Shodu
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Chapter 1
Two children sat across from each other at the large wooden table, a small chess set in front of them. They hunched over the set, each casting a knowing at the other.
“May I?” The child playing with the white pieces- a small boy- inquired.
“Go ahead,” the girl opposite him replied. She wore a witty and slightly mocking look on her face. The boy nearly laughed at the expression and grabbed a white pawn, jumping it forward.
“It’s begun.”
Shodu leapt behind a tree, three arrows finding their way into its trunk. The sound of the battle behind him was deafening, and he was all too glad to get away from it. He was breathing fast, and his heart was pounding quite painfully in his chest.
Don’t panic, he thought. Everything’ll be fine. Just have to calm down… Calm down… He began to normalize his breathing rate, waiting for his heart to return to its normal pace. The archer can’t hit you behind the tree… all you have to do is wait for them to get bored and pick on someone else. Shodu clutched both of his jur so forcefully his knuckles turned white. He hadn’t even been hit yet and he was panicking.
A blast of sound and fire erupted from nowhere, causing the temperature to spike up to what seemed to be infinity. There were sounds of screaming, but they were quickly drowned out by the sound of flames, followed by more explosions. Quivering in fear Shodu chanced a look behind the tree and he felt his heart drop into his stomach.
He saw golems made out of bone and fire leaping out of the ground and into the battlefield, burning everything in their paths. He watched as they set dozens of men on fire with a single breath, all attempts to damage them simply bouncing off. Even the mages were crying in terror- hushed only by the quick sound of death. Shodu had gone pale, shaking with fear. He had heard of these abominations; they went by the name of “Ash Golems”, although they were commonly called “Ash”’s for short. They were undead golems with stranger powers over flame, talked about only in hushed voices. Shodu hadn’t thought the enemy lines would even have one, not to mention a hundred. They struck like angels of death, incinerating their enemies with quick motions. The enemy lines were cheering, some dropping their weapons and sitting down to watch.
Shodu wanted to run. He wanted to drop his weapons and take off screaming like a small girl, and he had no doubt he would have if he wasn’t frozen in his place. It was as though his feet had roots and had planted themselves to the ground. He simply hoped the tree would mask his presence long enough for him to calm down and run, but all hopes were dashed when one particularly small Ash turned…
…And looked him in the eye.
Shodu thought his heart had failed him. It had stopped; all breathing seemed painful. It was as though time had slowed down and he could feel himself dying of fear. That, of course, wasn’t the case. He didn’t black out as the Ash neared him, didn’t suddenly fall and die, as much as he’d have liked to at that moment. He stood firmly planted, wetting his pants, and wishing he was somewhere else.
The Ash smiled showing rotten and decaying teeth, although it was hard to tell through the flames. Apparently it couldn’t stand the thought of wasting a potential target. Shodu tried hard not to think of the horrible burning pain he’d feel before he died. It was only a few moments before the Ash had made its way to him, but it felt like forever. Shodu felt his knees buckle, his body covering itself in sweat in response to the heat. The Ash raised its hand, the fire intensifying…
… And it was shot by a blue streak of what at first appeared to be light, piercing into its hand. The streak suddenly crystallized into ice and exploded, blasting through bone and causing the creature's arm to fall off. Shodu snapped to his senses and jumped to his feet, leaping back as the bone that was once the Ash’s hand hit the ground. The Ash, no longer capable of feeling pain, dumbly turned its head to look at whatever had done it, but was suddenly pierced by more bolts of ice, in both of its legs and near the shoulder. They also exploded and a limbless Ash fell to the ground, being pierced once more in its head, blasting through skull and bone and killing the undead. The fire around instantly faded and all that was left was a mere skeleton, broken into several pieces.
Shodu was still breathing hard, shocked at what had happened. It had happened so fast it felt unreal. He turned to glimpse whoever had done it but they were nowhere in sight. Looking around he saw more streaks of ice in the air, and more Ash’s falling. Smiling nervously, Shodu ran from the site as far as he could, soon finding himself in a nearby forest and quickly hiding himself in the coldest place he could find (which happened to be a rather damp and disgustingly dirty log).
It was quite a while before his heart returned to its normal pace, and even longer before his body had stopped sweating. Realizing how thirsty he was, Shodu set off in search of water. The trees were rather thin and spaced out, so he began to search closer to the more thickly packed areas, reasoning that more trees would grow around damper soil. He had been correct, and was soon drinking straight out of a small stream quite madly, ignoring that the fact that since he hadn’t purified it with a spell he’d probably fall ill the next day. With the cold taste of water in his mouth he lay on idly his back and stared groggily at the sky. That had been the shortest battle in the entire war, and it had ended with him running with his tail between his legs. Shodu sighed, if he had known they’d had Ash’s he wouldn’t have joined the army. He stroked his hand through his dark and messy hair. His eyes were similarly dark, but instead of looking wild and messy they looked more calm with only a slight hint of panic about them- which was to be expected seeing how he had almost bee incinerated just moments ago. Shodu got up and leaned on a nearby tree, wondering where to go. He could try and contact his commanding officer, but he had probably been burned to death. He could also go back to the battlefield and find the person who had saved his life, but the enemy had most likely killed them and everyone else anyway and would probably stick around to find any survivors.
He couldn’t stay in the forest for long, already he was getting hungry and sleepy and he didn’t like the prospect of sleeping on some logs all night or eating raw meat. He had to get back to some nearby base and quit the army- he didn’t like working for the king anyway. Sure, it was his duty, but it wasn’t worth being roasted over, especially when the other aspects weren’t that fun either. He had to be stupid and ask to be a soldier though, he couldn’t have been a glove-maker like his father, noooo, he had to go run off and start training instead of staying with his parents. I’m not eleven, I’m a big boy. Realllly. He hated his stupidity.
Suddenly the tree he was leaning on opened up and swallowed him in.
Shodu felt the wind in his face as he fell several feet, hitting the ground hard and falling onto the floor, his left ankle suddenly spiking with pain. It was several moments before he managed to ignore the pain in his ankle long enough to rise. It was dark, and surprisingly cold. Feeling around Shodu accidentally hit a small iron bar. He held onto it for support and looked up. The tree had been fake, made to swing around when leaned on. He could see it wide open, letting in a little light. The floor beneath him was wooden, so it definitely was no accident, someone was hiding here. Shodu felt his ankle give away and he fell, the bar twisting in his grasp. There was a creaking sound and the tree returned to its normal position, the light disappearing. His ankle was searing with pain, but he smiled at the realization the bar served a double purpose. There were small dents in it, obviously for gripping. It was the means of escape and the way the place was hidden. It must have been attached to the hinges of the fake tree, allowing it to swerve with a twist. Whoever had built this was very clever.
The pain in his ankle was overwhelming, to the point Shodu knew he couldn't possibly climb the bar, however he refused to do nothing. There must have been some form of light in the area; nobody would just sit around in the dark. Deciding to keep the tree shut Shodu blindly hopped around with his arms out until they grasped a small lamp. Feeling a switch he flipped it, and suddenly the lamp was lit. Shodu frowned, there was no fuel- it must have been enchanted. Shodu looked around; the area was small and made of rotting wood, with a few chairs and a small table in the center. The only exit was up the bar, and a small shelf (containing the lamp) was on the side, nearly coated in papers and scribblings. There was a bucket of water, the top of it frozen over, and next to it a sack of raw meat and a blanket. Whoever owned the place had been sure they were prepared.
Shodu sat on the chair and took off his boots, looking at his ankle more closely. It appeared to be alright for the most part, although it was twisted slightly oddly. Shodu cursed under his breath wondering what to do with it. He definitely couldn’t leave it in this pitiful shape, however there were no healing supplies with him, or in the hideaway.
Suddenly the sound of something hitting the ground rang out and Shodu leapt to his feet (agitating this ankle) in order to look. In front of him stood a tall archer, who looked only a couple years older than him. He could dimly make out red-brown hair that fell about his face in the front, tied into a ponytail in the back. Blue eyes and a steel bow also greeted him.
“How’s it going?” The archer asked, a slight smile of amusement breaking out as he saw Shodu’s face. “Found my home have you?”
“Who are you, where am I, and why should I care?” Shodu asked, dumbfounded. The archer laughed in reply.
“I am Taeko, you’re in my home, and you should care because I saved you from that golem.” The answer came bluntly with a hint of amusement. Shodu’s jaw dropped.
“So it was you! But… how did you take down an Ash!?” Shodu spurted.
“Shot it with a few arrows. My birthrock is of the elemental type, I’ve got control over water and Ice. Ash bones are hard, but they’re not all that menacing when you have the proper equipment. My arrowheads are specially reinforced to pierce hard objects like that.” Taeko replied.
A birthrock was a stone planted into a child at birth, there were three types- Elemental, Magical, and Growth. Elemental stones granted the user a natural ability to use magic of a certain element, although the power came in the late teens and needed to be properly honed in order to do any damage. Magical stones granted the user a talent or ability that others may not have, such as the ability to jump forty feet into the air or turn invisible. Growth stones allowed someone’s improvement rate in a certain area evolve faster. For example, a warrior may learn to wield a sword after two years, but one with a growth stone for combat might learn it in a few months. Some stones were more powerful than others of course, however they were proportionately hard to find. Birthstones couldn’t be replaced or removed after they had been set, and only one could be set into an individual unless certain magics were employed, the likes of which only the king could afford. Only general or officers of high rank ever had more than one because the magic necessary to do it was extremely difficult.
“But…” Shodu began.
“You were right there, why do you bother asking questions?” It was obviously a rhetorical question. Just then Taeko noticed Shodu’s injured ankle. “Why didn’t you tell me your ankle was hurt? I’ll tend to it.” Taeko reached into a bag hanging loosely on his thigh and removed a few bandages and what looked like cleaning material, cleaning up and bandaging the damaged area. “This’ll do until we get you to a proper cleric.”
“Why exactly do you live in a tree?” Shodu asked after several minutes of silence.
“I was training here. You see, the water in this area is exceptionally clean, it’s kept that way by a certain species of fish you can’t find anywhere else (Shodu sighed in relief). I’m trying to get my water to be as pure and clean as the one here; I just found this place on accident while training. I stick around so that training isn’t far off. This place was originally kept by some guy named Dirgo. Dirgo left a bunch of papers and a map to some ruins behind. I checked it out but there’s nothing there. Now answer me, what’re you doing here?” Taeko asked simply.
“Leaned against the tree, the fall hurt my ankle…” Shodu muttered. His stomach growled and he was suddenly reminded of how hungry he was.
“We should get something to eat,” Taeko said in response to the growling stomach. “How do you feel about deer?”
“…Deer?” Shodu asked. Taeko didn’t respond- he was rummaging through his sack of raw meet. It wasn’t long until he pulled out several strips of it. Taeko shuffled around under the bag and pulled out a metal grating, a fireproof mat, some rocks, and bark chips. Placing the mat on the ground, he surrounded it neatly with rocks so the nearby wood wouldn’t catch fire, threw on the bark chips, ignited them with the lamp, put the metal grating on top of it, and began to cook as though he were in a park. It was only a few minutes later that both were eating.
“Fo, mfats your birfroff?” Taeko managed to say with his mouth full. Shodu decided to wait and swallow before answering.
“I’ve got a growth stone for learning.” Shodu answered quickly so that he could get back to eating.
“Wow, those are extremely rare! How’d your parents get one of those for you?” Taeko said after swallowing.
“No idea.” Shodu replied blatantly.
“You should ask them. Oh, and about your foot. We really need to get something for that.” Taeko remarked. “There’s a village a couple miles south that might take you in. Of course, they support the rebels so you might want to change your clothes, going in wearing the king’s signature armor isn’t exactly a smart idea in a place where everyone wants him dead.” Shodu nodded and the two were silent. Shodu finished his meal quickly, and Taeko had already melted the ice contained in the water bucket to drink.
“Did anyone else survive?” Shodu finally asked after several minutes.
“Not sure. Some tried running off and a few might have survived. I managed to take out about three or four Ash’s before getting seen, and then I had to run before I got incinerated myself.” Taeko answered. Shodu nodded in understanding and lay on the ground. “Oh, and before I forget… what’s your name?”
“Shodu.” He muttered, closing his eyes.
Shodu’s eyes fluttered open., he must've fallen asleep Yawning, he slowly looked around, unable to see as everything was shrouded in darkness. He stood up and walked over to where he remembered the lamp had been and placed his cold fingers around it, flipping it on, filling the room with light. Taeko was nowhere to be found. Shodu noticed his boot still on the ground and picked it up, putting it on his foot.
Which is when he remembered he had hurt his ankle.
He stared at his foot in disbelief. It had been fully healed. His jaw dropped and he felt the bone around it to make sure. It was true.
“How-?” Shodu started to ask himself. There was an empty bottle and a note on the table. Shodu picked it up.
Shodu-soldier-dude,
Like what I did for your foot? I was searching around for any survivors and decided to check the battlefield again. I found some good herbs for healing a sore foot, it should be fine now. Now you can take off and do whatever it is soldiers do.
-Taeko
Shodu smiled and headed towards the iron pole. He stopped in front of it, however, deciding he wanted to stick around and thank Taeko for everything. So he sat down in a corner and waited. It wasn’t long until Taeko arrived, swinging the tree open and sliding down the bar skillfully.
“Still here, eh?” Taeko commented.
“Well I wanted to thank you face to face. Thanks, and is there anything I could do for you? I mean, you’ve done all this…” Shodu’s voice faded.
“It’s fine; I saw someone in need and saved ‘em. Of course, if you have any beer…” Shodu was taken back. Beer was the last thing he thought Taeko would ask for.
“Um…. no… I don’t.” Shodu said, taken aback. He looked around and noticed the papers scrambled about on the desk. “Oh, you mentioned Dirgo leaving behind a map to some ruins, is it okay if I go check it out? It seems interesting.” Shodu asked.
“Sure, but there’s nothing there, just a bunch of rocks.” Taeko replied.
“He hid himself in a tree; I doubt he’d just point you to something like that without hiding it,” Shodu commented.
“You might be on to something. I’ll go just in case, I’m bored anyway,” Taeko replied. They both nodded and made their way up the bar and out of the tree, which they promptly shut behind them. Shodu noticed a small scratch above the entrance to the hideaway. Surprised he hadn’t noticed it before he followed Taeko as he walked to their destination. The grass was wet with dew and there were birds chirping overhead, it was early morning. As they continued the grass was replaced with stone and the trees and birds with boulders, and soon no sign of life could be found.
There was nothing there but what looked like a river of rocks, all jagged and intimidating, engulfed in a small crater. They both slowly made their way down, looking around.
“What exactly are we looking for?” Taeko asked loudly.
“Some kind of switch… there must be something here…” Shodu replied, almost to himself since Taeko could barely hear it. They scaled the rough terrain for what seemed like hours (although it was only ten minutes, the area wasn’t very large) however they pushed on every rock there and nothing happened.
“Nothing, I guess the guy was just a loon,” Taeko sighed. They both leapt onto a rock and relaxed, each wondering why they had even bothered.
That’s when he saw it.
There was a small vein of what appeared to be ruby on the rock Shodu was sitting on. It looked exactly like the small scratch above the tree… none of the other rocks had anything that made them distinct. Shodu stared at the vein-gifted rock, set himself next to it, and pushed.
It fell inwards into itself, shifting position, and suddenly the rocks around them began to fly into the ground, like a game of whack-a-mole that never returned your moles. The rock then suddenly rose into the air like a gateway, and opened revealing a staircase.
“That right there was creepy.” Taeko muttered.
“I’m either a genius, or insane,” Shodu murmured. Shodu advanced into the staircase, taking the lead since his jurs were short range weapons compared to the long range and vulnerability of Taeko’s bow. It was a few minutes before they reached the bottom, however they were tense every step of the way.
They arrived in what appeared to be a royal hall of an old, forgotten, kingdom. Except, made completely of dark stone. It was extremely wide and tall, and dozens of pillars aligned themselves in an orderly fashion, complimented with a dusty grey carpet leading up to one large, final pillar. The last pillar had various switches of different colors sticking out forming odd patterns. Sight was granted by torches placed strategically on the pillars. Shodu reasoned that they must have been enchanted to never go out if they were to continue to burn in such a place for so long.
“This is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.” Taeko said bluntly. Both began to walk forward until they reached the puzzle-pillar, taking a look at it. “Looks like you have to move the switches in a certain way. See these lines? This pillar’s fake, it’ll swing open when we finish it. Problem is, this looks stupidly hard. Twelve switches each with dozens of combinations…” Both stared at it, thinking hard.
“Look at this,” Shodu beckoned to Taeko, pointing out something on the floor. It was covered in dust, but there words beneath it. They blew the dust away and squinted to make out what it read.
“Those with eyes will see in front, red green blue all colors rhyme, circles all over for you to see, it’s easier than counting to D.” Taeko read. “That made no sense at all.” The two paused for a second, both thinking hard.
“…No, I get it!” Shodu exclaimed. Taeko stared at him as though he’d gone insane. “The switches are all different colors right?”
“Yes, we’ve got red, purple, blue, aqua, green, yellow, orange, and a few shades in between. The stupid inscription only mentioned three.” Taeko answered.
“Red, Blue, and Green are considered primary colors in certain forms of coloration.” Shodu stated. “All colors rhyme, rhyming words are alike. Then it mentions a circle, the color wheel! We have to put them in the order they appear in the color wheel!”
“That’s dandy, but what about the part with the D?” Taeko asked.
“D for Dirgo, that’s the shape we have to arrange them in! By counting it means we have to space it based on the colors on the wheel. Red, green, blue. That’s the order they were listed on the inscription, the red and green come first so they make up the curve, blue is the last so it must be that line that connects the top and bottom.” Shodu was yelling as though he had just solved world hunger.
“That might actually work… you’re pretty smart…” Taeko was starting to smile. They began pulling and pushing and pulling the switches madly, as though the world would end if they didn’t do it fast enough. After ten minutes of strategic switch pulling they formed the D they were after.
There was a loud rumbling and the pillar suddenly began taking itself apart until the entire top section was removed. The switches all fell out, and the top fell backwards, leaving only four feet of pillar left. Resting on it was a large box. Shodu and Taeko easily pulled it off the pillar and opened it up. Inside were two more boxes and a small note.
“’In one lies treasures two, in the other lies certain doom.’ Swell guy I’d say.” Taeko commented. “How do we tell which one’s the real box?”
Shodu looked carefully at both boxes. They looked almost identical; however Shodu saw what he was looking for. A small scratch on the box’s hinges, just barely visible.
“This is the right one.” Shodu said in a matter-of-factly tone. He opened it…
He didn’t get a chance to look inside. Energy flooded the floor and the words “Solved that puzzle, now solve this one!” appeared on the ground. The stairs behind him collapsed and there was a sudden screeching. The wall to their left exploded and a small wyvern leapt through the gap, giving them a look that screamed “I’m going to eat you”. Shodu nearly wet his pants, leaping backwards, trembling.
“I hate it when you solve things.” Taeko’s voice was shaking heavily.
“It’s your stupid map.” Shodu’s voice was just as fear-filled as Taeko’s.
“Your stupid idea.” Taeko muttered.
“We don’t have time for this!” Shodu squealed as the wyvern began advancing. Taeko nodded his agreement and took out his bow, his arm steadying. The wyvern smiled as though it was a small child playing with them and suddenly leapt forward, Taeko firing. The wyvern’s wings shot out and it adeptly flew over the shot, breathing burning flames in their direction. Both ran in opposite directions, leaping to the ground. The wyvern descended towards Taeko (it seemed to have developed a playful grudge) leaving Shodu alone with the box. He considered leaping in to aid Taeko, but knew he was no match for a wyvern. “There’s got to be some kind of hint in here…” Shodu muttered. He threw open the box and two objects met his eye. One was a dusty old book, black with gold bindings with the words “Vios Kyros” messily scribbled on the top. Next to it lie a silver dagger, encrusted with gems and that looked like it could break anything. A note was inside.
“Here lie my book and my dagger. My book has knowledge, my dagger has power. Use them wisely…what a prat.” Shodu muttered. The harsh, blasting, fiery sound of dragon fire returned him to reality. Grabbing the dagger he threw it in Taeko’s direction. “Taeko, catch!”
Taeko was crouching behind a pillar, covered in sweat. The stone above him suddenly exploded and the wyvern flew over it, breathing more of its intense flames in his direction. Taeko leapt to the side and fired three arrows, but all missed. It was then that Taeko heard Shodu shout and throw the dagger. The wyvern was flying towards him, a wave of heat before it. Taeko cursed and leapt to the side, rolling, and then jumping out his roll, spinning madly in mid-air and -by some miracle of god- catching the dagger, and then quickly flinging it towards the wyvern's head. Today must have been his luckiest day ever because it hit spot-on between the eyes, fatally blowing through its entire body.
Taeko hit the ground with a thud and lay panting, thanking every god he believed in, every god he didn’t believe in, and a few he made up. He slowly got up and retrieved the dagger from the ground, rather nervously as though the wyvern might attack him again, and then left to join Shodu who was staring in disbelief.
“That was the most awesome thing I’ve ever seen.” Shodu sputtered. Taeko gave him an arrogant smile.
“What can I say; I’m just awesome like that!” Taeko shrugged, faking modesty. Shodu gave a weak smile. “What’s that?”
“Some book that came with the dagger, seems pretty useless.” Shodu muttered. “Can’t open it.”
“I call dibs on the dagger then!” Taeko shouted, his arms raised in the air. “And you get the diary!” Shodu cursed Taeko and finally opened the book, reading the first page.
“For whomever may find this, my powers are yours. This is a collection of all the spells I have created in my travels, with instructions about the use of all of them. The puzzles and difficulty of getting here was to ensure only someone who’s knowledge was worthy of the book may find it. I simply hope it manages to fall into the right hands. Dirgo.” Shodu read. He smiled maliciously at Taeko who was gaping and sputtering. It was several minutes before Taeko came over the initial shock, and at that point he was muttering about books and daggers.
“Let’s get out of here, this place creeps me out.” Taeko said, eying the dead wyvern.
“We can’t exactly take the stairs, they only, y’know, got obliterated.” Shodu pointed out.
“Then magic us out!” Taeko whined. Shodu smiled darkly in response to his irritation but nevertheless flipped through the book until he found a teleportation spell.
“Let’s see… beginner spell, not much energy, those without magical experience may over or undershoot their destination….” Shodu muttered to himself. “Well I’m amazing at everything I do,” Shodu mocked Taeko’s egotistical humor “so I should get this perfectly. Now come here!” Shodu barked, summoning Taeko to his side. “Now leave your hand on the book until I tell you to let go.” Taeko muttered in response but put his hand on the book nevertheless.
“Telenindeo!” Shodu shouted, doing something absolutely absurd with his hands and gathering magical power. With a blast like a gunshot they found themselves hurling out of the temple with the sensation someone had punched them in the stomachs. They abruptly landed on soft grass, and in a daze. Shodu turned his head and smiled weakly at Taeko. “Told you I’m amazing!” He managed to get up and left Taeko to his mutterings, staring at the sky.
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