The Guardsmen And The Wall Of Shadows

Chapter One: A Server Sold

Here I was, flying high in the air, the wind combing my golden brown feathers fiercely, implaing clouds

like a spear, watching mountains run under me like ants. You'd think being a Pollette would be sad,

depressing, and frustrating with promise of nothing but pain and suffering. I mean, yeah, when we're

born, we're taken away from our fathers and mothers and we are taken to a dirty hot market place

where gamblers, merchants and rich businessmen and women (but mostly men) shout outrageous

prices for you. That's the story of every Pollette. We were born to serve, protect and be dominated.

Some Pollettes got lucky when rich caring merchants buy them, but others were extremely ill-lucked

when a bad tempered woman with a whip for a voice began to glare at them or when a fat smelly man

with a mole just under his chin began to check your teeth and muscles.

Before you get all confused and such, let me explain my being and race. Pollettes are humans born

with the ability to turn to a specific animal. Well, the word 'Human' doesn't really fit our description but

still it's a way of saying we came into this world just like the humans; naked, wet, blind and crying. Then

at age 10 but for others like me, age 13, animals features and parts begin to pop out of some parts of

our bodies. In some cases, claws would whip out of finger tips, a boy would roar just like a lion, a girl

would grow whiskers and for those like me (again), feathers would begin to stretch out of the skin on

our arms. All these werid occurrence would take place in just a minute. Sometimes seconds.

Our real names are Servers but somewhere along the line, old fools or drunkards began to call magic

users Pollies and it was considered very rude. Humans who dared insult or harass magic users were

hexed for weeks and during this time, their hate for sorcerers grew and boiled in their hearts. Since

they couldn't abuse sorcerers to their heart content anymore, they turned to us, the closest things to

magic users and began to use the word, only adding 'ette' which according to scholars meant, a

smaller type or version of something. Believe it or not, the council of magic (S.M.I.T.E., it has no

meaning, just smite!) didn't do anything about that. So the name stuck and soon even children began to

use it.

Anyway, in my case, when I was placed on a dirty carpet under a hot sun at age 14,(quite a long time

now since I'm 25 currently) I had watched as people passed by not giving me so much as a glance. I

had grown quite a bit then. My brown hair was reaching past my shoulders, my muscles were

beginning to reveal themselves, and my eyes were now permanently those of an eagle. I could've

broken away from my seller and run away if I had wanted but to where? Some would say anywhere but

here, but the truth was that nowhere was safe. Only the rich could afford and tame a Server and if

anyone happened to see any one wandering about, they would do all they could to capture me. So I

stayed and waited.

Hours later, a thin bony man with a long slivery beard approached and stared at me for what seemed to

be the longest time. I stared back hoping he would get uncomfortable and leave. He did not. Out of

nowhere, he grabbed my chin and pressed his thumbs into my cheeks, forcing my mouth open. It hurt a

lot but I couldn't attack a human, it was a taboo.

"Quite clean, I see. Being taken care of." The man said slowly without letting go of my mouth. His beard

was touching my teeth and his breath smelt of ale. Lots of ale. He finally let me go, straightened up and

looked at my seller; a fat lazy woman under a canopy. "How much for it?"

The word 'it' made me feel so angry and a bit sad, honestly, but I kept my temper in check.

"Five Rumes. Three on each." The fat woman said, casually, fanning herself slowly with a dirty book

cover.

I and the man's eyes bulged. Five Rumes?! And did she say Three on each? That was a lot of money.

Did I cost that much? No, wrong question, why did I cost that much?

"But-but-but!" The man said, his veiny wrinkled hand on his sliver beard. "T-that's outrageous. A crime,

is what it is!"

"Now look here," said the fat lady standing up, furiously. She dropped the book cover and pointed at

me with her stubby fingers. "You see this one? His name is Hems. And you know what he can do?"

The man looked at me for a brief time before saying, "What? What could he possibly do that makes

him so expensive?" His voice was hinted with annoyance now.

"I'll tell you what he can do." Said the woman excitedly like she had been called upon to provide the

latest gossip of the drama in our village. "He can see a bit into the future. Not like a year or month, no,

he can see what's gonna happen the next minute and all that. I wanted to keep him really but my

husband doesn't want him around. Said I had something for him. I mean, look at him! Why would I

have a special spot for a Pollette, eh? Now," she folded her fat arms. "Five Rumes, Three on each or

forget it."

At that moment, I had thought; "Don't all Servers have that?" I could see a bit into the future but only

seconds or minutes away. I know when a cup would fall, when someone wanted to sneeze or fart, or

when a robbery was about to take place. I had thought it was a common thing for a server to have. And

now here I was being looked at by the rich old man with an excited gleam in his eyes. I was worth FIVE

RUMES, THREE ON EACH!

A Rume was an enchanted coin made by sorcerers which explains why all of them are almost rich. It

was gold in color and it always had a number from zero(0) to ten(10). If you take a single Rume and

placed it on another coin and that Rume had the number 5 on it, it would multiply your money times

five. The Rume multiplies your money times the number on it. Once you use a Rume once, it turns Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

silver, but the number remains the same, which is the ordinary money for humans.

The old man opened his mouth to say something, probably to talk of a discount, many rich merchants

did that even though they have the money when at that moment, a man in a cloak stood before me. I

stared at his black shiny shoes, his dark clothings, a red something on his breast side and finally his

face. He was smiling. The man was highly handsome. He had good cheek bones, white teeth, blue

eyes, dark shiny slick hair, pink lips and a well shaped nose. He squatted in front of me, his eyes

shinning brightly.

"I heard you can see the future a bit. Is that true, little one?" His deep voice said, filling my head.

I watched his lips stop moving and I felt myself nodding my head. The lips began to spread til it was a

smile.

"Would you like to come with me, little one?"

Again, I felt my head nodding, going up and down, and again, he smiled, only wider this time. He stood

up and asked the fat woman.

"How much for him?"

The woman looked the handsome man over. After a while she said, "Seven Rumes, Four on each!"

The old man gasped in outrage and disgust. He gave the fat woman a glare who returned it in ten fold

and he walked away, muttering how fat people would always be disgusting. The woman was on the

verge of shouting after the man when the sound of coins clanking made her stop.

The man had removed a small bag of coins and he had counted Eight Rumes that had Fives on each

and gave it to the woman, who collected it in shaking hands. Her face had grown red at the sight of the

money. "Holy Seth*!"

"Please don't curse in front of the child." The man cautioned, tucking his purse back into his robes

again.

"Sure sure sure." The woman said absently, picking one of the coins and examining them like she

could eat them. Her eyes were stuck wide open.

"Come on, then!" The man said and seized my hand but in a gently way. He brought me to my feet. "My

name is Sir Walzon Vermin-"

"Sir Walzon Vermin?!" Exclaimed the fat woman in wonder. A coin dropped to the floor but she didn't

notice or just didn't care anymore. "You're that famous Guardsman?! Oh my god, my son is such a fan.

My husband too. Is it true you once slayed a Basilik? I've read about your adventures. They are all so-"

The man stretched his hand into the air, in front of the woman's face. He moved his finger which left a

trace of blue in the air. He wrote an F( it remained in the air), and then drew a T over the first alphabet.

Once the two letters met, they produced a small blue flash and disappeared. All this happened in at

least two seconds which shows how experienced he is.

The fat woman's eyes went white all over for at least five seconds before they returned to their normal

stingy brown. When she came around again, she looked down at the ground, searching til her eyes fell

on the Rume coin on the floor. She picked it up, whispering under her breath, "There you are my baby."

She packed up the mat, her canopy and book cover, put it into a big barrow and wheeled it away,

whistling. She didn't once look at me.

The man turned to me suddenly. I stepped back, a bit scared.

"Don't worry," he said chuckling. "That was just a memory spell. I don't want anyone to know Sir

Walzon was here. And she seemed like a talkative, rather. Don't you think so?"

I nodded slowly and awkwardly.

"Don't be so quiet then. Come on, tell me your name."

"Hems, sir! She called me Hems." I said with respect. Any chance when a Server was being treated

like humans could not be wasted.

"Well, she's not your owner anymore. What would you like to call yourself?"

I had no idea so I shrugged.

Sir Walzon rubbed his chin, thinking. He watched me for a minute and while he did, I immediately knew

what he was going to call me in a few seconds. My little ability had kicked in.

"How about Hamilton? Hamilton Hemmington. How do you like it?" He suggested.

At that moment, in that spot, my heart grew more and more for this man who had just taken in. There

was a nice aura around him. And his smile could wash away all your worries for as long as you looked

at him. I smiled a bit. "I like it, sir. Thank you so much sir."

Sir Walzon flashed his charming smile again.

*Seth: A curse word used by only adults and— sometimes— teens.

Note Of Understanding:

This story is not centered in the past though it may look like it. This is a universe in which past and

future is mixed together. Most things will be replaced by magic while others will not. Do not be

confused.