Chapter 19:

“Wake up, oh great guide.” Said Oliver to the sleeping Adam on a bench.

Adam did not wake, instead, he simply shewed as if there was a bug buzzing over his face. “Shew, darn fly’s.”

“Reinhard.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“Wake him up, now.” Oliver said bluntly, he was gradually starting to get annoyed, it was beginning to get dark.

“Yes, my lord.” Reinhard began to cast a dark orb, this spell was only the size of a baseball, but it would be plenty effective. The dark priest began to launch his attack. With a purple flash, Adam was now awake.

“Ah, what? Why did you do that?” Asked Adam, feeling his body looking for any injuries.

“It was my master's command, I suggest you not waste his valuable time again, or I’ll be happy to make you suffer.” Replied Reinhard, in the most kind and threatening tone possible.

With a wave of Oliver's hand, Adam began to lead them to the castle. To say it was a castle would have been rather rude. It was more of a small fortress, the walls were much higher than the cities, and the stone looked much stronger too. The fortress was rather small, but there was a lot of open room between it and the city surrounding it, which leaves plenty of room to expand in the future.

As Oliver, Reinhard, and Adam approached the castle, the sun began to say goodbye, and the moon rose over the horizon. The air got colder, but by no means was it cold. There was no wind, thanks to the building's height.

“And here is our Lord Fur’s temporary home. It was one of the first structures built, I believe that Mage Sevy built it by herself.” Said Adam, “She is one of our best earth mages.”

“An earth mage you say? That reminds me, how does magic work for you all? Do you cast spells with incantations, or…” Asked Oliver.

“I wouldn’t know for sure, I’m not a mage, but I’ve heard that you just need mana and a mental picture, along with the attribute, I think.” Replied Adam, waving to the guards atop the walls, signaling to open the gate for guests.

“How does a person get mana and the attribute?” Asked Oliver as they walked through the gate, which quickly closed behind them.

Before Adam was about to answer, an older woman, dressed in brown robes, answered Oliver's question. “You’re born with it!” She said.

“Ah, and this is Mage Sevy.” Said Adam to Oliver.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet y–” Sevy paused, she then ran over to Reinhard, “Who are you? I’ve never seen this kind of enchanted armor before.”

Reinhard looked at Oliver, he nodded.

“Mage Sevy, my name is Reinhard, I’m a dark priest, serving under my Lord, Oliver Briege.”

“Oh, a Dark priest? I’ve never heard of one before.” Said Sevy, she then turned to Oliver. “Is it a monster, or perhaps a golem?”

“Yes, he is a monster, he’s bound by my magic, my eternal servant, if you would.” Replied Oliver.

“Interesting, very interesting.” Sevy said as the wind blew at our noses, a lone guard sneezed, and Sevy shut up, and led us inside the castle.

***

“And that's what's happened to me so far.” Oliver had told the mage all she wanted to know. Why was he there, where are we, how many people are in this world, can you use magic, how did you make Reinhard, etc. Though of course, Oliver didn’t tell them everything.

“That's a wonderful story, thank you for answering all my questions, but I’m afraid Lord Fur isn’t currently in the city. He went exploring with a few of his trusted allies, however he left me here to run the city… I think he just didn’t want to deal with any of it.” Said Sevy.

“Is he not a good lord?” Asked Oliver.

“No, no, he’s great, but the stress has gotten to him, he lost everything but his people and his own strength.” Replied Sevy.

“I see, then what shall we do until then?” Asked Oliver.

Sevy thought for a moment, there wasn’t much to do in the city, it had just been built. Entertainment was lacking. Except…

“Why not fight in the coliseum.” Suggested Sevy.

“The coliseum?” Asked Oliver.

“Yes of course, you can fight, and win prizes. I’m not sure what prizes, we did just start a new civilization after all. Maybe you can just fight for the fun of it?” Asked Sevy, she must have been very convincing, because Oliver readily agreed.

***

Sevy led Oliver and Reinhard to a room in the castle, the room was small, but so was the castle. Inside there was a bed, a small window facing east, and a small desk that looked brand new. The door and floor was made of wooden planks, and the room was lit by two candles and a dim fireplace.

“This will be your room for the night, I’ll take you to the coliseum tomorrow morning.” She left Oliver and Reinhard in the hall, and disappeared behind a corner.

“I will keep watch, have a pleasant rest my lord.” Said Reinhard.

Oliver went inside, the room wasn’t very bright since the fire was about to die. Oliver waved his hand, and the fireplace suddenly jumped and a brought orange flame lit the room. He was tired, so very tired. A day through the city, and he felt like his legs were about to give way.

Oliver took off his stupidly heavy plate armor and red cape. The cape was nice, but the plate armor was definitely not meant for a mage. He looked out the window and saw the city. Lights were flickering in most of the windows, the night life was certainly present.

“How can a city like this even exist not even a month after the apocalypse?” He thought out loud.

In the beautiful night sky, stars glimmered and the moon lit up the clouds. A nice moment of silence. Oliver let the cool night air blow across his face. Absolute bliss.

But it was interrupted by a shadow swooping down into the city, and up again. It darted down into the streets, the allies, and even through houses with open windows. The shadow got closer to Oliver, and he followed its fast movements with his eyes. As the shadow grew bigger, Oliver took a chance to see what it was.

He grabbed the shadow out of the air with a wind lasso, and dragged it into his window. The shadow tried to give Oliver the slip, but it didn’t work, and soon the shadow was inside Oliver's little room.

This stealthy shadow was a bird, not just any bird, but a magical bird. It was a rather large bird, larger than a big parrot. Its wings were black and its eyes were orange. Oliver thought this was an interesting bird, quite the unique creature.

“You’re definitely a special bird, but what are you?” Oliver asked the leg- bound bird.

The bird flapped its wings trying to escape, but it could not. Oliver noticed some bread on the desk and decided to approach the bird with a bribe, trying to win over its friendship. The bird was hesitant at first, but quickly accepted the bribe. It ate the entire piece of bread faster than your mom.

“What a beautiful bird.” Announced Oliver. He released his wind spell over the bird and it made its way to the window, walking on the floor. As the bird approached the open window, and was about to fly out, it turned around and looked Oliver in the eye.

“Thanks.” Said the bird, it then flew off into the night, becoming a speedy shadow as it left the window.

Oliver sat there, speechless.