Avarice Twilight

by R. A Davidson

  "So, what are we to do now?" Asteria asks.

  The King motions towards Kaliester. Kaliester approaches and hands a pile of letters to The King.

  "You will head north to the border city of Rahdeur to deal with the urgent request we received. On your trip there, you will deal with any matters that might affect the country," he says as he hands the letter to The Princess.

  "Monster Eradication? What does that mean?" The Princess asks.

  "Exactly what it sounds like," The King replies. "We have received word that a horde of goblins is making its way to the city."

  The Princess laughs. "Your men are incapable of handling lousy goblins?" She finds the thought amusing and laughs some more.

  Kaliester slams his fist on the table. "If the reports are accurate, then the horde numbers in the thousand. Rahdeur is busy defending raids from the Valanians. They do not have the resources to fight the goblins too!" he barks.

  The Princess stops laughing.

  "You are to leave immediately; I wish I could help you more," The King says.

  He calls over Kaliester and whispers in his ear.

  "Follow me," Kaliester instructs.

  The four of us stand to leave, and The King pours himself a cup of wine. Kaliester then leads us out of the room from a different exit.

  We are brought onto the castle grounds.

  "Don't we need permission, from the one who cast the spell, to leave?" I ask.

  "His Majesty is the one who casts the barrier over the castle," Kaliester tells us.

  Utrix is waiting for us on the other side of the castle walls. "Heard about your punishment, feel sorry for all of you," he says.

  Kaliester hands Utrix a letter.

  "What's this?" Utirx asks.

  "The King is commissioning you to accompany them as a guide and mentor. You are aware that you have an obligation to His Majesty to uphold," Kaliester replies.

  Kaliester gives his wishes, then leaves us.

  "Would the four of you accompany me to my house?" Asteria asks. "I am sure Father has heard the news; I would feel better if everyone was present when we talk."

  Aryn and The Princess agree to go. Utrix decides to go back to Titania's to figure out what we'll need for the journey. Well… I don't have anything to do, so I guess I'll go with them to Asteria's.

  10

  ARYN

  "So, what do you think of this predicament?" I ask Barin.

  "It's your fault for wanting to come to this damn city to begin with," he scoffs.

  Still, to think we have to become heroes of the country; it has a nice sound. It would probably more enjoyable if I wasn't being forced to. I can feel the contract The King had placed on us. I don't like this feeling one bit.

  We follow Asteria up to her house. I can sense some killing intent coming from inside. Ermes opens the door as we approach the door, Bayard follows behind him.

  "Hello, Father. Hello, Ermes," Asteria greets.

  We get closer to the door. "Ermes, kill the bastard," Bayard orders.

  In a matter of moments, Ermes starts to grow and develop the characteristics of a beast.

  We all stop moving from seeing the transformation.

  "Oh, fuck me," I utter, just as Ermes appears in front of me.

  I'm sent flying and hit the side of a building, shattering the wall. Ermes is right on top of me before I can react. He swings into my stomach, his fist is heavy, driving deep into my body. I'm pretty sure an organ burst from the impact. I slump down and cough up some blood.

  "Aryn!" I hear Asteria yell.

  I glance past Ermes, where Asteria’s being held back by Bayard.

  I smile and wave to them as Ermes's foot connects with my face. My head is driven into the wall; he kicks me again, and again, and again. Each time, I feel my head indent further into the wall.

  He stops kicking me. At this point, my head is on the other side of the wall.

  "You are quite a resilient one. Are you just going to allow me to hit you?" Ermes asks.

  I chuckle, and more blood comes out of my mouth. This old fucker kicks hard; I'm pretty sure I have significant head damage.

  "Well, I have to let you feel good about yourself," I respond as I stand.

  Ermes throws a punch, which I proceed to dodge. At the same time, I bring my elbow across his chin, rattling his head. He tries to hit me with a punch from the left. I take the impact with my shoulder and kick his knee. As Hermes falls forward, I clench him and drive my knee into his face.

  He staggers back, then stands up unaffected. "Shall we continue?" he inquires.

  I go to ready myself when he kicks me in between my legs. I manage to cushion the blow enough so my balls aren’t crushed, but I lose all strength in my legs as pain shoots up my body.

  Ermes grabs me by the neck and hoists me off the ground.

  "Don't kill him yet, Ermes. Hit him a bit more," Bayard commands.

  I chuckle. "You're a Theriane, aren't you? A Kynan from your appearance," I comment. "So, which one of your parents fucked the dog?"

  I start laughing as he tightens his grip, making me gasp for air.

  "Dammit, Ermes, I told you to make him suffer more!" Bayard yells.

  Ermes doesn't loosen his grip; instead, he drives his fist into my stomach.

  He begins to hit me more and more; however, I'm getting bored of this. Should wrap this scuffle up and continue with the day?

  Ermes’s fist connects. This time, my body stops his momentum. Ermes seems confused as to why his attack had no effect.

  "Be a good dog and listen to your master," I remark.

  I grab Ermes's arm and snap it in half. He releases me, turning back into his human form as he falls down screaming. I punch him as he lands on the ground, driving Ermes into a crater.

  I stand and make my way to the others. "Asteria, can you please heal us?" I ask.

  She makes her way over you me and takes my hand to heal me. "Uh, maybe Ermes first?" I say with a smile.

  "Oh, right," she responds. She seems startled by what happened.

  Bayard walks over to us. "You are not to heal him, Asteria," he orders.

  He gets in my face and spits on me.

  "Well, that's just uncalled for," I reply.

  "Uncalled for? Do you know what's uncalled for? Making my daughter have to risk her life because of your decisions!" he yells. He grabs me by the neck. "Now, because of you, my daughter has to follow the path that killed her mother, my wife!"

  "I can't change the past; I thought I was keeping someone bad from having their way. That only led to us being used by someone else," I reply.

  I take Bayard's hand. "It's my fault this is happening. The four of us are stuck together because of the contracts The King put on us. This isn't the first time my brother and I have had our freedom taken from us; it's a daunting thing. You have my word, Asteria will not die due to my actions."

  I try to show as much remorse as possible, but I don't know if it came across. Bayard seems to believe me as he nods.

  Ermes leads us into the house once Asteria has healed him.

  "Was there a reason none of you helped me when I was getting kicked?" I ask Barin and Isla.

  "Hmph." Isla turns her head. "Your brother said you had it under control, though I need not be told that to stand aside," she responds.

  I glare at Barin.

  "You won, didn't you?" he responds.

  We're led into the main room of the house. "Sit." Bayard gestures to the furniture. "When do you leave?" he asks.

  "Today, Mister Utrix has been made our advisor on the trip," Asteria answers.

  Bayard leans forward and puts his head in the palm of his hands. "I'll provide the supplies the group will need. Money, weapons, gear, and necessities for outdoor survival," he states.

  Ermes brings us drinks and some light food as we start talking about how to proceed.

  After some time, Bayard stands. "Come with me," he instructs.

  We follow him as he leads
us to a storage room in the basement. He opens the door, the room is massive. The place is filled with weapons and armors of all kind.

  "The three of you can use whatever you please from here," Bayard states.

  Barin and I make our way in to take a look at what he has available. We've never been ones to say no to free stuff; especially not when we are offered such useful items.

  "I will not be using your wares, though this gesture is one of the utmost kindness," Isla remarks and lowers her head. "I will use the equipment and garbs I have brought with me; elven work is impeccable," Isla states.

  I walk over to Bayard. "Do you have anything that will increase mana and fortify the mind?" I ask Byard.

  Bayard scratches his head, "I will have to look through the inventory records," he replies.

  I begin to make my way around the room to see if anything catches my eye. I find a pair of metal bracers with the runes for durability that I like. I come across a dark leather vest with metal plates for extra protection. Don't know what the rune on the inside is for, but I can feel a fair amount of mana from it. I pick up a nice metal pauldron with sturdy leather and padding underneath. Some cloth pants with leather armor stitched on, and plating for my legs are lying near them. I grab a pair of tall boots that seem like they'll last. I think I sense a minor enchantment of sorts on them.

  Bayard returns.

  "I found a bracelet that will greatly increase the amount of mana you can have. This is a necklace that will provide protection against any magic that targets the mind," he says as he hands them over.

  I take and put them on, right away I feel my mana increase by a large amount. Maybe now I don't have to get hit by so much magic.

  "Any good weapons?" Barin asks.

  Bayard leads the two of us to another part of the storage that holds the weapons. Barin is already I there inspecting the weapons. I start walking around.

  "Pick it up."

  "Pick what up?" I ask, turning towards Barin, but he's standing on the other side of the room.

  Guess I'm just hearing things…

  Bayard starts showing me the swords he has; they're all of the highest quality. Not the quality of his family sword, but what would be compared to that level of blade work?

  I see a sword that piques my interest; it's a longsword, and for some reason, it looks wholly burnt and covered with cracks.

  "Grab the sword."

  "What's up with the burnt sword?" I ask Bayard.

  "Take it."

  Bayard walks back over. "It is useless, yet for some reason, it cannot be it melted down… despite my best efforts," he answers as he scratches his head.

  "Take my sword."

  For some strange reason, I feel drawn to the sword.

  "Wield it."

  I don't know why, but I start to reach for it…

  "Grab it."

  My hand gets closer to the sword's handle…

  "Wield it."

  I grab the sword and bring it closer to examine it.

  "Use the sword."

  It's hot, like it was just pulled from the fire.

  "Use it."

  I'm mesmerized by the cracks that cover the blade.

  "Destroy."

  The cracks almost seem to glow red.

  "Burn."

  I feel like something lost has just returned to me…

  "Good."

  The sword bursts into flames, I try to release it, but my hand won't let go. The handle starts to burn into my palm when Barin gets to me.

  "Water Hold," he chants.

  A sphere of moving water appears around the sword. The water has no effect on the flames, quite the opposite, in fact, as the flames burn the water. The heat causes the water to dissipate into steam.

  The sword turns into a cloud of burning ashes that begins to spin in the air. The ashes fly onto my right forearm.

  "GYAAAHHH!" I scream. The pain is so intense, I can feel my flesh burning away.

  "Water Hold," Barin chants in an attempt to stop the burning.

  The pain makes me fall to my knees. My arm ignites in flames, which dissipate the water once again.

  "Put it out, dammit!?" I yell.

  My vision starts to distort, my mind feels hazy; I need to keep from passing out.

  "Feel the heat of my rage, my anger, my disdain."

  I fall forward, losing consciousness.

  "Soon, I will take over your body, so become strong for me."

  I sit up, gasping for air.

  "Are you alright, Aryn?" someone asks.

  I turn my head to see Asteria sitting next to me. I'm not in the storage room anymore; I'm lying in a bed for some reason. Barin is standing against the wall on my left. We're in a spacious bedroom.

  "Why am I in bed?" I ask.

  I wince in pain; that's right, my arm was on fire. I can't feel my arm when I try to move it.

  Looking down at my arm, I see charred flesh from my elbow down.

  "I have no idea what type of magic that sword had. I have been healing you for some time now, yet your arm is not healing as quickly as it should," Asteria informs me.

  I look at Barin.

  "Any ideas?" I ask him.

  The door opens as Bayard and Isla enter. "I see you had enough time to sleep," Isla comments.

  I smile and wave at them.

  "From the information Bayard has about the sword, I'd say it was most likely cursed," Barin states.

  A curse, is it? What concerns me more is why did I grab the sword? For some reason, I feel like someone was telling me to take it. Was it the sword itself?

  "Your arm is starting to heal!" Asteria exclaims.

  Slowly, the flesh of my arm reverts to normal. In a bit of time, my arm is back to normal. Seems that a curse is no match for Asteria's healing magic. I turn my arm to the other side. On the inside of my arm is a scar.

  "Why didn't that heal?" I ask Asteria.

  She starts healing my arm again, but the scar doesn't fade.

  "Is it just me, or does that scar look like script?" Bayard says.

  Now that I look at it closer, it does seem like it could be letters of sorts. I've never seen any language similar to it though.

  Asteria pulls my arm closer. "I can't read it, but I get an ominous sensation from it," she remarks.

  Isla walks over. "I suppose I can help you Asteria; the knowledge of elves is far superior to any other." She grabs my arm. "Your brutish muscles are quite repulsive," she comments.

  She moves my arm closer and examines the mark. "How strange, this is the script of the high elves," she states.

  "So, what does it say?" I ask.

  Isla drops my arm onto the bed. "Twilight," she answers. She pulls a cloth from her pocket and wipes her hands. "You really are a vile one, and now I have your stench on me," she jeers. She walks to a chair on the other side of the room and sits.

  "Twilight? What does that mean?" I inquire.

  Isla smirks. "It is a period in the of the day, you simpleton," she remarks.

  I look at the scar. It doesn't hurt, but I feel a weird sensation from it. For some reason, hearing the word Twilight gave me a feeling of reassurance. It's almost like I just found something that I had lost long ago… I wonder what it means.

  I glance out the window, the sun is almost down. Has a day already passed since I blacked out?

  "Why hasn't the contract activated?" I ask Barin.

  "I informed His Majesty about the event in the storage room," Bayard answers. "His Majesty understands your predicament and has given your group until the end of tonight to set out on the journey."

  "Does everyone have what they need?" I ask.

  Barin nods his head. At least we can set out soon. Wouldn't want to push the limits of the contract more than we have.

  "Everyone get ready; the time to leave is approaching," Bayard announces.

  Isla is the first to leave the room, Asteria gives me a reassuring smile before following.

  Ermes enters the room wit
h the equipment Barin and I chose. We start getting dressed.

  "Are you satisfied with this… with the results of your actions?" Barin asks.

  I glance at him. "Don't know, we've been going along with events that happen to us for some time now. Besides, it's not like we have any way to get out of this," I answer.

  We finish getting dressed; Barin seemed to focus on defense and went for more sturdy armor. He'll still be able to move, but the areas where an opponent can attack will be more limited. He chose a robe, too; it's a pretty nice-looking robe. Knowing Barin, his equipment will likely bolster spell efficiency.

  "Going for the mage look?" I joke.

  I see him smirk as he walks past me.

  We leave the room and make our way to the front entrance, where Asteria and Isla are waiting for us.

  "You look like an utter fool," Isla remarks.

  She's wearing a short white dress and slim polished armor to cover her limbs and torso. The elves far excel at making magic armor; I can tell that hers is the highest quality one can hope for. She looks quite stunning actually, though, she wouldn't like it if I said that.

  "Do I look weird in my mother's old outfit?" Asteria ask.

  "I'd say it really becomes you, as if you were supposed to wear it," I reply.

  She has on a green blouse and red pants. The armor is a mix of leather and metals; it's remarkable craftsmanship. The armor was made to maximize defense but be light enough to not reduce agility or mobility.

  "Wait, how will you fight? Your main magic is healing?" I ask.

  "That would be what this is for," Bayard responds as he approaches us. He has a rapier in his hand.

  "This was your mother's. It is a rare sword that many will never see. You see, it has a very special blade. Your mother’s blade can cut through anything, as long as it has enough magic poured into it," he explains.

  He hands it to Asteria. "With your mana capacity, I am sure it will become near indestructible," he states.

  Ermes opens the door for us as we head out.

  Bayard pulls me aside before I leave. "Keep your promise… please," he requests.