ALL NOVEL Chapter 6: The Most Basic Wish
Woosh~
My name is Fred. I am a 20 year old man, or maybe 21… I don't know… I don't remember what my age is anymore. Not that it matters much. I live in Moon City, and work as a servant for Lord Quan. I am just an ordinary man trying to live. Even if that's the hardest thing a human can achieve.
As a house servant, I always woke up as soon as the crimson moon descended. Me and my friends' living quarters aren't that big, half the size of the barn out in the garden. It gets really cramped at night, but, hey at least we get to sleep!
Our first duty of the day is to clean the mansion thoroughly, not leaving so much as a speck of dust. Lord Quan's mansion is big, really big, and so it always takes a long amount of time before we are done with cleaning. We are then allowed to have our first meal of the day, I think they call it 'Breakfast.'
"Hey Fred!" I heard a familiar voice as I was grabbing my plate. I slowly turned around and saw one of my close friends, Khin, approach me with his 'Breakfast.' "Wanna eat together?" Of course, why wouldn't I wanna?
We both walked towards a wall and sat down on the hard ground, our plates in hand and our stomachs growling. We first chewed on the uncooked ration and then my friend Khin said, "Man, I feel like an old guy from all this work... Wouldn't it be nice if we received some breaks more often than not?"
"The mere fact that we are alive is already more than enough in my eyes." I said without hesitation as Khin gave me an annoyed look. "But what's the point of living such a life?" I don't even know what he is talking about anymore. We are alive, we are eating and we are able to sleep. What more could a person want in their life other than to live?
I shook my head and silently ate my food, while Khin continued to babble about all sorts of stuff, much of which I couldn't make sense of, but I still listened anyway. Me and Khin have been friends since we were kids, so I was more or less used to his gibberish.
It gave me a rare moment of calm.
After lunch we all had varying work. Some went to do laundry while others worked on farmland, some took care of 'animal livestock' while some had the task to take care of the 'human' ones. Thankfully I had none of that. Instead I had the task to deliver important things from Lord Quan's Mansion to Lord Semirun's Mansion. Lord Quan and Lord Semirun were brothers and lived opposite each other on the furthest ends of Moon city, so the whole trip took 2 days.
This task was much better because I got to stay the night at Lord Semirun's place whose living quarters for slaves were much bigger, and so I could sleep comfortably in my own corner. They also gave blankets!
Today I received one such task. It was a small box, the size of my palm. I received the order to deliver it to Lord Semirun's mansion. Just the usual things I thought as I put the small box in my bag, and left Lord Quan's mansion.
The path to Moon city wasn't anything noteworthy. It was a simple dirt road that connected to the City's outlet. Nothing too interesting, not too shabby either. The path is surrounded by trees of varying length, in fact the entire place is situated in a forest area. I simply walked forth, not wanting to be late to my destination or attract danger.
In about half a day, I reached the city's central area. According to one of my friends, Moon city is akin to a kingdom of sorts rather than a city. Not that I understand the difference between them, but I'll take his word.
I lower my head and slowly make my way through the 'city.' I have long memorized my route, and so I had no need to look up. I have gone through this place countless times, yet it still gives me chills. The atmosphere is cold, really cold and there is always this stench, a foul smell that invades my nostrils. Even though the 'Sanguines' have a better sense of smell than humans, this stench of sorts doesn't seem to bother them, in fact it makes them eccentric in a twisted manner.
I have never paid attention to this city in detail. Not because I was uninterested or anything, but because I always had this sense of danger of sorts. That if I dare to look up something bad will happen to me. My biggest goal in life was to live, and so I had no intentions of taking risks.
But this wasn't the case with my friend Jese, who seems to be really interested in this city. She had described it as 'A grotesque of buildings, bodies and flesh.' I think I vaguely understood what she meant.
But I need not concern myself with this.
Thankfully, I managed to leave the city without any mishaps. The foul stench still lingered in my nostrils, but at this point I was very much used to it. Just before the Crimson Moon rose, I manage to reach Lord Semirun's mansion and deliver the small box. I was then led to the servants quarter where I spent the night.
I don't know if it was just me, but the overall environment in the servants quarters seemed gloomy, as if something bad had happened. I almost wanted to ask about it but decided not to. It didn't concern me and so I had no reason to, and I knew better than myself to keep my curiosity in check.
In the morning, when I was preparing to leave, I heard a shrill noise. Since it was already morning, and Lord Semirun's place was relatively safe, I decided to check it out. I left the servant quarters and followed the shrill noise until I reached the garden area.
There I saw a bunch of people, their expression pained and some even had tears in their eyes. They gathered around the center of a clearing, surrounding a man. He laid there on the solid, cold ground. His skin pale, and his eyes devoid of any color. His expression lifeless, unmoving, displaying a strange sense of horror.
Besides him lies a woman, her head buried in his chest. She was crying silently to herself. I didn't even have to get close to know that the man was dead. Not because of his pale skin, or lifeless features but because of the bright red grotesque wound on his neck. His skin and flesh ripped out and his blood sucked dry until there remained nothing but bones and skin.
It wasn't anything new. I have seen this image countless times now. I simply turned around and made my way back.
Ignorance is bliss.
I didn't try to approach the scene any further than I needed to. Neither did I try to know how had happened. Not like I already didn't know.
Ignorance is bliss
I simply wish to live. I have no need to concern myself with matters that have no connection to me. I walked inside the living quarters, and picked up my bag. I then silently and slowly made my way outside Lord Semirun's mansion, turned and bowed. Then I politely walked off not wanting to stay a second longer.
Ignorance is bliss
…
One week later, I received another task to deliver a rectangular box, the size of my hand. Immediately I noticed the foul stench akin to the one I smelled in moon city, coming from the box. Okay, it shouldn't be too hard. I thought to myself as I packed the rectangular box in my bag. Beside me stood Khin, he curiously looked at the box and then at me. He then opened his mouth and said, "That smell from that box… Isn't that like blood?"
I didn't answer him. I simply kept packing. He didn't bother me either. After a while, I bid him farewell and left. The journey to Lord Semirun's mansion went smoothly with no mishaps on the way.
The only notable thing was a rumor I heard when I was crossing the city. It was about a man in strange attire that was spotted a few distance away from the city. Some of the servants of Lord Marqus and Lady Sheey ran into him. He describes himself as a 'wandering magician' that can grant wishes.
What a joke.
I paid no mind to the rumor, thinking it was just a baseless story. But when I returned to Lord Quan's mansion, this 'wandering magician' had become the hot topic of discussion over here. All because my friend Khin claims that he has met this magician.
"I swear to the goddess, I ran into him!" Khin exclaimed with an excited expression. But I wasn't buying it that easily, "And how can I believe you?" Khin's expression remained unchanged and he said in an excited, almost shaking tone. "I knew it! I knew you were going to ask me something like this, which is the reason I got this from that magician!" Khin put his hands in his pocket and pulled out a shiny accessory.
It was a golden chain with a circular flat object hanging from it. On closer inspection, the flat object appeared to be a casing hiding something inside of it. It had what appeared to be a pressable 'disk' of sorts on top. Khin put his thumb on the disk and pressed it gently, causing the cover to flip open.
Inside the cover was a strange mechanism of sorts, compromising various strange machinery. It had 12 weird symbols inlaid in a circular manner, and three thin flat sheets or sticks of sorts. One extremely small, one a little taller and one tall one. The tallest stick kept rotating in a flat orbit. It is strangely very beautiful, possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
"That wandering magician gave this to me! He said it's called a 'Pocket Watch'." Pocket watch? What's that? As if reading my thoughts Khin continued, "He said this 'Pocket watch' can tell the time of the day! Isn't this amazing?" Tell the time of the day? How exactly? Regardless, I have never seen something like this… Maybe Khin is telling the truth.
But then what was this wandering magician doing in moon city? Even more so, how hasn't he been caught by the sanguines? Various thoughts flooded my mind as it tried to make sense of this magician situation. But it was futile, I opened my mouth but before I could ask Khin any further, he went to show his 'pocket watch' to others. I could only close my mouth and silently watch as he excitedly went around showing off his little toy to the others, earning amazement and wow's.
In a rare moment, the cramped room was bright, filled with joy and smiles and laughter.
A small smile crept up on my face. I think… I like this.
…
Again? I thought as I received another delivery task, this time a glass encasing holding in it a bloody heart. I looked at the glass encasing with a disgusted expression before putting it away in my bag.
I bid farewell to my friend Khin who still hasn't gotten over his excitement of having met the magician. Oh Khin, how simple are you my friend? Never change. I chuckled and left Lord Quan's mansion.
Isn't the frequency of these deliveries increasing? I thought to myself while slowly walking on the dirt road. I looked up and saw black clouds hanging up above in the sky. The Sun couldn't be seen and the air itself felt a little heavy. Suddenly I had a bad premonition. I almost wished to turn around and go back, but I knew all too well how that would turn out.
I shook my head and focused on the path ahead. It is always a little dangerous when you are carrying a bloodied organ through a city whose inhabitants main course in food is blood.
In a few hours, I reached the moon city. Sighing heavily, I put my head down and began walking my way across the city. Lots of people on the streets today… No 'Saungines', not people... I thought as I kept my head down and sigh inwardly.
Suddenly the air became heavier and thicker. The bustling environment became silent as everybody looked up. I had a bad feeling. I slowly lifted my head and looked at the sky, the once dark clouds receding away and the blood red crimson shone brightly atop.
The Crimson Moon.
The Blood Moon.
I felt my heartbeat increasing, as crowds of praise erupted in my ears. "Praise the Goddess!" I heard the same exact three words back to back, from different voices, from different tones, from different people. And then I felt a chilling gaze landing on me.
"P-Praise the Goddess!!" I shouted instinctively. The gazes did not move away from me, they only increased in number and became more piercing, as if a predator eyeing its prey.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to run.
I slowly began to move forwards, slowly reciting the honorable name of Goddess. My voice was shaking—No, my entire body was shaking. Whenever the blood moon happens, the sanguines become more ferocious, deadlier and more bloodthirsty, sometimes outright losing control and becoming mindless beasts with the sole purpose of mating and devouring.
Currently, I stood in the middle of Moon city, a place inhabited by saungines, and it just so happened that there is a blood moon. How bad can my luck be? Regardless, I continued walking and eventually made my way out of moon city in one piece.
Thank the goddess! I sincerely prayed to the Sanguine goddess. But the danger wasn't over yet. The blood moon still lay hanging in the sky, its color intensifying with no signs of receding. Since I was now a distance away from Moon city, I broke into a sprint wanting to reach Lord Semirun's mansion as soon as possible.
In about a quarter of a day, I reached my destination. The blood moon has receded behind the dark clouds. That gives me time for a breather.
It was only then that I noticed an anomaly. The guards at the gate of the mansion were absent and the gate itself was wide open. I had a bad feeling again, yet something compelled me to go inside. I remained standing before finally taking a step forward and past the gate.
The garden that usually bustled with servants was empty, not a being in sight. There was an eerie silence which only heightened my tension. I slowly made my way towards the front door. I reached out and grabbed the handle as I began to push open the door. It creaked revealing the bloody content inside.
I saw a bloody trail on the floor and not far away a body of a woman. Her limbs were torn off and her flesh mutilated. I could clearly see her face whose expression had frozen in time. The expression of horror and pain. I immediately knew what had happened here.
Lord Semirun has lost control.
My body went numb at this realization. In my shocked state, the bag that I clenched tightly with my hand dropped to the floor creating a sharp noise that could clearly be heard in this eerie environment. Immediately I heard a horrifying growl, akin to that of a hungry beast, and the loud steps of someone—no something running towards me. I was not stupid so I immediately turned around and ran out, the approaching footsteps only becoming louder before breaking into a sprint.
As I ran outside into the garden, I quickly made my way towards the gate and ran into the dark forest. I didn't dare look back—I was too scared to. I continued to run through the forest, trying to shake whatever the hideous 'thing' Lord Semirun may have become.
At that moment, time became meaningless for me as I ran and ran for my dear life, extinguishing every bad thought that came to my mind, giving myself assurance that 'I will live'. The dark forest flashed past my eyes as I made one leap after another, avoiding the various obstacles on the way. I had never been good at physical activities like running.
But it seems fear can bring the best and worst out of people.
Suddenly my vision began to blur. Only then, did I hear the sharp noises of my own breath, the sound of panting. Under the effects of fear, I had lost all sensation of my body, and my primal instinct to survive took over, in that regard I had also failed to notice my own exhaustion.
This wave of exhaustion finally began to catch up to me, as my vision blurred further and I collapsed on the ground, rolling and tumbling, before settling before a giant boulder. Immediately I felt a stinging sensation on my right knee. I slowly tried to get back up only to drop back down. Panting heavily, I twisted my body around and raised my head to look at my bloodied knee, which had been scraped and mutilated badly when I had collapsed.
This can't be happening now! I cursed and tried to get up, only to tumble back down on my feet. The sensation of pain washing over me. I began to panic again. In my current condition, I wouldn't be able to run no matter how hard I try, and if I couldn't then I can kiss my life goodbye.
Only then did I notice the eerie silence around me. I calmed my breath and slowly looked up at the towering trees that prevented sunlight from fully illuminating this dark gloomy forest. After staying like that for a few more moments, I let out a sigh of relief. I had come to realize that nothing was chasing me.
Perhaps I did succeed in losing him... I thought and realized that I hadn't been chased since I left Lord Semirun's mansion. I had no interest in knowing the reasoning behind that, I was simply glad that I was still alive.
Still I can't stay here for much longer either… I nodded and looked at my scraped knee. I grabbed my right sleeve and tore it into a piece of cloth. I dusted it off and then carefully tied it around my wound, temporarily stopping the intensive blood loss.
I leaned myself against the boulder, and looked down, letting the fresh pain settle in. Never had I thought in my wildest dreams, that one of these days, this seemingly nice job would go so horribly wrong. I couldn't help but chuckle at my own bad fate. First the blood moon, then this…
After settling down for a little while longer, I felt the pain settling itself, and felt like I could move again. I smiled. Seems like my bad luck was turning around.
Then I felt the air changing, and a crimson hue settling in. Bright crimson light pierced the lush green, thick forest, illuminating everything and nothingness. Then I heard a sharp noise, an inhuman growl that seemed to originate from a giant. A devouring beast read to rip anything its eyes laid on to satisfy his hunger.
I slowly looked up from the ground, my smile no more and my expression terrific.
As a mere servant, I never had the opportunity to meet Lord Semirun in person, in that matter Lord Quan too. Hence, I couldn't tell just how much of Lord Semirun was left in the abomination in front of me. It was dawning a humanoid appearance, its eyes a darker shade of red than blood, its nails bigger than my arm and pieces of flesh that still hung from its teeth. The pitch black wings on his back complimenting his hideous appearance.
His dark red eyes, that seemed to be filled with indescribable madness, stared at me. Staring at its prey. Immediately I tried to get back up, only to realize my body had become paralyzed due to fear. I tried to command my body, my legs, my arms, my lower abdomen but nothing seemed to listen.
As my body became motionless, he leapt up from his position, his hand displaced in air, and his sharp nails pointing at me, ready to pierce me, and rip me to shreds. I closed my eyes.
I felt at that moment, an indescribable emotion. Despair, sadness, grief, loss... I don't know what it was. I had always wished to live, not to enjoy but to simply live. To be alive anyhow, even if it meant living a meaningless life everyday.
Yet this most basic wish, seemed too far fetched to ever be fulfilled. It hurt realizing it only in my last moments.
I waited and waited. Waiting for a sharp pain to take over all my body and my senses. I waited to die, yet nothing happened.
Still shaking, I slowly opened my eyes to see the hideous monster staring at me. It was not a look of madness, or that of a wild beast, but that of a calm and elegant man. Confusion began to wash over, as I couldn't help but tilt my head, my expression twisting to match my feelings.
Slowly "he" took a step back, bowed down and turned around raising his hands in a welcoming gesture, towards an individual that slowly approached me. This individual, a man, stood a few feet before me. He wore strange clothes, ones I have never seen before and a tall hat. His dark eyes, locked with my blue ones. A small smile on his unremarkable face. He took a step forward, stopping just before me. He then slowly extended his hand in what can be described as an 'elegant manner'.
"Get up, good sir. The dirty ground isn't the best place for someone as hurt as you." His voice strangely calmed my nerves, the panic and tension slowly washing away. I contemplated for a moment before taking his hand and getting back up on my feet with his help.
It was then I took a good look at the Lord Semirun, who had bowed down to this man, despite having lost control and turning into a hideous monster, he had seemed to have temporarily regained his manners. Yet, still shaken from the previous incident, I did not take a chance and got away from the man, leaning my back on the boulder.
I slowly asked in a hesitating, almost shaky voice, "W-Who are you?" The man's relaxed expression remained unchanged as he chuckled. He looked at me with an unfazed expression and said in a honey sweet voice.
"Don't be so tense. I am just an ordinary wandering magician." My eyes widened and the realization slowly hit me as the man continued, "You may refer to me as…
"Merlin Hermes."