"I always am amazed by how people can be angered or manipulated. It's scary, a single word or phrase can turn the calmest person into a raging tempest." Followed by a sigh of disbelief, Staxius got ready to fight. He had no weapon, for he had just woken up.
Erlareo desperately tried to hold back his sister who was his opposite. The latter was rash and impatient while the former was calm and patient. The fight was bound to happen from the first line Staxius spoke; secretly he provoked them. The brother saw right through it, but the sister – she fell into his trap; now it was justified for if anyone should die, the blame would fall onto the envoys of Arda for their insolence. Duchess Millicent was a witness and her words would outweigh the brother.
The moment Staxius uttered their name, the sister rushed to where the hall was. She took out her bow and shot, in the day and age of rifles; the people of Arda used old weaponry such as Staxius preferred. The arrow itself was imbued with magic; the silvery tip dripped of a brownish dark substance; poison. Soon enough, the tip's velocity increased as the spell she cast afterward turned it into a fire arrow; the substance instead of melting stuck. Not able to stop her sister, Erlareo dashed to the other side and took out his daggers – he vanished. Obviously, both were experienced fighters, for if it were a normal person they fought, the outcome would have come out in their favor. Alas, that wasn't the case.
"Erlareo Enbalar and Ygannea Enbalar…" The arrow passed by him, he dodged. "-do you wish to fight me?" Not realizing Millicent was wide open after he dodged, he quickly caught the tail and stopped the arrow dead in its track – kinetic vision or superhuman reflexes, a gift from Tempest Haggard. Unimpressed, no reply was heard. The sister removed her cloak, she bored blonde hair but the face was hidden behind a mask. On her back, a quiver in the color of the ocean. "Brother, finish him already, he's boring." She added while shooting a barrage of arrows.
"Damn it, sister," he appeared behind him, dagger close to Staxius's neck, the final blow was ready to be delivered. "-sorry, you should have kept our identity a secret." He whispered.
"Stop this at once," Millicent yelled. Staxius remained calm, but his aura changed, little by little – a monster, hungry to be let out. She sensed the change, but the brother instead elbowed her in the face, she fell. "Shut up, vampire." He whispered before knocking her out. The arrows from the sister stopped mid-air. Staxius didn't do anything, it was Annet, she used wind magic. Soon enough, losing their velocity, the arrows fell. "Father, what is happening." Eira rushed in from the main door which led into the center of the castle where you could virtually go anywhere from there forth.
"Impudent brat," the sister changed her target to Eira, the brother, on the other hand, slit his throat – all of this happened in seconds. Five arrows, all with magic overflowing the tip were shot.
"Eira, get DOWN." Annet pushed her out of the way putting her directly in their path.
"Enough is enough," a feeling of heaviness surrounded the room, it came like impulses. It was Staxius, he vanished, the arrows all dropped onto the floor. "BROTHER WHERE IS HE?" No reply, she laid her eyes where her brother was – he laid on the table with a dagger inside his stomach. He desperately tried gasping for air, "Now how did that go again? You ain't gonna do it, mister? Little runt, know your place." He appeared behind the sister.
*From the deepest part of hell to the highest peak in heaven, neither god nor demon can oppose me, as I am the sole ruler of death. Thou shall feel my wrath as nothing is immortal, I call upon the power bestowed upon me by creation itself, I order thy return to dust, Decay Touch.*
Staxius used the same incantation as the god of death; a spell so powerful it could end the whole earth if misused. His eyes burnt with the same void flame – being able to use the same incantation of a god was something never heard; not to mention, impossible.
"BROTHER…" Mana surged through his index finger, it made contact with her clothes. "-STOP." Undrar stepped in, "Ancret, please heal that elf and Millicent."
"On it…" She walked by, "-I'm of age now." She laughed and hurried to care for the injured. The clothes of the poor girl vanished, she only had undergarments on. Staxius's eyes finally changed from fiery to emotionless. "Why did you stop me? They threaten our safety." He asked. "Simple, you were going to kill her even though she surrendered." He finally looked at the once insolent girl, she sobbed, her precious brother died.
*Healing element, activate, full-body recovery.* A green light wrapped around the elf and the duchess, in a matter of seconds they healed completely. "Brother," she yelled out and rushed to his side.
Staxius stood, his thoughts mixed and confused. "Eira, we are leaving this instant." It infuriated him, giving mercy to the weak is a sin, his ideals were still the same. "Brother, don't be that way." Undrar grabbed his arms as he passed her. *Dark element, activate; Shadow-step.* "Don't forget who I am," he disappeared. "- brother or not, I won't allow anyone to take pity on people who don't deserve it."
His tone filled with anger and rage, a sword softly poked Undrar's back. The aura he gave out made everyone uneasy; to the point of puking. Everyone came, they saw Staxius pointing a sword at his sister's back, despite that – they were unable to speak. *Poof,* he vanished, "Listen, girl, if you ever dare to speak rudely or annoy anyone from Dorchester, I promise you and your brother, I'll hunt you down and kill you slowly, painfully; till you beg for forgiveness." He slashed her mask and walked away, the immense aura – so thick and powerful it was now invisible to humans vanished. The door slammed shut so hard the floor vibrated. "That arrogant little…" Adelana tried going after him.
"Don't, it's all part of his plan, look at the elves." Undrar pointed in front. The sister shivered; she was petrified. The brother, on the other hand, lost the will to live, they were at his mercy. "You have to understand, Staxius kills, yes, he enjoys it. But most importantly, he loves toying with people and their feelings, just now, he sent out a message when he summoned and placed that sword on my back. (I'm not afraid to kill my own family, don't expect mercy, try to double-cross me and your whole family dies.) That's what he's thinking, in my humble opinion." She concluded her speech, everyone keenly sat down and listened.
"You know father so well, are you sure you aren't his wife in secret?" Eira jokingly added.
"Impossible, the master is the type of guy who'll get married for the sole purpose of having a child and appear like the perfect family. He is not inclined to love or anything relating to that." Fenrir pointed out.
"Right on the mark, what do we do with those two now?" Adelana asked. Both siblings cried with all their might, Staxius went overboard.
"That look in his eyes, he truly would have killed me – Staxius Haggard, you truly are a demon amongst men, despite that, I adore you; bloodthirsty mage." Undrar helped the victim regain their mental strength.
Staxius in the meantime headed back to the armory. He began repairing his praised grey armor with the help of master armorers, who rejoined Castle Garsley. Trucks were sent throughout Dorchester to collect anyone willing to stay under the protection of the silver guardians. Many people joined, a camp got built, the castle would soon turn into a small village and later into a town. For now, only builders, armorers, and weapon-smiths along with a few families arrived. They stayed inside the castle wall, everyone waited for the camp outside to be built. As promised, food was distributed regularly, the ten thousand gold coins Staxius acquired was nearing depletion, with how much was left, the castle could only survive for another week at most.
Staxius knew this for a fact, the financial problem was looming over him. The fight which happened earlier was shoved to the deepest corner of his mind; he was fully aware of what he had done. Money was an issue, and later in the day, he with Eira would set off on a trip to gather allies, a quest he didn't tell anyone about. He had to get enough money for the castle to survive for at least a month – then it hit.
"Adelana," he panted. "What's the matter?" He ran all the way.
"How popular has the guild's bank gotten?" He asked while gasping for air.
"The bank is flourishing, practically everyone – the royal family included, uses it."
"Excellent, and where exactly is the noble's who fled our country now, or rather, have you touched any of their stuff?"
"Not really, Sten's room is still unexplored, it reeks of bodies and death."
"That'll do," he went off to see the duke's room. "If the bank works the same way as I predicted a long time ago, then I should be able to access anyone's personal vault and get the money that way; sadly, I need the blood or anything related to my victim." The door opened, immediately, the smell rushed out like an imprisoned beast – caged for years. The place had been rebuilt; everything was changed, it was dimly lit. The decomposing bodies of various girls were scattered around; any normal human would have either passed out or puked. It didn't bother him though, or rather, he felt pity.
"All these damsels, probably from a noble family, lost to never be found again." He stopped, "probably from noble families." It hit, the answer he had been seeking laid at his feet, blood – blood from noble households. "OF COURSE, thank you, sadistic duke. You've made this so much easier. Here I was thinking to go stalk every noble and steal their blood." Soon after a good hour of carefully examining the bloodied corpses – he collected the blood of eight girls who seemed to be of noble birth.
Now inside the alchemy room, just above Sten's room inside the central tower, Staxius got ready. "I have blood. Basically, people must enter a blood contract with their money or valuables, then it's sent into a different dimension or a vault as I call it. From there on, it's given a specific number, and that number can also be accessed with the user's blood. It doesn't matter where you perform the ritual, the money or valuables can be transferred, well, I hope. Otherwise, how would they be able to transfer the gold coins throughout the banks in the kingdom, Dorchester doesn't have one. A separate dimension must stay in place, the contents can be transferred by a simple transportation spell – lost magic. It's all too simple, this is where the guild cards come in, it reads the user's mind constantly, and no one can fraud therein, except, me." Using dark arts, Staxius learned the name of the victims, together with their blood – he tricked the guild card into thinking that he was that person. It was the same as the time he falsified his adventuring rank. Much to his surprise, it worked. The guild card recognized him as that person, together with their blood – he transferred the victim's entire wealth to Staxius. Obviously, he didn't do it all at once, it would have seemed suspicious. Instead, he slowly added the funds under the premise of trading – gifts and other means. The day went by quickly, Eira was mad, and so was everyone else. Today was the supposed day, they left to adventure but new stuff came up.
Everyone looked high and low to find Staxius, but he was missing. After six hours of hard work, he
came back with the biggest smile on his face. Seeing the elves siblings – his entire persona changed, he went back to deadly serious.
"Stop scaring them, brother." Undrar broke the ice, everyone was enjoying dinner.
"Mind your tongue sister, I haven't come to speak to you." He was still mad from earlier. When he holds a grudge, he holds it tight. Undrar, in turn, rolled her eyes and scowled.
"Millicent…" Adelana spoke out before he could reach out and speak, "lord Staxius, please step out, we are having dinner." She demanded him to leave.
"I apologize, I guess my services aren't required at this moment," the gaze changed from neutral to
'you've done it now.'
"Would you just stop talking," Adelana continued her insults. He quietly left, "some people have forgotten their place." He threw a bag of gold onto the floor, "that should settle what I owe. Eira, you welcomed to join me, but I guess you'll stay with mother."
"Shut up, I'm not coming with you," Eira slammed the table, "-you're not worthy to have me by your side."
"I see how it is," Dark arts had sensed everything, everyone was against him, they hated his presence. "People do change after sixteen years," He left, not ever turning back.
Millicent pinched Adelana's arms, "what's wrong with you."
"No what's wrong with him, that arrogant brat." She scowled.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU BOTH," Undrar spoke out, "-EVEN YOU EIRA, DON'T YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" she yelled. After a deep breath, "He left without looking back, it's his way of saying, (I'm done, now suffer.) "Eira, you just lost your chance to go with him. And both of you elves better head to Arda as soon as possible, Staxius is out for revenge.