Only Skeletons Remain

Chapter 1: The Banditos

1985

Clancy made his way through the thick brush of the forest, hacking through leaves with a machete he had snagged from DEMA. The ground had become swampy beneath his feet, and his boots constantly got stuck in the mud. It was annoying. He had lost his boot in the mud more than once, and he had almost fallen and died trying to get it back on.

He continued forward, ripping his boot out of the mud before he tumbled to the side and down a small hill, landing in cold water. He grunted, just kind of lying there. He rubbed his face a few times before he pushed himself up again, now missing a shoe.

"What the hell man?" He muttered in Echolalia before he saw a yellow petal falling through the air. He looked up, watching as it spun towards the ground. He bent down to pick it up, and when he straightened up, he was met with a brown haired woman pointing a spear at him. His eyes widened, and he slowly lifted his hands to show he wasn't a threat.

"Cualo ti eres, y pa cualo ti estas aqui?" The woman asked in a language unknown to him. She pushed the tip of the spear closer to his neck, causing him to swallow thickly.

Clancy stared at the woman, "I don't... I don't speak..." he stuttered, not knowing if the woman knew Echolalia or not.

"Tu hablas como un obispo. Viene conmigo, los Banditos decidirán tu destino." The woman said, looking Clancy up and down. She slowly moved behind him, as if urging him forward.

When Clancy didn't move, she hissed and pushed Clancy forward, and the man stumbled, landing on the rocky ground. "HEY!" He snapped. "Don't you see I don't have a shoe on?"

"Sorry." The woman grunted before she yanked him up and began pushing him towards a crazy-looking flying creature with a head adorned with sharp, curved horns, and its piercing eyes glowing bright green. It had a blue, black, and green pattern on its leathery skin.

Clancy reached a hand out to touch the creature, when the woman slapped his hand super hard. He yanked his hand back, staring at the woman with wide eyes.

"Do not touch." She snarled before forcing him to get onto the flying creature's back.

Clancy sat on the creature's saddle, and the woman got on. "So, wait what's going ON—" he let out a yell as the flying creature took off into the sky. He clutched onto the saddle as the creature flew over the chasm he was in. He looked around as the creature flew down and weaved in between the stone pillars holding up the overhangs.

"So, where are we going?" Clancy called over the wind rushing past his ears.

"You'll find out." The woman said, leading the creature towards a small mountain range.

The creature continued flying through the mountains, and Clancy was in awe of the way the creature flew with such grace. When they landed, they were surrounded by trees, and Clancy could smell fire. He got off the creature's back, and he waited for the woman to lead him wherever she wanted to lead him. She pushed him forward, and he stumbled forward, walking forward. She led him towards a large camp, and Clancy swallowed, seeing all of the people in the camp. They all had yellow tape on their clothes. Banditos... There were legends about them.

"Move." The woman snapped, pushing him forward. 

Clancy lurched forward into the camp, and he felt every eye land on him as he walked into the camp. He had felt exposed before, but never like this. They were eyeing him hungrily, like he was prey to them. Not even the bishops looked at him like that.

"Lara, chava tando praxia?" A tall man demanded as he walked towards them, wielding a spear adorned with feathers.

"Tantos, uni lie varosa. Krava en lingua de los bishops." The woman, Lara, spoke back, walking over towards the man.

Clancy stayed where he was, not even daring to move, not when he had at least five spears pointed at him.

"Tsar vos vallo prophesied cerca?" The man asked, looking over at Clancy.

"Vallo, uni carries la Lorekeeper mark." Lara said.

Clancy picked up on the word Lorekeeper, and he took a step forward, jumping back when he heard a sharp yip. He turned to look at the man talking with Lara, and as he was about to speak, the man spoke first.

"My daughter says you are the one prophesied to come help us. You are from DEMA?" He asked.

Clancy nodded. "Yes sir... I'm a Lorekeeper, I escaped yesterday. They haven't found me yet, but they'll be sending out search parties."

The man raised his hand, and the Banditos pointing spears at him lowered their weapons. "My name is Juan, I am the leader of the Banditos. Surely, you've heard of us."

"You're legends back in DEMA. I've read so many stories about you." Clancy said, taking a careful step forward.

Juan glanced at his daughter before he looked back at Clancy. "What is your name, sleeper?"

Clancy swallowed at the name. Sleepers were what the citizens were called. They were asleep to what DEMA was doing. "I am Clancy." He introduced himself. "What are you going to do with me?"

"We need you. Follow me." Juan said, motioning for Clancy to follow him. 

Clancy followed after Juan, and he ducked into the large tent, glancing at four Banditos standing around a table, speaking in Bandito Cant to each other. He swallowed a bit before Juan spoke again. "You are the one the prophesy was about. We need your help finding someone. Four shall rise from the ashes of the past, bound by fate, to reclaim their lost heritage and defy the shadows." 

Clancy furrowed his brow. Huh? Four shall rise? What did that even mean? "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Selru najo!" Lara hissed, glaring at Clancy.

Juan held his hand out towards her. "You'll need to find the antler of a wendigo, the glowing runes of a beast, a ball of green fur, and the skin of an aquatic beast."

Clancy shook his head. "I'm so confused... Am I not getting help?"

"This is your first trial. Should you pass this, you will move on to the next one." Juan said. "Follow the path where the sun rises every morning. Lara, lead him to a tent."

Lara nodded, and she motioned for Clancy to follow him, and he swallowed, following after her. He ducked into the tent when Lara led him to it.

"Thank you," he dipped his head to Lara, looking over at her.

"I recommend you take those earrings off. They might get ripped off." Lara grunted before she turned around. "Good luck, sleeper."

Clancy moved to lie down on the cot that was in the tent, and he stared up at the fabric ceiling of the tent. He rubbed his face a few times. He was in the legendary Bandito camp, and they were already sending on some dangerous mission.

"An antler of a wendigo, glowing runes of a beast, ball of green fur, and skin of an aquatic beast." Clancy muttered to himself. "How the hell am I going to find that?" He groaned. "And what beast? There are so many."

He moved to roll onto his side, and he closed his eyes. If this was the first trial, he wondered how many more trials he'd have to go through, and if they'd be harder than this one.