Fantastic Worlds #1

The tale of a pair of brothers quest, discovering a a new view of their world from the perspective of the outsiders.

• Science fiction
• Short story
• Fantasy

								
   Born into the chrysalis of a new age, Bordon led his life, just as other lowlifes did. He sat in the ritual hall surrounded by the dark green banners with the image of the golden crown of thorns. On his knees praying to the holy Even. When finished he stood up and walked out of the dimly lit room stinking of human, dirt, and fire ember.
    
    Stepping out his eyes were singed by the red sun, outside waiting is his younger brother, Aimlon, an idiot who seems to care about nothing but himself.
    
    “Everyone knows you don’t believe that, you’ve been an oppositor your whole life, why change now?” Aimlon said in his usual condescending tone. Bordon does not answer. Aimlon looks to the sky and begins moving his mouth again.”Besides you wouldn’t make it in any way, neither of us. ”Bordon still refuses to amuse his brother’s despotism. 
   
     Aimlon looks at his brother and says “I’m hungry, we should stop at Gavel’s tabur and get something to eat.”
     
     The two boys, now men, clothed in rags and dark cloaks approached the mud hut with the sign hanging from two pieces of chewed rope. Hidden in the middle of an ancient grove stood Gavel’s. Walking in the swinging door, a party seemed to explode before their eyes, as it did most days. They both sit in the far corner of the tabur and are greeted by a hideous woman named Grashanda.
    
     “How may I serve you boys?” she said as she gave a seductive look. Bordon and Aimlon both ordered fried gorgoth, a river creature with a long slender body and six short stubby arms and legs, those were the best part. As per usual Aimlon ordered plenty of drinks, however Bordon did not participate, he felt a deep loneliness after visiting the shrine all he could do was sit there and think.
     
     Life wasn’t always this easy. In the before time, the herlong priests talk about massive objects made from planets used to transport the primitive humans across the galaxy. They say our home world is long gone, so much so we were chaperoned by mystical space dwelling beings in order to save the species.   
    
     Here on Grachan, we live a simple life. The only  thing we have to look out for is the many beasts who populated this planet before humans arrived. Other than the beasts. Everything is perfect almost like it was made for us which it very might well have been. 
    
     Bordon looks up from his meal to see see his brother drunkenly flailing about the tabur with the rest of the idiots, what was he kidding he was one of them he is foolish to look down on them, hypocritical. A man dressed in a red robe with his face obscured by the hood he seemed to have horns protruding underneath the hood. As he leaned in the face took shape. An odd chubby face tattered with blond hair, a short stumpy nose with blue eyes staring.
    
   “Look,” the short fat man said “ no time to waste on formalities. I need an item returned, a cubic, spherical object it was stolen from the shrine you visited. I am willing to pay for the safe return of the artifact, what say you boy.” 

Bordon gave the man a puzzled face.                              

“Do you understand, or are you slow?”
  
  “I don’t believe I know you”
  
  “Oh so you are slow, let me break it down for your small brain;” making a motion with his hands” Missing thing, from shrine, return to me, declun.”
   
  “I understand just fine, I’m just confused on why you are approaching me, there’s several hired slingers in here I am not one of them. Why don’t you go talk to them?”
  
   The man slams his hand down on the table alerting Aimlon in his drunken stupor.” You question me why?”

  “You’d better back off my brothers’ meal before I gut you like a scargin, what’s your business!” 
  
  “Two halfwits it seems,maybe you will be more receptive to my offer, find artifact, pay declun”

   “Well that’s all you had to say,” Aimlon said, sheathing his weapon.”where do we find this thing.”

   “You will consult the farsee at the edge of the river. That is all for now return to the tabur when you have obtained the artifact.” The short fat man left in a hurry, with a little huff and puff was out the door.

   “What in the name of the seven are you doing?” Bordon said tapping his harakan moccasin “This is a stupid idea, taking a quest from a little demon man” 

   “We are completely broke, I spent the last of our declun on luncheon” Aimlon said slurring his words,” the guy is offering us money”

   “We are not slingers, nor thieves, nor vibarians! We cannot be involved in such frivolous activities!”

   “Oh look who’s all high and mighty now since you began visiting the shrine. Since when are you the pillar of morality and virtuosity, a man walks in here giving us a way to pay our debt and here you are telling him no, not to mention he stole it from one of your sacred shrines, shouldn’t you be the first to hope to finding it.”

   “You don’t know anything, the forest is dangerous, the river is thirty feet wide at the most narrow spot, there are many albath dens, the area is controlled by the faltron clan, we'll be lucky to make it to the farsee…”

   Aimlon cut him off “ for someone who visits the shrines you have little faith.”
 
   They left for the Farsees’ hut the next day so Aimlon could sleep off his drunkenness. They trudged through the thick forests admiring the solitude, avoiding the many beasts who would make a quick snack of the pair. Eventually making it to the river. The Aftran river, named after the giant lengthy beasts found through the river, known for killing multiple boat goers in a single swallow. A scaly beast it is also the insignia of the faltron clan.

   “So how do you expect to cross?” Aimlon said dumbly.

   “We will wait for a boat and ask them to cross. In the meantime let’s rest, it was a long walk and you almost got us killed while you were throwing up, urrgggu” he said joking. 

   “However.” Aimlon laughed.

   As he laid daydreaming he thought about the predicament they were in The Beast’s in the forest, untamed land with vibarians about. Why couldn’t Aimlon have been eaten, he wouldn’t have to deal with anymore of his borgdung. Aimlon wasn’t all bad; he watched his back when going had become tough and could always rely on him even through his clouded judgment. Bordon just hadn’t seen himself as bum wandering the untamed forest, as a boy he pictured himself with a large perring ranch, cooling off in the shade of cone trees feeding his poloney. Instead he had to live the life of a forest person, a desert dweller, a tumbleweed, looked down upon and he had his brother to blame for it, he glanced over to Aimlon to see him snoring and scratching himself. He couldn’t help but scoff at the situation. He fell asleep.

    A boat dropped anchor right in front of the boys, out- hopped a short man shorter than a child, behind him a folly of brutes poured out of the boat and sized Bordon and Aimlon up as they got closer. Aimlon wakes nudging Bordon who opened his eyes to one of the brutes staring him down close enough to smell the yorvberries they had eaten.

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