With a heavy heart, Ash arrived at the town square of Serna shortly after nightfall. The Spire of Kindling’s life-giving light died for the duration of the night. Cold immediately set in, accompanied by a breeze from the north.
Ash wrapped his cloak tightly around himself in an attempt to fend off the cold. His mind raced, questioning his decision to come here. To leave his stepmother alone. He had escaped, nothing more. Escaped from his life, from his father, from the death of a loving person…
“Oh.” A woman’s voice startled him. He quickly turned around to see a well-dressed woman carrying a simple bag with her. “I thought no one else was chosen.” Her lips curled down as she looked him over from head to toe. “Who… are you anyways?”
Ash stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “Ash Morgan, son of Gregor Morgan of the Serenpetal fields.” He dryly answered. While he was a nobody to her, she was known by everyone in town. “My Lady,” The butler accompanying her stepped between them. “We should not stay out in the cold, it is not good for you.”
Lady Mirabella Lo’Harkon, daughter of the baron who owned this town, and the Serenpetal fields the Morgan family cared for, scoffed at her butler’s words. “Oh please, we will leave shortly either way. Where are they anyways? Weren’t they supposed to be here already?”
Ash rubbed his hands together as he took a few steps away from them. How unlucky was he that she was to set out at the same time as him?
His gaze fixed on the road leading away from Serna, stretching north through the hills and farmstead. He didn’t need to wait for long to glimpse a warm, yellow light swiftly moving closer.
“There,” he said without thinking as the light approached Serna. The sound of galloping horses reached his ears before they drew close enough for him to see. A single rider, accompanied by two riderless horses soon arrived at the town square, and immediately dismounted.
“Show me your marks,” He said without even a greeting. Ash removed his glove, revealing the crimson mark on scarred skin. The man looked at it for a moment before shooting Ash a worried glance, then walked past him to see Lady Mirabella’s mark.
Ash put his glove back on as he watched the man. He was taking short, quick breaths, and beads of sweat rolled down his neck. He wore simple leather armour and carried with him a torch, instead of creating light with magic.
“What is the meaning of this?” Mirabella asked with an offended tone. “Three horses? Where is the carriage? The soldiers to guard us?”
Ash glanced at the soldier. While her tone was more annoying than helpful, her questions were sensible. Why had the Empire only sent a single ordinary soldier with a pair of extra horses?
“The carriages are waiting along the main road, and we are on borrowed time.” The soldier walked past Ash once again. “Do both of you know how to ride?”
Lady Mirabella raised her chin with pride. “Of course, who do you think I am, a senseless, ignorant villager? Also, we need another horse, my butler-“
“Madam,” The soldier cut her off with a fed up expression. “Your butler will not be joining us. Stop wasting my time and get on the saddle.” He brought one of the horses towards Ash, and the other towards Mirabella before climbing onto the saddle of the third horse.
Ash glanced southward once more before suppressing the guilty in his heart and tying his pack to the hook on the saddle. He easily lifted himself onto the saddle, then nodded at the soldier, indicating he was ready to set off.. Lady Mirabella watched them with disbelief. “How dare you speak to me this way?!” She exclaimed once she realised no one was paying much attention to her.
“If you won’t come with us, we will set off.” The soldier informed her with an emotionless tone of voice. Seeing as there was no convincing the soldier, Lady Mirabella climbed on the saddle, then theatrically bid her butler farewell before she was ready to set off.
“We must hurry,” The soldier stated as soon as the butler attached her bags to the horses saddle, and they set off.
For a while, the sound of the gallop of their horses was all that broke the eerie silence of the night. With no light except that of the soldier’s torch, it was impossible to see further than a few meters, no matter how much Ash squinted. Despite growing up around Serna, he couldn’t recognise any landmarks without the light of the Spire. Faint shapes were all he could spot.
They rode for the better part of an hour before they spotted the flickering light of torches through the trees. The torches were held by a large group of soldiers who were standing guard around three carriages, each pulled by two stallions. Two of the carriages had curtains drawn over their windows, and cloth stretched over them, while the third was a simple transport cart.
As Ash’s group approached the convoy, the soldiers quickly formed a defensive line between them. The soldier guiding them raised his hand. “I’ve brought the marked!” He called out as he slowed his mount down and hopped off the saddle. Ash also pulled at the reins, stopping the horse.
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“About time,” He heard someone speak. It was an older man, wearing chainmail armour, and carrying a heavy warhammer. He couldn’t see his face very well due to the constantly flickering and dancing torchlight. “Right, get on the cart both of you.”
Lady Mirabella gasped. “The cart!” She exclaimed, glancing at the transport cart filled to the brim with barrels, stacks of textiles and boxes of fruits and foodstuffs. “How dare-“
“Now!” His voice wasn’t loud at all, but something made Ash immediately hand over the reins of his horse to the nearest soldier. He quickly unhooked his small pack from the horse’s saddle, then rushed towards the cart.
“Unbelievable!” Lady Mirabella’s voice reached his ears as he climbed onto the cart, settling between a stack of soft, cushy textiles and a basket full of apples. “I will not ride some transport cart like a filthy commoner!” She continued to complain and argue. As this senseless argument continued, Ash wrapped his cloak tightly around his body, and put his pack atop the stack of textiles.
The wind was stronger here, funnelled between the hills, it tugged at his cloak and blew his hair. It carried with it the sound of distant howls, and whistled as it passed through the woods surrounding the hills. He shivered, remembering the stories his stepmother told him. Stories of the creatures of the night, of the corruption that grows whenever the Spire of Kindling rests, and night falls upon the world.
He heard the sound of a door creaking open. A man perhaps a couple of years older than him got off the carriage at the front. “We are wasting time,” Ash heard him softly speak to Lady Mirabella and the soldiers. “The Lady will ride with my sister, I will ride in the back.” The soldier immediately tried to protest, but the man stopped him by raising his hand. “We are wasting time on insignificant matters. Hurry.”
“Well thank you,” Mirabella’s voice reached Ash. The man muttered something that he couldn’t hear, then approached the transport cart and climbed on. Not a moment later, the convoy started moving.
The man settled on sitting cross legged on a pile of textiles and let out a deep sigh before turning his attention to Ash. “I didn’t realise two people were selected from the village of Serna. Are you of noble blood as she is?” He shot a meaningful glance at the carriage at the very front.
Ash quickly shook his head. “No, I’m not. I’m the son a farmer.” He didn’t quite understand how this person could mistake him as nobility. He was wearing ragged clothes and had dirt and pieces of grass all over his hair, to a degree that it almost seemed brown in colour.
“I see.” The man leaned forward. “How intriguing, its usually only nobility who is selected to attend either of the academies.” He smiled. “What’s your name, my not-at-all-noble friend?”
“Ash Morgan,” The man’s smile was contagious. “What may I call you?” Was he a noble? He had to be, since they travelled by carriage, and with such a large number of guards. But none of his clothes indicated that. There was no family crest on the simple coat he wore, and his shirt and trousers had certainly seen better days. Even his knee-high military boots had seen better days.
The man seemed surprised for a split second before his smile widened. “You can call me Daith,” He said with a chuckle. “No need for any formality between friends-“
His smile vanished as distant howls startled them both. The soldiers walking in a loose circle around the convoy suddenly perked up, they grasped their spears tightly, and shot nervous looks towards where the howls came from. Daith scowled, he sat upright and looked back, towards the dark hills they had just rode past.
“Do you know how to fight, Ash?” He didn’t even look at Ash as the howls grew closer.
Ash shook his head. “…no, do I need to know?” He clenched his fist around the cloth of his cloak. Something was different about these howls. He was plenty used to hearing wolves in the dark of night, but these howls were different somehow. They echoed in the night, sending shivers down his spine.
Daith stood up on the moving cart, his gaze focused on the empty road behind them. “I’m afraid so. Do not get bitten, no matter what.” He then raised his voice. “They are coming – protect the carriages at all costs. Captain, they are behind us.”
Daith’s raven black hair blew back with a strong gust of wind. Ash covered his eyes with his hand as leaves and dirt blew towards them. Once the wind calmed down, he looked back towards the road.
Through the dark of night, he spied a crimson glow, like a flame in the dark. Then another, and another.
“Where?” The Captain of the guard – the man who sent Ash to the cart – asked as he and his troops formed a half circle behind the convoy. He tightly grasped the hilt of his blade with his right hand. As he spoke, a soft green glow appeared around his body, much like the one that appeared around Ash when he ate the Serenpetal petals. It was his mana, no doubt.
“I’m not sure, keep your eyes open.” A golden light appeared around Daith as he spoke. The aura around him remained pale, but the golden light concentrated around his right hand. Strands of gold that resembled the bright light of the Spire of Kindling weaved themselves into intricate patterns around his arm and wrist.
Ash turned his gaze back towards the road, his eyes seeking the crimson lights he had seen before. “I will create a protective barrier around us, stay inside it.” Daith spoke as he closed his hand, then raised his index and middle fingers before his face, almost touching his nose. A web of gold spread through the air, slowly enveloping the convoy. Ash scowled as he watched the web slowly expand around them. It was quite slow, certainly too slow to be used in the heat of battle.
Leaves rustled behind him, some distance away. It was subtle, like something was moving very slowly through the forest. He turned around, and immediately spotted the source of the sound – a crimson aura seated atop a large oak tree, just a little further down the road.
“There!” He shouted without thinking, pointing towards the crimson flame. Daith flinched, and with him so did the golden web he was weaving around the convoy. His bright golden eyes followed Ash’s finger, and he scowled as soon as he spotted the creature atop the oak tree.
“Stop the convoy!” His voice boomed at the same time as the crimson aura dimmed just enough for Ash to see what the creature was.
With the body of a wolf, and wings of a bat, the creature was almost as large as a horse. A fur covered tail whipped the air as it stretched its leathery wings. It’s bat-like head reared back, and it let out a deafening screech, accompanied by howls from all around them.