The night settled in quickly, the cold breeze nipped those close to the entrance. The meager foot of water that rose was met with a reproachful stare by Arhen, who stayed awake to keep Mallo company late into the early hours of the day. The girls had retreated to the back of the cave, bright sigils glowed overhead as Lillie and Connie slept away their fevers, Vai and Dalli taking turns to reactivate the sigils and keep watch over their condition.
Very near lay Oren, having kept close to the girls so Alera could enjoy the sight of the sigils; he had dozed off, exhaustion had rendered him incapable of so much as shivering from the cold, wet floor. Yet, his hold on Alera was such that even in his state of twilight he held onto her wrist firmly, onto she who had fallen asleep on his belly as she gazed fascinatingly at the shimmer off the cave walls.
The sky was filled with thousands of lights, each shone with a glorious, flickering in- candescence. “‘Least we don’ ‘ave to deal with any bull t’night, huh?” Arhen poked at Mallo who had ignored any attempt of his to get his mind off the dire situation. Arhen stared at the moonless sky, tracing shapes among the star but the arbitrary nature of his connections lacked any real foundation or structure. “Dy’know if constellations ‘ave incantations… y’know, like… are they sigils?”
Mallo’s leaden eyelid seemed to lighten as his eyes darted to the stars. They crossed here and there inspecting every light, as if looking for answers among them. “That’s not how sigils work.” Mallo explained as he scanned the sky.
Arhen stared at Mallo who’s eyes darted left to right methodically. “Ya’ know, it’s a dick move ta’ just tell someone they’re wrong and not correct ‘em.” Arhen snapped.
Truthfully, that’s just what you do when you’re not in a rut ain’t it? He thought, hoping to elicit anything to overcome whatever weighed Mallo down.
“Everyone has a sigil, they say it comes to them in their dreams” Mallo began. “They call it a representation of the soul, separate from what we are capable of defining. So, some people die without ever knowing their sigil, they never understand their soul, I suppose. No different from your heart or brain really– neglected but no less necessary.”
“How would one go ‘bout understandin’ their soul?”
“If I knew that I wouldn’t be an apprentice woul–” Mallo froze, his eyes locked onto a gleaming light. A panic seemed to take him as he got up but stayed low onto his feet, “That’s not a star.” His breath was steady. Arhen’s eyes darted around but he could see nothing other than the clear skies and the sea stretched out beneath them; a black void that swallowed the horizon.
“Mate– did ya’ seriously memorize the sky?” He stared at Mallo incredulously.
Mallo’s gaze remained fixed on something just beyond Arhen’s perception. Frustrated, Arhen decided to level the playing field. He raised his palm and muttered, “Photus Effunde.” An orb of light flared into existence, casting sharp shadows on his face. With a quick jab of his finger, he sent it forward with a command, “Vis!”
For a few moments, Arhen let himself believe that Mallo was just having another panic attack, But that hope was crushed when the light, having traveled a hundred and fifty feet, collided with something solid, it hit and scattered over a glistening green and blue carapace that remained steady over the rolling waves. The light streaked along the dark sky to the left, Mallo’s eyes followed it; another star streaked to the right, Arhen managed to track its quick motion, stopping at what they could only assume was the center of the black mass concealed by the night.
It blinked.
“That’s an Oppressor,” Mallo whispered, stepping slowly backward into the cave.
As much as Arhen wanted to ask what the hell an Oppressor was, he bit his tongue. His gaze stayed locked on the two lights, waiting to see what the creature would do next.
The lights flickered—then came motion. The sea roared as if a ship had crashed into it, and waves lashed against the cave’s entrance, spraying Arhen. He blinked through the water, realizing the lights had vanished from the sky. Silence returned.
An oppressor… The name troubled Arhen, the thought that it was more, that it was a title, worried him. Still he held off on asking for clarification as he could not bring himself to torment Mallo further, who was struggling with muffled sobs and laughter, teetering on the edge of hysteria. Arhen would spend the night awake waiting for, what he could only rationalize was a creature, to reemerge; there would be no further activity.
The sun rose on the third day to a disheveled group that included four sickly girls, who had been trying to find helpful sigils; a delirious Mallo, who had retreated into a crevice at the back of the cave; a heavy-eyed Arhen sitting cross legged at the entrance; a rather bright and cheery Oren who was patting his flat belly in a rather proud fashion as he stood by a small pool inside the cave that Alera had taken to explore, her robe illuminated brightly in the shallow depths.
“I got something.” Vai stood with her tome in her hand, brushing down her frizzy ginger hair, and she made her way to Mallo. She spoke an incantation and held a light in her palm. Setting her book beside the crevice she leaned into it to see Mallo had dozed off. She read the tome again and gave a sigh.
Smack!
She struck Mallo across the face with an open hand, and just as quickly pulled him in to deliver a kiss on the lips. “Be a man! You’re brave, aren’t you? You’re gonna protect us, aren’t you?” She yelled at him. All heads turned to the speck of light at the back of the cave. Her lips trembled as she did her best to keep her eyes locked on his, Mallo blushed furiously. “Hmph!” She picked up her tome and left him to his confusion.
“What was that about?” Dalli asked as Vai sat back down with the girls.
“Tome said to!” She blushed indignantly as she shoved the tome for them to read.
Got a sorry excuse for a warrior in your alliance? The solution is quite simple! No Incantations necessary!
The first and most effective way, as I can attest, to ensure drive and maximize vigor is to take them for all they got.
Heart- Make their body desire yours! Start with a kiss! A hug! A slap! Be careful if you plan to go big, the more intimate you are the less effective the smaller things may become!
Mind- Torture them with the thought being without you! Let them know how much you’re counting on them! Show them how much you believe, how much they have to lose!
Soul- A mysterious thing still! Perhaps by applying the previous two honestly and wholeheartedly you truly can invigorate the soul! Or perhaps it is a result of the subject convincing himself of the two!
Got an infestation of mind lice? Try this remedy of fire quartz and rejuve goop! Just dry and grind into a simple snortable powder! (May cause brain damage!)
The girls gave her an awkward look. “You kissed him? I thought you liked Ar–”
“Shut up! I did what a healer does, okay?” Vai snapped at Dalli and snatched her tome back. Connie and Lillie snickered.
“Got some news.” Mallo announced as he walked to the entrance of the cave. Oren cleared his throat, “Last night we sighted an Oppressor.” Arhen was glad to hear a lack of gasps, he wasn’t the only one lost anymore. Mallo looked around at the confused girls, Vai kept her eyes on her tome, Arhen awaited an explanation and Oren asked Alera to step out of the frigid water. He sighed, “You know the stories of Hopman’s Isle, right?” The reminder of being on a supposedly fictitious Isle seemed to make something click in their minds.
“That monster’s real?” Connie’s voice quivered.
An enormous splash drenched Arhen, and as the cold shock of realization set in, it compounded with his fear—this had to be the monster. His instincts took over, driving him to turn swiftly, rod in hand, ready for whatever loomed.
The water bubbled, Arhen waited. The sun had risen to a cool morning, the breeze was calm and the waves rolled gently around the cliffside. The ocean was somehow extra salty today, he noticed, licking his chapped lips.
The surface broke with great force.
He lept.
To deliver a swift swing overhead, through the yet airborne water. With a distinct snap he confirmed. Contact. He tugged at the long rod but it would not return. Releasing his hand, he extended his arm and pointed to the falling water. “Vis, Acus. Ignis!”
A pop went off, the water around him scattered and steamed. His forearm pointed to the sky. “You’ll hurt yourself.” A voice said, chuckling. Arhen landed backwards onto the tiny beach, held up by his forearm and the hand firmly on the rod. The water splashed and blurred the visage of the figure, a cough could be heard behind the blurry man. The moment passed, vision cleared– a head taller than him stood a beaming Azurael, Kari held tightly around his neck.
“You’re–” Arhen stared, his eyes widened with disbelief.
“You’re crazy! You know I was joking, right? We thought you were Hopman’s Blight!” Oren pushed Arhen aside, his frustration directed squarely at Azurael.
Kari slid off Azurael, carrying a backpack. She floated her way majestically into the cave, giving Arhen a shy smile as she passed; her golden hair clung to her still-wet face.
Arhen could only gawk at the scene—a powerless Oren venting his anger at the paragon of their age.
“You let yourself go, back on the farm you could at least catch a basheep.” Azurael teased Oren after hearing his complaints about no fish in the waters. “So you guys haven’t eaten? No worries, I’ll get something, but first…” He clapped his hands, and wore a serious expression, “Alera. Where is she?” The four girls had held back after the splash, pulling her along to make sure Alera couldn’t put herself in danger.
They turned to the entrance as Kari walked out with Alera clinging to her, showing her glowing robe with childish wonder. At the sight of Azurael she skipped, prancing her way to him. “Look!” The glow faded as she pulled out the silver locket from an inside pocket. “It’s a poltergeist!” Azurael smiled but his eyebrows furrowed.
She befriended a poltergeist? Those things hate people being even near them. Maybe she’s confused…
He tried to open the locket but could not budge the tiny hinge. For a moment he thought about prying it open, but Alera’s trusting smile dissuaded him from exposing the supposed spirit to the light of day. Reluctantly he returned the locket, making a mental note to look into it later and to keep a close eye on it.
“I’m glad you made a friend.” Azurael smiled, “Well then, fish!” He clapped his hand, Kari handed out small lunch boxes to each, the smell of shrimp immediately made Oren’s mouth water. “Lemos is currently being reprimanded for abandoning you all here, so don’t worry about getting back at him. Instead, I’ll be teaching you about this supposedly mythical Isle.” The girls stood at the entrance of the cave, Dalli and Vai already tearing into their lunchboxes while Connie and Lillie picked at theirs. Arhen and Mallo stared at Azurael, blinking as if trying to shake off a dream. Alera listened intently as she kept forking shrimps into Oren’s mouth, to which he issued no complaints.
“The ocean you see before you was once a great nation. Three hundred ninety seven years ago, its fall marked the end of the age of dragons. Isvar Hopman, widely considered the most powerful combatant to ever exist, exterminated the Celestial Queen and drove away the oppressive dragons from the Lands of Athre. But you know this.” His thin smile faded. “Unfortunately for Hopman, the battle with the Queen would cost him the kingdom he tried so dearly to protect. Their battle is one of the few events ever classified as Extinction Level. This Isle is all that remains of his kingdom… The castle rests upon its highest point still.” The group kept quiet, looking at each other, still processing the situation. Hardly five minutes had passed since his arrival.
“Uh…” Mallo, seemingly finally coming to his senses, spoke. “You’re Azurael right?” Azurael nodded in confirmation.
“Now, that recap was necessary for you to know why this place is a wasteland. There are no confirmations from any primary sources but witnesses of the end of the battle say a brilliant light more blinding than a star fell from the heavens and cradled the horizon. The wall of death dug an enormous crater around the Isle, estimated maybe five to seven miles deep. Leading to mass extinction of sea life and the complete annihilation of the continent.” Perhaps it was because some hadn’t cared much about fairy tales or were too enthralled by his presence to interrupt, they continued to watch Azurael calmly give his history lesson.
“Water levels fell as the vaporized water brought about the Age of Deluge. Water levels fell by six hundred feet as the water moved to fill in the sink.” He nodded. “I guess I can’t blame you for being unable to hunt here, everything’s at the bottom, if there’s anything that is.” He pulled his robe off and handed it to Kari. “It’s best if I just show you.”
“Wait!” They yelled in unison. Azurael jumped, surprised at their sudden change in demeanor. He could pick up pieces of what they were saying, each a more confused and incoherent version of events.
They saw the monster! The blight is real! Somethin’s in da water! There’s an Oppressor in there! Their yells blended together.
“Huh?” Azurael chuckled, “There’s no Oppressor in there.”
“No, I’m telling you! It’s in there, it’s huge!” Mallo yelled out desperately.
“No– that’s the little guy. I killed the Oppressor three years ago.” He smiled before diving and disappearing into the depths.
They had hardly processed his words. Little guy? Arhen thought, estimating the size of the creature, and the noise it made sinking back to the water. The lights, which he concluded were its eyes, easily stood at a tower fifty feet.
Kari giggled. “It’s true. They were still using its carapace to make armor sets when I was an apprentice. They say it blocked out the stars. It was Azurael’s first Oppressor.” They were stunned by the casual tone of kari’s voice, Alera’s eyes twinkled. They held their breaths as they waited.
The ocean spray whipped at them, even the famished Oren had lost his appetite as he kept his eyes on the rolling waves. His stomach twisted nervously, and an unusual tightness in his chest grew as the seconds turned to minutes. Doubt rose in his mind as, though he had been raised alongside Azurael, he had never witnessed him take on Fearsome Beasts. One quick glance at Kari gave him enough indication that things were not ideal, as her thin smile had faded and she wore a rather uneasy expression, though, for his own sake, he chalked it up to just her being a worrywart.
And then there was rain. The ocean seemed to come to life, flooding over the edge of the cliff-beach, sweeping them off their feet and doing its best to drag them in. An enormous claw breached the water with a shattering crash, its blue-green surface gleaming like polished armor. It crashed against the cliff, stopping just inches from Kari’s face, filling her vision until she saw only the jagged, broken end.
“Right, that’s breakfast.” Azurael pulled himself up the cliff-beach. Perhaps he was used to being gaped at or he didn’t care for the astonishment of apprentices but he walked around the claw to meet with Kari, ignoring the stupefied looks of the group with a satisfied smile on his face, and asked for his robe back.
“You’re amazing!” Connie yelled out, Lillie nodded in affirmation. Arhen twitched. Oren, and Mallo could not take their eyes off the massive claw. Alera had taken to determine the texture of its surface, as smooth as polished marble. Azurael had not taken notice of them as he spoke to kari.
He turned timidly and walked briskly to Connie and Lillie. “If it doesn’t go down I’ll need to extract the group.” He stood before Connie, he looked down at her as he raised his hand to her cheek, she shuddered as his cold hand cupped the right side of her face. “Hmm… was it worse before? You’re really hot.” Azurael frowned. Connie yelped and fell back into the three girls, hiding her face from him.
“We’re doing better than last night, I promise.” Lillie replied with an awkward laugh, slapping Connie on the arm.
“Well, just let me know if you feel any worse.” He turned to the three boys, “Well you three, make yourselves useful. Hand over your robes and get to deshelling that claw.” The three had no objections but had slight reservations about giving up their robes, its warmth was the only thing regulating the chill experienced from wearing only undergarments, but relented nonetheless. “Young ladies, please follow me.” He led their way into the cave, Oren ushered Alera along.
The darkness surrounded them, the pitiful sounds of the boys trying to break the claw echoed. A flutter and thud was explained the moment after Azurael spoke. “Calor, Luz. Infierno.” A bright light radiated a blazing heat from the center of the cave, illuminating even the furthest walls of the cave and the jagged ceiling that hung precariously, dark cracks spread across it.
The three robes shone brightly. Alera exchanged a gleeful smile with Azurael, but he held her back as she attempted to reach out to them. “Careful, it’ll hurt.” The other girls kept their distance from it, the bundle pulsating warmth. He sat around the robes, Kari and Alera by his side; the girls sat opposite, still in slight disbelief that sitting before them was the pride of the institute. “It’s Constanza, Elizabeth, Dalvana and Vaihlet. Is that right?” Azurael’s smile was met with a mix of looks– Connie blushed heavily, Lillie looked offended, Dalli recoiled and Vai was surprised.
“It’s a little rude to call people out like that, you know?” Lillie said indignantly. “You’re supposed to let people introduce themselves.” She frowned suddenly as her statement edged a question into her mind– How does he know our names? She had barely formed the question before it was answered.
“Oh yeah, my fault. I’ve got a habit of learning a bit about each apprentice.” He scratched his ear, “If you would be so kind, please, tell me a bit about yourselves.”
Connie cleared her throat. “I am Constanza Samos. I’m from the grand city of Newdings.” She blushed heavily as Azurael looked at her, giving a distinct look, she thought, of being unimpressed. “It’s the biggest city in Menestes!”
“Lover’s Lowe!” Azurael snapped, seemingly connecting the dots in his head. “You guys have huge families, even by Menestes standards.” He chuckled.
“What?” Connie was appalled. “No, I meant… We’re the largest manufacturers of metalwork and magical articrafting!” To have her pride be sullied by the fact that her city was in fact massively populated, approximately 66 million residents, a tinge of shame and embarrassment rose within her, what could Azurael be thinking about for his first thought to be family?
“I know, the headmaster took me there in my first year to get these.” Azurael pulled out a shimmering pair of dangerous looking metal pieces, he slipped one on. “I use these to train.”
After being quiet for a good ten seconds, it was evident he wasn’t going to explain, at least not today as he kept admiring the piece. “What is it?” Alera asked as she twisted her neck up to gander at his fist.
“They’re soft knuckles, typically you wear iron knuckles to cause more damage but the headmaster says my punches do too much damage. With these, my punches are pulled without effort on my part. It’s to make sure I don’t accidentally hurt someone.” He laughed, pulling off the soft knuckle and placing them back into his robe pockets. “Incredible craftsmen, and supremely gifted enchanters. I’ll be expecting a lot from you Cons– Connie.”
Connie convinced herself that her fever was acting up again as she lay on her side, warmed by the fire, looking at Azurael’s rather pleasant features, his voice echoing her name in her head.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“What about you…”
“Lillie, you can call me Elizabeth if you wish. I’m with stupid.” She shook the intoxicated Connie.
“Ah, long time friends I’m guessing?”
“Something like that, she’s my niece.” The silence was palpable, Lillie gasped as she looked at Azurael as if she had said something she shouldn’t. “I meant– we’re like sisters!” She blurted out, in an attempt to save face.
“Niece and sister are very different, I don’t know how you can confuse the two.” Lillie blushed as Azurael gave her a teasing smile.
“Dalvana, you’re up.”
“Hey!” Azurael shifted his gaze, allowing Lillie to dodge any question about family dynamics, onto Dalli who gaped as the attention switched to her. “Uh–” She froze with the look of a lost child, pulling on Vai’s robes, who sat beside her.
“Dalli’s from–” Dalli gave a little yelp, “Really? Um… Massi Valor.” Dalli squirmed a bit, seeming hesitant to let Azurael know even the continent she lived on.
“I’m from Sinfini, a little island town.” Vai looked inquiringly at Azurael, “I wondered why you would know the name of someone like me.”
“Well, I came from a village that wasn’t even on my nation’s maps at the time. If I wasn’t found by Miss Asha, who knows what would have become of me.” He smiled at Vai, knowing that she probably thought he would have done well either way, though he was quite aware that without the headmaster he wouldn’t be around to ask the question.
“Well then, you don’t seem very eager to tell me more, so it’s best if we move on.” Azurael peeked over at the entrance, grunts could be heard, each followed by a slight crack. “We won’t even have dinner at this rate.” He stood and excused himself from the girls, asking Alera to stay with Kari, he walked to the exit.
Alera gazed into the radiating robes as the girls looked at Kari, who had not spoken so much as a word since Azurael had resurfaced.
“Are you his assistant or his lover?” All eyes turned to Connie, laying on the floor, looking at Kari with a sort of withheld disdain.
“I don’t appreciate such callous inquiries.” Kari coughed, doing her best to hide a smirk.
And enormous crunch reverberated through the cavern, and Azurael strode in, a massive, fleshy slab of white meat hung over his shoulder. The three boys followed closely behind, doing what they could to avoid the gaze of the girls.
“So, here’s the thing.” He dropped the fleshy slab onto the robes to which it immediately began to sizzle and steam. “The little guy is stalking you.”
Oren gave him a worried look, as did the girls. Arhen and Mallo had realized that not even Azurael could have swam down the rumored seven miles to hunt the creature, at least not in the amount of time he was gone for. To this end, Mallo was certain the monster either swam closely under the surface or clung itself to the side of the cliff-like drop off of the Isle.
“It won’t be an issue for now. Ten minutes ago maybe it would have tried but now he knows there’s something that can tear him apart.” The salty smell of the now golden meat made their mouths water, uncertainty grew as nearly all had thought Azurael had dealt with the creature just as he had done with not-the-little-guy a few years back.
“You couldn’t kill it?” Oren voiced the thought to everyone's surprise.
“It was clearly stalking you. You two were scared weren’t you?” He looked at Arhen, who turned his head, refusing to dignify the question. Somehow it was easier to swallow his pride for Alera, easier to admit she was seemingly uninhibited by such things as fear.
“I just hurt him a little as payback for causing you two mental distress.” Azurael began to pull apart the meat, handing out hot, steaming chunks of unidentifiable origin. “It’ll attack once the sun sets, you can be sure of that. You will all help me take it out.” He wore a great smile as he handed a piece to Kari who returned a reassuring nod.
“How will we help if we don’t even know what it is?” Oren said, stuffing his mouth with a generous amount of meat.
“It’s a Crabmera. Tough shell, long tail, massive claws and ridiculously fast in water.” Azurael filled his mouth nodding fervently as the rest stared at him clearly doing their best to picture the beast. “Won’t be a problem, even if he were the size of an oppressor, oppressors are two MCI’s under Catastrophes.”
“What’s the difference?” Connie asked in a quiet voice that carried over the silence left by the rest of the group, as they had all waited intently for Azurael to mention more to the note of catastrophes.
“Well,” Azurael frowned ever so slightly, he was sure even children were informed of the Mass Casualty Index. “Oppressors fall under Mass Threat, meaning they pose risk to large populations, particularly because of their physicality. Y’know, they’re big, ugly and really tough to put down. Need a skilled celestial-level combatant to put one down.”
Arhen stuck out his tongue, trying to get the disgusting taste of the self compliment out of his mouth. Mallo, however, was keen to see if Azurael would continue as the girls looked at him with pleading eyes to do so.
“Above that,” Azurael continued, glancing briefly at Alera, whose fair face glowed faintly in the robes’ soft light, “is Index One. ‘Anomaly.’
“Anomalies are… well, creatures of unknown origin with consequences that are usually catastrophic. If one of those surfaces, the governments don’t take chances—they’ll evacuate thousands, even hundreds of thousands, just to keep them safe.”
Vai shuddered as the blood seemed to drain from her face. Dalli embraced her quietly, still listening intently as Azurael continued.
“Index Zero– Catastrophic.” The pause was such that you would swear you could hear someone’s heartbeat. “Dragons used to be part of this group, thank good o’le Hopman for that.” He patted the dirty floor of the cave. “They’re the worst of things, catastrophes. At least dragons would only claim land, their worst trait was being sore losers, destroying entire nations if they could not conquer them.” Kari, taking another chunk of meat he was handing to her, noticed a faint stutter in his movement. “Catastrophes do nothing but take life. It is part of their pointless existence. Pitiable creatures that should not walk these lands.”
“Paragon?” Azurael blinked back to a handful of juices being crushed out of a chunk of meat. Kari was touching his shoulder ever so lightly.
He laughed the moment off. “Sorry, I have little vendetta against catastrophes.” Careful not to have any of their limbs on the robes next, nobody inquired further.
“In any case, this little guy should take a couple master combatants at least.” He looked around. “I like what I’m seeing.” He smiled widely. “Aside from Arhen, none of you have really been concerned with it attacking early.” Arhen turned back to him, unsure if he had just been insulted. “A bit of bravery is the first step to becoming an effective apprentice.” He clapped his hands, “Now! Tell me how much you know.”
Over the next hour Azurael would listen intently to them all, singling out things they were particularly good in, sigils of spells they were particularly fond of and interested in, and went over their tomes until three of them were left.
“Miss Vai.” Azurael smiled as her cheeks rosied under the white light of the robes. “What are your strengths?” The thought of running into the ocean for the Crabmera to take her out of this situation crossed her mind briefly.
Her lips trembled as her eyes shifted, searching for words that would speed this up. “I’m good at…at…” Sewing! Crying! Dancing! The three girls whispered in support.
“Just what you consider yourself to be good at.” Azurael smiled kindly.
“W…writing?” she mumbled, hardly audible.
“Curious,” Azurael immediately tilted his head at her. “Writing is more so a medium. Not impossible but definitely makes things harder to pin down if your specialty is something more specific.” Azurael paused. “You’re a healer aren’t you?” Vai gripped her tome tightly, her face red with embarrassment.
“May I?” Azurael stretched out for her tome. Slowly, and with an indignant look she handed it over, lowering her head ever so slightly. Azurael pulled on a little golden bookmark and the tome stretched from the size of his palm to a hefty record that crushed his legs. Alera beamed.
The tiny words on the tome’s massive pages seemed to dance across the paper, impossibly fine, yet the ink did not bleed through the delicate, thin sheets. Azurael marveled at it, running his fingers over the pages with an impressed smile. “This one was dedicated.” Azurael laughed, struggling to focus on any particular section.
“I’ve been forced to keep it miniaturized because of that. It’s really hard to read.” Vai said with a hopeful tone. Kari was looking at the pages with a sort of shock.
“Can you show her?” Azurael pleaded casually to Kari.
“Of course.” She replied, turning to rummage through the backpack behind her and pulling out a palm-sized tome and tossed it to Vai.
“I’m going to assume it’s the same as mine.” Vai quickly retorted in hopes of sparing her legs of the heft. Azurael gave her an expectant look, to which she pulled on the bookmark apprehensively. Sure enough, the same enormous frame with delicately thin paper, and words that seemed to blend– the only difference was the gold-colored font.
“That belongs to Miss McNellie Uvs’Hert.” Azurael informed simply.
“The witch of the woods?” Vai perked up. “You know your author?” She directed at Kari.
“Hardly, I’ve never met her.” Kari closed her eyes with a sort of disappointment.
“So… I have one of her tomes? Or a copy?” The three seemed to have forgotten the rest of the group as their looks went unaddressed.
“No.” Azurael said. “That one book took her centuries to write down. And copies can’t be made from it unless copied by hand, you can see why that’s unlikely.” Vai flipped through the silky pages, the words blurred into one another, yet, somehow, she grasped some meaning between the lines.
“Can you read it?” Vai asked Kari.
“In a way.” Kari tilted her head in thought. “It’s like trying to get meaning from moving images, you can understand what it’s saying but only as well as you can interpret it.”
“You could be a scribe.” Azurael noted. “Complicated…Y’know, you can think about it a bit more.”
Azurael tugged on the golden bookmark and the book shrank with the sound of creaking Oak. Vai did the same and traded it back for her own.
“You’re all very promising but there’s a reason you spend the first year learning sigils and exploring, I suppose. Well, that does it, I’ll have you practice a bit before it begins its assault.”
“Hey, what about us?” Oren asked with a hint of annoyance.
“You all will be helping me wrangle the beast and put it down.” Oren scoffed, expecting Azurael to break into a fit of laughter but he was looking at them quite expectantly. “You will endure a warm up with me in order to prepare to engage. Kari will be in charge of developing a strategy for the girls to aid us.” He got up suddenly, and beckoned the rest to follow as he went outside, passing by the cracked claw and stood beside the face of the cliff.
“I’ll meet ya’ll up top then.” He smiled as he lowered himself, Kari pulled Alera forward and helped her up, tying a thin gauze around her waist and Azurael’s. The rest exchanged frantic looks.
“Up top?” Arhen asked with incredulity, seemingly having forgotten how Azurael had made his entrance.
“Yessir, we need open space. Can’t risk getting cornered when it chooses to attack, can we?” Arhen stared up at the cliff face, his neck ached at the angle.
“And how do you expect us to get back up?” Oren, quite aware of what his cousin was suggesting, asked in hopes that it would occur to Azurael that the request was very much so beyond the skill of anyone but him.
“Be practical about it.” He smiled as he began to climb the sheer cliffside, his fingers breaking through the red, hard rock. “Follow if you can, I’ll come back for those who can’t.” His massive figure scaled effortlessly. “And don’t touch the water.”
“He’s not right in the head is he?” Mallo whispered as they watched Azurael scale the cliffside, his massive figure shrinking into the distant heights.
“You finally caught up? What, him planning to have us help him kill some monster wasn’t enough to clue you in?” Oren laughed frantically.
As if Oren had to remind them of the ludicrous request. Any sense of Arhen’s pride, Mallo’s fear, Oren’s anxiety or the girls’ proclivity for getting sick took a backseat as Azurael carried them up, and forward to some encroaching battle they wanted no part in.
The sun was sweltering by the time most had reached topside, Azurael had to waste precious minutes precariously climbing back down as to avoid disturbing the water below.
“You’ll be okay!” Kari gave a halfhearted thumbs up to the huddled group, failing to ease their nerves. Azurael had gone to fetch Arhen who had done his best to climb but was stuck halfway up the enormous ascent.
“He couldn’t kill that thing, how will any of this help?” Dalli asked bashfully.
“Well. it’s not that he couldn’t. He just barely failed his exam.” Kari smiled hopefully, oblivious that no failure would instill confidence.
Arhen pulled himself up and lay sprawled on the edge, a defeated look on his face, Azurael rose calmly to instruct the rest.
“Mallo, I need you to go through everyone’s tomes. As much as you can by the time the sun sets, look for blunt and piercing incantations, temperature won’t be much effective.” Mallo did not argue, thankful that he would not be subjected to some brutish training.
“The quartet, I’ll have you form this sigil.” He pulled his robe open and pulled down on his combat tee, a symbol in the shape of a perfect circle with a wisp of fire at its center seemed carved in deep black ink upon his chest. “Make it as large as you can, I mean that.” The four girls ogled at his firm pectorals before Kari coughed, holding Alera forward to receive her instructions.
“Alera, I have something only you can do.” He reached into his robe and retrieved a tiny silver marble and held her hand, putting the tiny, gleaming ball in her palm. “Do what you feel is right with it. When the time comes, I’ll tell you what to do.”
Alera held the tiny marble to her cheek, a warm feeling emanating from it. “What is it?”
“My gift to you.” Azurael smiled kindly.
Gift? Alera pondered on the meaning of the word.
“Oren, Arhen– You two will help me hit it directly.”
“Huh? You expect us to get close t–”
“Understood.” Arhen reached into his robe and extracted a wooden spear with a dull, rusted tip. “I’ll crush da’ joints. Hope tha’s enough ta’ let ya break through da carapace, not that it should be an issue. Will that do?”
“If that’s all you can do, it’ll work for now.” A tinge of irritation irked Arhen.
Oren pulled Azurael by the collar and distanced himself from the group. “Can’t we just head back? Do you just forget? You’re supposed to be some prodigy, things like this are second nature to you, you need to remember, please. This is plain reckless, you’re not normal– NOT NORMAL AZ!.” Oren stressed his whispered plea.
Azurael stared at Oren, his eyes scanning the wavering from on his face. “It’s okay to be scared, everyone’s scared of something.” Azurael's heavy hand gave Oren a gentle pat on the shoulder. “Just have a little faith, I think you’ll see just how much like me you really are.” A devious chuckle escaped Azurael as he made his way to inspect the girls’ sigil.
The sun scorched the flatlands. Azurael checked up on them all over the following hours, needing to fetch the boys’ cloaks from the cave below to cover their exposed faces that were now glowing pinkly. The girls bickered over the size and symmetry of the sigil, Connie, quite enthusiastically, made several trips back to Azurael to ‘verify the dimensions.’ Mallo was quite invested in the tomes, he sat so rigidly that had it not been for his eyes moving to and fro’ and the occasional flipping of pages, he might have been mistaken for the only natural formation on the barren land. Alera had taken to playing with the little marble, tossing it to Kari who hesitantly joined in her little game. Arhen sat at the edge of the cliff, spear in hand, he appeared to be meditating. Oren had spent his time tending the painful pulse on his temple, walking the stretch of the sigil, doing what he could to prepare himself mentally for whatever was to come.
The sun began to set under a patchy sky, a crack of thunder gave the group a start as they readied themselves behind Azurael, keeping their distance while staying within the sigil. At the edge stood Azurael and Alera, Arhen closely behind, Oren sweating bullets beside him.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” Azurael looked over the horizon at the setting sun. Alera stared at the gleaming ocean, its rippling waves appeared to be dancing for her alone, the silence seemed to be lulling her. A ringing in her ear kept her aware, she listened closely and could almost tell where it came from, maybe not, but she was certain she could feel it. The silver marble vibrated ever so slightly, no more than enough for it to be mistaken for a kissing breeze. She wondered if there could be true silence, some semblance of peace, if the marble was gone. At that moment she tossed it over the edge.
“Miss Asha has asked me to gauge you Alera, I know you’ll exceed her expectations.”
The water below dipped, it curved upward, massive walls formed around the tiny marble that had merely approached its surface, like a bubble parting the water– or a bomb, as the deafening boom shook the cliff and steamed the surrounding water, dark clouds formed immediately.
Azurael took hold of Alera as she stumbled forward, a look of professionalism crossed his face as he hoisted her onto his back. She clung tightly as the ground beneath them shuddered, a set of massive, thin, legs dug into the cliff as a massive crab-like abomination rose from the edge. A massive deluge of foam spurt forth from its mandibles, over Azurael and the attack team, aiming to engulf the group in the far back; the enormous sigil appeared to suck up the foam into the ether.
Its body wrapped around the cliffside, three of its massive claws snipped furiously as a gash in its side held two others limply, another had been torn off.
Without a single moment’s hesitation, Arhen lept forward and pierced the base of its largest claw. The beast reared the rest of its body onto the cliff, Arhen clung to his embedded spear. Azurael lept, the cliffside crumbled beneath his force. Oren stood frozen, clinging tightly to the slender rod he borrowed from Arhen.
“Ignis.” Arhen whispered, the carapace blackened around the spear and the arm fell limply with a pop. The beast thrashed its body into the falling Arhen and tossed him into the sigil. He landed with a soft thud.
In that same moment Azurael had made level with the beast, his leap was unnatural as it had carried him about sixty feet in the air, Alera was absolutely jubilant.
“Snap your fingers.” Azurael yelled over the beast’s crazed roar, showing her how to perform the action.
Alera extended her left arm and tried. Before she could try again she realized, the silver marble was between her fingers, and the beast cried out in pain. Half its head was missing, a spherical wound appeared between its abdomen and head, though this was not a killing blow.
The beast clawed towards the group in the sigil, a gutteral hiss escaped its maw. As it climbed what appeared to be an invisible wall surrounding the sigil, its claws disappearing into it. The group watched in horror as their potential death loomed mere feet above with nothing but a drawing in the dirt to keep them alive.
To nobody’s notice, a hook came over the beast and found a hold on one of its many segments. Azurael had taken to borrowing the rod from Oren and having him hold tightly to his torso as he leapt onto the beast.
“Don’t fear fun!” Azurael yelled out, a grand smile across his face.
A boom reverberated in the air, and the beast slammed to its side, its legs bleeding profusely. The sigil glowed a brilliant purple, from the center, from the wick came a thin silver string, in bundles and then rolls. It wrapped itself around the invisible dome of the sigil, and then headed for the writhing beast.
It fed itself to it through its half torn mandibles, fanatically the wispy thread exploded out and away from the sigil, wrapping itself around the beast. The creature’s blood seemed eager to escape, as a great lot of it pooled heavily onto the ground. Azurael and the two had clung tightly to the creature, the thread had not harmed them.
With a sudden jolt, the three of them were thrust into the air. The creature fell backwards with a deafening crack as it folded in on itself, another deluge of foam sprayed from its reforming maw toward the trio.
“Vis!” Azurael clapped his hand and the foam parted as they fell. And in that moment, from the misty foam that had split, something glimmered towards them, it reflected the faintest light from Alera’s marble, causing Azurael to take notice. Before he could consider it, he had caught the object. A singular, jet black throwing star had pricked the palm of his hand.
From the heights they fell, Oren cried out. Alera laughed with exhilaration. They fell onto the beast with a crunch, but they were unharmed. The carapace was paper thin and below it lay a bed of fine thread, soft and warm, Alera nearly sank to the bottom.
“Up you come.” Azurael grabbed her under the arms and tugged her out. “You, let go.” He told a catatonic Oren.
“Are you okay!” Kari rushed over to the three. “Arhen nearly died, and Oren disappeared under that thing!”
“Kari! He’s fine, it’s okay” Azurael broke the shell, spilling the loose thread onto the ground below. “Calm him down.” He tasked Kari, prying Oren’s grip from himself.
“I don’t suppose we can do that again.” Alera asked timidly.
“Again? I don’t think there’s another one around.” Azurael thought out loud, holding carefully onto the throwing star.
“I mean being up there.” She pointed to the sky, stars dotted its expanse.
“Hmm,” Azurael stared at the weapon. “I wanna say ‘yes’, but I’m pretty sure I’m about to die.”
“What?” Kari jumped, accidentally slapping a petrified Oren into consciousness.
“Does this belong to anyone?” Azurael casted a light in his left hand, shining it over the jet black piece of metal. The group made their way to look at it, a clear air of uncertainty emanated as the girls looked around at each other, Mallo followed behind, supporting uncomfortably a dazed Arhen.
“What do you mean you’re going to die?” Kari’s throat ached, her mouth dried.
Azurael looked at her, then at the light in his palm. The faintest stream of blood ran off a tiny pool that had risen from the faint prick. “Well… maybe not immediately.”
“That cut you, and it’s laced?” Kari pulled his face down and inspected his eyes, mouth and heart.
“I don’t know if it’s laced.” He struggled through his inspection.
“You’re not bleeding from anywhere else, it’s not a hemotoxin. You’re still aware so it’s not a hallucinogen. No arrhythmias.” She kicked his legs, he responded with an audacious “Ow.”
“It hasn’t had time to affect your nervous system. I propose we return to the institute.”
“But that would forfeit everyone’s festival permit, and I really don’t think it was laced. Just ask…” The plateau’s emptiness made him pause. Why hadn’t he considered a third party? But, here? They had been out all day, under the scorching sun. Flat, empty land for miles. When would a third party have had the opportunity? Was he the target? Or the girl that clung to his neck?
The clear sky had darkened, perhaps unnaturally so. As the sheer quantity that had been evaporated weighed down the very sky. A light shower was met with Alera’s giggles.
“I need each one of you to answer honestly.” His voice was stern and sweet. “Did any of you throw this?” The girls shook their heads. Mallo had not paid attention as he rendered aid to a confused Arhen. Azurael reluctantly dismissed them, no branch family noble would even know how to get a hold of it; and Arhen had paid the price of the barrier, a tapestry of his battle had been drawn, his memory of it long gone, dazed for the day.
“We’re heading back.” He whispered to Kari.
It hit him once more, the realization that he had dismissed a rather logical option.
He paused, turning his gaze to the edge of the cliff. The world seemed to twist and pull away for a moment, but he shook it off.
“Why are you stumbling, Azurael!” Kari was supporting him.
“Take Alera and the others into the wastes. Go—now. I won’t be long. He slurred slightly.
Kari pulled Alera away, leaving Azurael to process the situation.
The target couldn’t have been Alera, she was unprotected for nearly three days. The attack was weak, it would not have been enough to kill outright, so a venom is only logical.
His blood from his palm seeped more and more.
“Come on!” Kari went under Arhen, helping Mallo carry him into the vast nowhere. Pulling Alera behind.
If there’s someone here, they’re here for me.
He clenched his open hand, the faint light grew brighter, and pitched it towards the cliff. The rain was a shower of crystal scattering the revealing light across the darkened land. The light was split as the night itself appeared to contort, a crude attempt at a masterful art.
At least it can’t be an anomaly. Azurael scoffed as he steadied himself for the emerging challenger.
A figure clad in black, night itself had come for him.