Kingdom of Rust Chapter 27 (Patreon)

The tower was something to behold. Made from the same white stone that the ancestors so loved to craft their marvels out of. It had seen better days and large sections on the sides were patched by stone of a similar color to the cliffsides. A thought occurred to me that the alcove with the stone circle was probably where the stone had come from.

A part of my mind realized that the original Mgumba Duwun may have been the one to repair the tower. It made sense given what I knew. We stepped off the improvised bridge to the top of the tower. It was much larger than it looked from a distance and easily rivaled some of the buildings I had seen in the forsaken town.

Master Mgumba opened a thick wooden door and ushered me inside. I didn’t hear the door bang shut but I felt the rush of air from it being closed. It took me a bit to realize the deafening drone from outside had been reduced to a constant drone. It was no less loud but less piercing on the ears. I failed to notice the change because my ears were still ringing.

The inside of the tower was different than what I imagined. I don’t know why I was picturing some serene calming room for meditation. With maybe a mat on the floor to sit and think. What I got instead was a room with a comfortable-looking chair with a mess of stuff in a half-circle in front of it.

There was a small brazier, a small bowl of water, a pile of sand, dirt, some pebbles. I even saw a small pile of metal shavings that could have purchased a decently large family home. There were other things too but I didn’t have time to catalog everything before Master Mgumba guided me toward the chair and urged me to sit. He patted me on the shoulder approvingly and gestured to the items laid out in front of me.

It was easy to understand what he wanted me to do. I was here for one reason and one reason only, to figure out what my gift was. I closed my eyes and tried to relax as I had been instructed in the building below. He said the process was a simple one, just relax my mind and try to feel if I resonated with anything in the room. According to him, this was much easier to do with the absence of distracting noise but the drone of constant noise worked just as well.

My mind drifted as the drone of the water against the building seemed to pulse in time with my heartbeat. I knew this wasn’t true but it made me relax and slip into a state where I could let my worries and fears go for just a moment. I tried willing my focus outside of myself but the outside world came crashing back on me and I flinched.

Master was there with a reassuring hand. With his other, he slowly pushed it to the floor. I believed I got his meaning that I needed to take things slower and nodded.

It felt like I was out for hours while I attempted my second try. The result was much the same, but this time when I was startled back to reality, Master Mgumba was no longer there. I admit I may have panicked a bit and started looking for the man but he, along with the bridge to the tower was gone. What I found instead was a note along with food and water.

Bakus, take your time. There is no need to rush your discovery. I have left food and water for you in case I do not return before you next awake. I have had to attend to some issues personally but I will return in the morning.

-Mgumba

I let out a sigh of relief when I found the letter. I wanted to believe these people were trustworthy but I was at their mercy and if they wished to leave me here to die, there wasn’t much I could do about it now. Not that I could have fought off the old man.

Feeling a bit hungry, I grabbed one of the fruits from the tray and bit into it. Succulent juice flowed from whatever the thing was and I quickly finished it off and poured a glass of water to wash it down.

There was still adrenaline coursing through my body from my minor panic, making it impossible for me to relax and meditate properly. So I explored the tower room and the items inside, running my fingers through the piles of sand and dirt or just imagining the satisfying clink of the metal chips as they fell back into the pile since I couldn’t hear it. A bit of my father crept into my mind as the temptation to sneak a few pieces of metal away flitted through my head. I quickly stomped those thoughts out. I wasn’t some back alley thief or some destitute merchant looking to fleece a few more plates out of some unsuspecting fool.

The thoughts made me angry. Angry at my father and what he stood for. I had always known my father wasn’t a very honest man but to think of the lengths he went to made me sick. And this is just what I was aware of, what didn’t I know?

Eventually, my anger cooled and I got back to meditating on my calling. It was frustrating and I wasn’t getting anywhere even after ten failed attempts. Sleep eventually claimed me and when I awoke Master still hadn’t returned. I ate and drank some more, using the readily available outhouse. Although, that was an effort in remaining calm. It was situated outside on the roof but perched at the far side of the tower, with the hole draining right into the rushing waters below. Despite it being made from sturdy stone connected to the tower, I decided to limit my intake of food and water so I could avoid using it as much as possible. Heights weren’t my favorite thing I was beginning to learn.

As it was a new day, I decided to try something different. Instead of reaching out to try and feel something, I reached into myself and tried to feel that core of power I felt before. Time was quite meaningless as my mind was focused inward and I was surprised when a firm grip shook my arm. My eyes popped open and I saw Master Rycan standing there. He motioned for me to follow so I got up and followed him out of the building.

Instead of a stone bridge waiting for us, there was a thick rope tied to a tall wooden pole. I had seen the pole previously but had no clue what it was for. I was also confused as to how they had managed to get the rope across the raging water below as it wasn’t there the previous day. Attached to the rope was a weird contraption with a pole and two curved sticks that came back up and turned sideways. Rycan sat on one side with his hands on the pole in the center and motioned for me to do likewise.

I eyed the device with concern but he motioned for me to hurry up. With a sigh that was washed away in the roar from below, I got on the other side and gripped the central pole for all it was worth.

With a wide grin, he kicked off from the top of the tower and we raced down the rope at blistering speed. I was screaming in terror the whole way but I could tell Rycan was laughing in joy. I could just picture the deep rumbling laugh of the tall man. The rope had been strung from the tower roof to the base building where Mgumba had instructed me on meditation. So I got a birdseye view of the waterfall as well as soaking wet as the spray hit us as we descended.

We slowed as we neared the ground, I wasn’t sure if it was some mechanical marvel that allowed this or his calling but either was fine with me. I was thankful to have survived as I stumbled off of the deathtrap and kissed the dirt in thanks. When I looked up and my legs stopped feeling like noodles, Rycan was there waiting for me with a wide smile.

When we finally got far enough away from the waterfall to talk, Rycan was the first to speak. “Sorry about the trip down. It was the fastest way but I know some people don’t care for it.”

“Why the hurry?”

“Oh, there was no urgency. Master just told me to fetch you but I needed to finish preparing for my next assignment.”

I paused. “Wait, we could have taken a safer route down?”

The man just kept walking but I swear I saw his shoulders shake in mirth. I swore under my breath, not caring if the Aurili chosen man heard me or not. He put me through that fresh hell just so he could enjoy the act. I was starting to get a feeling the man liked to play tricks on people and enjoyed the thrill of danger a bit too much.

After a few minutes of walking, he spoke up again. “Any luck figuring out your gift?”

“No,” I grumbled. “Is it always this hard?”

“It can be if your gift is unique or doesn’t fit into one of the standard roles. I spent more than a month in that damn tower before I figured out what mine was,” he chuckled. “I got so damn angry at the incessant sound that I yelled for it to stop. Do you know what happened?”

I shook my head, “no, what?”

“It stopped. For a moment anyway. Yeah… I found out that day that stopping sound in an area directly around you is a bad idea. Took me another two weeks for my ears to heal. Mother bless our quick healing. Otherwise, I may have been permanently deafened by my own mistake.”

I stumbled managing to catch myself before I hit the dirt. “Wait, we heal faster?”

“… Oh, Master didn’t tell you that part yet?” Rycan turned and looked at me, looking chagrined.

“No… he told me we live a lot longer but not that we heal faster.”

Rycan shrugged. “I mean you would have learned sooner or later. Yeah, we heal faster. The stronger our gift becomes, the faster we can heal. It also makes it a lot harder to kill us. Heck, I survived a blade to my lung once when I got sloppy on a mission. I still got the scar to remind me of that,” he shook his head. “But I wouldn’t go testing how far you can take that, pain is still pain and a decent injury will land you in medical care for weeks or months.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I took a nasty hip wound before meeting up with you three. The doctor said I was healing fast but I just chalked it up to youthful vigor.”

The man laughed. “Probably for the best. Every few decades, it gets out about our abilities to heal and a rash of fools run into the forsaken cities to try and become Chosen, only to feed the growing horde of horrors trapped within. Occasionally a lucky fool will survive. I believe you met one.”

This got me curious and I decided to ask. “Who?”

“Your former mentor. Even back then the man was known to be one of the best duelists in the kingdom. From what I heard, he was getting older and taking more injuries in his clashes. Usually small injuries, but they were adding up over time and he was bedridden more and more often. This just made his problem worse as he lost time at practice and started to fall farther behind his peers. He risked the city after learning about the gift it granted. When Gabrielle found him he was severely burned and had one crushed hand. She dragged his barely alive body to a nearby town and nursed him back to health. He has been loyal to her ever since.”

“Is that why he was the way he is?”

“No clue, I never actually met the man in person. But ask Master if you want to know more about him.”

I nodded and the rest of the trip was done in quiet contemplation.