The strong smell of burning grass filled my nostrils as I came to my senses. Rough, dry soil and singed leaves were under me, as I lay sprawled on the forest floor. I slowly sat up and immediately noticed the bluish silver gauntlet on my left hand. I recalled the chaos I caused in town, and how I had left them shocked and bewildered through a sudden escape. The eyes of the black haired Ace, as she desperately tried to catch me, were all I could first recall as my head started to spin; my mind pulsing with pain.
"Rest, young Kross. Taking on the form of a Spirit promised drains one's reserves quickly." The old man, the Dullahan spirit, was sitting in front of me. His back rested on a tree as the flames in his eyes flickered slightly.
"Not bad though for a first transformation." His toothy grin glimmered an orange light under the shade.
"I feel like a wreck..." With my head still spinning, I slowly looked around me. I was surrounded by various bushes and some trees. The soft hum of cicadas, interrupted momentarily by chirping birds, was all I could hear. We must be in a small grove somewhere out of town but, how did we get here?
"Do you not remember, young one? All the hatred? The anger?" His words were calm, cold and steady, but they stirred the exact things he was saying in my mind: the hatred I felt for the Circle. For everything they had done to make my life miserable. Every memory of me trying to escape their grasp just drove me closer to despising them. With this flood of emotions, my battle in the town square played once more in front of me.
Anger was driving each of my actions as I slaughtered the frightened knights and guards. But, there was something stopping me from fully unleashing my fury on them. As that fierce Ace attacked me, the moment I caught her foot, I wanted to slice her in half. But, more than hate, I pitied her. I pitied them all, fooled and spurned on by some idiotic fear. I could not help but think that they could very well be victims as well. I sighed as I stood up slowly and I witnessed the setting sun beaming orange over the canopy.
"How did we even get here?" I asked the spirit as I dusted off my pants. Ashes and singed leaves fluttered off them as I heard some bushes rustle behind me.
"We are not alone, young Kross. Ready yourself!" I looked to where the old spirit was resting, but he had seemingly vanished. "I shall meet you once again, when you are alone." His voice echoed in my head as I looked behind me quickly.
The silver gauntlet was the only thing I had now close to a weapon, and I couldn't use my Dullahan form as I was barely standing up straight. My eyes darted left and right as I waited for my pursuer to show himself. Is this a hapless knight pursuing me, finally seeing that I am a vulnerable man, would take this chance of bringing my head back to the Circle? Is it the Ace? I surely hope not. If she found me here I would certainly be dead. I think she hasn't forgiven me for the fiasco I had caused in town.
At the corner of my eye, I finally noticed a figure stepping out of the bushes on my immediate right. Holding out my hand like a fool, I faced it immediately, hoping I can trick them that I am a versed magician of some sort.
"You know how to craft crests too?" A small, childlike voice echoed in the sudden silence of the grove. I opened my eyes and saw clearly who it was in front of me.
It was a girl, standing feebly in front of me. Her innocent face was covered with dirt and scars. Her black hair spanned the whole of her height, and she was clothed in a large piece of sack cloth. Her honest smile caught me off guard and caused me to relax my arm and steady my breathing. "Why are you here, kid? And why do you talk about magick so casually?" I asked sternly as a giggle from her small mouth came back as an immediate response.
"I'm free, sire! I'm finally free!" Whimsically dancing, she threw her arms into the air as she laughed loudly. I observed a faint glow emerging from her fingertips, but was I just seeing things?
"Free? Free from what, child?" My legs finally giving away, I sat down quickly and gestured her to do the same. Shaking her head, she started to explain her situation.
"Are you familiar with the town called Trinst, sire? That is where I and my master had once lived! I had first seen magi crafting crests there, and you looked just like one." Still excited, she paced in front of me. Her hair wildly frayed about as she waved her hands in the direction of Trinst.
"I've been to Trinst before. So, did your master free you, child?"
"No, sire, I had freed myself." Now mischievously grinning, the child stopped her pacing and placed a finger over her mouth as if to silence it from further disclosing the details of her predicament.
"Freed yourself! Is your master dead?" I let out a gasp as she laughed loudly once more.
"No, sire! This one would not have done such an act. I had escaped when the Oath Taker caused chaos in the town." Finally plopping herself down on the grass, she exhaled and breathed deeply, probably savoring the first of her many breaths of freedom.
"Then you'd better watch out, he may still be around these parts." I say quickly, thinking that I should not involve this child deeper into the trouble she is already in.
"I do not think that I should be fearful, sire, for I do have things up my sleeve, though naught have I a sleeve to show." At that moment I could clearly see the glow emanating from her fingertips, each of them becoming small dots of red light.
"You are a magus?" I blurt out suddenly as she sits upright, hands still in front of her. Nodding her head, she drew a simple magic crest in the air with her fingers. "Jericrios" She said in a stern and clear tone as the crest grew brightly and formed a sphere that quickly expanded and covered the grove.
"This is a-"
"Shielding enchantment, sire!" Her eager voice cut my statement. "I know that the Circle are looking for you. You were the one on the executioners block, sire." Her deep orange eyes, now focused on mine, had a mix of pity and woe in them.
"Are you afraid of me, little one? Are you fearful of what an Oath Taker is?" I stood and looked straight back at her and strangely, a smile crept upon her grimy face.
"No, sire, for only an Oath Taker can help me." Stepping closer, she handed me a crumpled parchment which I held tightly. Nodding to her, I started to open and flatten out the parchment. As I saw a familiar insignia, a voice rung quickly through my mind. "Young Kross, you do know what this means, yes?"
"Looks like I'll be in for a pound today." I said with a loud sigh as the slave girl hopped around the grove gleefully.
"Oh, thank you, sire! Thank you! But, I know not your name to thank you by?" Shaking my hand firmly, she looked quizzical, but, at the same time, amused at her realization.
"Calvin Jude Kross is my name, kid. An Oath taker by blood, not by choice. May I know yours?" I bowed slightly which in turn caused a giggle to escape her small lips.
"I am Ruth Rosencast, slave of the house Mytistria, kitchen scrubber, and a magus of the first degree." Doing a curtsey with the rags she was wearing, I couldn't help but let out a chuckle as well. Both of us were now looking at the parchment. A plan started assembling itself in my head as the dark print of the Circle's symbol stared back furiously.