The King

Chapter 1

Rey scratched his left forearm, but it didn't help: the cursed gauntlet was a formidable barrier. He leaned against the tree, trying to clear his thoughts so he could at least figure out why he was here. Every memory moved at a dizzying pace through his mind, and his memory would often skip as much as four hours, so that he had to go back to the beginning again, trying to remember the details, as they were probably important somehow, while focusing on keeping everything in order and not skipping over anything that had happened to him.

'I was home with Mother,' he thought, beginning the process again, 'and then...there was that old man...' A small growl and a scratching noise interrupted his concentration. 'Oh, but I forgot him,' Rey remembered with agitation. He looked at the sleeping creature. It wasn't even as big as his horse's head, 'It's really just a burden; a wise man would just abandon it.' However, Rey couldn't convince himself to abandon it. The creature couldn't survive on its own; it had no family, and though Rey knew almost nothing about it, he'd been told that the creature was bound to him, and could track him down if it ever became lost. Besides that, even though the creature was troublesome, it was a companion, and the two had developed a form of companionship stronger than any "connections" they would have naturally shared.

Rey sighed, deciding to lay down and at least try to get some sleep as he attempted to recover his memories. After three more failures, Rey thought of a different tactic to try to remember everything clearer. He focused on what happened first, trying to absorb every detail, then slowly moving on from there.

I was walking home after completing another set of chores at the mill. I was carrying...what was I carrying? I remember the feeling of some weight on my right shoulder. Hm, what happened before that...? My boss was speaking with me...he said... to take... to mother... a sack of flour! That was what I was carrying! And I was wearing a satchel on my belt, as always, so that I could carry home the coins that my boss gave me at the end of that day for my hard work. And then... I spotted an obstruction on that small road that seemed odd. I walked over to it, and holding the bag in my left hand, carefully reached out to it with my right and touched it. The obstruction did not appear to be a stone, though it held similar shape and color, being a light grey, that shined a bit in the sunlight. I stroked the object with my finger, to see what it was, whether granite, or whatever kind of stone, or even if it was a stone. Then the thing moved. Suddenly, this apparent "stone" lashed out a tail and stood up on four legs.

As soon as the "false stone" began to move, I jerked my hand back, and readjusted my pouch, making ready to stand. It was at this time that the creature lifted its head to see who had prodded its back. It looked neither fierce nor afraid, so I decided to put down the sack of flour and look at it closely. It looked similar to the way everyone described "dragons", but clearly, it was not a dragon. It had grey scales, and a head shaped much like a dragon's, but it had ears like a fox's or a cat's, and the edge of its face was lined with fur, not spikes. It did not have wings, even though the shape was lizard-like; it had a long tail, and its snout was rounded at the end, not pointed. The last difference was that its legs and feet were too big to ever allow grace through the air, and it was smaller than even the smallest dragon hatchling I'd ever heard of: it was barely larger than my hand, and as small as my foot, without the boots I was wearing.

I noticed an oddly-shaped birthmark on the little creature's forehead, but ignored it as I stood up to continue the walk home. I couldn't be late, after all. The small house in which mother and I lived was located on the borders of the city, so my walk back home was shorter than it could have been. On the way back, I imagined what food I might eat for supper: perhaps a beef stew and fresh bread, but then I quickly drove out those unrealistic thoughts. I would have half-spoiled cheese with stale bread, as that was all that we had at that time. As I made my way through the gates and around some small alleyways, I saw Sahd, one of my friends; he was just over a year younger than me.

"Hi, Rey!" He greeted.
"G'deve," I responded.
"Hey, uh, Rey, what's that?" Sahd asked, pointing behind me.

I turned around and saw the creature from the road. "It's just... some animal. Followed me all the way here. Never knew it was there."

"Looks hungry." Sahd said, squatting down and pulling out a piece of jerky. "You want some? Huh?" He said coaxingly. "Nice jerky, huh?"

"Sahd," I said, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously. "Where did you get that?"
Sahd winked at me with a wry smile. "Nicked it off the butcher."
I sighed in an attempt to hide my excitement under disappointment. Sahd was always stealing small, unnoticeable things. He had a quick hand, and a quicker eye. It was fun to see how much he'd improved with his reflexes, not to mention that most of his tales were exciting. For example, this butcher was known to have a bit of a temper. Judging that he was unharmed, Sahd obviously got away with it completely. Now, if he stole it from the butcher himself, that would be a feat. "So... did you take it from the back, or get it off of the man himself?" I asked, not even hiding my grin by this point.

"The old man took a bite n'put it in 'is pocket. When he wasn't looking...snap!" For emphasis, Sahd whipped his hand out, stole a coin from the satchel on my belt, and held it not two inches from my nose, a foolish grin on his face.

I could only stare; I hadn't even felt Sahd's fingers touch the bag. True, I saw his hand move, a little, but if I weren't looking closely, Sahd could have nabbed my entire purse, and I would have only thought that I'd dropped it. Sahd tossed the coin back to me and threw the jerky on the ground about a foot away from the strange creature. It cautiously stepped forth and took the jerky in its mouth, making no visible effort to eat it yet.

"Sahd, I have to get home and give this to my mother," I said, gesturing towards the sack on his shoulder. I really did want to hear more of his stories.
"All right, I get it Rey." Sahd said, backing away. "Then I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Sure!" I answered enthusiastically, continuing to walk the last distance to my home.

A log in the fire cracked, and Rey sat up to look at it. His companions shift should be beginning by now. Rey stood and walked towards the small creature, nudging it with his boot.

"Hey! It's your turn to watch now. Wake me up if you see anything." The creature stood up and yawned, its long, tapered tongue stretching out as it did so.

"Ya." It said to him, one of the few words it used to communicate with humans.

Rey rested on top of his blanket, sleeping until the morning sun would awake him.

That morning, Rey untied his horse, made sure his belongings were secure on its back, and climbed on top of it after allowing his little companion to crawl onto his back. They continued at a moderate pace through the forest, doing their best to not leave behind any traces. After several minutes of riding, Rey's mind once again returned to the task of trying to remember those recent events of his life.

Using the same method that he'd conceived the night before, he continued from the moment when he returned home. My house looked the same as always, but when I stepped inside, all of mother's and my belongings were scattered on the floor... no, it wasn't that way when I had the bag over my shoulder; that was later. My house looked perfectly normal when I came home that night. There were shelves carved into one wall, where various items lay, the two mats where mother and I slept rested neatly on the floor, each covered in blankets. Two sets of clean clothes lay beside each bed, and the clay hearth held only ashes. Next to the doorway, to my right when I entered, there were several baskets stacked on top of one another. My mother, Alana, made and sold these reed-baskets to help sustain us, on top of the job I had at the mill. How she did it before I began work, I can't rightly remember.

"I'm home, mother." I announced. "Mr. Flaurman said to give you this," I said, dropping the sack on the floor near my mother. "And here's my earnings." I added, placing the few small coins in her hand.

My mother absentmindedly put the coins in the pocket of her apron. "And what's this?" She asked, referring to the sack.

"Mr. Flaurman said it was a sack of flour."

"Really?" She said in a disinterested tone. Alana looked up suddenly. "I'm glad you're home, because there's a..." With a gasp, she backed away from me, her face portraying shock and fear. She held her right hand over her mouth, and with the other, she pointed to the little creature that had been following me around. "What..." she asked in a shaky voice, "What is that?"

"Mother," I said, both exasperated and trying to sound reassuring, "there is nothing to fear. It is a creature I encountered on my way home, and has been following me for some reason."

"Get...Get that thing out of here this instant!" Alana commanded.

"Mother, don't you think you're overre..."

"Now, Rey!" She said sternly, but I could recognize an undercurrent of fear.

"Yes, mother." I said with a sigh, picking up the strange creature and putting it outside. It was best not to disobey her when she was like this.

I turned around after closing the door to find mother sitting against the wall, relieved. I decided not to ask about why she feared the creature to avoid causing more distress for the both of us.

"Mother, what did you want me to do?" I asked instead.

"...It's not important. Get down that bread and cheese...and one of the fruits on the top shelf. If you want one, you can get one too. I just... need that taste."

"Is it...Dad?" I asked softly. She only asked for fruits when she missed him. My father died when I was only a few weeks old. I still don't know why those fruits reminded her of him; that's just one of many questions I have that are still unanswered. And somehow, they all have to do with either Mother, Father or I. Strange how the world works.

"Yes...it is."

I retrieved the bread and cheese, as well as a cloth to put them on, and selected two fuits from the top shelf. I spread out the cloth and divided the bread, giving my mother a little bit more than himself, and placed each half of bread, along with a fistful of cheese, in front of myself and my mother. I then placed one of the fruits in front of her, along with the bread and cheese, and took the other for myself.

This entire time, mother had never looked up. After mumbling a short prayer for the two of us, she ate, only looking at her own food. I decided to eat my fruit first, but when I picked it up to look at it, it wasn't like any kind of fruit that I'd ever seen. It looked more like some type of nut. I bit into it cautiously, and a marvelous flavor filled my mouth. In addition, my cheeks and lips started to tingle. I looked at the inside of this "fruit," and saw several seeds, confirming that what I'd eaten was indeed a fruit, and not a nut. I swallowed the first bite and was about to take another when my mother saw it, and cried out, "Rey! No! Don't eat that!"

I paused in shock for an instant, which was enough time for mother to take it from me. "Mother, why did you take that from me? It was really tasty!"

My mother looked at me in shock. "Y-you...took a bite?!" I nodded, bewildered at her distress, and mother looked completely overwhelmed, moaning and saying things like, "No... What have I ever done?... Why must everything happen now?... so young... All for nothing..." and other unintelligible babble.

"Mother, it's really not that bad..." I tried to say, anything to calm her down, but I was just interrupted by another bout of wailing.

By this time, I became genuinely concerned for mother. "Mother, please try to calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down?! First that... that creature is following you around everywhere; it's not exactly inconspicuous, you know, and then... you eat this!" She said, holding up the fruit in her fist. "What are we to do? I'm only thankful that you didn't eat all of it!" She cried, by this time quite flustered.

I didn't know what I should do to calm her, so I just tried my best. "But...that little critter is gone now, and I didn't eat all of that fruit."

"He'll be back. You just wait. That creature will be waiting for you at our door in the morning, if he doesn't find a way in before that time." She sighed another time. "I suppose I'll have to give this to you, now." She said, putting the rest of the fruit aside and rising from her place to walk to her sleeping mat. I followed her.

Alana began to lift the mat, but I quickly took control. "I have it, mother," I said, moving it aside. Alana began to dig, and I started to help her with that as well, but she told me sharply to let her do this on her own. I obliged, fearful of what she'd do in this state, and moved aside as my mother dug for something hidden underground.

A whining in Rey's ear, followed by a gurgle from his stomach, told him it was time to eat. He stopped the horse and got off of it, allowing it to dine on some leaves while he pulled out food for himself and his companion. Pulling off meager portions of bread, he compromised for it with generous portions of meat. At the end of the meal, however, his companion did not look satisfied with the amount of food Rey had given it. Rey looked to his horse and decided that he would try to get tit going now. Reluctantly, he got up and lugged the bag containing his food over to the horse, throwing it across its back and securing it to the saddle. Rey then wearily walked to the horse's head. He was not ready to try to get his horse to stop eating, because it was always a slow and troublesome process.

"Come on, let's get going." Rey told him, trying to pull his head away from the brush. The horse easily yanked its head out of Rey's hands and continued eating. Rey tried again, this time holding his horse's head firm in his hands and pulling as hard as he could. "Enough! We... are... leaving!"

The horse stared at him with a look that Rey interpreted as disbelief, then nudged him, spreading half-chewed vegetation all over Rey's shirt. The horse wasn't going to put up much more of a fuss, but Rey still held its head firmly, so he wouldn't lose any ground. Now, it was just a matter of his horse finishing off this last plant before it would listen to Rey and move along.

"Get on," Rey called to his companion, who was at present trying to sun itself in a break in the leaves.

The creature looked up grudgingly at Rey for a moment, then stood up, stretching and yawning. After this, the creature nimbly climbed up the horse's side and onto his rump, waiting for Rey to mount and give it a more comfortable seat.

Rey readjusted his horse's saddle for riding and then mounted. As soon as he was settled in the saddle, the creature climbed up his back and laid across his shoulders. Its head rested upon Rey's left shoulder, and its tail draped down across Rey's chest.

Rey kicked the horse into motion, starting with just a walk, but gradually advancing into a slow canter. After the horse started to get sweaty and was looking rather tired, Rey slowed back down into a walk. Before long, his mind started to wander once again.

As my mother continued digging, I thought he saw a glimmer of metal. She then brushed off a layer of dirt and took out a very finely-made sword in a scabbard of equal quality, regardless of the fact that it was covered in dirt.

Alana brushed off the remaining loose particles of dirt, and when she seemed satisfied she handed it to me.

"You must take good care of this sword, Rey. And on your way home from the mill, you must wash both it and the scabbard, but do not sheath the sword until both are dry. Do you understand?"

"Yes, mother." I said, surprised and in awe of the craftsmanship. "But why...?" 'Why didn't you sell it earlier instead of working yourself so hard?' I wanted to ask, but somehow it came out as, "Why are you giving this to me?"

Mother seemed to interpret both questions and replied, "That sword was your father's. You must now use it to defend yourself, if anything happens."

I had many more questions, but I knew that now was not the time to ask. Not after what had just transpired. So, I said, "Yes, mother." compliantly.

Then mother did something unexpected: she returned to the food and carefully stored away in a cloth the fruit that I'd tried to eat earlier.

"It's been a busy night," Alana said placidly. Both her tone and her actions stunned me. I hadn't expected mother to become calm so quickly. I wasn't about to complain about not eating supper, though, and furthermore, the fruit had left my hunger entirely satisfied. Strange fruit, it was. So, I just compliantly laid down and soon went to sleep.

I woke up in the early morning, a good hour before I would have preferred, by a sharp pain in my ear. It felt like something was gnawing on it. Being still half-asleep, I clumsily swatted at whatever was annoying me this early. My hand hit something sharp and hard, and based on the yelp that followed, I figured out it was a bone. Or a spike, or something. Some sharp appendage of an animal.

I turned my head an blearily opened my eyes to find the creature I'd found the day before. My eyes widened in recognition, and I gasped in surprise, but, remembering that Mother was still asleep beside me, I kept my mouth shut.

"Torturing the Grenaldi again, Kansui?" She asked groggily in her sleep.

I froze. Kansui? Who was he? And what are these 'Grenaldi' she's talking about?

Despite my questions, I realized what I had to do, even now. As quietly as I could, I got up, and gently picked up the creature, walking silently to the door and putting him outside. Mercifully, this didn't make a lot of noise. "Please, please don't come back inside." I whispered to it, praying that it would understand me. "Go home. Mother doesn't like you... Please, little guy, go back where you came from."

I watched it intently to see what it would do. For a little while, it stared back, and then walked away. Sweet, blessed day! It understood me! However, as I saw it curl up into a little ball just a foot or two from the door, I knew that it hadn't understood a word I'd said.

Still, I was glad it was out of the house. I turned back around, letting the door gently close, and made for my bed. As soon as the soft thud of the door signaled its closure, I heard a terrible scream coming from just outside.

I was panicked. I didn't know what to do! I had to stop it before it woke up Mother, or anyone else! Too late, it seemed. Mother was already stirring with a few confused noises, and over the screaming I could hear shouted profanities coming from the neighbors.

Though obviously too late to avoid waking people up, I figured if I just shut the creature up I could keep damage to a minimum, right? So, I reopened the door and scooped the creature into my arms. I went inside, and closed the door, sinking to the floor and squinting my eyes shut, trying to pretend I hadn't just woken up anyone within two blocks of our house.

"Wh-what's going on? What's happening, Rey?!" Mother asked frantically, obviously still in a daze from having just woke up.

"Don't worry, Mother, nothing's wrong..." I said, trying to calm her down, though really just as nervous as she was, probably.

Mother's eyes instantly darted to the creature in my arms, who was now desperately trying to get out, giving me some nice scrapes that would surely turn into welts later on. "That... Was that the cause of that noise?"

I couldn't tell what she was thinking, but I had to tell the truth, I realized with a sigh. "Yes, mother." I said, nodding. My eyes were still closed, so I couldn't see her reaction. I really didn't want to, to be honest.

"And also the reason the neighbors awoke?"

"...Yes." I opened my eyes now, to see what she was thinking. It might have been foolish, but I wanted to see what she would do. To my utter surprise, she seemed relaxed!

"Well, don't distress it any more. We don't want to draw any more attention than we have to, okay?" And her tone, was that forgiving? Mother wasn't like that. I wondered at this new side of her. It was rather nice. I'd expected her to be angry.

"Okay. Yeah, uhm, sure. Thank you, Mother." I stammered out, realizing she expected an answer.

"Now, move aside and let me settle this, Rey." I did as she told me to, letting the creature go. It bounded down from my lap as I got up. Mother passed me to talk to the riled-up neighbors, and I meanwhile examined my arms. Yep, those would be some pretty serious welts later on, without a doubt.

While Mother was outside, I heard some of what she was saying. She claimed it was her fault, and apologized. She said she'd had a particularly awful nightmare, and then Rey had tried to wake her, but she thought it was... something scary; I couldn't make out what she said. So she'd screamed. The story was actually pretty good, but I figured it had to be. Some of the neighbors went away at the first word of nightmare, but others were spitting in her face until she'd described just what was so scary about it. Honestly, I hate the area where we lived. We had such rude neighbors. I guess it just comes with being poor; you get the drunks, who were now hung-over and even more grumpy, and the just plain mean people for neighbors.

The story didn't interest me that much; it was all a lie, anyways. So, I assessed what I supposed would be my new pet, now. I was actually pretty happy at the idea of finally getting a pet. I'd always wanted one, but Mother never let me get one. It was too expensive, or annoying, or something. Mother always found an excuse.

"Now, what shall we call you?" I mused as I sat back down in the middle of the floor, looking at my new pet with a fond smile.