"Wake up," someone called, the sleep could not be broken. Staxius slept as deeply as a hibernating beast. The individual tried a few more times before they got physical. Time was of the essence – though Staxius was out for a week; they didn"t seem to care. Two gentle slap that left a sharp feeling of pins and needles sufficed. Out of reflex, Staxius rolled out of bed; still half asleep. He fell down on the other side, the blanket had become one with his clothes. "Who dares wake me at this hour," he asked with a stern tone. Whoever woke him laughed, Staxius was half asleep. "Worry not master, it"s I, your trusty sparkling and the awesome personal spirit," Avon replied joyfully, he held out his right hand over the right eye and made a V-shape with the index and middle finger. While putting up that sign, he closed the other eyes and tilted his head. "Good meowning." He added with a hint of sarcasm.The state between sleep and reality waned, "it"s just you." he said with indifference. Hearing that tone, Avon pouted. "-come on now, don"t be like that. I just woke up after who knows how long." Staxius faced the window and stretched – the sun rising wasn"t seen. Instead, it was dim and dark. This was the first time he stared out said windows; he always a.s.sumed that the outside was Arda but he couldn"t be any more wrong. The starry sky he admired last night was but an illusion spell to make everyone aware that night had fallen. The reason for that is, the castle was located inside the trunk of an enormous tree. The brown trunk soon changed and disappeared. The dim outside changed into an idyllic landscape. A scene so beautiful it got engraved inside his thoughts deeply. The mixture of colors from plants to the shy sun who awoke with an orangish splendor. It all reminded him of home, less impressive but it felt nostalgic.
Outside the said castle, faint shouts of people screaming made its way to his room. It sounded like a fight, "isn"t the castle of Arda the most protected area in the whole kingdom?" Staxius thought. The scream had an unnatural feel to it; it wasn"t one of a good omen. "Master, are you doing alright?" Avon asked out of courtesy. "-no time to talk, Avon, pa.s.s me one of those swords on the wall." He asked with a sense of urgency. "As you wish?" he obeyed the order but remained in the dark as to why he demanded a sword this early in the morning.
The weapon got thrown, Staxius caught it and leaped out the window. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" Avon jumped right after him. They freefell, the trusty spirit crossed his arms and stared intently at his master. He wasn"t happy getting ignored like that. "I"m sorry, I"m sorry, I won"t go without warning you – but we should really think of a plan about the landing." The ground came too close too fast; the castle was surrounded by buildings – it looked like a city. The shouts came closer, blood splatter and people running away grew more common. "Everybody, call the royal guards," Avon conjured a wind-based barrier to slow down their fall, "-we are getting attacked," the same voice scream from atop their lungs.
Before him, Staxius stood on a road leading straight down to the edge of the city. People rushed towards him, they all stared but didn"t care – survival seemed more important. Arda truly was a haven for demi-humans, out of the crowd that ran past him, no human was spotted. They came in like waves, Staxius masterfully avoided the h.o.a.rd and continued walking. His eyes were set to where the commotion was happening. "Leave my daughter alone you foul beasts." An elf held a dagger and stared down a horde of green little creatures. They held weapons and some wore armor. The horde had taken hostage three to four girls. The beasts laughed, some danced, they looked foolish. The pile of bodies surrounding them told another story, grown men were left gutted out on the street. The girls cried, said men were probably their fathers or someone related.
The elf stood in a weird stance; the dagger shook violently in his hands. "L-let my d-daughter g-go," he said once more, the facial expression changed from angry to petrified. Tears, screams, clothes getting ripped, everything just happened at the same time. Those little beasts began to strip their hostage"s clothes, the victim screamed. "S-stop it," the elderly elf rushed to only get his hands stabbed with a rusty dagger. "Should we help?" Avon asked, Staxius intently watched. "Interesting, these beasts are captivating. They don"t seem to hold any form of intelligence but know how to move, strategize and work as a group. Is it just instinct or is there something behind it?" The screams grew louder.
"M-master you probably should do something, or do you wish to watch those girls get defiled by greenish dwarfs," Avon asked, both were indifferent to the whole situation. "F-father, p-please don"t hurt yourself over this; run away, m-my fate is sealed." She cried. Time had come for her turn, the other girls were brutally a.s.saulted but still drew breath. "R-RUN," using the remaining willpower, she yelled. The look in those monster"s eyes was filled with l.u.s.t. The last scream made his heart sank, a picture of Eira flew across his mind.
Sword in hand, he rushed into battle. Without drawing the blade, he picked up the young girl and took her to safety. Behind, the monsters grew more violent, [Binding Soil]. Avon locked them in place, one by one, Staxius took the girls away from their a.s.saulters. He wasn"t that quick, the man who tried to stood up to protect his child was killed by bow and arrow. The other buildings were crawling with pests as well. One by one, arrows were shot. Each one had a different target in sight, the girls. "This will be impossible to counter if I don"t use magic. My element doesn"t feel familiar anymore, I don"t wish to use it – I care not for the girl"s life. However, I still have to do something." Everything slowed down, the arrows came to a standstill. *Thump,* a black light pulsed through his veins. *-Thump.* without an invocation, every arrow broke. The faint sound of wood cracking interrupted the silence. It all fell to the ground, Staxius"s hands shook. Excruciating pains jolted out of his muscles; it was the same as before – from the time he first met the G.o.d-slayer. It brought him to his knees, the headache forced him to let go of the sword and close his eyes.
"Watch out," Avon yelled, "a faint line, a mana link." Without looking back, Staxius picked the sword and swung, the blade sliced cleanly through the monster"s neck. The depth reached half-way; blood sprayed out over Staxius"s face. His eyes remained closed; the headache soothed – using all his senses triggered the pains but he only realized that moments later. He could visualize everything, instead of bodies; the mind saw something else, flame, the flame that told a creature"s will to live and strength.
Most of the enemies were but an amber, but the sheer number turned those ambers in a dazzling light. Still crouched, they rushed him, one by one, he followed the lines and effortlessly sliced and thrust at vital organs and body parts. More and more came out of the woodworks, defending became harder. The style he used to fight had a severe disadvantage, to stop the incapacitating pain, he had to shut his eyes. Staxius fought using detection; it was triggered when he first saw the manline stretching on to Totrya. Normally this ability was unlocked through severe and rigorous training, with only a person blessed with the boon of clairvoyance.
Sadly, shutting off your eyes and looking at those flames meant losing track of the weapons they used, for they were inanimate objects. One by one, the cuts grew more frequent, he didn"t feel any. Staxius soon got outnumbered, the amber all charged him at once, his feet felt stuck to the ground, he knew not the reason. Avon tried to help but was also kept and forced to engage with the foes. "Look at me, without my brains, I can"t fight. This is pathetic and I had the audacity to call myself the strongest mage in the kingdom at one point. These monsters are way trickier than their appearance let on. If I use magic now, I get the feeling that something wrong will happen. I can"t risk it, dark-arts isn"t going to do much against things that don"t feel emotions. My swordsmans.h.i.+p is rendered useless if I can"t see my foe. I"ve been defeated yet again." Dagger after dagger, the greenish devils stabbed him with everything.
Hope looked all but lost until heavy clanging of armor and weapons echoed. They charged, their black-armor reflected whatever light present. The royal Ardanian guards arrived. The flames coming from them felt like a fireball, each one burnt fiercer than the next. At times it amplified in power, the small ambers soon vanished one by one. "Saved by others," filled with spite, Staxius opened his eyes. The pain all but vanished, he sat in a puddle of his own blood. The injuries healed, "am I just a walking unbreakable s.h.i.+eld?" the monsters were killed, their bodies vanished. Randomly, one piece of copper was dropped. Most of the time they turned to nothingness.
"Master," Avon came rus.h.i.+ng, "-are you doing alright?" he crouched next to him. "Yes, I"m doing just fine." Staxius stood, his face remained as composed as before. The girls were rescued after the fight, the remainder of the beasts fled. "You there, come with us, we"ve got but a few questions to ask." A human in Arda wasn"t rare but unheard of. Two ma.s.sively tall soldiers escorted him to the castle"s dungeon. Everything remained the same, Staxius was thrown in prison to be released a few instants later. The queen got news to what had happened and brought him out for an audience. As usual, everyone was ordered to leave them alone. They scowled but knew better to not anger her majesty.
On the day she announced her courts.h.i.+p with him, many revolted; but she silenced them with logic and wit rather than using strength. At times, her tongue could be as sharp as a newly crafted blade. It so happened that that time was but another example of where she demonstrated those skills. "Follow me," everyone left, Shanna stood and opened the portal yet again. Obliged, Staxius entered without saying a word. They both sat in the same garden. "You should have met me the moment you awoke," she took a sip out of her cup. "I just wanted to go out and see what was happening." His arm crossed, he reflected on that fight. "To that end, you thought it was best to just rush out into the unknown without fully being recovered?" she continued using that silver tongue of hers. "I"d normally reply with "I do what I want, leave me alone," but this isn"t possible now is it. We"re courting one another so I guess my problems are yours to bear? Though adding onto a queen"s burden feels degrading and shameful." He replied with a hint of regret.
"Quite the perceptive one," she stood, "you should be ashamed, do you know how worried I was?" she placed her index finger right on his forehead. "-have you forgotten, but I did say that becoming my conduit will gravely impact how you live." She smiled. "What do you mean impact my way of life, there was nothing of the sort said but I do remember something correlating to that." His eyes fixed on her majesty.
"I apologize, but being my conduit isn"t that easy. You must deal with chronic pains every time you have to use mana or anything relating to that. However, worry not, that"s just the implementation phase – your body and magical elements are adapting and evolving as my power is transferred to you. Also, stop calling yourself weak and feeble, this is unlike you – have you had a change in personality?" She came closer to his face, "- I rea.s.sure you, dearest partner – you aren"t weak. You view yourself with too much expectation; the standards you set are unrealistic. Forgo those pesky emotions, become the Staxius I fell for and go out and become not a hero nor a villain, but a man who has the power to change the outcome of an entire civilization"s destiny. That"s your goal, not to defeat nor defend, but to guide, you should become the leader you were born to be. Only then, as a leader, will you find the answers you seek for." She stepped back and smiled.
"Thank you for being patient with me, I"ve lost track of who I was ever since I re-awoke. But now I see all that went wrong," he stood, the aura around him changed. "-I shall spend a few days in your care, my queen." He took her hand and kissed it. "Do as you wish," she smiled. "Seeing as we are partners, I"d like to have the opportunity to get to know you, dearest Xula." He smiled gently, "will a visit at night suffice?" she added jokingly. "I need but an hour of your precious time," he asked, they laughed and headed out to the throne room.