[Bee Blueglade][Session 3 - Level 1][Part 3]

The courtyard outside the Light’s Hero Academy was packed with hundreds of onlookers. It had been more, but the hours had passed. Many had gone home, and now night was soon falling. Lamps had been lit, mages were shining artificial light, and bullseye lanterns were being carried.

No citizen wanted to miss the chance to see the Waystone in action. They watched, talked in hushed tones near the center, and were conversing louder near the back. There were a half dozen carts being wheeled around selling goods.

Standing in front of the academy gates were dozens of students and teachers. The headmaster stood center front waiting for the Champion of Light to return. And he did.

Bee Blueglade and Brion Moonward both appeared next to the central pillar as a bolt of blinding light struck the Iron Waystone from the skies. The courtyard filled with the excited screams of the citizens. Bee smiled, he left a prisoner, and felt like he returned as some sort of celebrity.

The villagers moved slowly at first, but quickly began to converge on Bee like ravenous fans. Brion held them back for a second before help arrived.

A group of Light Guard ran forward, surrounding the two, and Brion quickly placed a hand on Bee’s back. They pushed him towards the academy, the guards keeping the citizens back, as people called out to Bee.

“It’s a Champion!”

“He doesn’t look like a Champion!”

“Are we safe here?”

“Why is there a new Champion?”

The mixture of excitement and fear was palpable. It wasn’t pure admiration or hero worship that Bee expected. Most of these people were afraid. Afraid for the same reason the old Champions were afraid of Bee’s arrival. There was a new Darkness.

Bee was ushered through the gates of the academy. The guards blocked the entrance and let very few people through. Brion had stopped pushing Bee, in fact he had stepped away, leaving the villager alone.

Turning around Bee came face to face with the old headmaster. A man with wrinkles and liver spots telling of his age, but an incredibly muscular physique. His white hair was short trimmed and brushed to the side. His demeanor reminded Bee of a military officer.

“Armentice Heritage.” The old man stuck a hand out to Bee.

“Hell of a name.” Bee shook with the man.

“Please, I heard about yours from Opal. Talk about a mouthful, Bee Blueglade.” Armentice smiled as only an awnry old man could. “So where did you go?”

“Beyond the Withering Gate to some ancient battlefield. A place where the last of the old Champions of Light are keeping watch for some trace left of the Darkness.” Bee answered.

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“Well, is there a trace?” Armentice crossed his arms, one hand on his chin.

“The land itself is cursed. Apparently undead constantly rise from the land there, the same corpses stitching back together, no matter how many times the Champions kill them.” Bee said. “And the Iron Waystone activated twice in the last year. The first, they saw no one, and the second they saw me arrive.”

“Did they have any theories about the first use of the waystone?” Armentice asked with a raised brow.

“I think you can guess what it means.” Bee said, but with a wave of the man's hand, he could tell Armentice wanted to hear him say it. “Something or someone left the battlefield that wasn’t one of the three surviving Champions of old.”

“That is troubling.” Armentice nodded.”Are you going to go back and join them?”

“They advised me to continue my training with you, they say that the academy has always received their patronage in unseen ways, and that I would be in good hands.” Bee cracked his knuckles and looked around the courtyard.

The academy grounds had an amphitheater, gardens, a large arena, two large buildings for classes, an observatory, a set of office buildings, and a large building where Bee figured the students lived within.

“Then the dean will see you are assigned a dorm. Sirii is quite good at managing my students.” Armentice slapped a large hand on Bee’s back. “Brion!”

The catfolk knight, Brion Moonward, stepped towards them and stood at attention. He seemed to lack much of his fire and boldness around Armentice. Like a trained hound serving the headmaster.

“Yes sir!” Brion was loud enough to cause Bee to wince slightly.

“You will be taking this candidate on your trip after all. Push it back three days, send advance scouts out, and make sure the Champion here is properly equipped.”

“Yes sir, I won’t let you down,” Brion said.

“I’m not worried about you letting me down.” Armentice said pointedly as he began to walk away.

“Looks like you got your meat shield in the end.” Bee said with a scowl.

“Knowing what you are makes it all the more imperative I keep nothing from touching you.” Brion snarled. “You are no longer an asset. You are a liability that the fate of the world depends on.”

“A liability?” Bee sighed.

“If you die on my watch I might as well have destroyed the planet myself. It is our academy’s great undertaking to train heroes, and if you aren’t up to the task then you better make yourself up for it.” Brion bares his teeth.

“If I die I will come back. Bringing me on your mission and protecting me at any cost is like having a dragon you lock up in your dungeon that you never set loose on your enemies.” Bee said.

“Right now I have a country boy with survivor's guilt standing before me. What I need is a soldier, a hero that can fight to save the world, not you.” Brion shoved Bee.

Bee curled his fists together and threw a wild punch at Brion. Before the blow could connect both were blinded by a great light from the heavens. It struck down into the courtyard outside the academy. Bee’s hand moved down from in front of his eyes. Brion blinked away the sudden blindness.

“Was that…”

“It was.” Bee cut Brion off.

The two walked forward as the gates of the academy were swung open by guards. Brion and the Light Guard circled around the Waystone screaming for citizens to get back. Bee stood frozen, staring at the figure before him, that clung to the Iron Waystone.

It slowly turned, eyes wide with fear, as it took in its surroundings. The creature had small black eyes peering out from all of its layers of growths. Its humanoid body was composed of fungus, it had large sections of platform like fungus growing off of it, especially what would be considered its head. Its skin was covered in red dots, embedded in the skin, that seemed to almost be bleeding.

The creature looked over at Bee, and time seemed to slow. A thread of fate was barely visible to Bee and him alone. It connected the two of them with a single golden strand. There was no doubting it. The figure before him was a Champion of Light.