Simus was a high-ranking tigerman who was a member of the Council; an ex-member of his people's nobility who had been chosen to represent him in their new community. He didn't have the prestige of Tzegorn in the slightest, of course: each people present in Iluvatan City had its 'preferred representative' although there were several of them. For the lizardmen Zamor was a real boss, for the lionmen Leuce and Yuko fought for the title, and among the tigermen... among the tigermen Tzegorn was considered a model, an example to follow. All the other tigermen members of the Council were… well, almost accessories. So it was natural that when someone mentioned the 'tigerman of the Council', people's reaction was to immediately think of Tzegorn, not someone else.
Some fool might have thought that this would have annoyed the other tigermen who were part of the Council, given that Tzegorn would have tarnished their image, but in reality it was quite the opposite: being a figure recognized by all meant having to deal not only with gratitude of the people, but also with their anger when things went wrong, anger that if too teased could lead to very unpleasant situations for the victim. Iluvatan City was a newborn community, so it was easy for something to go wrong; therefore, the Council members were very happy that the citizens considered a small number of them more important, so if ever there was a problem the fury of the people would be all poured on them. People like Simus, who was on the Council but not considered as important as Tzegorn, were therefore quite happy that Tzegorn existed and that he shouldered the blame for any possible trouble.
The first thing every politician had to do when starting their career was find a scapegoat, someone to blame if something bad happened. Not doing it meant risking dying: when people were angry they didn't listen to reason, they didn't care that crops were bad because of the climate, or that the price of bread had gone up because wheat had become expensive, or any other logical explanation to the disaster that gripped them. They just wanted blood. They wanted someone to blame and above all to punish. And the prime candidate for their rampage would always be the person in power. So even when things always seemed to be going well, a politician always had to make sure they had someone else to blame, so they could ensure they went home each day with their head still on their shoulders. And in a strange and somewhat ironic paradox, this very often helped the person (or group of people) being scapegoated, because the politician in question would make sure that they would get lucky and always be in good health, so that they can be used in the (very unlikely) event that something bad happens. They were bound together by a double thread and each was intrinsically dependent on the other.
That's why Simus, as well as all the other tigermen members of the Council, wanted Tzegorn to stay alive, healthy and in charge, so that he could always hide behind him if the need arose. Therefore he had been somewhat shocked when a few days earlier he had received terrible news: Tzegorn, the famous representative of the tigermen and his main scapegoat, had had an accident.
No one knew exactly how it had happened: simply one day Tzegorn was walking through the streets when suddenly the wall of a house next to him had collapsed and the rubble had ended up on him. Apparently this collapse was due to a design flaw in the building in which not enough lime was used; a single mistake that could have been fatal to the tigerman, but which fortunately had not been. Tzegorn had been pulled out of the rubble alive and with only a broken leg and arm and a few cracked ribs; according to the healer who treated him, a good dose of regeneration potions would fix him in a matter of days. Unfortunately the collapse had also had another effect on him: an amnesia.
When he woke up, Tzegorn didn't even remember his own name. But by a nice twist of fate, that amnesia had turned out to be only temporary: within a few hours he had already begun to remember some fragments of his life. The healer had assured that the amnesia was due only to the impact of the blow and that Tzegorn would have completely recovered his memory within a week, at most ten days; therefore, he had been temporarily suspended from his functions in the Council and Simus had taken his place.
Simus obviously hadn't been happy about that: his scapegoat had vanished at just such a precarious moment. Although the Council had already been informed with the dragon's communication device that the arachnes had no bad intentions, and Efren would soon return and give them a detailed report of the matter, the discovery of another unknown civilization in the vicinity of Iluvatan City was an extremely precarious and delicate situation. Anything could happen. And now that Simus had taken over from Tzegorn, he would become the primary target of the angry mob if anything went wrong. He clearly didn't want it, so he had gone to Tzegorn's house every day to check on his condition and assess how much longer he should be unwell.
Luckily for him, the healer had been right: Tzegorn's memories were rapidly returning, and after three days he seemed to have already recovered a lot of stuff, even if he was still having a lot of trouble putting the pieces together and establishing a right chronological order. Simus was sure that indeed by the end of the week Tzegorn would be back to his full wits, and therefore could once again unsubtle his job at the Council, and he would return to his quiet life in the rear. However, just to be on the safe side, he had continued to go to him at least once a day, to check that his recovery was continuing to go well. In the eyes of ordinary people he was just a very concerned colleague and friend, but in reality what he was doing was securing an insurance for the future.
That day was no exception: as usual, as soon as he had a free moment he went to Tzegorn's house and knocked on the door, which opened almost immediately. It almost seemed as if the landlord had been lurking behind the door awaiting his arrival, which was obviously ridiculous. "Tzegorn, how are you today?"
The laughter of Iluvatan City's most famous tigerman echoed through the neighborhood. "I'm very well, thank you. Please take a seat, Simus" Tzegorn said, moving to let him pass. His body was completely healed thanks to the potions he had been given, and although he was a little thinner and drier than usual and his coat was a little more matted, he already seemed to be back to his pre-accident shape. If it hadn't been for the fact that he feared he might not be able to remember the way home, he probably would have long since gone out for a walk or a pub. "Can I offer you something? Wine, beer?"
"No thanks. I have to go back to work later, I better not drink alcohol" Simus answered. He was happy to see Tzegorn in such good shape: it gave him hope that in a short time he would return to the Council. "How's your memory?"
Tzegorn's expression darkened, and for a moment Simus feared that he would tell him that he had stopped remembering; but luckily (at least for him) it wasn't like that. "Memories are coming back faster and faster, at least those from the last year. Many of them... are not pleasant at all"
Simus bit his lip; even though the relationship between him and Tzegorn was purely business and based mostly on mutual interests, with no friendship in between, he couldn't help but feel a little pity for him. Suddenly remembering the events of the last year was… well, that was awful. Too many horrendous things had happened in that period: wars, torture, captivity, slavery. Simus tried to imagine what it must be like for Tzegorn: one moment he was quiet in his house, and the next he was in a labor camp soaked in sweat and his whole body aching with fatigue, constantly whipped and beaten, and with other tigermen around him being tortured without him being able to do anything to stop it. It must have been a horrible experience. Simus admired Tzegorn for being able to face it with such calmness: if he had been in his place, he wasn't sure he would have been able to maintain such a stoic expression. "Sorry to ask, but... what exactly did you remember? Feel free to not answer if you don't want to"
Tzegorn let out a sigh. "I remembered... being a prisoner. I remembered the weight of the chains that gripped my wrists with such force that they crushed them. I remembered the awful smell of sweaty bodies, blood, tears, parched earth... and death. I remembered hours spent underground without a light, constantly digging up large blocks of stone, and then the pain in my eyes as I emerged from it and was illuminated by the light again. And I remembered...". His fists clenched and involuntarily bared his teeth. "… my emotions at the time… anger, hatred, vengeance, mourning… but above all… a horrific sense of hopelessness… a sense of having failed in my duty to protect my people... the desperation that gripped my heart every time I saw a tigerman die, or be whipped, or fall to the ground from fatigue..."
Simus felt a shiver at those words. Yes, memories weren't just images: they were a concentration of infinite sounds, smells and sensations, and receiving them all together could be... shocking. "I remembered even more" Tzegorn continued. "I remembered being in a desert, feeling the heat of the sun on my skin, hot air entering my lungs, eye discomfort from the intense light, grains of sand flying into my eyelids, fatigue that gripped my limbs. And I remembered a disease that engulfed this whole place, and my feeling of helplessness, the anger that I could do anything to stop it..."
"We've had a lot of bad times recently" Simus said sympathetically. "I can understand that you feel overwhelmed by all these negative memories..."
"Not all of them" Tzegorn said suddenly. "Not all of them are... negative. Some are pleasant. I remembered our arrival in this place. The wonderful feeling of being able to start over, of having a second chance, like a dream come true... the scent of flowers and plants, the roar of the water, the reflection of the light in the lake, the laughter and cries of joy of the people... it was really very beautiful..."
Simus smiled. "Yes, that was a good time"
"But there was also… something wrong" Tzegorn said. "In the midst of all that joy there was a strange… restlessness. I don't know how to describe it. It was a strange feeling that arose every time my gaze rested on some large silver lizards, which for some reason could speak like us..."
From that description it wasn't difficult to understand who he was referring to. "Are you talking about dragons?"
"Dragons...? Yes... yes, dragons! I know that name" Tzegorn murmured, as if suddenly remembering something. "I don't understand... I... this name arouses strange emotions in me. It's as if I owe them gratitude, as if I know that it is their credit that my people and I are alive... but at the same time... It's like I... KNEW that I can't trust them... even if they haven't done anything, I know they are evil..."
"Because they are" Simus grumbled with a certain acidity in his voice. "Those dragons helped us get here, but we know we can't trust them. Dragons are just monsters, we've already had proof of that. They're just waiting for us to let our guard down so they can backstab us"
"What you are saying sounds familiar to me… but I can't remember why" Tzegorn murmured. "Can you help me? Could you tell me why we fear dragons so much?"
Simus nodded. It seemed that during their conversations Tzegorn was able to remember things better, so he could use it to speed up the healing process. Besides, it cost him nothing to do this. "Of course. Let me explain..." he said starting to tell. Strangely, for an instant it seemed to him that a satisfied light had appeared in Tzegorn's eyes, but surely that was only due to his imagination.