Abraxas
It has been several days since Bean was reunited with the children. It would be an understatement, to say the least, if they were not ecstatic to see their loveable and very protected wolfhound. The landscape has turned into rolling hills, lush and a vibrant green. They had turn from the forest a day and a half ago; when Ellis, whose turn it was to lead the horse, spotted enormous, hazy mountains to the left of their trail.
Ellis brings the horse to a stop at the base of a hill an hour before the sun reaches its zenith in the sky. He checks the bag so they can prepare their lunch. He says to himself, "We may have to hunt soon, or we will run out of food before we make it to a town." He turns to see his sister because she has been incredibly quiet to last few days. Sophia stares into the orb non-stop.
"El, did you say something?" Finally lifting eyes to meet her brother's, but Ellis notices that she isn't really seeing him, her eyes are glassy and unfocused. He walks over to her and puts a hand on her shoulder and says, "What's wrong, sis?"
Silence for a minute, before she responds, "Do you remember when the Orb heated up?" Ellis replies with a nod and a confused expression on his face. "What about it?"
"Well, I have been meditating by staring into it…" more silence.
"What?" Ellis gets a little exasperated.
"I have been seeing nothing but fire. A mountain with fire coming out of it."
"Are you telling me that the Orb is telling us to go to a volcano?" Ellis asks.
"Well, didn't you have a dream where everything was red and there was a mountain?" Sophia asks back. Ellis sighs and finally comes to a decision, "alright it's worth a try, what better place for a Firestone."
"Oh!! Also, I think I just learned to something." Sophia kneels down to set up their campfire, but instead of striking the flint, she closes her eyes and soon there is a full, blazing fire. When she stands up and turns to her brother, one has a look of pride and the other of shock and awe.
"When did you learn that sis?"
With a smirk slowly spreading across her face. She replies, "in my mediations."
***
After they finish their mid-day meal, Ellis wants to sit in mediation and explore his powers. Maybe he can receive some kind of insight. Sophia decides that this is fine, she could tell Ellis was a bit jealous and feeling a little bit inadequate considering they haven't been able to practice like promised their father they would. So, she decides to keep watch over him, while also play with Serena and Bean.
It takes a moment for Ellis to clear his mind and turn out his surroundings, which include his sister, a yipping wolf pup, and a boisterous wolfhound playing a rather rowdy game of such that he has no idea what it is that he forgets that he is supposed to be focusing on his meditation. He sees all that chaos through the slits of his eyelids. Eventually, he delves deep inside of himself, focusing on the swirl of his mana.
In the swirl of mana, there are different images of visions that flash past; too fast for Ellis to fully see or comprehend at the moment. But one thing does is clear. Ellis watches as he sees miniature versions of him and his sister. Sophia is standing next to with her hand near the withers of a horse with flaming mane and tail, to keep the beast calm. While he, Ellis, stands in front of them with an Earthen sword and Bean and Serena on either side of him, facing off with what appears to be some thugs. With a look around he sees a small town with mountains behind it. Abruptly, he is pulled out of the vision.
Ellis gently shakes his head to discern his surroundings. He quickly notices that the camp is empty, and the fire has somewhat died down, he does notice Bean lying beside him with his ears continuously twitching almost like he is saying 'don't worry, I am looking out for you'.
"Hey boy, where Soph and Serena?" Ellis asks not really expecting an answer from his companion/protector. Bean's head suddenly springs up, ears perked back, looking off to the side. Ellis noticing this looks in the same direction and sees his sister and Serena arriving back at camp.
"Where did you go?" said Ellis a tad irritably.
Sophia holds up a couple of dead rabbits grasped in her hands and responds with just one word, "hunting".
***
Nearing nightfall, the group reaches the township of Freyburn. They walk down the street that runs straight through the town with shops and homes on either side. There is a smell that is coming from one of the buildings that sets all their stomachs growling loudly. They follow the smell that leads them outside of what could only be a tavern. They leave the horse tied to the post nearby.
Stepping inside the tavern, it is dark with very little light, and a bit rough in appearance. The people, which appears is everyone in town, are just as rough looking. The children, after searching around for a moment, find an empty table in a back table. On the way Ellis seems to feel every eye on them as they walk. He sits at the table with his back to the wall facing the door. Sophia joins him, and Serena and Bean sit (or lay) at their side on the floor. In an awkward silence since entering the tavern, the townsfolk have not taken their eyes off the small group.
The bartender and the waitstaff are starring just as much as the patrons, where they have all but stopped doing what they were supposed to be doing. They are making no attempt to appear averting their gazes back to their food on their own table and finishing their meal. A waitress snapping out of her daze walks over to the children, and asks:
"Your animals need to wait outside."
Bean and Serena growl at her, Ellis and Sophia look uncomfortable, and the waitress is afraid she may be attacked the two beasts, so she just drops the subject.
"What can I get you two lovely children?"
"May we have two of whatever cuisine is on the menu for today?" The girl asks. The boy continues to stare around the tavern and toward the door.
"Two cooked muttons with sides, coming right up, that will be two gold?" the waitress says slightly bitterly. Then walks towards the kitchens.
All too soon the waitress is back with their meal, the children scrape half their meal onto the floor in front of Bean and Serena. They try to finish their meal as fast as possible, to finally get from under everyone's gaze. They walk up to a different member of the staff and ask: "Where can we find an inn to stay in for the night?"
"Head out the front door, turn to the right, and it will be immediately of the left; you can't miss it."
"Thank you." Both twins say together.
***
They make it to the inn and stable to horse. A Silver for the horse to be watered and tacked. Inside the inn they take whatever room(s) are available, which is a Gold a piece. The innkeeper is not happy to have a couple of filthy mutts inside of her inn.
When first stepping into the inn, besides seeing the face of the disgruntled innkeeper behind the front desk and a board with hooks that has more keys than not on the wall. Looking around after getting their rooms, there are a few threadbare wingback chairs and couches, but also see that the rush spread out all along the floor has already been replaced since it is already so late in the evening.
There are stairs off to the right headed to the second floor, which the group takes. When they reach the top of the stairs, they see a long corridor with several doors on either side leading to the rooms of the inn. At the end of the corridor is where they find their room. When they enter the room, it has two beds with a washbasin along the far wall right beside a window that looks out on the alley and a wall of another building. With knowing what the street view of the frontside of the inn looks, you would know that there are shops next door. There is a small table and a couple of chairs, which is where Ellis sits, going over everything in his head since they left their home and their parents. He starts to set a plan for tomorrow and glances over to his sister, only to find that she is already fast asleep on one of the beds with Serena sprawled beside also on the bed. He also glances at the other bed to find Bean asleep on it. Sighing, he gets up and heads over to the bed with Bean, lies down and instantly drifts off.
***
Waking up at a little after dusk, the group breaks their fast and heads out to gather supplies and to continue their journey. They decide to leave the horse in the stables of the inn for the time being, and just retrieve him later. The road leading to the market area has a lot more crowds of people to and away from the center of town. The people appear to be heading either to work or to buy their own provisions for their own family. Heading along the road arriving closer to their destination, they hear a disturbance and see others crowded together in the middle of the road.
When arriving at the edge of the gathered crowd. The brother and sister pair tells their respective companions.
"Bean, Serena; stay."
They slowly make their way towards the center; being smaller and younger than everyone else, this made the task both easy and difficult to pass through the throngs of massing bodies blocking their view.
As they make it through with some grumblings from the others in the crowd, the twins' eye what is happening in the center of the commotion. Mouth's dropping and eye's widened, they spy several men surrounding a horse. Not any normal, standard horse. But a horse with a fiery mane and tail. It appears the men have managed to already slip a rope around the poor beast's neck.
"Ellis, that's the horse from the vision in the orb."
"We need to help it and get that rope off before those men end up strangling it."
"What do we do?"
"Do you hear that; it sounds like talking in my head." Sophia says with furrowed brows, listening.
"Sis, are you alright?"
"I don't think that is a normal horse. No, I know that he is very special. I don't know how I know, but I also know his name is Abraxas."
Ellis looks to his sister and says, "this is what we will do."
***
Still on the edge of the boisterous crowd, Ellis closes his eyes and feels his lake of energy inside himself, when he has ahold of it, he releases it into the ground at the feet of the men. The ground rumbles and shudders just enough to make the men lose their balance and fall. In their fall, the one holding the end of the rope, let go of it.
Sophia runs up close to Abraxas with her hands up in a soothing gesture.
Abraxas gives a frightened neigh. "Hey boy, don't be afraid, I'm not going hurt you. I just want to get that rope off you. That looks like it is really painful."
Seeing that the frightened horse has not hurt his sister yet. Ellis turns towards the men. Ellis concentrates one more time and sends his energy into the ground, but this time at his feet. The ground rises till he can grab it with one of his hands. The part that is still connected to the ground, detaches. Ellis shapes what is in his hand into an Earth-sword.
.