VII
“Uzefer still remains on Grozorg,” Arcanor stated in awe.
“His soul still remains,” I corrected. We were heading back to our hideout after Oracle Uzefer had teleported us to the abandoned shack.
“Sir Ulterium!”
I turned around and a pretty girl around my age approached me, a slender face with black hair tied up into a ponytail. She was dressed in red clothing embroidered with golden laces, and on her breast pocket was intricately sewn the king’s distinguishable emblem.
“My name is Roslyn Flyforwth. I’m King Fulcan’s personal messenger.”
Flyforwth? That name was odd...oddly familiar.
“I suppose you’re here to bring me a message,” I replied.
“Ulterium, right? You...you remind me of someone,” she added shyly.
Before letting her proceed, I nodded to Foku on my right.
Quickly, Foku pulled out a small blade and threw it towards Flyforwth. With swift reactions, she jumped aside gracefully as the blade flew past, burrowing deep into an elm trunk a few meters behind.
“Sorry about that,” I immediately apologized. I knew I had seen her somewhere before. “I was just making sure you were...who you said you were...Roslyn...Roslyn? Is...is that really you?”
Roslyn stood up, straightening her shirt. It was a regular training protocol of speed and evasiveness that all royal messengers had to master, a protocol only practiced by King Fulcan’s diplomats.
“You’re...Prokun!” She exclaimed in comprehension. “Prokun Ulterium!”
A couple of years ago the king was short-staffed and required additional help. While my guild was helping out around the palace, there was a group of diplomatic trainees, and one girl in particular caught my eye. Fast, efficient, and smart in her all her ways, we were just beginning to know each other when Fulcan dismissed me and let my guild return to our hideout. I never saw her since, and I thought that would have been the last time I did.
“It’s so good to see you again, Ulterium,” she smiled warmly.
“It’s been a while,” I grinned in return. “And it’s good to see you as a fully graduated diplomat. Anyways, what does the king have for me?”
“His Lordship King Fulcan speaks four words: The gathering has begun.”
Upon delivering King Fulcan’s message, Flyforwth gave me an explosive and stated that the king wanted me to have it, just in case things got tough. Her hands brushed against mine as she placed it carefully into my palms, explaining that the sticky substance on the anterior of the bomb granted it the ability to be placed anywhere. As Flyforwth headed back to Tenebris after wishing us good luck, I glanced at Kadava, and he shared the same stunned look.
“Everyone, follow Roslyn back to Fulcan’s castle. Foku, get Glo and Drog to the king at once. I don’t know what Tyrannust is up to now, but it can’t be good. You must all keep the king safe. Kadava, come with me.”
At once, the guild tailed Flyforwth whilst Kadava and I mounted our horses.
We finally arrived at the Chamber of Mancers, the sacred ancient monument deep inside Fulcan’s island. The grand cave was entirely carved from stone with tall windows, once elaborately decorated and carefully chiselled. The stone carved arena was hollow and twelve flat boulders were placed in a circle on the ground, which circled another flat boulder placed in the center. Each boulder had an elemental symbol engraved into it, but the center boulder had nothing on the smooth stone surface.
“It’s happening again,” said Kadava.
“I know. Legend foretold that a hero would rise when the twelve Mancers gathered together. It would have enough power and strength to conquer all of Grozorg.”
“But nothing happened when they gathered during Zxyx’s reign.”
“That’s because they were missing the last essential item; a drop of blood from the purest king. With that, the thirteenth may be summoned. They’ve frequently gathered before Tyrannust’s corruption to discuss the wellbeing of Grozorg, with no intentions of summoning the thirteenth. But with that drop of blood, the champion could be summoned”
“And then again, the Mancers were also too late to try.”
“Yeah, Zxyx destroyed this place before they had the chance to try. He somehow foresaw the gathering.”
“Why are you worried?” Kadava asked. “It’s practically impossible to reach the ‘purest’ king to get ‘a drop of blood’, provided we even find the purest king on Grozorg. Also, isn’t it good if all twelve Mancers summoned the thirteenth?”
“Think of it this way: The legend said a hero, but that was probably dependent on uncorrupted Mancers. The Mancers have probably been tainted by Tyrannust too!”
“You’re right; but they still couldn’t possibly get Fulcan’s blood.”
“That’s exactly why I sent the rest of the guild to Fulcan.”
The boulders suddenly started to glow, the engraved elements on the stones illuminating. Suddenly, the Mancers appeared one by one, each floating on top of their representative rock.
“Blades up!” I commanded as I grabbed my silver daggers. Kadava unsheathed his battle kunai, the sharp blades lining his forearm.
I was correct about the Mancers. They had been corrupted, filled with darkness, lied to by Tyrannust.
It wasn’t long before all twelve Mancers stood in their places. We were too slow to conceal ourselves, and they had immediately noticed our presence and turned towards us.
The Pyromancer acted first. A pillar of fire rose beneath Kadava as he quickly somersaulted forward, flames singing the edge of his pants.
“Watch out!”
The Cryomancer speared a long spike of ice towards me. I jumped in time and kicked it away, also evading the twisting thorns that had coiled upwards from the arena ground, summoned by the Terramancer. The Ferromancer rallied peaks of metal, causing them to erode upwards from the cavern floor, each peak nearly piercing Kadava and I. I jumped around, and caught a glimpse at the Chronomancer. Without a second thought, I lunged towards it, knocking the Mancer over just in time before it could muster enough power to reverse time. The Chronomancer disappeared in a cloud of smoke right before I made contact. Kadava moved swiftly through the maze of copper obelisks that stood tall above the chamber floor, using each metal peak as a barrier from the striking blows of wind sent by the Aeromancer.
Darting around, I slashed at the Cryomancer, Aeromancer, and the Terramancer in succession, all vanishing before I could make contact.
“Kadava, get out of there!” I shouted, watching the Electromancer prepare its elemental attack. The Electromancer summoned a jolt of lightning that chained to each copper peak and sparked to the next. Kadava turned and jumped away, throwing his kunai towards the Electromancer. It pierced the Electromancer’s side, disrupting the chain of lightning before it could reach the last peak of metal as the Electromancer vanished in a mist.
Suddenly, a blade sliced my side. I turned around sharply in pain, collapsing, and caught a glance at the Geomancer. A ring of gemstones surrounded it, all at his command. As another sharp-edged rock skimmed my arm, I quickly rolled behind a peak of metal, applying pressure to my wound. With great agility, I charged towards the Pyromancer while throwing my dagger at the Ferromancer. Kadava pulled my blade out of the cavern wall after the Ferromancer faded to evade my attack, sliding it back to me as I jumped away from the mysteriously vanished Pyromancer to attack the other summoners.
The remaining Mancers were the Hydromancer, Necromancer, Caelomancer, and Illusiomancer. I signalled for Kadava to come to me.
“Kadava! Assist-up position, now!” I shouted as the remaining four Mancers summoned their representative elemental attack. I jumped onto Kadava and he launched me upwards. As I flew towards the cavern ceiling, a giant skeletal hand eroded from the ground and dragged Kadava down into the suffocating ground.
“Help!” He screamed as he plunged downwards. I spun midair, throwing both daggers towards the skull of the Necromancer. The skeletal hand collapsed as the Mancer disappeared, Kadava returning to the surface of the arena. Still in mid-flight, I grabbed the explosive from my cloak, pulled the pin, and threw the anterior side to the ceiling.
I was suddenly thrown to the ground by a mysterious force sent by the Caelomancer. Before making contact, I was flung to a side of the cave by another gravitational force. I collided, air forced out of my lungs as the grand cavern shook, my point of impact creating a crater.
Kadava hurled his kunai at the Caelomancer. The Illusiomancer popped open a portal and the kunai flew in. Another portal opened right in front of me, and with all the strength I still had, I turned onto my side, just in time to evade Kadava’s sharp blade. The Caelomancer sent another force that pressed me against the dirt ground, and began to compress the space above me, crushing me face-down onto the chamber floor. I turned my head and saw Kadava beside me, pinned down to the ground by the Caelomancer in the same position. The Mancer of Space crushed us against the dirt chamber floor, forcing the air out of my lungs. Suddenly, a flood of ice-cold water crashed down onto us before we could gulp for air. The Hydromancer held his arms upwards, water flooding the Chamber of Mancers from all directions. I had no more breath within me, and my lungs were about to give out. As I gave into a black slumber, the explosive detonated, shaking the entire cavern violently. The Mancers were caught off balance and stalactites began to rain down from the arena ceiling. The pressure from the Caelomancer was finally relieved, but my heavy eyelids shut as I fell into a deep slumber in the icy water.
It wasn’t long before I woke up from the black out. Miraculously, I had floated upwards, drifting into the crater I had caused earlier and resting on the higher platform.
“Kadava?” I gargled, water still in my mouth. Swimming around in the freezing water, I desperately searched for my first-mate. To my right drifted Kadava, face down.
I rapidly darted towards him. Lifting him over my shoulders, I frantically treaded the water and placed him inside the crater I had woken up on. He was not breathing, and his face was pale with a blue tint. There was still some life in him though, and I could just sense it.
It was now or never. Recalling my necromancy training from when I was younger, I placed both hands on his chest and closed my eyes. Taking in a deep breath, I slowly lifted both palms, opening my eyes simultaneously. My vision turned into an emerald colour, a fiery green. Kadava lay in front of me, and I could see his very heart beating weakly, the essence of his soul still present. The emerald flame spread down my arms and into both palms steadily. Slowly, the flame spread over Kadava’s unconscious body, encasing him entirely in an emerald blaze. His eyes opened widely, the same shade of green as my eyes. I stopped, and at once the green flame disappeared. Kadava’s eyes returned to its original wood-brown colour.
“Wh-What happened?” He asked, blinking. Confusion filled his face as he looked around the flooded arena.
“Do you remember anything?”
I gave him a few moments as he took in the image of the devastated arena.
“We-we were in the Chamber of Mancers,” I spoke, helping him out.
“Where? The Chamber of Mancers? The Chamber...oh, I’m remembering a bit now.”
He blinked a few times again, still clearing the fog in his head, then suddenly turning towards me in surprise.
“Wait...d-did you...resurrect me?”
“No, you were still living. Near death, but still living. I wouldn’t be able to resuscitate someone dead - actually, not even Nythar nor his Necromancer could. They might have the ability to raise the undead, but that’s different from giving life to the dead. You only got one life to live, and I’m just glad I didn’t lose a first mate and a close friend today,” I spoke, slapping him on the back.
Kadava paused to straighten his breathing, spitting out water and wringing his clothes dry.
“Thanks for saving me, Ulterium. Another day, another chance. Now I know which elemental domain you grew up in,” he added with a smile.
In whichever of the twelve elemental domains one was born in or had grown up in was where they would potentially learn the respective element’s specialized powers. Most Grozorgians would choose to master one element rather than achieving adequate training in two or more elements. Besides, it would take more time and money to learn a new elemental power, and the harsh tax rate assured that citizens would not learn more than two, let alone become a master in one.
“Ha. Well I guess it was time you knew,” I spoke. I never found a reason for revealing my elemental faction to my guild. It was irrelevant, something that could potentially cause a division in a group of skilled fighters. “You’re just as lucky as me, but born in the ferromancy domain. Not many Grozorgians can afford to train there.”
“Where did the Mancers go?” Kadava asked, changing the topic.
“They just...disappeared,” I recalled. “Let’s head back to Tenebris. The king is still in danger.”
“You’re right,” Kadava quickly recollected, heaving himself up. “Let’s go.”
We swam to an open window in the cavern and hauled ourselves out, beginning our journey back to the capital city of Mainland Grozorg, to the royal king’s palace.
“What happened?” King Fulcan asked, standing up from his grand throne. I looked around his throne room, seeing all the members of my guild. Roslyn Flyforwth stood at the back of the room near the grand doors with two footmen of the Army of Light posted.
“Something’s wrong,” I whispered subtly to Kadava.
Kadava glanced at me, sharing the same uncertainty.
“My Lord and His Majesty King Fulcan...we have come to report that there was no activity in the Chamber of Mancers,” I fabricated.
“That’s...rather disappointing,” Fulcan replied as he rose up slowly, stepping towards Kadava and I.
Kadava silently motioned for me to glance at Roslyn near the doors. I furrowed my brows and glanced backwards. The young girl was clad in red, looking down. Suddenly, her entire body quickly flashed into an image of a large soldier suited in black, flashing back instantaneously to Roslyn in the same position as before.
Without looking back at the emotionless Blood Guild, I had only one word in mind.
“Run!” I shouted.
The image of Roslyn began to close the two grand doors as we narrowly slipped out.
“They’re...fakes!” Kadava replied as he followed me out. The room of illusions transformed into full-sized warriors, all dressed in black. They were evidently part of Tyrannust’s army. As I ran, I looked back in curiosity, catching a glimpse of a corrupted soldier. The dark paladin had a strange symbol engraved on its forehead, resembling the letter “A” with an omega sign merged into it, upside down. The warrior had broad shoulders, spiked gauntlets, and a heavy protective breastplate.
And seated on the throne, the pure, untainted throne, was the high lord himself, glaring back at the two of us.
The black legion of knights charged towards us as we navigated down the snaking hallways and corridors of Fulcan’s palace. Tripping down the marble staircase, we flung open the grand palace doors, lunged through the portcullis, darted across the long, marble bridge, and dashed a beeline back to the guild hideout.