Mentor Wolf

Juna Frost finds herself encamped with Issak Rokodgo, an Orc that has been hired to be her mentor before she learns to become a Gunslinger. She learns of Issak's religion and of other important topics

     Gently in the breeze, the teenager’s wavy red-headed thicket of hair swayed. She was The Wanderer’s Ward, Juna Frost of Dragon’s Seed, a young woman of sixteen years. The events from her time with her Warden, the outlaw known as “The Great Destroyer”, swam to the surface of her thoughts. He had left her and the man currently accompanying her to go to the town of Silverbank, a place she would soon be calling home or so her Warden had told her. As she reflected she found that she didn’t like thinking of him as her simply her Warden. She felt he was more to her than that and she hoped she was more to him than that as well. She did not hope for this in means of romantics but instead as guardian and as a father. Her own issues with foster parents and orphanage in her life had brought her to her Warden, the person she now considered a true father figure than simply a Warden. She assumed it would likely be quite some time before he would return to her, though. Juna put such thoughts aside as they spoiled her mood. She would have to get herself under wraps before her Warden returned and she would do so with the help of the man currently escorting her to Silverbank, the man who would be her mentor for the time being.

      “Issak?” she asked towards the trees that swayed around her. She had heard a twig that snapped amongst the brush. Her hearing and sense of smell had increased significantly with her new affliction, the affliction that had called for this mentor of hers that her Warden had handsomely paid for. Juna caught the scent of her companion and saw his dulled olive green skin emerge from the forest.

       “Yeah it’s me. My hunt was successful. Bless Alpha and Omega,” Issak answered happily as he dragged along a creature by the nape of its neck. Juna cocked a brow at the words that Issak had used. She had not heard of such a thing. The commonly followed faith was The Four " Helena, Damian, Xera, and William. She knew not of any such Gods by the names of Alpha or Omega.

          “What?” she said, voicing her confusion towards Issak’s words.

        “I said my hunt was successful,” Issak repeated and tossed the dead Triolliver down near the camp. It was a creature that appeared like a Gecko yet was roughly the size of a fully grown man. It also had a signifying feature of three horns on its face: one on either side of the jaw and another jutting out directly above the nose. Juna figured Issak probably would’ve had much more difficulty in killing the beast if it weren’t for his ability to transform when needed.

         “No, not that. Alpha and Omega. What’s that?” Juna questioned the man who was dressed in a worn armored suit meant for the Honor Guard, the proud protectors of the Grand King. It was styled in the way it was back when he had served the Guard, so the current members did not raise trouble with him continuing to don the armor. Issak brushed some dirt from its red and black coloring and glanced at the Human he was being paid to assist.  His somewhat greasy, long black hair swayed in the wind as he approached more fully into the clearing where the two of them made camp.

        “Oh, that. He is the true God. All of the worshippers who follow after The Four are victims of a massively retold set of fables and stories. They are illusions, devious tricks crafted by spinster storytellers. Alpha and Omega " He is true, He is in reality. He was born both as the Father and the Son. Alpha gives us life, Omega gives us love, and both of them as one demand loyalty in return for their gifts. They are not like your Four who sit in their indifference to the good and evil that happens in the world. That is no means of being Godly, sitting and doing nothing - as such they are naught but fairy tales. Alpha and Omega bring down the hand of justice when it is necessary for Him to do so. He has proven himself very real to the faithful. Those who don’t believe must be given a guiding hand to the truth for otherwise they will fall into the pits of Hell by the Dark One’s traps,” Issak informed the red-haired teenager. Juna found this belief fascinating already. She had never heard of such a faith floating around in the Ironblood Empire. She wondered if the belief itself originated from lands outside the Ironblood Empire’s countries.

          “How do you know all of this?” Juna questioned the man she had found to be more religious than she had initially guessed at.

        “It was Omega who brought the divine light of truth before us. We follow His words and His teachings. He is one who informed us of His divine heritage, His birth to a God who ruled over a singular Heaven. There is also a single Hell also and one who lords over it, but we do not speak much of him for it brings his presence about. Omega taught us about Himself, about how He was born to a virgin on the winter month of Neptuna. This woman whom He was born to was sacrificed at His birth as she contained the almighty power of Alpha, the true God " bless her graceful sacrifice for freeing Him to the world. Omega is Alpha and Alpha is Omega. Unfortunately our blessed Omega betrayed - betrayed by some of the very peoples he created,” Issak mentioned.

          “How so?” Juna asked for continuation.

      “Omega, His mortal body, was damned by the people of sea. He journeyed to a Mer city " Kalistora. He went there to give sermon and to spread Alpha’s teachings and lessons. They are usually quite a welcoming to people, but Omega came down to them to teach them the blessings of Alpha and His ways, as such He was not there as a simple tourist. They found His words to be heresy to their God, Octus the Speaker " I’m sure you’ve learned about him,” Issak mentioned.

         “Actually they didn’t teach us much about Octus in school,” Juna stated.

        “Well, I’ll give you some background then before I go on. Octus the Speaker appears like most of the Mer, with their smooth off-green or off-blue colored body of scales, except his head looks like that of an Octopus but with many eyes as well as a fair amount of the kelp-like hair common to Mer people. Anyway, they believe Octus is the one that united the Mer tribes to form their modern cities and that Octus is the one that established their government. Basically they revere him for making them a civilized people. They also believe he is the reason why there are plentiful fish in the ocean for them to eat and that he protects them from us, those who live beyond the sea. Funny thing, they actually think Octus the Speaker had cursed the lot of us who don’t live in the ocean to not be able to see easily in the water, have difficulty in maneuvering quickly, and have breathe air so that we don’t have ease in ability to attack or otherwise antagonize them,” Issak explained, talking down to the facets of their religion as he thought about the sanctity of his own.

          “Interesting. So what did the Mer do with Omega?” Juna brought the point back.

      “Well…like I was saying, they didn’t appreciate the supposed ‘heresy’ Omega was trying to enlighten them with. They ordered Him to leave, but bless Him " He decided to try and speak to the more impressionable Mer: the children, as they were not fully corrupted yet by their culture’s false deity. He wanted to save them from not believing in the true God: Alpha and Omega " the Father and Son. Omega’s only crime was attempting to save them and show them His light, for His love is eternal and unconditional. He wished to show them the light as Alpha cannot forgive the sinners who live in willing ignorance to His love and to His greatness,” Issak added.

          “So Alpha and Omega’s love isn’t unconditional,” Juna corrected.

          “What?” Issak perked an ear towards her.

         “His love is conditional. If he will punish non-believers simply for non-belief then his love can’t be ‘unconditional’. That’s a condition to obtain his love, right?” Juna posed forth onto Issak.

         “No, no - His love is unconditional to all, believers and non-believers alike. He simply asks for His love to be reciprocated. Think of it as a relationship you might’ve had or will have in the future. You’d love a boy with all your might when that time comes or has come, right? Yet despite all the love you would pour onto that potential lover, you’d want that love to be returned to call that a true relationship would you not?” Issak said in an almost condescending tone.

         “Yeah but between you and me " I wouldn’t send a person to a Hell for forever for not loving me. Sounds kind of vain for a God, don’t you think?” Juna challenged. Issak shook his head. It pained him to know that she was plagued by a lack of belief in the powerful Almighty. There was more to Him and understanding Him than what he, Juna, or anyone could comprehend.

       Juna stared right back at Issak as he saw his apparent loss of desire to discuss further. She delved into this conversation looking for reason and was finding none but was ready to keep searching. He seemed apt to give up at the first sign of difficulty in his beliefs. If it were truly so strong or so deeply held then surely he would continue to define his God and challenge said God where it was necessary. Those who believed and didn’t believe in the Four often challenged the Four’s tenants and doctrines. The Priests of the Four often willingly discussed until believers and non-believers alike agreed on what the faith was trying to preach or establish. Issak’s religion however seemed adverse to discussion or at least he was portraying it so.

          “Listen, there’s books about His words and what He’s done, the scriptures detail His teachings and His decrees " they tell the stories of His mysterious ways and why you must place faith in His decisions. If you want solid proof, Omega’s body can be seen in Kalistora, even now. Omega’s body remains here, yet His soul is now with the Father as they are one in Heaven. They rule over their divine kingdom in the sky,” Issak mentioned. He wanted to drop it here but the girl seemed apt to learn about it as she did with most things. Juna found it even more interesting with his mention of books about the subject. She did not find the religion particularly fascinating in its own prospect or mythology (or at least not yet), but instead she was more intrigued by the fact that it had to be believed by a fair amount of people for there to be scriptures and so on about it. That quite concerned her as it seemed to be a very demanding religion in wrong places, insisting on the faith itself rather than insisting on the values of the faith.

       “Back to Omega and the Mer. We didn’t really get that much farther. What happened?” Juna returned the subject.

         “Blessed is He. I was saying that He practiced mercy with them and so attempted to secretly teach young folk who were willing to rebel against the beliefs of Octus. They provided Omega with spells and mutagens to breath, speak, see, and move properly in their city " and he provided them with Himself as their Pastor for Alpha’s teachings. The children dubbed him Omega the Bishop in opposition to their previously taught false God, Octus the Speaker. Nevertheless, His graciousness was found out by the parents of some of those whom He taught. Angered by his second attempt to sway the people away from their false God they constructed a cross, crucified Him, and removed the spells and mutagenic potions that allowed him to breath, speak, and see underwater,” Issak continued.

            “I’m guessing that’s where died and can still be found like you said. So what tenets does this God of yours enforce? The Four have texts in which they state what allows one into their Heavens and their Hells. They also state in their texts that they do not interfere with mortals, and if they do they act in ways so subtle it’s not seeable by our short lives. How much different is that from Alpha and Omega?” Juna stated.

         “Yes, I know of The Four and their ways and followers. As for Alpha and Omega, He upholds the values of a many deal of things. They are stated in His scriptures. They detail all of His demands for the people. Primarily though they state that we believers do our best to try and save our fellow man and turn them to His grace. The books tell of Alpha and Omega’s demands thoroughly,” Issak answered. Juna found it odd how apt he seemed to refer to the books than answer questions fully himself.

          “Not everyone is educated enough to read. Are the illiterate doomed?” Juna challenged again. She didn’t feel necessarily apprehensive to Issak, but found it odd that a man like the one she had come to know thus far had aligned himself to a belief that forced its way onto a very strong code of enlisting others.

        “This is another aspect we must teach to our fellow man, the gifts of knowledge given to us from the true God,” Issak said. Juna’s cocked a brow once again.

          “What about a stillborn? Do they ascend to Heaven or do they suffer the price of eternal torture for not existing long enough to believe?” Juna inquired starkly.

          “You are quite audacious aren’t you, red-headed Human?” Issak said in response.

          “Doesn’t seem like an Orc to throw himself in with the matters of Gods,” Juna replied.

         “Now, that, young one " is racist. What do you think - that I like to beat my women and grind my teeth on a battleaxe?” Issak said with a laugh. He figured with such a remark he could dismiss the rest of her disputes as she so openly spoke at him with stereotypes.

         “Oh come on, that’s not racist,” Juna defended.

         “Maybe not as harsh as some, but it would be the same as if I said ‘doesn’t seem like a Human to conserve your resources and not be overtly xenophobic’. I could call you a pigskin-ape. It’s just a different level of racism,” Issak retorted.

      “I wouldn’t be offended by that first part " that’s mostly true. Humans do tend to overuse resources and they often willingly display their dislike of the other races. We’ve gotten better at not doing those types of things over time. It is however, a still mostly true statement about the commoner of my kind. Calling me that second name is a little different,” Juna argued.

       “Fair point. I apologize. Still, it’s not nice to call people on not fulfilling their stereotype,” Issak compromised.

        “I can agree to that…in fact let’s agree to mostly avoid the topic of religion and politics from now on,” Juna said with a jesting laugh. Issak was glad for this. He was actually not entirely well versed on the religion he followed, it had mostly been a guiding point for him in bad times " it was somewhat humiliating to be challenged on key issues about the challenges aimed towards it and having to keep referring back to some book that she had to read that he actually hadn’t read through entirely either. He still faithfully believed in Alpha and Omega, though he figured after this conversation that he needed to better inform himself about His greatness and His teachings.

       “Yes indeed. Next time I see that Gunslinger I’m going to try and kill him for leaving me with such a headstrong teenager like you. How am I supposed to teach you if you’re tougher and probably smarter than me?” Issak joked back reflecting upon his first encounter with Juna and her Warden.

       “Well you did become a Knight, not a Scholar…so I can’t entirely blame you. Thanks for the compliment though,” Juna said with a smile.

        “Gods damned this world. I’ve trained and learned for decades and I’m on the same level, or perhaps lower, of a sixteen or seventeen year-old girl,” the Orc lamented with a somewhat empty laugh. He knew it was mere a nicety though. There were definitely things he had seen and done that would allow him more experience about the world than Juna would’ve come to learn yet.

          “So what’s this thing you brought us here?” Juna questioned looking at the odd beast’s corpse. She remembered sometimes of her Warden’s almost textbook-like knowledge of some beasts and wondered to the prospect of being a Slayer. Her Warden had discussed the idea himself when they were travelling and the thought had stuck to her since. She wondered if she wouldn’t give it some serious thought once she learned enough things.

         “It’s a Triolliver. They’re a cousin race to Kobolds. They’re not as intelligent and they don’t work in packs like Kobolds often do, but they’re extremely deadly " no way will anybody tell you otherwise. They’re exceptionally agile and they can be deadly if they sprint at you with the horns on their face. Otherwise, they spit toxins that cause hallucinations in their prey. That allows them to eat their victims while there are confused. Slayers are sometimes hired to slay one, but they often either refuse the contract or are killed in the attempt. Thankfully these guys are exceedingly rare nowadays. They’ve been spotted unknowingly scrambling into Dragon dens. Dragons…you know how they are I’m sure - considering from where you’re from, I mean. They’ll take any food they can get; their appetites are almost never satisfied,” Issak informed her.

     “Well…yeah, I do know about Dragons. Definitely…” she said emptily as she pictured the magenta colored Dragon of Dragon’s Seed. She pushed her mind away from that time and from those people, The Fireband Cult. There was a moment or two of silence as Issak studied Juna’s uneasy face.

         “You okay, red-head?” Issak asked. Her hair was a color genetically sported almost primarily by Humans, as such he referred to her by that attribute at times. Juna didn’t necessarily dislike or like the nickname.

         “Yeah, I’m okay. You’ve fought Triollivers before I take it? Almost sounds like you wanted to be a Slayer,” Juna said, pushing the topic of Dragons away. She had reflected on Dragon’s Seed before, the place where she had met her Warden. She had talked about it with her Warden afterwards at times during slower, quieter points of their travels - but even then she didn’t much like talking about it. She liked speaking about it even less with someone who she didn’t know quite well yet like Issak. They had gotten to know each other a fair amount since leaving from Littlefoot, but she missed her Warden already.

       “Nah, I heard about them when I was in the Marauders Academy. I had originally signed up there to be a Mancer. I had wanted to specify in Transformancy, a developing field of magic based on changing the material or making of a body’s flesh at will. I guess you could say it’s similar, if not a sub-category to Protomancy. Instead of moving flesh about like clay, as the Protomancers so romantically put it, Transformancy would be changing the flesh entirely. An example of it would be like…like temporarily turning the flesh of your knuckles into stone during a fist-fight,” Issak explained.

          “Well I don’t see Mancer’s robes on you so I’m guessing " “ Juna said.

       “Yes indeed, that didn’t pan out. I guess I fulfilled your Orc stereotype in that respect. I didn’t pass the tests so I wasn’t smart enough or mentally capable or whichever you’d like to say, to become a Mancer. Instead I became a Knight and some time later when I was excommunicated from the Honor Guard, I became a Knight Errant,” Issak answered.

         “Right, you told me about that earlier,” Juna said. Issak nodded, his ebony hair flitting back with a breeze. He scratched at his face, his beard had filled in enough to give a faded color of black to a general amount of his pale olive colored face. He had shaved just this morning, yet already it was filling back in " likely the effect of being what he was.

     “Yeah I did tell you about that. How’s about we hear about you for once, red-head?” Issak inquired at the pale-blue eyed girl with auburn hair that gleamed in the sunlight. She had a semi-rounded face, but nothing to suggest overeating, more that it was simply the shape of her face. She was very healthy looking too as she had lived the life on the road for some time now. Her face, as he gazed upon it and noticed, was accented with a very light smattering of freckles which only offered her a clashing look of innocence with the reality of her fierceness as she had a revolver holstered at her hip. She wore the wears of a Gunslinger like her Warden, but she did not yet call or identify herself as such a class. She merely dressed up as one for the time being.

         “I’ve already told you most what I can about me. I’m only sixteen, how many stories do you think I have to tell?” she said back.

       “I forget you are so young. Apologies,” Issak said to her. She watched back at Issak and his complexion. He was much smoother and less battle-worn than her Warden. She wondered if that meant he had been in less conflict than the Gunslinger or that instead, whatever injuries he racked up as a Knight or Knight Errant had been healed quickly thanks to his accelerated healing ability, though she wondered now how long he had been what he was.

          “So we going to eat that thing or not?” Juna said looking at the Gecko-like creature.

        “I have to prepare and cook the thing. That and I have to separate the toxins from the meat. I can probably sell that stuff to an Alchemist. That or I can sell it to some junkie, let them make some Neurotickle out of it,” Issak stated.

           “I’d rather not sell drugs, if we can mange that,” Juna said disapprovingly.

      “Drugs are fun red-head, if you don’t want to sell them I can get the recipe for it,” Issak suggested. Juna shook her head. The kids at school often pressured her to try such things. She had been curious, but saw what it did to the people who tried to egg her on. Some of them were able to have fun with it and make it without too much harm, most of the others however ended up in terrible predicaments " some of which they never fully recovered from.

           “That’s fine. Besides, I don’t think Alpha and Omega would approve,” Juna reminded him. He laughed heartily at her remark.

          “Perhaps you’re right. I have a lot of repenting to do as it is,” Issak admitted. Still he would have to separate out the toxic sacs within the Triolliver’s throat and that would take some time.

                                                                   _________________

        “You’ve seen the Grand King, haven’t you?” Juna spoke up after Issak was nearly finished with cooking their night’s meal and the following day’s breakfast.

      “Nope. The only people that ever get to see his face in broad daylight are kept under strict surveillance. Anybody who has actually seen him " if they even so much as begin to describe the hairs on his lip to themselves, they are put to the sword. No one knows his actual name either. I was in service to him for a long while though. I’m about forty-something now, I’ve lost track, but I did nearly twenty years of solid Knight’s duties for the man. I was with the Honor Guard as you know, so when I did work with him all of my orders came directly from him by messenger or parchment. For a long time I headed the chase for Ryoma Mushin, the Demon Swordsman. I wonder how old that Ronin is now,” Issak reflected.

        “Wait so you served under him for that long? Just how old is the Grand King?” Juna questioned.

       “You ask so many God damned questions, if you weren’t so young I’d tell you that’s a bad habit. The Grand King? No one knows how old he is. For a while he took on the Ironblood Empire alone with no Grand Queen. Only until about five or so years ago a Grand Queen came into the picture. He hasn’t allowed people to know of her either. Perhaps he picked her out from one of the tavern wenches he liked especially more than the others " Hell if I know. Regardless our monarch’s age is just as much a mystery as the rest of him. No one knows what he looks like, how old he is, or his name " yet he has all this power to do the corrupt things as he’s done just because he can. I think it gives him a way of having any hate that would be directed toward him somewhat deflected. It’s almost like hating a concept instead of a man " I don’t know. He’s a coward and he has an ego problem, that’s for sure. Damned monarch started a war based on an insult. ‘The Ink Rebellion’ he called that war. Almost had the Marauders completely wipe out the Drakeinians,” Issak said.

     “Strange how he’s been able to keep with the secrecy for so long, especially with someone who’s so seemingly prideful. And after all this time I would think he’d be ancient by now,” Juna stated. She gave thought to a Grand King who was a Lycan or a Vampire " it wouldn’t have been the first time in history for that to happen. 

      “Many people wonder if he’s immortal, some even speculate that he might actually be a Dragon. I guess that would explain the age and the secrecy, but it wouldn’t necessarily explain all the b******s he has sired " all of them are at least half-Human. So I’d say he’s one of your kind, but that’s about as far as knowledge about him goes,” Issak said.

       “Maybe the b******s know some things?” Juna wondered.

      “Nah, some people have tried that idea out already. They only could identify one thing with all the Grand King’s b******s,” Issak mentioned.

         “What’s that?” Juna said.

        “They’re all a******s. Guess it runs in the family,” Issak said with a laugh. Juna expected their conversation concluded with the lack of information on the subject, but still she wondered greatly about the man who held the Gauntlet and the Throne. Issak gave Juna a slab of meat, freshly cooked and somewhat delectable looking in comparison to the previous night’s cuisine.

      “Here you go red-head, it’s a bit tough, but once you get used to the texture the meat itself doesn’t taste half-bad,” Issak warned her.

       “Well I wasn’t necessarily expecting it to be steak. Thanks, Issak,” she said with a smile. She took her first bite and chewed at it voraciously.

        “Wow, you were hungry weren’t you?” Issak said with a grin, going at his portion of the meal with his own ferocity. He had been quite hungry as well.

    “Mmhmm,” she murmured with a mouth full of food. She breathed a sigh of relief as she swallowed the first bites of her serving of Triolliver. She pictured her Warden as she last saw him and hoped he had recovered quickly. She smiled as she thought about how tough he was and how intense he always seemed. Juna wished well for her Warden, wherever he might be. She grew excited to think about when she would finally get to Silverbank and get herself a home in which she could send letters to him from. Just a few more days travel and that would be possible.

Author's Note

Here is a scene between two characters, outside of the main plot of my upcoming book of short stories: "The Wanderer: Amnesia of the Gunslinger" (book one of the Aeons of Tellus series). This scene features the characters Juna Frost and Issak Rokodgo from that book. Hope you enjoy reading!