A’seri had left me with an air of confusion and uncertainty. The strangeness of feelings was new to me. The idea of caring for another, in any way, was strange. A contract, a deal, or an exchange of loyalty made sense. Yet, for all intents and purposes, there was no longer any need for me to feel anything towards A’seri. Yet I felt guilt. I felt intense care. I wanted to be of service to her, but I didn't know why or even how I could attempt it.
My first friend seemed to live among vipers and spiders. Even I could tell there were hidden meanings behind the actions and words of the Queen’s Regent. If the other fancily dressed people were even a fraction as conniving and cruel as the Regent seemed to be, I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live here. To always need to think twice about every word for fear of it being used against you. Being constantly cautious of every little meaning, phrase, and movement for hidden intent.
As I became more frustrated with the world of the “normal”, there was a knock at the door. A’seri must have forgotten to say something. Yet I would have expected Guard Captain Elsie to simply open the door without hesitation, like before. As I opened the door, curious what either of them could want after leaving in such a hurry, a stranger was waiting for me.
Waiting outside my door was a scrawny young boy dressed in simple, yet tightly tailored, brown leathers. He was startled by my opening the door without a word, stepping back a few steps surprised. I hadn’t noticed because Elsie was my same height, but my skeletal frame and illusioned body was quite tall compared to what seemed to be normal here. I stood a head taller than the young boy, he cowered as he looked up at me, barely able to speak, “Excuse me… Sir? The Queen’s Regent, her ladyship Velronica, has requested you return briefly to the reception hall… Would you please come with me?”
I wasn’t sure how to proceed, but it seemed that denying any request from the Regent would be the wrong choice, “Yes, I will follow you. Lead the way.” I conceded.
With a sigh of relief the boy turned and led me out of my small bedroom. Through the long hallways of the keep, to the other side of the complex, I followed the boy back the way I had already gone. As we approached the doors leading into the reception hall, I heard an echoing shout. These people must get rowdy when guests aren't around. I couldn't help thinking. Yet as the doors slowly swung open, I felt a faint surge of panic and fear wash over me. Small and difficult to pinpoint why or where, but the feelings surged nonetheless.
As the door opened, the Queen’s Regent was already waiting on the other side as they talked to and laughed with a group of particularly fancy people. Tall hair and elegant dresses, hordes of jewelry and fine things decorating their bodies, along with sharp glares and judging glances. A crash from somewhere far away, muffled by the many silk-covered attendants, echoed from further into the hall and somewhere beyond. The bodies of well-dressed figures blocking any view of the rest of the hall as they crowded around the Queen’s Regent. “I apologize for bringing you back so soon. I had completely forgotten an important tradition of our people. Though I am certain you don't mind, do you? So selfless and kind as you are?” Velronica said, her voice cutting through the din of murmurs like a knife.
“Of course. As you command, I will try my best.” I said, kneeling in the way the Guard Captain had shown me.
“Oh how kind of you!” Velronica said, approaching and placing a slender hand on my shoulder, “Your amnesia must be so troublesome! When you came you forgot to declare your greetings and loyalty to our elegant queen! I thought it best I take you there now, and ensure your meeting with her goes… smoothly.”
“I apologize for my ignorance. Thank you for your assistance.” I said, trying to be as simple, yet respectful, as possible.
“Very good… Indeed, you’re perfect… Let us go then, the party will continue without us as we comply with this tedious tradition.”
As the Queen’s Regent helped me to my feet, leading me away out a door opposite of the entrance, I felt a twang of sudden pain in my shoulder where her hand touched. Yet it was a phantom pain, like it wasnt mine. As I focused on the feeling, I felt a tugging coming from the opposite direction I was headed. At the far end of the hall, in the direction of the thrones yet past them, I felt something tugging at my mind.
The Queen’s Regent suddenly grabbed my hand tightly, snapping my attention back to her. Leading me out the door and through another hallway, away from the tugging feeling. She looked at me strangely, gazing at me with hungry eyes as we walked through the hallway hand in hand. I wasn’t sure what was considered normal behavior, or how exactly to approach this situation, so I blindly followed the Regent’s example.
As we walked, my mind kept tugging and pulling back towards the hall. A strange anxiety was building inside of me, one that must have been visibly distracting me. I caught a glance of Velronica’s face, and she seemed annoyed as she glared at me. Pulling my attention back to her, not sure what to say, I said, “Your city is quite… remarkable. In fact, it's the first city I have ever seen, at least as far as I remember.” I spoke truly, yet with no small amount of awkwardness.
“Indeed it is remarkable. A jewel hidden in the grassy hills, one kept pristine despite the storms that frequent its resting place.” Velronica responded proudly.
“Yes… That is one way to put it.”
“But let us ignore such meaningless pleasantries. I wish to know something about you, if you’ll indulge me…” she asked with a wry smile.
“I will answer any question to the best of my ability.”
“How well do you know our fair princess? The two of you seem almost fond of each other.”
I furrowed my brow, not sure how to answer, “I don't think we know each other very well. Or maybe she knows me? I am not sure. My mind is so fuzzy, the first thing I remember involving her was helping her fight the monsters that attacked her group. I can’t say if we are fond of each other, she asked for help and I felt inclined to give it because she helped me when I was… stuck.”
“So nothing besides an exchange of help? I wonder if she knew you before you lost your memory…” her question trailed off, leaving its answer up to the air which had no reply.
I said nothing, not sure myself how to quantify my feelings towards A’seri. An exchange of help was a good enough way to explain what we had done for each other, a feeling of guilt on my part described it better. But saying the complete truth would bring up secrets that were better left unsaid, just to be safe.
Velronica finally stopped in front of an ornate white-wood door. Twirling engravings and twisted wooden carvings decorating the door’s surface to resemble a tree’s branches growing out from the handle. As the Regent opened the door, a wall of dark was revealed on the other side. Where the only light came from the hallway as daylight bled through tall windows, shedding only the briefest illumination into the room. Said room was bare of any meaningful accessories, furniture, or utilities besides a large bed to the far left and a tub in the opposite corner.
Velronica entered, turning as she did to watch my expression of confusion. I hesitantly followed, unsure exactly what ‘traditions’ we were meant to follow in such a simple and dark room. As I did, my eyes adjusted to the dark quickly, and I saw what looked like a person laying under the covers of the bed. When I fully entered, Velronica shut the door behind me suddenly. If not for my attuned sight I would have been blind, but I could see her circling me like a predator does to trapped prey. With a flick of her wrist and an inaudible mumbling encantation a purple flame erupted from a nearby candle. Then a fireplace ensconced in the wall near the bed, a torch on the wall, and even more candles throughout the room. The entire room glowed with a purple firelight. “You don’t seem terribly surprised. Most people gawk at my little tricks. Though I suppose that means you truly are a mage… Or just remarkably dense in your naivete.” Despite the light, Velronica continued to circle me as she spoke.
“The color is quite interesting.” I said, attempting to flatter her the best I could but not knowing how.
“Oh, thank you. But you needn't patronize me. I can feel the magicka leaking out of you… You are like an overflowing well that floods a town, a dam moments from bursting, a volcano of unprecedented power… I sensed it when I felt you enter the city. I was intoxicated by it when you walked into my hall… I want that power to stand by my side, and only mine.”
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“I am flattered to hear you say that… But I don’t know how long I plan to stay in the city. I need to rediscover myself, if that makes sense at all.”
“Oh feel free to discover yourself all you want, all I ask is that you stay with me. I’ll even help you, you wouldn’t need to lift a finger if you promised yourself to me.”
“I truly apologize, but I don’t know if I can promise something like that…”
Velronica paused, her face grew increasingly annoyed, “You do care for that brat then don’t you? Why else would you deny me? Would you care to know that your dear princess is already spoken for? In fact, I understand that she is partaking in a very debaucherous scene even now… Would you like to see? How quickly she throws you aside for her baser needs?” she said, a crooked and evil grin spreading across her face.
“What… What are you talking about?” A pang of fear spread into my gut, a bruise of phantom pain growing in my shoulder and spreading across my sides suddenly.
“Please, feel free to see for yourself…”
As Velronica finished speaking, she produced a small crystal orb. It glowed purple and bright for a few moments before the fire inside the orb calmed. I approached, curious what the magic was conjuring. As the fire completely calmed and subsided an image appeared. Several men around A’seri as she cowered in a corner, she held a candlestick like a weapon pointed at the assailants. Her clothes were torn in places and a bruise across her face and neck was forming. She looked scared. “Oh my! She seems to like playing rough. Should we watch longer? I'm sure even you can understand what comes next, it’ll be very enjoyable I am sure.” Velronica taunted.
“You must stop them! She doesn’t want this.” I demanded, fury building.
“Oh? How would you know what she does and doesn’t want? I almost hoped you’d abandon this pitiful attachment you seem to have, but it looks like I was wrong…” Velronica waved a hand and the image in the ball disappeared, “Regardless, you have a choice to make…”
“What? What are you talking about?” I demanded, no longer bothering with fake respect or kindness.
“You can join me, be my mage and thrall… and I could spare her this torment. Quite easily in fact. Or you can leave, go be a hero or some such. See how far that gets you…” She snarled.
What kind of choice is that? A threat? What am I to her that she would do this? I questioned myself in my mind. Yet as I stared into the women’s eyes, I felt something sinister within the promise she made. The way she said, ‘spare her this torment’ sent a wave of warning across my mind. This woman had no intention of keeping A’seri safe, regardless of what I promised. I felt magic in the air, a spell had been placed here that was tied to words. That much I could tell plainly. I had to be careful of what I said, some instinct told me my words might become binding if I said the wrong thing. Yet I already knew my answer, “I will never help you… Someone who torments others to get what you want. You are no different than the monsters I killed from the forests!” I spat out venomously.
“That’s a shame. I was going to finally kill the princess, and make it painless for your sake. But it seems you’re not interested in my mercy. That truly is a shame.”
Before I could respond or do anything, Velronica raised a hand above her head. As she did she began to enchant magic around her raised hand, “Flame, o’ fire of purgatory. Gather and be my spear. Purge my enemies. Flame. Fire. Burn. Incinerate.” she spoke in broken Helnuanian, “Blaze forward.” she finished. As she spoke the last words, enticing the ambient magic around her in my native tongue, the fires from around the room shot into her palm all at once. Streaking purple flame flew from around the room to blaze into a fiery bolt. I pulled up my hands in front of me instinctively, wanting to protect myself and conjuring a faint shield without even a word of enchantment. Yet the firebolt didn’t streak towards me, Velronica pointed her hand towards the bed where a sleeping someone lay. The fire streaked across the room with a bright flash and impacted into the body. The person in the bed didn’t writhe, scream, or even react. Yet the impact was enough to turn them over, to expose a blade embedded into their chest. To reveal the dead face of the Queen, of A’seri’s crippled mother. After the bolt spread fire to the corpse and bed, Velronica screamed in feigned horror, “Guards! Guards! Princess A’seri’s Mage has assassinated the Queen! Guards help! Assassin!”
Just then, in an instant so fast that it betrayed their well-rehearsed roles, two heavily armored guards rushed into the room. Their silver plate armor etched with runes and wards that thrummed with power, a power that caused me discomfort to even look at as it warped and twisted the reality around them. Rage built in me. A sense of anger towards this woman’s actions and threats. Yet a greater concern was before me, A’seri was in danger. The men in the orb seemed to hold themselves back awaiting the Regent’s call, but who knows what might happen now that the Regent had planned for the Princess and Queen’s death.
I sprang into action, ignoring the pain I felt when looking at the guard’s armor. Embracing the feral beast that craved blood and death, I lunged towards the guards. My supernatural strength greater than they had prepared for, clunky and slow in their overly heavy armor, I scrambled over and past them with ease as one fell over with a quick kick from my leg as I clung to the other like some sort of feral animal. The two guards were in disarray despite their preparedness, and I quickly pushed the final one to the ground and dashed out into the hallway.
Sprinting back the way I came I now realized what the dreadful feelings I had been experiencing were. I could focus my mind’s eye and see through A’seri’s eyes, feel her emotions, and experience her racing thoughts. She called out for me, and scrambled in the pain of her previous wounds and new bruises. I followed the magic that seemed to tie us together, whatever it was or why I didn’t care anymore. I just knew I had to follow the trail and save A’seri.
I raced through the hallway and burst into the reception hall. The group of nobles and sycophants still gathered and chatted pleasantly, looking surprised but not scared as I burst in so suddenly. Echoing shouts from behind me called forward, “Stop that mage! He killed the Queen!” and as the news sank in, after the yelled warning slowly processed, the crowd suddenly burst into yells and shouts as they started to frantically flee the hall. Thankfully, this meant that they were fleeing away from the door that was my target. I ran to the back of the hall and thrust open the door, just as I did the guards chasing me shouted “He’s trying to assassinate the royal family! He is trying to kill the Princess! Stop him!” but none of the cowardly nobles would dare to move closer to me.
Ripping the door open I rushed down the new hallway, going deeper into the keep. A view of a garden quartyard was visible and in it more guards were attracted to the noise and rushed towards me. They seemed confused by my sudden sprint, confused but well-practiced in intercepting miscreants. I ignored the new enemies as I turned the corner. At the end of a hall a bloody scene was displayed for all to see, disturbingly out in the open yet with no guards to investigate. Armored bodies lay in bloody heaps on the ground as a woman, with dismantled armor and a dagger plunged into her side, crawled towards a nearby door with what little strength she had left. The Guard Captain, Elsie had slain a group of five armored men and was desperately trying to gather her strength enough to open the door she crawled up. Racing to her side, she shot a glare up at me and with remarkable strength and speed pulled a dagger close to my throat instinctively, yet she stopped just shy of my illusory skin as she noticed who I was. “Save her!” was all she could mutter before she collapsed unconscious.
I ripped the door open, a magical strength building inside me as rage and fury built more and more as each new scene played out. Yet none could compare to seeing my savior, to seeing my only friend, to seeing A’seri desperately fighting and struggling against a shirtless man strangling her. Several other men stood by doing nothing as the woman’s life slowly drained. Seeing such a sight threw me into a rage more powerful than any I had experienced so far. A feral rage took over completely. Before I even realized what I was doing I had already fallen upon the man strangling A’seri, my sharp teeth ripping out his throat like some angry beast. Then, without a single word of enchantment, green fire accumulated at my fingertips and I poured the flame into the wound with digging and tearing fingers, burning the assailant from the inside out. Then I turned to the rest.
The scene was bloody and violent. I tore through the pompous nobles like paper and burnt them with just as much fury. Blood and gore spread throughout the room, coating every surface. Even if they attempted to run, a fiery orb of anger would be all that met them as they turned to flee. I soaked and bathed in the blood of these fiends masquerading as men, and as I did power swelled within me. I felt the raw power of a true death soak into my bones and essence. Yet in just a few seconds, a handful of moments, the gory butchery was done. As my beastial mind turned to the only remaining living thing, A’seri, I felt my anger fade as she watched me with a mixture of relief and horror. I could still feel her emotions and thoughts leaking out of her. The thankfulness she felt was rivaled by an instinctual fear. Then I heard the clang of armored boots echoing out the hall, and a shout following. I turned to A’seri with no time to spare, “The Regent killed your mother. We must leave.”
The connection between us seemed to, at least partially, go both ways as I could sense she fully believed me, “I can’t run, go without me.” she said, already accepting her imminent death as sadness infected her.
“No.” I said plainly.
Picking her up into my arms I began to leave the room. As I began to leave, A’seri noticed Elsie and I knew she wanted me to save her Guard Captain as well, a grizzly fate certainly awaited her under the Regent’s reign. With my body empowered by my bloody feast of death moments before, I picked up the partially armored woman with a single hand and slumped her over my shoulder, positioning A’seri to sit precariously in my other arm. I rushed out of the bloody scene with the two women in my arms just in time for a guard to nearly approach the door, just coming to the edge of the bloody battle that had taken place outside. Out of instinct I quickly enchanted, “Wall of fire, block this path. Blaze and burn those who come to pass!”
A blazing wall of fire erupted directly in front of me, green flames spurting out of the ground and up to the ceiling. The man was just barely far enough from where they sputtered to life to dodge the magic, but I heard him shout “The Mage is kidnapping the princess! Lock down the city!” Without hesitation I raced further down the hallway, where my path ended with nothing but a window. A window that overlooked an outer part of the keep, a section of the outer keep that had a short cliff which slid down to the city below. With nowhere else to go I leapt through the window, crashing through the glass as I went. Slamming hard against the steep cliff I slid down, barely keeping my balance as my skeletal feet scratched and tore into the dirt and stone beneath me. I slid ten meters at least, my magically empowered body draining more and more as I drove my feet hard into the foundations of the keep. I hit the ground hard, crumpling to my knees, but just barely keeping my two passengers from hitting the ground as I blocked the entirety of the fall with my quickly draining strength and brute force.
With A’seri and Elsie in my arms, I fled from the city. The guards in the keep were unable to keep up and couldn’t communicate the situation to the rest of the city faster than I could run away from it. Before the guards at the gate could even realize what was happening I had fled out the western gate and darted into the distance as shouts and cries called after me. Knowing they would pursue me if I fled into the hills, I turned sharply north and went once more into the forest. With no other choice, I sought refuge in the Deepwood, and I only hoped nothing strange or dangerous would happen while we hid within.