The belief that the past cannot harm you is a myth. Often the past leaves in you scars that will not fade with time alone… but they can fade. Never forget this.
The Kallos brothers were charmers. They had a two-bit-act vibe about them. The more reserved Djince grounded the happy-go-lucky Ethis. The younger was a gunslinger of a sort. As we packed up the next morning, he swung two rifles onto his back and strapped a rod of white metal to his belt. “Cattle prod,” he said when he caught me looking. “I’m not a close encounters kind of guy… Well, at least when it comes to certain things,” he assured me with a wink. Djince was outfitted with a small air pistol and a sword of all things. Ethis sniffed and told me, “This asshole thinks he’s some kind of knight of the old orders. I think he’s stupid.” Djince actually smiled at that, but when he saw me looking, his face relaxed and he went back to packing. His was an unassuming kind of soul, I thought. He did what Ethis told him to do and tolerated his younger brother’s chiding. Theirs was an easy relationship. Despite their bickering, their actions were in sync with one another. This was my first, cursory assessment, at any rate.
The two saddles turned out to be old gravbikes. Straddling one of them, Djince twisted his helmet on and pulled his blue hood up over its head. His red optic flashed over to Ethis and the younger mounted his saddle as well. Ethis held out his hand to me. I got on behind him and wrapped my arms around him. Ethis nodded at Djince and the both of them placed bare palms onto the front molding of their respective saddles.
The saddles rose off the ground and projections flickered in and out of existence like aging neon. Then, the blue holograms stabilized, their shapes warping and rippling like water as kicked-up red dust interfered with the lighting. The two brothers shared a nod and Ethis said through his helmet respirator, “Brace yourself, Pops!”
I wasn’t completely ignorant. I had ridden on a gravbike before. The saddle was the only physical component of the vehicle. It could travel at speeds exceeding eighty miles an hour. I’d just never ridden bitch before. As we took off, I squealed and pressed myself against him. I could feel his laughter through his duster. My oversuit compressed around my legs to compensate for the shift in gravity and I winced a bit. But as I got used to the ride, I relaxed and my suit followed--well… suit.
We went south for a time, passing by another town made entirely of red mud, but we didn’t stop. I saw what could have passed for an oasis at some point near midday, but when we got close, all I could smell was sulfur and rotting meat. There were human shapes strewn about one side of the watering hole, but they were still and the brothers didn’t stop to confirm anything for certain.
At a little passed midday, we stopped to indulge ourselves in dry flatbread and wine. The way the brothers carried themselves spoke of an excitement to be out in the wastes of the world. Our travel by day instead of night, when it would be cooler, told me that the desert was not their natural habitat, which prompted my curiosity.
“How long were you at Millplace?” I asked at a point.
Ethis looked at Djince for a moment before he said, “Gosh, maybe six months. It was boring as shit. Dry as all hell. Salty as fuck. We got up to all kinds of trouble to pass the time. We work for House Veris--the biggest House in all Retzu. I’m proud to say we’re the best in the business when it comes to non-general correspondence. Just stinks that we have to wait so long between jobs.”
Djince shook his head then, catching Ethis’ attention. I couldn’t read his expression through his tactical headgear, but I could tell by his body language that he didn’t appreciate Ethis saying as much as he had.
Ethis shrugged. “Anyway, now that elections are coming up, there should be enough work to go around for a while. At least until there’s a new ‘tator, ya know?”
“‘Tator? As in, short for dictator? Or potato?” I asked.
Ethis snorted a laugh.
Djince asked dryly, “There’s a difference?”
We rode on for another few hours and the sun began to set behind us, throwing our shadows out before us like our reach towards the Capitol found in the city of Silverstone. As we broke for camp, I asked Ethis, “Why do they call it Silverstone?”
“All the buildings. It’s like they’re made out of metallic rock. I mean, we know now it’s all made out of steel beams and concrete, but back when it was first re-discovered… I guess the name just stuck. First impressions are really everything these days--the difference between getting killed and getting help. I guess the same can be said of cities.”
“What’s it like? I imagine it must be quite the place--at least compared to sites out here in the middle of the desert.”
“I suppose so,” the younger Kallos said with a shrug. “I’ve never been there. Djince has though… Hey Grumpkin, tell Pops what Silverstone’s like!”
Djince looked up from digging our latrine and rested his hands on the handle of his trowel. Wiping at his forehead, smearing red across it, he said, “Clean.” Then he nodded and went back to digging.
“Well, that’s certainly an improvement,” I acknowledged.
Ethis was frowning at his older brother. “Hey, what’s up your butt? You’ve been weird for the last couple days.”
Djince paused again, but this time he picked up his trowel and collapsed it back into its pack-size. He trekked back towards us, stomping over an anthill and scattering red dirt onto his brother’s exposed bed roll. He bent down and said something in Ethis’ ear. It was too low for me to hear, but Ethis looked up at him then and asked out loud, “How many?”
Djince shrugged. He looked out at the horizon, his face grim. Then he turned back to his brother and I. “Don’t sleep,” he advised.
Ethis and I shared a look. “You heard him,” the younger whispered.
“What is it?” I asked, just as quiet.
“Unfriendly types: Mordis Eyes. They’re anarchists. Hopefully they just want to take our supplies.”
“Hopefully?” I hissed in surprise.
Ethis didn’t look worried, but he didn’t seem happy either. With a shallow huff of breath, he laughed and said, “Because if they know who we are and what we’re carrying, we’ve got bigger problems.”
“Shut it,” Djince said from across the fire.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ethis said with a waved hand. Then he said to me, “If things go sideways, head towards the sun. Silverstone’s east of here, ten days on foot. Take anything that’ll get you to the next town.”
“If things go sideways…?”
“If me and Djince bite it, ya know?”
“Are the Mordis Eyes really that bad?”
“Bad enough,” Ethis said. Then he smiled, but it looked forced. “Don’t worry about it too much. After all, you’re good luck. What’s the worst that could really happen?”
“We all die,” Djince said slowly.
Ethis glared at him. “Do you always have to be such an asshole?”
“No,” Djince said with a small smile.
Ethis rolled his eyes and then said to me, “Don’t worry. Worst case, they get close and we have to fight them off. No big deal.”
“Best case?”
“They get bored and leave us alone.”
Djince was looking at me across the fire and Ethis noticed. Ethis looked over at him and something passed between the brothers before the younger Kallos sighed and said to me, “It’s probably your oversuit thing. Shelter people wear that kind of stuff… I know you don’t want to part with it--I mean, it’s one of your only ties to your past after all--but it stands out like a--”
“I can wear something else,” I interrupted. “I was only wearing it for function. I’m not very sentimental.” At least, I hadn’t been as a god.
Ethis looked surprised, but then he smiled and nodded. “Good. We’ll grab something in the next hell hole.” He demanded of his brother, “Happy now?”
Djince smiled wanly and nodded. Then he pointedly nodded at me in respect. Citing a hunt for more wood, he left Ethis and I alone.
“How close are they?” I asked in a low voice after he had gone.
Ethis let out a short breath. “About six miles off. They camp when we camp. They were eleven miles behind yesterday.”
“How do you know?”
“Djince told me.”
“How does he know where they are?”
“He can see them.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Those optics aren’t that good.”
“No,” Ethis agreed, looking at me with surprise. “No, he’s… Djince can see farther than anyone. He’s always been able to see like that.”
“That’s… not normal, is it?”
Ethis shrugged. “Do you look gift horses in the mouth?”
“I don’t know,” I said with a frown. “Do you?”
Ethis laughed then and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it Pops, or you’ll get wrinkles.” He kissed my forehead then as if to enunciate his point and stood up. “Nature calls… Biscuits are in the green canvas bag if you get hungry.”
“Pretty sure my poop is going to come out as wine-colored dust if I keep eating those things,” I said with a grimace.
He laughed. “Whatever you say, God Scribe.”358Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMl4aTLUnW5
