A Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts Chp 18: Interlude: D’jet

A Gentleman’s Guide to Fantastic Beasts Chp 18: Interlude: D’jet

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Commissioned by Sivantic

Wordcount: 2500

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Blood stained the waters of the oasis.

Blood stained the sands of the desert.

Blood stained my hands.

I looked into the distance and instead of rolling dunes, I saw a field of corpses beneath a perpetually dark sky.

My grip on my weapon tensed as I heard the call of the carrion eaters.

“Ready your arrows for the final battle of the day, Warriors of the As’Kari!” Those under my command heeded my call, as did all the others nearby. A glance at my retinue had my messengers go forth to inform my fellow commanders in the battle. “Our foes have been honorable in every battle we fought! We will give them the same honor today!”

I spoke of honor on behalf of my opponents, but I could not even recall their names.

How many tribes have we faced since my father started this war? How many lesser tribes have we inducted into our ranks by force? How many have our warriors slain in the desert?

I felt like a butcher, as did those closest to me, as we slaughtered all in our path.

Many of my men, and my myself, brightened at the thought of fighting monsters instead of our fellow people of the dessert.

I knew it was because of him.

The swarm came forth from the sky. They were man-shaped monsters with leathery wings, fangs, and baleful gazes. Quick, with the ability to spout flame from their mouths, and give out cries that alerted their kind. The other tribes of the Great Desert floundered against them, calling them ancient names, but against us they would fall in droves.

We took his knowledge to not only strengthen ourselves, but to destroy all who opposed us.

“Arrows!” I called out and arrows lurched forth from my warrior’s bows. They were bound in the same silk threads he enchanted and used as weapons. None could manipulate them as deftly and finely, but he left behind the technique and how to make use of it with greater ease. The arrows spun in the air, the threads spinning outward as they flew, and as they spread the archers filled them with power. They became sharp and taught, but remained as light as they ought, and sliced through the swarm descending from the endless night. “Spears!”

With grunts, many of my warriors threw their spears, which would normally divest them of weapons. However, we used the knowledge he left us once again. Whether they struck true or were lost, they returned as their wielders rewound the string attached to the bottom of their shafts. Their spears came after the arrows, as the archers nocked others and picked their targets, as they would be torn to shreds in the maelstrom of blades the archers would create.

It was a cadence, a call to action the repeated, until in maddened rage the remains of the swarm came towards us in pitiful numbers.

A swarm of hundred was reduced to nothing in naught but a few moments, and still they were picked apart as they approached, until I and the veterans were at play.

We covered ourselves in the bandages of silk as he did, beneath our armor, and by feeding it power we reinforced it against both mystic and physical force. The breath of the batlike creatures washed over us. Their claws found no purchase on our skin. Nearly indestructible, we waded into the charge, and broke it with our strength.

The As’Kari were made mighty in his leaving.

No.

He made the As’Kari mighty so that he could leave without concern.

In every battle I fought, this knowledge was made known to me.

I had done all I was supposed to do as my father’s heir.

I trained from dawn to dusk, I met with the powers of the tribe and gained their trust, and saw my people protected. With every teacher that I had, I learned all that I possibly could. With every task I was given, I searched fro the finest answer. With not a single complaint, I went forth and did all that I was meant to do.

He left us.

He left us without only his writings remaining with us.

Yet, with very battle, he outshone me thoroughly.

I was prepared for my warriors to die, for victories hard fought, and for the darkness that fell upon us to change our lives forever.

But his counsel spoke to the entire tribe and guided it.

My father claimed his writings the day he left, bid them copied and given, and what was found guided us through our war. Without hesitation, my father reads every word, implemented every stratagem he could gleam, and passed it on to those he trusted. In the writings, my father found vital points to amend his plans, and make his bid to conquer the desert… better.

Our warriors went forth from our tribes with great speed and alacrity. Upon our mounts we surged forward as our supplies followed closely, and we decimated what we could, while avoiding the battles we couldn’t fight alone. Messengers flowed between each group, as we met and guided ourselves by the stars, and we coordinated with one another even whilst continuously flying. We disrupted our foes for days before initiating battle, in which our forces were nearly always superior.

I had prepared myself for many deaths, to see my guards and warriors die, but instead they stood tall by my side.

I spoke to one of the veterans one day, asking if it was normal for so many to survive and if the stories of the past was meant to dissuade conflict. The old warrior smiled and told me that decades ago, the warriors of the tribe were not as strong as they were now.

His teachings regarding food for the entire tribe, for those who needed it to be purposefully fed more, and the periods of training and rest he prescribed had reforged our warriors.

He left.

Yet, still, I was in his shadow.

I heard a voice, drawing me out of my thoughts, as I carved through the last of my foes.

“H-heiress, please don’t leave us behind!” My retinue circles around me and I gazed upon my works. I lost myself to my thoughts and my training carried me forth. I left a path of destruction in my way that astounded my guards and warriors. Even the most experienced of my retinue looked upon me with respect. Much like my father, I was a force unmatched in the battlefield… but as I looked upon my forces, alive only because of the strength given to them by his actions, I felt unworthy. “H-heiress? Is something wrong?”

I turned towards the battlefield before shaking my head.

“No.” I stood upon the bloodstained sand as my warriors began to harvest the creatures for tonight’s meal. The bodies of the fallen tribe were being carefully gathered. Their weapons and armor would be taken, but all else would be returned to their people for proper funerals. “It’s nothing.”

I looked towards the tree of light, so far away in the distance, where he went after learning of the coming of more monstrosities.

He left to help others, knowing well that we wouldn’t struggle, and I felt as though I was the greatest fool of all. No tribe, but ours flourished beneath the endless night. There were others who could stifle the tide, who could attempt to hold out against the coming darkness, but only we stood and benefitted from it all.

Without him, even if I did everything as I was supposed to do, the As’Kari would be no better than the other tribes of the Great Desert.

I was a fool for allowing him to leave us.

Even if he disagreed with me, even if he spoke against conflict so fervently, and even if he chose to not become my advisor… I should’ve still done everything that I could to keep him within the tribe. Our world was changing into something more savage and brutal than we all thought possible, yet I let go our greatest asset.

No one blamed me for it.

He had my father’s favor and my father allowed him to leave, as was the right of all peoples within the tribe.

But, I knew that if I approached him as his friend, as the person he was raised beside, and who protected him… I knew that he wouldn’t have left.

He wouldn’t have left, if I decided to be someone more than the heiress of the clan.

That singular thought, more than anything else, brought a stark bitterness to my tongue that I could barely stand.

…

The messenger that came from my father arrived on time, as we shepherded the tribe we conquered towards the As’kari. Though we killed their warriors and brought low their leader, they understood that they were conquered and that their only chance of survival was to do as they were told. I mollified some of their anger my giving them their dead in proper shrouds, and properly guarding their movement, but I was no fool.

I made sure that no insurrection or opportunistic attack would take place with my excess of warriors in groups of four rather than pairs.

And, with that in mind, I rode at the helm of the single, great beast that they called their own and read my father’s missive.

The war against the united tribes goes well. They flee before us unless their forces are massed, which they cannot without risking their people. The tribes that united against the As’Kari were strong together and nearly our equal. With their desperation and knowledge of our might, their warriors fought with great zeal and splendor for the sake of their tribes, which gave them an edge even against our stronger forces. My champions are defeating theirs and soon their chieftains will be forced to take the field. They may come forward as three against me. If I perish, I have ordered my armor be remade for you. You will wear it and defeat the last. I will make sure to slay at least one and cripple both the remainders.

My father showed Will a jovial side to him. He treated him a younger son, never sharing with him knowledge that would compromise my position, but he sought to ensure that he would be with the As’Kari. It was a fine action on my father’s part, though he often struggled to recall his memories and actions as a young warrior, filled with joy, but he did it for the tribe. I saw that mask of him sometimes, but I knew my father as a chieftain more than I did as a parent, although I understood why.

He did more than I thought I ever could every day without complaint, as the cornerstone of our people.

However, when it came to missives between solely the two of us, he spoke his true thoughts and concerns, because he knew I needed to know to properly replace him.

A strange creature has been found. It killed two good, veteran warriors and injured another in a group of five. It was a powerful creature unknown to us. I have asked for its anatomy, but without Will’s knowledge, even with the tools he left, my scholars cannot do it within a day as he did. My father’s hand was steady and his writing simple. It was inelegant and my teachers would reprimand me for writing in the same manner. But for a man of his station, raised with less than I, he wrote well. I will have the information sent to you quickly, but if you find a creature that looks like a man, but isn’t, crush it with all your might. Do not send your soldiers after it. They are as strong as chieftains of lesser tribes.

The news was surprising, but I nodded at it.

The darkness was bringing forth more surprises by the day, which we had no choice but to accept and confront with all our power and might.

The conquest of the lesser tribes is going well. They are being absorbed into our tribe quickly, because of the outside threats. Once protected and fed behind sturdy spears, they become lenient. Do as I have bid and we will have all we need to lay claim to the entire desert. My father aspired to take the entirety of the desert. Before he wished to conquer it all, so that he could force the kingdom in the mountains and forests to cease giving us so little for our labors. Because we competed against other tribes, because we did not consolidate, we were picked apart and made week at the bargaining table when we could have all we wished. I have bid the women of the As’Kari to take up arms. Their able-bodies will support the warriors guarding our homes. There is no need to forcing those we conquered to fight.

Once again, I agreed with my father’s written words, but as I neared the end of his note I found myself growing impatient.

Typically, he told me of the rumors that came from the kingdom that created the tree of light, which Will wished to reach.

It has been a long time since I received any news of him, though I was promised to hear them from those he sent to shadow him and save him from death, if necessary.

My worries vanished when I realized that my father wrote on the back of the paper.

Only for a great anger rumbled through my entire frame as I read.

The kingdom abandoned much of their people to die. Will has formed a village to protect them and all others abandoned. Those who took him away cannot be found. The Kingdom has disregarded him. My people needed him more than ever, yet the ones he sought to help threw him aside. The immense creature I guided, which had upon its back an entire tribe’s livelihood, shivered and cried at as it felt my anger. Until I tamed myself, it moved with panic and haste that threatened the elderly and children aboard. I forced myself to calm down… and I did once I read the next words. When you return, take a force, and fly to him to begin trading. With good relations, we may convince him to return with the people he has chosen to protect.

A great weight lifted from my shoulders at those words.

Finally, I had the chance to make things right.

With that in mind, I cast my gaze to the stars and called for my lieutenants to check on the perimeter.

It will be days before we reach the As’Kari, and after that my troops will need to rest.

However, if all is well, I could reach Will soon enough and regain his strength for my people.

And, this time, ensure that he would stay with us.