The Dead King

It was about two in the morning, and Marin could be found sitting crossed legged on the roof of Stonefield Inn. The nearly full moon gave the landscape a dim glow, just enough to barely see the surroundings. He gazed upon what he saw, deep in thought.

It had been almost two months since he had first woken up off of the floor. He felt as though since then his life had been in a slingshot. So much had been happening since then. This was, however, the first night he had spent away from the castle, if you didn’t count the single night he spent at Loid’s inn before Heroca saw its destruction.

Marin had brought a little something to celebrate this memorial occasion. He had grabbed it from his traveler bag before heading outside and planting himself on the roof. His hand reached inside his robe, and he produced a long pipe. Reaching back in, he pulled out a small bag of smokeleaf.

I can’t eat, I can’t drink, I can’t sleep… Actually, the amount of things I can’t do runs longer than I’d care to list. But if I can talk, that means my lungs work, and that means I can smoke, he thought to himself.

Marin wasn’t sure if he’d even feel the effects of the smokeleaf, but it was at least worth a shot. If anything, it would make him feel human again for a short amount of time.

With everything he needed sitting in his lap, Marin flipped back his hood, and raised the mask that Loid gifted him over his head. In the dark of the night, even if someone was out and about, it would be too dark to make out the hideous features of his decayed face.

Marin stuffed the pipe, lit a match, and blazed the leaf.

I still can’t believe Gus asked me to teach him the ice element. I’m no teacher. If he wants to learn an element so bad, maybe I should send him off after this mission to learn one.

Hmm… Arkana would most likely deny him. He’d have a shot at Neo, if he was willing to fight for their cause… whatever that would be at the moment.

He’d have to. I’m not going to hedge him.

Marin took a few tokes from the pipe. His lungs expanded, drawing the smoke into his mouth. To little surprise, he couldn’t feel it at all. When he exhaled however, the smoke escaped his maw in a very familiar way.

Well, I can still smoke. Even if I can’t taste it.

He still had a million questions that would most likely go unanswered forever about his body. Like how it was able to even function. Why did his sight work, but his smell did not? How could he hear, but not feel a thing. How could he even move and think if his body ate or drank nothing?

The potion he tried brewing seemed so much simpler than what it made him now. Being immortal? A reasonable feat. Creating a potion that killed you for a few centuries, then reanimated you with just the right amount of bodily features to almost come across human? That seemed a lot harder.

He may have gotten his wish. As far as he was concerned, he would no longer die of old age. These unintended consequences, however, were not worth the trade off.

Marin slowly shook his head at the thought of permanently being in his current state forever. He regretted ever drinking the damned concoction he brewed up in the first place.

He toked on the pipe for a while in silence, occasionally blowing the air out from his nasal cavity. He heard a noise come from the ground to his left. When he looked down, he saw a raccoon shaped animal scurrying about. He paid it no mind.

Marin truly had no idea how his mission would play out. The only thing he knew for certain is that they’d reach Tarenfall, but after that, anything could happen. As long as it ended with two or three strong individuals working for him, that was all he cared about.

A few hours passed as he tried his hardest to remember anything he could from years before. All it ended up doing was giving himself a headache. He sighed, as he did every night, from a failed recollection. The one thing Marin wanted more than anything else was to have his memory back from before he drank the potion. There were so many questions that could be answered if he had his memory restored.

He smoked the last of what was in his pipe, then he cleaned it out. He returned all his items into the inner pockets of his robes, stood up on the roof, and dusted himself off. Morning was creeping in soon.

Getting on the ground from the roof was easy enough with a few short ice moves. Marin was thankful that he had retained his elemental prowess. Perhaps that was due to the muscle memory or second hand nature his element had become to him.

Walking back to the front entrance, Marin grabbed the handle to the door. Inside was quiet. Embers from the center fire had completely died off, and just a single gas lamp illuminated the dark room. He guessed in a few hours Elmo would be up to start the day. Marin returned to his room, and when he entered, found Gus asleep in bed.

Marin sat at the same table he had played chess in earlier, awaiting the morning. His finger tapped the surface in slight impatience as he had run out of topics to ponder about. As creepy as he thought it might be, he focused on Gus, staring at his slumbering body.

He wondered just what Gus thought about his current situation. His life, his mission that he accepted to go on, and his King. Marin knew that Gus looked up to him greatly – that was obvious. He wondered though, if Gus admired him for the right reasons.

Finally, Marin looked up at the window above the beds. The sky had lightened. Dawn had just begun. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that he wouldn’t be alone with just his thoughts anymore.

Another hour went by before Gus turned over in bed. His eyes flickered open. When they did, they met Marin still stationed in his chair. He became wide eyed.

“King Marin… have you been in that chair this whole time?” He croaked.

“No. I just sat back down here a little while ago.”

That brought relief to Gus, knowing that Marin hadn’t sat in the chair the whole night, and possibly got some sleep. It still bewildered him how little sleep his King seemingly got – he had sat in the chair as Gus went to sleep, and woke up seeing him there again.

Gus started to stretch in bed, preparing to get up immediately. Marin extended a hand, gesturing him not to move.

“It’s alright. We’re in no hurry. Take some time to wake up and collect yourself. I don’t even know if Elmo is up yet,” Marin explained.

Gus slumped his arms back down in bed. “Sounds good.” He rubbed his face as he sighed.

After a few moments, Marin got up and headed out of the room. Stirrings could be heard from the kitchen as Elmo grunted. The large man appeared with hair even more upset than yesterday. He licked his hand and flattened it as he headed for a pile of wood.

“Good morning, Elmo,” Marin greeted.

“Aye.” He said, still sounding tired. His large hands grabbed two logs, and he tossed them into the center fire pit. He worked to start the fire as he fumbled with some matches and small twigs.

“Wouldn’t happen to be a fire elemental, would ya?” He uttered as he struggled to get the fire going.

“I’m sorry to displease you,” Marin responded.

“I figured not. Heard ya doing some icy moves on the roof last night,” he easily mentioned.

“Oh. Forgive me if I startled you. I’m surprised you heard that. I just had a lot on my mind,” Marin stated, slightly embarrassed he had been found out.

“Aye.”

Marin had just figured that no one would know of his little outing last night, and was shocked to discover that Elmo had been wise of it. He immediately felt silly for being up there anyways. Perhaps he had just wanted a change of view. From a different height, apparently.

Silently watching Elmo start the fire, Marin gathered that it was because he had been used to looking down from the high-up castle balcony, and he had unconsciously stationed himself up there to feel somewhat at home.

Marin debated explaining it all to Elmo, but the innkeeper made no fuss about the topic, so he let it go.

“Finally,” Elmo breathed as the flames planted themselves from the kindling into the large wooden logs. He stood up straight and stretched his back.

He looked over to Marin. “You’re up early. Plannin’ on takin’ off now or would ya like some breakfast?”

“Two more meals, please,” Marin requested.

“Okay. Give me an hour or so.” Elmo left the common area, and returned to the kitchen room behind the bar.

Marin sat besides the fire, wishing he could enjoy the warmth of the flames.

Eventually, Gus produced himself from the bedroom, and accompanied his King in a seat to the right of him. He held his hands out, allowing the fire to warm him after leaving his cozy bed.

“Ah, those flames feel real nice, don’t they?” Gus asked.

“...Yes.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“Well, I have Elmo making us breakfast. After we eat, we’ll pack up and hit the road again. We still have quite a bit of ground to cover,” Marin instructed.

Gus was already back in his regular attire, something he had taken off when he went to bed. His claymore and backpack were still in the bedroom, along with Marin’s bag.

Any sleepiness that still lingered with Gus disappeared when Elmo returned to the common room with two large breakfast platters.

“If dinner last night was anything to go off of, this ought to be really good too,” he spoke to Elmo.

“Well if we’re bein’ honest, I’m more fond of cooking the supper meals, but I think this will satisfy you too.”

When Marin was handed his plate, he took back off to the bedroom. He shut the door behind him, and studied the food. After a short sigh, he waved his hand over it, freezing it all. He now had to get rid of it, and employed a tactic he developed that easily saw the demise of the food.

Gus had no problem disposing of the food himself, but it disappeared into his maw rather than being disintegrated. The entire time he woofed it down, he made satisfying grunts to Elmo, who greatly appreciated them.

Marin paid a few coins to Elmo after the meals were consumed, and requested an additional loaf of bread for the road. He instructed Gus to pack it into his backpack, and told him it would be his lunch.

After they had fully packed up, and were ready to hit the road, they thanked Elmo greatly for his hospitality and help. Marin had his travelers bag equipped, slung over his shoulder. Gus had his large sword and backpack hanging off his back.

“I won’t mind seeing ya’ll again if you come back this way,” Elmo admitted.

Marin said a few more words of parting before heading for the doorway. As he did, new patrons arrived into the building. He passed them, and exited the inn with Gus behind him.

“Back on the road again,” Gus mentioned.

“Indeed.”

It was about half past eight, and the sun slowly rose from the eastern sky. Judging by where it was and the direction they were walking, Marin confirmed that they were going south.

They paced the cobblestone path once again, covering distance from Stonefield Inn. Gus turned around a few times as they traveled, seeing the small inn grow smaller. He wondered if Elmo enjoyed his employment at the place.

Eventually, they were out of view of the lone building as they walked in the middle of a green, yet desolate field. After two hours of walking, Marin unraveled the map once again, and they determined their location. They were getting close to the center of Tresdor, signaling a halfway point through the rocky landscape.

“I’m looking forward to a warmer climate as we head further south,” Gus commented.

Marin’s finger traced the path they would walk.

“Crossing this river will get us out of Tresdor, once we’re there,” he pointed out, tapping on a line that read ‘The Roaming River’. It divided Tresdor from a different region.

Gus eyed the distance on the map. “That doesn’t seem too far.”

“Then we’ll be real close to Navaren. That might be our next stop for the night,” Marin explained as his finger fell beneath the river.

As the two were in deep study over the map, Marin suddenly heard a noise. He looked up, and scanned his surroundings. It was a very suspicious noise, almost movement like. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, however. He took note of some rocks sticking out from a grassy field.

“Did you hear something, Gus?” He asked.

“No.”

Gus looked around too. Marin instantly refocused his attention. He began to wrap the map back up, and opened the flap on his traveler bag.

“Let’s keep moving. I’m not too fond of this place, I don’t think.”

He shoved the map back in, and began to move with haste.

Gus paced to catch up. He wasn’t sure what that was about, but assumed Marin heard a rodent run by, or something similar. He had to disagree with his statement as well. The terrain had been quite beautiful and peaceful so far, and wondered if Marin had been up in the snowy mountains for so long, he forgot what it was like to hear the common noises of nature.

He remembered that his King was even taken back by all the ambiance of White Forest. Marin had always snapped his head at the sight of something as insignificant as a rabbit hopping along.

They walked in silence for a while, before Gus couldn’t stand the boredom any longer. He had enjoyed picking Marin’s brain so far on this journey, coming up with scenarios and seeing how he would react to them. He asked him his opinions on trivial topics, information on him that most wouldn’t know.

“But what if you had to have one. Like, the wedding would be ruined without it,” Gus went on. “The ice sculpture is lying right there, shattered into many pieces. Could you mend it, or would you make a new one?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever tried doing that,” Marin admitted. “I don’t know if I could.”

“You instantly made an ice chair. With a few extra seconds or even a minute, couldn’t you remake one?” Gus asked with an abundance of curiosity.

“An ice sculpture of a swan is much more complicated than a chair!” Marin declared.

“Yeah I know, but… do you close your eyes and picture it, or do you-”

Marin definitely heard a noise this time. He held his arm out, stopping Gus mid-sentence and in his tracks. His head twisted about, eyeing his surroundings. It was the same type of sound, a quick shifting, a fast form of footwork.

He looked over to Gus, who looked a mixture of confusion and shock.

“Did you hear anything?” Marin asked again.

This time Gus stayed silent for a few seconds, before answering negatively a second time.

Marin stayed still for a while, both of them intently listening. After what must have been nearly a minute, he finally moved again.

“King Marin, what’s going on?” Gus finally asked.

“You know how to use that sword well?” He responded.

“Well enough.”

“Keep it close to you.”

They started to walk again, but Gus’s burning desire to continue conversation halted as he realized something was wrong. He had been completely unaware of any sounds that Marin claimed to hear, but that didn’t discourage him from believing that perhaps his King was picking up on something that he hadn’t been.

It was silent again, but after a few minutes, Marin demanded that Gus ask him more pointless questions.

Gus found it odd that he wanted to talk again so soon after raising his guards, but believed that maybe Marin had realized it had been nothing threatening this whole time. Maybe he did finally see that rodent and refused to admit it.

“Oh. Okay. Well, I’ve got another one for you. Say that you’re out by a pond. There’s a man drowning. Are you going to freeze the whole pond to stop him from treading water, or do you run out to him by creating a trail of ice in front of you? Also do you slip on your own ice sometimes?”

At this point Marin was almost certain the two of them were being followed. He had Gus continue to talk with him to make it seem like he was unaware. Despite Marin holding conversations with the young lad, he was very focused on hearing any new sounds his stalkers might accidentally make.

Gus was still on edge slightly as well, but didn’t let it bother him nearly as much. They continued to talk, with Marin answering and explaining much of what he was able to do with his elemental abilities, something he picked up on that Gus really wanted to know about.

Marin knew at this point that Gus really wanted to take on the ice element, but refused to outright ask Marin again. He gave Gus a difficult non-answer last night. Gus had seen the amount of discomfort he had caused his King, and decided to let it go. It hadn’t stopped his fascination about it, however.

“Why don’t you tell me a bit about your life,” Marin requested, finally changing the subject. “I’m curious to know how life was like growing up in the city.”

Marin wasn’t actually that curious, but he had become quite saturated from all the endless scenarios Gus threw his way, and he still needed conversation to flow.

He sighed as his tone changed. “Yeah, Whitewood City is a real piece of work,” Gus started. “I was born and raised in the heart of that trash heap.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry if that came off as coarse, but I was really happy to leave that place when I did. The quiet mountain life suited me much better.”

“What was so bad about the city?” Marin asked.

“The fact that it is a city. I don’t like the constant noise, the crowds, the… harassment you get there,” he explained.

“The shopkeepers,” Marin realized.

“Exactly. I gave you pointers when we went through to keep your head down and walk fast. Imagine having to do that all the time.”

The city life was probably enjoyable for some people, Marin thought, but Gus certainly had the same preference as him – it was not fun living in such a densely populated area. The positives of having everything close by to one living in the city did not outweigh the negatives, in his mind.

“That and its pretty dirty there too. Disease spreads quicker in cities, doesn’t it?” Gus asked.

“It does.”

“Well there you go. That’s enough reason for me to not live in one.”

“What made you finally leave?” Marin continued.

“That happened when… When I got in a fight… with my family. My father.”

Marin stayed quiet and didn’t respond. He left Gus alone with his own phrase. The silence forced him to follow up on his answer.

“We, uh…” Gus scratched the back of his head in thought. “We got into a large argument. He always told me I’d never amount to anything. Said I was too reckless and headstrong, and didn’t care about anyone but myself.”

Again, Marin didn’t respond after the statement, he stayed dead quiet, almost as if he was counting.

“I ran away,” Gus continued on with his story. “I told him it was obvious he didn’t want me around anymore, so I took off without saying goodbye. I ran, ran to the mountains. I never left White Forest before, and honestly didn’t even know what would be up that road.

But I found out Heroca Town was there. The captain guard, Max, saw me. I told him I was homeless and a wanderer. He took me in and-”

Marin suddenly turned around and shot a bolt of ice from his palm, freezing the foot of a shady rogue directly behind them.

“You!!!” Marin cried out.

Gus experienced mental whiplash as he tried his fastest to gather what the hell just happened.

“Gus! There’s more of them! Pull out your sword!” He yelled.

Marin shot more ice at some figures who were blurred from the speed they moved at.

Gus completely dropped his story and shifted his gears into attack mode. His backpack fell off his shoulders as he reached over his back to unsheathe his claymore.

Before he could even equip his weapon, a rogue attacker knocked him over with lightning speed.

On the ground, he looked up at Marin who was enshrouded in cold steam, frost covering both hands. Blurred figures moved past him before he finally caught one by freezing their legs.

That rogue fell over as he used his daggers to try to break the ice.

Gus was dazed, unable to process the split-second events that were happening. His eyes refocused, making out a few dark-clad attackers who covered their face in red bandannas.

They danced around Marin at a speed Gus never knew anyone could achieve. Glowing ice escaped Marin several times as he tried dealing with foes who were much faster than him.

Gus attempted to get back up, and by the time he was back on his feet, Marin somehow had froze another, the rogue tripping over their frozen feet and falling to the ground.

He immediately noticed the first rogue that Marin managed to catch had nearly broken free of his frosty foot prison. Before he could say or do anything, Marin noticed too, and refroze him, the ice encapsulating his entire lower half of his body.

“I-is that all of them?!” Gus shouted out, taking note of three rogues covered in just enough ice to render them immobile.

“I don’t know!” Marin responded, glancing around quickly.

Gus had his hands gripping the large steel sword tightly now, ready to attack any one of the rogues if they got free.

After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Gus looked to Marin, and saw a new blurred figure rush behind him.

“Marin look out!” Gus yelled.

As the rogue brushed by, a ripping noise could be heard. Marin’s body jutted to the left slightly.

“You bastard,” Marin uttered as he turned around. Gus got a good look at Marin’s back, his freshly torn robe caused from a long dagger slashing through the clothing.

Marin raised his arms, and a slew of large icicles erupted around the area. He hoped that one would impale his attacker as they crackled and reached for the sky.

Gus saw the figure hop from icicle to icicle, avoiding every one of them.

“He’s over there!” Gus shouted, pointing in that direction.

Marin launched several more icy attacks, and this final rogue avoided all of them. They were faster than the others that he had made quick work of earlier.

Marin extended his hands again, and as the rogue went for another attack, Marin quickly reached down and caught their arm. Before the rogue could free themselves, ice traveled up and down their appendage.

The rogue wailed in pain, their other hand trying to stab Marin. He dropped them, and froze their legs as well.

“That’s four!” Marin yelled out in the scariest tone Gus ever heard him use. He looked down at the several dispatched attackers.

“Is there anymore?!” Marin asked them. “Or have I caught you all?”

The rogues yelled profanities in response, still squirming on the ground.

Gus scanned the surroundings to see if any new attackers would make themselves known. At this point though, he felt nearly powerless to do anything about it. By the time he would even be able to swing his sword, these rogues could’ve gotten ten attacks in.

Marin continued to stare down the four rogues though, not taking any other precautions for another attack. To Gus, it was almost as if Marin knew that there was no one else lurking around.

After a few more seconds of glancing at the immediate area, he relaxed slightly, and stood to the left of Marin, looking down at the offenders who had apparently been stalking them for a while.

“You guys took a chance, and failed,” Marin told them.

“Free us now!” One of them yelled out.

“Gus, unmask them,” Marin instructed.

Gus was quivering a bit, but tried his hardest not to look scared to them. His hand slowly went to one of their faces, about to reach for the bandanna.

The rogue’s head snapped at his hand, almost as if he would bite Gus.

Gus responded aggressively, quickly ripping the bandanna off. He might’ve untied it gently had they let him, but after that he realized what a dumb thought that was. These rogues attempted to kill them, and he had no reason to be nice.

He walked over and yanked off the other’s facial cloths, not caring if their neck snapped or not. He got to the last one, the one who had given Marin the hardest time.

It was a young woman. She had her brown hair tied down closely to her head. She had soft eyes above the bandanna concealing her lower face.

Gus sighed for a moment, but forcefully ripped hers off too, pulling it over her head. She was beautiful, Gus thought. She would’ve been, if she didn’t have such a mean scowl on her face.

Marin knelt down to them.

“Now, I’m probably going to kill you. But maybe not. Maybe not, if you tell me what this was all about,” Marin explained gently to them.

“Maybe you need to take your ridiculous mask off too, you freak! Only seems fair to me!” One of the rogues said.

“I’m not the one squirming on the ground, half-frozen over,” Marin reminded them. “In fact, I don’t like your tone very much.”

The ice enshrouding him started creeping higher, up to his neck.

Another rogue cried out. “If you leave your bags here and run away, we might forgive what you’ve done to us.”

Marin turned to face him as the ice halted its climb on the first rogue.

Marin chuckled. “That’s what this was about? Valuables? You want my money?”

“Leave it and run!” He added.

Gus stood motionless at them all, four face cloths still clenched in his fist. He had no idea what to think, and just watched Marin converse with them.

“What a terrible occupation you’ve all chosen, if you can call it that. Isn’t there a more honest way to make a living?” Marin asked them. He looked over to the one woman.

“You,” he said to her. “You gave me the hardest time out of all of them. Your comrades here folded as soon as I hit them with some ice, but you, you dodged everything I threw at you. Hell, I didn’t even dispatch of you until you got close enough for me to grab your arm,” Marin explained to her.

She said nothing, gritting her teeth as she squirmed to break the ice.

“There’s no use,” Marin said. “You won’t be getting out of that stuff anytime soon.”

She still said nothing, so Marin stood up from his crouching position, and stretched his back a bit.

“Well Gus,” Marin said. “I guess I’ll have to figure out what do to with them.”

“That attack should’ve killed you,” she finally said.

“What was that?” Marin asked as he looked back over to her.

“I ran my dagger deep into your back. You should be bleeding out right now!” She declared.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Marin jerked his head around, noticing the large tear on his robe. “I guess you didn’t slice deep enough. But you’ve reminded me the damage you’ve caused. And that makes me very unhappy.”

Marin raised his hands, and the ice on all of them grew to be uniform. It crept up to their necks, and soon each of them were encapsulated in icy pods, only their necks and heads revealed.

The ice rose from the ground, they floated in the air as all four pods faced Marin.

“I’m dying to know – and honestly – if you don’t answer me, you’ll all be dying in general. Why attack us?” Marin asked them in a threatening tone.

“You were a calculated target,” the woman answered. “You’re wearing the clothing of royalty. We figured you were touring the land with your hired bodyguard. Loaded to the brim with gold and valuables.

We never thought you’d be the one giving us a fight. Why even have that runt escort you around if you don’t need him?”

“Ah, so it was my attire that caused you to target me,” Marin deduced.

They didn’t respond.

“I know you all had been following us for a few hours. The conversations about me being an ice elemental didn’t cause you to reconsider?” He asked.

“We thought it was fake conversations to scare us off,” one of the rogues responded.

“A bluff…” Marin realized.

“If you leave your clothing on the ground, I’ll forget about this whole event,” the third rogue said in a nasally voice.

Marin just ignored him. “Well, it wasn’t a bluff, unfortunately.”

Marin moved his hands in a downward motion, and the four ice pods slammed into the ground. They sat there poking out of the ground like the many rocks that surrounded them.

“Let’s go, Gus. I think I’m done with these losers,” Marin finally stated.

He began to walk away from them. Gus started to follow.

“Hey! Hey!” One of the rogues yelled out. “We answered you! Now let us go!”

“He’s not going to let us go, you idiot,” the woman said.

Gus heard the rogues continue to talk as they walked away. As they distanced themselves from them, the voices grew quieter.

They traveled in silence for a long time, the longest amount of time since they first embarked. It had been a scaring event for Gus, and he had no idea what Marin was even thinking.

Almost half an hour passed before Gus finally dared to say anything.

“How long are they going to stay frozen like that?” He asked.

Marin didn’t respond right away. Gus looked down, wondering if it still was not a good time to talk.

“A day. A day and a half, maybe. I didn’t make the ice too hard,” he eventually responded.

“We just left them on the side of the road. Won’t someone come by and try to free them?” Gus asked with concern.

“No one is breaking that ice. They will just have to wait for it to melt.”

“Oh.”