NOVEL NEXT V11: Chapter 2
V11: Chapter 2
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Interlude: Khanrow
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I looked upon the carcass of the creature before me before looking to my adjutant.
"This is a young man of only six years of age?" The Merchants of the Marsh were inconsiderate of the ramifications of rediscovered technologies. Their alchemists and scholars toiled away in hidden lands and unleashed monstrous things upon the world. Enhancements passed down by the Ancients were difficult enough to accustom soldiers to, but the Merchants used the technology of the Scholars of the Skies and experimented with bizarre alchemical concoctions at the same time. "This is more a golem of flesh composed by mad alchemists."
The creature was bereft of any hair and covered in muscle. The only sign that he was of the Canine Tribe was unfurred ears on his head. The clawed and furred limbs the tribe usually sported were replaced by bronze limbs bolted onto the rest of his torso. In his opened chest, there were two hearts, one of flesh and the other of metal. One of his lungs was a canister with a pump in it, which was connected to a valve on his chest, which had held a vial of some concoction that we sent back to be studied.
The whole body was like that of our soldiers. Musclebound and strong, but there were also innumerable cuts and inlets for concoctions. This dispatched 'agent' had a whole satchel filled with various vials with which he could inject himself at great speed. His bones were bound and reinforced with metal, and we even found a device lodged into the back of his skull that interfered with a mechanical eye that replaced his left.
"Indeed, the mages have verified it thrice over. This is tangible proof of Sarala's suspicions… and his Majesty's foresight." I nodded at the Iterant, taking note of her unsaid praise. Their estimation of the King of Wisdom has grown to near fanaticism now. They may not hold every office or position of power, but they were also within reach of it. They would all do as he commanded at a heartbeat. An impeccable act of foresight given the nature of our enemies within and without the continent. "The Merchant's attempts to mass produce powerful soldiers have borne fruit. If they are finely armed and armored, then they will make for fearsome foes."
"They've found a way to make their coin go far." I admitted the truth. The reports I received on this creature resembled a group of skilled warriors fighting against a Conqueror rather than a Merchant. Their bones were nearly impossible to break, they regenerated swiftly from shallow wounds, and even deep wounds swiftly ceased to bleed. They were fast, strong, and had quick reflexes. Not enough to surpass an ambush by trained marksmen and skilled swordsmen, but with training and better equipment? We may have failed. "Send this body back for study. We need to determine how to deal with them."
The Iterant gave a nod, and I bid her a quick farewell before leaving the room.
Just a few steps afterward, and I was at a bustling street of the Merchant's capital.
The stench of the place was pervasive. Damp furs, unwashed bodies, and the runoff of businesses combined into a mélange that made masks necessary. Those with wealth could afford masks with filters and covers for their eyes. Those with less could afford a mask and replace them every few days. Those without tried their best with rags, but every so often their vomit would add to the mélange.
The activation of the Divine Engine of Life cleared the air, but there were no trees or plants in this section of the city that could provide succor. Parks and such only existed in the wealthier areas… and those were too closely watched for work to be done.
I made my way to a stall three blocks away.
Back home, I would've passed people at leisure, people eating a meal, or people simply conversing with some drinks at a small shop. Here there was only the constant rush of bodies. Laborers are bidding lower and lower rates per hour for their work. Contracted employees are doing their utmost to keep their jobs. The wealthiest didn't walk the streets. They were on palanquins carried by laborers and had guards to protect them.
Coins jingled in my pocket.
Though I spent years understanding their value, knowing what they were, they felt unnatural to me now.
The basis of wealth here was rare metals, and they used coins and printed money to denote that.
It made little sense when Citadels could produce gold and other precious metals without ceasing.
But what made even less sense was that people starved or were without homes here.
I took a seat at a stall for noodles, then ordered liquor. The owner of the stall gave a nod and gave me a tall bottle of clear, refined spirit. The bottle was closed with a small cork and some wax. Despite being as tall as long as my forearm, the liquor was not meant to be closed. Good enough to be used to clean and disinfect wounds, and strong enough to numb the pain.
It cost a single copper coin to purchase, and the same was true for a myriad of other recreational items for consumption.
I took a sip of it. Alarmingly smooth and crisp to drink, but I knew it was more than enough to get a regular man drunk within a few sips.
Meanwhile, in the nearest alley, there were people slumped against the wall and lying still. A few urchins ran in and checked who was dead and rifled through their pockets. What little victories that they had were in vain. When they left, they were followed by some who were merely pretending to be asleep, and their fates would be cruel indeed.
I drank the liquor aggressively and stood up.
My physiology allowed me to be unbothered by the liquor.
Then, I resumed my walk.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
This land was worse than the Academy ever was. They practiced slavery on an unimaginable scale. Every person in the slums had debts that they had to pay lest they be conscripted for labor. Those who owned their debt could take them and use them, but mainly they sold the 'contract' for work to the state. Women were found and taken away to work off their debts, producing more soldiers and laborers, while men were controlled, changed with machinery and alchemical concoctions, and sent off to fight.
Meanwhile, the true rulers of the Merchants led from their lofty towers, protected by Citadel Guardians, and trained Champions who will do what they bid.
They are the Academy remade into a more brutal and more efficient machine.
With that thought in mind, I entered a tavern, gave the keeper some coin, and asked for a name while giving a phrase.
The brawny, scarred man gave a nod.
"Third room on the left upstairs." He stated, before moving towards the door. He flipped the sign outside to closed and no vacancy. "You have an hour. Leave through the attic. Tell him he needs to get out without making a fuss this evening."
I gave him my thanks before going through the doors.
In there was a young man of the Bear Tribe, but not a normal one.
Someone who we believed was an escapee of the Merchant's secret projects.
At worst, a live subject for our investigation into how they're changing people.
At best, a possible route towards curtailing those projects until the true enemy arrives.
Though I wished to see them destroyed, the King of Wisdom's strategy was sound.
It was better for these troops to exist, because they will allow for the Merchants to hold their ground against the nightmares to come.
"You have a job for me?" The young man was no more than nine years old, but he sat on a bed like it was a stool. His frame was massive, and if he stood tall, he'd likely hit the roof of the small room. His muzzle and nose twitched beneath the massive hood of the cloak he wore. "No women and no children, Descendant."
He saw through my disguise through scent, though I masked it well enough for others.
My gut told me to tell him the truth, and whenever I followed that path, I avoided grave dangers and stumbled onto unforgettable miracles.
Just one miracle, in truth.
"I am a spy working on behalf of the King of Wisdom." I pulled back my hood. My face was bare and young. None would recognize me. The name Ghor Khanrow was long forgotten. A footnote in recent history. At most, there was a nice statue in a memorial at a plaza that most people simply passed by. "We are in search of the new soldiers being composed by the Merchants of the Marsh. You stepped into our net, but after observation, we found you didn't operate under the same rules as they did."
The giant of a child leaned forward at my words.
"And, under what rules do they operate, agent of the King of Wisdom?" I had to wonder if he knew some method of discerning the truth or if he believed my words for some reason that I did not understand. Whichever was the case, there was no reason for me to not accommodate him. "I bid you to tell me what those depraved creatures are doing with my brothers and sisters. I will consider it a further extension of the trust you've shown me."
"They operate out here with the intention of taking over operations deemed illegal by the Merchants. Primarily those who work to smuggle people out of the city." Citadel Guardians patrolled the roads, but with the current conflict between the Merchants and Forgers, they were stretched thin everywhere else. Conscripted young men acted as hunters, but they were ineffective. So, now, the Merchants sent out their new super soldiers. "They're dismantling anything larger than one or two trappers making some money on the side. Anything organized vanishes overnight."
The great, shadowed creature sitting on the bed leaned back.
"That explains the disappearance of a few individuals that I was looking to help me. I had planned to leave within the year." I wondered how this one was so much smarter and more capable. He was eight years old. Was he akin to the King of Wisdom? "You know of my age, but you seem unsurprised. No. Experienced. I heard tales of the King of Wisdom and how he gained his crown at a young age… but I had always believed he was merely surrounded by capable lieutenants left behind by those who installed him as king."
I could not help it.
I laughed and shook my head.
"No. He ruled in truth from the moment he took the Citadel. All others raced to simply support him." I told him the truth, and the great, immense child in the body of a destroyer seemed startled and humbled at the same time. "I thought you may have been born with the mind of an Ancient, as he is said to be. But it appears that you are simply a very brilliant child whose will was not taken by the Merchants as they changed you."
The child was quiet for a long time, and even when he spoke with a voice like thunder, he sounded very much like a lost child.
"It was painful. Every moment was agony. Those who obeyed were treated better by the small, green men in white. They were the first to get their skulls opened, and they came back changed. I pretended to be dumb, and I left before they could open my mind and turn me into just a weapon like all the others of my tribe." He leaned forward into the faint light cast into the room by a singular window, then took off the hood on his head. Two black eyes stared at me upon an unshaven bear's head. He lacked any of the scarring on his skull shown by the other child operated upon by the Merchants. The green men, I suspected, were Scholars of the Skies. "Are you here to destroy their efforts? To see them destroyed?"
I shook my head.
"We've judged the current efforts of the Merchants to need to be slowed but not destroyed. There are greater, more terrible threats coming from beyond the continent. Creatures that the Merchants will need these new soldiers for." Once again, I did not lie to him. A low rumbling sound came from him. An unsettling growl of frustration. I met it with a singular nod of acceptance. "They will pay in time. The scholars and merchants will be reviled through all of history after we take their citadel. Future generations will know that they have taken children and forced them to become machines of war. However, there must be a history to write after all the calamities to come. That is why we have not assaulted these lands ourselves for their citadel. If we did, then we will all die to the foes of the Ancients, whose explorers and spies are already here."
The growl echoed through the room for a time, but soon enough the child's shoulders slumped.
"At least, they will be remembered as heroes and warriors. Not as the brutal enforcers that the Merchants intended them to be." The giant looked at me, and I nodded. "Fine, then. What do you ask of me, agent of the King of Wisdom? What do you intend for my talents?"
"To see if they can be reversed, most of all. We already have the means to undo the improvements made to our soldiers. We'd like to see if the same can be done here." The child's excitement at my words was palpable. I had the entirety of his attention. Of course, he was a child that was intelligent beyond his years. He knew that having such changes in his body forever was not ideal. "We would offer that to you first, and after its success, you may become a citizen and live the rest of your life in peace. Perhaps with us making sure that nothing is wrong with you."
For a moment, I thought he'd accept that offer.
The offer to be normal.
But he said just a minute or so ago that he intended to spend a year here before leaving.
With all his power, strength, intellect, and will?
That pointed to only one possibility.
"I wish to fight against the Merchants in any capacity that you will provide. So long as it is to act against the monsters who dare call themselves our fathers and mothers, I will work with you." The answer that I wished to hear came forth. I nodded and took out one of two maps I had prepared. The way for him to find a normal life remained in my pocket. I could have offered it, but I did not. "We will never see one another again, will we?"
I shook my head and left the room.
A good asset to have here and to gather combat information from was now at my disposal.
Nothing more and nothing less.