The feast was nothing special. I sat at the edge of the raised platform where the “honored guest” were seated. Even Noah and Alex received more favorable treatment, not that it mattered to me in the slightest. I instantly knew that the food was going to be subpar at best the moment I set my eyes on the head chef. The tall, lanky man with sunken cheeks really didn’t have the build that most master chefs did. Chef Chubb back home had been a short, well-rounded man with a fearsome scowl and a permanent frown on his face.
I ignored the glares and curses sent my way as I ate. The menu consisted of various roasted meats from boars to rabbits. Dishes of different vegetables and mushrooms moved in and out of the great hall at surprising speeds. Each plate came with a freshly picked rose and Sam had quickly managed to gather himself a bouquet.
After the feast, the procession moved to a large stadium where the fat lords and ladies watched gladiators clash in the ring. I sat next to Silver with blank eyes, looking down at what was probably my eighth beer of the night. I was right at that point between really tipsy and drunk. The bottle seemed to phase in and out of focus. Frowning I stood up on wobbly legs and slammed it. The rest of the night became a blur.
/-/
Sam, Noah, and Alex watched with increasing concern, hands clasped under their chins as Ryze guzzled down what had to have been his tenth or eleventh beer.
“Should we do something about that?” Noah asked.
Sam grunted, “don’t see why we should. It’s his choice to get piss drunk if he wants.”
“It will be our problem tomorrow.” Alex noted, “Silver said we’re moving out first thing in the morning. It’s another eight days to Pitzer if we ride.”
Ryze looked around, his eyes hazy and out of focus before they locked onto a servant holding a flask. He made a beeline for it. Or what could pass for one in his intoxicated state. The servant began to shy away nervously, extremely aware of who was walking towards him. Ryze snatched the flask from him with alarming speed and uncorked the top. He took a sniff and raised it to his mouth.
Alex swore, “If that dumbass keeps it up, it will be our problem today! I don’t know about you but I’d rather not have one of our team dead of alcohol poisoning.”
The three of them walked over to Ryze, who was hunched over the flask taking huge swigs from it. Alex, having the most experience with drunks, wrapped an arm around his friend, “Hey Ryze, what do you have there?”
Ryze slowly turned to him, “V-vod-Vodka.”
Alex put a hand out, “interesting, how about you hand that to me?”
His eyes narrowed, “no!”
“What why?” Alex asked.
“Because,” he thought about it for several seconds and they leaned in, “because you’re all drunk!”
The three relatively sober friends simultaneously facepalmed as Ryze made his way down the steps and into the arena. The crowd of lords and ladies went silent as he stumbled his way into the middle of the stadium. Raising his newfound flask, he said, “I -hic- I am Gigacat!”
/-/
My head pounded as I woke, the smell of piss and vomit permeated through the room and I groaned in pain.
“Wha?” I croaked, voice cracking from the dryness, “what happened?”
Silver gave a gruff laugh, “what happened? I’ll tell ‘ya what happened. You managed to get so blackout drunk that you decided to challenge the entire city garrison. Every single private, sergeant, and captain. All the knights and even a few of the mercenaries.”
“Fuuuuuuck!” I swore, “I must’ve made an absolute fool of myself.” when he remained silent I continued, “that bad?”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say it was bad…” he trailed off, “it's just uhh, do you know where you are right now?”
I realized I hadn’t opened my eyes yet and I sighed, even my hungover brain could figure it out, “I’m in prison right now aren’t I?”
“Eyup.”
“You’re not going to help me get out are you?”
“Eyup.”
“Shit.”
“Eyup.”
/=/
Cassandra sat in front of the campfire poking it with a stick. Crickets chirped in the background and both moons were high in the sky. In the flat and open fields of the midlands, there were no owls. But there were many flying demons that stalked through the air. Beside her, Illia and Val amused themselves by picking up rocks and launching them at breathtaking speeds into the air.
“Fifteen,” Val said as a small griffon plummeted out of the air.
“Nice shot, that was pretty far away.” Illia commented, “are you controlling through velocity or acceleration?”
“Acceleration, it’s a lot more efficient.”
“How so?” Cassandra asked, curious.
“It takes more energy to get something moving than to keep it moving.” Val explained, “basic physics really, with velocity, I would put all the energy in instantly. Think of it like Noah’s rifle. All the fire dust ignites at once and pushes the bullet out. With acceleration, I can start slow and build speed up. It’s easier to control the direction and takes less effort.”
“But that takes much more focus.” Illia said, “you don’t really have that kind of time on a battlefield so it's a lot less common to see.”
“Yeah, but there’s really nothing to focus on right now.” Val sighed. They’d sat around the campfire for more than eight hours. Patch had left long before saying that, “it’s your mission, you choose how to complete it.”
Arya lay slumped over a log, paper, and pencil in hand. Val pointed at it, “what’s that?”
Cassandra smiled, “Yes Arya, why don’t you tell us? You’ve been awfully quiet tonight.”
“Work.” she grunted, “Convinced some of the Profs. to let me redo some of the assignments for a better grade.”
The girls went silent for some time as they took in the sounds of the countryside. Except there were no sounds. The crickets didn't chirp, the owls stopped hooting, and the mosquitos had left the area.
“Val, has anything tripped those alarms yet?”
“No-” she went silent.
“Val?” Cassandra asked, “what’s going on?”
“Something’s disarmed the traps. Whatever it is, it’s definitely smart.” Val said, standing up, staff in hand. She stamped the jeweled staff on the ground twice and the massive gem lit up like a beacon. Cattle moo’d in alarm, something hissed and Illia tackled Cassandra to the ground.
The short elf hit the armor-clad princess with a thud that sent both sprawling onto the ground. At the same time, Val stepped over Arya taking a deep breath that drew a huge white cloud of energy from her book. She thrust both her arms to either side, creating an ever-expanding field of blue energy. A fireball hit the energy shield with an explosive crack. Fire splashed barely ten feet from Cassandra’s face and she almost screamed. Grabbing her rapier, she rolled to one knee, preparing to stand and fight.
Illia grabbed her by the metal skirt of her armor, heaving her back onto the ground with more strength than a girl her size ought to have. “STAY DOWN YOU DUNCE!”
“What! We need to assist her!” She shouted back.
“No, I’ll assist her.” Illia said, “You and Arya would only get in the way.”
“Bu-” Cassandra tried to protest.
“But nothing, look,” she said, jabbing a finger into the night sky. The once clear expanse was covered by thick angry clouds that seemed to grow bigger and bigger. “If you stand, you’ll get zapped like a bug. We don’t have time to protect you two and fight at the same time..”
“Fine.” she huffed.
“Illia!” Val screamed, “I could use some help.” another fireball hit the shield, quite a bit closer than the first one had been. Lightning struck and thunder rolled across the open field. The shield shattered like broken glass and Val hit the ground with a heavy thud, not moving. The elf girl shot forwards, away from the campfire into the long grass of the cattle pen.
Illia sighed softly as she raced through the three-foot-tall grass. The low light visibility wasn’t a problem for her in the slightest, having spent the first century of her life living in the underbrush of the Great Forest. In fact, she was getting no small amount of nostalgia reminiscing about the times she had stalked Caesar through the fields and gardens of the royal palace hundreds of years ago. Back in the time when elves and dwarves still walked freely across the entirety of the empire.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Shaking her head, she drew herself back to the present. She had to find whatever was attacking her team and silence it before it recovered from using such a high-energy spell. Sniffing the air, Illia could tell that it was close. The smell of blood, rot, mud, and magic emanated from less than a dozen yards away.
She pulled out the short, curved knife that had never failed her in all her years living amongst men. The blade was blacker than the void and enchanted by the high priestess herself. It would ignore armor and magic wards entirely, cutting straight through them without leaving any sign of damage. Particularly useful when fighting men in heavy plate armor.
“I see you!” a thin, high-pitched voice cried, “d-don’t come any closer.”
Illia paused, that had not sounded like a man's voice. Nor did it sound like a woman’s. She slowly lowered herself to her stomach and started to crawl closer. Decades of training had perfected her movement and she made next to no noise as she moved.
“Stay back!” the voice said again, wavering and breaking. “I’ll shoot!”
Taking a chance, she stood. In front of her, a child leaned against a wooden fence post. His face was pale as the bright side of Hell and sweat covered his brow. He wore clothes that were ripped, smeared, crusted, and several sizes too large. His fingers didn’t even make it more than halfway through the long sleeve shirt that hung off of him like a dress. On his head was an iron cap, a cheap form of helmet that was commonly worn by garrison men of poor cities and towns.
“W-who are y-you!” he demanded, pushing a hand out and forming a fireball. The boy was obviously exhausted and the fireball was barely the size of a penny.
Cocking her head to one side she said, “I am Princess Illia and who might you be young one?”
“I’m not telling you a thing.” the boy said, watching her with weary eyes. She could see from them that he wouldn’t be able to keep the flame going for much longer.
“Are you hungry child?” Illia asked, pulling out a bar of chocolate that she’d been using to make s’mores with earlier. The kid’s gaze snapped onto the candy and that’s when she made her move. With one fluid motion, she casted a stun spell that blinded the boy. He screamed, both hands raising to his face and covering his eyes. She tackled him to the ground, quickly binding his arms and legs behind him with magic.
Back at the camp, Cassandra cursed and quickly made her way over to Val, “Vivian!” she hissed, shaking her shoulder. The girl didn’t move. She cursed again, her brain going into overdrive. She had obviously been struck by lightning, which was a form of electricity. Electricity was known to stop hearts. Therefore since Val wasn’t breathing, it was possible that she had suffered a heart attack of some kind. CPR was a known treatment and most likely to succeed in such a scenario.
Placing both hands on her chest, she was just about to start pumping when Val opened one eye and glared at her. She looked down at the hands on her left breast and raised a brow.
“Thank goodness.” Cassandra breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back. “I thought we’d lost you for a moment.”
The magician glared at her, “I was fine the entire time, thank you very much.”
“What!” she gasped, “then why fake injury?”
“To trick whoever’s out there you idiot!” Val hissed, “is Illia back?”
“No.”
‘Then why aren’t you helping her.”
“Because she told us to stay here.” Suddenly a loud scream pierced the relative silence. A scream far too high-pitched to be anyone other than a little kid or small girl.
“Ahhh! I can’t take it anymore!” Arya shouted, stepping up, her gauntlets gleaming in the light of the campfire.
“Well, I don’t think you’re going to have to,” Illia said with a self-satisfied smile as she brought out a small child. It was a boy, no more than thirteen or fourteen years of age, though he could have easily passed for much younger. “FUCK YOU!” the child screamed, wiggling in her hands. Illia frowned and cuffed the boy over the head.
“Watch your language young man! I’ll have you know I’d never take advantage of a child.” she huffed.
“Speaking of children, what are you doing with one?” Cassandra asked, her face scrunched up in confusion.
“He’s the one who’s been leeching off all the cows.” Illia said proudly, “caught the little rat all by myself.” Val coughed meaningfully into her hand and she added, “well I did have some help.”
Val let out an indignant squawk, “Some! I didn’t see you tank a lightning spell.”
“Nope,” Illia said happily.
“Girls!” Cassandra cut in, “focus.”
“Fine,” they said in unison.
“Right so how do you know that he’s the one?” Arya asked, “doesn’t he seem a tad bit small?”
“Oh he’s definitely the one,” Val said, “He reeks of soul spells and I saw his mark above his head earlier.”
“What?” she asked, turning to Illia.
“I don’t know.” she said, “Val has a better understanding of magic than I do.”
“Fine, set him down.” The elf girl tossed him to the ground and he hit with an indignant squawk, “Gently, it would not do for it to be heard that the royal princess treats her prisoners poorly.”
Illia looked unrepentant, “I already dropped him so why does it matter.”
Cassandra ignored her and kneeled next to her captive, “I would have expected him to be bigger.”
The kid glared up at her, “that’s what she said.”
Frowning, Val said, “Size doesn’t matter when you’ve got magic.”
“I bet it doesn’t.” Arya agreed, winking towards her. Val’s frown deepened as Cassandra continued.
“What is your name, boy?”
“I’ll never tell you,” he said defiantly.
Sighing she put a hand under his chin and forced his eyes to meet hers, “I will ask again,” she said, eyes rapidly changing colors, “what is your name?”
“Gideon.” he said quickly, “I don’t have a last name m’lady.”
Cassandra smiled at him, “see that wasn’t so hard, was it. Now, what were you doing stealing the lord’s cattle?” He clenched his jaw and squeezed his eyes shut, “Listen, boy, I am trying to be nice here. Give me what I want and you might find yourself in better conditions.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Have it your way then boy,” she snapped, “Arya, beat him senseless. Maybe he’ll talk after a couple of days in Winchester’s dungeon.”
Arya raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, the expression on her face was clear. She wasn’t willing to hit defenseless children, even if said children had magical abilities capable of tearing her into shreds. Gideon however, with his eyes shut, never saw this motion. All he heard was an order and movement.
“Fine, I’ll talk!” he shouted, “just please don’t hurt me.”
“Good.” Cassandra said, her voice was almost a purr, “so, what were you doing stealing the lord’s cattle?”
“I-I wa-was hungry.” he said defeatedly, “starving really, I’ve got no place to stay and nothing to eat. There’s no forest anywhere in sight and no big animals to hunt. Can’t eat demons, it’s not worth the energy spent hunting them, and their meats no good to eat anyways.”
“So you decided to poach from the lord’s fields.” Arya asked, “you could have just gone to him directly, he’d be happy to have a magician by his side.”
Gideon gave her a blank stare, “already tried that, didn’t work.”
“Why not?”
“He tried to get me married to his sister.”
“That’s not that bad, nobles arrange marriages all the time. That's how houses move up in the world.”
“His older sister.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” he shrugged, “wasn’t too hard to get out of the keep. Just jumped from the wall and hoped they’d thought I’d killed myself. Didn’t work and now there’s a bounty on my head.”
“What for?”
“Scandalous behavior.”
“Really?”
“I know right!” Gideon exclaimed, “that’s what I thought, but noooo apparently I have to marry some crusty ass old lady!”
The girls nodded sympathetically and he stood, “well, I guess now that all that’s out of the way and you know I’m innocent. I’ll be on my way.”
He took two steps away from the fire before stopping. His eyes crossed as they looked down the long thin, gleaming blade of Cassandra’s rapier. “Sit back down Gideon, we still haven’t decided what to do with you.”
Gulping he looked around, “I thought I already explained everything. I told you why I was living in the wild.”
“Yes, but you are still guilty of three other crimes.” Arya said flippantly, “one, you’re stealing from House Winchester. Two, you’ve killed at least one person. And three, you attacked members of not one, but three noble families.”
“What!” he shouted, “How was I supposed to know you guys were nobles? If I’d known, I would have just waited for you four to get bored and leave.”
Arya grinned, “notice how he didn’t deny the murder charge?”
“I was getting there.” he said hastily, “It was self-defense, I had no other option.”
“Really?” Val asked, her face blank and unimpressed.
“I was just minding my own business when this huge dude jumped me. I admit, I got a little bit carried away and I vaporized him but it really wasn’t my fault, I swear, you know how hard it is to control those kinds of spells sometimes.” He rambled, looking desperately at her. She returned his gaze cooly and without emotion.
“So, now we must decide what to do with him.” Arya continued, ignoring him, “any suggestions?”
Illia sighed, “Let’s just kill him and be done with it.”
Gideon gulped, turning towards Arya for help, “Hehe, a p-pretty lady like you wouldn’t d-do s-something so drastic right?”
She hummed, “While I do enjoy the praise, I feel like he’s not worth the effort of dragging around until we get back to Leviathan. I say, we just hand him over to Winchester.”
The boy whimpered, “w-why? What did I do to you?”
“You tried to kill me,” she said cooly.
He looked around, making eye contact with Cassandra, “Your majesty, what beautiful eyes you have! You wouldn’t harm a child would you?”
“Flattery will get you nowhere.” Cassandra said, “I for one, disagree. Young, he may be, his capacity for magic is very impressive. It would be a waste to let such potential slip out of our hands.”
Val nodded, “Agreed, I think that with a bit more training, he could become a powerful wizard.”
“Really? You think so?” Gideon said, his face turning red from the praise.
Arya snorted, “don’t get too full of yourself kid, potential doesn’t mean shit. It’s what you do with it that counts, and bushwacking a bunch of farmers isn’t very impressive.”
“Please, my lady!” he begged, once again he started rambling, “I’ll do anything you want! I’ll carry your equipment for the rest of your life. I’ll give you foot rubs, women like those right? I’ll fight for you! There’s nothing I won’t do.” tears streamed down his face and he whispered, “just please don’t kill me.”
There was a brief pause before Val sighed, “fine, I’ll take him back home to the Lakes. See if my parents can make something of him.”
Hope shined in Gideon’s eyes, “really?”
“Sure, but that’ll put you in my debt.” she warned, “a magical one at that.”
“Anything, just get me out of here,” he said. She nodded and turned to her teammates.
“Are you guys fine with this?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“I don’t see why you bother.”
Val grabbed Gideon by the neck, “this is going to hurt.”
“A little?” he asked.
“Nope,” she said, popping the P as they disappeared in a flash.