Chapter Nine: Change of plan

As I walked away from the crater cradling the young woman in my arms, the sun was just beginning to disappear over the vast mountainous landscape and I hurried to find a place to bed down for the night.

While the alchemy shop would have served fine for this purpose, it seemed that my hastily created sink hole had caused part of the wall to fall in on itself and reveal the inside of the small corner store front to the outside world. Something that could backfire should I choose to stay there.

While the cold was always a problem, it wasn't much of an obstacle for a person who could create fire. I was more worried about anyone else that might have accompanied the girl to the city.

She was well-supplied, her armour was something I had never seen before, the hard leather plates interlocked so closely that I couldn't find an opening.

I knew for a fact that if I were to remove the armour I would find sigils for enchanting on the inside, and besides that, the bow had been heavily enchanted and her arrows were capable of using sound magic.

A person that well-prepared wouldn't just walk into a situation where they could be put at a disadvantage. I had come to the conclusion that there was just no way she could be alone and so I had decided to leave the area before I healed her. I would also be having a little chat with the young archer, find out what exactly she was doing here and, more importantly, why she attacked me.

With this in mind I made my way to the next district that sat next to the merchants district. It was the noble district, something that had seen very little use in my time here.

Setting up a city government for Ellai had been a difficult task and finding people you could trust to run said government was even more so.

Over the years we had found politicians of all races that embraced the ideals we had been searching for and it hadn't taken a lot of persuasion for them to move into the valley.

If you had a choice between trying to make your mark in a government that was based solely on the church of Vitriss' 'moral values' and a new society free of the restrictions that had been placed upon you by said church, it wasn't a hard decision to make.

In the end our parliament was a democracy and we wanted every citizen of Ellai to have their say. They voted for who they wanted to lead the city, and they could come to public forums to voice their complaints on matters of the government itself.

When I was killed, Ichano was in charge of the city. A very cultured elf with a sharp mind, when he had run for office he promised a lot to the people and he delivered on almost every issue. As First Minister, he was also the liaison from the city government to me, The Rebel King.

While I had led the city in the beginning that wasn't going to be permanent and I had never intended it to be. My dream was for the city to eventually not need The Rebel Court at all, a big ask considering that most of the people who lived in the city relied on us for protection but, in any case, that was what I hoped for in the future.

Well, the past now I suppose. Nothing had turned out how I wanted it to.

I quickly tightened my grip on the moaning girl and continued down the cobbled road in front of me, my eyes and ears on constant alert for any threat.

When I got far enough away from the battle ground of the alchemy shop, but close enough to be able to hear it with my enhanced hearing, I chose a random house that stood next to me on the road.

As I made my way through the doors and into the opulent entrance hall I paid close attention to my surroundings. The walls were lined with once magnificent paintings, now falling from the walls in bitter decay. The rest of the decor was likewise effected but nothing seemed to have been looted. It appeared that, like the merchant district, this district was untouched as well. Which could only be a positive thing to me.

As I walked through the large house I kept an eye out for anything that could help me, but unfortunately, I found nothing. I headed up a large staircase and went into the first room I came across. Small with an even smaller circular window that faced the street. Perfect.

While the beds had long since rotted away I could do without them, I didn't need comfort, I was more interested in bigger things right now.

Like Xolumbrandir.

I sighed as I placed the girl on the ground and took a seat next to her and began to examine her body.

While she had stopped moaning when we had entered the house, she was clearly still in a rather severe amount of pain. The amount of force I had used when I had slammed her against the ground should have killed her, mage or no mage. If I had to guess I would say the armour was the only reason she was still alive.

As I ran my eyes up and down her body, looking for any open wounds or something that required my immediate attention, I felt someone staring at me.

I moved my gaze upwards and found the girl's eyes were wide open and fixed upon my own, she began to stink of fear, it radiated out from her and tainted her aura.

Those eyes were shining with desperation and I knew when people grew desperate they usually did something stupid.

Just as I thought this I felt her begin to draw in mana, obviously planning to attack me as she tried to push herself from the hard wood floor.

I gently placed a hand on her abdomen and pushed her down, giving her a firm stare.

“You will remain still. I have reason to believe that you have internal bleeding from the fall off that roof and while I can't say I would be unhappy at the prospect of you dying, it wouldn't fill me with joy either.” I spoke in a calm tone, but it was firm. This was the voice I had used when I commanded as a King and it had worked then.

Although, it seemed to not be working now.

The girl spat at my face, blood and spittle leaving her lips.

I easily avoided the 'attack' and could do nothing but sigh as she pulled in yet more mana. She was planning a big spell it seems.

“Listen kid, You were the one who attacked me, not the other way around. It's fair to assume that I am the victim here. But what does this victim do? Does he leave behind the fair maiden archer who caused him so many problems? No he does not, he saves her stupid ass and tries to help her. And she's so ungrateful for his help that, for some reason, she thinks she can use magic to escape him when he clearly just kicked the shit out of her less than fifteen minutes ago.”

I leaned over the girl then and I let my obvious anger of the situation be known with the scowl on my face.

“You are not in control.” I began to draw in mana “You have no power.”

Her eyes widened as I let her see my full and true aura, blazing like a beacon in the darkness of the city. While she was a fairly talented mage, who could draw in mana surprising fast. I am a master who has honed his craft through centuries of life.

As I pulled in more and more mana I began to glow like the sun itself. The girl could only stare in awe as she had unconsciously stopped drawing mana, realising that this was a fight she would never win.

When she stopped, I stopped.

“You are a pebble. I am the mountain.” I whispered as the flow of mana to my body stopped.

I leaned away from her and fixed her with a stern stare, I did a complete turnaround and giving her my widest and friendliest grin.

“So, let me just give you a quick heal and then you and me can have a chat, how does that sound?”

The girl keeps on just staring at me, confusion now the biggest emotion in her eyes, as she gives a slow and hesitant nod.

“Lovely, now just stay still, if you could tell me where it hurts then I can set about healing the damaged areas.” I said as I quickly began to move my hands from her neck down to her feet.

Where she gasped in pain, I gave a nod and immediately healed that area. It seemed the most damage was done to her right leg which, I realise now, was the leg she fell on. No wonder she was moaning as I was carrying her, I was holding her right leg and I must have only been exacerbating the existing injury.

After I felt the leg it became clear that it was broken and the bone was out of place. If I healed her as she was then there was a chance she would never be able to walk properly again.

Healing magic has its uses but one must be careful with it. All it really does is speed up the natural healing process's of the body to an incredible level, but if something is where it shouldn't be and the healing takes place, there is a chance the healer would only worsen the injury.

“This is going to hurt a bit.” I said easily with a smile as I grabbed her leg and set the bone with one large push.

The girl gritted her teeth, tears streaming down her face as she hissed in pain with her eyes closed.

I quickly healed the leg as soon as the bone was in place and eventually her breathing became even as she continued to stare at me. It only took me a few more minutes of funnelling my healing magic into her body that she was fully recovered physically.

After the healing I moved away from the girl and lay against the closed door to the room, just in case she decided to bolt before I had had my chat from her.

Her head turned and followed me the whole way. Confusion still present, but no more fear. She seemed to be curious and I can't blame her.

She had tried to kill me and I had saved her life, she was probably wondering why someone would do such a thing.

For the time being I decided to ignore the girl. While healing oneself is relatively easy if someone has the skill, healing another person is a different matter entirely. It takes a lot out of me to heal someone else. For one you have to intrude upon their aura, which is uncomfortable for both parties, then you must circumvent the natural protection that a mage has against attacks that attempt to interfere with the body. It was this natural protection which kept me protected from most forms of mind control.

After a second more of staring, the girl turned away and closed her eyes, attempting to get some rest. I shook my head.

Not even a thank you.

While she slept I began to wonder if I should change my plans.

The original idea was to quickly retrieve Xolumbrandir and then intercept the troops that Marwenna had sent to give myself up to date information on the current state of Vita. But now I had access to information right in front of me.

It sped up my timetable but I would find out all I could from the woman before I got the sword and made my way to Callai, avoiding the unknown factor of the approaching thief catchers.

This situation is turning out quite favourable.

I gave myself a grin as I leaned my head against the door and closed my eyes.

Time to get some rest and then, in the morning, I would have to do something about getting some food.

I hadn't eaten today and while I knew I could last a fair while without nourishment due to my magic and the incredible durability of this new body, I wanted to be at my peak when I fought Xolumbrandir.

With the rhythmic breathing of the archer in the background, I let myself fall into a deep slumber.

* * *

“Marwenna! Please! I can't want to train with master Fado, the steward said I have to work in the gardens today.” I said as Marwen grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

She was smiling, why was she always smiling? Not that I was complaining, she was the only person who did smile at me.

“Corus, ignore that old man! You have to train to get stronger. I know you can't use magic, but training with the sword is said to be just as difficult” She replied as she began to pull me through the winding corridors of the palace in Callai.

It had been eight years since Marwen had found me in Haler park and I was fully grown now, a man in my own right.

When Marwen had brought me back to the palace I hadn't known what to think. Why was this beautiful elven princess helping me? Why was she so nice to me?

I had a home for the first time, I got three square meals a day and I had a job, I worked as a servant for the royal family. Well, Marwenna mainly. She had told her father the day I arrived that I would be working under her from now on to try and placate him. He was more than a little angry that she had brought home a stray street urchin, not only that, but a human one.

After she had threatened to run away if I wasn't allowed to stay, her father finally said yes and I was put into the servants quarters.

It was amazing! I remember that first night so vividly. Marwen herself had shown me down into the servants area and had put me to bed. When I woke up the next day she was sitting in a chair by my bed and she looked exhausted.

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“What's wrong Princess?” I asked, concerned for the well-being of my first friend.

She gave me a tired smile and a pat on the head “I just healed you, Corus. You had been hurt quite badly, I wasn't even sure if I would be to repair so much damage. It takes a lot out of me, using magic.”

After that, it was just me and Marwen. She kept telling her father that I was a servant but that couldn't be further from the truth.

All we did was cause trouble.

Prank after prank played on the staff and each other. It got to the point where the castle steward had to take us aside and ask us, politely, to stop causing problems. Of course, that just encouraged us and we ended up just causing even more problems.

Marwen also insisted I sit in on her educational classes. Another thing that her father didn't approve of, but she got her way in the end, as she always did.

I learned a lot from the teacher there. It took me a long time to learn how to read and write but it all came with practice and Marwen helped me in my spare time. It was also mandatory to learn the history of the church of Vitriss and how it improves Vita. While I didn't care for the church,even back then, I enjoyed this time we had together. Gaining a proper education in politics and the world in general was something I never thought I would receive.

That came to an end, however, when Marwen began her schooling in magic.

While she had had a few classes before, they were merely to gauge her capabilities and with her constantly studying I found myself at a loss.

The castle steward jumped on this opportunity and immediately put me to work.

I was in the stables, the kitchen, everywhere. I moved from one part of the palace to the other without much free time to myself. While I enjoyed the work I missed seeing Marwen every day. She was so busy studying that I only ever saw her in passing.

It was just after my eighteenth birthday that we reconnected, but it was not like I was hoping it would be.

I had been working in the stables when a bunch of nobles came in and started spooking one of the horses, just for the fun of it. I had caused a ruckus when I punched one of the elven nobles in the face.

They had beaten me pretty severely after that and I was bed ridden for three weeks.

Marwen visited me every day.

“You shouldn't have started a fight, you know. How did you expect to win? Elves are a lot stronger than you, you know that. Why did you not go and get the Zalari?” She chided even as she helped me sit up in bed.

The reason she didn't heal me is because she was told not to by her father. He said I needed to 'know my place'. Despite her pleas, he said that he would punish me personally if she did heal me and she knew that it would be much worse if her father got involved.

“You know that would have made no difference, Marwenna. The Zalari cater to the nobles and I am only a servant, and a human servant at that.” I said with a wince as, together, we managed to get me in a sitting position.

She gave me a scowl “I know you're right. I just can't believe that you get beaten to within an inch of your life and nothing happens to the scum who did it, it's idiotic. And stop calling me Marwenna, I hate it, just call me Marwen.” She tutted and absent-mindedly pushed a stray lock of hair from my eyes.

“I know you do” I said with a mischievous grin

“Idiot” She mutters under her breath, a smile crawling onto her face, and, for a brief moment, there is silence as she places a hand on mine and we sit there comfortably.

Suddenly, Marwen looks up “Why don't I get Master Fado to train you in the sword!”

I looked at her, baffled.

“Why would I need training in the sword? Even if I did, I can't exactly go toe to toe with an elf in combat.”

She shakes her head, her eyes deep in thought as she stares at nothing “Perhaps not, but at the very least you can avoid making yourself an easy target.”

I stare at her through squinted eyes “I'm not too sure about this...”

“Nonsense! You will train and become the greatest swordsman Vita has ever seen, then you'll go away to war and my heart will ache for years as I cry out my window, looking for my knight to return.” She was giggling now, lost in her fantasy.

I just rolled my eyes at the future queen of the Elven race and laughed along with her.

“Ah, shall I return on my shining steed?” I say as she begins to laugh even harder. The thought of me on a horse and in armour was pretty amusing, considering how scrawny I was.

With tears in her eyes, Marwen's hysterics come to a halt and she stared hard at me for a moment. It was the kind of stare that I had never seen before, for some reason, it only added to her beauty and knocked the air from my lungs.

“Then when you return on your steed, you can come get me and we'll ride away together. What do you say? Promise to save me from a life of tedium in the court? Promise to give me a life of adventure, filled with danger?”

For a moment I could say nothing as I was lost in her eyes. So intense were they that I couldn't speak.

Eventually I found my voice.

“I promise.”

* * *

I awoke to find the archer staring at me from across the room, her knees pulled under her chin as her arms wrapped around her legs.

I yawned and jumped to my feet to stretch.

Seems I was dreaming more and more about Marwenna recently. I didn't know whether that was good thing or a bad thing.

I really wanted to see her, desperately, but I would have to come to terms with the fact that she'll never be mine. As much as I wanted to stop, I still had hope that we could fix the divide between us and be as we were.

But that would be too much to ask for.

I was interrupted by a large gurgling sound that filled the room. It wasn't hard to pinpoint that the sound came from my stomach.

“Ha, seems we'll have to find some food soon, Archer, I am starving.” I say as I wave a hand in the air.

A large sphere of water materializes out of the moisture in the air and I immediately dip my head into it and drink as much as I can stomach. Magical water is still water after all.

When I'm done I turn to my, sort of, prisoner.

“Would you like some?” I asked.

The girl shook her head without hesitation and remained exactly where she was.

I scratched my head with a look of frustration on my face “Listen, Archer, you're going to need to start talking to me. I won't hurt you, I have no intention of hurting a child, but you need to work with me here. I only need to know a couple of things. Understand?”

She looked at me strangely for a second, her eyes still containing that hint of desperation from earlier, before she looked away and muttered something under her breath.

“What was that?” I ask while dismissing the water.

“How are you so strong?” She asks as she raises her head and stares into my eyes. “You don't look any older than I do, but the amount of mana you can draw in is... incredible. Even the masters who taught me don't have that kind of power.”

Her voice was rather pleasant on the ears and had a melodic tone to it which, I have to say, I rather enjoyed.

“See? Was that so hard? You have such a pretty voice, you shouldn't not speak. It would do the world a disservice.” I say with a smile as I walk over and take a seat next to her “As to the answer to your question, well, lets just say I'm not from around here and I'm a lot older than I look.”

“Are you a god?” She asks with awe in her voice.

I needed to nip that in the bud right away.

“No, I am definitely not a god, I'm a human just like you are.” I reply firmly “Now, mind if I ask you some questions?”

The girl looked like she wanted to say more but the unspoken question died on her lips. She gave me a nod.

“Okay!” I say with a exhale of air “I need to know what you were doing here in this city.”

She looked away for a moment as if thinking of her answer before replying.

“I'm here for the architecture, I loved the stories of The Rebel King's city when I growing up so I thought I would come out here and see it for myself.” She blatantly lied “It's such an amazing place that I couldn't pass up the opportunity.”

I gave her an odd look “So, you think I'm going to believe that an obviously well-trained mage, wearing armour that I've never even seen before, is here to see the 'sights'?”

She thought about her answer for a second and then smiled “Yes”.

I pushed my hands against my face to keep from screaming.

“If you don't tell me the truth, I'll have to hurt you!” I threatened.

“No you won't, otherwise you wouldn't have healed me.” She retorted sharply, with a smirk on her face.

I gave a sigh as I looked at her for a moment. I needed to find out why she was here. What if, in the four hundred years I've been gone, some new form of transportation has been created that allows people to travel vast distances in hours instead of days. This Archer could be a forward scout for Marwen's troops. I suddenly had an idea.

“Okay, you say that you're an architecture nut, lets test your knowledge.” I said with my own smirk beginning to appear on my face.

“Em...well, I don't think that...” the girl suddenly looked rather hesitant and confused by this strange line of questioning.

“What is the exact size of Ellai?” I asked sharply, pointing a finger out the window.

“em, five miles... no! Ten miles square"

“Wrong! The city is twelve miles from east to west and four miles from north to south. Are you ready for the next question?”

This continued on for quite some time as I asked her question after question about the city and how it was built, when it was built and who built what. Luckily, Drogna had seemed adamant that I know every little thing that had happened in the city during its construction and I had a good memory.

My logic for doing so was simple. I knew that she wasn't into the city for its buildings and she knew that as well, but we had come to an impasses because I couldn't and wouldn't hurt her to try and get the truth. So I decided to fall back on something that had helped out a lot over the years.

I was going to annoy the hell out of her.

“Oh! I know this one! People were ferried about on horse drawn carriages that-”

“Wrong again! The carriages were not horse drawn, they were enchanted to carry people to set destinations. Horses? What a stupid idea. Right! Next question-”

The girl threw her hands up in the air and let out a frustrated yell.

“Ok! I give up, I was lying is that what you wanted to hear?” She spoke through gritted teeth.

I gave her a smile “Fantastic! You made it through seventy four questions before you broke. Nice! So are you going to tell me what exactly you were doing in this city?”

She glared at me.

“We were sent here to look for a sword or something, I don't know, you would have to ask the others.”

That peaked my interest. It seemed that I was not the only one looking for Xolumbrandir.

“So... once you located this sword, who were you returning it too?”

“No one. We were told to make sure the sword was still at the top of the large tower in the eastern area of town and stop anyone who tried to take it. That's all I know. If you wanted to know more you would have to talk to my commander, Bell.” She said as she gave me a funny expression “You're here for it as well, aren't you?”

I ignored the girl and stood up, walking over to the window and looking outside.

So there were people here looking for the sword, but just to make sure it was still there. Under no circumstances could they take it. Strange. Seems that whoever sent this group weren't here because of  the statue.

And speaking of my statue, I left the mask back at the alchemy shop.

“Shit!” I cried as I pressed my fingers to my temples.

“What's wrong?” asked the archer behind me.

“Nothing, I'm fine.” I replied as I ground my teeth.

Seems I have another problem to deal with today, but no matter, I'll get around to it. I need to be calm, cool and collected.

“Did you come from Callai?” I asked the girl suddenly, thinking that maybe she was Marwenna's agent.

She blinked “No, we got the job in Scarl Forest, but I have no idea who gave it to us. Only Bell deals with the clients.”

I give her a nod and look away. It seems that someone in the Scarl forest already heard about the statue, or they already had a sigil placed here to make sure they were alerted should anything happen to it.

Maybe it wasn't Marwenna's sigil after all. The only vampire I really know is Cinder, but I have no idea if she is in Scarl Forest.

“Do you know about the Knight of the Rebel Court named Cinder?” I asked the thief as I walked back over and took a seat next to her again.

The mercenary shivered “Of course I know Queen Cinder, apparently she's crazy, drinks the blood of everything and everyone around her and her hunger for more is never ending. Or so the rumour goes.”

Yep, that sounds like Cin. Her bloodlust is a large part of why she became one of my Knight's in the first place. Wait, Queen? Was every one of my Knight's now royalty?

“So, Cinder is Queen of the vampires?”

The archer gave a nod “Yeah, apparently one day, she just walked into the castle at the Red Citadel and killed the queen who supported the church and all her followers. By herself!”

Cinder was still taking risks, foolish girl! Marwen should have been keeping an eye on her. I knew that Cinder would be upset when I died, but it seems like she went on a fucking rampage and Marwenna didn't try to stop her.

I can now assume that Marwenna was not behind the archer and her mercenary band, Cinder was. But it still irked me, I felt like there was more to the picture and I believe that the commander named Bell could illuminate the situation further.

“Right! Me and you are going for a walk little miss archer. I need to speak to Bell for a minute.” I say as I stood up and pulled the archer upwards with me.

A pained expression appeared on her face “Yeah, I don't think that's such a good idea. My friends don't really like outsiders and they might attack you.”

I smiled as I walked towards the door with my hand wrapped around the archers arm.

“That's sweet of you to be concerned for my safety but I don't think I'll have too much trouble. What's your name by the way?”

The archer struggled for a minute before giving in.

“My name is Ada, and I'm not worried for your safety... It's their safety which concerns me...” She said, giving me a worried look.

I gave her a soft smile in return.

“Don't worry Ada, I won't hurt your friends, I promise, I just need some information, then I'll be on my way.”

“For some reason... I feel like I can trust you. I hope you keep your word.”

“I will” I nodded as we headed down the staircase “ What's the name of your mercenary band by the way?”

Ada showed me something that I had never noticed before. She pulled down part of the sleeve that covered the top of her right arm and it revealed a sigil of a what looked like a black horn on a yellow background.

“We're called Black Tusk.”