Chapter 1: A Low Standing Some-None
The silent words of empty spaces,
The whispered cries of a sickened dawn,
The cut tongues of a thousand parched men;
All await the birth of a some-none
To lead, to feed, to heal, to kill, and
Shelter all from the coming of night –
For this giant who saves you and me is
The sacrifice for us all to thrive.
Twilight suffused the market streets of Orron[1] with spice-laden air. Above the sun-hiding city walls, the sky was smudged dark and deep in reds and oranges, the long moments dominated by violets and indigoes being yet some time away. Still, this change from bright yellows and blues of the day to a much darker, softer sky signalled the end of workday. Like the shifting riverward breeze, people spilled outdoors in response.
Jyevodirr[2], son of Nyivingi[3] and late Ragadirr[4], was one of those many some-nones in the crowd. He, along with his faithful friend, R’vag[5], had received their first payment within the city’s walls today, and both were presently free to do as they pleased. Food, entertainment and violence, all arrayed in different stalls, different buildings were now the prospects sprawling out before them.
Humming a rustic tune he only half remembered, Jyevodirr inhaled the lingering scents of freshly prepared food. His nose was flooded with stimuli; his stomach murmured in response. As a gluttonous youth, this was a self-inflicted torture he committed regularly.
How couldn’t he? Being born in a simple village, he hadn’t the privilege of wealth or good education. His father had already passed away, and his mother was still toiling through her life in the tightly knit village. Responsible for this situation or not, eating expensive food was a luxury he never had a chance to partake in.
But today was different. He had earned money today, and he was in a city. There was not a shadow of doubt in him that this night was a time to recklessly throw money at food! He wanted more than just the usual grains and beans.
With these thoughts dominating his mindscape, Jyevodirr turned to his steadfast friend flaunting an apelike grin. “Well, theyi[6]? Thinking the same thing as I am?”
R’vag turned to answer with an equally silly smugness in his eyes. “Definitely not! I mean, okay, you think some crazy things sometimes; but theyi, you are as innocent as a baby suckling on….”
The spicy taunt was cut off by an indignant smack to the head, but R’vag’s laughter was uncaring and unceasing.
“Alright, alright!” he continued, raising both his hands in surrender. “I’ll stop teasing you now. But…. you know me, theyi. I meant what I said. I was thinking, should I go find a ravishing lady? You know, someone strong and up for a steamy tussle! Or should I be boring and eat first?”
“Ugh!” Disappointment and disgust scrunched up Jyevodirr’s face. “Why d’you have to think with your head under the trousers all the time?”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that! So that’s why.”
Jyevodirr could only sigh. “You know what? Do whatever you want. If you want to go, just go. If you want to eat, come with me now. With all this money, I can't think of anything other than mind-melting delicacies!”
R’vag’s subsequent pause was thoughtful; his delayed decision was completely thoughtless. Carrying the impulsive vigour from his decision, he turned to his friend and laughed again.
“Go ahead and eat, you bleating kid! Me, though? I’ll go, introduce myself to the women of these streets. To the strongest of them!”
Jyevodirr’s countenance softened to a smile. This was just how his friend was, living a more bodily life than many.
“Alright,” he relented, “Just make sure to eat something.”
“Will do!” R’vag shouted back as he turned to leave.
Jyevodirr watched the burly youth prance through the streets and eventually disappear around a corner. Left alone at last, the lean young man cast another long, peaceful look at the picturesque city nestling him. The sky had darkened a little more, its reds growing deeper and violets beginning to appear near the westward walls. In the streets, lamps had begun flickering to life here and there. Night was only an hour away now.
Having filled his sensory appetite, the young man let his feet carry him away through the narrow streets. He walked past many food stalls and taverns, not feeling like stepping inside any of them somehow. He did indeed want to fill his stomach, but another hunger seemed to be taking over. Maybe R’vag wasn’t the only one hungry for more.
Unlike his friend, Jyevodirr’s hunger did not demand women right now. Nor would he be mingling his sweat with a woman’s anytime soon. It wasn’t because he lacked sensual desires; he only had his own ideas of love and care, women and passion. He was fragile in these matters – hesitant to rush in, quite easily disappointed. R’vag may call him silly for it, but he wanted to wait for a lady so strong that he could not help but run after her. But that was not the hunger troubling him now.
The hunger also did not demand any extraordinary experiences. Sure – the world was an unimaginably vast place, and Jyevodirr wanted to live more of it. There were sights he had yet to see, novelties he had yet to experience. An infinity of things existed unknown to his miniscule mind possessing scanty knowledge. He hungered for these unknowns, desiring for them to surprise him with their existence. But just as before, that was not the hunger troubling him now either.
The only hunger now burning at the pits of his belly was ambition. In this gleaming gateway to the riches buried in dirt, his desire first called for the allegiance of one person. It coveted Rraos Arroxath.
Presently, the countryside youth looked up and found himself in a lavish street. He fixed his eyes straight ahead, and his gaze landed upon an imposing wooden door, its varnished surface carved with fierce forms. The building to which this ornate door belonged was a large, sand coloured one standing three stories high. Above this large door hung a shining plaque with the word – firresyith[7]. A diner.
A feeble aroma of food barely escaped from this imprisoning structure, but it did not escape Jyevodirr. It reminded him that he was exactly where he needed to be. This, after all, was the diner Rraos Arroxath frequented the most.
He was quite an interesting person, this Rraos Arroxath. A strange fellow who could do more than he did, who had a capacity of strength far beyond what he could exercise – that was Jyevodirr’s first impression of him. But Rraos was more than that. He was nearly a scum with the capacity to do more, to be more. That character of his was striking. After all, Jyevodirr did not think highly of himself too. But he too wanted to do more, to be more. Armed with motivation and a promise, he had sought the answer to what he could do to contribute to the world. He was not very smart, nor very talented; all he had was power. Maybe a little too much for his own good. So, his only option was to temper his strength with purpose. While he was not brilliant, he could still think. He could listen and learn. He would do his best to leave behind his thoughts, his fragments of goodness, in this wonderful world. To do that, he had would be striking at whatever he had. He would be the strongest. He would be the Kraturr.
Being immersed in his thought, Jyevodirr noticed a burly guard approaching him only when the man was quite close. He recognized the guard’s impatient stride and stood up straight.
“Do you have a reservation, or a business at this premise, Qaiz’rra[8]?” asked the man once he was face to face with Jyevodirr. He stood nearly twice as tall; his arms were held politely behind his back.
The countryside youth understood the guard well enough, having worked as security personnel himself at Orron. That did not mean he liked being treated as a loiterer. He he been of a good standing[9], the guard would have been far more accommodating. This was another reason, if a petty one, for Jyevodirr wanting to be more.
“I am here on business,” he replied as formally as he could, mixing in a trickle of his strength without intent. “I must talk with Qaiz’rra Rraos.”
The guard’s unflinching stance did not waver. “I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place, Qaiz’rra. This establishment belongs to the Arroxath family, yes, but business is mostly conducted in the estate. Were your meeting to be here, you would have received a reservation with a strict warning to not lose it. If you have it, you may produce it before me.
If your meeting, however, was not scheduled here, you may have the timing wrong as well. Dealings are had mostly during the daytime, assuming yours is not a private matter. Whether it is, or it isn’t, you should be off immediately. Wherever your business may be, you need your document of reservation.”
Jyevodirr frowned, the heat within him slowly rising. It made him want to lash out against this man and the Arroxatha[10].
This feeling wasn’t anything unusual to him, and restraint always followed it habitually. He had honed his composure to be stronger than his impulse after those devastating years. Now, all he had to do was revise his little plan. Maybe he could back off and wander around the area for some time?
“I’ll be back with the reservation,” Jyevodirr promised – a lie within reasonable bounds. “When I am, I will be allowed in, I hope?”
“Of course!” The guard’s lips stretched back into a smile whose meaning the youth could not grasp. “The estate is down south, around five farsteps[11] away from the city. I look forward to seeing you again.”
Left with no other option, the countryside youth slunk away slowly, glancing back to see where the guard was. The pillar of a man stood right where he had been left, scanning the Jyevodirr’s movements with a hawk’s gaze. The young man turned back his head quietly and focused on getting out of sight.
Right on the verge of leaving the diner’s front lawn, someone addressed him. “You! Aren’t you a guard of Qai[12] Vaong'rr[13]? What did you come here for?”
Jyevodirr recognized this voice!
“Qaiz’rra Rraos,” the countryside youth acknowledged with a fierce grin, turning around and tilting his face up to look the taller person in his eyes, “I was hungry, and I wanted to have a talk with you.”
The older youth’s eyes narrowed into thin slits. “I should have known when you caught my eye that you like to overstep your bounds. I remember your impudent gaze that day. But do tell, why did you think you would get to meet me at all? Are you delusional?”
“Impudent? Sure.” Jyevodirr answered back with a grin. “Delusional? No. Because I may have something you would want to hear.”
In response to his answer, the corners of Rraos’ mouth twitched into what would very likely have been a sneer, had the older youth not possessed enough control over himself.
“And I am an Arroxath of high standing,” Rraos retorted, “What makes you think I cannot simply squeeze your information out of you?”
Jyevodirr’s grin widened. Without wasting any time, he confidently stepped closer to Rraos.
The cold sensation of metal kissed his neck, but it didn’t bite. He had stopped, and so had the blade.
“I thought you did not want to be the next Arroxath head? Is this really something you want anyone else to know?” Jyevodirr whispered. The atmosphere immediately turned oppressive with resentment. The countryside youth stepped back and away from the blade, then continued on loudly before Rraos could respond. “Your desire could be closer than you think, you know? Shouldn’t you hear me out?”
The heat emanated again from Jyevodirr’s chest. It tried infiltrating into his brain. It wanted him to force the world to his whims.
As usual, he did not indulge in it. This conversation was supposed to get him a companion, an ally to his cause. Using force would mean he had already lost. This empire was all about strength, and strength was more than a mere show of brute force.
Having calmed down his racing heart, Jyevodirr watched tiny expressions of conflicting emotions race through the older youth’s countenance. There could be no surer sign that the young Arroxath’s curiosity had been startled to wakefulness. Certain to be victorious, he finally turned his attention to the figure accompanying Rraos.
The man was shrouded from head to toe, his clothes hiding everything about him from his identity to his subtle movements. Had the youth not been able to peer through the world of God[14], he would not even have been able to guess the person’s gender either.
This was the man who had pressed a blade against his throat.
“You had better be worth my time!”
This sudden declaration by Rraos snapped Jyevodirr out of his scrutiny. He glanced back at Arroxath youth, who beckoned him to walk ahead into the diner. He happily complied. The tall guard who had turned him away had seen this exchange, so he nodded with his fist at his chest when approached by Jyevodirr. The young man nodded back, and the towering man stalked away. The group of three walked to the diner’s door.
“Have a good day, Qaiz’rradula[15],” one of the two guard there greeted the little retinue. Both guards stood at attention.
“Thank you!” Jyevodirr greeted back with a cheerful smile. Then he promptly walked in through the doorway.
“We will be sitting at the common tables,” the command from Arroxath youth floated in from behind before Jyevodirr could stray too far inside the tastefully lit room. The urge to choose a table for himself struck him hard, but he fought it down immediately. He was not bereft of tact.
When Jyevodirr paused with uncertainty within the room, Rraos swept past him and chose a brightly lit corner to sit at. An attendant came rushing forward, but the Arroxath youth dismissed him with an offhand wave. He immediately followed up that gesture with a few wiggles of his pointer and index at Jyevodirr, indicating he was being summoned.
The young man did as he was directed, quickly taking a seat opposite to the older youth. Once seated, he let his eyes drift away, sponging up the atmosphere in the room. It was a nicer place than anywhere he had ever been to. Maybe except that one meeting room he had visited half a month ago as a guard. But that could not count, since it was another establishment owned by the Arroxatha.
Associating ‘nice’ with this room was a severe understatement of its quality. From the very first moment of setting foot within it, the air commanded attention. It was rich with an exquisite assortment of scents from masterfully cooked food. Beyond its aroma, the air was also pleasant in its feeling, carrying a coolness that made the room refreshingly temperate compared to the world without. It was so stable an atmosphere, so perfectly comfortable, it could not have been anything but artificially maintained.
The lighting in this room was also placed with artistic precision. Large, radiant lights sat within glass shells along the wall, all spaced apart in regular intervals. Between them, dimmer lights glowed softly, casting only the softest illumination around them. The ceiling overhead held a grander display, where numerous individual lights in their glass shells were twisted and fused into spiralling chandeliers of different forms and sizes, their intricate arrangements weaving a complex, interconnected design. Dark walls gleamed under this tapestry of light and shadow, while the floor, dense slabs of polished volcanic rocks, reflected the lights above like a calm lake reflecting the starry sky.
The character of luxury in this room was not something Jyevodirr could have ever imagined without having been here himself. It was outstandingly beautiful, painstackingly intricate, and absolutely different from the beauty and intricacy of the outside world.
“Did you come here to gawk around?” Rraos’ scathing remark forced Jyevodirr’s attention back on the table. “I don't have time to be dawdling around with you. If you have no good information for me, I’ll have you painfully punished. Be warned.”
The older youth’s attitude was annoying, but nothing Jyevodirr couldn't put up with. More concerning was the absence of the shrouded man, who had to be concealing himself nearby. Jyevodirr did know this person would be here. The man went everywhere Rraos did.
So, the countryside youth leaned forward and stabbed straight into the heart of the matter. “You're not being very true to the Arroxatha, are you?”
Rraos’ reaction to the question was as expected. His breathing became shallow, pupils dilated and fists bunched up.
“Don't worry,” Jyevodirr continued in a hurry to diffuse the tension, “I’m not here to rat you out, or to threaten you at all. I’m actually rather refreshed to have found someone like you. You are quite interesting, you know.”
“Just stop beating around the bush, boy!” Rraos hissed, growing angrier by the minute rather than placated.
Jyevodirr sighed. He wished he could get Rraos to listen calmly, but that now seemed about as likely as a frog swallowing the entire city.
“I want to be absolutely direct with you,” he spoke with a frown, “but you need to listen without hasty judgments too. So please, listen calmly.”
He paused for a few breaths, then – “I want to be the next Kraturr!”
The older youth’s face twisted into a furious mask. “And what has that got to do with me, you brainless buffoon?”
Before he could seethe any more, Jyevodirr resumed speaking. “I know you don't believe that this is important, but please hear me out first.”
He paused again, all the while keeping Rraos pinned by a serious gaze. Then for the first time since arriving at the city, Jyevodirr purposedly drew on his strength deep enough to leave a notch in the world.
“Be limited[16],” he muttered under his breath.
Having put his precautions in place, the youth thrust his face across the table towards his interrogator, who suddenly looked out of his depths.
“Before you think I belong to any faction, let me tell you that I don’t. I belong to none but myself. Whether you believe it or not is up to you,” he whispered. “What you must believe though is this – you’ll get into trouble very soon. How d’you think I know all this? I can explain, but I don’t have the time to convince you. Who am I to you other than a stranger you found suspicious? A…... what’d you call me? Oh yeah, a delusional guard.
There’s a lot I want to talk about, but we can do that later. For now, just remember my warning. And let me also keep you assured – when you run into trouble, I’ll help you out. I told you that I want to be the Kraturr at first so that you know what kind of a person I am. I have no trouble fighting. So, I’ll be your xamos[17] when the time comes. There’ll definitely be a time when you need one. Until then, I’ll be waiting around in the city.”
When Jyevodirr was finished, Rraos was well past his initial discomposure. He had been livid, then uncertain and suspicious, till, at last, fear dominated the landscape of his face. But he did not shout, nor lash out. He was an Arroxath and he had his nerves about him.
“Who put you up to this?” Rraos’ cracking voice was louder than he intended. “Do you think this is funny?”
“I didn’t ask anything from you,” Jyevodirr raised his arms in a plea for peace. He slowly loosened the strength coiling within him, then sunk back into his chair. All this while, his expression did not cease being serious. “I didn’t say anything harmful or threatening too. Sure, I did give you a new worry, maybe…. but it’s much better to be worried and prepared than relaxed and caught off guard, right?”
His listener seemed unconvinced. The older youth’s face sculpted in fear now only had the added lines and turns of anger.
“And listen,” Jyevodirr continued with strength behind his voice, “I told you about my intentions. I offered you my aid. So, you can be sure what I said is not a threat. I’d never joke about something like this, risking my standing and my occupation. Why ever would I pull a stunt like this, where my only reward would be severe punishment?”
“To manipulate me?” Rraos snapped back. Jyevodirr paused.
This was not a possibility he had considered. Could his actions be considered manipulation? Surely not?
“I think you’ll just have to risk it?” he answered sheepishly.
“Fine,” Rraos allowed, this time unable to smoothen the sneer out of his face, “let us suppose that you genuinely want to help me. What is your profit in all of this? What price are you going to exact from me for your ‘noble assistance’?”
The younger youth had been waiting for this question. This would be his surest, clearest answer yet.
“Your friendship.”
Rraos scoffed.
For a few moments, he only looked back with the same fear and anger. Then, his eyes reflected suspicion. Even incredulity showed up for a moment. All of that gave way to consideration and reflection at last, and silence settled ponderously on the table between the two young adults.
Jyevodirr watched the alertness in the diner’s workers disperse like thunderclouds after rain. They had been getting louder, closing in upon his and Rraos’ table from quite some time. But now that nothing happened, only suspicious glances lingered – and the lone, threatening guard from before. This eerie man showed no signs of being alert, quite unlike what his continued uninvited presence suggested. Jyevodirr was feeling cheeky, so he threw the shrouded man a sly smirk. The man noticed this impudence, as did Rraos, though no one reacted. The Arroxath youth was too deeply immersed within his own thoughts; the shrouded man likely did not care. Getting no response out of anyone, Jyevodirr settled with making himself comfortable.
All this excitement had brought back his hunger with a vengeance. It made him wish he could order something and eat. Just thinking about all the delicacies that must be served here made his mouth water vigorously and his stomach complain louder. Jyevodirr knew well, though, that wishing and having were two different things, both separated by the enormous valley of dedicated effort.
That was precisely why he was satisfied. He had taken the first steps across the valley of effort towards good food and his dreams right here and now. This was certainly a very good evening.
His introspection ended suddenly when Rraos sighed and shifted like a snake shuffling to wakefulness. The older youth blinked and nodded at the shrouded man, who refused to move. The young Arroxath frowned, but he chose not to push the matter.
“I’m hungry,” Rraos abruptly declared. “You have given me quite a lot to think about, Qai….”
“Jyevodirr.”
“Yes. Qai Jyevodirr. I shall remember your name.”
This success made Jyevodirr so happy, he would have cheered had he been anywhere else. This was one matter beautifully concluded! Could he now push his luck?
As if reading his mind, Rraos offered him the politest smile afforded to mankind. “Unfortunately, Qai Jyevodirr, I am hungry and must now ask you to leave. I wish to not see your face until your promised time. I assume you understand why?”
What a petty, sweaty, smelly goat this Rraos Arroxath was!
“Can't you let me eat something too? You know, for the novelty I have offered to you this evening?” Jyevodirr tried for the last time.
“I seem to recall that you wanted something entirely different in exchange, did you not?” The smiling Arroxath gleefully rang the death knell for Jyevodirr’s gluttony. “In the world of trade, Qai Jyevodirr, you do not get anything for free. You knew what to expect the moment you decided to walk in here, did you not?”
Jyevodirr could refute that, but he could see the end of this story. He would not be eating here.
It was better to leave now when he was still feeling victorious.
“Thank you for the evening, Qaiz’rra Rraos,” the young man sighed out with difficulty, nodding with his fist on his chest. Rraos nodded back for the final time this day.
Jyevodirr got up and walked out of the front door. He did not forget to nod politely to the guards, but he did not respond verbally to their greeting. Too much energy had been wasted getting over Rraos Arroxath’s last, spiteful move. He could only shamble down the road with a damp mood now.
But his troubles did not last long. His miniscule vexation melted away with the familiar greeting of spice in the air, carried to him by a familiar riverward breeze. It urged him to hurry, so he increased his pace. In a matter of minutes, he burst out of the luxurious streets, tumbling onto a narrow, bustling one ringing with an unceasing, uproarious glee.
Jyevodirr straightened and silently stood there in appreciation.
The sun had now set and darkness ruled the sky. Some glimmers of deep, dark violets still lingered at the western edge of this blackness, like a love song upon a lovestruck person’s lips. The lights of the streets, nothing like the diner’s artful lights, blazed out vibrant, unrestrained colours over the streets without a care for harmony. The dull, rocky streets lay beneath their perpetual film of dust, bearing the testament of a thousand footsteps and the careless visits of nature.
Today, he had finished his job here, gotten paid, and even furthered his ambitions. He had enjoyed an evening in Orron undominated by leisure. Now, evening had left, night arrived, and he was still here. Life pulsed around him everywhere, and he was a part of it. He was happy.
Humming another countryside tune from his village, Jyevodirr skipped like an eager child into an open food stall. It welcomed him in with a laughter and a greeting.
[1] Pronounced as 'ɵrɵn'.
[2] Pronounced as 'ɟevɵdir'.
[3] Pronounced as ‘ɲiviŋi’.
[4] Pronounced as ‘ɽagadir’.
[5] Pronounced as 'ɽɘvag'.
[6] Pronounced as ‘θeʝi’. A way of addressing close friends regardless of gender.
[7] Pronounced as 'fireçiθ'.
[8] Pronounced as 'qaizɘra'. An honorific for a man of equally high or higher 'standing'.
[9] A form of ranking in the Arrkad’vla Empire based on criteria like strength, recognition and support.
[10] The ‘-a’ suffix after a noun word denotes plural form. Literally, this word means ‘Arroxaths’.
[11] Unit of measurement for length. 1 farstep is roughly 1.5 kilometre, or 0.932 miles.
[12] Pronounced as 'qai'. This is an honorific for a man of equally low or of lower 'standing'.
[13] Pronounced as 'vaɵŋɘr'.
[14] Apparently, the ‘real’ world.
[15] Pronounced as 'qaizɘradula'. This is the plural form of Qaiz'rra.
[16] Bold words indicate that 'Mayyux' (pronounced: maʝux) is being used.
[17] Pronounced as xamɵs’.