A Gentleman's Guide: CHP 2

The As’kari are a migrant tribe. Much like the Indians that once roamed the plains alongside the herds of buffalo that they lived alongside, they were a people that pursued beasts to strengthen their tribe. However, they did not hunt mere herd animals for sustenance, but great and terrible monsters for the sake of wealth and power. While the dessert was unkind to those who tried to settle it, the As’kari long ago adapted to living upon the currents of the dessert, and the whole tribe lived upon the dessert which divided the continent with ease.

Ease that was only possible due to the existence of monstrous creatures long ago tamed, bred, and raised for the purpose of serving the As’kari and all the other tribes of the desert. Immense beetles carried scores of tents upon its shell while trudging effortlessly upon the sand, like legged plateaus clad in silk and wood that glided across the desert wherever they were guided. Flitting between them, faster than the planes and balloons which I witnessed beneath a different sky, were gigantic wasps that were saddled and ridden as Bellerophon once rode Pegasus to rescue Andromeda. And, beneath the shadows of both those creatures, was a sprawl of their lesser kin used by the common folk of the tribe that drew sleds across the sand or flew them about. 

I would be a liar if I said I found them favorable. 

I preferred normal animals. Horses, cows, and the like were all more familiar to me. The inordinately-sized insects, though more suited for the sparseness of the desert than any other creature and more so due to techniques developed by the As’kari, were repulsive, chittering, and large creatures that I would prefer to do nothing with. And besides, if I had enjoyed the opportunity to do so, and if I had survived the war, I would have purchased bicycle for myself. Machinery is preferable to creatures with wills and powers all their own, otherwise humanity wouldn’t have outgrown them in my previous world.

However, looking upon the As’Kari horde was nonetheless pleasant after spending many weeks away. 

Seated as I was on my own means of locomotion, which was shaded against the sun and kept pace with the rest of my cohort with ease, I already heard many them hollering and cheering at the sight of the city slipping through the sands. Many of them left their families behind to follow me upon my journey, so it was understandable that the men and women of my retinue were heartened to look upon the sight. No such thing awaited me, as the woman and man who sired me into this world passed away and had me raised as a ward of the state, but I found some joy while approaching the rest of the Tribe too. 

Soon I will be left to my own devices again, without the need to interact with so many others who would never see again, and be left to analyze my most recent prize in peace. 

Or, such would’ve been the case, if not for the escort that approached me and mine.

…

Though I had little familiarity with the hired hands I’d taken along with me for my journey, I was familiar with the head of the ten-strong escort that arrived. The As’Kari had orphans raised by the family that held the reins of the mountainous beetles upon which the tribe was dependent. I had the auspicious fate of being raised by the family which was quite prominent and wealthy. What they considered a pittance was more than enough for them to aid two dozen orphans at a time of which I once was. They were able to afford a force dedicated to preserving the peace upon their mount, as well as warriors to venture forth, while others who held the reins could only manage to have warriors. 

Having chosen a vocation which had me focus upon hunting and quelling monsters, I knew quite a few of the approaching faces quite well, as I had studied and trained beneath them. 

My first teacher led the oncoming escort. 

He was a man twice my age, if added my previous and current lives, yet he still rode and flew through the dessert sky with grace and ease his fellows matched. His immense wasp was older and more familiar with him, but I had little reason to doubt he wouldn’t be able to ride the mounts of others with the same effortless calm. His scalp was bereft of hair, but his lashes and beard were both as white as snow upon his tanned, wizened features, while a jagged scar covered his right eye. Upon his back was a slim, long spear that was a black as the night, which I had seen personally claim the lives of multitudes in the handful of months I’d learned from him.

He smiled at me easily while dismounting from his mount and his followers flew above my little caravan. 

The man was a psychopath who reveled in bloodshed and found no other reason to live. 

“Greetings to you, young man! I see you’ve brought low another dreaded monster which will plague our people no more!” Clad in reinforced cloth and pure white, he reminded me almost of a monk, but behind the robes and the easy smile was monster. He walked upon the sand with the same ease as one would upon paved stone. He carried a spear capable of smashing through shells of greater monsters, and obliterating human beings into slurry in a single blow, in one hand and as though it were as light as a feather. “The Shu’ann will be pleased with you and I offer my own commendation, but your glory will have to wait for later. Your other talents are required.”

Typically, the man before me would pester to speak about my hunt. Some would see it as him providing me with the means to glorify myself, but that was the furthest from the case. He wanted to hear if I’d faced something terrible and might, something that he could kill himself, and he hoped that I would find something so dangerous that he’d be able to convince the Shu’Ann to let him loose and hunt down a beast which I could not hunt down myself.

However, if I was fetched for my other talents, that meant there was no time to waste regarding the freakish, strange man before me now.

“Join me. Give your mount to another to bring back.” Many warriors would never relinquish their mounts to another. The bond between a beast and their master is a strong one, especially when they fight together. Though I was averse to the creatures, I understood how they were respected and cared for by their owners. My former mentor gave a slight look and it flew to join its brethren amongst the escort speedily. “Where am I needed, Sa’uri?”

“Where else, young one? You know well enough there’s only one who can call for you.” Sa’uri laughed deeply, taking a seat beside me upon my chosen version of locomotion. I felt a deeper pull from the depth of my bones when he sat upon my sheet of hardy threads which I’d animated. At the languid pace of the absurd arthropods of this world, I was more than capable of urging it forward a few inches off the ground whilst towing my belongings. For greater speeds, my baggage would have to go. My former teacher sat upon it and smiled. He no doubt imagined using one himself to ride into battle. “I suggest we go quickly. You know that the Shu’ann would not ask for you if you’re not needed.”

And, now Sa’Uri was to know how speedily I can press my chosen form of transport. 

What a damnable man he is.

I had my hired hands take my luggage as their own burden. They would be easy enough to find, but I chose honest people for my honest work and, though I did not remember their names now, I had a ledger tucked into my shawl’s inner pocket. 

I loathed the thought of leaving behind my belongings, as well as granting Sa’Uri audience to my own techniques, but if I was needed speedily for my talents that did not pertain to killing monsters, my personal concerns are forfeit. 

I could not call myself a physician if I were to let someone die due to personal concerns. 

“Hold on or you will fall.”

That was the sole warning I gave, as I took hold of the carpet’s edge, leaned forward, and willed the object to soar. The wind crashed against my covered form, silk tightening against me and fluttering at my back, as I abandoned the slow, steady flow I’d maintained to simply keep aloft and gliding forward in favor of feeding it as much as I could while retaining control. I barely remembered to pull down the covering for my eyes, so that I could see well enough despite the winds, though the protections against sand I wore around the rest of my face ensured I had little to fear from the bite of wind.

I soared past the escorts, beyond their ability to fly, then descended towards the leading, mountainous beetle where the man who raised my lay… possibly dying, as he tended to whenever he did something particularly lacking in brains.

…

The Shu’Ann’s name was Kan’Is. Shu’Ann was the title held by the head of the family who controlled the mountainous beetles which allowed the tribe to survive the Divide. The Askari had five Shu’Ann, while most tribes had only one or two. But, not all Shu’Ann are equal. My benefactor might be one five chieftains amongst the Askari, but he was the first among equals. Not quite an Emperor who ruled over petty kings and lords, but a man who was equal to three of the other four combined. Only if the other four united together would they be able to contend with his wealth and power.

They would not do such a thing, of course.

They were all his Kan’Is’s subordinates who he gifted and granted the rank of Shu’Ann and they were all devoted to him utterly and completely.

I wished that such wasn’t the case because he would take more care of himself if he’d had opponents instead of individuals he could trust to lead properly in his name. 

Kan’Is is undoubtably powerful, influential, and skilled. Over the course of his three decades, he turned the Askari into a hegemon within the dessert. With one beetle he raised with the remains of a tribe defeated in a terrible war, he set upon other tribes, until he vanquished his foes and took their city-beetles. Then, once he was secure and his people fed, he set upon making the Askari greater by taking the wealth he’d taken and investing it into his people. 

He is a hero to his people and an honored companion to his fellows.

I usually found myself mending him together only for him to get hurt the day after he heals completely.

With the prey he’d slain, and which had nearly slain him, cooking upon a slab of rock kept hot without flames, I mended him once more while he regaled his companions.

“Gahahah! It stings as always, but I can feel the pain fading already!” The man laughed and cheered with his compatriots as I sew shut a gash upon his arm. The thickly-muscled, tanned limb the size of my torso had a jagged, ragged cut upon it that would have cut another man’s arm off completely. It was a testament to this world’s incongruous nature that monsters existed and that human beings can become powerful giants that live for decades and decades in their prime. “Everyone, raise your cups to this court’s most honored physician! Without him we’d surely all be dead thrice over… though our spouses surely wish he can simply let us die and let them cease worrying!”

Kan’Is was an effusive, boisterous man. Should he have existed in all his power and glory back in my previous world, I would have believed it if someone had told me that he was a god. 

Many amongst his retinue warranted could be seen as fragments of a Pantheon that would rival Olympus. An’Vari, Kan’Is’s right hand, was a slender man who broke apart men and monster with just his fists. Hir’Jan wielded a blade so swiftly that her strikes could not be seen. Sol’Jihd was unmatched during the night, slaying even the beasts which reveled in the dark with ease, let alone fellow humans who languished in the dark. Then, finally, there was Sif’Ren who took to the skies without a mount and tore apart his opponents with the winds that carried him beyond their reach.

Kan’Is can kill all four of them with ease, whether each one fought him alone or together.

There was only one being I could think of who can hope to kill Kan’Is.

And, she stared at me with axe laid upon her lap, as she looked upon me mending her father.

Djet’Is pored over my every action. At our first meeting, when I’d first been called upon by her gather, she’d asked me for the reason for my every action. I refrained from explaining my past life, making doing so difficult beyond compare, but I saved her father, despite having a blade at my neck. Even if it were to kill me, I’d saved men under worse conditions and while lacking what I needed. With the tools I carried with me always, as well as everything I’ve tested and examined in regards to medicine, I’d been more than capable of saving Kan’Is’s life after he’d bested a beast which threatened the whole tribe.

That warranted the giant of a young woman, clad entirely in red and smelling of blood, Djet’Is to only have her axe upon her lap, instead of upon my neck, whenever I cared for her father now. There is loyalty and protectiveness within her, that much is true, but she was certainly crossing the realm of reason in regards to her treatment of me. It was as though I was already guilty in her golden gaze and she merely wished for a reason to divest me of my head. 

I did my utmost to ignore her, the cheering and coursing, and my patient’s refusal to stay completely still while I did my duty.

It was an arduous duty with my newfound skills and abilities, but it would’ve been impossible without them. Kan’Is’s skin shrugs aside bandit iron and the claws of lesser predators. He would be able to weather machine gun fire without issue, while artillery would send him flying about, it’s shrapnel and concussive force would do little against him. With his speed, strength, and wit, it would be impossible to defeat him in my previous life, as he would not stay still for naval artillery to be pressed right against him, yet here in this world he can be torn apart with ease by monsters which lurked in the sands, in hidden valleys, and secret places that turned into nothing after the passing of a few days.

My impetus for cataloguing, dissecting, and recording the monsters that suffused this world was to hopefully allow even the most normal of beings to have a chance at survival, and perhaps ensure that men such as Kan’Is would be able to slay all that he came across with the knowledge I’ve gathered.

But such thoughts were frivolous at best, especially whilst I mended his wounds through a combination of means practical and not.

My focus lay upon interfering with his mere passive power and might with the deep, sweltering ache within my bones, whilst I willed needles and threads to bring together and seal flesh. I had to weaken his body so that I could interfere, and his power resisted me while subtler, weaker things tried to use the weaknesses I made to enter him. I had to fight those invisible forces through various means, since I did not have access to penicillin and other antibiotics. A foul-smelling poultice composed of honey and herbs helped in warding away the efforts of some, but others required me to invest the ache I felt within bones at countering them. 

It was strenuous upon the mind, body, and spirit, yet I could not help but wish that I was able to do the same in my previous life. I could have saved so many lives, if I even had an ounce of the ability I now and at my disposal, so I would not fail to use what I had now to mend and heal those who I required my aid. Even if my breathing grew labored and my gaze grew hazy, though my whole body shook and sweat soaked into my silks, I would persevere.

Why? 

Because I was the only one who can do such a thing.

Therefore, I must.

…

I shook whilst I washed my hands of Kan’Is’s blood and the poultice I’d composed. After I’d sewn his flesh together, then mended his skin and covered it in poultice, his power snapped into place and ushered my own out, as it did whenever I’d healed him to the point where his own body could speedily repair him. 

Despite incurring a wound that would’ve felled another man with ease, he would heal in a handful of days… and get himself hurt the day after he was fully capable once again. Such was the way of things whenever I was not upon an expedition into discovering and cataloguing the unknown dangers that plagued the world I now lived upon. 

One day following local myths and discerning truth from fiction to find dangerous beasts, then the next I would be healing the man who was responsible for my upbringing while planning my next expedition and presenting my work to the public. It was honest work, far better than being mere kilometers away from battlefields and threatened upon the lines breaking, and I accepted the tiredness that came with it with no complaint.

I could do without the attention my work granted upon me, though.

Especially from Djet’Is.

“Father might trust you, but I do not.” The words from the crimson-clad, scarlet-haired heiress were concise and simple. Her voice was like her father’s, but bereft of his joy and burdened by grave seriousness. Her features were more handsome than beautiful, which combined with her lean stature and height, reminded me of stories warrior-heroes. Doubtlessly, this being in front of me was born to fight, kill, and destroy. However, besides her physical prowess, it was her mind that I was most wary of. “Father might respect you keeping your secrets and believing your lies, but you will have no place in my court, even with your talents, if you keep hidden things the tribe must know.”

Djet’Is is no marauding, violent beast who threatened all she spoke with. She is beloved by the tribe and hailed as a prodigy that would lead the As’Kari further into a bright, prosperous future. Wherever she goes she is given gifts, not because of her birth, but due to how she stands alongside the protectors of the tribe and vanquishes all its foes. Children, adults, and elderly greet her with smiles and cheers, while she acknowledges them, protects them, and lends them whatever aid she can.

I was one of the handful of individuals in the tribe she would look upon with distrust.

And, why would she not?

I was a child with abilities beyond my fellows. I knew things that the rest of the tribe did not. I had influence due to my contributions in fields of sciences hitherto unknown in this world. And, of course, there was the fact that I hunted and killed monsters that she and her father would stay clear of while always returning unharmed and with the carcasses of many terrible beasts.

How could she not see me as a potential threat and an unknown who should be kept at arm’s length?

“I see.” That was my only answer to the Djet’Is’s statement, while I washed my hands free of both blood and poultice. Some might decry her actions as paranoia, but the fact remained that Kan’Is was the one who was not showing enough caution. By all means, she was reasonable. She would simply not have me in her court. I would be unharmed by her. She threatened neither my body nor my properties. It was a stern warning. It would’ve only been a threat if I found the fame that came with being in her court a necessity, which I did not care for in the least. “I understand.”

Djet’Is spared me not a moment more after I responded.

She gave me a swift nod, before returning to the main portion of the tent which housed Kan’Is and the rest of the ruling house of the tribe.

Upon any other day, I would’ve simply seen myself clean and returned to my home, but it was not such a day.

Instead, as I stared into the horizon, I saw a ship falling from the sky and into the dessert. 

Far enough into the horizon and behind the whole of the tribe’s path forward, so that it was reasonable that I was the only one who could have seen it.

It would have done me well to simply ignore it.

However, if there was the chance that some survived the crash… I could not ignore the chance that I would be needed.