It was a scorching day in the badlands.
The wind continued its fastidious effort in eroding every mineral into funny shapes.
The greenery kept its losing but commendable struggle in establishing any groundwork in whatever pockets of moisture it could find.
And through the paved road crossing it in an arthritic drunkard’s idea of a straight line, a cargo transport flew by.
“Well, there’s a reason they’re not called goodlands eh? HahahaOUCH!”
22 years.
Cass Burton had been married to her husband Butch Burton for 22 years.
Though they had known each other for 30, and had been in their logistics business together for 25.
25 years riding this old truck that was basically their son with him.
25 years of making this route at least once a month.
25 void blasted years of him making that same joke at least once per trip.
25 years of her slapping him in the shoulder to stop and 25 years of him not stopping.
If there’s any other sign that she was going to stay with him until death and then some, she didn’t know what that sign looked like.
Clank clank…
Someone or something then knocked on the roof of the driver cabin twice.
“Ah, the lass saw something prolly…” Butch said.
“Lass?” Cass exclaimed as she slowed the vehicle to a stop “He ain’t like no lass I’ve seen, that’s a good lad if I’ve ever seen one though.”
“What kind of lad has long hair though?” Butch said really proud of this shortsighted comment.
“Well if we’re gonna be that judgemental, what kind of lass wears that sort of suit?”
The object of their debate gently jumped off the roof and indicated to them to please wait a moment.
It actually surprised both of them that “please” was able to be conveyed wordlessly, but the Blazer had a politeness that transcended words apparently.
They saw the long-haired, white-suited Blazer intently as they made a small jog towards something ahead on the road. Cass and Butch tried to make sense of them based on how they ran, but they carried that big bulky thing in their back, obstructing the view.
“This would be so much easier if she talked, then we’d be able to tell from her voice.” Butch muttered.
“Excuse you?” Cass added indignant “Since when is someone’s role in making babies determined by their voice mister contralto?”
“Oh look, she found something.” Butch said, pointing at the source of their arguing.
The Blazer of long red hair, white suit, and controversial gender had spotted a group of frolickers in the distance.
Frolickers are lanky quadrupedal herbivores that breed like rodents and are only kept in check by the fact that they are suicidally stupid. Case in point, the frolickers in the badlands are known for having a tan-colored hide meant to blend with the arid land around them, making them look like just mounds of dirt.
And when they lay like that in the middle of a paved road they look like just mounds of dirt until a vehicle that does not care for such obstacles transforms them into mounds of gore.
The Blazer started kicking dirt and stomping to spook them while also grabbing the sides of their jacket and making themselves look bigger.
Two of the frolickers jumped startled and started running but the last one, the one with horns amongst them, stayed behind as if to cover the retreat.
It measured the Blazer, who stopped the jacket scare tactic and likewise started measuring the frolicker.
Cass and Butch let out a startled gasp as the frolicker rushed at the Blazer and seemed to hit them.
Seemed.
Yet the frolicker was on the other side and the Blazer was unscathed.
This Blazer evaded the frolicker so smoothly, so… minimally, that it had looked for a second as if the frolicker hit them. So small were their movements or even their apparent reaction.
Cass and Butch weren’t the only ones fooled, however. The frolicker, too concerned with rushing ahead until it hit something, kept rushing until they fell into a small ditch to the side of the road.
The Blazer, very expressively panicked in concern at this in a way that gave Butch’s assessment of their gender more validity, but they then jogged towards the ravine in a way that validated Cass.
As the Blazer tried to look down the ditch, the frolicker jumped out, startling them and the spectators back in the transport.
It walked past the Blazer, turned to them as if saying “you saw nothing” while puffing, and went the way of its two charges as if nothing had happened.
The Blazer looked on, rubbed the back of their neck, let out a sigh, and started jogging lightly back to Cass and Butch’s transport.
“He’s earning his keep so far, that much is plain…” Cass commented.
Cass isn’t the sort of driver that can run over a frolicker and act as if it was nothing, especially with remnants of it staining the front of the vehicle afterwards.
Frolickers are annoying for cargo drivers because even if they’re to one side actually mimicking dust mounds to the side of the road, the jumpy bastards might get startled and jump into the path of the vehicle anyways.
“She’s got one hell of an eyesight too…” Butch whistled after saying this.
Their exceptional travel companion finally reached the vehicle.
“You sure you don’t want to be inside? You’ve done enough by now.” Cass leaned out the window and asked.
But the Blazer just gave her a gesture that seemed to say “No, but I really appreciate it. Thank you” before jumping in a single leap into the cargo, and then gently stepping onto the top of the driver’s cabin before tapping twice to indicate they were ready.
Again, it was impressive how they conveyed so much politeness with simple body language.
Cass and Butch had seen their fair share of weirdness on the road. Everything from what seemed like a duel to the death between two naked men swinging at each other with light bulbs, to a frolicker that crossed a road late at night while standing in its hindlegs.
And somehow, this Blazer they had picked up on the road was amongst the top five at the very least.
They were finishing a run of supplies to a town near Station 44 when they saw someone collapsed on the side of the road.
Now, this wasn’t the first time they had seen such a thing, in fact, it was a common robbery tactic to play dead or Very Sick on the side of the road and then shank whoever approached you. But they both got the impression immediately that this… this one wasn’t one of those.
Maybe it was the well-groomed hair, the white suit, the weird lump of whatever they carried in their back, or how they were covered in a lot of blood that just made every instinct of being a decent person kick in and approached them.
They were two after all, at least one would’ve been able to escape in the worst scenario…
“Nah, the other would’ve stayed and either made the kid regret it or die too in the attempt” Butch said cheerfully about the grim scenario later.
Thankfully this Blazer was the rare decent sort and even offered to be their lookout on the road, an idea they communicated by… jumping in a single leap to the roof of the driver’s cabin and making “look out” signs by shielding their eyes from the sun and looking around.
“Where are you from anyways, Enio?” Cass asked.
The couple and Enio stopped to refuel both the car and themselves and it would’ve been rude to leave their lookout out of the meal. These stations required a log of all who enter and all who exit and that’s how they learned that the Blazer was called “Enio Herald”.
Enio stopped cutting their meat and pointed proudly at an emblem on their shoulder.
It was a sword buried to the hilt on the ground, with the hilt sprouting some leaves. It had the words “Prosperity through discipline” on it.
“Oh! That’s the emblem of uh…” Butch snapped his fingers as if calling back a name like it was a dog “The kingdom of Meriem, right?”
Enio smiled a proud smile and nodded enthusiastically before going back to their meal.
“That explains some things…” Cass thought grimly.
The kingdom of Meriem was a province in Valvion, renowned for their martial prowess. Whereas warfare in other kingdoms was a matter of numbers, in Meriem it was about quality.
Butch and Cass, however, didn’t know much about Valvion politics. But the tale of Meriem is one even those in the far ends of the explored Western Belt have heard of.
More specifically, the reason why Meriem is spoken of in past tense.
The specifics of it are murky even for those in Valvion, and the survivors don’t really know much either, but there was some sort of tragedy that upended everything and left the land inhabitable. Nobody knows to this day if it was man-made or natural… or what happened to begin with.
It all happened merely five years ago, so the diaspora is only now barely able to think about reclaiming their land again.
Cass thought that poor Enio probably didn’t say a word from some kind of shock or trauma, while also pondering if maybe their physical prowess came from some sort of training from there.
Butch’s mind did go to a similar place, but his thoughts were focusing on something else.
Enio’s suit was so pristine now, but how? When they found them they were covered in blood, and Butch knew a thing or two about blood stains, they don’t leave no matter how hard you try.
“Enio, sweetie…” Cass’ voice has turned very gentle “You’re a great spotter but we can’t really hire you full time, we have a job to do and I’m sure you have places to be.”
Enio gave her a firm nod that seemed to say “but of course”.
“How about we take you up to Station 51? You’ll have plenty of options there.” Cass said while patting Enio’s shoulder.
They nodded emphatically, as if thanking them while also excusing themselves for the load they’ve been so far.
“Good time for a trip there too!” Butch added “There’s gonna be some festival later I think. With lots of nice food and drinks.”
“Yeah too bad we have to load up and leave immediately.” Cass interjected in a tone that made it clear it was not, in fact “too bad”.
“Aw come on! When else am I gonna be able to try the deep fried skewers?”
“Never again if I have any say on the matter, mister high cholesterol!”
As expected from transport workers, Cass and Butch pulled an all-nighter and reached Station 51 as dawn broke… though in the Khanon Belt “dawn” is more like the end of a really long eclipse rather than the position of the sun in the sky changing.
Because that, for one, never ever changes to begin with.
Enio seemed used to those sorts of all-nighters too, since when the transport arrived at the loading station they were perfectly fine.
They jumped down from the roof, turned towards the driver’s seat and bowed.
It was an intricate bow, with their left hand crossed in front of them, the right leg behind the left one, and simultaneously bowing from the hip while also lowering until they were on one knee.
“Here.”
When Enio looked up, Cass was holding some bills in front of them.
“You were one hell of a spotter and that has to be paid!” Butch exclaimed, putting his wallet away.
Enio reached the money slowly at first until Cass pushed forward to indicate that they should cut that out.
“Take care out there Enio, the belt can use more Blazers like you.” Cass finished with a half smile.
This praise made Enio blush in a way that made Cass not be so sure about her gender assessment anymore.
Enio bowed profusely, this time less complex but repeated bows, before turning away…
…then they remembered something, jumped to the roof of the transport, picked up their scant luggage, jumped down, repeated the rapid bows, and walked away quickly feeling like they overstayed their welcome.
“…he… they’ll be fine, right?” Cass wondered out loud.
“I feel like she would’ve been fine even without us” Butch said while holding Cass’ hand “But we helped!”
“We helped.” Cass agreed before getting out of the transport and starting their next job.
Stations are the more bustling areas of the Western Belt. Unlike towns and settlements that sprout in between and off the road, they’re filled with Blazers that require a bit more civilization, locals peddling their wares, and any number of smaller transport companies like Cass and Butch’s looking to move bigger amounts of things between places.
Enio had been in a few Stations in their irregular path through the Western Belt, but Station 51 was surprisingly bustling with activity despite being so far away. Was this because of the festival that Butch mentioned?
“Station 51 is the last station before the Forsaken Belt. I bet there’s some statue or something that mentions it, let’s look around!”
Enio nodded to nobody in particular and went to the main street from the transport station.
The skeleton of a festival could be seen all over the place, the bare bones of sales stands, food stalls, and even a couple of stages. The expectation in the air was palpable.
As they walked through the place, Enio found a mural full of plaques, dates, photos, and names that seemed to detail the story of Station 51. They tried to read through it, but the words seemed to just enter their eyes and leave through their ears, nothing was sticking.
“So imagine that you have a pair of compasses, you know, the tool to draw circles…”
Enio rested their head on their right hand as if in deep thought.
“You’re drawing the circle and everything’s fine, but then I tell you you need to make the line go towards the center a bit.”
They frowned their brow for seemingly no reason.
“Now, you might be thinking you can just lift the compass and draw the rest of the line, but bear with me for a moment and let’s pretend that you have to do the sudden line while still holding the compass the normal way, you can’t lift it or change its width.”
To outsiders, it looked as if Enio was just nodding at the wall of information in front of them.
“That was the problem with the Forsaken Belt. Meteorotives didn’t work because the Forsaken Belt is more to the side than the orbit of the rest of Khanon.”
Suddenly, one of the diagrams in the wall made perfect sense to Enio, it was a map of the landmasses near Station 51.
“That’s when they developed Voidslashers, to be able to travel in a straight line beyond the trajectory of the Belt orbiting the sun.”
Now the photos of people near very rudimentary Voidslashers got their context. But then, Enio noticed that all of the photos in this wall had someone in common in all of them.
And then they noticed a plaque that looked more polished than the rest, as if it was the whole point of the wall and the rest was just decoration around it.
We dedicate this wall to The Voidbane, Nero Oakland.
Every new expansion in the Forsaken Belt is to his name.
May his sacrifice never be forgotten.
“First Voidslasher pilot… ran out of fuel just 51 meters away from land according to legend. Station 51 was actually the 17th Station built and there’s like 63 so far in the Western Belt…”
Enio lowered their head as if praying.
“But yeah, that’s why. Station 51 has so many people. It’s the main port towards the Forsaken Belt and it has that historical value… and I can’t believe we’re here! You’re the best Enio!”
Finishing their short prayer, Enio let out a big yawn.
“You know, you should splurge in a nice hotel room for a change, get a nice shower and whatnot.”
Any hopes for a decent night of sleep was foiled by every establishment ramping up the prices on the eve of a festival.
However, Enio found a small inn nonetheless. It looked on the verge of collapse and smelled on the verge of rigor mortis but the bed had a frame and Enio perked up immensely at this sight.
They laid on the clearly-washed-but-still-stained linens, letting the exhaustion melt away on them.
Enio was really fond of old mattresses. They were soft but not in the same way that a new soft mattress is, an old mattress was soft and had a story on its softness too.
Like the one Lionzio had, for example. It was dusty and old but it was some of the best sleep Enio had for a while.
And now it’s probably stained with blood, most of it not yours!
A groan left Enio’s throat.
They tried to push their mind into the more positive memories from Oldsteed Plains, the food, the cool wind, the menial labor…
The roar, the savage clawing, and not the one from the beast in the cave!
“And everyone wouldn’t be able to tell the tale if you hadn’t done anything!”
A trembling sigh left Enio’s lips as they idly scratched somewhere in the left side of their chest.
They were probably just tired, exhaustion always brings out the sour thoughts.
Enio decided to spend a few days in Station 51 to see the festival happen and perhaps recover a bit. Though where others would’ve spent their days resting or doing tourism, Enio spent their time working all over the settlement.
Nailing boards, feeding animals, loading cargo; some of it was actually just volunteer work too.
Soon, word of the “redhead Blazer”, the “mute Blazer”, the “Blazer with the weird thing in their back”, among many others started to spread and even net Enio a free meal one day.
Little by little as the week progressed, the festival started sprouting, like flowers at the start of spring.
“One day they’re not here, next thing you know it’s in full bloom, and by the time you start to enjoy it it’s gone with a breeze…”
Eventually, the day of the festival arrived and the volume of people, already notable considering Station 51’s location, seemed to triple overnight.
A lot of bustle was made about the opening ceremony, it was said that a royal would be participating, and oh how pretty she was with her long silver hair.
The ceremony started and a young woman with long silver hair, clad in a modest but really cute dress, did indeed take to the stage.
She started reciting the God Children Parable. Her voice was beautiful and crisp, her diction was flawless, her control of breathing and stage presence commendable.
“Is she really a royal? I’ve never met a royal that cared to learn a skill and she’s showing like… five at once.”
Enio’s mind was instead stuck in musing how quaint this was.
Opening a festival with a passage from one of the epic cycles was already quaint, but a pretty royal being the one doing so was the most picture-perfect traditional thing one could think of.
But then…
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
An earthquake shook the whole area, trading the bustle and chatter for screams and gasps. And at the same time, the item on Enio’s back started glowing through its bandages.
“Oh no… get ready…”
After the earthquake had passed, a voice started urging people to take shelter, but no sooner had this started that a tide of people started rushing from near the outskirts in panic.
Right behind them, shambling humanoids made out of glittering purple rock were sprouting from the ground and started marching towards the settlement.
All of the peacekeeping forces from the settlement jumped into action, from border guards to security staff, and their efforts seemed to be working except that more and more creatures kept sprouting from the ground.
Again and again this happens, are you sure you’re not attracting them? Are you sure the sword on your back isn’t the one attracting them?
Enio was about to jump into action and join in the defense but…
“Hold on, I know you want to help but it’s better if we go right to the source.”
Enio clenched their fists as if fighting every instinct built into their being by standing still.
Perhaps it’s better that way, what if you lose control again?
Enio saw the panicked crowds rushing, the shambling corpses taking clumsy swipes at whatever was near one of them, and their breath accelerated.
This has become a familiar sight isn’t it? And you’re the thing in common in every instance!
“There!”
As if they were a runner that just heard the signal to start running, Enio immediately became a red and white blur rushing through.
“Feel free to bash any that you find on the way, just don’t get too sidetracked.”
Enio rushed in as much of a straight line as possible towards a crack that seemed to have opened up in the ground after the earthquake.
The thing in their back, the big “sword”, was now shining ominously bright and pulsating, so much so that Enio didn’t need a torch of any kind to traverse the tunnels. The glow also highlighted the rocks that carried the purple glitter.
“Left!”
Without even turning around, Enio let out a punch with their left hand. And when they finally felt the impact and turned around, one of the shambling rock humanoids had crumbled to the ground.
Again and again and again and again and again!!
As they shook the residue of rock off their left hand, the intricate gold pattern in Enio’s clothing started slowly turning red.
It bled out into their face as if drawing a mask, and into their hands as if being gloves.
Enio tried to keep on the track of the glimmering rocks, but more and more of the shambling creatures kept sprouting from the ground.
They punched, kicked and evaded each with so much grace that they seemed to be made out of sand more than any kind of rock.
You’re no different from them though, why do you do this to your kind?
As they kept popping out of the ground, Enio’s movements became less graceful and more feral, but it wasn’t exhaustion or frustration.
It was pure, unbridled anger.
“Enio, don’t get carried awa-”
Why wouldn’t you get carried away?! Aren’t these the bastards that took everything away from you? No amount of violence will ever be enough!
Punch after punch, kick after kick. No matter how many went down a new one would pop from some nearby wall.
None of them stood back up either, they just kept walking on and on and on. It was like a slow cave-in that walked towards you instead of burying you.
Enio’s breathing accelerated, and as it did so, their sclera seemed to start darkening and the veins on their neck turned a sickly purple.
“-UO! BEHIND YOU!”
Without proper time to turn around, an impact that felt like an avalanche sent Enio flying against a wall. Behind them, a giant creature, like the smaller shambling ones of before but made out of bigger rocks had swiped Enio away.
But no sooner had they recovered their breath, they were already huffing and puffing in increased anger.
It dares lay a finger on the sword huh? How about you just let go, you already saw how things ended in the last cave you got stuc-
“Would you rather succumb again you idiot?!”
Enio seemed to calm down a bit for a moment.
“Maybe you need to stop being so stubborn and use me! I’m metal and you’re flesh. I can take a hit better than you!”
Enio pursed their lips and mouthed “I’m so sorry” before unholstering the “sword” in their back off their shoulder.
The giant rock creature slammed their other arm against Enio but this time Enio evaded to one side and started running on the arm, with the bandaged “sword” in both hands.
They jumped and swung the blade downwards toward the creature, but the blade encountered the roof of the cave. However, Enio put so much force into the swing that it still cleaved through a section of the cave’s roof and hit the monster.
“Enio! Take co-”
The big stone creature started glowing an ominous purple and then…
BOOM
It was a dull explosion sound. Rather than a blast, it was more like a shockwave. And the force sent Enio flying against the ceiling before falling flat on the rocky floor. Their sword separated from them in the blast.
How long are you gonna keep playing?
Enio winced in pain, trying and failing to stand up, their wobbling arms giving away at every attempt.
The bastards need to pay, pay for what they did to you and to her!
The sword pulsed frantically a few paces away, Enio desperately tried to reach it, their body was giving up but their spirit wasn’t. They clawed at the rocks in the ground as if hoping to crawl towards it.
Why do you hesitate? You know there’s still the heart of the lot of them left and your body has taken too much damage.
Their mouth started tasting metallic, their breathing grew thicker. By now their sclera had turned completely black and every bit of exposed skin was adorned with sickly purple veins.
But I can give you something harder than just mere flesh.
Enio was losing consciousness, but it wasn’t the normal passing out of exhaustion or blood loss, it felt instead as if their whole sense of self was shutting down.
Fight fire with fire, make the ba-
♫~
And then, everything stopped.
♪~
Instead of the constant buzzing of the cave and the voice in their head, there was a melodious voice filling their ears.
♫♪~
It seemed to make the wounds feel less awful, but then it went further than that and the bruises felt like just an itch from the past, and the exhaustion flowing through their veins dissipated like fresh sweat on a cool breeze.
♪♪♪~
The voice continued, and Enio snapped back into themselves to find themselves sitting down on the floor. They examined their hands and arms and all the purple veins were receding before their very eyes.
♪♪♫♪~
Enio looked around, trying to understand where the voice came from and saw a green glow on a tunnel above them.
To their surprise, the royal that was reciting the God Children Parable at the opening ceremony was there and she was holding some kind of wooden rod with a crystal top. By the time Enio saw her, green fireflies near the rod seemed to vanish and she started making small jumps down to where Enio was.
Once at the same level she ran towards Enio, extended her hand, and in the same melodious voice said…
“Are you okay?”
Forsaken Gaia – Chapter 4: The celebrations bloom from the ground.
Written by: Fernando Damas (@ironiclark)