Draconic Testament

by Zac Atie

  ”Who was he?” Veronica asked. “Blue Magi?”

  ”Not important, what’s important is… I opened the letter.” Bastion whispered.

  ”What?” Veronica asked, surprisingly nonchalantly. “You opened a official rhenium letter? Well. Aren’t you quite the rebel.”

  ”I opened it with good reason. Because…” Bastion began, but then he takes the letter out of his boot and hands it to Veronica, who takes it by the tip of her fingers, put off slightly. “I hid this… read it yourself. I didn’t know what was in the letter, but now that I do… I think…” Veronica could easily sense Bastion’s despair, and opened the letter to read the contents, not caring about the slight odour. Bastion watched as Veronica read the letter. The features on her face relaxed, and became more and more resigned. The contents of the letter had laid her bare, and she knew exactly what this meant for her future. She sits down on the couch, slowly losing her grip on the letter and letting it glide softly to the ground. She didn’t say anything, she just looked at the floor, for the first time actually looking vulnerable, like her walls and her guard were truly down. It was obvious that it wasn’t the crime she had committed that bothered her, but the details lost to the page, that she knew of. “Veronica.” Bastion said. Veronica turns her head towards Bastion, still looking at the ground, as if contemplating something. “I don’t think you’re a bad person, that’s the reason why I didn’t hand that letter to Varnis. I’ve been here for a month, I don’t know all that much about Trigoma, or what he wanted, or the fear that people have now that Sanctum is here, and I don’t actually care. You’re my friend, I pledge loyalty to my friends before I give them to wannabe politicians. I hate nobility, and people who think they’re in power. I think… I think you’re troubled, I think you shut yourself off from the world. I don’t know why… but I’d like to.” Bastion said.

  ”Would it matter?” Veronica said, calmly. She didn’t seem to have her arrogant, moody tone on anymore. That front was gone. Bastion was deeply troubled by her silent anguish. “I'm wanted for death. I thought… I could leave what happened behind me, even though It felt so close, like my own shadow… I had thought…”

  ”I don’t think Varnis would want to give you up to Rhenium… but I don’t think he’d have a choice. I hate to say it… but… most of the villagers… I'm really bad at showing my sympathy, but…” Bastion choked on his words “Let’s run away.” Veronica’s eyes broke it’s lock onto the floor, and met Bastion’s eyes.

  “Run? Why would you…” Veronica asked.

  ”I care, don’t look too deeply into it, but it would make me sick if I had to hang my head and step aside as you walked to the gallows. What you did… Kinslaying… and murdering Trigoma… your… your father…” Bastion said. “I know there’s a proper reason.”

  ”You think running will solve anything? There’s high level Magi among Rhenium’s elite. They’d track me down and take me back in a matter of weeks, and you along with me.” Veronica said.

  ”On the way back, I’ve been thinking… The portal, is it really the real one? Is it the proper portal to Cazria?” Bastion asked.

  ”Yes. I'm certain of it, I’ve read plenty of books about portal magic…” Veronica said.

  ”Then… let’s open it ourselves.” Bastion said, a smirk forming on his face. “This is something I want to do.” Veronica’s mood improved slightly, hope spreading across her face. She had no reason to deny his help. If she didn’t try for freedom, then she’d die. There was no middle ground.

  Middle of the night. Per Bastion’s request, the two got a couple of hours sleep, though, Bastion had to wake up a little earlier to put his plan to motion. He slipped out the door, careful not to disturb Veronica’s extra slumber, as he went forth to turn the wheels of his plan. He had thought of this long and hard on the way back from Canterbury, and he was a little excited to be leading his own path, away from the ranks of military power of Korreal. No more assigned lessons, as if he was in high school. Now, he was really going to be free. Though, in reality, he was not. He had no choice but to go along with this plan if he was to preserve Veronica’s life. He only hoped it wasn’t a mistake, he only hoped that Veronica was as he pictured her, good on the inside, barricaded by a defensive front. If not… He didn’t want to think about that now, as he was approaching where the next step in his plan was. “Yaevinn.” Bastion said, as the elven looking man looked up from where he was practically sleep walking, near a barn away from other people’s ears. “Bastion…” Yaevinn said, sleepy, dragging him round the corner out of site. “I got another Journey tomorrow, though it will be nothing like yours. Still, I need my beauty sleep…”

  ”Yeah, you’ll get it, buddy. So… How’s our little stonemasonry coming along?” Bastion asked.

  ”Here.” Yaevinn said, presenting him with two Blue Magi medallions. “and here’s the letter’s of reallocation”. Bastion took the envelopes. Inside the envelopes were letter’s of relocation to the Blue Magi territory of Split, from the Red Magi territory of Korreal. Basically, it was as though they were defecting. On the two letters, there were signatures from both Varnis of Korreal, which Yaevinn knew from the time he’d spent with him, and that of Marcus Flotsam of the Rhenium council, from the newly acquired letter in the tunnels. More importantly, the envelopes were sealed with rhenium seals. Yaevinn’s stonemasonry of both the seals and the medallions were imperative to Bastion’s plan, and he had spent the rest of the day and risked his very life on these projects. To anyone else in the settlement, this was treason. But, Yaevinn was a man of true loyalty, not blind loyalty. He knew Varnis would agree and approve of the mission that Bastion had laid out before him, but his position and the fact that their settlement was property to Rhenium would force him to send them all on their way for sentencing. “What do you think of the seal? Good huh?” Yaevinn asked. The seal was of a red man with a shield, and a blue man with a sword. “Yeah… though it looks like a really shit spot-the-difference.” Bastion said. Yaevinn cackled, trying not to attract anybodies unwanted attention by covering his mouth. “Thanks for this, Yaevinn… Truly…” Bastion said.

  ”It was my pleasure… remember your promise.” Yaevinn said.

  ”Yeah. You’ll be there for when we enter Cazria.” Bastion said.

  ”Great. I can’t wait… Listen, I don’t know how much help it will be, but I’ll try to stall the delivery of the letter.” Yaevinn said

  ”Thanks… I appreciate it…” Bastion replied.

  ”Watch your back.” Yaevinn said, waving him off and leaving back to his bed for some rest. Bastion yawned, knowing that he was not fully recovered yet, but it couldn’t be helped. He had to leave Korreal, tonight.

  Veronica was practically fine. If anything, she had had too much sleep. She took lead of the two, moving energetically and taunting him as he slowed down. The sight of this filled Bastion with envy. “(Should just leave the damn woman be).” He mumbled to himself, as he trudged along, holding both of their belongings. They had the odd banter as they approached the train station, waiting and boarding the train to Sheffield. Their overall destination was a small settlement called ‘Split’, which was located in the Peak District National Park, which was an area of preserved beauty. It was very large, larger than Sheffield itself, and boasted a number of 6 Blue Magi settlements. Split is the main stronghold for the Blue Magi, and it is the home of the ‘Emperor’ Dante McAllister, and his subjects, after he took it from the Red Magi, which means it has caverns. Dante McAllister was the target. The two were to infiltrate the settlement and steal the blood of Dante McAllister, whose blood was the key to opening the Voltrin portal, since he shared the blood of the Elrics. While participating in the civil war, he caught the eye of Sancterus, for his prowess on the battlefield. He had many titles on the battlefield related to his legendary visual magic, which could detect hypnosis, poison, cloaked enemies, even enemy positions. Nothing got past him, and for that, he was made into an Archmage. Several battles in Cazria wa
s dependant on his skill, and while he was definitely not the most powerful, he was one of the most valuable, which is why he feels betrayed by Cazria. However, Bastion believed there was a lot more to Dante than was let on by his books, since he’s been living for far longer than the average age of Archmagi, and he has also managed to withstand madness from bloodlust, unlike the Archmage in the tunnels. “When are you going to bring it up?” Veronica asked, in her usual position in the first class seats of the train.

  ”I don’t know, I sort of don’t want to pry your personal life from you… but…” Bastion sighed.

  ”It’s not complicated or anything… heck, you know most of the story already. The fact that they found out Trigoma is my father… that was...” Veronica hissed.

  ”Start from the beginning…” Bastion said.

  ”In the beginning? There was… darkness. I remember constantly being in a dark room, with a small barred window revealing the forest outside. I was… I was with my mother. She had been taken captive by Trigoma… and she had been forced to have me as a child.” Veronica said. Bastion felt very uncomfortable, and guilty from asking her to reveal herself like this. “I don’t know if they knew each other prior, but Trigoma rarely left the lighthouse. That’s where he kept me. A lighthouse. He never had any visitors either, so he usually came by every day, perhaps several time. He would never actually take me from the cell, but he would treat me well. He would, talk to me kindly, give me sweets. He’d change his tone with my mother, and would often take her somewhere for a short while, then bring her back. I never really knew why until much older.” Veronica said, obviously drained. “He’d give me books to study, and tell my mother to help me with the studies if she wanted to continue seeing me. I was taught mainly healing, portal making, and possession… Understand, Magi usually become assigned and extremely familiar to the form of magic they use most as a child. For you, it’s lightning. For me, it’s usually healing, though I'm great at possession too, though I’ve never told anyone. However, Magi also usually inherit abilities from their mothers and fathers. My mother’s affinity, the name for the main type of magic of the user, is Possession. Possession is a very rare and unique form of magic, something that is usually banned. I’ve studied deeply into this topic, and I had my mother teach me in depth, saying that one day I should use it to escape, and that by learning this all at a early age, later on in life I’d be extremely powerful. Of course, my father was a great healer, and the magic from his side was definitely something to be grateful for… but I'm not grateful to him. I hate him.”

  ”Did he not love you?” Bastion asked.

  ”Would it have mattered? I didn’t ask him, nor do I care. He raped my mother and forced her to bear me, then groomed me into some sort of dangerous, forbidden Magi. He always made sure that none of his Cazrian dogs harmed me in any way, or made slurs to me, etc. He wanted me to have a strong sense of confidence, telling me I could do anything…”

  ”…So… I'm afraid to ask… but when I asked you, you said your mother…” Bastion asked.

  ”She’s dead. Yes. At the time, I had loved both my parents, even though I got hints from my mother that my father was evil. I had kept those in mind… when… One day, my father came by as normal. He opened up the cell, and got my mother out, but before that happened she whispered to me ‘Now is the time’. I thought it was just another usual procedure between the two, but…” She paused. “I heard a commotion, with screaming. It seemed like she put up a fight, but when I first heard the screaming I crawled… I crawled I-into a corner, I shut my ears. I put my hands over my ears until I couldn’t hear any more screaming… I…”

  ”Veronica…” Bastion said, sympathetically. “I…”

  ”She didn’t come back. Actually, my father decided we’d move all together. He travelled for ages, and then they crossed the sea. He reached our new little lighthouse, and once we got away from all the normal humans, is when I struck. Little did my father know that I had been possessing two of my guards the whole time, while also regaining my consciousness, something my mother couldn’t do. She had made sure I surpassed her. The guards slaughtered most people in the room, but in the end, Trigoma and his two royal guards who were very skilled remained. My magic pool had been used up… I couldn’t do much else. So I picked up an Arcana and ran forward, and that’s when Trigoma…Father… He told the soldiers to stand down, and drop their Arcanas. They did so. I stopped and asked why, but… he just smiled at me. For a moment, I was going to just turn and run away, but then I remembered my mother’s screams.” She said, and paused. “The two guards cursed me as they fell, since I was now a Kinslayer. Then my father told me he was ‘proud’. Then I killed him. I felt weak from all the death I had caused… it was a concept I had little experience of, but to commit it for the first time had a heavy effect of me. I couldn’t run, just walk and stumble through the forest. I walked for ages till I came across the little elf boy, Yaevinn. I threw away my Arcana upon seeing him, of course, thankfully nobody believed him. Then… Korreal was my home. But talking to people, seeing their friendly smiles and gestures… it frustrated me, and intimidated me.”

  ”…” Bastion didn’t know what to say, and there was a long silence. It wasn’t awkward, because Veronica simply didn’t care about that sort of stuff, especially in this state. “So… I'm not a kind person.” Veronica said.

  ”Don’t do that.” Bastion said “Rage leads people to do things… you were a neglected child, and from my point of view, you could have turned out a lot worse if you did not have a loving mother. She made you a good person, so... so be grateful, for her sake.”

  ”I…” Veronica mumbled, but she had nothing to retort with, so she just smiled, larger than the ones that Bastion caught her making in the village. It seemed like such a long time ago, to the two.

  After a couch ride from Sheffield, the pair ended up in a place called Bakewell. From there, north is the way towards Split. They walked for a couple of hours, and even though it was in the morning, Bastion was exhausted. He had had no sleep since the couple of hours after his fight with the mad Archmage in the tunnels. He had put the Archmage out of his mind, all that blood and fear was discomforting, but Bastion wasn’t a scared little girl. He had a bunch of self-confidence after having friends like Vander, and going to fighting classes. Now he was on a mission, a mission that he conducted. Banter between the two continued, and Bastion again began to see Veronica become more open. During the Journey, he decided to call both his mother and Talia. They were both fine, and when Bastion said he’s going to be a ‘little’ late, Talia showed a little disappointment, then reverted to happiness when she came to an idea that she would visit if he took too long, which motivated him to hurry the hell up with what he was doing. He often wondered if he would stay with Talia when he was done here, if he would end up finishing this scenario and closing the book on a ‘and they lived happily ever after’, but he didn’t know how exactly he’d feel if he turned his back on the rest of what he predicted would come if he continued. Whenever he investigated on things, he ended up finding answers that led to more questions. On top of everything else, it sounded from Veronica’s story that Sanctum were here much longer than anybody actually believes. He could confirm this, but he was certain of it, and going back to the topic didn’t really suit him. Her personality made sense after hearing her story, and it made him determined to go along with the plan. She was not innocent, but her actions were justified. “Urgh…” Bastion yawned, stretching.

  ”Tired already?” Veronica asked.

  ”Already? You mean after hours of travelling abruptly after a mission? Nah, I'm totally fine, it’s nothing.” Bastion said.

  ”You’re a kitty cat.” Veronica said, smirking as if it was an insult.

  ”A kitty cat?” Bastion asked, confused.

  ”You know… a wimp.” Veronica explained.

  ”Yeah… Yeah, I see. Very effective.” Bastion said, smirking. Before Veronica could snap at him for his conde
scending tone, he interrupted her. “Ah, so, yeah! Let’s go get some coffee! I feel like I'm about to fall over. Over there.” Bastion said, pointing at a café.

  ”I wonder… what does it taste like?” Veronica asked.

  ”I would have indulged your curiosity if you cared not to run away with my stuff that one time you came to my house.” Bastion said.

  The pair entered the coffee shop. There wasn’t many people around, since it had just opened. They were greeted by the attendants and seated. Bastion ordered two coffees, and sat patiently, waiting for them. “This should be… interesting. I hear people in cities talk about this sort of drink all the time, but I’ve never actually tasted one.” Veronica said.

  ”You must be the only 22 year old in Britain who doesn’t know what coffee tastes like, yet alone how to make it.” Bastion laughed.

  ”Not too loud, idiot…” Veronica said, noticing one of the older female attendants overheard their conversation and squint her eyes at Veronica. “What’s wrong with you?”

  ”Oh, crap. Sorry. It doesn’t matter, they’re ignorant of what we’re saying. Though… you still look like a pretty teenager.” He whispered. Veronica picked up a menu to try to hide her slight blush, and pretended not to hear what Bastion said. The coffee arrived, and the pair took sips out of the cup. “It’s nasty…” Veronica said. “I like it.”

  ”Alright then (!)” Bastion said.

  ”I forgot to tell you this, but…” Veronica began.

  ”What?” Bastion asked.

  ”Varnis was anxious about you. You may have been kicked out, or sent to Rhenium even if you didn’t leave Korreal… not that I'm saying that to make you happy you took this route… just…” Veronica explained.