Asmireen
©2024 by Jonathan Scott
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Chapter 13 - Friends & Futures
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Smart Things
45.1     This be the story of the fat prophet Tosel.
45.2     Tosel, he one day sit in he's home.  And Papa Voice, He come.
45.3     "Tosel." Papa Voice say.  "Soon, the people in this city, they die.  A big storm, it go above the city and it rain long and it rain hard.  Soon, the water, it come down, and the city, they die." Papa Voice say.
45.4     "So, Tosel, you go into the city, and you warn people go to the mountaintop when the water, it come.  Else, the city, they die."
45.5     Tosel, he say "Yes" and Papa Voice, He go.
45.6     Tosel, he be happy, because he know that he die not.
45.7     The next day, Tosel, he walk in the city, and he see a locksmith.  And Tosel, he think, "Warn the man." But then Tosel, he think, "I be sleepy.  I sleep first."  So, Tosel, he go home and he sleep.
45.8     Tosel, he be happy, because he know that he die not.
45.9     The next day, Tosel, he walk in the city, and he see a healer.  And Tosel, he think, "Warn the ugly woman."  But then Tosel, he think, "I be hungry.  I eat first."  So, Tosel, he go home and he eat.
45.10     Tosel, he be happy, because he know that he die not.
45.11     The next day, Tosel, he walk in the city, and he see a singer, and she be big beautiful.  And Tosel, he think, "Warn the woman."  And then he think, "If they all die, I be lonely.  I want not be lonely.  And she be big beautiful."  So, Tosel, he go to the singer and warn the singer.  The singer, she hear Tosel, and she thank Tosel.  She become Tosel's friend.
45.12     Tosel, he be happy, because he know that he die not.  And now he be happy, because he know he be not lonely.
45.13     The next day, the water, it come.  So. Tosel and the singer, they go to the mountaintop.
45.14     On the mountaintop, they see a big cage.  In the cage, they see a big angry griffin.  The cage, it be locked, and the griffin, he's wing be broken.
45.15     On the cage there be a letter.  So, Tosel, he open the letter and he read.
45.16     "Tosel," the letter, it say.  "Tosel, you take the singer I give you and calm the griffin.  Then Tosel, you take the locksmith I give you and open the cage.  Then Tosel, you take the healer I give you, and heal the griffin's wing.  Then Tosel, you take the locksmith, the healer, and the singer that I give you, and you ride the griffin I give you to safety.  Then, you five be safe, and you five be happy.  Thank you for you's help Tosel."
45.17     Then, the waters, they come big.  And the mountaintop, it be sunk.  And the locksmith, he die.  And the healer, she die.  And the singer, she die and she hate Tosel.  And the griffin, he die and he hate Tosel.  And Tosel, he die and he live in the belly of Asmodeus forever.

     There was a midnight blue fuzzy cloud that completely filled Jake's mind.  The fuzz, which from time to time varied in pattern and density, seemed to have no particularly needed purpose.  But, being that Jake was unconscious, there was nothing else for him to do but to stare into this suffocating cloud of blue.
     Jake was certain that he was not awake, although, Jake did not particularly feel that he was sleeping either.  Being unable to understand the particular form of consciousness that he was submerged in, Jake chose to simply experience the fuzz rather than to try and understand it.
     All throughout the time that Jake's consciousness was suspended in this blue, from time to time, fuzzy and unclear concentric rings of light would come into Jake's vision.  It was as if they began as rings of immense diameter long ago and were just now shrinking small enough that Jake could finally see them.  And then, just as they entered his sight, they continued to shrink in size and diameter until they gradually disappeared.
     One after one, the rings of light entered his sight, and then shrunk away into nothingness.  Then, the speed of the rings increased.
     Eventually the speed with which these rings occurred became so great, that it gave the illusion that Jake was traveling down a corridor, backwards, to some unknown destination.

     "C'mon kid.  It's time to wake up." said a voice.
     "C'mon Jake." said another younger voice.
     The midnight blue fuzz and the rings of light slowly brightened until Jake found himself once again lying on a healer's table looking up at Marie and Zeb.
     Jake raised his head, looked around and immediately recognized his surroundings.  He then laid his head back down on the table in frustration.
     "What?  I'm here again?" asked Jake quietly to himself.
     "What do you remember Jake?" said Zeb looking slightly astonished.
     "What do I remember about what?" said Jake with a small amount of well-deserved impertinence.
     Just then, another huge face came into Jake's view from behind him.  Zeb was a good natured, extremely fat and slightly menacing looking half-giant.  This other face though, looked much more menacing.  And if this person was good natured at all, he hid it extremely well.
     "This is my brother Adam.  I told him about what had happened to you guys and we kind of thought we should look in on you from time to time." said Zeb.  His face still echoed a strange sort of astonishment.
     Adam looked down at Jake intensely and nodded.  Jake wasn't sure if Adam was just highly concerned, highly irritated, or just highly insane.  The look though, whatever was intended by it, was uniquely disturbing.  Behind Adam's eyes was rage, immense amounts of it, and Jake simply did not wish to be so close to it when it was carried about in such a fitting container.
     "Don't mind him.  He's a good guy.  He's just not so good with people.  Adam, lighten up.  You're scaring the boy." said Zeb.
     Adam immediately relaxed his gaze.  Jake felt somewhat calm again.
     "We met up with your uncle in the marketplace again yesterday afternoon and got to talking with him.  He's a good guy.  You'd think he'd be haughty with all his smarts and such.  But he seems to be as good as they come."
     Adam nodded as well.
     "How did I get here?" asked Jake somewhat oozy from the healing.
     "I found you.  You didn't look so good." said Adam.  Adam seemed to be not completely telling the truth about something.
     Adam's voice was low and rough.  He sounded as though he did not speak much.  Each syllable that came from his throat seemed forced and uneasy.
     "You've been here all night." added Marie.
     Jake began to look angry.
     "Who was it that got you Jake?  Do you remember?  You tell us and we'll take care of it." asked Zeb.
     "I think it was Hank again."
     "How come you're not sure?" asked Adam.
     "I couldn't see him.  I could see Gale though."
     "Gale?" asked Adam.
     "His horse." answered Marie.
     "What do you mean 'you couldn't see him?'"
     "I think he's Nahli now.  I think he's got a gift.  I think he can go invisible." said Jake.
     Marie's eyes got big.  She looked scared.
     Zeb and Adam looked at each other.  Zeb looked frustrated, but determined.  Adam looked the same as Jake would later learn that he always looked; enraged and disturbed.
     "A ghost." Marie said quietly as she looked at the floor.
     "A ghost?" asked Jake.
     "I'm a runner, right?  Well, he's a ghost."
     "We'll get to work on it.  I'd be extra special careful though." said Zeb.
     Zeb and Adam then looked at each other and nodded and seemed to somehow agree upon something that no one else besides them seemed to understand.  They then stood and walked out of the tent.
     Jake sat up and put his legs over the side of the table where he had been lying.  His head was still oozy.  He did not want to stand up.  So, he chose to remain on the table instead.
     Just then the healer popped his head through the door of the tent.
     "C'mon, let's go.  I've got some pants to mend." said the healer who then popped his head back out before anyone could say anything.
     Marie walked up to Jake.  Jake placed a hand on her shoulder and slowly slid himself down off of the table.  He meant to stand, but for whatever reason, he continued to slide all the way to the floor.  Jake began to moan as he lay there, unable to move in any valuable way.
     "Help!" cried Marie.
     The healer entered the tent again, saw Jake, mumbled several words under his breath, picked Jake up and then carried him outdoors.  Jake then spent another ten minutes laying down on the dirt outside of the healer's tent before he would gain enough strength to stand.  It would be another three before he was able to walk.

     "So, what do we do now?" asked Isaac.
     "What do you mean?" asked Marie.
     Jake and Marie had walked over to Isaac's fish stand.  Isaac had been deeply concerned about Jake's attack, although, he had many other concerns as well.
     "You don't have a job and now you've got some lunatic ghost running around trying to kill you.  That's what I mean by 'What do we do now?'" asked Isaac.
     "I'm sorry." said Jake.
     Jake helplessly looked at the ground.  He truly had no idea what to say.
     "It's not your fault Jake.  But, nonetheless, we've still got a problem, several actually.  And we need solutions.  I don't make enough to feed you guys.  I'll never kick you out, but, I'm just a little afraid that someday very soon, I and Hannah will be sitting there on the same curb right next to you two.  Homeless, y'know?" Isaac said.
     "I'm feeling better.  I'll keep trying until I finally get something." said Jake.
     He then stood and began to walk away.
     "Hey Jake.  That big friend of yours gave me this.  He told me to not open it and to give it to you.  Isaac then handed Jake a tightly folded up scrap of paper.
     Jake opened it and looked at it.  In big scratchy letters the paper simply said:

Job.  #4 Bright Out
Good luck.
Zeb + Adam.

>     "Isaac, what's a #4 Bright Out?" asked Jake.
     "It's an address.  Why?"
     Jake then showed the scrap to Isaac who looked relieved to see it.
     "Just follow the Toft Out circular until it turns into Bright Out, then just go to number four.  It's a tough part of town Jake.  Please be careful.  Healers are expensive."
     Jake looked back down at the ground.  He had not meant to be such a burden to his uncle.
     "Jake.  I'm sorry to think so much about money.  I just have to now.  I love you.  Be careful, ok?" said Isaac again.

     "The outside circular is just a big round street that goes all around Old Town.  Your uncle lives close to the top left quarter.  That part is called 'Toft Out.'  When you follow the road around counterclockwise though, below Left Avenue, the name of it changes to 'Baluft Out.'  If you keep going around it, the name changes again to 'Bright Out.'  That's where we're going.  There's one more quarter after that in the top right.  It's called 'Tright Out.'" Marie said.
     "Where did you used to live with your mother?" asked Jake.
     "We lived close to Baluft Out.  Actually, it was pretty close to where your uncle used to work at the Language Guild.  I can show you sometime if you want."
     "Yeah, ok."
     Marie and Jake had left the market and were now following the big broad circular street called "Toft Out." As they went, Jake was continually amazed at the things that this city had to offer.  Back in William's Peace, there was only one store.  Everyone just called it "The Store" and they had everything you could ever need.  There was farming supplies, clothing, different sorts of food, books, games, etc.  It hadn't been a big place, but it seemed to have had all you needed.
     Jake and Marie passed a store that sold nothing but rope.  They then passed another store that sold nothing but hats.  Later on they passed a candle store.  There was a lot of specialization in Old Town Eastbrook.  It was intriguing to see.
     "Your uncle used to work down there." said Marie as she pointed down a long wide street that intersected perpendicularly with the street that they walked down.
     Jake looked where she was pointing to see a tall old lonely-looking beautiful building.  It was not close to where they were, but Jake was amazed at it nonetheless.  It seemed so regal compared to anything he'd ever seen.  It looked deserted though.  There seemed to be no one in it, or even around it.  It seemed somehow shameful that a place of such beauty was not being used for something.
     "You used to live down that way too, right?" asked Jake.
     "Yeah.  It's not that close though."
     They continued to walk.  They had probably passed around fifty restaurants so far, and were sure that they would pass at least another fifty more before their trip was through.
     Jake and Marie then passed by an enormous building.  It was noisy.  It was as noisy as anything Jake had ever heard.  They walked up to the front gates of it and looked in.  Within, they saw acre after acre of men and women auctioning off huge amounts of produce, livestock and other wares.  They then looked on the front of the building to see a sign that said "Old Town Dealer's Exchange." Wagon after wagon filled to the brim with things for sale passed by them to enter the building and then wagon after wagon, filled with things recently purchased passed by them to leave.
     Not far from the entrance to this building stood a group of young boys.  After Jake and Marie passed them, they stopped and watched the group of eight boys closely.  For some reason, they just seemed drawn to them.
     Just then, a group of men left the Dealer's Exchange.  One man was dressed magnificently.  Six of the others were huge and stood around the man apparently protecting him.  Three other men, all dressed well, carried books and spoke to the rich man earnestly about something that the rich man seemed to not care about hearing.
     One of the boys who apparently had been on the look out for just this type of man got excited and then made a hand signal to the rest of the boys who immediately began walking towards the rich man's entourage.  Two boys though that had been leaning against a wall immediately walked in the opposite direction and around a corner, where Marie and Jake saw them vanish.
     "Ghosts." Marie quietly whispered to Jake.
     "Something's going to happen Marie.  Be careful."
     As the rest of the boys neared the rich man's retinue they all began to shimmer.  The colors of their clothing began to sparkle and blink with light.  For an instant, they all looked as though they were made of bright rippling colorful water.  Then, all of a sudden, where six boys had been, six rich men appeared.
     "Changers.  I hope they don't kill him." said Marie.
     Each and everyone of the six changers looked exactly like the rich man that walked in the center of his circle of helpers, except that each and everyone of them all seemed to exaggerate some aspect of the man that they copied.  The rich man was balding, so one of the changers made his own head a huge bulbous gleaming balloon-like head that was clearly three times the size it should have been.  The rich man was slightly overweight, so another of the changers altered himself into an enormous bloated version of the rich man.  The copy had a huge triple chin, and a belly that was the size of a small cow.  Another exaggerated the rich man's pride by turning his body into a huge overly-muscular haughty version of himself that walked with his nose held high and his butt muscles tightly flexed.  Another then inverted the rich man's own ostentatiousness by turning himself into a dwarfed version of the man who walked about barking at his servants as though he were some type of king poodle.  Another simply chose to be overly thin.  Abnormally thin.  Inhumanly thin.  As this man walked, his noodle like legs seemed almost incapable of supporting the clothing that he bore.  The last man turned his face and body into that of a swine dressed exactly as the rich man and walked about with difficulty only on his hind legs.
     Together, all six of the changers walked about the rich man's retinue, talking and speaking proudly.
     One of the body guards began to laugh.  The bodyguard immediately to his left though punched him and the man immediately stopped smiling.  The three men that were carrying books turned and ran back into the Dealer's Exchange.  The six bodyguards all drew their longswords and the rich man held onto his purse tightly.
     "I'm a rich man.  I'm a rich man." chanted the changers as they walked around the remainder of the rich man's entourage.
     Just then the rich man's jaw twisted violently to the right and the rich man fell to the ground unconscious.  Jake could not help but wonder if he had fallen similarly when Hank the Ghost had punched him the night previous.  They saw the purse of the rich man rise off of the fallen body until it was no longer in contact with the rich man.  And then it vanished.
     The six changers once again began to shimmer, and within a second, they all stopped being copies of the rich man, and instead became copies of the bodyguards.  These copies though were all four times the size of the originals in mass.  Each of the six were well over ten feet tall and each were well over a thousand pounds.  The rich man's bodyguards all began to shake.  They then turned and ran, leaving the rich man on the ground unconscious and helpless.
     "HEY!  GET OUT OF THERE." cried a voice from the Dealer's Exchange.
     From a window of the exchange flew another man carrying a staff.  He was old and angry and dressed in robes.  The six boys immediately began to shimmer, turned themselves into cheetahs and ran away.  The old man said several words and a lightning bolt streamed from his staff and struck one of the changers.  One cheetah fell to the ground, shimmered once again, and turned back into a boy.  He was unconscious and his back was charred black.
     Then, three other old men flew out of the windows of the Dealer's Exchange and flew off in the direction of the escaping cheetahs.
     Marie and Jake walked up to the rich man who was laying on the ground.  He was bleeding from his top lip towards the left and was looking around incoherently.
     "Sir.  Are you ok?" asked Jake.
     The rich man stirred somewhat, looked at Jake and then fell unconscious.
     "HEY!  GET AWAY FROM HIM!" cried the old man who then began to fly towards them chanting.
     Marie was scared.  She stood and zoomed away.  Jake though couldn't.  He also knew he wasn't fast enough to run away from someone who could fly and shoot lightning bolts.  If a cheetah couldn't escape, neither could he.  So, instead he chose to wait.
     "I SAW THEM ATTACK HIM.  I JUST WANTED TO HELP." said Jake in a loud voice.
     The old man looked at Jake carefully and ceased his chanting.  He then landed next to Jake and began to examine the rich man.
     The old man then began chanting once again.  When the chanting was complete he touched the rich man's forehead with his index finger and the rich man stood up immediately.
     "You say you saw it happen?" said the old man who looked seriously at Jake.
     "Yeah.  Me and my friend saw it all."
     "Well.  Ok then.  If you let me read you, we'll give you two platinums." said the old man in a dark business-like manner.
     "Read me?"
     "Don't worry.  It doesn't hurt." said the old man.
     "What's a platinum?" said Jake.
     The old man looked at Jake and began to laugh.
     "You were trying to help him and you don't know what platinum is?  You're not from around here are you?" said the old man with a bitter smile.
     "No.  I'm from William's Peace.  We came here after the monster burned it down." said Jake.
     "A monster burned down William's Peace?"
     Jake looked surprised.  Zeb hadn't heard about it.  And now this man apparently hadn't heard about it either.  Did the guards at the gate lie?  They must have.  No one knew that William's Peace was gone.  No one was warning the other communities.  No one was notifying next of kin.  For all he knew, that same monster was still out there burning other villages.
     "You don't know about it?" said Jake as he looked at the ground in complete frustration.
     "No.  This is the first I've heard of it."
     "Yeah.  Everyone's dead there.  The guards at the gate told me that they were taking care of it." said Jake.
     "Were the guards Nahli?"
     "Yeah." said Jake who then looked at his feet bitterly and cursed his own naivety.  Hank had been right.  Jake should have kept the news to himself a little longer.
     "Son.  Your town's probably been looted by now.  Thanks for telling me though.  I'll see to it personally that the King finds out about it." said the old man.
     "Pine Mountain's gone too.  That girl I'm with is from there." said Jake.
     "Pine Mountain, too?" asked the old man with a look of intense concern.
     "What kind of monster did it?" asked the old man.
     Jake then began a long and important conversation with this man that he did not know but who seemed to care.  Jake found himself able to open up to this man in the same way that Marie had opened up to him the night that he spoke with her in her bedroom.  There was just something about the man that Jake could trust.
     Jake ended the conversation by allowing the man to chant several words and touch his forehead.  The old man's name was Bremin and Jake still knew nothing about him other than that he was willing to speak with him.  Bremin handed two silverish looking coins to him and then sent him on his way.  The rich man had long since been escorted back into the Dealer's Exchange by his huge but evidently worthless bodyguards.
     "Hey kid.  One more thing." said Bremin as Jake had begun to walk away.
     "Yes sir?"
     "I might need to talk to you again.  Where can I find you?" said Bremin.
     "#3 Blue Street.  Apartment 307.  It's my uncle's place.  I would write it down, but I don't have any pap..." responded Jake.
     "Don't worry.  I have a good memory." replied Bremin with a smile.
     Bremin then chanted a few words and began to rise off of the ground.
     "Be careful kid.  You don't have a gift.  I admire that.  But, nonetheless you're kind of handicapped right now.  I'd be on my toes if I were you." said Bremin.
     He then rose up higher and began to fly away at a great speed.
     Jake watched him fly away until he was startled by a familiar flapping staccato sound.
     "You talked to him for so long!  What happened?" asked Marie.
     "He wanted to hear about Pine Mountain and William's Peace.  He didn't know about the explosions or the monster."
     "I don't think anyone knows." said Marie.
     "Yeah.  I agree."
     Jake and Marie finished their journey to #4 Bright Out.  They both looked up to see a great sign that hung above an enormous gate.

Old Town Fighter's Guild
Honor in Life - Honor in Death
#4

     "The Fighter's Guild?  Zeb wants me to work in the Fighter's Guild?" asked Jake incredulously.
     "Well, something's better than nothing Jake." said Marie.
     Just then a group of six huge ugly scarred men arrived in two different carriages.  The ugly muscular men climbed out of their wagons and stood on the sidewalk next to the entrance.  Three dressed as though they were kings.  The other three were dressed with what could only be described as "too much fashion." Were these men not close to seven feet tall and armed Jake would have considered laughing.  Marie though, being only eight, just did not have the presence of mind to stop herself.  She began to giggle.  One of the ugly muscular men had a hat that was fashioned to look as though a swan was floating on his head.  Another man wore purple.  He wore nothing but purple.  And the purple clothing was in the form of nothing but a long turban that wound about his body in an artistic, although totally ridiculous way.  The third man wore a shockingly bright yellow waistcoat that was covered in sequins.  Under the coat, he wore a tight fitting deep blue and crazily ruffled body suit.
     The men looked at Marie.  Marie began to giggle even harder.  They all kept looking at her until Marie, tiny Marie, just couldn't help it any more and fully burst out laughing.  Jake also giggled a little.  One of the men then began to scream something in a slightly funny sounding foreign language which made Marie laugh even harder.  One of them then screamed at the further insult and then all of them drew their longswords.  Marie disappeared, laughing all of the way.  She stopped running about two hundred yards away but was still laughing uncontrollably.
     The six men then looked at Jake, swords drawn.  Surprisingly, in response, Jake simply shrugged his shoulders and looked back at them nonchalantly.  Normally, Jake would have been scared.  Something about Jake was beginning to change though.  To his surprise, Jake simply looked back at them, right in their eyes, and said "What?"
     The six men then all began looking back and forth at each other trying to figure out how they wanted to deal with this situation.  One by one they gave up and began sheathing their swords.  They then began to turn around and enter the Fighter's Guild's gates.  As they walked away though, one man, who simply could not bear the insult, turned around briefly to scream something at Marie again in the same strange sounding foreign tongue, which only made Marie laugh harder.  The man then, dejectedly, turned around again and disappeared through the gates.
     Jake looked down at his hands and was surprised to see that he was not shaking.  Something was waking up within Jake that had never been awake before.  It hadn't yet woken in Jake's life, simply because Jake had never needed it to be awake before.  Now though it was and Jake was happy to see it surface.
     "See ya" said Jake as he waved to the still giggling Marie.
     Jake stood, smiled somewhat and then walked through the gates of the Old Town Fighter's Guild.


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