Origins - Ether
#4 of Origins
Hours turned into days. Soon, the group of scouts and the captured wolf arrived.
"Rivergale..." The gryphon captain smiled. "Home sweet home..."
Nil gazed upon the town and awed. It was bustling with busy people, like any other major cities. The smell of freshly baked bread lingered in the air and floated around the now no longer starved lupine. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But the thing that shocked him most was the castle in the center. The gray fortress had towers on each corners of the giant walls. Each of those cylindrical rooms had ballistae and catapults equipped and ready for firing. Armed soldiers patrolling around filled the walls. Flags were hung upon the walls of the building, each containing the blue symbol of Rivergale. The thought of water made the wolf scanned around the wall. Despite its favourness of water and wind elements, the ground surrounding it doesn't have a single drop of liquid. With no moats, the location was easy to be struck by battering rams. The brown flying mammal noticed the gawking wolf and chuckled.
"You haven't seen a castle like this?" He asked. Nil snapped his attention to the scout and smiled.
"It's unbelievable, Navried!" He exclaimed. "The ones back in Pyroshock didn't have any building like this! They only have pyres as their bases of operations."
"You Pyroshock mages intrigues me sometimes," the bat chuckled. "Are all of them like you?"
"No. All the other apprentices and masters I've met are cold. All those glaring..."
The lupine shuddered as he remembered his past. The sympathetic bat sighed and patted his back, causing the canine to smile a little. Since the day he was captured, Navried Wings was the only one who sympathized to the canine, for Navried himself was an orphan like the lupine. The only difference between their past was that Navried lost his parents during one of the assaults and was taken by the chantry before entering his days as a squire.
"You mages are very confusing to me," the brown bat chuckled.
"But at least not as confusing as a fighting priest," the arctic wolf retorted.
"True, but us priests have faith to the High One so much that our morale never faltered."
"So that's where the usefulness as a fighting priest is," the lupine awed.
"If you want to, we can share fighting secrets with each other, your magic with my fighting skills. What do you say?"
"I doubt that would work," the wolf chuckled. "As you can see, I'm not exactly the fighting type. And as for you, I doubt you have any vors to utilize."
"Navried!!" the gryphon captain squawked. "Stop chatting with the prisoner and follow!!"
"Yes sir," the bat reluctantly replied. The two sighed as silence hung around them. A chilly glare from behind the white lupine caused him to turn around. He quickly scanned around and found nothing out of the ordinary. His heart thumped faster as paranoia built in.
"You felt it too?" Navried asked quietly.
"Someone's been following us," he whispered back. "And from the feel of it, a mage as well. The amount of vors is very high. But the moment I turn around, he immediately sealed his presence."
"Should we tell the captain or the others?"
"Based on feelings? Its best to do so."
"What are you two talking about back there!?" The captain snapped. "Do you want to lose your heads?"
"No sir, but we felt something awkward," the flying mammal responded.
"Oh? How awkward?" The mythical beast cocked an eyebrow.
"Well, we've been feeling like we were being followed. And according to Nil, it seems much likely a mage."
"Based on how much vors suddenly appeared out of nowhere, I'll say that..."
"Silence!!" The rhino soldier beside him hit his stomach, causing him to slump to the ground and cough. "Prisoners are not allowed to speak unless the captain says so."
"At ease," the griffin told him, causing the thick-skinned mammal to grumble. "If 'tis so, the why didn't he attack us?"
"Perhaps they want to ambush us here where there could be lots of victim," Nil, regaining his breath, guessed. The wolf's breath was caught short once more by the rhino's bone-cracking punch.
"He never said you could speak, pup!" He bellowed. Navried knelt down and patted the wolf's back as Nil started to cough uncontrollably.
"Although, he has a point," the brown ursine, who had been silent the whole trip, spoke up. "There is a high possibility that a mage might attack us in this situation and bring chaos. That way, the streets will be filled with riot and we're wide open for any attack."
"Either way, we should keep our guard up," the griffin captain ordered. "If an enemy mage is loose and attack us in broad daylight, things will be disastrous."
"Yes sir," the rhino and bear nodded. The kneeling bat on the ground just stared concern on the white wolf.
"You okay?" Navried asked.
"Been better," Nil took a long breath. "But much better from my years of apprentice hood."
"Do I need to ask?"
"No, you don't," the lupine answer with a grave tone of voice. "You reeally don't."
"Um... Okay..." The now frightened bat stood up with Nil. "I'm just glad you're okay."
"Thanks. At least someone cares," Nil smiled.
"So what's a force anyways? I heard you say it multiple times already and I still don't know what it means."
"Not force," Nil chuckled, "vors... A vors is a mage's crucial element for casting magic. Some countries call them spirits, magic energy, or even mana. But the people in this country call them vors. It is essential for people who want to use magic to have vors because to use them, they have to tap into that power."
"I see..." Navried nodded. "And do all people have this vors?"
"Actually, only some people are born with them. Others either don't have or have artificial ones. But a master mage, like mine, has to have the first one because channeling vors are easier if they're born with them and can wield variations of advanced spells."
"I'm guessing you have the one from when you were born."
"And you don't."
The group stopped in front of the main castle gate. The soldiers saluted to the gator guard in front before entering the building. A few seconds later, a cloaked figure stepped forward to the guard. The dark robe concealed his features.
"Can I help you?" The reptile asked.
"Tell me, was the arctic wolf from before brought here?" His cold voice rang.
"Yes. In fact, he's on his way to be thrown in front of His Majesty."
"Thank you," a sinister smile appeared under the hood. "You've played your role very well."
"What?"
A paw emerged from the cloak and grabbed the reptile's muzzle. The surprised gator tried to retaliate, but it was too late. In an instant, electric current surged through his body and fried him. His screams of agony and pain were stopped by his assailant's paw until his body became lifeless. The citizens who passed by barely even notice the event happening.
"This should be really easy, Nil," the assailant chuckled manically as he dropped the body and entered the castle grounds. Inside, the while lupine was paralyzed, both in shock and fear. Navried stepped closer and looked at him closely.
"Are you okay?" He asked. He gaze down and saw the trembling arms under the cloak. "Are you scared of His Majesty? Don't worry about him. He's a nice fellow if you know him well."
The shaky wolf paid no attention to his friend. The thing in his mind was the power form a few moments ago.
'That vors power... It can't be...' He thought to himself as fear started to control his body. 'Of all the places, why here?'
A sudden contact startled the wolf, causing him to yelp, jump, and fall down on his tail. Navried knelt down quickly in panic.
"Nil! Are you okay?" He asked. "You're shaking!"
"Heh, looks like the brave wolf is afraid of cats," the rhino snorted.
"Can it, Jaz!" Navried growled before returning his attention to Nil. "Are you okay?"
"N-Navried," Nil looked up. "I-I know who's been following us."
"You do?"
"M-my master," he swallowed hard. The shocked group stared at him as he continues. "Of all the possibilities, how come he's the one following us?"
"I knew we shouldn't trust this pup," Jaz growled as he kicked the wolf on the muzzle. Nil yelped and landed on his back, nose bleeding slightly.
"A question though," the bruin guard said as he held the angered rhino beside him. "If they were trying to ambush us like this, why in Ynol's s name would this one tell us about the other's position and who he is?"
"To throw us off guard, that's why!" Jaz boomed as he struggled from the bear's grip.
"Then why is he shaking now?"
"He's scared that we're going to kill him for this! Now let me go Vic!"
"But from all the time, why now? Why not when we captured him or during our travel? Can't you calm down and think for a second?"
"And can't you stop thinking and kill him now?"
"ENOUGH!!"
The four of them stared at the captain. The angered gryphon took a long breath before staring down on the shivering wolf.
"You've been very cooperative for these few days," he started. "So I'm going to give you one chance to prove yourself that you're not their spy."
"How?" Nil stared up.
"Tell us more about our intruder," he stated. "If you're not one of them anymore, you shouldn't be afraid of letting out their secrets."
"O-okay..." Nil nodded before taking a breath. "I believe we're facing Master Grum, my mentor. He specializes both in fire and electricity spells. Through years of... torment... I realized he always take all jobs seriously and usually tortures the victims before killing them.
"I would advice on attacking him quickly before he has the chance to attack, but the floating crystal orb above him will show anything around him."
"So we can't ambush him at all?"
Nil just nodded in response.
"So it's brute speed, then," Navried said.
"But a question still lingers, though," Vic said. "What's his purpose on attacking?"
"Save the questions later," Nil said. "The vors power is increasing. He must be casting some spell, and it's a big one."
"Then let us make haste," the gryphon said. "Vic, alert the other guards and inform them about this intrusion."
"Yes sir," the bruin replied as he ran towards the barracks.
"Navried, call all the mages to come here at once."
"At once!" the bat said as he ran towards the tower.
"Let's go."
"Captain ," the rhino said as he pointed to the wolf on the floor.
"Aren't you coming with us?" the gryphon asked.
"I'm a little... tied up at the moment," Nil said as he rolled his body to his side, showing his tied wrists behind his back.
"Oh, right..." They cut the rope and gave the lupine his belongings. Nil rubbed his wrists and stood up. Grabbing his staff and bag, he followed the other two scouts.