He was different from the others, his clothes a flowing robe of mottled cloth, a mixture of fabrics sewn together in a haphazard fashion. In his one hand, he held a staff, a large metal hook curving off the top. The hand gripping the staff was covered in a rich golden fur, sharp long nails ending each finger. His face was similarly furred, ears flicking atop his head. His features were almost feline, his eyes vivid yellow, fangs creeping over his lips. The newcomer looked much older than the others, clearly no longer capable of their acrobatic feats.
“Hello there! Hello!” he said. His voice was jovial and booming, a rich deep tone like polished wood. “I dare say I never thought I would see the day. You could not have arrived at a more desperate time.”
“Oh, oh no,” Michael said beneath his breath.
“We are happy to be here,” Mellok said, switching into diplomat mode instantly. “Pray tell, we are expected?”
“Oh yes,” said the feline creature. “Your coming was prophesied.
Michael coughed. “For fuck’s sake,” he said between barks.
“Where are my manners? I am Gravult. Welcome to Merydia. To meet the star child and his retinue in person, what an honour.”
“Star Child?” Mellok asked, cocking his head.
“Mellok, no, don’t you dare—” Michael began.
“Oh, you must mean the knower!” Michael let out a loud sigh. “Oh yes, it seems Brekt was right after all. The galaxy provides. This,” Mellok said turning towards Michael, his feathered arm outstretched, “is the knower of truths, our saviour.”
Aileena was laughing, even normally stoic Brekt struggled to stifle a chuckle. “Are you just collecting chosen one roles for yourself, or do you plan on giving any out?” Aileena said. “I think having people worship you might be quite nice. I could really go for that.”
“Must be nice,” Brekt added.
“Come, come,” Gravult said. “We must get you aboard and back to the tower. The nights here will chill your bones, and night-time is where the Vystak like to come out the most.”
“By Vystak, you mean big ice things with claws, lots of legs?” Michael said.
“Yes. They are everywhere across the plains. I see you are familiar with them.” Behind Gravult his escort were hoisting their weapons, testing the weight in their hands. Michael realised the pointed edges were designed to chip away at the frozen monsters like ice-picks. “Climb up, my men will follow.”
“Uh, yeah,” Michael said staring at the rope. “I’m not really built for climbing like that.”
It was oddly humiliating, being lifted into the blimp by the sling. Michael felt like a child strapped into a shopping trolley, except if he threw a strop and tried to escape there was a risk of falling to his death. His embarrassment was somewhat lessened by the others needing the same treatment. He chuckled to himself as Aileena tried to untangle herself from it, somehow becoming more stuck as she did.
“Stupid thing,” Aileena said, finally kicking the thick leather sling away.
“The mighty Aileena, mercenary queen of the galaxy, felled by some rope,” Michael said, tutting loudly, his head shaking disapprovingly.
“First, I would only go as far as to say, mercenary duke of this one specific star system, simply by virtue of their only being me and Brekt, and I’m his boss.”
“I didn’t think Brekt worked for you. I assumed you were like, equal partners.”
“We are, I’m only in charge on the mercenary guild paperwork.”
“But you’re still willing to say you’re the boss?” Michael said.
Aileena smiled. “Hey, if we’re giving away titles like mercenary queen, I’ll take what advantages I can. Where are the other two?”
“Through the doors, inside what I gather is the main part of the cabin. I had to wait a moment. Not sure I can take another load of people fawning over me as their one true saviour. I’ve said it until I’m blue in the face, no offence to the boys back at the ship. I’m no messiah.” Michael sat down on a stack of wooden boxes, next to which was an elaborate set of clockwork gears, the winding mechanism for the sling.
Aileena sat next to him, motioning for him to scoot along as she did. “I don’t think it works like that. It’s like, there was this merc right. Ervak the merciless. He had the most successful jobs of any guild member. People would hear he was coming and simply surrender; his name was so feared. Thing is, Ervak was rubbish. He simply got lucky on his first few jobs, managed to stumble his way into some high-profile contracts that all went his way. After that, everything just piled up. People surrendered because he was famous, and his notoriety grew because of it. It was a circle feeding itself.”
“And what happened to Ervak?”
“Oh, well, he took a job storming this jungle compound. During his trek, he came across a tribe indigenous to the planet who were still living in mud huts. They had no idea who he was, so filled him with arrows.”
“Is this story supposed to make me feel better?”
“The point is,” Aileena said. “You made a big song and dance in that arena, proclaimed yourself the knower of truths in front of all of Ossiark. Billions live on that world. They’ll tell their friends, and they’ll tell their friends, and before you know it you have a full-blown myth. Brekt believes.”
“He does? He said religion wasn’t his thing.”
“He does, even if he denies it. He trusted you to pick a planet completely blind, based on just the fact you were lucky in a casino? If that’s not blind faith I don’t know what is. And here we are on that totally random planet, where some people just happen to be waiting for a messiah to fall into their lap? Those are the kinds of coincidences that build legends.”
“And what do you think?” Michael said. “When you found me on that bus, told me to come with you, did you believe I was the knower?”
“I thought you were some scared little human. I tried to convince you that you were in danger remember? Did I see a messiah? The jury is still out on that one, but hey, crazy seems to be our mantra at the moment.” She tapped Michael twice on the knee. “Come on, let’s go find out what mess we’re in now.”
The centre of the cabin was remarkably warm. Michael could sense feeling rushing back to his extremities with an unsettling numbness. Everywhere he looked was layers of thick copper and brass, metals taking up every surface. There were several chairs, each with a cushion. Like Gravult’s robe, the fabric covering them was patchwork and threadbare. Around the outside, the crew, clad in their tightly wrapped black were pulling levers and twisting knobs. Michael was surprised to see there were no windows, instead, the blimps direction being controlled by a crewman staring into what looked like a telescope vanishing through the metal. Michael felt like he was trapped inside an old-fashioned kettle
At the front, Mellok was talking to Gravult. The two seemed deep in conversation, finding welcome companions in each other. Brekt was wandering around the deck, peering over the shoulder of the various operators. Mellok waved at Michael trying to gather his attention.
“Knower! Over here.”
“Here we go,” Michael whispered to Aileena. He smiled back at Mellok and began to stroll over.
“I was just talking to Gravult about the history of his world. It is truly fascinating.”
“Oh,” Michael said. “I’m sure it is. Come on then. Exposit at me. I can see you’re dying to do it.”
“Our people have long awaited someone to come from the stars to save us. It was prophesied, before the coming of the ice.” Gravult was leaning on his staff, arms hanging through the loop.
“Oh, I’m sure they did. Wait, coming of the ice? This isn’t an ice planet?”