Chapter six

A few weeks since Zana had showed up, but she had not been much help at all. Pretty much all she had done was hang out with Karu (who she had become quite close to) and read that book. Occasionally, she would watch Enki train, and even try to copy some of his magic, but she seemed incapable of it.

Sometimes, he wondered if that girl was really who she said she was. Sure, she knew two spells, but couldn’t that be common all over the other side? After all, no one had ever been there. Besides, if Zana really was The Moderator’s apprentice, wouldn’t she be better? After all, the only improvement that she made was to her Glamour (she now turned into a beautiful maiden with long brown hair who bore a striking resemblance to Rossa).

However, even if Zana was useless in the way of spectacle, Enki had to admit that she did have her uses. She was a juggernaut of positivity, seeming to be able to brighten everyone’s day. With so many people in the castle happy, his popularity outside of his palace was growing and growing. The ‘great’ sorcerers still hated him, but they hated everybody who wasn’t a sorcerer who lived just like them.

Zana herself seemed quite happy as long as she was with other people. However, once she thought she was alone, she would suddenly start to seem very depressed. Enki supposed that she missed her own world. He knew that he would hate to be separated from any one in the castle, much less everybody. However, there wasn’t much he could do for now. Zana could only leave once the potion that had summoned her rotted away. They had kept the room dark and damp, but there was only so much that they could do.

Of course, Enki had trouble finding time to comfort the girl. With his new popularity came new responsibilities. The people began to rely on him, and so came to him with problems.

This was when Wara really became helpful. She was the oldest person around, and even though she had a child to take care of, she still seemed to have time to dispense her knowledge for the sake of the country.

Karu had been useful too. It was so nice to just be able to vent sometimes. It was also good to feel normal. Whenever he went down to the barracks, he was greeted like an old friend, instead of a king. Although, Karu seemed to be hiding something now. Enki had no idea what it was, though. Maybe he was planning some kind of party? If that was the case, Enki sure wanted to go, he was pretty sure it would be a blast.

That day was one like any other, Enki opened his doors to the public and was giving advice, and occasionally magical help. Zana was standing on Enki’s right, taking Wara’s spot for the day. Then, an old man ran in.

“My king!” He said, “Sir Dema! Please help us!”

“What is it?”

“There’s a monster coming your way!”

Enki was shocked. Had Zana-? “What is it like?”

“A horrible, horrible giant hawk. Its eyes are red as flame, it has claws like swords, and a call that makes one’s ears bleed.”

“It sounds like a Roc.” Said Zana, “But what are they doing here, they’re on the wrong side and much too far south.”

“It doesn’t matter why it’s here!” Enki said, “We’ve got to evacuate everyone!”

Zana shook her head. “It flies at three times as fast as a normal bird. It’ll be upon the city in seconds.”

“What?!”

It was doubtful that anyone heard his outburst, though. For at that moment, a huge crash sounded and the ground shook. Everyone got up and ran outside. There it was sitting on top of the clock tower, right next to the palace. It did indeed look like a huge hawk in every way. However, when it opened its mouth to call, it sounded not like a bird, but like the blood-curdling scream of thousands of children being killed in horrible, agonizing ways. The people were screaming and running all over.

“That’s not a normal Roc!” Zana yelled, “There’s something definitely wrong with it!”

“What do you mean?” Enki asked.

“Its mating call is what I figured that the man was talking about. But that’s not it, and the look in that bird’s eyes!”

“What about it?”

“It’s not alive anymore!”

“Huh?”

“Someone… Someone killed it, and now they’re using it as a puppet!”

“Is that even possible?!”

“It’s necromancy. I don’t know who’s doing it, but they’ve been trained in magic from my world!”

“Then, can you fight it?”

“No! I never learned any offensive magic!”

Enki growled to himself. “Then just go into the castle and get everyone who can fight! We have to try to beat this thing! Tell everyone else to hide underground!”

“Alright!” Zana said, running back into the castle.

“Ready, Rossa?” Enki asked.

“As I’ll ever be!”

Rossa had very good timing, because at exactly that moment, the creature seemed to notice them. It turned its massive head towards them and flew at them, with claws extended. They both cried out and lifted the earth in front of them. The Roc smashed into it head-on, but it came back up. Its head was cracked, but according to Zana it was already dead, so what did it care?

It let out its cry again and prepared to fly. However, Rossa noticed that and wrapped its feet with earth. As the bird struggled, Enki called up more stone and broke its wings. The bird let out no sound, but turned its eyes to him. Instead of flying, it ran towards him, beak open. Enki pulled up another wall to defend himself, but the bird changed directions, now attacking Rossa. She just barely had time to run before the Roc was upon her, so she missed the flesh-tearing beak. However, she was still hit by the wings, which knocked her over and made her pass out.

“Rossa!” Enki called out.

He ran towards her, but the beast turned on him. He stopped running and called up what magic he had, getting ready. At just the right moment, he called forth a pillar that flew up and smashed into the bird like a bullet. It flew up beyond the tallest turret in the castle, before coming back down. It landed on its back with a loud crash in the town square. Enki saw several pieces land after the body had fallen

Very carefully, Enki approached the bird. With any luck, he could figure out who had been controlling it. As he approached, he had to cover his nose. The thing must have been rotting for a long, long time. However, despite that, when he got close, he saw the severed flesh of the bird moving back together. Everything was being fixed.

He screamed loudly and ran backwards. A moment later, the creature rolled onto its front and cried again. Enki couldn’t do this. No way, no how. He just had to lead it far enough away. The creature took off and started to chase him. Now that it was in the air, it would surely catch him.

Then, suddenly, he heard a loud crash behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, and saw that the bird had fallen again. Its right wing was totally ablaze. He actually stopped. Somehow, as it was flying past the castle, it had caught fire. For the first time, the creature seemed to be in pain.

“Of course!” Enki said, even if it can rebuild itself, it can’t un-burn itself!

Enki ran to the nearest house between him and the Roc. They had left the fire burning with supper still on it. He grabbed one of the logs that was on fire and ran back outside. Once he was close enough, he threw it at the monster. It managed to hit the beast’s breast. Then, it fell on top of the log, probably smothering it.

It was then that reinforcements arrived. In addition to all of the people from the castle, ordinary men and woman showed up too.

“Tell us how we can help!” Wara said.

“If any of you know medicine, find Rossa. She’s over there!” He pointed to the place she had fallen, and a few of the people ran off.

“And the rest of us?” One of the men asked.

“Find fire. Any fire you can! That’s all that hurts it!”

And so they did. It was surprising how much wood was burning in Ara during the day. Eventually, they had the beast absolutely covered. They watched it burn down, but they noticed the pile start to move. But how?

Suddenly, Karu seemed to notice something. He cleared the sticks off of the creature and dived into the half-melted monster. When he reemerged, he was wet and stinky, but he held a large ball in his hand. It was The purest white crystal, and deep inside of it, you could see an eye, bright red and with a slitted pupil. A moment later, Karu threw the glass to the ground, shattering it. Suddenly, the movement stopped, and the body and fire disappeared altogether.

Everyone in the crowd began to cheer. They had done it! The monster was gone, no one was dead (Enki was sure that he had seen the group that had run off help Rossa back into the castle), and they had only done minor damage, most of which was only to open courtyards anyway. Several people came and lifted Enki and Karu onto their shoulders.

“So what happens now?” Enki asked, over the crowd.

“Tonight, I get to live up to your station!”

“What?”

“Come on, boy, we’re gonna have some fun for free!”

“I still don’t understand.”

“You will soon, you innocent bastard!”

***

It turned out that Karu’s idea of fun involved a lot of things that Enki never could have gotten away with if his mother was still alive. The two had visited every tavern and inn in the city, and were always treated to a good deal of ale. By the time they had visited three, Karu felt somewhat tipsy. However, that was nothing. Enki was totally stoned.

The boy was absolutely giddy, laughing at anything and everything. He couldn’t get up at all without falling over, and the women were taking serious advantage of that. Whenever Karu left his side, they were all over his friend. Whenever Karu was sitting down, he became the object of affection for the girls who couldn’t reach the king. Personally, he was getting quite sick of it. His idea of drinking was sitting around and making jokes, not having to beat of whores by the dozens. When Enki passed out leaning on his chest, it only got worse. Now they were touching the king inappropriately and making perverted comments about the two of them.

Eventually he stood up and shouted, “That’s enough!”

all the girls jumped back about seven feet. Enki flopped over so that he was pretty much lying down now. He didn’t even notice.

“We came here to drink, not to get molested! I’m sorry,” he said, turning to the barkeep, “but I think we’re done. I’ll come back and visit when I’m not popular, and you’ll take my money. But before I go, could I bother you for some cold water?”

The bartender nodded and grabbed a mug from beneath the counter. As he filled it, Karu began to walk towards him.

“Thanks.” Karu said.

He returned to Enki, sipping it slowly to clear his head a bit. Then he dumped the rest on his friend’s head. Enki woke up, stuttering.

“You a bit more sober now?”

“I s’pose.” Enki said.

“Alright then,” Karu said, “Let’s get you home.”

Thankfully, Enki was actually able to stand, and the two of them walked back to the castle together.