Page 6 - The Daily Builder - Day 04
P. 6

“They do not need to  be tended  There was nothing there.              the harsh elements. The arabi had                    “Your war has stilled, the heavens  the sands, they came to an oasis.  surprised. He hadn’t heard this
          every  moment,  in  case  that  was   “Will you help me?” Jak asked  been right. It had dramatically                      quiet once more,” Agnez observed.  It was the first Jak had seen, one  history before.
          your next question.”                finally.                           reduced the heat while adding very                   Shielding his eyes from the  Agnez said they’d eventually              “A star shines but when joined
            Wondering if this odd woman        Agnez returned her gaze—so  little to his step. Without her help,                    sun, Jak looked across the desert.  visit. Palm trees offered shade,  by a universe of stars, they can
          finding him was luck or ill news,  penetrating Jak had a  hard  time  he would have died during the first                 The battles above had stopped,  unbowed by the power of the sun.  brighten even the darkest night,”
          Jak gathered his food, water, and  maintaining her stare—before she  two days of their trip. He saw that                  true enough. The Imperium had  Rock  blocks  surrounded  an open  Agnez  said.  “Many  followed  that
          other light supplies into a pack. He  leaned on her staff again, ancient  now. But it also made him look like             won as far as he could tell. But  maw  in  the  desert,  a  darkness  man. Truth ruled by love is the
          moved his mech pilot’s laz-pistol  age slumping the woman once  an  arabi—and the desert people                           the destruction in the skies had  deep  into  the  world.  Jak  could  made stronger still.”
          for easy access if the need should  more. “I will. And I welcome to  were not liked by those who lived                    crashed to the Splinter. Thousands  smell  the  water  there.  Looking   Jak nodded. “What steps did he
          arise.                              you to the Splinter.”              in Solomon Fyre.                                   of similar smoke plumes rose in  closer, he saw the well had been  take?”
            “You will not need the weapon,”    Then she cackled.                   Jak turned his attention to the                  the distance, more broken wrecks  lined with technology, the kind        “Clean water is key. Food springs
          Agnez said simply. She gestured      Jak wondered what he had gotten  mech. This was a different sort                     of great titans.                    that helped maintain its source.  from it,” Agnez said, leaning
          with her chin at the pack in his  himself into.                        of danger. He did not recognize                      The mech battalions of Solomon  The arabi pulled a long water skin  her  staff  against one  of  the  palm
          hand. “Where do you think you are                                      the mech and, as such, he had no                   Fyre were no more.                  from beneath the folds of her robe,  trees. She never seemed far from
          going with all of that, city-born?”               *   *   *            idea of the pilot’s Royal House                      “Do you think anyone could  touched a titanium sensor-panel  it, a talisman of sorts for the old
            “You can stop calling me that.                                       allegiance.                                        survive in this desert without aid,”  upon the well, and water flowed  woman. “Once water is available,
          My name is Jak.”                     The smoking ruins of the            He trod carefully.                               Jak asked.                          from  a  spigot  into  her  bag.  The  plants and animals are easy to
            “Jak,” the  arabi tried it on her  crimson mech blistered the sand     He had no idea who else might                      The  arabi squinted, following  goats huddled about a stone trough  raise. What’s done after that is
          tongue. “Short name. Means you  around it to glass.                    want to kill him.                                  his regard. She saw the smoke too.  as Agnez first watered the palms  the key. A slaughtered goat feeds
          are destined to do great things.     It had been several days since      The mech smoked, broken and                      “Perhaps. But not for long. You  and then the goats. Only then did  a man for a few days. A goat that
          Great things, yes.”                 Jak left Viridian behind. He  barely recognizable. It had been                        have done well with my guidance.  she offer Jak her full skin. He sat  spawns a herd of goats? It can feed
             Jak had no idea what the woman  approached this new one on wary  shot asunder, legs gone, and half of                  You learn quickly. I suspect a  upon one of the blocks and took the  a nation. A nation that sells a goat
          meant. “What is the closest town,  feet, covered by a black robe. Agnez  its titanium chest blown open. Jak               few could do the same without  cold water, grateful for the wetness  for other needs? Needs like sugar
          village, whatever where I can find  had supplied its light sheathe of  went to the cockpit, its faceplate                 guidance, though not likely.”       upon his lips and the respite from  or clothing or medicine? This is
          transport back to Solomon Fyre.”    silk to combat the burning sun, to  shattered. No one was within. If                    “I have much to learn,” Jak said  walking. Agnez drank after him,  how a culture rises above poverty
            “Need a guide,” she said. It  keep her charge safe. At first, he  the pilot had survived, the driver                    and meant it. The knowledge the  both quiet as the day waned.           to balance.” She paused. “These
          wasn’t a question.                  wondered if it would help, such a  had left no evidence of passage on                 old woman possessed seemed            “Where did this well come from?”  things were known. But he shone
            “Point me in the general               simple  defense  against            the sands.                                   infinite. He had only witnessed the  Jak asked finally, feeling cool and  a bright sun on it. On a philosophy
          direction.”                                                                         The desert could hide                 smallest part. “One day you will  refreshed. “The technology is—”       to teach and to care.”
            “City-born Jak, I doubt you will                                                    many secrets.                       have to tell me how you learned to    “Beyond my people,” Agnez          “And what is that philosophy
          survive traveling these lands,”                                                                                           survive.”                           finished. Jak nodded awkwardly.  exactly?” Jak asked.
          Agnez said, straightening and                                                                                               “Like  you  are  doing  now.  One  “Yes, I have heard that before from   “Nature is not a resource to steal.
          holding her staff out before her.                                                                                         sunrise a day, one sunset to enter  both city-born and off-worlders.  If maintained with honor, it can fill
          She looked like a prophet-specter                                                                                         night.”                             Wells like this have existed for  bellies for an eternity.”
          with all the world’s power at her                                                                                           The arabi said no more. Instead  eons. The desert is filled with       It was an idea that had never
          command. “The war of the heavens                                                                                          she continued their trek, tongue  wonders and it is not the desolate  occurred to him. It hadn’t needed
          above is not the only threat to you.                                                                                      clicking the roof of her mouth  at  place people think. Harnessing  to. Clothing, food, and the items
          There are dangers lurking in the                                                                                          the goats that awaited on the next  those wonders has always been key  for survival had always been
          Splinter  that would  leave  your                                                                                         dune. Jak followed, thinking.  to survival. A bearded prophet—          supplied by the Dreadth family.
          bones bleached and buried by the                                                                                          The woman left him riddled. It  one of your people—took it upon  Those ruling within Royal Houses
          forever sands.”                                                                                                           had annoyed Jak at first but now  himself to improve the life for all  lived very different lives from that
            “Regardless, I have to try,” Jak                                                                                        he pondered her words long after  on Erth. Yes, he brought sustained  of Agnez. They gave nothing back
          said, pack in place on his back.                                                                                          spoken, wisdom hidden in every  water. Yes, he brought conservation  beyond money. Sometimes not
            “The All Father sees what is to                                                                                         sentence she spoke. He had come  of food sources. Most importantly,  even that. They did not farm their
          come and time grows short,” she                                                                                           to realize there was a much larger  according to the All Father, the  food; they did not have to worry
          said, looking off into the distance.                                                                                      world out there, one very different  prophet brought awareness. May  about clean water. It left Jak feeling
          “‘The end happens when the                                                                                                from the life he had been living  small hearts join a big and make a  hollow.
          middle tires.’”                                                                                                           only days earlier.                  difference in less fortunate lives.”  “Do  you  understand?”  Agnez
            Jak looked where she stared.                                                                                              After another few hours over        “One  man  did  that?”  Jak  said,  asked finally  as if talking to a




             6                                                                                                                                                                     Donate!                                              7
   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10   11