Sinister might not be the right word to describe exactly what the voice sounded like. It sounded more like the darkest reflection of my own. It sounded like it was myself deciding to burn my vocal cords and then growl as I spoke. The hardest part of it all to accept was that I was almost encouraged, well adrenalized by the idea of what it said. To burn the world... It sounded so profound... to have that kind of power... to destroy everything my enemy could ever hope to call a home...
"Zionai... are you going to eat?" Sehaela said before taking a bite from her plate.
I shook the thoughts away to come back to reality.
"Yeah... sorry..." I said before taking a look at my food. I wasn't really hungry. I had too much on my mind.
"You got to let it go, Zionai. We can't make a difference if we don't know where to do it at." She sighed.
What she said was true. We didn't have a clue where the next attack was going to be, when it was going to happen, who was behind it... we didn't really know anything of value except that it was going to happen again. That's what bothered me the most. Some unfortunate kid was poised to possibly lose everything they knew and everyone they loved, and, no matter how much I wanted to stop it or lessen the loss, it was impossible. We got lucky with the Diagonsen estate.
"You guys look so... what's with the gloom and doom?" Josiah piped up as he sat next to me.
I wanted to complain, but it would have been hurtful.
"We want to help the next victim, but we can't because we have no idea where they are." Sehaela sighed
"Oh... Well that's simple... Just send representatives to all the estates. Question them if whether or not there has been an odd acclamation ceremony. Find the one's that has had that happen and inform them of the danger and offer man power." Josiah stated with a smile
"Ummm... That's... actually not a bad idea..." I managed to say as I thought about it more and more.
"We could actually be the one's to go out and do it." Sehaela agreed
"And since both Josiah and I both can show what's going on with us, they might just believe us."
"No no no, hell no! That's a terrible idea! That monster thing is not going to play well with others!" Sehaela demanded sincerely
"Fine fine..." I agreed, "Sheesh... you really are terrified of it aren't you?"
"That is not true... It's just not... a very nice thing... It didn't care that I could have gotten hurt when it attacked that dirt knight..." She stated a bit cautiously trying not to let herself show that she was, to some degree, afraid of it.
"I understand."
"Hey... I think we should do this very soon." Josiah chimed in excitedly.
"Agreed. We should go to your father with this idea." Sehaela stated
"Oh no. That's not a good idea. He'll definitely send other people instead of us." I said seriously.
"But... shouldn't we..."
"No. I'm serious. We are heading out tonight, when Psiron is high. Pack lightly with provisions." I whispered.
With that said, Each of us finished eating nervously as we all individually assessed our own feelings towards what was coming. I knew this seemed like a reckless idea, but not only was this a chance to help those in danger but it was also a means of growing stronger. Something within me wasn't happy being stagnant. It may have been the rebellious magic creature thing within me. It was also my want to make a difference. However, I was definitely personally offended by being contained by my father and these walls. I couldn't and wouldn't be contained.
It was fundamental for me also to focus on increasing my power, but that was a systematic approach. Every move forward in power had to be harmonious. I had to train my body, yes, but my magic had to increase with that or my physical prowess would be weak against stronger magic. There was also a means of growing my mental prowess, especially since I had to focus on trying to keep that monster at bay, yet not sacrificing using my magic as well. I knew that at some point I was going to have to go through personal means of growing that held a major semblance with who I was at my very core, but I couldn't even touch those realms without growing significantly right now. I had to finish building myself to get there first.
The afternoon passed as I prepared my provisions. I had gone to the smithery and had my personal armor updated which wasn't going to be suspicious as my father had been suggesting it and had even said he'd sent word to his best smith what to make and everything. The smith was definitely good at his job. My new armor was not restricting, resilient, fireproof, and most of all it was black with crimson accents, a color scheme I was very happy with. He'd also forged me some new war axes that were made from the bones of a Quarlem, a very sturdy troll like creature that called the mountains their home and were capable of throwing self generated diamond boulders. Needless to say, they were dangerous and their bones were very strong and capable of holding high temperatures. Then I went to the dining hall and smuggled some dried foods out for the travel.
Soon thereafter, I gathered my supplies and quietly snuck down to the stables where Josiah had already arrived. He was already outfitted in a set of armor that had been made for him shortly after arriving. His single longsword made of hardened hevsteel, a steel forged from countless high temperature recompressions, was on his back. He had honey blonde hair and had an olive complexion with icey white eyes.
"Josiah have you seen Sehaela?" I asked him in a whisper.
Suddenly I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned around to find a very burly man standing over me. It was Bruhom with Sehaela in front of him.
'Shit!' I thought as I inspected Sehaela and I tried not to stare. She had beautiful long dark cherry oak colored hair with a fair complexion. Her eyes were the color of storm clouds with tendrils of stone blue spiraling into the iris. Her attire was form fitting and extremely tough looking.
"You boneheads must have forgotten I was on guard duty tonight? Wherever you are going I'm coming with you." Bruhom stated much to my surprise.
"Bruhom we're going to find the estate with the next victim." I stated.
"He caught me just as I was leaving my room." Sehaela sighed, "I didn't get the chance to even leave the castle."
"If you are going to do that, you're going to need some muscle. Captain Dalragon wouldn't have it any other way." Bruhom stated with his arms folded.
He was right.
"Very well. Let's go now before someone else discovers us." I agreed.
We then hopped on respective horses after mounting our supplies onto the saddles. We galloped off into the surrounding forest at the full moon phase of Psiron. We went deep into the dark of the trees, before Josiah conjured a crackling ball of lightning in his hand which illuminated our surroundings. Everything was dark and sinister around, but I had memorized a path to a road that would lead to the next large estate. Still, we had to travel about six to seven kilometers through the forest. We were traveling well until...
"Arrrroooooooooooo!!!!" the sound of a wolf's howl broke the night air.
"That's not a normal stone wolf." Sehaela began to tremble in fear.
"What are you talking about?"
"That is an Elnorwolf, a monster. Part man, part cursed wolf. Psiron's full state has awakened the cursed wolf within." Josiah stated, seemingly very knowledgeable about such things.
Sehaela and Bruhom dismounted their horses and drew arms, followed by Josiah then myself before Sehaela stated with fear...
"In other words, get ready to die."