《REDTIDE》
I - Bloody Hands
News spread fast in a small town like Betton. When it was announced that a Mage of the King¡¯s Court would be passing through (the ever-optimistic chieftain assuming that the footnote of ¡°as quickly as possible¡± was an act of courtesy), the ensuing excitement could have easily been confused for mass hysteria. It had been years since last anyone important had set foot in the small town, and this particular arrival was seen as extremely serendipitous.
Purely in regards to magic, the young Derin was particularly highly regarded. There were rumors that he was born reciting incantations and formulae rather than crying. Nobody knew this, certainly, but nobody bothered to point out the obvious fact that he was left on the doorstep of the chieftain¡¯s manor as an infant.
¡°Derin! Where¡¯s Derin?¡± A gravelly, cracking voice called. The source of the voice, a middle-aged man darting about the inner wall of the village, looked everywhere. He lifted lids off of barrels, and he knocked on doors, much to the displeasure of those who were still sleeping as the sun barely pulled itself up over the green forested horizon.
¡°Sir Bradley, I know you are excited for your boy¡¯s opportunity, and your enthusiasm is infectious, but please let the rest of us have some sleep.¡± A woman spoke from her open window. ¡°Derin is probably out training, you know how he is.¡±
¡°Heh, right. He never did know when to stop.¡± Bradley¡¯s hand wandered to the top of his head, but he retracted it after grasping at the air where he would usually find his helmet. He resigned himself to wait at the crack in the wall that Derin thought nobody else knew that he snuck through.
The overwhelming sound of rushing water overwhelmed Derin¡¯s ears, drowning out the more distracting sounds of water in favor of monotonous white noise. This was his favorite spot to practice: there was no dearth of targets to practice on, and he was alone.
Derin¡¯s eyes shut tightly, and he concentrated closely on the flow of his energy. Power gathered at the tip of his left index finger, and in the dark behind his eyelids, a bright flash of blue light enveloped his vision as he flicked his finger forward, unleashing a blue elemental blast.
He opened his eyes in time to watch the bolt of magical energy fly through the air, crashing into a tree stump on the far bank of the river, dissipating around it. ¡°Tch,¡± he clicked his tongue. He had spent all night here on the verge of a breakthrough, but still he could only impart negligible power into his attacks.
¡°If I go back today and meet that mage, he¡¯ll reject me. I¡¯ll be a failure.¡± As of now, the only way by which Derin was able to put any force into his abilities was by pulling it from whatever element he wanted to impart on his attacks. It felt to him like cheating.
Once again, Derin gathered energy in his hand. This time, instead of focusing it in his fingertip, he poured as much as he could into his hand. Unfocused, it crashed upon the stump like a wave, dispersing into the air.
He sighed. It seemed to him as if the right answer was some combination of those two, but he just couldn¡¯t find a way to focus large amounts of energy. Falling short on what must be so trivial for a real mage made Derin realize just how trivial of an existence he was.
Whenever Derin got introspective and self-critical like this, he knew his practice was done for the day. The emotions would not let him focus his magic again. He walked down the river, following it to his favorite spot.
The sound of water grew to a deafening roar as he approached the cliff over which a waterfall poured into the valley. The morning sun and its halo, like an eye looking down upon the world, shone light upon Betton and the dirt roads that led to it.
On the road to Betton was a caravan more luxurious and colorful than most visitors to this backwater village were. ¡°Wait, is that¡?¡± Derin asked himself, watching it.
As realization dawned on him, he muttered.
¡°Oh shit, I forgot!¡± He exclaimed in a rare outburst of emotion, and flung himself from the top of the cliff. He gathered his power in both hands, fusing it with the air around him and using it to push himself up at the same rate at which the grasp of gravity tried to pull him down. He shot over the canopy of the forest, grazing some of the highest leaves of trees that grew more ambitiously into the sky than those around them.
Within just minutes, he arrived at the western wall, and deactivated his makeshift flying spell. Next to the guard tower, a pile of bricks concealed a hole in the outside wall. Pushing them away, he slipped through the tiny crack, bumping his head into something.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°Another late night hard at work, I see.¡± The deep voice of his adoptive father, Bradley, came from above him. ¡°Any later and you would have missed the Mage of the King¡¯s Court. Do you have anything to say about that?¡±
¡°Haha¡ I¡¯m sorry. I won¡¯t let it happen again.¡± Derin responded, pushing himself up onto his feet, avoiding eye contact with Bradley.
¡°I know you will. Now, hurry, we¡¯ve got to go find Bart.¡±
¡°You know he hates it when you call him that.¡±
Bradley practically dragged Derin by the neck to the town hall, where Chieftain Bartholomew was waiting impatiently. ¡°We cannot leave our distinguished guest waiting,¡± he said, his foot tapping to some unknown rhythm. For a moment, Derin thought he saw a tail wagging behind him in excitement as he walked. ¡°When you first turned up, I couldn¡¯t possibly imagine what you would become. I know you¡¯ll make us proud, so show him what you¡¯ve got!¡±
¡°But Chieftain, sir, I¡¯m really not¡¡±
¡°The first person in our village to have magic power ever, and you don¡¯t think you¡¯re cut out for this? If you have time to joke, you have time to meet our guest. Now go!¡± Bartholomew pushed Derin forward, causing him to stumble forward and finally register on the radar of the Court Mage.
¡°Magic?¡± The mage thought to himself. ¡°Absurd. Magic outside of high birth was eradicated.¡±
¡°And you are?¡± He asked. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I have a very tight schedule to keep.¡±
¡°My name is Derin.¡±
¡°Well met. I am Ooros, a Mage of the King¡¯s Court. It¡¯d serve you well not to anger me.¡±
¡°I will do my best. Would you answer just one request for me?¡±
¡°Of course,¡± Ooros forced a smile, preparing a spell behind his back.
¡°Well, I¡¯ve been wanting to ask, since it¡¯s so rare to have an opportunity to speak with anyone from the capital, do they take on aspiring mages there?
¡°Aspiring mages¡? Boy, don¡¯t tell me.¡± He feigned surprise. ¡°I hadn¡¯t planned on cleaning up some unfaithful nobleman¡¯s mistake, but I suppose that¡¯s just part of the job.¡± He aimed his index finger carefully at Derin¡¯s head, firing a bright red bolt of magic power.
Derin barely had time to lift his hand. The power he held within that hand was barely enough to negate the power of the attack, and it still tore the surface of his skin, leaving cuts and gashes that dripped crimson blood onto his wrist.
The adrenaline racing through Derin¡¯s veins was enough to refocus his mind off of the pain in his hand. Focusing energy into his palm, he shaped the air into a blade and pushed it forward.
The wind separated Ooros¡¯s head from his body. As his head, forever locked in an expression of neutral confusion and surprise, rolled on the dirt, his body kneeled before crumpling forward completely.
Derin stared at the body he had just taken the life from, and back at his own shaking hands. He had just taken someone¡¯s life.
What terrified him wasn¡¯t that he had killed someone, it was the immense satisfaction that it brought him. That satisfaction was almost enough to overcome the sense of guilt from having been given such a chance, and completely killing it in all the wrong ways.
Standing in the clearing in the dead silence was like breathing underwater. His breath caught in his throat, and his heartbeat shook his entire frame, until he could no longer stand the guilt and pressure. Without a word, Derin kicked off against the ground and activated his air propulsion. Up he flew, until Betton was but a speck among the swathes of green below.
He finally looked back down. His mind pulled itself back to the moment that he activated that wind blade. His hands were wet with blood that dripped from the sky like rain. It poured from his palms, threatening to dye the entire forest below in red. As far as his eyes could see, everything was covered in the blood on Derin¡¯s hands. His heart beat faster.
Evil. The word lurked in his mind, skulking about its periphery before wresting control over all of his thoughts. I am evil. More blood. He wished it was his own. Now, it had flooded the landscape. It drowned the town he had grown up in, and rose to his ankles as if trying to swallow him.
Derin¡¯s magic broke. His flight stopped and he plummeted into the endless sea of red. The cold embrace of his sins numbed him, and he closed his eyes in resignation. This is my punishment for being evil.
Everything went dark. Derin plummeted through the sky, a low-flying flock of birds just barely dodging his unconscious body as it approached the trees.
His descent slowed. He glided through the numerous branches untouched until his unconscious body lazily floated into someone¡¯s arms.
Author''s Note
Hi all! I haven''t visited this site in a long while. I guess I''ve been doing my own training arc of sorts. I just got this new idea and had to share it. More to come whenever I have it, and maybe if I can establish a rhythm, I''ll have a schedule I can adhere to.
If you have any comments, criticism, speculation, or anything of the sort to make, pleasemake yourself heard! I always want to know who my readers are and how I can make my writing better.
Regards,
Amadeus
II - Red Sky Aflame
When he finally awoke, Derin groggily sat up. As his senses gradually began to work again, he looked around him. His back wasn¡¯t on a bed that felt like a pile of rocks, he had slept on an actual pile of rocks. His head pounded, the headache assaulting him enough to make him feel like his eyes were about to explode. His nose burned from the smell of smoke, and the crackling of fire was overpowered by the sound of rushing water.
He turned around. A man whose face he had not known stared intently at the fire, as if waiting for something. His concentration undivided, he refused even to blink as his eyes watered from the smoke.
¡°Now!¡± He exclaimed as he reached toward the fire. His hand retracted, and finally, Derin could see what the strange person had been concentrating on: a butchered and skewered fish, blackened by the fire and steaming hot.
Derin just stared at him, flummoxed. Who was this man? Why was he here? Why was Derin here? The questions wandered his mind, his thoughts still waterlogged and sluggish.
¡°Ah!¡± The stranger finally looked up from his dinner for long enough to notice that Derin had awoken. ¡°Finally awake, I see. That was quite a fall you almost had, you should be glad I was there to save you.¡±
¡°Fall?¡± Derin was confused for a moment. What fall had he almost had, and how does one almost fall? ¡°Oh.¡± Sudden realization came in the form of his memories. The mage, his escape, his hallucination. It all stopped there - he guessed that he must have lost consciousness.
¡°Yeah, and it was quite something! I¡¯ve never met a kid with quite your talents.¡± The man gushed. ¡°I¡¯m Rorick. My friends call me Rick.¡±
¡°Derin.¡±
¡°A pleasure, Derin.¡± In spite of Derin¡¯s terseness, Rorick maintained his attitude that seemed just too jovial to be real.
¡°So, Rorick. Please do tell me - why are you out here, and why did you save me?¡±
¡°Why, I¡¯m out here because my friends and I heard quite the ripple in the mana field. Quite hard to miss a new mage¡¯s Awakening, especially one of someone as talented as yourself.¡± Rorick explained, making wild hand gestures as he elaborated on his presence in the forest.
¡°Huh? Awakening? What?¡± Derin was confused. What was an Awakening? Had he unknowingly had one?
¡°Nobody quite knows what causes an Awakening. However, when someone Awakens, all of the magic power in their body is blasted out into the world around them as their body¡¯s ability to process magic evolves, and the structure of the mana circuitry throughout their body rewires itself. It¡¯s usually all of the unused magic power that has accumulated over the course of more than a decade of a young mage¡¯s life, so you most certainly won¡¯t be able to release such power again for a very long time.¡±
¡°And the headache is¡¡±
¡°Precisely. Here, some fish will help!¡±
¡°Ugh, great. Thank you.¡± Derin took a skewer from Rorick. Biting into the flaky meat was like drinking water after a week in the desert. Tension that he did not know he had was released, and he dropped his shoulders as he ate. Before he knew it, the fish was gone.
¡°First meal after an Awakening is an experience I¡¯d die to have again. I¡¯m sorry yours had to be something as quaint as some fire-grilled fish.¡±
¡°Seconds.¡±
¡°Ha! I like the grit o¡¯ your chaps. Don¡¯t ask what that means, ¡®cause I don¡¯t know either!¡± Rorick laughed as he handed over a second skewer. ¡°Speaking of Awakening, I hate to bring it up now, lad, but yours was weird. We felt something before yours, as if a pool of still water rippled before a stone was dropped into it. Say¡ did something happen with another mage?¡±
Derin stopped mid bite, and didn¡¯t say anything.
¡°Dammit, I should have known. If we move now, it might not be too late.¡± It had been some time since Derin realized that they were right around his usual training spot. He practically raced Rorick to the cliff¡¯s edge, over which they could see the valley.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
A column of black rose into the sky, as if consuming the stars above. The only thing illuminating the valley forest below was¡ Betton. Houses, like torches aglow with flame, spit ash and soot into the night sky.
¡°No... ¡° Derin mumbled. ¡°No!¡± His voice raised into an anguished shout. He ran forward, making a beeline for the cliff¡¯s edge, only to be stopped by the firm grip of Rorick¡¯s hand around his wrist. ¡°Let me go!¡±
¡°And if I did, what would you do?¡± Rorick spoke gravely. ¡°Save them? Stop the Royal Garrison and probably hundreds of their men on your own?¡±
¡°I¡¯d sure as hell try.¡± Derin growled. ¡°I could take down at least ten, maybe twenty.¡±
¡°And die?¡±
¡°And die with my village.¡±
Derin¡¯s last remark earned him a backhanded slap to the face. ¡°Do you realize how stupid you sound?¡± Rorick yelled. ¡°You¡¯d throw yourself away, just like that?
¡°It¡¯s too late for your village. By now, they¡¯re all either dead or in chains. You would end up no different. You¡¯d be used as nothing but a tool to squash their last hope. You would be the final nail in their coffins.¡±
¡°I already am the final nail in their coffins!¡± Derin cried. ¡°If I had just obediently laid down and died, this would never have happened!¡±
¡°If you had obediently laid down and died, you would be gone with nothing to show for your life. They were trying to show you to that Court Mage to get him to take you along with him, didn¡¯t they?¡±
¡°Yeah, but¡¡±
¡°But nothing. All that they wanted was for you to be something. Now, you can fulfill that wish. Let us help you. Join the Red Tide, Derin. To honor their memory.¡±
Derin stopped pulling. ¡°You say that as if there is no hope left for them.¡±
¡°There isn¡¯t.¡± Rorick sighed. ¡°They are already gone. Their final gift to you was your life, and to throw it away is the ultimate disrespect.¡±
In the warping wisps of smoke that towered over Betton, it seemed to Derin as if he could see their faces looking back. ¡°Alright,¡± he said, taking in a deep breath. ¡°Tell me what I have to do.¡±
¡°You¡¯d best get some rest, first. It¡¯s been a long day, and you¡¯ll need it.¡± Rorick said. His earlier anger had dissipated, and the only expression that remained on his age-worn face was one of sorrowful concern.
The next day came sooner than Derin thought it would. It felt like as soon as he closed his eyes, he opened them again and was greeted by the bright blue sky peeking through the trees. He went to the fire, where Rorick still sat. A pot that he couldn¡¯t possibly have been carrying was hung over the fire.
¡°Hey, where did you get¡ that?¡± Derin asked, pointing at it perplexedly.
¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind the small details. Please sit, we have a lot to talk about.¡± He gestured at the ground next to him. Derin obliged, awkwardly sitting closer to Rorick than he was really comfortable with.
¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you want to know all about the Red Tide.¡±
¡°Sure¡¡± Derin was hesitant. Rorick was awfully enthusiastic about it, which was almost as confusing as it was off putting to him.
¡°The Red Tide, see, is a motley bunch of people like you. Like us.¡± Rorick started. ¡°The King took magic away from the common people of Tyradna in much the same way he took your home from you. We¡¯re going to get rid of him and take it back.¡±
¡°Take it back? What does that mean?¡±
¡°The King that took magic away from the common folk used an old relic to do it. We will find it, and we will destroy it.¡±
¡°But how will destroying it- ¡°Are you in, or not?¡± Rorick interrupted. ¡°Whatever happens, we will free Tyradna from him. Do you want to let them keep burning down villages, or do you want to save your people?¡±
Derin took a deep breath. Destroy a tyrannical government? He didn¡¯t know if he had what it took. Regardless, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±
¡°There it is!¡± Rorick excitedly shouted. He waved a hand, and with it, pitch-black obscured the midday sun like a sudden eclipse. The forest around them receded into nothingness, and the sound of water and lingering smell of smoke faded away.
¡°Wha-!¡± Derin stammered and jumped to his feet. ¡°What did you do?¡±
¡°Welcome, Derin,¡± Rorick theatrically spread his arms, and that suspiciously jovial smile seemed just a bit more genuine. ¡°To Shadowsun.¡± Behind him, a titanic building towered above. Stone columns and lightless windows blended into the inky black sky.
¡°Rick! You¡¯re back!¡± A voice called, but no matter how hard he tried, Derin couldn¡¯t pinpoint its source. It seemed to come from all around him. ¡°And with¡ who¡¯s this? Should I know them?¡±
¡°Hahaha! No, this is the new kid I went to pick up. Alora, meet Derin. Derin, Alora.¡± Rorick explained, putting a hand on Derin¡¯s head and ruffling his crimson hair, much to Derin¡¯s displeasure.
¡°Uh, Rorick¡¡± Derin whispered after pushing Rorick¡¯s hand off of his head. ¡°Who are we talking to? And, err, where are they?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t bolt your carabiners, kid! You¡¯ll meet her soon enough. That¡¯s Alora, and she¡¯s responsible for keeping this whole place running.¡±
¡°Hey everyone, Rick is back!¡± Another new voice. This one came from the now open front door of the tower, where a boy who seemed about the same age as Derin stood. Behind him, nearly a dozen silhouettes appeared at the doors, talking excitedly among themselves.
¡°Derin,¡± Rorick grinned, ¡°allow me to introduce you to your new family.¡±
III - Shadowsun
Derin smiled faintly. However, there was little time for his dread when facing large groups of people to appear. Suddenly, all he saw was the starless night sky above. Even that disappeared from view as his eyes closed.
Rorick knelt down as the rest of the Red Tide ran towards him.
¡°This is bad. The space is rejecting him. If you don¡¯t get him out of here now, there won¡¯t be anything left of him to bring back!¡± Alora exclaimed, panicked.
¡°What are you waiting for, Rorick? Get him out of here!¡± A boy about the same age as Derin yelled.
¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take him to get some rest at the Rambling Geist,¡± Rorick said, ¡°but, uh¡¡±
¡°But what?¡± Another new voice from the crowd.
¡°I don¡¯t have the money on me to pay for it¡¡±
The entirety of Shadowsun echoed with the sound of the entire group facepalming in unison.
Derin¡¯s eyes fluttered open. ¡°...Huh? That¡¯s weird.¡± He said, rolling over in his unusually comfortable bed. ¡°How could I ever sleep on something this soft?¡±
¡°Derin,¡± a familiar voice said from behind him, ¡°is there something you aren¡¯t telling us?¡±
¡°Not telling you?¡± He was confused. Rorick was clearly suspicious of something, but what? The last thing Derin remembered was losing consciousness outside of the Red Tide¡¯s base.
¡°The only time Shadowsun rejects anyone is when their very presence threatens the spatial fabric that allows it to exist. Someone needs to have more ambient magic power floating around them than Alora has been pouring into the system for years in order for this to happen.
There¡¯s no way a mage who just had their Awakening is suddenly this powerful.¡±
¡°I, uh, don¡¯t know what to say. This is all news to me, I¡¯ve never even had enough power to damage a tree stump without calling an element to it.¡±
¡°Calling an element to it?¡± Rorick asked. It was strange - wasn¡¯t calling an element to accompany magic power so it could have an effect on the real world absolutely basic?
¡°Yeah, I just take magic and then call, say, wind into it. The wind follows the shape of the magic. That¡¯s how you make a spell, right?¡±
Rorick did not respond. The silence was uncomfortable, and he couldn¡¯t tell just why the man had gone so quiet.
¡°Well, anyway, the others wanted me to tell you that we¡¯re glad to have you on the team. It¡¯s sudden, but since you can¡¯t live with us in Shadowsun until you¡¯re a bit more capable with that absurd power, and the next session starts too soon for us to delay, I¡¯ll have to take you to the Magic Academy of Neria.¡±
¡°But why couldn¡¯t you have just teleported us there from Shadowsun?¡±
¡°I can enter Shadowsun from anywhere, but the only place to come out of it is through its link to the physical world. There¡¯s no human who can use spatial magic on a scale large enough to abridge the days of travel ahead.¡±
¡°What day is it today?¡±
¡°Ruundas.¡±
¡°I mean, the date. And how long until I have to be there?¡±
¡°It¡¯s the 23rd of Last Light, we have until the 25th. The journey will take 3 days at best, by carriage.¡±
¡°And we¡¯ll get there on time¡ how?¡±
¡°And why are we on top of a bell tower?¡± Derin had to shout over the sound of the wind around him.
¡°Flying is faster than carriages!¡± Rorick responded, a wild grin on his face. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
¡°And if someone sees us?¡± Derin questioned, but he received no answer. Already, Rorick had dove off of the roof. Derin ran to the edge and looked over it for Rorick, only to see him levitating back up.
¡°What are you waiting for?¡± He asked. ¡°We haven¡¯t got much time.¡±
Derin took a deep breath to calm his beating heart. He had done this dozens of times before, what was different now? He didn¡¯t know what was wrong, but he felt¡ off. As if he had eaten bread made from months-old flour, or breathed in too much smoke.
¡°Well, here goes nothing¡¡± He said. The tiles rang like chimes as he stepped back to the other end of the roof, and again when he began his running start. Each footstep was like a clock counting down.
6¡ The sky above him suddenly seemed that much higher.
5¡ The bustle of the marketplace below went silent.
4¡ All he could hear was his heart beating in time with his gait.
3¡ He was already off of the roof. His steps had been too large. He panicked as he searched for the roof, but it was no longer below his feet. He wrapped himself in magic power and pulled wind to it, but the sound of it rushing by his body was deafening. He shot into the sky, wind whipping around him with the force of a hurricane.
¡°Derin!¡± Rorick¡¯s voice was lost in the howl of the wind. He struggled to stay stable as the wind buffeted him and blasted him away, and Derin rocketed ever further into the sky.
The town below was little more than the size of Derin¡¯s palm. He was beset upon by freezing air that seemed to bite into his skin with sharp, icy fangs.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Derin asked, panicked. His voice diffused into the endless sky around him as he pierced through the clouds.
¡°Goodness. And here the geezer was telling me you¡¯d have excellent control. He must be going senile.¡± A deep voice, almost growling, boomed between Derin¡¯s ears. It echoed in his head, as if bouncing off of the walls of his skull.
¡°Who said that?!¡± Derin whipped about, looking for the source of the voice, but couldn¡¯t find it.
¡°I guess you wouldn¡¯t know. All you need to know for now is that I am the source of the ocean of power within you that the pudgy mage down there was so suspicious of.
To wield power properly, one needs a calm mind. Yours is like a firestorm, not just of panic but of repressed fear, anger, and sadness.
Hold onto those emotions, but do not let them control you. Until you learn to harness them, though¡¡± The voice paused, as if silently sighing. ¡°You cannot use magic.¡±
Cannot use magic? Those three words rang like tolling bells in Derin¡¯s mind.
¡°For now, I will be taking these powers back.¡± Suddenly, the whipping winds that rent miles of clouds into ribbons stopped. The sky was stagnant, silent, and peaceful. Derin could even hear his own breathing before the wind picked up again - only this time, it was because he was falling.
¡°This is it. This is how I die.¡± He resigned as he watched the ground grow larger and larger at an alarming pace.
¡°And that makes 2!¡± Rorick yelled. As he did, he started to slow, reaching Rorick¡¯s hands just a few seconds later.
¡°I guess it does,¡± Derin laughed. The whole thing didn¡¯t seem real. He thought he was either dead or going to wake up in a few moments in his bed in Betton, as bored as he always had been.
¡°What happened up there, kid?¡± More than confused, Rorick seemed genuinely concerned.
¡°I¡ don¡¯t know. I tried flying up, but I lost control.¡±
¡°Well, don¡¯t worry too much about it. It¡¯d be best not to try and use magic for a while. Here, I¡¯ll carry you.
¡°Excuse you?¡±
¡°With my magic. What did you think I meant?¡±
When the two set off, the sun was still in the middle of the sky. As they tore through the air, chasing after the sun as it slowly descended toward the horizon, they passed countless small towns and villages. On the roads below, men and women driving carriages full of produce between towns made for some enjoyable distractions for Derin, as he tried to guess what food each barrel and crate contained.
Miles of hills, meadows, and forests broke only momentarily to make way for broad fields of grain. The dense woods stretched out into the horizon, where they were blanketed by dark grey clouds.
Hours passed, Derin silently watching the world pass below. The dark clouds that barely tinged the horizon had now grown to envelop most of the sky. All around them, it was as dark as night, save for scarce light in the distant sky piercing through the heavy cloud cover.
¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Rorick grumbled as icy rain began to fall from the sky.
¡°Here? Where is ¡®here?¡¯ All I see is woods and storm clou- ...oh.¡± Derin¡¯s question was interrupted as they descended to the ground. Where it seemed like there was nothing, a broad open field stretched across the countryside. Surrounded by tall stone walls, the many massive buildings within towered over the plains. Even as rain poured from the stormclouds above, the rain did not seem to affect the dry ground below.
From the front gate stepped a man. In front of the grand scale of the walls, he seemed tiny and insignificant, but even the inexperienced Derin was able to tell that insignificant was the last word one would use to describe him.
A dark scar traveled from his hairline across his face, even down into his neck. His white hair stood on end, as if charged with static electricity, and his bright blue eyes shone with a million lightning bolts trapped within. His eyebrows were low and his face wrinkled, trapped in a permanent serious and seemingly furious expression.
¡°We have been waiting. Follow me.¡± He said, his authoritative voice booming like thunder, before walking the two towards the front gate.