The Wingman

There is no such thing as thinking freely.

Every thought I believed to be my own was merely forced unto me.

This power revolves around the 'self', but there is no 'self'

Only learned beliefs, learned behaviours, learned emotions.

Passed down from the dawn of time.

They passed their rage, their hope, their despair down to me.

And I became their puppet.

To cut away my strings, I had to become something they could not teach me to become.

THE WINGMAN

PROLOGUE PART 1

CHAPTER 1 (ONESHOT): The Way It Is

I half-open my eyes so the sun can do the rest.

I lie in bed a little, staring at the beam of light cutting down on the scratched-up wooden walls.

Finally, I get up and peer outside my window.

But I know there's no point in looking.

It's the same sight every morning.

Cow herders tending to their cattle, farmers in the far distance hoeing away in the fields and ordering each other around…

The housewives hanging up laundry on the clotheslines or drawing water from the well…

Perhaps singing a song if they're in a good mood.

The kids playing football with a balled up piece of leather

And as goals two crooked sticks Uncle Bulso jammed into the dirt for them.

There's a warm breeze enveloping the air.

I feel it's embrace even from behind my already-opened front door.

Everyone else already started the day, I suppose.

The Gimen of this village never had much.

Most of the older men had barely evaded being slaves. The women narrowly avoided being killed. Or worse.

At least that's what I've heard.

We were chased down to the brink of the earth.

We came from nothing, the elders built the village from scratch.

I think all those people did pretty well for themselves in the end.

After all, they had no choice. Gimen protect their own.

I finally get up and wonder off into the bathroom.

I move slow, nowhere I'm rushing to.

I'll just take a leak and go out to the fields, I think to myself.

Although, I don't know how the other farmers really felt working alongside a 14 year old.

Once I'm ready I step outside.

My brothers had a little tournament going on that day.

They shot me a glance or two, but they didn't offer to let me play. I guess I'd turned them down too many times.

The truth is, I didn't want to go work in the fields, nor did I want to go play football with my brothers. It all felt like we were avoiding the truth; that our time here is bound to come to an abrupt end.

But I never held it against them.

Who wouldn't want to avoid our reality?

But if you don't want to do anything, all equally, you might as well do something useful.

At least that's what I thought.

I grab my hoe and start traipsing down to the fields.

I walk past my mother, in line for the well.

"Eli, come here a second"

Shit… What does she want?

I drop my head in defeat and walk back over to her.

"What ma??" I huff

She ignores my tone. As usual.

'You alright? You stayed in bed longer than you usually do'

The fog of annoyance clears up.

I see reality.

She's just checking up on me.

"Uhh, yeah— I was just tired, is all."

She tuts. 'I worry about you, Eli, sleeping in is a grown-up's game. So is that fieldwork of yours.' She nodes at the hoe in my hand.

"You're growing up too fast. You should be running around with your brothers over there. They're enjoying being a child while they still can."

Not much to enjoy about it. I reply. In my head of course. Can't risk saying that out loud. The point is to end the conversation quickly.

"Yeah, I guess."

I wished I could care more.

I wished that when people smiled at me I could smile back in earnest.

I wished I could live in each moment instead of watching them unfold from inside my own head.

The days used to bleed into each other. The faces all looked the same.

No excitement, not for anything.

Never could I grasp the idea of a 'happy childhood'.

If you're unhappy, why should you fake otherwise? That's the game adults play.

The only real advantage of being young is that you're actually allowed to be sad.

I was grateful for all that I had, but that was it. Only grateful.

That was until this day.

I walked up to the fields and started tilling. I remember a moment of silence between the farmers. As if to say; 'Oh, he's back again.' They then kept talking.

At that exact moment. I remember hoping this day would be different.

For something to finally happen.

I had hoped it a few times before, and those silent prayers went unanswered.

Perhaps if I had given up on the idea, things would be different.

There's a faint whistling sound in the air. I brush it off, and it gets louder.

It gets louder and louder. 3 seconds and I can trace the direction. Perhaps 7 more and I can hear it clearly.

It's coming from the sky. Something barrelling from the sky.

A few more seconds, and I can see it.

Humans.

"HUMANS!" I yell like a war cry. But really it's a signal to hide.

I'd never yelled that loudly before.

Hoes and buckets fall to the floor. Another moment of silence— before we realise it's all over. Then we run.

Parents order their kids inside. The farmers flee the scene, tripping over themselves, crying in fear.

Screams of terror, stammering and mummering.

The sound of rusty nails and floorboards being boarded to windows with shaking hands.

The fathers unsheathe their swords for the first time in years.

No intention to use them. There's no point.

They wanted to feel in control, but the humans are ones with control.

The human's ravens land. Mother had told me that's what they ride into battle.

Enormous black ravens with piercing dark eyes like marbles. One per soldier.

And wrapped within that unkindness, a black carriage that had been carted through the air by the soldiers.

Dark, extravagant, menacing.

Perfectly fit to carry royalty.

The attention of the humans wasn't on me. But mine was on them.

I stand there and watch as they unsaddle.

Their extravagant outfits, blacked-out armour pieces with a hint of purple highlight.

Their skin, it's a range of colours, not just green.

Their weapons are sharper, their faces more groomed.

Their eyes are more fierce, with a subtle glow.

I was used to potato sack shirts and straw farmer's hats.

It was as if a portal to a new world opened in front of me, and I could've stared through it all day.

That is, if my life wasn't in danger.

"ELI! GET INSIDE!!"

My mother's cries break the trance.

I run inside and tumble onto the hardwood floor.

She slams the door behind me.

Then rushes to the boarded up window and peers through the cracks.

Our youngest brother Damian opens his mouth— he wants to ask a question.

Mother slaps her hand over it.

Can't risk the noise.

But her breathing is louder than any of us.

I peak through the cracks by her side.

I want a second look at the humans.

Still as before. Getting ready to approach the houses. Leashing their ravens to the trees.

And in the dark shade of the leaves, I see one human that stands out.

His armour more luxurious than the last. Black with a sharp silver pattern that split like lightning across his chest plate.

A long purple cape billowed in the wind at his rear.

His grey hair flowed past a face untouched by scars, nothing like the others, who were all marred from battle.

He was a lot older, a lot colder than the rest. Surely, he was the leader.

From a distance, he was somewhat admirable.

Then he opened his mouth.

"Where are you, vile gremlins?' he spat out, a mixture of erratic fury and deranged excitement.

"C'mon! Let's get this over with! You've had your fun, it's time to go BACK where you belong!"

Everything stayed quiet. He noticed that. So he doubled down on his taunts. That's what this world likes to do.

"I'll be nice! I only want the children! You men can HAVE your dirty lives, your dirty gremlin whores!"

My mother let out a small yelp.

I'd never known hatred like this. Never seen it up close.

The reality sets in. They wanted us dead, destroyed.

They're here to make us suffer.

The stories are true. The elders spared us the cruel details to give us hope, so those cruel details showed up at our front doors.

My mother stops looking. She couldn't handle it.

She wanted to be strong for us, but false strength only lasts so long.

She curled up into a ball on the floor, and cried. My brothers attempted to console her, but the sense of looming dread only grew stronger…

If mother can't hold it together, it must be over.

"Ohh no— don't make me FORCE you out!.. Don't tempt me with a good time!" The human leader was still beckoning us out of our houses.

The village remains still quiet.

"You can't hide from your duty forever!"

I hear a voice pipe up. It's Uncle Bulso.

"Our duty? Our duty is not to build your castles, your cities, to be whipped and chained inside dungeons and watch as you destroy our children's minds!"

"Your duty is what I say it is, gremlin. The ones with power make the rules." the human hisses. Pure venom and distain in his voice. He could not believe one of us would ever dare to stand up to him.

"Make the rules for your own people! On your own land! This is our home, we BUILT this land!" I hear the fear in Uncle Bulso's voice.

He knew how it would end for him, but he had to force the words out anyway, they've likely been on his mind for decades.

Even still, he couldn't have fathomed the wrath those words would bring.

"Your kind gave us no choice!' he keeps talking while he still can.

"Yes, and you still have none. But keep talking, see what becomes of this 'precious' land you built."

The human's initial rage appeared to be cooling down, but not in a good way.

He seemed more sure of himself now.

"You have ONE last chance. Approach on your knees and surrender your young!"

No movement.

"Are you sure??" he talks down to us like children.

"We'll be leaving with them either wa-ay…" he sings, waving his hands around rhythmically.

Silence.

The human still waits for a response, but there is none. Some of us were quiet out of bravery, defiance, others were paralysed by fear. Likely a mixture of both.

"Very well— let's do this the fun way! Come out Lady Pandora!"

A brief pause. Then the carriage door creaked open.

Out stepped a girl who didn't look like she belonged here.

Her cloak was golden, far too big for her small frame.

It slipped off her shoulders awkwardly as she walked. Her dark brown hair fell around her face in soft waves, slightly tousled by the wind.

Underneath a white linen dress cluttered by necklaces and bracelets, they looked symbolic, important— but not to her. To whoever dressed her up.

Her skin was pale with flushed cheeks, she seemed nervous, almost confused about what was unfolding.

She didn't carry herself like a soldier. She looked like someone who had never seen a battlefield in her life.

And yet, here she was.

Despite the depravity of the situation, my eyes were grateful for it.

Her beauty was a short reprieve from our impending doom.

She looked far younger than the others, too.

I was unsure why he called her out, she didn't look like much of a threat.

The human leader put his arm around her and lead her back down to the village.

"You see… the gremlins aren't obeying us, are they darling?" She looks around my age, but he talks to her as if she's 5.

"What did your father say to do when that happens?"

She thought about it for a moment. She knew the answer, she just couldn't seem wrap her head around it.

"K-kill them?" she asked.

A few murmurs of dread could be heard from the other houses.

"That's right, Dora." the leader replied with grin curled across his face.

"But they're hiding from us.. I thought they killed humans on sight…"

"So what? Just because they're EVIL.. doesn't mean they're strong. They're cowards. They hide in fear of our superior intellect, our justice…"

"But do you know what they fear the most?"

I know what's coming.

"Our powers?"

"Exactly right, Dora."

All I could hear was that anticipating silence. Not a peep from a single house.

My mother slowly allows herself to look through the window again.

More silence…

A breeze flows through the air. Not the warm embrace from before, but a spine-chilling symbol of our demise.

It grows stronger. Unnaturally strong.

It's coming from him.

The human powers.

We can all see it now. He's controlling the wind. Directing it with his arms. Channelling it. Building it. Getting a 'feel' for it. Preparing to sweep us all away.

I grip my shirt. I don't know what to feel. Anger, fear, bravery. So many choices, more than ever before.

He takes a sharp breath in… and lets out a roar of anger, as he thrusts the air in front of him.

WHOOSH.. The door explodes off the hinges, ripped away like the page of a book.

Wooden shards go flying, I hear a yelp of pain. The splinters landed in Uncle's arm. Blood dripping down his sleeve as he clutches himself.

A foot steps through. Slow, deliberate.

The raider steps inside the house as if it belongs to him. It does.

He glares at Uncle Bulso.

"Nowhere to hide, ay?"

Uncle makes eye contact for a split second. He wants to retort, but he slumps back down into place.

Eyes locked on the floor, no, at the raider's feet, he begins to plead for his life.

"P-please."

The raider steps forward, imposing his quiet wrath on Uncle, silently daring him to keep talking.

"Please— don't do this.' uncle starts to sob a little. 'You can't…yo—you can't.. do this.."

The raider keeps looking down at him. Pretending to take in what he just heard, as if he hadn't heard it a million times before…

I suppose it was funny the millionth and first time.

He starts laughing, cackling like a hyena. Not even a real laugh. Just a noise.

To prove that he can laugh our faces as we plead with him. And we are powerless to stop it.

"HAHA…WOW! Whatever happened to that tall talk from before??"

He crouches down, gets to eye level with uncle, and stares in his eyes as uncle tries to avoid his.

"Look in my eyes, gremlin."

"You know why we're here. You know what this is. Don't even try to fight it. Not for a second. You understand?"

Uncle Bulso is too overwhelmed to reply. The raider knows it's not disrespect, but he doesn't care.

He grabs Uncle Bulso by the neck, pulling his face towards his own.

"I'm sure this quaint little farm life was fun for you while it lasted. But it's time to join your brothers in the workforce now…"

He makes it sound as if we're stray dogs. But I guess Uncle Bulso still had some bark in him.

"Damn you, we didn't do it… for fun!" he said, trying to speak with the raider's palm still on his neck.

"We had to grow our own crops when you starved us, we built our own houses because you left us stranded in the wild! The celings still rot and leak when it rains, we place buckets to have water to drink when the well runs dry! The leeches run into our harvest every year! We have to pick them off alive before the children can eat for god sake!"

"But all of that— all our struggle… WE chose it for OURSELVES! What did YOU leave us, hnh? Scars on our backs! Cages for beds! Bloodied wives, broken children! Goddamn you. Just—damn you! WE CHOSE THE POVERTY OVER THE PERSECUTION! SURVIVAL OVER SUBJUGATION! WE WILL STICK… WITH OUR CHOICE!" Uncle Bulso cried out, slamming his fist into the floor.

Even in the silence that followed, even without turning around to look at my family… I could feel the strength, the truth behind those words. The impact echoed through the whole village as we hid. For the first time, I felt proud, happy to be one of these people. A Gimen.

As soon as the initial pride wore off. Back to reality.

Back to fear, at least for everyone else.

But I felt as though I didn't want to die. Of course no one wishes to die, nor to feel pain.

We all have fear embedded into our minds. It's how we survive.

But suddenly I didn't just want to survive. I felt something more.

The urge to live.

A connection with everything. Everyone.

My mother, my brothers, Uncle Bulso and the other village elders.

This small, crumbling little hut of ours, the crop farms, the farmers who worked tirelessly on them, even though they never liked me.

The women running around after their husbands, the children running after their mothers.

I noticed just how green the grass was. I noticed how the sunlight from the morning had faded.

I wanted it back.

I still do.

The raider merely let Uncle's words fade, let go of his neck.

He allowed everyone to comprehend exactly how grave the consequences would be for those words.

All through that ear-splitting silence.

He spoke again.

"You chose? You poor gremlin fool… your kind doesn't get a choice."

'The spider doesn't get a choice when you crush it so your child can sleep soundly… no matter how much it tries to run, you can't risk it crawling back.' he said, as if it made a lick of sense.

Like we were just insects under his boot.

I clenched my fist. I wasn't used to that.

"We are not spiders!" Uncle immediately rebuked.

"No, of course not. A spider may spin the occasional web and catch a fly.. It may accidentally serve a purpose in some way. Your kind serves none. You are worse than even the fly."

The conviction in his words, was as if we had wronged him personally in some way. But of course, we had not.

The humans were offended by our mere existence.

The idea that no matter how much they drowned us, we still had the courage to raise our heads above water and breathe.

When you drown a man you hold him down until he ceases to squirm.

That is why they will never release us.

I could see, even from a distance, the anger festering in Bulso's mind. The idea that he could kill this invader right here, if he was capable, dawned on me for the first time.

Hope. It felt… good.

Uncle looked down at the floor, one final time.

He breathed a heavy sigh, one final time.

"DAMN YOU!" he screamed. Lunging blindly. Attacking foolishly. He wasn't even trying. Just proving his point.

Defiance for the sake of it.

In the blink of an eye, a surge of energy pulsed through the raider's fingertips, a light-blue glow, his hands appeared supercharged. Wired with power. He assumed a battle stance.

The strike of thunder hit. CHROOM! The light surged and blasted away. The wooden panels of the windows shattered, the ground shuddered. I heard the neighbours scream. We ducked for cover.

It didn't hit us, just Uncle's house. We found no relief in that.

I immediately stepped back to the window…

A gaping hole in the side of Uncle Bulso's house, charred black around the edges, with an ember glow.

I desperately traced the path of destruction with my eyes, trying to find my Uncle in the smoke and dust.

I didn't find him. Because he was gone.

Reduced to a pile of black powder. Not even a bone, nor a drop of blood, remained of my uncle.

It wasn't just murder. He was smitten. Exterminated. In an instant.

Now, I understood it.

I knew how to feel.

I slammed the windowsill in frustration, I hung my head. I almost cried. Not yet.

I had plenty more reason to.

Mother noticed my reaction. She ran up to the window to confirm her worst fears. She wept as soon as she pieced it together. Collapsed to the floor. Inconsolable.

"Do you get it now?!" he was still f*cking talking…

"Will you CONTINUE to DEFY me?? Or will you save yourselves whilst you still can?"

There was a lot more unrest, louder conversations, distraught voices, children begging for answers…

But no one opened their doors.

"Well, that's fine. I'll repeat what I did to your friend there, over and over again. I'll draw it out, nice and slowly, you'll hear the flesh crisping up into a fine powder…"

"You'll ALL be disintegrated by my might—"

A door banged open. To the largest house in the village.

More than one family hiding in there. Several.

The fathers raced out with swords, charging straight for the enemy. Their wives calling after them, realising it was futile, hiding their children away.

One by one, farmers, shepherds, cattle farmers alike, all rose to the occasion.

The chaos ensued. That deadly chaos.

The raider had to take some time to comprehend what he was seeing. To him I imagine it was like seeing your food fight back at dinner.

More courage than he ever held in his whole life was mustered up that day. And he found it funny.

I almost wanted to go out there and join them.

But then he gave the orders.

"KILL THE MEN, TAKE THE CHILDREN, DO AS YOU PLEASE WITH THE WOMEN!"

And the other soldiers charged forth. 'Pandora' hesitated for a second and joined them.

I thought she might be different from them.

But otherwise became clear, when they charged forth.

The farmers were torn apart.

Flung around like their own hay-bales.

I saw a man split in twain from his temple to his stomach.

I saw lightning tear through buildings and wind swing lifeless bloody corpses in the air like leaves.

Massacre.

This is what humans do.

And it made me sick.

I felt a boiling hot convulsion of my skin like never before. My eyes scarcely blinked. I kept my fist tight. I watched as my whole life was torn asunder in front of me.

A life I cherished all too late.

The rage distracted me. Even from my mother's calls. So she turned my head to look at her.

"Eli! You need to protect your brothers ok?? We need to run, I need to get some supplies from the farmhouse ok? You just stay here—"

"What?? You're going out there?!" My voice sounds unfamiliar.

"I'll only be a second they're not gonna notice me ok sweetie?" she said as kissed me on the head.

I wished for something to change before.

If I could make a different wish now, it would be to be better with words, with emotions.

Perhaps I could have convinced her to stay.

She opens the door and runs head-first into the mouth of hell.

The door closes with a dreadful finality.

There's a silent pause as we try to fight away the idea that she may never come back.

"Ok, everyone in the bedroom, now!"

I command my brothers and shoo them into our mother's bedroom.

It's at the back of the house, the last place they'll look.

Every second counts.

I slam the door behind us and crouch down to avoid the sight line of the windows.

"But what about Mommy?" Mickey whines.

I just look at him. Damian looks at the wall, not even in the room.

"We need to help mommy!" Mickey starts scrambling for the door, trying to open it against my back.

I back up and slam it closed.

"Shut up! If we get caught here we die! Mom's doing all this for us! It can't all be for nothing!"

"Since when do you care about that, Eli?" Damian scoffs at me. I thought he wasn't listening.

He was right of course. Too late to be the older brother they deserve.

I close my mouth. But I don't let them leave.

I won't let them die.

The seconds feel like centuries. Explosions and screams of agony echo in the background.

With each one, we listen for our Mother.

We're forced to place the voice behind each screech.

To interpret whose flesh is being ripped and sliced away.

Our friends, the people we grew up with.

Splat!

Mickey screams. I flinch.

Blood splatters one of the windows.

It seeps through the wooden barricade and drips into our hiding place.

Drip…. Drip…. Drip…

We can't listen for mother anymore.

That is all we can hear.

The room begins to taste like iron.

Mickey weeps softly. I hold him against me. Not just to comfort him.

But to quiet the noise.

Even though it was too late.

Bang! I hear our door rattling from the impact.

Someone's trying to get in.

Could it be mother? Do we unlock to the door for her?

What if it's an invader?

The questions race through my mind.

Unlocking that door could either spell doom…or salvation.

The longer I hesitate, the more chance of Mother being killed.

If it's the humans, they're gonna get in no matter whether I open the door or not.

I might as well.

"Shh, stay here, I think that's Mom, I'm gonna go let her in."

Damian glances at me. I slowly let go of Mickey.

If we live, maybe things can be different…

Maybe I can be better.

I run back to the front door.

No time to hesitate, mom could get caught any second.

I unlock the door and wrench it open.

It's not mom.

It's a human. The one they called 'Pandora.'

I have a closer look at her now.

Definitely around my age. Beautiful, but terrified.

A knife in her hand, pointed between my eyes. Tears in hers. She can't hide them.

I stumble back, nearly falling to the floor.

"What the hell do you want?" I bark at her.

It's not mom, we have no idea where she is.

Instead, it's a goddamn human.

"Y-you need to come with me… surrender.. right now." she says, almost like reading from a script.

"And bring the two in there with you."

How did she know that?

Oh yeah. That's right.

The human powers. She has them.

It didn't faze me.

"You think you can just waltz in here and make demands? How would you like to die? How would 'daddy' out there feel? His little pet… slain by a Gimen, a filthy Gremlin?!" I spoke with my chest. With a voice unlike my own.

My words shocked her. Like she had never been spoken to that way before.

A few tears streaked down her face. They were for me.

"P-please.. you can't win. I don't want to do this!"

"Then get the hell out! Enslave your own people! Not us! Not me! Not my brothers!"

"I can't, they'll kill me!"

I hesitated, only for a moment.

"Then you'll die regardless."

An empty threat, but it didn't feel that way.

"Please— don't make me hurt you…" she grew more and more upset.

"I can't make you do what you cannot."

She took a deep breath in, steeling her resolve. The tears stopped.

"Gimen are evil.. that's what they told me… that's what they said" she muttered under her breath.

She wasn't talking to me.

She was convincing herself.

Getting comfortable with the idea of killing me.

I slowly started backing up. Keeping my eyes locked on her, I grabbed our rake from a nearby cupboard.

I tried to banish the thought of death from my mind.

Pandora was still fighting through her tears. Her face turned to anger.

"You're evil. Y-You're all evil! I'll rid the world of you- we'll all be better off!"

"Keep telling yourself that." I reply firmly, armed with a rake and some misplaced resolve.

I'll stand my ground, protect my brothers. No matter what.

She looked me in my eye for the first time. She knew she had to kill me before her mind could reconcile the truth.

She had to outrun her doubts.

Pandora grabbed hold of the bird-bracelet on her arm.

"Kulijari, descend from the heavens, serve the masters who placed you there!"

The bracelet started to shine a bright-golden beam.

She slammed her bracelet-bearing hand into the ground..

Something beyond me stirred in the light.

"Oh.. mighty Kulijari! Hunt your pray once again!"

It flashed from gold to white. Blinding me. I jumped back and shielded my eyes.

What.. what was that?

The light stopped spreading around. Instead it was focused. The gold grew thicker.

A shape was forming.

I couldn't make it out at first.

It looked like some sort of creature.

As the light warped, warbled, twisted, it became clearer…

Legs.. a head… claws, a tail.

Finally, it took it's ultimate form in front of me.

Called from the afterlife. Already prepared to pounce.

A panther.

Teeth like a bear trap. A shiny black fur coat.

It looked refined, almost regal.

It had been groomed from a mere beast, into a cunning, four-legged mercenary.

It locked eyes with me, growling darkly. All it needed was permission.

I was prepared to fight her… but a goddamn trained panther she summoned out of thin air?

But then I remembered. I remembered what was at stake.

If I couldn't somehow pull this off… my brothers would be sold as slaves.

My mother would be butchered, abused, tormented.

I'd spend my life toiling away for the humans, as my scars fester in the noon-day sun.

If I could find a way, perhaps mother would come back with the supplies.. we'd all run away.

The last piece of the puzzle.. was me, and whether I could defeat this beast or not.

I bet my brothers are watching.

I turned around.

"If I die.. you find mom and run. If you can't find her… you fend for yourselves."

The door was closed, but I knew they could hear me.

It felt like a goodbye, but I hadn't given up hope.

Hope was addictive.

Protecting my brothers… Fighting against evil…

I was becoming a person I could feel proud of.

It fuelled me.

"K-Kill him!" Pandora commanded wearily, her disguise of determination didn't last long.

Kulijari snarled and lunged at me. I backed up as it chomped the air.

WHACK! I smacked it across the face with the rake.

I kept pummelling and poking it as it got closer, those teeth like a naked blade ready to stab my skin.

My hits weren't doing much.

I darted around the room, different angles, trying to make a clean cut.

If I could pierce it's skin, I'd know I could kill it.

Kulijari had tested me. It was merely playing with it's food.

Now it grew impatient.

It started lunging faster, chasing me in bursts.

It swiped me with it's claws — missed me by a hair.

I tried jumping up and striking it from above. I was mid-air

But it was already beneath me.

I twisted, barely able to land outside it's reach.

It kept coming.

I ducked under the dining table,

It hurled itself at me like an arrow.

I tried to flip the table over and ram it into the wall…

But Kulijari was too fast.

It was already on my side.

It pounced on me. Biting down, snarling for a taste.

The rake snapped into bits.

The hot stench of it's breath on me. Drool down my shirt like slime.

I was staring into death itself.

It wanted me, but it could not have me.

I still had people to protect.

It felt good to say that.

I pushed my legs against the floor and slid away from it's grasp.

But not too far. It was my turn to attack.

I pretended to leap at it—

It got ready to bite my head off midway.

But instead I slid to the left.

I choked out it's neck with the full length of my arms.

It tried to scratch, to turn around and bite me.

But I was behind it now.

I kept squeezing, tighter and tighter.

Closer and closer, to finishing all this. To being free.

But Kulijari got more and more desperate.

It had stopped trying to wound me, and focused on wrestling me off.

It started rolling, tossing, turning, shaking violently.

I could barely hold on. I kept banging my head everywhere. Delirious.

Until eventually, it won the struggle.

Kulijari lept and smashed me against a wall, my grip unlocked as I slumped flat on the floor.

My back pulsed with pain. I could barely even move.

I picked up my head.

Vision blurred, I could still him.

I could feel his presence

Snarling. Sauntering towards me.

The fear I was suppressing struck me like a drum.

I crawled away. It stalked me down. Kept up it's menacing approach.

Slowly walking. Playing with it's food.

I gathered the strength to sit up and kept moving back.

But I was cornered.

Stuck between the fireplace, and Kulijari's vengance.

Wait— the fireplace?

Just before I had accepted death… an idea struck me.

I backed up along the wall, trying to pull myself upright.

The most I could manage was a crouch.

Good enough.

I turned around. There it was…

The key to my hail-mary plan.

I grabbed it stealthily, and hid it behind my back.

Kulijari was still coming.

I noticed Pandora watching.

Still standing by the door.

She wore true worry on her face. Standing there gave her all the time she needed to think.

She understood the truth now. Maybe more than I.

"You want me dead, huh? Come try it!"

I hoped that taunt would be enough.

Even though the panther could not speak our tongue…

Some languages are universal.

And it did understand.

Kulijari flung himself at me. One last time.

I rolled out of the way.

The flames had started growing.

Perfect timing.

Kulijari was already headfirst in the fireplace. But I wouldn't let him get off with a burn.

I dived to his side and circled back.

I charged and tackled him. Shoving his face deeper in the fire.

I used my legs, the full weight of my body, to keep him ablaze.

The howls of agony didn't break my resolve.

His sporadic, panic struggle grew less powerful.

His movements got slower.

And slower.

By now I was sliding my legs against the floor. Pushing him with my back.

Drowning him in fire.

Eventually, the movement stopped altogether.

I stayed on the floor for a moment. Trying to catch my breath. Trying to digest it all.

I didn't hear a peep from my brothers. Nor from Pandora.

Pandora.

I had the strength to get up now.

I slowly turned towards her, tossing the flint and steel aside.

It clattered to the ground in the silence.

I didn't know what to make of her expression.

It wasn't fear, even though I had all the reason in the world to kill her.

It wasn't anger, even though I had burnt her pet alive.

But it didn't matter. I knew what had to be done.

While she was still too stunned to move…

I charged at her, letting out a furious cry.

A terrible attack.

She still had her knife. She could have cut me down right then and there.

But she didn't.

Instead, she just closed her eyes. Still standing still. And tensed her body.

And I understood it.

She felt remorse.

She was going to let me attack her, because she knew she deserved it.

And that simple fact, broke all my desire to.

I tried punching her, but only struck the wall right by her head.

I couldn't do it.

Why the hell can't I do it?

I just stood there, pulled my fist from the wall. My head down.

I was the one who couldn't look at her now.

And then she finally moved.

She held her hand over the back of my head.

"I'm sorry… ok? I'm so sorry. Forgive me please, I'm sorry… They're wrong… I know they're wrong about you. I don't know why we're here. I don't know… He made me come… he made me…"

She spoke through quiet sobs. Not crocodile tears. Not for the sake of my pity.

But because she was frustrated, confused.

Because she had almost just killed me for no reason at all.

Over a lie she had been fed her whole life.

"They told us you were monsters. That you kill anyone you find wondering in the night. That you steal our newborns. You're just like us, aren't you?" she sniffled.

I ignored her question.

The answer was goddamn obvious.

I turned my head and she let go of me.

I took a step back. And looked her in the eye again. She looked back.

"I need to find my mother."

She just looked at me.

"Why isn't she hiding with you?" Her voice wavered.

"She went to get some supplies so we could run away— she was supposed to come back ages ago."

"When I walked in?"

I paused. She knew something I didn't.

"Yeah."

She turned away, her fingertips over her bottom lip.

Panic in her eyes.

She rushed up to the boarded window, and looked through the cracks.

It seemed to confirm her fears.

"They're.. they're rounding them up…"

"Who?"

"It's—they—"

"TELL ME!"

"T-The women. T-they do it every time. They say they have no use for them."

My gut twisted.

"So what the hell do they do?!"

She gulped and turned back towards me. Making sure to look in my eyes.

"They slaughter them all."

I breathed out an exasperated sigh.

The pit in my stomach grew larger.

The world was turning on it's head.

I held my hands over my head.

I wanted to just go out there and kill that smug bastard. It should have been him in that fireplace.

But I had to save my mother. So I only had one chance.

I took a deep breath.

I had to move with a level head.

I turned to the human girl.

"What is your name, human?"

She turned to me. Our eyes met again. I noticed the colour of hers. Pure yellow pupils. Golden-yellow like melted butter.

My question shifted her demeanour. She softened.

"Pandora." she replied.

"Pandora, the raider out there seems fond of you. Will you vouch for me? For my mother, for our people?"

Her attitude tensed up again. Not because I was asking her for something…

But because my request seemed hopeless to her.

And yet, she still agreed.

"Yes, I will, of course. It's the least I could do…" she smiled at me.

The anvil on my chest weighed a little less.

There was still hope.

We slowly creaked open the front door. And peaked through.

Suddenly, my brothers appeared at my side.

They knew what had happened. They were too worried for mother to thank me directly.

But Damian patted me on the back, and gave me a brief look of reassurance.

Mickey hugged my leg.

I appreciated it all.

In the corner of my eye, Pandora watching that. She put her head down, I could see a slight smile past her hair.

That moment of levity, lasted a few seconds.

That's when they brought out the women.

One by one, bruised and blooded, hands tied behind their backs.

Made to kneel in mud soaked with the blood of their husbands.

Several women I recognised were missing. I suppose they were already dead.

I hoped to dear god my mother was not among them.

They brought out more and more.

All kneeling in a line.

Human soldiers circle around them like hounds, tapping swords against their hands.

Antsy.

Finally, they bring out the last woman.

It's her.

It's our mother.

Her eye blackened. Her arms bruised. Being dragged to the end of the line

Her eyes were vacant. Perhaps she saw the child slaves. Didn't see us there.

Perhaps she assumed we had escaped.

So all that was left for her… was to die.

But we were there.

We were waiting for the right time.

One chance.

The human leader came into view.

"Now! My favourite part of the day!"

He's started again.

"Unfortunately we have no work left for you 'fair maidens'" he scoffed.

"No dresses that need sewing… no dishes that need cleaning!"

He paced back and forth with theatrical glee. He could not even wipe the smirk off his face.

"And furthermore… all our male citizens are indeed satisfied with the current selection of… entertainment, and would rather not have to lay with beasts such as yourselves!"

The women just glared at him. That was all we could truly do against his vile speeches.

"And so.. that leaves us with one, most deeply regrettable option!"

The human soldiers stand still now, swords drawn.

"But, oh. I suppose of course you already knew that. Perhaps there was no need for my explanation at all"

Of course there wasn't. Speaking filth and torturing others was just fun for him.

"Well! No point in dragging it out I suppose!"

He raised his hand in the air. If it falls, the order is given.

My mother will die.

I was going to tell Pandora to intervene, but she had already stepped out.

My mother was brought back down to earth.

She watched as a human girl walked out of her house. Bewildered.

Then she noticed us behind the door…

All of us alive, still here, still hiding.

Her dissonance turned to despair.

Right in front of our eyes.

"STOP!" Pandora shouted so all could hear her.

She ran towards the captive women.

"We have ALL been fed the most egregious of lies!"

The women all turn to her, unable to comprehend.

A human? Defending them?

"We were lead to believe these people, these Gimen, are evil creatures who know nothing but destruction and devastation! But I implore my fellow kinsmen to look around at the carnage we have wrought, and ask yourselves how we differ!"

The leader locked his eyes onto her. His expression unreadable.

"All we have done in our quest to vanquish evil is bring it down tenfold on the innocent!

We have captured innocent children!

Slaughtered innocent men!

And here we now stand, ready to slaughter a dozens of innocent women!

This is not justice…

This is ignorance! Wilful and deliberate!"

The captured Gimen turn to each other, as do the soldiers. No one could believe what they were hearing.

"Our ancestors ran their species to the brink of the world!

And even there they cannot find peace! Even here, they are not safe from our wrath!

If we are wise, we should spend not a second longer committing these atrocities, and a lifetime repenting for them!

What we have done today, what we have continued to do for years, will haunt Humans and Gimen alike for centuries to come! We need—"

"THAT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!' the human leader shrieked.

He pinched his brow in frustration, as if this was all one big inconvenience.

"Do you believe yourself wise now? Do you believe yourself.. to be a saint?"

Pandora froze. Unsure what he was getting at.

"Or perhaps a stray gremlin has infected your mind with their LIES?

Well this is what they do, Dora!

They want you to pity them! That is their game! That is when they become free to stab you in the heart, as you thank them for the knife!"

The leader actually makes a heart-stabbing motion with his hands.

"Search that house she came from! Find the scoundrels who deceived her! Who turned her against her own!"

We stop peaking. The door closes when we stop holding it open.

They found us.

I hear mother cry out. She had mentally detached. Grown comfortable with the idea of death.

But knowing we hadn't escaped, broke her all over again.

"NO! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Soldiers kick down the door. It's too late.

They grab us like meat, drag my brothers kicking and screaming outside.

Me right behind.

They throw us to our knees. In the mud.

Right outside the door.

The skyline is pierced with orange and gold.

Sunset.

The day is almost over.

I wish for it to end quickly.

"Ahh, I see it now…

I gather by the screams…"

He points to our mother.

"This must be mommy!

They stayed back for her, isn't that adorable!"

A few soldiers snickered.

"You tried corrupting my little apprentice, boys! Turning her against me. How deplorable. Perhaps as payback I should take your mother from you."

The leader kept his vision glued to us. His eyes darted between me, Damian, back to me, Mickey.

He noticed our ages. And then he turned to Pandora.

"So you would hide child slaves right under our noses and—"

"WE ARE NOT SLAVES!" I roared so loud I could feel my jaw stretch.

All heads turned to me. My brothers. Pandora. The soldiers. The other captives. My mother.

A soldier backhanded me in an instant. Trying to put me in my place…

But I know who I am now.

I spit out blood, and a tooth.

The soldier drew his sword and turned to the leader for the order.

But he didn't recieve one.

Instead, the leader put his hand on his chest, signalling him to stop.

Almost to say; "I'll entertain this for now."

I pulled myself up to face him.

From two knees to one. To none.

Standing my ground.

Against a human.

My mother watching. Shaking her head at me in fear.

"Not slaves? That's a bold claim, boy. Just what are you then?"

"People— just like you. Not nearly as wretched as you. We could have swapped places today, and I still would not have done unto as you have. None of us would have."

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because we are good people, with good hearts. We have done nothing to deserve your cruelty. We want nothing from you!"

"Oops. You've lost me." He folded his arms and started pacing around me.

"How? We're just evil because we're evil? Simply because that is what you want to believe, we're the ones who have to suffer for it?"

"No, deary me no.

You are evil because you say you are people. And all people are evil."

Why is he actually talking to me?

And what the hell is he talking about either?

He continued on.

"Here's the truth, little gremlin; what we do here, what we do to your people….

These are not 'atrocities' as you claim. We are not 'ignorant', as you claim.

This is war.

A war of two opposing sides!

All I have done today, throughout all these little excursions, is try to win that war, all for my people."

I'm stunned. He has an actual reason. Even if it's pathetic and makes no sense…

He actually thinks about these things?

"So capturing child slaves? Torturing women, slaughtering people who physically can't fight back. What war are you fighting exactly? A one sided war. That's what. Your pathetic war is against the world itself. You persecute us for existing and you call it battle!"

He paused and met my eyes.

"If the other side doesn't even know it is at war…how can you lose?"

Stunned again.

"But what's the point?! What are you trying to accomplish??" I was growing restless. Does he think he's making any logical sense here?

"Young gremlin— do you know how these powers of ours came into being?"

"No."

"Through war. The war between humans and gimen."

I stayed silent as he continued on.

"Humans evolved through the monkey, while you Gimen evolved from the hobgoblins.

In those early days, we were all of us equal in strength, intellect, instinct. That made us natural enemies, boy. For food, for territory, for survival.

That struggle continued for millennia. Both sides each other's worst nightmare.

The resentment became deep-seated. Natural. Woven into our psyche.

And soon, we began to adapt. To develop our bodies and minds in ways that allowed us to gain the upper hand on each other.

But alas, it seems humans were much superior at that."

He raises his palm and stares into it.

"After all, we adapted so heavily, that we developed these powers, to finally become the clear victors of this eternal war.

A gift from nature itself."

He closed his palm. Lightning sparked from it.

"So, you see? It's simple.

We beat you Gimen into submission because we have no choice….

We are natural competitors in every aspect, and there is only room for one of us on this planet.

Reducing you to slaves, or beasts, driving half of you out into the wild while we build our infrastructure off your backs…

It's all self-preservation. We cannot risk your uprising.

Tell me… If Gimen are so good-natured, and Humans so evil, do you truly believe Gimen would not have done the same? If given the chance. If given these powers?"

I just stared at him. As cruel as his words were, as much as it did less than nothing to justify our suffering…

I couldn't help but understand his reasoning.

"No." I replied. I thought I would be honest.

"But still, what does that change? If you understand that we are just as you are, you understand that we do not deserve this treatment! Mocking us, tormenting us, it serves no purpose! It protects no one!"

"Of course it does.

The anger you feel, the mockery. Does one of two things.

One. It is internalized. I repeat that you are worthless slaves. You subconsciously accept that as the truth because your reality reaffirms it. You give up.

Two. It blinds you. You're outraged by it. Even if you feel the urge to retaliate.. there will be no tact, no strategy behind it. You will lash out against our words, rather than account for our power. You will be blindsided."

I'm looking around. Anywhere but his face. I desperately want to avoid the truth behind his words.

He's thought about everything.

"If you truly want to win a war. There is no better strategy than making the enemy believe they have no chance.

We dominate you in every measure. So much so that you call it 'oppression'.

You think: 'ohh woe is I! Will the suffering never end?!'

You have no thought of ending it yourself.

And even if you do. You have no real plan to do so.

You blame your circumstances…

But we created your circumstances

And if you can control that,

You can control a man's thoughts.

You control a man's thoughts…

You control a man's emotions.

You control a man's emotions…

You control everything."

I'm still staring at the floor. As is everyone. We can't even make sense of why he's telling us this. Yet alone the words themselves.

I understood it a bit more. I had part of the map of the hellish landscape he called a mind.

He wasn't merely a sadist. He saw himself as an artist. Some genius.

Despair was his paint. The Gimen race was his canvas. And he had convinced himself in layers, that it was justified.

"Do you understand now, Pandora?"

I realised what he was doing.

The speech was never for me. It was all for her.

To turn her back to the human's side.

After hearing all that, my faith in humans was barely existent.

I knew she would turn on me.

"Do you understand why we have to fight them now?"

"That changes nothing!" she snapped back.

I turned up my head.

"That is even worse! You're fighting a non-existent war, built on ancient history!

We no longer primates! We have the power, the intelligence, the moral ability to end this once and for all!"

"THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! YOU SPEAK OF FAIRYTALES AND FANTASIES, DORA!"

He's back.

"WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY GAIN OUR TRUST? OUR GUARDS ARE DOWN! THEY STRIKE BACK AGAINST US FOR ALL THAT ANCIENT HISTORY JUST AS WE HAVE DONE TO THEM!

IF THEY WANT TO CALL THEMSELVES KIN,

IF THEY WANT TO CLAIM THEY ARE THE SAME AS US…

THEY SHOULD ACCEPT IT! THEIR TRUE NATURE! IT IS THE SAME AS OURS!"

"No, my lord." Pandora countered calmly.

"That is only you.

Only us.

It is human nature to kill and destroy.

But you cannot know of Gimen nature, because you have not even bothered to ask."

The leader chuckled dryly.

"Well… it seems you are truly for them, are you not?"

"I am… an ally of the world, my lord." she said, quiet, but firm.

The leader gave her one final look.

"Very well."

He kept pacing, no longer speaking.

Likely trying to decipher how he could inflict as much pain as possible.

Then suddenly, the idea struck him.

He turns to me.

He looks me in the eye.

At first my pupils dart away…

But then I remember…

I'm not afraid of this man.

My eyes meet his.

But I'm merely meeting him where he is.

But him. He wasn't just making eye contact.

It was as if he was studying my eyes.

Looking through, into my brain, reading my thoughts like a short story.

Another human power?

I let him look.

I don't give a shit what he sees.

He kept looking. His eyes exploring deeper and deeper into my psyche.

I felt exposed. Vulnerable. I'd lived most of my life inside my head…

And now someone else was taking a look.

The very last person I wanted there.

Deeper, and deeper, he searched.

In a flash, he's backed up.

I could barely break out of the trance.

An electric warble sounds off just beyond my vision.

His hands imbued with lightning yet again.

His fingertips extended like a dagger as he twisted his hips.

A strike through the head.

More than enough to take me out.

I heard Pandora cry out.

"NO!"

I ducked and barely slipped out of the way…

Death missed me by an inch.

The lightning dissipated from his hands.

He's already done attacking?

The momentum of his swing had thrusted him forward, nearly tripping him over.

He tried playing it off by wondering further in that direction.

Then he turned back to me.

"OH, he's good..." he remarked, wagging his finger at me.

He turned to Pandora. A devilish grin sprawled across his face.

"So, it's him?"

More mind games.

He attacked me to see how she would react.

"I have to say, Dora, I'm a little shocked, this is very improper!

A whole consort of human suitors in your own land,

And yet of all of them. You fall for one of these… these beasts!"

His laughing section of soldiers chortled again.

Pandora stayed silent.

"Do you deny it?"

She stayed silent still.

"I shall take that as a no.

And I'm afraid that leaves me only one choice, Pandora."

He lunged back to me, grabbing my shirt collar, no chance of dodging now.

I braced for death.

"But alas, it is not true!"

The leader froze.

"I do not bear feelings for him! Of course I, Lady Pandora of Stratoshire, could never fall for a gremlin peasant from a nameless, powerless village!

I would become the shame of my noble family! Of my sacred holy blood!

Yet alone the shame of my own mind!"

She was right of course.

Her words still had some impact on me.

Whether they were true or not.

Even if I managed to survive, I would never see her again.

I didn't know how I felt.

Just that I didn't want that to happen.

"My lord, you were right all along!

I was foolish to believe otherwise! I merely fell for the pitiable stories and lies they fed me!

We should just leave now! Put this day behind us!

Let us waste no more of our steel and sinew on these beasts!"

She was working him. Telling him what he wanted to hear.

No way he falls for it.

"I-I apologise. Lady Pandora. I had doubted your honour, your devotion to your people, and mine.

Of course, you are right. They are not worth our time."

Is this man 2 years old?

He actually bought it…

He turned away. Hands behind his back.

And he's leaving?

Too good to be true.

He raised his hand back in the air.

My mother's life hung in the balance again.

"NO! STOP! DON'T DO IT" I was bellowing at his back.

The soldiers grabbed my arms. Barred me from moving any further.

Damian tried barging past. Mickey cried and screamed with terror.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS! YOU SICK BASTARD! WE ARE NOT AT WAR! WE WILL RUN EVEN FURTHER, YOU'LL NEVER LAY EYES ON US AGAIN!

WE ARE OF NO THREAT TO YOU!"

He turned to face me. One final time.

"That is not for you to decide, gremlin boy."

He lowered his hand. Chopping the air.

The sounds of blades cutting up heads filled the air in waves.

Women crying in agony, bracing for the pain.

My mother turned to us.

"It's ok, boys. It's just as he said….

We did not receive the gift.

This is our fate—"

The blade struck through her back.

Straight through the heart.

She died advising us to accept the infinite torment.

She died broken.

Mickey wailed like an animal.

Damian's voice broke in his throat.

I roared out to the heavens. My voice hoarsened out into a cry as I collapsed into the crimson grass.

I rolled over in defeat.

But he still was not finished.

"Take the three of them. I'm sure they'll make excellent slaves."

I spluttered in shock as they grabbed my brothers and dragged them through the mud.

"LET GO! NO—LET GO OF ME!" Mickey screamed, beating the soldier's arm away from him.

Damian didn't even protest. He just looked destroyed. The very image of suffering.

"GET OFF OF THEM!" I tried leaping to their defense.

Two soldiers shoved me back down to the floor.

One punched me square in the jaw.

Kneeling on my back.

Making absolute sure I had no chance.

I was still facing my brothers.

They were being carried off into rusty cages with the other children I grew up with.

It was truly over.

I lashed out, shaking violently. I had to do something.

But I couldn't move. Not even a little bit.

I just shouted. Mouth halfway into the dirt.

Trying to let it all out.

I noticed that bastard still staring at me.

Grinning like this was all one big joke.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT! I'LL KILL YOU! A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH! A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH!"

He laughed manically.

"I'LL FUCKING DESTROY YOU!"

But it was as I said before. I was of no threat to him.

"One, or two, Gremlin boy? One… or two?" he sneered.

Those were the last words he said to me. As he turned away to his raven.

"Bring him over."

For a moment I wondered what slave life would be like.

How soon I would experience a whip to my back, chains on my arms and legs.

"Stop.

Not him."

Pandora.

I thought she had left already.

"He nearly turned me against my own kind. He manipulated me and used me.

He is not worthy to even step foot in our lands. Not even as a slave.

I shall strike him down. Here, and now."

The leader chuckled.

The final blow had already landed ages ago. I was down.

But I suppose it wasn't enough.

She waited for the soldiers to climb off me.

The captive children watched in the background. My brothers among them.

"ELI!" Mickey started bawling all over again. A soldier slapped him through the cage bars.

The soldiers restraining me allowed me to rise.

One shoved me in Pandora's direction.

She stood waiting. That same knife in hand.

I glared at her.

Anything. Any connection I thought we had.

Damn it all.

"You told me you were sorry. You embraced me. I never drew that from you, human.

But now you seek to cut me down as if I forced it from you.

As if we asked for this."

She looked me in my eye. Head tilted to the side. Fiddling with the knife.

Hesitant to speak. No. Unable to find the words.

Finally, she spoke.

"I know. I can never repair the damage we have done unto you this day.

I know you asked for none of it.

But anything you ask of me now. I will oblige without a moment's thought.

If we ever find each, know that I am yours. Your servant. That is all I can offer you."

What? Find each other? She's about to stab me to death. Isn't she?

No. I get it now.This girl is something else. Like no human I've ever seen.

She really tried.

"How about we end the servitude, altogether?"

She paused and put her hand on my shoulder. Staring straight into my soul.

Smiling as much as she could muster.

"I would enjoy that, Gimen boy."

SNIP. One swing of her blade. The ropes were cut from my hands.

"RUN! RUN, GIMEN RUN!" she screamed so loud her voice cracked.

I turned tail and dashed past the two soldiers behind me.

They were too bewildered to react.

So was the leader.

"A—AFTER HIM! DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE!"

I heard the soldiers race after me as I tore into the forest.

The village. My brothers. I was leaving it all behind.

There was nothing I could do for them now.

But what could I do, even for myself?

I had nowhere else to go.

Still I barrelled through the trees.

Branches hacking at my arms.

Breath clawing at my lungs.

Trying to shake my hunters loose.

Twisting through the trees.

One on either side of my back.

Keeping up the chase.

Jumping branches. Dodging shrubs.

No room to turn, they'd cut me down on the way.

Can't hide in the trees. They'd catch up.

What if I run out of forest?

I need a definitive way.

Somewhere impossible to chase me.

Then, I saw it.

A waterfall.

If I could survive the dive, and defeat them as soon as they followed…

I'd be free.

I legged it down to the edge.

I stopped at the last inch.

My toes in the water. All flowing down.

Slowly pulling my feet to the fall.

I looked over the cliffside. Getting a measure of my odds.

An enormous, gaping drop.

But at the bottom, a large enough body of water to land in.

I knew not whether survival was possible.

But I had to take the chance.

The soldiers had caught up with me now.

They looked and realised what I was about to do.

'Idiot gremlin… all that awaits you down there is a painful demise!

Even if you live, you will fall to the element, to nature! You cannot survive alone! We wiped out all the neighbouring villages!

Don't you beasts value your lives?!'

"I thought we had no value."

Perhaps I was growing careless as I lost all I had to care about.

Perhaps I deserved to.

"Even drowning, even splitting my head in twain on the sharpest stone. Even crawling out of the water only to starve and rot as the vultures bite down on my flesh…

I grow more fond of that end, than ever having to answer to the likes of you.

That is, a fate worse than death.

What your master is in store for."

I turned and dove headfirst into whatever awaited me.