“Chill!” I screamed with my gruff adult voice echoing around the cave.
The beast looked at me with a blank look. Carim did so too.
“Was that a spell?” Carim asked.
“I don’t feel cold.” The beast shrugged.
“By chill, I meant let's sit down and let the master arbitrator do its thing. I do this a lot at my school.”
The monster and man sat once more in the warm mouth of the cave. There was silence as they thought there’s no more to talk of. They thought wrong.
“Let’s start with you, Mr. Beast. What is your name?”
“Name? I don’t do names. That’s a human thing.”
“Okay then. I’ll call you Aylwin. That’s the name of the boy’s face you’re wearing.” Aylwin grumbled but agreed nonetheless. “What is it do you want, Aylwin?”
“I want death to all humans and this face. That’s all.” Many people say they want all people dead but when they think the realities of its scenario, they take their wishes back. This is a common cause indeed.
“And will the death of all humans bring back your fellow face steals?” Aylwin’s face frowned. “No? You see, revenge is a cycle. Humans killed your kind so you steal the faces of their livestock. Then they send mercenaries after you then you kill them. Kill. Kill. Kill. It ends with one or both of you dead. Break the cycle. Forgive and adapt to your current reality.”
“That’s right monster.” Carim butted in.
“As for you,” I wagged my finger. “Isn’t it a little bit too harsh to exile them from their home?”
“They stole faces. It was more than right to do it to do so.”
“And where’s the justice? The honor? The impartiality of the law? When humans steal, what happens to them?”
“They get sent to jail.”
“And exile for sapient monsters? Inequality.”
“So what do you suggest?” Both of them asked. “I can’t go to Almaria and just change the law based on your whim,” Carim added.
“You can’t but you’ll practice the way. As for you Aylwin, you’ll return the faces, abandon your quest for endless revenge and learn to adapt in your new world.”
“Adapt? I- I don’t know how to adapt.”
“Do it as I do.”
I unpossessed Gren’s body and showed him my original one. There is the face of shock I’m expecting. “Live and hide amongst humans and use your powers to your advantage.”
“How exactly?”
“I don’t know. You can find it yourself.”
—
I seriously regret saying those words. By finding it yourself, I meant finding it on your own. Aylwin, the beast decided that he’ll join our journey to Almaria. It’s been years since he last saw the city and it’s high time to see how it changed. Maybe he could find a better purpose during the travel. We also didn’t inform Arthur about the monster’s survival. All he knows is that Carim’s sword burned the monster before the Almarian Flames can.
As for the boys’ faces, they were returned safely to their owners. We told Arthur why they were stolen in the first place and it earned Dirk a beating for his life. It’s strange seeing Aylwin fully clothed and playing like a child. The boys don’t remember anything after their faces were stolen.
Arthur compensated us greatly and we used some of the money to get Aylwin, the monster, off of his feet. As of now, he has a tote bag filled with three of the best faces from his collection. A face of the largest mercenary he fought, a male shepherd and that of a female knight whom he stole before his departure from the Almaria. He’s wearing the female’s face right now and by looks alone, he’s a completely normal human being.
Over a meal of meat, mead, and bread, we talked about the nature of our powers. Carim explained his sword, that of which I already know. Then my powers I received from a certain god. And Aylwin’s who got his power from a god as well. The legend about them as humans who stole money is bollocks. They existed before humans even came to this continent. Their kind is from a different world similar to this own. Some god called ‘Pardonay’ thought it was musing to grab different monsters from different dimensions and put it here. Pardonay earned the moniker god of mischief because of it and now, he’s locked up in a heavenly prison or something.
“So what are these masks exactly?” Carim grabbed the shepherd's face and look in its insides. “I’ve seen witches from Queen Frigga’s court using this to spy other kingdoms.”
“These masks which you should be careful of is a product of our masterful weaving. We separate the face, the gateway to one's soul, from your mortal body. We use that gateway as a guise and live the life of another. As for Jon, he conquers rather than steal. Like a human.”
“So can I use these masks?”
“You could try it.”
Carim draped the mask over his head and like what we’ve seen before, flesh formed at the seams and enveloped Carim’s body like a skin suit. The result was a buck naked shepherd with freckles throughout its entire body. He’s kind cute this way. Frantic and circling about as he’s trying to find something to cover himself.
“Is this how you feel Jon?”
“Yeah, more or less.”
“So how can I get out? I don’t feel a flesh I can pull. All of these feels so real.” And the tent forming in his temporary loincloth is real too.
“All you need is to focus and the mask will come right off.”
—
With our business in Belfiore done, we were back on the road. Liv was kind enough to give us more provisions other than salted jerky. They were suspicious about the sudden third person joining us. We excused her as a fellow knight like I am and we’ll be escorting Carim back to Almaria. They were happy with that reason and we left on our way.
—
A fork lies ahead in the road. We’re well-provisioned as of now and I’m nearly done practicing on my parrying. I invited Aylwin to join practicing but he’d rather use his claws than the blade of a human. Maybe someday he’ll use steel but, not right now. And as of now, the same fork looms ahead. Carim explained that the road on the left leads to Anglica, the capital of Queen Frigga’s Queendom. The road in the center leads directly to a long hilly road to Cordova, the harbor town we need to go and hire a sailship to reach the coastal Almaria. As for the one on the misty road on the right leads to Rublyn, a city of mist and mystery. After Rublyn is a single path straight to Cordova. All three roads lead to a harbor. All three roads lead to the same direction. Like always, Carim left the decision to me. If I am to discover the world, it should be on my terms, not his.