Chapter 15

Leaving Tiger behind I descend to the bottom of the tower and head out into town. Leaving through the grand arch of the school and into the magic district. The presence of mana in the air is ever present and thick. From the sky a silvery bird descends on me.

“Hi Kadi!” The eagle chirps incessantly and takes a spot on my shoulder. “It's nice out here.” The bird says in its characteristic enthusiastic tone as I walk through the main street. A long winding road that connects the academy to the rest of the city, both sides covered in an array of shops. The street is abuzz with people, both travellers and students, perusing the many shops.

“Have you seen Zan anywhere?” I ask the bird on my shoulder, only for it to shake it's head in resignation. “Sorry! I'm really sorry!” It chirps so I comfort it and carry on, telling it about my day so far.

“Oh the Tiger! All the beasts talk about her… I heard she's scary.” Lore casually remarks before saying, “But I'd like to meet another time attribute beast… Take me with you next time.” The bird says eager as always.

“Can you show me around the city?”  I ask Lore who surprised almost jumps off shouting “Yes!” and slowly directs me out of the district.

“Ok, after we leave the magic district we walk into a residential area called the south hills. Most of the city is flat apart from the academy and the palace, so it's easy to walk around.” Lore leads me through the cityscape it spends it's days flying over. “The markets are in the middle over there.” It points a wing down a long straight road lined with stalls.

A good distance on from the markets towards the south west of the city the scenery begins to change. I walk down the street and lock eyes with a stranger, barren and cold his wrinkled face becomes a scowl and he spits at the ground before me. “...” Lore makes a strange squawk at the man, fearing the worst I ignore him and move on.

“What was that about? I ask Lore, since it's spent more time in the city. I walk past a few more angry looking folks and the buildings become more dilapidated. It's slowly feeling as if I've entered an entirely different city.

“I don't really understand myself… the other beasts explain it as being of different species. I know you're all humans but some are better off than others and are treated differently for it.” Lore begins to explain as it points a wing at a group of children playing by the road side. They run into an alleyway as we pass, I can see their faces covered in dirt and clothes in disrepair. “It's still summer, but I hear in the winter some of the little ones die.” Lore says as they run out of sight.

“Kadimae… we shouldn't go on.” Lore says as I attract a couple more stares. “But I want to see…” I say to Lore as I think, this kind of place never existed in my home village. The odd stray animal might take a life but the harvests were bountiful and the animals plenty. “I never thought people lived like this…” I say to Lore who has what I guess is the eagle equivalent of a look of indifference.

“I think they have more humans than they know what to do with…” Lore says but I ignore it, preferring to continue my stroll through the slums.  The same types of people crowd every street, dirty, tired and sometimes hostile. They would glare and sometimes shout before returning to whatever they did during the day.

Reaching the end of this street, which enters into a cul-de-sac, a chill creeps down my spine as I seem to attract the wrong kind of attention. Leaning against a certain run down house are a rough looking group, ragged like most in the district but a certain menace emanates from them.

“Hey boy, what you doin’ around here?” A woman, who sounds like their leader asks with a crooked smile. I freeze in my place, before meeting her gaze. “Seen a ghost boy?” She asks causing a couple of her little troupe to laugh.

“I was looking around the city.” I say a little too defensively to her, I sounded snappy. “Seeing the sights?” The some makes a grand sweeping motion with her hands then holds them wide. “Now this is a bloody pathetic view, the stink of poverty and the wretched.” As she spat out each word she got louder and anger started seeping through. “Tell the truth boy, did you come to laugh? At these poor folk!”

Whispers and murmurs come from the other houses and pairs of timid eyes peer out of the woodwork. Men and older boys with swords, knives and hatchets, while rusty still deadly, give me a less than hospitable look.

“Now you ain't the first and won't be the last. But you know, we don't take kindly to that shit here.” She shouts, no longer talking to my but orating to her audience. A sound radiates throughout this enclosed street, a slow thumping of hands on wood and swords on shields.

“Just another pampered lordling come to laugh at we the downtrodden.” Hearing this I suddenly realize something. Am I seriously this dense? Walking into what could be my own death, or at least getting beaten by a mob…

Wait I can use magic now… but is it enough?

I try to analyse the people gathered around, most are just normal humans, not the faintest hint of mana around them while others radiate a thin aura lacking mystery. I stare down the women again who reading the mood realizes I'm taking a measure of her power.

A faint smile forms on her lips and face tenses as a burst of mana radiates from her. A vast mixture of fire, water and lightning mana courses on the surface of her skin. Tension makes the air as thick as mud and my breathing feels heavy under that pressure.

Powerful… how can someone that powerful live in the slums.

“Like what you see, pig?” She says with heavy sarcasm as she approaches me, myself still unable to move. She spits on my feet and asks. “What's a kid like you doing here? Huh?”

I don't understand what occurs in the intervening moments but the next thing I see is myself flying backwards as pain flares in my guts. I hit the ground like a stone a few metres back.

“You're a child so we'll let you off, don't go prancing around here like you own the place.” She says as she turns away, but then her gaze reaches the ground. “Well look here, a pretty little bird.” Hearing that I realize my shoulder is light, I peek my eyes open to see Lore on the ground. Staring up at the women in contempt while she looks down at it.

“Any of you boys want a little pet?” She asks the crowds, “I'm sure our little guest is feeling charitable today.” She looks back at me over her shoulder, “Right?” she murmurs. I say nothing, which she takes to be my acceptance. A couple of the mob come and grab the little beast while I stay still, I can't afford to provoke her.

I can't tell how strong she is, fourth rank maybe? Or fifth?  It it doesn't make sense… My mind searches for an answer until something stands out. Could she be the demon Raul mentioned? I ponder that notion a moment before discarding it, I'd be dead already if that was the case.

Best thing to do would be get out of here and come back with help then I can rescue Lore. I grit my teeth and decide to wait it out just a little bit longer. Lore whines and resists but it's weak and small body doesn't have much in the way of strength, making its capture envitible.

“Now boy, be off.” The women says to me before walking away.

Something stops her dead in her tracks.

“Hey you! The ugly bitch down there.” A familiar voice echoes down from atop the tallest house in this little enclave. The mob bursts into anger yelling and howling but he stands up there unphased.

“And who's runt are you?” The ringleader howls at him in indignation. “The name is Zan, and you are?” Zan asks the women who answers, “Alma, now get the fuck out of here or by the gods I'll make you.” Zan only reminds with a “hmph” sound then, out of the blue words are uttered.

“Marati Seteri.” A thundercloud forms in the sky and winds begin to bellow, a drop of rain begins to fall signalling a storm. Then a sudden burst of sound as a bolt of green lightning descends into Alma. It's speed so fast I can only see the result, Alma stands one hand holding the other above her head. The hand that took the blast shows signs of a burn but little else.

“Is that all you’ve got runt?” She says to Zan standing under the now overcast sky.

“Rather miss Alma, is that all you have? After I marked out your location so precisely.” Zan says raising his voice, he drops down onto the ground and to my side. “You ok?” He asks, not giving heed to the mob or Alma. “Been better.” I answer him.

The mob has gone deathly silent, because standing in the middle of the crowd is an elderly man and a lizard man.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

No one noticed their entrance, but not a person here dare ignore their presence now. A fury not too far from bloodlust spread over the area, a few words break the silence. “The boy seems alright.” Raul says, although the creases on his scaly face do not shallow. Diedrich stands at his back, with a focused gaze completely unlike his normal self.

Diedrich turns to face Alma and introduces himself. “Diedrich of house Elden, who are you?”

“Alma of Terrastor.” Alma begins to raise a sword but Diedrich's hand slices through the air, bisecting the blade perfectly causing the top half to fall to the ground. Since when was Diedrich? Wait no, his own daughter told me 'he desired only power’. Which is why he wasn't made king… Just how powerful is he to disarm her so? I can't even sense mana coming from Diedrich's body.

“Will you surrender, girl?” Diedrich says but it sounds far more like a demand. “Yes, of course.” She drops her blade on the ground and waits as the two inspect the rest. “You can all go.” He says to various children or other less dangerous figures, keeping only the more tenacious ones around. “The guards will arrive shortly, Kadimae are you alright?”

“I'm fine.” I say, half overwhelmed and half embarrassed that I got myself into this mess.

“Now Alma, why did you attack this boy?” She stays silent as he questions her, “He doesn't have much of worth on him, bar the crystal beast.” Lore shivers slightly by my leg. “And you say your from Terrastor? Why would you attack a member of the imperial clan?”

“What?” Alma shouts, “That kid? His last name is Seteri? I don't believe it at all, is he even old enough?”

“He and Maru summoned Marek around last week, for a second or so.” Hearing that from Diedrich her jaw hangs wide and she starts laughing uncontrollably. Diedrich sighs and Raul comes to talk to us.

“I assume today is free for you Kadimae?” The priest asks, “It is-” I manage those two words before he speaks again.

“Then come along, we need to talk.” Raul says before setting off, as we leave the cul-de-sac crowds gather around the entrance and guards march in. We walk out practically ignored by the people all looking for the source of the commotion.

“What are you going to do about her.” I ask offhand to Raul. “She'll likely be pardoned and we'll suggest she go to the land of mountains and rivers.” His answer surprises me, “They aren't going to imprison her?” I ask but Raul chuckles at my concern.

“Who would watch her? Most of the guards are weaker than her, she didn't kill anyone either.” Raul says leaving the topic as we approach a carriage.

“Diedrich can make his own way home.” He says with a sly grin that looks surreal on his face, unnatural. “Lord Diedrich's estate.” He barks at the carriage driver and brings me and Zan in.

We settle into our seats and the old Nute continues our talk. “Zan was having lunch with us, catching up. Have you been well Kadimae?”

“So far, well enough, supposedly Castor has been messing with students but nothing happened to me.” Raul nods knowingly, “He has always been a troublesome one, that ritual of his is concerning as well.”

“You know about it?” I ask with surprise, “Tell me more, Karina has been vague about it. It summons the souls of crystal beasts.”

“Yes, it summons their souls. But those lines go extinct for a reason, many people have died killing off terrible clans. To summon them back into the world? It's short-sighted at best, disastrous at worse.” His face is grim and the carriage has far too little light. His nose slits wiggle and he huffs. “At least they can only call one.”

“It's really that bad?” I say, Raul answers with a nod. “Although peaceful clans die out too, I doubt one of them will win that battle royale.” I muse for a moment, “Who's the worst they could bring out?”

Raul pauses for a second in thought, “Amal’Io’Ayar, the blood wolf.” That name is vaguely familiar…

“What did she do?” I ask, “You know of the desolation of Amal?” He says causing memories to come rushing back. A footnote in the annals of history, or a certain history book. A kingdom destroyed in a single night, the land reduced to desert. The endless summer.

“The endless summer… Amal did that?” I confirm with Raul who once again nods back, “A blood wolf, ninth rank and previously a wild beast. She only died when she attacked the temple of fire, Amal too was fire attribute so the battle was futile.” Zan and I now listen intently to Raul's story.

“Or it was until Amal killed the phoenix, the priestess’ own charge. Why the goddess Vera was so angry she asked the water god and eventually the dragon god for help. Seteri did agree and sent my master's master to help.”

“He beat Amal then?” Zan asks in trepidation, I feel more cynical though. I doubt the current priest could defeat something so overwhelming. I didn't feel Raul was weak, just that Amal must have been monstrous.

“No, he failed. He arrived to find the lands burning and priestess locked in combat. Even after summoning Seteri he ran out of mana long before Amal did, the dragon god didn't want to ask Marek to deal with it so he went to Tarkus. The priest of space teleported to the temple however to find Amal killed by Marek, thus she is consigned to history.”

“Well that ending was boring.” Zan moans but says nothing else. “Did the priestess live?” I ask. “She survived her failure, but she was punished.” Raul says, “Vera turned her soul into a crystal beast core and buried it in the ground, she has since grown into a tree. So when a new phoenix is born it may rest under her leaves.”

Very harsh… Zan doesn't react to it at all, a voice in my head,likely Maru, says. “She would do that, it sounds like her.” I add Vera to my list of deities I never want to meet. Raul talks further with us

The carriage comes to a stop, “Have you had lunch yet Kadimae?” the priest asks me but after today I'd rather take a nap.

*     *     *     *     *

“I was told you were around here.” Tyrell says to me who is lying half dressed face down on the bed. “That looks very uncomfortable…” he says awkwardly, which for some reason causes me to start laughing.

“Ha, everything just aches a little. I'm fine.” I tell him as he takes a seat on the bed, I sit up so we can talk properly. I take a few minutes to get Tyrell up to speed about my day, from the silver tiger to my thrashing. He seems to find the entire ordeal amusing.

“To think that white tiger was a babe-” I punch him in the stomach, he isn't normally like this but that response was going too far. Maybe I went into a bit too much detail regarding her form but I saw a lot too… I leave those thoughts behind lest this get any more awkward and my day even worse.

“Ow, now why did you visit the slums? Are you stupid?” He asks me mockingly, “I'm surprised that someone so strong was present, but you had no business being there.”

“Is it normal for there to be so many poor people?” Tyrell shrugs at my question, “I never really think about them.” He then hurries onto the next topic, talking about how Talon's been coping since this morning.

“He's started talking again? Great!” I tell Tyrell, “He doesn't remember what happened though, so it'll be hard to do anything about it. We sent a message to the clan head too, maybe old man Arncourt can do something.”

The image of a women appeared in the doorway, Ethel no longer wearing her maid uniform and instead a long red dress with gold trimming. Something that I'd never expect to see her wear. “Your both wanted downstairs, please put a shirt on Kadimae.” She says before bolting off, likely to collect other people. “Something happening?” I ask to Tyrell by my side, he just smiles and says “Wait and see.”

I temper my excitement with caution, while it seems like a surprise is in store not all surprises are good. We make our way from my room down the staircase and into the main hall.

Standing in the hall are two rows of soldiers, covered in the golden armour of the royal guards and flanking a man in drab robes. While his face is forgettable his stare is what I'd expect if I killed a baby or a village, a cold gaze of contempt. I stand half way down the stairs, with the prince by my side, when he addresses me.

“Sir Kadimae of the Imperial clan Seteri, on this day accusations of a crime against you were levied by the crown and Sir Diedrich of clan Elden against an Alma of Terrastor. Can you confirm you are this Kadimae?” The man, who I now recognise to be some kind of herald says. I step down another step and answer, “Yes, I am.”

“Normally we would bring a charge of this nature before his majesty, as not to disrespect your family. However in these troubling times and at the lord priest's request as proxy of his majesty I greet you. Miss Alma has already been sentenced and her punishment made clear.”

“The crime in question was assault upon one of a noble house and theft of a crystal beast worth-” The herald appears to choke upon reading the next line, he asks the guard captain something aside. I see the armoured man say something I can't hear and a nod.

“A crystal beast worth in excess of three hundred thousand gold, verdict given was guilty on both charges.

Holding that in mind, for cases of grand theft it is required that the accused to pay an amount equal to two-fifths of the item to the accuser, yourself, and as such has outstanding debt to yourself.” Not knowing anything of this kingdom's laws I stay silent and allow him to finish.

“The final act of the court was that said debt be repaid, lacking assets to do so Alma has opted to sell herself into the service of either the debtor or the crown, pending contract of course.” so in other words, slavery? The herald finishes and then steps aside, then through the great door did Alma enter, in irons but otherwise untouched from this morning.

“Hello there-”