Tales of Aria: The Legend of Damiano's Disk

by Carl Russ III

  Lord Quinn stood over Zoe, wearing full body armor, lacking only a helmet, with a scarlet cape drooping from his shoulders. A mighty sword was sheathed by his side, the hilt encrusted with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. In spite of her determination to mask her fear, she trembled slightly as she looked up at him.

  “Is the information I have just received accurate?” he calmly asked.

  “Yes,” Zoe answered. “This man is my friend. Let him go. I don’t appreciate what you’re doing to him.”

  Lord Quinn smiled. “Interesting... you don’t ‘appreciate’ what I’m doing. Would you care to know what I do not ‘appreciate?’” There was a painful silence before Lord Quinn suddenly screamed, “Traitors!” sending chills down the spines of everyone in the room. He turned his back to Zoe and took a few steps. “If this man is indeed your friend, I can only assume that you’ve been associating with the Spades.”

  “I am a Spade,” Zoe replied. "Let him go. Take me instead."

  Lord Quinn stood for a moment, absorbing the words. He turned back to her. “All this time, I had believed that something absolutely dreadful had happened to you. That perhaps you had fallen into the unforgiving hands of one of my enemies. Now I learn the truth. You’re nothing more than a backstabbing traitor. I do not have the words to properly express my disgust.”

  “Traitor, huh?!” Zoe suddenly retaliated in a fit of rage. “Kind of like how you’ve betrayed everyone in Aria for your stupid power trip?! I found out what you were doing and I ran away. I don’t want to be part of it.”

  “If you do not wish to be part of it,” he replied, “then why did you join the Spades, hm?”

  “Because you’re insane!” she retaliated. “You don’t even care about all the innocent people you’re running over, just so you can satisfy your fat ego! You’re not even my real father! I have no obligation to side with you! I owe you nothing!”

  “Shut your mouth,” he ordered, seething.

  Zoe snapped. “Fuck you!!”

  “Language!” Lord Quinn barked.

  “Shut up!” Zoe screamed. “Why should I even listen to you?! You don’t care about me! All you care about is that fucking disk!!” She lowered her arms. “Let’s see you snake your way out of this one! Umbra sentis ampelos!” Blinded by anger, Zoe had forgotten that she was past her conjuring limit and much too drained to perform the spell. Nothing happened as she threw her arms into the air, leaving her completely defenseless. No, no!! Dammit, how could I be so stupid?!

  Lord Quinn softly shook his head in disapproval, the fury still apparent in his eyes. “This will not do,” he muttered. Pointing at her with his right index finger, he shouted, “Umbra immobilis mutus!” Feeling a brief shock, Zoe found that she was unable to move or speak.

  Lord Quinn approached her as he had before, the tranquility returning to his presence. He looked into her eyes. “If you wish to be my enemy, then I will treat you as such.” He turned to the man in the red cloak. “Move the prisoner here. I want her to see this.”

  “Of course, sir,” the man replied, getting up from his seat and walking around the desk. Grabbing Roshan’s chair, he dragged him across the floor into Zoe’s line of sight.

  First looking down at Roshan, then back to Zoe, Lord Quinn smiled. “Are you prepared to see how I deal with my enemies?” Zoe’s heart was racing. She knew what he was about to do, but was completely helpless to say or do anything about it. In her thoughts she was screaming wildly, trying with every fiber of her being to move. Despite her efforts, she remained completely still and silent, with no choice but to watch what was about to take place.

  Roshan gasped as Lord Quinn unsheathed his sword. Leaning down to eye level with the fear‑stricken Roshan, he quietly warned, “Resistance will merely result in a slower, and far more agonizing, death.” After slowly backing away, Lord Quinn swung his sword in a showboating fashion. “Prepare yourself.”

  Roshan looked at Zoe, “You did all you could,” he said, “and for that I’m truly thankf–” Lord Quinn thrust the blade deep into Roshan’s stomach as he screamed in anguish. It was a hideous sight to behold as blood poured from the gaping wound. Swiftly removing the sword, Lord Quinn stabbed him again in his heart, this time twisting the blade slightly, once it was buried inside his skin.

  As Roshan let out his final bloodcurdling scream, Lord Quinn removed the sword. He slowly walked back to where Zoe stood, leaning down to whisper in her ear, “Perhaps you should take some time to reconsider your alignment. Umbra somnus!” Zoe suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed. Catching her with his free arm, Lord Quinn gently laid her on the stone floor.

  “Pardon my criticism sir,” the man in the red cloak said, “but are you sure it was wise to kill our prisoner? He was our best chance at locating the disk fragment.”

  “There was no sense in wasting any more of our time with that fool,” Lord Quinn replied. He looked down at Zoe, “Her betrayal was a blessing in disguise. Thanks to her actions, I now find myself with a far more substantial source of information.”

  Chapter 22: A Plan Of Action

   

  “That was incredible!” Lucas excitedly commented as Iris shook the hands of the thankful citizens of Azure.

  “We can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done!” one man told her.

  “I must admit, I never intended to fight,” Iris humbly replied. “I was only defending my friend.” She turned to Lucas, the grateful crowd continuing to shower her with praise. “I still do not approve of the action you took,” she asserted. “However... I suppose the outcome negates my opinion on the matter. That being said, I would advise that you work on your aim and conjuring speed before rushing into any more battles.”

  Before Lucas could reply they heard a familiar voice approaching from the western road. “What happened?!” The two turned their heads to see Hagan quickly making his way through the crowd toward them.

  “We’re not entirely sure ourselves,” Iris told him. “Lucas and I heard the explosions while we were practicing conjuring. We arrived to find five mysterious men terrorizing the city. Despite my insistence to the contrary, Lucas attempted to attack the group, leaving me no choice but to fight. It appears today was my lucky day, as I somehow managed to defeat all of them without taking any damage myself.”

  “Damn,” Hagan remarked. He observed the corpses and ruined buildings in the surrounding area. “Any idea who they were or why they were doing this?”

  “Unfortunately not,” Iris responded.

  “Actually,” Lucas interjected, “I heard the big guy screaming, ‘Where’s the disk fragment’ before he threw that last fireball.”

  Hagan was perplexed. “Disk fragment?”

  Lucas nodded as Iris quickly interrupted, “Pardon my suspicion, but I believe this may be another manifestation of your delusion.”

  “No, he really said it!” Lucas replied with obvious frustration. “Ask any of these people!”

  Hagan scratched his head. “Wait, wait... back up a bit. What’s this disk fragment?”

  Focused on proving his story, Lucas turned to a nearby man. “Excuse me, sir,” he began, “Did you hear what that large man was yelling as he rampaged through town?”

  The man nodded. “Yeah... something about a disk. I was just coming out of the barbershop when I saw him and his cronies beating up a Knowm. That’s when the big guy started throwing those huge fireballs at buildings and killing anyone who got in his way.”

  “Thanks,” said Lucas, quickly turning back to Iris who was clearly surprised by what the man had to say. “Believe me now?” Iris was speechless.

  Still quite confused with the situation, Hagan blurted out, “Are you gonna let me in on this or what?!”

  Iris thought for a moment. “Let’s return to my house and discuss this further.” She looked at Hagan. “Lucas can provide details along the way.”

  As the three walked back to Iris’s house, Lucas told Hagan about his encounter with the old man on the outskir
ts of Cymbeline. He carefully explained all of the events which occurred afterward, eventually leading up to when he awoke on Iris’s couch. Hagan seemed just as baffled by the story as Iris had when she initially heard it. Yet he appeared to be a bit more open‑minded about it, likely from hearing what the man in downtown Azure had said.

  They soon arrived at Iris’s house. As they each took a seat at the kitchen table, Iris spoke. “From what I’ve gathered, we’re to assume that today’s attack on Azure was related to this disk fragment.” Lucas gave a nod.

  “Wait,” Hagan interrupted, “didn’t that guy say that they were beating up a Knowm? I thought the Knowms were the ones who were trying to find the disk... so what’s the deal with the guys that were in town today?”

  Lucas shrugged. “Maybe they were part of some third group we’re not aware of.”

  “It’s possible,” said Iris. “However, that explanation is based solely on speculation.”

  Hagan took out his flask and removed the lid. “Well, do you have a better theory, science queen?”

  There was a pause. “No... not particularly.” Iris replied sheepishly.

  Hagan took a swig. “So what’s the plan, Lucas?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Lucas responded. “I don’t know if there’s anything we can do.”

  “Well we have to do something,” Hagan told him. “From what we saw today, things are about to start heating up. It sounds like an awful lot of people want to get their hands on both of those fragments. We know this much, so we can’t just kick back and let the world fall apart in front of our faces. Someone’s going to end up with that ‘Damiano’s Disk’ thing eventually, and if what Lucas said is true, whoever gets this source of unstoppable power is going to be calling the shots from now on. Do you want it to be Lord Quinn or some shadowy guild?”

  “Are you implying that we hunt the fragments for ourselves?” Iris inquired, raising an eyebrow.

  Hagan shrugged. “All I’m saying is that if we had that power, we’d be able to toast all of the remaining monsters and restore Aria to the way it was before all of this crazy crap started happening.”

  “That’s a good point,” Lucas answered. “But how are we going to do that? Lord Quinn has way too many people on his side and I doubt I’ll ever run across the Spades again. Plus, Zoe said that the Spades were only protecting the fragment from the Knowms; she didn’t say anything about them trying to get the power from the temple.”

  “Of course she didn’t,” Hagan argued. “You wouldn’t have handed it over if she would have told you they want it for the same reason as the Knowms, now would you?”

  Lucas’s expression went blank. He’s right... I never thought about it that way.

  After taking another swig, Hagan went on. “I’m willing to bet whoever’s on the top rung in the Spades would do the same thing Lord Quinn’s planning to do if they had both of those fragments. I mean, who wouldn’t want a shot at ruling the universe? Even if that girl you spoke to thinks they’re the good guys, I doubt whoever’s in charge is much different than Quinn.”

  “Pardon me,” Iris interrupted, “but I simply don’t have the time to participate in this suggested endeavor. I’m certain a phenomenal number of injuries have occurred from the attack downtown. My presence as an alchemist is greatly needed.”

  “You’re not the only one in town,” Hagan argued. “Besides, we know that the whole thing has something to do with Damiano’s Disk. Do you really want to risk letting something like that happen again?”

  The room was quiet for a short period as they each went over the situation in their heads. Breaking the silence, Iris spoke. “Very well. I suppose I can’t merely ignore it.”

  “So you’re on board?” Hagan requested. She responded with a single nod. Hagan smiled. “Good. Now all we need is a plan of action.”

  Iris thought for a moment. “Lucas, you had mentioned previously that you wished for us to revisit the gateway located in the cave near the area in which Hagan found you. Perhaps we could start by exploring this ‘In Between.’ I’m quite curious to know what it’s like in another dimension.”

  “There’s an idea,” Hagan remarked. “I say we go for it.”

  Lucas looked toward the window. I don’t know about this. I need to get home to Grandpa as soon as possible. But on the other hand, this could be my only chance at stopping these monsters for good.

  It was then that his grandfather’s words echoed in his head: “I’m a grown man. I don’t need protecting.”

  Lucas got up from the table. “Alright, let’s do it. I’ll need you to show me where you found me, Hagan. I’ll try to find the cave from there.”

  “Hold on,” Iris interrupted. “We’re not ready to leave quite yet. I suggest that we wait until tomorrow morning.”

  “Tomorrow morning?!” Hagan exclaimed. “Why?!”

  “It’s highly probable that we will encounter monsters along the way,” Iris explained. “Lucas requires further training before he is ready for combat. With his remaining injuries, he will need to be fully capable of defending himself in the event that we are somehow separated. This will also allow time for me to pack some essential items.”

  Hagan rolled his eyes. “Please, I go out there all the time by myself with nothing but a flask and my trusty bow. We’ll be fine.”

  “Perhaps in the forest,” Iris replied, “but there’s no way for us to know the dangers which lurk in the In Between. We will need to be fully rested and prepared for anything we may encounter. Traveling to another dimension is not a decision to be taken lightly.”

  Hagan put the lid back on his flask. “Yeah, I guess...” He looked at Lucas. “If that’s the plan, you’d better get practicing.”

  Chapter 23: The Invasion/To The In Between

   

  The three made plans to meet at the western border of Azure at 8am the following morning for their journey to the In Between. Shortly afterward, Hagan went home while Lucas spent the rest of the day training in the backyard with the aid of Iris. He threw orb after orb, rigorously honing his aim and conjuring speed. Once he had become well‑adjusted to the process, Iris decided that he was finally ready to learn a healing spell.

  Using The Basics of Light Magic, Lucas found that he was able to accomplish this task with much less effort, successfully healing his remaining injuries.

  “I did it!” he excitedly proclaimed. “I should have learned this one first. That was way easier than casting the orb.”

  “It only seems that way,” Iris explained. “Learning how to conjure is one of the most difficult steps in using magic. Now that you’re familiar with the basic process, you’ll find that successfully performing beginner spells requires considerably less effort. Once you’ve mastered the fundamentals of your element, you’ll be ready to advance to the intermediate level.”

  Lucas was perplexed. “Intermediate level?”

  “Yes,” said Iris. “It’s the next tier of elemental conjuring. However, learning intermediate spells will be a nearly impossible endeavor until you’ve mastered the beginner level. I highly suggest taking the time to learn as many spells from this book as possible before attempting intermediate conjuring. Honestly, you’ve been learning exceptionally quickly. I doubt you’ll have much tr–”

  “Look out!” Lucas shouted.

  Iris turned to see an imp peering at them from the corner of her house. She gasped, quickly conjuring an ice orb. “Glacies orbis!” The moment it materialized, the imp darted out of their view.

  “That can’t be good...” said Lucas.

  The ice orb Iris had conjured quickly vanished. She took a few steps toward her house, inspecting around the corner to be sure the creature had gone. “How is this possible?” she wondered bewilderedly.

  Lucas followed closely behind her. “I saw a lot of dead Knowms when we were in town earlier,” he said. “Maybe they’ve all been killed.”

  Iris’s face turned pale. “Then Azure is completely defenseless.” Hur
riedly making her way to the door, she glanced back at Lucas. “I’m afraid we’ll have to conclude our session. We need to go indoors now.”

  Once they were back inside, they sat down on the couch in the living room. Lucas placed the book on the coffee table. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” Iris replied. “Without any protection, Azure will be entirely overrun by monsters in a matter of days, or even hours. Our city is already in shambles; this development could very well put Azure into a state of total chaos.”

  Neither of them said a word for a short duration. Lucas quietly used his ability. Iris was deeply afraid, though she appeared to be rather calm on the surface. She’s hiding her fear. Probably trying to keep me from freaking out. I guess she forgot that I’m used to living in these conditions... But she definitely has every right to be afraid. Her life is about to change drastically. It’s a shame.

  Breaking the silence, Lucas spoke. “I guess we have no choice now.” She looked at him, her forehead crinkled. “About the disk,” he went on. “Hagan was right, it could be our only chance at getting rid of these monsters and returning Aria back to normal. We know Lord Quinn will only make things worse if he’s the one to complete it, and we still don’t know the full story on the Spades. As we’ve learned today, there could be a bunch of other groups and people going after it that we don’t even know about. If this source of unstoppable power that Damiano’s Disk is supposed to unlock falls into the wrong hands, things are going to get much uglier for Aria. The only way to be sure its power isn’t abused is to obtain it ourselves.”

  “In theory, yes,” Iris responded. “Realistically, however, it seems to be quite an impossible task. Though I’m willing to employ the endeavor... I fear that we’re getting in over our heads.”

  “All we can do is try,” Lucas told her. “We know things aren’t going to get any better if we don’t.”

  After thinking things over, Iris stood up. “Well, considering that our training session has met an early end, let’s begin assembling necessities for our expedition tomorrow morning.” She walked toward the stairs. “I’ll fetch my old backpack from college. We can use it to store food and any other supplies we may need.”

  The pair got to work, gathering several essentials for their journey the following morning. As night fell, they periodically heard the sounds of various creatures making their way into town. Several times that night, Lucas had to repeat the process he had become all too well adjusted to at his own home when the pair were awoken by bizarre noises emanating from just outside the house. Neither of them slept well.