Jed stumbled through the uneven rocks, and his teeth started to chatter as he walked through the Mindlar Mountains. Jed cursed himself for getting his sense of direction thrown off by the sandstorm. He hated the Mindlar Mountains more than the Anthru Desert and was unfamiliar with the terrain. He continued to walk nonetheless, hoping to find a small town that could tell him which direction was south towards the Frodir Desert.
Jed trudged his way up to a viewpoint and surveyed the surroundings. The two biggest things he noticed were that even though the land was littered with various mountainous peaks, two gigantic mountains towered far above anything else within sight. Jed remembered the mountains were named Gladden and Glodden since they were so similar in appearance. As Jed registered the magnificence of these twin peaks, he noticed a trail of smoke coming from the valley created by the two leviathan formations.
Jed determined this trail of smoke was a sign of civilization and began traveling toward the town. I hope there's a bar in this one. Then, his foot slid across a pile of gravel, and Jed caught himself on the branch of a nearby tree. He let out a sigh of relief as he regained his footing, only for the branch of the tree to snap and cause him to begin rolling down the mountain. Bushes slapped him as he hurtled down the mountainside, hands wildly reaching for anything that would slow his fall, which eventually did. Cuts and scrapes covered his entire body, and Jed stayed on the ground to catch his breath. After a moment, he checked to make sure both of his pistols had survived the fall, which, to his surprise, they did. So, Jed continued to stay on the ground a moment more, just to let his breath return to a steady pattern.
A guttural growl and then the rustle of leaves caused Jed to look up and see a large bear lumbering through, foraging for berries. It let out a heavy breath of excitement at the sight of Jed, who was still laying on the ground and thought it might have found a carcass to munch on.
Jed saw the bear approaching him and quickly shot to his feet, Crimson in hand, and pointed towards the furry fiend.
This shocked the bear, and it snorted in surprised. After a moment, it trundled away, deciding it would just stick to berries for now.
Jed waited for the large creature to disappear from sight before reholstering his pistol and continuing on to the town. The better I get out of here, the better. The foliage was lovely, but he wasn't too keen on being mauled by the animals.
Jed finally reached the town and was delighted at the sight of a bar located just within the town. He stepped into the bar and lifted his empty flask towards the bartender.
"Care to fill this up for me, brother?" Jed inquired of the man.
The bartender smiled and took the flask, "Of course, sir, what can I get you."
Jed looked at the wall of liquor once more and decided it might be time he learned the names of this liquid that made him feel so good.
After a while, he looked at the bartender and said, "To tell you the truth, I don't really know. I've just been calling it 'brown.' Enlighten me on what I've been drinking."
The bartender's smile grew even more, happy to share the liquor world with a new believer. "Well, the brown liquor you've had is most likely whiskey, bourbon, or grinfeld," He explained.
Jed nodded, "and what about those clear bottles?"
The bartender gestured towards the bottles filled with clear and silvery liquid, "Vodka, gin, tequila, and klinnox. Though I doubt you want to try klinnox unless you're in the mood for a night you won't remember."
Jed considered all this knowledge which had now been shared with him. This led to him trying a slew of different cocktails and drinks before resting on grinfeld, which left a pleasant aftertaste on his tongue.
Jed then asked the bartender which direction the Frodir Desert was, and the man pointed a finger away from Glodden, "As long as you make sure Glodden is directly behind you, you'll find yourself in the Frodir Desert eventually."
Jed placed a few silver bills on the counter to pay, and the bartender held out a hand to stop him.
"Please," he said smiling, "It was my pleasure."
Jed shrugged, returned the bills, and walked out, finally on the path to his hometown of Alten again. The only thing on his mind was the bed he had not seen for more than a year and how fantastic it would be to lie in it.
After a day or two of travel, Jed noticed the land transform from rocky bumps to grassy land and eventually dry desert once more. The occasional small tree and blooming cactus gave Jed a sense of comfort as he walked through the land. Eventually, he saw the old decayed prison from history long ago. This prison and a section of wall on the east end of the Frodir desert were all that still stood from the ancient Frodir Empire that many spoke about. So little was recorded from those times that anything people spoke of was considered tall tales from too long ago.
However, Jed found hope in this empire that once stood. Had the empire remained, there wouldn't have been so much turmoil among the five states who now combated for control about the world. Jed knew that having one controlling power over everything else held some amount of order, and none of the states ever had the right leaders to execute such a task as maintaining the whole world.
Sure, each of them jockeyed for control of the world. Fis and Silf had their violent and domineering philosophy. Lor had their economic and ultimately pacifistic philosophy. Quil had their political strategizing and generalized equality. Gin... Was Gin, and nobody quite knew what Gin was, but they had done nothing to control anything beyond the islands in the east and south.
Jed knew that none of these states had the true philosophy and power to control the entire world, which disgusted him. Fewer people would suffer everywhere if the states simply settled on a ruler.
This was why he shot the leader of State Fis. The leader had been gorging himself on the money his citizens gave him and did nothing to gain new ground beyond what he had already maintained. It was a shameful demonstration of power and embarrassing to witness, so Jed decided to take matters into his own hands. Jed thought of his deed as just one more grain of sand, but enough sand could make a storm, and he was building for that storm.
Off in the distance, the revving of engines bounced through the dry desert air, and Jed looked to see a gang of ruffians coming from the direction of Alten, and they were headed straight for Jed.
YOU ARE READING
Six Steel
FantasyIn a world where magic died, and was reborn in the form of strange metals. Parker Sticks doesn't do much besides screwing around with his friends in the outlaw town of Alten. That is until their favorite soda shop is robbed and burned to the ground...
