One thing that surprised me about Avani was the history of wars and violence that was not too different to Earth’s. I suppose conflict is universal among sapient beings, regardless of world. The feud between humans and elves was especially noteworthy. It seems the humans of this world greatly envied the elves, while the long lived race seemed to view mankind with contempt. How they underestimate us, even after so many years of war. Having met quite a few elves outside of combat… how do I put this politely? Their attitude leaves more to be desired.
-Excerpt from “The First Champion’s Reminiscence: Volume Three”
Galen startled awake as someone knocked on his door. He was at the desk in his room, his face having been buried in the open history book he’d been studying. He rubbed his face tiredly, and was disgusted to find he’d been drooling.
He quickly wiped off the saliva, cleaned the book he’d been reading, and hidden both it and the notes he’d written before answering the door.
“What?” he snapped with irritation.
He knew he could’ve been more polite, but he was currently operating on little sleep and was still rather pissed off given recent events.
It took his groggy mind a moment to recognize Aleksi, who raised his brows at him, “Morning, lad. You look like you didn’t sleep very well.”
Galen sighed, “That’s an understatement. Now, what is it?”
He wanted to get back to his studies as soon as he could. It had been a few days since he’d learned of the existence of slavery within the Dominion. He’d been pouring over every history book he had in his room, reading and studying well into the night as he tried to discern the lies from the truth.
The people at the castle let him be these past few days. They only bothered him to bring him his meals. It was the right move on their part. The Dominion clearly knew they had ruined much of the good will they had built with him. He wondered if Athanasius himself had been informed. He figured it was likely, but wasn’t sure how the supposed god emperor would react.
He snapped back to the present when Aleksi spoke, “I’ve come to let you know that the medicine for your Ether Intolerance has been made. And I will also be taking you there to get it so that we can continue your training.”
Galen had mixed feelings about that. For one, he really wanted to get back to his studies. But he also knew he needed a break, judging from the amount of mental fatigue he’d built up. Some physical training would do wonders for that. Also, as much as he resented the Dominion for what they were and for keeping important information from him, he still wanted to learn more about Ether and how to use it.
He rubbed his tired eyes, “Alright, fine. Let me get ready.”
Aleksi nodded, “I will await out here.”
After tidying up his disheveled appearance, changing into cleaner clothes, and making sure Redian was fastened to his belt properly, Galen went with Aleksi to pick up the Ether Intolerance medication. They walked through the halls in silence, the air between them tense and awkward.
Eventually, Aleksi cleared his throat, “How are you holding up, lad?”
Galen merely grunted in response.
Aleksi nodded in understanding before speaking in English, “It’s good you’re still suspicious of the Dominion. Don’t let those feelings fade, lad. That suspicion will protect you from being deceived further.”
Galen’s eyes narrowed at that bit of advice. He responded in the same tongue, “You know… it almost sounds like you want me to be distrustful of the Dominion.”
His mentor said nothing for a while, and just when Galen thought the man wouldn’t respond to the accusation, Aleksi replied, “I just don’t want them to take advantage of someone so young. Make no mistake, if you let them, they will. And without remorse.”
He had a feeling Aleksi was telling him the truth, but also got the impression there was more to it. Like the man wanted to say more, but was refraining for some reason.
He irritably exhaled through his nose. He wasn’t in the mood for this right now, but it did get him thinking. Aleksi had confessed to him that his faith was not in the Dominion’s Athurai. His tutor had also cautioned him numerous times to be wary, and that he hadn’t been a fan of a lot of things the Dominion did.
“You know,” Galen spoke in English, “thinking back on it, you really don’t seem very fond of the Dominion.”
Aleksi’s lips twitched upwards, almost forming a smile. He waited, but the man didn’t respond, apparently choosing to neither confirm nor deny his statement.
He would have pressed his mentor further, but they had arrived at the infirmary room. Galen felt the sting of betrayal anew as he saw Milton there with one of the doctors, no doubt waiting for his arrival.
“Ah, honored Champion! You’ve arrived,” Milton greeted.
He noted a bit of forced enthusiasm and cheerfulness from the nerdy scribe, as well as a hint of nervousness. Considering Galen wasn’t exactly trying to hide his anger over recent revelations, the scribe’s attitude wasn’t very surprising.
He crossed his arms, “I have. Aleksi here tells me the medication for my Ether Intolerance is ready.”
Milton nodded, and turned to the doctor. The man was dressed in white robes, and looked to be… well, a doctor.
Yet another striking similarity to Earth… Galen noted.
The doctor showed him a clear bottle filled with white, circular pills. He looked questioningly at him and Milton.
The doctor was the one who spoke as he held up the bottle, “These pills will help to temporarily curb and nullify the adverse reactions you’d normally have when burning Ether.”
“How often do I take these pills? How long does the medication last? And what did you use to make them?” he asked.
The doctor blinked a few times, not having expected the barrage of questions, “Umm… I’ll answer your questions one at a time, Champion. To start with, you merely need to take the pills whenever you plan to use Ether. The effects are immediate, and they also alleviate any adverse reaction to Ether right away. You know, just in case you forget to take them before using the power. You only need to keep taking them until your body adapts to burning Ether and no longer sees it at a threat, thus curing your Intolerance. The effects of the pills themselves should last a few hours per pill, allowing you to freely use Ether during that time-”
“How many hours?” Galen interrupted.
The doctor gave it some thought before answering, “About two to three hours. You should test to see how exactly how long the effect lasts for you, as the time varies for each person. The shortest time the effects have ever lasted was two hours, with the longest being about three. Oh, and be careful to not take more than one at a time lest you overdose. I’d place your daily limit to about four pills give or take.”
“And how did you make these pills?” Galen frowned, “and did you mention overdosing? What did you use to make them? What’s in these things?”
The doctor’s eyes glanced to Milton nervously. The scribe actually had the audacity to chuckle at Galen.
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“What’s so funny?” he asked Milton.
The scribe adjusted his glasses, “Forgive me, Champion. I just find this distrustful side of you rather amusing.”
Galen narrowed his eyes, “Why’s that?”
“Well,” Milton began, “forgive my forwardness, Champion… but with how suspicious you are being, one would think you expect us to lace the pills with something to poison you or some such.”
He snorted, “Given you lot abuse and enslave others, I wouldn’t put it past you.”
Milton ignored the jab, “Champion, please forgive me for saying so and for being so blunt… but if we wanted you dead, then there would have been many opportunities to do so by now.”
“Oh, how so?” Galen challenged.
“If poisoning you was our goal we simply would have poisoned the food you ate, for one,” Milton pointed out.
Galen raised a finger to argue, but deflated as he realized the truth behind that statement. He cursed himself for naively eating the food they brought him, but if they were going to poison him then he was sure he would have felt the effects by now. Considering he felt fine… there was no point arguing there.
“Alright, fair point…” Galen admitted.
“Also,” the scribe continued, “if we wanted you dead there are far more direct ways of doing so. Killing you in your sleep for example or simply having you killed during a sparring session. You have to admit that if the goal was to end your life, then we are clearly exerting far too much unnecessary effort to do so. Not to mention that killing you would defeat the whole purpose in summoning you in the first place. We need you, honored Champion. More than you realize. We knew there would eventually be points of conflict with you, because there were plenty with the First as well. So this was not unexpected-”
“Alright, I get it!” Galen threw his hands up in the air.
Milton gave him an apologetic look.
“I understand why you’re so distrustful of us now. We kept information that you felt was important for you to know hidden. That was wrong of us to do, and on behalf of the Dominion, I apologize. Our actions have brought shame to Athanasius’s holy name.”
Milton bowed deeply before him.
Galen was surprised. He hadn’t expected an apology.
Milton continued as he rose, “While it may not alleviate the resentment and feelings of betrayal you have, I should explain our side of things. We kept slavery hidden from you precisely because we wanted you to learn more of our world’s history.”
He frowned, “Why? Was it because you wanted me to warm up to you all before dropping that bombshell on me?”
Milton sighed, seeming visibly annoyed for the first time. Curiously though, that annoyance didn’t seem directed at him, “No, it’s because context matters. Especially in regards to history. We lived in different times back when the slavery started. I’m not sure if you’ve learned about the time just before and after the Great Fragmentation, but things back then were… tumultuous to say the least. Mankind had just come off an intense, bloody war against the elves. Emotions and resentment for them had been at an all time high back then. And that’s not even touching upon the mayhem and havoc that the Great Fragmentation itself wrought upon us all! We later learned that the other races had assisted the elves in enacting that catastrophe, which permanently altered and fractured Avani. In doing so, the other races showed their own malicious intent towards us. They feared and resented us enough to cause untold damage to the world itself! The consequences of which we are STILL learning about. Given all that, on top of coming off a prolonged, hate filled, and bloody war, is it any wonder our ancestors chose to enslave those left behind from the other races?”
Galen scowled, “That still doesn’t justify you turning them into slaves. Especially not now! You lot are punishing people who weren’t even born during those times; those who had nothing to do with what their ancestors did!”
Milton shook his head, “You still have a lot to learn, Champion. Though few in number now, there are some slaves who were alive back then.”
That surprised Galen, and it must have shown as Milton nodded and continued, “Yes, that’s right, Champion. The Great Fragmentation was over half a millennium ago, but some who were personally involved with the catastrophe are still alive. You underestimate how long lived the other races can be. Elves in particular can live centuries. As hard as it is for even me to believe, some of our records indicate that the oldest of them have lived for almost a millennium.”
“Even still… that just means you’ve been punishing them for over five hundred years now… Isn’t that enough?! Wouldn’t you say that they’ve paid for their crimes by now?”
“Who can say, Champion? What punishment is worthy, is justified, for those who caused a global disaster that permanently altered and changed the world, leaving it in an unstable mess?”
He growled in frustration, “I… I don’t know! But who’s to say that they were even involved or informed of the plan to cause the Great Fragmentation? I recall from my studies that those of other races who exist in the Dominion today are the descendants of those left stranded by it. If they had known they’d be left in the clutches of their enemies, would they have still fought back then? Who’s to say they weren’t just used as unwitting pawns by their leaders?”
Milton smiled warmly at him, “You truly have a good heart, Champion. And as hard to believe as it is, lord Athanasius himself shares opinions similar to your own.”
“Really?” Galen asked with suspicion.
“Yes,” the scribe affirmed, “Lord Athanasius, in his wisdom, has been trying to lessen the negative stigma towards the other races. Since he came into power several centuries ago, he’s been gradually trying to do away with slavery in the Dominion.”
“Then why doesn’t he?” Galen challenged, “he’s not just the Emperor, you people worship him as your god! Why doesn’t he just abolish it?”
Milton shook his head sadly, “As much as he would like to, to do so would throw the Dominion into chaos. Lord Athanasius has to keep in mind the threat of the other Realms. We’ve been out of contact with them all ever since the Realms were separated. I highly doubt they’ve forgotten about us. Nor would I count on their feelings towards us having become less hostile over the centuries. Though many in the Dominion profess to be faithful followers of holy Athanasius Durai, should he be so bold as to abolish slavery so suddenly, the social upheaval that would bring could cause a civil war. And should the other Realms find a way to navigate the Void Sea and invade during or even after such a war, humanity could be doomed. At the very least, we could see loss of human life not seen since the Human-Elf war!”
The scribe took a deep breath, “Which is why lord Athanasius decided to go with the slower method of gradual change. This is an option that is more easily afforded to him given his immortality. With age and death having no power over him, he can steadily guide that gradual change where it needs to go over the ages. And let me assure you, Champion, he has made remarkable progress. Most of the slaves of the Dominion are very well cared for. By now they are more servants than slaves.”
Galen snorted, “That’s not what I saw.”
The scribe actually seemed to look ashamed at that, “Yes… unfortunately there will always be those who hold too much hatred in their hearts, and take it out on those with less power than themselves. Such… barbaric treatment of the slaves as you saw is actually a rarity in the Dominion. And I’ll have you know such behavior is frowned upon. That noble you saw abusing his slaves has been dealt with and punished by Athanasius himself.”
Galen didn’t buy it, “A likely story.”
Milton smiled, almost like a predator. It sent chills down his spine.
“I figured you’d have a hard time believing it. So here is proof. I warn you though… it’s going to be grisly…”
The scribe snapped his fingers, and a guard holding a silver platter in his hands approached. The contents on the plate were covered with a dark sheet, and Galen felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as the guard held it up to him. Milton nodded, and the guard removed the sheet.
On a silver platter was the severed head of the noble he’d seen abusing his slaves.
He recoiled at the sight and felt sick to his stomach. He clasped a hand over his mouth, horrified at the sight of the decapitated noble and the look of frozen terror on his deceased face. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Aleksi standing with a look of surprised disgust.
The guard quickly covered the severed head and left as Milton dismissed him.
The scribe gave him a sympathetic look, “See? As I’ve told you, Athanasius wishes to one day end the prejudice and abuse the other races suffer from. And he has no tolerance for those who so blatantly fight against his vision.”
Galen audibly gulped as he rubbed at his own neck. He definitely hadn’t woken up today expecting such a brutal sight. A small, dark part of him thought, Good. This world is left a little better without that trash around…
He pushed the feeling down and said aloud, “Well… good. I’m glad Athanasius has good intentions for the other races.”
He gathered his resolve before telling Milton with as much conviction as he could muster, “But I’m telling you now… If I’m going to work with you all, I will bring about changes as I see fit. And you can bet that slavery is gonna be one of the first things I get rid of as soon as I’m able to. I don’t give a damn how the Dominion or even Athanasius himself feels about it. And if I see the same kind of abuse towards the slaves that I saw a few days ago again, there will be hell to pay. You got that?”
Milton actually beamed at that declaration, “I assure you, honored Champion… lord Athanasius would have it no other way.”
The doctor, who’d been standing to the side looking extremely uncomfortable as Galen and Milton had been arguing, stepped forward to hand him the pills to treat his Ether Intolerance.
Galen eyed them suspiciously, before finally sighing, Well… regardless I’m not going to be able to survive and make it home unless I can use Ether…
“To hell with it,” he muttered aloud as he reached out and accepted the bottle.
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