A Tale of Ashtan

By: Kirrh Posted on: January 28, 2005

Ever wonder what happens to those orphans who never get taken in? The ones who just get lost in the shuffle? I wondered that for a long time; but maybe that's just because I was one.

I never knew my father, and my mother was an employee at the Doxy house. One day she took me up to Ashtan and told me to wait with Epicurus while she ran some errands. Never saw her again, of course. After a couple of days I gave up on waiting. I was tired and hungry and worn out from crying. I left Epicurus' gardens and began to wander around this strange new city. I was shocked to see many children like myself, ragged and alone. Finally I approached one of the girls and tried to talk to her, but she just gave me a sad smile before turning to follow an older boy who was offering her a lollipop. The boy glanced at me, then shrugged and walked off.

For years that scenario repeated itself. I don't know what it was-- was I too disheveled? Too old, too young? Too ugly, too quiet? I was always the afterthought, the twitch of consideration, then the shrug and abandonment.

Finally my curiosity overcame me. To where were all these children taken? Why did I never see them again? So I followed them one day. A girl (I could now recognize her as an Apostate) had just given another of those red lollipops to a boy younger than myself, and he smiled and began to trail her. I fell in line behind them, and before long there was a large building before us; a sign proclaimed it the Loving Hearts Orphanage. My heart both rose and fell at this. Here was a chance for a better life, a bed and warm meals. At the same time, I was saddened and even bitter that no one had taken me there.

She took the boy inside as I watched from just outside the door. A large man welcomed them, smiling and taking the boy to an adjoining room. I started in myself, to receive their charity. Then I heard the scream. My blood ran cold not at the sound, but the at abrupt way it was cut off. I backpedaled, my eyes wide, breaking into a blind run.

It seemed like days before I stopped, exhausted. Looking around, I realized I was in a part of the city I had never before seen. It was dark, and not just because of the night. There was something sinister about the area, more frightening in its own way than the so-called orphanage.

"Hey, kid, you lost?"

I spun and saw a lean mad, clad in black, walking towards me. "You can't make me go there!" I nearly shouted, frantic. "I won't! You can't take me there!"

"So," a look of almost sardonic pity came across his features, "you found out about the orphanage." I nodded mutely. "Well don't worry, kid. I ain't a big fan of that place either."

"How can they do that?" I demanded, my voice cracking. "We're just trying to live like everyone else! How can they..." I gave up on trying to stop my sobs.

"Don't look so down, boyo," the shady man laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "They're not gone, you know. Ol' Sarapis gives us all more'n one chance at life."

"You mean they're alive?" I sniffled. "But why haven't I seen them?"

"Sure they're alive. And since they wanna stay that way, they ain't going back to that place, now are they?"

I remembered all the boys and girls I had met in my life, their sad but hopeful faces as someone led them off to what they thought would be a better life. "Then where are they?" I asked softly.

He beckoned me to follow as he walked by me, turning down a small alley I hadn't seen before. He stopped above a dark grate and grinned. "You really wanna find out?"

I looked at the metal bars, recalling people around me talking about the vicious criminals that lived in the city's sewers. Apprehension filled me, but I found myself trusting him inexplicably. "Yeah," I said, "yeah I do."

I grin as I realize my memories have distracted me from the matter at hand. The young Ashuran's kick hits me square in the torso, but not very hard. With a scoff I skewer him, satisfaction rolling in as he gapes and falls to the ground. I stretch, rubbing my arm where a solid punch hit me, knowing what's being passed along the minds of all the citizens of the Bastion. "So-and-so (because really, why would I bother to learn his name before killing him?) down to a murderous thug."