Fantastic Worlds #1 Page #2

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

								


   “This is Faltron territory there is no reason that you should be here, choose your death; water or fire.” Said the stumpy man

   “We just need to cross the river to get to the farsee hut.”

   “That is not a permissible answer, try again.”

   “Please let us pass, we will do anything!” they said, making a praying motion with their hands. 

   “We do not let anyone pass this section of the river, now I will give you one and only one more chance to answer correctly.”

   “We will pay you!” Aimlon piped up.
   Bordon gave Aimlon a look to remind of all he has put them through.

   “We are on a quest to return an artifact in exchange for declun, we are ready to give you the declun in return for safe travel. 

   “You expect me to let you pass in exchange for a debt” the tiny squeaky man said. “What is the artifact you are returning?”

    Aimlon looked to Bordon for a description, silently arguing with their eyes Bordon obliged. “The item we are returning is known as a spherical cube for one of the shrines of Even. We were instructed to see the farsee for directions.”

    “I see, return the artifact to me and you will see safe travel over the course of your journey”

    “But, we have to return it to the short fat man, we can pay you with the declun we rec…”

    “Or you can have your bodies burned and dumped in the river makes no difference to me, besides what allegiance do you have to this man, is it worth more than your lives, what of it?”

   “We will give you the artifact!” Aimlon said.

   “Well ok then, hop aboard and we’ll get you to the other side boys, pleasure doing business with you, maybe in the future if this works out we can do more together.”

    Flustered Bordon and Aimlon board the boat adorned with the silver aftran. The two of the brutes grab their grappling hooks swinging them around the ship made of shcill wood from which the forest is full of. Ripping their grappling hooks across the river to the trees of the opposite bank pulling toward it, unnaturally forcing their way through the land, that is what has made them strong, this short speaking man was twice the man of Bordon and Aimlon combined. You can see the hook marks on trees on both sides of the bank several fire pits, the boys were clearly encroaching on Faltron land, Aimlon’s dumb luck saved them once again. 

   “I will send a notice out to the rest of the clan to let you pass through, Grarion the overlooker,” the short man said as he held his hand out for a handshake. “I do not care to know your names, my name carries weight, if you ever find yourself in a pinch tell them I let you pass, and if they do butcher you, I will have them killed as retribution, it’s the most I can do for lowlife slingers as yourselves. Now get out of my boat. 

    Now on the shore Bordon asks “Where shall we meet to relinquish the artifact?”

    “Here, three days!”
They pulled the anchor up and were off in the blink of an eye. The boys began conversing as they walked.
   
   “You really got us into something this time, this is the last time I will follow you into a stupid quest.”

   “No one said you had to.”

   “Yeah let my brother get mauled because he can’t tell the difference from his right to his left!”

   “Why don't you speak up for once instead of letting me do all the talking?”

   “You hork toe, you can’t go a night without drinking yourself to sleep. I think that the fermented berries have melted your brain!”

   “You want me to end this right now!” Aimlon said, sizing his brother up.

   “It wouldn’t be any different from when we were children, recall the time I broke your pinky finger!” Bordon said, gesturing to his pinky.

   “You will be perring food when I am done with you!” Aimlon said, punching his brother in the back of the head. Returning blows Bordon punches Aimlon in the stomach and twists his arm putting pressure on the elbow to inflict enough pain to quell his brother without breaking it. 

   “Let’s finish this borgdung and go our separate ways, if we don’t get killed in the process.”

    “Okay, just make sure not to try anything stupid like that again or I’ll…”

    “Shut up!” Bordon releases his brother and they continue walking.
    
    Eventually coming to a clearing, Aimlon asked ”how much further to the farsees hut?”

    “Half a day, it’s getting dark. We can stay here or walk further through the night and have less distance to travel tomorrow. Besides, I brought something that will ease our minds. The choice is yours.” 

   “Let’s travel further.”

    The brothers stopped for a while and created a torch out of a sappy branch and some slipper rope. Bordon pulled out a pipe and packed it with the red plant using the slipper rope to light it as they walked passing the cone wood pipe back and forth. Each inhale of the red plant made them forget about the fighting and the bickering, they even laughed about the encounter with the Faltron clan as if it was another life. It was a strong red leaf too, soon they were squinting through the darkness with no worries, while in the back of their minds careful about the dangers of the forest.
 
  “Did you hear that?” Aimlon whispered 

   “Probably just the wind, you always try to scare me, it’s not working this time.” Bordon said, inhaling more red leaf and gesturing to Aimlon.

    “I’m not joking.”

    “Are you going to let me enjoy this? We've had a rough day.” Bordon said, holding in the smoke and lighting the pipe once again.

   “I’m serious!” He whispered urgently.

   “I am too.” He lit the pipe a third time, the red leaf was ash now, he dumped it out and placed the pipe back in his bag.”You know, I could go for some fried gorgoth right about now.

   “Don’t you know this forest is haunted with the spirits of Hedrone War!” Aimlon whispered

   “I made that up to scare you, there is no such spirits. You think that they just wander the forest, I’m sure they made it back to civilization by now. It's almost 2 generations since then, besides you're a little too old to worry about those things.” They began walking again. 

   The moon lights scattered the ground through the thick canopy, the torch created a bubble around the brother, keeping the little flying stingers, biters, and pokers away. It was late and the sun would be up soon.

   “Let’s rest here.” Aimlon said with a yawn. Bordon agreed and they lied there making sure to stay far off the trail to conceal their location from the merciless vibarians that use the trail. They were no longer in the Faltron clan’s territory, but an area known as the Kaloke, the Kaloke used to be a tribal hotspot where the people who resisted colonization and values of the wealthy paternomogs made their lives. During the Hedrone War they were massacred for the most part, leaving splintering groups to quarrel over scorched earth. The area was untouched after the war, a shame Bordon thought, all that death just for it to become a wasteland.

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