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The Hero's Sidekick
B2: Chapter 6: Kuro: Wolves in the Flock

B2: Chapter 6: Kuro: Wolves in the Flock

I must have done something to offend some god or something. It’s the only explanation.

Sheena was damn near perfect, charming smile, red hair, curvy figure, good at magic. She was a work of art, some celestial masterpiece of a god who had long since broken the mold. Her shy, awkward and clumsy behavior had captured my heart like nothing had ever before. Even for an elf, known for their beauty and grace, she’d stood out amongst any elves I’d ever met…and then she had gone and clung to Alverd like a drowning man to a piece of flotsam in a storm.

Why? What possible reason would the girl of my dreams simply walk into my life out of nowhere, only to continue walking right past me and into the arms of my best friend? I tried to think if I had done anything to tempt fate or slight any divine beings lately. Sadly, there were quite a few potentials on that list. Well, just last month you unleashed a tornado on an entire castle. Pretty sure that had to make somebody angry.

As Alicia dragged me through the streets of Ethenia, desperate to keep pace with Alverd and Sheena, my legs refused to move in sync with my body. I had been drained of strength. I had no desire to watch my best friend hit it off with my dream girl. Alicia being territorial isn’t something I need to be party to, especially since she’s probably going to use me as a human stress ball later. But Alicia had a firm grip on my arm and there was no way I was going to get out of that hold, so I had no choice but to be dragged along.

Watching how Sheena gazed at Alverd longingly at every opportunity was a dagger to my heart. Sound and sensation seemed to fall away as the dagger twisted deeper and deeper. I couldn’t register Alicia’s fingers digging into my skin, or even hear the words Sheena was saying. All I could feel was that icy gnawing inside, hurting more than anything I’d ever felt since watching my childhood friend die in my arms.

It was one thing to feel guilt over the death of a friend like Laura. Somewhere in my brain I knew that her death could be blamed on someone I could hate, without need to fear nuance or circumstance tainting my decision to feel that hate. In this case, though, I could feel jealousy towards Alverd and I knew it was against him personally, and I didn’t want to feel that way about my best friend.

Jealousy was something I thought I was accustomed to. By now, it had been pretty standard that Alverd and I would meet a pretty girl, she’d throw herself at him and that would be that. Guess that’s just another instance of you lying to yourself again. But this time, it actually hurts. Because this time, you wanted it to be you. I could feel my eyes start to sting a little. I hurriedly wiped my face with my sleeve. I refused to let Alicia see me like this. The last thing I wanted was for her to notice how hurt I was feeling. I’d never hear the end of it.

Finally, Alicia stopped behind a cart and pulled me down next to her. She peeked over the cart, trying her best to be subtle. When I made no motion to do the same, she grabbed me by the collar and hoisted me up so I could see.

Sheena was pulling Alverd into some sweet shop. The woman behind the counter, a chubby, homely-looking creature with a wide smile, handed Sheena two caramel apples. Sheena handed one to Alverd, who had no idea how to eat it. She demonstrated by taking a healthy bite out of her own and Alverd followed suit. It was such a wholesome picture and somehow it just made it worse in my mind at how natural the two looked together.

Alicia’s teeth were clenching so hard in her mouth I could practically hear them grinding like rocks being smashed together. “Do you see what’s going on there? Shameless! I wouldn’t be surprised if she engineered this whole situation!” She grabbed my head and made me track the couple as they walked down the street. “Don’t you have anything to say? You of all people?”

“Leave it alone, Alicia.” She looked taken aback by the despair in my voice. “Let them do what they want. It’s probably better this way.” I tried to shrink back behind the cart, out of sight of the open street. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Several emotions flickered across her face, a bit of empathy maybe, but it was quickly replaced by disgust. “Mother Evros, this is pathetic.” She turned me around so I had no choice but to look her in the eye. “If you want to be more than a piece of the scenery to that girl, then you gotta stop shrinking into the background!” Balling her hand into a fist, she slapped it against her chest twice. “If an Ishmarian saw someone make eyes at their girl or guy, you can bet the offender would be about to catch some hands… or maybe a handaxe, depending on the situation.”

I scowled at her. “How utterly barbaric. Sounds exactly like how you would handle the situation.” I realized a little too late how I had made the remark a deliberate jab, but I was surprised to see that she wasn’t bothered by it at all. Instead, she growled at me.

“At least I wouldn’t take it lying down! I’d fight tooth and nail to make sure that nobody messes with what’s mine!” Just like me, she had a last second revelation that she had said the quiet part out loud and her face turned bright red.

There was a moment of awkward silence where we both had to decide who would apologize first. Alicia beat me to it. “Look, the point is that some girls know what they want, and some wait to see if a guy has what it takes to impress them. And some girls need a little motivation before they go out and make a move.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I can tell you right now that the Witch-Queen isn’t going to fall for you unless you prove you’re her type, and right now you’re failing at that abysmally.”

My brow furrowed in frustration as I stood up. “What she wants is a knight in shining armor. I’m no knight and I sure as hell aren’t strong enough to wear shining armor, much less walk up to her and pick her up so I can princess-carry her into the sunset.” I held my arms out to show off how my robe hung loosely off them. “Do these noodles look like they could lift a girl?”

Alicia smacked her forehead theatrically. “It’s not literal, Kuro. ‘Knight in shining armor’ probably just means she wants a guy who will stride in with confidence and sweep all her problems away. Unless she really is that childish mentally, which to be honest I wouldn’t put past her at this point, I doubt that’s what she’s actually after.”

“How can you be so sure?” I retorted.

Alicia crossed her arms, “because if it were literal then Alverd would’ve had to have come in on a majestic steed or something.”

I thought of that image and almost barked out a laugh. “That’s the one thing Alverd struggled to learn, actually. Horses just don’t like him that much. First time he tried to ride one, it bucked him off and then back-kicked him through a stable wall. If he hadn’t been wearing his armor at the time that horse might’ve broken some of his ribs.”

“Really?” Alicia asked.

“Yup. He didn’t walk for days after that.” We both looked at each other and began snickering.

It was weird to share a memory of our old days with Alicia. It felt like letting her in on it was an imposition, but at the same time liberating. I think she appreciated the gesture though, because she finally stopped being grumpy about what was going on behind her and smiled again. Then I noticed over her shoulder that Alverd and Sheena were walking further down the street.

Alicia followed my eyeline, “Oh crap! They’re getting away!” We started running.

We tailed the two for at least an hour and a half. The streets of Ethenia were orderly, symmetrical, and well-maintained, a far cry from the rough-hewn stone and uneven “layer upon layer” construction of the slums in Ishmar. A street consisted of ground level shops and stores, while living quarters were stacked on the stories above. On some streets, the tops of the buildings flanking the streets were so tall I couldn’t see the moon in the sky above. Now past normal business hours, many of the shops had already closed for the night and their owners retired to their homes.

Unfortunately I didn’t have many opportunities to ask Alicia for more details on her inside track on deciphering the mysterious thoughts of the fairer sex as Sheena pulled Alverd one way and then another. She seemed preoccupied with bombarding him with explanations about the city life and the products of the various shops, and how she would take him to see the “real” sights at a later date. We only passed one guardsman, and he didn’t seem all that alert despite the night having clearly fallen.

Only one guardsman? Surely there would be more after dark. In a kingdom of magic, regulation of crime would be necessary. I looked across the street again as Alicia yanked me along. Somehow, the lone guardsman had disappeared. In his place, a few other people had now mysteriously come out of the woodwork. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stiffen.

One of them went over to a lamppost flanking the street. A tall metal pole standing maybe three meters tall, it was topped by a transparent lantern with a magical flame burning in it, illuminating the street. As the man passed by the lamppost, he made a flicking gesture with his wrist and the flame blew out like a candle in the wind. I saw a small jewel on the cane in his other hand blaze with light for a second as he did so. A staff cane. Not many people carried those, and they unfortunately all came from the same profession.

Although there were only a few, they were all dressed the same; dark, baggy cloaks that were designed for ease of movement and concealment of small weapons. Three had appeared on the opposite end of the street, and two more were walking towards us, in front of where Alverd and Sheena were still eating their apples. I casually looked over my shoulder, and saw another four behind me. When the four saw that I had sussed them out, they picked up their pace.

They also pulled wands from their baggy robes. Wands and staff canes were the concealed weapons of the magic world. They possessed only a fraction of the power of a normal staff, but their size made them useful for sneaking them into places where staves would be detected simply by the naked eye. Much like a normal assassin would carry daggers as their weapons, these magical assassins used wands to launch their cowardly little sneak attack. They probably thought quantity over quality would make up for the lower power of their weapons.

This is going to get ugly. I was lucky to still have my staff. Sheena didn’t have hers, so she would be unable to use magic. Alverd had his sword, and Alicia her maul, but I didn’t know if these guys had backup.

I turned around, staff in hand, and pulled a spark of lightning from my body. The spark fed off the bioelectric impulses in my body, growing stronger as it pulsed in my hand. I could feel the resistance from my mentor’s staff, something I’d grown partially accustomed to, trying to interfere with the flow of the energy. Focusing through the distortion, I maintained the link from the power source to the spell in my hand and it snapped into being, a sizzling spear of blue electricity now capable of sustaining itself.

Lightheadedness struck me as I tried to aim the bolt at the attackers. Fighting the distortion was taxing and after an already brutal fight earlier in the day, I wasn’t at my best. Still, I couldn’t let Alicia fight alone and I wanted to be useful, so I planted my foot to steady myself and shook my head to clear my sight.

I threw the bolt at the four figures still walking up behind me, unaware that I had anticipated their attack. Only one was able to react to my preemptive strike in time to erect some sort of protective barrier, a shimmering wall of glowing blue light that flared to life with a wave of his staff. The other three took the blast as it forked at them and were thrown back, wands knocked from their hands as they sailed through the air.

I saw the last mage unclench his left fist, and his wand began to glow with a soft blue light as he directed magical energy to form in the palm of his hand. Instead of drawing it out of his body the traditional way, he used a quick and dirty method of “speed-casting” his spell, feeding the energy into his hand by redirecting the impulses to gather in his hand instead of pulling it from across his body through the focal point at his chest. It was an effective, yet dangerous, way to speed up a process that was potentially perilous to the user and the intended target.

I had enough time to catch the dumbfounded look on Alicia’s face before I dove at her, knocking her to the ground to avoid the counterattack. A bolt of lightning as bright and intense as the one I had thrown flew past my head with a hissing sound. Alicia and I hit the ground in a sprawl. Alicia snarled and pushed me off of her with more force than was necessary, scrambling to get to her feet and grab her maul. As I rolled over, I glanced over at Alverd and Sheena.

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Alverd had reacted quickly, like I knew he would. The Sword of Evros was already in his right hand, the dormicite shield in his other. He had pulled Sheena behind him, and now he was staring down five men and women with wands, each about to throw magic at him. He neatly deflected a fireball with his new shield and assumed a defensive posture in front of her.

“Milady, stay behind me. I won’t let them hurt you.” He bounced another attack off the shield, an ice spike, and it zoomed off into the night and embedded itself harmlessly in the wooden entryway of a nearby storefront. He leveled his sword at the nearest mage assassin, who took a step back, waving his wand.

She, however, put her hand on Alverd’s shoulder. Her face was still as red as before, but now she looked quite serious. “I appreciate your concern, my dear knight,” she purred, before aiming her right hand to point at the men and women before her. “But I’m not quite your typical damsel in distress.” She lifted her hands and screamed out, “Kelda!” In a crimson flash, something materialized in front of Alverd, something big. A swirling cloud of fog condensed into the form of an animal, a red-furred wolf, except no wolf could ever have been so large. The beast was easily as big as a lion, and had teeth and claws that could tear through flesh with ease. The wolf creature darted forward toward the mages, its slavering maw open, gleaming white teeth on full display.

They panicked as the wolf closed the distance rapidly. They changed their target from Alverd to the wolf, but it was too late. Kelda pounced upon the closest one, and he screamed as the wolf wrapped its unnaturally large maw around the man’s neck. Alverd slammed into the next one with the dormicite shield, flooring him with a bash to the face. The shield made a satisfying thumping noise as it collided with the man’s jaw, sending two teeth spiraling through the air. A spinning slash put down the woman next to him, and Alverd whirled to face the last two mages in front of him, his weapon steady and his gaze steely.

A familiar, Sheena summoned a familiar! Any mage who had passed their rite of passage into full magehood had a familiar; the creature’s shape varied from person to person. I guessed in her case, it was this giant monster wolf. But at the end of the day, it was an ally, so I was glad to have it on our side. Speaking of the monstrous beast, it had finished dealing with its first target and took up Alverd’s flank, growling sinisterly at the two mages he was staring down.

Behind me, Alicia was engaging the mage who had blocked my lightning bolt. He threw aside his wand and reached into his cloak, pulling out a small, baton-shaped piece of metal. A gemstone embedded in its middle flared to life, and the baton suddenly extended to the length of a quarterstaff, just like the ones used by Captain McFarlane and her soldiers. He was no slouch with it either. He neatly deflected Alicia’s attacks by predicting them through her huge wind-ups, although he made no move to go on the offensive. Instead, he held his ground and tried to push Alicia back by striking her elbows and shins, keeping her off balance. His fighting was a delaying action; soon, the three mages I had taken out with my lightning bolt would find their feet and rejoin the battle anew. My mind raced as I tried to find a solution to the problem.

As I did, I looked over my shoulder only to behold something amazing. Sheena held her right hand out, palm up, and breathed out, a wisp of white smoke emanating from her mouth. It swirled into her hand, shining brightly, a cold, mirror-like sheen coating it. I wanted to scream at her, to ask what the hell she was doing, but I didn’t get the chance. Without any ceremony, she threw the iceball at the remaining two mages Alverd was facing. The iceball exploded with more force than any I could conjure, and the two mages were utterly engulfed, their screams cut short as they were flash frozen in the space of a second.

Sheena used magic without her staff! It was a feat that no mage was supposedly capable of performing. Yet she had not only managed it, but she had made it literally as easy as breathing. She was not the Witch-Queen for nothing. She gazed at her handiwork impassively, as if she felt nothing for killing her would-be murderers. The look in her eye was colder than the magic she had just conjured. I felt a shiver run its way down my spine.

Alicia cried out, turning my attention back to my original plight. Sure enough, the other mages had returned to their feet and were in the process of weaving spells. The three were combining their power to form a giant runic circle, which hung in the air, like a malevolent mirror. Even with wands, a spell powered by three different mages would still be powerful enough to kill several times over. With their headstart, I had no chance of beating them. Alverd was too far away to help, and it looked like Alicia and I were about to get blitzed by a magical assault.

Then the ground shook.

The mages stopped their spells. The ground shook at steady intervals, like footsteps. There was a general confusion, followed by a mad scramble to discern the direction the noise was coming from. We were saved the trouble when, from a side alley, the biggest, meanest looking golem I had ever seen emerged, headed straight for the enemy.

A golem was what mages called a construct, an artificially created being powered by magic and given a purpose, controlled by one skilled in the art of puppetry. The construct was fueled by a tiny bit of the puppeteer’s soul, giving them greater control over the end result than a necromancer would have over his thralls. This “piece of the soul” was then placed within a powerful shell of solid steel or stone, shaped like a man, capable of incredible feats of strength.

When the hulking golem stepped into the illumination of the streetlights, I could see that it was crafted entirely of dormicite, its sparkling surface reflecting the surroundings perfectly. The golem was ten feet tall, with thick arms and legs, a head in the shape of a knight’s helm, and glowing red “eyes'' peering out of the darkness of its visor. It took one look at the mages and raised its hand.

One mage threw a lance of ice at the golem; the projectile shattered against the golem’s dormicite skin like a snowball. The golem countered by shooting a similar lance out of its hand, skewering the mage and sending him flying back several feet. It raised its other hand and a golden bolt of searing lightning shot forth, electrocuting the woman next to him, leaving only two mages left.

I’d only read about golems in books. They were quite rare, even the ones made of stone. One had to be a high level practitioner of magic to create a golem, as well as have access to alchemical research and materials to form the golem’s body. For a golem to be made of dormicite would have taken near phenomenal levels of skill as well as a significant monetary investment. From what I was seeing, though, it was definitely worth every gold piece.

The other of the two remaining mages tried to turn tail and flee, but the red-furred wolf ran him down and leaped on him. I turned away as his screams were cut short by the beast’s cruel fangs. I was just in time to see the golem pick up the mage attacking Alicia in one of its hands. Without any hesitation, the golem smashed the mage against the wall of a nearby shop, crushing him like a rotten piece of fruit. I winced as the golem let go of the man’s lifeless body, allowing the corpse to hit the ground in a pulpy mess.

A man stepped out of the alleyway from which the golem had emerged. I recognized him as one of the twelve people I had seen in Sheena’s throne room. The man was an elf, but significantly older than Sheena. Crow’s feet pulled at his eyes and wrinkles ran down his cheeks to his lips. His graying blond hair was short and sparse, as though he were in the early stages of balding, and the diamond in his staff sparkled in the glow of the street lamps. He wore a white robe with a black and red trim, adorned with gold filigree. He had no trouble making his way over to us, so I guessed that his advanced age wasn’t hindering him yet. When he reached us, he bowed deeply, the dim light glinting in his dark grey eyes.

“My Queen, are you hurt?” The man asked.

When she stood back up, Sheena returned the bow. “Thanks to your intervention, Lord Kertouli, I am unharmed. You came in the nick of time.” When she stood back up, she caught her giant witch hat before it had time to tumble off of her head, although she had to fiddle with the crown to get it back into place without tipping. I guess she really was self-conscious about those elf ears of hers. Strange thing to be concerned about, especially right now. We have more pressing matters than that to deal with.

As Lord Kertouli spoke to Sheena, I saw that the golem had taken up a flanking position on our rescuer. I deduced that Lord Kertouli must have been the puppeteer controlling it. I came over to join the conversation.

“Um, not to be rude, but who exactly are you?”

The newcomer turned his attention to me. “Forgive my rudeness. My name is Emberal Kertouli. I am one of the Twelve Magister Lords, Third Attendant to the Council of Magic and Keeper of Puppetry, and one of Ethenia’s most powerful nobles. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Master Kuro. Any guest of my Lady Queen’s is welcome here in our city.”

Lord Kertouli gestured to the alley once more. “Lord Necce! There is no need to be shy! Come and meet our new arrivals! You disgrace yourself with such a display!” As soon as he said that, a man slunk out of the shadows and sidled up to us. Unlike Kertouli, this man was neither graceful nor refined. He was too skinny and pale, his hair was too messy, and his movements were jerky and uncertain. He sidled up to Kertouli and growled at us under his breath. The ruby in his staff flared several times during his approach, as if reflecting the sinister glow in his shifty eyes.

He was not amused by this. “Zajj! These are guests! Behave yourself as befits a noble of Algrustos!” Kertouli gave the man a stern look, and Necce growled again, but this time he settled down and stood up straight, clearing his throat.

“My name is Zajj Necce… Ninth Attendant to the Council of Magic and Keeper of Elemancy. Just so we’re clear, I have no intention of being chummy with an Ishmarian princess and her little pets.” He spat on the ground, more or less in Alicia’s direction. She scowled, and I could see a vein come dangerously close to popping on her forehead.

Kertouli shook his head and sighed. “Please forgive his rudeness. Lord Necce does not possess the dignity and bearing one would expect from one of his station. I will chastise him later. But I am still glad that you are unharmed, Milady.” He tilted his head reverently in Sheena’s direction.

She waved her arm in our direction. “I owe such to my new companions. If not for them, I would not have survived long enough to be rescued by you. It would seem that I made the right choice about these mercenaries.” She hooked her arm around Alverd’s again. “Especially this one! Oh, if only you could have seen him, Lord Kertouli! He was so brave! To see him in action was to see poetry in motion! My heart could burst!” Sheena let out another giggle of satisfaction as she nuzzled against Alverd.

Again my heart sank. Depression settled into my mind again like a fog as the two Magister Lords split off from the group, offering to escort us back to the Ivory Palace.

However, I did need to know one thing. I approached Sheena with my question. I tried my damnedest to keep the depression out of my tone when I addressed her. “Hey, Sheena? How was it that you were able to use magic without a staff? No mage could ever accomplish such a feat.”

Sheena was about to answer my question when all of a sudden her wolf lunged and landed on top of me. It knocked me to the ground and started growling, baring its huge teeth at me. Its menacing growl echoed in my ears, and I could see the predatory gleam in its eyes. I hadn’t the strength to push the oversized wolf off of me, and fear paralyzed me nonetheless. The teeth came closer and closer, and I could feel the wolf’s hot breath on my face. It was seconds away from tearing me to pieces the way it had done to the assassins.

“Kelda! Bad girl! Heel!” The wolf turned its head, and moved off of me and trotted back to her master. As if things weren’t bad enough, she even sat in front of Alverd, panting like a dog. Alverd patted the creature on the head, and the bloody beast let him, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Just another heap of indignation on top of everything else.

I picked myself off the ground. Sheena looked apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Sir Kuro. My wolf, Kelda… she gets so playful sometimes. But she’s usually a better judge of character…I’m sure there’s a good reason why she almost chewed your head off…”

“YOU THINK?!” I stared at where the wolf was now letting Alverd play with her face. I sighed again, then posed my question to her once more, as calmly as I could manage given all the crap the universe was throwing at me at the moment. “Well… anyway, about your use of magic. Shouldn’t you be dead? Or at the very least, incapacitated?”

She laughed. It was a nice laugh, not condescending or anything, and it was melodious. “Well, you have a good point. Yes, I should be dead. But in my veins flows the blood of the royals of Algrustos. That blood carries the power to use magic without a staff, at least, the lower and middle tiers of magic. Higher tier magic still requires the use of my staff, but I am far from helpless, as you can see. My ancestors attributed this power to a pact with an ancient spirit, but it could be a fairy tale for all I know.”

It seemed plausible enough. I had heard that people could gain power through deals with spirits or demons, and that said deals could pass down family lines. I didn’t have any evidence to point to the contrary, so I was willing to accept it as an explanation. I was going to inquire further into the topic, but then Alicia cut in.

“You two! This wouldn’t have happened if you two weren’t just walking down the street completely oblivious of your surroundings! If you would pay attention, we never would have walked into that mess!” She waved her maul menacingly at Sheena. “I’ve almost had it with you and your cavalier attitude! You need to get it through your head that your life is in danger! Use your head!”

I really, really, REALLY had to resist the urge to take Alicia’s maul and smack her with it. She was berating the one person who could decide whether aid would be given in her quest to retake her homeland. Like a shortsighted fool, she was jeopardizing any chance she would have in defeating her lunatic sister. I shot Alicia a look, but it did little to deter her.

“And on the subject of that…” She continued, ignoring me entirely. I gave up and decided to think instead about things that might actually matter.

I let Alicia try to justify the decision to stalk Alverd and Sheena on the way back, as I was lost in my own musings. I grappled with my unpleasant thoughts. Even as I was brought to a guest room, even as I settled into bed, I couldn’t shake them. As Alverd drifted off to sleep in the bed next to mine, those thoughts kept me up the better part of the night. Finally I managed to shift my focus to something more productive.

The assassins we had encountered had pulled us into a trap. As far as plans had gone, it had been pretty good. The only way it could’ve gone so well is if it had been engineered using inside knowledge only available to people who knew the Witch-Queen well enough to predict her movements and behaviors. It felt as though there had been a plan in place, but a slight complication had ruined its execution, said complication being the presence of Alverd and the rest of us.

Sheena was right. There were indeed wolves in the flock. Her own people were ready and willing to raise arms against her to go to war with Ishmar. If we didn’t get to the bottom of this, she would likely have no choice but to declare war on the dragon tamers… or die to appease her subjects.

I pulled the covers close. I lay there for another hour, thinking. But the more I lay awake, the more my mind lingered towards the jealousy I harbored toward my friend. Finally, exhaustion overwhelmed me, and sleep came to claim me.

That night, I dreamt of caramel apples. The bitterest caramel apples in creation.