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Gain His Trust
- Thread starter Wizardteepot
- Start date
[A/N: Took me about 4 months to finish like two pages. Sorry for being so lazy
Enjoy! Regular updates coming soon, hopefully ^-^]Chapter 10: Asmund’s Stand
Auru wasn’t a grandiose city. It didn’t have the technological prowess of Vantis, the rich architecture of Arvik, nor the mystique of Eldritch, but it was the little things around town that made the humble town Tee’s home. For instance, the small flower that sat within the shade of The Spire, dedicated to defeating Skuhoo on a rampant raid of Auru. Who could forget the field of flowers outside the North Gate that Jedoi had dedicated to the few hundred chickens her and Tee had slain together for feathers? Or what about the hole in the Aurulian Park that trapped Tyrriel and Falksi time and time again when they were prowling the streets in their late night, drunken escapades. All of these minor details, easy to miss, but they made Auru special to Tee...all of them washed away by the panicking, bustling streets as Asmund fell to it’s knees. Three war heroes gone...all in one night...right when Asmund thought they could win the war…
Tee felt the worst for Bacchus, a lord left without a leader. And knowing the way that Arvik’s nobility was set, it looked like he was next in line for the crown, something that he wasn’t nearly prepared for. He tried pushing off the responsibility to Quazister, the Captain of the Guard, that way he could just stay in his brewery without a care in the world, but Quaz wasn’t having any of it. “This is for you, and you’ve got all of Arvik behind you. Besides, it’s what Nokia would’ve wanted,” Tee caught on in passing. Jedoi called a rushed, Asmund meeting, once again hosted in Auru. Nobility from all over Kalros, secluded parts of Ascalon, and the remote towns of Garama came flowing through the Aurulian gates, panicked and exhausted: all they wanted was for this war to be over, and at this point, Tee didn’t think half of them even cared about winning.
Tee spotted two of the newer leaders of Asmund, off to the side of the Aurulian street: Marble and Mister Pisquallie of Silverhand. He strode over to them, doubt dancing across his face. “To think, we were just here, preparing for war.”
Mister Pisquallie nodded his agreement, but said nothing. He watched...scrutinized every Asmundian that walked through the Aurulian gates. He drank in their armor, their nobles colors, their weaponry. Tee snapped him back to reality. “How’s Silverhand doing anyways?”
Marble turned to the young wizard. “What importance is it to you?”
Tee stepped back. “I...want to know how our new allies are doing. I’ve heard you’ve settled in a wonderful area! The Southeast Basin, or ‘secret garden’...the place was meant for a town.”
Once again, Mister Pisquallie nodded. “Aye, and that it is. You should come check it out sometime, Tee. I’d love to have a dedicated towns member like you amongst my ranks.”
Tee laughed, but politely declined. “As much as I’d love to go exploring the world, I’ve got my duties here in Auru. Besides, who else is going to brew the potions for the War Guild?”
The three men laughed together, but Tee’s heart was pained with a touch of sadness. He could joke about his ex- High King, and now Ex- Jarl, all he wanted, but it didn’t change the fact that he was still gone. The young wizard shook his head, and looked back out amongst the crowd. “Anyways, I’ve got some preparations to make before the meeting. Why don’t you two head over to the tavern? I hear Falksi’s back in town, and, knowing her, she’s likely brewing up a storm!” He tossed them a small pouch of power shards. “First round’s on me.”
Tee stepped inside the Spire, seeing Jedoi sitting at a nearby table, furiously scribbling something down. “Hey Jed.”
She looked up from the book she was writing in, shut it closed, and tucked it away. “Tee.” She smiled, but it never reached her eyes. Apricity, Entelechy, and Tenebris settled at her side.
Tee kneeled down and pet his wolf, his vision starting to blur. “So?”
“‘So?’” Jedoi replied.
“So...what do we do now?”
The Aurulian High-King let out a deep breath that she didn’t know she was holding. “You tell me.”
Tee snapped up to look at her. “What do you mean?”
“To be honest, Tee,” she said, slumping down, “I don’t know what to do next.” She looked up at the young wizard. “There’s no one to guide us in battle, no one to take stock of inventory...I may be the leader of the town, but I can’t rally these people to win a war.”
Tee nodded. He understood what Jed meant: she was a writer, a poet, a diplomat, but she was no warrior. Neither was he, for that matter, nor Bacchus or any of them. Little had they all realized, Stampen, Nokia, and Xovious kept them glued together, keeping order in Asmund, and here they all were, Leaderless.
“Well, someone has to at least lead this meeting.” Tee said, distraught.
“How about you?”
“What?” Tee asked, turning back to her.
“Well, you’re bound to lead this alliance one day anyways. Why not get the practice in now?”
Tee looked at Jed for a few moments, studying her eyes, trying to see some inkling of a joke there. When he was disappointed that she was serious, he gulped and noticed his heart rate increase tenfold.
“Tee, I’m serious. I can barely keep my head straight as it is right now. Losing Xovious...that was tough.”
“It was tough for all of us, Jed. He was a good man, and to have just disappeared like that…”
Tee thought about what Xovious had said to him before the beachhead on Ascalon. “Son, it’s plenty easy to die. It’s much harder to live, but make it so.” Did that mean Xov was dead? No, it couldn’t be! The Artifact would’ve brought him back…
“Tee?” Jed queried, snapping him back into reality. He’d deal with the grief of loss later. Right now he had matters to attend to, starting with the woman that stood before him. He let out a sigh, and dipped his head a bit.
“Your wish is my command, your Majesty.”
“Tee…”
Tee looked her in the eyes, holding her gaze while thinking, hundreds of thoughts firing off in his mind all at once. Supplies, food, weapons, defense, everything and anything related to Conquest he could think of was floating around in his head. He started piecing stuff together, when the Man in Chains appeared in his thoughts. “Good, Tee Alduin. A smart and analytical man, I knew you’d do well.”
Tee fell to the ground screaming, “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!”
Jed rushed over, “Tee! Tee, are you alright?”
Tee shook his head, seeing his High King above him, but words and numbers also floating across his vision, things that he would’ve never even thought of, things that could help him in this war: economic fronts, diversification of crops, public relations, the list went on. “I can be of some use to you, Tee Alduin. For one day, when you help me...well, I need to repay you somehow.”
Tee shook his head. The Man in Chains would be a problem for another day. He stood up, grasping Jed by the forearms. “Ring the bells. The meeting starts in ten minutes.”
***
The Asmundians chatted nervously amongst themselves, waiting for some kind of leader to step up among them, and for the meeting to start. Jedoi checked the landings around the room, seeing that the cavern was packed with representatives from all of the towns. She looked left to see Bacchus Markov basically freaking out, and trying to get drunk as fast as possible. Captain Quazister kept knocking the bottle of whiskey away from Bacchus’ mouth, trying to keep him sober enough for when Bacchus would inevitably announce his coronation date. She looked to her right, seeing the nearly empty Draekonfell landing. To be honest, it was a bittersweet experience for her: she was extremely sad to see Xovious go, and one of the last remaining artifacts of his bravery and leadership crumble before her very eyes, but she was relieved to have loyal Aurulians like Falksi, Bambi, and Thanatos back at her side.
She saw Tee step up to the podium at the front of the Aurulian dias, and watched as he braced himself. He cleared his throat, “can I have everyone’s attention please?” he meekly asked. But his voice was drowned out in the confusion of the Asmundians. He waited a few moments, and repeated, a little louder, “hey, can I get your attention?” But once again, his voice was a mere whisper amongst the uproar of Asmundians. Jed watched as Tee clutched his fist in anger, his fingers flexing and clenching in an erratic rhythm. Finally, after balling his hand into a fist on last time, he slammed his hand down onto the podium. “Silence!”
The braziers, set deep into the walls, that kept the cavern lit were instantly snuffed out. And just like the flames, the voices too died in the darkness. Jed’s heart seemingly skipped a beat, until she noticed the blue flames rolling off of Tee’s cloak form around him, giving him a seemingly eerie glow. Silently, she watched as he raised his right hand, and snapped his fingers. Instantly, flames returned to the braziers; however, although the light had flooded the room once more, it still seemed...darker.
“Thank you. Now then, let’s get this meeting started, shall we?”
There were a few murmurs, but after a moment or two, the room fell silent once again.
“Terrific.” Tee swept his right hand across the room, and flames flickered out of thin air across the floor. After some fierce concentration, and silent curses, the fire, to everyone’s surprise, formed into the three continents of the Fifth World, with a small dot in the center to represent Aladra. Tee colored the flames blue for friendly territory and towns, red for enemies, and yellow for neutrals...though, he scorched the floor in the process.
He lowered the lights around the room a bit, and enlarged the size of the Garaman flame. “Right, so Vantis, listen up.”
Mars and Macus stood tall. Here was a man who was too skittish to even shake their hands a few weeks ago, and now he was about to given them Conquest advice. Mars looked over to his companion. “Oh what the hell, let’s see what the poor sap has to say?” Macus nodded, but prefered to stay silent.
“Fire away, your Majesty,” Mars dwarled.
Tee took a gulp, a cracked his fists. “As I’ve learned, war isn’t just about pure strength. It’s about numbers as well. We might not have the best fighters, but we sure have quite a bit of them, and this directly applies to Garama: Kalros, for the most part, is unified; between Kaldrsvell, Prithia, Whitevale, Arvik, Silverhand, and Auru we’ve got most of the continent covered save for Hilo and the wild card further up North: Legio XIII. Garama, on the other hand, is still pretty divided, and if we’re planning on going west, the South is going to be our weak point.”
Macus nodded, drinking in what the wizard had to say. “So you’re suggesting diplomatic relations?”
Tee started walking around on the platform, pacing back and forth, almost gathering his thoughts. “Yes, specifically with towns like Cincia. I hear they’ve been training lots of warriors over there, people that might aid in our efforts. I’m not asking for you to supply them with literally everything you own, but maybe some armor and weapons, and I can get them some potions.” Tee looked about the room. “This doesn’t just apply to Vantis either, but to all of you. Double your efforts for recruiting the new people who appear in Aladra: not only could you get some awesome new town mates, but another set of warriors. Besides, who knows who could be the next Skuhoo? It could be someone who shows up on your front doorstep with absolutely nothing.”
Some murmurs were heard about the room, but it seemed like the general consensus was of an agreeable attitude. “Good. The faster you can unify the South, the better our fight in the West can be. That being said, a war isn’t just about fighting, but resources too. Vantis, you guys are one of our largest meat exports, especially with cooked pork...is there any way that you can overclock your production though?”
Mars piped up, “there are some...efficiency issues...amongst our industries that we never quite got around to fixing. I’m sure we could get more meat out, but just remember, more slaughtering animals means less animals to breed, which will ultimately mean no meat at all.”
Tee nodded. “Fair enough: make the production more efficient, but also find a limit to it so the whole thing doesn’t go under. Oh, and crop rotation!” Tee turned to the Silverhand, Arvik, and Auru platforms. “The North can’t sustain many crops, but of those it can, we’ll need. That being said, continuously farming the same kind of crop will absolutely destroy our farmlands. Crop rotation is one of the most important things we can do, so I suggest planting wheat and potatoes interchangeably. The minerals of one will help the other.”
Someone from the House Iron platform stood up and called out, “why should we care about nitty-gritty things like crop rotation? How is that possibly going to help us win a war against Sku and Crew?”
The murmuring grew louder, but was instantly shushed by a wave of Tee’s hand. “Actually, I’m glad you asked. You’re right, things like crop rotation won’t directly help us win a fight, nor a war, but right now I’m planning for the long run. Whether we win or lose this war, what good is it to us if our infrastructure and economy is ruined?” The murmurs returned, uproaring to the thought of some insignificant Lord of Auru basically securing the fates of the future of their towns, some of which had stood for already hundreds of years, and here he was working to rewrite their history...his own history...in just a few months.
When the voices around the room finally calmed down, the man from House Iron finally called back, “fair enough, carry on.”
With a round of applause that exploded around the room, Tee took a deep breath, focusing all of his attention into his next few points. “Right, now for Public Relations.”
***
Ben’s light snores made Jed laugh a little. The meeting had dragged on for several hours now, and while the more studious of people were taking notes, people like Ben were sound asleep. She looked on at awe at her former apprentice, however. He had taken to the Aurulian podium and hadn’t faltered once under the constant pressure of all those preening eyes. Hours upon hours of political theory and economic growth, and yet Tee still didn’t seem the worse for wear. She was glad to have him around: if it was just her doing all of this, she would’ve broken down about halfway through, but in the face of adversity, Tee knew when to keep pushing forward.
With a slight roll of his neck, Tee spoke up. “Unless anyone else has anything important to bring up, we’ll move onto our final topic: Arvik.”
Jed saw someone from the Silverhand platform stand up and walk towards the front. She frowned, as she didn’t know much of the nobility of the town, but could only assume it was Pisquallie who stood before the podium. “We’d like to make a request.”
Tee eyed the new speaker, gave a brief pause, but waved his hand. “Continue.”
Pisquallie turned towards Bacchus. “Silverhand would like to request more land.”
An eerie silence fell over the room until the words began to sink in. Bacchus stood up, albeit shakily. It’d be his first decision to make on Arvik’s behalf since Nokia’s disappearance. He stepped up to the podium, looking at Pisquallie. “We can discuss terms after this meeting.”
Pisquallie seemed pleased with this response until Captain Quazister shouted out, “absolutely not!” The room turned towards the head of Arvik’s Royal Guard, murmurs starting to rumble the still air. “Bacchus, you realize that Silverhand is at a choke hold of Arvik, correct? If they gain any land, and betray us, that cuts us off from the rest of Kalros!”
Pisquallie slowly realized how much power Silverhand could hold over Arvik. He turned towards Quaz, saying, “we’ll betray you if you don’t give us land.”
“Is that an ultimatum?”
“I suppose that’s up to you.”
Bacchus stood in between the two men glaring daggers as each other. “Like I said, we can discuss terms more diplomatically after this meeting has been called.”
“This is bullshit!” Quaz screamed out, his voice echoing around the chamber. “You’re not serious, are you, Bacchus?”
“Quaz, sit down, please.”
“Absolu-” he started.
“Quaz. This is a command from your new King.”
A gloomy silence draped over the room like a cloth. Realization crept into the room, and Quaz stormed out of the meeting hall. Bacchus gripped the edge of his nose, and looked back amongst the room. “Yes, I shall be announcing my official coronation to be Arvik’s new King shortly. Now then, I believe that was the last thing that Tee wanted to talk about, are we done here?”
Tee gathered his thoughts, but finally nodded. Quaz’s departure was explosive and abrupt, but nonetheless it was a good way to call the meeting. Tee dismissed the Asmundians, Aurulians ushering people back out into the city where they could grab a room at the inn for the night, and drink their fill.
Tee turned to the sleeping Master of the Skies. “Ben.”
Ben groggily woke up, realizing the meeting was over, and that he was being confronted by Tee. “Oh, Tee! G’morning...I suppose I fell asleep.”
Tee shook his head, but shrugged it off. “Gather the guild leaders. I need to talk to them.”
[A/N: First chapter of 2018! May this year be full of many updates, and a whole ton of lore. Cheers, everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter and, as always, comments, suggestions, and questions are always appreciated! Looks like I've got to write about some weddings soon ]
]
Chapter 11: Training Day
It had been a long night for Jed. She had spent all night in the Arvik palace, sorting out all the official papers for Bacchus’ upcoming coronation. A week had passed since the second gathering of Arvik, and what a week it had been. She’d been on meetings every day, some days having nearly back to back obligations, as well. And now, despite the fact that the sun was already creeping over the Spire, Jed was ready to crash onto her bed and call it quits. That is, until the explosions started.
At first, she thought it was just the pounding in her head. However, nothing could imitate the rattling of her windows. Despite her fatigue, she was instantly on her feet. “What the hell!” she shouted, grabbing her sword off the the nearby end table. Jed pulled a cloak around her shoulders, and ran out her door, nearly crashing into a happy-go-lucky Benged.
“Whoa!” the thief exclaimed. “What’s up, Jed? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
She chuckled. After all the years she’s spent as a Lokan, she wouldn’t have been surprised at stumbling across one. Another explosion went off somewhere near the Western Wall, and it snapped her back to reality. “Ben, what’s going on!”
He just kinda looked back at her with confused eyes. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’? I mean the explosions! Is Auru under attack?”
“Oohhh, those!” he laughed.
“Yes those, you idiot!” Jed growled, ready to wipe the smirk off the man’s face.
Ben waved his hand and started to walk off. “Don’t worry about it, Jed.”
Jedoi yanked on one of the wings of the elytra strapped to the Master of the Skies’ back, pulling the two of them face-to-face. “What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On.” she asked, emphasizing every word. Ben’s eyes widened in fear, seeing another side of the Wolf Mother that he hadn’t seen quite often before.
He gulped, but nodded. “Follow me.”
Ben turned back towards the Spire, and waltzed down the steps that connected the Spire’s entrance roads to the road leading towards the Southern Gate. At the base of the steps, Ben placed up a hand to stop Jed, watching as groups of troops stormed past. Jed looked curiously at Ben. “Just wait, it gets better,” he shouted over more explosions.
They turned left, passing over a new set of docks that stretched out over the Aurulian Lake, past Ben’s house, under the mountain where Tee’s Tower was made, around the Aurulian sewer, and up towards the Aurulian Arena. “What’s all this?”
“New commercial infrastructure made by Iyo. He called it the Kalros Wharf, and said it could be useful for getting tradeships in and out of here.” Jed nodded, impressed that it had only taken Iyo a week to design and build this all within a week. Even with the team of architects at his disposal, it was still an impressive feat. Looking further over the Wharf, she noticed a fully fledged ship docked at it.
She pointed it out. “What’s up with the pirate ship?”
“Ah!” Ben exclaimed. “That is the almighty ‘Black Hand’. I always wanted to be a pirate, so Iyo had a trade galley designed for me. He said something along the lines of ‘good for trade, and battle ready in a pinch.’ Now I just need an eyepatch and a hook!”
Jed shook her head, a bit annoyed, but she couldn’t help but feel that Iyo and Ben were right: if Auru wanted to support a more global economy, they’d need the means of both trade and protection. Perhaps a pirate ship was exactly what they needed.
Once more, the explosions echoed through all of Auru, and forced Jed to look up towards the walls. She saw soldiers idly pacing back and forth between massive hunks of stone, steel, and wood. “What in the world…?”
Ben pulled his elytra closer around his shoulders, and pulled out a few rockets, before stepping onto the railing of the Wharf. “Need a lift?”
Jed shook her head and took out her Guardian’s Compass. She concentrated hard on the rotating needle, and found her environment shift around her. In an instance, the wooden dock changed into hard, stone brick as she found herself standing on the Aurulian wall. She heard the fizzling of a rocket, a the thief landed next to her. All along the wall, Jed noticed massive cannons and mounted ballistas peeking out over the fields surrounding Auru. Her vision focused to Dero, the new War Jarl, who was directing a large group of warriors how to fire the war machines.
“Dero...what is this?”
The War Jarl turned to see his High King, and bowed his head. “Iyo and Shadow helped me make designs for wall mounts. We wanted to run it past you first, but you haven’t been around all week…”
Jed, once again, shook her head in amazement. “No! I think it’s amazing! If we ever have another instance of the Battle of South Gate, we’ll be prepared for it. Keep it up, but please try to keep it down?”
Dero laughed. “Yes, your majesty.” He turned back to his troops. “Once more. Fire!”
The deafening blast was Jed’s cue to leave. She found Benged and, over the ringing in her ears, shouted, “where to next?”
He pointed down to the Alchemy Guild, and hopped off the wall, his leather wings catching the air beneath him. Jed once more grasped her compass, and before long, both of them had landed in front of the Alchemy Guild’s doors. Jed turned the handle, and went to push the door open, but she stopped a second. When had this been replaced? She thought, remembering back when Tee and Andy had smashed the handle to pieces, and broke into the guild to give Draekonfell potions. It seemed so long ago, and yet just like yesterday too. She could still remember Tee’s innocence, but alas the war, she noticed, had started to rip apart at that innocence. He had taken on so much responsibility since that day, mostly to take stuff off her own plate, and yet she had never even said thank you...Was it possible that he had coordinated all of this new stuff to happen around Auru? No...right?
A cough from behind her brought her back to the present. “Just gonna stand there all day?”
“No,” she said, turning the handle once more. “Sorry Ben.”
The pair stepped inside, and were greeted with the smell of cinnamon, apple, and chili peppers. After a coughing fit, they stepped through another set of doors to see several people running around in lab coats, mixing and matching random ingredients into the huge cauldrons and brewing stands set around the walls. Jed yelped a bit when an alchemist dropped a handful of nether stalk into a cauldron and it made a small popping sound, making the mixture flow over the walls of the cauldron onto the ground.
One of the alchemists looked up at her, and made a sweeping motion with her hands. “Shoo! Under Tee’s orders, we’re not allowed anyone not in proper safety gear in here! Go on, get out!”
Benged, getting the message, grabbed a shocked Jed by the wrists, and led her out of the guild. Jed’s jaw was basically on the floor, caught completely off guard. “What was that all about?”
Ben pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, everyone is in desperate need of potions for this war. Tee was trying to supply basically all the towns in the alliance by himself, and the other kings and lords realized he had been working straight for four days, without time to eat or rest. We were pretty sure the Artifact had brought him back at least once due to the lack of self care...so we all stepped in: we supplied him some members from our own guilds, that way he could take a short reprieve.”
Jed gasped. She knew her lover was committed, but damn...four days straight? She could only imagine…”Where is he, anyways?” she asked, turning back to the Thief.
“Honestly? I’m not sure, but he’s been quite some help around town. Come on, you’ve gotta see the rest of the stuff he’s orchestrated,” Ben stated, strutting towards the Architect’s Guild, in the Northern part of Auru.
Jed had to half-run just to catch up with him while his words sank in. “Wait, you mean Tee has organized all of this?”
Ben nodded. “Most of it, yeah. He met with all of the guild leaders early on in the week while you were in Garama with Mars and Macus. There, we all laid out some plans for what we could do around Auru, and get it some better infrastructure in time of war.”
“Ben, you realize that was the responsibility of a king...hell, even a High King?”
“And yet, Tee’s only a new Lord? Trust me, I know, and every other noble and guild leader recognizes it. Come on, we’re not nearly done yet, though.”
The two of them stopped in front of the Architect’s Guild, and were in awe of the rich architecture of the building. Here, the pinnacle of builders gathered and discussed various building tricks and tips for future construction around the town. Just beyond it was the Engineer’s Guild, some of the smartest people in Loka’s History: a conglomeration of the geniuses who dedicated their life to the weird, electrical ore known as Redstone. And when the two guilds worked together...what a spectacle it was. At that moment, they saw Iyo and Shadow step out of their respective guilds. “Iyo! Shadow!” Jed shouted towards them.
“Hey Jed,” Iyo called back. “Glad to see you back! Wish we could stop and chat for a bit, but Shadow and I are off to redesign Auru’s gates. They need a new gatehouse, especially if we’re to begin work on Mimiga.” He ran off without another word, Shad Knife and building materials in tow.
“Mimiga?” Jed questioned, turning back to Ben.
“Yeah, remember those underground town ruins we found quite awhile ago, called Mimiga?”
“Yeah, what about them?”
“Well, the surface of Auru is getting quite cluttered as the population grows...we’ve got no more room around here, so Tee suggested we start renovating down there. It’d give us plenty of more room for storage and housing.”
“That’s a great idea! It’ll put our historians and builders to work for quite awhile!”
“I suppose…”
Jed turned back to Ben. “Where’s the ‘but’?”
“‘But’,” he started. “Tee wants you to break ground first.”
“What?” She queried. Why would he want her to start this project?
“He wants the renovation of Mimiga to be in your name: a new golden age of Auru.”
“H-he...what?” she started, tearing up.
“Come on, there’s a few more things you need to see.”
The High King and the Co-Leader of the Thief Guild walked towards the Mining Guild, where Commander Andy was out front, checking off things from a clipboard as minecarts rose from the Aurulian mines, rich with different types of ores.
“Andy!” Jed called out to the Mining Guild leader.
The man looked up, standing at attention, making a small stain on his forehead from where the quill, still ladened with ink, connected to his temple in his salute. “Your Majesty!”
“At ease, Commander.” Jed said, laughing. She still couldn’t believe she had absolute authority over people like this.
Andy brought his hand away from his forehead, and wiped away the ink with his sweaty t-shirt. “What brings you to this humble corner of Auru, Jedoi?”
“Checkin’ up on things. What are you guys doing here?”
“Well, Tee asked us to try and double our output. He said that, if something were to go wrong, he wants to make sure that the Town Generator is full of power shards, and we have a few in reserve, in case all else fails. Plus, the War Guild needs the materials for their weapons and armors, and the Enchanters in the mages guild need the lapis for enchanting stuff. I don’t really understand magic, but I’m more than happy to oblige.”
“Smart, but you guys have got to be overworking pretty hard…”
“You can say that again,” he lamented. “But honestly, I don’t mind. Tee has made our mining guild feel like we have a purpose, even if we can’t directly fight in the war!”
Ben piped in. “He’s been trying to promote moral in all the guilds. Activity is one thing, but you can’t have a stable city, win or lose the war, if your people aren’t with you.”
“How is he…”
“These ideas of his are near inhuman.” Ben finished up. He waved a hand to Andy, and walked off, towards the next guild. “Keep up the good work, man. I can assure you it’s doing us all some good.”
“Right, what he said!” Jed shouted, walking off with the thief once more. “Where to now?”
“Questing guild. Poor Elion has been over-burdened by all these new people. But hey, at least it’s getting us some interdimensional materials.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well like, there’s a constant need for Blaze Powder in the Alchemy Guild...so, that’s what the new people who have all the time in the world on their hands are doing. We were gonna ask the Mining Guild to do that kind of resource gathering, but we figured shard count and ore production was more important.”
“Right...no need to overly split our time and resources…”
They passed by the two inns for new recruits, and the Questing Guild. Sure enough, the line for the Questing Guild was out the door. Jed looked between the guild and Ben, then shook her head. “I’ll relieve Elion of her duty later, but I think she can handle it for a bit longer,” she said, smirking.
“Fair enough.”
They walked further South, behind Nollo’s, Dero’s, and Bambi’s houses, and stepping off the cobblestone path for a more worn out, grass walkway. This lead into a small workshop surrounded by trees.
“This lumbermill has been constantly working.”
“Really?” Jed exclaimed. “Why?”
“Well,” Ben started. “The architects need to get their wood materials somehow, right?”
“Aye, I suppose.”
“We also figured they’d be draining our supplies when they started on Mimiga.”
“That makes sense…”
Ben looked at Jed, and saw a worried look crawl across her face.
“What’s up, Jed?”
“We’ve taken a trip around all of Auru, basically, save for the Mages Guild, the Cultivating Guild, and the War Guild..”
“Yeah, and?”
“Where’s Tee?”
“I don’t know, probably sleeping? Like I said, he hadn’t slept for four days straight, maybe even more than that.”
Jed shook her head, and began to pace. “With explosions like that just outside his window? No, I don’t care how tired you are, but there’s no way you’ll be able to sleep...”
“Well, I’ve got nothing else for y-”
Jed noticed Ben stopped. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Well...nevermind, it probably doesn’t matter.”
“Ben, what is it?”
“Nothing! Don’t worry about it.”
Jed drew Wolf Rallier’s Blade and place it in between them. “Ben, where is my boyfriend?”
The Master of the Skies gulped. “He said something about feeling inadequate on the battlefield. My best guess is that he’s been spending his days either on the battlefield, or working himself to the bone at the war guild.”
“He’s going to burn himself out like that!”
“What do you mean?”
“His magic could kill him! It’s been speculated for quite some time, but every person has a set amount of magical energy: mana if you will; however, if you use it all up too quickly, and try to use magic afterwards, it starts using your own blood as fuel.”
“And, I’m assuming that’s detrimental to your health.”
“It’s lethal, Ben.”
“But wouldn’t the Artifact just bring him back?”
“I don’t know,” she started. “And I’d rather not find out.”
***
It was bad enough that he felt like he couldn’t breathe, or that his head was pounding, let alone that Tee could swear that the Man in Chains was leaning up against the War Guild near him. Tee no long had the energy to hold himself up straight enough to efficiently swing his sword against the stationary training target that stood before him. For the past few days, he’d been working endlessly to try and figure out how to be somewhat decent with a blade: Arcanus Oblivio wouldn’t just work on it’s own all the time, and being a tactician meant on the battlefield if he couldn’t execute his own orders.
He looked over to the Man in Chains. Were they even his own orders at this point? Sure, the thoughts that circulated Auru right now were truly ingenious! Defending the town with cannons and ballistas? Upping production on the farms and in the farms? Getting an excess of war supplies for the War Guild? All great ideas, but where were they truly coming from?
The Man cleared his throat, and forced Tee to look up at him. “What do you want?” Tee snarled.
“What’s with the hostility? I’m just here to help you.”
“Bullshit,” Tee spat. “You have a deeper motive than just ‘helping me’.”
“Well, obviously,” the Man said, straightening up and walking closer to Tee. “Because one day, you’ll release me from my chains, and all of Loka as you know it will be gone. The least I could do is make sure that you survive until that day.” He smiled, then pointed at the training dummy. “Now come on, you’re not even close to done. You’ve still got several hours of training before you can rest.”
“Rest, heh, I wish. With you floating around in my head, I can barely close my eyes.”
“Is that so? Well, I wish I could say I’m sorry, but you were the one who let me in.”
“I just want you to leave me alone…”
“No can do, Tee,” he laughed. “Now come on, let’s see what that Sunstone can truly do.”
Once more, the Man tapped on the training dummy, and Tee shook his head. Despite how much he might have despised the shadowy Man, he couldn’t help but feel that he was right. If Tee was to be of any use to Auru or Asmund as a whole, he’d have to push himself to his limits, and if that meant a magical burnout, then so be it.
Tee grabbed his Sunstone Staff, pointed it forward, towards the training dummy, and let out a strong incantation that spilt forth flames and fried the thing to bits. The flames forced themselves past the dummy, and incinerated most of the War Guilds’ training grounds. Tee kept up the constant stream of flames, until he heard a familiar female voice call out his name from behind him. In his concentration, he couldn’t place the voice to a name, that is, until the bearer of the voice knocked the air out of him, and his magic vanished in an instant. Tee fell to his knees, and began to lose consciousness.
“Welcome home, Jed…” was the last thing he muttered.
***
Jed and Ben turned the corner to the training grounds to see a brilliant display of fire. Jed watched in awe as blue and black flames danced wildly forward, snaking up the Aurulian Wall, the colors of the fire seemingly in a battle for dominance. She was getting sucked into the spectacle, under her eyes settled on the source of the flames, Tee Alduin, burning himself alive.
“Tee!” she shouted, running into the direct line of fire, and throwing her arms around him. His skin was boiling hot, and it scorched her arms, but she didn’t care. The force of impact shoved him forward, and his flames and magic faltered before he truly burnt himself out. He was slipping out of consciousness, but Jed held onto him.
Jed turned back towards Ben. “Quick! Get someone from the Alchemy Guild! Someone there’s got to know what to do!”
Ben shook his head. “Tee’s the only one who knows his way around brewing a potion!”
Damn it, she thought. What else can bring down his temperature? Ice maybe? A thought popped into her head, and once more she turned towards Benger. “Go into my house, and grab Iskaldolke from my wall. It’s a blade of enchanted ice, maybe that can help out.”
Ben nodded, and ran off. Jed looked back down to the young wizard, beginning to hear him mutted. “You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“Welcome home, Jed,” he said, smiling weakly.
“You’re going to get yourself killed doing stunts like that.”
“I’ve got no choice, Jed…”
“What do you mean?”
He shook his head. “Never mind. How was Bacchus?”
Jed laughed, and Ben returned with Iskaldolke. “Thanks, Ben,” she said, as she grasped her enchanted blade. It wasn’t often that she used Iskaldolke, but she knew that the magic inside of the blade made of Everfrost Ice was useful in very specific situations. She just hoped this was one of them.
She pointed the blade down towards Tee’s chest. He looked up at her, gave a slight nod, and slowly closed his eyes. She muttered a short spell, and the ice along the blade glimmered, freezing the air around it. After enough frost had built up, there was a shattering sound, and a stream of snow and ice shot towards Tee’s chest, encasing his body from head to toe. The flames of Tee’s cloak seemed to float around the ice, trying to make sure Tee didn’t get too cold to catch hypothermia. All in all, Jed saw the color slowly return to Tee’s skin, and his breathing seemed to return to normal. As the ice cleared, she placed a hand on his forehead: although his skin was a bit clammy, at least it wasn’t boiling hot anymore. She noticed he was softly snoring, and heartily laughed. She turned to Ben, and gave him her thanks.
“Tell Dero to stop shooting those damn cannons. It’s time for the two of us to get some rest. “
Ben nodded, and ran off. Jed placed a hand beneath Tee’s knees and his shoulder and carried him back towards the Spire. She debated going towards his Wizard Tower, but figured he could stay at her place for the time being. She wanted to make sure he actually got some rest, and didn’t run off again.
She struggled to get him upstairs into her bed, but when she finally did, she watched as he peacefully slept, his hands neatly folded on his chest. She lay beside him, and just rested her chin on her hand, and her elbow on the pillow. Listening to his light snoring slowly lulled her to sleep as well. She placed a kissed on his forehead, saying “get some good rest, Tee.” She put her head on his shoulder, and was out like a light.
***
For the first time in a long time, Tee slept soundly. He dreamt about sledding with Jedoi once again, and this time the Man in Chains wasn’t meddling in his affairs. He complained that the dream was too short, but he definitely felt well rested when he finally woke up.
Opening his eyes, he realized he wasn’t staring at his own roof. He was going to start panicking, but felt a soft weight on his shoulders. Looking over he noticed that Jed was sound asleep beside him. He smiled, and slowly moved her head onto a pillow, standing up. As he shifted his cloak, making his way out the door, Jed called out to him. “Tee, come back to bed. There’s no need to do anything today.”
“But Jed…”
“You’ve done more than enough for this week: hell, you’ve taken on the responsibilities of a King, and yet you’re only a Lord. That’s worthy enough for some rest.”
“Jed, I could never be a King…”
“And why’s that,” she asked, rolling over and looking at him.
“Well, I don’t own any land, I’ve got no money to my name, no army to call my own...what kind of King would I be?”
“Tee, those aren’t the only things that make a King.”
“Oh?”
“You have the respect of the people of Auru, and you have my trust. I want you to be my King.”
“Wait, what? Are you asking me to marry you?”
She laughed. “What? No! Tee, Auru is typically lead by four Kings.” Jed explained, sitting up. “Technically the positions are held by Shadow, Benged, Xovious, and Ajaxan...and although we haven’t seen Ajaxan in years, he was still able to keep the position since Xovious and the others help the other positions well enough. However, now that Xovious is gone, that’s two Kings that are gone, and those positions need to be filled. I think you should be the next in line for it!”
Tee shook his head, “Jed, I-” he started, a tear rolling down his cheek.
“Besides, do you think I’d honestly marry Ben?”
The two of them started laughing, realizing how absurd it had sounded.
Jed looked away as she asked the question that had been pulling at her heart. “Do you want to marry me?”
“Jed...I have nothing I could offer you...besides, wouldn’t you need to keep your options open incase of a political marriage? If push comes to shove that you had to marry Skuhoo to bring peace-”
Jed held up a hand. “Please, like I’d marry Skuhoo? Tee, I love you. Politics or not, the only one I’d marry is you.”
Tee felt the heat begin to spread to his cheeks, and realized an awkward silence had settled over the room. Jed spoke up once more, “Tee, would you want to marry me?”
“Jed...yes. Jedoi Talongon-Avalos, I love you, and we haven’t been together long, but I never want to leave your side. I want to be there with you, through the eons under the Artifact. If I could have that, I couldn’t be happier.”
“Was that a marriage proposal?” she smiled.
“Y-yes? Maybe?” Tee stuttered.
“Then I most graciously accept.” Jed said, as she rolled over, and made her way to her new fiancee.
She went to embrace him, when they suddenly heard a knock on the door. Jed frowned, but the two of them, hand in hand, went to open the door. There they were shocked to see an overly hyper Bacchus Markov, High King to-be of Arvik.
“Bacchus! How did you get in to Auru?”
“Never mind that,” he shouted, waving a hand. “Where’s Falksi?”
“Uhh, in the tavern, I think,” Tee said, laughing. “Where else would she be?”
Jed grabbed Bacchus’ arm before he could run off. “Why do you need her, Bacchus?”
“Well, I’ve come to propose! I figured if I’m going to be King of Arvik, I might as well need a queen.”
“Bacchus,” Jed asked, seriously. “We’ve gone over this once before. Are you drunk?”
“Nope! Completely sober!”
Jed and Tee glared at him. “Okay, maybe I’ve had one shot of vodka…” The two Aurulians still stared out him. “Okay, maybe two! But still, I’m serious about this, I want to marry her.”
Tee turned to Jed and laughed. “Ya know, if she says yes, that’d be two royal weddings at once.”
Bacchus looked at the pair confused. “Who else is getting married?” He then looked down and saw their intertwined hands. “Oh my Crypt! It’s you guys!” He ran in and hugged the pair. “Congratulations, my dudeski’s!”
Tee and Jed laughed, then hugged Bacchus back. “Go on, Bacchus. Go find your bride-to-be,” Jed said, urging him on.
“You have our blessing, Bacchus. To the royal family of the Markhov’s!”
“I could drink to that,” Bacchus shouted. “These weddings are gonna be awesome!” With that, the man scurried off.
“Do you think she’s going to say yes?” Jed asked.
“I mean, you just did. So maybe the love is truly in the air.” Tee answered.
Jed punched him in the arm, then embraced him. “I love you.”
“And I love you too. Now then...back to bed? I was having the best dream in the world.”
Jed heartily laughed. “I’ll race you there!”
Excellent as usual Tee! Keep up the good work!!!
[A/N: 17 pages...wow. This chapter is split into two posts because of it's length, by the way. Sorry ^^; Anyways, as always, Comments, Questions, and Suggestions are always appreciated! Enjoy ]
]Chapter 12: A Royal Wedding
“Wake up, Asymphir. The Headmaster wants to see you.”
Asymphir rolled onto his side, glaring at the one who disturbed his slumber. He’d been training hard, every day for the past month, refining his skill with a blade, and toning both his mind and body. The least they could do is let him get some rest on his day off.
Asymphir sneered at the page who stood in his doorway, then rolled back over, hoping sleep would drag him back into its black, inky, and deep abyss. He thought he heard a bit of rustling, before a pillow hit him in the head. Instantly, he jolted up, glaring daggers at his assailant. “Hey, what gives!”
“Allow me to repeat myself. The Headmaster wants to see you.”
Finally, the words began to click into place for Asymphir. The Headmaster wasn’t a person anyone ever saw. Even the highest mentors only met him in passing, and they refused to let out any unnecessary information about him, at least, when possible. Asy only knew the headmaster by a name: Xovious, the Ex-High King of Auru. He had never really pressed on forward, querying what nor where Auru was. But, he supposed, today would be the day to ask.
Asy got up from his cot on the floor, and looked around at his modest room. It was sparsely furnished: the disaster on the floor he called his bed, an iron bar from which he draped his clothes and robe, and a rack where his sword hung lazily. After quickly getting dressed, he strapped the blade on, admiring the familiar weight of the steel blade, and relishing the feeling of the rough, tanned leather of its sheath bouncing against his left leg.
Finally, he turned to the page, who stood at his door awaiting further instructions. Asy yawned and stretched. I didn’t do anything wrong, he thought, or at least I hope.
“It wouldn’t be wise to keep him waiting, Asymphir.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
Asy glanced back at his room once more. He had a feeling he wouldn’t see it again. It wasn’t much, alright, but it was something that he could call his own. And for that, he would truly miss it.
Hand on hilt, and will a roll of the neck, Asy finally nodded to the page. “Let’s go.”
The page led Asymphir down a long hallway, and outside the building used as their dormitories. The crisp, cool morning air of Northern Kalros caressed the soldier’s skin, sending a chill up his spine and goosebumps along his arms. They strolled past the training grounds, already filled with ringing steel as blades crashed upon each other, and grunts as the warriors in training swung their entire body with each attack. Sunlight flickered through the heavy layer of clouds above, glittering off the snow and ice all around. The acrid scent of sweat and smoke filled the air, but was swiftly replaced with the savory smell of cooking mutton. Asymphir could just picture the oils dripping off of the spit of lamb, dripping into the flames. With that image in mind, his mouth began to water, and his stomach growled. The page before him just rolled his eyes but continued onward.
Swiftly, they made their way up a flight of cobbled steps, past the Mess Hall. Asy looked longingly at the building, but had to run to catch up with the page as he realized he had fallen behind. At the top of the stairs, the path split left and right, onwards towards more dormitories and training grounds. In front of them, however, there was a large waterfall with glistening, blue water: runoff from the mountaintops. The page turned to Asymphir. “This is where I must leave you.”
“Wait, what?” Asy said, before turning to see the page already walking away. “Where am I supposed to go? Where is the Headmaster’s quarters?”
The page waved a hand in passing. “To be honest? No one knows. Last I heard, it’s somewhere around here. Good luck!”
Asy gripped the bridge of his nose, and shook his head. He looked back at the waterfall. Where would you be? He thought. He noticed, along the cliffside, there was some kind of etching, but it was mostly covered in stone. Asymphir stepped around the pool of water that the waterfall had formed, walking up to the etching. He brushed the snow aside, glaring at the word inscribed in the stone, squinting against the sparkling snow that reflected the low sunlight.
One word was spelt out before him, a word that, despite all his studying, he could tie to no language.
“Exzura?”
From behind the waterfall, he heard a massive roar, like that of a Dragon. A large boulder peaked out of the top of the waterfall, breaking the stream of water. Asymphir could see behind it, at two huge, iron doors set into the stone. Each was etched with the mysterious redstone dust, and decorated with lapis lazuli and glowstone. The redstone sparked to life, and the entire door became outlined in it’s red glow. With a loud creaking sound, it slowly swung open towards Asy. Nervously, he walked around the waterfall’s lake, and peered inside.
The mountain was extremely deceiving from the outside. On the interior of the doors was a long, elegant hallway. The middle of the floor was laden with thick marble slabs, rimmed with the glassy, volcanic rock, obsidian. The floor was so spotless, that it reflected the brilliance of the stone dragon statues that lined the walkway, doubling as braziers as they each held a flame in their mouth. The massive stone wings also acted as supports, as they reached up to the vaulted ceilings of the cavern. From the ceiling hung stalactites of stone and ice, oddly shaped like that of fangs.
Asymphir gulped, but he marched onward. He thought it’d be wise to draw his sword for protection, but how awkward would that be if he stumbled upon the Headmaster, weapon at the ready? As he neared the end of the hallway, he heard a ghostly voice shout, “who goes there?”
The flames within the dragons grew in intensity with the words, scorching the hairs on Asymphir’s arms. Despite how chilly it was outside, he felt like he was being baked alive in this cavern. “Asymphir, of the Iron Blade,” he returned the call.
A man in a hood stepped out from behind one of the statues, stepping up onto a stone dias that Asymphir hadn’t at first noticed. “You must be him, then. The one the Headmaster speaks so highly of.”
Highly of? Asymphir thought, thoroughly surprised. He even knows my name, let alone has a positive opinion of me?
More of these hooded acolytes stepped out from behind the statues, each holding a candle, and a blade of some kind. “It is he! The Guardian Angel!”
“‘Guardian Angel’? What are you guys talking about?”
A quick glimpse of dark, glossy green, caught Asymphir’s attention as it reflected the flames of the room. It fell to the ground and cracked open, sending up a cloud of purple mist. As the mist cleared, he realized a man had materialized from within it.
Asymphir scrutinized the man, the purple mist revealing a paladin, adorned with steel and diamond armor plates, etched with gold detailing. His shoulders were adorned with large pauldrons, stretching out over his armors, and supporting a rich, red cloak that draped down to his legs. He stood tall, placing a grand sword upside down in front of him, and resting both hands on it’s pommel. Asy looked up to the man’s facing, noticing his eyes. In the low light he couldn’t quite discern the exact color, but he realized that, like most people held captive by the artifact, he looked young. His eyes, however, showed his true age, as the bags beneath them revealed his time and experience on the grueling battlefields. He raised his left hand and his hooded companions fell silent. Another quick wave, and torches set in the stone that surrounded the room began to burn. “Hello, Asymphir,” he finally spoke.
Asymphir gulped, but slowly bowed his head.
“I’m sure you curious as to why I’ve called for you.”
“Yes, Lord Xovious.”
Xovious cringed at hearing such a title. “Please, I’m no nobility...not anymore, anyways.”
Asymphir looked up at the Headmaster, but Xovious waved his hand to avoid further questions. “I have a favor I need to ask of you, Asymphir of the Angelrune.”
“Angelrune?”
Xovious stopped himself, looking back at the warrior. “Oh, right.” He stepped closed to Asymphir, out of hearing distance of the acolytes. “Asymphir...what I’m about to task you with is a huge problem, one I fear I couldn’t quite handle myself. If it’s successful, you will be met with fame and glory, but if I’m wrong about this, you will die, and be erased from all of Loka.”
Asymphir noticed he was short of breath. He slowly nodded, and silently asked, “how often are you wrong?”
Xovious heartily laughed. “Too damn often. Let’s just hope this isn’t one of those times, shall we?”
Asymphir nodded. “I place my trust in you, Headmaster.”
Xovious clapped him on the shoulder, before turning around and returning to the dais. Xovious looked at Asymphir once more. “Asymphir of Iron, place your sword before you!”
Asymphir drew his sword, and held it in front of him, glancing over the blade to Xovious.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Remember, the sword has to accept you, not the other way around.”
Asymphir nodded, looking down at his trusty blade.
“Call to it.”
Asymphir, confused, looked up at Xovious. He went to ask what the Headmaster meant, but he knew this was a final test, to see if he was truly ready. The words spilled out of him in a flurry of inspiration and energy.
“Angelus rune et ego invocabo tu!”
[A/N: Rough translation "Angelrune, I call upon thee!"]
Golden sigils ran across the iron blade, lighting up it’s surface, and casting a strong glow all around Asymphir, banishing the remaining darkness in the cavern. The blade felt lighter in his hands, somehow, and he felt more comfortable swinging it. A golden sheen ran up and down the blade, clearing the sword of any stray rust that had somehow formed on its surface. The black, fraying leather that bound the handle was replaced with golden scales, supported by dark, spruce wood. In a final flash of blinding light, Asymphir whispered the name of the blade: Angelrune.
The golden sigils glowed a vibrant color once more, and a pain shot through his right arm as he gripped the blade. He knew this was the sword’s process of accepting or denying him as a wielder. He gulped, and just hoped that, either way, it would be over quickly.
His whole body burned with energy, as the blade’s magic sweeped completely over him, head to toe. As quickly as it had come, however, it vanished, and the sword, glyphs still shining, remained dormant. A voice called out to him in his mind:
It’ll be a pleasure to serve you, Asymphir.
Asymphir stared incredibly at the blade, a blade to call his own...Wait, if he held Angelrune, that meant…
“Rise, Asymphir of Angelrune,” Xovious called. “Welcome to the Rune Council.”
Asymphir looked up at Xovious. “You think I’m ready? I’ve only been here in Feronin for a month…”
Xovious shook his head. “That’s not up for me to decide. Angelrune has decided for you.”
Asymphir bowed his head. “Thank you, sir. It’ll be an honor to work with you.”
“That’s the thing…” Xovious started. “This promotion isn’t just out of the blue...I require your assistance.”
Asymphir looked upon the Headmaster. “Anything you wish of me, my Lord.”
“I’ll need you to pledge your allegiance to someone else.”
Asymphir was shocked. “E-excuse me?” he asked, unsure if he had Xovious correctly.
“I need you to protect an old town of mine, also in Kalros, known as Auru.”
Auru, there was that word again…
“Auru is in desperate times, and could use all the help it could get, at the moment. I’d do it myself, but I can’t be in two places at once. That’s why I intend to stay here, and train more Rune Warriors to replace the losses of both Nokia and Stampen. Ashrune and Excalibur will be missed…”
The golden sigils of Angelrune glowed once more. Yes, they will be.
“In the meantime, I need someone to take care of the town I once called home, and that’s why I’m entrusting you with the task. Are you up to the task, Asy?”
Asymphir glanced back and forth between Angelrune and Xovious. He closed his eyes, and nodded. “Yes sir.”
“Terrific. You’re dismissed.”
Asymphir bowed graciously, and turned to leave.
“Oh, one more thing, Asymphir.”
“Yes, Xovious?”
“While you’re in Auru, you’ll need to train one more member to join the Rune Council.”
“Oh? Who is it?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but seek out the Young Wizard of Auru, Tee Alduin. Something tells me that he will lead you right to them.”
***
Tee woke up, happily looking up at Jed’s ceiling. Ever since they’d gotten engaged, they spent the night at each other’s houses at night, and the two said that they slept so much better in the other’s arms.
Tee rolled over to say good morning to his fiancee, but frowned when he discovered she wasn’t there. He debated going back to bed, but he remembered today would be an important day. Today was the day of Bacchus’ coronation. And, if he remembered correctly, the invitation had also invited them to their wedding held shortly afterwards. Falksi had left Auru last week to go help set up preparations...Tee stopped his train of thought and laughed. The only thing the two of them would be setting up would be brewing alcohol. Knowing them, they’d want to have an open bar, so between what they had to keep the mead running at the wedding, and what they’d be drinking while brewing, Tee could only imagine the amount of alcohol that was actually being made.
Regardless, Tee got up, swiftly changed, and grabbed his cloak. He had made sure to clean it and press it yesterday; although Tee had been in Auru for over a year, he wasn’t man of many possessions, like fancy clothing. He felt bad showing up to such a formal event, surrounded by rudimentary suits, and extravagant dresses with just his robes, but it’s all he had.
He walked outside, heading towards the tavern, grabbing a quick plate of food for himself. He lamented, however, how once again the tavern was essentially empty with Falksi tending the bar. He dropped a few extra power shards on the table for the new barkeep, and walked out.
He passively strolled down the path headed towards the Spire, hands in his pockets, smiling as he noticed Aurulians, those who stayed in Auru, and those who had moved to Draekonfell, were mingling once again, all under one banner. He smiled, but was also struct with another wave of sadness. Where was Xovious? Where had he gone, and why had he left no note? And what connection did that have to Nokia’s and Stamp’s disappearances?
Lost in thought, Tee nearly crashed into someone. Excusing himself, he went to go step around his unwilling victim, until he realized he recognized the face.
“Crypt? What are you doing here?”
“Checking up on things, mostly, but also seeing how people are preparing for the coronation later today.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Yeah, so when are you getting dressed?”
Tee averted his eyes from Crypt, looking down at the shoddy clothes and robes that covered his body. “I...am dressed.”
“For the coronation? That’s no way for a Lord, soon to be King, of Auru be dressed.”
Tee looked at the ground. “Yeah...I know…”
“Come on, let’s get you dressed up.”
Cryptite snapped his fingers, and Tee felt satin cover his chest. He looked down and saw black, cotton trousers, followed by pointed dress shoes, and a white, long sleeve shirt. Around his neck was a simple, black and blue tie, and above that, a vest made of the same material his robes were: pressed to make the corners at the shoulders sharp, and blue detailing that, like his cloak, had blue flames licking out at the morning air. Tee couldn’t exactly feel it, but his hair felt colder, and when he went up to touch it, it seemed to be slick backwards, sleek but somewhat slimy to the touch. “Now then,” Cryptite said, nodding approvingly. “That’s better.”
Tee felt uneasy in the new threading, but he new it was more formal than what he was wearing before. He missed his cloak, but he could survive for a day. “Thank you, Crypt. I don’t know how to-”
“Ahh, don’t mention it. Go find your fiancee. The airship to Arvik leaves Aladra’s dock in an hour.”
With another snap of his fingers, Cryptite disappeared in a puff of smoke. What is with him? Tee thought. What did I do to deserve a Vanir watching over me?
Instantly, Tee’s thoughts turned to the Man in Chains. Fortunately, he hadn’t had many encounters with the Man since he and Jed had gotten engaged, which he didn’t know if that made him feel any better. What was the Man up to? Was he just freely roaming around in Tee’s mind, or was he still trapped in those blinking chains? Furthermore, did Crypt know? Crypt had to know, right?
The thoughts disturbed Tee, and he just wanted to go back to his Wizard Tower and cower in a corner, but an interlocking arm brought him back to reality. “Well, aren’t you looking quite dapper today, sleepy head?”
“Ahh, and to yourself, Miss Talongon.” Tee looked over Jed, dazzled by a strapless, sparkling blue dress that hugged closely to her frame, revealing her shoulders and upper arms; Furthermore, the bottom of the dress was cut off at an angle, revealing an appropriate, yet suggestive amount of her left leg. Her hair was up in a bun, and she wore very little makeup, having a natural air of beauty. The young wizard couldn’t help but give out a low whistle. Looking down, Tee noticed both Entelechy and Apricity halted by her side, Tenbris, his own wolf, behind them. Each were adorned with a black and blue bow tie, wrapped around their collars. Tee laughed at how formal, and yet absurd, their bow ties were, but he supposed that everyone’s got to be formal in the presence of a new King.
“Here, I got something for you. It might match your vest.” Jed pulled out a few pins and carefully attached a flower to his breast pocket. He felt heat rising off the flower, and looked down to see the petals of the flower were not made of natural materials, but of flames. “It’s a frostfire flower. They’re very rare this time of year, but they have an eternal burn if cared for well.”
“Thank you, Jed. This is really cool!”
“Of course,” she said, wrapping her own hand in a hand in a corsage of winter orchids. “Now then, to Aladra? I fear the airship is leaving-”
“In an hour. I know, Crypt told me.”
Jed raised an eyebrow. “Crypt…?”
“I have no idea.”
Tee led his companion, arm in arm, towards the Aurulian Streamliner that was regularly stationed as the docks. As they were about to climb aboard, they heard a chipper voice from behind them. “Tee, Jed! Can I offer you a ride?”
They turned around to see the Master of the Skies chasing after them; he too was adorned in very official garb, though it was very light and maneuverable, in case he ever needed to slip into the shadows. “I’ve been meaning to take The Black Hand out for a ride, and would love for someone to come with me. I figured if we’re all heading over to Aladra anyways…”
Tee and Jed looked at each other. Jed shrugged her shoulders, and Tee nodded in agreement. The man’s got to get sailing experience somehow, right? “Sure, Benged. Just...drive carefully. I’d rather not get shipwrecked in the middle of Kalrosian water.”
“Aye aye!” Benged shouted, before making a mad dash towards his ship, making the necessary preparations for launch. Ben set out the gangplank for the two of them, ushering some other Aurulians, before finally pulling the anchor and sailing across the lake. Ben waved some kind of hand signal up to Dero’s troops who were manning the walls, and one of them disappeared into a nearby gatehouse, where he pulled at a few levers and opening up the western gate, the one that partitioned the Aurulian lake from the rest of Kalros. The gate swiftly shut behind them, leaving a sharp grating sound resonating throughout the bay. From here, The Black Hand made a sharp turn South, and headed down the river, towards the Shivering Sea.
When they made it past the confines of the river, Ben pulled the ship into the harbor near the docks. He hopped over the side, and tied a rope around a metal peg that had been hammered into the ground. It might have been easier to just sail East towards Arvik in The Black Hand, Tee thought, but it was more formal to take the airship into the city, a very formal entrance. Besides, the view from the air would give them all a better view of Nokia’s skill of architecture.
They slipped onto the ship bound for Aladra, sitting in orderly two’s and three’s, as more Aurulians, and citizens from Kaldrsvell, Whitevale, and Prithia also piled in. Tee and Jed sat hand in hand, and the bell of the ship tolled, the last call before it drifted off into the icy cold waters.
Tee watched out over the water, losing himself in thought. He wasn’t thinking about anything particularly important, until the voice slipped into his mind once more. “You’re going to have to trust me, today.”
“And why should I do that?” Tee growled, under his breath. Jed looked at her fiance curiously, but said nothing.
“I don’t have much time to explain, but I’m telling you, you’ll need to trust me.”
With that, the voice left, leaving Tee’s mind to it’s own devices on what the Man in Chains could possibly mean. The Man said it himself, he was only helping Tee for self-preservation, which meant that something bad was going to happen today. At the coronation? Perhaps at the wedding? Who knew, but whatever it was, it didn’t sound good…
[A/N: Chapter 12 continued!]
The rest of the trip to Aladra was pretty uneventful, save for the few pelicans that fought the cold, and decided to accompany the Lokans on the trip. Tee helped Jed out of the boat, and before long, they were up on airship, headed to Arvik.
Despite the rocky ride at first, the formally dressed landlubbers, as the captain of the airship had labeled them, made their way towards Arvik, expecting a grand entrance. Tee smiled down upon the spectacle of the town, laughing as little ants of people ran throughout the street, surely making last minute preparations for the event.
The airship docked at the airship tower, and soon all the passengers were off and intermingling with the crowd. Tee smiled, as it was the first time in awhile that he’d known the Asmundian people to smile, and actually be genuinely happy. A few Arvikian officers went around greeting the officials, and attempted to usher them towards the palace, when the coronation would take place. Tee and Jed couldn’t help but oblige.
As they entered the palace, Tee soaked in his surroundings. It wasn’t often that he had any reason to be in Arvik, so it still remained quite grandiose to him. The vaulted ceilings of the palace alone were intimidating, offset by the brilliance of detailing that decorated the walls. Large paintings coated the walls, floor to ceiling, straddling large windows that vented in the natural sunlight of the morning. Crystal chandeliers hung from the wooden beam supports that crisscrossed the roof, and braziers further lit up the room, banishing all possible shadowy spots from the room. Tee had always heard rumors of Nokia being paranoid of assassins sneaking up on him in the castle. Tee usually brushed these rumors aside, as they didn’t match up with Nokia’s legendary status as a leader.
It didn’t take long for the palace throne room to become packed with spectators. Their stray conversations echoed off of the walls, and created a natural bubble of sound. Tee could barely hear himself think, which he assumed, for once, was a good thing. Still, he felt his eyes floating around the room, awaiting some kind of hidden threat that, for all he knew, wasn’t there at all.
An official, adorned in thick black and red robes strode down the central aisle, up towards the throne that sat in the middle of the room, unoccupied. Tee imagined Nokia sitting there, in his usual posture of one leg draped over the arm of the chair, and his head resting on his fist as his elbow leaned on the other arm. He also imagined Stampen standing behind him, attending to his duties as Nokia’s right hand.
The images of the former leaders drifted away as the official pounded a small gavel upon a podium in the front of the room, bringing some sense of order to the crowd of Asmundians.
“Ladies and Gentleman! I wish to thank you all for coming today in order to watch the most momentous action in Arvikian History, the crowning of the next High King: Bacchus Markov.”
The crowd erupted in a round of applause. The official let it ring on for a little longer, before he held up his hand to silence everyone once more. He looked down the aisle, back to the large doors that opened up onto Arvik’s main road. Just beyond the threshold stood a nervous Bacchus Markov. Tee glanced at the half man, half beast, noticing Bacchus’ tail was far in between his legs, and his furry ears were drooping slightly. He was accompanied with Quazister, Captain of the Guard, who was adorned with his formal military attire, medals gleaming, sword neatly buckled at his side. Bacchus, wanted anything but to walk into the palace, even if it meant leaving Arvik and never coming back. Quazister wasn’t having any of it, however, and was pushing him forward. Bacchus reached into his vest pocket, and pulled out a small flask. He took a quick swig from it, violently shook his head, and replaced it.
Slowly, but carefully, Bacchus marched forward down the aisle, wary of all the eyes that seemed to scrutinize him, head to toe. Finally, he made it to the front of the room, and glancing over the crowd, slightly bowed, acknowledging, even without words, that he was grateful for them all being there for him. Bacchus turned once more to the Arvikian official.
“Bacchus Markov, Lord of Arvik: speak truthfully as I ask you these following questions.”
“Yes sir.”
“Will you protect Arvik to the best of your ability?”
“Yes.”
“Will you always have the best interests of Arvik at heart, even if it means placing your own interests aside?”
“Yes.”
“Should the occasion arise, will you valiant lead your troops into a battle, even if it could mean certain death?”
“Yes.”
The official watched Bacchus, as they locked eyes, and silently held this stare. Satisfied with Bacchus’ answers, he turned to Quazister. “Will you bear witness to this coronation?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Will you protect your King under all costs?”
“Of course.”
“Should the occasion arise, will you fight to the death, under your king’s banner?”
“Only if he’ll let me,” Quazister said, sticking out a tongue. The crowd started giggling, while the official just rolled his eyes.
“Close enough, I guess.” He turned around to a page who was waiting at the edge of the room. The page brought forth a crown and scepter, situated atop a red and black pillow. The official placed the scepter within Bacchus’ hands. “With this Scepter of Arvik, may you rule over Arvik benevolently and thoroughly, may you have all your people behind you, and may Arvik prosper under you. Bacchus Markov, please kneel.”
Bacchus knelt down, head slightly tipped towards the ground. The official took the crown from the page, who then went scurrying off, and placed it on Bacchus’ head. “Bacchus Markov: with this crown, and the power vested within me, along with the official recognition of all those present, I now proclaim you to be the High King of Arvik. Congratulations, King Bacchus!”
The crowd roared, as Bacchus stood up, and shook the official’s hand. Tee laughed as the crown, just a bit too big for Bacchus’ head, goofily tilted to one side of his head. Regardless, he and Jed joined the crowd of standing spectators who were giving Bacchus an exorbitant round of applause.
Bacchus waved his hand, and people instantly silenced themselves. “I wish to personally thank everyone for coming and witnessing my coronation. The city of Arvik has prepared alcohol and other refreshments in the town square. Please, I invite you to help yourself.”
Everyone in the crowd cheered, and rushed out, leaving Jed and Tee, along with a few other stragglers, within the palace. Tee and Jed watched as Bacchus slumped into the throne, looking physically exhausted, and Quazister taking up post beside him. Jed pointed towards the two, and Tee agreed. As the leader of their biggest ally, it was only right for Jed to compliment Bacchus on his new position.
The two walked up to the throne and, as was protocol, Tee dropped to one knee, balling his right hand into a fist, and placing it over his heart. With his head deeply bowed, he formally greeted Bacchus as “Your Majesty.” Jed, however, made no such movements. Because they were both High Kings, and equals of power, she was not required to bow or anything. She did, however, out of respect for a common ally, do a small curtsy in his presence.
“Tee Alduin, Lord of Auru, and Jedoi Talongon, High King of Auru, how delightful!” Bacchus turned to Quazister. “You are dismissed.”
“Wait what?”
“Quaz, you’re going to be guarding me like a puppy for the next few weeks as I meet with all different kinds of foreign advisors. In the meantime, however, before those meetings start, you can learn to enjoy yourself. Go out to the courtyard, and get yourself a drink.”
“Bacchus, you can’t just-”
“Quazister, this is a command from your High King.”
Quazister stood there, mouth slightly agape, before nodding. “Then I shall take my leave.” With that, he walked out the door.
When Bacchus was content that Quazister was far enough away from the group, he jumped from his throne and nearly tackled the two Aurulians. “It’s so good to see you guys!”
“Whoa, Bacchus,” Tee laughed. “Isn’t this against the protocols of the nobility?”
Bacchus waved his hand at the young wizard. “Fuck the protocols. Seriously, they only make us look more snobby than we actually are. Hell, I’d much rather be drunk in a bar with the commoners of Arvik, than stuck in here with the stuck-ups we call Foreign Ministers.”
Tee and Jed laughed once more. “You will definitely be a good king, Bacchus,” Jed commented.
“Thanks,” Bacchus replied. “If only I wanted to be king…”
The three of them frowed, but they understood the stress of taking on so much responsibility. “At least I’ll have Falksi by my side.”
Jed and Tee nodded in agreement. “Where is she, anyways?” Tee asked.
“Getting ready for her wedding, you dolt,” Jed said, turning to Tee.
“Oh...right. I probably should’ve guessed…”
Bacchus could only laugh. “I love you guys. You’re going to make a great married couple.”
Tee and Jed blushed, but humbly accepted Bacchus’ blessing.
“Now then, shall we? I’m dying to get my paws on some Strong Absinthe.”
***
Cryptite appeared on one of the walkways above the throne. Although he remained invisible to most of the Lokans present, he noticed Jedoi steal a few glances at him. As the Aurulians left with the new High King, Cryptite turned to another figure who had materialized before him: King Magnus, one of the original guardians of Loka.
“Welcome to Arvik, Mag.”
The man only nodded, jumping straight to business. “What’s his status?”
“Functional, though it seems like he’s losing control of it by the day.” Magnus scratched his chin, but said nothing. Crypt urged him on, “should we intervene?”
“No. If he’s truly the one of the prophecy, he’ll need to get through most of this on his own, even if that means he does slip a bit.”
Uneasily, Crypt nodded, looking through one of the large windows to see all of the people mingling and enjoying each other’s company. By the time he looked back, Magnus was gone again. Cryptite shook his head. “Congratulations, Bacchus. Long live the King,” he said, before he too disappeared into the void.”
***
“Slip away as quickly and quietly as possible.” The voice somehow shattered through all the commotion that surrounded Tee. Tee’s vision began to darken, and a purple mist started to form, leading out of the crowd, and around a building. Tee cursed under his breath, took a deep swig of the mead he held in his hand, and started following the trail that the Man had laid out for him.
Down and around the mist went, following back alleyways, to avoid being caught. The only people that saw him now were those already too drunk to remember he was there to begin with. Eventually, the mist led right up to the tavern that Bacchus usually worked at. There was a lock on the door, which meant that no one was inside.
Tee swung the Sunstone Staff out from his cloak and, looking both ways to make sure no one could see him, he heated up the lock, just enough to slide the main bar out of the locking mechanism. He just hoped the heat didn’t disform the shape of the lock, and him getting caught later. Swiftly, he snuck inside.
The mist further snaked along the floor, around the bar, and down a flight of steps to what Tee could only assume to be Bacchus’ brewery. Sure enough, there were barrels, cauldrons, and distilleries galore.
“You’ll need a handful of netherstalk, one golden carrot, a pinch of redstone, and a fermented spider eye,” the voice instructed.
The recipe for an invisibility potion? What for? Tee didn’t question the Man, however, quickly scanning through Bacchus’ storage bins to find his materials. Tee commandeered one of the many cauldrons, lighting a flame with the Sunstone Staff. He quickly dropped in the materials, mixed up the brew a bit, and bottled himself a glass flask of the potion.
“Stick it beneath your vest. You’ll need it for later.”
Tee sucked in a breath, before making his way back outside. He assumed his way was clear, until he nearly bumped into Iyoforeayo.
“Fancy meeting you here, Tee.”
“Iyo! Holy Crypt, how’d you find me?”
“A good thief never misses a beat, especially of an Aurulian noble sneaking off into an unknown town on his own.”
Tee looked down at his feet. “Of course…”
Iyo reached under his long, dark green cloak to pull out a small flask of his own. “Next time, learn to bring your potions from home.”
Tee was surprised, but then again, he expected nothing less of the Thief lord. “I feel it too. I’ve seen several coronations of High Kings, especially of ones in Arvik, and they never end easily. Be on your guard, Alduin. We may be dealing with more than we bargained for.”
With that, Iyo nodded, and stalked back off towards the town square. “Try to stay as sober as possible, will you? I don’t want to be fighting beside a drunk magician.”
Tee laughed, but nodded. The voice quickly slipped back into his mind. “You can trust him, but he’s not all that meets the eye.” Little did Tee know, the ShadKnife was telling Iyo the exact same thing.
Clutching his flask a bit closer, and holding the pommel of his sword, Tee strode back towards the festival. Iyo helped him subtly drill a hole into the bottom of his tankard, so it looked like Tee was still partaking in the festivities, not raising any alarms, but also draining the liquor out onto the table and the cobbled roads, blending in with the alcohol that spilt over the sides of the cups of drunken Asmundians, resulting in a sober wizard.
Soon, the cathedral bells rang, and the people that had once crowded the town square rushed back into the palace to attend the royal wedding. Two momentous occasions on one day...all the more reason to drink.
Tee settled in next to Jed, very aware of the Thief Lord that sat in the pew behind him. Tee’s palms were sweaty, gripping the glass flask tightly under his vest. Jed gripped his hand, forcing him to look at her. “Easy,” she said. “No need to jump the gun.”
She knew too? What was going on, and why wouldn’t anyone tell him? He saw the flash of metal, and noticed a sharp knife beheath Jed’s dress, strapped to her bare thigh. Fancy, but lethal, Tee cooed. He rolled his neck, but felt more prepared for whatever came their way.
The ceremony proceeded as normal. Bacchus stood at the throne, happily awaiting his bride, the organ piano reverberating the windows all around him. He balanced his weight toe to toe, nervous as if something would go wrong, that Falksi wouldn’t say yes, that he was just living a dream…
But there she was, striding down the aisle so light and airy, like she was floating on a cloud. Her hair was tied back with a small, thick vine, and wrapped up nicely into a bouncy bun, adorned with Azure Bluets. Instead of a traditional wedding gown, she was outfitted with many leaves, speckled with the Kalrosian frost, and meticulously interwoven to tightly hug her body, whilst covering her extremities with ease. As she moved, a natural scent washed over the crowd, smelling of early morning dew and honey, drawing most inwards, and making even the sober somewhat drunk. With each stride, Bacchus’ heart skipped a beat. Here was Falksi, his old time brewing and drinking companion, and now to be lifelong companion under the Artifact. Bacchus smiled with glee, as Falksi completed her adventure up to the throne.
The official from Bacchus’ coronation doubled as the King’s priest and officiator for his wedding. He stood with the two, before all those present, cracked open a Holy Tome of Freyjia, the Goddess of Love, and started reciting off some lines about the act of holy matrimony.
“Pay attention. By the stairwell.” The voice was quiet, whispering as if he didn’t want to disrupt the crowd. Tee’s head perked up, drawn away from the couple, to see the page slowly shuffling his way away from the platform.
Iyo tapped Tee on the shoulder. “Good eye. Are you ready?”
Tee slowly nodded, sliding down out of view of the spectators, and attracting as little attention as possible, popped the cork to his flask. He turned to Jed, who only nodded to him, and heard the small snapping noise of Iyo’s cork as well. Together, they both took a quick swig and disappeared from the crowd of onlookers.
With more ritualistic sentences falling on deaf ears, Tee and Iyo quickly scurried to the outskirts of the room. Under normal circumstances, Tee wouldn’t be able to see the Thief Lord, as he swept from column to column, in and out of shadows, like a tried and true thief; however, the Man in Chains made sure to highlight Iyo’s outlines in the same purple mist he used to show Tee the way around Arvik. Tee followed Iyo up the steps, being forced to ignore the black flames that dominated the frostfire flower pinned to his chest.
Together, they made their way to the back of the palace, which had a balcony overlooking the streets of Arvik. Iyo hopped over the railing, landing nimbly on the cobbled stones, and swiftly catching up to the page. Tee checked both ways, as if thinking he was being followed, and let himself down as easily as possible, without making a ruckus. It seemed like the Man’s magic worked in mysterious ways, as there was no sound save Tee’s soft grunt as he hit the ground. He had to basically jog to catch up with Iyo, however, and every silent footfall was nothing but straining to his body.
Iyo and Tee followed the page as he made his way to Arvik’s wall, and scaled it using one of the massive towers set into it. Up and up they went, before looking out over the walls to the dense roofed forest. Here, Tee thought that his vision was playing tricks on him, but he could’ve sworn he saw something moving in the trees.
The page stopped between two ramparts, looked both ways and looking right through Iyo and Tee, then whistled out when he thought the coast was clear. Sure enough, Tee had been right, as three, brute like hunks of metal appeared from within the canopy. Tee knew that the only thing that protected the Asmundians from an all out assault from the warriors was a thin veil draped around Arvik. It was hard to see if you weren’t magically inclined, but Tee knew that it prevented the Elytra flight of enemies within the towns borders...but if they got a man from the inside, like the page here…
“Kill him!” The voice reverberated in both Tee’s and Iyo’s minds, but a minute too late. Already the page had snapped a lever, and the gates of Arvik started shifting. Within seconds, the outsiders were within Arvik’s walls, and Shadknife’s blade was through the page’s heart. Iyo’s invisibility wore off, as he used his boot to push the page off the knife, and let him tumble off the wall.
“Up there!” one of the intruders shouted, grabbing a bow from around his shoulder and quickly nocking an arrow. As it was in flight, Tee’s instincts took over, dashing in front of the Thief, and striking down the loose arrow with a quick glance of Arcanus Oblivio. He felt the cool rush of air, as his sword arm returned to position, awaiting another arrow, but feeling vulnerable as the blanket of invisibility that covered Tee’s skin was quickly stripped off of him.
The young wizard turned to the Thief Lord. “Go!” Iyo nodded, and went running down the path, towards the Keep, hoping to find at least one sober guard.
“Well done, Alduin. It seems your skills are approving on their own now!”
“Shut up.”
Tee brought up his Sunstone Staff, as another volley of arrows was directed his way. With a wave of his head, their feather fletchings were set into a blue blaze, and went whizzing harmlessly over his head. “Oculus arcana infernum!” The spell came quickly, and as Tee stamped his Staff onto the hard, stone bricks of Arvik’s walls, a pillar of flames erupted around the intruders, stopping them in their tracks.
“Kill them! Do it, quickly!”
Tee shook his head, feeling the frostfire flower burn a vibrant blue. “No. Let’s see where they’ve come from first.”
Tee leapt from the wall, catching himself on a nearby rooftop to shorten his fall. As he stood amongst the three invaders, two of them leapt out at him. The flames of the circle reached sky high, leaving only smoldering piles of ash in their wake. Tee moved his hand, shrinking the radius of the circle, but also setting the flames to a low cinder. He sat down, as the magic was beginning to drain him and give him a headache. Not knowing what to do, Tee’s prisoner did the same.
The two shared a long stare, but ultimately said nothing. From behind the intruder, Tee saw the flash of a dark blue dress. “Ahh, she’s here.”
He heard his name called, as he slowly began to lose consciousness. “It’s fine,” Tee muttered, as the flames finally faded away. His prisoner was hoisted up from beneath his shoulders, and he imagined he was dragged elsewhere to be investigated thoroughly.
“Tee, are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” the wizard said, waving his hand to shrug off the Wolf Mother’s concerns.
“If you keep this up, your magic will be the death of you.”
“Good thing that won’t happen for awhile, right?” he laughed. “Now then, it’s time to get some rest.”
***
The fallen Vanir watched from a nearby rooftop of the unconscious Lord of Auru and his fiancee. “Perhaps he has more control over it that I give him credit for?”
Magnus only nodded his head. “He’s an interesting case, that’s for sure.”
Cryptite sighed. “When do you want to tell him?”
“When he’s ready.”
***
Tee groggily woke up, only to be shushed by Jed. He quickly drank in his surroundings, noticing he was once again in the palace of Arvik. Had he dreamt the whole thing up?
“Bacchus Markov, High King of Arvik: do you take this woman to be your forever bound love, your soulmate for a life eternal underneath the Artifact?”
“I do,” the beast-man said, standing tall, his tail waving between his legs, and his ears standing at attention.
“Falksi, Lady of Auru,” the official said, turning to the woman of nature. “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, through good and bad, ‘til Blight do you part?”
“I do,” she graciously said, bowing her head slightly.
“You may now drink with the bride!”
The two of them cracked the largest smiles, revealing stainless steel flasks from within their attire, interlocking their arms at the right elbow, and chugging own the alcoholic contents. The whole assembly laughed, joyous at the spin on the wedding that the two drunkards had made, but alas, made their wedding official. “Three cheers to the Markovs!” was the resounding cry from within the palace.
***
After a long night of celebrating, and congratulating the new couple and High King, the Aurulians found it about time to head home. Tee stayed silent for most of the trip, watching the antics of the drunken town members all about him, trying to not fall off of the airship back to Aladra. On the second leg of the trip, when he wasn’t focusing on the wind that freely rippled through his hair, or the cool sea brine that splashed upon his face, he was still pondering the events that took place in Arvik. Did he really traverse the town with Iyo? Did those people actually burn at Tee’s hand? Tee looked down to his hands, at that moment, when the Thief Lord appeared beside him, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“I have no idea how the hell you knew something was going to happen, but admittedly, I don’t want to ask. We all have some kind of higher being watching over us. Let’s just hope they’re benevolent.”
Tee nearly burst out laughing, thinking of the Man as benevolent, but he remained silent. He looked into the Thief Lord’s cowl, and nodded, respecting Iyo for whatever companionship had grown between them on this day. I suppose, Tee thought, that everything did really happen then…
Jed found the two men, and also sat beside Tee, intertwining their hands. They sat like this, in silence, for the rest of the trip home.
By the time they arrived back in Auru, the sun was peaking the horizon to break into the following day. Tee and Jed were just about to enter Jed’s house, until a courier stopped them at the door, out of breath. “Your majesty!” he yelled, before dropping to a knee.
“As you were. What’s up?”
“We need you two at the North Gate, and quickly!”
Tee and Jed looked at each other, frightened, but nodded and half ran, half jogged alongside the courier, past the Spire, up the Northern pathway, all the way to the Gate.
The couple realized, in horror, that the gate was slightly ajar, but even more concerned with the man who stood before them, an arrow lodged deep into his left shoulder, dangerously close to his heart, and large claw marks that raked up and down his face, arms, and chest. He kept fighting off the Aurulian guards who only wanted to tend to his wounds, but finally held still as he saw the Aurulian nobles approaching.
“Who are you?” Jed called out to the man. “Are you alright?”
“Is the Young Wizard here in Auru?”
Jed turned to Tee, who had a horrified look on his eyes. “Yes…?” he finally stammered. “Why do you need to know?”
“You must direct me to him immediately. Xovious sent me.”
The rest of the trip to Aladra was pretty uneventful, save for the few pelicans that fought the cold, and decided to accompany the Lokans on the trip. Tee helped Jed out of the boat, and before long, they were up on airship, headed to Arvik.
Despite the rocky ride at first, the formally dressed landlubbers, as the captain of the airship had labeled them, made their way towards Arvik, expecting a grand entrance. Tee smiled down upon the spectacle of the town, laughing as little ants of people ran throughout the street, surely making last minute preparations for the event.
The airship docked at the airship tower, and soon all the passengers were off and intermingling with the crowd. Tee smiled, as it was the first time in awhile that he’d known the Asmundian people to smile, and actually be genuinely happy. A few Arvikian officers went around greeting the officials, and attempted to usher them towards the palace, when the coronation would take place. Tee and Jed couldn’t help but oblige.
As they entered the palace, Tee soaked in his surroundings. It wasn’t often that he had any reason to be in Arvik, so it still remained quite grandiose to him. The vaulted ceilings of the palace alone were intimidating, offset by the brilliance of detailing that decorated the walls. Large paintings coated the walls, floor to ceiling, straddling large windows that vented in the natural sunlight of the morning. Crystal chandeliers hung from the wooden beam supports that crisscrossed the roof, and braziers further lit up the room, banishing all possible shadowy spots from the room. Tee had always heard rumors of Nokia being paranoid of assassins sneaking up on him in the castle. Tee usually brushed these rumors aside, as they didn’t match up with Nokia’s legendary status as a leader.
It didn’t take long for the palace throne room to become packed with spectators. Their stray conversations echoed off of the walls, and created a natural bubble of sound. Tee could barely hear himself think, which he assumed, for once, was a good thing. Still, he felt his eyes floating around the room, awaiting some kind of hidden threat that, for all he knew, wasn’t there at all.
An official, adorned in thick black and red robes strode down the central aisle, up towards the throne that sat in the middle of the room, unoccupied. Tee imagined Nokia sitting there, in his usual posture of one leg draped over the arm of the chair, and his head resting on his fist as his elbow leaned on the other arm. He also imagined Stampen standing behind him, attending to his duties as Nokia’s right hand.
The images of the former leaders drifted away as the official pounded a small gavel upon a podium in the front of the room, bringing some sense of order to the crowd of Asmundians.
“Ladies and Gentleman! I wish to thank you all for coming today in order to watch the most momentous action in Arvikian History, the crowning of the next High King: Bacchus Markov.”
The crowd erupted in a round of applause. The official let it ring on for a little longer, before he held up his hand to silence everyone once more. He looked down the aisle, back to the large doors that opened up onto Arvik’s main road. Just beyond the threshold stood a nervous Bacchus Markov. Tee glanced at the half man, half beast, noticing Bacchus’ tail was far in between his legs, and his furry ears were drooping slightly. He was accompanied with Quazister, Captain of the Guard, who was adorned with his formal military attire, medals gleaming, sword neatly buckled at his side. Bacchus, wanted anything but to walk into the palace, even if it meant leaving Arvik and never coming back. Quazister wasn’t having any of it, however, and was pushing him forward. Bacchus reached into his vest pocket, and pulled out a small flask. He took a quick swig from it, violently shook his head, and replaced it.
Slowly, but carefully, Bacchus marched forward down the aisle, wary of all the eyes that seemed to scrutinize him, head to toe. Finally, he made it to the front of the room, and glancing over the crowd, slightly bowed, acknowledging, even without words, that he was grateful for them all being there for him. Bacchus turned once more to the Arvikian official.
“Bacchus Markov, Lord of Arvik: speak truthfully as I ask you these following questions.”
“Yes sir.”
“Will you protect Arvik to the best of your ability?”
“Yes.”
“Will you always have the best interests of Arvik at heart, even if it means placing your own interests aside?”
“Yes.”
“Should the occasion arise, will you valiant lead your troops into a battle, even if it could mean certain death?”
“Yes.”
The official watched Bacchus, as they locked eyes, and silently held this stare. Satisfied with Bacchus’ answers, he turned to Quazister. “Will you bear witness to this coronation?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Will you protect your King under all costs?”
“Of course.”
“Should the occasion arise, will you fight to the death, under your king’s banner?”
“Only if he’ll let me,” Quazister said, sticking out a tongue. The crowd started giggling, while the official just rolled his eyes.
“Close enough, I guess.” He turned around to a page who was waiting at the edge of the room. The page brought forth a crown and scepter, situated atop a red and black pillow. The official placed the scepter within Bacchus’ hands. “With this Scepter of Arvik, may you rule over Arvik benevolently and thoroughly, may you have all your people behind you, and may Arvik prosper under you. Bacchus Markov, please kneel.”
Bacchus knelt down, head slightly tipped towards the ground. The official took the crown from the page, who then went scurrying off, and placed it on Bacchus’ head. “Bacchus Markov: with this crown, and the power vested within me, along with the official recognition of all those present, I now proclaim you to be the High King of Arvik. Congratulations, King Bacchus!”
The crowd roared, as Bacchus stood up, and shook the official’s hand. Tee laughed as the crown, just a bit too big for Bacchus’ head, goofily tilted to one side of his head. Regardless, he and Jed joined the crowd of standing spectators who were giving Bacchus an exorbitant round of applause.
Bacchus waved his hand, and people instantly silenced themselves. “I wish to personally thank everyone for coming and witnessing my coronation. The city of Arvik has prepared alcohol and other refreshments in the town square. Please, I invite you to help yourself.”
Everyone in the crowd cheered, and rushed out, leaving Jed and Tee, along with a few other stragglers, within the palace. Tee and Jed watched as Bacchus slumped into the throne, looking physically exhausted, and Quazister taking up post beside him. Jed pointed towards the two, and Tee agreed. As the leader of their biggest ally, it was only right for Jed to compliment Bacchus on his new position.
The two walked up to the throne and, as was protocol, Tee dropped to one knee, balling his right hand into a fist, and placing it over his heart. With his head deeply bowed, he formally greeted Bacchus as “Your Majesty.” Jed, however, made no such movements. Because they were both High Kings, and equals of power, she was not required to bow or anything. She did, however, out of respect for a common ally, do a small curtsy in his presence.
“Tee Alduin, Lord of Auru, and Jedoi Talongon, High King of Auru, how delightful!” Bacchus turned to Quazister. “You are dismissed.”
“Wait what?”
“Quaz, you’re going to be guarding me like a puppy for the next few weeks as I meet with all different kinds of foreign advisors. In the meantime, however, before those meetings start, you can learn to enjoy yourself. Go out to the courtyard, and get yourself a drink.”
“Bacchus, you can’t just-”
“Quazister, this is a command from your High King.”
Quazister stood there, mouth slightly agape, before nodding. “Then I shall take my leave.” With that, he walked out the door.
When Bacchus was content that Quazister was far enough away from the group, he jumped from his throne and nearly tackled the two Aurulians. “It’s so good to see you guys!”
“Whoa, Bacchus,” Tee laughed. “Isn’t this against the protocols of the nobility?”
Bacchus waved his hand at the young wizard. “Fuck the protocols. Seriously, they only make us look more snobby than we actually are. Hell, I’d much rather be drunk in a bar with the commoners of Arvik, than stuck in here with the stuck-ups we call Foreign Ministers.”
Tee and Jed laughed once more. “You will definitely be a good king, Bacchus,” Jed commented.
“Thanks,” Bacchus replied. “If only I wanted to be king…”
The three of them frowed, but they understood the stress of taking on so much responsibility. “At least I’ll have Falksi by my side.”
Jed and Tee nodded in agreement. “Where is she, anyways?” Tee asked.
“Getting ready for her wedding, you dolt,” Jed said, turning to Tee.
“Oh...right. I probably should’ve guessed…”
Bacchus could only laugh. “I love you guys. You’re going to make a great married couple.”
Tee and Jed blushed, but humbly accepted Bacchus’ blessing.
“Now then, shall we? I’m dying to get my paws on some Strong Absinthe.”
***
Cryptite appeared on one of the walkways above the throne. Although he remained invisible to most of the Lokans present, he noticed Jedoi steal a few glances at him. As the Aurulians left with the new High King, Cryptite turned to another figure who had materialized before him: King Magnus, one of the original guardians of Loka.
“Welcome to Arvik, Mag.”
The man only nodded, jumping straight to business. “What’s his status?”
“Functional, though it seems like he’s losing control of it by the day.” Magnus scratched his chin, but said nothing. Crypt urged him on, “should we intervene?”
“No. If he’s truly the one of the prophecy, he’ll need to get through most of this on his own, even if that means he does slip a bit.”
Uneasily, Crypt nodded, looking through one of the large windows to see all of the people mingling and enjoying each other’s company. By the time he looked back, Magnus was gone again. Cryptite shook his head. “Congratulations, Bacchus. Long live the King,” he said, before he too disappeared into the void.”
***
“Slip away as quickly and quietly as possible.” The voice somehow shattered through all the commotion that surrounded Tee. Tee’s vision began to darken, and a purple mist started to form, leading out of the crowd, and around a building. Tee cursed under his breath, took a deep swig of the mead he held in his hand, and started following the trail that the Man had laid out for him.
Down and around the mist went, following back alleyways, to avoid being caught. The only people that saw him now were those already too drunk to remember he was there to begin with. Eventually, the mist led right up to the tavern that Bacchus usually worked at. There was a lock on the door, which meant that no one was inside.
Tee swung the Sunstone Staff out from his cloak and, looking both ways to make sure no one could see him, he heated up the lock, just enough to slide the main bar out of the locking mechanism. He just hoped the heat didn’t disform the shape of the lock, and him getting caught later. Swiftly, he snuck inside.
The mist further snaked along the floor, around the bar, and down a flight of steps to what Tee could only assume to be Bacchus’ brewery. Sure enough, there were barrels, cauldrons, and distilleries galore.
“You’ll need a handful of netherstalk, one golden carrot, a pinch of redstone, and a fermented spider eye,” the voice instructed.
The recipe for an invisibility potion? What for? Tee didn’t question the Man, however, quickly scanning through Bacchus’ storage bins to find his materials. Tee commandeered one of the many cauldrons, lighting a flame with the Sunstone Staff. He quickly dropped in the materials, mixed up the brew a bit, and bottled himself a glass flask of the potion.
“Stick it beneath your vest. You’ll need it for later.”
Tee sucked in a breath, before making his way back outside. He assumed his way was clear, until he nearly bumped into Iyoforeayo.
“Fancy meeting you here, Tee.”
“Iyo! Holy Crypt, how’d you find me?”
“A good thief never misses a beat, especially of an Aurulian noble sneaking off into an unknown town on his own.”
Tee looked down at his feet. “Of course…”
Iyo reached under his long, dark green cloak to pull out a small flask of his own. “Next time, learn to bring your potions from home.”
Tee was surprised, but then again, he expected nothing less of the Thief lord. “I feel it too. I’ve seen several coronations of High Kings, especially of ones in Arvik, and they never end easily. Be on your guard, Alduin. We may be dealing with more than we bargained for.”
With that, Iyo nodded, and stalked back off towards the town square. “Try to stay as sober as possible, will you? I don’t want to be fighting beside a drunk magician.”
Tee laughed, but nodded. The voice quickly slipped back into his mind. “You can trust him, but he’s not all that meets the eye.” Little did Tee know, the ShadKnife was telling Iyo the exact same thing.
Clutching his flask a bit closer, and holding the pommel of his sword, Tee strode back towards the festival. Iyo helped him subtly drill a hole into the bottom of his tankard, so it looked like Tee was still partaking in the festivities, not raising any alarms, but also draining the liquor out onto the table and the cobbled roads, blending in with the alcohol that spilt over the sides of the cups of drunken Asmundians, resulting in a sober wizard.
Soon, the cathedral bells rang, and the people that had once crowded the town square rushed back into the palace to attend the royal wedding. Two momentous occasions on one day...all the more reason to drink.
Tee settled in next to Jed, very aware of the Thief Lord that sat in the pew behind him. Tee’s palms were sweaty, gripping the glass flask tightly under his vest. Jed gripped his hand, forcing him to look at her. “Easy,” she said. “No need to jump the gun.”
She knew too? What was going on, and why wouldn’t anyone tell him? He saw the flash of metal, and noticed a sharp knife beheath Jed’s dress, strapped to her bare thigh. Fancy, but lethal, Tee cooed. He rolled his neck, but felt more prepared for whatever came their way.
The ceremony proceeded as normal. Bacchus stood at the throne, happily awaiting his bride, the organ piano reverberating the windows all around him. He balanced his weight toe to toe, nervous as if something would go wrong, that Falksi wouldn’t say yes, that he was just living a dream…
But there she was, striding down the aisle so light and airy, like she was floating on a cloud. Her hair was tied back with a small, thick vine, and wrapped up nicely into a bouncy bun, adorned with Azure Bluets. Instead of a traditional wedding gown, she was outfitted with many leaves, speckled with the Kalrosian frost, and meticulously interwoven to tightly hug her body, whilst covering her extremities with ease. As she moved, a natural scent washed over the crowd, smelling of early morning dew and honey, drawing most inwards, and making even the sober somewhat drunk. With each stride, Bacchus’ heart skipped a beat. Here was Falksi, his old time brewing and drinking companion, and now to be lifelong companion under the Artifact. Bacchus smiled with glee, as Falksi completed her adventure up to the throne.
The official from Bacchus’ coronation doubled as the King’s priest and officiator for his wedding. He stood with the two, before all those present, cracked open a Holy Tome of Freyjia, the Goddess of Love, and started reciting off some lines about the act of holy matrimony.
“Pay attention. By the stairwell.” The voice was quiet, whispering as if he didn’t want to disrupt the crowd. Tee’s head perked up, drawn away from the couple, to see the page slowly shuffling his way away from the platform.
Iyo tapped Tee on the shoulder. “Good eye. Are you ready?”
Tee slowly nodded, sliding down out of view of the spectators, and attracting as little attention as possible, popped the cork to his flask. He turned to Jed, who only nodded to him, and heard the small snapping noise of Iyo’s cork as well. Together, they both took a quick swig and disappeared from the crowd of onlookers.
With more ritualistic sentences falling on deaf ears, Tee and Iyo quickly scurried to the outskirts of the room. Under normal circumstances, Tee wouldn’t be able to see the Thief Lord, as he swept from column to column, in and out of shadows, like a tried and true thief; however, the Man in Chains made sure to highlight Iyo’s outlines in the same purple mist he used to show Tee the way around Arvik. Tee followed Iyo up the steps, being forced to ignore the black flames that dominated the frostfire flower pinned to his chest.
Together, they made their way to the back of the palace, which had a balcony overlooking the streets of Arvik. Iyo hopped over the railing, landing nimbly on the cobbled stones, and swiftly catching up to the page. Tee checked both ways, as if thinking he was being followed, and let himself down as easily as possible, without making a ruckus. It seemed like the Man’s magic worked in mysterious ways, as there was no sound save Tee’s soft grunt as he hit the ground. He had to basically jog to catch up with Iyo, however, and every silent footfall was nothing but straining to his body.
Iyo and Tee followed the page as he made his way to Arvik’s wall, and scaled it using one of the massive towers set into it. Up and up they went, before looking out over the walls to the dense roofed forest. Here, Tee thought that his vision was playing tricks on him, but he could’ve sworn he saw something moving in the trees.
The page stopped between two ramparts, looked both ways and looking right through Iyo and Tee, then whistled out when he thought the coast was clear. Sure enough, Tee had been right, as three, brute like hunks of metal appeared from within the canopy. Tee knew that the only thing that protected the Asmundians from an all out assault from the warriors was a thin veil draped around Arvik. It was hard to see if you weren’t magically inclined, but Tee knew that it prevented the Elytra flight of enemies within the towns borders...but if they got a man from the inside, like the page here…
“Kill him!” The voice reverberated in both Tee’s and Iyo’s minds, but a minute too late. Already the page had snapped a lever, and the gates of Arvik started shifting. Within seconds, the outsiders were within Arvik’s walls, and Shadknife’s blade was through the page’s heart. Iyo’s invisibility wore off, as he used his boot to push the page off the knife, and let him tumble off the wall.
“Up there!” one of the intruders shouted, grabbing a bow from around his shoulder and quickly nocking an arrow. As it was in flight, Tee’s instincts took over, dashing in front of the Thief, and striking down the loose arrow with a quick glance of Arcanus Oblivio. He felt the cool rush of air, as his sword arm returned to position, awaiting another arrow, but feeling vulnerable as the blanket of invisibility that covered Tee’s skin was quickly stripped off of him.
The young wizard turned to the Thief Lord. “Go!” Iyo nodded, and went running down the path, towards the Keep, hoping to find at least one sober guard.
“Well done, Alduin. It seems your skills are approving on their own now!”
“Shut up.”
Tee brought up his Sunstone Staff, as another volley of arrows was directed his way. With a wave of his head, their feather fletchings were set into a blue blaze, and went whizzing harmlessly over his head. “Oculus arcana infernum!” The spell came quickly, and as Tee stamped his Staff onto the hard, stone bricks of Arvik’s walls, a pillar of flames erupted around the intruders, stopping them in their tracks.
“Kill them! Do it, quickly!”
Tee shook his head, feeling the frostfire flower burn a vibrant blue. “No. Let’s see where they’ve come from first.”
Tee leapt from the wall, catching himself on a nearby rooftop to shorten his fall. As he stood amongst the three invaders, two of them leapt out at him. The flames of the circle reached sky high, leaving only smoldering piles of ash in their wake. Tee moved his hand, shrinking the radius of the circle, but also setting the flames to a low cinder. He sat down, as the magic was beginning to drain him and give him a headache. Not knowing what to do, Tee’s prisoner did the same.
The two shared a long stare, but ultimately said nothing. From behind the intruder, Tee saw the flash of a dark blue dress. “Ahh, she’s here.”
He heard his name called, as he slowly began to lose consciousness. “It’s fine,” Tee muttered, as the flames finally faded away. His prisoner was hoisted up from beneath his shoulders, and he imagined he was dragged elsewhere to be investigated thoroughly.
“Tee, are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” the wizard said, waving his hand to shrug off the Wolf Mother’s concerns.
“If you keep this up, your magic will be the death of you.”
“Good thing that won’t happen for awhile, right?” he laughed. “Now then, it’s time to get some rest.”
***
The fallen Vanir watched from a nearby rooftop of the unconscious Lord of Auru and his fiancee. “Perhaps he has more control over it that I give him credit for?”
Magnus only nodded his head. “He’s an interesting case, that’s for sure.”
Cryptite sighed. “When do you want to tell him?”
“When he’s ready.”
***
Tee groggily woke up, only to be shushed by Jed. He quickly drank in his surroundings, noticing he was once again in the palace of Arvik. Had he dreamt the whole thing up?
“Bacchus Markov, High King of Arvik: do you take this woman to be your forever bound love, your soulmate for a life eternal underneath the Artifact?”
“I do,” the beast-man said, standing tall, his tail waving between his legs, and his ears standing at attention.
“Falksi, Lady of Auru,” the official said, turning to the woman of nature. “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, through good and bad, ‘til Blight do you part?”
“I do,” she graciously said, bowing her head slightly.
“You may now drink with the bride!”
The two of them cracked the largest smiles, revealing stainless steel flasks from within their attire, interlocking their arms at the right elbow, and chugging own the alcoholic contents. The whole assembly laughed, joyous at the spin on the wedding that the two drunkards had made, but alas, made their wedding official. “Three cheers to the Markovs!” was the resounding cry from within the palace.
***
After a long night of celebrating, and congratulating the new couple and High King, the Aurulians found it about time to head home. Tee stayed silent for most of the trip, watching the antics of the drunken town members all about him, trying to not fall off of the airship back to Aladra. On the second leg of the trip, when he wasn’t focusing on the wind that freely rippled through his hair, or the cool sea brine that splashed upon his face, he was still pondering the events that took place in Arvik. Did he really traverse the town with Iyo? Did those people actually burn at Tee’s hand? Tee looked down to his hands, at that moment, when the Thief Lord appeared beside him, and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
“I have no idea how the hell you knew something was going to happen, but admittedly, I don’t want to ask. We all have some kind of higher being watching over us. Let’s just hope they’re benevolent.”
Tee nearly burst out laughing, thinking of the Man as benevolent, but he remained silent. He looked into the Thief Lord’s cowl, and nodded, respecting Iyo for whatever companionship had grown between them on this day. I suppose, Tee thought, that everything did really happen then…
Jed found the two men, and also sat beside Tee, intertwining their hands. They sat like this, in silence, for the rest of the trip home.
By the time they arrived back in Auru, the sun was peaking the horizon to break into the following day. Tee and Jed were just about to enter Jed’s house, until a courier stopped them at the door, out of breath. “Your majesty!” he yelled, before dropping to a knee.
“As you were. What’s up?”
“We need you two at the North Gate, and quickly!”
Tee and Jed looked at each other, frightened, but nodded and half ran, half jogged alongside the courier, past the Spire, up the Northern pathway, all the way to the Gate.
The couple realized, in horror, that the gate was slightly ajar, but even more concerned with the man who stood before them, an arrow lodged deep into his left shoulder, dangerously close to his heart, and large claw marks that raked up and down his face, arms, and chest. He kept fighting off the Aurulian guards who only wanted to tend to his wounds, but finally held still as he saw the Aurulian nobles approaching.
“Who are you?” Jed called out to the man. “Are you alright?”
“Is the Young Wizard here in Auru?”
Jed turned to Tee, who had a horrified look on his eyes. “Yes…?” he finally stammered. “Why do you need to know?”
“You must direct me to him immediately. Xovious sent me.”
Very peng story
ModernMozart1787
Active Member
Next chapter pls
[A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter this time around, but we're about to come up to a major wedding, so that'll be...much longer ;-; Also, I'm keeping my promise, even though it's April Fools Day. Enjoy, everyone, and comments, questions, and concerns are always appreciated!]
Chapter 13: Hidden Truths
Chapter 13: Hidden Truths
Asymphir felt more than he saw himself being ushered down the road, before taking a sharp right under a canopy of trees, and entering a stone building with a small plaque inscribed with a few words. He could only make out a phrase or two, namely “Alchemy” and “Tee”. He could only assume that there was a mad scientist deep inside the catacombs of such a building, yet Asymphir remembered that this had once been the home of his previous master, so he had no choice but to trust these people, on Xovious’ orders...or at least, his requests.
Surprisingly, the inside wasn’t filled with cobwebs and jars of eyeballs: the foyer was nicely decorated, finely polished, and hosting an array of throw pillows for the resting wolves that were settled about the room. Asymphir did notice a bit of clutter of crates stacked about the room, but even they had some form of order to them, as they were neatly aligned, and had clear labels describing their contents. Furthermore, the crates were tucked neatly on the edges of the room, to avoid blocking the pathing of anyone walking through the room. The man in the vest opened the door for him, and motioned him forward, making sure to grasp his shoulders as Asymphir nearly fell forward. The inner room smelled faintly of cinnamon, slightly easing Asy’s nerves.
The man in the vest let out a low whistle, and a dog appeared near his side. He pet the dog’s head saying, “good boy, Tenebris. Grab me a flask, and a glistening melon while you’re at it.” With a bark, the dog ran off. “Make sure to not eat the melon either! I need that for a potion!” Asy heard a far off bark in response, and couldn’t help but giggle a bit. The man turned back, grabbing an extra pillow, and preparing a place for Asy to slump down on. Asy winced as he settled down, but it was infinitely better than standing.
The man in the vest turned to a cast iron cauldron, gripping for his side. “Where’s my Staff?” The woman stepped up behind the two.
“What’s wrong, Tee?” Asy looked up at the man. This was his target? This was the man to lead him to the new Rune Council member?
Tee shook his head. “Nothing, Jed.” He walked to a nearby cabinet, grabbing a flint and steel, and quickly lit a small fire beneath the cauldron. He grabbed a bucket of water, also waiting nearby, bringing it up to a boil within the pot. Tee tossed in a handful of Netherwart, and a pinch of a yellow dust that Asy couldn’t quite make out. The potion started to bubble an blood orange color, as Tee impatiently tapped his foot.
“You better not be eating any of that glistening melon, Tenebris!” he yelled out.
There was a muffled bark in response, as the wolf came back into the room, setting down a slobbery flask on the floor, and tossing a melon slice, embedded with small, golden nuggets, into the mix. The potion burned a deep red, before settling back to a mild boil. Tee wiped off the slobbered glass on his vest, before dipping the bottle into the cauldron and retrieving some of it’s contents. Tee set it aside to cool, before eventually handing it off to Asy.
“Drink up, you’ll need it.”
Asy questioningly looked at the flask, but felt Tee’s glare burning down on him. Despite his better judgement, he took a quick swig. The smooth, watermelon-tasting liquid easily flowed down his throat, spiking his awareness, and sending shockwaves through his spine. His nerves all seemed ablaze with energy, as all of his senses seemed heightened. No longer did a black fuzz edge his vision, and the sharp pain that coursed through his left shoulder was reduced to nothing but a dull throb.
“This won’t be your only dose, and I’ll have to make sure none of your wounds are poisoned, but at least it’s a start.” Asy nodded appreciatively, taking another sip.
“Now then,” Jed answered, stepping forward. “Time for you to answer a few questions.”
“I don’t have to answer to you,” Asy retorted.
Tee waved a hand. “If Xovious sent you here for me, then you’ll answer to me. I, in turn, answer directly to Jedoi over here. That means, by extension, she is both of our superiors, so I suggest you start talking.” Asy went to protest, but Tee cut him off once more. “Besides, it’s not like you’re in much of a position to say otherwise anyways: that potion may have magical healing properties, but it can’t work miracles. You’re still bent out of shape, and in no condition to fight right now.”
“Fine,” Asy sighed, resigning his defensive positioning, realizing the prisoner-like situation he was held captive in.
“Good, we’ll start simple,” Jed began, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and forcing her temper down a notch. She might not have liked his abrasive attitude, but it didn’t change the fact that the man was injured, and she had a duty to offer him protection within her town. Besides, he was sent by another man she trusted and respected all too well, and he was looking for her fiance. The least she could do is give him the benefit of the doubt, right?
“What’s your name?”
“Asymphir,” he started, before looking up, deep into Jedoi’s deep, purple eyes. “Asymphir Talongon.”
***
Tee felt the tension in the air almost becoming tangible, as taut as a rope found on the ships in the nearby lake. He watched as Jed’s shoulders flew back as she straightened in surprise, and disbelief. Jed had always told Tee that she never had...or at least, never knew of any siblings she had, and that Ronshaud was the closest thing she could call a brother. Even then, Talongon wasn’t an actual name: it was an honorary surname she had made her burden, after a town she had founded with friends - scratch that, near family - from a long lost world. Tee had often envied that connection that Jed naturally had with people, as his closest friends on Loka had been his fiancee, and a man now lost to the wind.
Despite that, he knew that Talongon was a name she carried with honor, a name she carried close to her heart, and here was this man before both of them, a risk to possibly tarnish the name. Tee understood the shock, anger, disappointment, and any other mixed emotions that were bouncing around in her head. “How?” was the only word to slip out of her mouth.
“What do you mean, ‘how’?”
“She means, how are you a Talongon, I’d think,” Tee suggested. “It’s not...a usual name we hear around these parts.”
“It was my family name?” Asymphir asked, confused.
“Bullshit!” Jed yelled out.
“Jed,” Tee said, holding up a hand. Jed glared at her fiance, but with a tear rolling down her cheek, she turned on her heel, and stormed out of the Alchemy Guild.
Sighing, Tee walked over, and sat across the room from Asymphir, his head in his hands, as he heard the crack of the front door slam against it’s frame.
“What’s wrong with her? She’s a madwoman!”
“That ‘madwoman’ is my fiancee,” Tee said, looking up at the stranger. “So watch your mouth.”
There was a silence that settled over the room, stifling all emotion. Tee was lost in thought, absentmindedly watching as Asymphir took a few more sips of the potion, nearly draining it’s contents.
“When did you become an orphan?” Tee finally asked, filling the void of sound. He watched as Asymphir tensed, winced as a wave of pain shot through his shoulder, before finally looking at Tee with a set of wide eyes.
“How did you know?”
“As I said: Talongon isn’t a usual name.”
***
Jed walked outside, wiping tears away from her eyes as they streamed down her face. She was infuriated that someone would attempt to take Talongon away from her, and rake it through mud.
Her mind began to wander as she walked through the Aurulian streets, with no real destination in her mind. She watched as the Aurulians who hadn’t gone to the wedding and coronation in Arvik began to wake up and roam the town. She waltzed through the Merchant Row, picking herself up one of the remaining apples supplied by Draekonfell. As she took a bit into the crisp, crimson skin of the fruit, her mind surged with images of Xovious, until finally settling on one of him sitting in the Historian Guild with her.
Xovious had never been much of one for the Lokans’ history. He had appeared in Auru during the time that Hilo was betraying Vanaheimr, and the Lokan Intercontinental Alliance was beginning to form. He had played a key role in the leadership under Ajaxan, and when the man they both adored had left, Xovious took over for him and Jed couldn’t be prouder. When he had taken on this role as High King, however, he resolved that the least he could do is learn more about Auru’s history and development, and turned to Jed for advice. This also lead to Jed teaching him more about her own history, before Auru, before even the Fifth World. This discussion also mainly focused on her surname: Talongon.
“Tell me more about it: I’ve never once heard you mention your parents,” he had said, almost nonchalantly.
“Well, I never knew my parents, as I was found in Asgard with just a blanket with the lettering ‘JEDOI’ on it. But Talongon was a town I had founded on another world, with some friends from Dellsmite.”
“How does one take a town name as their surname?” Xov laughed.
Jed was flustered, but shook her head. “I had no name to call my own. At that time I was an honorary member of House Avalos, again, something that was part of my friends from Dellsmite. Even then, however, I always felt like an outcast in that House. So when Talongon was formed, I decided that, in the ultimate sign of honor and allegiance, I’d make the town part of me.”
“So the beginning of a bloodline, essentially. You had no siblings in this new House, I’m assuming?”
The Wolf Mother shook her head. “That’s not entirely true. Although yes, there was no connection by blood, I heavily considered a man by the name of Ronshaud to be my brother. Although Ronshaud had stuck with his family name of Risewell, we both hoped Talongon would symbolize the hope for all nameless orphans in the world, just like us. Whether you knew who you were or weren’t, House Talongon would always be open for you.”
Xovious smiled, and she should’ve seen it as a sign all the way back then. He was bound to recruit someone for Talongon, despite her best wishes. But Asymphir? Why him? Why is he special?
***
“A few years ago, my village burned down in a fire of unnatural causes. Although no one could place probable blame to retaliate and go to war, we knew that someone had lit the blaze that purged my people,” Asymphir started. “The Artifact promised to bring them all back, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t mind my family. It’s almost as if they disappeared into thin air…”
Tee slowly nodded. He remembered what Xovious had once told him, that the Artifact was never a given. The thought had rippled up and down his spine even now, several months after he had that confrontation with Xovious on the battlefields of Ascalon. “So what did you do next?”
“I couldn’t find peace without my parents, so I found myself traversing the world. Full of enemies, I couldn’t reside in Ascalon any longer, and the extreme heats of Garama nearly killed me of hydration the first day. Soon, I found myself deep in Kalros’ harsh climates, nearly freezing to death. Lord Xovious found me there, and brought me to Feronin, which was a very small civilization at the time. He promised me a home, and a way to defend myself, should I find myself in a drastic situation ever again.”
“And your parents?”
“He was honest with me, saying that they could return at any point in time, whether it’s tomorrow, in ten years, or never at all.” He rolled his shoulder, wincing a bit, but trying to work out the pain. He reached out behind him, and yanked out the arrow stuck in his shoulder, wincing as it gave a little tug at first, but finally fell out of it’s wound. The blood dripped from the arrowhead, but Asy felt the wound starting to stitch over. “We built Feronin together, with the few others that were already there, and Xovious was making not only a group of elite warriors, but also a home for all the homeless out there in the world, much like he felt he was: homeless, and without a name. When the time came, he honored me with the name of Talongon, saying someone else close to him bore the name. He never really described who, but if I had to guess…”
Tee nodded his head, confirming Asy’s suspicions. Asy cursed under his breath, “I should go apologize to her...I didn’t know.”
“It’s not your fault, there’s no way you could’ve known; however, yes, that would be wise.”
Asy nodded once more, looking at his flask, and finding himself disappointed when he realized it was empty. Tee looked into a crate just behind his head, picked out a green vial, and tossed it over to Asy. “This will disinfect the wounds, hopefully preventing any spread of poison through your bloodstream, if there is any.”
Asy popped the cork, taking a swig, and flinched, noticing the harsh, lime flavor swish around his mouth, compared to the smooth watermelon taste from before. Despite the sour after taste, he couldn’t say he despised it, and took another sip. “After awhile, Xov said he had to leave for a little while, and go back to Auru. He never quite explained what Auru was, but he stayed there for quite awhile. All of us in Feronin thought he was dead, but he would send messages every once in awhile, until one day he showed up randomly on our doorstep, ready to take control once more.”
“And you didn’t question it?”
“Not once. He was our leader, from beginning to end, through thick and thin. Why should we ever question that?”
Tee shook his head. He wondered just how many other secrets Xov was keeping from all of them. “So Xov sent you here, why?”
Asy shrugged a bit. “He originally wanted me to watch over the town he called home, which was a bit of a stab to all of us at Feronin, thinking that Feronin was home to Xov. I guess we were wrong.”
The young wizard looked down at his feet, “I’m sure he loves both towns just as equally, Asymphir. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” There was a brief pause as they were both lost in thought. “He told you to seek me out, right? Any idea why that was?”
Asy shook his head, glancing sidelong at Tenebris, who was dozing off in a corner of the room. “He wants me to train another warrior of the Runes, something he’s doing in Feronin,” he started, drawing his sword, and showing Tee the golden Runes of Angelrune. “I received this just before I left.”
“Did he give you a name of who he wanted you to train?”
“No, just that you’ll lead me right to them.”
Tee pinched the bridge of his nose, “damn it Xov; not giving me much to work with here.” Tee thought through a list of warriors that were currently in Auru: “Perhaps he wants you to train DeroTurtle, the current Jarl of the War Guild? He’s probably the greatest warrior amongst all of Auru! Or perhaps Thanatos? I know Xovious wanted to train him for Deathrune next...although the two would’ve had plenty of time to train together in Draekonfell…”
“Draekonfell?” Asy queried.
Tee waved his hand, “a story for another day.”
“What if, in a twist of irony, he wanted me to train you?”
Tee couldn’t help but laugh. “As much as I might love to be amongst the legendary Rune Council, amongst heroes like Nokiaman, Stampen, and Xovious, Xov knows I’m no warrior.”
***
Jed found herself atop the Spire once more, with the same dusty book in hand she had before Tee and her had fallen in love. She scraped the dust off once more, watching as it danced along the morning winds, dimming the sunlight that filtered through the Spire’s roof. “Oh dear Freyjia, give me guidance.”
The Wolf Mother wasn’t quite surprised when she heard nothing in return, and, losing all hope, found herself turning on her heels to walk back the steps of the Spire. She was, however, thrown off guard when she nearly turned around and walked into a shimmering body of a tall, beautiful, and nature-draped woman. Jed stood in absolute awe, drinking in the brilliance of the woman before her. “Freyjia,” she finally muttered.
“Jedoi.” The two stood in silence, as Freyjia finally allowed for a small smile. “I cannot directly give you assistance on this day, but I can grant you one favor.”
“Oh?”
“I have been watching over you for quite some time, Jedoi Talongon, and I must say that I’m quite envious of your relationship with that Tee Alduin of yours. Your wedding will be quite spectacular indeed...but I think a few friends might make it all the better.”
“I don’t understand…”
The Vanir held up a hand, to silence the girl before her. “Upon the day of Holy Matrimony, three long lost friends will return to Auru for one full day. Fortunately, two will return eventually...but the other one will disappear indefinitely.”
Jed shook her head, attempting to grasp the meaning of the Goddess’ words. “Wha- who…?”
“The first two that shall return to you go by the names of Leasaur Istalri and Artagan Antioch.”
Jed’s eyes widened. “Art and Lea will be here? Oh my Crypt!”
Freyjia giggled, but silenced Jed once more. “The last guest will be the one who helped lead this town in its infancy.”
“Xovious?” Jed asked warily.
She shook her head, “Ajaxan.”
I would like to file a formal complaint. Not once and I mean Not once is Magpieman even mentioned in this entire series. He is an Old one aka the second most powerful being in this entire world only supposedly overpowered by overseers. According to what crypt told me one time anyways.
ModernMozart1787
Active Member
ModernMozart1787
Active Member
Hey, I found another!
