In a World without God

The two Velox pawed at each other impatiently. Ed’s cart had left the grasslands and entered the Casbah Desert, the largest desert on the continent.

The sands of the Casbah were beautiful. White as snow and soft as silk, it sparkled like quartz in the sunlight. But that sparkle poses a significant threat to the Erabu who cross it; it could blind them.

He should have pulled his hood over his eyes, but Kishi couldn’t afford to. A silver-haired boy was leaning his elbow on his shoulder.

Kishi turned his head slightly to check the boy’s hands. He wasn’t holding a sword, so what was this cold he felt on the nape of his neck?

He’d been an Erabu for over a decade but had never seen anything like this. Most of the Ygraine clan were depressed and lethargic, which was only natural. It’s hard to be cheerful when trapped in a place like Kaldura and oppressed by the state.

But this boy, Edulis, was more than energetic; he was positively radiating energy. Kishi’s senses were sending him a clear warning.

This bastard has killed a man before, Kishi thought.

But how could that be? Ed was twelve years old. He’d never been outside of Kaldura except to visit the Temple Memorial. Kishi ignored the alarm bells ringing in his mind and tried to sound nonchalant.

“Ha! This is ridiculous. You want me to hand over the Velox? Why would I take such a bet?”

“Weren’t you confident I would die? Is Kishi a man who can’t even stand by his word?”

That smirking tone. Where did he learn such insolence? thought Kishi.

Even if he belonged to the Ygraine faction, Ed was, by name, a member of the Le Fay family.

“There’s no point betting with someone who’s going to die anyway,” Kishi said.

“You’re not making a bet because you’re sure I’ll die, or are you admitting there’s a chance you’re wrong?”

“There’s no chance of that!”

“Then what? Are you intimidated by me, old man? Are you a coward, pecked by a twelve-year-old? Ha!” Ed turned to the lifeless, distant relative sitting next to him.

“Hey! Go back and spread the word. Erabu Kishi is an asshole who doesn’t have the courage to bet with a twelve-year-old!” he said in a sarcastic tone.

“What did you say?” Kishi growled through his teeth, increasingly irritated by Ed’s relentless taunting.

“How are you doing so far? Are you scared to cross the Casbah Desert?” Ed continued, unfussed by Kishi’s growing impatience with him. “Oh, I thought I smelled something fishy, but it must have been Kishi's piss on the saddle. Hey, buddy, spread the word. Kishi’s wagon smells like Kishi’s piss!”

Kishi’s face turned dark red. Fueled by his rising anger, the veins on his neck stood out as he tried to restrain himself. Ed had touched on Kishi’s pride. In Erabu society, courage was the most valued virtue. Once marked as a coward, it was challenging to find work opportunities. If word of what Ed said spread among the Erabu—that Kishi was intimidated by a twelve-year-old boy and the desert—others would immediately come forward to take Kishi’s job. After that, it wouldn’t matter what Kishi said. If he were labeled a coward, all the other Erabu would deem his word as not worth listening to.

Ed was well aware of this. The Erabu were easy to manipulate. All Ed had to do was keep scratching at Kishi’s ego.

“You… you bastard!” Kishi couldn’t keep his mouth shut any longer. “You’ve never set foot outside of Kaldura, you’ve never seen how brave Lord Bosha’s descendants are, and you’ve never heard of the fear of a dragon!”

“Indeed. I’d like to see that,” Ed said calmly. He smirked at Kishi, which stirred his anger even more.

“When Mr. Lagarde swings his sword, the ground within ten paces around him is set ablaze! When Mr. Yug smashes his hammer, a giant pit appears in the ground as if a star had fallen! When Lord Kurjina raises his staff, spears of lightning fly, and if you stand before them, you will die a terrible death!”

“Is that right?” Ed scratched the back of his head and stifled a yawn. “What’s with all this chit-chat? Are you going to take the bet or not?”

“Fine!” said Kishi. “When you die, I will kick your tombstone and piss on your ashes!”

“Good. Then you need to swear to Assyria.”

An Oath to Assyria, the goddess of truth, was the most effective means of guaranteeing the fulfillment of a contract. It was well-known that if you failed to honor an oath made in her name, you would lose your head.

“How do you know about the oath to Assyria?”

“That’s none of your business. Now, go ahead, make the oath.”

Kishi was quiet. The Oath to Assyria was common knowledge on the continent, but it was an oath of Magick. How did a descendant of Ygraine, someone who was not supposed to have access to Magick until after the Festival of Saints, know about it?

Kishi thought for a long time, his pride preventing him from questioning Ed further. Then he placed his right hand across his chest and said Assyria’s name. Blood flowed into his pinky finger, forming a red band like a blood ring around it. It was a sign that Assyria would watch over the fulfillment of this oath.

“Justice will prevail. As Bosha defeated Ygraine, so will those who carry the blood of the hero. They will slaughter the offspring of the insolent witch, and your soul shall not rest in peace in death!” spat Kishi.

“You talk too much,” said Ed and laughed.

Kishi wanted to snap Ed’s neck. He couldn’t think of how to respond to Ed’s taunting, so he simply glared at him.

“Hey, old man, can you drive properly? The Velox are looking elsewhere. If you’re not focused, neither are they.”

Ed patted Kishi on the shoulder. Kishi’s face was so red he thought it might explode, but what could he do? Arriving in Vaidor on time was part of his contract with the Le Fay family. Kishi grimaced and tugged on the Velox’s reins, urging them onwards.

Ed lay down, his legs crossed, in the cart with his hood over his face, seemingly at peace with the world.

The boy who had been sitting there as if dead suddenly spoke up, his voice as small as a mosquito’s.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“Oh, you can talk?”

“You’re going to try and beat all six of them?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking about it.”

“That’s… impossible.”

Ed chuckled. “There’s something we need to do in Trisis.”

The boy looked at Ed with pity in his eyes. He seemed to think Ed was a little off his game. Ed shifted his position, trying to get comfortable.

“By the way, what’s your name?” he asked the boy.

“Enri.”

“I see. Enri, please wake me up when we arrive,” Ed said. He looked at the boy named Enri, who nodded, and then Ed settled down again, pulled his hood further over his face, and went to sleep.

***

“Walk from here. I’m not obligated to give you a ride inside.”

They had arrived at Vaidor, the main gate to the Le Fay family’s estate. Kishi halted the Velox and urged Ed and Enri to exit the cart. It seemed a long way from the gate to their final destination.

Ed stood at the gate and scanned the grounds of the Le Fay manor, which looked much different than when Bosha was alive. The grounds alone were now ten times the size, and there were dozens of marble mansions. The gardens were meticulously tended, and the branches of the trees were all neatly trimmed. Violets, lavender, and colorful roses grew abundantly across the place.

Ed didn’t like the sight. When Bosha was alive, the Le Fay family had a reputation for frugality.

While other nobles built mansions and planted gardens, the Le Fay found, fed, and clothed the hungry. When there was a good harvest and tax revenues were surplus, they held festivals to enjoy with the people. They were not the kind who would decorate their homes for personal pleasure.

He suddenly remembered a conversation between Bosha and Ygraine when Bosha had first seen Ygraine’s estate. Bosha had been shocked to see how simply the Le Fay family lived then:

“You’re Dukes, aren’t you? Even my house is better than this!”

“I’m glad to hear that, but it would be a shame for the Le Fay to live in a house that was better than the people’s.”

“The noblemen I know have gardens, and they’re beautiful. Why don’t you plant a palm tree or something, at least?”

“That’s not how we do things.”

That was what the Le Fay family had stood for. But what was this place now?

Dragging irrigation from the farms to water the gardens would surely lead to agricultural water shortage during the planting season. It was an insult to Ygraine! And it was against the will of the Goddess Lutea!

“The main family’s wagon is passing by. Children of the witch, bow your heads deeply in repentance,” Kishi hissed at Ed and Enri.

An elegant and luxurious cart approached in the distance. Enri did as he was told and bowed deeply. But Ed did not follow suit. He was staring at something that had caught his eye.

“Rude bastard! Pay your respects to the descendants of heroes!” Kishi shouted at him.

But Ed still did not bow. He held his head high and looked at the door. The crest of the House of Le Fay was emblazoned across the top of the door. The crest was as large as a shield worn by a Kingdom infantryman with a picture on it. The picture was of Bosha defeating Ygraine, who was depicted as a monster with scattered hair and long fangs. Ygraine was sprawled miserably on the ground as Bosha stomped on her head, his straightened sword pointed at her throat.

Ed couldn’t help himself. He suddenly burst out laughing at how ridiculous the image was.

Kishi stared at him, speechless, not just because of Ed’s unusual behavior. Kishi had caught sight of Ed’s eyes. He saw that they burned as if they held all the anger in the world.

They were the eyes of the Kaldura Red Fox.

Another memory flashed through Ed’s mind. It was of Bosha and Ygraine when they had been training together, sword fighting, and Bosha had wrestled Ygraine to the ground. Ygraine’s sword cut through the air like a willow branch through water, smoothly cutting through Bosha’s Magick, which scattered like sand under her blade. Bosha had responded quickly, dodging her blade and lunging to tackle Ygraine to the ground before she could swing her sword again.

On the ground, Bosha looked down at Ygraine’s face.

“For a mercenary, defeat is death,” he said softly.

“If you don’t kill me now, one day I will kill you,” Ygraine had replied, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want you to follow me in victory or defeat. I want you to be driven by faith and love.”

“Do you not know who I am?” Bosha had asked. “Do you think the Fox of Kaldura would listen to that? You swung your blade at me simply to provoke me, didn’t you?”

Ygraine stared back at him and nodded.

“Very well.”

Bosha jumped up and backed away from Ygraine, kicking her sword towards her.

“Let’s see you try it again!”

Ygraine stood and picked up her sword. She watched Bosha as he paced back and forth, his Magick down, all of him exposed and defenseless. Ygraine began to walk towards him. Bosha raised his sword and pointed it at her.

“Ha! I knew you wanted to provoke me! Try and cut me with that sword of yours!”

Ygraine kept walking towards him, her sword held low at her side.

“I believe in the light that wanders in the depth of your heart,” she said and kept moving forward, holding Bosha’s gaze.

“Bullshit!”

As Ygraine got closer, Bosha threatened her, slashing his sword through the air between them, but Ygraine didn’t stop.

“Crazy woman! Don’t you dare die for nothing,” Bosha shouted, but Ygraine knew he was bluffing. No one knew what he was afraid of. Not even Bosha himself.

The distance between them narrowed to three paces. Then two. Then, one.

Bosha could no longer swing his sword. Why couldn’t he swing his sword? He felt his body stiffen. Ygraine was right in front of him now, their bodies close. She took his head in both hands, cradling his face between her palms. Her touch was gentle, without pressure, but Bosha couldn’t move.

In his twenty-eight years of life, Bosha only admitted defeat once. To Ygraine. And that defeat was very special to him.

Well, these guys ruined everything, Ed thought as he stared at the ridiculous image on the Le Fay crest. The carriage had stopped just in front of them.

“What are you doing?” Kishi shouted at him in horror as Ed quickly drew his sword.

“Do not insult Ygraine!” yelled Ed as he lifted his sword and brought it down hard.

The Le Fay family crest shattered into pieces and crumbled to the ground at his feet.