Idris

The skies had been overcast the past day and night, a light but unrelenting drizzle soaking the earth and turning the otherwise comfortable paths to mud.

Nonetheless, their progress was slowed by little, as the magical gemstones allowed their wagon to glide over the muddy terrain without sinking in. Idris couldn’t help but wonder where and for how much Otto obtained those, quite literally, magical stones.

By Otto’s estimates, they’d be back in Kingston in less than a day, but time still seemed painfully slow.

Saya’s mood had been low the entire journey, in a way Idris had never seen before. It felt strange to see her energy gone, almost like he was missing something in his daily routine.

“Saya?” Idris said as he sat down next to the dreary girl, who was looking out the window with blank eyes. “What’s been bothering you so?”

She sighed. “I just can’t shake the feeling that things are only going to take a turn for the worse.”

“They won’t,” reassured Idris, but deep down, he also had a sense of impending doom that only grew the longer they were away from home. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“You heard what Thomas and Otto had been talking about,” Saya continued, resting her face on her hands. “The world’s changing. Something is out of balance… and I think I know why.”

“Why?”

Saya shook her head. “I can sort of feel it, but I don’t know how to put it into words.”

“It’s fine. Even if it’s longwinded and confusing,” Idris urged her on.

Saya thought for a moment. “Aurora told us he rewrote history. Or, at least, he tried to.”

“Yeah?”

“But it didn’t work. He never saw the end of it,” she paused briefly, staring off into the distance. “There are gaps in history, Idris, that’s what he did. He changed some, he left others, he broke the continuity, the balance, the symmetry, I guess, of history.”

Idris nodded his head.

“People won’t notice immediately, but over time they will. The balance is gone, and things will begin to misalign…”

“Then?” Idris pressed further.

“I don’t know…” Saya replied.

“I see…” whispered Idris, thinking over Saya’s hypothesis.

It made sense, but he wasn’t quite sure how to make sense of it.

It certainly explained the chaos and the strange happenings, not just to Rose, but apparently to everyone else too. But it didn’t explain the how, or the why.

“Idris?” Saya mumbled. “Do you get it?”

“I think I do… You’ve quite the aptitude to be a detective.”

She smiled a little. “You’re right about that.”

Julius must have their answers. But after so much, Idris didn’t know if Julius could really answer any of their questions. Not even Aurora himself was sure of everything.

Maybe they’d have to strengthen their walls, stand guard, and simply face the world as it comes.

”Julius knows,” Saya continued, breaking the silence. “He must know… And there’s no way he hasn’t thought long and hard about it. He just didn’t tell us…”

”So we’re fighting a war on two fronts then?”

”Julius is trying to protect us…”

Idris exhaled deeply. There was too much tension for his liking. “I just hope he’s making the correct decisions.”

”Yeah…” Saya mumbled softly, before sighing too. “I just hope the others are alright.”

“Saya. Could you go back to being dumb and cheerful again?” Idris asked, half-jokingly and half-truthfully. He missed the energy Saya used to bring.

“Go back to being what and cheerful?” Saya shot back.

“Intelligent.”

Saya shot him a sideways glance. “Fine.”

Any compliment from Idris always made her happy.

“Let’s head up front,” she suggested, getting to her feet. “Maybe Otto and Thomas will have some interesting stories.”

“Sure.”

Otto and Thomas had been driving the wagon without rest, making headway toward Kingston. No communication outpost exists at Eliston, the town being far too remote and small to be considered an important strategic location, so the only way of communicating with the others was by mail. While messenger geese are usually used for fast mail, Eliston didn’t have any.

It had been weeks since they had last communicated with the others, and in that time, an important, possibly deadly contract had taken place.

Idris was just glad there hadn’t been news of the entire city up in flames.

They emerged into the cold air between Otto and Thomas, the former holding the reins while the latter dozed off against the side of the carriage.

“How are you two?” Otto asked. “We’ve been moving for a while.”

“Legs are a little sore. But alright other than that,” replied Idris.

Saya squished past Idris, carefully maneuvering her massive spear so as to not impale him. “Pardon me!” She exclaimed as the wooden shaft knocked Idris on the head.

“Ow! Why are you bringing out your spear?”

“I miss the feeling of it in my hands…” she murmured as she clutched the spear in her arms like a baby. “We haven’t done any training or sparring for quite a while.

Usually, between contracts, they had weapons training every day, and sparring matches every weekend. Only during assignments, where stealth was of the essence, would they take a break from the constant training. It was rare indeed to go several weeks without giving their weapons at least a little swing.

Otto sighed. “I get you… I’m feeling rusty too…”

“Can’t go a week without sparring, huh?” Idris mused.

He had never been the type to enjoy sparring that much. It’s fun, but he isn’t the best at it. Against stronger fighters like Saya, he barely stood a chance.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

It was usually things like infiltration excursions and exercises that he felt most at home in. While others would be struggling past security and losing marks when they were noticed, Idris could breeze through most obstacles with his shadows clouding him.

Saya nodded with a pout.

“You just like beating me, don’t you?” Idris asked.

“Well… maybe…” Saya answered with a giggle. “It’s not my fault you’re worse than me.”

“It’s not my fault that your mana reserves are mass—”

“Oi!” Shouted Saya, cutting off Idris’ snarky retort. She grabbed at his collar, but her spear got in the way, lodging itself between the floor and ceiling. “You! I’m gonna—” But she cut her own words short and looked toward the front of the wagon.

Idris followed her eyes, seeing a cloaked man riding towards them.

He rode atop a jet-black stallion, one which was cantering along in the mud at a respectable pace.

The muck and grime plastered the horse up to the belly, hardening into craggy patterns that blended in with the dark hair as if the horse itself was emerging from the earth.

“Saya?” Idris whispered.

She didn’t reply, but her eyes remained fixed on the man as he rode by.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said with a shake of her head. “I think I’m too on edge.”

Idris nodded. “I think we all are.”

They sat in silence for a while, the rain letting up somewhat. While the mud remained, it was quickly beginning to dry.

In the distance, a pair of riders slowly edged over the horizon, their silhouettes growing steadily larger and more defined as they approached.

As they came past, Idris met eyes with one of them.

“Idris?” The rider muttered as he yanked on the reins, bringing his horse to a sliding stop.

“Andrei?” Idris blurted quizzically as both riders threw back their hoods. “Nina?”

Otto pulled hard on the brakes, bringing their wagon to a quick stop alongside their friends, whose unexpected presence brought only more confusion to the situation.

Roused by the commotion, Thomas sleepily rubbed his eyes, but immediately sat up straight when he recognized the two apprentices.

“Thought we’d run into you,” said Andrei.

“Why are you headed this way?” Thomas asked.

“We’re in trouble,” Andrei told the older master apprentice with a solemn tone. “We were ambushed. We barely made it out alive. Julius is taking everyone back home. Well… what’s left of us…”

Thomas’ words caught in his throat. “What happened? How many did we lose?”

“I don’t know… We lost many…” said Andrei with his head hung low.

”Stop,” Thomas cut him off. “Not now. Tell me what I must do.”

Andrei looked up at Thomas with pained eyes. “You must hurry back. Julius knows many things. Many things which he decided not to tell us.”

“I know many things too. Many things which I will tell him,” said Thomas. “Where are you headed?”

“We’re following the perpetrator. You must have passed him not too long ago,” Andrei explained. “Bruno, Kana, and I pursued him. I caught his scent and followed him this way.”

Idris remembered the cloaked man who rode past them earlier. It chilled him to his core to know that the man was barely arm’s length away.

He snuck a careful glance at Thomas, but his face was devoid of emotion.

“Where’s Bruno and Kana?” Thomas asked.

“They…” Andrei began, but he couldn’t make the words come out. “Kana… He almost killed her… She’s alive, but just barely…”

“And Bruno?”

“He took Kana away to find Sandra. I believe he’s headed back to the manor with the rest.”

Thomas clenched his fist. He held back his rage, but not without his hands trembling.

He knew it was bad.

“Andrei, Nina, get off those horses,” Thomas ordered as he leaped off the wagon. “Otto and I will ride them back to Rose. You four, use Otto’s wagon to chase down the man. I want him, dead or alive.”

There was a fire inside Thomas’ eyes as he spoke.

Without hesitation, Otto followed suit, tying off the reins and leaping off the side of the wagon. “It drives like riding a horse! Use your intuition!” He shouted to Idris and Saya. “You can ride over grass and whatever, even water!”

Andrei and Nina dismounted obediently, holding out the reins for Thomas and Otto to grab.

“This is risky, Thomas,” said Otto as they stepped onto the horses. “It’ll be on you and me if they don’t make it back.”

“We’ll get back no problem!” Announced Saya. “If not, our spirits won’t hold it against you!”

“That’s a bad omen…” Thomas muttered.

“Sorry!”

Andrei and Nina clambered aboard the wagon, their muddy clothes leaving brown stains on the wooden floor.

“We’ll need to go separate ways. Hopefully, it won’t be for too long,” said Thomas. “If you lose his trail, return home at once. If you find his stronghold, don’t brave it alone. Rose needs you.”

“Yes, Thomas,” the four replied in unison.

He nodded. “Very well. Good luck.”

With that, he and Otto rode away, leaving the four apprentices on an adventure of a lifetime.

“Let’s go then,” said Andrei, breaking the silence. “This trail won’t last forever.”

“Yeah…” Idris replied as he took the reins. He desperately wanted to know if his comrades were alive, but he knew they needed bad news the least right now. The others, more or less, felt the same way too.

The two horses responded with an almost divine fluidity, moving to his intentions as if they could read his mind. Soon they were clattering down the muddy routes in the direction they had just come, this time chasing something much more dangerous.

“So, what did you learn up north?” Andrei asked, filling the silence with some chatter.

“A lot…”

“Are you gonna tell me about it?”

“Yeah…” Idris sighed. “Where do I even start?”

Andrei thought for a moment. “Start at the beginning… Start with the history which wasn’t told…”

“Well… there’s a town there named Eliston. They really didn’t like us after they found out we were part of Rose,” Idris explained. “But they relented, and the head of their village took us up the mountain…”

“I don’t think remember seeing an Eliston on any of our maps…” interjected Nina, who was nibbling at her lips in thought. “I’m fairly confident in my knowledge of towns.”

“Well… I guess he got rid of it…” said Idris with a bitter smile.

“Why’d he take you up the mountain?” Andrei asked. “To see the hermit Sir Lapland was talking about?”

“Yeah…”

“And?”

“Where do I even start…”

*****

“These are good horses. Andrei chose well…” Otto muttered as they trotted through the mud.

Thomas didn’t reply.

Otto stole a sideways glance at him. “Something changed inside you, Thomas.”

“Maybe…”

Otto sighed. “You’re a dangerous man, Thomas…”

“How so?”

“You’ve got nothing to lose…”

Thomas smiled wryly. The bitterness made his lips curl. “You’re not wrong.”

“A big battle is going to happen,” Otto continued. “They’ll be taking the fight to our manor for sure. And what’s to say we’ll make it through?”

Thomas narrowed his eyes at Otto. “You’re not losing faith, are you?’

“No… I…”

“They don’t know where we are… The Rose Manor is our safe haven.”

“I think they know more than we ever will…”

Thomas fell silent. He knew Otto was right. The rug of safety was slowly being pulled out from beneath them. Their next battle may very well be their last.

“I’ll fight like you’ve never seen, Otto,” said Thomas.

“And what if you die?”

“I’ll make sure I take him with me.”