Having put distance between themselves and the battlefield; Baz, carrying Zycor, Mylon, carrying Novos, and Aisha ran into Aislin who was accompanied by Nalea. “Over here guys! There should be a cave nearby we can take refuge in!” Aislin shouted.
Getting closer Mylon questioned, “And you are sure about that?”
Nalea, interjecting, replied, “Yes. It is a place Lady Adria herself ‘repurposed’ for a variety of situations, one of those being a worst case scenario. We will certainly be safe there, at least for a while.”
Mylon, Baz, and Aisha looked at Nalea confused. “Who are you again?” Aisha inquired, voicing the question all of them had.
Before she could answer, Baz had a moment of recollection as he blurted out, “Oh wait! Guys, I remember her! She is the woman from the alleyway that bailed us out of the situation with the Velathrian knights a few years back!”
“Ah yes, I recall that as well. She was standing in front of quite a pile of corpses if I remember correctly.” Mylon added, rubbing his chin as he tried to recall.
Nalea nodded to confirm their suspicions, “Yes, that was me. My name Is Nalea Valmar. I am… was employed by Lady Adria as her personal assistant and assassin. I have kept a close eye on all of you as per her request.”
Baz’s eyes narrowed as he asked, “Now, exactly how close have you been watching?”
Nalea, her expression remaining stagnant, replied, “Do not worry, Mr. Dragonaxe, I have a rule to not divulge information about anyone without express orders from my employer.”
Baz continued to stare at her for a while longer before he finally relented, sighing, “This is acceptable.”
Nalea gestured behind her as she explained, “This way will lead us to the cave in question. It is a bit of a hike from here, but we must not stop until we arrive. We cannot, under any circumstances, allow ourselves to be captured. If we do then Lady Adria’s…”
She paused, pursing her lips briefly, then continued, “Well, we just can’t be caught. Let’s get moving.”
Without another word, the rest of the party followed while Nalea led the way. There was a somber aura that permeated the group. Though no one spoke, the weight of knowing what Adria had done hung above them all.
-
Groaning, Zycor began to open his eyes and take note of his surroundings. He was in what appeared to be a cave illuminated by a faint blue glow and a fire. It was unclear how long he had been out, but it seemed to have been for a substantial amount of time. Attempting to move, he noticed Novos lying on his lap. For a moment Zycor slightly grinned and went to pet Novos. He stopped right above him, Zycor having taken notice of his hand. While he stared at the alarmingly different hand, he recalled what had happened prior to his forced ‘nap.’
He sighed in a brief moment of relief. This relief nearly instantly vanished as he shot up, causing Novos to fall off. Breaking out in a cold sweat and holding his head, Zycor began to panic due to recalling what happened with Adria. Attempting to move forward, he stumbled to the ground. Zycor’s body was covered in injuries, exhausted, and no longer balanced how he was used too. He tried to get back on his feet, but tripped over his new tail. His wings did not make anything easier either, moving erratically and clearly not under proper control.
Far too exhausted to make another attempt to stand, Zycor remained on his hands and knees beginning to weep. A hand reached out and came to rest on Zycor’s shoulder. He looked up and was met with Mylon kneeling down in front of him. He had a warm smile, comforting Zycor, “It’s ok Zy, we are safe now thanks to you and Adria.”
Zycor, stumbling into a sitting position, asked, “Where is mom?”
Mylon remained silent, unable to find the words. Zycor looked around the cave at Aisha, Aislin, Baz, and Nalea, hoping one of them would say something. A range of emotion swept across Zycor’s face before his head finally dropped as he muttered, “There is no way. She isn’t dead… she can’t be.”
Aislin walked over and knelt down next to Mylon and brought Zycor in for a hug. “I am so sorry Zycor. I wish there was more I could do than this, but there is not. It is ok to cry, Zycor. We all feel the same way.”
Her words touched Zycor deeper than he thought they would. He was unable to hold himself back any longer and began to weep uncontrollably. Mylon, Aisha, and Nalea watched on with somber and pained looks. The feeling of knowing there was nothing more anyone could do than be there for Zycor tore at them.
Baz remained silent at the back with a stoic expression. He watched on with everyone else before he finally closed his eyes and turned to walk out. Aisha, noticing this, chastised, “Where are you going? Are you really just going to leave Zy at a time like this?!”
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“Aisha!” Mylon exclaimed, startling her.
She looked over at him to see him shaking his head slowly. Baz didn’t stop at any point, nor did he look back.
Mylon walked over to meet Aisha, the latter of whom questioned, “Why didn’t you try to stop him too?!”
Mylon looked towards the route to the exit of the cave as he explained, “I have known that big oaf far longer than anyone else. Trust me, he cares, possibly more than any of us here, not that we will ever know for certain. I know we have not talked much about our past, but just know, we have lost our fair share of people too. At a certain point, Baz stopped expressing any ‘sad’ emotion around others. He won’t comfort anyone nor baby them; that sort of thing is beyond him at this point. Him walking out was his way of being considerate. He probably also needs to deal with his own emotions.”
Aisha, accepting most of the reasoning, voiced her objections, “Well, despite that I think he should have stayed. He can’t be of any help outside right now.”
“I promise you, Aisha, when the time to fight comes, he will do everything he can for Zycor. His way of helping others has always been through fighting.” Mylon assured Aisha.
Turning their attention back to Zycor, who had begun to calm down, Aisha inquired, “Well, what do we do now? Not like we can just rush back out there. Plus, we have Zycor’s ‘situation’ going on.”
Mylon nodded in agreement, “Yeah, who knew Contracts could allow both parties to fuse. Although there is clearly a cost for the power it gives.”
Nalea cut into their conversation, “There is a vault of sorts Lady Adira repurposed to house equipment meant for all of you.”
Aisha and Mylon both recoiled, completely forgetting she was there.
Nalea, unaffected, continued, “Said equipment was intended to be presented to all of you as gifts for having been there for Zycor. That was supposed to happen today in celebration of Zycor’s return. However, that plan has clearly changed. Showing all of you there should be alright though.” Nalea paused briefly before she commented, “With the loss of Lady Adria, I suppose that would make her son my new ‘employer.’ Perhaps I should address him as ‘Master Zycor’ from now on…”
Aisha and Mylon both stared at Nalea with palpable disapproval. With a confused look, Aisha questioned, “Why would you do that? Adria was your employer, that should not have anything to do with lineage, right? Unless you are a maid of sorts?”
Nalea pondered this notion for a moment before responding, “No, I do not think I would be considered employed as a ‘maid.’ I served Lady Adria for… personal reasons. I would prefer not to go into them at this time. Putting that aside, I would like to continue to repay my debt to her through her son.”
Mylon shook his head as he reiterated, “No, no, no, that is not the issue. Why would you call him ‘master Zycor’ instead of just ‘Zycor?’”
Nalea, not seeing anything wrong, retorted, “Well, I addressed Lady Adria as, well, ‘Lady Adria.’ So, since I would be under the employment of a new, male employer, why should I not address them the same way?”
Mylon went to respond but stopped, realizing she had a point… to an extent. After thinking about it, he suggested, “Well, I don’t think Zycor will like that all too much. ‘Master’ might be too much, so what about ‘sir?’”
Nalea contemplated the proposal and decided to accept it, “Sir Zycor it is then.”
Aisha and Mylon both let out a sigh of relief, glad that ordeal is over. “So, about that equipment…” Aisha asked, attempting to re-align the conversation.
Nalea nodded, “Yes, it is because of the equipment that I guided us here.”
“Is this ‘The Tomb?’” Aislin chimed in, Zycor next to her.
Nalea nodded again and walked about ten paces along the wall and put her hand against it. Pouring magic into it, Nalea said, “Zycor Mori.”
The wall began to shudder and shift as blue fractures formed along a portion of the wall. After a moment, the wall shattered inwards, the fragments of the wall being suspended in the air. Behind it was a ramp leading to a room filled with gold, artifacts and an assortment of other objects. Towards the back of the room were four pedestals, each with different equipment floating above them. Sitting at the head of the pedestals was what appeared to be an altar with what looked to be ingots.
Baz walked back in to be greeted with the sight of the shattered wall. Completely out of the loop, he questioned with his booming voice, “What the hell is that?!”
Nalea smirked as she responded, “It is part of the legacy Lady Adria has left to Sir Zycor and the rest of you. This is ‘The Tomb of Heroes.’”
-
With the wind howling and picking of dust, the landscape around Abros was forever changed. Mountains missing, craters, scorched earth and a massive crater. From within this crater were particles of mana so dense they could be seen visibly settling into the ground. This natural process was disturbed around a small area where black ooze began to bubble and converge. Building itself back up into a humanoid shape, it fell apart multiple times, appearing to struggle horribly.
After a few attempts, the ooze successfully reformed into Mr. X, whose face and hair were both a mess. Visibly frustrated and clearly struggling to hold himself together, he held the upper part of his right arm. The rest of his arm was still missing and Mr. X was seemingly incapable of regenerating it. Staggering slightly, Mr. X mumbled, “I cannot believe that low-life mortal nearly killed me. No matter, she is gone now, which means I can continue with my plan…” He paused momentarily as he held what remained of his right arm. Filled with rage and anger he snarled, “Albeit down a fucking arm.”
Taking a deep breath to compose himself, his eyes went black as he said, “First, I need to deal… with the boy.”
Having said that, Mr. X took his leave of the crater, clutching what was left of his right arm all the while.