The Drogen's Law

The Aether Tribe (Edwin)

In his room—which only had a bed, a table and two chairs, and one small closet—Edwin made a slight cut in his palm and filled a pewter cup with his blood. That should be enough to bring Jimmy back to full health.

Edwin went to Jimmy’s side, who was in his bed. He pinched his brother’s nose and poured the blood into his mouth. Jimmy’s wounds healed at an incredible rate.

When Jimmy woke up—thankfully he did not throw any tantrums. Edwin explained everything that had happened to Jimmy in a soft and slow voice as if explaining things to a child.

“What do you do now?” Jimmy said with watery eyes.

“We do as Father says. We leave this shithole of a tribe.”

“But there are monsters outside the walls.” Tears rolled down Jimmy’s eyes.

“I know.”

“But we will die.”

“I…I know.”

“Tell me you have a plan.” Jimmy was practically screaming hysterically by now. “You always have a plan. When you and Chris found out about me, the two of you protected me. You hid the truths. You can do it again. You can protect us.”

Edwin's Father gripped Jimmy’s shoulder. “This isn’t so simple this time, Jimmy. There are monsters outside the walls we can never hope to defeat. The best we can do is to survive the best we can—for as long as we can.” Edwin stood up, facing his back to Jimmy. “You should go to your room and pack everything you may need.”

Jimmy did not move, he just lay there weeping. Edwin was always the one to give Jimmy comforting words. This time, he did not have any unless he lied. Which he was never going to do. He never lied to Jimmy. Happiness achieved through lies always seemed to bring more pain in the future.

While Edwin was busy in his own thoughts, someone bulldozed through Edwin’s room, looking vicious. It was Chris.

“Is it true?” Chris said, scanning both brothers with her eyes. Her eyes lingered on weeping Jimmy before going back to Edwin. “Are you two really exiled?”

Edwin nodded his answer.

Chris gasped. “He can’t do that to you. He… He can’t.”

“He already has,” Edwin said bitterly.

“No.” Tears dangled in those beautiful eyes of hers.

“Well then,” Chris said, wiping her tears. “I’m going with you.”

His ears must be hearing things. There was no way Chris wanted to come with the two of them. However, when he saw the fire in Chris’s eyes—he knew she wasn’t joking.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Chris. You can die out there,” Edwin said.

“And you won’t?”

“You know what I mean.” Edwin slammed his fist on the table. “You are the heir of the Vancorg tribe. The entire tribe will depend on you.”

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about the tribe that has given us nothing but pain. Your mother. You two and your regular beatings. My Big Brother could not handle the pressure my father put on him and killed himself. Me, who has to act like the perfect daughter so that I don’t have to earn my father’s ire. This place can burn to the ground for all I care. I am going with you and that’s final.”

“But—”

“No buts. Besides, if I don’t go with you two, I would only be thinking about the only two people in the entire world I care about who is out there in the wilderness. You could be alive, you could be dead, I wouldn’t know. It will drive me mad. I myself prefer dying to go mad.” She had hands on her hips, chin raised. Edwin knew what that meant. It was a—you can do whatever you want, but I won’t budge—pose.

“Fine,” Edwin bellowed, hurling the pewter cup From the table, sending it crashing into the small closet in his room. “If you want to die so badly, Be My Guest!” Edwin circled the room, kicking the wall and anything that was in his path.

“If it’s just the two of you, then you will die. But if I join you, we may be able to survive,” Chris said.

Jimmy jolted upright and approached Chris. “We… we can survive? Y-you have a plan?”

“It’s a, maybe. But yes, we might survive.”

“Did you hear, Eddy? Chris said she has a plan. We can survive.”

“Yeah, I heard,” Edwin said, giving Jimmy a gentle smile. He looked at Chris. “What do you mean?”

“I will explain once we’re out of the wall.” Edwin bristled but did not say anything. “For now, pack up. You know the obsidian rock outside the wall, right?”

Edwin nodded.

“Good. Meet me there before sundown. I will explain everything there. Now, do not forget to pack food and water, and bring the horses.”

“I’m not an idiot,” Edwin shouted at Chris’s back, who was already dashing away.

Five hours later, Edwin and Jimmy were already waiting for Chris beneath the Obsidian rock. it was a massive black, glass-like boulder east of the tribe hold—which could be seen from the walls. The three horses they had bought with them were lazily grazing the grass, snorting now and then. After waiting for almost an hour, Chris finally graced them with her presence.

She was riding a Black Horse with a long mane that seemed to flow in the wind. Chris was clad in a green armor set that had a certain glow to it. When Edwin recognized the armor set, his eyes widened with surprise and horror. The only piece he did not recognize was the burnished gold gauntlets With talons like claws and spikes along the knuckles.

Chris dismounted and approached them. “That’s the tribe leader’s armor. David Vancorg’s armor. Your father’s armor.”

“Yes,” she said.

“It’s an armour set forged from five ordinary-level spirit cores. Five! It can enhance everything about the wearer and give them healing ability. The armour can mend itself so long as it isn’t destroyed completely. From what I know, it is stronger than most epic-level armour,” Edwin said. “And it can take the shape of its wearer.”

“Yes,” Chris hopped happily. “But it is just ordinary-level armour, so even I can use it. With this, we should be able to survive at least an Advanced level beast if not kill it. Isn’t this great?” She smiled at Edwin.

“Are you insane? This is your great plan? This is madness,” Edwin snapped. Her smile turned upside down. “That armour is the ancestral treasure of the Vancorg tribe. Your father will go to any length to retrieve it. If the monsters don’t kill us—your father most certainly will.”

Her smile returned. “If only he can catch us. Father won’t be able to catch us to where we are going. He won’t dare. We are going to the Aether Tribe.”

Edwin did not know what to say. His brother was lounging about, not caring about anything, while Chris had gone crazy. He pinched himself, then pinched Chris’s cheeks with both his hands, twisting them about. Chris slapped his hand away. “What are you doing?”

“I am trying to decide whether this is a dream, or you have gone mad,” Edwin said. “You can’t be serious about the Aether tribe thing.”

“I am,” She said, her eyebrows raised.

“Oh my God!” Edwin slumped, dazed. “We are going to die. We are going to die, aren’t we?”

“What are you talking about?” Chris snapped, clearly annoyed.

“How can we not die since the Aether tribe is merely a rumour? A myth.”

Chris blinked at him and, to Edwin’s utter surprise, she threw back her head and laughed. She laughed! This was no laughing matter.

“Oh, God! We are going to die.” Edwin thought.