In a World without God

“We are the descendants of sinners. We teach our children this truth once they turn ten,” Glyon said grimly. “The scars on the back of our necks are proof. We inherited the blood of the witch Ygraine.”

As he spoke, Glyon was worried for his son—and with good reason. Ed stood before the statue depicting Bosha’s sword piercing the witch Ygraine’s throat. All the children of Astania looked up to the hero Bosha and hated Ygraine for her evil deeds. But now Ed had discovered he was the descendant of a witch. Glyon was unsure how he would react.

Worried Ed might collapse again, Glyon continued, “I was born into the Le Fay family, but I wish you had been born a descendant of Lord Bosha. I’m sorry.”

Glyon felt helpless to help his son. Shaking his head in sorrow, he failed to notice that Ed’s eyes shone with an ethereal light.

***

In Bosha’s day, the land of the Duke Le Fay stretched from the Baruba Valley in the central part of the continent to the coast of Ascidia in the southwest. After the fall of the Ur Empire, the Kingdom of Astania unified the continent. The current Duke Le Fay had incorporated the northern Sijia region into their territory.

Bosha had been reborn as Edulis when the Le Fay’s were the most prominent family on the continent. But the Duke Le Fay’s glory had nothing to do with Ed’s family. The Le Fay do not recognize those who carry the blood of Ygraine. The people actively despised them, calling them ‘witches’ blood,’ ‘cursed blood,’ and ‘branded.’

There was open discrimination against Ygraine’s descendants, including where they could live. While the Le Fay family headquarters were in the fertile lands of Vaidor, the descendants of Ygraine were forced to live in some of the most inhospitable and desolate places on the continent. The most barren and desolate place on the continent was none other than the outskirts of Kaldura.

“Ygraine, the witch,” Ed groaned, his head in his hands.

Ed lived in the Barus Swamp, where he and his father had returned after their pilgrimage to the Memorial Hall of the Holy War. Ed sat leaning against a tree, lost in thought. He stood and anxiously kicked at the carcass of a crocodile that lay decomposing against the bank of the swamp.

This was the same place where Bosha, his former self, was trained by Karayan, the previous Captain of the Black Fangs.

“Crawl out alive, and I’ll train you to be my successor,” Karayan had said as he had thrown the young Bosha into the thick, foul-smelling bog within the swamp. With those words burning in his mind, Bosha had fought tooth and nail to survive, claiming his place as Karayan’s successor.

Ed had been terrified to live there, but now it felt like home. Everything in the world had changed except for this swamp.

It had been two years since his visit to the Memorial of the Holy War, and Ed still hadn’t gotten over it. The mere mention of Ygraine’s name made him feel like he had swallowed lava, his insides burning. Bosha’s memories, thoughts, and feelings consumed Ed; the strongest were those related to Ygraine.

Bosha had thought that Ygraine was a woman whose own mind existed in a fairy tale world where everyone loved each other and got along peacefully. It was a lie that people wanted peace. People always wanted to throw stones at someone else. Bosha had wondered if Ygraine knew how much hatred boiled in the hearts of those who called her a saint.

But being with Ygraine had left a deep mark on Bosha. He believed that if Ygraine and Lutea’s names remained strong for a hundred or a thousand years, and her ideals continued to appeal to people, the hatred in their hearts would one day recede, just as the witch’s army had.

Ed knew this was what Bosha had believed, but all he could think about now was what he had seen at the Memorial, naming Ygraine as a witch.

Who would dare call Ygraine a witch? She had endlessly lamented her lack of benevolence and blamed herself for all the mess in the world! And to claim that Bosha was the one who killed her?

Frowning, Ed picked up a branch and swung it wildly at a rock in front of him. The branch slashed through the air, coming into impact with the large rock and shattering into two pieces. Only a measly hairline crack appeared on the rock itself.

“Shit!” Ed cursed, dropping the end of the branch and running his hand over the tiny crack. It was frustrating. If Bosha had swung the branch, he would have expertly used his Magick to shatter the rock into pieces smaller than pebbles in a river.

There was a reason Ed was weaker than Bosha. He hadn’t been sufficiently refined.

All human beings possess a magical energy known as Magick, which is connected with their soul. Humans are born with this magical energy, but it is often impure and challenging to channel—it needs to be cultivated through a process called ‘refinement.’ Through refinement, individuals can create a ‘magical flow’ through their body, harnessing its power and utilizing it according to set rules. The culmination of this entire process and the use of magical flow according to the rules is called Magick.

Bosha had achieved a top-three ranking on the continent for his mastery of magical flow. He once smashed a dragon’s teeth out with a wooden stick. When he started, though, Bosha never thought he’d be unable to crush a simple rock.

Ed sat on a tree stump, legs crossed, eyes closed, and took a moment to calm himself.

The powerful and the powerless could live together, Ygraine had once said. Ed thought it would take immense power to create such a world. If Bosha had been strong enough to defeat the witch’s poison, he would have been able to see Ygraine’s face when she came to him. Ed was cautious, treading carefully with the refinement of his magical energy. Since realizing he was Bosha in a previous life, he had begun to feel the presence of a second magical mass.

It was well known and accepted that a single soul holds one magical mass called Mana. But Ed had been sensing two magical masses within him. Even more worrying was the fact that one was clearly not human. This second Mana was as bright and clean as the sun, without a single impurity. It was difficult for Ed to believe that such a pure form of Mana could exist.

In nature, the closer to white Mana is, the more static it is. Only monks in holy places are allowed to train white Mana as Magick, as it is difficult to wrap it around the body and channel. The whiter and cleaner the Mana, the more divine the Magick is considered.

Within Ed was an aura so white and clean that it needed no further refinement. Ed had seen it before, but not in his lifetime. He had seen it in his lifetime as Bosha.

It was Ygraine’s Magick.

Inside Ed was the same magic crest as Ygraine. A magic crest is a unique pattern created by flowing Magick. Each person has a single magic crest.

Why had Ygraine left hers to Ed? An energy that a normal person can’t even use? What could it mean? Ed had been pondering this question every day and was still unable to come up with a clear answer.

Still seated cross-legged on the tree stump with his eyes closed, the hair on the back of Ed’s neck suddenly stood on guard. He wasn’t alone.

“Who’s there!” Ed called out.

A branch lying prone at Ed’s feet suddenly flew through the air and struck the thick trunk of a tree nearby like an arrow. Whoever had been hiding behind the tree, spying on Ed, suddenly screamed.

***

“Mother, look at him. His silver hair is the same color as your pearl earrings!”

“Murjana, all those with silver hair are the offspring of witches. They have cursed blood. You must not look at them, and you must not talk about them.”

“What? Even if they’re so pretty?”

“Remember who you are descended from. Some people will scheme against us at any time. We must watch over and protect Kaldura, just as your great-grandfather did."

The conversation had taken place between Murjana and her mother nearly five years ago when Murjana was still a child. She had been puzzled by her mother’s words. The child she had seen that day with the silver hair, Edulis Le Fay, the only child of Glyon Le Fay, had such an innocent face, and his hair had been mesmerizing.

Murjana often found herself thinking about Ed’s face. She usually looked for him, even after her mother had warned her, and she’d gotten into trouble for precisely that. She would sometimes see him walking around. Then he reached his tenth birthday, and for the past couple of years, she hadn’t seen him once.

That was, until recently.

Not again, she thought as she spotted Ed. He’s heading for the fork in the road. He’ll only end up in the Barus Swamp… or is he going another way?

Murjana stared down at the path from the Ishtar family’s sword training ground. She had a clear view from here and had seen the silver-haired boy pass by several times in the past month or so.

Murjana knew that the Barus Swamp was strictly off-limits to her. Home to dangerous beasts, including crocodiles, dragonlings, and horned boars, even many adults avoided the area, especially if they didn’t have the right level of Magick refinement.

Ed was two years younger than Marjuna.

How is a twelve-year-old navigating the Barus Swamp? she thought as she watched him head in that direction once more.

“There are people who might scheme at any time.”

Murjana remembered her mother’s words. Ed’s appearance had captivated her when she was younger and ignorant, but now it was different. Murjana had been properly taught about her family’s history and her great-grandfather’s exploits in the Holy War. Now, like many others, she harbored resentment towards the descendants of the witch.

What kind of devious scheme is he up to? she wondered.

Her father, grandfather, and grandmother had been away for a month on business. If the witch’s descendant was planning something nefarious, it was Murjana’s duty to stop it.

With a great sense of purpose, Murjana left the training ground and began to follow Ed. When she reached the same fork in the path, she paused, looking down the dark pathway that led to the Barus Swamp.

Do I really want to go there?

Murjana was right to be scared. The swamp was dark even in the middle of a bright day, and all kinds of monstrous creatures could be heard growling and barking in the distance. Just as Murjana was about to turn around and get as far away from the swamp as she could, the words of her swordsmanship teacher—her grandfather—found her:

“My father fought for three days and three nights. He ran for three days and three nights without sleep and broke through Cyros’ territory. He ran for three days and three nights, not knowing the enemy’s army’s strength or the enemy leader’s capabilities. He did this because it was necessary for his people. Those who sit back and contemplate whether or not they can win are not worthy of the name of Ishtar. A member of the House Ishtar must move forward.”

The words swelled in Murjana’s heart, and she turned back towards the path that led to the swamp. She walked with a newfound confidence, her hand gripping her sword tightly.

If I allow my fear to stop me, I am not worthy of the Ishtar name!

As Murjana marched further down the path and deeper into the darkness of the swamp, her fear began to threaten her conviction once more. The surroundings of the swamp were even more appalling than she had imagined. Every rock she passed was cracked or chipped as if a dragon-like beast had clawed at them.

The trees in the swamp were so thick that even a grown man’s outstretched arms couldn’t wrap around them. Some of the older trees were harder than rock, but every one had deep grooves in their bark. The cuts were clean, as if someone skilled in machetes had cut them with a sword.

It was as if someone had been cracking rocks and cutting trees throughout the swamp for a long time.

It can’t be… him? No, it can’t be, Murjana shook the thought from her head.

She knew those who inherited the blood of the witch Ygraine had extraordinary physical abilities and an aptitude for manipulating Magick. Murjana had heard that the child descendants were not allowed to know how to read or spell until a certain age to prevent them from growing too strong too young.

Murjana had thought the swamp would be chaotic, with no formal pathways or clear paths through the trees. But as she kept walking, the cracked rocks and fallen trees continued on either side of her, creating a makeshift path for her to follow. She still couldn’t believe that this was all Ed’s handiwork.

But then who? she thought.

As she kept walking, she felt goosebumps flash up her arms, and she immediately sensed that someone—or something—was nearby. She stopped walking and stood still, one hand gripping the hilt of her sword as she listened intently around her. As she scanned the trees on either side of her, she thought she could see a lone figure sitting on a tree stump just a short way off the path she had been following. Murjana began to make her way toward the figure, sure it was Ed. She walked as slowly as possible, carefully placing each foot before the other to avoid making any noise. Moving from tree to tree, she crept as close as she could to try and get a better idea of what Ed was up to.

As Murjana got closer, she felt her breath catch in her throat. With a clear view, she could see straight through the trees to where Ed sat cross-legged on a large, old tree stump, his eyes closed. Surrounding him on the ground was the corpse of a swamp crocodile, at least three times bigger than Murjana. Blood oozed from a deep wound across the creature’s neck, and as Murjana stared from the beast to Ed, she knew that it had been him who had killed the thing. The icy chill of terror enveloped Murjana.

There’s… There’s no way I can fight him. He’s far too powerful!

Murjana’s knees shook. She tried to remember her grandfather’s words but fear and conviction fought fiercely inside her, and her fear was winning. She suddenly felt lightheaded, stepping forward to balance against a tree just ahead. In her confusion, she forgot to check before she placed her foot down, her heel connecting with a large dried stick that instantly cracked under her weight, the sound echoing through the silent swamp.

“Who’s there!”

A large, pointed branch, sharp as an arrow, thrummed through the air, thudding heavily into the tree Murjana was hiding behind. The shock caused her to scream out in fright. She crouched behind the tree momentarily before her grandfather’s words found her once more. She knew she had to put aside her fear and stand brave as a member of the Ishtar family. Murjana stepped out from behind the tree.

“I… I am Muryana of the House of Ishtar, you scion of the witch. And I have come to uncover whatever you are plotting here!”

Murjana tried to make her tone firm and menacing, but her vocal cords shook. Ed stared at the young girl in front of him.

“Ishtar? That name sounds strangely familiar. Where have I heard it before?”

Ed’s eyes fell on the sword Murjana gripped tightly at her side.

It was a black sword, curved like a fang, with a crude reticulated pattern.

“That sword…”