by V. A. Lewis
There was a face. No— a person. I was going to bump into them! I raised my arms up and braced myself, but they just sidestepped around me.
Swiftly. Smoothly. I didn’t even realize that they went around me. I blinked and stumbled, but caught myself from falling.
I turned to the person standing next to me. He was a Goblin, of course.
"Sorry about that, uh, Mr... Karna?" I waved my hands apologetically.
He eyed me with a sidelong glance. "...it’s nothing," he simply said.
There was a pause. A moment of silence. I shifted my feet uncomfortably. Awkwaaaard!! What do I say? Do I just—
"Well, um, I’m just going to..." I politely excused myself and backed up.
I turned around and continued my walk to the center of the camp. I took a few steps forward… and we were going in the same direction. Oh my God, I hate it when this happens! This is making it even more weird!
Karna was following right behind me. Apparently we were heading in the same direction— the war tent where Gerritt and Victor were at. We were walking side-by-side, and neither of us said anything. Our destination was nearby, yet it lasted forever; a short walk that was prolonged by the blaring silence between us.
I felt uncomfortable; I tried to avoid glancing at the Goblin, but I found my eyes flicking towards him a couple times. That only served to make me cringe even more, since he had a deadpan expression, facing only forwards. Do I say something? Do I just stay quiet?! Do I— oh thank God we’re here!
I stopped right outside the large tent’s entrance. I looked at Karna, and pointed uncertainly at the door. "Do you want to go in first or—" I began to speak, but was interrupted.
A deep voice resounded from within. "Karna, how did—" Gerritt poked his head out of the flaps, and paused as he saw me. "Melas, you’re back."
"Oh, I—" I started, but the Goblin spoke over me.
"Commander, we’ve returned from our reconnaissance."
The Orc stepped out of the tent. "Hrmph, of course. Where are the others?" He asked.
"We’ve been moving all night, they’re resting now." Karna answered.
"I see." Gessit nodded. His eyes flickered to me for a moment, then back to Karna as the Goblin continued.
"We searched out three towns and two small cities—"
"Apologies, Karna. But could you report back to me later."
"Excuse me, Commander?" The Goblin blinked.
The Orc gestured at me, standing idly by the side. "There’s something important Victor and I have to discuss with Melas. After we’re done, I’ll send for you, so you can just rest with the rest of the scouting party for now."
"But Commander—" Karna paused abruptly. His gaze shifted to me for a moment, and his eyes narrowed. "Yes, Sir," he said simply, then turned around and left.
What’s his problem? I frowned to myself, as the Goblin stalked away. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?" I asked.
"There is not a problem. Come in, Melas, there are things we need to talk about." The Orc ushered me into the tent.
I found myself entering the large meeting room, and curtly nodded a greeting to Victor. The Human was sitting at a table, and smiled when he saw me.
"Ah, Melas. You’re here. At the perfect time as well. We were just about to have someone bring you over," he said.
"Is something the matter?" I raised an eyebrow, as I took a seat.
"You’re not in trouble, or anything," he chuckled, then put on a more serious face. "We just spoke with someone at the Infernalis— you know what that is, right?"
"Yes. It’s the Dark Crusaders headquarters; the same place you were sent from," I replied. I paused to think for a short moment, before continuing. "Also, it moves around a lot, so Inquisitors or the Church can’t find it or attack it easily."
A grunt of satisfaction came from Gerritt standing behind me, and Victor accepted it too.
"Ah, good. I just had to make sure that you remembered what I told you."
"Yes. I’ve heard that Human children are extremely dull, but you’ve only proven me otherwise since I’ve met you," the Orc opined.
"Thanks…?" I couldn’t tell whether that was a compliment or not.
I mean, it obviously was meant to be one; but did that mean other species’ kids were smarter than Humans? I did know that due to their short lifespan, Goblins reached adolescence at around 6 years old, and were considered adults anywhere between 10 and 12. But surely their kids are as dumb as our kids… right?
I shook my head and focused on what was in front of me. "Is this a test? What did the Infernalis say to you guys?" I asked.
Victor was the one to answer. "We were in correspondence with them just earlier. And although they were saddened to hear of your mother’s passing, they expressed relief in hearing that you were safe with us. Your indecision in regards to joining us was wholly understood too… by some… but we’ve got some— ah, good news and bad news, if you will."
The Orc nodded his head in agreement, as I waited expectantly for what the young man had to say. Victor continued.
"The Infernalis offered to send a Dark Acolyte capable of removing the brand upon your face to help restore you your freedom, and even escort you out of the Free Lands. Naturally, they’d only be happy to do so for the daughter of the Fiend— Lady Valeria— which is the good news."
He paused and cleared his throat. He eyed me uneasily, and began to speak again.
"And the bad news is—"
"They can’t send one now," I finished his sentence for him.
I sighed as Victor’s facial expressions confirmed what I had said. He blinked in surprise.
"Ah— yes. Unfortunately, not. But not because of a lack of trying. In fact, one of the more prominent members of the Dark Crusaders themselves said they would come here in person to aid you. Apparently they were acquainted with your mother, and wanted to meet you in person; but they’re busy right now, so the soonest they could possibly arrive is in... three, maybe four, months." He hesitated as he said the last part.
"I see." I felt my face fall. But just a little bit. I expected this even before Victor told me there were both good and bad news.
From the moment last night when they told me that they’d try and get a Dark Acolyte to heal me, I knew no one was coming anytime soon; it was not that I didn’t trust the Dark Crusaders— I did believe (even though I barely knew them) that they tried their hardest. But at the end of the day, they were zealots.
They sowed discord, and saw opportunity in chaos. And that’s exactly what happened in Bys— when the Abominations took one of the most powerful cities in all the Free Lands, and even the continent, causing chaos. There was no better time than to act now for the Dark Crusaders various cells spread throughout the world. And even though neither Victor nor Gerritt mentioned anything about it, I had a strong feeling that that was exactly why the young man was sent here in the first place.
I straightened my back, and kept a straight face as I looked up at the young man. He was apologizing.
"I’m sorry, Melas. I know it’s a long time for a child, however there are a substantial amount of complications that—" he began to explain.
I held up my hands. "It’s fine, Victor. I understand. Truly," I replied honestly. Then I raised an arm to my chest. "But is there really nothing we can do until then? Anything I can do? I’m good at magic— I really am. If you teach me, maybe I can learn whatever spell is needed to heal myself."
The young man pursed his lips, and inhaled slowly. "I… can not teach you anything like that. To physically alter one’s body permanently requires an advanced understanding in ceremonial magic— ritualistic spells that take a lot of preparation to cast. Although I am quite magically gifted— as I have what is considered an intermediate understanding in most fields of magic— not only am I still limited by my area of expertise, but I am also still a student of magic, myself."
"...and only my mom’s friend knows this type of magic?"
"Well,
no. There are others who may be less qualified than her, and still as capable as her at removing the slave mark. But—" he said and raised a finger. "She’s the one who can arrive here the soonest."
"We’re sorry, Melas. We really are." Gerritt added in, speaking up for the first time in awhile. "We’ll try to procure a high grade healing potion. In fact, I sent some scouts last night asked by Karna— the Goblin from earlier— to investigate the surrounding towns for any alchemists."
The young man shook his head. "That is our only possible course of action as of this moment, however it is unlikely to be fruitful as such an item can only be found in big cities. But on the off chance that we obtain a healing potion capable of removing that brand upon your face, we will continue our search." Victor said.
I stared at the two of them, as they tried to comfort me; I raised a hand and touched my face. I felt it. The mark in my face. And I remembered.
Helplessness. It was such a terrible thing; I felt it many times before, and I hated every moment of it every single time. I took a deep breath.
"Thank you. Both of you. For trying to help me, I’m really grateful." I said slowly. The two of them— Orc and Human— paused and stared at me, as I shrugged. "A few months isn’t too long of a wait. Not when it’s for something that could change the rest of my life. So I’ll just wait."
I stood up from my chair, and gently placed both hands on the desk. I met both of their eyes, serious as could be, and spoke. "But—"
"Ah, of course. There is always a ‘but’." Victor grinned.
I rolled my eyes. "But," I said, mock-glaring the young man, "four months is a lot of time to learn something. A lot of time to learn magic."
Gerritt’s eyes widened, while Victor narrowed his eyes out of curiosity. "What do you mean by that?" The young man— the Dark Acolyte who was supposedly a genius— asked.
"I want to learn magic still, even if it's not one that can heal me. I want to learn how to defend myself, and fight like my mother. I know some spells, but I was never taught. I need to get better, I really do. So please, Victor, teach me how to do what you did back when you saved me. Teach me magic."
A light shone in my eyes and a fire smoldered within me; the words hung in the air exuding a sense of finality.
Gerritt blinked, then laughed at the audacity of my request, while the blue haired Human just folded his arms. "You’re asking me to train you. Even though you’re not one of us?"
"Yes," I said.
"And to train you so that you can be like your mother, the Fiend, one of the founders of the Shadow’s Evangelium, and the menace that haunted the Holy Xan Empire for so long?" Victor cocked an eyebrow.
"Yes," I said the word again, this time emphasizing it.
I held the Dark Crusader’s gaze for a moment. Then he grinned.
"Well, I’ve never had a student before— considering that I am very much a student myself— so I can not guarantee the results. However, I do believe that I am more than competent enough to tutor you— I am a genius after all. The question is: are you up for the task?"
Victor spread his arms wide, issuing me a challenge.
"Yes," I repeated myself, for the final time.
"Then prove it to me," he said, pointing a finger at me. "Show me you have what it takes— that you have the drive to be a student worth my time. That you are strong."
"What must I do?"
He strutted over to a bag, and pulled out a book. It was a grimoire— a tome of magic. One that beheld in it many spells I knew nothing about. He flipped through its pages, and ripped one out before handing it to me.
"Then learn this spell," the Dark Acolyte said. "If you can master this single spell, then I will teach you. But if you don’t? Well, children are often fickle, are they not?"
I stared at the crinkled piece of paper, before my eyes darted up to meet the man’s green eyes. Slowly, I lifted my hand up and reached for it. Victor allowed me to take it.
I was tired of being weak. I was tired of being dragged around with my face in the mud, unable to do anything for myself. I had enough of it. I was granted a single request by that fake god when I came into this world and I was going to take advantage of it.
I was hungry. I had been starved. But now, I saw food dangling ahead of me. So I gave the only response I could think of at that moment.
"Give me a week; I’ll show you how strong I am."
Chapter 28: Test
I felt my brows knit on my forehead as I squinted. I was staring at the piece of paper Victor had given me; the spell inscribed onto it was called Magic Missile. It was a direct advancement of the Magic Bolt spell I had learned to cast in Bys.
It was not supposed to be hard— or at least, I did not think it was supposed to be hard. Victor gave me this as a challenge, but I doubted he would give me something impossible to learn. Considering that I requested that jerk god for me to be the best spellcaster in the world, it should have been like going on a cakewalk!
And yet, two days had passed but I saw no progress. The paper had nothing but theory— there were no instructions on how to cast the spell. It did go into detail on how the original Magic Bolt spell was modified with a few simple tweaks to become this vastly stronger version, however that was it: nothing else was on it.
I stood up, drawing my lips into a thin line. It was frustrating! I had read the same thing over and over again nonstop, and while I understood the words itself that was written on the paper, its true meaning evaded me completely. Time for a short break.
I was extremely stiff from being glued to a chair for the last six hours, and needed to stretch for a bit. I put my hands together with my palms facing out, and reached up in the air. Then I clasped my hands behind my back and pulled my shoulders back. I spun my neck around for a bit, and began to walk around the room to stretch my legs
I did not want my muscles to atrophy— since I was a kid at a crucial point in her growth— so I decided to exercise for a bit. I lifted one leg high up, until it was perpendicular to the ground, then back down as I brought my other leg up. It felt a bit embarrassing to do a power walk, but at least I was alone—
Someone entered the tent. I froze in place as my face burned red. Oh my God, I hate it when this happens.
I slowly lowered my leg, and turned to face the Goblin, pretending that I wasn’t doing anything embarrassing at all. Karna just stared back at me as I waved a hand.
"Uh, hi," I greeted him. I eyed the tray of food on the Goblins hands, and pointed at it. "Are those for me?"
Karna said nothing; he slowly walked over to the table, and placed a plate down. He began to turn to walk away. Rude! Why is he ignoring me?
"Thank you!" I called out after him.
He did not even pause as he left the tent. Then I was alone again. I sighed, thinking, What a jerk.
There was no reason for him to treat me so coldly, yet that had been pretty much all my interactions with him; I felt my stomach growling as the feeling of annoyance was replaced by hunger.
First, I eat, I thought as my mouth watered over. Then maybe I’ll ask Victor for some help.
I stood right outside the large white tent, waiting. There was no one stopping me from going in; there was no guard telling me to come back later, yet I still waited outside of it.
There was a meeting going inside the room; probably something important Dark Crusader-y stuff. Maybe they were discussing orders from above, or chatting about their favorite types of food. I had no idea; it was none of my business.
And because of that, I was not going to barge right in in the middle of a possibly important meeting, demanding that my problems be immediately discussed. That would have been rude. Who even does that? Karens, that’s who!
I tried not to eavesdrop; however I could not help but pick up a few things mentioned from time to time. I heard things like ‘Abominations’, ‘strategic location’, and ‘the Church’, mentioned a few times; I could have extrapolated some ideas from that, although I did not.
Eventually, the conversation died down, and I saw movement coming from the inside of the command tent. I looked up, and saw Gerritt emerge from behind the flaps of the tent; the Orc paused as he saw me.
"Melas, did you need something?" he asked.
"Hi Gerritt, I just wanted to speak with Victor," I said and gestured at the tent. "Is now a bad time?"
"Not at all. We were simply discussing… our future course of action. There’s no need to worry, it won’t affect you too much. Please, come on in."
"Won’t affect me too much?" I parroted his words dumbly, as the large man led me in. "What’s going on?"
"Hrmph, it isn’t anything serious. We’re planning on leaving this location. Not now, of course. Perhaps in two weeks?"
"Does this have to do with the Abominations— whatever you call them— and what happened in Bys?" I asked, now curious.
"To a certain extent, yes." The Orc nodded his head slowly. He stroked his massive chin as he continued. "What happened in Bys was not limited to that one city. The Abominations themselves have not done much— some have been spotted even near us, but they have mainly remained dormant since they took the city. And yet, it has had a huge cascading effect that has rippled throughout the Free Lands.
"Besha especially is suffering due to being ground zero of the calamity, which has instigated a massive slave revolt there. Last I heard, half a million slaves have banded together and are attacking cities to free more of their own; although how many of them are actually fighters is uncertain. It has caused a mass exodus from the region, destabilizing almost all of the Free Cities."
"And that’s the perfect opportunity, right?" I guessed. "For you guys. Since... you know…" I trailed off.
"Indeed," Gerritt said. The Dark Commander turned to the young man standing over a table and looking over scattered documents. "Victor, Melas wishes to speak with you."
The blue haired man’s gaze flickered up for a moment, before going back down to what he was looking at. He spoke succinctly. "Melas, I don’t believe it has been a week yet. Did something come up?"
