Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 19

Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts 19

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Wordcount: 2500

Commissioned by Sivantic.

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The shelter was growing stronger thanks to the efforts of the people and their growing strength.

Consuming the flesh of monsters, training, and constant adversity keenly raised their ability to survive.

Still, they were split between two paths, just like in the As’Kari.

Those who fought and those who did not.

Some were not able to grow as well others, but they did not tarry. None present lived lives without hardship. Their villages were outlying ones where they did all that they could to survive. They could all easily die in Winter without proper preparation, so no soul wasted any time. Even those who could not train or stomach as much monstrous flesh contributed greatly by setting out to fish, tending to gardens, and fixing homes.

Their latest project combined all their efforts to sourcing stone for the walls. For now, they simply ferried large stones at the base of the wooden palisade and slowly built a waist-high, sloped hedge. It was hard work, but every stone they placed was a monster’s charge displaced from hitting our wall. With the simple addition of a trench filled with stakes in front of that raised, stone hedge, we increased our defenses admirably against even the most tenacious of hordes.

Without them, the warriors had no place to protect, a place to live within, and could not celebrate the fruits of their labors.

But it is without doubt that the warriors were lauded and envied.

The former hunters we gathered were different now. The training I provided, along with the instruction of the band of Knights that came, crafted them into true warriors. Before, most were only capable with a bow and spear, weapons meant to help them hunt. Now, they used the carved bones of their monstrous foes as swords or axes with skill and precision against the enemy. They knew how to retreat, how to hide, and when to strike. No longer were they simply tenacious individuals armed with hunger and bows, but warriors that could look at a battle and do more than just swing wildly at their foes.

They could hold their own, and through their efforts, the village found itself awash with supplies.

Hides and pelts of monsters necessitated the first construction of the village to be a place where the hides could be turned into leather. Then, the second construction was a butchery dedicated to processing the meat of the creatures. Now, a place for the carving and use of the creature’s bones and other pieces was being readied, with those skilled at the craft eager to have a place to call their own.

Slowly, but surely, the abandoned fishing village that we took was becoming more than a refuge or shelter.

It was coming to life.

The people of the tent city were all but gone, and they were replaced by a people who found a new home, and who wished to protect it. They had food, beds, and protection, so outside of their work, they searched for something else to do. Some began to tell stories, some started to forage on their own time and offer food that they cooked, and others trained under the knights. The exchange was in the form of barter, sometimes accompanied by debts, and so commerce arose.

I knew not how to govern, nor did I know how to properly administer matters of commerce, so I sought out those who did and spoke with them. Where they seemed to falter, I shared with them what I knew from my past life. Receipts, accounts, cheques, and all manner of things that aided the matter of scrip. I had little knowledge of the matter, and from my cursory memories I recalled that it would be somehow foolish to subscribe value and tying it to a physical object for reasons I did not recall… but I was merely an advisor and not an administrator.

I gave the people all the I could and let them use what knowledge I gave them to the limit, while focusing on my duty.

Increasing the chances of survival and growth of the people in front of me against the coming storm.

Every week that passed, the monsters grew in number or a new, stronger creature arrived with them. Some were named and known to the people through legend, while others were not, and they all came with the intent to murder and destroy the village.

If I did not stitch together the warriors, if I did not properly find the weaknesses of the new foes, and if I did not lash out against the enemy with all my might, while gaining as much strength as I could… then the village would fall.

It was a difficult challenge, but a challenge that I was willing to undertake, because the results were clear.

They listened to me.

They became stronger because of me.

One and all, the people of the village looked at me with gratitude and heeded my words when I commanded them to do something for their own sake. I had to restrain myself from being more than a physician and advisor, but even then my reputation and influence in the city was undeniable.

A part of me wanted to do more for the people… and that perfidious desire manifested itself as visitors arrived before the camp upon winged beasts familiar to me.

While all others could only stare, I moved forward to greet my kin from the As’Kari.

…

They came with such great speed from the desert that sand still stuck to their robes and armor. Clad in white robes upon which monstrous hides were strapped as armor, the warriors of the As’Kari landed their steeds before our gate.

It was a sign of respect, because they could have simply flown over our defenses and descended upon us.

They were five in number and each one walked in the killing fields of my village without fear, even as defenders manned the walls with bows at the ready.

Because they had descended as we were experiencing an assault from a horde, which they handily dispatched upon their arrival.

The lead warrior called out to me in the tongue of the Great Desert, instead of the As’Kari, although they knew that I was here. My leaving the tribe was known to all of the tribe and I was just considered as another from the Great Desert.

A potential friend and a potential foe.

Nothing more and nothing less.

That thought clung to me as the call enhanced by power shook the walls and made a few of the defenders flinch.

“I am Hash’Im. A man of the Great Desert. A warrior of the As’Kari. I greet another of the Great Desert this day!”

Their might was undeniable and I was but one against five armored, armed, and mounted Warriors of the As’Kari.

I had no choice but to return the greeting as the subordinate.

“I greet you, Hash’Im of the Great Desert. I am known as Will, and I have no tribe nor family.”

I expected a stranger’s greeting and a call for a duel.

In the Great Desert, strangers were offered a place in the tribe if they were found worthy of inclusion. Those welcomed into the tribe were acclaimed and expected to rise quickly, as they have proven themselves worthy and are expected to be mighty. I wondered if Kan’Is had blundered in his war to unify the Desert somehow and wished for me to return, but I threw the thoughts aside as the next portion of the greeting arrived… and not the one I expected.

“I see a tribe and a family behind you, one named Will! My people see your own and wish to offer gifts for a day that will be remembered forever by both our tribes!” I was confused by Hash’Im’s words for a moment, before I realized that Kan’Is chose to be cunning instead of relying on strength alone. Instead of forcing me to return by subduing me and forcing me to work for him while held in a gilded cage, he wished to barter and trade for my services. “We give to you today ten reams of silk, ten fine weapons, and ten sets of armor for these dark days.”

A good gift when the sun still shone and monsters rarely strayed from their lands.

In the endless night, where monsters came nearly endlessly, it was a grand gift nearly without compare.

I could not refuse it.

“The gifts are accepted with thanks. Our gates will open and both water and food are offered in gratitude.” I glanced toward the nearest guard. The man hesitated, but nodded at my simple command. A part of me wondered if I could accept such a gift on behalf of the people present, but I had little choice in the matter. The weapons alone would increase our strength a hundredfold. “Enter.”

The As’Kari warrior bowed deeply and so did all the others, and they all waited for the gates to open and enter with their flying steeds.

As they entered, I wondered why Kan’Is resorted to this when he usually preferred force and nothing prevented him.

That thought stayed with me as I watched my former people enter my new life.

…

Gale arrived from her hunt and looked at what was happening with a skeptical eye.

I’d shared my people’s history and customs with her intermittently, while I had trained her.

“They don’t seem as strong as you.” Her words were blunt, but she looked over each of the warriors with care and consideration. She was not underestimating them. In fact, she was doing exactly as I taught her and analyzing them as well as she could. “But they are stronger than the knights. All of them.”

I nodded at her words.

“They are trained to fight with each other and on their steeds. When they coordinate with one another and fight as they are meant to, they are dangers to even the mightiest in the battlefield.” Even the likes of Kan’Is would hesitate to take on an entire cadre of mounted warriors, especially those who equaled the As’Kari in quality. If he did not have his guards, many of whom would specialize with the bow simply to ward warriors similar to these off, then he would have to flee or risk death. Their spears, the speed of their mounts, and their teamwork could make short work of him, even with all his vaunted toughness. “They are the greatest groups of warriors that can be offered by the Great Desert Tribes. The number of mounted, flying warriors marshalled by a tribe is considered their full might, while all others simple enhance it. Those who win the skies wins the land.”

My student nodded at my words, before speaking once again.

“How do they fight against armed airships?”

My answer was succinct.

“Poorly. The airships underbelly and top-half are blind spots they can easily avoid. If they charge an airship from either the top or bottom, they will pierce it through.” The riders and their steeds trained night and day to be able to launch themselves in a speeding charge that turned them into speeding, living artillery shells that can only be quelled by another with the same amount of might. The warriors of the skies typically jousted one another in the skies until one side won, then they would decide the battle on the ground. “These warriors have much to offer… though you’ll need much to convince the As’Kari to part with one of their flying steeds capable of war.”

The massive desert wasps ridden by the warriors were powerful creatures, but combined with the warriors and the ingenuity of the Desert people, they were made stronger. Their legs were given hooked claws that could tear through armor, their poison refined through breeding until a single puncture could kill all but the largest of any tribe’s steeds, and finally their ability to fly was heavily cultivated.

Unlike the pilots of my previous life, the warriors of any tribe could descend and fight nearly on the ground with ease. Fast, mobile, and capable of changing from aerial to ground combat in an instant, they were dangerous foes that could slaughter entire contingents of warriors on foot with ease if given the chance.

Given Gale’s plans for the future, the chance to acquire the training, skill, and steed of one of these warriors was something she wanted.

And, as I had guessed, she nodded.

“What do I need to do to earn their trust and become as skilled as them?” Before I established this village, my thoughts were centered around retribution for the actions of the rulers against their own people. As time passed, my thoughts instead turned to protecting the people I had gathered and protecting the settlement that I established. I changed my mind with the circumstances, but that wasn’t the case for my student. “I need to become stronger.”

Her eyes bore the intensity of a person possessed with pursuing justice. I’d seen it before in soldiers that visited the hospital, who looked upon their dying or wounded brothers, and watched as they decided that they would not give their next foe and ounce of mercy, even if it meant dying themselves.

For that reason, I stilled my tongue instead of trying to convince her that violence was not the path forward.

I’d left the As’Kari after learning of their Shu’Ann’s plans to dominate the Great Desert with force.

But, I was not going to leave Gale when she simply planed to fight for those who she lost against a people who abandoned her and so many others to die.

So, I answered her.

“They will be coming regularly. You will need to train more, eat more, and practice all that I have taught you. The fact that I teach you will make matters easier… but they won’t train you on that merit alone.” Every word that left my lips felt like a betrayal to my oaths and beliefs… but what kind of person would I be if I did not stand against the actions of tyrants who condemned thousands to die after taking all they could from them? To do nothing against such people would be providing my silent consent. “So, stay close to me while I negotiate. That will set you on your path well enough.”

Gale nodded stiffly and followed as I walked towards my old tribe.

After gifts and pleasantries, it was now time to get answers.