Foes and Heirs: Segment Two: The New Life

SEGMENT 2 – THE NEW LIFE

“You will never understand the true meaning of your life, until you travel and experience how others are living theirs.”

5:

“Aaaand… touchdown!” Cheered Azura Wilder as her brother guided the Origin onto the ground, setting the ship down as gently as he could, given that it was his first time piloting the thing. “You did it!”

“Did I?” Her brother looked out of it as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes. “What, uh… what time is it?”

“Iamos, it’s, like, past seven!” Azura blurted. “You’ve been flying for ten hours?”

At her words, Iamos exhaled and laughed softly to himself.

“No wonder I feel so tired.” He muttered.

“Yeah, no duh!” Rolling her eyes, Azura leant forward and ruffled her brother’s hair. He groaned in response.

“Don’t do that.”

For her part, Azura simply flashed him a coy smile before turning on her heel and practically skipping away, listening to the clank of her feet on the ship’s metal floor. She had to admit, she was growing to love the sky boat. Something about the hum of the engines and grinding of the mechanics was soothing, and she had found herself falling asleep the previous night faster than she could remember. It didn’t help that she had the unfortunate habit of having bad dreams, so she would often wake up early and have to wait for her brother to come and calm her down. Though, that seemed to have not happened this time. Which was good, because her brother had been busy driving the ship and he wouldn’t have had the time to stay with her – which was fine. She understood.

“We’d all be dead if big brother had stopped flying during the night.” Azura mentally reminded herself as she walked happily up the rusting set of stairs that led to the largest room, at the top of the ship. It was something like ten meters by ten meters wide, and there was a big round table in the middle of it, made of wood and with some chairs beside it. A perfect meeting place.

Already sat around it were Loden and Daiyu, who looked pretty tired themselves (though not as tired as her brother), as they had spent a portion of time scouring the ship to see how big it was and how many rooms there were.

“We landed?” Loden asked, as Azura wandered into the room.

“We landed.” Confirmed Azura. Loden clapped his hands, making Daiyu jump.

“Great.” He declared. “Now we can discuss what happens next.”

“Why do we need to discuss?” Whined Azura as she plonked herself down on a chair. “Why can’t we just go… wherever we want to go?”

“We have to decide where that is first.” Loden told her, to which she frowned and folded her arms. Sure, she guessed it made sense, but she didn’t like how everyone had to meet and talk about it.

“Couldn’t we just put some places in a hat?” She protested.

“Do you have a hat?” Asked Loden back.

Azura’s face fell. “No, I forgot mine.”

“Well we can’t very well put place names in a hat if we don’t have a hat.” Loden informed her, like she didn’t already know. “Look, we need to focus on this.”

He pulled a battered bit of paper out of his pocket.

“What… what is that?” Daiyu asked, saying something for the first time since Azura had entered the room.

“It’s a map.” Loden told her, as he unrolled it and began to peer at it again. “It looks like it encompasses the entire continent.”

“Let me see!” Azura sprang forward to have a look for herself. When she saw, she glared in disappointment. “It doesn’t look special.”

“Well, I don’t know. I’m not an expert.” Loden shrugged. “Iamos seemed to think it was-”

“Rainer.” Iamos interrupted, entering the room. Azura considered flinging herself at her brother but stopped herself when she saw how tired he looked – honestly, he seemed to be about to fall over even without her help – so she settled for waving vigorously.

“Master was the one who emphasised its importance.” He continued, plodding forward before collapsing into a chair. “I don’t… know why. But I… I trust him.”

“Yeah, could we have some background info?” Loden pressed his friend. “I mean, why was our house on fire?”

“I don’t know.” Confessed Iamos. “I mean… there was a man. Another alchemist. And he… he fought Master, they duelled with alchemy. And Master told me to get the map, and get the Origin-”

“The what?” Azura spoke up. “What’s an Origin?”

“That’s the name of the ship, Azura.” Explained Iamos.

“What kind of name is “Origin”? Or “The Origin”, or whatever it’s called? We need a proper name for our ship.”

“And what do you have in mind, o authority on naming flying ships?” Loden asked her.

“Uh…” Azura was forced to ponder the question. ““Big Metal Floaty Thingy-Thing”?”

“Yeah, we’re sticking with the Origin.” Declared Iamos, sinking back in his chair and letting breath slip through his lips. “Look, feel free to make a plan without me. I’m going to go to sleep, because I feel like I could slumber in this bony wooden chair if I tried, so just tell me what you have in mind when I wake up.” Having said his piece, he rose onto shaky legs and plodded down the stairs.

“See you later bro!” Azura called after him. He raised a hand in acknowledgement before vanishing.

“So…” Loden said once Azura’s brother had vanished. “Where even are we going, anyway?”

“We need to sort out a list of priorities!” Azura stated. “What do we need?”

“I didn’t find any food on board.” Contributed Daiyu. “We’ll need some.”

“Got it!” Chirped Azura. “What else?”

“We have no idea what these engines run on, do we?” Loden thought, an unusually pensive expression on his face as he spoke. “Someone needs to look into that.”

“I can do that!” Azura volunteered, remembering the nice noises of the engine. “AND I can check and see if they’re broken or not!”

“Uh… okay, Azura.” Loden nodded, letting her see his smile. “So we’ll need food, and we might need fuel. Where’s the nearest place we could get some?”

“Can I see the map?” Asked Daiyu. “I know the country pretty well.”

“Right, of course, ‘cus of your…” Loden trailed off as he gave the scrap of paper over to Daiyu, who peered at it before nodding in a confirming sort of manner.

“Yes, I… look.” She turned the map around and pointed at a dot on it. “This is the nearest city that I remember.”

““Phek-kai”.” Recited Loden. “What’s that city like?”

“Actually, that’s the capital of our Empire.” Daiyu revealed. “I think. In any case, it’s, uh… it’s a big city. Supposedly the Emperor and his family live there…”

“Well, that looks like a good place to head. How long d’you think it’ll take using this ship?”

“Well, i-it would help if we knew exactly where… where we are.”

“I could always go for a bit of a wander?” Loden suggested.

“I… okay. You’ll need to look for a sign or something.” Daiyu advised him. “All we need is our location, so once you find something, come back.”

“As you wish, ma’am.” Loden shot her a grin and a mock salute, before sauntering down the stairs. Daiyu then turned to Azura.

“Do, um… do you want to go down… to… to the engines?”

“You got it!” Azura declared, almost tripping over her own feet in her hurry to descend to the engine room.

Her feet were once again echoing through the ship’s corridors, and once again Azura slowed down to appreciate the sound. It wasn’t like he had walked on pure metal before, after all. Heck, being surrounded by so much was a new experience in itself. If this was her new life, she was okay with it and then some.

The engines themselves, she remembered as she found the engine room, looked like giant eggs from the outside. But inside was a mess of wiring and cogs and so many other cool mechanical things. Azura peered into the dimly lit room. There were a few gauges on the sides of different machines, so she looked for the one marked fuel (as anyone else would logically do when looking for a way to check how much fuel the engines had). Eventually, she saw one marked “fuel levels”. Luckily, the indicator thingy was still in the green section of the colour-coded ticker – so unless whoever built the engines was colour blind, they still had plenty of fuel left.

“Good.” She said out loud. Without fuel, they wouldn’t be able to get anywhere, and that would be a disaster. A travesty. An utter catastrophe, even. She wanted, some might even say desperately, to go somewhere.

**********

A significant amount of time had passed before Loden had returned. Azura herself couldn’t possibly say how long, because she had spent the whole time examining the engines, but it was long enough that when she heard Loden’s voice and tried to stand up, her leg cramped and she had to give it a bit of a hasty massage before rising and hobbling after him.

She saw him in the corridor, and called after him. “Loden!”

He turned around where he stood. “Oh, Azura!”

“So where are we?”

“We’re outside a village called “Zutaros”.”

“I… have… absolutely no idea where that is.”

“Well, with any luck, Daiyu will. Or at least, it’ll be on the map.”

“Goodie!”

With no more words required, the two hurried up to the meeting room, where they saw Daiyu asleep and leaning across the chair.

“Daiyu!” Azura bellowed as she entered, causing the ravenette jerk awake with a shriek. Whoops. She had never been one for gradual awakenings.

“I-I-I – what – where?!” Daiyu sputtered before seemingly regaining her senses.

“The nearest village is called Zutaros. Is that on the map?” Loden asked her.

“L-let me check.” Daiyu’s hands shook as she brought the map closer to her face. “Y-yeah, it’s o-on here.”

“How far away is it from Phek-kai?” He pressed.

“Not too far, by the look of it.” Daiyu informed him. “Maybe another few hours? I… I guess it depends how fast the ship is.”

“Let’s hope it’s nothing longer.” Azura looked down at her stomach as it growled a rather unpleasant growl. “My stomach’s beginning to realise that breakfast hasn’t arrived yet.”

“It might be longer, Az. Iamos needs to sleep, remember?” Loden pointed out.

“Shoot, you’re right.” Said Azura. “Can I wake him up?”

There was a brief silence. Eventually, Daiyu turned to Loden.

“H-how long has it been?”

“At least a couple ‘a hours.”

“And how much sleep can… can Iamos function on?”

“He’s a deep sleeper, and he doesn’t get much. If we wake him now, he’ll be cranky, but he should still function until we get to Phek-kai.”

“Then I’ll go wake him!” Volunteered Azura, thundering down the stairs before either of the others could stop her. “Big brother! Big brother! We need you!”

There was no reply. Azura, on her quest to find her brother, began to poke her head through every door she came across, calling his name each time she did so. She had gone through almost every door of the ship before automatically sticking her head through the cockpit door and seeing Iamos curled up on the three seats, which he had dragged into a line for him to lie on.

“Big brother!” She cooed, marching forwards and leaning over him. “We need you to fly us to Phek-kai!”

“To where?” He groaned, turning over so his face was pressed against the back of a seat.

“To a city!” She emphasised. “We can only get there by flying!”

“Okay, can I just…” He groaned and shifted himself into a sitting position. “Right. Flying… ok, I’m going to need someone to be here with me.”

Azura raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Two reasons.” Her brother held up two fingers, scratching as his few-days old beard as he did so. “So that they can guide me, because I have literally no idea where fleck kai or whatever is. And so that they can stop me from falling asleep in the chair. Because this chair is comfy.”

“Fair enough.” Azura conceded. “I’ll get Daiyu, is that ok?”

“Fine.” He waved her off. “She’ll be quiet, at least.”

“Good luck, bro!” She called over her shoulder as she headed back to the meeting room for a third time. Poking her head above the floor of the higher room, her eyes met Daiyu’s lilac irises for a brief moment before the other girl looked away.

“Iamos needs you to show him where to go and keep him awake.” She explained.

“I… uh… okay.” Daiyu nodded, and Azura hopped up the last few steps before motioning to her, who in turn travelled down them on her way to the cockpit. Once the sound of her footsteps stopped, she turned to Loden, who was looking at her with an inquisitive grin on his face.

“What do you think?” He asked. It was Azura’s turn to smile.

“Oh my gosh they’re, like, perfect together.”

“Think so?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, well don’t try and interfere. Most of the time this stuff doesn’t work out because of… uh… external interference.”

“Ok.”

“And you have to not be sad if it doesn’t happen, because sometimes…” Loden’s smile faded away. “Sometimes these things just don’t work out, you know?”

“I know.” Azura nodded, trying to act as sagely as her brother but probably failing because she was still grinning like a maniac. When Loden’s smile returned, it looked more tired than she remembered it.

“Now,” he said with what struck her as forced enthusiasm, “let’s get to Fekky!”

“Is that what we’re calling it?”

“Yep.”

“Fine by me.”

**********

The hours passed slowly.

Azura passed her time by either gossiping with Loden, meandering around the ship (and getting to know where everything was because she wasn’t really good with directions) and lying in the engine room, listening to the hum – no, it was more like a purr, like there was a big cat beside her – of the engines. She had decided that it was her new favourite sound. Something about it was just so…. soothing. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It was like how her brother liked the smell of old books, but didn’t really know why. It was just one of those things, she supposed.

She had found a nice space to lie, just underneath a jutting metal box with a bunch of wires sticking out of it. It was about as high as a table, so there was enough room for her to turn over and stuff. A couple of cables draped over her as she lay, which was a bit annoying and probably unsafe, but aside from that it was really nice, with the heat emitted by the machinery stopping her from getting cold and fan she had positioned her face under stopping too much dust from getting up her nose.

A way she had found to not die of boredom was to look at all of the different symbols and diagrams decorating the various metallic components of the engines, and try to figure out what each one stood for. Some were obvious, like a symbol that looked like a flame was probably a warning against fire. But some, like that one that looked like a circle with a line through it, were more difficult. No ball games? Not to be left out in the sun? Ah well.

It was after not only her leg but her entire body began to cramp up that Azura decided to cut her losses and emerge from her shelter, brushing grime from her long hair as she stood up and began to tramp back up to the meeting room, where Loden was sat.

“I’M BORED!” She announced as she entered the room, before taking a seat opposite him and peering in his general direction. “Entertain me.”

“There is literally nothing to do on this ship.” Complained Loden, in response. “There’s nothing I can really help you with there, short stack.”

“This is serious business, Loden.” Azura complained right back. “What’s the point of going on awesome magical adventures if we’re just gonna be bored the whole frikin’ time?”

“Heck if I know.” Shrugged Loden. “I don’t even know why Iamos wants to go through with this anyway.”

“Good point.” Mused Azura. “Why couldn’t we just stay in the village until whatever was happening there had stopped. What even was happening, anyway?”

“Didn’t you hear?” Loden leaned back in his chair. “Someone attacked Rainer and burned the house down.”

“Yeah, I know that.” Azura found herself shuddering. She hoped Rainer was alright. “But I want to know WHY. Like, just why?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Said Loden. “But whatever. Maybe after Iamos rests we can convince him to take us ba-”

“Don’t even finish that!” Growled Azura. “Don’t you even want to go anywhere!?”

“Not really. I kinda just want to head back once we’ve made our Phek-kai pit stop.”

“You haven’t even considered that something important slash awesome might be happening?”

“Of course I’ve considered it.” Snapped Loden. “Our frikkin’ house burned down! But, I… I dunno. I guess I just thought we could sort it out within a couple of days, or something.” He glowered at the table below him. “I didn’t sign on for anything longer than that.”

“Well, feel free to get off when we reach Pekky!” Azura told him.

“No way in anything.”

“Well I- wait, what?” Azura found herself understandably surprised at Loden’s statement. It was a bit of a contradiction, to say the least. “I thought you…?”

“I may not like what’s going on, but I’m not abandoning Iamos for anything.” He said.

“I… uh… ok.” Azura nodded, ever so slightly dazed, before heading back down the stairs where she tried to process Loden’s actions, which really were quite inconsistent. As her brother would have said…

“This requires ponderage.” Azura stated out load, before stalking back to the engine room. For another lie down.

However, before she could get there, she felt the ship lurch again.

And it didn’t righten itself.

Worried, she ran to the cockpit, where she saw Iamos and Daiyu staring as the ground rushed towards them.

“What are you two doing?” She almost shrieked. “Are we crashing? Why are we crashing?!”

“Relax!” Ordered Iamos, irritation evident in his sleep-deprived voice. “It’s called a landing, Azura. Just let me…”

He tugged on the wheel, and the ship stabilised with a jolt, hovering just above the ground.

“Daiyu!” He said. “Button!”

Nodding, Daiyu pressed a button to her left. Azura heard a faint sliding noise, and Iamos brought the ship down onto the ground with a final tiny jolt.

“Well, we’re here.” He showcased with a wave of his hand towards the glass. “Phek-kai.”

Peering through, Azura saw buildings higher than she had ever seen in her life. Below the hill they had landed on stretched out a sprawling landscape of houses and roads, slums and palaces. She made to ask her brother more, but saw with little surprise that she had already fallen asleep in his chair, the bags under his eyes more prominent than she had ever seen them. Sighing, she ruffled his hair once again.

“Thanks, bro.” She muttered.

6:

The city of Phek-kai was awesome until the fight.

Loden had initially been reluctant to venture outside the walls of the Origin, still not willing to accept the idea of a long-term trip, until Azura (with the help of a wrench she had found in the engine room) convinced him to at least take the opportunity to visit the capital of his country while he had the chance. And that was why, roughly thirty-six hours after the Origin had first taken off, he found himself side by side with Iamos, scouring the capital for supplies.

“What can we afford?” Loden inquired, leading Iamos along the bustling road they had found themselves on. They were exploring a section of the city that seemed to consist entirely of stalls selling things. There were mementos, there were weapons, there was stuff Loden was pretty sure was illegal. Iamos had stopped for longer than he would have liked to peer at a bunch of dusty old tomes, and he himself had almost been distracted on more than one occasion by some particularly fancy weapons he had seen for sale for what seemed like an amazing deal.

But the only thing they were looking for was food. It was the only thing they needed, Loden kept reminding himself. More to the point, it was the only thing they could afford. They had left their village in a hurry, only taking what was on them at the time, and as a result really had nothing packed for any quest, epic or otherwise. There hadn’t been any supplies aside from a small amount of fuel on board the ship, and even now the nagging question of what they were going to do once the money ran out ate at Loden as he walked.

“Assuming nobody gets greedy, enough to last us a couple of days.” Responded Iamos, rummaging through the small cloth pouch containing their pooled finances. “And then… I don’t know. Maybe you’ll have to get a job.”

“No way.” Said Loden firmly. “Uh-uh. Nope. Zip. Nay. Why can’t someone else do that?”

“Azura’s too young, and I’m… well, I’m me.” Iamos admitted. “I guess Daiyu could, but you struck me as more able.”

“Flattered, old friend, but I’d rather not.” Loden sighed. “Truth of the matter is I’m not a fan of, I guess, work. I like a good fight, sure. Hence the guard training, and all that. But manual labour wouldn’t be something I’d enjoy, and I’m not really cut out for anything that isn’t physical..”

“There, there.” Iamos awkwardly patted his friend on the back. “I’m sure we’ll find a job that takes your fancy.”

“Have you even been listening?!”

Loden was so embroiled in conversation, he didn’t initially notice the silence around them. After a few moments, however, his ears picked up the difference in noise level, and he nudged Iamos mid-sentence. “Hey, ssh.”

All around them, the people had stopped whatever they might have been doing and had split up, emptying the center of the path to make room for a group of figures on horses, who were riding down the weather-beaten track. Even as Loden watched, the parted citizens knelt down, bowing their torsos as the procession passed them by.

“Get down.” He hissed to Iamos, before sinking to his knees and bowing his head. He had heard stories about life in the bigger cities, told to him by his friends, about how you would be killed if you didn’t show proper respect for someone above you. Though at the time the tales had been kind of laughable, Loden took his personal safety quite seriously, and didn’t fancy testing anything for himself. The clacking sound of horseshoe on weathered stone grew nearer and nearer, until it suddenly and ominously stopped.

“You!” A voice thundered in Loden’s direction. “Why are you not kneeling?”

Instantly Loden knew what was happening, and screamed internally as Iamos asked “Why do I have to?” with all the passion of someone who had just been told the most boring thing ever.

He was met with dead silence – scratch that, he was met with the grinding of metal. Someone nearby was unsheathing a weapon.

Loden inwardly cursed as Iamos continued to speak. That dense fool had never liked doing anything without a good reason, and had no idea how disrespectful he was being.

“Why do I even have to kneel?” His best friend demanded. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Still no reply.

“I mean,” continued Iamos, woefully ignorant of the danger he was now in, “I can tell that you’re important, or at least under the impression you are, because most of these people do what you say. And I get why they should move, because being trampled by a horse is an unpleasant experience, I am sure. I have no problem with the concept of moving as you pass. But I don’t understand why everyone has to physically kneel-”

“Okay, Iamos, that’s enough.” Loden mentally berated himself as he too stood up and placed a hand on Iamos’ shoulder. “You can’t just say stuff like that to people.”

“But-”

“No, I’ll explain later. Right now, you’re…” He trailed off upon noticing the speaker beginning to approach them. A tall man clad in full body armour dismounted their horse, having previously been leading a procession of what had to be at least twenty other men, all similarly armed – and a couple of whom were holding weapons. The leader purposefully strode towards the duo, eyes filled with rage. “And here we go. Look.” He held his hands up in a placating gesture, raising his voice. “I’m sorry about my friend. He can be a bit tactless, but we’re not looking for trouble…”

For a moment, the horseman stood still, eyeing Iamos and Loden, the latter of whom dared to hope that perhaps peace was still an option.

The attack was almost too quick for Loden to process.

In one fluid movement, the horseman stabbed out with his sword arm and, had Loden not hastily shoved his friend to the side, would have impaled Iamos through the chest. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as Loden could almost feel the adrenaline begin to course through his body.

“An insult to me is an insult to the Cheinise Emperor.” Spat the horseman, speaking for the first time. “Now accept your punishment!”

Loden was hardly aware of his own actions as he cupped his fists together and brought them round, slamming them against the man’s head. There was a clang and the horseman reeled, clutching his helmet as it vibrated from the blow. Loden, however, gave him no time to recover, lashing out with his right arm and catching the horseman in the stomach. The horseman, for his part, seemed to be unfazed by the second attack and rose, forcing Loden to duck as the sword flew centimetres away from his head.

“Alright, fine.” Loden twisted his body before the blade could come back around and tackled the horseman from the side, knocking him to the ground. There was a rattle of metal on gravel as the blade slid across the pathway. Loden would have celebrated a successful attack, but the punch he received to the chest stopped him from feeling too chipper about the situation.

Coughing, he stumbled backwards and massaged his chest, as the horseman rose and crouched low, before bounding forward towards him. Loden twisted his torso to the side, so that only one of the horseman’s outstretched arms proceeded to catch him instead of two. With less of a force to work against, he was able to wretch himself free from his assailant’s grip, and continued his spin as he moved his legs around to kick the horseman in the back, sending the armoured man sprawling to the ground in what Iamos would have described as “a most ungainly fashion”.

Before he could strike again, however, he felt the point of a metal blade prick at the back of his neck. Freezing in position, he reluctantly raised his hands; he wasn’t suicidal.

However, the feeling vanished as soon as it had appeared, and at the same time Loden heard a rather loud crashing noise. Craning his neck, he saw not another soldier, but rather a large hunk of earth directly behind him. Beyond that stood Iamos, sending the comatose soldier an Iamos-type icy stare.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened.

The streets had already been silent as the fight had actually been happening, but now Loden could hear the silence. He could actually feel it crawling down his back in a really creepy way. Whilst eighty percent or so of him was freaking out about attacking – and being attacked by – a royal guard, out on patrol, the remainder of him was wondering why nobody else was doing anything.

“Alchemist.” A voice broke the silence. Loden caught sight of the lead soldier rising from the ground, clearly doing his best to not lose any more face after getting his butt kicked by a teenager.

“I am one, though I’d prefer it if you didn’t define me as such.” Iamos haughtily replied, folding his arms as if daring anybody else to challenge him. The horseman ignored his friend’s speech and extended an arm, indicating the remainder of the men, still on horses with drawn swords.

“Come with us.” He continued, before doing something most peculiar. He bowed his head, in a sign of… respect? Not the biggest honour to bestow on someone, but still pretty weird considering the circumstances. “Our master would like to meet you, I’m sure.”

“You mas…” Loden’s speech, thoughts out loud, trailed off as he realised who was being talked about. “Wait, the Cheinise Emperor? As in, like, the Emperor of this country?” He turned his head back and forth between Iamos and the lead horseman. “Really?”

“Yes.” The horseman confirmed, neck still bent down.

Loden wasted no time in sidling up to Iamos, who was wearing a typical thinking face. “Hey, check this out! People are being nice to you! I mean, that doesn’t mean you should trust them, but still!”

“It doesn’t mean anything.” Responded Iamos, indicating with a finger. “Can’t you see? He’s shaking. I don’t believe he’s doing this of his own free will, but rather because he is under orders.”

The horseman neither confirmed nor denied Iamos’ words.

“Uh…” Loden wasn’t sure what to say for a moment. “You think so?”

“If there’s one thing I can recognise, it’s hostility.” Iamos confirmed. “Still, I’m intrigued. What would an Emperor want with the likes of me?”

“Huh? Iamos, you can’t be serious.” Loden scolded. “These guys just attacked us!”

“Well, you don’t have to come it you don’t want to.” Deadpanned Iamos. “But I’m meeting the Emperor. If only because I’ll probably be taken by force if I don’t agree to go. Besides…” Here he turned to Loden, who was shocked to see a wiry grin on his friend’s face. “It’s not something that happens every day, now is it?”

“You’re damn right, it isn’t.” Agreed Loden, before sighing. “Well, I always said you should try something new every once in a while, but this is pushing it.”

“I believe the phrase is “go big or go home”.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Do you want to end up in another fight?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Iamos approached the lead soldier and bowed in return.

“I accept your master’s invitation.” He recited, voice clear as he spoke. “We will meet with the Emperor.”

**********

The journey to the palace was silent. Loden and Iamos each found themselves hauled roughly onto a horse behind a rider, and as the convoy made an about turn and headed back to the palace, each could only wonder what was in for them once they reached their destination. Loden, personally, was quite concerned as to what an emperor may want with Iamos – an alchemist, to be specific.

During the ride, he wracked his brains, trying to think of an answer to his own question. Was it to do with prejudice? Had an order been given to round up all alchemists? But then, why would the Emperor want to see Iamos in person? Surely, if he were rounding up all alchemists, Iamos would be taken straight to a prison. It didn’t make sense. And, of course, Iamos had never actually met the Emperor. It couldn’t have been anything personal… could it? No, it couldn’t have. The horseman had addressed him as “alchemist”…

Loden was so lost in thought that he neglected the sights of the city until hearing the sound of a gate opening, and focused his attention back on his whereabouts.

They were outside the royal palace.

The gates, mighty steel bars interlocked with one another, were swinging open to allow access to an enormous grey building, layered with spires and topped with a great crimson flag that looked less like a flag and more like a door that swung back and forth as the wind enveloped it. The next highest points were the highest spires, branching out from the tops of towers and ending with golden points. From there, the metalwork spiralled down into stone, forming winding and skewwhiff patterns reminiscent of vines as iron and bronze met… whatever type of stone the palace was even made of. Heck if Loden knew, it wasn’t like stonemasonry was his thing.

The clatter of hooves on rock echoed throughout the courtyard as the procession advanced, the lifelessness of the environment putting Loden on edge. He was pretty sure that a palace was supposed to have a load of people in and around it, but he wasn’t seeing anyone except his friend and some grumpy soldiers. He anxiously tapped his fingers against his leg as the horses came to the stop, the guards dismounting and dispersing, leaving behind their leader and a couple of others.

“We shall escort you to the emperor.” The head guard declared, before turning on his heel and marching off before either Loden or Iamos could say anything. A light blow to Loden’s back propelled him into a walk, and he watched as Iamos shrugged off an attempt at physical contact by one of the soldiers and strode forward, head held high despite the uncertain circumstances. Loden chuckled as he followed, flanked by an armoured escort.

The small procession pushed open a door and began to meander down corridor after corridor, the rooms and spaces gradually become more and more extravagant. Incense and scented candles slowly burned, the aroma circling around Loden’s head and making him feel sleepy. Crimson and gold décor was practically everywhere, with carpets lining every floor and the sprawling, rich patterns painted onto the walls were obscured by furniture and weaponry.

Attached to one wall was a tapestry that extended for a good twenty meters, with crude figures enacting what Loden could only guess were historical scenes, and text narrating the happenings below the images. Peering closer, Loden could see vaguely familiar phrases such as “Qiang Huangd”, “city of Rabus”, “Britay” and “Aquila”, but he paid them little mind, not considering his history knowledge to be very detailed. The tapestry looked really pretty, though. He’d admit that.

The weapons, though! He was so enthralled, he stopped walking once or twice, and it took another prod to get him going again. But who could blame him? There were meteor hammers, butterfly swords, and… maybe even wind-and-fire wheels? It was awesome, and he had to admit, he liked the idea that the Emperor was as into weapons as he was. Common ground was always a good place to start when getting to know someone.

It was as he was letting his gaze meander that he saw someone in front of them, standing stock-still as the group moved passed. And that someone – oh.

Was really pretty.

Like, dang.

A collection of snow-coloured garments hung from her curved figure, forming an outfit that resembled a dress, he guessed, but the way she wore it just made it seem so much more refined and beautiful than any old dress. The cloth folds rippled like water plummeting from the top of a waterfall as she shifted to the side to let them pass, cascading around her form.

The girl’s hair was the colour of the blackest midnight, a striking contrast to her porcelain skin. One of her thin eyes, the left, was a brilliant, almost glowing silver, as if her pupil had been replaced with a star plucked from the night sky. The opposite eye was slightly darker, closer to slate grey, but no less captivating. Both looked almost inhumane, with the skin around them too clear and the eyelashes too long and full to be entirely real, but the idea didn’t really take away from her beauty.

Loden’s cheeks grew warm, and he realised that he was blushing.

Well, he certainly wasn’t going to let that shame him. He made sure to catch the girl’s eye as he walked past, letting the corners of his mouth curl upwards in a grin before quickly winking as he was carted away. For a fleeting moment, he could have sworn he had seen a ghost of a smile on the girl’s lips before he, or she, or both of them, turned their heads away. The corridor took a sharp turn, and the encounter was over within moments of its beginning.

**********

The great elm doors towered far above the heads of the assembled figures, metal bolts half the size of a fist hammered into the thick planks and hinges that creaked as the structures swung open into a room so large, Loden reckoned he had seen whole houses that wouldn’t have been able to fit inside.

The most noticeable thing about the room was how plain it was. Well, perhaps plain was too strong a word. It was still pretty impressive to look at, with intricately carved and painted designs creeping across the walls, and a balcony on an upper level leading off from doorways placed up the walls, providing onlookers with a view of the whole place. But compared to the other rooms Loden had been able to catch glimpses of, there was very little colour – aside from minute details on the decorations. There was none of the slew of crimson and golden he had observed earlier, and no sign of weapons or books or anything that could be considered interesting.

Instead, there was a single rectangular table that stretched across the floor of the great room, covered in designs and what looked like small pieces of stone. As he was led closer, Loden realised that the decorations on the dark table were actually quite reminiscent of a map, with what looked like the borders of territories drawn onto the smooth stone. The pieces, now that he was closer to them, had different sizes and areas, and there was a different symbol drawn onto each one.

He was shoved out of his observant state by the sight of a gnarled hand shifting several of the pieces across the surface. Looking up, he observed for the first time the trio of men that sat by the table. The man who had moved the pieces sat on the left, glowering at the board. A steel chestplate hung from his lanky frame, and dull white robes were visible underneath, swaying slightly as he moved his arms to adjust stone positions. His face was as lean as his frame, cheeks defined and chin triangular, and sunken into is face were a pair of stone grey eyes that glinted with intensity as he stroked the thin beard on his jawline. All in all, he had a “rugged warrior” look about him that was quite come-hither, and once again Loden found himself a little flustered.

On the other side sat a figure who was almost completely unidentifiable. A mask covered the majority of their face, and the only features Loden could pick out were black hair and brown eyes. He was staring just as intently at the board as the man on the left, focusing intently on what Loden was realising must have been some kind of map.

In the middle of the three sat a portlier man, brown eyes squinting at the pieces on the board. Crimson robes hung off him, scattered with gaudy golden highlights, and a black undershirt was visible beneath the cloak he was draped in. He too had a beard, longer and more well-groomed than his fellow’s, and his beady black eyes were focused on the demonstrations of the armoured man. The three together were an odd group, and Loden couldn’t help but wonder what their purposes were in the emperor’s palace.

“Your highness!” Barked the head guard, for the trio had ignored their entry. Three heads turned upwards to stare at the group.

Loden blanched. One of them was the emperor? None of them looked much like an emperor to him – though, to be fair, he had never met one before. Maybe nobody really knew what an Emperor looked like.

“I have brought before you an alchemist!” The horseman continued, indicating Iamos, flanked by two guards, who surveyed the room and deliberately avoided eye contact with anybody, instead wearing a slightly bored facial expression and acting natural. Loden, however, could tell that his friend was on edge – the arms folded over the chest were a sign of defensiveness, and if he strained his ears, he could hear Iamos breathing heavier than normal.

He was scared.

“Well, which one’s the alchemist?” The man in the middle, who Loden assumed was the emperor, spoke. His thick brows furrowed as they focused on both boys. “You’ve brought two of them, officer.”

The officer opened his mouth, most likely to gripe about how he hadn’t wanted to. Loden decided it might be better heard from a less peeved mouth.

“That would be my fault, sir.” He spoke loudly and clearly, trying to ignore his friend’s nervousness and the fact that his legs were shaking. “My buddy and I are from out of town, and when he received his summons – well, one for all and all for one, and all that. I’d prefer it if he didn’t have to come here on his own.”

“Calm your nerves, boy.” The grey-eyed man spoke now, mouth curling upwards into a wry smile. “There’s no shame in supporting a friend.”

“I…” Loden bowed his head. “Thank you.”

The middle man waved a pudgy hand.

“Guards, leave us.” He droned, sounding somewhat bored with the whole affair. Bowing, the guards turned on their heels and marched out of the room. The great doors slammed shut behind them, leaving Loden and Iamos alone in the room. There was an unsung question on Loden’s lips, but he decided to trust the emperor’s judgement.

“Why would you order your guards to leave? What if we weren’t to be trusted?”

Shame Iamos didn’t have the same sort of hesitation.

To Loden’s surprise, the Emperor didn’t react with outrage or surprise – instead, he began to laugh. Iamos glanced at Loden on confusion as the portly man chuckled, eventually settling down as the men on either side of him seemed to grin at one another.

“Well, I daresay you might have underestimated the level of security still present.” He finally declared. “Fear not, if the two of you are truly a threat to me, you won’t leave this palace alive.”

“Well, that’s not exactly encouraging.” Voiced Loden. The Emperor nodded.

“Quite. That is why I hope, for your sakes, that you aren’t here to kill me.”

“For our sakes. How considerate.” Loden folded his arms. “What do you want with Iamos, anyway?”

“That’s something I suggest we and him discuss in private.” The grey-eyed man declared, gaze shifting from Loden to Iamos and back. The Emperor stroked his straggly beard as the trio all eventually fixed their gazes onto Loden’s brunette friend. Iamos, on his part, met each of their gazes in turn. His fingertips clenched the sleeves of his shirt even tighter as he stood his ground in the face of the intimidation.

“No way.” Loden voiced his thoughts before he could second-guess himself. “I’m not leaving him.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a matter of choice.” The Emperor declared, as the grey-eyed man signalled to the third of their party, who obediently rose to his full towering height before purposefully striding towards Loden. A scarred hand latched itself onto Loden’s arm, and he found himself being dragged towards the doorway.

“Okay, fine, you make a valid argument.” Loden struggled to keep his voice even as the distance between him and Iamos increased. “Can’t I just… actually, never mind. Hey, Iamos?” He held a shaking hand in the air, clenching his fist and extending the thumb skywards. “Don’t take this literally, but, uh, knock ‘em dead.”