Chapter 12 - Recollections Of The Past And Dreams Of The Future

As Calais wandered the city, a store on the corner caught his eye. The store looked like most other medieval-type buildings. Having a frame and foundations of a sort of grey cobblestone. Then having accents of wood and a wood shingles roof. This particular store stood 3 stories. On the ground floor, Calais could see through the windows shelves on shelves of books. As he made his way toward the store he noticed a sign in front of it.

'Azir's Book Store' Hmm. If the emperor of Shurima is selling books count me as interested! Calais thought chuckling to himself.

Calais entered the store and looked around. It was slightly dim in the store but perfect for reading. The walls were lined with shelves and a few chairs were dotted here or there. A single table was sat to the right of the entrance and a counter was on the same side.

Calais took everything in and suddenly paused. In a chair behind the counter sat a creature he had never seen before.

Dark gray skin and a black mane with a few graying hairs. Large pointed coyote ears on the top of his head. A snout like a wolf, shoulder bigger than Calais's head. Arms bulging with muscle and an unproportionate length. They looked like they could easily touch the floor while he was sitting. Large hands with claws instead of fingers. He had an appendage-like tail coming from his lower back. It easily wrapped around his side and was holding a book with its 4 fingers in front of the creature's face.

Then Calais meets the creature's eyes and panic sets in. Red. the creature had a white eye with a red iris and a small black pupil staring right at him.

Oh my god... That's a werewolf! Calais panicked.

"I can see your fear child." The creature spoke as his tail appendage put down the book. Adjusted the vest he was wearing over a long sleeve shirt. "I would ask you to calm yourselves but I don't that would do much to calm you." He said releasing a quiet sigh.

A talking werewolf... Calais stared at the creature.

"I take it you have never seen my kind before." It raised its hands, "I mean no harm, would you like to browse my books?"

"...Uhh not to be rude," Calais said collecting himself after making sure he could exit the store easily. "But are you a Riglathen?"

This caused the maw on the creature to open slightly and snarl. Only to catch itself in the process and say "No I am not. This is a common misconception among you Humans. I am an Ernoufian, which is a race that inhabits Riglath. I must confess, you Humans continually calling me that irritates me to no bound."

"Sorry, I take it this is your bookshop, are you Azir?"

"Yes I am Azir and this is my shop. What may I call you?"

"I'm Calais Ithai. Sorry about how I reacted to seeing you. You are the first Ernoufian I've ever seen."

"Hmm oh don't worry about it. It happens quite often and I have long grown used to it. And Ithai you say? You are the son of Miadithis?"

"Yes, Miadithis is my father."

"Hmm, the fabled Ithai haha." Azir laughed deprecatingly.

"What is fabled about the name Ithai?"

"Oh, you don't know? Hmm, I guess you are but a child. How old are you by the way?"

"I'm 5."

"I guess it makes sense you don't know how the Ithai name came to be. Your family name was actually earned in a conflict with my people. Would you like to know more?" Azir said with a knowing smile.

"Yes! Very much my family rarely talks about the past."

"Hmm.. Very well then. But first, to get to the conflict that sparked a legend you must know how he got into the situation. This brings us back quite a while so find a seat and get comfortable."

Calais did as he was told and sat down in one of the chairs. This prompted Azir to stand up and leave behind the counter exposing his large 6'9 stature. He made his way to a seat near Calais and said, "Alright then so it all began in the thriving city of Adlahai. This city is part of the Ezer Kingdom. It is located on the coast similar to Dilshad just further west. But anyways, a man named Osiris was born here. Orphans were common in this war-torn area and he just happened to be one." Azir paused deep in thought, perhaps trying to organize his thought.

"You see the Ezer Kingdom was embroiled in a war at this time about a century ago. But they were not fighting their common enemy of monsters and nature. Nor were they fighting in a common war between Humans. No, they were fighting or rather defending from an invasion from the Fenix Empire. The Fenix Empire is an empire on Riglath. And just to the west of the western peninsula that the Ezer Kingdom possesses. It is an empire made of Ernoufians."

"Is that where you are from?" Calais asked.

"As a matter of fact, it is. But nevertheless, the original conflict started with Ernoufian pirates. They noticed the ships in the seas and began raiding and stealing them. Then they took it further and were raiding the towns around the coast of the Ezer Kingdom peninsula. This eventually was brought to the King of Ezer. He thought it would be a good idea to deploy his navy and fight back against the pirates. This worked for a short bit. But having never fought Ernoufians before the Ezer King took it a bit further in naivete. He cleared his waters of pirates and then pushed on to the continent of Riglath where he met the Fenix Empire. Now, most Ernoufian had never seen a Human before. And the obvious reaction ensued upon the first discovery of the Ezer military. Fear lead to panic and panic leads to stupidity. The Fenix Empire attacked and defended their land. No words were exchanged, just weapons and blood." Azir paused as if reliving his words.

"It was a close battle but the Ezer military won. They had caught the Fenix unprepared and they knew this and immediately retreated. But the Ernoufian race is not a peace-loving race. The powers of Riglath were always at war but at this time the Fenix just so happened to not be. So not taking the attack laying down they launched their own offensive into Attilo. This continued for over a decade with the Fenix conquering a large piece of land. They were doing very well due to our racial trait advantages. And the leadership of general Waldomir."

"Wait, racial traits?" Calais interrupted.

"Hmm yes, you see I wasn't lying when I said I could see your fear earlier." Azir pointed to his eyes.

"It is in my blood and signified in my red eyes. Each Ernoufian is born with the racial trait of special vision coinciding with their eye color. Red sees fear, orange sees joy, blue sadness, and purple anger. No others are known but I theorize there are others."

"Oh wow, so your entire race is unable to be snuck up on?"

"This is what many arrogant Ernoufians think as well. But let me get back to the story it is almost over. Waldomir was leading the Fenix army deeper into Ezer's coastal territory when they ran into a problem. They were being ambushed consistently in the night. Initially, Waldomir thought it was a strong monster hunting them in the area. He encouraged his army to advance at a quicker pace. Even went as far as taking night watch himself to ensure the safety of the soldiers. But this was only the beginning of the end for the Fenix invasion force. You see an elite force was deployed by the Ezer Kingdom Calais. Leading this force just so happened to be your very ancestor. Osiris…"

"He had a few others but they would die early on in their resistance to the invasion. I do not know if it was by design or accident and will hold my opinions from the retelling of the story. But he ended up being the only one actually attacking them. And he was doing a good job at that, in fact, he was killing more every night than the previous. It took the Waldomir only one night on the watch to figure out what his active was. Your ancestor had an active that conjured 2 weapons. What made them unique and oh-so troublesome was the fact that they leveled up like you and me. Upon realizing that his army was only making this single opponent stronger. Waldomir decided to set a trap. He waited until night and had the 100 or so men left all alert and looking for any sign of hostile emotion. While positioned all together at one side of the camp. Only to find none just like the previous nights. You see Osiris had always been discovered upon attacking. Making his attacks stymied before he even truly began. But this night was different. We were only alerted to his presence when he was already killing again. He ran through us like wheat. His 2 chained knives cut through our actives like they weren't there. They went through armor, our claws, and bones as if there was no resistance. All the while he showed no emotions just killed and grew stronger. Like it was as normal as breathing or eating. Inevitable even. He finally engaged Waldomir who was the strongest Ernoufian in the invasion. Waldomir possessed a sought-after active where he could change the weight of things. He threw crater-inducing boulders at Osiris. And launched swords and arrows at incredible speed all while flying at a distance. But it was for naught as Osiris cleaved everything thrown at him until Waldomir had no mana. Then he cleaved Waldomir as well. Officially holding off a several hundred-man invasion by himself. He would return to Dilshad and be praised as a hero. Earning nobility and taking the name Ithai, a name meaning indomitable strength. Your name means indomitable strength." Azir said in a quiet voice.

Wow, Osiris is a badass. My family is badass, I wonder why Father and Mother never talk about this. And which of my parents is the descendant of Osiris? Wait did he say 'us' and 'we' at the end there?

"You said we and us when you were telling the story. Were you there?" Calais asked.

"The sole survivor, unfortunately. I hid when Osiris started culling us. Then escaped later only to be shunned when I got home and exiled." Azir said with a deprecating smile. "This was almost 140 years ago, and I would have been fine never seeing an Ithai again."

"You're 140 years old?"

Chuckling Azir responded, "Older Calais. Ernoufians live a little longer naturally than humans. But when you factor in my vitality over 140 is easy."

"Oh and Osiris, does he still live too?"

"That he does." Nodding Azir continued, "last I heard he was still in Dilshad having retired a while ago. It does make me more curious about Miadithis father though. I only know of Osiris having 2 children Jaheris and Odalis. I believe one of these 2 is your grandfather I do not know which is Miadithis father though."

"Wow thank you for telling me all this Mr.Azir," Calais said sincerely.

"It is no problem, history should be shared. This is a value I believe in strongly. Actually, now that I think about it I spent quite a bit of time holding you up. Is there anything you need? I, unfortunately, have some things to take care of."

"Actually yes. Is it possible you could point out some books on Riglath, Ernoufians, and famous active?"

"Yes, that would be no problem." Saying this Azir showed Calais where the books he wanted to read were and went away to do what he needed.

This left Calais alone in his books, in the exiled Ernoufian's bookstore. He perused the books he selected. Quickly taking in all information on the subjects. Before slouching over and going over all the info in his head.

Wow, so Riglath is twice as big as Attilo. It currently houses the Fenix Empire, Thermall Empire, and the Dlojakh Kingdom. The continent is made up of many animals and plants that are found in Attilio. With the main exception being gakes and hoads. These gakes inhabit the entire continent. And turn into a gas-like substance when scared or panicked. While these hoads are a type of toad that secret a healing liquid whenever they eat. There are no humans there and only Ernoufians. They fight among themselves almost constantly. In fact, the Fenix and Thermall are currently at war now. I read about their special eyes and it was just as Azir said. But besides that their tail is also special. It turns out it is just like a super flexible human arm. They use it for crafting and other tasks while their large claws are used for more physical ones. For information about actives I learned that it is well-known how to influence a child to get a active. They provided an example of a child having a stuffed tiger gaining the active to transform into a tiger. They theorized that the stuffed tiger simply provided the child with the opportunity to wish to be a tiger. It is entirely dependent on whether they want to be a tiger bad enough or not. For famous active I saw things like transformations. Magic-like abilities like shooting fire and conjuring barriers. Even one person could summon a customizable house. But the most mouth-watering one has to be the one where a girl could kill anyone in her range if she was crying. That just seems ridiculous I'm sure there were limitations though. I wonder what Osiris's active limitations were. And my family huh...Calais paused in thought.

Man, this only makes me want to grow up faster. Imagine if I could get a active like my great grandpas. I would have a active that made him a legend along with others!

Dreaming of the future Calais's eyes caught the sun outside. It was past noon and he realized he had been in Azir's store for many hours. He paused and had a sad realization that no one had entered the store. And perhaps Azir didn't really have anything to attend to he just wanted to escape him. And after a moment of melancholy. Calais quickly realized once again it was well past noon. And his family hasn't seen their 5-year-old child since breakfast. He placed his books back in their place and bolted back home hoping to mitigate the scolding he knew was coming.