“Such…great…skill,” she rasped as she slowly stood up. Her body shuddering, bones cracked, and she moaned in pain. “Splendid. It is rare to see a mage use extromancy. However, it is not over, little Elf. I will return, and I will take that sword of yours.”
“Oh no, you won’t!” Eckxio ran and jumped with his sword, diving for a finishing blow.
Ember tossed her cloak over herself, and her body caught on fire. When Eckxio landed, his sword plunged into the ground. She had disappeared. He scanned the area, but her presence was gone. As he surveyed his surroundings, he watched as the colors of the forest returned. The grey hues were fading from the plants and trees. The forest radiated again with saturated colors.
“Akielas, perhaps, you know more about this,” Eckxio said as he gazed at the clouds.
Abruptly, he dry-coughed, his chest thudded, and he fell on his knees. His illness rose. His ability, extromancy, was taking its toll. Using other people’s maju made him ill, but it was his only form of magic. His paploo fairy, Nana, flew out of his armor and pressed its furry body on Eckxio’s forehead. He lay on the grass to catch his breath. Nana squeaked.
“I feel the worst is yet to come.”
Akielas
The islands of El Nido.
In the book of solace, the ninth book in the dragon bible, it said that the six small islands inside the crescent piece of land was once the nest of the dragon gods. This was once the Garden of Eden. When the dragon gods exiled the humans, they left the world of Odealeous, and became voices and visions during prayers.
This was Akielas’s home. He once lived in Danteh Island, but now, he hid in Halo Island, the land devoted to the divine dragon god, Lovamus. Akielas was once well-known in all six islands, but now, he is but a ghost to the world, just like his apprentices. Many people believed he died after his house was burned by Ember with his wife and child.
He lived in a sanctum, an uncharted home he had built inside a hill using terramancy. It was a small dwelling with tiled floors and walls of granite stone. A round, wooden table in the center with tea and candles. Books filled the shelves, as well as old dusty scrolls and charred pencil drawings of old friends and family. His bed was by the window where fresh air came in.
He had been living alone for a decade as a hermit. Ever since he lost his family and was betrayed by his apprentices, he did not want anyone to know he was alive. He was protecting the world in the shadows and traveling all over Odealeous. He had made many friends and allies in his travels.
Akielas’s sanctum had many items he had collected during his travels. He was in search of power and would not rest until his four apprentices were put to rest.
It had been two days since he fought against his four apprentices. Two days since he had found their whereabouts. He had branded them with the symbol of the divine, and they could no longer hide from him as long as they wore the brand. Akielas felt their maju from any part of the world and could see them in his crystal ball. He saw Ember attacking Auron in Burnahdujf and Eckxio in Verday. He saw Hertha steal the Emerald Cosmo Jewel from the Greamos in Mouah Cross. He watched as Naunet and Jairo murdered mages throughout the world. They were searching for the cosmo jewels and collected rare steel.
“I can’t stop all four of them at once,” he said as he stared into his crystal ball. “Now they have two cosmo jewels. What are they planning to do with them? I am itching to know why they are collecting kaminyte and zuestoss.”
Akielas was afraid that he would die before he could stop Ember and her malicious plot. He was sixty years old, and he felt his time in Odealeous was close to an end.
“If I don’t stop them, at least, I have Auron to follow my legacy, but most importantly, I must make sure that Ember never finds you,” he waved his hand over the crystal ball, and the vision changed. He no longer saw his apprentices causing destruction. He now saw his ten-year-old son, Ajira Neous. The boy played in the home of Akielas’s brother in law in Danteh Island.
“The least that I can do for you is keep you safe. If Ember ever finds out where you are, my son, then I won’t be able to forgive myself. I was lucky enough to find you alive after Ember burned my mansion ten years ago. Although your mother did not survive, she left you her blessings, and I will always watch over you, Ajira. As long as you live with your Aunt and Uncle, you will be safe, my son.”
Suddenly, a pentacle illustrated on the tiled floor cast a cylinder of blue light. Akielas quickly stood up and waited to see who was teleporting in his sanctum. The body of a man was forming in the blue lights of the pentacle. Akielas knew who it was and smiled.
“Just who I wanted to see,” he said.
Once the lights cleared, his student appeared.
“Auron Fox, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
“Indeed.” Auron smiled back. His hair was a burgundy color. It was natural, but some argued it was tinted. A unique feature of the blood of the Amaranth tribe. Akielas raised Auron since the age of thirteen. Auron was like a son to Akielas. They embraced each other like father and son then stared solemnly.
“Master Akielas, there is trouble,” Auron said.
“I know. My crystal ball showed me Ember attacking you and the king of Burnahdufj.” Akielas frowned and sat down. Auron joined him on the floor and removed his sword from his back, placing it by his side. He rubbed his ruby mustache, trying to find the words for his situation.
“Master Akielas, it’s been five years. Ember still has not used the power of the Crimson Cosmo Jewel. Is it really that important? Why are they still searching for it?” Auron asked.
Akielas knew that Ember and Auron fought five years ago. She had fooled Auron into taking the jewel from the safety of his tribe then she stole it from him.
“She won’t tell me. I found her whereabouts. I fought her and the other three. They said they want to ‘cleanse the world of its impurity.’ I have researched the power of the jewels in the libraries of Ironside, but it gives me no information as to what these jewels are capable of doing. It is a mystery. If only I knew what the jewels could do, then I would have a better idea of how to stop her. All that we can do is prevent Ember from getting the last two jewels.”
“The last two!” Auron shouted and pounded the ground. “You never told me there were more.”
“I assumed you already knew. I remember you told me you had read scrolls of the four jewels in Ironside,” Akielas replied. He taught Auron many things, but his student lacked knowledge about other countries. “I spoke to scholars in the city of Ironside about the four jewels. No one in the advanced city of steel had answers.”
“What about the dragon bible?” Auron asked. He had never read the tome, but he knew there had to be valuable information in the old book.
“The dragon bible spoke little of the jewels, even in the book of crystals.” Akielas gazed into his crystal ball and a fresh breeze came from the window, ruffling his black tunic. “It spoke of the four races that guarded the jewel and nothing more. Nothing was said about their power. I had visited the Greamos, who guarded the Emerald Cosmo Jewel, the Effeelions, who guarded the Aero Cosmo Jewel, and the Laguans, who guarded the Sapphire Cosmo Jewel. None of them had knowledge of how to use the power of the jewels. They all said that the knowledge was lost millennia ago.”
The pentacle in the sanctum glowed blue again. Akielas and Auron watched as another ally teleported. The blue lights formed the body of someone with pointy ears.
“I knew he would show up sooner or later.” Akielas knew who it was.
Once the light of the pentacle cleared, an Elf in silver armor appeared. The Elf tossed his silky black hair behind his pauldrons. His skin was olive, eyes hazel, and he was only five feet in height.
“This thing really works. That was incredible,” said the Elf, looking at a six-inch crystal in his left hand.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite chestnut Elf,” Akielas teased and smiled gracefully. He called everyone with olive skin a chestnut. “Life must be keeping you busy,
Eckxio. We have not spoken in months.”
Eckxio paced towards Akielas, while staring at Auron. He bowed his head in salute and said, “Odewone.”
“Eckxio, you know I don’t speak Elfin tongue,” Auron replied, rubbing his mustache.
“Oh, my apologies. It’s good to see you again, Sir Auron. How is your band of mercenaries doing?” Eckxio and Auron saluted, shaking each other’s forearm. It was an old hand shake. The Elf and the red-head had once worked together in Burnahdujf with Dwarves. Eckxio sat down next to Akielas in a lotus position.
“The band of the fox is no more. I am now the right hand of the new king of Burnahdujf,” Auron answered. “What about you?”
“Everything has been going well. I am soon to wed a lovely human.” Eckxio gave a wide smile, teeth glinting.
“Oh really. Very nice. What is his name?” Auron held in his laugh but couldn’t resist. The red-head chuckled. Auron loved to banter with Eckxio. He never lost.
Then Eckxio punched Auron’s shoulder, ignored him, and turned his attention to Akielas.
“Voe sewo jata yonta te tou Levita teitra,” Akielas said in Elfin tongue.
“Zuo Jito atno et Ogowo Gazeon,” Eckxio replied.
“I would appreciate it if we all speak common tongue please,” Auron requested.
Akielas laughed, seeing how Auron was left out of the conversation. “Sorry, Auron. I don’t think you have ever heard me speak Ozilanji. The Elfin tongue. You see, Ember had also attacked Eckxio,” Akielas explained.
“Well, what a coincidence. What strife does Ember have with the Elves?”
“I don’t think she has anything against Elves. She just wanted my sword,” Eckxio answered. “She said that her fiends could sense zeustoss, which is what my sword is made of.”
“Your sword was forged by Dwarves. I still remember,” Auron added.
“Yes, it was. When my sword collided with her kaminyte swords, something strange happened.” Eckxio drew out his Tharos sword and placed it over his lap. “The plants in the forest turned grey. Everything went from green to grey. The dark maju of her sword and my divine maju collided, and it caused everything to go colorless, except us. I have never seen anything like it.”
“Twilight maju,” Akielas stated. Eyebrows raised in confusion. Auron and Eckxio were not familiar with the term.
“Twilight what?” Eckxio asked, agape.
“It is the maju of the limbo,” Akielas explained. “I have never been able to cast twilight magic, but the legendary Prodigus Kollos had mastered the mysterious attribute. It is the energy that the realm, known as the limbo, is made of. The realm between Necrovania and the heavens. When dark and divine maju collide, the energies merge and created twilight maju. The energy of the limbo is known to be colorless, unlike other forms of magic.”
At that very moment, Akielas had an epiphany. Something triggered in his mind, and suddenly, a piece of the puzzle fell into place. “Is that what they mean by ‘cleansing the world of its impurity’?” Akielas meditated on that question.
Auron and Eckxio became silent and allowed their master to ponder. Akielas was a pool of information. He had taught Auron so much about the world and even introduced him to the advanced city of steel, Ironside.
“Sir Akielas, have you heard of cosmo?” Eckxio asked.
“Yes, of course. In fact, the teleportation crystals I gave you contains cosmo energy. Why do you ask?” Akielas reached for the teleport crystal, and Eckxio dropped it in his hands.
“Ember used it against me. I was able to absorb the energy with my gauntlet, but it felt so much different than maju. Is such magic normal?”
“No,” Akielas answered. He stood up and walked to the round table. He filled a small cup with jasmine tea and drank slowly as he mulled about the past.
“When I fought Ember, she used cosmo magic on me. It was difficult. It almost did not seem normal. Almost godly, I dare say,” Auron said.
“That is because cosmo magic cannot be created with maju, like most spells.” Akielas sat down with a scowl. Every time he spoke of Ember’s powers, it made him apprehensive. “It is much different. It is godly energy, which is why I fear what Ember will do, once she has all four cosmo jewels. I won’t be able to do this alone. Auron, Eckxio, I need your help.”
Auron and Eckxio looked at each other, then back at Akielas.
“Why do you think we are here?” Auron asked and smirked.
“Right. Together, we can stop Ember’s catastrophe and her fiends. Wherever she goes, we can hunt her down with our teleport crystals.” Akielas filled more cups with tea and placed them on a tray.
Akielas saw the pentacle on the floor casting a cylindrical blue light again. Another one of his friends was teleporting into his sanctum. The blue lights were forming a female figure. When the illumination cleared, a blonde woman stood on the pentacle. Her eyes were a ring of ice and her skin milky and pale. She had small pink lips and had a bruise on her cheek. She wore a green skirt and short top. She carried a sword on her back and animal fur wrapped around her ankles. She walked barefooted towards Akielas. He placed his tea down and gazed at her.
“Willow, my dear, are you alright?” he asked.
Willow’s legs wobbled as she walked. Eckxio stood up and ran to embrace her. The Elf hugged her. He was nine inches shorter, and her head rested on his shoulder.
“It’s horrible,” Willow whispered.
“What’s horrible, my dear?” Eckxio looked into her eyes, and a tear trickled down her cheek.
“Someone stole the Emerald Cosmo Jewel, and I failed to stop them.” She cried and fell to her knees. “They came out of nowhere. So unexpected. Fiends flew into Mouah Cross and killed countless Greamos. A masked girl… she was so powerful. She injured my mother and hurt the queen. I tried to stop her, but she used dark magic and disappeared. She took the jewel. Without the jewel, the forest can die, and the Greamos will cease to exist. I didn’t know what to do, so I came here.”
Akielas frowned and felt her agony. They all sat together by the crystal ball and chatted. Willow told Akielas of Hertha, the masked girl clad in black. Akielas used illumancy to calm her down. They looked into the crystal ball and saw Ember and her fiends carrying mythium. Akielas told them the story of how his apprentices betrayed him. He spoke of how he had raised the four apprentices in the islands of El Nido and trained them in the mystic arts, how Ember fooled his pupils and turned them against him.
“Sir Akielas, where do you think they will be going next?” Auron asked.
“I am not sure, but since they are searching for rare steel, I must get in contact with another friend of mine. Have I ever introduced you to Ganicus?”
“You might have mentioned him once,” Auron recalled.
“Ganicus? You mean, Prince Ganicus?” Eckxio asked, certain that he knew who Akielas spoke of.
“That is correct,” Akielas said and smirked.
Ganicus
His horse galloped through the bazaar of Donkor village. The sun blazed, and the breeze was warm. People cleared a path as the prince came through and bowed their heads in respect. Ganicus waved at the people humbly. His assistant rode on a black horse beside him, a squire assigned to him by his father, King Mahamuth. Ganicus removed his hood and felt the heat of the sun on his face. He gazed down the crowded market streets. People shopped for food and vegetables. Merchants sold accessories and swords. The people were vigorous and lively. He passed belly dancers, who were entertaining the streets, and drummers pounding their drums. Music echoed in Donkor village. Ganicus loved it and wished he could stay to enjoy the food and the girls, but his father had sent him on a task that he found boring and tedious.
“Why couldn’t he send someone else to the pyramids?” Ganicus grumbled.
“Your father is trusting you to bring back kaminyte safely to the palace,” said his squire. “This is an important task. Your father is making you do this for a reason. After all, you are the prince and heir to the throne. Besides
, the king has other important matters to attend.”
“What bothers me is that my father is making me do this type of work, Shakur. He should have sent one of our soldiers to supervise the workers.” Ganicus wiped the sweat off his forehead. Donkor village was very distracting. He wanted to stay for the belly dancers. He wanted to flirt with the girls and use his prince charm on them. He knew that he could get whatever he wanted. Wherever he went, he just threw gold around, and people showered him with all his desires.
“Once we are done in the pyramids, Shakur, we are coming back here for some fun and merry making,” the prince said.
“Definitely, sir, but remember, your father gave you seven days to finish this task,” Shakur reminded.
“Yes, I know. He is just testing me. Father is always testing me,” Ganicus said bitterly.
He glanced back and noticed that the soldiers he had brought had stopped several blocks back in the streets. He pulled the reins of his horse, and the animal turned around. The prince watched his soldiers being distracted and hypnotized by women in transparent skirts and silky garments. The women were nearly naked in the streets. Gypsies, the prince assumed.
“Slackers,” muttered Ganicus and spurred his horse. “Go Kian!”
The horse neighed and galloped towards the soldiers. Shakur followed him.
“I am not paying you to slack off!” he shouted at the soldiers. They startled, kissed the hands of the half-naked women, and all four mounted their horses. They wore helmets in the shape of cobras, chain mail under belted leather vest, and sabres hanging from their waist. They were ranked as Cobras in the palace of the king.
“Our apology, my prince, it was just some female distraction,” said one of the soldiers.
“You can have as much female distraction as you like when we get back to the palace. You came here to work in the pyramids. Now, let’s move.” Ganicus’s horse, Kian, turned and galloped down the bazaar. He heard his soldiers whispering behind him, but he didn’t care. He knew what they were saying. They all spoke behind his back about how bossy he was and his superiority. Ganicus didn’t care, he let them gossip, because he knew that, at the end of the day, he always got what he wanted.
Sin of Mages: An Epic Fantasy Series (Rift of Chaos Book 1) Page 8
