By JBV and Joel Quill
"I know what your first trial will be!" Jay and Lily have been working around the kitchen cleaning up everything after dinner, when suddenly Kins bursts into the room full of excitement. He had been pouring through all of the books in the library, and had found what he had been looking for.
"This book is a record of all the trials that the druids have done in the past. Different beasts that they have had to slay, different secret missions or attacks that they had to coordinate, IT'S AMAZING!" Kins's excitement had him shaking so badly that Jay briefly considered changing the gravity around Kins to hold him still. He had seen Kins's excitement grow to this level before, and when it had in the past, it usually meant that Jay would want to be involved somehow.
Jay asked, "So what does this book of yours say anyways, I thought there was only one druidic trial?"
"Oh I can't tell you that," Kins said with a sympathetic glance towards Jay, "that would be breaking the rules of the druids. Sorry Jay, it's nothing personal, you can read these as much as you want once you pass your trials, but until then you can't."
"Fine," Jay said in slight annoyance, he tried to hide the daggers of frustration that appeared in his tone, "but what did you find that made you so excited?"
"I have found the trial I think would be perfect for the two of you!" The mood in the room changed with this information. It had been weeks since Kins had told them to prepare for the Trial of the Druids, and since that time, he had said little to nothing about it. The pair of apprentices set down the dishes and moved away from the container in the corner that Kins called a "sink". He had learned to make it while with the other-worldians, and had modified his own version by using plants to supply water from the earth so that they could wash their dishes. "So in the first trial we will be killing one of the 7 beasts that roam the sea for each person attempting to become a druid. So in other words, for your first trial the two of you will be working together to not die."
"Wait," Lily asked confusedly, "what are the seven sea beasts?"
"You've never heard of them?" Jay asked. Lily shook her head adamantly at this, to which Jay smiled a little at the chance to share his knowledge with his new young friend. Growing up not only with the highest education in the nation, but also with a curiosity that few people could obtain, he had learned more than the average adult; a lot more.
"The seven beasts are giant monsters that are the myths of sailors," Jay stated, "If you see one of them, you always want to escape as soon as possible unless you have some seriously strong powers onboard your ship."
"The seven beasts are as follows," Kins continued what Jay was saying as if they had rehearsed it. With this, Kins pulled out a large map of the entire world with 'X's' on different locations around the world. As he spoke, he pointed to each X and explained what creature existed there "There are the Mythical Electric Eels of Veloria. They can shoot arcs of electricity far across the sky… a dangerous hunt. There's the giant sea serpents known for wrapping around full ships and crushing them to dust. The transforming leeches, the more of them around the more attach to each other to enlarge. The flying stingrays above Harshome. The invisible flairs near the former castle of Illverstand, which I seriously advise that we just steer clear of, as your dear older brother Tyrius has taken that area as his own. The giant boiler whales around Merkwood, and finally, the unknown monster near the far end of the world. Legend has it that this Quietus has never failed to miss a kill it wanted. So which two animals do the two of you want to hunt down?"
"Wait, quick question," Jay asked, holding his hand up in hopes of stopping Kins train for even a second. "Since when did druids want to harm animals without provocation...I thought that after everything with Heathers your group was all about nature and protecting animals and such...I mean you literally cannot attack unless it is sparring or self-defense?" At this Kins smiled as if he was anticipating Jay trying to contradict him.
"Well you see, these creatures are not exactly...safe. As druids we created a scale of where all creatures within the world fall into each of their habitats that we call 'ecosystems'," Kins said. Jay and Lily both looked at each other and shrugged.
"Animals all have a particular role within each of their ecosystems, but sometimes creatures move in or evolve to a point that they can no longer safely live in that system, or it will collapse. So one of the trials for the druids is to get rid of the animals when they arise again, however it is impossible to fully get rid of them. Part of them being extremely dangerous is that their gestation periods are extremely fast. Fast enough that they can lay eggs and have them hatch secretly without us knowing within hours so it's just a process of continuously halting the animals by systematic culling." Jay and Lily were quiet.
"I am going to be honest with you...a lot of what you said went over both of our heads. So I'll just trust your judgement on this one," Jay said, Lily nodded next to him.
"So back to the matter at hand, which one do each of you want to face?" Kins asked.
The pair looked at each other with a hesitant glance. First Lily went to say something, but then stopped herself in thought. Then Jay did likewise. The pair was silent for quite some time before Kins broke the silence. "Why don't I help alleviate this decision from you. While you can both help each other in your quests, I think I will choose one monster that I believe suits each of you best. For Jay I think the choice is obvious, it will be the flying stingrays. As for Lily… I think the Invisible Flairs will do well. Meet me at the edge of the woods near the old trading center. Get some rest, you're going to need it."
"Why is it obvious…" Lily tried to ask but Kins already left.
-
Jay hated the submarine. When the trio had originally discussed traveling to the border where Illverstand met Harshome, the idea of traveling underwater was not even on the table. The three were going to stay under the cover of the woods and travel by foot while Kins maneuvered the plant vegetation around them. But when they attempted to leave that first day, they had walked for no more than two hours before running into one of Tyrious's men. Kins had heard the noise first, a repetitive thump that seemed to shake the trees and move the very earth. Kins reached his hand towards the ground and a few blades of grass extended and curled around his fingers. His eyes began to glow and he could feel the vibrations and life force of the individuals because of the forest around them
"Oh come on." Kins had proclaimed in frustration. "It's one of your brothers' thugs. Stay down and keep your voices low." He proclaimed in a "whisper" that seemed to go against his own warnings. Jayfifth peaked his head around a tree to see a giant, standing around eighteen feet tall, carrying a small man on his shoulders.
"Who is that?" Jay asked once the pair had moved on.
"The man's name is Damion, and that pet of his he calls Onis." Kins motioned for them to follow him back the way they had come while he continued talking to them. "The towns around the area say that they are the local muscle for Tyrius. Apparently if any town tries to rebel or not pay your brother his dues, that pair comes into town and destroys whatever they can get their hands on."
"So is Onis really his pet?" Lily asked in confusion.
"No… well not exactly." Kins responded in a rather matter of fact tone. "Damion has the ability to take over the minds of those who are abundantly weak in intelligence. It's not a super strong power, considering that he can only oversee three to four beings at most at a time, but when he finds someone as dumb as a giant… it can be devastating."
After the three had returned from their brief adventure, discussions began to unfold on how they would make it to Harshome. It had been Lily who had had the idea to travel using the submarine, although she had called it the "big metal fish thing".
Now as Jay looked out the glass panel near the front of the submarine, he realized that for the first time in his life he felt claustrophobic and caged in. They had been traveling for most of the day, stopping every couple of hours to come to emerge from the water and allow new air to come into the ship. For a while Jay had enjoyed learning to pilot the ship, and was a rather quick learner at it, but eventually the power had run out on the ship, taking away the last element of what Jay enjoyed about the trip. Now the ship was being piloted through a mixture of Kins's pushing it along with seaweed, and Jay pulling it straight forward. He could still steer it with the wheel in the front, but somehow it just wasn't the same.
"How long should it be till we see them?" Jay inquired with a note of impatience.
"If my knowledge of the area is right," Kins responded without shifting from his copilot seat, "Then we should be coming up in them any time now."
The two sat in silence as they continued to concentrate on moving the ship forward, Jayfifth straining himself and fully alert, Kins eyes closed and showing no signs of struggle while he guided the ship. It was Jay who broke the silence.
"Kins you've been traveling around to neighboring towns right?" Kins responded with a slight nod of the head as he sat up and opened his eyes. "Then what's it like out there? What is my brother doing to my country?"
"Tyrius has been hard at work. He's appointed several skilled magicians to help him keep the kingdom in line while he plans with the off worldians on how to attack the neighboring lands. From what I can tell, just from word of mouth, he has a personal guard that act as generals for different battalions of the off worldian army. The tails I have heard about these generals say that they are people with unique, and misunderstood magic; much like your brother and yourself. Tyrius is trying to show the power of people who don't have the flash that is commonly seen as power in Illverstand. There is that man Damion and his giant Onis that we saw earlier, then those two that we met on the ship," Kins said.
"But you dealt with the two on the ship relatively easily right? I mean you were clearly more powerful?" Jay said.
"Sadly it isn't that simple. In that fight I was not in my element, but I also had you and Lily there helping to the point that I only had to fight one at a time. If I had to fight the two of them with no distractions, it's more about wit than power. And it is a misconception to believe that all of these people would be on the same level, some will most assuredly be more powerful than others. And while we trained they did as well. While Tyrius is the mastermind, I have heard rumors of his right hand man who is just as worthy of fear...a man who doesn't just engage in combat, but enjoys despair and pain. Finds pleasure in it... and he apparently has a power to match such a desire. So yes, I am powerful because of my wit and focus on specializing my powers, but that doesn't mean Tyrius doesn't have many cards up his sleeve. And everyday those cards take over more and more of this world…" Lily suddenly shushes Kins from talking as her eyes glow a golden color.
"I can feel a sort of malice and anger nearby...stronger than I have felt from any animal…" Lily said, Kins looked excitedly at Lily.
"Lily, are you using a Magoi zone?!" Kins asked. Lily looked confused, then her eyes got very wide. In a quick motion she jumped forward and quickly jolted the wheel to the side. The Sub quickly shifted to its left side as a large flat mass passed just above the Sub with a quick WHOOSH that made the entire vessel shake. If they had not moved at that moment, then the sub would have been hit directly by the mass that just passed by. Lily laid on top of the wheel, keeping it leaning to one side, while Jay and Kins both had their body in weird positions from the sudden change. Kins, he is now directly under the captain's chair, adjusting himself to a position where he isn't squished "Well, I think we found the first monster," Kins said with an anxious smile.