The horses galloped quickly at the dirt road that headed forward. They were in a rush and the horses seemes like they felt their urgency and galloped faster than a normal horse would. Vincent frowned strangely at his horse but didn't feel the need to question why were the horses seemingly faster than usual. "Where to, Miguel?"
Miguel frowned, “Just follow the road” he said, “Our first stop is Demacia, which would take us five days to get to” he continued.
With that Vincent nodded, heading straight and never letting his horse away from the road. “First time travellin’ by horse?” Theodore asked, holding tightly on Vincent’s shirt.
The white Wizard nodded, “Yeah. I’ve been using portals to get around to places, I only ever use my horse to go nap at the fields” he replied, smiling nervously.
Theodore sighed, “That’s what’s wrong with you kids these days! You all use portals instead of travelling by horse, now where’s the adventure in that?” he ranted, scowling at Vincent evilly.
Vincent frowned angrily, “Shut up. There is adventure, you know, when you’ve successfully killed the beast and such” he said, waving his hand around as they entered another shaded area.
Theodore slowly shook his head, “Lad, that ain’t adventure, that’s a goal. An adventure to me is always about travelling with your lads or travelling on your own and finding your lads on the way. It’s about creating memories and having fun with your friends, lad” he replied, a smile on his face.
Vincent sighed, “Whatever, let’s just get this over with” he replied, looking back at the road as he saw a small light in the horizon. He began thinking about the girl he saw in his dreams. Could that be Ophilia? Despite knowing her, he had never met her in person. She had lived her life in Gladii and rarely visited Nakatau. And even when she visited, he was doing a mission or he locked himself in the library.
The light in the horizon grew bigger as they traveled closer to it until they finally entered the light and left the shaded area. They entered another field, a colorful one. It had different kinds of flowers, all of which were blooming as the sun shone on them. Theodore smiled and chuckled as he looked at the colorful flowers planted at the ground, “Beautiful” he muttered.
“Sure is” Miguel agreed, staring at them too. The flowers were grouped like the rainbow and they stretched as far as their eyes could see. “We should be reaching a tavern soon, we can take a break there” Miguel said, staring back at the road.
“Who would make a tavern in the middle of nowhere?” Vincent asked.
Theodore grinned, “Merchants need a break too you know. Also, to adventurers who seeks the long road” he replied, glaring at Vincent.
He looked back at him and glared as well, “I get it okay! I’m not a real adventurer!” he spat, an irritated look on his face.
Theodore smirked, “don’t be so mad, lad, at least now you’ll experience a real adventure” he said, patting Vincent in his shoulder.
He still felt irritated that Theodore was saying a real adventure was about the travel and not the goal. It angered him that he was acting like he knew everything. He sighed and stared back at the road, glaring at it. He suddenly felt something or someone was lurking from the shadows. “Where’s the tavern?” he asked, staring back at Miguel.
He frowned, pointing his finger straight ahead, “That house over there” he replied as Vincent stared at the tavern.
It was an average wooden house that stood beside the road. They were still far away but they could already hear the loud chattering of the drunk humans and dwarves in the tavern.
A few seconds later and they finally reached the tavern, tying their horses at the fence beside other horses and mounts. “Boars?” Vincent called, staring at the brown skinned pigs with massive tusk and the size bigger than an average pig.
Theodore chuckled, “Lad, boars are a Dwarf’s favorite mount” he replied, patting Vincent’s back. “They may be small but they’re fiercer than a horse” he continued, an epic tone in his voice.
“Alright, cut the chatter, let’s head inside the tavern now” Miguel spoke, approaching the two with a smile.
Vincent and Theodore nodded, following him inside. The inside was as loud as it was on the outside. The tavern was full with lots of Humans and Dwarves drinking to their heart’s content and screaming as loud as possible. Almost all of the tables were occupied, say for one at the very corner which the trio gladly took.
Theodore immediately got up and joined the loud group, grabbing a mug of beer from one of the wenches and drinking it in one go. Then, he took five more and he started to sing and talk as loud as the other people there. Miguel chuckled as he watched Theodore dance with a group of drunk Elves.
Meanwhile, Vincent watched in irritation as they remained sitting there. They were on a mission and they haven’t even gotten that far yet. It was unwise of them to rest already, when not even any of them are exhausted. He glared at Miguel, “Isn’t it a little too early for us to rest?” he asked.
Miguel slowly nodded, “Yes but that is not why we are here” he said, eyeing Vincent’s irritated and impatient face. “Not the adventure you were hoping?” he asked, placing his arms at the table.
Vincent shook his head in reply. “We’ll get there don’t worry” Miguel chuckled, then turning around and eyeing at the other corner where he saw an enigmatic pair watching the drunkards dance and sing.
The first one had his face covered by the hood he had over his head. In fact, most of the person’s apparel were black which made it harder for Miguel to recognize anything.
The other person didn’t have anything that obscured his face, he only had a white Stetson that sat atop his brown hair. His eyes were black and his skin was pale, he wore a smirk as his eyes swayed to the scowling Miguel. His apparel were a brown duster over black shirt and brown trousers with black boots. At the person’s sides were holsters with a colt each.
Miguel eyed them closely, “There you are” he whispered. He looked back at Vincent, seeing him playing around with an empty glass with his wand. The bored Wizard was using his magic to keep himself entertained. He was changing the glass into other inanimate objects with each tap of his wand.
“Hey, Vincent” Miguel called.
“Yeah?” the Wizard replied.
Miguel grinned widely, “You want to have some fun?” he asked.
Vincent could already sense trouble in Miguel’s wide grin, but he was too bored that he actually wanted to have some trouble. He shrugged, “Alright, what do you want me to do?” he asked.
“Hit those two with a magic missile” he said, pointing at the pair on the other far corner.
Vincent nodded, standing up and with a flick of his wand, two purple missiles flew across the room and hit the pairs’ faces.
Their faces turned into angry scowls as the hooded man stood up and walked across the room, towards Vincent.
Vincent gulped, instantly getting nervous. The hooded man was a lot taller and scarier than him, he could sense an ominous vibe from the person just by staring at his obscured face. “H-Hey th-there!” he spoke nervously, “Saw someone threw a missile at you… who could that be” he continued, back away slowly.
But then, the hooded man grabbed his neck and lifted him up, then throwing him across the room and into the windows. The shattering of glass could soon be heard and the loud room slowly faded into silence as they stared at a broken window.
Vincent was thrown outside, a shard of glass stuck on his stomach, causing him to bleed out and stain his white vest with red. Then, the hooded man jumped off the window and stood over Vincent, glaring at him evilly.
“Guess we have to fight now” Vincent muttered, slowly standing up. He had one leg slightly bent and one arm over the stab wound as he eyed the hooded man. His energy was slowly draining as he felt the blood slowly pour of his stomach. This was bad for him, he couldn’t focus, the blood loss was draining his energy to think and cast a spell.
But before the hooded man could attack him, Miguel came in, ramming the man away from Vincent. “Alright, we got their attention” he smiled, staring at the hooded man as he pulled his long sword from its scabbard, quickly swinging it towards the hooded man.
In quick reaction, the hooded man pulled something from his back and used it to block Miguel’s sword. It was an axe, but it had runes on its rusty metal blade. The runes glowed a white color.
Miguel gasped as his sword rusted. As the blade turned into an orange color, it slowly melted as it continued sticking itself in the axe. “Shit” he muttered, backing off and glaring at the hooded man. “An axe that corrodes other weapons, didn’t know such a thing existed” he said, an impressed look on his face.
Theodore finally sobered up and got out of the tavern, staring in shock as Vincent sat down with both his hands at his chest and Miguel staring at the hooded man with no weapon. “Situations like these always call for a Ranger making the sneak attack” he said, pulling an arrow from his quiver. He pulled back his bow and eyed the hooded man.
Gunshots rained down at an angle as Theodore prepared to fire his arrow. The distraction had caused him to cancel his attack and hopped around as the bullets barely missed his feet. "Ah fuck!" he cursed, running to hide in the trees.
Theodore stared at the tavern, scowling evilly as the gunslinger that was beside the hooded man rained him down with bullets while he laughed. Irritated, Theodore pulled another arrow from his quiver and fired it at the gunslinger.
The arrow traversed the field and passed through the broken window and into the gunslinger. The arrow penetrated the skin and only the gunslinger's flesh stopped it. The gunslinger screamed in pain as blood gushed out of his arm. “That’s what ya get for messin’ with me” Theodore cheered, grinning as the gunslinger hid.
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He didn’t celebrate just yet as he set his eyes on the hooded man who was now on the offensive, lashing his rusty axe at Miguel who dodged as much as he could. He crouched down, grabbing an arrow from his quiver and pulling back the strings of his bow. He didn’t hesitate and released the string, sending the arrow flying straight to the hooded man’s axe.
The axe fell out of his hands which gave Miguel the opening he needed to punch the hooded man in the face which gave enough force to remove the hood and reveal the man’s face. He looked just as young as Vincent or Miguel with his face brown skinned and his hair black, same color as his eyes.
He smirked, “I knew it” he said as the hooded man backed off. “You’re an Assassin!” he smiled.
The Assassin glared at him, “It’s obvious you want something from me, so I’ll bite” he spoke, a deep tone.
Miguel smiled, “I want you to join us” he said, holding out his hand. “I’ve studied Assassins thoroughly and when they are backed in a corner, they switch sides or join the person that trapped them” he continued.
The Assassin stared back at Vincent who stood up weakly, pointing his wand at him. Then he looked at Theodore who had his bow and arrow ready to hit him again. He sighed, “What’s the mission?” he asked.
“Save Ophilia and stop a war coming in two months” Miguel replied.
The Assassin smirked, “We’ll tag along but only if we get paid” he said as the gunslinger came out of the tavern and stood beside the Assassin.
Miguel nodded, “We’ll pay you after we rescue the princess” he said. The Assassin frowned but shook Miguel’s hand.
“The name’s Ezekiel, the gunslinger’s my partner, Riven” he introduced, pointing his index finger to himself and the gunslinger beside him. “And you are?” he asked.
“Miguel, prince of Nakatau” he replied. The crowd that formed around them suddenly gasped. He wasn't wearing anything that told any of them that he was a prince. He only wore a black vest underneath a white tunic and black trousers.
Ezekiel smirked, “I see” he said as he released his hand form Miguel’s.
“Let us make haste, I got what I came for” Miguel said, looking back at Theodore who was tending to Vincent’s injury.
Vincent nodded, “Right, Theo get the horses” he said as Theodore finished applying the dressing in his stomach. He remained sitting down at Theodore hurried to untie the horses.
“Go get ours too Riven” Ezekiel spoke, tugging on Riven’s arm. He nodded and hurried to the fences to untie their horses too. “Gladii’s a long way from here, we will need to get a boat to travel to the kingdom” he said, folding his arms.
Miguel nodded, “Yes, do you have any idea of a port that goes to Gladii?” he asked.
“Nocturne has the biggest port in all of the kingdoms so let us go there” Ezekiel suggested, “It’ll take a month or more to get to Nocturne” he continued.
Miguel frowned, “We need a faster mode of transportation then” he said, tapping his chin with his finger as Theodore and Riven went back to them, both walking beside a pair of horses each.
“Then we must head to Demacia” Ezekiel replied as he gripped on the horse’s reigns. His horse was a black one as was Riven’s. He got on top of it, staring at Miguel and Vincent as they rode their own horses. “Their kingdom has the fastest mode of transportation in all of Nartaal” he continued.
“With everyone having something great, what’s Nakatau great at?” Vincent asked, staring at Miguel.
Miguel smiled, “Nakatau has heroes and the highest population of Wizards, Vincent” he replied. “I thought you would know that”
Vincent frowned, “I lock myself in the library, remember?” he spat, an offended look in his face. “I don’t know what’s going on with the world” he continued, folding his arms and pouting.
Miguel chuckled, holding on to the reigns and lightly kicking his horse’s side, making it move slowly. The others followed, slowly walking away from the bar. But then, Ezekiel’s and Riven’s horses started galloping, passing by Vincent’s and Miguel’s. “Better make a run for it, the bartender’s mad, lad” Theodore said, looking back and seeing an angry old man chasing after them.
“Oh shit!” Vincent yelled, kicking the horse which caused it to gallop.
Miguel frowned but followed, kicking the horse strongly which caused it gallop. They escaped the angry bartender, but Miguel felt guilty for running from the trouble he had caused. It was the first time he had ever done this, and it felt disgusting. He sighed, “I’ll come back and pay for your damages soon” he muttered to himself.
The horses galloped for a few hours until it was finally dusk. They set up a fire in a forest, tying up their horses around the trunks of the trees while they sat at the ground, except Riven who remained standing. “You know, I didn’t expect you two to join that easily” Miguel said as he sat down and stared at Ezekiel and Riven who were across him.
Ezekiel smirked, “If what you said is true and Vizorak would be the new ruler if he killed Kronos, then our lives as mercenaries would be hard” he explained. “For sure, that old hag would ban any fighter that isn’t a Mage” he continued.
Theodore frowned, “Hence why we need to stop him, that guy would change the entirety of Nartaal if he got to sit at the throne of Nakatau” he said, pulling out an arrow from his quiver and sharpening the head with a small file. “I tell you, if we ever got to meet the bastard, I’ll shove an arrow in his head before any of you lot could even attack him” he said, pointing his arrow at them.
Riven chuckled, “Say, what would savin’ the princess do?” he asked, tucking his hand in his pocket as he placed one foot behind a tree.
Miguel smiled, “Ophilia is my father’s beloved offspring, he needs to make sure she is safe when this war starts or he won’t have the will to lead if he finds out she died or worse, used for Vizorak’s plans” he explained, slowly making a frown as he stared at the fire.
“I see” Riven said, nodding slowly. “Well, what can you lot do? I’m a Gunslinger from Nocturne, I specialize in mid to long range combats and ambush” he replied, pulling out the colts from his holsters.
“I’m an Assassin, trained by Order of Shadows. I specialize in stealth and sneak attacks but I am alright up close and personal” he said, pulling out his axe from his back.
Theodore smiled, “I’m a ranger, I specialize in long range combat and stealth” he said, pointing to himself as he placed the arrow back in his quiver.
Vincent frowned, pulling down the book he was reading, “I’m a Wizard, I specialize in offensive and defensive magic” he said monotonously, pulling the book back up.
Miguel smiled, “I’m a fighter, specialized in up close battles” he said, “Although, I have no sword right now” he said, chuckling as he stared at his empty scabbard.
Ezekiel frowned, pulling a short sword form his long black cloak and throwing it at Miguel, “Keep it, it’s my apology for melting your sword” he grumbled.
Miguel caught the sword, holding it tightly, “I will use this much more efficiently” he said, staring back at Ezekiel who shrugged. He yawned, “But for now, I will get some sleep” he said, slowly laying in the ground.
Theodore and Riven yawned afterwards, “Same here” they both said in unison, laying in the ground and closing their eyes. “Goodnight” they both said at the same time.
“Kid” Ezekiel called, glaring at Vincent who had been silent and ignoring them all this time.
Vincent frowned, “I’ll stay in watch, don’t worry” he said, waving his hand around.
Ezekiel frowned, then glared at the trees. He had this feeling that something was watching them, something from dangerous. Was it because it was dark? Was it because the chilling silence was causing him to be paranoid? He shook his head and stared at the Wizard.
The magic missile that hit him earlier felt strong, like a warhammer striking his head. He was surprised he was able to survive such a hit, he could’ve died there if his anger didn’t kept him alive. He sighed and rest his head against the tree, closing his eyes.
A few minutes later
As Vincent continued reading through the pages of his small book, he suddenly felt a hostile presence. He closed his book, glaring at the dark parts of the forest. He stood up and tucked his small book in his pocket and grabbed his wand from inside his coat.
He slowly walked towards the darker region of the forest, carefully taking steps as to not wake anyone up. He held his hat tightly as he entered the dark region of the forest, flicking his wand.
The wand glowed in a dim purple, acting as a light for Vincent to use. The more he travelled in this path, the more the threat gets closer. Was he going straight for the threat? Or was it going straight for them? He looked around, eyeing each tree closely.
He was far enough from his party that he brightened the glow coming from his wand which he used to shine a tiny part of his field of view. There was nothing around him, but he was sensing that the threat was really close. He frowned strangely, holding the wand down. “Where are you?” he muttered to himself.
Just then, he heard a nearby growl. But it wasn’t just one, he heard three more, then another two. He glared evilly at the trees as he saw glowing red eyes in the darkness. Immediately, he turned off the glow from his wand, the growls slowly quickly changing into angry barks.
The glow from Vincent’s wand appeared again as he blasted a gray wolf with a magic missile straight into its face. The wolf was just as tall as him, way bigger than an average wolf. Its fur gray, its eyes yellow.
Vincent frowned as the wolf remained standing, almost like it wasn’t even hurt. He gritted his teeth as he turned off the glow from his wand again. He had to use stronger magic as his weak magic didn’t work on the wolf.
A bright flaming green color appeared from behind the wolf with Vincent’s face barely visible. The flame danced in the darkness, travelling around the void. It confused the wolf as it saw small flames travelling around him. But it was only a distraction. As the wolf turned its head behind it, a massive wave of green flame covered him. But it remained silent as the fire burnt its fur. Vincent made a small grin as the fire disappeared.
His grin slowly turned into a frown as the wolf remained standing, its fur gone. It barked loudly, jumping straight into him and opening its massive jaw. It was big, its rows of teeth were sharp and massive, anyone of them were enough to kill him.
Vincent stood strong, glaring straight at the wolf. Quickly he flicked his wand. A ball of blue lightning travelled across the darkness and entered the mouth of the wolf. As it disappeared inside the mouth of the wolf, sparks of lightning surrounded the wolf and moments after it stuttered. The wolf stuck its tongue out and its eyes slowly rolled back as the electricity killed it. As it laid on the floor, Vincent’s turned off his wand again.
There were more of them, he knew it, the growls were a lot more than just one. He gripped on his wand tightly as another bark chimed in which he reacted to quickly by lighting electrocuting the giant wolf with his blue lightning.
The wolf stuttered in place as it stared directly at Vincent, a vacant expression as he stared at the Wizard. It was hurt, but it was able to not show it to Vincent who frowned irritably, “Stupid wolf!” he growled, summoning a sword made from a pink light and stabbing it at the wolf’s mouth.
He flinched as the wolf remained staring at him vacantly, growling quietly. This wolf was different from the one he had fought earlier. Whereas the other one was more hostile, this one had a more passive presence. He tilted his head, pulling out the sword and letting it vanish.
“You don’t seem to be the type to hurt me” he said, crouching down and placing his hand on the wolf’s head. It didn’t surprise him that the wolf didn’t attack, it closed his eyes and made a small smile as it enjoyed the small petting Vincent was giving. “Good boy” Vincent smiled.
His happiness soon shattered as another wolf rushed in and bit the wolf Vincent was petting. His jaw opened the sight of a wolf tearing the head of the wolf. But it remained a vacant expression as it stared at Vincent’s eyes, almost making him feel guilty for letting it die.
He gritted his teeth as the blue glow on his wand changed into a red one. His anger couldn’t be contained as he rushed towards the wolf. The flick of his wand caused a long fast red beam to travel in a zigzag pattern towards the wolf. The speed of the beam had been really fast that neither Vincent nor the wolf realized that it separated into two and pierced the wolf’s eye. The wolf howled loudly, as if signaling for someone to help it.
But before Vincent could find any information, the wolf died.
It laid dead beside the wolf it ate, whimpering quietly as its eyes didn’t burn but vanish. Vincent frowned down at it, how could this wolf eat its own pack? But he stared at the first wolf, why didn’t it eat that one? Was it because the second wolf was being friendly?
As he crouched down at the friendly wolf, another jumped out, but it was much bigger than him or the wolves he fought. It had white skin, with a red color shaped like a scare in its left eye.
Vincent quickly rolled to dodge but his right arm was pinned by the Wolfs massive paw, sinking its claws in his flesh. As the blood poured out, Vincent made silent whimpers of pain, trying not to make too much of a noise. He glared at the wolf evilly, apart from a different fur color, it also had different eyes. Whereas the wolves earlier had yellow, this wolf had red.
He lifted his left arm and tapped the wolf with his wand, a yellow aura surrounding it. He waved his wand up, causing the wolf to float. He smirked, shuffling away then standing up. “Times like these I’m glad I’m a Wizard” he muttered to himself as his right arm dangled around.
He waved his hand down, the wolf landing slowly at the ground. It growled quietly but Vincent could see the ferocity in its eyes. It wanted to kill him, its evil scowl told him that. He stared at the corpses around him, then back at the white wolf. While it wanted to kill him, he immediately realized it was for vengeance.
He backed off, “You must be the mother” he mumbled. It rushed forward, opening its jaw to bite the Wizard. Luckily, he was able to dodge at the right time as the Wolf bit the tree that was behind Vincent.
Vincent ran back, zapping the wolf with bigger magic missiles. It only agitated the wolf as it ran for him, barking loudly. Vincent turned off his wand, the darkness seizing in almost instantly. But the wolf continued chasing him as the red part of its fur glowed.
He remembered his blood was all over his right arm, something which the wolf could smell. Realizing it was futile to turn off his wand, he lit it up again, “Alright, let’s try this” he said, jumping then turning around.
With a flick of his wand, crimson chains burst out of the ground. The chains wrapped themselves around the giant wolf’s body, constricting the white mother wolf. The chains glowed brightly and moments later there were steam coming out in between the soft fur of the wolf and the hard metal chains. “That ought to do it!” Vincent smiled, staring at the wolf as its skin burned from the chains.
Vincent’s smile morphed into a frown as he heard the wolf whimper and saw her struggling through the chains. It gritted its sharp teeth at him as its left eye shed a tear.
The Wizard, instantly feeling guilt, waved his wand. The moment it did the chains dug back in the ground and the Wizard saw the markings it made on the once beautiful fur of the mother wolf. Vincent prepared for it to attack but it only lie on the ground, too weak to even fight against him.
He rushed forward, placing his hands on the mark. Quickly, he retracted it as it was still hot. He could only imagine what it was like struggling in those chains. He frowned sadly, his hand atop the wolf’s head. It only wanted to avenge its offsprings that he killed. It was his own fault too, if he hadn’t gone out to explore, this wouldn’t have happened.
He suddenly looked ahead, remembering what he came here for. The threat he sensed a while ago, he could still sense it. “It wasn’t the wolves” he muttered.
The trees rustled violently, Vincent’s head turning around just as frantic as the trees rustled. His head stopped turning as a gust of wind flew past him, sending him shivers. He felt the threat looming closer and closer, but what was it? His nerves began shaking as his senses signaled the threat as coming closer and closer. With each second he wasted sitting down and doing nothing, the threat was coming closer and closer to him.
He stood up, facing the way he came from. He hesitated to move, turning his head to face the slowly dying wolf. He had killed this wolf’s family, and he felt bad for doing so. He didn’t want to kill more, he wanted to save this one. He crouched down once again, tapping his wand at the ground. A green vortex formed below them, sucking them up just as a tall figure appeared out from the trees.
The vortex opened up again, but it was in their camp site this time. Vincent and the wolf were thrown out of the vortex, landing roughly at the grassy ground. “Oof” Vincent spoke as his hat fell down his hair, covering his eyes.
“The hell?” Theodor spoke, sitting up. His vision was a little blurry but he could make out his friend was with something big and white. “Lad, what is that?” he asked as his vision cleared and he saw Vincent with a wolf.
“Something’s coming this way and it’s big!” Vincent said, staring back at his Ranger friend.
He said it so loud that everyone woke up and stared at him, “Wh-what?” Riven asked, wiping his eyes as he stared at Vincent who had a wolf lying on his lap. “The hell! Is that a Dire Wolf?” he asked.
But before Vincent could answer, a tall figure emerged from the trees. It stood on two hinged legs. Its arms longer than his legs. Its paws were bigger than a bear’s. Its nails were as long as machetes, sharper than a katana. The figure was covered in black fur that hid it well in the darkness. But as it walked closer and closer to the fire, the more they were able to see. Its head was shaped like a wolf, making small growls as its emerald green eyes stared at the five of them.
“Oh shit” Miguel said, a shocked look on his face.
“A Werewolf”