About Time (1)

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A little while ago......

OLIVER ROCCO

A bitter taste was lingering in my mouth ever since I finished up the investigation of the other spawn sites for the irregulars. The small commercial district was in ruins for the most part, though by some miracle, crucial bits of information had somehow managed to survive the destruction. It was enough for me to deduce what was actually going on here, though that might have just been a side effect of having researched magic for so long.

My footsteps quickened as I sped towards the small fort in the distance; somehow, I was just barely able to keep myself from outright bursting into a full sprint along the way, though my restraint slowly began to waver the closer we got.

“.....You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

Instinctively, I found myself jolting to a halt. My head quickly spun towards the source of that calming voice, only to see Julia sporting a weary smile on her face.

What am I doing? I thought to myself.

That expression, it didn’t suit her at all.

It was one I hadn’t seen in a long time, and one I didn’t ever want to see again. A cold breath escaped me as I turned to face her, calming myself in the process.

“You were leaving us behind you know.” she said somewhat somberly. “Was it really that bad...those markings we found?”

My lips crumpled as I pondered the answer to that question. Truthfully, I didn’t know what answer to give here. I didn’t want to lie, but at the same time, I didn’t want to give the truth either.

“Well, things aren’t as simple as I’d hoped, but as long as we can get to the bottom of this fast then there shouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“I see. No wonder you were in such a hurry huh?” She replied daintily as she strolled past me.

My eyes shifted to the only other person who was accompanying us at the moment, Fergus the old guard. Although he’d been the one to show us around the spawn sites earlier, the entire time he had kept his distance a few paces from us seemingly out of respect for me and Julia.

One of the perks of marriage I suppose.....

“Fergus..” I said in a sharp tone.

Instantly, his already straightened gait seemed to have stiffened even further.

“Y-yes!?” The man yelped.

“I appreciate the help you’ve given us and all, but I need you to do one last thing for me. Can you round up some guards and set up a perimeter around the Brimwell? Just a few of you will do. If things end up going south over there it would be good to have some way to stop the chaos from spilling out into the city.”

His eyes subtly shifted between me and Julia before he gave a small nod to signal his approval.

“I’ll see what I can do for you.”

“Thank you, it’ll help a lot.”

With his back now turned to us, the old guard threw one last question my way.

“I take it you no longer need my help then?”

His voice was calm, but the subtle quaking of his legs told me otherwise. The answer he wanted to hear was obvious.

“Yeah, we’ll take it from here.” I assured him calmly.

“I see. Then, I wish you all the best.”

I could feel the relief practically seeping from his tone. It was a completely normal reaction; nobody could blame him for that. Before making his exit however, he left us with one last thing alongside that subtle overhead wave — A rather nostalgic phrase, to be exact — “Deus Lo Vult.”

I found myself chuckling at the gesture. I had gone so many years without hearing it, and yet it still had the same calming effect on me.

“Oh, that was your sect's creed, wasn’t it?” Asked Julia with a slight glimmer in her eyes.

“Yeah, we usually say that one at times like these.” I responded pridefully as I strolled along to match her pace.

“Come to think of it, you never did tell me what it meant.” she remarked shrewdly.

Julia and I believed in very different things, but she always seemed to be fascinated by other religious groups. Particularly human sects for that matter, perhaps that was just one of the reasons why her fellow druids regarded her as a bit of an oddball.

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The faint smile on my lips thinned as I gave my reply, unable to tear my eyes off our destination in the distance.

“God Wills It.”

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The dimly lit torches that were evenly spaced along the small span leading to the fort gave just the right amount of illumination for us to make out our next five or so steps at a time. The walkway — which couldn’t exactly be called ‘safe’ — had obviously seen an unusual amount of traffic recently given the fresh tracks that would occasionally reveal themselves whenever our poor lighting flickered from the frigid winds.

I could faintly hear a distinct clamor originating from inside the old enclave, but we were still too far way to accurately discern what was actually going on. What I could clearly see however, were three figures — two of which were familiar to me — and the third silhouette standing before them, one that could easily pass for a dislodged section of the gaping battlement.

A wall-like presence.

“Is that...?”

“Yeah, It’s Flynn and Allen. Looks like they’re being barred from entering.” I said, quickly subduing the annoyance in my tone.

“Are you serious!? You’re saying we've been singled out!” Flynn growled angrily at the giant of a man blocking his path.

Perhaps it was because I was finally able to see him up close, or because my mind had been too preoccupied with what’s to come that I hadn’t fully taken notice of the man’s towering stature until now. This guy was roughly two heads taller than both me, and the other two men here, but if I were to compare Julia’s height to his own then that number was edging pretty close to four or five.

Had I not been so restless, I would have probably been impressed.

The man was only a few steps away, using his large, bear-like body to block the ruined entrance that looked as if the metal gates that were supposed to be there had been haphazardly ripped off and tossed aside.

His entire body was shrouded in a white, hooded mantle that had obvious stains and grime from his travels, but I still managed to catch brief glimpses of his stoic expression thanks to the torches positioned atop either side of the broken wall.

The stone-faced expression he wore carried no traces of remorse or regard for the torrent of heated slurs Flynn was throwing at him, nor for the fact that Allen’s fingers were eagerly tapping on the pommel of his saber.

“What’s going on here?” I spoke up before coming within range of the towering figure.

Flynn spun his head to shoot me a rather agitated glare, but his expression soon corrected itself after registering our faces.

“Nice timing. I was just about to duke it out with this troll.” He cursed with a click of his tongue.

“Is there a problem?” Julia asked our companions, seemingly with no regard for the other man’s presence.

“Calling it a ‘problem ’ is putting it lightly Julia.” Allen responded with a deep, heavy breath. “Apparently, this guy’s acting on orders to keep the members of our party out of the briefing. Don’t even bother trying to reason with him, me and Flynn have already wasted our time trying to do that.” He said, shifting his focus between me and the domineering giant.

“Don’t worry, I never planned on negotiating in the first place.” I replied tersely, taking another step forward.

The man’s large neck craned down to scan my face with a pair of lifeless eyes.

“Are you Oliver Rocco?” He asked in a dry, mechanical tone.

“That’s right. Will you step aside?”

“I will not. My orders are to block you from entering. Vidar doesn’t want your party causing any more disturbances.” His sentence stopped abruptly as if he’d cut himself short. There was clearly no room for a discussion here.

“I see. That’s a shame.” I said, voicing my thoughts in mock disappointment.

My arms spread wide as a violent surge of mana began erupting from my core, filling my body with a torrent of power that manifested itself as a series of harsh gales that swirled and howled erratically as if they were alive.

The arid soil beneath my feet snapped from the forceful wind pressure like I was standing in a bed of dry twigs, giving way for the vortex surrounding my body to churn up bits of dust and rocks in the process.

Muffled grunts came from behind me as my companions struggled to stand firm against the harsh gales.

“You three, stand back.” I sent to them, keeping my eyes locked on the target before me.

The hood previously covering the man’s face had flapped off from the air dancing wildly around us. His scarred face and cropped head of taupe-colored hair weren’t very far from the mental image I’d constructed of his features.

He unfastened his hands and anchored himself to the ground in a combat ready stance.

“You shall not pass.” Were the only words I would ever hear from him. The statement was brief, but it still simmered my wrath nonetheless.

My belligerence evaporated.

With a wave of my hand, I commanded the raging winds around us, willing them to take shape and manifest as a small cyclone. As soon as that was done, I fervently threw the rotating mass of air at him. His arms quickly crossed in an attempt to withstand the blow, but his guarding tactic was met with little resistance.

The cyclone simply engulfed its target upon crashing into him. His eyes shot open once the realization had settled in, but it was already too late. I could already see his rooted stance faltering in response to the harsh winds biting into his skin. Slowly, his body succumbed to the raging winds now lifting him off his feet, his limbs flailing as the force of the gale tightened around him.

As large as he was, without any means to anchor himself to the ground, the man was completely helpless.

“You know what to do!” I echoed that bold command to the man best suited to the task.

“On it!”

His answer sounded almost ecstatic as he charged past me to face the whirling cyclone. His posture was low, and the pronged lance in his hand clanked against the arid ground, drawing small rocks to it like a siphon. As soon as he was within range, an earthen pike shot up from beneath his feet, propelling him forward as he prepared to swing the heavy weapon now resembling a rocky sledgehammer.

“Oliver I’m ready!” He sent.

At his word, I instantly dispelled the cyclone suspending the menacing man in midair as soon as he got in range. Flynn’s muscles bulged in preparation for the incoming swing — Halfway through the motion, he rattled off one last taunt with a child-like smile on his face.

Verbatim, his words were — “Block this you damn troll!!”

Seconds later, a section of the walls surrounding the old fort was abruptly blown away, guard and all.