Chereads / Dark Prism / Chapter 1 - A Burning Reminder

Dark Prism

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Synopsis

Chapter 1 - A Burning Reminder

A sudden wind rushed past a quiet town. Villagers turned their heads to see the chaos brewing in broad daylight. Two horses ran at full speed, pulling a wooden carriage with it. A hooded thief looked out the door of the carriage and watched in awe as he saw someone running behind the carriage, not too far from being able to reach it.

"Faster! Faster! He's right behind us, we can't let him capture us!"

"That nuisance of a knight, he just doesn't know how to stay out of others business…" said the carriage driver.

"We need to lose him!" The thief moved to the back of the carriage and tried to reach for the back door handle

"Are you out of your mind? Opening that door will make all of the loot fall out!" The carriage driver snapped.

"It doesn't matter anymore! As long as he doesn't catch us." The hooded man unlocks the back door, piles of silver, gold and various other materials are emptied as the carriage continues trying to outrun this knight.

"Huh?" He looked around trying to see where the knight was. Then, he heard something jump onto the carriage. Running to the left rear window, he watched as the wheel of the carriage rolled away on its own.

"No!" Yelled the robber. The knight appeared hanging onto the side of the carriage and used his sword to slice off the wheel. He then leapt off the carriage, running fast enough to match the speed of the horses pulling the carriage. As the knight's eyes met with the carriage driver's, the carriage driver was immediately struck with fear. The knight smiled in a friendly manner and swiftly cut the ropes that the horses were connected to. With the horses now running off on their own and the carriage missing a wheel, the driver and the hooded man were immediately brought to a screeching halt as the carriage made an abrupt turn and toppled onto its left side.

The two men were left lying on the ground, with bruises and scratches from the fall. The shadow of a merchant's stand covered both of them. The knight stood above them in the sunlight, he was young, only equipped with a chestplate and armguards. He sheathed his sword, it looked small and shabby and yet he sliced off the wheel of a carriage with it.

"Stealing all those goods from a merchant? You thieves are the lowest of the low!"

"Cas North, you will pay for this…" Said the thief now captured.

"I'm pretty sure it's you two who'll be paying, you're coming with me." Cas said as he tied both of them up using the rope he cut from the reins of the horses.

The villagers surrounding them were still watching. They saw Cas' impressive maneuvering and cheers of excitement were heard from all around. Cas couldn't help but feel warm on the inside. All this praise was hardly anything out of the ordinary for him, even if it was a big change from how things used to be.

Cas was able to bring the two thieves to the commander of his knight squadron, the one that deals with all the troubles within the kingdom of Prismont.

"I'm amazed, Cas! Not only were you able to catch up to their carriage, you took them down carefully and swiftly. Here's your reward, you did good work today." The commander handed Cas a small bag with silver coins inside.

"Thanks! I'll be sure to spend it wisely." Cas bid his commander farewell and happily trotted back to his home.

During Cas' journey, he reached a small forest. There, he noticed an oddly shaped tower standing taller than the trees in the forest. This tower was where mages practiced magic. Cas was fixated by the placement and architecture.

"So this is where the mages train? This is my first time seeing it."

"Brother!" said a voice that belonged to Cas' younger brother, Clement. Clement was walking down the steps of the entrance. He ran over to Cas, excited to see him. Cas turned around and happily greeted Clement.

"Hey, Clement! Glad to see you here. Has your magic been going well?"

"N-no…" Clement looked down, ashamed.

"Oh, well don't worry too much about it. Keep your head up!"

"Oh… okay…" Clement's mood didn't seem to improve.

Two mage students walked down the steps of the tower. They had a pompous attitude. One of them noticed Clement and shouted at him.

"Another sorry excuse of a magic spell today, eh, Clement?"

"I guess your brain really can't comprehend anything!" The other student said, laughing.

The magic students continued berating and ridiculing Clement. Their harsh words made Cas' temper immediately reach its breaking point, he quickly turned around and made an aggressive and menacing glare. "Say things like that to my brother again, and I WILL make you rue every decision you made until that point."

The two magic students were stunned. They heard all kinds of rumors about Cas and were much afraid of him after he finished those words.

"Wh-whatever! Don't think you're anything special, you only became a successful knight because of your father. You think you have the right to act prideful of a status that was set up for you?-" The other magic student grabbed his friend who was saying all those rude words. The two of them quickly fled from the opposite direction of the brothers. Cas tried yelling back at them before they left.

"Our father was a great man and knight. We're both continuing his legacy by becoming strong and honorable warriors!" Cas yelled back but before he could finish, the two were already long gone.

"Brother, you didn't have to say any of that. I'm used to people picking on me, I don't need your help all of the time." Clement said, slightly bitter.

"I know, but those two were being so inconsiderate!" Cas took a deep breath, releasing his frustration. "Now, let's go home. These trees are blocking out the sun."

Usually, their walk home was quite awkward. Whether it would be Cas telling Clement to stand up for himself and to be brave, or if it was just Cas trying to start small talk and bring up things like the sunset or the nearby pond. Clement normally didn't respond.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?..." To Cas' surprise, Clement actually made a verbal response instead of just a small nod.

"Yeah… I don't understand them, why do they feel the need to insult me after finding out I failed again, why can't they just worry about themselves?"

"It's because they need someone to look down on to feel superior. That's just how some people think. What a sickening outlook…"

The rest of their journey home was silent. They arrived at their small and humble residence. Old and run-down, sitting at the top of a single hill in a field. As they entered, Cas took his sheathed sword into his room. Clement did the same with his mage staff. And then, wasting no time at all, he sat down at their circular table. There were three chairs, one of them hadn't been used in a long time. Some time had passed, Cas had just finished making their usual vegetable stew for dinner. All was quiet until Clement did something that was practically unheard of for Cas, he talked on his own.

"Brother, today was my 150th failed magic spell…" Clement said glumly.

"That's alright, Clement. After all, you still have plenty of time to improve-"

"You always say that… if that were true, then why hasn't anything changed since I first started mage training?"

"Well," Cas paused for a moment. "If nothing they teach is working out for you, then maybe try making your own spells!"

"How could I possibly do that? I can only do a few simple spells..."

"Remember when you and I would make our own stories and showed them to mother? I was the one who came up with all the ideas, while you made the best art with what little we had. I know you can make a spell that'll blow the world away!"

Clement could understand the point his brother was trying to make, but he still didn't believe he could do anything. The world had already reminded him that he's worthless on his own.

Clement looked at his hands, covered in bandages from all those failed spells and mage duels. Just then, Clement had finally decided: he wanted to prove himself and show that he is a gifted mage. He looked at Cas and smiled.

"You're right, I just have to work with what I have. Thank you brother." He was grateful for his help, even if he still wasn't sure if his advice was true or not.

"You can count on me!" Cas said, brimming with excitement that he was finally able to get his brother's gratitude for trying to help after all these years.

Cas got up and looked out the window. "I should be leaving, I said I'd help around town tonight." The brothers exchanged goodbyes as Cas rushed out the door.

The town Cas had to run errands for was called Narrowind. It was near his house so both Cas and Clement had spent much time there. To Cas, Narrowind had it all, and you would never expect it to. It was a very humble and small town but filled to the brim with upbeat, jolly people. This was only part of the reason why Cas spent so much time in Narrowind. As he entered through the small arch, he was greeted by many happy looking familiar faces. It was clear that many people were friendly with him, some even looked up to him. He then walked further into town and saw all the different buildings he had grown so familiar with over the years. The small church on his left had just closed for the night, Cas glanced over to see the pastor waved at him.

"Well am I glad to see you, Cas."

"Pastor Liam!" Cas said running up to him. "You need something?"

"Well, it isn't exactly something I need, but the chief has been waiting for you to deliver medicine for him. Everyone else who can travel to the central market is busy at the moment. Can you do that?"

"I sure can, leave it to me!"

Pastor Liam chuckled, "Who knew you could be so dependable? I remember those days when you'd always be running around stealing and causing trouble. Though I suppose it makes sense you've changed, given what you've been through…"

Pastor Liam seemed ashamed to bring it up, but Cas only smiled and said, "It's a knight's duty to help the innocent!" Cas then rushed off, looking for the market.

With the medicine in hand, Cas returned to Narrowind once more. He walked up to the front door of a small but neat and organized home and knocked on the door politely… once… twice… no response. Cas was starting to get concerned and walked through the door he found lots of flowers placed everywhere, it was a very pretty house. He made his way to the back of the house where the bedroom was. Inside there was another old man laying in bed sick.

"Roy, sir! Do you need me to get you some more medicine?"

The sickly man by the name of Roy coughed and coughed some more before he laughed. "Hahaha! Look at you, Cas! being so helpful as always. Don't worry about me, I'm doing just fine." As soon as he finished that sentence, he started coughing repeatedly.

"You're clearly not doing just fine, what can I do to help?"

"If you really want to help, go find Brya. She told me she's going to the forest to go look for flowers."

"Sir… how is finding her supposed to heal your illness?"

"She's the only family I have, being with family is the best medicine in the world!"

"I see… alright then, I will bring your daughter back!"

"Thank you, Cas." Roy said, trying to wave goodbye but he could hardly raise his arms at all.

With one last errand for the night, Cas headed into the forest. He didn't have any sort of weapon or armor as he knew he was safe from any dangerous monsters, which only dwelled outside of the kingdom. However, if anything were to attack him, he had the agility and swiftness to escape.

With caution, Cas proceeded through the forest, searching for Brya. He starts to recall all those memories of Narrowind while he was running further into the woods trying to search for his friend.

"When Brya and I first met, she thought I was a good-for-nothing troublemaker, which the rest of the town also believed in those days. Until that day, I went down to the middle of town screaming I was sorry, for breaking and stealing several things and making everyone's life worse. I promised to help out anyone I could to make up for how foolish I was as a child. For a few weeks, I didn't go to Narrowind at all. I spent so much time trying to deal with what happened to mother-"

Cas' reminiscing came to a halt once he arrived at a small pond surrounded by beautiful flowers. There weren't any trees blocking the way and you could see the moon's reflection in the water. It was as though the moonlight made all of the flowers glow with the most soothing and calm light one could ever witness. And yet, Brya was nowhere to be seen.

"She couldn't have been reckless enough to go further than here, right?"

Cas turned around, thinking it would be best to just head back and hopefully find her back at the town. But also, he wonders if she could still be lost in the forest. He looked up at the full moon in the same direction of Narrowind. However, something was standing in front of it. A Numwood crow, a creature that serves as a sign that someone or something close to you will disappear. This sparked fear into Cas' mind, he was looking both ways, confused on where he should go next. He started sprinting towards the town that was essentially his second home. If he wasn't there to save them, he'd feel as though he had lost all right to be considered a knight.

"There are more people in Narrowind, if the village is being attacked, there will be more lives at risk." When Cas finally got back to the town, he stopped. His eyes widened…

Countless houses and buildings were set ablaze, the town in complete ruin with almost no hope of recovering. Cas knew about the conflicts with other kingdoms, but he never expected his home to be affected so drastically. The terror on his face, a child who had just faced the crushing reality that things that bring happiness can also bring misery once they're suddenly taken away.

But Cas refused to run away and save himself. He began searching the town trying to look for any survivors. He ran over to the first house he saw and peered inside, carefully analyzing the interior to see if any part of the ceiling would collapse and trap him. He navigated around the smoldering home to try and search for anyone inside who was still alive. He felt relieved when he didn't find anyone inside, completely disregarding his own life that was at risk. Before he could leave, the entrance was blocked by a pile of rubble. Knowing he still had a job left to do, Cas pushed over the burning planks of wood, allowing him to barely escape and get to the next house.

"Where can they be!?" He was wheezing and gasping for air. The smoke made it harder to breathe and he was coughing unceasingly. He tried to muster any energy he had left to keep moving but his legs couldn't handle sprinting for so long anymore. He collapsed and fell to the ground, still coughing. He didn't feel scared anymore. Cas was dealing with several emotions at that moment: frustration, disappointment, grief.

Unable to control all those emotions, Cas couldn't help but yell and cry out, he blamed himself for this.

"If I had just been faster… or less hesitant… I could've saved you, all of you!"

He couldn't stop the tears from running down his face. His consciousness was slowly slipping away.

"How did this happen?… I am no knight at all… but I…" He didn't want to give up, but his body already had. It was all over for the up and coming knight.

Suddenly, the silhouette of a tall man appeared out of the fiery barricade. He didn't look familiar at all.

"Was he the one who set the town ablaze? Or is he here to help?" Cas passed out from exhaustion after that thought.

"Well, isn't this a shame… We can't afford to lose an asset like you now." is what the man said after Cas lost consciousness. He carried him on his shoulders and let out a whistle, causing a Mufwallo to appear, a large, dark blue, quadruped creature with horns. The Mufwallo expelled pressurized water from it's nostrils and extinguished the fire in front of him. The man then headed south towards the watchtowers of the southern gate. The Mufwallo behind him quickly vanished and transformed into a puddle of water. He then grinned and spoke to himself.

"We've got everything we need now…"