"I will tell you whatever you want to know."
Alistair's eyes narrowed. "Start at the beginning."
"You humans, you value age, correct?" the creature asked from the bed.
Alistair shrugged. "I suppose you could say that. We celebrate it, however weird that is."
"I do not know how old I am. No one in my life has ever told me or cared." The creature showed no sadness at the revelation. He seemed to truly be trying to explain. "You are a human. I am a servant."
"I know that," Alistair interrupted. "What I mean is, what are you?"
The beast shook his head. "That has no meaning for me. I am a servant. No more, no less."
They were going back and forth, and Alistair wasn't getting it. It was as though they spoke different languages. "Okay, look, I'm not going to ask you any more questions. I want you to tell me what you remember."
The beast acted as if Alistair hadn't derailed the entire conversation. He spoke as instructed. "There are many like me on this planet, though this isn't my homeworld or theirs. We have no mother or father like you or other animals. We are..."
He looked confused again as if he were searching for the right words. Finally, it looked as if a light had fallen on his face. "Bred. We are bred. The one you killed. You asked if he was my brother. I have no family. No mother, no father." He closed his eyes. "My memory, I think it might be perfect, though I don't know. It would not be right for me to know how they made us, only the purpose for which we are made. I remember my birth. There were bright white lights everywhere. I could not speak. I only remember terror and humans around me."
Alistair thought he was talking about being born. He didn't see how that was possible, but he kept his mouth shut. He'd given the creature instructions, and they were being followed.
"I know about schools that humans go to. I went to a school too, though it was different, I think. There were many deaths in this school, but that was the point of it. To make us ruthless, to learn to follow orders, to think through how to accomplish the goals set by our masters. Always to serve the strongest."
Alistair hauled his Whip in as he grew lost in the creature's story. He wasn't a man, not if he was to be believed.
"I survived school, and many served me since I was strong. I was sold." He shrugged as if it was of no consequence. "I have been here since, serving at the feet of the strongest human I found. The one that purchased me, but I imagine beings like me cost a good amount, and to have that type of credit, you have to be strong." He shook his head. "I don't know; those things are beyond me."
Alistair was quiet for a long time, thinking about what he'd been told. The story wasn't in-depth, though he thought a lot of stories might reside in the creature's brief tale. Someone had to know what he was called if beasts like him could be purchased.
"Does your old master know that you would trade?" Alistair finally asked.
"I don't know," the beast answered. "He doesn't speak to me like this."
"Will you take me to him?" Alistair asked.
The creature's face looked like he was speaking to someone very simple. "I will do anything you tell me."
"Do you know who my friend is?"
"I should not, but I have heard of newcomers. Those like me, we talk."
Alistair's mind was calculating possibilities. "How many of you are there within your boss' organization?"
Again, a look as if Alistair wasn’t very smart. "My old master. Twenty or more, I would guess. He is a very wealthy man."
"They all follow strength, your kind?" Alistair asked.
The giant nodded. "It is what we are bred to do. It is what we are made for. We serve strength."
Alistair considered what he was being told, the entire outlandish story. Yet, the proof was in front of him. Once the creature had seen his fellow killer fall, he had offered no resistance but simply let Alistair implant his Whip through his shoulder. Now, he sat here with a head the size of a boulder, his body bigger than anything Alistair had ever seen.
"Your hand," Alistair pointed at it. "What came out of it, and how did you help my friend?"
The giant turned his hand over so he was looking at his palm. Again, that shrug in which he seemed to say he didn't understand. "The foot is to help walk. They are to help heal." He touched his right shoulder with his left hand. "They healed me. They healed her. As long as the person is not too far gone, they will heal."
Alistair remembered how the creature had been about to kill Relm. On top of him, pressing down his blade with one arm, and then how he'd flicked Alistair into the wall.
He nodded. His mind was made up. Naïve or not, it would be foolish to attack an underworld organization with the group they had now. "I want you to take me to the rest of those like you."
"Well, that's not the most enlightening story," Faitrin said. "Luckily, Jeeves has been able to get us a bit more information."
Alistair had returned to their room.
This planet's star was coming up in the distance, the size of the sphere creating beautiful streaks of orange and yellow on the horizon. Alistair wished Luna was here to see it with him.
