The Monster Within

The Monster Within
What did I just witness? What soul was under that flesh? I wish I could say he was a friend, but I can’t. He’s a monster! It all began in the black market on a beautiful sunny day. Everytime I go to the market, everyone stares at me. I know why. I know what they’re thinking. “What is a noble doing here?” This is a very poor place in the kingdom. With my dark blue tunic and neatly combed hair, I stick out like a sore thumb. It’s so quiet in these parts. No one speaks because they can’t. For them, it hurts to speak. They’re throats are damaged from dehydration because everyone’s forced to scavenge for a cup of water. That is why I come here. I have friends here who sell food at a very cheap price. Every week, I go to a special store and buy what I need with some extra to give to the people. I wonder why the kingdom does nothing about it. Everyone is poor. Their bodies are boney and frail. The clothes they wear are nothing more than large rags. All I have to do is follow the sweet scent of meat protruding from the air to find my friends. Once I’ve arrived to the store, I’m glad to see nothing has changed. I see Grenn taking orders and collecting products as usual. That’s how poor the people are. They don’t even have money to spend. They’re forced to trade away their belongings to survive. “Zanos! What do we have for this week coming?” Grenn asked in his exciting persona. He brought so much life to such a dead world. I’ve always admired that about him. “You got any squirrels? My son loves them.” I ask him returning the enthusiasm. The provider gave me a smile, and yelled to their cook, Bawk. I always found it amusing how those two fight and still get work done. “Get going, Bawk! Zanos can’t waste a lot of time. And when the hell are Quen and Gale going to get back?” Quen and Gale were how these two are so successful. They go into the forest near Visage and gather as many dead animals and plants they can before the knights do the same thing. I could hear footsteps coming from the right. Whoever I heard was running, and fast. I only got a quick look at him as he sprinted passed me. A tattered robe was all that covered him. He didn’t even wear shoes. Long blonde hair flowed freely in the morning breeze. “Stop him!” A knight yelled, heading my way. Anger started to boil within me. I’ve seen the poor get executed for no reason except being the lowest class. Instantly, I slam my foot in front of the knights, standing tall with a deeply serious expression. They stopped immediately at my towering height over them. “Leave now. I will deal with him.” I ordered. One knight stepped in front, speaking. “Sir, we need him executed immediately!” I glared at him silently, trying to waist as much time as I could for that man. After a few seconds, I told the knight “Then I will see to that. Not you. It is my job as a rank three knight to keep the weak as they are.” I could hear my tone. It was loud, and fierce, like a lion roaring for the forest to hear. The knights left with no other words, running back to the kingdom. Grenn stood there silently. He must’ve been shocked by my outburst. I usually don’t get so demanding and voicetrous. I looked behind myself to see the man peeking over the edge of a broken down house. “You’re alright.” I called to him. “Do you want some food?” I asked, realizing his appearance. He was just as boney and underfed as everyone else here, but what set him apart from everyone around him was the blood trails on his limbs and robe. I could only imagine how long knights have been chasing him for. I’d say about a week or more. I feel Grenn tap my shoulder, and hands me the food I ordered. “And of course…” Grenn said, pulling a loaf of bread out from under the stand. It smelled right out of the oven this time. I wish I could have a bite every time. “Can’t forget why we love you.” I return with a smirk, and split the loaf into four equal pieces. The bread warmed my fingertips, bringing me a feeling I get back at my castle next to the fireplace. The man slowly stepped away from the house, and moved towards me, his legs shaking. Once he got close enough, I handed him one piece of the bread. I turned my back to him and started handing out the other pieces to nearby citizens. Even when I do this every week, the feeling of seeing the shock and happiness in their eyes never gets old. When I go back to the man, he was already devoured the food I gave him. “What’s your name?” I asked him. He opens his mouth but said no words. His eyes and lips were trembling too. I forgot how hard it was for people to talk without hurting their vocal cords. “Me-” The man whispered. It was difficult to see him try, but it was just as admirable. “Mez- Meze…” I turned my head to Grenn, and he already knew what I wanted. Grenn walked away from the two of us, fetching some water, “Meze- Mezema.” He finally told me. Grenn returned with a glass of water in hand. I payed him, and he handed the liquid to Mezema. Without a second to spare, Mezema chugged down the glass like one of my friends at a royal feast. He stared up at me, his eyes sparkling. “Th-thank you.” He began to walked away from me without another word. I understand how he feels. The rich rarely interact with the poor, but I was going to allow him to leave just to be hunted again. “Hey!” I called to him. Mezema turned around, shaking. Once I saw him, I instantly felt awful for raising my voice again. I didn’t mean to frighten him. “Before you go, let’s get you cleaned up.” I offered. A tear ran down Mezema’s face. One single tear. He quickly wiped it away. That’s how things were down here. You couldn’t show any sign of weakness, because what little pride you had was all you had left. “Follow me.” I ordered, and reached for the kingdom map to find the closest river. I skimmed through to find the Ipnu River was just a few miles east. Both of us walked there for about a half hour. I occasionally caught Mezema picking flowers as we passed by some. He probably hasn’t seen flowers in his lifetime. By the time we got to the river, Mezema had a bokay of flowers at his hands. The water was still sparkling under the sunlight. Rocks and small fish littered under the shining surface. “Clean yourself up. I will keep watch.” I told him. Mezema walked passed me as I turned away from the river. As I kept my eye out for any knights or other nobles, screams filled my ear drums. I turned around to witness Mezema yelling, and running away from the water. He slammed into me, wrapping his arms around my back crying and yelling “Please! Please don’t kill me!” I wondered what was up with him. Did something from his past traumatize him? “What’s wrong?” I asked in a quiet and calm voice. I rubbed my hand over his shoulder, trying to comfort him. Mezema stopped crying, and his eyes shot open. “I…” He began to say. His arms vibrated against my back. “I’m sorry.” He pulled away from me, heading back towards the water. His movement was slow, like he was forcing himself to go. It was difficult to watch him go further. “You don’t have to go. I can buy a towel for you.” All was silent. There was a strong tension in the air, a strong tension in Mezema. “No.” He whispered, and dipped his feet in the river, washing off the blood on his ankles. “I… I trust you with my life.” Mezema said, his voice becoming louder. He lowered his hands into the water, washing blood spots off of his arms and robe. As he continued to wash himself, I felt my heart become heavy. He… trusted me. I could tell he was scared of the water. He thought the water would kill him, but he doesn’t care because I advised him to go. Mezema began to walk back to me with a smile on his face. “Let’s stay here for tonight. I’ve never seen such a beautiful place, and want to see it under the stars.” He explained. Seeing the joy in his eyes, and the excitedness in his expression, I couldn’t say no. “Very well. I’ll go look for firewood. When the sun begins to set, I’ll look for food.” I left into the forest, breaking tree branches, and picked up twigs and leaves to make a proper flame. When I came back to the river, there were a pile of dead squirrels next to Mezema. I stood there in complete shock. How could he have gathered so many in such a short period of time? With no words, I approach him, putting down what I collected. “Well done.” Mezema complimented. Night came rather quickly, so I ignited the wood and leaves. A wave of heat washed over me. We raised a squirrel over the fire pit, a delicious scent making a swift entrance in my nose. I wanted this time to be dedicated to getting to know Mezema. “Mezema, do you have a family?” I asked him. Mezema stopped himself from biting into the cooked squirrel as I finished my sentence. He seemed surprised by my question, almost stunned. “No.” He whispered, and stared into the crackling flame between us. “They were killed.” Disgust built within me. He didn’t say the knights killed his parents. He didn’t need to. I knew how this world was. “I’m sorry for your loss.” The rest of the night was silent. Both of us fell asleep soon after the conversation. I woke up smelling a nasty odor, before realizing my face was in the dirt. I got up and rubbed any soil off of my cheek. Mezema was also up, sitting quietly, waiting for me. “I see you’re ready to go back.” I told him. Mezema cracked a smile saying “As amazing as this place is, I have things to do.” He left his bokay of flowers on the disintegrated fire, and stood up. Both of us made our way back to town the same way we came. The time was shorter without Mezema picking up flowers. As we got to the end of the forest everything was quiet… too quiet. There were no cries of the poor, no sound of customers ordering or trading. I understand that little happens in these parts of the kingdom, but all that could be heard was the slight wind blowing across the earth. We stepped out of the forest to see something that even scared me now. I could’ve counted at least one hundred knights, all of them surrounding this entrance of the woods. My bones began to shake as I looked at their weapons. They ranged from swords, to bow and arrows, spears, axes, spades, and scythes. I looked down at Mezema, trying to see his expression, but I couldn’t. He was barely ahead of me. I wanted to step back. I wanted to run. A knight stepped forward. With his purple stach across his armor, I could tell he had more power than me. I’d say probably a first rank or higher. “That smoke in the woods last night was caused by you, yes?” The first tank knight asked. Without hesitation, Mezema shook his head. I grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him away from the army. “It’s ok. I won’t let them take you.” I tried to comfort him, but I knew there was no use. We wouldn’t survive in the woods with the kingdom and Grenn’s hunters continuously taking the resources, and fighting off one hundred knights was a death wish. This was one of the rare moments in my life where I didn’t know what to do. We could not run. We could not fight. All we could do is tremble at their might. “Get away.” Mezema told me, pushing me backwards. I stood there, stunned. “Further.” He ordered. His voice was so serious, so dark. Slowly, I backed away from him and the army. Three knights approached Mezema, and he began to say something to me. “You gave me water, which gave me the strength to go on.” One knight fell as he finished his sentence. The second knight dropped as well, seemingly out of nowhere. The third knight backed off yelling to the rank one knight “I thought we made him dormant for 24 hours!” Mezema jumped forward, not even touching the knight, and he hit the ground as well. “You gave me food, which fed the hunger within me…” Mezema told me. Arrows started flying through the air, heading towards Mezema, but he dodged them all. I watched, amazed, and afraid. I was afraid of Mezema! “But it wasn’t enough!” He yelled, running straight to the army, all of them readying their weapons, some in a panic, charging at Mezema head on. No matter what attempt they made, all fell before him. He leaped, crouched, and sprinted in perfect formation. Once he got a certain distance away from someone, they closed their eyes, and tumbled to the ground. I was horrified at the sight. I tried to convince myself they weren’t dead, but if they were simply unconscious, Mezema would have let me stay near him. Somehow, someway, he was killing people without laying a finger on them. My body shook in fear, fear of this low class citizen. It sounds crazy, but you don’t know what I saw. You don’t know how I felt. In mere seconds, I saw one hundred knights laying on the ground… dead. In mere seconds, I felt death gripping my lungs, making breathing difficult. All that stood in the center was one man. Swiftly, he turned in my direction, and a chilling breeze hit my face. I wish I could unsee him in this moment. The wicked smile on his face showed such enjoyment, such anger. His eyes were wide, showing bloodthirst that had no satisfaction. “Are you… scared?” Mezema asked. His voice was completely different from what I used to hear. First it was quiet, and nervous. Now, it was corse, confident even. “Since birth, I was blessed with our precious death goddess.” Mezema began to tell me. I could not hear Mezema anymore. It was as if the goddess of death spoke with him. “I can rip the souls out of mortals. I developed a hunger like no other.” I have never heard anything so terrible. The ability to kill by taking away our souls was… fascinating. There was no doubt in my mind that this power was frightening, but if Mezema was blessed by one of the kingdom’s sacred gods, who else could have been blessed? Were there other demigods among our kingdom? “Now run.” Mezema ordered. “Run away, and never come back.” I stared deep into his eyes. They looked like an endless void of corpses and blood. I tried to move my legs, but they didn’t listen. I was petrified, glued to the ground by my own mistakes, my mistakes of helping Mezema. His foot stepped forward, but I still didn’t back away. I was going to die. I could just tell. “If you think the Mezema you thought you was a lie, take what you want as true or false.” Mezema said. His eyes began to close, but not completely. “That river truly terrified me.” He was ashamed of that, I could feel it. I don’t know what happened after that. My body started moving on it’s own, sprinting away from Mezema. I must’ve stumbled for days just trying to get away from him. That’s how I ended up here with you. Please, I beg you, kill him like he killed my men, and avenge every unfortunate soul he devoured.