Chapter 1: The Elixir of Youth
I.
"Help me! Please!" a girl the age of 18 years came running towards the marketplace. A marketplace inside the biggest cities of Mesopotamia, Uruk.
"Oi! Shut the hell up!" a merchant roared at the screaming girl.
"My brother has been taken!" she still persisted with screaming. "He was taken by the witches!"
Everyone gave her nervous looks but nobody paid her attention. They knew the pain and doesn't want to add it to their own.
"Ple--please! I'm begging you! Help me!" the girl shouted while collapsing on her knees and started crying. "Somebody..."
A lone stranger walked towards the girl, he was wearing a cloak over his clothes, a hood over his face. "Hello," he said with a husky voice. "Why are you crying, little girl?"
The looked up and saw the most youthful eyes she ever saw. They were gray and youthful but the face was old and wrinkly.
"Tell me. I maybe able to help," he said.
"My-- my brother has been taken by...." the girl stopped and thought maybe the stranger won't believe him.
"Taken by what?" the stranger asked and he saw the girl twitched. "By who? Who were they?"
"Witches of the Inner Circle," the girl said, afraid that the stranger will laugh at her or look as if she was crazy.
"Witches?!" the stranger looked surprise but he didn't look disgusted but rather excited. "That's brilliant! I always wanted to meet witches, well, I met some but I never heard of the Inner Circle lot," he said looking at the girl with curiosity under his eyes. Those youthful gray eyes.
"Are you g--going to help me?" the girl asked.
"Oh, yes. I will. Now, let's go inside an tavern and tell me everything that happened," the stranger said helping the girl to stand up.
"Wh--who are you?" the girl asked.
"Oh, just passing by. I'm just a stranger," he said as they walked towards an tavern.
Inside the tavern, stares were exchanged by the patrons and towards them. The first floor of the tavern was a bar, with barrels of malt and alcohol at the barkeep's station, tables surrounding the floor. Every lot's face inside was either painted with disdain or despair.
They both sat at the counter. "Two glasses of water please, for me and my companion here," he said waving to the girl beside him.
The barkeep studied the stranger and produced two glasses of water. The stranger drank but the girl didn't.
"Oh!" the stranger exclaimed that made every one stared at him. "How rude of me! What is your name, miss?"
"Huh? Oh, its Ashir," the girl answered. "Mister, I didn't catch your name."
"Oh! Right. I'm the Stranger," he said with a smile. His smile was as youthful as any child but his visage was old as any grandfather. "Let me ask you something."
Ashir gulped with unease, "what is it?"
"How do I look?"
"Huh? Like an old person?"
"What?! I'm an old man?! Stupid hibernative regeneration! I wanted to be a young man! or a woman if that's an option," he said holding his head with his both hands.
"Oi! We dislike people who are too loud here," the barkeep warned.
"Oh, apologize," the Traveller sat back down. "And what year is it?"
"Year? Ashir looked puzzled at the strange man in front of her. "Its the year 2705 B.C."
"Oh! Its that year! Wait, I was asleep for 75 years?!"
"Oi! I told you to keep your voice down!" the barkeep banged his fists on the bar.
"Sorry. Where am I?"
Again, Ashir looked puzzled. "Are you not from here?"
"Obviously, I don't remember much from before I fell asleep but I remember spears but that's it," the Traveller said.
"You are in the great city of Uruk," Ashir said.
"Mesopotamia?"
"Yes."
"Who's the ruler?"
"King Gilgamesh, how come you don't know?"
"Gilgamesh?! I knew him when he was a boy, brilliant lad. Always knew how to fight. Taught him all he knew," the Stranger took another gulp from his glass.
"You knew King Gilgamesh?!"
"Yes. Dunno if he'll recognize me again, I had a different face when he met me," he said.
"A different face?" Aishir asked, her mind filling up with questions.
"How long has he reigned?"
"Many years. I don't know exactly. They said he made Uruk a much more successful city," Aishir said.
"Brilliant! I never knew you lot would build a huge civilization as this! Humans are really something," he said.
"Wait, 'humans'? You talk like you're not," Ashir asked.
"Oh, no! I am not, well I am but still not," he said. "Now! Tell me what happened to your little brother being taken by a group of witches."
"We were playing by the river then when I was called by our mother. I went to our mother and when I got back, he was gone," Ashir said.
"Then how come you concluded that a witch has taken your brother? Did you look?"
"Of course, I did! I looked for him everywhere!" Ashir's face was getting red from anger.
"Oh, don't get angry with me! I need facts and now you're only chance is me to save your brother but I haven't seen any child around here. Why is that?"
"There are several incidents where the children has gone missing. All of them hasn't been found yet," Ashir explained then she saw something fluttering behind the stranger's ear. "What is that?"
"What is what?"
"That?" she pointed.
"Oi! Its rude to point!"
"Sorry. But what is that?" then the thing came in front, a bird with a long beak, fluttering. It was darkish blue with a colorful tail.
"Oh! Its my Hummingbird," the stranger said, the bird fluttered and landed on the finger of the stranger.
"A hummingbird? what's that?"
"Oh its just a small bird that translates every word, every language to me. Its a neat creature, with her fluttering wings, it translates what you are saying into a language I understand and the tail translates every word I say to all those who can hear it. Brilliant, isn't?" the Stranger said.
"So, children missing, you think its witches, why?" the Stranger asked.
"Some just say but nobody really knows," Ashir said, crestfallen.
"Well, that's sad ain't it but I felt something was off in this town and I smell something putrid," the Stranger stood up and walked away.
"Where are you going?!" Ashir shouted at the Stranger.
"Where? Where else, to find your brother and me a circle of witches," he said smiling.
II.
"Wait, what are you?" Ashir said keeping pace with the Stranger.
"I told you, I'm just a passer by, a stranger," the Stranger said then suddenly halting. "Who told you to follow me?"
"Nobody but I want to find my brother. I want to help," Ashir said.
"It would be dangerous! Witches and humans don't mix!"
"And a senile old man would be safer than a girl?"
"Oi! Who told you I'm senile? I'm strong as an ox!" the Stranger continued walking. "I need something to scan the surrounding, these streets are too crowded." He then produced a piece of paper from his bag and a quill, it was a bright yellowish quill, not from any bird Ashir has seen.
"From what bird is that quil?" Ashir asked.
"Oh, this old thing? Its from a phoenix," the Stranger said nonchalantly.
"A phoenix?! Those are myths! Don't joke around"
"Who said I was joking. This quil came from a phoenix and I am using it," he said while sketching something on the paper. "Okay! Done!" he declared.
"Are those birds?" Ashir said looking at the parchment. Its a picture of seven birds.
"Yes. I need these birds to look for any signs of magic," he said. "Hold this for me," he said making Ashir hold the parchment.
"Oh, okay," Ashir said holding the parchment. "Like this?"
"Perfect!" he exclaimed then he punctured his thumb with his quil.
"Oi! You're bleeding!"
"Oh, its fine," he said and he dripped the blood on the parchment. Suddenly the parchment convulsed and darkish blue birds started to popped from the parchment and shook of the ink off them like newly bathe birds then they took off, all of them.
Surrounding people started to clap at the Stranger who was now bowing at his audience. Like a performer who just finished a show. "Thank you! You are too kind!" After that, the people dispersed again into a crowd of people.
"H--how?" Ashir asked who was dumbfounded by what she saw.
"Oh, don't fret. That was just a little trick of mine," he said replacing his parchment and quill inside his bag, then he sucked his thumb which the wound is now closed.
Ashir stopped and was dumbfounded. Torn between trusting this man or not. "Wh--what are you? Why isn't anyone freaking out? Was that magic?! Are you one of the witches?!"
"Oh, No! I am not! I dislike those putrid cauldrons, those potions of their's," he said with disgust. "And for your other question, that's because human minds tend to turn away from the supernatural or the unexplained," the Stranger said.
"Wh--who are you? No. What are you?" Ashir asked still dumbfounded.
"I am a Bloodlord from the Eighth Continent of Earth, Eastice," he said proudly.
III.
The duo wind around the marketplace of Aishir's town, looking for anything that would tell where the missing children were when they spotted a lone child by the end of a narrow street.
He looked sun kissed, dark skin with hazel brown eyes, messy hair. "Its a kid but I thought every child was taken?" the Stranger asked.
"I thought so too but guessing, he managed to escape," Aishir replied.
"We need to find that out. Come on," they both managed to squeeze themselves to the opening where the boy was. "Hello. This is Aishir and I'm just a stranger. What's your name?"
The boy looked scared, "Y--ymir."
"Nice to meet you, Ymir, but I got a question, do you have friends?" the Stranger asked.
"No. Mother said that other kids will pick on me."
"So, you have no friends? Where have been? Where do you live?" the Stranger asked these question but then his stomach was hit with a wooden stick by a woman, clearly the mother of Ymir. "Oi! Why you hit me with that?! That hurts!"
"Stay away from my son!" she said hugging the boy. Like her son, she was sun kissed too, her hair tied to a bun. "I don't know who you are but stay away from my son!"
"Hey, we are here to get to the bottom of why the children are missing and we like to know why he is not taken!" Aishir snapped at the mother.
"Taken?! Who cares if others are taken! My son won't be taken!" the mother tugged her son away from Aishir and the Stranger.
"That was---
" Absurd. I know," Aishir said puffing in anger.
"No, painful. Help me?" the Stranger said wincing.
"Oh, sorry!" Aisir helped the Stranger on his feet. "What do we do now?"
"We need to know how that boy escaped those witches," the Stranger said. They both followed the mother and child but lost them at the crowded streets of the marketplace.
"Darn! Lost them but hello, what have you found?" the Stranger walked towards a dark blue birds, one of those he created. It was perched on a crate at the marketplace. On its beak was a torn cloth. "A cloth? From what?" the Stranger asked the bird.
The bird tweeted back and the Stranger talked to it too. "Oh, you found something? Oh! Clever! Where is it? How about the others? Oh! is that so? Poor birdies. Well, we need to get there I guess. Meet us there," he said and finished his bird to Stranger conversation.
"You talked to that bird?" Aishir asked.
"Well, of course. Birds has their own language like you humans. Humans, they learned how to speak then the next thing you know, they think they are the only ones who has a language," the Stranger commented as he and Aishir walked towards the end of town.
IV.
"Where are we going?" Aishir asked.
"Outside of town, my little bird told me that there's cave outside this town, its unseen because of magic but my birds found a way to get inside," the Stranger said.
"Magic?! So, magic is real?!"
"Well, yeah. We need to get there fast! My little bird told me, the witches are doing a ritual there," the Stranger said.
Once outside the town, they walked towards the north of the Euphrates River and the Stranger saw something in the river.
"Brilliant! A water tunnel accessible only by magic!" the Stranger exclaimed.
"How do we get in?"
"You won't but I will," the Stranger said.
"Oh, no. You will go back to the city and keep an eye on Ymir. I'll go here and save those kids," the Stranger said. He fished for his quill and parchment, he draw something like a huge balloon like fish.
"I don't want to!"
"Yes you will! If you felt sad and angry when your little brother has been taken, do you want others to feel the same?!"
"No but--"
"That boy is in danger of being taken and a mother who will go crazy if she finds out her only son has been taken! Now follow what I tell you and go!"
Aishir was reluctant to follow the Stranger but she knew he was right. She needs to do this. "Fine!"
"Good. Don't worry. I may look old but I can do this. I will save your brother then I will visit Gilgamesh," he said as he dripped blood on his drawing and it came to life. It was a bluish fish with a mouth, eyes and an antennae with a glassy bag at the end. Its body was glass like, it was transparent, no organs and no bones.
"What is that?" Aishir asked pointed at the flapping fish.
"I have no idea. Just thought of it and poof, I drew it. Clever, ain't it?"
"No! Its weird and gross!"
"You can never please everybody," he said then he picked up the fish and opened its mouth as huge as his head and it pulled it over his head. Aishir gasped. When his head appeared inside the fish's stomach, Aishir was relieved.
"Now, get going! Time is wasting!"
"Right! I'm on it!" Aishir rushed towards the city and behind her was sand dust.
"Time to meet those witches and rescue a bunch of kids," the Stranger said as he jumped to the river and disappeared.
V.
In the city, Aishir looked for Ymir, she went back to where she and the Stranger found him but he wasn't there. She tried asking questions to merchants and other people.
"Oh, that crazy lady with that small child? Yeah, I've seen them but don't get too close to that woman," a merchant warned.
"Why?"
"Because rumors has it. She killed her husband because he was getting too close to her son," the merchant said.
"Yeah, that's true. That's why that boy never had friends. No idea why that woman doesn't want her child to have friends," another man said.
"Th-- thank you," Aishir said walking away. She feels sorry for the boy and whatever he was going through.
She continued her search. She asked if someone knew where they lived but nobody knew where. They said they saw her at the shady part of town but nobody knew them there.
She went to where she found the boy and she saw him. Aishir rushed towards the boy. "Ymir!"
"Its you! Please get away from me!" Ymir pleaded.
"But I need to protect you! Someone might be after you!"
"Who?! My mother will protect me! She always have!" Ymir said as he struggled from Aishir's grip.
"Please, listen to me. My brother has been taken from me and I don't want you to go through that, too," Aishir said. "Please come with me. I wi---" then suddenly she fell face first on the floor.
Behind her was the mother of the child. "I told you not to come near my child ever."
"Mother, why? She was a good lady," Ymir asked.
"No, she wanted you for herself. I don't want that!"
"But mother..."
"It will be okay. We need to go back to the cave, sweetie," the mother said while patting the head of her child.
VI.
"I told you! I will escape from here!" said the Stranger while he dangled like a ragdoll from the wall of the cave.
"You talk big for someone who got captured as soon as you got inside our cave," a hooded figure walked towards the Stranger.
"I talk big but I backed up those words. Watch me," the Stranger grinned.
"Once Mother comes, she will punish you for trespassing in our sanctuary!"
"Sanctuary? You kidnap children and do spells at them! You call that sanctuary?!"
"You have no right to judge what we do! This is all for Mother!"
"Who is this 'Mother' is she someone who you call as a leader? As some deity?"
"How dare you?! She is our mother! Nobody talks to Mother that way!" as the witch was about to slap the Stranger another hooded figure has arrived.
"Mother has come. We need to prepare for the ritual," the other hooded figure said.
"Ritual?"
"Yes, you are too late and I will come back to punish you," the first hooded figure said.
"Yup, looking forward to it. Don't hurry back! I'll be counting the second and I will mi---" then the door slammed shut. "Didn't think she would leave anytime soon. Maybe she likes me. Now, how do I get out of this?"
The Stranger studied the inside of his little prison. It was a stone room with a wooden door. "No skeletons or litter, this prison is only new. Moist walls, meaning I'm underwater, behind these walls is water, will that help me?" he muttered then something fluttered from under his coat. A dark blue bird appeared. "Brilliant! Can you use your beak to cut my ropes? No? Well, that was a stretch," the Stranger said.
The bird circled the Stranger for a couple of minutes, "No quill, no paper. What to do? Oh!" he called after the bird. "I want you to peck my finger until it bleeds! No, it won't be painful but yes it will be but I need you to draw something for me! No, you need my blood as an ink. No, I won't laugh how poor your drawing is! Now go!"
The bird started to peck at the Stranger's index finger which while he winced in pain. The process was painstaking for the Stranger, everytime the bird ran out of ink, it pecked again on the existing wound but the Stranger instructed the bird what to draw.
"Make the beak at sharp as possible and long, like a pair of shears! Brilliant!" the blue bird fluttered on top of the Stranger's head. "You were brilliant. Now, rest my friend," he muttered and the little blue bird disappeared with a puff.
The newly drawn bird popped from the stone floor, it was rough looking, with bluish disheveled feathers, wild eyes and long, sharp beak, sharp enough to be a pair of shears. "I daresay, that bird cannot draw but beggars can't be choosers, I guess. Oi! You!" he said directed to the shear bird that was looking around the room and finally saw who was calling him. "Cut these restraints now," the Stranger ordered and the bird followed.
It flew like a drunken bird, swaying mid-flight. "Oh come on! I didn't imagine a drunken bird! Come on. Left, left. No, your other left!" the bird finally landed on the open palm of the Stranger. "Now cut those rope," and it did. Once the Stranger's left hand was free, he untied the right, so he landed face first on the floor. "Brilliant," he muttered as his chin hit the ground.
VII.
The inner sanctum of the cave was filled with stalactites and stalagmites, but at the center of the ceiling was the biggest stalactite one has ever seen and it was red, blood red, it was like made from a very hard and dense crystal. Below that crystal was a bed like pedestal made from a rock, on the flat end had an assortment of symbols and engravings from a language long forgotten.
Surrounding the pedestal were the hooded figures of witches. Beside that pedestal was an ornamented woman, earrings, bangles, necklaces made of from the Blood Red Stalactite.
"Sisters of the Inner Circle! We shall do the ritual once again! Bring me the child!" she said.
A hooded witch carried an unconscious child in her arms like a mother carrying her son.
She laid the child onto the bed and joined the circle. "Sisters of the Inner Circle! We are gathered here today to perform the ritual!"
"Hail!" a lone male voice boomed over the circle of witches. "Oh, so sorry. I messed up that ritual of yours," the Stranger pulled the hood off, revealing his old face with a youthful glint in the eyes.
"Who dares to interrupt the Ritual?!" the elegant leader shouted looking at the Stranger
"I dare!" he shouted back.
"Name yourself!"
"Just a passer by!"
"Tell me your name!"
"No!"
"You dare refuse?! Then I will curse you!"
"Curse me?! Go ahead! I have met many witches along my journeys and they all tried to curse me. Plagues, sickness, death but nobody succeeded! You know why?! I am the Stranger!" As the words escaped his mouth, the inner circle gasped at his name and whispered under their breath.
"The--the Stranger?! How do we know you are not lying?!" the Witch Mother asked backing away.
"What does those texts tell you? Warn you about?" the Stranger walked towards the Witch Mother.
"To-- to be careful of a man who has a Phoenix feather quill that came from a forgotten race and an unknown land," she said.
"Witch Mother, I took his bag and saw a red feather quill! Is that it?!" a witch said.
"Oh! You have it? I thought I dropped it. Can you please bring it to me?" he said, his old face contorting to anger. "Give it to me and you lot will live or else, you'll know what happened to the authors of those texts."
The witched looked at their leader who nodded in approval. The witch produced the quill from inside her robe. The Stranger took it.
"Now, I want to know what you are doing with all these children," the Stranger said. "I am the one those texts mentioned with a phoenix quill. Now, do as I tell you. Now!"
The witches took off their robes, revealing women of the city. "We did this for us. For our King," the leader said.
"For your king? For Gilgamesh?! Why?!" the Stranger asked.
"We are doing this for his majesty!" the leader shouted.
"For his majesty!" others shouted in chorus.
While the chorus of witches chanted, the Stranger wrote on his arm. Describing the creature that he will summon. He then made a small incision wound above the description of the creature, blood dripped from the wound to the description. As the blood touched the words, the words glowed golden from the Stranger's arm.
From the words, a green scaly, with whiskers of gray, yellowish horns, red blazing eye and rows of numerous teeth came out of the words. It curled around the Stranger like an obedient pet. It was as large at the spiral red stalactite. The cave shook from the size of the dragon, stalactites fell from the ceiling, the witches evaded those falling rocks. "Now. I want to know everything that is happening here or else, my friend here will have snacks. After being summoned he gets really hungry," the Stranger said with a race of his thick eyebrows.
VIII.
Aishir woke up from the quake that occurred. She looked around, unknowing. She stood up and rushed towards where the Stranger was but then a long serpent like creature exploded from the cave where the Stranger went.
Aishir landed on her butt as she was rained by the river's water. "Wh---what is that?!"
"Oi! Aishir!" she heard the voice of the Stranger from the dragon.
"Stranger?! Is that you?! Are you above that creature?!"
"Yes! Oi! Land down beside her! I know its hard but she's a friend!"
The serpent like creature landed on the sand and surrounded Aishir like a rope being rolled. Once the creature settled, the Stranger jumped from the head of the creature to the sand.
"Aishir! Brilliant! You are here!" said the Stranger patting Aishir's back.
"Wh--what is that?!"
"Oh! Its a dragon," the Stranger said matter-in-factly.
"A what?!"
"A dra-- right! Mesopotamia don't know what a dragon is only Orientals know about it," the Stranger said then he rummaged inside his bag. "I need you to get the children out from there."
"The children?! Is my brother there?!"
"Your brother? Oh I don't even know what your brother looks like. Maybe you'll find him there," he said rummaging inside his bag. "Oh! Here you go, you'll be need this," he said producing a bag of small blue fishes.
"What are those?"
"You forgot already? These are the fishes I used to go down there," he said jiggling the bag making the small fishes swim faster.
"Those turn to that bubble fishes?!"
"Yes and here," he said then a greenish bird fluttered behind him. "This little guy can help you around the cave. Its a maze down there."
"What happened down there? Why were they taking the children?"
"Its not your business."
"Stranger! My brother has been taken by witches, if they were witches, and I want to know why!" Aishir said stomping her foot on the ground in anger.
The Stranger sighed. "The witches were hired to gather enough children for a ritual. A ritual their employer read in an ancient text from a group of witches, that I met, that grants someone eternal youth or immortality," the Stranger said.
"What does the got to do with the children? With my brother?" Aishir said. Tears is stinging her eyes because of what she was hearing. Her brother captured for the selfish reasoning of others.
"Its is said that tears of children is the so called Fountain of Youth. Everyone thought it was a literal fountain, so mankind made civilization beside rivers to be able to uncover the Fountain but no one succeeded. Many years later, a group of witches called the Tears of Youth, gathered and experimented with various liquids. From urine, salt water and to other kinds. Nothing reacted with spells or incantations but then a witch gave birth, it grew to a young boy. The Witch Mother had an idea of the last liquid they haven't tried yet," the Stranger stopped.
"A child's tears? How did they managed to make that child cry?! Shed tears?!"
"They tortured the child until he cried and cried, they extracted the tears and put a spell under it, they mixed various ingredients and they managed to create an Elixir of Youth," the Stranger said not looking at Aishir.
"What about the mother?! Did she approved of this?!"
"She was killed before her child was tortured. Eliminating any ties to the child and any contradiction to the wishes of the Witch Mother."
"That is horrible," it was what can Aishir managed to say.
"It was when I came to that coven. Many children died already. Many families were robbed by their children. I just passed by and saw the distraught faces of the villagers," the Stranger said.
"So, you know who employed them?!"
"Aishir, yes, and I will confront him. I don't know why he did it but I will set him straight," the Stranger said.
"What about the book you said?"
"I took it. I confiscated it and nobody will ever manage to take it from me," he said. He then climbed back to his dragon.
"Where are you going?"
"To visit the king. To visit my old student, Gilgamesh," he said as he and his dragon ascended up into the sky and flew towards the palace of Gilgamesh.
To Be Continued in the next story
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone