Star crystals dimmed into a quiet dusk as the slow bustle of Viiest crawled to stillness. The lanterns within each residence dimmed as the citizens of the small town prepared for a night of rest. Though light still poured out from the edge of the underground village, The River Dragon Inn still remained a modest beacon to all those without a bed to return to.
Within the walls of the tavern, the innkeeper Mariah made her way down the stairs, careful as to make little noise for the peace of her guests. As she reached the main room downstairs, Mariah wiped away at her brow with her holy symbol in hand. She took a deep breath and sighed when the front entrance opened up to Fausm.
"Those two recovering alright?" The reptir inquired as he took a seat at one of the tables in the inn.
"They should be all fixed up after a night's rest. The healing needs time to do its work. I'm worried about that Nessa girl though, the wounds on her arms aren't closing up properly." Mariah looked up at the ceiling with a puzzled gaze. "I bandaged her up and stayed the bleeding but that's all I could get at with what I can muster."
"Sounds like they'll be fine, probably not the worst they've been through," Fausm grumbled as he fished through his pockets, "By the way, that thief they caught just coughed up all his stolen goods." Fausm pulled out an old and rusted Hidden Star emblem from and tossed it over to Mariah, who narrowly caught it before it hit the floor.
"Oh thank the gods, why would that thief want to take this alone and scram?" She held it with her calloused yet delicate touch.
"The lord's still piecing that together. Turns out the thief may not even be around these parts, probably a runaway from Zevah." Fausm leaned back in the creaking wooden chair and relaxed.
"I pray he ain't one of those Akari. Poor soul. They don't deserve the treatment that Zevah puts them all through. I would've helped the boy out if he just held a hand out in need." Mariah walked over to the bar and set her old emblem down on the countertop for a moment. "Fausm? Where's your emblem? That was stolen too wasn't it?"
The reptir perked up for a moment before falling back into a relaxed state. "Oh yeah, I just left it back at the town hall. Never was the nostalgic type." Silence followed his response, prompting Fausm to look back and see Mariah wearing a downtrodden expression. "What? We're not having this conversation again, are we?"
"You're right, we ain't having this conversation again. This is the last time we're having this conversation," Mariah lectured to Fausm and stood looking over him while he was seated, "Fausm, I can see it in your eyes how much it's killing you to stay holed up in this town. You wanna return to adventuring, but you're holding yourself back for no reason."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm perfectly fine with mercenary work. Besides, I made it clear that I'm not gonna leave you alone here. So would you drop it already?" Fausm rebutted without looking up at Mariah when he felt her hands grasp his own. He froze up as he felt the familiar haunting feeling. The warm feeling of her flesh, conflicting with the cold metal of her prosthetic hand.
"Fausm, I'm done keeping you here with me. What happened wasn't your fault, I've always said that, time and time again. My time in that spotlight might be over, but yours ain't. So please, if you wanna make anything up to me, how about you listen to me."
Fausm remained silent, his scales shifted with his subtle movements as he waited for Mariah to continue.
"Please hun, help those apprentices out. You and I both can see they need some guidance. I'll be just fine here, as long as you promise to visit between missions. Oh, and say hello to the guildmaster for me." Mariah concluded with a radiant smile on her face.
"You really are persistent, but if this is what you want, then I'm not in any place to argue." Fausm stood up from his seat and wandered over to the front door. "Suppose I should give everyone a parting farewell, huh?"
"That'd be for the best hun." Mariah beamed as Fausm exited the inn.
As the early morning came around, daily life resumed for the citizens of Viiest. News of the shadow looming over their little town vanishing filled the townsfolk with a new vigor and hope to carry on. While life returned to normalcy, Nessa and Mair gathered at the edge of the village, packing what little supplies they brought into a carriage for their departure back to the guild.
"You've gotten all the things from the inn, right Mair?" Nessa inquired with a tired groan in her voice, her arms still bandaged up below the sleeves of her uniform, "I don't want to have to make a second trip."
"Yeah I got everything," Mair answered briefly as he assisted in the packing of the carriage. His attention was drawn away as he heard a slow set of footsteps approaching them. He turned to find Fausm making his way over.
"Don't tell me you were planning on leaving without a goodbye, were ya?" Fausm laughed heartily with a genuine grin arced across his scaled face.
"Mr. Fausm!" Nessa was broken out of her drowsy spell. "We had no intention of leaving without our farewells. We also didn't want to wake you so early in the dawn." She explained with a nervous smile on her face.
Fausm chuckled in response. "Think nothing of it. I was actually looking for you two, there's some things I needed to tell you."
"Did something else happen in the town?" Mair questioned.
"Not exactly. As it turns out the thief you two caught doesn't have any matching records with what the town has on hand," Fausm explained the situation with a relaxed and calm tone, "It seems he was sent to the guild until they can identify him. No worries though, you both should be able to fulfill the mission with your superiors without issue."
"That's strange. Hopefully the guild has something on him," Nessa said. She had found the actions of the thief mysterious before, but the situation he was in now perplexed her even more now than it had before. "Well besides that, what was the proposition you mentioned?"
Fausm straightened his posture and stood face to face with Nessa, despite his towering height. "Well, after all the trouble you both went through these past few days, I thought maybe you'd appreciate a helping hand. I'd like to join your adventuring team."
Nessa's heart skipped a beat, "W-Wha? You realize we're just apprentices right? We're not a fully made up team yet and you're far more—"
"Apprentices or not, you're still guild adventurers who are able to accept outsiders within your ranks through recruitment. I might be old for a lizard, but I still have plenty of fight left in me, and I'd like to spend it in the right place. So what do you say? Shall we fight together?" Fausm offered his hand forward.
Nessa was still left in shock at the sudden proposal. She looked to her brother, who was also in shock but was more so starstruck than anything else. Nessa smiled to herself. She never expected to have a true team before, yet now the opportunity was before her.
She shook Fausm's hand and sealed the offer, taking him in as a member of Ral'Kacet. "We'd be happy to have you join us, Fausm. Accepting you to join us is the least we can do as thanks for saving us."
"Think nothing of it, from now on we're equals. Now then, I believe we have a lot of catching up to do over a long carriage ride it seems." Fausm laughed to himself.
Hours upon hours passed quickly for the trio as Fausm spoke of his mercenary tales while they made their way back to the underground city of Eil'Drawwt. The anticipation of returning to the great spectacle that housed the Hidden Star guild was clear. Eventually, their patience rewarded them with the shining false sun hanging at the ceiling of the large cavern.
The light pouring through the windows of the carriage interrupted Fausm, causing him to shield his eyes momentarily.
"You alright, Fausm?" Mair noticed his pause and questioned his reaction.
"I'm fine. Just haven't seen how bright the city was in quite some time." Fausm recovered as his eyes blinked rapidly. "Things seem relatively the same after, what was it? Seven years? Guess I shouldn't expect a stone city to change that much." Fausm reminisced.
"It's the small details that change really," Nessa added as she looked out the window at a lower section of the city, "It's a slow process but things are changing for the better thanks to the guild. Even the little things they do seem to keep this city safe."
"I suppose that's a way of looking at it. Off that, I assume the both of you were born here weren't ya?" Fausm asked while taking a closer look at the passing city.
"I was!" Mair excitedly answered Fausm, "But my sister was actually born on the surface, lucky her." He teased Nessa.
"The surface, huh?" Fausm grinned. "I'm surprised you haven't talked up a storm about that. Most folks love to talk and talk about it."
Nessa blushed and shook her head in embarrassment. "Oh I barely spent any time up there to even remember anything. Our father took me to live here when I was real young, I can hardly remember the color of the sky even."
Mair simply laughed off her response, but Fausm remained quiet in contrast. The carriage drew to a stop at one of the entrance gates to the guild. The commotion inside and outside of the adventurer's guild was as bustling as it always was, a warm welcome to those returning from an exhausting mission.
The three exited the carriage and offered their thanks to the driver for his services. They were left in the crowd of adventurers and apprentices, blending in with their surroundings of assorted uniforms and armor.
"Hey Nessa," Mair interjected before the group entered the guild, "Fausm and I can go report to the director about the mission and all that. Don't you think you should get those wounds checked out?" A hint of concern was clear in his voice.
Nessa looked down to her bandaged arms, a quick run through of her hands over the gauze let her feel that the cuts were not yet closed up despite the healing magic she received.
"That sounds fine." She looked to Fausm and then back to Mair. "Make sure you talk to Director Veridan about allowing Fausm to join our team. Make sure you convince him, alright? I'll meet the both of you soon." With a smile on her face, Nessa shifted into the crowd and hurried through in the direction of the guild's medical services.
"Veridan is still kicking these days huh?" Fausm chuckled as he and Mair moved through the crowd into the guild. "Could've sworn he'd be retired or something by now."
"Wait, did you know Director Veridan? I thought you were a mercenary?" Mair turned around with a perplexed expression on his face.
"I guess the cat's out of the bag. I used to be an adventurer affiliated with the guild when I was in my prime. Nothing too big or crazy of course, just scraping by." Fausm responded with a sly grin on his scaled face.
"You were an adventurer here too!?" Mair exclaimed, "That's crazy! You must have plenty of awesome adventuring stories too, don't you?" He beamed with admiration.
"I would hope he does," a familiar voice interrupted their conversation as the crowd seemingly parted for Director Veridan who stepped forward to address the two with a rare half smile on his usually expressionless face, "Fausm served us well during his time. I trust your long awaited return here doesn't mean these apprentices misstepped in anyway, have they?"
Mair felt offended that the director immediately assumed the worst, but Fausm responded before he could interrupt. "The two did just fine on their quest. In fact, I see a lot of potential in them, so I'd like to be joining them from now on."
Veridan's mask of stoicism broke briefly as he tried to process what he had heard. "Pardon? Fausm, I know it's been quite some time since you've officially affiliated with the guild, but you need not start at square one back to apprenticeship, it shall ill fit one of your calibre."
"I'm fully aware of my decision, Director. Like I said, these young'uns have potential. I'd like to make sure they stay on the right track." Fausm defended himself without an ounce of doubt in his striking voice.
Veridan nodded in acceptance of Fausm's decision. "Very well, I'll make sure the arrangements are in order for you to fall in rank with Ral'Kacet. We'll have a room provided within the hour I'm certain." The director turned to Mair and flipped through a series of documents contained in a folder on hand. "In the meantime, I believe a detailed report of this peculiar mission is in order."
Nessa stood across the hall from the guild's infirmary, playing through ideas in her head as she decided whether to approach or not. She feared what it might have meant that her arms failed to heal. Everything else from her encounter with Rex was all fixed up. Yet the wounds from her arms, caused by her own magic backfiring on her, were as prevalent as they were when they were first inflicted.
A shudder ran through her spine as she recalled her conversation with Wright.
Blood magic.
She knew nothing but the name and the stigma that surrounded it. Was it possible that she had actually gone too far and taken the first step into using blood magic like Wright had warned? Nessa's thoughts raced as she began to panic quietly to herself. She couldn't go to the infirmary yet, Nessa decided it was best she went to someone who would understand the situation better.
Rushing out of the hall, she began to ask around for what to many seemed like the impossible. Where to find Wright. Most of those she asked either had nothing to say or outright deterred her from pursuing further.
As she suspected, Nessa gathered that Wright was not just respected by those of the guild, but feared more than anything. Despite the warnings she received, Nessa continued on her search for him.
In the halls of personal living quarters for affiliated adventurers, Nessa encountered a small team discussing their next mission amongst themselves. Carefully and politely, she approached and tried to get their attention.
"Excuse me," Nessa spoke, leading the three adventurers to turn their attention to her. There were two dusk elf girls that appeared a bit younger than her, wearing plate and chain armor. Next to them, a demiriie stood at half their height with their translucent, glittery butterfly wings taking up most of their size. "I'm sorry to interrupt but do any of you know where Wright from Crimson Shield would be?
Nessa was initially met with silence when one of the dusk elves finally spoke up. "You really shouldn't concern yourself with him. Whatever time he isn't spending on the job, he's spending it alone. Best to leave him that way," She answered condescendingly. With a subtle motion from one of them, they decided to leave, abandoning Nessa in the halls.
A wave of discouragement cascaded over Nessa as she leaned against the walls and stared up at the ceiling. Luckily only a few moments later, she heard a faint patter of footsteps coming back into the hall. She looked and saw the demiriie had returned and looked up at Nessa with interest and curiosity in their cloudy, shadowed eyes.
"Are you really interested in looking for Wright?" They asked in their soft voice. Their lavender wings fluttering in a display of excitement. "I've heard plenty of rumors and hearsay about him."
Nessa bowed politely to the demiriie. "Yes, I have something extremely important to ask of him. If you know anything, please, I beg of you."
The demiriie smiled. "Are you certain? I have no intention of scaring you away, but be warned, he's a frightening individual. I hear he specializes in assassination, and that the guild has much work on their hands to cover up the massacres he could leave in his wake. Some even swear that his magic can rip people apart with ease." The demiriie spouted off the disturbing imagery with theatrical shock and horror. "Are you prepared to confront a soul as fearsome as he?"
Nessa winced at the thought of some of the demiriie's details, but she called whatever bravery she could muster and refused to back down from her intentions. "I am prepared. Do you know where I can find him?"
The demiriie giggled to themselves in delight. "I'm not completely certain, but I've heard plenty of rumors that Wright has a private study in the abandoned halls of the lowest floors of the guild. I recommend searching there and listening carefully." With a delicate curtsy, the demiriie bid farewell and hurried off as quickly as they arrived.
Shaking off the strange encounter, Nessa went with what she had and hurried off to the abandoned halls that the demiriie had described. After several minutes, Nessa made it to the supposedly abandoned halls, but only found silence where she walked. The lights were dim and ill-kept. Many of the doors led into empty and dreary rooms that not a soul had touched in what might've been decades upon decades.
The atmosphere felt nauseating to Nessa, but she continued forward. She listened intently for any sort of sign of life, but was only accompanied by the sound of her own footsteps and her own breathing. An excruciating period of time passed, and just when Nessa felt like she might just give up, the faintest of sounds graced her ears. What sounded like a violin gracefully playing a soothing yet haunting melody was muffled by the gripping constriction of stone walls.
She approached the source of the music slowly, letting the eerie tune announce her arrival as she stepped closer to a velvet door. The door stood as the only source of color amidst the dreadful shades of gray that painted the halls. Nessa was held by an unnatural hesitation as she tried to reach for the door. The music almost seemed to accompany her actions at this point. Drawing her in to act, yet the back of her mind warned her that this was no place to be. Despite the tearing thoughts in her head, Nessa balled her fist and knocked on the door.
Silence befell the hall following her knock. The music was cut short as if it never existed to begin with. Not even an echo was left as a trace. Nessa felt compelled to run, but her legs were frozen in place. She felt like her entire body was split in half on what decision to make, ultimately rendering her helpless. The door slowly swung open with none behind it.
Nessa could hear the creaking of the door pass to the tune of her own beating heart. She took the steps necessary to enter the room before her without even thinking. As she made the final step inside, a small dark creature fluttered from the door frame up to an elevated section in the pitch black room. Her half elven eyes could only carry her sight so far, allowing her only a glimpse of the empty and dreary study before her.
"Hello?" Nessa called out. Fear wracked her voice, surprising even her with how little she was able to control it. "Mr. Wright? Are you in here?" Silence followed her inquiries. She felt tempted to turn tail and run out of the room before some horrible mistake was made. Suddenly, a series of green flames danced throughout the room. The flames raced to light a series of lanterns strewn about the study in an instant.
Finally, Nessa was able to see the full expanse of Wright's personal study. Wright himself was seated on an upper balcony with the strange feathered creature perched upon a book he had in hand. With a swift motion, Wright closed the book and the black feathered thing flew down to Nessa and soared past the door, closing it in the process. It sat perched on a lantern, its crimson eyes staring out at Nessa unblinking.
"Worry not, it's just a familiar," Wright called down in an exhausted voice, Nessa was keen on familiars, but she had no idea what creature it was intended to appear as to begin with. She decided it must have been some surface animal and just decided to ignore it. "What brings you here? I thought I said before I had no intentions of teaching you."
Nessa shuddered and forced herself to speak with the shadowed man nearly a story above her. "I came with questions. Questions about blood magic, and about what's happening to me." Nessa raised her arms to the ceiling, revealing her blood stained bandages to Wright as evidence.
As she raised her arms, she noticed that Wright was no longer on the upper balcony, and instead she saw his hand reach from out of her vision and towards her bandaged arm. Nessa flinched back from his grasp in shock before recovering from the sudden scare.
"I see." Wright closed the distance between himself and Nessa, his remaining eye glaring ice cold at Nessa's arms. "Didn't I warn you not to be so foolish about your casting. Now look at what you've done."
"I didn't have a choice," Nessa panicked and retorted quickly, "I didn't mean to do anything wrong, I just— What have I done exactly? Can you tell me?"
Wright turned and began to walk over to his own bookshelves, tracing his fingers over the leather covers delicately. "Too much of your lifeforce was converted into mana. Though it might not have been fatal in short bursts, that excess and unused mana was trapped in your veins for quite some time. One thing leads to another, and now your body is forcing those wounds open to make sure all of that mana leaves safely."
Nessa listened intently, careful not to interrupt as Wright approached her. A finger from each of his hands swiped over her arms, slicing her bandages with magic and revealing the cuts along her forearms. Wright's fragile hands hovered over Nessa's arms and shook briefly. As he drew them away, a magical aura surrounded Nessa's arms as what seemed to be drops of blood flowed out of her wounds into the air above her. The blood slowly faded into a glittering crimson light that eventually disappeared into nothing.
Nessa waved her arms lightly about, but the effect still continued. The mana trapped within her veins flowed out of her as she felt more and more relaxed. Despite the calming feeling, Nessa still felt anxious over her situation. "Is this?-"
"Blood magic? Yeah," Wright answered nonchalantly, "The affinity of life transmutation, unholy retribution, and who could forget, necromancy. A good choice really."
"I don't want to be a necromancer." Nessa froze up and felt overwhelming fear take over her.
"You don't have to be." Wright took a seat and relaxed. "Blood magic has all sorts of uses. You don't have to do any of the morally questionable stuff."
"I don't want to be a blood mage at all!" Nessa lashed out and felt her blood rise, which unsettled her even more.
"You don't have to be." Wright waved his hand and the door behind Nessa opened ever so slightly. "Blood is an affinity like any other. Some mages fall into affinities easier than others, but it's always possible to deny that and choose your own fate. Your situation albeit is a bit different." Wright leaned forward and glared at Nessa. "You have no inclination towards the blood affinity. Rather it's your body that slowly pushes you towards it out of necessity. Your internal mana pool is weak. You're not fit to be a mage. Your body overcompensates, and as a result, draws you closer into blood magic."
Wright's words hit Nessa hard. She felt herself wanting to deny what he said, but failing to come up with anything substantial to say.
"I know you don't want to hear that. In fact, you didn't want to hear any of this." Wright snapped his fingers and the rising effect on Nessa's blood ceased. "That should've gotten out whatever was left in there for now. I leave this choice up to you now. Make a choice, return here before dawn if you have the bravery to embrace the blood affinity. If you do not, I will assume you chose to walk another path." Wright turned away and the door opened fully, awaiting Nessa. "I have nothing more to say to you today, Nessa."
Silence befell the study as Nessa knew not to speak in words, but through her actions to come. With an important branch in her future, Nessa left and prepared for her decision.