Rhodri the Curse-Bearer
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The next several days were a grueling nightmare to Rhodri. No longer human, the warrior constantly stumbled over himself, still completely unfamiliar with his new, terrifying body. He had to stop and cut apart his pants, tying them together and refitting them so they wouldn't constantly fall down. It was humiliating, walking around in the form of an abomination, trudging through this unfamiliar plane, far away from anyone who cared.
As his misery and shock faded after the first time he'd seen his own reflection, Rhodri realized that even though he hated being in his body right now, the beastly form did seem to bestow inhuman abilities upon him. His vision was sharper than it had ever been, by a staggering margin. His ears, or at least, his earholes now, picked up all kinds of far-off sounds that the warrior didn't recognize. The noises were extremely easy to pinpoint, even from a great distance. Chirping, wind, rustling of leaves and other things. At first he had tried to avoid them, but after several hours he learned that these lands seemed to emit sounds all on their own.
It was true, at least he thought. There was never anyone around, yet the sounds came from every direction, even close to him. He had seen something scurry between trees, and another few things flew above. He had no idea what any of the creatures were, but they appeared to be animals, like the reptiles and bugs in the clan's cavern.
The journey had been especially hard for Rhodri the last day. He'd spent hours in a stupor, blindly stumbling forward while countless thoughts swarmed through his harried mind. He'd noticed something very peculiar as he pressed onward; A deep feeling of elation and joy. Despite all the trauma brought on from his disguise, he could feel mirth in his heart, and a feeling of love of this marvelous land.
It terrified and sickened him. These feelings were unnatural, brought on despite the grim circumstances he found himself in. This horrid form was warping him, making him something he wasn't. It seemed limited, at least for the time being. Every time he felt the urge to cry in jubilation, to grin and leap for joy, he reminded himself of the position he was in. His people were cursed, dying slowly and painfully. The human race was about to be exterminated forever. He was stuck in a world he knew nothing of, expected to discover how to do the impossible with the weight of all humanity on his shoulders. He might become a beast, roaming the surface just like the rest of them. These dark thoughts were enough to counteract his new mind, and wipe the smile from his face.
This approach did lead to bouts of deep grief, however. In another one of his episodes, Rhodri collapsed to the ground and began wailing. He missed his home, his friends, his family, even his old self. No one here cared about him. He was going to die in this endless expanse, and then humanity would die too! His screams and sobbing echoed throughout the forest. After several minutes, he managed to compose himself. The young warrior wiped the tears from his eyes, sniffling as he got back to his feet and kept pressing on.
He would have kept going, only... something was different. He felt... off. Like his body was trying to tell him something. He felt-
Snap!
He whirled around. This time, it wasn't an animal. A creature stood behind him, its foot on a fallen tree branch. The creature's appearance made Rhodri's eyes shoot open. It was... like him. A creature of feathers and talons, standing as he was. The creature was wearing strange clothes with colorful lines along it, which appeared like a short robe without sleeves. In its hands, it held a bow. An arrow was nocked and pointed right at him.
This was it. The creatures he was made to imitate. He was face to face with one of them. He gazed into the creature's avian visage, its sharp eyes burning a hole into him. Unlike Rhodri, this creature's features were a lot different. It was much shorter and even slimmer, with a non-hooked beak and a spiky crown of feathers atop its head. It had a white face, with black rings around its beady eyes. The top of its head was blue, while its back, wings and tail were all mainly blue, with varying stripes and shades of black and white. The beast blinked, shaking Rhodri out of his stupor.
"Colou esi thu a heirt?!" It shrieked, bow drawn and ready.
Damn it! Rhodri reprimanded himself. Of course we don't speak the same damn language! Why the hell would we?!
"Eira mu!"
Rhodri shook his head. "W-wait, don't! I can't understand you! Please stop!"
The avian beast cocked its head for a moment, blinking in confusion. It then opened its beak and spoke.
"Who was that?!" The thing shouted.
Rhodri froze up, shaking in fear as he stared at the monster. It knew his tongue! This demon... What was it? Why did it stalk him? Did it see through his disguise?
"I-I...what...?" He blurted. He cowered, clutching his spear tightly. He held his other hand up, as if to show his submission.
"I heard screaming! Was that you? Or did you hurt someone?!" The monster demanded an answer, voice shrill. This panicked Rhodri, who suddenly felt ice in his veins. Was he about to die at the very beginning of his quest? Had his idiocy and tantrums doomed humanity?
"I-I mean, yes, it was me! Don't shoot me!"
"That was you? Did someone attack you?!"
"No, no!" He shouted, "I was just crying is all!"
The creature's eyes widened. "Crying? Why?"
"I just... I was crying. That's all."
"But why?"
Rhodri mustered a bit of his courage, giving it a defiant snarl. "Why should I tell you?! I didn't expect someone to just happen to be here! I thought I was all alone! Why don't you tell me all of your fears and woes?!"
To his utter disbelief, the creature's gaze softened, and it lowered its bow. "I'm sorry. I just thought someone was in trouble is all. Honest." The warrior blinked, taken aback that his bluff worked. He half-expected these beasts to be incapable of emotion. It continued. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"I mean, it's okay-"
"I even pointed a bow at you! I can't believe I was such a buffoon! To even think I might have-"
"Really, it's fine." He answered. "Don't worry about it."
There was a brief moment of awkward silence between the pair, before the creature seemed to realize how uncomfortable the mood had become.
"So, what's your name?" It probed. Now that the monster wasn't screeching at him, its voice was... surprisingly melodious.
"Rhodri." Damn it! The warrior thought. He was so deeply unfocused from his experiences and the fear of this creature that he had just blurted out his real name! Why didn't you just make something up, idiot?!
"Hi, Rhodri! Sorry about that. Let's start over, yeah? I'm Gelace." Rhodri stared blankly at the creature as it smiled warmly back at him. The beast noticed this and frowned. "Yeah, yeah, very funny, huh?"
"That's a woman's name, right?"
It was Gelace's turn to stare dumbly at him. "Uh... Wow. That's... not where I thought that was going."
Me and my big mouth! "Haha, sorry, I just-"
"Are you okay? You really can't tell? Or are you making some kind of joke?"
"No, I-"
"And you don't understand koutu! You can speak human, but not your own tongue?! What's going on, Rhodri?"
Oh, no. He shook his head. "I-I'm not from here! Where I come from, my people speak this tongue!"
Surprisingly, this shoddy lie caused Gelace to back down. "O-oh, no, I didn't mean it like that, I just... Where are you from?"
"North." He stabbed his tongue with his beak when he realized he had just told the truth.
"Oooh, where?" She seemed invested and happy to learn more about him.
"Really far."
The beast grew excited. "All the way north? Like, the dacun border north?"
"Yes." He lied.
"B-But that's so far away!"
"It was a tough journey, but I made it." Rhodri smiled a bit. This was possibly his only decent lie since he met this stranger.
"What do you mean? I was just wondering why you've come so far! Surely you have a good reason."
This response didn't make sense to Rhodri, though he imagined a lot of things wouldn't. Clearly there were things about this world he didn't understand, and it would take time until he could easily lie his way through interrogations like this.
He gambled. The warrior decided if he mixed a little truth in with obscurity or deception that his lies would be more believable. "I'm on a quest to save my clan from destruction."
The avian gasped. "Oh, my! Is there any way I can help?"
Rhodri could hardly believe his luck. A little truth, and he was getting these creatures to unknowingly aid their enemy. He nodded, giving her a grim stare. "A curse has befallen my people, put on them from a time long ago. My ancestors were cursed by an evil dragon, who doomed their descendants to one day die from a horrific disease. That dragon was the great tyrant Kuldomaar. If you know of Kuldomaar, or a way to break such a dark curse, you could save my people!"
The avian put her hands over her beak, eyes wide. "O-Oh no! That's horrible! They're going to die?!" Rhodri nodded. "Oh... I'm so sorry, Rhodri. I've never heard of that dragon, and I don't know anything about curses."
The warrior lowered his head. "Damn it..."
"I'm so sorry! I would help if I could!" Rhodri was about to answer, but the beast's attitude suddenly changed to a chipper one. "Hey, where are you headed, anyway?"
"Just searching the land, looking for anyone that might know. We've tried everything else. This is our last chance."
Gelace perked up. "I'll come with you! We can do this together!"
Rhodri raised a brow. "Just like that?"
She nodded and smiled. "Sure! This is a great reason for me to keep exploring!"
"You're just... exploring?"
"Mmhm! I just left home a few days ago, actually! I told my family I wanted to go on a big adventure and learn about the world, and they said I could! I've always wanted to travel the land, so why not help you on your honorable quest while I do it? I mean, if you want me to come."
Her smile faded at those last words, and it hurt Rhodri deeply, far more than some stranger's self-doubt ever should have. "O-Of course you can come! It would be great to finally have another set of hands helping out." Damn this new brain of mine! Stupid beast-body!
"Great! I'm sure I'll love having a companion on my adventure, too! It does get really lonely out here. You know, you're a strange koutu, Rhodri, but you're a lot nicer than I thought you'd be!"
"Koutu?" He asked.
"Uh... yeah. Koutu. You know... our people?" She held up her arms, spreading her wings, as if to show him. "Our kind! Don't tell me your clan doesn't use that word, either! We're standing in our own homeland! It's called the Koutu Kingdom, for goodness' sake!"
He gave her a nervous laugh. "Y-Yeah, heh. We call it, umm, uh, the Oulit Lands."
She put her arms down, staring at him in confusion. "There's a lot about the world I don't understand, I guess."
"Me too!"
She giggled at his comment. "Isn't that the truth! Hey, our quest will be a great learning experience for us both! I bet we'll know a lot more about each other once we're done!"
He nodded, feeling an odd affinity for this 'koutu', as she called it. At least he knew that now. This was good. The longer he bluffed his way through this, the more he'd learn, and the better he could fit in among the enemy.
Although, she's not really my enemy, is she? Rhodri blinked. What kind of thought was that? Of course she was! She was just being nice because she didn't know he was secretly a human. Hey, speaking of humans...
"Hey, Gelace, where did you learn human, anyway?" He averted his gaze, trying to play off the question as innocent curiosity.
"Read about it in a book. I love learning about other places and people!"
Wow, they keep records of our people? Our ancestors must have done something incredible to burn themselves into their memories like that.
"Hmm, curious. My clan has always spoken it. I suppose there must have been some strange ancient history there." Another bold-faced lie, but at least he didn't stutter and look guilty this time.
"Wow, that's really interesting!" Gelace offered, leaning in towards him. "Maybe I could go there one day and talk to your clan? I'd love to learn more about you!"
"Sure, we could do that," he lied, "But as for my quest... Where do you think we should go? I don't know what to do. This entire journey was a desperate gamble."
Gelace crossed her wing-arms, taking a moment to scratch her beak. "Hmm... Well I have no idea how to lift a curse or find that dragon, but someone has to know! We should just start going from village to village, asking people! We can head towards the capital Roualinn, too! That city is huge, and people from all over the world go to trade there! Someone there has to know!"
Rhodri nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. And, well... thanks for helping me."
The koutu gave him a big, warm smile. "Don't worry about it! Now let's go!"
Rhodri was about to start walking, but watching the koutu flap her wings and launch into the air made his smile disappear. She began flying away, leaving the stunned man behind. She noticed this, looking behind her and stopping. She stayed flying in place, giving him a questioning look. "What are you waiting for? Let's save your friends!"
If he was still a human, Rhodri would have been sweating now, thinking up what kind of ridiculous lie to tell for why he couldn't fly, despite the fact he was obviously a koutu and had wings for arms. Maybe if he just tried...?
Seeing the lost and worried man just standing there, Gelace flew back and landed. "What's wrong?"
"I, uh... can't fly."
"You can't-huh?" Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, you can't fly?!"
"I can't."
"B-But-"
"It's, uh, part of the curse." He lied. "The mysterious dark illness affects our bodies, leaving us unable to use parts of it effectively."
He half expected her to tell him his ploy was over, but she just sighed. "Wow. You know, if you weren't so nice, I'd be worried I was getting pranked or something."
"I know, but the curse-"
"Hey, of course I believe you!" She assured him, "You wouldn't make up something so horrible! Still, that's going to slow us down... I guess we'll just have to walk for now!"
Rhodri sighed in relief as the koutu turned around and started walking. I can't believe that actually worked. He stared at her as he followed behind, the koutu blissfully ignorant of his true intentions. She's so gullible. I... feel kind of bad for her now.
He shook his head. That was just more beast-brain thoughts clouding his mind. Or rather, koutu-brain thoughts. No, she wouldn't be acting like this if he was her foe. With Gelace accompanying him, she'd eventually learn too much. He knew he'd have to deal with her eventually. Because of that, he'd need to suppress his traitor heart and keep his distance from her emotionally. This was for the existence of all human life, after all. He couldn't let his heart blind him from that.
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Gelace of Gythenai
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(Thank you for reading this excerpt from my book-in-progress! This is just one chapter of the first draft, so nothing here is guaranteed to remain in the final product. I plan to publish the the full story as an actual book on the market at some point in the future, when I'm finally satisfied with it. If you want to read it, or have any questions, drop me a message!)
End of preview.