The Albino

“I want Death by Carnivore” Benjamin almost broke down as he watched his kid sister through his memories, speaking as he did so. He could feel the Farie next to him even as he saw through his own eyes this time. He described everything in brutal detail, heard the screams, felt the bullets tear into him as he spoke. The vision’s felt distant this time, and Ben recognized Vilora’s gentle touch as she dulled the worst of the sensations for him. He had not asked her to, but he suspected that she had felt the full brunt already from their first experience of his flashback together.

“Ben! Don’t go! NONONONONO” Ben could still see his kid sisters blood-stained fingers, and face. Then the “trip”. Hurtling through the universe or rather, into the universe. He felt Vilora tense violently when His memories of meeting the being made of fire. “I am the one you call, Sol.” She kissed him before pushing him and the memories ended.

Benjamin opened his eyes, failing to contain tears. He missed Tracy. He was terrified of whether she was ok or not. He wished he could have talked to his father one last time. Emotions broiled through him as he took a deep breath, realizing that he was still holding onto Vilora’s hands tightly. He released them, noting the complicated look on her face. “Now, you know everything.” His voice was barely above a whisper, “I don’t know what I am because, I was not born into this world. Where I come from; Farie, Orc, Trolls… They don’t exist. They have never existed outside of the fantasy of Literature. Viola, Valtria, Qort… All of you only serve passing resemblance to what our fiction stories created, and there are many more peoples that I have never imagined in my wildest dreams. “

Vilora nodded slowly, “But, your sister… her golden hair. She is…”

Benjamin cut her off, “Human. She is Human, like me. Humanity is the only sentient being on my… orb” He noted Vilora’s eyes as he used her terminology, “Humans come in a wide variety of shapes, sized and colors. Humans who have lived for generations in the deserts of Africa can have skin as dark as the coal a forgemaster uses to fuel his flames. People who live in the cold, bleak climates without much sun… They end up with skin much like mine. My mother Is Irish by blood, she gave me my eyes and my hair, and she gave my sister her short stature and petite form. My father is Norwegian by blood. He gave me my height, and my facial features, but he gave my sister her golden locks. My best friend was a Filipino named Crisanto, and he has dark hair, dark eyes, and brown skin. All of us, are still human, all of us bleed as I do.”

A pregnant silence fell over the group until Jukha finally spoke, “I believe you, Pink Skin.”

“You’ve been touched… Cosmos, who was she that brought you here.” Vilora asked finally.

“She told me that she has many names, She claims that My planet.. um… Orb.. has many variations, and that she is there for all of them. I’m guessing that This is earth, what we call my orb, but in some sort of alternative time, or dimension; but that is all but a guess.” Ben said, “She only ever named herself Sol. It is the name we gave to our sun, but she spoke of the Cosmos.”

Vilora nodded, “If she is our sun… Then…” she froze as Jukha put a hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t know..” Benjamin said, “She told me she was sending me to a time of peace, but that I was needed to save this world… But I don’t know what I am doing. I don’t know what the threat is. I don’t even know where I am. I’m lost, hardly able to fight, and haunted by the day of my own death…” Ben lowered his head, “I have no…” he couldn’t finish the words..

“You are touched by Cosmos,” Vilora responded, “No one has seen a god in over 1500 years. My sisters will need to hear of this, they may able to help. The Vin are not nearly as extinct as the brute believed them to be.”

“If they can, I would be grateful. I need to get back to the Forge. I swore to Qort that I would return.” Benjamin began to rise, only to be stopped by both slave girls.

Jukha nodded, “We will go in the morning, I require supplies to fix my home.” Benjamin nodded, leaning back against Viola, thankful for the support. He raised an eyebrow as she placed an object in his hand, “I’m sorry.. I was too late. I found it right as the Orc stabbed you.”

“Yes, about that” Jukha grumbled, “Would you care to tell me what sort of Majik you know if you can blow a hole through the middle of a soldier caste, and destroying your hand in the process. Or rather, how you managed to kill a Hellirine with fire. They are dam near immune to heat. ”

Benjamin chuckled, “If you could help me outside, Ill show you. Grab that strange pole from over there.” He gingerly stood, being supported by his slave girls ‘I really need to get them free’ he thought as they helped him to the bench outside pointed facing the court yard. “I probably shouldn’t shoot that right now, so lets see if the powder is dry enough. Jukha, hold the wooden end to your shoulder. Pull back the hammer looking bit back and make sure the curved metal is covering the cup at the bottom. Jukha did so, and carefully looked over at Benjamin, “Now, point that end at the tree over there, and pull the little metal bit underneath.

*chuff…BOOOM!* fire belched from the end of the metal tube, and Jukha was pushed hard enough to take a step back. The powder was slow, possibly still a touch damp, but it ignited, hurtling four round pieces of lead at the tree, two of them hit, blowing bits of splinters out the back of the wood. “That is an early version of what my people use for war. It’s called, a musket.” Jukha looked wide eyed at the crude weapon. Benjamin had modelled his hastily thought up design after the British Short Land pattern Musket, commonly known as the Brown Bess. The stock was a bit thicker than it should be, and the barrel was crudely formed, but it worked after a fashion. Benjamin had chosen to use an equally old ammunition design known as ‘Buck and Ball’ turning the musket into a 4 ball shotgun consisting of one .68in round lead ball with 3 .32in lead balls accompanying it. “I didn’t have time to make something more advanced, and I was never taught to fight with sword or lance. Viola here” He glanced over to the girl still clutching the curved stinky object, “Is holding a smaller version of that musket. It’s called a pistol.” Viola’s eyes flew wide as she held the weapon away from her in fear. “Its ok, I’ll teach you how, come here.” He stood her in front of him, leaning forward to support her. “Put both hands on the curved part, stretch your arms out” he ran his hands along her thin arms, giving his aid to her form. “… That’s close enough, we can work on the details later, now pull the hammer back and close the “frizzen” the curved bit. Now, pull the small lever underneath. It’s called a trigger. *bang!* the smaller report of the weaker charge still bucked the pistol in Viola’s hands, and she missed the tree entirely. The recoil drove her back into Ben’s shoulder. “Very good. I’ll take that now. Thank you.” She handed the smoking weapon to him, eyes wide in wonder. “In simplest terms, I am using Alchemy to create pressure to throw a round rock. I didn’t kill the… Hellirine with heat, I used heat to throw four rocks seven times faster than any bow. The impact did the rest.” Benjamin had to suppress a laugh at the slow dumfounded expression that Jukha gave the musket in his hand before turning back to Benjamin with a serious face.

“You’ve been here less than a year. You can’t have mastered majik to this point already, how are you not dead.” Jukha scowled.

“The night you brought me to town.” Benjamin answered, “Sol visited me in my room. I sorta…” he paused scratching the back of his neck, “blew up in her face. I was yelling at her, cursing her for sending me here with nothing in my possession to be able to do what she asked of me. She told me that she could not aid me in the way I wanted because of some old rules from the beginning of time, or whatever, Then I got this wild idea in my head. What if I could perfectly recall everything, I had ever laid eyes on. Every class, every concept, every formula and compound matrix. Before I knew it, she told me “I believe I can grant this” without me asking it out loud. She forced me to sleep like you did” He pointed at Vilora. “I didn’t know what she meant until I began working at Qort’s..” Ben slowly drew his Bowie knife from its sheath, tapping it lightly on the barrel of the musket. It rang like a chime.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Qort grumbled as he closed down his shop. It had been three weeks since the Albino had left, and he was beginning to doubt the man’s survival. Benjamin was a paradox of an Orc, but he had given the Forgemaster the gift of steel. He had already sold a sword and two daggers for double what he would normally ask for. He secretly wondered how long it would take before the Academy came knocking on his door demanding his secrets. For now, he was content to sell what he could, and build a nest egg for himself. He rounded the corner to the building he had allowed Benjamin to live in, and stopped cold as he recognized Jukha’s cart. “Qort!” The Orc called out from the doorway, “My friend! How are you!” The Orc smiled.

“Aye’m Doin’ fair. D’yee bring’ta pink skin Back T’Mee?” Qort asked speculatively, and a heavily bandaged Figure, topped with Red hair and propped up by a pair of familiar girls slowly waddled out of the doorway, “I’m here Qort, but I’ll need a few weeks before I can return to work.”

Qort pushed past the Orc, walking quickly up to Benjamin, “What did you do to yourself, boy.” He looked Benjamin over as he leaned on Viola and Valtrya.

“I’ll be ok, boss. I Just got a little beat up saving the overgrown Olive.” Benjamin put on a smirk, recognizing Qorts ‘serious’ voice.

“What is an Olive, and why do I wanna punch you now.” Jukha joked back. “He saved my life, Qort; but he took a lance to the chest for it. It’s a miracle he survived.”

“I see. Well, considering how well business is going; I can make do until you recover. Savin a friend of mine is to be respected.” Qort said before finally dropping back into his accent with a smile, “N’don’t Yee be getting Soft wi’the girlies. Aye’ll be workin’ta snot outta’yee, when’yee return!” With that, the Durr Forgemaster waved his goodbyes, picked up the stack of coal he needed for tomorrow, and headed back home.

“That was close,” Vilora murmured after he rounded the corner. She had concealed herself behind the inward opening door, “His people suffered the worst in the hands of the Fay. I don’t think he would let me explain.”

“Hmm,” Jukha nodded, “Best to leave tonight then. Qort’s no idiot, and Benjamin needs to rest.” He turned, squeezing Ben on the shoulder, “Rest up. I owe you. I’ll swing buy with some game in a few days to keep everyone fed while you recover.”

Ben nodded, waving bye to the two as they slipped out into the night. Benjamin spent the next 4 weeks forcibly being cared for by the two Aereesin girls. They refused to let him sleep alone for the first two weeks of their return, and he lacked the will to complain. He didn’t let them off lightly, however. And as soon as he could sit for a long period of time, he began teaching them basic math, science, and writing. Luckily his “Orcish” automatic conversion from English transferred to reading and writing. They worked hard at their studies. Valtrya was excelling in basic math but struggling in phonics as she still refused to speak. Viola seemed to jump on the idea of letters and sounds but had more trouble with her numbers. Both of them, to Benjamin’s surprise, liked the sciences, but LOVED the Forge. Maybe it was the heat on their still thin bodies, or maybe it was because it was the first place that they experienced kindness. Benjamin did not know, but he added basics of running the billows and heating the furnace to their studies. By the time he was fit to return, they could get the forge roaring almost as effortlessly as they could swiftly.

Their bodies were also changing rapidly. Viola was obviously the older of the two, and she was quickly becoming painfully gorgeous to look at. Valtrya was following in her sisters footsteps, quickly bringing Benjamin to question just how young these girls may or may not be. It was a small relief when the two finally decided he could keep himself warm at night and began sleeping in their own room that used to be the old apprentice quarters. The building was built much like Qort’s current forge, just smaller. The Forgeroom was in the middle with the main entrance to the building on one end, and the two separate living quarters on the other. The walls proved thin, when Benjamin was awakened from one of his nightmares by the soft shaking of Viola. She could hardly be persuaded to leave his side, knowing in full what he was dreaming about, she instead sat with him for over an hour until he finally began to doze off.

Their return to work saw Qort elated. The Forgemaster watched as the girls prepared the Forge, and Ben started gathering tools and material. The Forgemaster had essentially two apprentices and a partner Forgemaster in his shop, and the next few months flew by. Summer came, and the Forge began drawing high end clients from across the realm. All races, and all creeds requested commissions from Qorts establishment, and soon Benjamin made the observation that they could make even more if they used both forges. So, it was done. Viola and Valtrya floated between the forges, assisting in keeping everything running smoothly; and Benjamin began working in the smaller forge. He began to feel better as the summer heated up, and His dreams slowly faded in their frequency and intensity. The second forge also allowed Benjamin to begin his journey further into Majik. His first attempts were rudimentary at best, but he searched his memory for the techniques and concepts that he would need. He tested his less… mechanical ideas in the forest during his visits to Jukha. Vilora picked up where Qorts understanding of Majik failed, and the things that were possible both intrigued and terrified Ben. He almost blew himself up three more times, but they were under the watchful eye of Vilora, who was able to heal him more easily each time as she learned the Human body. The last “accident” took her no more than a half hour to repair his seared off hair and mangled hands.

The first leaves were just beginning to turn colors when Benjamin began introducing Viola and Valtrya to advanced math and engineering concepts. Neither one showed any promise in Majik, despite being present for the majority of Benjamins learning of the supernatural art, but they worked hard to soak in all he taught them. Both of them now preferred the leather working clothes of the forge, and they were beginning to craft kitchen cutlery and small knives for the more generic commissions. Benjamin watched as the village slowly accepted them. In the villager’s eyes, they were valuable, if pampered slaves, but their “masters” treatment of them was seen as acceptable because of the results that it was producing. The girls were contributing, being made to work hard, and Benjamin’s occasional explanation of the rigors of the Forge sufficed as reasonable for their food and clothing requirements. Viola was widely acknowledged as Benjamin’s proxy when buying food or procuring material from venders, but they did not need to know that Benjamin often sent her out to “practice being free” with no actual mission in mind. The villagers never asked, so Ben and the girls never needed to lie about it.

Valtrya was a harder problem. Her mute status would make her a harder sell for immigrating into a more lenient kingdom, and Benjamins attempt to get her to speak were proving a failure. Viola simply said that it was not her story to tell, and that Valtrya wished for him to not see her with pity. Ben still wracked his brain to figure out a way to get through to the girl.

One morning, Benjamin woke up early. He was happy, it was a strange feeling for him. It was the weekend, and he stepped out into the forge to find Viola sitting at the table. She was spooning a mouthful of gruel to her lips, and he waved her down as she tried to get up to serve him. He smiled as she sat down without argument this time. ‘Maybe she’s finally getting it.’ He thought as he filled his own bowl and sat down across from her, “How’d you sleep.” he asked between mouthfuls.

She sighed heavily, “well enough.” She responded, “What shall we do today?” and Benjamin smiled at her with mischief in his eyes, “lady’s choice. What shall we do today?”

“I…” Viola stuttered pausing for a long moment, “I.. I want to go out… to get fitted for a new dress, then to eat, The three of us.” Benjamin raised an eyebrow and Viola quickly backpedaled, “I mean, we don’t have to. I don’t know what I was...” but Ben held up a hand.

“Out it is.” He said gently, “Go wake Val, Lets get some food in us before we leave.”

“Val?” Viola asked and Benjamin smiled broadly, “My people shorten the names of friends. Your sister’s name can be shortened to Val, and Yours to Vi. Is that ok?”

“I… I like it.” Viola said after a moment, “I’ll go get her, she’s been wanting a nice dress for a long time.”

Viola got up and semi rushed toward the room she shared with her sister, and Benjamin filled a third bowl and set it at an empty place on the table, Today was going to be a good day.