When it comes to spatial magic, I'm not really that good at it. I mean, yeah, I know two spellings but that's it. The first is a spell called "Spatial Hold." It's a type of enchantment that can turn any small space inside of a small bag or crate, into a large room. It's a very useful spell because it is mainly used to transport large amounts of cargo with little effort. And due to the room inside the small space being outside of any known reality, it isn't affected by time. So, any food put into the hold won't go bad. Handy right? I actually put that spell on my bag. The second spatial spelling that I know is Teleport. This one is a bit trickier to use. See, Teleport can only work if you see the area and if it's within range, which depends on how much magic you are able to use. Even still you have to be able to see where you're going in order to use that spell properly. Hence why I said that the spell works great with my map. As long as the area I'm trying to get to is within the range of my magic, which in this case it was, I can point at the destination on my map, and bam, I'm inside. Another thing to worry about when casting that spell is who you're taking with you. If it was just me, I could probably get into the castle with no problems. But since I'm taking Sylvani with me, it's a significant drain on my magical energy. Not too bad to put my magic out of commission, but enough to have me worried.
As we appeared inside the castle, I could hear Roland and Grant fighting downstairs. Letting go of Sylvani's hand, I went to the closest window, and I looked outside. From the looks of things, we appeared to be on the third story of the castle. With a whistle, I sat down and began to dig through my bag, looking for my sword. "Where are we?" I heard Sylvani ask.
"Third floor," I replied, "western facing side of the castle." Looking down the hall to my right, I continued. "From what I'm guessing, if we head down that way, we'll reach the tower." I looked back at her with a grin as my hand touched the pommel of my sword. "Could you check the map in case I'm wrong?" Sylvani didn't even hesitate as she grabbed the map from off the floor. Peering down at it, she jumped off to the side, hugging the wall as best as she could. “What’s wrong?” I asked, completely puzzled by her action. Before I got any answer, Sylvani pulled me towards the wall. Afterwards, she blocked my view of the hallway, completely pressing up against me. As my brain began to process what was happening, she began to darken. No, not darken, she looked like she was fading. Looking down at myself, I saw that I was fading too. This was a bit of a shock. It turned out that Sylvani was activating her echo. Before could understand any of this, two large men in leather armor came hurtling down the hallway. From the looks of them, they were probably mercenaries. Once she was sure they were gone, she backed away from the wall, returning to her original opacity.
“Sorry,” she finally said after a few moments, while I was straightening my shirt, “I saw them moving on the map.” Handing it back to me, she looked at it with curiosity. “How does that work?”
“Ah, thank you.” I replied as I took the map from her. “The map can’t really tell the difference between living or non-living things. However, it can tell the difference between something not moving and something moving. Things that are on the move show up as dots.”
“Impressive,” Sylvani said with a slight smile. “So, what next?” She looked at me expectantly as I folded the map and put it in my bag.
“Next,” I say with a smirk as I strap my sword to my belt, “we get to work.”
As you can probably guess, I’m not your typical mage. Like I said before, Master Varik told me that he wanted me to be able to defend myself even when I didn’t have any magic to call upon. So, every so often, he would send me to train with Bosco, the captain of the Royal Guard. It was there that I learned how to fight with a sword. Granted, I’m not as good of a swordsman as my brothers, but I can undoubtedly handle myself in a scrape. However, both my magic and my sword skill cannot compare with my echo. It’s called Archive. Unlike its more common version, Appraise, Archive allows me to analyze anything I look at, appraise both its skill and value, and store that information away for when I need it. Now, that’s the boring part of my echo. The interesting part is what happens when I archive another person’s echo. For that to work, I must see theirs being used for myself. Currently, I have seen three separate echos, but only have two saved up. First is my brother Roland’s echo, Champion’s Protection. This echo is a passive one that increases the healing factor of its holder by 50%. The second is Grant’s echo, Berserker’s Fury. This echo, when activated, increases the holder’s strength, speed, and toughness by three times the holder’s normal limit. The third echo I have archived, though I can’t use it, is Commander’s Vanguard. This is the rarest echo in all the Western Alliance. As long as the holder has warriors who swear their loyalty to them, the holder is undefeated in battle. As I said, it is a rare echo, and one that can only be passed on from father to son. I’ve only ever seen it used once, and that was by my father.
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As far as I’m aware, I could never really call upon Commander’s Vanguard. Probably because I gave away my claim to my family’s throne. But that’s okay, I never really needed it. As Master Varik had always told me, “A mage needs to be both resourceful and smart. If you’re just resourceful, you would be a soldier. If you’re just smart, you would be a tactician. But if you are neither, then you are an idiot.” Brash, I know, but that was how Master Varik was.
As Sylvani and I made our way down the hallway, the sounds of the battle three stories below us raging on, I couldn’t help but feel this strange energy coming from a set of large, wooden, double doors that was directly ahead of us. It wasn’t dangerous or anything like that. But it was ominous, and a bit otherworldly. Before we reached the door, I pulled Sylvani off to the side. “Listen,” I said once we were in the shadows, “I have no idea as to what we are about to fight in there. So, what I want you to do is to activate your echo and provide me with as much cover as you can from a secure hiding spot. I’ll be on point and keep whatever is in there focused on me. With any luck, we’ll be able to find our alchemist and stop whatever the hell he’s planning. Any thoughts?” As the silence hung in the air, Sylvani just shook her head and began to fade. When she was nearly out of sight, I walked up to the door and knocked. Hell, if I’m here to kick some ass, why not be polite about it.
“Enter!” A somewhat regal voice called from within the room behind the door, which slid open with a creak. As I walked into the room, I’ll admit, my jaw dropped. Decorating the room were dozens upon dozens of alchemy tools, some of which I’ve never even seen, separated by two floors. One being a balcony-like area, the other a somewhat staging area filled with what looked like cages. One cage, in particular, caught my eye. It looked more like a metal box than a cage, I only call it a cage because of the large, and somewhat heavy looking door on the front. On the balcony above it, with his back to me, was a man in your typical alchemy robe, with a bald head, short and well-groomed beard, and glasses, holding up a clear flask of what looked like a blood-red liquid. As I stepped into the center of the room, I heard him give a small chuckle. “I was wondering when the Hunter’s Lodge would find my little experiment.” He said as he put the flask down on a stand before turning to face me. “Though, I must admit, two warriors and a mage? I feel insulted.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said, trying to keep his eyes on me, “I’m more than enough. So, if I may ask, who do I have the honor to meet tonight.”
“You may,” the man said with a slight grin. Then, with a bow, he continued, “I am Lord Adrian Aldersal Parr, his majesty’s alchemist.”
“I see,” I said with some confusion. No king in their right mind would hire an alchemist. As an attempt to keep him talking, I continued. “And to which king is it that you serve. If my memory is correct, no king in the Western Alliance would risk taking on an alchemist into their court.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Lord Parr said without pause, “I’m sorry, my young friend, but I cannot divulge the name of my generous benefactor. You see, his majesty wishes to remain anonyms for the moment. He has many great plans in the making and wishes not to be disturbed. Speaking of which,” Lord Parr grips the banister with his left hand as he raises his right, “You are unfortunately in the way of one such plan, and I will have to dispose of you.” Snapping his fingers, the heavy, metal door of the cage in front of me swings open, revealing an abomination. My eyes widened with shock as I looked at a large, three-armed golem, made entirely of flesh. It had two, normal-sized arms on its left side, while one huge arm on its right. It had a small, flat head with two beetle black eyes, hidden under a low brow. Shuffling its two, squat legs, it made its way over to me. “Meet my pet, Hugo. Hugo?” The golem looked up towards its master, “kill him.” Without the slightest hesitation, the golem when on the attack. Raising its massive arm up, then swinging it down on me. Within a second, I used Archive, and activated Grant’s echo within me. Propelling myself toward the golem as I unsheathed my sword. And it happened in between heartbeats. The golem’s massive arm hit the ground where I was standing, its two smaller arms shot out towards me just as two, metallic, streaks of light, shot passed both sides of my head, sticking deep within the golem’s eyes. As it howled in pain, trying to pull the arrows out with arms that could not reach them, I ran my sword deep into the golem’s chest, piercing its core. As I felt my sword hit the core, the flesh of the golem began to putrefy and melt off of it, turning into a puddle of rancid, black sludge. With the puppet gone, I looked up at the bewildered Lord Parr. Time to take on the puppeteer.
While Grant’s echo was still active, I jumped up to the balcony, scaring Parr enough to where, as he was trying to back away from me, he tripped and fell on his backside. “Now wait, my good man.” He said, crawling backwards as to try and prevent me from doing what I came here to do. “His majesty could use a warrior like yourself. You could be great under his direction.” Suddenly, he backed into the legs of Sylvani. “What do you say?” As I raised my sword to strike him down, a cloud of black sand swarmed towards him, filling his mouth, eyes, ears, and nose, and draining him of his lifeforce. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was all over as the black sand left the alchemist, leaving behind a hollow, desiccated, husk. One look from Sylvani, said that she, like me, understood what had just happened. Whichever king Lord Parr served, believed his usefulness had ran out.