Tale of Eldramir

Unaware of who had arrived in the waypoint town he had just left; Ezekiel strode confidently through the desert. Dressed in darkened garb to better blend into the darkness of the night as he traveled.

Any and all tracks had been long erased as the dry winds blew the sand around during the day. Though Ezekiel’s training allowed him to navigate just fine due to the clear night. He also had a compass if it got cloudy. But those could be fooled with certain applications of magic, so they were usually only used on ships where such means were more difficult to implement.

“That bad feeling still isn’t going away.” Shine said. “Do you think we’re going to be ambushed anytime soon?”

“I’d give it a few more hours. We’re still close enough to the city to be seen if a battle breaks out.” Ezekiel said. “But that’s more of a concern for large groups. Keep sensing for smaller, more subtle, ambushes, just in case.”

Shine conveyed a feeling of confirmation as they focused on spreading their senses in all directions. Little to nothing occurred as they continued marching on. Outside of a few mundane animals here and there that seemed content to do their own thing.

There was a moment, after another hour or so, when a pack of wild dogs crossed their path, but a quick flare of mana had them scurrying away. Although, the fact that they ran back in the exact direction that they’d come from, in a tightly knit group, was somewhat suspicious.

“Don’t most animals tend to flee in an unorganized manner when scared off by mana?” Shine asked. “That didn’t seem normal.”

“Yes, they do, and no that wasn’t.” Ezekiel replied. “But there’s no reason to let them know that we know. How deep into the sand can you sense?”

“A bit over a dozen meters. Enough to react if attacked. If it was entirely bedrock, then we’d be in trouble.” Shine informed him.

“Hmm. Good job. Your sensing abilities are better than mine. I can barely make it ten meters down.” Ezekiel said. The feeling of contentment and pride emanating from Shine put a smile on his face.

The two continued walking in silence for a few more minutes. Nothing happened during this time, and Ezekiel was wondering if he’d been a bit too paranoid. He’d have thought that whatever ambush was awaiting them would’ve been set off by now.

“Why are we turning?” Shine suddenly asked. “I thought we were just going to head straight to the city. Where are we going now?”

Ezekiel nearly stopped moving in shock. He hadn’t turned. At least, not as far as he was aware.

“Am I still walking in a different direction?” Ezekiel asked. “From what I’m seeing, I’m still going straight. If I’m still changing direction, then we’ve walked into a magical formation that alters the senses.”

“We’ve fully changed directions. What should we do?” Shine asked in a worried tone.

“I don’t really feel like fighting right now. Might as well save it for if we run into another group.” Ezekiel said as he continued walking. “Should we Jump?”

“That should be fine. You or me?” Shine said.

“You. I’ll Shroud us first.” Ezekiel said.

Ezekiel mentally counted down from three, even as he continued walking. When he hit zero, he was immediately Shrouded by a veil of Void mana that hid him from any and all forms of observations. The only thing visible were his footprints.

As he disappeared, there was a brief moment where both he and Shine sensed something tunneling up from below them. Something large that they suspected was a group of several Apprentice level Cavern Spirits.

But the sensation only lasted a moment before the two of them found themselves nearly a hundred meters back in the direction they came from. A little bit past where Ezekiel had forest deviated from their path. Something that might throw their ambushers off. At least for a little bit.

Not bothering to stick around, Ezekiel made a mad dash towards the city. But he changed how he ran so as to not kick up as much sand. After running for a bit, he also had Shine lower his gravity. This allowed him to make fairly large leaps without landing too hard and kicking up clouds of dust.

“Let me know when you’re running low on mana. I know that Jump would’ve taken a lot out of you.” Ezekiel told Shine. “When you get to three Steps, we’ll slow down our pace. We don’t need to get to the city tonight, after all.”

Shine didn’t say anything, but Ezekiel could feel their agreement as they concentrated on maintaining the reduced gravity. Focusing on his own mana, Ezekiel increased his pace, ever so slightly, so as to get as much distance between him and his ambushers as possible.

He didn’t want whatever came after them next to be able to team up and get him later. He already didn’t like the fact that they’d both be at less than top condition whenever the next ambush arrived.

It was well into the morning, but still before sunrise when Ezekiel and Shine ran into another ambush. They had stopped using their mana a couple of hours previously, regarding their mana for the most part. Something that was fortunate for Ezekiel, as he realized that it was unlikely that they’d get out of this ambush as easily as the last.

“MOVE!” Shine yelled, their perception allowing them to sense the ambush from above slightly earlier than Ezekiel.

Without even thinking about it, Ezekiel launched himself to the side. Throwing up a Shroud, just in case, Ezekiel spread his senses out to try and get a sense of what was happening. As he looked around, a trio of spears pierced the sand where he had just been standing.

Plumes of sand sprouted up into the air. Taking a moment to examine them, Ezekiel immediately jumped further away as he saw the enchantments on the spears lighting up.

Whips of lightning sprouted outwards as Ezekiel just barely managed to get out of the range of the spells. But even so, he didn’t stop moving as he made the distance between him and the spears larger and larger. As the lightning fizzled out, three bandits dressed similarly to Ezekiel landed next to the Spears.

Ezekiel couldn't help but swallow nervously. While he and Shine had regained most of their mana, the fact that the leader of these bandits was an Adept Hunter wasn’t good. The Apprentice Mages that accompanied him were also a problem.

“Jump!” Ezekiel mentally exclaimed. Shine immediately did as they were told, and they Jumped themself and Ezekiel as far as they could.

Making it nearly three hundred meters away, Ezekiel didn’t give Shine a chance to catch their breath before they were off once again. Using their mental connection, Ezekiel conveyed his plan. Shine reduced Ezekiel’s gravity as much as possible, which Allowed Ezekiel to jump an incredible distance and kicked up a relatively large plume of sand into the air.

As they were still moving upwards, Ezekiel added his mana to Shine’s. Doing so, he managed to relieve some of the burden, and they found themselves continuing to fly through the air as they temporarily left the pull of gravity. Given that they were still under the effects of the Shroud, it was almost impossible to tell where they had gone.

They spent nearly fifteen minutes floating without the pull of gravity as they flew into the distance, still gaining height as they continued their initial trajectory. As they allowed their gravity to increase, and the air resistance slowed them down, they eventually fell to the ground. But they were more than a fair distance from where they were before.

Seeing that the sky was beginning to brighten as the sun slowly crept up towards the horizon, Ezekiel let out a sigh as he looked around.

“We are not in a good spot.” He muttered aloud. “I’d have liked to be able to take a break. Maybe find some place to set up our shelter. But it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.”

Looking into the distance, he could see a large avian Spirit flying in slowly expanding circles. It was the Adept Bandit from before. They were still several kilometers away, but Ezekiel knew that he couldn’t afford to stay where they were if they wanted to avoid a fight.

Knowing that Shine was nearly spent from their Jump and Gravity spells, Ezekiel knew he’d have to go it alone when it came to the magic. At least for now.

Combining his Gravity reduction with his Shroud and physical enhancements was difficult. But it wasn’t something he hadn’t done before. Setting off at a decent pace, Ezekiel found himself moving further and further from the bandits as the was rising. The heat immediately began increasing as it did.

Grumbling to himself, he could only hope that the other groups of Hunters had managed to get past these bandits without too many issues. It wouldn’t bode well for the Church if the city hadn’t received any of the reinforcements that had headed out before him.

Hopefully the next few groups that landed at the port town he was at would be smart, and head out as one large group. He figured that the small groups of bandits he’d run into so far wouldn’t bother messing with them if they did that.

Back at the port town, with Fiana, George, and Marc, things were not going well, even though the entire town was filled with additional ships from the Archipelago. Several dozen bandit groups were attacking the small town. Buildings were on fire, and the Hunters that had arrived the previous night were doing their best to gather what supplies they could so as to safely evacuate into the desert.

“I thought you said that the Cult didn’t have forces this far out?” George yelled at Cinder as they ran away. “This certainly seems like they’re more than a little bit closer than implied.”

The trio of Scholars and one tavern receptionist ran through the city as they made their way to a small building on the outskirts of the town. There were several wagons that were hitched and ready to go. Sacks and piles of supplies were seen in all of them. Several were already leaving as riders set the draft animals off.

“These aren’t Cult forces. These are bandits that are taking advantage of the Cult’s presence to make their own attacks whenever possible!” Cinder called out.

She nearly tripped over a loose piece of rubble, but Marc caught her and picked her up, running the last few meters to the wagons with the young woman in her arms. As they leapt into the wagons, only two were left by the time they got there.

“Let’s go!” Fiana screamed as she set the animals in motion.

The wagons immediately pulled away. The sounds of battle grew fainter as the Guild forces in the city continued to fight with the bandits. With George and Fiana in one wagon, and Marc and Cinder in the other, they quickly left the town, heading in the direction of the city to the northeast.

“Are we gonna get in trouble for taking these wagons?” Marc couldn’t help but ask as he glanced at Cinder. “Do we even know who owns these wagons?”

“It’s fine. My family owns them. So, we shouldn’t get in any trouble when we arrive at the city.” Cinder said. “We’ll just have to report to Sunny's Suppliers when we get there.”

“Who are you?! George called out. “How do you know and have all these connections? Also, wasn’t Sunny’s Supplier the store you referred us to last night when we asked you about desert travel supplies?”

The town was getting further and further away as the group continued racing into the desert.

“My full name is Cinder Sunny. My family owns Sunny’s Supplier. We have shops in several towns and cities. We’re one of the larger merchant organizations in Tarquessa.” Cinder called back. “We also owned the inn that you all stayed at. I work there since I don’t like to travel, so when I got old enough, I asked for a posting in the middle of nowhere that wouldn’t be too difficult to manage.”

“You manage the inn?” George exclaimed. Fiana rolled her eyes at George’s mixed priorities.

“My uncle manages the inn. He’s the one who told me where to go for the wagons when the attack began.” Cinder said, her voice growing quiet. “He said he was staying behind to help fight off the bandits. If he survives, he might try to charter one of the fishing boats to go up the coast to one of the other port towns. Maybe even make his way to the Coiling River.”

The three Scholars winced at the mention of the Coiling River. It was a river that ran south from the Fjorya mountains. It branched out in several directions once it hit the middle of Tarquessa, but there were very few of said branches.

Formed by a combined effort of the Ancient Glacier and Ancient Cavern, there were only four rivers that reached the ocean. One in the northeast, southeast, northwest, and southwest. Even after several thousand years, the rivers hadn’t changed. But they were also incredibly dangerous.

Each of the rivers was filled with some of the most viscous of Glacial Spirits. Getting past them was incredibly difficult, and setting up towns and cities on their edges was all but impossible. Hence why all the towns and cities were centered on oases instead.

“Is your uncle likely to survive?” George tactlessly asked. Fiana and Marc glared at him.

Cinder ignored the implication that her uncle would die. Instead, she answered with confident reassurance.

“My uncle is an Adept Hunter. Even if the town falls, he’ll get out of there. He also has connections to people that know how to traverse the Coiling River.” Cinder said. “It’ll be expensive, and cost more than a few mystical herbs and treasures, but I’m confident he’ll be able to get far enough inland to reach the city.”

“What city are we headed to anyways?” George asked. “I don’t think that that was ever specified when we got here.”

“Dross. We’re headed to the city of Dross.” Fiana ground out as she directed the wagon, still moving quickly as they made as much distance between them and the town as possible. “We told you this before we left the Archipelago.”

“The town we just left was just called the ‘Southeast Waypoint Five’ so forgive me for not thinking the towns and cities were worth remembering the names of.” George said back.

“Enough! We can argue more about this later. For now, we need to move. Keep an eye out for bandits, and hopefully find Ezekiel before he can get into any more trouble than he likely already has.” Marc exclaimed. “We’ve nearly caught up to the rest of the wagons, and it looks like the bandits have been caught up in the town. So can you two please not make more conflict when it’s not needed?”

George and Fiana grumbled and muttered angrily under their breath, but otherwise didn’t say anything as they continued to move. As their wagons caught up to the others, Cinder flashed a badge with a family emblem on it. The riders of the other wagons nodded as they saw it, moving to more defensive positions as they moved.

The three Scholars knew that they were in for a long ride, but they hoped that Ezekiel was okay. They all knew how much trouble he could get into, and prayed to the Ancients that he wasn’t hurt.

Ezekiel ducked under a line of fire as a whip made from reinforced leather and magically treated steel passed through where he’d last been standing. Swinging Shine up to block an attack from a stone hammer coming from the side, he allowed the hit to push him backwards. Using the force to move himself out of the way of an arrow guided by the wind.

All around him lay the bodies of several Tier one bandits. Leaving the three Apprentice bandits that he was currently fighting to be the only ones still alive.

This was by far the largest group that he’d encountered so far. But it was also composed of the weakest members. Roughly a dozen Tier one Mages had tried to ambush him with numbers. But a quick Void Slash and a few Void Stabs to their relatively unprotected heads had taken them out fairly quickly.

Well before the stronger Apprentice level Mages could fall in to provide backup. Ezekiel’s lack of visible Spirit had left them overconfident in regard to their own abilities. They had assumed that he was merely an Apprentice Mage himself. One that they could take care of easily, even if he was disguising himself as a Cavern Mage.

“It seems like the abilities of Void Magic are not as widespread as was implied before we left.” Ezekiel thought idly as he dodged another attack. “That, or our disguise as a Cavern Mage was better than expected.”

Ezekiel sent another Void Slash at the face of the Flame Mage as they drew back to throw their whip forward once again. Hitting the Flame Mage’s exposed eyes drew a wince from Ezekiel as the woman screamed in pain as she was blinded. An angry yell from above implied he should dodge as another arrow pierced through his cloak, nearly hitting the Cavern Mage that was coming up behind him.

“I feel like this isn’t the best time to be talking about stuff like that.” Shine said. “Spears coming from the six, three, and twelve o-clock.”

Throwing his hand to the side, Ezekiel used his Push and Pull to yank the flailing Flame Mage off her feet and directly towards him, even as he leapt past them, dodging the spears of sharpened sand that rose up to pierce his body. They instead pierced the Flame Mage that he had pulled towards himself.

A horrified scream or rage and hate echoed from a little way away as the Tempest Mage cried out in anger. Ezekiel couldn’t help but feel a bit of pity for the man. He had clearly been connected to the Flame Mage in some way. But he had long since learned that, if you do not have the strength to back it up, taking it easy on your opponents is never a good thing.

Only those that were undeniably powerful could afford the cost of mercy. Especially in a world like this one.

Looking into the distance, and seeing the Tempest Mage roughly a hundred feet away, Ezekiel mentally told Shine to Jump them. Doing so, Ezekiel swung his blade to the side, swiftly beheading the Tempest Mage before he had a chance to react.

The Cavern Mage, knowing that his allies were all dead, dove into the ground, but Ezekiel had jumped back and grabbed onto his foot before he could fully submerge. Yanking the larger man out of the ground, he barely had a moment to try and scream for mercy before Ezekiel thrust Shine through his barely protected chest.

Letting the body hit the ground, Ezekiel took a moment to look over the corpses that surrounded him. He was somewhat exhausted, not just physically, but mentally. That battle had seemed almost easy to him, and he didn’t like the feeling that thought brought him.

“We really just had the element of surprise. Had we any other element for our magic, I don’t think we would’ve had such an easy time.” Shine told him. “Well, maybe if we had the Radiant element. But even then it wouldn’t have been as easy.”

“Being a Hunter that is well accustomed to life and death battles also likely helped.” Turning the body of the Cavern Mage over, he realized that the man didn’t look like a hardened battler. He had a somewhat jovial face and looked more like a baker than a bandit.

Ignoring the stray thought as it passed through his mind, Ezekiel moved on as quickly as he could. Even if the man had once been a good person, he was now a bandit that had tried with their full power to kill Ezekiel. The intent behind the bandit’s eyes when he was striking showed that he wouldn’t hold back. That he was unwilling to show any mercy either.

Ezekiel gave one last glance back at the bodies, but he didn’t go back to bury them. He couldn’t afford to leave himself exposed like that. The desert would dispose of the bodies. He was still at least a few hours out from the city. With less than a third of his mana left, with the same to be said for Shine, he didn’t want to waste any time before he could get himself to relative safety.

It was much later, when Ezekiel was nearing the edge of exhaustion, that he saw the large stone walls that indicated the presence of a properly established city. It was a sight that helped Ezekiel ignore some of the tiredness that had seeped into his bones.

“We’re in the home stretch now.” He said to Shine. “Keep your guard up.”

Shine expanded their senses to the limit, fully expecting something to attack them within the next few minutes. Which, as per their expectations, occurred with an explosion of sand and fire as the earth beneath them bloomed upwards. Several Mages, all Apprentices, leapt from beneath the ground.

Given the amount of time that had passed, Ezekiel and Shine had barely recovered half of their mana. But seeing the numbers that were ahead of them, they knew they couldn’t afford to take their time with this fight. As Ezekiel channeled his mana through his body and mind, he felt his thoughts speed up as the world slowed down.

The sand that was flying into the air entered into a state of high definition as he could now make out every crack and scratch on every grain within a couple feet of himself. Holding his sword to the side, Ezekiel quickly thrust it forwards several times. Shine channeled their own mana, sending out several Void Stabs in quick succession.

Ezekiel felt his muscles and mind nearly collapse under the strain. But, as half of his attackers jerked backwards with holes in their heads, he knew that he had made the right decision. Even though a third of his remaining mana was depleted.

“Dodge left!” Shine exclaimed.

Ezekiel did so, avoiding a diagonal slash of sharpened wind in the process. The shrill shriek of an angry bird tore through the air as he landed from his jump. He nearly fell to his knees as the reverberating sound rattled his head. The Mages around him weren’t in much better condition.

“You’re going to pay for that!” An angry growl rode through the wind as the Adept Level Hunter screamed at Ezekiel over the loss of his fellow bandits.

A large vulture like Tempest Spirit dove towards them, the combined mana of the Hunter and the Spirit barred down on Ezekiel and the other Mages around him. The bandits could barely move, but Ezekiel stayed on his feet. Preparing himself for his next move.

“We should’ve Jumped right away.” Shine said. “Regardless of the mana cost.”

“It’s not too late.” Ezekiel said. “As far as you can, towards the city!”

Channeling the last of their mana into the Jump, Shine got them nearly a kilometer away from the battle, and Ezekiel immediately threw up a Shroud as he began running towards the city as fast as he safely could. Unfortunately, he knew he couldn’t reduce his gravity as well, so he ended up kicking up several plumes of sand as he ran through the desert.

An angry cry of rage reverberated from behind him as he moved. He didn’t dare to look back, but he could tell that the Adept was quickly gaining on him. They wouldn’t last longer than a couple minutes before he had caught up to them.

“We won’t be able to keep this up for long!” Shine exclaimed. “Do we have any sort of plan?”

Ezekiel didn’t say anything. Instead, he just withdrew a flare from his Void Pouch.

“Is that a Ten Sparks Signal Flare?” Shine asked. “I thought those were still experimental. The Church hadn’t approved their usage yet.”

“I told you before we left that I was taking as many supplies as possible.” Ezekiel said. “We can go over some of the more experimental artifacts I brought later. For now, retract your senses. I don’t need you hurting yourself.”

“Don’t those Flares explode?!” Shine exclaimed, but sensing Ezekiel’s intentions, they retracted their senses as instructed.

Yanking on the cord attached to the flare, Ezekiel threw it into the air behind him as hard as he could. As Shine had said, the flare ignited, releasing a loud boom as it exploded into a multicolored lightshow of mana. The elemental effects were significant, as Ezekiel felt the various elements mixing together and causing chaos behind him.

The Ten Sparks Signal Flare was an attempt made by him to improve the distress flares usually used by the Church. The standard distress flares shot up balls of light similar to fireworks that reached a maximum height and then drifted slowly to the ground.

They weren’t often used, as they were pointless artifacts that acted as bait for nearby Wild Spirits and Umbral Beasts. At least when used in the wild or Desolate Lands of the world. Ezekiel had thought to try and create a more powerful flare, one that would cause a phenomenon that would at least deter Spirits from approaching.

Hence the use of all ten types of mana. A combination that, due to the unstable nature, caused a chaotic explosion to occur the moment the mana types were mixed. Due to the unique physiology of Spirits, it was utterly blinding to their senses.

It was like having adjusted your eyes to darkness, only to suddenly have a ball of light thrown into your eyes. For Spirits, that sensation spread throughout their whole body.

As the Tempest Spirit behind him toppled forward with a pained cry, Ezekiel continued running as fast as he could. It wasn’t likely that he’d get to the city before the Adept Hunter caught up with him. Even with his Spirit having toppled to the ground, the Hunter would be able to catch up on his own.

But he should be able to get close enough that the patrol teams that would’ve been around the city would begin closing in to investigate the explosion.

“You little bastard!” The Tempest screamed as Ezekiel continued to run. His voice was growing distant as Ezekiel moved. It seemed that this bandit was smarter than some of the others he’d run into, as the man wasn’t following after him like expected.

“Shine, you can open your senses again. Can you tell what the guy’s doing?” Ezekiel asked. His own senses were focused on everything in front of him, and on controlling his mana to push himself forward as much as possible.

“He’s on the ground, partially covered by his Spirit. It seems the bird landed on top of him. I think the flare exploded closer than you expected as well, as it’s not recovered yet.” Shine said. “They just got out of my range though, so I can’t tell how long they’ll be out of commission for.”

“That should be fine. I think I see reinforcements coming up anyways.” Ezekiel, whose senses were focused forwards, could see several dots lining the sky. From how they were flying in a formation, it was apparent to him that these were trained professionals, rather than bandit riffraff.

As they moved closer and closer, Ezekiel spared a glance behind himself. It seemed like the bandits had regrouped and were now moving as far away as they could as fast as they could. But their leader was glaring hatefully at Ezekiel as they retreated. He had a feeling that, if things went poorly, it was likely that he and Shine would be meeting that Bandit again in the future.

As he continued towards the city, a member of the patrol team broke off from the squad in the air as the rest continued past Ezekiel towards the bandits. Tired to the point of nearly collapsing, but physically and mentally, Ezekiel fell to his knees, somewhat comforted to see an official Guild symbol sewn into the Hunter’s cloak.

“Hello there. I came here from Southeast Waypoint Five. I’m currently seeking the city of Dross.” Ezekiel said. “If possible, could I you and your Spirit accompany me to--”

Ezekiel found himself cut off as the Hunter leapt from his Spirit’s back. A funnel of wind covering them both. The Hunter moved forwards menacingly.

“That’s enough you wretched scum. Drop your weapons and submit to the Red Stone Guild’s authority or be struck down where you stand!” The Hunter called out. “Remove your Void Pouch and cloak as well.”

Ezekiel looked at the man in astonishment for a second, but moved to comply, knowing that he stood no chance against the stronger Hunter. He realized that the fact that they were within viewing range of the city walls was likely the only reason that this Hunter hadn’t just struck him down and taken his things. As he removed his Void Pouch, and placed Shine within their sheath, Ezekiel subtly activated the security enchantments on both of them.

Given that they were all made using enchantments tied to the Void, some of his original creations, he knew that whoever’s hand these items fell into would end up breaking them well before they would be able to use them.

“Ezekiel...” Shine said. “Was this part of the plan?”

“No, but we’ll have to adapt, for now. Given the number of people watching, I doubt they’ll do anything too illegal to us.” Ezekiel said. “We’ll get out of this. Trust me.”

Shine fell silent as they were placed on the ground alongside Ezekiel’s Void Pouch and cloak. He slowly stepped away, with his hands raised in the air. The Hunter then approached, taking Ezekiel’s things before holding out a pair of mana suppressant manacles.

“Put those on.” The Hunter ordered.

Ezekiel did so, not in the least bit worried, because he knew the enchantments behind such manacles like the back of his hand. He’d be more than capable of breaking out of them.

As the manacles were put on, he found the enchantments activating, but not actually doing anything to him as they failed to hold onto and suppress his Void mana. He then found his breath taken away as the Tempest Hunter used his mana to stop him from breathing.

Mixed with his exhaustion, a punch to the gut was all it took to knock him out as the Hunter lifted Ezekiel onto his shoulder. Unconscious to the world, Ezekiel barely felt Shine’s concerns in the back of his mind as they were brought to the city in bindings.