His sense of feeling was still alive as he noticed himself being lifted off the ground he had fallen to. Someone grabbed him off the ground and some other hovered over his head in a circle.
"Ashton…" he could hear his name being called softly as the person held him close.
Ashton's eyes opened a bit groggily but all he could see was a blur image of someone's face looking at him. The voice of the one holding him was really familiar and it sounded like home to him.
A small smile ensued on his face like he was drunk at that moment and he slowly muttered at the person.
"You weak prick."
"You idiot! Snap out of it!" Alden snapped as he touched the side of Ashton's head before pouring a bit of magic into him to heal him of the unconscious state he was falling into.
"Drag him up!" Whelki who was also with them commanded and Jamil was quick enough to aid Alden in lifting Ashton to his feets.
"Is he fully awake?" Ulysses asked Alden, his gaze fixated into that of Ashton's which seemed like he had been drinking an exotic liquor all day and was totally out of his head.
"A slap should do the trick." Damien sneered advancing towards Ashton to lay a fiercely hot slap on his face.
"I'm awake!" Ashton announced in his defense as he shrugged out of Alden's hold. He finally looked around and he could see the place he was now was totally different. He had remembered Master Chen sending him out of the room through the window but suddenly, he had opened his eyes into some dark fancy room.
"What is this place?" Ashton eventually asked after he had looked around for a while.
"This is my secret chamber." Whelki announced walking towards a table to pick a scroll up.
"Why are we here? Should we not be concerned about Marcus right now?" Ashton asked again, his mind flooding back to the dying Marcus they had left behind to face a sudden funeral.
Aurelia walked towards with her hands folded against her chest. She then said to him,
"We are here because of Marcus. We still have a chance to save him now if we can get the antidote for his ailment on time."
"The hour of his death is yet to appear on his death tablet and this only means one thing, heaven is on our side." Damien added minding the rift he has always had with Ashton.
"Where is the antidote anyway? How do we get it before he passes on?" Ashton asked again, his voice still laced with urgency.
"The antidote is carefully implanted inside the most dangerous world a mage can go into. No mage has made it inside and come back alive in one piece." Whelki explained holding the scroll he had picked up to Ashton.
The boy stretched his hands out and swiftly collected the scroll. "Is that why Master Chen has refused to talk about the antidote and prepare a funeral for Marcus instead?"
"He doesn't want anyone to die while trying to save Marcus. He is trying to protect us…you especially, Ashton. He doesn't want Marcus predicament to be the cause of your own death."
"Why would I die?"
"Because you are the only one deemed for at this moment who can enter into the land that breeds the antidote and Master Chen had foreseen you going into the land of the barren to get this antidote but you didn't make it out alive."
"How did you know all these things?" Ashton asked again, raising his gaze from the scroll so he could fish out the answer from Whelki.
For a moment, nobody spoke as they awaited Whelki to give an answer to Ashton's question. Even though he was an Adept mage, him knowing about the antidote to healing Marcus from his predicament, the land of the barren and the foresight Master Chen had had was a little bit suspicious to them and they couldn't let the cat off the grind until they pull out the fish it had swallowed at that very moment.
"Tell us!" Alden said in support of Ashton's words.
All of them bore their eyes into Whelki's skin as they awaited his response and as every minute passed by, their suspicion grew heavily at Whelki. Something that was sure to them was that he was hiding something very important from them and they would risk anything to fetch out the truth from him.
After a while, Whelki took in a deep breath ready to spill out the truth they quenched for. He said,
"Master Chen is my father."
"What?" They all exclaimed, dazzled by the new found revelation that had been opened unto them.
"How is that possible?" Damien asked his brows etching with confusion.
"B-but…" Aurelia tried to say but her word came out in a tumble causing her to stutter a bit.
"Master Chen was said to be a infertile man…how is it possible you're his son?" Alden questioned, his eyes still flapped open in surprise.
"Yes, that is true…I am his adopted son not his biological son."
The door of the room they were in suddenly flung open as someone had tried to rush in with an impending news to deliver. They all flinched at the sudden move except Whelki. He seemed to have been expecting that to happen and it didn't come as a surprise to him.
"Do not be afraid. He is my informant." Whelki announced to keep them all at ease. "What have you heard?" Whelki asked the informant that had rushed in.
"Marcus has been placed on the golden cremation pyre at the sending off arena."
"Dammit!" Ashton cursed under his breath walking away from where he had been standing.
"Fancy farewell, huh?!" Damien muttered to himself as he let a sly chuckle escape his lips but Ashton had caught that disgusting act of his and he shot him a dirty look.
"I'm afraid to tell you…" the informant continued bowing his head dejectedly.
"Say it!." Whelki said bracing himself for whatever his informant was about to say.
"His death hour has also appeared on his death tablet and it is in the sixteenth hour."
"What?" Ulysses exclaimed. "That is approximately…seven hours from now."
Ashton without hesitation turned at Whelki abruptly.
"Tell me, how do I get into the land of the barren?"
***~°~***
Ashton made his way to the sending off arena and some Mages tried to stop him from going to where Marcus was placed. Ashton seemed unbothered by their earnest charge towards him as he continued to walk up the stairs with his eyes fixated on the golden cremation pyre Marcus was supposedly placed in.
Alden, Ulysses, Aurelia, Jamil and Damien fought against the Mages who had tried to stop Ashton from going near the pyre.
He finally got to the pyre while the sound of battle raged below the stairs. Ashton looked into her pyre and his gaze got trapped inside that of Marcus. He looked weaker than before and he could barely talk or keep his eyes open at that moment.
"It is me that is saving your arse this time, Marcus." Ashton said to him, giving him a reassuring smile. "I will be back before you know it."
"Save yourself, Ashton. This is my fate…let me bare my cross."
"Oh, shut up! Why are you so full of shit? You think those words will make you look cool?" Ashton nagged at him.
Marcus weakly let out a small scoff and he slipped something into Ashton's hand.
"You say to it…let me out!" He mumbled.
"Say…"
"Ashton! You have to go now!" Ulysses called from behind as it seemed they could hold down the Mages any longer.
Ashton gave Marcus one last look accompanied with a slight nod. "I will come back for you. I still have to whoop your arse after saving it."
"Alright bet!"
With one final look, Ashton turned away and headed towards a portal Whelki was creating.
"Ashton!" Callista, who had been quiet for a long while, abruptly called. "You cannot go in there!" She warned.
"Why?" Ashton asked, suddenly stopping in his tracks with his brows furrowing a little bit.
"I am going to die once you step into that portal that leads into the land of the barren. We are both going to die."
After hearing those words from Callista, Ashton leveled his gaze up at the portal which Whelki was pouring out his all to create, then he took a quick glance backwards to see the pyre Marcus was placed in.
'That portal will bring both death and life…death for me…life for Marcus.'
"This is not the time to debate any stupid resolve! Go back to training like your Master had instructed." Callista pleaded, her frustration and unease growing.
"Well I guess," Ashton said, turning back at Whelki's portal. "I will have to battle death for Marcus' sake."
And with that, he dashed towards the portal and the element sucked him in making him vanish from the scene.