Shield of Fire
First stop-Fundanes spring

The crowd was accompanying the contestants along the way through the market road, wishing them success on their journey and giving them flowers and small tokens for good luck. Crini chose to stand in the middle and towards the back of the convoy. It was helpful enough that none of the crowd paid attention to her – except for a few glances. Their attention was pinned on the rest of the group, particularly the four proudly leading the way.

Crini saw the awe and delight that the crowd was looking at the people in front and turned her eyes on them, studying them. They were three guys and a girl, dressed in fine uniforms, that seemed to be uniforms for battle, or training, or something in between. Not too heavy but not too thin for simple clothes. They must have been of a high title because prince Tadal was one of them, engaged in conversation with the rest, and at the same time waving his hand and smiling to the crowd standing on each side of the market road. There must be celebrities from the other kingdoms.

The remaining eight seemed like normal people from different cities and villages throughout Ethnos. The form was pretty much the same, with slight differences in appearance that Crini was not familiar with. Well, she had encountered different species on the days that she was wandering in the unknown before she collapses and replaces herself in the orphanage, but her memory from that time was faint. Spending all her days within the palace was unlikely to encounter someone outside of Anive.

The way they interacted with the crowd showed they were citizens. Normal clothing, excited faces – like this is an experience beyond imagination – and bright smiles. In contrast to the group in front, who seem to participate in this to gain something of their former glory and their faces look unwillingly stretched to accommodate their brightly fake smiles.

Crini stood in silence, in her anonymity as very few people turned their faces to her, and all were looking at her suspiciously. Probably, because she never left the palace’s walls and she was interacting with slaves only. Citizens were only entering the palace to deliver resources and in some cases, they had requested an audience. So, basically for everyone Crini was a total stranger.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach. She simply ignored them and looked directly ahead at the group. Thankfully, the city walls appeared in the distance and Crini let out a breath of relief that the investigating looks on her will finally cease.

Through the way to the city walls, Crini’s mind was occupied with thoughts. Most specifically circulating the fact of how she will manage to survive. The tournament was described as not for the faint of heart and those who still remember it, were saying that only the winner was the one to come alive out of this. Or it was just a rumour to make the tournament more appealing. Dread started plaguing her mind. Of course, there must be some way to come alive out of it without being the winner.

She could never be the winner. They will never allow it. She was a slave.

Perhaps, since none knows her, she could vanish in the wilderness for a while and then appear in some remote village before she makes her way back to a normal life. But there was a big problem. There were no species similar to her in the entire Ethnos. She was so distinctive like a fly floating in the glass of milk. And now more people had seen her so soon they’ll know her name as well soon enough. The only option was the wilderness, with limited to no interaction with anyone else.

The memory of the slaves talking one day in the kitchen resurfaced in her mind. They were talking about a man living in Sopolis, a scientist experimenting with the possibility of travelling to other worlds. Ethnians were not aware of travel outside their planet. Crini remembered the strange expressions on their faces when she tried to explain to them how she found herself in this place. Maybe she could go there, and ask him to help her go back to Earth. If he can, and if she’s alive and well until then. But for now, she had another mission at hand.

She had to protect prince Tadal.

Crini let a soft chuckle at her thoughts. Being the bodyguard of prince Tadal was highly oxymoron. Aniveans apart from being much taller than her were pretty muscular too. Back in the day when all the kingdoms were fighting against the demon, Aniveans were the manpower. The strongest soldiers in Ethnos with their pride for this unyielding until today. And they were remaining like that. There was still a military camp but their use was much more limited than then. There’s no need for soldiers when all Ethnos is ruled under General Neo’s orders but the latter had allowed them to keep it as part of their culture.

As soon as they passed the golden gates, the crowd stopped outside the city’s walls encircling them, their voices louder than before. A small path opens up and the contestants move forward walking away from the city borders, through the open field spreading in front of them. The group keeps walking, their faces were still frozen with the smiles they had been giving to the crowd a few moments ago.

The cheering sounds faded in the distance and the group – especially the four in front – dropped their faces to normal. The pace became slower as they were exchanging glances, studying each other as they were seeing them for the very first time. Maybe the overwhelming excitement of the people had refrained them from paying attention to who was standing next to them.

Crini was trying to read their expressions keeping her distance from the group but not too far from them. The cylinder in her pocket was dangling with each move so she shifted her body accordingly to hide it from them. There was a time when they discover she has a weapon with her against the rules, but that moment was much later.

The group of four – nobles apparently – were already familiar with each other. Crini looked at the others as well and saw the anticipation in their eyes, waiting for someone to introduce them. The silence was awkward and made everyone feel on edge. Usually, Aniveans were loud but even Tadal was silent at this time.

“So” Crini decided to speak, cleaning her throat with a soft cough, “who are you?” she spat addressing the group. The noble ones seemed to get offended by the way their faces wrinkled, but the citizens were excited someone had made the start.

“Oh yes!” a young Anivean woman – dressed in a pair of black trousers and a cream shirt with ankle boots – smiled at them. Golden tanned skin, big amber eyes and brown-red curly long hair that was tied up in a huge bun above her head. “I’m Ada, nice to meet you all.” She added with a small curtsy.

“I’m Jato,” a tall man – that Crini could tell was not Anivean – boomed with his deep voice at them. His skin was slightly blueish and was wearing a light grey tunic along with the same colour bulky trousers that circled at his ankles. His feet were bare. His hair was long and dark, falling in straight lines on his shoulders. Crini found herself looking at those eyes with awe. They were purple with a thin golden light in the middle. She reminded her of the eyes of a cat.

“Lura” the man next to Jato spoke, giving a short wave with his hand. He was slightly taller than the rest of the group and Crini was looking amazed for a second at his pointy ears. He was wearing a dark green shirt and a pair of brown breeches, with boots reaching up just above his knees. Almond-shaped green eyes and lips pressed tight in a thin line. He must be feeling uncomfortable about this, Crini thought.

“Koniaak” another Anivean nodded towards the group and stood still. “And this is Ezpa” he gestured to another Anivean male standing next to him, looking shyly down.

The latter got the look of surprise Crini gave him.

“Yes, I’m Ada’s brother.” He spoke with a low voice, almost sounding like a whisper. “We’re twins”.

“Greetings” a female resembling Jato’s characteristics gave a light bow of her head. “I’m Loftak.”

Crini took a look at Loftak’s short dress, a lively yellow – contrasting her blue skin – together with dark grey tights. The fabric was shining in the sun. She had not seen anything like this before. She also noticed that Loftak as Jato as well had bare feet. Maybe this species walks around without shoes, she thought.

“Moiki and Zoiki” a pair of orange-coloured Ethnians spoke in unison giving a deep bow to the rest of the group. “We’re cousins.” They smiled broadly.

“So, who are you?” Lura pointed towards Crini with a sceptical face. Crini took a step back at the directiveness of his words and especially his looks. If she was been interrogating, having someone looking at her like that would cause her to spill out all her secrets.

Prince Tadal took a step forward opening his mouth to speak.

“Oh, she’s s-”

“Crini. I’m Crini.” She cut off the prince to save the mess that he would have created if he spoke that she was a slave. Prince Tadal gave her a death stare but Crini chose to ignore him. There was no room for playing offended royalty now.

The group smiled at her and the ‘noble group’ turned their backs on the rest and began walking again. The rest followed shortly behind caught by surprise by the move of the group in front.

“So, where are we heading?” Ezpa asked. Crini was wondering as well. Taking a look at their surroundings she could see nothing but grassland spreading as far as she could see. Only Anive was behind them but they were so far, only the outline of the city could be visible.

Suddenly, the sound of running water stroke their ears and everyone froze momentarily before starting running the very next second. Crini was struggling, putting extra effort to catch their pace as they were all much taller than her and therefore their strides were covering more ground than hers.

“What happened?” Crini shouted almost out of breath trying to catch up to them.

“It’s Fundanes spring! The first point. Come on!” Ada screamed at her enthusiastically not slowing down her feet.