A humanoid monster throws its head and spews emerald flames into the sky as a crowd stands on a hill helplessly watching the destruction that befalls on their homes. Within the crowd a young Gavin grits his teeth and clenches his fists, "I am utterly useless," he thinks to himself as he watches his home being destroyed. "All I can do is wait for reinforcement from the guild. Within the hellish inferno the monster turns and faces the hill, it looks as though it was staring directly at him. Fear grips his heart and he reaches for his sword but a reassuring hand reaches out and touches his, it was his teacher's pregnant wife,
"We are safe here Gavin." she says. Before he could respond flames overtake him and disintegrate her, leaving behind a charred skeleton.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," whimpers the lad as he falls to his knees, surrounded by the charred remains of the people around him.
Gavin jolts forward from his night terror as his eyes dart about to make sense of the foreign environment, his head pounding and he has woken up to pitch blackness. He takes a moment to calm his racing heart and lays back down. After a few minutes of doing nothing the image of the Priest's smug face flashes in his head motivating him to rise to his feet.
"I'm going to fucking kill that bastard." He mutters, the knight groans in pain as he opens the door and steps outside. He can see just how banged up his body was in the sun; cuts and bruises decorate his bare torso. It has been a good while since he felt this shitty. He shields his eyes from the sun's glaring gaze, grits his teeth and sits up. The vast acres of forestry were all he can make out.
"You woke up faster than we expected."
Gavin instinctively reaches for his sword only to find the belt around his waist empty. "Don't bother, Graham has your weapons." A dusty boy, with scarlet hair and dark black eyes dressed in torn clothes, emerges from the forest depths. Despite being no older than thirteen Gavin notices the lad has a hardened gaze he has only seen on men and women who had become comfortable with the horrible things in life. "Let me show you around," the boy continues before backing away into the shadows of the forest. Gavin follows after the lad.
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"Is it okay if we make a stop, there's someone I need to check up on?" Maria says as she places her hands behind her back and playfully nudges Alex with her shoulder.
"Sure. It's not like we are in a hurry to stop a cult or anything," says Alex. She smiles and takes a left turn into one of the empty streets in White Stone and waves at him to follow her, which he does. They climb up a marble stair case to a stone clearing. Seated on a bench watching the city is a young pregnant woman dressed in white and blue. She has blonde curly hair that touches her shoulders, dark grey eyes that contrast her fair skin and a youthful but bony facial structure, with a linen floral dress indicating her noble status.
"It's time for your check-up, Grace." says Maria with a smile as she sits next to woman. "I am so sorry I'm late, but I brought one Alexander Broinson to make sure you get home safe, he's a knight."
"He looks awfully young to be a knight, how old are you sir knight?" asks Grace.
"You're one to talk, you barely look fifteen." Of course Alex didn't say what he was thinking, he simply bows his head and responds, "Eighteen."
"My apologies. Let me introduce you two. This lovely lady is my client, Grace. Grace, this scrawny knight is Alex. I'm teaching him magic." Alex bows again courteously.
"I'm not much of an expert, but can knights learn magic?" Grace asked.
"He's special," Maria grins and places her right hand on Grace's belly. "He isn't the only one that's special. Not only does your baby have very strong essence pathways, you should be giving birth in three days' time, give or take." Grace's face lights up with joy, she gives off a high pitched scream and grabs Maria in a tight embrace.
"I'm so happy, if only Reed was here to share my joy!" she shrieks.
"Is Reed the father?" Alex asks. "Is he not in White Stone?"
His question is met with a brief silence.
"He went missing," replies Maria.
"He didn't just go missing," says Grace emotionlessly. "He was killed by Rebirth. He wouldn't just leave us of his own free will. He was murdered." Alex glances at Maria, but only receives a sorrowful glance back. Eventually he kneels by Grace and holds her hand gently
"Lady Grace, I promise you. We will get the bottom of the cult." Maria smiles after hearing Alex's declaration.
"Thank you Alex, but before that could you help a pregnant widow to her feet and escort her home?"
"Don't worry, we are borrowing her garden for our next lesson," winks Maria.
"It will be my pleasure Lady Grace." Alex says as he helps her onto her feet. Alex saw a single tear roll down her face as she turned her attention to the orange twilight of the setting sun.
"He would have loved to see this."
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It didn't take long for the knight to pick the scent of roast meat and hear excited chattering in the distance. With each step he takes, the chattering grows louder and the scents become stronger, but he has lost sight of the boy. As he reaches the source of the scent he trips over an outstretched root causing him to stumble through thick shrubs and knocks over a pot of brown meaty stew. He looks around at the upset faces that surrounded him, who were ready to tear him limb from limb, then looks ahead to see the lad by a body of water next to an old man in a canoe, then proceeds to bless the eyes of all the people around with his erected middle fingers without a shroud emotion on his face, and carries on walking. The old man stands in a canoe with a spear, his eyes locked on the murky green water.
"I must thank you for your assistance with the cult," Gavin says. The old man's focus remains on the water, but he cracks a dry smile.
"And thank you for not killing me when we met outside the city," says the old man. "I know when I'm out matched. If you wanted to you could have ended our scuffle in an instance. Can I ask why you didn't?"
"I had a feeling I would need you later."
"Now you listen here..." he stabs the water and pulls out the spear with a large sliver fish impaled on its tip.
"I am listening," Gavin examines the squirming creature on his spear.
"Do you like fish?" Gavin remained silent. "Light a fire, knight. The answers you seek are not for the faint of heart, or an empty stomach."
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Maria and Alex stand side by side in Grace's massive garden, gazing at the giant tree that towers over them. Maria steps forward and runs her hand across the twisted knouts in the bark. "Accessing your well is the bare minimum requirement for magic."
"I'm ready for whatever comes next," says Alex. Maria slightly turns her head and sees the determination burning in his eyes. She smirks and turns her attention to the tree once again.
"What you're going to practice is the Mage principal of foundation." A surge of green energy ripples from her hand across the body of the tree. "Foundation is the ability to strengthen physical matter using your life essence. Right now every ounce of this tree is as hard as iron, so to pass this exercise, you need to use foundation on your sword and strengthen it enough to cut it down with one single swing."
"Okay, sounds easy enough." He draws his sword and closes his eyes. In the dark void he sees the swirling pool of green plasma. He opens his eyes, inhales deeply, and swings his blade with all his might.
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The scent of roast fish didn't distract Gavin even though he hasn't eaten all day, instead he watches the flames slowly lick the white flesh impaled on a sharp stick in silence. The old man Graham coughed as he rubbed his hands together against the glowing ambers.
"To be honest, I'm uncertain of whether I should trust you," says the old man.
"You made me wait for half an hour and watch you cook that bloody fish, just to say you don't trust me?"
"I have seen you with her, the witch. For all I know this could be part of her plan to find me"
"Witch? You mean Maria?"
"Maria" the old man repeats. Gavin is unsure of what is going on but under the light of the low flames, he can't help but also feel some of the sadness that envelopes the old man. "That she-devil has corrupted White Stone and killed hundreds"
"So, what is she after?"
"…Sacrifices."
Gavin, now more attentive, asks "Sacrifices for what?"
"To kill the Forest King."
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Alex's bloodied hands tremble as he raises the sword and swings it at the tree again and again. The collision between the blade and the iron hard wood sent waves of pain up his hand into his shoulders with each strike, eventually forcing him to drop the sword when the pain became unbearable. He let out a groan and examines the wounds on his palms.
"I just suck at this," chuckles Alex.
"Maybe." says Maria "Or maybe I'm teaching you wrong." Alex raises his head and looks at Maria's concerned face. He forces a smile and reaches for the discarded sword, but a hand grabs his wrist. "Repeating the same action and hoping for a different outcome is madness."
"Is that a mage proverb?" Alex asks. "I don't have beast essence like Max or Gavin, and apparently I suck at magic." The despair that lays dormant in Alex's heart cracks through his control, and a tear attempts to run down his face, but he holds it back turns his back on the tree and Maria. "I think I should just give up and go home." He feels pressure around his waist and something leaning against his back. He looks down and sees Maria's arms embracing him.
"This is principal of foundation," she whispers gently "It's not about essence and matter, it's just something supporting something so it can be stronger. You can be stronger Alex." Alex rubs the tear from his eyes and turns around to face her. She places the sword in his hands and kisses his cheek. Alex nods and steps towards the tree, he closes his eyes and thinks of his Parents, his siblings and Maria as a green flame began to burn on the edge of his blade. He swings the sword with all his might and strikes the tree with an earthshattering bang. The lad opens his eyes to see a small chip had been nicked off the tree.
"You did it!" says an elated Maria who claps and jumps in joy. Alex drops the blade and lets out a loud yell as he begins to punch the air furiously. Maria runs and gives him a hug from the back to which Alex swiftly turns and holds her in the clutches of his embrace, as they both give off unified cries and laughs of victory. Suddenly the drawback of all the repeated swings catch up with the lad, leaving him powerless as he falls to the ground with Maria on top of him. She sits up and he looks up at her through his tear gazed eyes, she fitted perfectly with the canvas of celestial bodies looking down at him. He reaches out and touches her face forgetting his hands where stained with blood leaving a red hand print on her face.
"I am sorry, I need to wash my hands." Maria seemed unbothered by the blood, she bends over and kisses him passionately as she loosens the armour on his torso. Alex does not resist; with each kiss she gives him he returns a deeper more intimate one. Maria pulls away from him, Alex sees tears running down her face.
"I need to tell you something, I'm not the person you think I am." Alex sits up and embraces her tightly.
"Whoever you are, I want to be with you always." He feels her warm tears trickle down his bare back.
"Okay" She whispers, before gently pushing Alex back down and loosening the white straps bandaged around her chest.
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"I see, that's the whole story," remarks Gavin, his eyes resting on the fish bones in the dying ambers.
"It's a tragic tale." Retorted Graham.
"I will not let another emerald night, happen. I swear on my honour as a knight of the realm."
"Thank you, your resolve is reassuring to this old man."
"My only question, is Alex the final sacrifice you speak off? He meets the criteria you described."
"You see, she…" the sound of a loud thunderous explosion from deep within the forest interrupts Graham. They quickly get up and race towards the sound only to find a man dressed in black and red