Nameless

By Dimitri Marek

A man without a name, and without a place in society sets out to make some money doing what he loves. Things go horribly wrong as he sets out and has to learn who he is becoming, and how to be that man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dimitri Marek
• Release date: Nov 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310204432

Dimitri Marek

I am just getting into the world of writing, and I know that my work is not perfect. I write because I want to, not because I want to get rich off of my work. I guess that I just want to be remembered for something, and I chose to make it writings.

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Nameless

Dimitri Marek

Published by Dimitri Marek at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Dimitri Marek

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

I. Intro with a Duel

II. Themis

III. Finish the Duel

IV. A Chat with a Madman

V. Starbreaker History

VI. Terror from the Queen

VII. Banished

VIII. Tournament Details

IX. Preparations for the Banquet

X. The Tournament Banquet

XI. Round One

XII. The End of the Tournament

XIII. Home

XIV. Becoming Oneself

XV. The Sealer

XVI. Sigils and Seals

XVII. Accused

XVIII. A Few Views of Me

XIX. Fighting Time

XX. The Truth

XXI. Back to Inti

References

Part One: A Purposeless Soul

I. Intro with a Duel

I sat wondering what I should do next. As the last remnants of the cigarette I was smoking slowly evaporated from existence, I had an idea. ‘How about I enter a tournament’ I thought to no one in particular. So I went to find my naginata, and halberd.

The reason I wanted to enter a tournament was so that I could exhibit my favorite things: fighting, winning and making money. Also it is a great relief of tension between me and those who loathe me. There was only one problem: I am Nameless.

As I rummaged through my abode, I found a scale armor shirt. This is the only armor I could afford, but scale armor is better against a bolt from a plasma-bow then my bare skin. I also found my tempered obsidian naginata, some money, and my silver plated halberd. As I stepped into the darkness most would call night, I felt more comfortable for I am naught but a denizen of the dark. The only part of me that is not made for the dark is my eyes, not my sight, mind you, but my actual eyes; for they flash in the dark; I mean literally that they flash in the dark. My eyes can give me a way faster than a torch in the dead of night; luckily I had countered this by not cutting my hair. My hair is translucent so I can see past it, yet no one can see my face.

Another Tournament to fake through and this one was set to be more secure than the last. I am always up for a challenge, there was just one problem: I do not technically exist. The tournament might have had the finals be a fight to the death, but how do you kill something that does not exist in the first place? I know that I have lost some of you already, so I will start at the beginning.

*********

In case you have not figured it out yet I am not human, at least not entirely. I am a Starbreaker; we are like humans, but taller. Also as we age we become healthier, yet physically weaker. We do not wear armor, the only reason for that is because hardly any weapon smith, armor smith, or metal worker can work with the extra meter and a half of material needed to clothe us. If they can then they are over-expensive, for service in demand. Our eyes flash. Our hair is translucent. Starbreakers average an astronomical height of 3 meters, while humans average 1.7 meters.

Lucky for me I am half human, half Starbreaker. Since this fact is true, I am shorter than the average Starbreaker, yet taller than the average human. My hair is a translucent grey, and covers most of my face. Also I have a young looking face; I look to be about 17 or so, when I actually am 24. I am about 2 meters tall, with what humans call a lean build. I weigh about 86 kilograms.

Honestly I was born without a name. I was born to a human mother, during a time when Starbreakers were hated much more. She died giving birth to me, and my Starbreaker father was killed for impregnating her. As such I was supposed to be left to die, However I was adopted in secret by the nurse. Since she did not want the whole world to know about me she never named me. When I was old enough to understand, she related my history to me, as brief as it was at the time. That was 10 years ago, when the hatred turned to more of a loathing.

Why do people loathe us? That is a great question to which I do not have a logical answer, my guess is power. Starbreakers are a rather violent race, so when Humans started colonizing asteroids for living, Starbreakers attacked them. They had to do this because all the planets Humans took fell into ruin. Starbreakers attacked first so Humans started a war for what they thought was just land, not a vendetta.

Starbreakers lost said War and were banished from the area, although, some half Starbreakers stayed because their human parents were in the government. They bribed the other over-rulers into ignoring the Demi-breakers. Well I am not that fortunate. As far as the government is concerned I do not exist, and they would rather keep it that way.

I have my own vendettas against the government of this godforsaken place, and that is the fact that they do not allow any kind of interspecific marriages. If that were not true my life would not be the Hell that it has been. Another thing is the government was a nice mix of Humans and Starbreakers; The Humans rebelled against a mixed rule. Humans have always had a difficult time accepting someone other than themselves being in control.

Enough about my vendettas. Onto more interesting matters, such as how I enter and win Tournaments if I do not exist. The first step is to find a competitor who has won a few Tournaments, but not so many as to attract suspicion if their fighting style changes. Next I Challenge them to a duel of blood. The prize being their spot in the Tournament (if I win) or whatever money and weapon is on hand (if he or she wins). Finally it is just the matter of assuming their alias until the Tournament is over.

That is what I must do. As its set now the Tournament is supposed to be a battle royal or duel (depending on the tier of the Tournament.) So I look at the list of people, and find the one, the Lunarian, Irtimid. Let us see how he fights.

As I try to find Irtimid, it occurs to me that there is something about him that is familiar. I realize that he is probably about 161 years old, if he is the same Cardinal Priest of the previous age. I hope that he is, because that will be a fight worthy of a championship, even though it will be for one of the lowliest spots in the whole grid.

The Cardinal Priest, is he occupied? I asked a courier of the Cardinal Priest at the Cardinal Temple.

Who wants to know? She replied, with the utmost contempt.

I had to think fast or she would be even more suspicious than she was obviously trained to be. Suspicion is my mortal enemy because it flushes out those with a past that would be better forgotten, or in my case, those without a past at all. My master wishes to remain unnamed to the likes of anyone but the Cardinal Priest himself. I am sorry to be so blunt, but she has her orders for me. I said like a servant.

The visage of the official changed from contempt to a look of utter horror. She stammered I-I- I will see i-i-if he is here. Please mah-mah-my good sir, wait here. Whoever she thought that I was from must be a very powerful and feared woman. I just hoped that this ‘Master’ would prove to be an ally, not an urgent enemy.

She had only been gone for a quarter of an hour, but the official came back with dark circles under her eyes, as if she had not slept in a week. This was odd because she looked fine before I told her that I besot the Cardinal Priest. Now she looked completely unnerved. She pointed toward me and said Irtimid accepts your duel, and if he wins, you surrender your entire life to him.

How does he know that I was here to duel him for his Tournament spot? Does he wish my name? I asked pulling at the halberd crossing my left shoulder.

She hollowly replied The Cardinal Cardinal Priest wields more power than most give him credit for. He knows all of the subjects in this domain, even you, the one without a name. How would you like to face the Cardinal Priest?? Before I could reply she fell. I bent to examine her only to hear a rumbling voice clearly state That is not your right to examine the servant of another, even if they died before you. I looked up to see the Cardinal Priest venomously glaring at me, as if trying to siphon my life from me. I shuddered and fell back a few steps. So when are you going to challenge me to a duel? said the Cardinal Priest, after a minute pause.

I could not believe that he was the original Cardinal Priest, he looked no older than 30. He was lean, he glowed almost silver; to be honest he looked almost like a mirror. I cautiously asked Are you the Cardinal Priest, Irtimid, or are you a new Cardinal Priest?

He laughed like a madman, and said That is for you to find out, consider it another reason to best me in this absurdity you condemn upon yourself if you challenge me.

Then I challenge you to a duel. First blood loses I replied.

I accept, he said, whenever you are ready. drawing his own steel spear, which looked about as much as a mirror as it wielder.

I slowly drew my Naginata, and prepared for the hardest fight of my life. The challenged has the right to the first move. I quoted from the Code Duello of Macha. After I said this I prepared to fend off an attack.

The Cardinal Priest flashed a grin as he used his spear as a pole vault, and leapt backward thirty feet. He retrieved the spear with a string attached to the underside of the tip. He then said That is my first move, make yours

By now people had noticed the Cardinal Priest had a challenger, and being the uncultured fools that they were set up bets, and started to howl like apes. I looked around and saw an officer Charging up the stairs of the Cardinal Temple, and thought Damn it! Why? Why do they always find me?

The Cardinal Priest glanced at me and said, Come with me, into my abode, where we will finish this business. He looked just as perturbed by the officer, more so than I, which is odd because the Cardinal Priest is a government official.

I peered back at the officer, who was only a few feet away, and said That sounds like a brilliant idea, lead the way.

At this, both the Cardinal Priest and I put our weapons on our backs, and turned on our heel and ran to the Cardinal temple. We were at the door in a matter of seconds, both of us leaping up the remaining flight of stairs 3 or 4 at a time. When we passed through the threshold, the Cardinal Priest kicked a bolt into the door, thus locking it, and sealing us from the rest of Macha. Welcome to the Cardinal Temple of Macha, home of one Mirror of Transport, and the Mirror of Names. He said in a monotone voice, like he had said it a hundred or so times a day.

I waited for him to draw his weapon, but he just looked around pitifully at his surroundings. He sighed and slowly redrew his spear. There was something off about him though; it was as if he lost the bloodlust of battle, and replaced it with utter inimicalness. He turned towards me with a look of absolute depression.

The inside of the Cardinal Temple was illustriously built. It was almost entirely silver, and platinum. What was not either of these was jasper, or obsidian. The effect of this was mimicking a mirror deep in twilight. I stood in awe for about a minute. The Cardinal Priest broke the silence, and brought me back from my awe-stare. I said I did not exist, not that I had no heart for beauty of a craft.

In order to continue our duel we must leave Macha. He said. When the words left his mouth it was like being struck with a hammer, a crushing feeling like bone breaking.

I gasped at the statement. And how are we supposed to do that? I responded confused.

With the Mirror of Transport will allow us to leave this place. We have to get one of the other Lunarians to switch places with me. He said without enthusiasm. Before you ask, this is what the Cardinal Temples are for, transporting people, mainly diplomats and ambassadors, throughout the Domain. One of the Lunarians has to be within a league of All the Cardinal Temples at All times in case of an incident such as this.

He then stabbed his spear into the ground until it was halfway buried in the floor, which was a compass rose embossed into a mirror. Once he had done this, he said in the same monotone, This is the Mirror of Transport for planet Macha, the Mirror above is The One Mirror of Names. State your business here.

I did not know what to say, so I remained silent. I felt the urge to say a Name for myself, but, well you know, Nameless.

The Cardinal Priest stepped out of the Compass Rose and walked toward me. I instinctively stepped back. He stopped a full stride away from me and sat down. He said Sit, tell me your story. Why do the authorities want you dead? Also tell why you chose to fight me. He glanced at me and continued, do not worry we have the time.

I sat and recounted the story of my heritage. Why did I choose you to duel? That is a good question. I suppose I chose you because I figured that we would have much the same fighting style, with the both of us fighting with a spear, it would not be odd to see a spearman carrying a second spear, especially to a tournament. Also If I were to best you, there would be very little change in identity for me. I concluded.

He looked at me with understanding, but there was also a quiet rage, and an almost mocking smirk.

What of you? You were stricken with just as much anxiety about the officer as I was. What is your story? I asked, for my curiosity was piqued.

That is a story we do not have time for, because The Cardinal Priest of Themis has a proposition for us. With that, the Cardinal Priest leapt back into the Compass Rose, landing on the spear shaft. Then He entered a trance like state…

He stayed in that state for three quarters of an hour, during which I just stared into space. When he rejoined this world, I was almost entranced in my own thoughts. I started when he lithely landed where he had been before the trance.

The Cardinal Priest of Themis says he will trade places with us, if only to see how our duel will end. It is funny, divine order chooses to watch war attempt to kill itself off. Beat itself into submission even. Irtimid said laughing at some joke I did not understand. "Well, your condition does not help this at all. Normally when we go about transporting people, we ask them their names; however, another way to transport others is to take a sample of their DNA and pierce it with the Weapon of the Cardinal Priest. This technique was developed by Queen Creasen to transport the dead back to the homes, or unconscious diplomats away from certain dangers.

What presents a problem now is our duel says first blood loses. Since you are a Starbreaker you will bleed no matter where we take the sample, thus forcing your loss in our Duel. How do you propose that we combat this issue? The Cardinal Priest was as serious as death. He actually wanted to continue our duel. This rattled me a little, so I sat with my legs crossed, and my hands resting on my knees.

The only thing I can think of would be, drawing blood from the both of us at the exact same time. I replied after a moment of deep thought.

Ah, a good plan, but there is one problem. I am completely immune to all injury while in any Cardinal Temple, or pure moon light. Before you even suggest leaving, drawing blood, and returning, I will just remind you of the mad officer trying, as we speak, to break through this very temple, set to arrest either of us, or better yet both of us. He responded, his façade grim.

I sat in the twilight-like temple room for what felt like the longest time. Then an idea blossomed in my subconscious. I formally change the terms of our duel, the duel is now one to submission. Do you accept this change of rules, even though it is uncustomary? I inquired.

The Cardinal Priest smirked, "That is what I am talking about. Yes, I accept this uncustomary change in the duel. I could not have suggested this, for I am the challenged, and according to Code Duello of Macha: once the challenged accepts the terms of the challenger only the challenger can change the rules of said duel. As this is, you had to figure the solution for yourself. Now, give me your arm, so I