The True Story of Kaylo

By Andy Shuler

That night, a cool breeze finally gave respite from the muggy summer air that festered in the gladiator cells. With this fresh breathe in his nostrils, Kaylo finally found deep restful sleep. But with the sleep came the dream again that had long eluded his nocturnal thoughts. The dreams of the time before the Change, before the horror that was now his body…

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Daddy! Help! Help!” shrieked the young boy as he dived under the bed. The fortified walls of the castle reverberated with the power of the nearby storm’s thunder. The oaken door opened and a young man clad in midnight blue strode in. A whisper and a flurry of fingers; a twinkling light erupted in the man’s palm chasing away the nefarious shadows.

“Kaylo? It’s safe to come out.”

“Daddy!” The little boy crept out from under the bed, only to cringe again as another peal of thunder rumbled across the sky. The man sighed and sat on the bed.

“Come here Kaylo, sit by me.” The little boy got up and huddled in the sheets next to his father. A flash of lightning cast a flickering blue hue across the room throughout he cracks of the shutters. “Now listen, Kaylo, let me ask you a question.” The boy nodded mutely. The man put his hand gently on the boy’s head and continued. “Now I know this storm is frightening, but let me ask you about that. Which of the two, the lightning or the thunder, can do you harm?”

“Hmmmm. The lightning, Daddy?”

“That’s right. Now which of the two first sent you scrambling under the bed?” The boy hung his head for a moment, then replied.

“Thunder.”

“That’s what I thought. Remember this lesson. Someday you will use the knowledge that you have learned here tonight.” With a breath of mystic words and a wave of hands the light in the man’s hand was extinguished.

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Aha!” The man opened the basket to reveal the giggling little boy crouched at the bottom. “You’re getting better at this. It took me quite a while to find you. Maybe I’m just getting old.”

“You’re not old, daddy.”

“Perhaps you’re right, Kaylo.” A wicked grin danced across his face. “Now its your turn to find me!”

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Mommy, I have something of yours,” said the little boy, with his hands clasped behind his back and rocking from foot to foot. The young lady turned from the mirror and set down her comb.

“Kaylo, what do you have?”

“This, mommy!” He held out his hands and showed her an ornamented golden hairpin.

“Kaylo! My pin? But this was in my purse just now…“ The little boy just grinned mischievously. The woman sighed. “You’re just like your father.”

Just then, the door opened. A sheepish maid poked her head and addressed the woman. “M’lady, the Duke of Alneroch and his son have arrived early! You must make ready quickly and join them at the dinner table!” The little boy crept out of the room as the maid began fussing over his mother.

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Is the coin really in my bedroom, daddy?” asked the little boy.

“Why yes, Kaylo, I told you that you’re right on top of it.” The boy stomped his foot in frustration.

“But that’s what you said when I was by the bookshelf.”

“So I did. And it was true then, too.”

“Ohhhhh! I give up! Where is it!? I’ve been searching this room for hours!”

“Very well, Kaylo, if that’s what you want. Take off your shoes and look that them.” The boy complied. Stuck to the bottom of his left shoe was a golden coin.

“You cheated!”

“No, I just told you it was in the room, and it was. You see the trick in concealing something is not so much in hiding it from the eye, but in hiding it from the mind. Remember that, you’ll use that knowledge someday.”

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Mommy, what’s wrong?” The boy approached the young woman sitting at the edge of the bed. Even in the dim light, he could see that her eyes were puffy and swollen.

“Kaylo, honey, come here. I have something very important to tell you.” He sat on the bed next to her. “You know that you and your daddy love you very much, right?” He nodded. “That will never change, but from now on I can’t be your mommy any more. I will be here, but I have to be with another man now. It’s important for our family. So you must promise me to never call me mommy again, no matter what…”

* * * * * * * * * * *

The giddy thrill and feel of surging adrenaline did not soon subside even after the ship left the dock. It had been so perfect. He had played the part so well, he could still feel the rush he got from the way that everybody at house Atrolkos treated him like an ambassador. They never even guessed the truth, not even for a second. It was glorious! Not to mention his first successful spell cast in the field. Sure, it was nothing but an illusionary gnat, but that had distracted the guard just long enough. He could no longer be his mother’s child in name, but he was most certainly his father’s son. Without a doubt, spycraft was in his veins. He was returning home, the documents carefully secured, and his mission a resounding success.

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Wake up everyone! They’re attacking! We’re under attack!

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Teleos watch over us, who are they?”

“House Kraxos I think, judging by the black banner, but I can’t be sure.”

“They’re scaling the walls! Quick men, man the northern turret with longbowmen! Now! Now!

* * * * * * * * * * *

“They’re slaughtering everyone! What do they want? Do they mean to really conquer us?

“It’s the Mythalim. They want to control it… But I never thought they would go by way of direct force. This will not sit well with the other houses.”

“We may not live long enough to enjoy their declining reputation…”

* * * * * * * * * * *

The dank air of the mines wrapped itself around Kaylo and his father like a wet blanket. “Father, what are we to do.”

“Survive, son.” He grimly replied. “We can do nothing now to turn the tide of battle. They have already breached the walls. Their victory is only a matter of time. Now I must do what I can to protect you and your family. Their legacy is more important than your realize…”

“I can fight, father! I won’t lay down while my mother and family are in danger!”

“No! You will hide. I will do what I can to protect them. I just pray that my powers are strong enough. Now go! Hide in the mines!”

“But father!” The sounds of battle suddenly grew louder. The door leading to the mines must have been opened.

“There’s no time! Quick, down we go!” The pair scampered down deeper into the Earth. At the end of the passage was a large mined out cavern filled with the dimly lit forms of ogre, minotaur, and other humanoid miners. “Kaylo, you must hide now. But remember, that no matter what happens, I will be there for you. No matter what! Now, its time to hide you well. Hide you in a place so low and dirty that whoever the attacker is won’t even think to look.” He suddenly began a long and complicated incantation, the purpose of which was beyond Kaylo’s minimal arcane powers to determine. Suddenly, with a flash of purple light, Kaylo felt his spine wrenched violently, then his legs, then his head. He crashed to the floor, the world spinning before his eyes.

A few moments later, still before Kaylo had the strength to stand, a hollow cold voice echoed through cavern. “You. I should have suspected that I would find you protecting them.” The man that had spoken was clad in black velvet robes that seemed to billow about the lithe pale body despite the still air. He strode into the cavern.

Kaylo’s father turned to face the stranger. “So it was you behind the attack. And you’re not just after the Mythalim.”

“Hmmm, very astute. You know what I want. The Legacy shall end tonight. The Bloodline shall stand in my way no more and the Writings will all be for naught. And so too, shall you die tonight.”

The miners began to scramble back away from what they instinctively knew would be a deadly battle. Kaylo too stepped back without understanding why. Thoughts began to form in his head. “What happened,” he thought, and then, “why doesn’t that figure see me.” He looked at his hands. “I’m not invisible. Yet, something is different…”

Kaylo’s father spoke again, “I won’t let you do this. You will die tonight! I have learned much since our last encounter.”

“Hmmm. I’m afraid that you are mistaken. You see it is you who will die tonight. And it is too late to stop me, as we speak, the last of the Blood line is probably choking on their own bile.”

With a defiant scream, Kaylo’s father hurled a bolt of blue energy at the man in black. It did not reach its mark, instead ricocheted off an invisible shield and into the cavern ceiling. The cascading rocks separated Kaylo from the battle. He did not see how it ended, but in his heavy heart, he knew that the man in black had murdered his father.

* * * * * * * * * * *

First, the shock of his new form. Then the culture shock of being a slave miner under the cruel House Kraxos Taskmasters. The sweat and the stink of the other humanoids, the grueling work. Two years of swinging a steady pickaxe, dodging the whip, learning to use a shiv, and of dust. Mythalim dust everywhere. Then the transfer to the pits. First the joy of daylight, then the horror of blood and combat. This was the new reality.

Kaylo woke in a cold sweat.

And a quick and dirty summary of my background:

I didn’t give a name to Kaylo’s house. Let me know which one would be appropriate. If you don’t have a specific one in mind, I will think of one. For now they are ‘House A’…

*The fist born daughter, Kylania, of House A falls in love with Tyrellian S’lindo, the spymaster and high mage of the house. Their affair is well known and accepted for the most part within the House. A child is born from their union: Kaylo.

*When Kaylo is six years old, his mother marries the second son of a more powerful house as part of a political alliance. She still sees her old lover off and on, and her new husband also keeps a mistress.

*When Kaylo is 13, he begins spycraft and magery training with his father.

*When Kaylo is 19, he goes on his first espionage mission.

*When Kaylo is 22, House Kraxos launches a surprise attack on House A’s headquarters. House A has control of 70% of the Mythalim mines, making it a valuable economic asset. But contrary to the standard practice of the region, the entire family and most of the army is slaughtered. Kaylo is turned into a minotaur in order to conceal him from the mage that is serving with Kraxos. Apparently, the blood he had inherited from House A makes him a danger or at least an irritation to the evil mage.

*While in the mines, he compensates for his human heritage by putting on a front to hate humans more than anyone else.

*The workers for House A are enslaved by Kraxos. Kaylo is worked hard for 2 years in the mine before he gets a chance for freedom in the gladiatorial pits. After 5 months he wins his freedom.

*For two more months before he meets The Brothers, he works at mercenary or even dock freight jobs. He starts putting money into creating a reputation. He hires big tough workers to pick fights with him in bars, then pretend to be scared off when Kaylo threatens them. Slowly his reputation as a deadly merceneryex-gladiator are spreading. He thinks working with the Brothers might be the break he needs to get a good job. Once he has money, he can start tracking down the man who killed his family and finally claim vengeance.