Chapter 41: Destination, Secar
“Wow,” Aiden responded after hearing the trio’s tale. “That’s a pretty crazy story. You should make a book outta that!”
“So are you going to help us or not?” Hagan asked impatiently.
“Take out Kuraikaji?” Aiden answered. “The guy that screwed me over? Heck yeah I will! But I gotta warn ya, he’s one tough dude.”
“That’s an understatement and you know it,” Sezuni interjected, sharpening her katana in the corner.
“Who cares?” Aiden rebutted. “If all five of us jump him at once, we’ll have him pushin’ daisies before he can blink!”
Sezuni glanced at him. “I’m helping them infiltrate Secar and setting them in the right direction. That’s all. I have no interest in facing Kuraikaji.”
“Well that sucks,” Aiden asserted. “Same plan with just the four of us?”
“Don’t forget,” Sezuni added, “You’ll have to defeat several Cobras before even having a chance to face Kuraikaji himself.”
“I know that,” Aiden responded smugly. “I used to be one of ‘em, remember? Sure he’s got alotta bodyguards, but we’ll just have Iris do her snowflake disky thing and chop their heads off. No prob.”
“You’re a true moron,” Sezuni commented, returning her focus to her katana.
Aiden turned back toward the trio. “Don’t mind what ol’ Sunshine has to say. We’ll be fine. Heck, I’d-a done it a while ago if I’d had some help.”
As he spoke, Lucas quietly attempted to scan Aiden’s emotions, though it proved to be rather difficult to hone in on them considering the number of people in the small room. It’s hard to tell if he really thinks we can do this or if he’s just putting on a show. I don’t think I feel nervousness anywhere... I guess it’s not that important. It won’t hurt having him along either way.
Deactivating his ability, Lucas decided to change the subject. “From what I saw earlier, I’m guessing you’re a Fire mage like Hagan.”
“Oh,” Aiden replied, “ya mean this thing?” Without warning, Aiden’s hands burst into flames.
“Doesn’t that hurt?!” Lucas asked, taking a step back.
Aiden smiled. “Not a bit.”
“Fascinating,” Iris commented. “How did you manage to conjure without verbalizing a chant? I’ve never witnessed such a bizarre method.”
Aiden shrugged as the flames were extinguished. “I’ve been able to do that since I was ten. I’ve never learned a thing about magic.”
Hagan crossed his arms. “I worked my ass off learning how to conjure, and you just figure it out on the playground one day?! That doesn’t make any damn sense at all!”
Aiden smiled. “Yeah, I know. I’m special.”
“How exactly do you conjure?” Iris queried. “After years of researching magic, I find this to be a nearly impossible phenomenon.”
“I dunno why I can,” Aiden answered, “I just can. It’s kinda hard to control once I get goin’ though.”
“I ain’t trying to give you advice or anything,” said Hagan, “but why are you robbing people with a knife when you can just shoot fire from your hands without even saying a chant?”
“Way less messy that way,” Aiden replied. “I don’t wanna damage the loot, ya know? That’s why I usually wear gloves. Keeps accidents from happenin’. Not that it matters, though; I don’t get a chance to mug many people out here anyway. Ya don’t find many travelers wanderin’ around monster-infested deserts. Mosta the time, I just get what I need from Secar, like Sunshine over there.” Sezuni’s eyes made her annoyance with the nickname apparent, though she chose not to respond.
The group remained in the confines of the shack for the rest of the day, chatting amongst themselves as they awaited nightfall. However, as the sun set, they were suddenly startled by a loud thumping against the shack’s exterior. “What was that?!” Hagan exclaimed.
“I know that sound too well,” Lucas answered, unsheathing his sword and bolting out the door.
Quickly making his way around the corner of the shack toward the source of the noise, Lucas saw what appeared to be a human-sized skeleton. “Lumen orbis!” He promptly conjured a light orb, causing the skeleton to snap its head in his direction. This thing’s just plain creepy! Lucas was about to throw the orb when the monster’s empty eye sockets were suddenly illuminated by a lime-green glow. The moment Lucas turned his attention to the strange light, he became completely terror-stricken and was unable to move a single muscle.
With its glowing eyes fixed to his, the skeleton slowly approached Lucas, opening its mouth to display a pair of razor-sharp fangs. Lucas remained frozen, despite the oncoming threat, totally overwhelmed by a deep sense of impending doom.
“Ignis orbis!” There was a flash of heat as a fire orb whizzed from behind Lucas into the skeleton. The glow left its eyes on impact as flames consumed the foe. Instantly, the fear left Lucas. Without a moment of hesitation, he threw the light orb at the burning skeleton. Backing away, he watched the beast collapsed.
“Lucas, are you injured?” he heard Iris ask behind him.
Turning around, Lucas saw Hagan as well. “No,” Lucas replied, still feeling a bit confused by what had taken place. “I’m fine...”
“Is everything alright?” Sezuni asked as she emerged from around the corner, followed by Aiden.
“We took care of it,” Hagan replied. He looked at Lucas. “Why were you just standing there?! You had a clear shot at the thing. It wasn’t even moving that fast.”
“I couldn’t move.” Lucas answered. “When I came around the corner, I saw it beating on the wall and conjured a light orb. As soon as I did, it turned its head toward me and its eyes started glowing. Next thing I know, I was completely terrified. I couldn’t think straight; I barely even knew what was going on.”
“That’s weird,” Aiden remarked. “I’ve never seen anything like that out here before.”
“Nor have I,” Sezuni added.
Iris examined the smoldering ash where the skeleton had stood. “It appears that the Knowms are continuing to create new varieties of monsters. The mere thought of a beast with the ability to inflict fear-driven paralysis via eye contact is alarming in itself.”
“Yeah,” Hagan agreed. “And there’s no telling what else they’ve got in store.”
Lucas nodded. “Just another reason Quinn and those Knowms have got to go.”
Sezuni glanced at Lucas. “For your sake,” she began as she walked back around the corner of the shack toward the door, “I certainly hope you still intend to visit Aalok Bonham.”
Puzzled, Aiden turned to Lucas. “Who’s Alex Bone-ham?”
“Aalok Bonham,” Iris corrected. “He’s a well-known and highly respected master of Light conjuring. Lucas intends to enroll at his school as one of his pupils once we have completed our work here, in order to advance his abilities.”
“I’d go sooner,” Lucas added, “but I don’t want to give Kuraikaji any more time to destroy cities. Once I get my conjuring up to par, we can get that disk fragment from Lord Quinn.”
“Keep in mind,” Hagan asserted, “we’re not even sure if Lord Quinn is holding the disk fragment himself. Like I said the other day, he’s probably hidden it somewhere secret. I don’t think it’ll be as simple as us barging into his mansion with our fists flying. Maybe we should stick with our original plan and try to get in with the Spades and get their disk fragment before going after Quinn. They were founded by one of Quinn’s guys after all. We’d probably learn a lot of useful stuff.”
“How?” Lucas argued. “The Spades keep themselves well hidden. Even Quinn and all of the Knowms can’t find them. We went to the In Between looking for them ourselves and found out firsthand.”
“Perhaps it’s best that we focus our attention on Kuraikaji in the meantime,” Iris interrupted. “We can plan our next course of action during our trip to Cymbeline and Ivyvyne Village. It will require careful, well thought out planning to obtain both disk fragments while preventing all contenders from completing it first.”
The four reentered the shack and ate dinner along with Sezuni. The remainder of the evening was relatively uneventful, and soon nighttime had arrived. After gathering their belongings and preparing themselves for the events to come, they set out for Secar. Following closely behind Sezuni, the trio and Aiden proceeded out the door of the shack and into the night.
“It’s pretty dark out here,” said Lucas. “Maybe I should get out the lantern so we can see approaching monsters.”
“No,” Sezuni snapped. “We don’t want to attract any attention. It’s already going to be difficult enough sneaking five people into Secar at once.”
“Your eyes’ll adjust,” Aiden assured Lucas.
Sezuni glanced over her shoulder at them. “Just stay close to me and you’ll be fine. I possess the Shadow elemental center, which allows me to see well, regardless of the lighting.”
“That’s useful,” said Hagan.
Aiden looked at him. “It’s cheatin’ is what it is! I always gotta do this with normal-people eyes!”
“Using my natural ability is hardly cheating,” Sezuni argued. “Now keep it down. We need to remain as quiet as possible, even while we’re out here. We can’t risk being seen or heard by any Cobras.”
Slowly and silently, the group continued toward Secar. It wasn’t long, however, before Sezuni softly warned, “Stay still.” Obeying, the group froze.
“Monsters?” Hagan quietly queried. Without answering, Sezuni slowly unsheathed her katana and took a few steps forward.
“Imps,” Lucas whispered.
“I see ‘em too,” said Aiden. Suddenly, he took off running toward the threat.
“Aiden!” Lucas and Iris exclaimed.
Before Sezuni could turn around to shush them, she saw Aiden zoom by her as his hands glowed brightly in flames. “You idiot!” she muttered as Aiden proceeded to pelt the enemies with fireballs. While the flames consumed the small group of imps rather quickly and effortlessly, the surrounding area was briefly illuminated by the attack. Shaking her head, Sezuni sheathed her katana.
Returning to the group with a cocky grin and his hands extinguished, Aiden proudly announced, “Got ‘em!”
Sezuni slapped him. “You’ve revealed our location, you fool!”
“Ya didn’t have to slap me you bit–”
Before Aiden could finish, she slapped him again. “Shut up. Keep your voice down or you’ll get us all killed. I thought you would know better, but I suppose I’ve overestimated my already low expectations of your capacity to strategize.” Without warning, Aiden hands burst into flames. “Don’t you dare,” Sezuni coldly warned, unsheathing her katana with incredible speed.
“I can’t help it,” Aiden responded with clenched teeth. “It happens when I get angry!”
“Then calm yourself,” Sezuni snapped.
Closing his eyes and taking several deep breaths, Aiden returned his hands to normal. “We’re not even close to Secar yet,” he argued.
Sezuni sheathed her katana. “There could be Cobras anywhere in the desert, you know that!”
“How strange,” Iris whispered to Lucas and Hagan. “Emotionally activated conjuring is another first for me. We must be certain he’s not angered during our infiltration.”
After nodding in agreement, Hagan softly responded, “He’s got as much control of his magic as he has of himself.”
Lucas looked at Aiden. Sezuni’s being pretty hard on him. Then again, she’s right. I thought he’d be a lot better at this considering that he does it all the time. I just hope having him along doesn’t turn out to be a decision I’ll regret.