A Tale of Traitors

Willow: Lighting a Fire

           Even at night, the colossal city gleamed with pearls, gold and fine jewels that adorned the downtown area. The buildings were brilliantly cloaked in coral, glass, and seaweed. From above, looking down into the water, one would mistake it for simple sea life. We swam across the jade tiles that were built into the ocean floor to mark what I would call streets. Even though it was underwater, the sirens had to control the flow of fish, predators, and their shipments of supplies from other parts of the city. They had a magic field over a chunk of the street to allow the passage of sirens and mermaids, and fish or other animals couldn't get inside the field. Looking up was completely breathtaking; rare fish, sharks, eels, and other organisms carried on their lives just thirteen feet above my head, swimming among the tallest buildings and getting caught in strategically placed nets, waiting to be breakfast for the inhabitants of the wealthiest apartments.

"How many people live in this city?" I asked as I slowly spun, taking in as much of the city as I could.

"Most people just work here. I'd say there are two families who actually wealthy enough to live here, totaling ten or eleven people. The chief says it's better if everyone just works here. Most people live outside of the city."

"Can we go see their houses?"

"Sure. If wandering through neighborhoods in the middle of the night sounds the opposite of creepy to you," she raised an eyebrow.

"I just want to understand more about how the people live. I think it'll help me defend them if I know more about who I'm fighting for."

"Well," she chuckled, "you are the experienced warrior. Let's go." She led me down the main road, which had a long name that I couldn't pronounce and definitely don't remember now, and then paused at a crossroads, as if determining where to go from there.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked, secretly pleased to pause and get a glimpse of the beaming city from another angle.

"I'm determining which group of people you'll most likely want to observe," she said casually. "What level of poverty?"

"What?" I realized I had barely been listening to what she said. 

"What level of poverty do you want to see?" She asked again.

"Oh... The poorest of the poor."

"That's not nearly s glamorous as the middle-class villages," she motioned to one of the paths on the right. "They have a nice little shopping area and even a mine. The mine is particularly beautiful."

"Maybe some other time," I smiled, definitely tempted to see those jewels, "but I really want to see where the poorest people live."

"Alright, then," she sighed. "If that's something you want to see." She began slowly down the path on the furthest to our left, which was overgrown with wild seaweed, algae, and other green plants. My legs were scratched by some rough coral that I didn't see before walking into—I get clumsy when I'm tired—and the light from the city was barely visible through the thick vegetation all around us.

"Dalia, why don't we just swim above this stuff?" I asked in annoyance as my foot caught on something hard.

"You don't want to get attacked, do you?" Her voice echoed my annoyance. 

"Sorry, I didn't think about that." I changed my tone. "Who attacks out here in the night?"

"Mostly rogue mermaids and sirens. There are many other kinds of beasts out here that I'm not qualified to explain... But when you've lived here long enough, you just know to watch out for them."

"So, mermaids and sirens aren't the only races living here?"

"No, of course not." Dalia was clearly holding back a laugh.

"I'm sorry, I just don't remember very much of anything. Pretend I'm a five year old," I chuckled, deflecting my embarrassment. 

"Since sirens and mermaids are the two most populated races living in Realm 5, they dominate the realm. Most people never discover that there are other races here, and they stay hidden. If Tormod were to discover the number of 'outcasted' races living in each of these realms, he would have them removed. That's why he still has guards and Exterminators coming throughout the year. He needs to make sure he's gotten them all, like plucking weeds from a garden. It's the same in nearly every realm."

"What are the 'outcasted' races in my realm?"

"There's only one that is rumored to be there. Adresin, the assassin, mentioned it to the Professor before trying to kidnap you."

I shuddered; just the mention of his name and strange memories started gnawing at my conscience.

"It's a race called Kaedah," she continued, pushing deeper through the undergrowth, "and in almost every way, they are the opposite of elves. They are ugly creatures, usually covered in warts, scars, and rolls of fat in random places. Their eyes are dark and small, and they're known for picking off their enemies one by one and torturing them in gruesome ways. Sometimes they even kidnap Elvish children and hold them for ransom. They can't stand the sunlight or anything pure—they stick to the shadows and scheme away."

"Why don't more people know about them? Honestly, if Tormod wants them gone, I think I'm on board with that."

That's when Dalia burst into laughter.

"You're being so loud!" I nudged her to make her shut up, looking in all directions for intruders. 
"Sorry, sorry," she waved a hand at me but pushed across the trail. "It's just, that's exactly what the professor told Adresin when they were discussing the Kaedah. You see, the professor border jumped into Realm 1 about six months ago. You know what Adresin said? 'Don't let Willow catch you talking like that. She loves those people; they're her friends.'"

"Seriously?" I rubbed my temples. "So, in the past, I'm friends with a ton of kidnapers and murderers who thrive in the dark. Awesome."

"Willow, you have to trust your judgement," Dalia turned to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "You have good instincts. You see things other people don't. And you're the one who is going to lead us to change every world you can name. That's literally what this quest is... and I think there's a reason you were the one chosen to do it. It's not because you're the only one rebelling—there are hundreds of people in every realm willing to take up a sword and slaughter this monster who rules us—but it's because you're qualified to do it. And you're making progress. You're a leader like this world has never known, capable of things you can't even imagine. I wasn't sure about you at first, I have to admit. I didn't see what everyone else saw in you, but now that I know you, I see it. You're brave, strong, wise, and resilient. Nothing can stop you. You're completely motivated to do the right thing, and you don't care if you die doing it. There's a fire and a passion in you that I've never seen anywhere else.. not even in myself... and I'm hoping, just maybe, that fire will rub off on me, too, and Queen, Bob, and Adri. You're changing this world because you see people for who they are, and you genuinely want to help them."

I was completely speechless.

"I think coming to see these particular people was a good idea," Queen turned sadly and broke through the vegetation, motioning to the flat, desolate lands ahead. There was nothing above the ground except little hatch doors scattered around the field, sloppily covered with seaweed. There was nothing.

"What..." I started.

"They live in holes." Dalia's eyes—for the first time underwater—sought the ground at her feet.

"Why?" I whispered.

"Their huts were continually destroyed by the 'outcasted' races. They had nowhere else to go but down." She glanced at my face, but didn't want to match the emotion I had. "There are dozens of families living here, in holes in the ground which can collapse at any moment. The death rate is high, as they have no access to medicine. If they did, they wouldn't be able to afford it. Most of these people push through that trail everyday and beg in the streets of other villages, hoping someone is generous enough to give their family just a little food. The others attempt to find jobs in the city, but those jobs keep being taken by more stable people with work experience. Most of these children and their parents will then find jobs in the mines or the volcano, both of which are incredibly dangerous jobs. If they work in the mines, they risk being too close to the center of the realm and being sucked into the blue fire or lost in another realm. In the volcano, mostly where older children or adults work, they collect lava for some of the weapons we will use tomorrow, our equivalent of cannons. Magic is helpful, but unfortunately most of then die off within a few months, and then are replaced by those still hoping to feed their families. It's a depressing cycle."

"Is there anything... to be done?"

"No," Dalia replied quietly. 
"Why?"

"The chief has other things on his mind right now, and Tormod won't let him do anything. In your realm, Tormod has enforced a disgusting hierarchy based on skin color. These poor people's ancestors immediately rebelled against Tormod, so he decided they would be poor and struggling forever, with no way out of their short, miserable lives but death, as punishment for rebelling. Not only has he done this, but he has branded them. Each person here has a tattoo on their forehead that says they must be mistreated forever. If you give them food or money, or anything to help them, for that matter, you can be executed or tortured by Tormod's guards."

"That's awful," I frowned, looking helplessly across the endless field of hatches.

"Yeah. It is." Dalia met my eyes. "What're you thinking?"

"I'm upset," I nodded. "It feels so hopeless. I feel sick thinking about it. I hate that there's nothing anyone can do... That makes me furious. We have to do something."

"We will tomorrow," Dalia smirked. "We'll do a lot of damage and they have no idea we're coming."

"Awesome," I was still fuming but managed a smile.

"These people are the ones we're fighting for," Dalia turned to leave.

"No," I followed after her, "these people are the ones we'll win for."