A Will to Leave

CHAPTER ONE

I often wondered whether I was different or whether the world treated me differently. Talking about differences, there was a place across the ocean, some people called it a myth while others called it a legend. By contrast, neither of them had ever witnessed it. Nor did I. But I had a pinch of hope I would until the knights showed up.

A dead silent road almost swallowed by the darkness all around. My truck woke the stillness with a deafening roar, the pistons flapped hard enough, and its crunching noise overlapped the oil pumps.

Three vehicles were speeding behind me: two knight-wheelers and a hatchback truck. They attempted to move from the left and box me in, but I took a surprise turn and cut them off. One of the wheelers got out of control and crashed into the corner. But the other one somehow caught up and climbed the wall. I tried to crush the wheeler with it, but the rider was cautious enough to speed past me. When the wheels' spines left with just a slice from rear to front, the truck appeared. The gate opened followed by a huge knight climbing to the roof with a long metal arm pointing at me.

If I were a little fast or a little slow, I would have been dead then, it was that close. The hit blew a huge hole in the door, at least it wasn't elemental.

I pushed more fuel into the motor and jumped forward. It kept about forty yards between us at least. There was no way to reach me at that distance unless the wheeler came in, inserted right under the truck and flipped it in the air.

The panel opened, and arm containers and element cylinders came loose. Bright, colourful sparkles exploded from random parts, creating a thrust that pushed me further with the truck. The truck smashed upside down on the still road, rolled a few hundred yards and flip-landed, trapping me between the truck and the road.

Flames covered the road. Smoke and dust clouded my vision. I felt the bones, one by one cracking under my muscles. A heavy pair of metal boots walked towards the truck and stopped by the opening. The knight removed his helmet and bent down to look at me, his face blurred and his hair hung low. The face then vanished above as he bellowed that I was dead.

I woke up from death when a poor rider cried in pain. I had reached the check when the clock showed thirteen, now the hand was between fifteen and sixteen. The rider slammed against the armoured thigh and hit the ground. Metal arms dragged him away from his truck. I took slow breaths and tried to ignore the activities but it didn't help.

Another knight in the same identical armour strode to the raider's truck, he put his knee down and bent to pick something. It was a Bulldog, elemental, twice the size of his metal palm. He caught me staring. His heavy boots manifested an enormous source of power as he walked through the road. He took a strange defensive position, "Your name," he said in his flat voice, echoing through his helmet. I gave him a made-up name that Orzaghmen's workers provided me. "Do you possess weapons?" As I denied he started to inquire about the cargo, signalling his colleague with his thick metal fingers. The other knight climbed in right away, into the truck; I could hear him breaking a crate or two and pulling some bottles out. Bluntly stole a crate and returned signals. I realised that they finally finished with me and noticed the gate opening in front exposing the long journey coming. I powered the engines after receiving a subtle nod from the Knight.

I entered the forest all the way through the pine trees, passing the deadly terrifying beasts and betraying weather. After a long jam, crawling like a slug I crossed the lonely bridge across the hill-shaped land and reached an abandoned village made of stone. It was white everywhere, clouds occupied the whole place, clouds dripping from the roofs, clouds hugging the stone buildings, clouds snaking on the ground... I rode forward at the same pace, hoping there wouldn't be any pits hidden under the clouds. I stumbled across and almost crashed the truck when a golden goat walked right in front of it, followed by an old man walking as slowly as possible.

"You are late." He looked towards me and grunted, "time don't wait in this job." He appeared older than ever. His square face with keen eyes was hidden by a bucket hat and the dead-aged moustache. He shrugged under a cotton fabric that flagged and danced in the wind. We called him Red Beard even though he didn't have a beard. His moustache was so thick that the outsiders often took it for a beard and thus the name was born. No one alive on earth remembered his real name so they began to refer to him by the same. Rumour was that he could be an orc-elf, but everyone knew Orzaghmen was the first, who Red Beard worked for.

He didn't wait, just turned around leaving the sheep and kept walking, neither fast nor slow. I had to get out and run to catch up with him.

"I thought you would be gone," he said.

"I wish the same."

"They promised to send "They promised to send their best one."

"Ain't they?" He gave no reply nor a nod. "You are disappointed!" I said, slightly in a mild tone. I wasn't sure what he expected from their best smugglers but he was definitely disappointed.

"Shouldn't I?" He walked through a thick line of clouds spreading vastly. It was a cave, a small one. There was no way to return with the truck through this. We walked more than a mile, piercing through the clouds until we reached the other side. The other side was open, with fewer trees and more space to walk around.

"A lot has changed," he said. "The knights started hunting hard, no one has ever survived a knight chase since then. Orzaghmen's supply chain has completely crippled."

So that was the reason behind all this, why would they demand a languish, distorted smuggler after years of retirement? They needed someone who could get things done, so they announced a huge payment. Good for me, I would be truly retired after this, gone far away across the ocean and no return.

Red beard halted in front of a large wooden door with cravings all over it; half hidden under the twine, surrounded by dirt and trees.

"The truck doesn't fit through this," I said.

"There's an underground way, can even move an army through it. And you don't need to bring the truck anyway, they provide you with one. Using the same truck to return is a risk."

"Ahh, a lot has changed."

"Surviving the knight chase doesn't make you the greatest smuggler, maybe it's just a bit of fortune," he said softly. "And I'm pretty sure they didn't pay you for that."

They didn't pay me, yes, because the knights seized the arms. I didn't know if I was great then, but I wouldn't dare miss the opportunity again. I pushed open the door just to find that it was not just a door but a massive gateway to Condor, through which a dense blow of dust hit my face.