Chapter 2: The Broken Portal

After obtaining the blood shard, Yuan immediately made haste in going back home. His body blurred through the desolated streets as he made his way towards the temple.

And he skidded to a halt.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he shouted in frustration.

In the place where the temple was supposedly located, there was nothing but ruins. Yuan did not believe in the Gods, and he did not care what had happened to the priests in the temple. What he cared about was the teleportation device installed inside it.

To make things worse, he was pretty sure that only the temple in the capital had one of those rare artifacts. He would probably need to go to another Kingdom just to use another one.

Yuan took out a compass inside his cloak. And he looked at the direction the hand pointed at.

“That’s one large mountain,” he said grimly. Beyond the destroyed walls of the city, a gargantuan mountain range spread out in all directions. Judging by its size, it would probably take him a week just to get over to the other side.

He knew that mourning over the loss of the teleportation device in this city was useless. He had to go to the nearest country, whether he liked it or not. After all, it was still a better option if he was going to travel towards Palamesh which was more than a month of travel from here.

For a moment, anger surged within his chest. He should have tortured the damn lizard before it died.

“My mana should be enough to get me to the next Kingdom,” mumbled Yuan. “But the maximum I could go without sleep is probably two days. Damn it.”

Taking into account his need for sleep and sustenance, Yuan judged that it would be a better option if he were to go get a mount.

Yuan took off his mask, and removed the insignia of Morvius on his shoulder. Lightning crackled on his feet, and he shot through the streets of the capital, searching for any usable mounts. But he found none.

What he did find was a caravan.

It was a group of merchants, and judging by the five large carts filled with cargo, they intend to leave this city right in the middle of the night.

“Malaks?” whistled Yuan. He stood on top of a rooftop, his eyes gazing at the large lizards tethered to the carts. He had not expected to encounter such expensive mounts in this place. Those creatures were not as fast as horses, but their ability to move cargo without sleeping for days were highly coveted.

Yuan leapt down the roof and landed softly on the ground. He approached the merchants.

“Where are you guys headed to?” he asked the one who seemed to be their leader, a man wearing a golden turban.

He stared at Yuan for a few seconds, then looked at his men carrying the cargos. He jotted down a few notes on the parchment he was holding. “We’re busy. Go away, kid.”

Yuan frowned at that remark. Surely, he was smaller than most guys his age, but it should not be enough reason to be called a kid. And this was probably one of the reasons why he preferred wearing a mask during his missions.

The merchant must have noticed the annoyance within Yuan’s golden eyes. He sighed. “Look around you. What do you see?”

Yuan swiveled his eyes to the left and the right. “Nothing.”

“Exactly,” said the merchant. He puffed out his chest, along with his large belly. “This Kingdom’s done for. Sure, we’ve survived the damn dragon, but worse things are coming after that.”

Yuan understood what the merchant was saying. After being devastated by the dragon, this Kingdom was on the risk of being invaded by its neighboring countries. The lack of armies to protect its cities would prove fatal in the coming days, and only poverty awaits its citizens.

He remembered the King he met just a while ago. That man reeked of the word incompetent, and Yuan could not help but feel a tinge of pity for his citizens, even just for a little bit. If their leader had been more than strong enough, then maybe they would be able to survive this trial. But that was just wishful thinking after seeing the King.

“We’re leaving this place, kid,” said the merchant.

“To where?” asked Yuan.

If the caravan was going to the opposite direction of where he was headed, Yuan had long decided to use force to take away their mounts. The answer of the merchant would decide it.

“To the City of Lankan. The one over the Great Sierra Mountains,” said the merchant. For some reason, there was a palpable tension within the air as he said that. Even some of his workers seemed to have noticed it as they momentarily stopped in their tracks and stared at their direction.

“I see,” said Yuan. It was the same city where he was headed to. Indeed, it was the closest city of the neighboring kingdom. “Then take me with you.”

The merchant stared at him for a moment, his eyes scanning him from head to toe. “Rejected.”

“—What?”

“—You’re to young,” quickly replied the merchant. “The Forest of Sierra is a very dangerous place. We already got our hands full in protecting our cargo.”

Yuan had this urge to take everything by force, but he knew that going with the group would be the wiser choice. The Malaks were loyal creatures. He would need to use force in order to use them, but these merchants could probably command those lizards in a heartbeat.

Yuan took out a small pouch inside his cloak. “Take me with you.”

The merchant eyed the pouch, and he momentarily rolled his eyes. “Kid, we won’t get swayed by mere silver coins. Go back. We’re not taking you with us.”

Yuan threw the pouch, and the merchant swiftly caught it using his stubby hands.

“There are eight gold coins inside,” said Yuan. The merchant and some of his works who heard it stiffened. Eight gold coins was a very high amount. “How about it?

There was distrust within the eyes of the merchant as he opened the pouch, but that soon quickly turned into disbelief. He breathed in a gust of air and whispered, “Kid, where did you get this amount of money?”

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Yuan shrugged, and his disheveled brown hair swayed from side to side. It partly occluded his left golden eye. “I don’t have to answer that.” His eyes glimmered playfully for a second. “So, how about it?”

The merchant bit his lips for a moment then closed his eyes. “Fine.” He tucked the gold coins inside his pocket. “I’ll be taking this.” He pointed at a large cart not far from them. “You can stay in that cart over there. Don’t open the cargo. Understood?”

Yuan nodded. He had no interest in what was inside anyway. “Sure.”

And he went inside the carriage.

***

After a direct order from Commander Morgan, the remaining soldiers in the Capital fortified the city’s defenses. They patrolled the city, helping the citizens that had been devastated by the dragon’s attack, while some created outposts outside. The magicians also cast protective spells to the outposts, rendering it impregnable.

The scouts of the Bandit Lord saw this, and they immediately made their reports.

“I see,” said the Bandit Lord. He puffed out a smoke from his pipe. “That damn Morgan anticipated our attack, huh?”

“Yes, Lord,” said a bandit. They were currently inside an abandoned mansion deep within the Forest of Sierra.

“When do we attack, Lord?” said another.

The flames of the torches latched on the walls flickered for a moment, casting a shadow over everyone. Groans were heard from the bodies hanging from the ceiling. They were soldiers they had captured a few days back, and the Bandit Lord made sure to keep them alive for his entertainment.

The Bandit Lord, naked from head to toe, approached the chained captives. He cast his magic, and a blade made of wind manifested itself. His hand blurred, and a split second after, the neck of a captive was cleanly split in half.

The head dropped and rolled on the ground, and blood violently gushed out of the headless body.

Maniacal chuckles escaped the lips of the Bandit Lord, his eyes dancing as he licked his lips. Those that saw it suppressed their cries of terror from coming out.

Before he became the Bandit Lord, this man was known as the God of Slaughter. One of the Royal Magicians of the Kingdom of Altair. His savagery knew no limits and eventually, the King had decided to banish him from the Kingdom. The Kingdom had decided that they had no need for a commander with uncontrollable lust for blood.

“So they fortified their defenses?” he chuckled. “It doesn’t matter!” The wind blade dissipated. He opened his arms wide. “Gather all our men! We shall take this opportunity to attack!”

***

The caravan made its way out of the Capital. Numerous lizards, surpassing the five-meter mark, pulled the carts. Their clawed feet made it possible to run through the rubbles and stones.

Yuan silently sat inside one of the carts, his eyes heavy as fatigue slowly started kicking in. For magicians, their mana was almost synonymous to stamina. Depleting such massive amount would take any magician days, if not weeks, to recover, and their body would usually force itself into sleep to compensate.

“So, the Leader’s made contact with the merchant guild in Lankan?” said one of the people inside the cart.

“Yeah. That famous scarface. I heard he’s really grumpy. He likes young girls though.”

“I’ll kill him if he comes close to my daughter!”

“That one’s really sour, so try not to antagonize him once we get to Lankan. You’ll be forever marked. I’m telling you.”

The conversation went on, and Yuan merely sat and listened. From the gap created by the overlapping canopies, he could see that they had arrived at a forest. Numerous trees surrounded them in all directions, and the roads have become rough and unstable.

“Hey, young man,” said the bald man sitting near the entrance of the cart. “I overheard your conversation with the boss. Headed to Lankan too, huh?”

Yuan, his eyes half-closed, did not reply. The cart rattled for a moment, probably after hitting a large stone along the road.

Still, the bald man continued, “I’ve been living in Altair, you see. My entire life, lad. My entire life. It really broke my heart to see it like that. But what can I do? That’s a damn dragon! Who knew that that monster would suddenly turn up and destroy everything! Mere humans can never hope to defeat such monster!”

There was a deep, long sigh.

“The magician from Morvius’ human though,” said a woman. On her lap slept a young boy, probably five or six years old. “Good thing the magician from Morvius killed that thing.”

“That’s right!” A young man suddenly squealed. Yuan creased his brows in annoyance. “You should have seen the fight! I was there! I saw how that single magician fought and killed that monster!”

The excitement within the young man’s voice was palpable. A voice from the outside shouted, “Carin! Shut up! You’ll attract the Greyal Wolves with that damn mouth!”

Laughter echoed after that. After it subsided, a soft voice spoke.

“Say, young man,” said the woman. “You’re a noble, right? No use in hiding it from us.”

There was so much certainty within her voice that it made Yuan raise a brow. His sleepiness dissipated somewhat.

“Noble?” he finally spoke.

“Yeah,” nodded the bald man. “A rich one at that. Eight gold coins’re no meager sum. The boss must be damn happy right now.”

For some petty reason, these people had assumed that he was a noble. Yuan pondered if he should refute that, but after some thought, he decided that it was too much work. He snuggled deeper into the corner of the cart, his body half-covered by his cloak.

He yawned. “Noble, huh? That’s right.”

The young man called Carin leaned forward. “Oh! We’re right! So, which house is it? The Lakerstein? The Valhaza? Or is it the famous House of Loevar?!”

Once again, the young man squealed. Yuan snuggled deeper into his cloak-turned-blanket. Slowly, his eyes closed.

He wanted to say, “Shut up. You’re too noisy,” but his body felt heavy. He wanted nothing but a deep, comfortable sleep.

The lizard pulling their cart made a soft, hissing sound.

And he drifted off into dreamland.

***

The Bandit Lord gathered his troops. It was a few hours before dawn and the sun had started to slowly rise from the west. An hour from now, they were going to attack and plunder the Capital. It was a once in a lifetime chance, considering the fact that more than half the soldiers of the Capital were killed by the dragon.

He held a map in his skinny hands, his slit-like eyes swiveling between the gates marked in the map. According to the reports of his scouts, the northern and western gate were both destroyed by the dragon. The rest of the gates were intact.

He crumpled the map then touched the floating orb in front of him.

“Muhasa,” he said to the orb. It glowed for a moment, and there was a reply.

“Yes, Lord?”

“Send fifty men to the western gate. Make it flashy,” said the Bandit Lord. “Make sure you attract the attention of that damn Morgan.”

“Commander Morgan, huh? Understood!”

And the orb lost it glow. The communication from the other side was cut-off.

The Bandit Lord fixed his silver robe. On his waist was a sword, and slithering near his feet was a large snake. He turned to his men. There were over a thousand of them.

“After the signal, we’ll attack the Northern Gate,” he said, voice amplified by his magic.

The bandits gathered inside the abandoned mansion cried in ecstasy.

“Finally!”

“I’ve been looking forward to this day!”

“I’m going to personally kill that damn King!”

Their cries of anger and lust for blood amalgamated into a single, malevolent echo. The Bandit Lord smiled upon seeing this. Finally, he could have his revenge against the Royal Family. He had served them almost his entire life, but after killing just a dozen innocent individuals, the damn monarchs had decided they no longer have use for him.

He was discarded like trash.

He longed for the day wherein his blade pierces the flesh of the King. He would then violate his wife and daughters in front of him. It would be a truly satisfying sight. A dream he held for so many years.

A scout approached him and softly said, “Lord, reporting. A caravan’s been seen near the twin forks of Sierra. They’ll be approaching this place half an hour from now.”

“The twin forks?” The Bandit Lord was in deep thought. People hardly used that path since it was the nesting ground of Greyal Wolves. It was the same reason why the Kingdom find it hard to launch attacks against the Bandits, since the Twin Forks and the Greyal Wolves living near it served as natural deterrence against the soldiers.

“Yes, Lord,” said the scout. “They appear to be using Malaks.”

And everything made sense.

Malaks were gargantuan lizards with great fighting abilities. They were normally aggressive monsters which knew almost no fatigue, but if one were to isolate them from their parents from birth, it would be possible to tame them.

The people in the caravan must have known that they would be safe against the Greyal Wolves in the forest as long as they rode the Malaks.

“Kukuku!” chuckled the Bandit Lord. His sadistic nature made him look forward to what kind of face those people would make once they found themselves inside the bandit’s territory. “We still have some time left before the attack.” The snake slithering on the ground hissed violently, as though it understood the intentions of its master.

“Let’s snack on some preys, shall we?”