I wake slowly today, unlike both the times I remember waking up previously. I am not distressed now; I can see, I can think. The sun has yet to rise, judging by how little light is coming through the window. It doesn’t take much for me to stand now, the wound doesn’t hurt much; it seems I should be fine as long as I make sure the wound doesn’t reopen.

There is a pile of clothes on the chair, just as Tarcon said there probably would be. He woke up first. It doesn’t matter much though. I turn around slowly, testing my mobility. Nothing seems to be hurting really.

As I go to change I find a wet rag on the chair as well as the clothes, and it doesn’t take much to figure out why. I change out of my clothes, then use the wet rag to wipe the dried blood off as best I can. I look at my skin. There’s a number of cuts, none of them very deep, but they’re all over. What kind of trouble did I get into? I think to myself. It was bad enough to make me decide to block everything that had happened to me. I look to my old clothes, which lay on the floor. I can’t even tell what I had been wearing before, the clothes are mangled and torn, not to mention soaked in blood. The clothes on the chair are not fancy by any means, but they don’t need to be. Function over fashion. I put on the clothes, which consist of clean undergarments, a pair of black jean pants, a white t-shirt, and a pair of black combat boots.

I open the door of the room and am immediately hit with the smell of cooked meat. My mouth begins to salivate. I don’t remember the last time I ate anything. I follow the smell through Tarcon’s home, taking note of how large the building and everything inside are. It doesn’t take long to find the kitchen, where Tarcon has already set the large table in the room’s center. I smile slightly at the sight of food, mainly bread and meat. “Pick a seat and help yourself kiddo.”

As I walk towards the table, Tarcon takes a seat at the very end of the table, the end where the food was gathered. I decide to sit just to his left. I want to be close to him, I feel safer there.

I find myself waiting for my host to eat before I eat anything myself. I also thank Tarcon again before I start eating. I seem to have some recollection of manners from before the incident. That’s what I’m going to call it, whatever happened to me, I’ll call it the incident.

“So, do you want to know more about the war still?” Tarcon asks me. I nod. “Alright, well, first, let me start off by saying that I think this war has reasons for starting besides what the two kingdoms claim as their reasons. The Steam Kingdom is highly defensive, and is more than capable at defending itself from the Ice Kingdom. The only problem is that the Steam Kingdom is not suited for offense, they train most of their military to use siege engines, because they normally use siege engines to halt construction by other kingdoms inside their territory.”

“Who started the fighting?”

“The Steam. I still don’t know what prompted them to attack, but that village never knew what hit them. The Ice and Steam were allies before this war started, and the Ice village was under attack by some raiders, and the Steam had sent some of its forces to help, and they did, but afterwards, the Steam forces turned their sights on the Ice village and tore it apart before they even knew what was happening.”

“Do you have any idea why they did it?” I ask, making no attempts to hide my curiosity. I don’t know why this interests me so much, or how I didn’t know about something like this.

“Most people think that the Steam is just trying to expand. They’re a landlocked kingdom, and they probably want sea access.”

“I take it you don’t agree,” I cock my head, he seems skeptical. I try not to focus too much on any one thing as I try to remember to eat while he’s talking.

“No, I think the new leader of the Steam, Starosta Sikar, has a hidden agenda. I’ve never liked him. There’s something odd about him.”

“What about the Ice Kingdom, what do they intend to do?”

“Defend themselves, Imperator Iemitsu has no intention of fighting back against the Steam. He has announced he will only resort to violence in necessary defense.”

I lose control over myself after hearing this, it makes no sense to me. I found myself angry all of a sudden and have to keep myself from shouting at Tarcon, “It sounds like the Steam has no reason to do this, why is Eletohm Company supporting them?”

“I hate to say this, but after the blows we took during the Corruption Raids, we were reduced to little more than a band of common mercenaries. The Steam offered to pay us, and our leaders simply couldn’t refuse. The war hasn’t been going on long and the Steam is still preparing for another strike, so we still have yet to actually do any fighting in this conflict.”

“What kingdom are we in right now? Does this kingdom’s leader know that Eletohm Company is planning to support the Steam Kingdom?” I begin to question myself. Can I really commit to this group, who seems to be supporting the wrong side in this conflict? I don’t have a choice. I need this, so I have to, whether I like it or not. Right now, it’s my only chance to figure out who I am.

“We’re in what used to be territory of the Metal Kingdom, but they abandoned it a few years back, and it has since become a haven for some pretty dangerous creatures, so none of the other kingdoms really want to try to take control of it. This city rests on the edge of that territory, right on the border of both the Ice and the Steam, but it’s still technically unclaimed territory, which is Eletohm Company came here, it’s safe from politics. There really isn’t anything else I can tell you about the war. Do you have anything else you’d like to ask?”

Tarcon and I had both finished eating about halfway through the conversation. I have no more questions, none that he can answer at least.


I help him clear the table and help him with a few other tasks. We stand at the door, ready to leave, when Tarcon holds out a piece of black cloth to me.

“What is this?” I ask as I take the cloth from him.

“I want you to use this to cover your right eye,” he responds, pointing out a mirror on the wall. I step in front of it, looking at my reflection. I look to my eyes before anything else. My pupil doesn’t look like his in the slightest, nor do my pupils look the same. My left pupil is round, just like Tarcon’s, but the right pupil is shaped differently, almost like a star, but with only four points instead of five. Their color is green around the pupils. With that detail viewed I take in the rest of my appearance; my skin looks fair, my hair is short and brown, and my face, like the rest of my body, has minor cuts and scrapes around it.

“Why do I need to cover it?” I hold the cloth at my side as I speak, looking over my shoulder at him.

“Your right pupil is very distinct, and also unique, I’ve never actually seen an eye like yours.”

“What does that matter Tarcon? So what if I’m different?” I am confused. Why does he want me to hide myself?

“Use your head Trexly. What would happen if whatever did this to you…” He points to my stomach as he continues, “Is still out there and decides to come after you again? You wouldn’t want someone or something to be able to recognize you and attack again. I only ask you to do this because I don’t want to find your corpse somewhere.”

“Alright,” I let out a soft sigh and stare into the mirror as I wrap the strip of black cloth around my head, covering my right eye. It feels odd, and I don’t like the thought of hiding my eye, but Tarcon is right, I can’t allow myself to get hurt like that again, next time I might not get lucky. “Can we go now?”

Tarcon nods and leads me out the door. I am greeted by a ray of sunlight right in the face. I am forced to close my eyes. I slowly reopen them to allow them to adjust to the lighting. I look on either side of me, and see two large stone walls. We are at the end of an alleyway that lies below the main level of the city. Buildings rest on the top of the wall and bridges cross overtop of us.

“You live in an alley?” I ask in confusion.

“My mother’s parents bought this house before she was even born,” Tarcon says, a smile on his face as he reminisces the past. “My mother and I both grew up in this house, and I simply couldn’t leave it behind.”

Tarcon starts walking through the alley, and I notice that there are no other houses in the alley, at least I assume not considering there are no other doors. We walk without any words, and no incident for a few no more than a minute before…

“Hey Tarcon, watch out! You got a pickpocket on your tail!” I hear the voice loud and clear, definitely from above me. I look up to see a man wearing leather armor, its style much the same as Tarcon’s metal armor, and holding a bow in one hand. I look around, trying to see where the pickpocket is, but I see no one. Twang. Why is he firing? I look up once more and find the arrow heading straight for me.

I roll to the side, pulling from what little I know. One thought moves through my head; Don’t die, stay alive. He leaps down from the top of the alley wall. Loading and firing another arrow. My eyes go wide, I know I can’t dodge this one, I don’t have the time, I’m still recovering from my dodge-roll.

“Kiyah!” I hear Tarcon’s grunt pound the air. I look to the side just in time to see Tarcon swinging his arm up through the air, a waraxe in hand. His axe collides with the arrow in midair, and he, to my complete surprise, cuts the arrow apart, causing it to fall to the ground, useless. “Spectron, how many times must I tell you to think before you shoot?!” Tarcon is obviously upset by this man’s actions.

“Wait, do you know this kid Tarcon?” The man responds, placing his bow on his back. “Oh crap, I am so sorry, I didn’t know. I’ve never seen anyone really traveling with Tarcon before. My name’s Spectron by the way.” The man, Spectron, extends a hand to me as he apologizes, offering to help me up.

I take his hand and allow him to help me up, “Trexly.” I say nothing more, I have nothing else to say.

“Trexly, I don’t know much about friendship, but I am fairly certain that you could say that Spectron is my best friend. We’ve known each other since we were what, five years old?” Tarcon says, calming down a bit.

“Well, I was five, you were seven.” Spectron responds, patting Tarcon on the back, a wide smile on his face.

“Aah well close enough,” Tarcon sighs, turning and continuing to walk, signaling us to walk with him as he places his war axe at his waist.

From there the walk continues without incident. I follow behind Tarcon and Spectron, who walk side by side, talking with one another.

Our walk ends at the gates of what Tarcon explains is Eletohm Company Headquarters. The gates are rather large, but also rather simple. This place is actually rather intimidating, and looks more like a fortress than a base. Spectron wanders off in his own direction after we enter, and Tarcon does the same after giving me directions to the recruitment center and giving me a clean letter of recommendation. I decided it best not to ask how he got the blood off of the paper. He then walked off, leaving me alone to decide my own fate.