Zectas Volume IV: The Salubrious City of Centzo (13 page)

Two men and two women in their late twenties immediately rushed towards them. All of them had black hair and were clothed in hard leather armor. They pointed their three-pronged iron-spears, they were carrying at Smoke and Ledur.
Smoke was hoping for a more pleasant greeting, but settled with the fact that they weren't being attacked.
"Easy now," he said calmly and raised his hands in the air. "My name is Smoke and this is my friend Ledur." he said with a smile and pointed to the winged Tikbalang."
Ledur shook his head and gave him a knowing look, which he understood as an 'I told you so.'
"We're not here to make trouble. In fact, we're here to prevent it," said Smoke strongly with his hands still raised.
The four villagers looked at each other and quickly turned back their attention at Smoke. "That is exactly what a Spy would say," shot back one of the men.
Abruptly, one of the female villagers asked out loud. "But would a Spy wear such shabby clothes? He doesn't look like he’s had anything to eat in days."
Upon hearing this, Smoke thanked his ragged appearance for once. Seeing as there were four of them, he gambled on using his Beggary. He observed the girl and could see the pity in her eyes. He had a feeling that the girl would be susceptible to his ability.
"Just hear me out. I just want to talk to your village chief. Horrabelle is coming with a legion of Brandals and all of you must evacuate," pleaded Smoke imploringly.
"You can even tie us up if that will make you feel better," said Smoke and lowered his hands and crossed them over to each other, offering it to the girl who spoke out earlier.

The girl turned to her companions and said. "Let's just tie them up and take them to the elder. How could they possibly fight us? I mean, we got them outnumbered."
The three villagers started whispering to each other and eventually agreed with her suggestion. They tied up Smoke's and Ledur's hands in chains and led them to the home of their village elder.
"My name is Dalaga, and I'm on the line if you two cause any problems," she said glaringly and pointed at Smoke.
He raised his chained up hands in surrender. "Of course. We won't do anything like that."
As they walked through the village, Smoke trained himself to scrutinize everything he could find. Be it as a hero or a captive, every time he was paraded through a village, he could already gather vital information. There were some children playing outside of their homes, but only one or two.
Their homes were made out of light material. Bamboo for the walls and floors, and thatched up hay for their roofs. Basing from the colossal dam and the several watermills, he expected more advance houses, but he concluded that they must have focused all their efforts on agricultural architecture rather than their housing.
Despite their less impressive residences, Smoke found them very dependable. All of the adults were clothed in the same hard leather armor. Men and women alike appeared to be battle ready at a moment's notice.
As they were still heading for the elder's home, they passed through one of the farmlands. There, he found the villagers stacking up piles of hay, using their three-pronged spears as pitch forks.
'Even though they're only farming, they're still prepared for any attacks,' thought an inspired Smoke. 'The residents in Verbrannt should be like this as well.'
While still heading for the village elder, Smoke received his anticipated call from Espion.
"Excuse me," he said while tapping the young girl with his chained up hands. "I've got to take this. It won't be long."
Dalaga nodded and allowed him to take it. They stopped. Dalaga and the villagers surrounded Smoke and Ledur.
"Smoke, they've left. You've got exactly forty-eight hours before Horrabelle gets to those villages," reported Espion hurriedly. "I'm going to head back to Centzo and see if their mayor has healed."
"Thanks, Espion, and be safe," replied Smoke before their call ended.
He hurriedly opened a customized window and created a countdown timer.

He minimized the window and pushed it to the side of his peripheral vision.
"Dalaga, I'm good to go," stated Smoke hurriedly. "Now, let's hurry up and meet your elder."
He was almost pushing the villagers to walk faster as every second now literally counts.
Despite their hastened pace, it still took them ten more minutes of walking until they eventually reached the elder's house.
"Wait here, while I'll call the elder," said the girl who was influenced by his Beggary.
Seconds later, she came out with an old man in his early seventies. Smoke thought that he looked friendly and was hopeful that his conversation with him would go smoothly.
"Good day! I'm Smoke," he said with a Smile but in a hurried manner. "I'd offer my hand, but I'm currently tied up at the moment." He then made a strong gesture with his bounded up hands.
The old man looked to the two men next to Smoke and said. "Dagdag, Labis, remove their chains. Those things won't be necessary."
The two villagers immediately followed his orders and freed Smoke and Ledur.
"Thank you so much," he said gratefully and rubbed his wrists where the chains had been. He then extended his hand to the village elder. "Nice to meet you..."
"Utusan. My name is Utusan," replied the old man cheerfully and shook Smoke's hand back.
"My granddaughter tells me that you've come to warn us about an invasion?" asked Utusan while patting the young girl whom Smoke managed to convince.
"Yes!" responded Smoke eagerly. "Horrabelle has joined with the Brandals and are coming to wipe out your village and the other two villages near here."
Utusan stared at him blankly. "I'm aware of the Brandals cruelty," he spoke out of personal experience. "But who is this Horrabelle person?"
Smoke stared back at him in disbelief. "You don't know Horrabelle? Have you heard about the Witches of Wysteria?"
Utusan shook his head in response.
'I thought they were well known throughout the entire continent?' he wondered to himself.
"Anyway, she's a very bad person and her powers are even worse," Smoke proceeded to describe how horrible Horrabelle was, in hopes of convincing Utusan and his entire village to leave with him.
"...So, that's why I'm urging you to migrate with us to Verbrannt. We've already migrated dozens of villages and Verbrannt can more than accommodate all three of the villages here."
Utusan was mumbling and scratched his chin while he was pondering. "Horrabelle does indeed sound terrifying, but I'm afraid I'm not the one you have to convince."
Smoke's eyebrows met with confusion. "What do you mean? Aren't you the village elder of Pinagsama?"
"Village elder, yes. But I take my orders from someone above me," explained Utusan. "And the village elders of Tatlong and Lugar will only tell you the same thing as well."
He took in a deep breath and asked with a hint of frustration. "So, who do I have to talk to in order to save your lives?"
"You have to speak with Guro," retorted Utusan. "Guro lives in a small house on top of Gitna dam."
"Alright, any significant markings on Guro's house? Or do I just ask around?" asked a somewhat annoyed Smoke.
Utusan waved his hand in dismissal. "It should be easy to spot. Guro is the only one who lives on top of the dam."
Smoke shook Utusan's hand and thanked him for the information about Guro. He turned to Ledur and gave him a nod. The winged Tikbalang spread out his black bat-like wings and soared to the sky. He then saluted Utusan and the rest of the villagers gathered and leapt up, spreading his hooded cloak and gliding towards Guro's house.
 

* * * * * * 

Posthaste, Smoke and Ledur soared to Guro's house on top of Gitna Dam. He used his Telefax Vision to search the dam's surface until he finally spotted the house he was looking for. It was right in the middle of the dam.
It was a small brown house made out of thick lumber, large stones and a tiled roof. The house's materials blended well with the earth dam and slightly camouflaged it. One would have needed to know the house's location in order to find it.
Both Smoke and Ledur landed softly in front of the house.
"Hello? Anyone home?" asked Smoke loudly.
He tried walking around the house and shouted Guro's name, but there was still no response.
Smoke scratched his head and wondered whether Guro was sleeping. "Should we go in?" he asked Ledur.
From out of the blue, his Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed a large monster heading his way. He looked up and saw a three-meter-lengthed bull shark crashing down from the sky. Its horns would have scratched him if he didn't dodge it in time.
Smoke took out his weighted chain and sickle and prepared himself to fight the large lake monster, but then he saw that its life bar (1,163/300,000 HP). It was steadily going down.
"Who are you and what are you doing near my home?" asked a stern female voice.
Quickly turning around, he spotted a middle-age lioness Lioumerean carrying the a three-pronged golden-spear. She stepped out of a rowboat from the man made lake and easily pulled it to rest next to three other rowboats placed on top of the dam.
Upon closer inspection, Smoke realized that the water in the dam was filled with creatures belonging to the expansive Murray river. This horned bull shark may have been smaller than the ones he met in Saruras, but it was clearly no pushover either.
He paused as he was surprised to see a Lioumerean. "Hello," greeted Smoke and waved at her pleasantly. "You must be Guro. Utusan told me to talk to you."
Smoke stepped back as Guro suddenly threw her spear pierced the head of the bull shark, depleting it of its final HP.
"I don't normally entertain strangers, but something about you seems familiar," she said with an intrigued voice and walked over to the body of the bull shark. As the monster's body started to disappear, Guro knelt down and picked an odd looking knife in the shape of the bull shark's tooth.
"So...talk," retorted Guro haughtily. "I don't have all day," she added while she collected the other items dropped by horned shark.
"Right, my friend and I came here to warn you about Horrabelle's incoming attack. She's got two thousand Therianthropes and eight thousand Brandals with her...." Smoke began to describe what atrocities Horrabelle has in mind for the three villages if she reaches them.
After a few minutes of Smoke's winded explanation, Guro stopped him from talking any further.
"I've heard about Horrabelle and I know about the Brandals, but I don't know anything about you," she stated plainly.
"Why should I listen to you?" she asked inquisitively. "Did you expect me to uproot three villages just because you told me?"
Smoke thought about using his Beggary ability on her, but decided not to. He didn't want to risk the chance it would fail and lose his chance of convincing her completely. He smiles at her, but had his arms crossed while still thinking about what to do next.
Then, Guro stood up and walked over to her house. "Follow me," she commanded airily. "And you can let out that ember sprite in your chest there," added Guro as she pointed to the metallic orb on his chest.
Smoke looked at Ledur with a raised eyebrow. He then opened up Igniz's compartment and signaled both of them to follow her.
She opened the door to her house and left it open for Smoke and Ledur to enter. Once inside, she got a pitcher of black gooey beverage and helped herself to a glass.
"If Horrabelle's army is indeed that many, then Tatlong, Lugar and Pinagsama has no chance of surviving," she said and clicked her tongue loudly.
She then looked at Igniz and said. "Dark ember sprites are rare. This is the only the second dark ember sprite I've seen."
Guro then sat down at the kitchen table while Smoke and Ledur remained standing. "At least you've got enough manners not to sit on your own," she said and pointed to the two of them to have a seat at the table.
Only Smoke sat down with her while Ledur stood in his place.
"Did you know that those three villages used to be in shambles," she said while clicking her tongue once more. "They were victims to the Brandals long before they started their invasion on Centzo city."
Guro took a deep breath. "It wasn't until I gathered all of them and trained them to be Ranseurs that they were able to get back their normal lives. They're safe within their walls, near the Gitna Dam, which their ancestors built. And they've done fairly well until today..."
"A Ranseur? Is that an Advanced variation of the Warrior Job?" Smoke asked as he was eager to learn a new Job.
"Ha!" Guro exclaimed mockingly. "A Ranseur isn't a Warrior. A Ranseur is a variation of a Gladiatrix who specializes in using three-pronged spears," she explained proudly.
"Gladiatrix? Is that a female version of a Gladiator?" he asked innocently.
Unbeknownst to him that he opened a sensitive topic.
“No! You have it backwards!” Guro suddenly shouted for no apparent reason. “Gladiators are male versions of Gladiatrix!”
She glared at Smoke and pointed her finger at him. “Do you understand?”
“Of course I was just trying to...” he stopped mid sentence as he could feel Ledur's eye glaring at him.
The winged Tikbalang gave Smoke a look that meant to wrap things up, as Horrabelle was going to arrive in less than two days.
Smoke nodded and tried convincing Guro once again. "Sorry, I digress. Like I said, Horrabelle will be here soon. So, please, let's all migrate to Verbrannt. We've got more than enough land there to build another Gitna Dam."
"Even if you did have the space, none of the current villagers knows how to make a dam. I heard that it was from the time of the Lizardites' rule. Their ancestors were enslaved and instructed to build it."
"Alright, can you just tell me how I can help you save their lives?" asked an exasperated Smoke.
Guro took a sip out of her black gooey drink and stared at him intently. "Let's say I do believe you. We move to this...Verbrannt, and what then? What's to stop Horrabelle from attacking us there?"
Smoke was about to slam his fist on the Guro's table, but forced himself to stop and touched it lightly instead.
"Verbrannt has me and my private army protecting it. Everyday it's defenses are being strengthened and more people arrive to band together against the Brandals," he paused as and took a deep breath to compose himself. "If these three villages join us, you won't only be saving them, but you'll be helping us defend the other villagers that we've already migrated."
"Hm, but I don't know how dependable you are." Guro took another sip out of her cup.
"The boss of this dam has been constantly plaguing the villages by its discharges. Legend says that only a true leader can conquer Aral. If you manage to slay it, then maybe I'll consider it."
As expected, a quest window appeared in front of him.