The Boy's Long-Held Vendetta

“Wulf!!” shouted Batu as the monstrous bird grasped the northern barbarian with its sickle-like talons. He shot an arrow at the Rukh as it flew upwards, but missed when the beast just barely escaped his range.

The barbarian, whose name was apparently pronounced Wulf, also put up a fight despite his precarious position. He’d maintained a grip on his sword, using it to slash and hack at the Rukh’s mighty feet.

Compared to the Rukh, the huge man was proportional to that of a mouse caught by an eagle. Tales of the legendary birds often said they could carry away an elephant or a small whale if they wanted to—though Zagin had never seen either of those creatures outside of drawings.

The Rukh, possibly growing tired of its prey fighting back, or simply because it knew dropping him would be fatal, let go of Wulf from high in the air.

Zagin was frozen in place, utterly transfixed by the scene she was witnessing.

Without warning, Su’en slung Zagin over his shoulder and booked it before Wulf’s sword pierced the ground where they’d been standing. Then, the man’s body hit the ground, sending a cloud of sand flying.

The Rukh was far from done. It circled lower to descend upon its next target.

By that point, Batu had fully lost control of the horses, and the one he’d been riding nearly bucked him off. As he fought to direct his horse toward one of the excavated cliff ruins, it was clear he'd given up on fighting.

“F-follow him!” Zagin shouted, pounding her fist against Su’en’s back to urge him in that direction. Able to move over the sand like it was solid ground, he complied quickly.

Any concerns about the safety of sheltering with the remaining bandit flew away when the Rukh scooped up the Easterner and his horse together in one fell swoop. By the time Zagin and Su’en made it inside the ruin, both man and beast had hit the ground; the horse’s haunting cries cut off abruptly on impact.

No sooner than Su’en set Zagin on her feet did she collapse to the ground, vomiting while the Rukh finished off the last remaining horse. As she trembled and dry-heaved, the boy gently rubbed her back.

“Why did we not simply retreat into the hole from which we emerged?” he mumbled.

Zagin slapped his hand away. “B-because there was a corpse in there! And a jinni!” She glanced around the ruin they now found themselves within. It was full of stuff that belonged to those bandits. “When he ran for this place, I had a feeling this would be a good spot to hide.”

She crawled away from the vomit and leaned against a wall. Digging through Jackal’s satchel, Zagin found a bladder full of liquid. Though she was unsure of whether it contained water or alcohol, she drank from it anyway. Thankfully, for the sake of her now empty stomach, it was water.

“Hey… Do you think you can fight that thing?” Zagin offered Su’en the waterskin.

He sat down next to her and took a drink before passing it back. “Even I cannot take on a Rukh alone.”

“Then we’re stuck… Again…” She let out a defeated groan. “We’ll have to wait for it to leave.”

Su’en chuckled. “You certainly did not jest when you said you risked your life to find me.”

“I-It’s not like I set out to do that!”

As Zagin guzzled down the rest of the water, she had an epiphany—even though she no longer needed the Magician’s Tower to help find and free him, she could still turn Su’en over to their guardianship!

She clutched the edge of his woolen tunic. “Su’en! Come with me to the Magician’s Tower!”

“Magi?!” He yanked his clothing out of her hand and moved away like she was diseased. “Had I known you were in league with them, I never would have helped you.”

“What? I’m not!” Judging by his reaction, Su’en seemed to hate Magi almost as much as Prince Kalil. If she’d left the task to the Magician’s Tower, it might have ended in the same kind of hostility Su’en showed when he thought she was related to the royals. “I just thought–”

“Thought what? Was it truly even my father who sent you?”

“It was! He was an ox! The Seven came to me in the form of animals!”

“Ha! So, you expect me to believe that you accepted a quest from the most powerful gods whilst knowing nothing at all?”

Zagin bit her lip and looked away in shame. Sure, the gods had never told her anything more than the fact that Su’en was imprisoned by magic and where to find him, but she had also failed to ask more questions. To her, the task was simply something she wanted to get over with as fast as possible.

Su’en glared at her for a moment before his expression softened. “...Truly?” He let out a sigh, then scoffed. “No… How could I doubt you when you mistook me for a jinni?”

“In my defense, I hadn’t expected you to appear like a ghost,” Zagin grumbled, drawing her knees up to her chest.

“And you are so pale, I thought you might have been a ghost as well,” he teased.

She flushed. “I’m not that pale!” At least, looking at her own hands, she didn’t think she was. Compared to him, however…

Glancing at his copper skin, Zagin tried not to stare at the shackles with broken chains clasped around his wrists and ankles. “So… What did you even do that caused them to seal you with a binding spell anyway?”

She understood that he was unfairly imprisoned, but she couldn’t help but be curious about how the Magi justified the act.

“...It was punishment for disobeying him,” he answered quietly, fidgeting with the broken chains.

Zagin’s mouth felt dry despite all of the water she’d just drunk. She swallowed hard before asking the question that had been burning on her mind since they’d cleared up their earlier misunderstanding. “By ‘him’, do you mean… K-Kalil?”

Su’en simply nodded in confirmation.

So that was why he loathed Kalil so much. Zagin couldn’t blame him for holding that vendetta within his heart. In the other lifetime, he was probably chomping at the bit to fight in that war against Urukalil. How easy it must have been for him to be manipulated by the Child of Sin.

“Th-then, did he employ the Magician’s Tower to do that to you?!”

The Magician’s Tower was built as a neutral institution within the world, but could be called upon for anything except war. It was strange to think that they would go along with such a petty request!

The boy furrowed his brow as if that was a stupid follow-up question. “No… Kalil performed the magic himself.”

“...Huh…?”

“Kalil performed the mag–”

“No, no! I heard you! I just…” Zagin was dumbstruck. If Prince Kalil had developed latent magical abilities strong enough to suppress a demigod with a binding spell, then he would have easily dominated the war in that other lifetime. “He’s… He’s not a Magi… I think…?”

“Did that villain from earlier hit you upside the head during your scrap?”

“Uhh…” She did hit her head pretty hard when she fell, but not enough to make her forget something like that!

“Kalil is the most powerful Magi I know!” insisted Su’en. He held out his shackles. “He did this to me! He enslaved me within the Temple of Enki and used me to rise within the priesthood!”

Temple of Enki? Priesthood? It was almost as if they were talking about two different people…

“Su’en… Which Kalil are you talking about?”

“What do you mean ‘which’?” He was aghast. “Do you mean to imply there is more than one of that demon?!”

In fact, there had been seven of them throughout history—maybe even more who weren't kings—but Zagin wasn’t about to tell him that. Still, for him to only know of one?

“Gods above…” She clapped a hand to her forehead in realization.

Zagin met Su’en’s confused gaze as she studied his appearance once more. He was clearly so young! Time would have had to have stopped for him while he was locked away from the world. She wanted to deny it, but couldn’t. Everything he’d said pointed only to one conclusion.

Su’en recoiled slightly, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. “Zagin? Why do you look upon me so?”

“S-Su’en, I was wondering… What city are you from?” She’d already guessed the answer, but needed to hear it from him.

“You changed the subject! But if you must know, I hail from Sua–” Su’en jumped to his feet without finishing his sentence and dashed to the entrance of the ruin. He peered outside, inching out past the threshold with his mouth agape as he took in the full scope of Suagal.

When he stepped out too far into the open, Zagin rushed after him. “The Rukh! The Rukh!” she whispered, dragging the stunned boy back into the hideout. “I only just found you, so don’t be in such a hurry to die.”

“The city… It… What happened to Suagal?” Su’en leaned against a wall, covering his eyes.

“It was destroyed by a monster a very long time ago,” Zagin explained solemnly. “Though I suppose it must have happened after you’d been sealed away,” she added before continuing with the founding legend of her city. “According to the histories, after the monster was defeated, the remaining people of Suagal were led west, to a new kingdom by–”

Zagin stopped herself, unsure of whether to continue. The person in question was already a sensitive topic for Su’en. There was no telling how he’d react.

“By whom?” He lowered his hands from his face. From the fire burning within his eyes, Zagin could already tell how the conversation would go and averted her gaze. Su’en pressed for an answer. “By whom, Zagin? Who was it that led the people of Suagal to a new kingdom?”

“I believe that would be the same man who bound you to a clay vessel as punishment for disobedience,” she said softly, looking at her feet. “The first King Kalil.”

Su’en let out a sharp laugh. “Of course! Of course! He really fancies himself the hero, that man. Knowing him, it was a monster of his own creation! Anything to crown himself king!” He pounded a fist against the wall and turned to Zagin. “So what destroyed the city? Did he perhaps call upon a dragon or the great Anzu from the south to put on a show?”

“It was…” Zagin had never thought about it before, but who or what was the Child of Sin exactly? He was never fully described in the legends, and down to the bitter end of her previous life, she’d never gotten to lay eyes on the Great Destroyer when his army sacked the city.

Zagin looked Su’en in the eyes and stated plainly, “It was a being known only as the Child of Sin.”