Young Writers Society

Prologue

A soldier of the Berzan army stood at his watch post, utterly bored. It was his regiment’s job to guard the Berzanian border of the North Sea, a border that never had, and never would, be crossed from the other side. After all, how were goblins, golems, giants and the like going to cross twelve kilometres of ocean? But the captain was adamant that he do his job, and it was good pay for a non-skilled worker like him. So, despite his boredom, he manned his post. He had resorted to trying to catch a rare sight of a sea monster this far south in the waters, lazily knocking his telescope from side to side, when something else caught his eye.

“No… it can’t be.” He grabbed the telescope and peered through it, aiming it at a canoe-like boat made of stretched, greenish grey skin, and bone that pierced through it at places.

But what really caught his eye were the passengers. One, a huge wolf-man creature, rowing the boat using powerful strokes of arms alone; the other, something of a man, a bear and a wolf, with horns protruding from it’s head, firing the boat through the water the same as his accomplice. They would not have been so terrifying, were it not for the speed at which the boat advanced on the shore.

“No, no, no, no! A boat! There’s a boat in the ocean!” he cried, ringing the alarm bell. “Alert! Alert! The North is invading!!!”

***

“Brother! I see shore! Shore! Haha! We’ve made it! We’ve made it out of the North!” Dastrik – the bear-man – said.

“We’ve not made it until they let us in. And besides, for all we know, this place is worse than the north.” said Vielle, the wolf.

“No, no, this place is far more tame than the North. You saw those pale, weak men arrive on our shores. They didn’t last a night. Well, this is their homeland, and we can become their kin, if we so choose. Speaking of which, we better change now. If we can see them, they might be able to see us.”

Vielle begrudgingly did as his brother commanded, and change into his pitiful, weak, human form. Although, there was absolutely nothing pitiful or weak about them from our perspective. Dastrik was the strongest man that any kingdom had ever laid eyes upon, supernaturally strong, even in his human form. Vielle had a muscular yet athletic build, the model sprinter, although he could out do any man across any distance, and was still stronger than most.

“Those creatures could have been escaping from the monsters of this land. They might well have chosen to go to the North knowing full well what they were doing, because they knew that they had a chance of a better life.” said Vielle.

“Vielle, were you there that day? Because I am starting to consider the possibility that I just imagined that you were. Perhaps you were too young to really notice, but did you not see the fear in their eyes? Did you not here them talking about turning back? They did not come to settle, only to explore the unknown. Foolish of them. And besides, we can hardly turn back now, this thing’s falling apart. Either we make it to shore, or we drown.”

An amplified voice sounded across the water, attacking their sensitive ear drums.

“Gentlemen. Keep your heads above water for as long as you can. We are sending a boat to rescue you.”

***

“I’m telling you, I saw monsters on that boat, you can’t let them in! It will be the death of us all!” The soldier protested to his Captain.

“Nonsense! Kilbarin, what you saw was two men wearing animal hides, the same hides that they are wearing now. You say it every day, ‘How are Northern monsters going to cross that ocean.’! You need to get your wits about yourself, man, and quickly. I don’t want you insulting the first ever travellers to return from the North.” Captain Manwill assured his fellow soldier. “Now I have some very important calls to make, so don’t go spreading any uncertainties around the station whilst I’m gone. Lieutenant Miks! You are in control of the station until I return!”

“Yes, Captain!” Lieutenant Miks shouted back across the corridor with a salute, before continuing down the corridor to prepare the station for the boat’s return. After all, these men were the first to ever make it back from the North.

When the preparations were made, the boat ported at the dock and out came a large group of soldiers, and two muscle-bound giants. The men stood, slack-jawed, gaing upon these odd-looking men. Despite his orders, Kilbarin had inevitably told everyone that would listen of his suspicions, and now the men who all laughed in his face were beginning to reconsider.

“Miks! Where’s the Captain?!” Shouted Second Lieutenant Drossor.

“He’s away making calls, I’m running the place until he gets back, what is it?!”

Drossor quickly walked over to Miks and whispered in his ear: “Can we talk about this in the other room?”

Miks told some soldiers to escort the guests to the Captain’s office before he and Drossor walked discreetly to the corridor.

“What in the world is going on here, Drossor?”

“It’s the… uhh… men. We tried interviewing them, you know, so we could find out who they were. But they couldn’t give us no names, at least no names I’ve ever heard before, and I’ve seen my share of Garemm and Robalask. And no kin name either, in fact they didn’t seem to know what a kin name was. And you’ve seen the way the look, the big one must be three hundred kilos at least. And how did they get so big, living in The North for all that time-”

“What are you trying to say, Drossor?” Lieutenant Miks demanded.

“I think Kilbarin might be speaking true. That those… creatures might not be entirely human. Maybe they were men, but something happened when they departed or they’re sons of a –”

“Oh, for the love of The Great Wall. I never thought I’d see the day Mikael Drossor started buying into the pig's shit that comes out of Kilbarin’s mouth. You know he don’t know how to speak true, don’t you? Look, they’ve been sent to see the Captain, he will be given all the information and then he will decide what is to be done. Or more likely they’ll be sent to see the president.”

“C’mon, you really don’t think there’s no chance that they’re some kind of cleverly disguised monster?”

Lieutenant Miks paused. “That’s for the Captain to decide, not us.”

***

The brothers were taken to the Captain office, where a 'Dust Man' - a magic hologram, if you will - of Berzanian President Collur stood before them. They were asked the same generic questions that they had been asked on the boat; what are your names, who are your family, when did you leave for The North etc. All of which they provided little or no answer to. It was then that the President finally spoke.

“Forgive me, gentlemen, but I can’t seem to find any record of anyone called Viselle or Dastrik in this kingdom or any other, and certaintly no-one of your height. How long would you say that you were in the North for?”

“About one hundred and fifty winters, I would say.” said Dastrik, believing it to be a perfectly acceptable answer.

The men stared at them, some with fear of their assumed immortality, others with pity on their assumed insanity.

“He speaks true, we are not from here.-” Vielle said.

“Quiet!” Dastrik cut him off.

“They think our minds are gone, they’ll have us killed.”

“And you think they’ll respond any better to the truth?”

“And what might this truth be?” inquired Captain Manwill, discreetly feeling for his blade.

“We were born and raised in The North-” Vielle began.

“By explorers-” Dastrik cut him off again.

“No, by non-human creatures. But I promise you all, we mean no harm to your lands. And we are strong warriors, we can fight battles for you; your lands will be the most feared and richest in the world. All we ask is refuge.”

Every man in the room feel silent. Captain Manwill, continued to clutch his blade unsure of what action to take. The other soldiers shook with fear. It was confirmed. They were not human. Of course they had seen other non-human races in their time, but none this fearsome. The silence went on for what felt like an eternity, until finally, the President spoke.

“If what you say is true – and I have no reason to believe that it isn’t – then Berzan welcomes you with open arms. We are not currently involved in any wars, but I’m sure there is always work available for men like you. Captain, find them beds, and then stretch them as far as you can,” The soldiers forced a chuckle at the joke, still terrified of the man-mountains before them. The brothers didn’t get the joke. “And I shall met with you on the morrow. Until then, gentlemen, I bid you goodnight.”