《Book one: Change》 1.) A Request "Oh master Ezakiel, back already?" A group of farmer, from the village ahead, greet me from far of the fields. They are excited as always. All yelling and gesturing, as if I am some saint descending from heavens.. Well, maybe I really appear as some kind of saint to them. I am Ezakiel. To be more precise, I am the great master Ezakiel Sasaki. I am master of the Jaganken, A large monastery within the demi-human lands. That¡äs right, I am not human. And so are all people around here. Within this world, the demi-human lands are just some border country. Not comparable to the other nations. I wave my staff towards the farmers, signaling them that I understood them. I am always clad in my favorite cloak, a big, black and red one. Its kind of a mixture of Kimono and medieval high priests gown and it covers me completely. In addition to that, my face is covered as well, by my large conical hat. I may look like some old traveling monk... Uh, I guess I am kind of a traveling monk... but never mind that. I have great authority within this lands. Why that is? Well, my country the demi-human lands, are ruled by a king and a high priest. But those two are not concerned about the well-being of the common folks and so it happened that I myself, took their well-being in my own competent hands. I travel around the lands and look out for people in need of help. With that I mean sickness or famine. I myself happen to be somehow pretty knowledgeable with all kinds of magic. And every year I wander the country once. Mostly in the period shortly before winter befalls the lands. That''s the most crucial time and I check if the people around, have enough food stored. If not, I cast a spell to rapidly grow out new crops. Sadly there are not enough strong magicians in this country. Most of our magicians went nearly extinct during a war. The religion of our enemies had prohibited magic and declared it as something evil. They raided throughout our lands and killed every infant with even the slightest affinity for magic. Nowadays only nobles are born with magic and very seldom a commoner. But the hierarchy in this country is corrupted from the root. And only the rich get richer, so poverty claimed most of the villages as its nest. Famine and sickness are all over the lands and our country is slightly declining. Someone had to intervene with this. Sadly I cant do much, due to my fame within the commoners, the king and the high priest have send someone to watch over me. They harbor the deep engraved fear, that I might take over their position. Hilarious, all I do is helping the common folks. Its the task they should be doing.. I follow the broad and stony road, until I reach the entrance gate of the small village. Its a wooden and not very cared for construct, it bends into a small curve at the top and so it looks a little like a Torii. The village is surrounded by a small and crumbling stone wall. A remnant from the big war, 40 years ago. Its not much of use for defense now, but its originally purpose of defending the nearby houses is still a gist of memories. ¡°Ah, great master Ezakiel! We already were waiting for you. Its good to see you.¡± As I pass the small Torii, I am greeted by a friendly, old voice. The small grown, due to her age, elderly women, who greets me is well known here. She is not really in charge of the village, but the people here refer to her as the village elder. I know her quite well, every time I came along, she gave me a place to rest and cared for my daily needs. Her name is Anne. ¡°Hello Anne, its also good to see you. And as I see you havent lost an inch of your beauty.¡± ¡°Ah Ezakiel, dont flatter me every time you come here. You always are a big help to us... especially now, that we cant rely on the landlord anymore.¡± Anne¡äs voice seemed as usual, but the last sentence carried a hunch of sadness. ¡°Hmm, what do you mean. Wasn''t the landlord one of the few noble who actually cared for his people?¡± I know the landlord well and even though we weren''t always on good terms, he still was a man of his word and always had a tight eye for the people here. So that they would not suffer too great. So hearing this I am quite irritated ¡°Ahh, Ezakiel... times really have gotten harsh. Its getting cold, come have some tea with me.¡± Anne¡äs voice dropped and she gestured me, inviting me into her house. Anne¡äs house is a small, but very comfortable wooden hut. And even though that the marks of time were already to see, the hut emits a caring and nostalgic feeling. I follow Anne into her hut. As I step in, I lean my staff against a wall in the small hallway and my hat found a place on a dusty old shelf. ¡°You can go and find a seat, I will take care of the tea. Is it still the black herb tea?¡± As I take a look around me, Anne already disappeared into one of the 3 rooms. ¡°Uhh, ahh yeah. I still prefer the black one and no sugar please.¡± As I want to find my way into the living room I nearly hit my head at one of the roof beams. Even though this hut is not that small build, I would be considered quite big. My total height is around 210 cm. I am also, ?hem, well I am a sturdy build man. And I admit I may have a small addiction towards sweet stuff. I enter the living room and get embraced by a really emphasizing warmth. The fireplace is blazing in a reassuring pace and filled the room with its comforting warmth. This is the best feeling, after walking in the cold, late autumn. I look around and find exactly what I was looking for. ¡°Hoho, there you are my old friend.¡± I mutter along and with a relaxing ~thump..~ I place myself in a comfy old armchair. ¡°Ah, as I see the old thing is still to your liking. Haha¡± Anne entered the room, in her hands a tablet with a tea set and a bowl of the most delicious cookies you can find. No really, Anne¡äs butter cookies are the best. ¡°Of course, its the small things like these armchair, that make my journey a pleasure, even in my old years. Ah and how could I forget about those little fellows.¡± I bow slightly over and want to grab a tasty looking cookie... ~Tats!~ My hand got denied from the goal, by a harsh and stern swing. ¡°Not yet Ezakiel, where are your manners?¡± Anne had caught me off guard and scolded me. Sometimes I dont know how I should feel about this. I am a fully grown man and even coming in age right now. I am nearly 225 years old, but this old women in front of me was already old when I was young. Gods may know how old she really is. Ah right, the lifespan of demi-human is much longer than that of ordinary humans. We can go up to at least 250 years. But some of us are even older than 400 years. I bet Anne is one of those. Stolen story; please report.But we differ not much from humans, with the exception that our bodies show parts of animal features. Some have a tail or cat ears, but some others are fully covered in fur. There are also people who have a fully transformation, than its like meeting a beast in human shape. So we have prohibited the true form of those. Small parts like ears or tails are allowed though. But for our economy we need merchants and traveler from other country''s. Imagine you would run into a crocodile/Harpy/human... we cant afford that. So we all learn form childhood how to transform into a human appearance. Most of us even forget about their true form, since we have to keep up the human appearance all the time. But its said that some of us have the blood of mythical creatures. And deep within my monastery is a document that speaks of another reason to hide our true form. It says that the other countries have a fear of the mythical demi-humans and that they would slay them by even the slightest sight. ¡°Sorry Anne, but you know I can¡ät hold back with your cookies.¡± ¡°At least wait until I came to rest as well.¡± Anne places herself opposite of me, in an old wooden bench. Which is covered with cushions and blankets, to make it comfortable. The tea set is placed between us on a small, but very well crafted table. ¡°So, you mentioned something about the landlord being not reliable anymore..?¡± I wait a moment until the mood felt more relaxed and ask her, while taking a long sip of tea. ¡°Haa, you came to the right time Ezakiel. You know about the young mistress, the daughter of the landlord?¡± ¡°Yes, I saw here a few times the previous years. A shy little kid, I think she must have reached the age of 14 by now?¡± I reply ogling with the bowl of temptation ¡°Well story is, the young mistress got ill this spring. No healer could help her, nor identify the illness. The landlord tried everything he could and slowly it has driven him mad.¡± Anne¡äs mouth left a short sigh and she seems to concentrate on my mimic, in desperate search for a satisfying answer ¡°The girl is ill you say? Well if no healer was able to cure her, you are implying to catch my interest for it?¡± My hand began to twitch, I really yearn for the cookies ¡°Hach, just take one you impatient...But yes, we all have grown a heart for the young mistress. She would also visit us every now and then. And she was a reason why the landlord showed such generosity towards us. But since she has gone ill, the landlord doubled our taxes.¡± ¡°Huh? Why would he do that?¡± I finally reach out for the cookie bowl and grab a large one. ¡°At first it was for the young mistress to find the best healer, we all were ok with that. But the healer already said they could do nothing, yet the landlord had again risen the taxes... We all fear hunger and most of us, dont even hold a penny for firewood anymore...¡± Anne grabs her tea and sips it. ¡°Hmpf...well...that situation sounds really urgent. But I am very sorry, the landlord has already forbidden my presence in this village. As you may know, we arent really best buds. And he is one of those unreasonable fellows that have a tight connection to the kings men. So all I can do is already limited to this village¡äs people.¡± I slowly enjoy the taste of the cookie, while treasuring the rest in my hand like its something utmost valuable ¡°And if I ask you to do it as your promised favor? Come on Ezakiel you always try to hide it, but I know how strong you are... do you really think I have gone blind in my age. I know you have some aces up your sleeve.¡± Anne''s voice turns stern and she looks at me in a serious matter. ¡°I dont know what you mean? I admit, I may be pretty versed with magic and especially healing magic...¡± I got interrupted. With a loud ~jangle~ Anne has put her cup down ¡°Dont play me, Ezakiel. Or should I say silver-beast Ezakiel? I know very well who you are, boy. I know that you are the legendary magic swordsmen from the war 40 years ago. And I know that your monastery is not for show. You train young man in the art¡äs of swords and magic!...¡± Anne, she never raised her voice once since I know her. 30 years I know her already and yet here she is, nearly yelling at me in a desperate and pleading manner. ¡°Anne, I dont know what you are talking about. But if I were this so called silver-beast, wouldn¡ät you understand that precisely because of that, I am not able to help? The bands of the 13 legendary warriors. Dont you know that they are wanted by this kingdom. They are wanted because they have fought against the government and lost everything.¡± I am a bit stupefied, but manage to calm my senses again. With the accusing of being the silver beast, Anne really surprised me. ¡°I do understand that this situation would be very precarious, but I do know that the legendary 13 have indeed fought against the government, but wasnt it all to end this time of poverty... wasnt it precisely to help those who are in need of it? And now here you are, a man who wanders the country every year, coming with magic as strong as wonders... please... Ezakiel if not for the young mistress . Than please do it for all the villagers here.¡± While speaking Anne slowly sank to the ground and broke into tears. ¡°What a nuisance... hrg, I guess it cant be helped. Come, stand up Anne. You are not fit to bow and beg for something so simple. And well, maybe I am indeed a bit curious, what this unidentified illness might be.¡± I cant stand the crying of a woman, no matter how old she might be. ¡°Thank you wholeheartedly, I prepared a bed and lunch for you already. You can stay here and...¡± I interrupted her ¡°No, since I dont want to be uncovered I¡äll go now. Its best if I arrive when it becomes dark. Dont notify anyone of your weird conclusion of me being the silver-beast and ...AHH...¡± I hastily stood up, helping Anne retrieving her stance, as my cookie dropped and crumbled apart ¡°Then, if its like this. Take them with you. And of course you can be sure, that your secret is safe with me.¡± Anne rashly wrapped up the bowl of cookies and handed me a small bag, filled up to the brim with cookies. ¡°Ahh, I never said that I am that person...ok then fare well. I will take a look at that lil girl, but I cant promise that I can accomplish anything.¡± I prepare my leave. I grab my staff and my hat and step outside. Its a cold breeze, icy cold. The evening has already started to darken the day. I store the bag with the cookies inside my cloak and turn one last time back. Anne stands at the entrance to her hut and looks at me in a melancholic way. Her eyes are telling me, that she definitely never would tell any one who I really am. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first chapters will only include the prologue and will contain of around 2000-2500 words each. later on i will significiantly increase the length. please be considerate, this being my first novel and eng is not my native language. I do apreciate comments and opinions and if you detect a mistake please hint me where, in the comments and i¡äll correct it Enjoy and iam curious if you like this. 2.) Dark Aura That''s right, I am indeed not an ordinary person. 40 years ago, whiles the war ran havoc within this country. I was a proud soldier and an acting commander of our army. I was one of 14 commander. We all fought heavily and the causalities were large. We paid a huge number of good soldiers, but also civilians. At the very end, we the 14 commander managed somehow to stand up alone, against an army of 40.000 orcs,goblins and ogres. It was 14 vs 40.000 and we won. We managed to slay 34.500 of their army until they gave up and left our lands. It was not a glamorous victory and we 14 commander had nothing to celebrate. But no matter what, the King and the high priest called us the legendary 14 heroes. And they worshiped us as the strongest within this country. At first we were honored, but the latter meaning behind their acts became clearer and less amazing. The high priest and the King send us 14 in every corner of this land, we were send to collect. Collect every inch of money from everyone, the purpose, to rebuild our kingdom and gain a more stable economy. But as we blindly followed their orders and obeyed, the more disgust we felt. As we saw how poorly the King¡äs man treated the common folks and even killed them if they could not pay up, our hearts began to realize. 5 years have we done our injustice work. Seeing how the noble became rich and richer, whiles the common folk feared hunger and suffered illness. We meet up, all 14 of us. We discussed what we can do and came to the conclusion to start a rebellion. We were all of the same opinion ¡°something must change¡± or at least so thought I. We plotted against the King and the high priest and we managed to nearly overthrow them. But it should not end well... who would have thought, that the moment our victory was in visible reach, one of us... Our own comrade, who we have fought with back to back against the Gorong, would betray us. The 14th commander, known as the warrior of the sunrise Nazic. He used a forbidden magic spell and stopped the time, then he defeated us all. We were left to die, heavily wounded and with shattered hopes. But we couldn¡ät let it end like this. One of us, Thaddeus, heavily wounded he managed to open a rift in reality. He teleported us all into a safe space. There we could gather our power and recover slowly. After two years, we faked new identities and returned to the kingdom. Only to find our beloved ones and every single friend of us, killed. The king and the high priest havent let a single acquaintance of us alive. And the traitor Nazic was now the general of the kings army. We decided to split up, we traveled the world. Some of us went far and deep into the demi-human lands and live secluded from the world. The demi-human lands, may be only a small part of the total nations. But only in population, only the borders of our land are populated, in the inner, deeper parts, there live monstrous beasts and they are particularly dangerous. So most of our land is unexplored. Some others went to another country and live there. Well and I... I decided that this country is still in need of help and so I secretly build my monastery. There I gained more and more follower. Most of them orphans, who I saved on my journey. I train them and teach them magic and swordsmanship. Because I discovered a secret... the common folk is said to be magic-less, but that is not true at all. It is true that in a war, a few centuries ago, the enemy raided and killed all infants with magic ability. But I discovered that every child has the ability to use magic and that the high priest suppressed the magic of the commoner. It is an obligation, that every new born needs to be carried to a church and there to undergo a special ritual. Its said that this ritual is for children to learn how to transform into a human shape... But that is wrong, its a big lie. The ritual destroys the magic cells within the body and only allows to use minor, small deeds of magic. Once the ritual is undergone, one would be denied from every powerful magic and also from evolving a special magic affinity. I have discovered a method to cure this, but I need to be very careful with revealing that. At the moment there are some moles within my monastery. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Its getting darker, the autumn days really are short. I slung my cloak tighter around my body and take the narrow build path before me. My staff makes a ~dong~ sound when ever I take a step. I pass a lot of other huts. The village my be small, but it still consist of a few hundred of huts. The path I took, is a more or less unused one. It snakes around the main road and takes me through the side alleys. I am becoming a part of the shadows. The time it takes, to go to the landlords mansion, is around 4 hours. He lives in a large mansion on top of a small mountain, around 10 km from the village. The village is positioned at the feet of the mountain and the mansion is just a few hundred meters above it. But the way up there, is a complicated snaking road, which makes the distance much longer. In times of war, this was one of the hardest to conquer spots. Just because the mansion atop allows of a broad foresight around the lands and it is hard to reach.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. As I want to pass through the gate, at the end of the village. I see that the guard tower is lit in a bright torch light. Two guards were standing at their post. They are clad in traditional swordsman robes and wear the symbol of the local landlord. The head of a tiger, getting swallowed in flames. I approach the gate in a relaxed pace and only a few meters in front, they yell at me. ¡°Stop there! Here are no trespasser allowed.¡± guard 1 ¡°The lord has prohibited any intrusion form here on!¡±guard 2 I barely recognize them and dont stop my walking. As they want to pull there swords, I wave my hand and whisper. ¡°You have not seen anyone here.¡± The guards immediately let go of their sword handles and turn back towards there origin position. Totally ignoring me, as I pass them. I just used a small illusion spell, I am not one, they could take on anyways. I hum a little song and unpack my beloved... I mean and equipped myself with a delicious smelling cookie. I may be old, but I do have my hitchhiker. This mountain is annoying... I cant remember it being so exhausting walking this road up here. After only 3 hours of excessive walking, I get exhausted?.. I really am becoming old. But the surrounding is beautiful, even at night. The road allows to peek over a sharp and steep edge and is not secured by any safety. Even so, I risk a view. I can clearly look over the large and endless grass plains underneath me, slightly lit by the shining stars. It seems so peaceful, like a dream or a beautiful painting. At my right, the torch lights of the village houses, spread and merged into a small aura of light. It looks as if a small sun is circling around the bottom of this mountain. I enjoy my view as long as it took, but now comes the more complicated part. The old man, the landlord, has forbidden me any presence on his grounds. But that not enough, he himself is quite skilled with barrier magic and I can already feel the oppressing aura of a dozen of them. ¡°Keh, this old fox. He really has cast an awful lot of those barriers, but this wont stop me.¡± I mutter I swing my staff besides me, where it stops and stands candle straight in the air, without support. Now I clap my hands together and push my palm area, in a triangle gesture, towards the continuing road. Without any ado, a strong wind surrounds me and began to gather. It evolves, first a small gale and suddenly with a strong burst, it pushes forwards. The shadows around me begin to flicker and suddenly, silence. Hehe, the barrier is rigged. I faked a secondary entrance. If I would have destroyed the barrier he surely would notice. So I just made my own entrance, though it wont last for eternity. I grab my staff, and slip through the barrier. Which is invisible for any normal eyes, but if you use a bit of magic, you would see a bright shining and blinding wall of light. The mansion is not far from here on, I can already see the large pagoda-rooftops. But something is fishy... There should be guards around this area. But here are none, I dont like this. I walk further, hid my presence and calmly observe the area. Something lies within the air, its like the silence before a storm. I can feel an oppressing aura, coming from the mansions living quarters. I hurry my steps and rush towards the huge and impressive building. The mansion is build of four parts, while being embed into the mountain. At the front, a large and all surpassing Pagoda lifts itself upwards into the sky. Its emitting the feeling of an untouchable resort for some of the mightiest persons there are. Surrounded, by a not to be despised, stockade. To its right are the living quarters. A long, but in height smaller build section of the same pagoda. They are originally only one building, but were separated by a wooden bridge between them. The left is lead by a, from afar already visible, golden statue and a small temple. The fourth part, is hidden within the mountain and is assembled for the only purpose of being capable of sheltering as many people as possibly. Though I dont know what its used for now. I rush towards a black and white archway, to my surprise there are no guards either. ¡°Hmm!?¡± As I pass the archway, my view immediately stops at a room door. I can see the living quarters already from here on, while I sneaked into the wide open garden section. ¡°Is that, black aura?.. ¡°A creepy black aura spreads form that room. Two Shadens appear in front of that door, they are wearing robes of the black brigade. They are Assassins. ¡°Damn my luck...¡± I instantly vanish from my position. As I reappear, I grab both of the Shadens heads and cast a spell. ¡°????? ????? ?????" Shortly after, I only hold two empty robes within my hands. I swing my hands and the robes lit and became cinder and ash. I used a short distance teleport and appeared behind the Shadens. Whatever they were after, it could be nothing good. I am directly in front of the room door, which still emits the dark aura. With a swing of my hand the door swings open. A dark room, only one window covered with curtains. In midst of the room, is just a single futon bed. And a small girl. ¡°Oh dear god, you are Maria. What has happened here?¡± Maria, the daughter of the local landlord lies before me. But her expression is covered in agony and her whole body is trembling, while pale as paper. In the dim moonlight, the sweat on her body shines in a specific glimmer. She is near death. I rashly let go of my staff and bow over the petty and poor girl. A faint glow spreads from my hands, as I try to soothe her pain. ¡°No, wont you die on me today. Its not your time yet.¡± ¡°Ahhh!¡± A sudden hand on my shoulders, surprises me and I fall a few steps backwards. ¡°You came. OH please, save my daughter. Please I beg of you.¡± A woman with long black hair and a teary red face clamps onto my shoulder. ¡°You are... Arla, if I remember correctly. The landlords wife.¡± ¡°Yes, yes I am. So please save her. I ordered the old Anne to send you here.¡± Arla still bows over me and clamps onto my shoulder ¡°I am sorry, Arla. I think its already to late, whatever I might do, her demise is already set. This black aura, she is a magic-darkness type. Its very rare to find this type, but when someone with this type gets no specific training, the mana starts to jam up and then explodes into the surroundings, slowly ripping the hosts body apart.¡± ¡°...NO, please there must be something you can do?! I know you and my husband are not on good terms...But please...something¡± Arlas grip looseness and she falls onto her knees, sobbing and holding her face. Ahh, damn this will cost me quite the high price... ¡°The only possible chance to save her, would be absorbing the rest of her mana into another magician. So that the mana has a fitting vessel.¡± I cant bear with seeing such a young girl, with even the darkness type magic, going to waste. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.) Ritual ¡°Than...You can save her?¡± Arla still sits limp at the ground. ¡°Yeah, I can try. But I cant promise. Turn her around, she must lie on her back and lay her arms across of her chest. Then keep hold of her, she mustn''t move at all.¡± Arla instantly follows my orders and keeps Maria in check. Whiles she does that, I let my gown fall to the floor and with a short ¡°click¡± sound my thumbnail grows into that of a beast. I bow over the little girl and turn my left arm over her, the arm base upwards. Then with a fast and accurate stab, I slice a crescent in my arm base. Blood instantly flows downwards and slowly the drops fall onto Maria. The moment my blood touch her small and fragile body, she starts to tremble and quiver strongly. My blood gets absorbed and within seconds a steady flow of blood leaves my arm entering her body. As the stream of my blood enters her body, a dark and unfathomable deep aura string erupts from Marias tiny mouth. And then, a burst of thickly concentrated darkness mana leaves her mouth, until a large dark miasma cloud floats above me. I close my eyes and start mumbling. ¡°M?gen die G?tter dir verzeihen. Du, die du kein Unrecht getan hast, dir vergebe ich, nimm dass Geschenk des Blutes. Empfange es und biete mir dein Geschenk dar. So wollen wir uns dem Fluss der Lichter hingeben.¡± The miasma cloud, circles around and becomes a strong gust of fog. Suddenly it turns into a string again and thin layers over layers enter my crescent wound. In no moments the Miasma has fully disappeared. ¡°Arghh!¡± I cant help it, a painful scream leaves my mouth. The crescent wound on my arm slowly closes itself, until only a deep black half moon tattoo is left. I fall relieved onto my back. Becoming old is not so great as I thought.. The pain in my arm is still exaggerating, but the real toll of my actions here, will probably only show off in a few hours. ¡°Maria, Maria... how are you?¡± Arla yelled in surprise and joy. ¡°Mom.. Mommy, I had a really bad dream.¡± The small girl has awoken. I straighten up and sit upright, facing the heart warming scene, of a mother lovingly hugging her precious daughter. The dark aura is gone by now and all that is left is the dim moonlight, shining through the opened door. Accompanied by a slightly cold autumn wind. A few minutes pass and I just sit here, watching the mother and daughter exchanging all sorts of lovely gestures, combined with the chatter only a mother can do with her daughter. ¡°You, great master. You have really done me a big favor. How can I, Arla the Lady of this lands repay this debt? Please do not hesitate and let me know. Anything would be right.¡± Arla stands up and bows to me, but not even moving an inch form her daughter, while holding her hands tight. ¡°Haha, yeah this is indeed a matter of great debt. But you know, just assure that the people down in the village do not face any hardships anymore. That would be enough. Ah and in addition, never mention how I cured your daughter. This must be kept a secret. Because what you saw tonight, was no ordinary magic... As the name of the magic I used, you better of not knowing it.¡± I reply while patting the dust of my gown and dressing myself. ¡°I swear, by the gods. May I never leak anything from this night. And of course will I make it easy for the villagers. You have my word.¡± Arla again deeply bows to me. ¡°Mhh, that shall do. By the way, on my way here I surprised two Assassins. They seemed to have targeted either you or your daughter? Do you know of that? I just send them back to their origin, just in case. Its not that I could have killed two Shadens that easily though.¡± I scratch my beard and take a thoughtful posture ¡°Schadens? Assassins? What are you talking about?¡± A sudden flash of agony took place on Arlas face, but lifted fast. ¡°Yeah, members of the dark brigade. An organization formed in the continent Shade. A group of highly trained Assassins. Shadens are ghostly beings, wraiths, ghosts and other non worldly beings. Very hard to take care of them, you cant kill whats already dead. So I just exorcised them, which sends them back towards their home.¡± I narrate the matters, occurred before I arrived. ¡°Oh no! He.. he wouldn¡ät...¡± Arla suddenly turns pale, with a hasty turn she runs pass me. ¡°Hey, OI!? Whats the fuss?¡± I couldn¡ät react in time, she got me by surprise. I feel the flowing warmth of another ones hand in mine. Arla has passed Maria¡äs hand onto me and pushed her into my embrace. ¡°Sorry, it¡äs my husband. I think he is up to something terrible. Please let me ask you another favor, keep Maria safe.¡± ¡°Mommy, whats happening..?¡± Maria seems also very surprised ¡°Nothing dear, stay at this master¡äs side. He will keep you safe till I¡äll return.¡± With those words Arla hasty rushes outwards and disappears into the darkness of the nigh. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ POV Arla What has he just said? Assassins? What¡äs the meaning of that. I have a bad feeling. If my thoughts were right it must be my husband. Since Maria has gone into the delyrically state, he changed. Something in him is dark and corrupted. He started to hate Maria and accused her state of being the fore shadowing of some evil spirit. But he wouldn¡ät, would he? I need to hurry. I rashly pass Maria onto Ezakiel, he looks surprised but I have no time for a lengthy explanation. I need to find my husband as fast as possible, before he can do ¡°That¡±. My dear daughter looks at me in surprise and trepidation, I am sorry honey. But it¡äs all for your sake. ¡°Mommy, whats happening..?¡± She is near the tears, but I can¡ät take her with me. ¡° Nothing dear, stay at this master¡äs side. He will keep you safe till I¡äll return¡± Hopefully she will notice that master Ezakiel is trustworthy. At least I can assure he wouldn¡ät abandon her now. I ran pass the wooden bridge and enter the main hall. Shit, I ran too fast. I am barely breathing. Only a few meters until i¡äll be at the entrance to his office. I manage to get my breath in order and with two more hasty steps I push open the heavy stone door. Leading me into the mountains chamber. ¡°What¡äs the matter Dear~. Did something happen... Eh he.¡± my husband awaits me already and he is smiling with a creepy undertone. ¡°So I was right all along... you send those men to kill our daughter?!¡± As the door opens I see my husband signing a contract? With another person. At my appearance the other person suddenly becomes invisible and dwindles into nothingness. ¡°What Assassins may you be talking about? What happened to your... our daughter? Has she passed on her illness?¡± That bastard, he is truly out of his mind smiling like he won the title of an archbishop. ¡°I was able to deflect the attack on my daughter. Two Assassins, Shadens. I know you were the one sending them. You, in the time our daughter needs you the most. You just go and start abandon her, just because she has to struggle with her own body? You are the worst!¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.His face took a huge boomer and his expression turned very sour. ¡°But Arla, dear you have to understand. That thing in there, that is not our daughter anymore! Haven¡ät you noticed the dark and cold feeling coming from her. It¡äs an evil spirit, she is no longer her self. I just did what I had to do, in order to save us...¡± ¡°You mean you wanted to save your families reputation, by rid your self of the shame of having a daughter with an unknown illness! But no worries for you anymore, after this night I and Maria will leave. And I will take my families possession with us.¡± shit, I lost myself in anger. I said something I might regret. ¡°No you can¡ät, you are mine! My wife, I will not allow this.¡± I knew it, I went to far. He runs in front of me and I wasn¡ät prepared, he grabs after me but only manages to catch my sleeve. ¡°What are you doing, let me go you imbecile. You have no rights to hold me here..¡± I try to wiggle out of his grip, but he only manages to tighten around my wrist. With a sudden pull, I feel how my body is rapidly turned. Then something hit my head pretty hard and everything seems so dark.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ezakiel POV Ahh that women, leaving in such a hurry. I wonder what has come to her mind. She seemed so troubled. I let out a short sigh and turn to Maria. She still looks a bit pale, I guess it will take some time for her to fully recover. At the moment she glares at her mothers disappearance. ¡°Don¡ät worry, I guess she just wants to tell your father the joyous message of your recovery.¡± I try to soothe her anxiety. But still that troubled expression on Arla¡äs face, could it be that the landlord send those Assassins? No that must be only a bad thought of mine. ¡°N..no, No mister. You don¡ät know my father, he is scary. Since I became ill, he would seldom show up and every time he did, he had this strange expression. It always seemed like he would disgust me .¡± What a thing to say, I am speechless. Has he really abandoned her in her biggest need? What a father. But if its true, than there is the chance that he is the culprit.. Shit! Arla went alone. Ahh and I am still a bit exhausted from the ritual.. ¡°Ok listen lil one. We will search for your mother, but you have to promise me that you will stay at my side. And never leave this circle around you.¡± I turn to Maria and with a circling of my index finger a faint glowing circle appears around her. I cast a strong barrier force around her, nothing ordinary should be able to penetrate it. At the same time it will replenish her stamina bit by bit. But this may be already the limit for me today. That ritual from before slowly takes its toll on me. Due to the foreign mana in my body, I have to cautious seal it in one place within my body. It takes nearly all my concentration, additionally its the darkness type mana, a very fierce and poisonous mana for me. If it leaks and becomes freely movable within my body, even I might be in big trouble. ¡°En, I promise¡± Maria inspects the circle around her ¡°Ah, I forgot... can you even walk? I mean it wasn¡ät long since you just woke up.¡± Now that I look at her she really looks a bit exhausted and pale. ¡°En, I can.¡± The child vehemently nods and assures me that she can walk, but even though I see how her legs are trembling... (Authors note: En is a nodding gesture in agreement sound) ¡°Come here, better you rest a little longer.¡± I squat and gesture her to climb my back. And take her piggyback. While we walk down the narrowed wooden bridge, which leads towards the main building, I feel how her warm breath moistens my neck. My back hurts a little, one of her thin arm bones sticks into my shoulder. Ah, she fell asleep. Her breath is steady and merges into a frost puff, it really became cold. I have clad her in one of her blankets and am holding her with my both hands. My loyal staff floats next to me, sometimes I think it has its own will. Well I created it when I first achieved my master title as a magician. And its infused with large quantities of my power, so it will subconsciously do what I want it to do. The two large wooden doors at the entrance are broadly swung open and I cautiously sneaked through them. I still don¡ät really would like to be discovered by the landlord. At least not, if not necessary. ¡°Hey Maria, where do you think your father is...¡± Ah right she¡äs asleep. Damn, I think I just have to search this building myself. The room I entered is more of a hall, than a room. It resembles a ballroom and at the end is even a small podium with two thrones positioned. But there are no people around here, a bit strange. I wander through the floor and have found a total of six further rooms. But they were just kitchen, library and some storage rooms. No signs of Arla or her husband. I wonder how many floors this building has... I look for a way up and ended in front of a seemingly endless staircase. ¡°Great... Stairs, well then let¡äs go...¡± I walk the stairs and after 32 steps, I reach the next floor, that¡äs the price of building a high reaching ballroom on the ground stage... A long corridor extends before me and an awful lot of doors connect to it. If this continues I will still be searching when the morning comes. But what is that feeling now? A strong magic pressure, I am sure it was a magic pressure. Just now I felt a huge amount of magic spreading and instantly ceasing.. on the lower floor. I decide to hurry back down and inspect the ballroom again. As I reach the ballroom, it seems as if nothing has changed. There are still no people here. But I am sure I felt that pressure coming from here somewhere... ¡°Uha, mister what are you doing? Mommy maybe needs our help.¡± right at that moment Maria awakens again ¡°Ah, great timing, say where do you think your mom is?¡± ¡°moh, right this way, behind the podium is a stone door. There is my fathers office.¡± This girl... waking up and scolding me... But really, behind the podium and the thrones is a huge stone door. How could I have missed that one. No, I haven¡ät missed it. It is concealed with a barrier and only those knowing of its existence can see it. That sly old fox. To my luck the door is already opened a bit, barely enough for us to slip through it. This door looks as if it would make a hell of a noise by opening. A smaller corridor, not really befitting for the huge stone door, awaits me behind. Its a narrow path carved in stone. So this is the way into the mountain shelter. Lit by a row of torches, the path is a piece of cake for me and at its end, about 10 meters into the mountain, a door on the right and a staircase at the left, leading downwards comes to my vision. ¡°which way now?¡± I whisper into Maria¡äs ear, also implementing her to do the same. ¡°The door, my father¡äs office is directly behind it.¡± She is a sharp girl and instinctively catches the whisper mood, while answering me. ¡°What are you doing, let me go you imbecile. You have no rights to hold me here..¡± Suddenly a muffled, but agitated voice rang out of the door. This is Arla, shit. ¡°Mommy!¡± Oh no, the girl on my back yelled for her. She manages to wiggle down from my back and immediately crashes open the door. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Autor feeds on comments 4.) satisfying departure ? ¡°Huh!? Who¡äs there?...MARIA!? But how...¡± I subconsciously hid behind the corner towards the stairs and observe the situation, as Maria¡äs father screamed in surprise. ¡°Father, what are you doing to Mom? Mommy are you alright...Mommy!?¡± Maria is running to Arla, who is currently lying limp at the ground. Whilst her father holds tightly on to a paperweight. Damn I think Arla is even bleeding. This situation screams for my intervention. ¡°Ahh, this is...but you, you should be ill and on the verge of death?! Why are you here?¡± the landlord seems a bit confused, but who knows what he will do next. I will show my self now. ¡°Haha, well this makes things easy. I will fulfill my contract now and here, who would have guessed that the pray actually willingly offers itself to me.¡± But before I could exert myself to the landlord another voice, a ghostly and horrifying one echoed through out the office and spreads into the corridor, becoming even more gruesome. With a small wind a person manifests before the kneeing Maria and her mother. He wears the same robes as the two Shadens from before. Shit, he¡äs an assassin as well... Ahh crap ¡°Hold it there you imbecile! How dare you harm a little girl, have you no self esteem?. And you, father of her¡äs, are you deaf and blind!? An assassin is about to harm your family. Will you not interfere? If not dont blame me for doing so myself.¡± I howl out of my corner and with an imposing swing of my staff I create a small thunder noise, whilst ramming it into the ground. In great surprise both, the landlord and the assassin turn around. And shockingly discover my appearance. ¡°Who are you?¡± With slow words the assassin speaks to me, trying threatening me with his gruesome ghostly voice. ¡°That is none of your concern, but more of it are your further actions. I dare you take one step more towards that girl or women and I guarantee you a fast end!¡± I hope he will take my bluff, otherwise I would risk a heavy injure. That mana from the girl is still circling in my body... What a bad timing to run now in this conflict. ¡°Hahaha, strong words for such an old man like you. But don¡ät be deluded, do you think you can harm me..?!¡± With a move of his hand, he removes a mask from his face, showing me his ugly and horrifying true self. An ethereal glowing, greenish face and thin to the bones. His facial context is not more, but that of a dead man or a ghost and his eyes, a blazing aura of darkness is engraved deeply into them. Pitch black and perfectly carved holes. ¡°Don¡ät be deluded yourself, do you think that I have no ways of sending a small Schaden like yours to his befitting end? Don¡ät make me laugh.¡± I response to his threat, by creating a small orange-white glowing orb in my right hand. And holding it right up. The consequence, a spreading and warmth emitting light. It spreads and fills the room in its composure. ¡°Haha, it seems I¡äve underestimated you. You have some knowledge old man, I must admit that. But its unfortunate for you, just this level of light magic will not do much. Meet your maker.¡± ¡°NO!¡± It was too late, I rush forwards to intercept the attack. But the assassin ignored my light magic and was a lot faster than I thought. With a single blow he thrusts a small object, a dagger, at Maria. ¡°WHAT!?¡± ~Boom~ A sudden flash blows the Assassin into a nearby wall, leaving a deep crack. This girl... I finally see what happened. Maria is a much more exceptional girl than I thought. She actually subconsciously carried my barrier with her. I had only cast the barrier on my back... its easier to keep it up that way, but... But Maria has pulled it with her. That is an exceptional deed. I didn¡ät think she¡äd have mana already back again in her small body. She is a natural talent in terms of magic. I would like to know how far Maria¡äs power will extend... No, no what am I even thinking. I cannot leave matters as they are now. I don¡ät know how, but to have mana already back in her body after I transferred all her mana into me... This is definitely not healthy. Hmm, as I thought. Not easy to deal with a Schaden.. He¡äs still well. And it seems as if he¡äs a high ranked one. This could end bad, I better hurry. ¡°Maria! Stay behind me and do exactly what I order you.¡± I appear in front of Maria and her unconscious mom. ¡°No, I will not allow you bastard to interfere here! Step aside Ezakiel or i¡äll kill you with them!¡± This impudent fox. The landlord pulls a sword and runs at me and Maria. His sword begins to shine in a bright light and emits a chilling aura. It¡äs the divine barrier, a very strong enchantment for weapons and shields.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. While it¡äs original purpose only lied in defense, the divine barrier is also very suited to sturdy a sword or other weapons. With it, stones will be cut as butter. ¡°HA!¡± But I already had enough. I think I can spare a little concentration. I extend my hand, my palm area directed at the landlord. He arrives with a desperate shout and try¡äs to hit. ~Boom~ The landlord felt the same fate as the assassin, as a strong wind bursts from my palm and catapults him into the wall. And with a metallic sound his sword falls to the ground. A puddle of blood gushes from the hole in the wall. The landlord is no longer a threat. But no time for me to relax, the Assassin meanwhile managed to clear his thoughts, of what has happened to him. And as his nature allows him, he turns ghostly. With a few steps he entered the ground and walks beneath us. I hate Schadens! Those damn ghosts. ¡°Maria, how is Arla doing? Try to wake her up. We need to escape from here.¡± Before the Schaden shows his true color''s, I need to finish this. Fighting a Schaden is really a disadvantage for us. They can just walk through solid materials and attack from wherever... I grab my staff and ram it in the ground. With a loud crack, the ground shakes and a blinding light appears from beneath. I open a fissure and the cracks emit the light. ¡°Maria, take this stone...¡± I get interrupted. The Schaden suddenly reacted to my light magic. I feel how a hand tightens around my ankle. That bastard, he want¡äs to pull me down. ¡°Maria! Get out of here, I will take care of him. Use this on your mother!¡± I hit the ground with my staff, but it¡äs only effect is an even tighter grip around my ankle. Whilst I yell at Maria and try to free myself, a blue glimmering stone, the seize of a walnut, leaves my sleeve and falls into Maria¡äs hand. ¡°How, how do I use it?¡± I hear Maria yelling at me, but my light magic also blinded me. I can only guess from where she calls me. ¡°You just need to touch your mother with it. The rest will happen automatically.¡± The stone was originally meant to be a training present for one of my disciples, but its effect will come in handy here as well. As a blue colored explosion of light fills the room, I know that Maria was successful. The blue stone is called Levitation stone. Its a special stone infused with the natures mana of the moon and can only be found in the deeper regions of the demi-human lands. I had luck and a grateful adventurer gifted me the stone. With a ~swoosh~ Arla and Maria were lifted up into the air and with an immense speed they get carried outwards. The stone has three very useful abilities, the first is to let everything levitate that touches it, on the command of the owner. The second one, is to vanish into a blue stream of light and energy. This can be used for many ways. For example confusing an enemy or infusing a weapon with moon mana. The third power, is the finest. It actually allows the people who touched it, to travel with the levitation spell a hundred meters. Sadly afterwards the stone will crumble and lose its mana... Now that I ascertain, that nor Maria or Arla are in sight, it is time for me to get a little serious as well. ¡°Schaden I am a courteous man, I give you a last chance. Be gone otherwise you will have to deal with more than being exorcised!¡± I really am at my limit, this imbecile still claws at my ankle and pulls me further into the ground. ¡°Hehe, threaten me all you want. In front of me, you are just as much of an old man as you look like. Haha¡± Ok that¡äs it... ¡°I warned you...¡± I smash my hands in each other and immediately summon a strong gale. The room¡äs air is circling and I am its center. I just released a tiny bit of my magic pressure. But the room already has become the eye of a tornado. The walls shake and the ground vibrates. A huge sum of pebbles is bouncing up and down. The air around me has become as sharp as knives. ¡°?? ??? ??? ???? ????? ??? ??? ??????" I have not even finished my words, but I can feel how the Schaden beneath me already panics. I guess he has discovered that not every dog that barks is as harmless as he thinks. ¡°Mercy?!! Pleasaaaahhhhhsee~¡± A heavy burst of pressure rushes from my body into the ground. And with the reaction of a loud and desperate scream of agony, I purify the evil spirit beneath me. The Schaden¡äs existence has been wiped from this world. I just conjured a middle class purification magic. It¡äs not even a task, worth mentioning for me, but with the burden of Maria¡äs black mana inside me, I could have caused a calamity for me if even one ounce of my concentration had slipped. The spell I conjured doesn''t have a name, I created it myself on one of my journeys back when I was a soldier... It may be classified as a middle class light magic, That''s because it has only one use, to purify Schadens and other unworldly beings. But even a high priest would have his troubles casting it with my ease. I retract my magic pressure again and the air cools down. The room is settled in peace again. I walk towards the hole in the wall, where the landlord impacted. Inside I find a gory view. The landlord is all beat up and his body shows some of it¡äs parts wielding in strange and unhealthy directions. ¡°Well I guess you can count your self lucky, if not for your unconsciousness I would have killed you before...¡± I turn and walk outside the room. On my way back I snap my fingers and my staff obediently flies over. In the hall I see how Maria hugs her mother and Arla holding her head. She seems to have gotten quite the hit. But I don¡ät think I have to use my healing magic for her. At least she¡äs awake again. ¡°Master Ezakiel, ouh.. I am so sorry. I am still in your debt and yet I made you helping me again. How can I ever atone for my faults?¡± ¡°Tsk, oh child. Don¡ät be so silly. There is nothing to break your thoughts off. How could I refuse to help such young and beautiful women, when they are already so badly in need of help." The truth is I just got soft while looking at Marias naive and innocent face. How could I possibly bear the guilt of not saving them... Women are witches... all of them, but their cooking skills are great. I subconsciously grope my chest-pocket and.... ¡°AHHH!¡± With a shock and an immediate turn, Arla and Maria look at me with ghostly white faces. ¡°Master! What is it?¡± Maria¡äs voice brought me back to reality. ¡°Noth...nothing. I am alright my dear.¡± As if... are you serious. My precious bag of cookies, they vaporized within the tornado before... Ohh silly me, how could I be so careless. Now they are gone... ~griatch~ ( sound of grinding teeth in regret and anger) ¡°Ok, than its good. You really helped us today. You are a nice guy master¡± Yeah, yeah am I not nice?, Sacrificing my precious... you better be grateful small one. ¡°Well its time that I will be on my way. A last advice, I would recommend, Maria to visit a spirit nurturing hot spring every month at least once. It will help you building up your body again and restraining the dark mana. And in 3-4 years your dark mana should have calmed. With that however you will also loose the ability to use magic.¡± Ahh truly a shame, this girl has so much potential. How happy would I be to see her fully grown powers. ¡°You don¡ät need to worry, great master. I will assure she will attend to the spirit nurturing hot spring. And for magic, well I don¡ät really see any use for her to be eventually trained in magic. It would only lead her to attend in a war as a mere pawn.¡± A wise decision, Arla is a really smart women. If not for her silly husband I wonder if she would have been a fitting ally... I smile a bit inwardly and feel a soothing warmth. This kind of feeling... hmm when was the last time I felt real joy... Hahaha, could it be that those two just gave me back some of my youth... ¡°Well then, you better hurry too. It will be not to your good, if the landlord catches you. I wish you the best luck.¡± ¡°You as well, take care on your journey Master Ezakiel.¡± A last broad smile dug its way into my heart. Maria runs towards me and hugs me a farewell hug. I reply and pat her head. Afterwards I turn and with a slow and cooling breeze, I disappear into a small gust of wind. One of my favorite tricks. Hehe. My body emerges with the wind and I can travel where ever I want. But its just for a short distance. However the impressions I leave on the people seeing me disappearing like that, It must be mystifying. A few moments later and I already reappear on the main road, leading me towards my final goal. My monastery. Normally I feel a little relieved to end my yearly journey, but this time there is another feeling replacing it. Is this, solitude? Haha. I catch myself feeling lonely... If it were those two? This silly girl. I don¡ät even had much contact with her. I guess I will not forget them that fast. Well my way is still quite long. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author feeds on comments 5.) Rumors What a stormy wind. The incident with Maria and Arla is now two weeks ago and the late autumn wind slowly changed into a stormy and freezing gale. I got finally rid of Marias black mana inside my body. The road under my feet is muddy and with every step I sink down in dirt up to my ankles. I may be a magician, but even the great I is powerless in front of mother nature. About half a month of travel time I have still to go, until i¡äll reach my monastery. Currently I am heading towards the fiery-forest, it got its name because of the red and orange glowing gas bubbles. They apparently emerge from the swamps within the forest. It is a dangerous place, but also one of the fastest routes I could have chosen. If one is not careful enough the Ignis fatuus will mislead traveler into deeper parts of the swamp and they will die a horrifying death. I fight my way through the slippy mud and find shelter beneath a great oak tree. This tree marked the entrance to this forest already for a hundred of decades and it is one of a kind. Its height is about 300 meters tall and the trunk is so broad that there could cover a small wagon behind it. This tree really is a sight for its own. Pity that it holds no leaves to this season, but its thick branches still do a good job in sheltering me from the wind. And unfortunately now even from the rain... A heavy storm arises above me and the rain gushes down as if it wants to drown the world. Great I am wet up to the bones. Ah, it¡äs getting dark. The days bear only a faint sunlight in this time of the year, which makes it quite hard to see. If not for my small tricks with a little light manipulation, I could only walk for about 1-2 hours per day. But when the night arrives, that is a darkness in which you can¡ät even recognize your own hand. In addition, the times have become more dangerous outside at night. The King and the high priest pretty much abandoned the area around my monastery. This has a frightening consequence, the monstrous beasts are showing up more frequently and some strange occurrences disturb the peaceful pace of the villages around this area. Traveler and merchants report of strange noises and tremendous screams out of the dark. Some of them speak of a large, dark silhouette creeping around their night camps. To be honest there is also another reason why I chose to take this path, through the fiery forest. Last week as I stopped by a small farm nearby, the owner told me of a gruesome scene on the side road leading here. He told me that he discovered the remains of a caravan. I stumbled into the same scenery as I followed his way directions. The caravan were once merchants, they came with seven people and a fully loaded pulled wagon. As I found them they were, as reported, all dead... but the way they died... that was no ordinary death, to be honest I am not even sure what had killed them in such a manner. As I inspected their remains for any clues, It was as if I had to clear a puzzle, a puzzle of limbs and guts. To describe the scenery, I can only say whatever killed them has literally lacerated them into many...many pieces. Not an easy task to differ between human parts and that of the horse... But the even stranger thing was, that nor the goods on the wagon or the bodies were devoured or stolen. Whatever killed them, it¡äs done it for the sole purpose of slaughtering. I cannot allow such a creature to wander the lands... So I spontaneously decided to take a tour through the fiery forest. For today I think i¡äll call it a day. The rain becomes even stronger, buckets of water gush down from the cloudy and darkening sky. I turn a ring on my right index finger around, about two times. With a sudden ¡°swoosh¡± a small tent appears under the oak tree. It finishes itself building and as it finishes, stone after stone was spit out of it. In a circling levitation dance eight stones float around and place themselves in a camp fire formation before the tent. ¡°SWOOSH¡± a large stinging flame and the campfire incinerates itself. Who needs firewood if you have magic. Hehe As the fire starts, the large oak tree seems to tremble and some of its huge and heavy branches give a small shiver form them. ¡°It¡äs alright old friend, I will not harm you. Take it easy and sleep again. Winter is coming and you need to rest.¡± I pat the sturdy bark of the oak tree and reassure him. My voice carries a deep and magical meaning in it and the tree calms down. Not moving an inch anymore, only the wind whistles between the boughs. Thank goodness, the area around the tent seems dry and not to uncomfortable. I sit down in a tailor fit and warm my hands at the fire.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The fires pace of burning is peaceful and repeating. Some here and then a dim rustle is send of from it. The darkness begins to swallow the surroundings, first the far away trees and slowly the road around me. But as restful as it seems, I can¡ät get rid of a slowly increasing malaise... I cannot define it, but something feels off. It is too peaceful... the fire is still burning and I sit here already a few hours, the night is showing its true colors already. No stars, no moon only the light of the fire and the restless dripping sound from the rain. Finally I cannot bear it any longer, with a snap of my fingers a shortly flashing sphere spreads around me and becomes invisible again. I cast a barrier, just for safety. Then, with slow moves I crawl in my tent and slip into my sleeping bag. it¡äs comfortable warm and within no seconds I come to rest. Fully forgetting about my previous malaise... I start sleeping ¡°CREAHHHHH¡± It¡äs in the middle of the night and suddenly I shriek up... as a death wailing scream with ear piercing volume echoes through the night. What for the gods sake was that...!? with hasty steps I wiggle out of my tent and step outside, the fire is still keeping its heat and light up, nothing else expected from my magic fire. With sleepy eyes I observe my surroundings. The result is not very satisfying, due to the bright light from the fire my eyes got blinded... But the sensation of my barrier is still intact, so it wasn¡ät too nearby. That scream was something else though... I have absolutely no clue what kind of creature would scream like that. Shit... I am tired. I yawn a few times and decide to fortify my barrier with another one. My staff brightens up in a golden light and a glowing and brightly shining orb floats around the barrier circle. A good 100 meter radius around my tent. The orb entered a circulatory, it follows the line of my first barrier and circles around that, while brightening and lighting the areas it passes. One round, another round... and a third round. Nothing to see.. I decide to turn back to the tent and............ ¡°Wuaaaaahhhhh!¡± In panic I stumble a few steps backwards. I am no two meters apart form my tent, but directly in front of me is a giant and very horrifying face . Right behind my tent bows a gigantically creature and inspects the fireplace. At my scream it shrieks up and stares at me. This thing it must be around 20 meters tall... what the heck is that?!! Two dark covered, large round eyes stare right through me. Slit pupils and red layered iris. I have no more time to observe that Thing. I feel how a change in the wind takes place and with no ado a huge disgusting claw-hand swings after me. ¡°Not so easy you monster!¡± seemingly, that thing has underestimated me. With a heavy swinger of my staff I leach its disgusting claw-hand. With a bone shaking thunder sound, it bounced against an invisible wall. ¡°CRUCH...¡± And it seems to have shattered some of its bones. ¡°Haha, take that you monster... do not mess with m~eugh...! I couldn¡ät finish my sentence I feel how a strong force, inflicted into my left side, pushes me away and drives the air out of my lungs. I spin around for a countless times and finally impact into the giant oak tree. The huge thing has wasted no time, it directly punished my arrogance with a fine and accurate kick. If my gown wouldn¡ät have been fortified multiple times... ¡°Blough....¡± Nope, even with the multiple fortification... I blurt out a huge puddle of blood. But I have no time to recover, I hear ground shivering foot steps. To be precise only one... one step and before me appears a giant bloody, black colored and seemingly rotten foot... Shit! ¡°Ahh you beast! You think you are the only monster around here?! Let me teach you better.¡± for the gods sake I had enough, since the incident with the Schaden and Maria... I got frustrated. At first this crappy second rate Assassin dares to challenge me and now even rotten bastard giants dare to mock me?? what have I become. For a short moment the thing before me seems to have realized that something was off, it stopped shortly and looked at me in a questioning demeanor. But no time for you anymore... A bulge on my body symbolized the first change, my huge 2 meter tall body straightened up and my aged appearance vanished within blinks. A white and silver glowing fur spreads on my skin and my height grows up to 4 meters. I grow a long and silver shining tail, resembling that of a tiger. With immense cracking sounds accompanied by the voluminous increase of my arm and leg muscle , my limbs grow into that of a monstrous beast. After a few seconds, my whole body transformed into my beast appearance. With my imposing demeanor of a 4 meter tall bear-like creature, I emit an aura of doom. My true form is not that of a simple demi-human... I am Ezakiel aka the silver beast. And a mythical creature called ¡°Kamuy¡± (Authors note: A Kamuy is a bear-god with neutral affiliation. It appears in the Japanese mythology and is said to be handled with care and better being avoided, due to its light headed temperament. If once angered it will only come to rest when its enemies are vaporized or he would be calmed with a sacrifice... mostly something sweet in combination with sake (Japanese alcohol)) (Ezakiels true form ,One of my favorite games and this is how I eventually imagine Ezakiel in his beast form.) I shine in a bright silver moon-like light. And my aura is fully emitting. The sudden rupture of spacial surrounding, due to my aura caused the air to implode. And a fast and strong tornado staggers from my body. The tornado is sharp as knives and strong as hundred bulls, without mercy it catches the rotten giant and slices his skin deep and fine. Howling noises arise, from where I think its face should be, but the raging wind knows no holds and bounds. With an immense forth come it pressures the giant. Rotten flesh parts and a very disgusting and reeking fluid splashes around and creates a corrosive substance wherever it impacts. ¡°Hmp. Still not enough huh?¡± I wave my furry hand and the tornado immediately calms. But I have no mercy either, with a high jump I leap up in the air. I use my palm area and with a flat hand gesture towards the giant¡äs face, an unbearable force impacts on him and he receives an unavoidable slap. I didn¡ät even touch him, but my hand print carved its undeniable mark into his flesh. But that was not all, after my imprint sparkled as his new received tattoo, the large head of his decided to separate from its lower body. A strong cracking and ripping sound accompanies the gory and bloody scene. Tendons, neck bones and a lot of black and smelly blood gets blown all over the place. A few hundred meters away the large head impacts into a puddle of swamp water. A last squirt of blood and a swaying and vibrating ground, signals the incoming impact of the remaining lower half. Everything returns to a silent and calmed night. I transform back into my human appearance and examine the fallen giants lower half. God, this thing is ugly... But what the heck is that.. I have no clue what this creature could be, but for sure this thing does not belong in this area... I was right with my estimation, that thing is exactly 20 meters tall. At least if I dont count its head together with the lower half... what a monstrous thing. The places where its blood and guts impacted still emit a dangerously corrosive gas. I think this thing is something very evil. And how could it appear at my tent.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author feeds on comments 6.) A Path questions over questions, it also managed to cross my barrier without me noticing.'' As I brood over possible explanations for that beast, I slowly walk over to the giant oak tree. A huge crater estimated within its bark and oh wonder it has exactly my dimensions. ¡°I am sorry old friend, but you saved me well. I will not forget your incomparable good deed.¡± I lower my voice and pat the bark again. This time the tree did not reply, but I think it will be ok. Ah crap my tent is a total mess, but well the morning is rising already. I hope this was the only one of these monsters around here. Just to be sure I decide to examine the forest a bit further, when the daylight will shine at least a little. To my luck, I don¡ät have to wait for long. With a glittering sparkle the sun makes its entrance. A few sun rays pierce through the holes and rifts within the boughs of the oak tree. And moments later the, still faint, sunlight brightens up the place. Uhh, now that I can see that thing even more clearly it really looks disgusting. The large body of the giant lies in front of me and its appearance is more than horrifying. It looks just like an oversize human... with blackish skin. But this one seems to be dead already for a long time... Its flesh has already start to rot. But not for long... It seems as if this thing was well conserved within one of the swamps and just recently managed to get out of there. And since then the decay has started... But why would something like this suddenly come to life? That doesn''t make any sense. Something strange is definitely going on around here. And was it this thing that lacerated the caravan... Guess I have to investigate the forest a little closer. I inspect my tent and realize that it¡äs nothing more than a flattened bunch of garbage, the giant obviously didn¡ät care for what it was stomping on... wonderful, now I have no tent anymore. Hrmph.. with my staff at the stop, I wade through a field of muddy puddles and sink spots of the swamp. The road towards the forest has become a great river, the rainfall is still continuing and fills the road with endless amounts of splashing, dirty rainwater. This makes it not easier, its all along a dangerous path to walk through the swamps here... And now I am not even able to distinguish between road and swamp. I wish my magic would belong to the nature affinity, then I would be able to protect me... But I have a special case of magic affinity, I don¡ät really have an affinity for any special magic. That¡äs a rare case and it means that I am able to learn all different kinds of magic. But it¡äs much harder for me and most of the already existing spells are no fit for me, so I have to create my own magic spells. But that¡äs not a big problem, when I create a magic spell one can be sure that it will be a strong and effective one. No unnecessary light effects or so on, just a pragmatic and useful spell. That¡äs the main reason why I learned swordsmanship, my true strength lies within a sword. Unfortunately I cannot afford to use my sword, I don¡ät want the king to somehow detect me through my carelessness. After a while of cautiously deciding on which step I make and which not, a wave of trees starts to appear around me. I have reached the early beginnings of the forest. At first only single trees, firs and other spruce trees. But as I continue, my field of view becomes shorter and a tight belt of trees already surrounds me. At least the ground here has become more stable and less muddy. The firs around me catch a good amount of the rain and prevent the earth beneath from getting soggy. I also can differ from the safe to walk spots and the dangerous swamp sinks. The only negative is that the anyways already dim sunlight becomes even more faint. I wave my staff and a bright light orb begins to float above it. This will make me things easier. The forest around me is silent, and not even the rain is making noise here. The thick layers of tree boughs and conifer swallow the echoes from the rain completely. Somehow it¡äs a little bit scary down here. Not a single noise, except my own breathing and walking, is to hear.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Strange, I thought that some birds would have stayed here, but I can¡ät hear a thing. That is no good sign. I walk further and even if I can not believe it, the forest¡äs trees become even tighter than before. It feels as if a thick and rough scarf is tightening around me, swallowing me into something unseen and frightening dark. This is far enough, I think I should turn. This feeling... as if a snake is slowly curling around my neck. A shiver runs down my spine... The forest around me is dark and only my light orb illuminates the swallowing obscurity. And there is this feeling of malaise again, a deep and unreasonable fear emerges within me... what on earth is just going on in here? I catch myself as I start to run, at first I accelerate my walking pace, but in no times I catch me running... This forest... I need to get out of here. ¡°SCREAAH¡± Oh for gods sake, what now I rapidly turn around as multiple death wailing screams echo through the forest. What¡äs that, a dark silhouette rushes pass a few trees on my right. I swing my staff in that direction, but nothing... damn... I have lost my directions... suddenly a glowing white light appears before me. At first one and within blinks two, then ten and suddenly a whole light parade of glowing sparks dances in front of me. Ignis Fatuus ¡­ this is bad. If they are here than I am already much too deep within the swamp areas. How come that I lost control of my own body and blindly ran through this damn woods. And what on earth were those screams... I need a plan to find the exit of this forest. My magic might be powerful, but magic is not almighty. And I do not plan on dying in a swamp.. ~Crack~ another noise pulls my thoughts back on my surrounding. A large branch breaks and falls to the ground. I put my attention in its direction, but I cannot detect a thing there. Suddenly, I move my head back, something grabs for my shoulder and an enormous force pushes me down on the ground. ¡°Aahh¡± A scream slips my lips and with a rough impact, I can¡ät withstand the force pushing me down. I sink into the tender mulch and try to turn around. A gruesome pant sounds from behind me and as I face that thing, I nearly throw up. I stare into the blankly and dull eyes of a half separated human. His head is bend in an unnatural way and the unique expression of being half strangled and half cut is driving a scary view into my brain. I finally come to my senses and wiggle out of its strong grip. A forceful push of my staff executes the rest. A swelling barrier smashes the undead human into a disgusting puddle of guts, flesh and blood. Iuh.. I pat a maggot of my shoulder and straighten up. undead... So that giant thing from before also was an undead creature. That explains a lot of things. But who? If there are undeads in this quantity, there has to be someone who controls them. A necromancer... a witch?.. Or even something more terrible. Crap I have no clue and I am still caught in this godless forest. I had no clue that something this terrible is occurring so nearby my monastery. Whatever it is, I have to clear this. The swallowing darkness of the forest lays like a heavy veil on top of me and a gnashing sound around me, tells me that I am still not alone. But at least I managed to calm myself again. With a closer examination of my surrounding, I spot a few glowing orbs, not too far from my position. Ignis Fatuus, a lot of them. ¡°Perfect.¡± I mumble and hurry to move my butt in their direction. The gnashing sound around me intensifies and as matter of safety, I decide to dim my light. Which still extends from my stuff top. Hopefully, the attack from before was just a coincident. Normally undeads are relatively dumb and only prey for meet when ordered. Except they are born form natural occurrences. But undeads are not common here, not even in the past... They have to be summoned ones. With hasty, but cautiously quiet, steps I move forwards. The light, emit by the Ignis Fatuus, becomes stronger and a clear path of gravel extends itself in front of me. What¡äs this?... since when Is there a path like this in midst of this unholy place... I decide to hurry forward, ignoring the fact that the gnashing sound , further has developed into a strange and unhealthy cracking, added by a few painful moans. Also is a dense fog slowly spreading across my surroundings. The forest henceforth has become an opaque and thick fog wall. All here and then I pass a shallow tree, or whatever is about the height of a tree... maybe one of the trees had arms.... No, no time to think about that. Even though my vision is harshly restricted by the fog, the gravel path before me is still visible as clear as in bright daylight. The Ignis Fatuus are doing a good job in lighting the path. A narrow and snaking way. The noises around me become more and more horrifying. Until the point that I can¡ät ignore them any further. In the god¡äs name, what makes those terrifying noises? Suddenly the light before me extinguishes. Darkness falls upon me. A prison of shadows and chains of unfathomable deep darkness. Uhh, I had enough. ¡°Et lucere et illuminare omnes sole¡± I raise my stuff and risk a strong spell. I uncovered this one in an old book, which a traveler passed on to me. With urging beams a floating, orange shining orb is circulating and manifesting above me. After a few seconds the work is done. A medium sized orb is glowing brightly above me, emitting a dense light. The ball has an around 2 meters radius and is comparable to a smaller sun. It¡äs a highly ranked light spell, that I mastered. It creates indeed a small sun and is to use with cautious. And there the forest around me learns exactly why.... with hissing stinging flames, the adjacent trees immediately incinerate and leave nothing more than huge piles of ashes. With a small part of my magic aura I restrict the flames and suffocate them rashly, so that they wont spread. Luckily the heat is not harmful towards the caster. The effect of my small sun has another use to it. The dense fog dispersed into nothingness, as the heat evaporates the water particles in the air. Without water the fog has no base anymore. But I very fast recognized that it¡äs not always good to know what was hidden... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author feeds on comments Enjoy 7.) source of the problem In all worldly means... what is this?! As the fog disperse and my sun lights my environment, I see the vast appearance of a red steaming swamp... No, more a lake. My position marks the entrance to a hidden part of the forest. Before me lies a vast and unfathomable deep lake. Not an ordinary one of course... the water undulates in a slow pace and is more of a muddy consistence. It¡äs color, a brownish red. This is in no means water anymore... I have read about a phenomenon like this. But this actually to be true is very interesting and frightening. When a necromancer is powerful enough, he is able to summon creatures and living beings, which existed long before him. It even allows him to recreate their original appearance, even if their body is decayed for over hundreds of years. If such a necromancer has conduct such a summoning, where he has reanimated creatures which are long extinct, it¡äs said that an evil omen will accompany that deed. And depending on how powerful or how many creatures he has called back to life, the more evil the omen will become. This lake of blood, is by far, the strongest evil omen I¡äve ever heard of. This can¡ät mean anything good... If this lake is an evil omen, then that means... There has to be a powerful necromancer here. Ah, this is becoming more and more complicated. And there I just wanted to end my journey this year with a satisfying peace... Screw my plans. ~Crush!~ A sudden noise from behind me pulls my attention backwards. As I turn, I already see the cause of sound. A large branch has fallen to the ground and splits into many pieces of half burned ashes. My sun literally vaporized all the trees around me. At least not another of those scum undeads. Legend has it, that the evil omen is the center of the magic source. So by chance the bastard of necromancer is also in it¡äs center. Guess I have no other chance, but to investigate this pool of blood a little closer. And I most likely want to avoid another meeting with one of those zombies. Carefully I poke the pool before me with a stick of wood. ~swoosh~ with whistling sounds the stick immediately begins to melt. So this stuff is also very corrosive... glad I didn¡ät use my staff for that. This is really a horrifying place to be. Its totally covered by large branches from the trees aside the lake and still, this lake unbelievable large. Now how to cross this dump... Cracking sounds interrupt my train of thoughts. At my sight, behind me a large horde of creatures appear. Living dead¡äs .... and not only a few their timing is cruel. Guess I have no chance but to advance forwards. Huge, manlike creatures hump their way towards me. They scream and moan in horrifying tones. I don¡ät think I can fight them all. Within the horde I also spot at least three of those large giant things, from before... Damn... I can only take a risk and try to pass the lake with my skill. Within seconds I turn towards the lake and calculate, how much time I would have to jump, before the corrosion would harm me. But to my bad luck, the creatures behind me are not willing to wait until I finished my preparations. They come forth and seemingly have a common goal... ME This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. With a sudden outburst, their slow pace vanishes and they start to run as crazy after me... I don¡ät have time to think for long, without thinking I throw my small sun after the first wave. They light up and burn, as they scream and rashly disperse into ashes. But I have still no cause for joy, as the next wave of undeads is already at the go. My sun still floats above the point where I¡äve thrown it, but it visibly loses strength. Only a few seconds and the sun would disperse as well. A disgusting stench of burnt flesh and other nasty body parts fills the air, right before me appears the first, half burnt, creature. With his crispy burnt hand it tries to grab my collar, only a fast reaction of mine avoided that. ~scrash~ a sound as if coal breaks and I lifted the undead up in the air with my staff. With a splash, the body landed within the bloody pool. But instead of melting like the stick, it just starts to float above... Interesting, so those things aren''t melting in there. I think I can use that... My idea is simple, just throw enough of those damn things in there to create a path for me. With no delay, I point my staff towards a close bunch of a dozen or so undeads. Immediately I release my full magic aura. The aura I release, creates a raging gale and shortly after becomes a tormenting storm, circling around me. Let¡äs see, if you like to swim you nasty folks. I turn my staff in my hand and with a large and strong whirl, the zombie horde gets caged within the gale. Only very scarce, I manage to avoid a swing, one of the giants is right in front of me. It seems to be in more rage than the thing I killed already.... A nasty stench wraps around me, as that huge giant screams at me. It¡äs mouth awfully wide open, it¡äs breath flings at me. I nearly throw up, as accompanying the breath a part of it¡äs flesh is catapulted at me. It sticks to my gown and a disgusting substance emerges from it. Before I can think about anything more, I throw the horde of zombies, with an imposing swirl, inside the blood lake. To my great surprise the things inside the lake quiet down and it seems as if they became lifeless hollows again. Nasty and disgusting hollows... But the better for me. As I turn around again to get a clearer impression on my status, an urging pain spreads throughout my chest. One of the smaller zombies managed to get a hit in on me. I was too slow. The hit inflicted me a surging pain and I got flung back a few meters. Nearly touching the lake myself. ¡°Ugh...¡± A small pain shriek escapes my lips. ¡°You damned bastard!¡± I become a little agitated and throw a direct punch at that misfit. Without mercy my fist hammers inside it¡äs head and a splash full of brownish fluid flows all over the place. I retract my hand and wipe the remains on my gown. I had enough, as I look at the path I came from I only see, an overflowing with zombies, forest. Sheer endless hordes of undead... what is this!? How many creatures has this necromancer reanimated... Damn. I hurry and turn around. Then, with a skill I trained over many years, I jump up. Within the air I suddenly accelerate to an amazingly fast speed and with a few further jumps I slide pass the bloody lake. Whilst using the undead corpses here and there as resting spot, so I can jump in the air again. I am lucky... only a few seconds above the lake, I spot a small island in it¡äs mid. There¡äs a smaller ruin of an ancient temple on it. That has to be his hiding spot. A few movements of mine and I manage to safely land on the island. The skill that I used to slide over the lake is called the 14 steps technique and is a unique swordsman skill. It took me 10 years to perform the master level of that skill. Its final form is so one can accelerate continually and walk with intertwined steps. Performed perfectly it would leave the impression as if one is just a stream of light. This place is rather small. The island is about a few hundred meters in width and not very high above the bloody water. After all, the island gives one the feeling, as if it would sink any minute from now. But I have to endure that feeling, this is definitely the hiding spot and the center of the evil magic. Covered all over with swamp reed, the ground is not entirely visible and I still feel that there are spots I should better not step on. As I look around, I cartography the danger spots in my small notebook. Just to be safe. The island is really not that impressive, it took me ten minutes to scout around. The only remarkable thing is the temple ruin in the middle of the island, also the only spot where I haven¡ät looked around yet. At fist I wanted to be sure that here are no other surprises around... like some cute undeads. Gladly I discovered no further annoyances around here. Finally some peace... I use the short time of peace to clear my gown from the nasty remains. A small water spell creates a circulating bubble of water in my hand. A steady flow over my body washes away all the filth. Time to explore that ruin and hopefully eliminate that necromancer. I cautiously walk towards the arch bow, which marks the entrance of the ruins. A small building, maybe a former chapel or something likely. Now the only remains are some old and withered stone walls, as well as the arch bow. Only a small part of rotten wood shows signs of a once impressive entrance gate. Above the arch bow a smaller window frame carries parts of stained glass. The main building of the ruin is now nothing more than a small and with moss covered room. The walls withered and covered in cracks. Parts of the roof have fallen inside and all here and then is a large wooden joist embed into the swallowing ground. A scene out of a dream, if there wouldn¡ät be those zombies from before.. I enter the room and immediately recognize a strong magic aura. Like a scarf the aura wraps around me and tries to suffocate me, I can only adapt to its pressure. This magic is far stronger than I am... Things could turn out really bad, this aura is strong. Too strong. Every inch of my body suddenly yells and screams for me to escape. The never ending malaise... I feel it again. Its surging throughout my body suppressing my rationality. I need to stay calm, but it¡äs no use. I turn automatically and speed up. Exactly when I stepped underneath the arch bow, my body stopped all it¡äs movements. And a crawling fear emerges within my mind. As I slowly turn around and stare blankly into the horrifying silhouette of a dark framed man. ¡°Welcome dear visitor. Why don¡ät you stay and have a little chat with me?¡± A voice echoes around me, the tone is high pitched and it¡äs hard to withstand the ear piercing dominance his voice carries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I will release about one to two chaps a week, since i have not so much freetime If you spot mistakes, i¡äll gladly correct them And i would be glad if there is someone who could help me with a problem. somehow rr messes with my spacelines every single time... someone any idea how to fix that?