XIV
“You got a nice hall here,” Tarsus said simply, looking around the interior of the hideout and taking another bite of his food.
The grand room was filled with clattering glassware and cheerful voices. It was an evening of celebration and I had sent out an invitation to the Night Guild, inviting all members to come over for dinner. Of course, it was confirmed to them by Sylvan, or they would have been skeptical of our actions. In the end, both guilds united in the dining hall, and though the segregation still remained evident between both the Blood and Night loyalists, some were finally breaking the old tradition and meeting new acquaintances. There were fourteen men and women seated at the table, seven members from the Blood Guild and seven members from the Night Guild.
“Alright, alright!” I began, clinking my glass. “Gather around, my fellow men and women, welcomed guests of the Night Guild as well. It is an honour having all of you here tonight.”
The Night Guild looked blankly at each other, wondering if my statement was full of warmth or full of sarcasm.
“Well, this is the first in history for two feuding guilds to sit down for dinner together,” I continued. “How about we forget the past, and introduce ourselves formally?”
There was no answer from the group, but agreement was evident in their eyes.
“Name’s Prokun Ulterium, leader of the Blood Guild,” I started. “Most of you have met me before, though not in a way I would have wanted us to meet.”
Looks were exchanged between the Night Guild’s members, recalling feuds with me in the past.
“To my right sits my first mate Kadava Lee, a master in his field of scouting. On my left is Hilton Fokurama, but just Foku is fine. He’s our illusionist.”
“I remember you,” Tarsus slowly spoke, glaring at Foku.
“Over there is Glo Lyte, our medic,” I continued. “But don’t underestimate her, she’s brilliant on the battlefield as well.”
Glo smiled meekly.
“Beside her sits Kiskilla Pronofonace...”
“Call me Mirage. Doubt any of you would remember my last name anyways,” she interrupted.
“Yes. Anyways, Mirage is a formidable warrior as well. You all know Arcanor, our guild’s oracle, and to his right sits Drog Grogger, our serpent-slayer.”
“At your service,” Drog grunted in his usual raspy voice. He was fully recovered from the incident with the red dragon.
“And that’s the seven of us. Now it’s your turn,” I finished, turning towards Tarsus.
“Right,” he sighed, standing up. “Just yesterday, I hated this man and his entire family, and it definitely took two to tango. Things changed, times changed, and...I never thought I would say this but...long story short, let bygones be bygones. I’m Octavius Tarsus, the one and only. O’er there is Calliphar, my first mate, a blade-master. Then we got Sylvan the Sharpshooter. To his left is Pyhrron Sumnor, a near pyromancer.”
Pyhrron let out a low laugh. “Wouldn’t put it that way.”
“Lexon Quinton’s beside him, and he goes all out when it’s a fist to fist duel.”
Some of my guild members exchanged quick glances, confirming Tarsus’ description.
“Then we have Chrikhil Hack and Konkurra Vici beside Lexon, both the guild’s valued female champions.”
“I do the scouting, she does the fighting,” Chrikhil added.
“That’s the seven of us,” Tarsus finished. “Say, this food is delicious. I don’t say that often, especially to a former rivalling guild, but who’s the chef?”
Glo gave out a quick giggle, blushing. She continued eating her meal, evading Tarsus’ light smile towards her.
The fourteen guild members continued their dinner, expressing their gratitude towards Glo.
“I’m sorry for everything between us before today,” I apologized. “To you, Octavius Tarsus, to you, Night Creed. I was blinded by our tensions that I...I never realized the greater good we could have achieved if we had only banded together from the beginning.”
“Well it takes one to know one. I’m...sorry too, I guess. Though I won’t forget those damn times you made me lose. Every single time.”
“Really? You’re still gonna do this?” I sighed hopelessly.
“I’m just messing with you. But still, we could’ve done so much more if we weren’t in each other’s ways.”
“We could’ve done so much more if we helped each other’s ways.”
It was odd, but it was reconciliation. From the moment our souls were linked on the battlefield, something changed between the two of us. For better and not for worse.
“So, about time to tell us what happened out there?” Foku asked, after a period had passed.
“Where should I begin?” Tarsus thought out loud, leaning back in his chair and exchanging a glance with me.
By the time we were halfway done our main course, Tarsus finished the conclusion of our death match experience. It may have been a bit exaggerated, just a bit, but he sure knew how to stir up a crowd. Both guilds were on their feet when he ended.
“A good time, wasn’t it?” He nodded at me.
“Y-Yea,” I managed to muffle through my full mouth.
The hall was filled with cheers and hollers, all roused up after our tale.
“How did you two even get along?” Drog grunted.
“We didn’t,” Tarsus quickly answered before I could. “I just...owe him one.”
“Now it’s your turn to talk,” I spoke to Kadava with a final gulp, quickly changing the subject.
“Right,” Kadava started. He took a quick pause, collecting his thoughts. “You have no idea what happened during your absence,” he resumed, suddenly dropping his voice. “There’s no better way of saying it, but...Grozorg has changed. Completely.”
A plague of silence filled the empty hall, guild members sat at the table with a sullen, serious visage.
“After you and Tarsus were captured, Arcanor fell into a deep coma. His eyes turned pitch black after an attempt to foresee what would happen to you two.”
I glanced over at Arcanor. He calmly continued his meal, staring down at his plate.
“He’s fine now, he woke up right in time for us to save you two. Anyways, I decided to bring the whole guild to find you when Arcanor fell into a trance, and we met the Night Guild creeping out of Tyrannust’s palace.”
“Is that true?” Tarsus interrupted, turning towards his first mate, Calliphar.
“Yessir, we met and all. Don’t think too much of it.”
“You brawled,” I guessed, a mixed tone of excitement and disappointment.
“It was short and no one got hurt, I promise,” Calliphar reassured, as both guilds looked at each other with dissent, recalling the incident.
“No one could have gotten hurt,” Kadava continued. “We just began to fight when all the palace doors suddenly flung open, and out came a wave of corrupted soldiers in black.”
“We thought they were coming for us,” Foku spoke. “The men marched rhythmically, spreading quickly across the dark island like a plague of locusts. We ran before they noticed us, returning home.
“Or at least some returned home. I stayed, and there he was, Zor the Almegamancer.” Kadava said.
“What?” Voices questioned, one after another.
“Yes, it was, I saw him too,” Sylvan confirmed in his accent-thick voice. “He was pretty far away from sight, but his unique transformed physique gave him away.”
It was no surprise the fine eyes of Kadava and an elite archer could catch a glimpse of who the figure was.
“Zor was floating high above the main palace gates, his black robes camouflaging into the black palace behind him. He had both hands raised upwards, commanding the legion of Almega soldiers.”
“Huh. The Almega Legion,” I spoke.
“I stayed behind with Kadava; we hid under the broken bridge,” Sylvan said. “Our guilds had left, but we stayed behind to witness the rise of the Almega Legion.”
“After a while, the synchronized marching stopped in unison. I peered upwards, and Zor had lowered his arms. After a few inaudible murmurs, he waved his arms around as if casting a strange spell. Suddenly, a black flame violently materialized above us, right where the broken bridge was hammered into the island. It wasn’t long before the flame grew larger and larger, and it revealed a massive portal!”
“Hold on...how big was the portal?” Arcanor interrupted, looking up from his meal, clearly intrigued.
“It was like the one we fell into when we got back here with you guys,” Kadava said, nodding towards me and Tarsus, “only much bigger.”
“How long did he keep it open?”
“Are you getting somewhere with these questions?” I asked, a bit impatient.
“The portal stayed open until the entire legion marched through--a solid twenty minutes or so.” Sylvan answered, disregarding my inquiry.
“Twenty some minutes!” Arcanor spat, disbelievingly. “Look, I’m trying to tell you something here,” Arcanor continued. “My portal was massive when I got the four of you back here from Tyrannust’s island, and I had spent my whole life learning how to create one the size of that! And, not only the size, but the time it was open! Even a rookie illusion student would know that the larger the size and the longer the time, the harder it would be for a portal to materialize and remain in that same size and shape. That’s why I had commanded Kadava when to jump exactly before he arrived at the arena; my grand portal couldn’t even last a second ajar! And, I’ll bet you I would never be able to recreate a portal that size again!”
“So Zor has gotten extremely powerful,” I stated, “is that what you’re suggesting?”
“Well he does possess all elements, and he’s the one and only Almegamancer.”
“So where did the portal take them?” I continued.
“We’re not sure,” Sylvan replied. “When Zor closed the portal, we knew it was time to leave.”
“But what we did see on the way back was that the Almega Legion had scattered across the vast nation of Grozorg. We took the longest route back to Sanoctuis deliberately, crossing Nythar’s island, through Pyhrrus’ and Cryann’s, then back to Fulcan’s island.”
“It wasn’t a pretty sight; we were surprised. Absolutely shocked. You should take a look for yourselves after supper. Especially Cryann’s land, that desolate clod of ice.”
“It was like a sudden...provisional law was created.” Kadava added, wearing a sullen face, one I had never hoped to see on such an ecstatic, young man.
“Cold-blooded murders and tortures were imposed on anyone who was outside their houses. The Almega Legion would slay anyone who was outside, even if it was their trade to be there! Men, women, even young children! A boy...there was a boy in front of me, just ten or so. I motioned for him to come to me, to hide with me, but...he didn’t notice. And right in front of my eyes, his head was slashed off by the legion. I...I couldn’t even save him.”
No one spoke a word. No one knew what to say.
“Kadava and I nearly escaped on Pyrrhus’ land. After we found out what was going on, we retreated behind anything we could find so that the Legion wouldn’t spot us, and oh yes did we regret our choice of taking the longest route.”
“And...either the news travelled fast or the legion was quick in their murders; when we headed out to retrieve you and Tarsus, there was not a single citizen outside their doors. And man, did we have to be careful getting to you. The number of soldiers of the high lord’s legion was probably tripled on Tyrannust’s land. Glad Arcanor snapped that portal open on time. Wouldn’t wanna walk all the way back.”
“So maybe ‘looking for myself after supper’ isn’t all that of a great idea.” I responded.
“Hold on!” Arcanor shouted abruptly. “The guards were...everywhere? One moment the entire army is behind the portal, and the next, they’re everywhere‽”
“Why do you ask?” Kadava replied.
“This...this simply can’t be! How on Grozorg could...what?”
“Get on with it, Arcanor.”
“There...there has been no one, not even the great Oracle Uzefer, who had created a single portal that led to multiple destinations in all of Grozorg’s history! A portal is strictly meant to teleport something to somewhere...not everywhere! This portal is like a...a multiportal! Zor isn’t just powerful, he...he’s beyond powerful!”
Tarsus seemed to mutter ‘beyond powerful’ to himself in a tone of arrogance and fear.
Suddenly, a thought struck me, draining blood from my face.
“Fulcan!” I cried aloud. “Has anyone checked on the king ever since we were gone?”
Blank looks masked everyone once again. Disregarding the rest of the meal, I abruptly stood up, nearly flipping my empty plate over.
“There’s no time to waste, make haste and grab your gear! We leave at once!”
There was no objection from both guilds. It was as if we were one alliance than two; even Tarsus gave no second-thought and picked up his golden shuang-gou. The fourteen men and women gathered their weapons and anything of use around them. Before long, both guilds stood at the main entrance of our hideout, and the final evidence of segregation between guilds had ended.
“Before we embark,” I spoke, halting their movements, “I want to thank the Night Guild one last time.”
The guild’s members gently smiled at me in return, something that would have never happened before today, before tonight.
“Also, I want to remind everyone here that we are no longer fighting as separate powers; we must now be one. For the king. For Grozorg. For each other.”
There were no looks of disagreement; instead, the thirteen other guildsmen and guildswomen eagerly waited for me to continue.
“The power we face now is much greater than anything we’ve seen before, and if we have even the slightest internal conflict, we would be inefficient; we would be weakened. Thank you, my brethren-in-arms, for aiding us tonight. Tonight, we go out for glory, for honour, and for our land!”
With a unified cry of “Hurrah!”, we marched into the fast approaching night.