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Drax smiled as he spoke: "Another turncoat finds us, do you still think I'm the most dangerous one here Captain?" He turned away before either of the two brigands could respond and rode to the front of the column - he may be a useless mage, but even he knew that going beyond a snide comment would be very bad for his own health.
The hooves thundered against the cobblestones as Alyssa gallopped towards the Southern Gate, Guantano on his horse right behind her. Luckily, the streets were mostly empty, but Alyssa still found the need to shout at everyone who looked like they might get in her way. She didn't relax until they safely crossed the shadow of the gatehouse and had only the open road ahead of her. She slowed to a trot and allowed herself a look back. They could still see the gate when the mighty purtcullis slid down and blocked the passage. Then, she turned to focus on the way ahead.
"On the road again, eh?", she head Guantano on the side of her. He was smiling.
She looked back at him, considered scolding him for his good mood in the face of such terror, but decided against it. Her face was a neutral jumble of emotions as she replied, "guess we are."
There was a moment's silence. "What'd you have to do in town?", she asked. She was speaking to him again.
Mellonamin, manka lle merna," Kyran started off. He wanted to phrase this as politely as human tongue would allow. "Your talent with animals is impressive. Unlike the flora, fauna remain stubborn to my command." Kyran pointed to the feline. "Your companion fights for you as it would itself. I wish to learn this." Kyran offered a curt bow once more to indicate he was finished.
She seemed perfectly calm in response to his question, nothing sarcastic or anything. She was thinking about something, Guantano thought, but what? "What'd you have to do in town?", an even voice by his side asked. Caught momentarily off-guard by the question, Guantano shifted slightly on his horse, before he regained his composure and replied, his voice rich in humor. "Why milady, while you rested your petite and dainty feet at Master Gunther's house, sipping honey ale and popping nuts to satisfy your little hunger, your noble knight had ventured forth to the dark depths of the tower over yonder and slayed the brutish black dragon that kept vigil over it, valiantly thrusting his sword into the foul creature's belly, before claiming its treasure trove, all in milady's name! And the lady asks what he has been doing?" Displaying a feigned expression of hurt that followed the grandiose actions that he accompanied his words with, Guantano inwardly smiled that he still had it in him.
"Oh," she let a smile grace her lips, briefly. "I could use some treasure, always can. If there are things you want to keep secret, just say so. I'm not without understanding," she giggled, "and I'm not stupid, either."
Rufus smiled at the retreating figure of Drax and responded, "Turncoats? Is that illness afflicting your hearing and your memory or are you just plain stupid?"
The ends of his lips curved in a smile even as he responded. "I make no secret of my admiration for my lady's generosity to have blessed this lowly one with a smile." Flipping a coin and catching it again in his outspread hand, Guantano continued. "Perhaps... we shall speak of this someday in the future." Tossing the coin to Alyssa, who caught it though surprised by the gesture, Guantano proceeded to whistle merrily as they continued down the road, southwards. It almost seemed as if all was right in the world.
Tawariell turned her head in the druid's direction and raised an eyebrow as he bowed before her, before she responded slowly and concisely in an attempt to keep her use of the human language as understandable as possible.
"Raina does not act upon my command", she stated dryly, "nor would I issue any to her."
The druid had made a poor assumption about the relationship between the two huntresses, but at least she had an inkling where such a preconception might have come from; she recalled encounters with hunting parties in the past, with horses and hounds trained to act entirely upon the orders of their human masters.
"She acts as a friend, not a servant."
It was late in the afternoon when the gates of Leon closed and the town fell silent. Defenders had manned the walls and the banner of Lord Nias was flying on the citadels. The young Lord would not back down to whatever was coming his way and he was intent on proving that his father's legacy would not be lost, even though that's what this father's old advisors had whispered among each other from the day Nias had taken the lordship upon himself. Now he was standing at the northern gate, watching with growing unease the mass of soldiers that was approaching the city and all the townspeople's hopes suddenly were placed upon him. He had always been popular with the masses, now he had to prove that he was more than just the son of a noble man.
The sound of the marching army was ever present. Metal grinding metal, iron boots falling on the dry ground and the marching horses stirring up the dust. Like a silver serpent the Lassaran military was creeping towards Leon. What had never happened before, since the founding of the kingdom, would come to pass. A Lassaran army would march upon a Lassaran county, a war of brothers, a dark chapter in the history of men. But there would not be much fighting. Not if he could prevent it. Alastor was riding at the head of the army, Serak on another horse right next to him. "Halt!" the demon called out and with a bit of delay the whole host came to a full stop.
"Just in range for the catapults", the Lord upon the wall thought to himself as he watched the army come to a halt and saw the movement of preparation among the enemy's lines. "They don't even bother with surrounding us. Well, I do have some surprises for them."
Alastor eyed his partner. "Ready?" Serak just nodded and together with an escort of thirteen knights they broke rank and approached the city. They made sure to stop just outside of the defender's range for arrows and Serak opened his foul mouth as he spoke with a voice that seemed to resound right in everyone's head for miles. "This be from now on a loyal county belonging to the righteous ruler of Lassara, King Owyn I Boreale. We hereby demand the opening of the gates and the hospitality of Leon towards the royal army. Surrender and pledge allegiance or face the consequences."
Frijyk continued down the path created by the huge monster for a minute or two, then looked back to see whether or not his companions had joined him. He saw Morangul shuffling close behind, moving quickly for an old man but still struggling to keep up with Frijyk's brisk pace. Alaria the Fey was nowhere to be found; perhaps she had decided not to follow them, or perhaps she was merely hidden in the trees, playing some sort of hide-and-seek with them as they moved onward. He slowed his pace slightly to allow Morangul to catch up, and then continued forward, not wanting to fall too far behind the demon he was chasing. Frijyk reasoned that the demon had to be moving toward some destination- and when he stopped there, Frijyk would catch up.
The Borian looked over at his companion. He wondered exactly what kind of magic a "Lich" specialized in, anyway. It was a term he was not familiar with, but he assumed it must mean some sort of wizard or magician. In Frijyk's culture, there was no word for "magic-user," since all Borians were born with some level of inherent magic potential, and they integrated magic seamlessly into their occupations and lifestyle. Those most powerful with magic were known as the "Defenders", while the rare few born with none were the "Defenseless", and were always trained with weapons to compensate. Frijyk fell somewhere in between- he had some potential, but had never used magic extensively since he was trained with a sword. He had found it thoroughly confusing that Lassaran culture had so many different words that, to him, meant the same thing: wizard, warlock, sorcerer, magician, enchanter.
"So, Morangul... what-kinds of spells do-you know?"
He hoped that, at some point, he could convince Morangul to teach him some real magic. He had a feeling it was a useful skill to have.
"Hmmmmm...... that's quite a question, child. Most magicians would not give up that information, for fear of that knowledge being used against them.
But, to put it simply, I know a lot in many fields of magic."
The lich noticed how Frijyk's face changed to one of befuddled excitement.
Eventually, the Borian asked, "How-many.....'fields' of magic are there? And how long did it take-you
to learn them?"
Morangul pondered the question for a bit, wondering why this Borian was so inquisitive.
"Well, there are five major fields of magic.
Destruction; This is the most offensive field, which battle-mages specialize in.
This is the field you would study if you wanted to shoot fireballs and lighting bolts, cast earthquakes, and other such spells,"
Morangul explained while causing small bolts of lighting to arc across his hands,"The magic users call upon the primal
elements of this world, earth,wind,fire,earth,and water, and bend it to their will."
"Next would be Nature; If you were a tree hugging elf, you would probably
have an inherent advantage in this field, as they are more in tune with nature than many other beings.
That said, if you weren't an elf, most people would go the way of a druid to learn this field.
It specializes mostly in control over various other entities, such as trees and animals.
Also, it offers a great many defensive spells as well, such as the Stone-Skin enchantment,
which any magic user should master. However, it is also said that very powerful druids
can achieve the ultimate connection with nature, and become one with it; these druids are able
to transform into any natural entity that they wish to be. That squirrel over there might
be a druid," Morangul chuckled, "But why a druid would choose to be a squirrel is beyond me!"
"Now, the next two fields are polar opposites, yet they share a connection: that their sources do not
come from this world. What I speak of is Holy and Demon magic. Now, holy magic
what you would study if you were to become a cleric or," Morangul grimaced," a....Paladin. Of course, that means
this field specializes in powerful healing magics as well as powerful blessings. These blessings could be many things,
such as increased strength and stamina, sanctifying land, or, as was the case of Neril, imbuing it with pure holy might.
Morangul stopped and looked at Frijyk; "Are you getting all of this?"
Frijyk meekly nodded his head, "Then on we go."
"Demon magic is pretty much unheard of in Lassara, mostly because the only ones that practiced it were, well, the demons.
No mortal has tried to use the magic of the Void, for fear of accidentally opening another rift, but many scholars have
speculated that Demon magic deals mostly in destructive magic as well as manipulative magic, such as illusions and the power to persuade people."
"Now, the last one," Morangul smirked, then continued, "Is a field of magic that many would associate with Demon magic, but its
practice has been forgotten over the centuries, and little know the truth. This final field is Necromancy, the magic of death.
An apprentice of this ancient art can commune with the spirits of the dead, but a full fledged necromancer can control the very energy, the very essence, that is death. Necromancers make the dead their servants, and powerful ones can even make an army of undead! Imagine, an army that does not tire, does not need food, and most important of all, does not feel pain..."
Morangul stopped when he noticed the alarmed look on Frijyks face. I might have been a bit to energetic, Morangul thought," But as I said, the art of Necromancy has long been lost, so there is no reason to fear undead hordes," Morangul jokingly said, although he sombered up immediately, "Undead hordes, no. Demon hordes, yes."
Grimacing Serak rolled his eyes to the right, his gaze following a mosquito that was flying circles around the demon. Other than that they sat there motionless, waiting for a reply from inside the city and then it came. All of a sudden a pillar of fire crashed down on one of the siege engines, engulfing it and the nearby soldiers in flames, then another one and another one. Battle mages! "Make them shut up", Alastor yelled at Serak and with the knights returned to the lines, issuing commands to fire and moments later a barrage of projectiles was lunged towards Leon, hitting the walls, the gate, the buildings inside the town. Fires were soon spreading within the city while Serak still sat motionless. He concentrated as if he was still locking his gaze on a mosquito but his eyes were wandering over the wall. Suddenly he stopped and whispered "Silence!" but in the heads of the wizards it rang like a massive bell and when they recovered from the shock they tried to cast but nothing happened, their hands were glowing a bit but the flaming pillars upon the Lassaran army stopped and did not return, no matter how hard they tried. A smile on his face, Serak retreated into the lines while an angry lordling was cursing the day his father died and made him responsible of this city.
In the distance, a fell voice was upon the winds. "This be from now on a loyal county belonging to the righteous ruler of Lassara, King Owyn I Boreale. We hereby demand the opening of the gates and the hospitality of Leon towards the royal army. Surrender and pledge allegiance or face the consequences." Instantly the mood was killed, and the sombre reality hit them once more. The army had reached Leon, and despite the distance, it took a blind man not to turn around and see the fireballs flying, both magical and catapulted across the clear blue sky. His mind thinking about Gunther, Guantano hoped the old man would be safe. Wait, wasn't one of the shards located to the West? Guantano recalled. Pulling his courser to a stop, Guantano turned to Alyssa. "Gunther said some of the shards might have been in the West. Shouldn't be heading along that road which we just passed by?" he asked.
Alyssa frowned. "I heard that, but our safety is a higher priority. Even if Gunther was a wise old man, his intel on the shards' location, as he said himself, was scarce and outdated. We should keep going south. That way we can also stay on the road to move faster. I think that's safe for now; it sounds and looks like Leon gives the army battle. That buys us time."
Alyssa stared back towards the road and they rode on in silence. After a while, she found her lute and strummed the strings, humming.
Frijyk listened intently to the old wizard's words, but he was confused as he was informed. Was magic truly so rigidly divided and disciplined like that? His people had never spoken of "fields" of magic, merely its different uses and applications. But Frijyk supposed he would take the experienced sage at his word.
"Thank-you for your explanation. That was-very informative."
As Frijyk and Morangul continued along the road, their conversation was sparse but always meaningful; Frijyk would ask about another aspect of magic and Morangul would answer, growing ever curious of the apparent warrior's interest. This continued for most of the day, until the sun had set and Frijyk was tired from walking at that brisk pace. Morangul looked no worse for wear, but perhaps he was all worn to begin with. The path they followed was still lined with uprooted trees, but they were at a higher elevation now. The air had grown colder, and while there wasn't any snow, Frijyk could see the snow-capped peaks in the distance across the hilly landscape. Soon they would come to mountains, and he was fine with that.
Frijyk decided it would be a good idea to set up a campfire at that point. Firewood was not hard to find; with his hatchet and all the fallen trees around him, he had plenty of it. Frijyk made a pile of wood, surrounded by stones so the fire would not spread beyond it, and then he pointed his fingers at the fire. A small spark of flame shot from his fingertips, igniting the campfire instantly. As he looked over, Morangul was watching with a wry look on his face, and Frijyk couldn't help but smirk back.
Alaria clutched the red spider in her arms as she was carried by the giant spider queen. "Wait!" she shrieked. "Where are we going?"
The spider clacked its jaws. Away from the monstrosities, of course, child. And towards the city of men, for the army of men marches against the city of men, and even now they have begun to kill each other in a gruesome battle of the flames. I must be there to ensure that it is truly beyond my ability to save more of my kind.
"What? Why?" Alaria asked.
The thoughts of men are beyond my comprehension. I may be ancient among my kind, but I am a spider.
"What about Frijyk and Mr. Bones? We got separated when I bolted into the forest...do you know what happened to them?"
Them? The spider seemed almost amused. A youngling of mine whispered in my ears that they were chasing after the monstrosities.
"But they'll die!"
Who knows? Perhaps they have a plan... hmm?
"What is it?" Alaria asked.
Humans. On horseback. They must have escaped from the city of Men, the spider queen muttered. Alaria heard a strange yet beautiul sound in the air.
"Humans?" Alaria asked. "They can't make that noise. It must be a bird or something."
The spider queen laughed. The devices of Men are imcomprehensible to beings such as myself, she muttered. But they do have the frightening ability to mimic with the use of tools.
"Can I see them?" Alaria asked. The strange sound seemed louder now.
...Then this would be where we part ways. I must not dally any longer.
"Thank you," Alaria said. The spider stopped, allowing Alaria to jump off of her back.
Take the youngling, the spider said, motioning towards the red spider in Alaria's arms. It will keep you safe. Then the spider queen disappeared into the woods.
Alaria, meanwhile, was already racing towards the strange sound. Reality shifting around her and changing her appearence to that of a small elf and the spider into a basket of flowers.
"Heheheh....Now I know why you were so curious about magic! Now, what else can you do?"
Frijyk paused for a moment, wondering how he should phrase his answer.
"Other than that, mostly just small enchantments for my weapons and myself, although..."
Frijyk look at Morangul with a confused look,"I'm-not sure what 'field' that is in...."
At this, Morangul could not help but laugh, "Oh, that slaps me on the knee!", Morangul cried, still rocking back and forth.
"Frijyk, what I explained were the five overarching fields of magic! Do the Borians not know of these?"
Frijyk, looking quite embarrassed, slowly replied, "Well, all-of my people have some magical talent. We all use it so-much that
we don't consider it that special....." Frijyk gave a weak smile, "Please, tell-me more."
Morangul thought for a bit, then finally answered.
"Well, there are hundreds of minor fields of magic, Frijik, and some are connected to more than one
major field. Take alchemy, for example. This field is heavily tied to the Nature field, as it requires
various ingredients that only nature can provide. The powers of illusion, however, would be tied to multiple fields,
most likely Demonic, and probably Nature, as Feys are definitely not demons! What I mean by this, is that either the Demon field or
the Nature field can grant the powers of illusion."
Morangul thought for a moment, staring at Frijyk for the entire time, "The weapon and physical enchantments and buffs you use are more aligned
to Nature, but as I stated before, the Holy field can also bestow such things as well."
The old lich sat silent for some time, watching the young Borian process all of the information.
".......You know....I could perhaps teach you a few more enchantments and spells...if you want..."
From the roadside, Alaria could hear the strumming of strings and a clear female voice singing over the hoofbeats of the horses,
"For that day blood rained from the sky,
And right men turned to wrong,
And flames they licked at cinder'd flesh,
And sang their crimson song.
"A thousand men went out that day,
In armour, brave and strong,
They were no match for dragonkind,
And the burning crimson song.
"Today where once the dragons flew,
And sung with blood-red tongue,
Now only ashes do remain,
Gone is the crimson song."
The strange sound stopped, and the man riding in front turned around. "Do you know any other songs about dragons? I've never-" turning his head towards the road again, he caught a glimpse of the fey. "Who goes there!?"
"Frijyk..." the Borian turned his head to into the direction the whisper was coming from but he could only see the treeline, dark in the fading light of the day.
"Morangul..." this whisper came from the exact opposite direction, both the whispers were only resounding inside the head of the one addressed.
Suddenly the fire went out and the light seemed to fade even faster. Fryjik was sure he could still see the sun approaching horizon in the east but around him it almost seemed like night was fully upon them. "Come...", now this whisper was louder, heard by both, but it seemed to come from every direction, like a breeze caught in between the trees surrounding them.
***
Time after time the projectiles hurled into the city of Leon crashed down onto the town, ruining buildings, setting more and more of them on fire while the population and town guard were desperately trying to put out as many fires as they were able to, save families from collapsing buildings and still keep up a front of fighting men on the walls. The town looked for leadership and decisions from Nias now, but the young lord was still standing atop the gatehouse, motionless, his facial expression not showing any emotion but shock. He was paralyzed by the overwhealming situation and yet he did not decide to surrender. He would not bow. He was the Lord of Leon.
Alaria completely ignored the funny man, her gaze transfixed upon the woman's strange device.
"Are you a bird?" Alaria asked. The question seemed to take both the man and the woman by surprise. Alaria began to slowly walk towards them.
"Excuse me?" the woman asked in the tongue of men. Obviously not then.
"What's a dra- drag- draga- dwagon?" Alaria asked. She was close enough to touch the horses now. "It sounds scary. Does it look like the giant monster that passed just around here?"
When Frijyk heard the disembodied voice he nearly jumped with a start. He looked at Morangul, who was also alert- both a blessing and a curse, for it meant he wasn't hearing things, but also that the danger was real and present. The wind howled about, whistling to them with what sounded like words, and the darkness seemed to be closing in around them.
Frijyk had enough of this. He brandished his rapier in his right hand, and snapped the fingers of his left. A small orb of flame materialized in his left hand and stayed there. Frijyk tried to light his surroundings with it, but it was no use. It was already taking most of his concentration to hold that flame there in the first place. Yes, he could definitely make use of some lessons from Morangul. That is, if he made it through the night alive.
"Show yourself!"
The only indicator of Kyran's frustration was a slightly elevated right eyebrow. He pondered how to break her defensive manner as he stared at the human city in the distance. The inhabitants seemed displeased with the seething mass arranged in front of it, and chaos was clearly reigning over the walls.
"There is more than that. That abomination. It was an offense against nature. Natural fauna could sense it, and should know to flee. But, your.... friend, instead, faced it without hesitation. No ordinary friendship does that. Friends fight for each other when times are well. But when all else fails, so does it. You and your... friend gave a powerful abomination pause. You have something beyond it, I am sure.
But.. if friendship, as you call it, is what is what it takes to achieve this unity with beast, I will learn it. Teach, and I shall listen."
"... No, I don't think so. Dragons are extremely rare, some even say they are extinct. And even if there remain any, they are not roaming forests randomly."
Alyssa had put away the lute and picked up her axe instead. "We don't have time for this, but I'll ask anyway. Who are you? And what large monster are you talking about?"
"Oh, it was a...a... Big big thing. It shoved down trees on its way. It went...err..."
Alaria looked around the forest. "...Umm... Where did it go again? Far Away from here, yeah. Missy was carrying me away from it... Oh!" she gasped. "I forgot about Mr. Bones and Frijyk! I hope they are alright."
"... Mr. Bones?"
"He called me a little devil. No fair, I'm old enough," Alaria pouted. The woman sighed. "Do you have anyone that you know nearby?"
"Oh, no. Missy said that she needed to go to Leon. Had children there. I wonder what my mom is thinking."
"What happened with her?"
"Oh, I ran."
The man eyed Alaria's face. "Long... Pointy ears. Do you think she may be an elf?"
"What's an elf?" Alaria asked.
"Maybe not then." the woman said. "Alright, I'll ask again, what are you?"
"Everybody calls me Alaria, except fror Mr. Bones."
"Alaria, then. I'm sorry to say but if whoever Missy is is headed for Leon, you're not like to see her again. There's war in Leon. And that's what we're trying to escape, so unless you have urgent business with us, or can keep up with a horse, we'll be going."
Alyssa's courser began to trot slowly along, forcing the others to follow her in order to respond.
"Now Relax", Alain was searching for the right way to end this conflict before there was any fighting. He didn't want to risk the princess' life in a pointless battle with a bandit that would probably make Rufus his enemy again. The guard's arrow was still pointing at Rufus and all arms among the group were drawn when Amalia raised her hand in a calming gesture. "Friends. Give the man what he needs." She smiled at Dietrich and then looked at the captain. There was a moment of silence, before Alain decided what to do.
"Alright", he sheathed his sword and gave the officers a sign to lower their weapons, "it's late anyway. We will rest here and you will eat with us, Dietrich, now stop threatening our friend here." Dietrich hesitated at first but Rufus nodded and so the veteran scout lowered his halberd and everyone was able to take a deep breath of relief.
The group led the horses off the road and made camp, making a fire and getting some food ready they settled down into smaller groups while Alain pulled Rufus and Dietrich away to sit with him. As soon as they sat down and had taken a few bites he began: "So, what is this incident you both keep talking about. Rufus, you told me a band of nobles and retainers attacked your scouting party and you, Dietrich, blame the king's men. What really happened there?"
"Nobles are the Kings men.... or at least that's my view on it," Dietrich said with a small smile after wolfing down the food, "Sorry about the threatening to hack and slash, but I'm desparate for food and water, so if you could show me to some more...?"
He turned to Rufus, "I found him..." He then turned back to Alain, waiting expectantly.
Alain nodded to one of his guardsmen and they brought more food and drink to the fireplace while the three of them continued to tall. "Now that would be a wrong view though. The nobles are, if anything, their own men. Most of the time they are fairly loyal to the king but then at times they also do whatever pleases them. I am sorry for what happened to the both of you but I cannot let you put us all at risk for the sake of mere vengeance." He shot a sharp glance towards Rufus with these words.
"Now, Dietrich, you are welcome to accompany us. We have food and drink enough and we could use another fighting arm but you should know that it could be dangerous. Also", he gestured towards the army crest on the scout's armor, "hide this, we aren't exactly trying to look like the army here."
"What have you done now boy?" Dietrich said, "Nevermind, that's not the matter at this moment. Thank you for your offer, but I must know where you are headed."
Alain nodded. "Fair enough, I suppose. We're headed towards Leon. We need to consult a friend there. Where we will head from there on we do not know yet."