1.3 The Ruby Stone

Bruised. Hurting. The young human twisted in pain for a few seconds, right after waking up from the fall. Arsec's blurred sight caught glimpses of a gleaming red object before him. He ached and constantly moaned as he did his best to regain his footing.

"Mesui!" He called as he squirmed, "Princess! I'm here!"

The steppe's winds overhead were the only response to his call. Down where he was, not even the breeze hit.

"Princess! Mesui! I-I'm here!"

He tried to stand, but his usable arm failed him. He tried again, but his bruises stung so badly he fell a second time. Blood twinkled through his temple and his forehead, into his eyes, and he felt the ground move. He frustratingly tried to clean it up, but it kept coming down. 

Arsec looked around, hoping his friend would appear and take him to camp. Then... he would be in the main camp again, his wounds treated and now resting on a futon.

He then remembered the furtive hunt with Mesui and why he was there with the rhino carcass.

"Yeah, like hell that would happen," he said aloud, remembering that all of that had happened because he had followed Mesui into another mess. He was a mere slave—she was a princess. 

The idea of the dead rhino drawing the attention of predators—or the wilderkin rodentmen arriving—began to settle in his mind like a spike. He gritted his teeth and accepted his fate.

"I'm more helpful just dying, no one will mourn thirty days for a slave, not even one day," he laughed, "

"I just... feel like I'm supposed to do something... with you," Mesui's words echoed in his mind, and all he felt was a sudden rage. Somehow, he wanted to blame her for all of this. He knew it was misplaced. He perfectly understood that Mesui was genuine. He was just so angry, though, so frustrated, that the true meaning of her words was just an afterthought.

He wanted to feel angry. He wanted to spout nonsense. The desire crept within him until he lashed out in a dry cry.

Arsec arched and looked up, seeing the dense smoke that had formed above him, the rhino, and the strange object.

The sudden picture of a brown-haired girl, dressed in rags yet somehow joyful to stand by his side, flashed. It gave him comfort. 

Then, a thundering crack gave way to another memory. The same girl, her hand aimed at him, was taken away by shadowy figures.

"Sister..." he mumbled, and gritted his teeth as tears ran through his cheeks, "It's so unfair. Every time... Every single time I try to enjoy life as it is, it is taken from me!"

The gleaming object reacted. Its red light pulsated as if listening to those words.

"I tried! Gods, I really tried to settle into the life forced upon me by others!"

The red light illuminated the crater. Arsec crawled back, startled. 

No. Not this time. He would not have it. He pushed himself to climb the rhino's hide, pain be damned, his sight watching the strange object glow more brightly, as if drawn to him. 

"Blasted winds!" he cursed, "No more! If this is my end, then so be it! But if I get out of this, I'll forge my own path from now on!"

He tried to go over the beast, and then by the side when he slipped back down, thanks to the still-wet blood on the corpse—

A rumbling noise came from the object. Arsec lost his grip and slid back to the start. 

He hit the beast's sides in frustration, then turned to face the object again.

His body was shaking. He could not deal with the pain and the fear.

The rumbles grew stronger—seemingly getting into his head. 

"Come on, whatever you are! You want me? Kill me! I'll fight you to the bitter end! Come on! Come—"

Flames erupted from the rock, aimed like a breath of red fire at the boy. In an instant, the flames fully entered Arsec's chest.

His body began to glow like steel under the heat of the hearth. Flames joined into a single beam of red light, then it shaped itself like a blood vein that arched into minor vessels across Arsec's chest. 

It burned like entering a hot spring and feeling boiled. He ached and complained, but the light would not stop. Little by little, Arsec felt his body go numb. The red vein kept him still, kneeling meters away from the rock. 

He closed his eyes, resisted the burning sensation, and the desire to let go.

Visions flooded his mind. His sister. Their separation. Then he observed what seemed to be his own heart, made of flesh and blood. The light pumped energy—power—into its core, igniting it and manifesting a gemstone in its place.

The light then stopped. He looked at the object. It seemed completely drained. Arsec intuitively examined his chest—there was nothing but a faint glow in the center.

He was still dirty, bloodied, and now, the slithering wind of the steppe stunned him.

"Cold!" he said. He instinctively pulled his cloak and warmed himself up, except—

It had changed. A simple winter cloak for him to withstand the harsh cold when tending the sheep had turned red. Its texture had changed, too. It was thinner, more like a regal cape made from silk rather than wool. He pulled his hood. The cold was gone.

How could this thin fabric completely annul the steppe's unforgiving winds? 

Nothing else in his outfit had changed.

A small white breath surged from the ground. Arsec spotted the spear he had used to kill the rhino. Once metallic like any other tool forged with steel, the hunting weapon now seemed pitch black. He wondered if it was just the ash or a burnt layer of the steel... but steel never roasted with fire. 

Arsec grabbed the spear and appraised it. Its blade suddenly glowed red as if responding to his touch. He moved his hand on and off the spear to test the glow, like a kid learning something new.

"This is great," he said, staring in awe.

He looked at the rhino carcass, then at the object. 

Without its light, it looked more like a standing stone with carvings Arsec did not recognize. One thing was certain: it was unlike anything goblin or wilderking could've made.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed the stone's carvings were actually hollow, revealing the object's interior. He peeked cautiously and noticed a ruby the size of his hand inside, except its glow had dimmed.

Somehow, the ruby stone seemed alive but dying, as if it had transferred its life energy to him. He sat next to the monolith, confused. He looked at his hands as he went over what had happened.

"I received something that's for sure," he concluded, turning to the stone, "And you did it, right?"

He then realized that the object reacted as he was ranting and complaining. Just as he vowed to move onward with his life, the flames got him.

Arsec looked to the stars, now visible as the mist had receded. "Forge my own path, huh?"

His hand tapped the rock while smiling gently at it. "Whatever you were, thank you."

As his eyes turned back to the stars, he saw a massive dark shadow traverse the clouds touched by the moonlight, like an eerie object flying only where drakes and giant birds of prey would.

He stood up and tracked the object's course. It was going in the general direction of the Tulag goblins.

Mesui's face popped in, then Chief Tulag's face popped in, then Lady Tulag. Remorse, accountability, and a cold shiver down his spine, respectfully.

The Tulags were many things, but in these two years of relationship, Arsec had learned to respect his masters—a capable leader and warrior, a wild princess, and a proper and concerned noblewoman.

"Maybe I should bring its wool with me... I could apologize and then..."

His thoughts stopped abruptly.

"Apologize? Then what? Accept whatever punishment they see fit and go back to a slave life? No, no..."

The faces of the three detestable goblin shepherds circled his brain, each making the most stupid expression Arsec had ever seen in the history of shepherds. He wasn't going back there.

"I'll just... leave the carcass and its wool as a message and leave, Mesui did say its meat could be dried and stored for some time as jerky, so I'll have some food... Yeah, they will not bother with a slave like me after that."

His ears opened up to the wilderness's low but very present soundscape. Crickets and dancing leaves with the wind—some howling in the distance.  

He felt a small shiver run down his spine, as he had been warned about wandering the dark steppe alone. However, he no longer feared the wilderness. He felt stronger, energized... perhaps it was the ruby stone's work.

"Better hurry," as he unsheathed his pocket knife and began doing quickwork of the rhino's wool.