wreckage. Many of the nearby houses and shops were nothing but charred, abandoned plots of land with wreckages of what used to be living quarters and commercial ventures upon them.

This was the site of a true battle, and Halga looked upon it with a grimace.

How many people died to take this singular place?

A thousand?

Perhaps ten-thousand?

We went through the gates, and entered the industrial sector of the city.

The scent remained the same, disgusting and of rubbish and the unwashed, but it was a place of industry filled with life and people.

“Here we are. We can get you some accommodations here.” Halga stated simply. Carts were being pulled. Some of rubble and some with new weapons set to be crated. Stalls where food could be bought were present, and some stalls sold scavenged clothes and armor cleaned of refuse. While the outskirts of the city that I had entered were bereft of children and women, here there were plenty working in under lantern light. Some children picked up rubble and put them into wagons, while women swept and cleaned up refuse with leather gloves covering their hands. Their husbands, fathers, and brothers toiled in workshops all around the district. I took note of the lack of smoke escaping into the air from furnaces. Halga noticed. “We’re doing our best to keep this secret. The crown has ships peering at us from afar. They’d see smoke, but not actual workshops in production.”

In the back of my mind, I knew that I looked upon what I once dreamed of after our abandonment.

The same facilities that I saw in the city loyal to the Crown was present and functional here. Blacksmiths toiled to create arms and armor. Fletchers created arrows by the barrel-full. Swords and spears alike were being en-masse, while knives glittered under flickering torchlight. Coal flowed into hungry furnaces, metal was shaped to the rhythm of dozens and dozens of hammers, and I watched as people worked to unmake the Crown that abandoned us all.

I should’ve felt happy at the sight, but the physicians teachings told me to look at the people.

Those who were not toiling at the forges looked desperate. Their eyes were sunken and their cheeks shallow. They toiled to make the place livable, yet they themselves looked near-death and at starvation. The physician had once asked me what price I was willing to pay for vengeance, and I had said ‘everything’ in reply. However, now I felt nothing but disgust as Halga allowed his people to starve for the sake of war.

My understanding of what I wanted became more and more confused with every passing moment.

“I see.” I was only able to muster two words at the sight of all the industry and work towards the revolution that I wished for. It was the vengeance I wanted for my people and for my father. However, with it right before me, and the cost of it present as well… I felt none of the joy that I wanted to feel. Everything simply felt wrong. “This will be of little help against the parasites. In fact, continuing to fight against the Crown will only give them the advantage. Can you be at least convinced for a ceasefire?”

Halga was quiet for a long time, as we walked towards the innermost section of the city, where the administration of the land took place and where the nobility lived. The more we walked, the less people there were, and more soldiers were present. They were training in cleared lots, strong and well-fed, and with their gazes on the man-sized targets that they were striking.

Eventually, he spoke.

“I understand little of the threat you speak of. It may even be hearsay. This may be a ploy of the Crown to have us lower our guard… but at the same time why would they waste the time? You have enough power to cripple us completely or savage our armies.” Bluntly, the blonde knight spoke with a grimace and a shake of his head. His hand twitched on the handle of his weapon at his side. His frown deepened when I barely paid it any attention. I shouldn’t have showcased that. I should’ve shown fear. It would’ve calmed him. “Those who lead us will see the same. It will be up to you to convince them of your request. Not I.”

My evidence alongside the diagrams and notes copied from the physician’s works was a sample of the creature. I was meant to give the dead, desiccated parasite over to their scholars for study. Though I had carried it with trepidation throughout my whole journey, it suddenly felt too light in my pack. Like a toy, rather than a creature that can devastate the whole world as I said.

They could not see what I have see.

All they had was my word, the papers I had with me, and the dead parasite.

With so little, I had to give these people who decided to fight against the crown even beneath an eternal night reason to stay their blades.

The task, already monumental, seemed impossible now.

But I couldn’t give up.

“I will do my utmost to make you see reason. This conflict can continue later. The crown is deserving of their fate, but if this continues now we will all become mere hosts or food for monsters.” I stated the matter as stoically and as confidently as I could. I hoped to make an ally of this man who came to confront me. However, when I met his gaze again, I found only suspicion and doubt. Not fear. I struggled to remain confident and continue with my head held high. “Take me to your leaders, I shall speak and convince the.”

I wished that I was half as confident as my voice managed to sound.