Waking came to Aiclath like he was rising out of some liquidy mass.

Light came first; small splinters of fire shining through glass. Then came sound, and his vision sharpened. Next, he smelled sweat and old blood. And finally, he remembered Asesi.

He later thought that was woke him.

He coughed, and looked about. Three jackal-headed neterdu gazed at him, wearing mail armor and clutching spears. Swords and knives hung at their belts. Upon seeing him awake, they called out in Devilspeak, the language of fiends and dark creatures.

An old hag answered their call. She was draped in torn, dusty rags, and had green skin, matted white hair, and old scabs marking her cheeks. Long gleaming nails protruded from her fingernails, and she clutched a short stick. She gazed at Aiclath.

“The master will see you now,” she cackled. She grabbed his arms and dragged him outside.

It was nighttime, and Aiclath smiled. Whoever had captured him either didn’t know much about dark elves or was extremely cocky. He melted into the shadows, his body spreading out from his feet upward like black ink. A second later he was gone.

He reappeared on the edge of the camp. One of the guards, a burly ierive, hissed at him. Aiclath extended his will out on the monster, bending it to his command. He then leapt onto the creatures’ back as it spread its’ wings and took flight, heading towards the Sea Kingdom. Aiclath closed his eyes and lay down on the ierives’ neck. Just before he fell asleep, the image of Asesi flashed through his mind.

***

He woke on the edge of a small town, facedown on the grass. The ierive was gone. There was nothing to do except approach the town.

So that’s what he did.

Walking through the streets, many people looked at him distrustfully. No one liked a dark elf.

He entered the tavern, ordered a mug of ale for his last coins, and then looked around. Three beings caught his eye. A neterdo with the head and quills of a hedgehog was gambling with two humans and cheating them out of their coin, while a human, dressed in muddy plate armor with a sword at his belt, a bow over his shoulder, and a shield on his back was conversing earnestly with a pitortu. The lizard-like creature was dressed in ragged cloth and was nodding, with a blaster pistol at his belt.

Aiclath nursed his mug and watched the other creatures, then sat down at the neterdo’s table.

“Mind if I play?”

The hedgehog gazed at him.

“No.”

They were playing Long Shot, a simple game really. A tower of dice was set up at one end of the table and all players flicked coins at it. The first person to knock it down got all the coins. Judging by the astronomical rate of wins that the hedgehog was getting, he had greased his coins, but the two humans were too stupid to notice. Humans fascinated Aiclath. They could be wiser and more patient than the oldest stone elf, and more greedy and stupid than a goblin.

Aiclath sat down and made a big show of setting down his gold coin. Secretly, he rubbed it and whispered a few arcane words. The coin flashed blue for the briefest second, and Aiclath flicked it. The coin shot across the table and knocked over the pile of dice, shattering a couple. The neterdo clapped.

“Oh, very good shot, er…what did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t,” shot back Aiclath. Really, the beast people were most annoying. But the hedgehog just grinned.

“Aw, looks like someone doesn’t want to talk. Look. I’ll tell you my name, and then you can tell me yours, eh? Everybody wins!” Aiclath made no answer, and the hedgehog seemed to take this for confirmation. “I’m Quill Evertszen. Thief, pickpocket, and actor extraordinaire! I’m more crafty than the silver son of the sea god, and I could talk down a thousand lawyers trained all their lives. I’m well known about these parts. People are so bored down here, they pay huge amounts of money for news and entertainment. I’m their man!” He flashed a gleaming smile. Aiclath grunted.

“I’m Aiclath Werlick. I was convicted for the murder of a young human but escaped, was captured by a giant with the soul of a Sky Titan, escaped again, and with the help of a little magic, bent an ierive to my will and rode it here, where I just spent my last coin on a mug of ale.”

Quill’s eyes widened. “You were captured by Gorgolmath?”

“Who is Gorgolmath?” The neterdo leaned closer.

“You don’t know who Gorgolmath is?” Aiclath shook his head no.

“Gorgolmath is bad news. He used to be one of the only known Sky Titans, and he was the most cruel. He decided he hated civilization and wanted to crush it, so he came down here.”

“He came down? But that would mean-”

“Yes, I know,” the neterdo interrupted. “It would mean he had to become mortal for as long as his feet touched the ground. And he did. But almost immediately, he was killed by a powerful mage. Gorgolmath, a vengeful being even in life, possessed the mage’s spellbook, and became a wraith. But this mage was an adventurous type, and he found himself in Valia. More specifically, in the Desert of Barbarians. He was caught in a battle with Glomons, and in the fray, his spellbook was ripped up and destroyed. As soon as that happened, Gorgolmath formed a body out of the book and pages, and killed both the Glomons and the mage. He soon built an army of dark creatures, and for the past three months now, he’s been raiding small towns up and down the coast.”

“Three months?” Aiclath interjected. “Hasn’t King Quaels done anything?”

Quill sighed. “He’s tried. Last month he sent out the fifth calvary battalion. They didn’t come back. A few days later the scouts sent out reported of a field full of phantoms and wraiths. Quaels gave up after that and asked the other kingdoms for help. Valia didn’t want to risk their lives, the Land was too far away, and obviously the Empire didn’t help.”

Aiclath sighed. “Shame. They say the Ice Witch is the most powerful creature on the planet.”

“They say many things about the Witches of the Empire. They said the Flame Witch could not be killed. She died against Valian armies. They said the Stone Witch was a Sky Titan. She wasn’t, and I’ll bet you anything that the Ice Witch is not as powerful as she says she is.” Quill looked up at the ceiling. “Words are many things, Aiclath, but they are not the truth. Sight is the truth. Words are only a tapestry of what might be, but it must be confirmed.”

“What about the Sky Titans?” Aiclath whispered. “The people of fire and lightning at the center of the earth? The gods of the Empire? Do they exist? If not, why do people worship them?”

“In a nutshell, because they’re stupid. People believe in gods and immortal holy ones because they have no hope anymore. They do it because they are so convinced that we’re here for a reason. They say that on Earth scientists believed that all existence was a fluke, a slight chance. That our feelings are chemical reactions in our brains. That we are matter, and nothing more. And until I see that there are benevolent deities who care for us and love us, I’ll not trust those words.”

Aiclath might have kept protesting, but four nayser burst through the door.