Requiem Run

Fourth and final time was the charm, if I was an optimist. Unfortunately, Xelsa had chewed up and swallowed my optimism the previous day when he shouted me into partial deafness, so when I was brought to the double wooden doors that would take me to the final Runner - the guy with the wings - I was mentally checked out.

“Get in there before I put my spear through you and force you in.” the guard behind me said, taking me out of my deep thoughts.

“Wow, I didn’t know you kink like that.” I said without thinking. The man shoved me through the door and I promptly hit the floor inside the room. I saw stars and heard the sound of someone rushing to my side.

“My stars, are you okay?” a warm-sounding voice said as I was helped back to my feet. I blinked my sight back into existence, and finally realized who I was talking to; the man with the big wings on his back.

“My name is Saulon Zappiel,” said the man, “But you, my dear, may call me just Zappiel, or Zapp if that makes you happy. Your name is Riley, correct?”

“Yes, that’s it.” I said, still a little dazed from being shoved into the room so harshly.

“Did that oaf injure you?” Zappiel asked.

“I… not really, no…” I said.

“Excuse me,” said the man as he stepped past me and moved towards the door, “I will have a talk with the guard about his treatment of the maidens. Please, make yourself comfortable.”

Before I could say anything, Zappiel rushed out the door and it closed behind him. I turned to make my way across the room to the only thing that was there, a table with two chairs, when I heard the sound of raised voices on the other side of the door. My snooping urges got the better of me and I leaned in to listen.

“- Have absolutely no right to do that, and if I see you place another hand on one of these maidens I will personally burn you to a crisp in front of them so they can enjoy the pleasure of watching you burn in agony!”

I immediately regretted allowing Zappiel to do that. Even though I wasn’t the biggest fan of the guards, I still had to deal with them when no one was looking, which meant that they weren’t going to be happy with me anymore.

I was brought back from my thoughts when Zappiel came back into the room, forcefully closing the door behind himself as he did so, and looking super annoyed.

“I apologize again,” said Zappiel as he walked over to me and gently took my left hand, “Those boorish guards never know when they should have some manners.”

His words were lost on me since my heart started going a mile a minute as soon as he started touching me. I could feel my face flush, and butterflies in my stomach. The feeling was so overwhelming, I nearly became nauseous on the spot.

“Goodness, is everything okay?” Zappiel asked, “You look like you might faint on me. Please don’t.”

“I don’t plan on it.” I said, lying through my teeth. Zappiel didn’t look convinced at all, but he dropped it and led me to the table on the other side of the room, sat me down at one end, then sat down at the other end. For a moment, we locked eyes and my heart started going again.

Just as I was wondering how awkward things were going to get, Zappiel spoke up, startling me a little.

“I cannot imagine what you must be feeling towards not just me, but the others as well. I would imagine that you hate us all.”

“Huh?” I mean, he had a point, but the way he said, so matter-of-factly, took me completely off-guard.

“I understand that you hate us,” Zappiel continued, his pale, pale blue eyes locking me in with nowhere to go, “We have no choice but to kill you, a nineteen-year-old girl with her whole life ahead of her. Do you have any family?”

I paused for a brief second. I didn’t want to tell this man, or any of the men, anything intimate about me. Something in this man’s eyes told me that it would be okay to get personal, but I really didn’t want to. At least, until I started talking without really thinking.

“I live with my mom and my sister, Diane.” I said, “Diane is seventeen.”

“Because of us, they will never know what happened to you, you will never know what it’s like to get old, marry, have a family. And for that, I am sorry.”

“Then why are you doing this?” I said, “If you were really sorry, you would do something to help me, or make that emperor asshole stop all of this!”

“Unfortunately, that is not possible,” said Zappiel, “The Emperor would never end the Requiem Run until his mission is complete.”

“Mission?” I said, “What mission?”

“I cannot say,” said Zappiel, “But rest assured, there is nothing I can do to stop this process.”

“Well… shit.” I said, looking down at the floor, “What the hell can I do? It’s not like I have a way out of here.”

Silence, for a brief moment. Then Zappiel spoke up again.

“There might be one way.”

I looked up immediately. In the back of my mind, I knew there was a chance that he was just getting my hopes up, trying to get me all excited, then crushing it all, like Xelsa or Killian, but my hope was still strong enough to go for it.

“Ms. Newman - or may I call you Riley?” Zappiel said. When I nodded to confirm, he continued.

“Riley, there is a hidden rule that you must know.” Zappiel’s words were calm, and he stepped over to me to take my hands. As soon as we touched, my eyesight went blurry and my heart went off again. I got so nauseous that I pulled my hands away and took a couple of steps back. I was wondering if he was doing all of this to me somehow, to screw with me.

“A hidden rule?” I said.

“Come with me,” said Zappiel, “I can explain this rule on our way to the library.”

“The library?” I said, “Why are we going over there?”

“There are some books there that I’d like to show you,” said Zappiel, “I’ve had the whole room cleared out for our visit today, so that no one is going to bother us.”

“Uh… okay…” I was confused at how cryptic he was being, but just went along with it as Zappiel took my hand and started leading me to the door, then down the hallway. Meanwhile, I was still trying to comprehend why I was feeling the way I felt whenever this man came anywhere near me. Butterflies in my stomach, face flushing, nausea. If I didn’t know better, I could swear that I had a crush on him, but I knew that couldn’t be it.

Eventually, the man led me to two big wooden doors and pushed through them into a humongous library. If I hadn’t been confused and excited about Zappiel’s ‘hidden rule’ thing, I probably would felt as though I were in heaven.

“Are you a fan of books, Riley?” Zappiel asked.

“Oh, definitely,” I said, “Preferably classic literature, like Moby-Dick, or The Great Gatsby.”

“Is that so?” Zappiel asked, “I’ve heard some maidens mention that last title a long time ago, though they said less than favorable things about it.”

“Makes sense, the book wasn’t well received when it… came out.” It took me a moment to realize the implication that this man had met people who read the book when it came out in the 1920’s.

“Well, there is something I’d like to show you,” said Zappiel as he gently took my hand again and started walking me over to a table in the corner of the room.

“So, are you gonna tell me this hidden rule?” I asked as Zappiel sat me down at the table and took a seat next to me.

“Ah, yes,” said Zappiel, “Well, you see, there are several temples littered around the island where the Run will take place, five in all. For a maiden to activate the hidden rule, she must cleanse her face in the fountain that resides in the temples. Once her face has been cleansed in all five fountains, she must return to the main arena, and she will be allowed to return home.”

“That’s it?” I said, “They can’t just stab me and call it even?”

“Absolutely not!” said Zappiel, taking my hand and placing it on the table, “They must allow you to return to your world, and this kingdom will never bother you again, no matter how long you live.”

A pang of hope entered my soul. If there was a way for I, and the other girls, to escape this nightmare, I was more than ready to take that risk.

“Sounds good,” I said, “Of course, you people aren’t gonna make it easy for me, are you?”

“Well, we’re not supposed to,” said Zappiel, “After all, our goal is to kill you.”

“Gee, thanks for remind me.” I said glumly, slumping in my seat a little to boot. Zappiel looked like he was about to say something, but paused when there was a loud crash coming from the hall.

“What in…” Zappiel trailed off, then he stood up to go for the hallway, but stopped next to me.

“I’ll go check that out Riley, can you wait here for me?” the man asked, giving me a small half-smile. I just nodded, trying to keep my beating heart from pounding out of my chest. Zappiel nodded to me, then he hurried out into the hallway, leaving me alone.

I leaned back in my chair, taking a moment to look around at the shelves, when something caught my eye, a small flash of movement as though someone had slipped behind the shelves.

“Is someone there?” I asked. Zappiel had told me earlier that he had cleared the entire library for the two of us, so the idea that someone was in there, while he wasn’t, was worrying to me.

Even so, I stood up and started moving in the direction of the thing that I had seen move. When I got closer, I heard footsteps move quickly away, which I then followed as quietly as possible. Just as the footsteps were about to hide around another shelf, I rushed over and caught the person by the wrist. The person turned to me and I finally got the chance to get a good look at them; an orc woman that looked similar to the emperor, green skin, tusks, red eyes, and jet-black messy hair that covered one of her eyes, wearing a dark robe.

Before I could say anything, the big woman tried to pull away from me. When she did so, something thumped to the floor that she had been keeping tucked under her arm.

“Who are you?” I asked, keeping my hold tight though it probably shouldn’t have mattered since she was a head taller than me and slightly wider and broader than me. The woman looked at me with her wild red eyes and said in a husked whisper, “Please don’t tell.”

“Tell what?” I asked.

“Don’t let anyone know I’m here!” the woman said, “I’m not supposed to be here!”

“I can tell,” I said, “Zappiel had this room cleared for us, so what are you doing here? And who are you, anyway?”

“I… I just needed to grab something,” said the woman, turning to face me entirely, “I couldn’t wait, but… please-“

“I won’t tell anyone that you’re here,” I said, “Promise.”

The woman sighed in relief and said, “Thank you so much. You’re… you’re one of the maidens, right?”

“That’s right,” I said, “Riley Newman. Your turn.”

“My name…” the orc woman paused, as though she wasn’t sure if she could trust me. I smiled to her, and that seemed to give her the right idea.

“My name is Rhys,” the woman said, “You’re the first maiden I've ever spoken to... ever, as a matter of fact.”

“Wow, I feel so privileged.” I said, still smiling. Rhys smiled back at me, but then froze when we heard the sound of the door opening and Zappiel calling out, “Riley? Where are you?”

“Crap!” I whispered, “Hide!”

Rhys ducked behind a bookshelf and disappeared from my sight. Just as I was going to run back to Zappiel, I stopped, picked up the book that Rhys had dropped, though it was too late to return it to her. As I ran back to Zappiel, I tucked the book into my dress, fluffing it just enough that no one would notice that I had put something in there.

I turned the corner and said, “I’m right here, sorry!”

Zappiel turned to face me, worry in his face being replaced by relief.

“Where were you?!” Zappiel asked, “I was so worried when you weren’t here!”

“I got distracted by the books,” I said, “Sorry about that. Listen Zapp, I’m not feeling all that well. Would it be okay if we just said we spent the day together, and I just went back to my room to rest?”

“Oh no! Are you feeling alright?” Zappiel asked as the back of his hand went to my forehead. I gently pushed it away, heart leaping up into my throat.

“I’m okay,” I said, “I just need to lie down. I appreciate you telling me about the hidden rule, and that’s really all you can do, isn’t it?”

“Well, there is one more thing.” Zappiel said, then he took a roll of paper out of his robe and placed it in my hand, “This is a map of Menap Island. Please, use it to your utmost advantage.”

“Thank you Zapp,” I said, “I’m sure this will come in useful.”

Zappiel nodded, and I could swear that there was a light blush on his cheeks, probably the same as mine, though I still couldn’t understand why.

Zappiel took my hand again and led me back to my room. Neither of us said anything the whole walk back, but I could feel that Zappiel was disappointed that we weren’t going to spend the rest of the day together. To be honest, I was a little disappointed too, even though Zapp had already told me everything I needed to know from him, and he was still trying to kill me.

Turning a corner, I noticed that the light shining through the windows came out green due to the shade. I had a pretty good idea that Zapp liked this; his favorite color was green after all.

I nearly froze on the spot when I had that thought. How the hell did I know this man’s favorite color like it was a fact?

“Zappiel?”

“Yes, Riley?”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Green, why?”

“Just… curious.” I nearly crapped myself right then and there. Something was going completely wrong in my head, and now it was getting really scary, getting all these intrusive thoughts.

I managed to push my own fear down as Zappiel and I arrived back at my bedroom, and Zappiel kissed my hand.

“I will miss you, Ms. Newman,” said Zappiel, “Get better soon.”

“Uh, thank you.” I said. Zappiel gave me one last smile that melted my heart, and then closed the door behind me as I stepped into my bedroom. When I heard the man walking away, I pulled the book out from my dress and placed it on the bed along with the map.

The book looked old, even for books in a medieval setting like this one, with a leather cover brittle with age, and the pages yellow as well. I gently started flipping through the pages when I noticed one page that was folded in, like it had been marked for someone to return to.

“The possession gem…” I read the title of the page, apparently this was a book about magical items. Still though, I kept reading.

The possession gem is a device that can be used as a means of control. The gem is a small, round red gem that must be placed on the chest of the individual, above his or her heart. When the gem has taken control, the person will be bound to the controller’s will. The only way to free someone from the gem’s control is to remove the gem from the skin, but this has been described as an incredibly painful process. The Empire has banned possession gems from any sort of use by the general public.

I read the page two or three more times. I felt like this was some kind of fate, or destiny. I was supposed to read this page, and know what might be really going on.

Yeah, it was totally possible that Rhys dropped this book by pure coincidence and I just happened to read this page that someone else had bookmarked a long time ago.

But there were still some things that helped this theory; all of the men, Kydro, Killian, Xelsa, even Zappiel, all of them were wearing high collars so that no one could see their chests. This might have made sense for someone like Kydro, or Zappiel, but considering Xelsa’s love of high wind and Killian’s… pervy nature, there was no way those two wouldn’t want to expose as much skin as possible.

Of course, that could just be a personal choice for them, and this ‘possession gem’ thing could have just been me grasping at straws. Either way, there wasn’t much I could do about it right now.

I closed the book and turned to the map. I had less than twenty-four hours to figure the map out, and I had every intent to do that. If these assholes were going to try and have to kill me, I was going to make it as hard for them as possible.