ALICE KELTHYRA:
Keeping to the shadows of the hollow boxes they left lying around, I watched as half a dozen armed guards surrounded Alex within seconds. They blocked off any obvious paths of escape, patiently waiting on their captain’s orders. They even made sure to keep their distance, staying away from the sword he carried.
Why did I agree to this?
Whatever this plan of his was, I didn’t like it – not one bit. My heart kept pounding like crazy as my imagination ran wild with all that could go wrong. . . sigh. . . I knew I’d change my mind again; however, too little, too late. Besides, he asked me to trust him, so I tried my best.
Luckily for us, those who spotted him hadn’t raised the alarm. Otherwise, we’d have a much bigger problem on our hands.
There were nearly three to four dozen of them busy dismantling the camp. It seemed to me like they were slowly preparing to leave. Patrols led by mages were even making rounds around the place, ensuring everything was done in timely order.
Those in our vicinity who hadn’t participated in the encirclement began searching for anyone in hiding, checking the bushes, and even cutting into them just to be sure. Getting past their barrier unnoticed unnerved many of them, including the old mage walking alongside their captain.
“Identify yourself,” demanded the captain.
He chose to remain calm, keeping his hand resting atop the pommel of his mace.
Alex, however, for whatever reason, kept ignoring him. Had his sights on the cage the two were so proudly gawking at earlier, probably curious as to what monstrosity lay resting inside. Those laboured breaths we heard earlier now sounded a lot more like mere muttering in its sleep.
“You even listening to me? Hey!” Annoyed, the captain raised his voice, slowly unbuckling his mace and bringing it up. “Name, now!”
“Alex. . . what are you–” I muttered, taking a deep breath before closing my eyes.
Realising he had their full attention, I figured it was a good time to cast a spell.
“Invisibility,” I whispered, conjuring up a thin layer of translucent mana that soon engulfed my entire body.
Once absorbed, a subtle tingling sensation rippled through my skin, leaving me feeling weightless. It was as if the mana had woven an unseen cloak around me, masking my presence from the world. To others, I had become invisible, but to myself, I appeared as a faint silhouette in the mirror.
“At ease, Captain. Can’t you see we’re dealing with a lost student?” said the mage, firmly grabbing hold of the man’s shoulder. His pale gaze shifting toward Alex, before glancing down at his white uniform. All of a sudden, there was a smile on his face. “Hmm. . . I wouldn’t happen to have heard of you, would I?”
Alex finally decided to pay attention to the two, meeting his gaze with a confident smile.
“I’m afraid not. Though, if you did, we’d have a much bigger problem on our hands,” Alex said, glancing at the men that surrounded him.
“Is that so?” the mage asked curiously, holding dearly to his darkwood staff, an azure glow emanating from the sapphire embedded at the tip.
Despite its intimidating appearance, it was mesmerising to look at; reminded me of Penelope.
“I say we put him in shackles, then ask the questions,” the captain suggested.
I wish we'd thought of that. . .
Sigh.
Alex scoffed. “Now that’d be a sight. But unfortunately, we don’t have much time.”
“And why’s that?” asked the Captain.
“Because if I don’t finish what I came here to do within the hour, a professor will come looking for me. Needless to say, if that happens, this will all be pointless,” he said, turning to the captain. “Now, my grandfather insisted I assist you in managing our inventory. We need to decide what’s worth taking back to Eleron. Seems like things are moving faster than expected. Tartarus being compromised was a massive blow to our plans.”
After he finished talking, everyone just went silent. Even the guards that had him surrounded seemed to question what to do.
“Grandfather, you say? What’s his name?” asked the captain, contemplating what Alex said.
“Lord Agnes Welton,” Alex proudly announced. “And as for my name, it’s Christopher Welton. Lord Eugine’s bastard, if that helps.”
Their expressions suddenly changed. Went from suspicion to realisation, with some even lowering their weapons. After all, if he were telling the truth, they’d be pointing their weapons at their lord. He could have with their heads for all they knew.
Captain on the other hand still didn’t seem fully convinced. Hummed to himself as he stroked his chin before turning to the mage to discuss what they ought to do.
Time was ticking.
Patrols were making their way over, and if by then his plan doesn’t work, I feared he was going to lose control of the situation.
Nerves started getting the better of me, and I found myself panting, breaking into a cold sweat. Somehow, it felt like I was reliving a nightmare—watching helplessly as Alex faced danger all on his own once again.
Remembering all the times he got hurt, and imagining it happening again. . . I was left feeling cold.
The wait was excruciating.
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ALEXANDER KALLIS:
“We should just take him prisoner and leave before the hour,” suggested the captain. “Nobody warned us he was coming, so I’ll deal with any consequences that might arise.”
“And what if he’s telling the truth?” the mage asked, running his fingers through his thick beard. “He knows about the Tartarus massacre, and as far as reports go, it was the dragon in the mountains that did it.”
Hearing him mention a dragon made my heart ache, my left hand immediately reaching for my chest. It wasn’t painful, more so felt a jolt surged through my body. And for some reason I was smiling.
“They said one of the prisoners escaped. Could be information got leaked,” said the captain. Then he turned to the men standing around doing nothing. “Go inform the others! We leave within the hour.”
“Yes, Captain!” yelled the men unanimously, running off immediately.
Those encircling me, however, stayed their ground. They kept a close eye on me, although had their weapons lowered.
“Or you could just let me do my job,” I argued, meeting the captain’s gaze. “I’ve no intention of returning anyway, so you’re stuck with me regardless.”
Such hesitance. Their captain was a hard man to deal with. Whoever put him in charge did rightfully so. He understood the dangers their job entailed, and was paranoid enough to do well. Funny how that worked.
The old man sighed, looking back at the captain. “Are you certain, Captain?”
He wasn’t, I could tell. Good, but at the same time worrisome.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
These men were from Eleron, that much was obvious. They did a poor job keeping it a secret. However, what worried me was their motives. They didn’t seem to derive from greed.
No. It was more like patriotism.
If true, we were about to have a civil war on our hand; how troublesome.
Was it the Second Prince? I could only speculate. No other party coming to mind that’d gather enough support to even attempt to usurp the throne.
But now was not the time to deal with that. Seemed like the captain still needed a bit of convincing.
“Captain, if I may,” I said, boldly taking a step forward and even provoking some into raising their weapons again. He sarcastically chuckled at their efforts to stop me, shaking my head and looking back at the captain. “As valiant as your stand is on this, do you really wish to throw away your lives trying to take me? I ensure you, I’ll kill at least a dozen of you before you even get a scratch on me, and your mage won’t do much to help. Now, we could do that, or you could just let me do as I was told. It’d save us all the trouble, and I’ll be coming with you anyway, meaning that at worst, your superiors would recognise me not to be who I claim to be, and I’d be swiftly dealt with as a spy. Besides, if I was telling the truth and you end up harming me – well, I’d hate to think what my father would do. Even when we consider how useful you were. Surely, it’s not worth the risk. Wouldn’t you agree?”
A bit of bold confidence seemed to do me good. He was hesitant, but now looked to his men while considering. Knowing I might not be bluffing, he’d be risking their lives as well.
“Captain?” the mage muttered, nudging his shoulder.
He was visibly frustrated, the captain. He broke away from the mage and tapped his forehead.
“Damn it! Damn it all to hell, them and their secrecy!” he yelled, then turned angrily toward me baring his teeth. “If you are who you say you are, then drop your weapon!”
“Like I’d listen when you’re so willing to get rid of me,” I scoffed, giving what I thought was a reasonable argument. “Besides, I conjured it with magic, so it wouldn’t make much of a difference even if I dropped it. Don’t believe me? Ask your mage.”
I paused, letting him think for a bit.
Honestly, now wasn’t a bad time for the dire wolves to launch their attack. Of course, I wouldn’t be so lucky. Still, I had learned all I needed to know. Now it was just a matter of buying myself time before help arrived. Either that, or I needed to find a good opening to strike. Knowing Alice had my back, I was sure we could take them, at least in groups.
“Captain?” the mage repeated.
Triggered by the question, the captain closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pinching his nose while contemplating. After a moment, he exhaled, glanced back at his men, then back at me before reaching a decision – his hand slowly sliding off the pommel of his mace.
“Lower your weapons,” he muttered, feeling defeated. However, upon realising nobody listened, as they were all just looking at him with concern, he raised his voice and yelled again. “I said, lower your weapons, damn it! And get back to your posts!”
Startled, the men did as they were told. My efforts finally paying dividends.
Smiling at the captain, and giving him a respectful nod, I looked down to ground before thrusting my sword into the dirt. It went in so easily that it made me wonder if it could pierce armour.
The mage looked relieved, the captain, not so much. Still, he didn’t make a fuss as I stepped forward, getting within arm’s reach.
“Wise choice,” I said to them, slowly reverting my attention to the cage next to us. “Now, if we’re lucky, most of the beasts are well and healthy. It’d be a shame to let them go after investing time into capturing them. However, we must be quick. Sadly, this shipment needs to reach its destination by the end of the week–”
“End of the week?!” the captain yelled, looking shocked. “How are we supposed to cover so much ground?”
“Perhaps that’s why he’s here,” suggested the mage, glancing at me.
“That’s right. My set of skills particularly suit this type of work. My father always insisted I work on magic suited for logistics, having quite a knack for management.”
My own bullshit made me chuckle with pride. Christopher Welton, while real, was just a twelve year old kid. Ain’t even my uncle’s son, but a distant cousin.
“But why weren’t we informed of your arrival?” the captain asked, his suspicion still unquelled.
“There’s a new development forcing our hand. Our plans have been significantly pushed forward, and to reduce the risks of new information leaking, I was sent here in secret. Thankfully, the students had an upcoming trip to the Beastlands, a perfect opportunity for me to sneak my way here,” I explained, walking past the two and approaching the cage slowly.
While I wanted to reach and pull off the cloth, putting an end to this mystery, I somehow managed to resist as I sensed the captain opening his mouth.
“But because of that, you left us with no more than an hour to do everything,” he argued, crossing his arms. “You wouldn’t happen to have a spell for that too, now would you?”
“Maybe. . .” I muttered, looking at how tall the squared cage was.
It reached over twice my height, roughly fifteen feet I’d say.
“Tell me,” I said. “What’s inside?”
Hearing my question, the captain chuckled for the first time, quite proud of his work.
“Why don’t you have a look?” he asked, approaching the cage. “We caught this beauty feeding by the lake. Took six mages, and we still barely put it to sleep. Couldn’t even imagine actually fighting something like this. Ha! Wish I could see the look on Emperor Gehard’s face when he finds out.”
Emperor Gehard Dragnar of the Solaris Holy Empire, the biggest realm on the continent; Egon’s father.
“You have my curiosity peaked,” I muttered, but in truth, I wasn’t ready for what I was about to see.
Pulling off the cloth with a bit of effort, he revealed to us a monster that for ages terrorised on our lands. Covered in scales and curled up as it lay, the beast hardly fit the cage, had its massive wings folded around the body like armour, and its tail tucked beneath its head; a head big enough to bite a horse in half or swallow a man whole.
I couldn’t help but smile seeing as it slept, a collar hung around its neck, made of metal and embedded with mana crystals. Probably a method of keeping it in check.
“Maybe it’s not a dragon,” he said. “But a wyvern so big, it’s as close as you’ll get.”
For a moment, I thought I was seeing things. I couldn’t bring myself to believe I was so close to one of its kind. Instead of fear or some other kind of anxiety, I found myself overcome with excitement. Stepping even closer, I couldn’t help but reach for the metal bar with my hand.
“We’re keeping it in a heavily sedated state using the collar around its neck,” said the mage, flanking me to my right, opposite of the captain. “And once we’re back, we’ll leave it with the tamers to force it into submission.”
“Can it be done?” I asked, staring at the razor-sharp claws decorating the front arms that connected to its wings.
“It’s been done before,” he said, pressing the bottom of his staff against the ground with his left hand.
“Could you do it?” I asked, turning to the mage. “Could you control it?”
“Ha! I wish. Imagine. . .” he laughed, then shook his head. “But no, sadly not. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have to keep it–” But then he just suddenly stopped talking, his eyes slowly going wide. “–asleep. . .” he mumbled.
Immediately my head turned to the wyvern, it’s amber eyes already staring back at me. Swallowing what little spit I had left, I smiled watching as it slowly lifted its head.
It was intense, even more so when it tried to get up but found itself smashing against the top of the cage. I half-expected it to go berserk after that. Instead, it dug its claws into the ground and dragged itself closer.
“Get back!” yelled the captain, stepping back while desperately reaching for his mace.
Guards stood there frozen, staring in awe before the alarm bell was rung. As for the mage, he too remained in place, watching as the wyvern took interest in me.
Staring directly into its eyes, a familiar feeling washed over me. Although not as intense, there was a strange familiarity that made me reminisce about the wolf-like creature I had stumbled upon back in the caves. It made me wonder if that was the dragon they were talking about earlier—the one underneath the mountains.
Then it turned to look at the mage, who couldn’t help but tremble in fear realising the cage couldn’t keep it contained, so he immediately aimed his staff toward the necklace, channelling mana in an attempt to amplify its effects.
“Sleep–” he chanted, before having his concentration broken when I suddenly grabbed his wrist.
Without wasting time, I unleashed mana, letting it flow through my hand and breaking it down along the way into raw chaos. Necrotic energy surged into his arm, rotting the flesh and bone to the point where it snapped off, and the staff he was carrying dropped to the ground.
He screamed in agony, tumbling to the side while holding onto what was left of his elbow. It must have been unimaginably painful, me casting Draining Touch on him. Oddly enough, skipping the incantations made the spell that much easier to control.
With a weapon in hand, the captain tried striking me from behind, underestimating my speed and awareness. Turning on my heel, I ducked his swing and countered by pressing my palm against the breastplate armour he wore, expelling a thunderous wave of energy that sent him tumbling across the ground.
His head slammed against a wooden post, breaking his neck in an instant.
By then, the rest of his men charged at me, and even the mage slowly got back on his feet, prepared to try casting another spell. However, before he could utter even a word, Alice appeared behind him, materialising out of thin air and thrusting her rapier through his heart.
He reached for his chest, struggling to breathe before collapsing to the ground, having lost consciousness.
Her sudden appearance made them stop in their tracks,. They now realised I wasn’t alone, and that there were no mages in the immediate vicinity to help.
Turning to Alice, I gave her a nod and smiled, then turned to the wyvern that patiently waited inside the cage. Staring into its eyes, only one word came to mind–
“Rampage.”
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.