《A Wolf's Way》 within the silence It was on a dark, night in a snowy forest that the boy was left. It was in the coldest winter they could remember and snow fell lightly upon the ground, yet, within a certain forest a child only one week old lay in the snow, a light blue blanket wrapped around him. If one were to look at the boy they would see nothing unusual about him: he had dark, black hair, murky blue eyes and his skin tone was fair, but pale. Overall his appearance gave no cause for alarm; the only strange thing about the child was his silence. In the cold forest the child did not offer up a single sound of any kind but merely lay there, waiting. Moments later,almost as if to answer the child''s patience, a low growl could heard across the forest as seven giant wolves, as black as night, appeared and approached the boy. Despite the danger of the situation, the boy still did not utter a sound but merely looked on, as if he were unconcerned with the current situation. The largest of the seven cautiously advanced towards the boy, almost as silently as the child it was approaching, when the boy did something that shocked all the wolves present. The boy laughed. The silence of the night broken, the wolves'' attentions shifted completely towards the boy, wrapped in the blanket, who suddenly stretched his hand towards the largest of the wolves as if trying to stroke it. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Little did the boy know this wolf was the pack''s queen and leader, and that she had only just recently lost her own son to a human hunting the pack, seeking to obtain the shadow wolfs magical core. The wolf gazed calmly upon the now laughing human trying to rationalise the idea that had sprung into her head. Though she hated the humans who killed her own offspring, she could not bring herself to harm the young one in front of her. Several minutes later, her mind made up she growled lowly warning all the wolves present of her intention. "I will take the child home," she conveyed through her mind speak to the rest of her pack. A minute after the queen announced her intentions, the pack remained silent. A few of the wolves looked disgruntled at the idea of having a human join them, but, with the princes death still fresh in their minds, the pack reluctantly accepted the decision of their queen and only watched as she gathered up the child in her mouth and turned to retreat to the warmth of the cave, the child still laughing happily. six years later Six years had passed since the boy had been brought home by the queen on that cold snowy night, and both the boy and the wolves had grown. It had been decided early on by the pack''s three elders, with the consent of the queen, that the boy would not receive any special treatment despite his human origin. He would be raised the wolves'' way, he would eat, sleep, breathe and hunt as a wolf and if he could not adapt, he would die as a wolf. Despite the hard conditions, the boy survived and grew close to the pack even widely acknowledged as one of their own. This closeness was aided when, on the boy¡¯s third birthday, he shocked them all by melting into the shadows, proving his innate talent for darkness magic. They knew that this was the rarest of the six attributes (earth, fire, water, wind, light and darkness). Although the boy was later revealed to have an average earth affinity, the shadow wolves ignored this and spared no effort to teach the newest member of the pack shadow magic. Shadow magic was just one of the numerous branches of darkness magic, and although he was proficient, the boy was still the weakest in the pack and was always striving to be stronger. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Current day The queen padded softly upon the cold stone floor towards the room where the boy sat The boy was currently sitting with his eyes closed creating an orb of darkness the size of an orange within his hand, a look of concentration prominent on his small face as the boy breathed in and out slowly, unaware of his observer. The queen, looking amused, let out a small growl to make him aware of her presence. The boy jumped, startled by the sudden interruption until he saw who was there. "Mum," the small boy yelled happily, "how long were you standing there?" If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The queen smiled slightly at the enthusiastic response of her adopted son. "Long enough," said a melodious voice in the boy¡¯s mind. "You¡¯ve been training hard haven''t you? Your dark sphere has improved again." The boy once again smiled in delight. He was about to respond, when a low threatening growl was heard, instantly all turned silent; the growl was a warning yet the growl also held an excited sense of anticipation. The small boy, who moments ago had been speaking with childish joy, now had a predators look in his eyes for he too knew what the growl meant: humans had come once again for their annual magical beast hunt. However, it was the wolves that held the feeling of excitement paired with the knowledge they had the terrain advantage. It was hunting time. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Sorry once again for the short chapter I promise they''ll get longer from here on out please post any feedback or criticism you might have so I can make the story better also please write any ideas for the boys name the hunt begins Upon hearing the growl the remaining six members of the pack assembled in the biggest of the caves. One by one, the wolves entered, paying respects to the queen as they came. "My queen," the last wolf bowed as he entered. "Well then," said the queen in mind speak, as the last approached them, "I assume you all know why we are gathered?" Two of the wolves nodded while the other four let out light growls of excitement. "If not then I will have Laikos explain." With this remark the queen gestured to her consort, the second largest of the wolves. "I¡¯ll keep this short," started the wolf, as the others quieted down. "It is once again the time of year when the vulgar humans invade our land and use their pathetic powers in a desperate attempt to capture us and take our magical cores with the na?ve notion that we will lie down and let them take it." At this a few of the wolves smirked while another chuckled. "I have staked out the humans¡¯ campsite and can verify that this year we are once again graced with the presence of lord Varet and his intolerable son. In terms of fire power there are twelve knights and three magicians. The knights are new, unskilled, and untested in battle. The same is true for two of the magicians. However, the last of the magicians has extraordinary powers. He is wearing a purple robe and is to be avoided at all costs." Laikos paused momentarily and looked around letting his words sink in before continuing. "Other than two servants who are accompanying them, there are no other humans." "Thank you Laikos. Now, as you all know, this year is not any ordinary hunt, for this year my son has reached his sixth winter, and is now eligible to participate in hunting the humans." With this the queen looked to face her son. "Are you ready?" she asked him with a solemn face. The boy paused, then smiled, his face bright with enthusiasm. "I am," he claimed calmly, despite his smiling face. "Very good," said the queen who was also starting to smile. "Go and get your weapons. The rest of you, get ready." ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. At the aforementioned camp, the humans also started their preparations for the hunt. The leader of the hunt, Lord Varet, sat calmly behind his desk, reviewing the plan which was relatively simple. First, the knights would act as bait, drawing the creatures out of the forest before the three magicians would trap them in a barrier, leaving the lord and his son to kill them and collect the cores. He would of course donate the lesser cores to the magicians. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The man¡¯s plotting was interrupted by a loud cough to the left of where he was sitting. Startled, the lord looked up to see the mysterious magician in the purple robe. He looked to be in his mid-forties, and had joined the hunting party after meeting the lord by chance on his way to the magical beast forest. He had not divulged any personal information but merely smiled upon being asked. Very mysterious indeed. The man coughed once again. "Yes, what is it?" snapped the lord, who was fully focussed now. "Not much, my lord," said the man in a cold yet smooth voice which sent shivers down the lord¡¯s spine. "I just wished to enquire about the strongest magical beast in the vicinity." The lord paused for a minute slowly considering it. "A pack of about seven shadow wolves, I believe." The man¡¯s face lit up visibly excited and the lord could see why. Shadow wolves were exceedingly rare, with only one new shadow wolf born every 100 years. "Unfortunately," continued the lord, "they are a rather troublesome pack. Some six years back we killed one of their new born pups, and in retort the wolves slaughtered half our hunting party. Even now we take careful pains to avoid conflict with them." Upon hearing this, the magician¡¯s face retained its smugness. "It will be fine," he boasted proudly, "as long as I can see them I can kill them." Upon stating his ridiculous claim, the man left the tent. The lord sighed once more. Although it sounded impossible, something about the magician¡¯s voice led him to believe him. He left to prepare his weapons. A sudden scream resounded throughout the campsite. Hearing this, the hunting party assembled, running toward the campfire from whence the scream had originated. Upon approaching the campfire the party stopped, frozen with shock: two knights lay ripped to shreds. "How could this happe..." the young magician¡¯s speech was halted as two swords were thrust through his head and heart. As the magician fell forward the crowd looked in a state of shock to view the killer only to see a young boy of about six years old smiling happily drenched in blood "What in hell¡¯s name......" started the lord when the wolves appeared behind the child and all hell broke loose. chaos and carnage A silence descended on the camp as the soldiers stared at the smiling child covered in blood and the wolves behind him. Suddenly the lord got hold of himself. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he roared at the surrounding soldiers and the one remaining magician. The purple robed man was nowhere to be seen, "kill them!¡± The soldiers moved slowly and warily towards the boy as he seemed like the less dangerous of the two options. How wrong they were. Within an instance the two swords were back in the boy¡¯s hand. He moved like a typhoon slashing at anything everything within his range as if he were a wild beast. Panicked, the soldiers moved backwards trying to get some distance between them. Unfortunately they had forgotten about the wolves. They were ripped apart instantly, not even given enough time to contemplate what had just happened. Cowering in fear, the remaining soldiers along with the lord, just watched in horror as the child and the wolves behind him slowly moved forwards towards them. ¡°What are you doing? Create a barrier, shoot some spells do something! What do you think I¡¯m paying you for?" screeched the lord to the remaining magician. The previously scared magician snapped out of his stupor and begun a low chant. As the chant intensified, the earth shook and sweat poured down the magicians brow finally as he completed the chant earth rose up creating an earthen wall encompassing all of the present party safely within "..It...is..done..my..lord..." The magician panted out between breaths. Upon hearing this lord Varet sighed in relief and moved around the circle checking for casualties when he stopped dead as he realised someone was missing. ¡°My son.....where is my son?" ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Outside the earthen walls the wolves snarled enraged. "Shit!" growled Laikos "Damn them, damn those cowards." The rest of the wolves growled in agreement as they pondered how to get to the humans within the walls. Sighing the queen emerged silently and walked forwards. ¡°You waste your curses," came the voice of the queen¡¯s mind-speak. "The human¡¯s magic will run out before our patience does. We''ll stand guard for three more hours at most before we leave. Clear?" The order was met with a few good natured groans at the thought of sitting there for three hours, but most remained silent, just staring at the walls. "In the meantime, my son will investigate the rest of the camp checking for any humans left as well as any magical treasure. Any objections?" The wolves once again shook their heads silently except for Laikos. "That is fine my queen, but a word of warning young one," he said turning to address the boy. "The purple robed man remains unseen. If he appears run. Don''t think about it. Don''t even try to fight, just run." The boy nodded solemnly. Growing up with the wolves he knew how powerful Laikos was so if Laikos said to run he would. "Very good," grinned the wolf. "Now get going. Come back once you''ve completed your search." The boy nodded once more, smiling slightly this time, then faded into the shadows and moved towards the village. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Within the campsite, inside the second largest tent lay a boy of about eighteen winters, slumbering peacefully, completely unaware of the situation outside. His name was Elias Varet and he was lord Varet¡¯s first born child. Just around the corner from the tent where Elias was sleeping serenely, a boy was quietly searching through all the belongings in the lords¡¯ tent for any weapons or magical cores that might come in use, when he heard a sound. It was snoring from the tent next door. Stopping what he was doing, the boy let off an evil smile as he moved towards the source of the noise. As the boy entered the tent, Elias woke up with a start and frowned as he peered into the gloom just about making out the shape of a boy he had never seen before. "What are you doing here?" questioned Elias, in a pompous tone. "Servants are not allowed in here without mine or my father¡¯s expressed permission. I should have you flogged!" The child made no move to turn around but instead, let out a low and threatening growl as he moved towards Elias "What are you doing?" Cried Elias who was suddenly feeling inexplicably nervous, he reached towards the sword on his bedside table as the boy drew closer still. "Stay away from me!" Just as Elias emitted that desperate shriek, the boy moved, faster than any speed a human should be capable of doing the boy appeared by the bed side and stuck his sword deep into Elias''s chest. A look of horror appeared on Elias''s face as he realised what had happened and as the older boy died the younger boy gave a deep sigh of regret. "I forgot to ask if he knew where the valuables were." he said cursing his own stupidity. A quick search of the room revealed nothing too valuable. The boy turned to walk out of the tent and go back to the lord¡¯s tent, when he noticed someone standing outside the tent, the man in the purple robe had arrived. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... hi guys thnks for reading my fiction im especially loving all the comments im getting my favourite so far being "Fear me for i am gale of the shadow wolves lord of darkness and master of magic MWAHAHHAHAHAH" thanks for supporting my work and please comment on any mistakes or ideas you would like to see happen :) the man in purple Upon seeing the man in purple outside Lord Varets'' tent, the boy scuttled back into Elias''s tent and hid under his bed desperately hoping to avoid attention. "Please don''t let him find me, please don''t let him find me." The boy stayed silent repeating the thought over and over again in his head, when he heard a soft sigh and the movement of footsteps outside the tent. Suddenly a clear voice rang out from outside the tent, drawing closer. "Do you know," started the man in purple as he walked into Elias''s tent, "there are two things I hate in this world. The first is weak people who pathetically deny reality and think themselves strong, and second is those who sneak around like rats in the dark. " The man bent down and looked under the bed at the boy, "so little rat, mind telling me what you''re doing here?" Without any thought, the boy readied his dark sphere and threw it in the direction of the man. The sphere hit the man and in an instant covered him in dark mana making it impossible to see. Unfortunately for the boy, he was still young and his magic was still undeveloped, so the effect of his magic was quite small and would only last for one minute. However, that was all the time the boy needed. He grabbed his swords and ran. He took Laikos''s advice and ran as fast as he could aiming to re-join the wolves. All thoughts of treasures lost, the boy ran. One minute later and the man''s sight returned. "What an interesting little rat," the man mused to himself. A darkness attribute, now that was unexpected. "Oh well if a little rat managed to sneak in, my bet is the guards are being held up by some much bigger rats or," he paused, "perhaps some wolves snuck in with the rat." The man smiled unpleasantly and made his way towards the campfire. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Back at the campfire the wolves sat still as statues waiting for the earthen walls to crumble so they could get to the humans inside. Suddenly the silence broke as the boy ran faster than humanly possible into the campfire area. "He''s....coming," the boy said in between gasps. The pack sat up, immediately alert. "Who''s coming" demanded the queen, quickly yet sharply. "The purple robed man," said the boy in mindspeak, still too tired to talk. "Laikos," barked the queen, "this man, could he take all of us?" Laikos nodded gravely. The queen stared at him, stunned beyond belief. She didn''t believe there was a human like that, but she trusted her consort. "We retreat," she called out decisively. "This hunt isn''t worth our lives, let''s leave before he gets here." "Too late," called out the man in purple who appeared as if made of air. "My name is Mervyn Oakshield, rank one magician, and the proud head teacher of the first Academy of Magic. I am here today to kill your entire pack and take your magical cores." The man paused and smiled in the wolves direction, "shall we get started?" This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. A one sided annihilation. That was the only phrase that could describe what came next, even with all seven wolves and the boy attacking, it was still not enough to make a scratch on the man. Mervyn laughed as he saw the fruitless struggles of the seven wolves and the boy, slashing, hacking, biting and scratching desperately willing to do anything if it meant escaping their imminent demise. He laughed again it had been years since he had seen something so amusing as the wolves'' pitiful display. Oh well it''s been fun, it''s time to end it and with this thought the counter attack began. As the man started his counter attack the queen reached a realisation, none of the wolves would leave the camp alive. As the man attacked three of the wolves died instantly. Laikos was holding the man off with the remaining two wolves and the boy, only barely fending him off. The queen paused, the wolves were doomed. The man, Mervyn, wanted their cores, but the boy, the boy was not a magical beast he could still live. Her mind made up the queen started to speak to her son "my son," the queen started. Immersed in the fight, the boy blinked in surprise at the sound of his mother''s voice. "Run, we are doomed but you still have a chance. In the middle of the forest lies a snake magical beast with the ability to shape shift his name is Darius, you must find him. Tell him I sent you, he will teach you, you must live on and become stronger." The boy snarled in outrage, "I will never abandon the pack, not till the day I die." With this proclamation the boy threw himself back into the fight, and in that moment, all his mother could do was stare as the magician made his way towards her son a knife in hand. No one could react as Mervyn suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind the boy, no one except the queen who instantly threw herself between the two "noooooo." a heart wrenching scream originated from the boy as he watched the being he had called his mum for the last six years sacrifice herself for him. Forgetting the fight the boy sunk to his knees an overwhelming sense of despair threatening to overcome him when he heard a voice "run...my...child". A tear slunk down the child''s face, "no," he cried "I won''t leave you." The queen chuckled dryly. "Stubborn to the end I see, but Laikos is alone now and he won''t be able to hold on much longer. You must go, you must live and in the end you must avenge us, run my child and find Darius, we will watch over you my son." And with that the queen took her last breath and Laikos fell at the hands of Mervyn. Left alone in the world the boy did the only thing he could think to do, he ran, ran as fast as he could tears streaming down his face never looking back his only thoughts on killing the bastard that killed his family "one day," the boy thought "one day revenge will be mine, you will die by my hands Mervyn Oakshield I swear it on my pack." And with this thought he disappeared into the shadows of the forest. never trust a snake The boy continued to run all through the night continuing on till daybreak until his body could no longer keep up, panting in exhaustion the boy lay down on the cold, hard ground and thought about the events of the previous night. As the boy pondered the deaths of the wolves he did not shed a single tear, for their deaths only made him feel rage, rage at the man called Mervyn Oakshield, and with a burning hatred in his heart the boy set off to find a snake, a snake called Darius. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Back at the humans'' campsite the earthen walls that had surrounded the Lord and his party crumbled and soon there was only a circle of rubble surrounding them. Filled with relief, the lord sighed contently until a knight gasped in shock alerting him to the sight outside, where the walls had stood. Around the campfire lay the brutally mutilated corpses of seven shadow wolves and right in the middle of it stood the man in the purple robe. "What ...what the hell happened here? " cried Lord Varet. "How did this happen?" The man in the centre of the campfire smirked with arrogance. "Did I not sayit earlier my Lord, that if I could see it I could kill it." The Lord stood there in a dazed stupor hardly believing what he could see when he remembered "my son," he cried to the knights closest "someone go find my son and bring him to me." Two of the surrounding knights turned to leave to Elias''s tent when they were stopped by the purple robed man "No need to check," said the man in a cheerful tone "he''s already dead." Upon hearing this the campsite froze, it was not the news that made them freeze, in truth after seeing the wolves last night they had feared for the worst, what made shivers run down their spines was the cheerful way in which the man presented the news, as if he was merely commenting on the weather. The Lord''s shoulders sunk upon hearing the news, his soul wracked with grief, yet burning with vengeance. But, as he looked around he remembered there was no vengeance to be had. The wolves were dead. As if reading Lord Varet''s thoughts the purple robed man spoke once more "Revenge is still yours to claim my Lord." The Lord stared at him "what in seven hells do you mean, the wolves are all dead there''s no one who....." the lord trailed off in sudden understanding "The boy, the boy did it?" The purple robed man grinned at the Lord, "aye it was the boy who killed your son with a stab through the chest." Reinvigorated at the news that he could still claim vengeance for his son the Lord yelled his next order. "After burying my son we hunt, this time our target is the boy not the beasts." The hunting party cheered many having lost friends to the child. In the background, Mervyn smiled happily at the turn of events, all according to plan. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... In the forest, the boy still lay on the ground blissfully unaware of the turn of events. Having grown up with the wolves the boy had naturally explored many parts of the magical beast forest. However, as he grew up he was always warned to avoid the centre of the forest and though he asked why the responses were always the same. "Because we don''t trust the snake." And though the boy had enquired many times as to who this snake was or why they didn''t trust him, he was answered with vague replies or more often than not a change in subject. Yet despite all this, the boy had been told to see the snake, so see the snake he shall. Having strengthened his resolve the young boy resumed running once more towards the centre of the forest, it was about an hour later when the boy first saw the spiralling smoke in the distance. Believing it to be the snake, the boy ran at full speed desperate to get to where the snake was, when he emerged in a clearing. In the centre of the clearing there was a small wooden hut with smoke pouring out the chimney, overwhelmed by relief at the sight of the hut, fatigue caught up with the boy and he fell to the ground and entered a peaceful slumber. Some hours later an old man exited the hut and stared at the slumbering child outside on the ground. "Ohohoho,now what do we have here? What fool of a child has entered my domain so willingly?" The man approached the boy and suddenly stopped silent as he sniffed the air. "Shadow wolf," murmured the man under his breath "why does this child smell like a shadow wolf?" Wasting no time the man picked up the child and placed him on the bed inside the hut by the fire. "Well now," said the man "what sort of story will you have to tell me when you wake up?" With this the old man cackled as his form began to change until a giant snake sat where the man once was "things are going to get interesting again" thought the snake as it drifted into slumber. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... hi guys i would like to once again thank you for reading and comment one a few of the posts made in my last chapter telling me i should have added a tragedy tag in truth i did consider it but im not planning on adding much more if any tragedy so i hope you understand and reading thanks a lot :) Decision Dawn was breaking the next day when the boy awoke, upon waking, the boy took the chance to survey his surroundings. This revealed a modest wooden hut with a spacious bed and adjoining fireplace. Suddenly the boy cried out in shock "argh." On the floor lay a gigantic jewel green python who was leisurely sleeping by the fire only to be awakened by the boys cry "What''s thisssss," hissed the snake in mind speak "the boy wakes." Staring back at the snake unsure of how to respond the boy bowed his head "thank you for letting me in, are you Darius?" The snake chuckled and the boy watched agape as the snake shifted into the form of an old man. "Yes," said the man as a suddenly solemn expression appeared on his face, "now tell me what is someone who smells of shadow wolf doing here? Weren''t you warned that the centre of the forest is my territory?" Darius watched as the boy made a saddened face, "they''re gone," he said in a small voice "they''re all dead." As the words echoed loudly through the now silent hut Darius sat back and paused for a moment " it sounds like quite the story, you better start from the beginning." And so the boy started to talk and the old man sat back and listened. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... At the same time the boy recounted his story, the hunting party started to make their move towards the centre of the forest. "Any trace of the boy yet?" questioned Lord Varet. "No my Lord," answered the head knight who was lucky enough to survive the previous night''s slaughter. "The trail continues, but we are still unsure of where the boy in question is. And I''m worried after not finding him after this long, that it is possible that this is a false trail or that the boy was finished off by a beast." The Lord turned away slowly facing the trail "if the boy is alive we kill him, if he is dead we take his body." Continuing on the hunting party gathered at the boundary between the centre and the middle of the forest, after having searched with no avail for the boy, the group were deciding on their next course of action. "I think we should continue." Said the Lord, not to be dissuaded, after coming this far for his sons revenge. The knights mumbled among themselves, it was public knowledge that the centre of the forest was at least ten times more dangerous than the middle of the forest and was to be avoided if at all possible. Upon seeing the soldiers unease, Mervyn made his decision and spoke aloud. "Although I am strong, I am not willing to waste my time or endanger my life for the sake of your pointless vendetta against a child who looks to be about five winters old, so thus we part here." Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Upon hearing this sudden declaration the soldiers could only stare in shock as the magician turned to leave "Pointless? Pointless? That boy murdered my son - he deserves to die!" Spat out the Lord infuriated at Mervyns word. "So, his family is dead and so is yours i''d say it evens up quite fairly." The Lord snarled "his family, as you call it, were a pack of mongrel dogs, how could their deaths possibly equate to my sons?" At this proclamation Mervyn turned around and once again faced the Lord "Even if so, why should I care, he was not my son? Why should I endanger my life?" And with those parting words Mervyn walked off into the distance and disappeared for good. "That halfwit, that buffoon. I am a Lord! How dare he disobey me!" As the Lord raved, the knights exchanged glances wondering what they should do next, when all of a sudden the Lord calmed down. "Who cares about the halfwit?!? March on, we move into the center of the forest, we will avenge my son or die trying!" With these words the lord determinately marched forward into the center of the forest followed by the somewhat reluctant knights. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Back in the hut the boy had just finished divulging his tale to Darius and sat back watching the old snake''s reaction. Darius looked solemn as he turned to face the boy, "I''m sorry for your loss" he said as he bowed his head, the boy looked away and faced the wall threatening to tear up. "I have not seen your mother in years but I will honour her last wish, you will become my apprentice, from now on you will address me as master." the little boy nodded slowly "Yes master." The man smiled slightly "Now last order of buissness, if you''re going to be my apprentice I shall need to know what to call you, what is your name boy?" The boy shook his head "I''ve never had a name, in the clan you are only eligible to receive a name on your seventh winter." The man shook his head in disgust. "I''ll never understand you wolves and your backwards customs, from now on your name will be Lupos. It means moon in my language, I believe it to be a fitting name for a boy raised with wolves, understood?" Lupos nodded his head smiling happily "Yes master." the first step on a long road After promptly naming the boy Lupos, Darius stood up and made his way towards the door. "Now Lupos from this point on I want you to watch very carefully to what''s about to happen." Lupos looked very confused but nodded and followed his master to outside the hut. "Master.." began Lupos only to be made silent by Darius''s raised hand. "Silence boy," he said as he made his way out of the clearing and hid in the undergrowth, "do you want them to see us?" Lupos looked at him confused. "Them master?" At this, Darius raised his hand and pointed slowly to the path which led into the clearing, or more specifically the hunting party on it. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Back at the hunting party the Lord fumed, they had journeyed into the centre of the forest two hours ago and were beginning to give up hope, when one of the soldiers spotted the hut. However, even with the hut in sight, the path was treacherous and filled with danger. Another half an hour later and the lord and his party finally reached the hut within the clearing. "To the owner of this cottage my name is Lord Varet and we are currently following the trail of a fugitive which leads to your hut. If you hand over the boy immediately you will be richly rewarded and your life spared." The Lord paused waiting for a response, silently cursing when none was forthcoming. "Fine," he snarled "have it your way, knights'' tear down that hut!" The two knights started to move towards the house when all of a sudden they both fell over. "What in blazing hells are you doing? Get up, are you not knights?" Spat out the lord disgusted. However, after three minutes it was clear that they would never get up again. "Now, now," said a sudden voice "why would you want to break my door in or destroy my home?" The knights and Lord turned around in shock to see an old man standing behind them. "We stated our intentions clearly - now hand over the boy if you wish to live." Despite his calm words, the lord was panicking, what sort of monster could take out two elite knights in less than a second without anyone seeing? "Well now," said the old man, "if you are intent on doing me harm I guess this could be counted as self defense, correct?" "What are you.." the Lord''s question was cut off as the bodies of all the knights and the lone magician dropped to the floor with a thump, a single red line visible on all of their necks. The Lord fell to the floor and scrambled back as he viewed this monster in human skin. The old man ignored the Lord and instead turned back to face the way he had come, "Lupos, come out here." The Lord could only stare as the boy they had spent the last day tracking emerged from the woods and bowed to the old man "As you wish master." A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... As Lupos enters the clearing his eyes once again rested on the pathetic Lord who sat cowering in the dirt staring at the two in horror "Now," said Darius once again taking charge "I have a few we questions for you my Lord and I think it would be in your best interest to answer them." With this Darius turned to face the Lord who was nodding reverently. "Very good. Now my first question, what do you know about the first Academy of Magic?" The Lord looked surprised at the question but didn''t dare say anything "it is the most successful Academy in the kingdom and only accepts geniuses from age eight to ten, the requirement to graduate Is that young magicians must reach at least the lowest rank for a magician,which is rank seven. Darius nodded then turned to Lupos "Any questions you need answering boy?" Lupos nodded his head. "Tell me about their headteacher, tell me about Mervyn Oakshield." The Lord lowered his head "A genius and powerful magician who is in touch with five of the six elements, all of them except darkness." "Does he have any weaknesses?" The man shook his head in incredulous disbelief. "No, not only is he the most powerful of all magicians alive today, his elemental spirit is a holy eagle, the most powerful elemental summons known throughout all of history. There is no one alive today who could combat that man." Upon finishing his speech the Lord grew quiet once more. "Thank you," said Darius "you have been incredibly helpful." From this sentence, the Lord''s face lit up, there was hope for him to survive yet. "Unfortunately your life isn''t in my hands but in dear Lupos''s." The Lord''s face fell as Lupos darted towards him sword drawn in an instant. One second later the Lord''s head lay on the ground. "So master what now?" Darius stared at his young apprentice and made his decision. "I will train you for the next two years in both fighting and magic. When you reach eight winters old, if you still desire revenge, you will enter the first Academy of Magic to find out all of the headmaster''s weaknesses so as to exploit them and use them to plot his demise. Once the deed is done, you will return here and train until there is no one who can beat you. It will be hard, it will be terrifying and if you are not strong enough you will die. Are you willing to take the risk?" The youth looked back at him with determined eyes "Yes master." Darius smiled "We begin now." the start of training and what came next "Now master?" Asked Lupos as Darius chuckled. "Of course, no time like the present. Now to start, tell me everything you know about magic." Looking back at Lupos, Darius noticed his apprentice''s slightly uncomfortable appearance. "Don''t tell me those wolves didn''t teach you anything?" Lupos stayed silent. Growing up with the wolves had given Lupos vast knowledge about using magic in combat. However, he had no idea outside the practical use of magic nor how the outside world ranked magicians. Darius sighed "I''ll say this once - so listen carefully." "First of all there are seven ranks of official magicians, rank one is the most powerful amounting to the power of a fully equipped army. Rank seven is the lowest rank, but still capable of dealing with a middle ranked magical beast, you following me so far?" Lupos nodded "Good. Now to get an official magician rank, you must either be recognised by a magicians guild or graduate from a magic academy. At the age of eight, a magician trainee may also attempt to summon an elemental spirit this will take the form of an animal and become your partner over the years. They are not your slaves and if you do something to displease them they can break your contract." Darius paused to check if Lupos was taking it all in, seeing that he was, he continued. "Finally magical beast cores act as a booster allowing magicians to temporarily access more power. The higher the class of core the more power gained. However, while training with me I forbid the use of magical beast cores. I refuse to use an item from a magical beast not given willingly, any questions?" Lupos shook his head "Good, then lets start your training." ...................................................................................................................................................................................... One hour later and Darius was in snake form slithering in the forest, hidden, as Lupos tried to find him. Having lived all his life in the forest, Lupos had exceedingly good senses however, even he was having a hard time attempting to find the elderly snake. Suddenly, Lupos saw a flash of scale and quickly readied his dark globe. He got as close to the snake as he dared, then he threw the globe, hoping to temporarily blind Darius, needless to say it did not quite work out that way. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Darius felt the boys presence as he got within ten metres of him. "Not bad, I can sense most from a mile away, but not good enough of course." As he felt the boy get within half a meter of him Darius disappeared and reappeared behind the boy, promptly changing into human form and tripping the boy up. "Too slow," he said grinning at the sight of the boys shock "go again we continue till you can land a hit on me." With these words Darius turned into snake and disappeared once again, on the floor Lupos groaned in horror. Two weeks later Lupos successfully landed a hit on Darius and they moved onto the next stage of training. Using Darius'' old teeth to create naturally sharp and poisonous daggers as well as Lupos'' dual swords from the wolves, Lupos trained in weapons until he dropped with exhaustion. This week became months and months became years until two years had passed. .................................................................................................................................................................................... Two years later in the imperial capital a young boy of about eight years old walked down the street. The boy''s destination was the first Academy of Magic, for today was the magical testing day where children between the ages of eight and ten could come to test their luck in the hopes of being offered a place in the prestigious Academy. The boy was tall for his age with unruly black hair, murky blue eyes, tanned skin and simple clothes and although he didn''t look poor his appearance grasped the attention of many passers-by, as the first Academy of Magic was usually reserved for nobles, unless one had astounding talent. Nevertheless the boy walked on, ignoring stares from passers-by as he walked to the Academies gates and took his first step into the academy towards his revenge. the testing As Lupos walked through the gate of the first magic academy, he thought back to the last conversation he had had with his master, "Lupos when you are at the academy the most important thing is not to use your dark magic." "But why master?" "That is because all magic has a unique signature and when you kill Mervyn Oakshield, if they recognise your magic you''ll be found out immediately and be unable to escape. Luckily we''ve also spent these last two years raising your earth magic which was blatantly ignored by the wolves, so when you register as a student you will register as an earth mage." Darius then walked over two a large wooden chest in the hut and drew out a sheath of two white daggers and a necklace of black string with a jade green scale in the middle " The daggers are made from my teeth. As you know these have been injected with my deadliest poison, anyone stabbed with them will perish instantly, aside from you who has developed immunity. The scale on the necklace absorbs your darkness magic. If anyone was to take a closer look they''d notice, but seeing as you have a higher earth affinity it should be ignored, my last gift for you is a name." At this Lupos looked confusedly at the old snake "Your real name must remain a secret, so during your stay at the academy, your new name will be Gale, understood?" "Yes master." ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Lupos continued to walk through the academy until he came to the end of a large queue leading into the main hall. Staying silent, Lupos joined the end of the queue and attempted to keep his bloodlust in check at the thought of being surrounded by so many vile humans. Keeping calm the boy stayed silently unmoving until it was his turn. Hearing the call for "Next." Lupos approached the testing table. Sat behind the table was an old man with a badge on his chest stating that he was the first elder. Next to the elder on the desk was a large crystal ball used for determining elemental affinity. "Name and age?" asked the elder. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions."Gale, eight years old." The elder looked him over disdainfully and nodded. "Okay put your hand on the crystal ball and we shall determine your talent." Moving without making a sound Lupos approached the ball and put his hand on it, within an instant the ball glowed bright green. "Higher earth affinity" claimed the elder sounding shocked as higher affinities were very rare. Of course, Lupos had spent the last two years raising his affinity after starting with only an average affinity. As Lupos walked off no one noticed the darker energy swirling beneath the green. Walking off in the direction he had been pointed in Lupos registered as an official student and received his room key. Turning to leave, Lupos was bumped into by a boy who looked to be one or two years older than himself, he had long golden hair and crystal blue eyes. "Watch where you''re going plebeian." Snapped the boy as he hurried towards the student registration area. Lupos stood still for a moment, calming the urge he felt to run back and slaughter the boy and instead continued walking to his new accommodation. According to the student handbook, accommodation would be two people per room, upon hearing this Lupos had resolved himself to drive off any roommate he may have. However upon entering his new room he found it empty. "Guess my roommates not here yet" murmured Lupos. Upon realising this, he started to grin, as he moved around the room planting, impossible to detect, traps. The sooner he got rid of this new roommate the better. As Lupos laid his last trap he heard the door open once again and turned around to see none other than the arrogant Lordling, who ran into him earlier, Lupos let out a predatory grin, this was going to be fun. a demon in human form Lucio Illio was the son of one of the cities most powerful Lords and was born with a higher fire affinity. He had never suffered any hardships and was raised to lead. As such he could not imagine a person who could possibly disrespect him, until he met his roommate that is. As he walked into his new room, he could feel an overwhelming sense of tension and looking at the other boys expression, he very much felt like an animal being stalked for prey. But he was an Illio and he wasn''t about to let a commoner be disrespectful. Walking towards the commoner, Lucio opened his mouth to speak, but before he could do that, the trash barged past him, purposefully knocking into his shoulder, while grinning and walked out the room. As the other boy walked out the room, Lucio struggled with what had happened, how dare that trash barge into him! Turning to walk towards the door intent with teaching the trash a lesson, Lucio grabbed the door knob and pulled angrily, only for the door knob to break. Lucio pulled again and realised the door was locked and for some reason he couldn''t find his key. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... As Lucio struggled with the door, Lupos walked cheerfully, whistling, as he took the second key from his pocket grinning evilly. That would teach that arrogant Lordling to annoy him, but that wasn''t the best part. Of course, Lupos had left several traps in place, hoping to rid himself of his roommate. Not only were all the doors and windows locked with no way out, Lupos had taken the initiative to break almost every escape route out of the room beyond repair. Growing up in a forest of magical beasts gave Lupos the smell of a beast himself and allowed him to tame any normal animal quite quickly, which is why it had been almost too easy to charm several snakes into his room and leave them there to cause trouble. Of course, that wasn''t the worst of it, the snakes were all highly venomous and could cause a natural sickness that came with a nasty case of diarrhoea. Laughing evilly, Lupos walked off ignoring the sudden scream of his roommate. One hour later after hunting for dinner in a nearby forest (he wasn''t going to go soft just because he was living with humans) Lupos returned to his room. As he neared the door, he heard sobs coming from inside "help me, please help me." Lupos grinned and slowly yet dramatically opened the door "hello dear roommate." Lucio looked up. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source."You''re back," he said forgetting all his previous annoyance "thank god you''re back." "Oh dear," said Lupos with innocent eyes "what happened here?" "Someone broke down the rooms defences. Quickly we must escape, there are two snakes in the bathroom. I think one of them bit me, what if I die from this!?!" Hiding his grin, Lupos put on a serious face, "let me see the bite quickly - I come from a healers family, so I can probably help." Lucio smiled in relief and lifted up his trouser leg so Lupos could see the bite. "Oh dear," said Lupos trying to sound sympathetic "you''re quite lucky I was here, luckily, I have the cure for such a bite. Usually it''s very expensive." Taking out a small powder, Lupos handed it to the boy "here put this powder on the bite once a day and you''ll feel better." Lucio nodded gratefully "thank you, I will be sure to pay you back for your kindness today." Lupos looked over at Lucio feigning worry "you should change to a private room where you''d be safer." Lucio looked at him in shock "Would you be ok in a room on your own? This sort of thing may happen again." "It''s fine," said Lupos trying not to laugh "my social status was too far below yours anyway how could I allow the son of an influential Lord to share a room with lowly me." With this Lupos bowed, Lucio took this as a sign of respect and realised maybe he''d misjudged the other boy. Meanwhile, Lupos bowed to hide his face, which was slowly being broken with laughter. "I will ask for a room change, I wish you luck." With this Lucio hurried out the room as Lupos collapsed on the floor crying with laughter. The idiot had actually just volunteered to pay for an "antidote" that would make his leg look better but not actually have any affect and plague him with itchiness for months to come. After he had laughed himself to tears, Lupos sat and contemplated, tomorrow was the first day of lessons and the start of his revenge as well as his summoning ceremony for an elemental spirit. He let out a sigh realising worrying wasn''t going to help and with this thought he collapsed on the floor and slept. Summoning The next morning, when Lupos awoke at his usual time of 3 o''clock in the morning, he sat still and realised he heard no human movement. Feeling more awake he quickly removed the snakes from the room and went outside to fulfill his daily training regime set by Darius. Starting with a run at full speed around the schools campus, Lupos proceeded to the forest to scavenge for his breakfast before returning to his room at five. Just as he arrived back he begun to hear the earliest signs of human movement. After getting dressed in his new school uniform, Lupos proceeded to make his way to the main hall, the welcoming speech was about to begin. About ten minutes later once the hall was at its full capacity an aging teacher with the badge of second elder walked into the hall and gestured for silence. "Greetings young ones and welcome to the first Academy of Magic." The man paused until the applause died down. "Now as you know this entrance ceremony is not just to introduce you to our school, but also for you to summon your first elemental spirit. This will not only serve as a measure of your power, but also determine your future classes. When you hear your name called please step into the summoning circle drawn on stage and use your magic to seek out your power." After the elder said his speech he stepped off to the side and begun to read names of the list, while the children in the audience looked on in excitement and anticipation. Lupos was also excited but for a different reason, the spirit he summoned would be key to his plan of killing Mervyn. He needed an equally powerful spirit to combat Mervyn''s holy eagle. As the time wore on, no one had summoned anything interesting and Lupos was using his time to look at his new classmates, when a cry of surprise arose from those near the summoning circle. A boy had just summoned a crimson phoenix, only five had ever been successfully summoned in all of history, the summoner was Lucio. Lupos looked at his ex-roommate with newfound interest as he heard his new name being called "Gale Foryst, come forward." Lupos, upon hearing his fake name, approached the circle. Upon entry he felt powerful mana pouring out the circle "okay," he said to himself "lets get started." Slowly injecting both his dark and earth magic into the circle, being cautious so as to have no one recognise the dark magic, Lupos let his mind drift when he heard a voice. "Boy who has the audacity to try and summon me, what is your will and if you are worthy I will help. If not I will eat you." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Lupos spoke out calmly "vengeance against the man who killed my family." The voice chuckled "and against who exactly is this vengeance directed at?" The boy sighed in relief, it seemed the voice would at least hear him out, "Mervyn Oakshield, this countries strongest magician." The voice''s chuckles turned into full on laughter. "Interesting, boy, you are very interesting, all right I will make a contract with you and become your elemental spirit my name is Fenrir, what is yours?" "My name is Lupos but for the sake of my revenge I am currently using the false name of Gale Foryst, nice to meet you." With this Lupos opened his eyes to see the assembled students staring at him in shock, or to be more specific the giant silver wolf behind him. "A wolf," announced the elder "exact species unknown. Please turn to the right to register your spirit." Smiling in delight, Lupos followed by Fenrir turned right to the table to register Fenrir, when they suddenly felt as if they were being watched. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... In a balcony, in the topmost corner of the main hall stood a man in a purple robe watching the summoning ceremony, overall he felt very pleased with the results. So far two students had stood out for him and they were Lucio Illio and Gale Foryst both had exceptionally powerful summons and he looked forward to seeing them progress. But, he couldn''t shake the feeling that there wasn''t something quite right with the boy called Gale. "Oh well," he thought "no use dwelling I have a school to run." The man was the current head teacher of the first Academy of Magic and his name was Mervyn Oakshield. the first day After registering Fenrir, Lupos moved along to the third elder to receive his schedule. "Good talent, higher earth affinity and a wolf with affinities for earth, darkness and light magic, very rare indeed. You will be placed in theory of magic 101, advanced summoning, advanced earth magic and mandatory combat training. Any questions?" Lupos shook his head and after grabbing his schedule moved towards his first class, theory of magic 101. Upon walking in the direction the elder pointed him in, Lupos and Fenrir arrived outside a clean and spacious classroom filled with rows of seats. As they entered all eyes were drawn to the boy and the large wolf that followed him. Lupos sat down in the back row ignoring all the eyes upon him and calmly surveyed his surroundings. In the classroom currently sat twenty students, nineteen of whom held little to no interest and Lucio who was sitting proudly displaying his fire phoenix. Suddenly all chatter halted as the old man they had seen at the testing ceremony, the second elder walked into the room. "Greetings young ones I will be your teacher for theory of magic 101, this class covers the brief basics of magic including topics about your ranks as magicians and your summons. To start, can anyone tell me how many ranks of magicians there are?" a small mousy girl on the front row raised her hand, the elder nodded to her "Seven, elder." The elder smiled and nodded "Very good now does anyone know how you can raise this rank?" At this the class stayed silent even Lucio. " Ranks can be raised by defeating magical beasts or criminals as well as completing jobs at guilds. In this city there are four guilds, the first is called ''snakes tail''. A guild that focuses on summoning magic heavily relying on their summons. The second is ''cats claws'' who fight using only their magic not their summons, and the last two ''phoenixes call'' and ''crystal ember'' rely on both styles. As you know, to graduate this school, you must become at least a rank seven magician. This requires you to join one of the cities guilds. You will choose which guild you join later, any questions?" The class shook their heads and the elder proceeded to give a brief recap of the types of magic used and there strengths and weaknesses, having heard all this from Darius before, Lupos started to talk to Fenrir in mindspeak. "Fenrir can you sense how strong this teacher is for me?" Fenrir paused for a minute and nodded. "Yes, in your human terms he would be a rank three magician quite impressive." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Lupos nodded solemnly, if all the teachers were this strong it would make exacting his revenge a lot harder. Lupos suddenly looked up as he heard something interesting. "So in total a magician can have three different summons. The only known exception being our headmaster, who has four spirits though only one is commonly known, which is his holy eagle." Suddenly the elder trailed off, the second he mentioned the headmaster he felt a cold bloodlust seep across the room yet it disappeared when he stopped. Convincing himself he imagined it, the elder continued his lecture, still slightly on edge wondering who the bloodlust belonged too. Finally after an hour of mind numbing boredom, the lesson ended. Lupos continued hearing the same introductory talks in all his lessons until he got to his combat training. The instructor was quite different from the ones they had seen so far, he was a well muscled, mid forties man with a crew cut. As the last of the students filtered into the outdoors arena where training was taking place, the man started. "From today onwards I am your combat training teacher. You will address me as sir. For your first lesson I will build your stamina up, I will summon my fire tiger spirit and it will try and eat you, you will try and run to escape. And go!" Staring in confusion, Lupos and the other students, as well as their spirits barely had time to comprehend what had happened as a large crimson tiger appeared, looking very hungrily at the students. Running as fast as they could all the students attempted to outrun the target, however ,whereas most students were running by their summons, Lupos had sent his to try and trip up as many people as possible to try and put more distance between him and the tiger. The instructor watched Lupos'' actions with clear bemusement, at least the kid was smart. one month later It had been approximately one month since Lupos had entered the academy and he had slowly but painfully grown used to his new life. Lessons were boring, but tolerable and training was painful but dealable. Even as Lupos became accustomed to his current life, he never stopped thinking about his revenge. Every night Lupos would stay up two hours extra, after everyone was sleeping, training himself in both magic and combat, as well as his teamwork with Fenrir. However, as time continued, he was still no closer to learning anything about Mervyn Oakshield aside from the information about his spirits received on the first day. Frustrated Lupos let out a sigh, due to his harsh training regime and his hatred of humans he had been avoided by both teachers and classmates. This kept the nuisances away but also cut off a chance for information. Sighing again Lupos finished his nightly training and called out to Fenrir. "We''re done for tonight let''s rest." Fenrir nodded and followed Lupos as he moved towards the dorm room sighing. As they moved towards the dorms, Lupos started to replay the information he''d learned the previous day in his head. ..................................................................................................................................................................................... One day earlier "Quiet down class." Yelled the second elder over the deafening noise of the classroom. "Now as many of you may know, tomorrow signals the start of the new student competition. In this competition students and spirits battle to be the best, the top three students not only get a weapon of their choice as a reward but will also move on to compete in the inter-school competition, any questions?" A girl at the front raised her hand. "Yes Violet" said the elder pointing to the girl at the front. "Is participation mandatory?" She asked. "Yes," said the elder "and I''ll have you know, the first three to be eliminated within this class get an extra session with our beloved training instructor after school." With this said the classes faces paled and the elder let out an evil grin "better do your best tomorrow." ...................................................................................................................................................................................... The next morning Lupos awoke at his usual time and went hunting with Fenrir. By the time the two returned, most of the other students were up and ready, all dealing with the possibilities of fame and success should they win. Despite the idol fancies of victory everyone looked sharp and focused by the time they reached the training arena, they usually used for combat training. The surrounding stands were also filled with people, both scouts hoping to recruit promising talents and nobles hoping to boost their social standings by bragging about their children''s exploits, though Lupos cared for none of these people. "Welcome all." Boomed out the first elders voice "to our first year''s new student competition. Today the first year''s and their spirits will battle for supremacy using both their magic and their combat knowledge in attempts to gain a weapon of their choice as well as the right to compete in the inter-school competition." With this the cheering started and the elder paused for the applause to stop. "Matches will be one on one duels, spirits are allowed and match ups will be decided by draw," with this the elder paused as a second year student hurried over with a glass bowl filled with names "well then our first competitors will be," he reached into the bowl "Gale Foryst," upon hearing this all eyes drew to Lupos wondering how powerful he was and who he was, as despite his powerful summons, no one knew anything about him. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. " and his competitor shall be, Violet Reich." Lupos walked up to the stage not really remembering nor caring who his opponent was to be. However, as he approached, he was forced to stare at his opponent. She was an average looking girl with long black hair and pale violet eyes. "Hmph," said the girl, Violet he thought her name was "you should of give up now I am from the Noble house of Reich there is no way a commoner like you could defeat me." Suddenly Lupos cried out in recognition "I remember you now." "So you should," started the girl before Lupos interrupted "The annoying girl with the loud voice who is constantly asking questions in class." The entire audience gaped at Lupos upon hearing this, did he not know who he spoke to? This girl was heir to one of the most powerful families in the continent. "Can we start now?" Asked Lupos. Snapped out of his stupor the elder nodded "Let the match begin." ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Violet was outraged, how dare that boy treat her like this. She breathed out calmly, it is of no matter she silently decided after all he was just some poor back country commoner he wouldn''t know any better. Breathing calmly, Violet took her stance and summoned her elemental spirit. Gasps arose from the crowd as they saw a shadow panther appear. They were rare spirits that only contracted with extremely talented and worthy people. Violet took a glance over at the boy, was he impressed now? ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Needless to say Lupos was not impressed; quite contrary to it he was annoyed this competition was taking up valuable training time, sighing heavily he heard Fenrir''s voice in mind speak ."Want me to help?" Lupos sighed again "No I''ll just get this over with." Using earth magic Lupos disappeared into the ground then reappeared by the girl, whose name he''d already forgotten and instantly knocked her out, he then proceeded to do the same to the panther. The crowd stared In silence and shock as Lupos made his way back into the waiting area. Who was this boy, that he could defeat the heir to the Reich household so easily? Uncaring of the uproar he had caused, Lupos sat down and watched the remaining matches with vague disinterest, this continued on for two hours with his name occasionally being called out. Finally it reached the final match "Last competitors Gale Foryst and Lucio Illio." ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Authors note: hi guys sorry for the short chapter and late release I''ve been caught up in a language exam so I will try to update more frequently, hope you like the chapter Lucio vs Lupos Lucio walked slowly towards the stage, smiling broadly. Today was his day, the day he would show everyone present his battle prowess and talent after all his father was watching. As he reached the stage he gave a winning smile to the boy opposite him, his ex-roommate if he recalled correctly. "Lets have a good fight, Gale." "Sure" said the boy looking disinterested. "Well," thought Lucio "he won''t be looking bored for long." The elder looked at the two boys and gave the call "start." As the elder gave the signal Lucio charged at full speed towards Gale and summoned his spirit "come out, Fyre heart." A glorious crimson bird dressed in flames appeared by Lucio''s side. "Let''s see you top that." He thought to himself smiling as he ran towards the other boy determined to win. ...................................................................................................................................................................................... As Lucio rushed towards Lupos all Lupos could think about was how many openings the attack had. If he wanted to he could have the other boy on his back in seconds but he didn''t want to appear to strong. "Fenrir, come out I need to make it look like i''m trying. After two minutes we''ll throw the match, understood?" "Yes." Growled the wolf in mindspeak as he appeared by Lupos'' side. For a few minutes the spirits clash of the birds beak and the wolf''s claws could be seen. However, it was clear to all who were watching that the bird had the upper hand, the same could be said for the boys as it appeared that Lupos was on the edge of defeat. "Argh," thought Lupos "it''s taking all my self control not to beat this boy into the ground, but I don''t want to draw to much attention to myself. Second place is fine, first is too noticeable." ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Noticing nothing of Lupos'' internal struggle Lucio continued attacking, assured of his victory. "Poor commoner" Lucio thought sympathetically "its a shame, but you could never compete with me, the genius from the Illio family. I''ll end this now!" This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. With this thought he and fyre heart gave their all out attack. But, as he charged at gale he could have sworn the boy hesitated a moment before leaving himself wide open, almost as if he wanted to be attacked. Before Lucio had time to ponder Gale had already lost, oh well no concern to him. After affirming Lucio''s victory the elder made an announcement. "Today our top three competitors will get their choice of three weapons, the first is a fire mage staff made with the core of a fyre dragon, the second is a shield made from the shell of a world turtle and the third is dagger made from the claws of a shadow wolf, all of these items have been provided by our gracious head master." Lucio smiled in happiness and turned to Gale only to be struck silent by the boys face. The face Gale was making was one of pure hatred and disgust, swallowing what he was about to say Lucio turned his gaze back to the elder and proclaimed "I would like the fire staff." The elder chuckled, "A wise choice, Gale it is your choice next." ...................................................................................................................................................................................... Lupos wasted no time "I''ll have the dagger." The elder looked vaguely surprised as earth mages tended to specialise in defense, but said nothing it was his choice to make after all. After the ceremony ended, Lupos ran into the woods. Only once he reached a clearing many miles away from the school did he let out a scream of pure bloodlust and rage. Fenrir appeared beside him "what is wrong Lupos?" He asked in mindspeak "that bastard Mervyn Oakshield, these are my mother''s claws, that means he ripped them from her dead body." Fenrir said nothing, he understood that to a wolf disrespecting the dead was a sacrilegious thing. "I''ve decided," said Lupos aloud, his face a deadly calm "I will secretly summon three more spirits to match his and then I will kill Mervyn Oakshield at the inter-school competition." Fenrir nodded then the two walked back to the dorm contemplating how to steal the items needed for a summoning. the best way? The next morning Lupos and Fenrir attended school, however, as they attempted to arrive they were blocked by students attempting to wish them well or ask how they got so strong without high grade magical cores. "Shall we make them move, Lupos?" Asked Fenrir using mind speak. Lupos shook his head, as irritating as it was, he did not want to do anything that might make him stand out or give the headmaster any clue of his existence outside that of a slightly above average student. Sighing, as he was still surrounded by people, he made his way to classroom. Thankfully once the students arrived they went to bother Lucio over him. He sighed once again in relief, no matter how much time passed he would always hate humans and being in a school like this tested his patience to the very limit. His first lesson today was set to be advanced summoning which was vital as it would allow him to view what was necessary for a summoning. The teacher today was the sixth elder, a once beautiful woman in her mid-forties. "Now today we will be going onto the concept of multiple summoning''s.The ability to summon more spirits after you have already summoned one. There are two ways - can anyone tell me one of them?" Violet who was sitting at the front raised her hand. "Yes Violet" asked the elder. "Well the first method is positioning five high class magic cores in a magic circle. This not only allows someone to summon a second familiar but also up to three more, though only one persons ever managed that. Because this method is expensive yet safe, the school will pay for the opportunity for any student under twenty who is a rank seven magician to try." "Correct, now the second method is more dangerous but the payoff is higher, this method is called absorption, instead of putting the magical cores into a magic circle you directly absorb the pure magic into your body and conduct the summoning using only yourself. Because your magic will be more powerful like this it will attract higher tier spirits. So can anyone tell me a hazard or disadvantage of this method?" A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. At the front, Violet once again raised her hand, the elder nodded to her. "Firstly," started Violet "some peoples bodies can''t handle the amount of energy they take in leading to certain death. The possibility of receiving more than one spirit also decreases and on certain occasions summoners have summoned a spirit too far above them, which has turned on them, refusing to obey or form a contract." The elder nodded " very good Violet, now does anyone have any questions?" Lupos thought for a minute about any additional information he may need, finally he raised his hand "yes Gale?" Said the elder sounding visibly shocked at his contribution "For the absorption method would it matter which type of magical cores you use, and would it affect the summoning in any way." "Well," said the elder after thinking a moment "if for example, you use five snake beast magical cores, your energy would look like a snake giving you a higher chance of summoning a snake spirit. Usually for summoning''s we''d say the higher class core the better however absorption is an exception as a core too high above your level could result in death, any more questions?" The students shook their heads "good then lets start today''s lecture." As the elder started to drone on Lupos started to talk to Fenrir in mindspeak. "So what do you think?" Asked Lupos excitedly "Absorption, if it was anyone else I''d tell them to refrain, but it sounds like you''d try it anyway. While you''re in school i''ll gather the five crystals each one from a different animal so as to increase your variety." Lupos nodded in agreement "Gather the cores and I''ll meet you in the woods once school is over." Fenrir nodded and his presence disappeared as he appeared in the forest two miles away. For Lupos school dragged on and eventually people realised he wouldn''t talk to them no matter how many of them came to congratulate him on winning second place in the tournament. Eventually the end of the day came and he rushed to the forest where he saw Fenrir waiting "lets get started he grinned." Lets see how this works "So which crystals have you brought me?" asked Lupos staring at the five crystals in front of him. Fenrir moved first towards a large green crystal "this is from a jade water snake," he continued to move next to the blue crystal "this is from an ice phoenix," he then nodded to the red crystal next to it "this is from a blazing lion," finally Fenrir moved round to the last 2 crystals, the first was a startling white with wisps of black on it and the second was a golden crystal with a kingly aura "the last two are unknown." Lupos looked at Fenrir in surprise "didn''t you hunt all these animals, how come you don''t know?" "well," started Fenrir "while I was hunting I felt a peculiar aura coming from within a small cave, when I arrived I found a gigantic skeleton unlike any animal I had ever seen as well as these two eggs inside it." Lupos fell silent for a minute and thought. The two crystals felt powerful and would no doubt be an asset once he attempted to summon more spirits. Suddenly Fenrir spoke up " I also learnt something interesting while I was out, apparently if you attempt the summoning with only one crystal it decreases the chance of having multiple summons but allows you to summon a more powerful summon." Lupos looked amazed upon hearing this and made his decision "I will attempt the summoning using only one crystal, I will then use the other crystals to summon more spirits at a later date. It''s probably for the best as more spirits mean more power and someone may find out and tell that bastard headmaster." Fenrir nodded approvingly at his decision, "so which crystals are you going to try and use first?" Lupos stared at the five crystals on the ground and decided, walking quickly Lupos grabbed the green crystal. "I''ll use the jade water snake crystal I need a spirit more inclined towards stealth." Upon hearing this Fenrir once again nodded. Walking into the middle of the clearing Lupos sat down cross legged and started to absorb the energy. At first, all he could feel was the slow sensation of energy being drawn into him. However, that changed all to soon, as a great rush of energy started to be absorbed, Lupos screamed out in pain. Visibly worried about the boy Fenrir yelled out. "Stop, we can try again later. If you lose your life, it''s all over, don''t do anything stupid." Lupos stared straight ahead gritting his teeth to stop the screaming. "I will not yield." Shocked at the boy''s determination, Fenrir grew silent and watched as Lupos continued to absorb the energy until none was left. Suddenly Lupos grew still and silent as he entered a trance "now thissss issss interesting." hissed a voice in the darkness "I am surprised my brother deemed you interesting enough to help." Lupos fell silent in shock but felt curiosity enough to ask "brother, you mean Fenrir?" he heard a low chuckle. "Yesssss," hissed the voice "my brother is prideful he would not assist a weakling. I will answer your summoning so long asss thinngs are interesting, if I grow bored it will be your end." Lupos nodded in acceptance. "Then as of now, you are my second spirit, what is your name?" The snake chuckled once more "Jormugand the world serpent." ....................................................................................................... Fenrir sat on the ground staring at Lupos feeling worried, although in the beginning he wouldn''t have cared if the boy lived or died, he now felt the boy was too interesting to die and felt a kinship to him as he would a fellow Wolf. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Suddenly a loud scream pierced through the silence as Lupos snapped back to awareness, the spirit he had summoned was obviously a powerful one and Lupos was having to use all his magic, both earth and darkness to keep the summoning under control. "Come on Lupos," said Fenrir in mindspeak "don''t die and bore me now." Suddenly the screaming stopped and Lupos collapsed on the ground smiling weakly "nice to know you care, now we have to get back to the dorm quickly so no-one notices anything strange. I''ll need you to give me a lift back. I''ve used up all my energy." Transferring Lupos onto his back he noticed a strange presence "oh yeah," said Lupos in mindspeak "make sure to bring your brother up to speed." with this Lupos fell asleep on Fenrir''s back leaving Fenrir visibly shocked "brother, he can''t mean..." Fenrir was just dismissing his thoughts when he heard something in mindspeak "hello little brother." Fenrir gasped aloud in certainty, only one person in the world could call him little brother and get away with it. Fenrir chuckled slowly "hello Jormugand I''m certainly surprised he managed to summon both of us, this has never happened before has it?" "It should be amusing" hissed his brother "by the way how come you are not in your physical form?" asked Fenrir. "The boy asked me to keep hidden till we were back in hisss room." Fenrir nodded in agreement that was probably smart. For the remainder of the journey Fenrir explained to Jormugand about Lupos'' circumstances and why they had been summoned. ....................................................................................................... Lupos awoke in his room and saw Fenrir lying on the floor conversing with a giant snake with skin that looked like water itself. "You''re Jormugand I assume" said Lupos in mindspeak. "Yesssss," replied the snake "it is nice to meet you Luposssss" Lupos nodded. "From now on, it will have to remain hidden the fact I have two spirits, therefore whenever I''m at school I want Jormugand to stay hidden within the school and search for any information involving Oakshield. However, you will only watch do not confront him, even if you are strong enough to defeat any spirits alone of his it is unlikely you will be able to defeat all four with him together." "Yesssss Luposssss, then I will take my leave, to summon me just call my name in mindspeak. I am excited this seems interesting." With this, Jormugand slipped into the shadows and disappeared. "Fenrir did you find a safe place to hide the remaining crystals?" Fenrir nodded "good." said Lupos as the land of sleep claimed him once more. ....................................................................................................... Up in the headmasters tower Mervyn was reading a report about the odd energy he had felt earlier coming from the forest. Apparently once the guards had arrived all that was left in the clearing was a green crystal drained of any type of magic. Mervyn felt something was deeply wrong, if only he could figure out what. Thinking The next morning Lupos awoke with a pounding headache, looking around the room he saw Fenrir curled up on the floor and smiled fondly at him. Although the wolf was a spirit, he reminded Lupos of his own pack before they were killed. Remembering their deaths at the hands of Mervyn Oakshield, Lupos''s fists clenched. "Morning Lupos." said Fenrir who had woken up. "Morning Fenrir, do you know where Jormugand is at the moment?" Fenrir shook his head, he''ll probably be slithering around until you tell him otherwise." Lupos nodded then winced at the movement, the overuse of magic yesterday had taken a heavy toll on his body. Noticing Lupos'' pain Fenrir looked at him slightly worried. "Are you still going to attend classes today?" Lupos nodded with a determined look on his face "yes I''ve not got a choice, if I didn''t appear the day after an unknown energy appeared I would immediately seem suspicious. It''s best to just keep up the pretence I''m fine." Fenrir nodded approvingly at Lupos''s logic and looked at the door "It''s only five in the morning we should hunt before it gets too late or we won''t have a chance." Smiling at the idea of a hunt Lupos and Fenrir moved towards the door. .................................................................................. In a different part of the school Mervyn Oakshield was addressing two figures of medium build wrapped from head to toe in black with the exception of a small slit where their eyes were. "Have you found out anything more regarding the crystal we found in the woods?" addressed Mervyn to the figures, the figures shook their heads silently and the slightly larger of the figures stepped forwards. "No my Lord, lessons had finished by the time we sensed the magic being used, so the culprit could have been anyone of the students or faculty members with the exception of the third elder and his students who were holding a private study session at the time." Mervyn groaned "so basically anyone in the entire school. So let me ask a different question do we have any idea what the crystal was used for?" the two figures looked at each other uneasily. "That we can tell you my Lord, we believe the crystal was used for a spirit summoning method called absorption." A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Mervyn stared at the two in shock "Are you sure? Doesn''t absorption need five crystals?" The figures both nodded "traditionally yes, however there is a second method that involves using only one crystal, however it limits the number of spirits they can summon to one at a time and the crystal needs to be of a significantly higher power, the chance of death of also much higher." Mervyn paled "so assuming this person, whoever they are survived it would mean there is someone running around my school with a higher tier spirit?" the smaller figure spoke "there is no doubt the summoner survived my Lord, if they had not, then we would not have found an empty crystal, we would have found a corpse." Mervyn stayed quiet a minute considering what he had heard "I want you two to keep a high alert, no one is to know what happened. Whoever this summoner is they obviously want to keep what they''re up to a secret. From now on I want you two solely focused on the task of finding out who our mysterious summoner is before the inter school competition, understood?" "Yes sir." reported both of the figures before they disappeared into the shadows. Alone in the silence Mervyn let out a sigh, no one had noticed the quiet slithering of a snake as it crawled through the roof above. Jormugand laughed as he started to slither back towards Lupos''s room "ssssooooo there issss someone watching issss there letsss see how they do." .................................................................................................................................................................... Author''s note Hi everone I''m really sorry for the super long wait between chapters I really hope you can forgive me. Iv read back through previous chapters and have tried to correct previous mistakes and I''m currently going to try to release one chapter a week on Fridays until my exams are over and I hope you can bear with me and continue to enjoy the story :) Preparations After hunting, Lupos and Fenrir made their way towards the classroom for their first lesson, theory of magic 101, when Lupos suddenly heard Jormugand talking to him in mindspeak "Luposssss the man called Mervyn hasss sent out two servantssss looking for the summoner from yesterday." Lupos paused then looked at Fenrir to confirm he''d heard what had been said. "Understood, good job Jormugand make sure to keep a low profile for today until things die down." Jormugand laughed "Assss you wish." Trying to look natural, Lupos and Fenrir walked into the classroom, only to see the headmaster standing at the front of the classroom. Time stopped as Lupos stared at the man who butchered his family. Clenching his fists so hard he drew blood Lupos walked past him and took his seat at the back of the classroom desperately trying to get his bloodlust under control. Unaware of Lupos'' internal struggle Mervyn smiled warmly as the class entered. "Hello students," he started as the last of the students entered the room "as many of you may have noticed I am not the second elder. The reason I am here today is to talk about and teach you about the specifics of the upcoming inter-school competition. Even if you aren''t competing this year, you may compete next year or the year after and that makes knowing this information imperative." Mervyn looked round the room. "Any questions so far?" The room stayed silent for a moment before Violet lifted her hand. Mervyn gestured towards her "yes my dear?" Violet paused a moment sounding hesitant "is it true people have died in the competition before?" The room sat still in shock as those who were previously daydreaming about the glory and fame that would come with winning were snapped back to the cruel reality of the situation. Mervyn looked at Violet thoughtfully "That''s not quite right, people have died before, however, that was due to sabotage from other schools not from the competition itself." He paused a minute as he looked round his eyes setting on Lucio and Lupos "I see we have our top two competitors with us now. First things first participation is not mandatory and every year we have at least one student drop out because they feel they are not up to the task or are too worried about the danger being a competitor may bring. So these are all things to consider when deciding on whether to compete or not." At this point Lucio stood up confidently. "Of course I will still compete, I will prove that I am the most powerful first year and bring glory to the school!" the other nobles as well as the headmaster all looked impressed whereas Lupos just rolled his eyes at the arrogant statement. "Do you think I should just stay quiet or would that just bring more attention to me?" asked Lupos to Fenrir in mindspeak. Fenrir paused to consider "say something too, you''re meant to be enthusiastic, it would be more suspicious f you weren''t." Nodding at Fenrir''s reasoning, Lupos stood up to look at the class trying to avoid Mervyn''s eyes "I will also compete for the glory of the school, though I cannot measure up to Lucio." This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Lucio looked approvingly at Lupos while Fenrir struggled to hide his laughter as he spoke to Lupos in mindspeak. "I...haha...cannot measure up to....hahaha Lucio...I''m dying that''s too funny. Oh my God how are you keeping a straight face right now Lupos?" Sure enough, as Lupos returned to his seat the corners of his mouth were turned up as he thought of Lucio''s clumsy lunges and ill thought out attacks. Nodding in approval at his students supposed enthusiasm, Mervyn continued to speak "now the inter-school competition is very unlike our new students competition in the way that it actually has three stages; the first is usually some sort of survival of the fittest, used to weed out the weaker competitors. The second stage, is usually a team challenge and the final round, much like our new student competition, is one on one duels to determine the winner as well as the top ten." Pausing for a break, Mervyn looked around to check everyone was still following before he continued "now you might notice that I explained most of these activities with a maybe, this is because the events have been known to change in the past, the only exception being the final round duels." "Now that I''ve told you all this I will talk to you about the reward. There is usually about five hundred first year students participating in the first round, this is because a school may only send three competitors, as such even getting to the third round is a momentous task. So for anyone who makes it that far they will receive 7 high grade magical cores. Anyone who makes it within the top ten will also receive a new weapon and I will personally take them on as a disciple. The overall winner of the tournament also gains the right to select one item from the royal families'' treasury." Upon hearing this, the children chatted amongst each other excitedly, however, Lupos just sat there silently. Originally he had planned to kill Mervyn during the tournament but until he had more information and spirits it was an unrealistic feat. However, becoming Mervyn''s apprentice would be the perfect opportunity to try and gather his weaknesses as well stopping suspicion against him once he did kill Mervyn. Unfortunately for his plan to work, he would be required to help let Lucio win the competition so that he could continue to comfortably hide within his shadow until the time was right to strike. Smiling evilly Lupos started to prepare. .................................................................................................................................................................... Sorry for the short chapter I will try to make them longer but I wanted to out up another chapter for tonight. Hope you enjoyed it and please leave a comment below :) Arrogance After Mervyn finished speaking about the competition, Lupos turned to leave, desperate to do any kind of physical activity that could help get rid of his growing bloodlust. However, his path was blocked by a smiling Lucio. "Good luck in the competition - as your better I will take the responsibility upon myself to look out for your well being." "How generous." said Lupos flatly in a sarcastic manner. "Hmph of course," said Lucio completely unaware of the sarcasm "after all I am one of the Illio family and a future Lord. My cousin was also a student here before his tragic death along with my uncle in a hunting accident two years ago." Lupos paused for a minute, a hunting accident two years ago? That sounded familiar. "Lucio," he asked cautiously "What was your cousin''s name?" Lucio looked pleased at the interest "I''m pleased to know you''re taking a notice of your betters, my cousin''s name was Elias Varet." Lupos laughed aloud "What,what is it?" asked Lucio who was slightly disconcerted with Lupos''s reaction. "Well the funny thing is I had the pleasure to meet your cousin around two years ago. Now that I think about it you''re very similar." Lucio smiled "Of course, one day I''ll be as great as he is!" Lupos smiled remembering the sniveling coward who begged him not to kill him "I''m sure you will be." he said with an evil grin. .................................................................................. Meanwhile, Jormugand was still slithering throughout the school looking for more information, before he grew tired and decided to get some sleep in the roof above an empty classroom. He had just settled down when he suddenly heard the door open and the hurried footsteps as two figures walked in. The same two figures who were addressing Mervyn. "So have you found out anything more about the summoner''s identity?" asked the smaller figure too the larger one. "Yes," said the larger one "it took a while but I found that the main cause of the magic pulse involved dark magic, meaning both the summoned creature and the summoner have dark magic, which narrows down our suspect list." the smaller figure nodded. "Do we know if the summoner is one of us, a member of a nobles house sent to monitor the headmaster?" The larger figure slapped the smaller one. "You fool, do not utter such words aloud, you never know who may be watching." Sure enough, right above them Jormugand was laughing. If there was distrust against the headmaster it could be used against him. Jormugand was just about to leave and report back to Lupos when he heard the figure speak once more. "Pass on the message to master Illio that we have identified the second spirit to be an earth griffon." If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. The smaller figure gasped in response. "Are you sure? You know the consequences should you be wrong." The larger figure nodded and the two stood in silence. "Should we pass on the news about the mysterious summoner?" asked the smaller figure. The larger figure paused then slowly shook his head. "No we are only here to find out the headmasters weaknesses any other information is irrelevant." The figures both nodded and once more disappeared into the shadows, not noticing the quiet laugh Jormugand gave as he smiled and made his way back to see Lupos. .................................................................................. Lupos was sitting in a clearing in the woods with Fenrir, waiting for Jormugand. The snake had suddenly contacted him with an excited voice and asked for meet up in the clearing after lessons. After two minutes of waiting the snake slithered into the clearing. "Luposssss I have found out some interesssting news." Lupos smiled at Jormugand "What is it?" the snake laughed "the nobles are conspiring against the headmaster and the two trusted spies meant to be searching for you are secretly employed by the Illio family." Lupos looked at Jormugand in surprise. "Does that mean Lucio is also better than he''s letting on?" Jormugand shook his head "not that I''m aware of, the spies are under the control of the head so the son probably knows nothing." Lupos smiled "this is good news, it means we can use the two sides against each other. Did you find out anymore information?" Jormugand smiled smugly "yesssss, in fact I have discovered that Mervyn''s second spirit is an earth griffon." Lupos'' eyes widened, although, he had faith in both Fenrir and Jormugand, a match against a holy eagle and an earth griffon may even provide problems for them, not to mention the other two spirits and Mervyn himself. Thinking about the upcoming competition Lupos made his choice "OK, Fenrir, Jormugand before the competition there will be a week''s break to train and visit family. During that time we will infiltrate Illio''s home and steal any useful information they have regarding Mervyn. We will also summon a third spirit, any questions?" The two spirits shook their heads. "Very good we have one week until the break and two weeks till the competition. We will train until then, let the nobles arrogance at not hiding their spies be their downfall." A little flattery goes a long way It had been almost one week since Mervyn had taught the lesson about the inter-school competition and tomorrow the one week break before the competition would start. Lessons were as usual and Lupos had hung back at the end of the day to find and talk to Lucio. Finding him still sitting at his desk Lupos approached. "Excuse me Lucio I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?" Lucio looked at Lupos and nodded. "Of course, what can the great me do for you?" Lupos paused a minute and swallowed down his distaste, he really did sound like the dead Lord Varet and that brought back some bad memories. Swallowing down his irritation Lupos continued to speak. "Well Lucio, I''m really worried about being a dead weight for you in the competition. Seeing as you are so skillful, I wondered if you could help train me so that I could support you." Lucio turned to him with a smug face. "Of course, it is my duty to help someone less talented then me, you may spend the holiday training with me so as not to burden me." Lupos swallowed down the urge to punch him in the face. "Patience Lupos, patience" he thought to himself as he tried to smile gratefully towards Lucio. "Thank you for your generosity, I will see you tomorrow." Lucio waved at him as he left and Lupos dashed into the forest desperate to get away from the irritating noble. Finally arriving at the clearing that had become his sanctuary he sat down on the ground and groaned. Although he knew sucking up to the Noble and infiltrating his house for information was part of the plan he was almost regretting the decision upon realising how hard it was going to be to keep his self-control in check and pretend to respect the nobles. Lupos was about to get up and leave when he heard Jormugand''s and Fenrir''s laugh in mindspeak. "Wow master I had no idea you had such respect for the upper class" said Jormugand in a sarcastic manner. "Yes master, you must make sure to train hard so you don''t....burden the young master Illio." laughed Fenrir. "Shut up" said Lupos in a sulking manner, but he too was smiling at the idea of losing to Lucio, who left so many openings it was harder to find a place that wasn''t open when he attacked. "Anyway," said Lupos "Fenrir have you got the black and white core you found so we can take it with us and use it for the summoning?" Fenrir suddenly appeared before Lupos with the crystal in his mouth and nodded "very good.""Why don''t we just summon another spirit here?" hissed Jormugand who had also slithered into the clearing and was curling himself around Lupos'' body. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. "It''s because it''s only been a couple of weeks since we summoned you here. The main reason they didn''t get here quick enough to find me last time was because we had the element of surprise. If they felt such an energy pulse again their first reaction would be to come here. It may also take some time as the crystal we''re using is unknown and if I summoned something too powerful I may need your two''s help to subdue it." Jormugand and Fenrir nodded in understanding. "Anyway while we''re at Lucio''s house, Fenrir I want you to be with me at all times as Lucio already knows you as my summon." Fenrir nodded "Of course." Smiling Lupos continued "Jormugand I want you too search for as much information on Mervyn Oakshield as you can find, if they''ve already uncovered what one of his other spirits is then it''s probable they have been investigating him a long time - so see what you can find." Jormugand nodded. "Right then last thing, I''m going to need you both present when I attempt the summoning so we''ll do it at night. Any questions?" "No Lupos." Lupos smiled at both his summons "OK then, let''s head back to the dorm." .................................................................................. In another part of the empire A man sat in a large room upon a golden throne. On the floor in front of him a man dressed completely in black knelt before him. "Is there still no news on the child''s whereabouts?" the man on the throne asked. "No sir, we have searched every country yet found nothing." The man on the throne cursed "damn that bitch for hiding the child from me, we must find him. It''s been eight years already damn it." The man in black nodded. "Find him for me, you know the consequences should you fail." The man in black started sweating slightly "yes my Lord. I will do everything in my power to do so." After saying this the man in black disappeared leaving the man on the throne alone staring of into the distance. "What happened to the boy," he murmured under his breath "and where is he now?" .................................................................................................................................................................... Author''s note Hi guys sorry for the short chapter I promise the next one will be longer hope you enjoyed it :) Annoyance and freedom The next morning Lupos was waiting by the schools gate with Fenrir by his side waiting for Lucio. He was carrying a large bag that contained one slightly squashed snake as well as wearing the two poison daggers from Darius one on each hip. Lupos had been waiting ten minutes when Lucio finally arrived "good morning Lucio." said Lupos trying to smile amicably "it is indeed a good morning but before we leave I have to set ground rules for how you are to act in my house." Lupos nodded curious to what sort of absurd rules he was going to have to abide by. "Firstly," said Lucio "you must never address me by my name at the house, but rather call me young master." Lupos nodded trying to keep a straight face. "Second you must never speak to any members of nobility unless they speak to you first, understood?" "Yes Lucio." Fenrir had already turned his face away by now trying to hide his laughter. "Very good, finally you must honour any request nobility asks of you." Lupos nodded once more but his eyes were hard and unrelenting. He would not give up his possessions that much was certain however it was better to play along for now. "Luc...young master is there a forest near your house?" Lucio nodded looking even smugger "yes our estate is on the edge of the great forest, it is filled with magical beasts though so you had better avoid it, that''s where my cousin and uncle lost their lives." Lupos suddenly smiled happily before his face settled once again into neutrality. He''d never known the name of his forest home and knowing they were going so close made him a lot happier, after all it meant he could meet Darius while he was there and do some real training. Lucio was about to say more when a golden carriage appeared at the gate. "This is my families second best carriage!" boasted Lucio proudly, however, Lupos paid no attention to him and instead stared intently at the thin but long scratches left on the carriage door. He knew those scratches, Laikos and his mother had made them three years ago, the year before they died. The pack had laughed about these scratches and how they''d ruined the carriage. Lucio noticed Lupos staring at the scratches. "It''s a shame about the scratches isn''t it, uncle mentioned how it was done by a group of cowardly wolves after him and his men had bravely attempted to capture one of their young to give to me as a baby." Lupos stared at Lucio in shock, his mother''s other son, the one killed by Lord Varet. The reason he had been killed was Lucio''s fault, if he wasn''t alive, his brother would have lived! A sudden calm overcame Lupos, he would kill them all after he was done with Mervyn. The whole family must pay. Not noticing Lupos'' expression Lucio hopped into the carriage and turned to face Lupos "as we are of different social class I cannot allow you to ride with me, you may either ride one of the horses pulling the carriage or sit up front with the coach driver." Lupos nodded still feeling calm "yes young master." Closing the coach door Lupos walked round the edge of the carriage to find and ask the driver about riding a horse. The driver was an elderly man who looked to be about sixty who immediately turned and smiled when he saw Lupos approach. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. "You must be young Gale, am I right?" asked the old man, Lupos nodded. "I''m here to ask about borrowing a horse to ride to the Illio''s estate." The old man smiled "of course young one you can use any of the four horses we have here as only two are needed to pull the carriage, the other two are insurance." With this the old man gestured towards four beautiful steeds, however, one attracted Lupos straight away. It was a huge dark brown steed "can I take that one please?" The old man looked at the horse he gestured to, an uneasy look on his face, "are you sure kid, he''s quite the handful. I didn''t even plan on letting him pull the carriage he was just here to get some exercise." Lupos smiled even more sure "yes I''m sure." He much preferred a real wild horse than a prim and proper show pony. "OK then," said the man with a resigned face "let me just saddle him up for you." Lupos shook his head "No thanks I''ll ride bare back." at this point the elderly man just looked at Lupos like he was mad but sighed and decided just to leave it alone. "OK kid, well, I''ll saddle up the rest of the horses make sure you''re ready to leave in five minutes ok?" Lupos nodded and made his way over to the horse with Fenrir by his side. For Lupos who had been raised with beasts he recognised it would have been seen as the biggest disrespect to force the animal into letting him ride it or to force a harness on it. When he arrived by the horses side he put his hand on its forehead and conveyed his intentions using mindspeak. "Hello my name is Lupos and I wish to ride you on the journey back but I promise you I will not use any man made gear to control you." The horse snorted "oh a child that can speak in mindspeak to creatures that aren''t his summons, now that''s interesting. Hello Lupos my name is Amazon I will permit you too ride me. However if you displease me I will throw you off me." Lupos laughed he had missed speaking to animals. "Thank you Amazon. By the way, these are my summoned beasts, the large wolf is Fenrir and the snake I''m sure you can sense in my bag is Jormugand." The horses eyes widened slightly and he was about to say something when the elderly man called out "kid you coming or you need me to swap that Stubborn horse for another?" Lupos grinned "No I''m fine." he then smiled to the horse "let''s show him a spectacle shall we?" The horse laughed and Lupos easily swung up into the horses back "do you know the way home?" he asked, the horse nodded "then go as fast as you like." As soon as he said it Amazon took off running, already far faster than the coach and for the first time that year Lupos gave a genuine and happy laugh. Home at last Back in the carriage, Lucio stared sourly at Gale who was several meters ahead of the carriage, riding bare back of all things! Even he himself couldn''t get the horse to do as he wanted even with a saddle on and whip in hand! Lucio sighed, it wasn''t fair why could Gale ride that damn horse when he couldn''t?!? After all he was far superior being born of noble blood! Of course there was more to it than that, Lucio just had a hard time admitting it "that time at the new student competition....did he let me win?" he thought to himself. During the final move of the fight Gale had moved in a way that left him completely open to be attacked, and for a while now, Lucio had been wondering if he had done it on purpose. There was only one problem with his theory, he had absolutely no idea to why this could be if it was true, "I mean why would anybody ever want to lose a match?" he thought to himself still confused. This was in fact one of the reasons he had invited the other boy into his house, so as to see if there was a deeper meaning behind it. However even with all his suspicions he still believed himself superior and thought that even if Gale was hiding his true skills he would be made to pay for underestimating him. How wrong he could be? .................................................................................. Three hours of riding later and Lupos could finally see the forest he called home as well as the Illio''s estate "We''re almost there kid." Yelled out the old carriage driver "I presume you''ll be staying with the Illio''s in the servants quarters?" Lupos hesitated a minute, before he had been ready to stay with the Illio''s but being this close to home made him long for the forest. Unsure about what to do he devised a plan "Jormugand," he started in mindspeak "if I left you near to the Illio''s estate would you be able to get the information then find me again?" "yesssss," hissed Jormugand "Where should I meet you?" Lupos smiled "In the centre of the forest I''m going to go see an old snake." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Jormugand laughed "would this be the infamous Darius you''re going to see?" Lupos continued smiling "Correct and you''ll meet him soon enough too." the snake laughed and then fell silent for the remaining ten minutes of the journey. As they approached the Illio family estate, Lupos slowed down his pace and trotted besides the carriage so as to talk to Lucio. "Young master, you have showed me such a kindness by allowing me to train with you so I could not possibly take advantage of your hospitality any further by imposing on you. As such I have decided to stay with some family around here and only come yo your estate to train!" Lucio nodded in understanding "Of course but you must turn up to training at nine o''clock every morning or you shall make me lose face." Lupos nodded "Yes young master. I thank you for the usage of this horse and I shall see you tomorrow." Lucio smiled as Lupos dismounted Amazon and turned to walk away into the direction of the forest. What Lucio didn''t notice is that as he was talking to Lupos a large green snake slithered out from Lupos'' bag and was currently hidden under his carriage. As the carriage departed Lupos smiled and immediately took off running towards the forest. As he saw the familiar paths and trails, Lupos took off running towards Darius'' hut happy to finally be home. .................................................................................. Authors note Hi everyone I''m sorry for the short chapter but I won''t be able to do many more releases this week because of exams so figured I''d try and get out one more chapter before then hope you enjoyed and feel free to leave a comment :) What to do now? Storming down the familiar paths without stopping, it was only a matter of minutes, before Lupos had arrived in a clearing in the centre of the forest. Within the clearing lived a small hut. Without even thinking about it Lupos ran towards the door and opened it. Lupos was just about to call out when he felt a knife pressed to his throat "Darius?" Lupos asked before he felt the knife lower. Turning around, Lupos saw an elderly man with a lean body and sharp eyes "Darius!" exclaimed Lupos again happily hugging the old man. Darius sighed aloud but was smiling all the same. "Damn brat, I could''ve killed you if you weren''t careful." Lupos laughed "no you couldn''t, besides Fenrir would have helped me." "Fenrir?" asked Darius in confusion before he spotted the large silver wolf by my side. "Bloody hell Lupos anything else you want to surprise me with, I can''t sense that thing at all." Lupos smiled "he''s my summons so you shouldn''t be able to sense him. As for surprises, I have one more summons on the way, a snake named Jormugand." Darius''s eyes widened "Fenrir and Jormugand...." he muttered under his breath. "Darius what is it?" asked Lupos but Darius just shook his head "doesn''t matter much but anyway why don''t you tell me why you''re suddenly here?" Lupos looked at Darius and started to tell him everything that had happened since he had joined the school. .................................................................................. At the same time about three miles away from Darius''s hut, Jormugand had safely infiltrated the Illio''s estate. After exiting the carriage the snake had proceeded to worm it''s way throughout the floorboards looking for any information that might be helpful as well as keeping an eye out for the black figures. He had been crawling around for approximately ten minutes when he arrived in the floor under a large richly decorated room. Within the room a tall and imposing man with blond hair and green eyes sat before a kneeling figure in a black garb "interesting," thought Jormugand "this man''s different from the other two figures before at the academy." Staying silent, Jormugand started to listen to the two men talking. "Greetings Lord Illio, as you well know I am here on behalf of THAT PERSON to ask a favour." started the man dressed in black. Lord Illio smiled slyly "how unusual for that person too ask me a favour, what is it?" the man dressed in black nodded. "He is looking for a boy, this boy would be around eight years old and have murky blue eyes and black hair. Any information other than that is unknown." Lord Illio nodded looking much more serious now "I don''t suppose you could tell me why he is hunting this child?" The other man shook his head "I have been informed I am to tell you nothing on the subject." The Lord nodded once more "understood. I thank you for travelling all the way here, are you staying with us for the night?" the man in black simply shook his head. "My gratitude, but I must be moving on as there are others who need to hear this message." After saying that the man disappeared into the shadows leaving the Lord on his own. "I wonder who this boy is and why he warrants HIS attention." Murmured the lord under his breath as he walked out the room. Still beneath the floorboards Jormugand pondered over what he had just heard, "just now they had been describing Lupos hadn''t they?" he thought as he tried to make heads or tails of the situation. Sighing he decided to ask Lupos about it later and instead snuck out between the floorboards and started looking for any information about Mervyn Oakshield in the room. After searching for about five minutes he located a pile of reports about Mervyn Oakshield hidden in the walls. Looking around to check if anyone was nearby, Jormugand started to transform into a humanoid shape which looked like a young boy with jade green hair and slitted golden eyes with pale green scales on his arms. Jormugand smiled quietly it had been years since he had used this form and even Lupos didn''t know about it. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Picking up the papers on Mervyn, Jormugand used magic to quickly conceal himself and walked out of the gate into the forest. .................................................................................. Back in the hut Lupos had just finished telling Darius his story while Fenrir interjected with points to tell him about Lupos'' apparent sucking up to nobles. The three had just finished laughing when Jormugand slithered in with a pile of papers in his mouth. "Jormugand did you find any information on Mervyn?" asked Lupos as Jormugand dropped the paper by his feet and slid comfortably around his neck "yesssss Luposssss." Lupos smiled happily and picked up the papers while Darius looked at Jormugand curiously. If one was to pay attention they may have seen something that looked like a silent conversation flicker between the two. Darius let out a sigh of resignation still staring at Jormugand "as you will." he muttering under his breath, however all mutterings were cut off with Lupos''s sudden intake of breath "shit," he said unhappily "Lupos what is it? Did you find something?" asked Darius. Lupos nodded "we have less time then would have liked" Darius looked at him curiously "why?" according to this Mervyn is planning to summon a fish spirit in one year''s time so he has one spirit for each of his affinities." Darius looked at him gravely "if that is the case I would suggest you speed up your own summoning, I would try it in two days time if I were you. It''s a full moon which should help you." Lupos looked at him confused "a full moon? Why would that make a difference?" Darius shared a knowing look with both Fenrir and Jormugand "just a hunch, anyway I have some good news." Lupos looked at the evil grin that had just appeared on Darius''s face and shuddered "seeing as you''re here for the week, I can help train you at night!" A terrified expression appeared on Lupos'' face as he recalled Darius''s idea of "training". Looking at his spirits for help he saw both of them turn to avoid eye contact while trying to hide their grins. However just as Darius was about to drag Lupos outside to start training, Jormugand stopped them "Luposssss there''sss something I forgot to say." Lupos looked at him curiously and nodded at him to go on. "While I was looking for information about Mervyn I overheard the Illio family head speaking to a man dressed on black." Lupos stiffened "It''s not the same spies from the academy is it?" Jormugand shook his head "No but he gave a message saying his master was looking for an eight year old boy with black hair and murky blue eyes." Lupos frowned upon hearing his own description "are you sure?" Jormugand nodded. "Do you have any ideas who he may be or why he may want me?" Jormugand shook his head "they didn''t say." Lupos nodded "Ok, good work Jormugand. Tomorrow I want you and Fenrir with me at the estate, I need you to replace the information so no one realises it''s missing and also use mindspeak to warn me when the head is coming, if he''s looking for a boy with my description then things could get messy." His two spirits nodded and he was just about to say more when Darius grabbed his arm an evil look on his face. "let''s start training." That night screams of pain could be heard from the forest. .................................................................................. HI guys finished another exam and just about finished writing this chapter hope you enjoy I''ll try to write again after my geography exam tomorrow but I can''t promise anything :) please leave a comment. The Illios estate The next day Lupos awoke tired and sore, looking over at Darius he wondered how someone that looked so much like a little old man could be such a nuisance to deal with. Sighing in resignation, Lupos gathered Fenrir and Jormugand and went out into the forest to hunt for breakfast. They took approximately ten minutes before they returned to the house with some Marsh bird eggs for Darius and Jormugand and a fresh deer for Lupos and Fenrir. Opening the door they saw Darius already awake and sitting up "So brat, where''s my breakfast." Lupos laughed "What makes you think I got you any?" Darius let out a savage grin "do you want to do more training?" Lupos gave Darius his breakfast. Five minutes later and they had all finished eating. "Lupos shouldn''t you be heading off to see the Illio brat now?" Lupos nodded in a resigned manner "Yes I''m heading off now." Darius smiled "What will you do if they ask about your family?" asked Darius "I''ll just say they''re hunters and that we live on the outskirts of the forest." Darius nodded "good luck kid, remember to try and stay in the Noble kids shadow but also to try and improve him so that you can pretend later victory is down to him." Lupos nodded "Ok then, I''ll see you later Darius." Darius grinned "I trust you will." sighing once more in resignation he let Jormugand slide around his neck and with Fenrir by his side, quickly ran until they reached the Illio''s estate. As they approached the gate he quietly let Jormugand sneak off and then knocked on the gate. Two guards opened the gate and stared at Lupos. "Who are you?" asked the larger of the two guards. "My name is Gale Foryst, I''m the young master''s classmate and have arranged to do some training with him in the break." The guards looked at a note they had received earlier and nodded. "Ok, you need to go straight down the path and turn left into the courtyard where the young master should be practicing." Lupos smiled courteously and nodded. He began to walk in the direction the two had indicated, when he heard Jormugand''s mindspeak "Luposssss the head is coming from your left, hide quickly." Lupos nodded and then slowly faded into the shadows of one of the surrounding buildings using dark magic. Just as Jormugand had said two minutes later a tall man with golden hair and green eyes with an arrogant face walked around the corner. Lupos held his breath and waited two more minutes for the man to pass, once he had, he let out a sigh of relief. Although he could kill the man to stop him reporting back to the mysterious man in black about who he was, that might put the family on guard and he still planned to kill all of them once he''d dealt with Mervyn. Seeing that the man was now completely out of sight, Lupos emerged from the shadows and continued into the courtyard to see Lucio. "Hello young master, thank you for allowing me to be here." said Lupos through clenched teeth. Unaware of Lupos'' irritability Lucio smiled arrogantly. "You''re welcome, after all, it is the future Lord''s job to look after his citizens and if you have family here I guess that makes you a citizen." Lupos shook his head. "Not quite young master, my family are hunters and have no affiliation to any city." Lucio pursed his lips and looked slight annoyed at the idea of not being able to rule over Lupos, but shrugged it off quickly. "Anyway our instructor for today will be the ex-captain of the Royal Knights. He''ll be here in a minute, so until then would you like to have a quick spar with me?" Lupos shook his head cautiously "no thank you young master, you are much too skilled for me." Fenrir started laughing in mindspeak "and," said Lupos continuing with a sly smile "I''m sure my spirit is no match for yours." Fenrir stopped laughing while Lupos smirked. Lucio shook his head annoyed "tough this is an order not a request, I demand that you spar with me!" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Lupos sighed but didn''t say anything more and simply nodded looking happier as Lucio called out "Elia bring me the two practice swords." a few seconds later a young girl scuttled through to the courtyard. The nondescript girl appeared with two swords, she then deposited the swords next to Lucio and gave a quick bow then scurried away. Picking up one of the two swords Lucio threw the second one to Lupos "Ok, let''s start, we''ll spar until one of us is disarmed understood?" Lupos nodded. "Are we including the spirits in this battle and are we allowed to use magic?" Lucio paused and thought about it for a moment "no spirits but magic is allowed." Lupos nodded, this could be fun, this way he could still beat Lucio without having to worry about looking overly strong. "Ok, let''s start!" yelled out Lucio as he started accelerating forwards. He didn''t get far. "Sinking sand," whispered Lupos under his breath. At that minute a large sinking sand hole formed underneath Lucio''s feet. While Lucio was struggling in the sand Lupos calmly walked up and grabbed Lucio''s sword. "You are disarmed, I win" said Lupos in a cheerful voice completely ignoring the outrage on Lucio''s face. "I want a rematch!" demanded Lucio once Lupos had cancelled the sinking sand magic. "Are you sure young master? The only reason I had a chance this time was because I had the element of surprise, I could never take you on in a fair fight." Lucio looked disgruntled and was about to say something when an older man with a pompous looking attitude and a fancy sword walked into the courtyard. Lucio''s face quickly changed to admiration and respect "Master we are ready for your teaching." Lupos bowed down pretending to be respectful but already annoyed with the instructor. Anyone who knew anything about swords could clearly see his was just for decoration and that his soft hands belonged to that of a noble who had known no hardship throughout life. The old man sniffed when he saw Lupos. "So this is the plebeian that will be joining us?" Lucio nodded and Lupos grit his teeth. "Thank you very much for this opportunity honourable knight." Lupos could not bring himself to call the man master he had, had but three masters in this world, his mother, Laikos and Darius and he would not dishonour them by giving this wimpy noble the same respect. The knight nodded smugly and started to teach the boys boring and repetitive drills until eventually the end of the day had come to pass, Lupos could see now why Lucio was only average in swordsmanship, his sword was a pretty distraction but nothing more. Lupos gave a quick bow and thanked the knight for his time and was just about to leave when Lucio came up to him. "Gale seeing as you did slightly above average in training today I have decided to honour you by letting you see something interesting." Wanting to refuse but not having the leeway too Lupos nodded and just prayed it would be over soon. However, the sight he was shown was not one he expected, and it made him feel rage to his very core. In the room he had been led into, there was a cage and in the cage lay a girl about the same age as him with night black hair and large violet eyes. However, atop her head were large black wolf ears. The girl was like Darius a magical beast given human form but she was not a snake, she was a shadow wolf. .................................................................................. Hiya guys i thought I''d finish off the chapter before my exam starts in an hour so wish me luck sorry for the bit of the cliffhanger I''ll try and resolve it tonight :) Escape "What the hell is this?" said Lupos in a trembling voice that barely contained his rage. Lucio looked over at Lupos smugly unaware of the emotional turmoil he was facing. "I''m not surprised you don''t know, it''s magical beast that gained human form. They''re really rare." "What at you planning to do with her?" asked Lupos in a quiet voice. "Uncle says she can become my slave when she''s more disciplined," boasted Lucio unaware Lupos'' expression was growing more murderous by the second. "So we''re just keeping her here until she learns her place and acknowledges me as her master." Lupos turned towards Lucio with the intent of killing him before realising that it wouldn''t help, as the second he did the guards would come running. Which wouldn''t be bad by itself, he could deal with that, but his cover would be blown and he''d be unable to take his revenge on Mervyn. Ignoring Lucio as he continued to boast he instead focused on the girl in the cage. "Hello," he said in mindspeak "can you hear me?" the girls face snapped towards him in shock "h...h..how can you communicate with me in mindspeak? Only magical beasts are meant to be able to do that!" Lupos smiled gently "I was raised by a pack of shadow wolves. So I can speak to other beasts." The girl smiled slightly within the cage "don''t worry, I''ll help you escape tomorrow I wont let them keep you here." The girl was still smiling in the cage but tears were streaming down her face now. "Thank you, but I have nowhere else to go. My pack was destroyed." Lupos looked at her sadly "the same as me, don''t worry I have a friend you can stay with just be ready for tomorrow." Without waiting for confirmation Lupos turned back to Lucio, who was just finishing off his boasting "anyway the girl is mine" he finished. Lupos just nodded cautiously "thank you for showing me this, but I must be on my way now young master or else my family will worry." Lucio nodded and waved his hand "yes go on, I''ll see you tomorrow." Giving a short bow, Lupos ran home at full speed determined to think of a plan to free the girl. .................................................................................. Lucio''s POV The next morning Lucio awoke alone in his room and began to think about Gale. The boy was a mystery as far as he was concerned. Although his fighting seemed weak there was something wrong with it, like there was an underlying strength or like he was deliberately going easy on you. Although the other boy had won the match yesterday he himself admitted to being useless in a straight fight, the whole thing infuriated Lucio. However there was one thing that puzzled him even more, yesterday when he had shown Lupos the wolf girl something had changed in his eyes, he wasn''t sure what it was but it made him uneasy. "Probably just jealousy over my rare catch" thought Lucio trying to convince himself. But, deep, deep down he knew that in that room when he looked at Gale he had a felt a primal sense of fear, the type prey feels when it was cornered by a predator. "But that would be ridiculous," thought Lucio to himself "obviously I am far stronger, he even admitted it himself!" However, no matter how much he tried to convince himself he could not get rid of the deep unease settling in his stomach when he thought of Gale. Sighing to himself he put aside his feelings and got ready for training. As he entered the training ground he saw Gale already there smiling pleasantly. Swallowing down his feelings of unease, Lucio went to greet him. "Good morning young master." said Gale with a slight bow. "Good morning Gale" responded Lucio still feeling something was wrong. He was just about to put his finger on it when Gale interrupted "young master if it''s not too much of an issue I would like to ask we let our spirits fight today to give them some practice." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Lucio smiled arrogantly "of course but be warned my fyre heart won''t go down easily. Even though you lost in the new student competition we won''t hold back". "Of course," said Gale with a pleasant grin "How else would we learn?" . Lucio smiled the feeling of unease flying away at the chance to prove his superiority over Gale. Smiling Lucio gave a piercing whistle to call out fyre heart. Meanwhile, Gale just sat there silently smiling as he looked at his own summons, Fenrir. "OK we''ll let the spirits fight until one concedes defeat by leaving the sparring area or is knocked out, understood?" Gale nodded. "Ok, let''s begin." the two boys sat down at opposite ends of the sparring area and watched as the two spirits fought, however it was quite clear that Fenrir appeared to be on the losing end. Contrary to Lucio''s expectations, Gale did not look upset or even that bothered about his spirits loss but was instead laughing about it. Two minutes later when the battle was over Gale approached Lucio "Good spar but I guess your spirit''s just that much better." Lucio smiled arrogantly "of course it is after all i''m.." Lucio was about to say more when one of the families scholars burst into the courtyard "Young master?!? Young master are you all right?!?!?" Lucio looked at the scholar curiously "of course, what''s wrong?" it was then Lucio realised what had been nagging at him. All the guards were missing. "The wolf girl, she''s escaped." Lucio turned to him a look of rage on his face. "Don''t stand here then, catch her you fools send the rest of the guards after her!" the mans face went pale. "We can''t young master....they''re dead...they''re all dead." "What?" asked Lucio astonished. "How?" the scholar shook his head sadly. "They were poisoned, they''ve spent the last ten minutes in overwhelming agony. We bit off more than we could chew by capturing her. Apparently the creature who rescued her was the ancient snake at the heart of the forest, we didn''t stand a chance." Lucio stood there shocked unable to comprehend the tragedy that had occurred. However, if he had only looked behind him he would have seen Lupos looking solemn but with laughing eyes as he stared at the tragedy that had befallen the Illio family. .................................................................................. Lupos''s POV It took all of Lupos'' self restraint not to smile when he heard that the guards who had helped hunt the girl and her pack were dead. Of course the main perpetrators still remained, but the Illio family would get what was coming to them in the end. Trying to look sad, Lupos approached Lucio. "My thanks young master for allowing me to train with you these past few days, but I am leaving now to help my uncle in the forest so will not be able to return." Lucio nodded weakly as Lupos gave a short bow and ran out the courtyard towards the forest letting out a wide grin. .................................................................................. Hi guys hope you liked the chapter I decided to try and write in Lucio''s perspective for this one to keep the surprise of how they were going to rescue the girl so I hope you liked it PLEASE READ THIS For an additional notice instead of posting a poll I figured I would just ask but if anyone has any ideas for what to name the wolf girl please leave it in the comments Stories and summonings After running for five minutes, Lupos and Fenrir finally arrived back at the hut. When they opened the door they saw Darius, Jormugand and the girl sitting round the fire talking "welcome back brat, glad to see everything went OK" stated Darius as he grinned at Lupos. Lupos smiled "it went well, good job on poisoning them Jormugand. They all somehow got the impression that Darius was her caretaker and he was taking his revenge while rescuing her." This got a scowl off Darius and a smile off everyone else, they were just about to start making fun of Darius, when suddenly the girl spoke up. "Thank you for rescuing me" she said smiling prettily "I would have rather died than become that nobles plaything so I''m glad I''m safe and among my own kind." Lupos and Darius smiled at her gently while the spirits nodded. "You''re safe here girl" said Darius "and you''re free to stay here as long as you want to." The girl nodded gratefully "thank you." Darius looked at her curiously a minute. "Girl can you look at me a second." the girl lifted her head and Darius gasped "Now this is interesting, I didn''t notice before. You have violet eyes." Lupos looked at Darius "What does that mean?" Darius looked at Lupos in shock then shook his head "I forgot that they hadn''t taught you about clan hierarchy yet. OK listen up. Lupos in this forest there are currently, as far as I am aware, six shadow wolf clans and each of these was led by a queen. However, there is one being which has the right, if they wish to rule over the clans and that is the Shadow wolf with violet eyes, who is also privy to higher magical power." Lupos looked over to the girl in shock "Then you''re technically clan leader?" the girl shook her head "I hadn''t decided whether to accept the title or not when I was captured and my clan killed." Lupos looked at the girl sympathetically "who killed them?" The girl shook with rage "I don''t know their names but there was two of them, a noble in a flashy golden robe and a man dressed all in black, the man in black was asking a favour and the man in gold said he would comply if he helped capture me for his friends son and kill the rest of the pack. I WILL KILL THEM ALL." Lupos recalled Jormugand''s previous words "I''ll help you." "Huh?" said the girl "but why, we''ve only just met." Lupos smiled "the pack looks after their own and besides," he said his face darkening, "I think I know who you''re referring too. The man in black seems to have stopped by here recently too looking for a boy with my description. Ignoring them could be dangerous, so I''d rather just help you take care of them now before they become an issue." The girl smiled "it seems like I''ll never stop saying thank you if this continues. By the way what''s your name?" Lupos let out a warm smile "I''m Lupos, the old snake over by the fire is Darius and my two summons are Fenrir and Jormugand. And what about you, what''s your name?" The girl smiled slightly "my name is Akari, it''s nice too meet you." still smiling the two looked at each other happily while Darius looked knowingly at Jormugand and laughed "well this is all lovely but the full moon is upon us so if I were you Lupos I would go and attempt the summoning now." If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Lupos'' face turned serious and he nodded. "Understood, Fenrir go grab the crystal quickly, Jormugand you wait outside with me." Fenrir nodded then ran off to get the crystal while Jormugand and Lupos stared at the full moon outside ready to start the summoning. A few seconds later and Fenrir emerged with the mysterious black and white crystal in his mouth and he quickly deposited it down on the ground next to Lupos. "Ok," said Lupos "let''s get started." Lupos quickly sat down crossed legged on the forest floor and slowly started to absorb the energy. As he did, he noticed something odd the black and white in the crystal were two different types of energy which were currently being absorbed in harmony. He was also gaining energy from the heavens or rather the full moon. Wondering if this was why Darius had wanted him to try his summoning tonight, Lupos wondered what creature would be summoned. He didn''t wonder long. Soon a massive influx of energy was absorbed as he let out a cry of pain and absorbed the last of the crystals energy. Suddenly Lupos was surrounded by the familiar darkness. "Well now," said an ancient voice within the dark. "What do we have here?" said another voice."My name is Lupos and I would like to summon you two as my spirits" said Lupos while the voices cackled. "It''s been a long time since anyone has tried to summon us hasn''t it brother?" said the first voice. "A very long time indeed" cackled the second. "Wait a second," said the first voice pausing "I smell a wolf and a snake! Boy do you have any other summons?" Lupos nodded "Yes my first is the wolf Fenrir my second is the snake Jormugand." The second voice cackled "well now this makes all the difference I''ll join you boy." the first voice sighed "I will too, I''d be worried about leaving those idiots on there own anyway." Lupos smiled and without saying anymore the darkness dissolved leaving Lupos back on the forest floor but this time with two ravens on his shoulders one white and one black. Fenrir and Jormugand gasped in shock, but Lupos ignored them and looked at the two in turn "so what are your names?" The white one cackled showing he must have been the second voice in the darkness "I''m Hugin." Lupos nodded and smiled then turned to the black raven. "I''m Munin" he said proudly. Lupos smiled, he was one step closer to his revenge. .................................................................................. Hi guys thank you for any votes on what Lupos''s next summon should be as well as a special thanks to Oldsin for the Hugin and Munin idea as well as Leafyeyes417 for the name Akari :) thanks to anyone who gave a name idea in the last chapter as well some of them may come up later A promise Smiling at his two new summons Lupos turned to the shocked Jormugand and Fenrir "Jormugand, Fenrir what''s wrong? Why do you look so shocked?" Fenrir laughed helplessly while Jormugand just sniggered. "We didn''t expect you to pull off summoning both of them is all." Lupos looked them curiously "why is it unexpected?" Fenrir sighed and took over "those two geezers rarely respond to anyone''s summoning and even so, I don''t think there''s ever been a case where the two have been summoned together." Lupos grinned "That''s great news, after all if you too didn''t expect it then Mervyn sure as hell won''t." . Munin laughed appreciatively "It seems like we''ve been summoned into an interesting situation, anyone want to explain what''s happening?" Jormugand sighed and quickly explained everything that had happened up to that point. "I see," commented Hugin "but more than Mervyn Oakshield I''m curious about the man in black looking for you, it may have something to do with your parents." Lupos looked at Jormugand confused "why would it have anything to do with that?" Hugin rolled his eyes and spoke in a voice full of wisdom "of course it''s because of your mysterious circumstances. I mean you were abandoned as a baby in the middle of the forest, meaning you were obviously important enough for someone to want you dead." Hugin paused for a moment "I mean you survived on pure luck, if the Shadow wolves had not found you, you probably would have been eaten." Lupos paused for a minute considering this "it may make sense, but if so why start looking for me now?" At this point Munin interrupted "they may have looked before, you just wouldn''t have been a position to hear about it given where you live. Lupos had to give him that one. He was just about to say more when Jormugand interrupted "anyway it''s getting cold out here, let''s take this inside and besides," he said slyly smiling at Lupos "there''s a pretty young lady who''s been watching us out of the window for some time now." Lupos blushed while the four spirits laughed and shot each other knowing grins. Walking back into the hut Darius was sitting down on a chair next to a blushing Akari by the fire. Darius quickly turned around to see Lupos and was about to ask about his new summon when he saw the two ravens and fell out of his chair. "Oy brat don''t tell me these two are really Hugin and Munin." Lupos stared at him "but why?" Darius looked at him in shock "You''re a monster kid, I''ll tell you that much." he muttered sighing he addressed the two spirits "nice to meet you I''m Darius, Lupos'' guardian and over by the fire is Akari a new addition to the family." Akari smiled warmly at the two "it''s a pleasure to meet you." Hugin and Munin smiled and gave a small nod. "Now," said Darius in an exceptionally happy tone "Lupos seeing as you don''t have to return to the Illio brats house you can stay here for the rest of the week and I can train you!" The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Lupos looked at Darius in horror, bad enough the night training and now day training too?!? Lupos groaned at the thought of it. "Now now none of that, it''ll be fun I promise." Lupos didn''t think that the look on Darius''s face would assure anyone right then and sure enough even the ancient spirits sitting on each of his shoulder shivered in fear. Finally after three days of training and talking to Akari it came time for Lupos to leave. However, just as Lupos was about to depart Akari came up to him "Lupos I have something to tell you." Lupos nodded and turned to his spirits "Fenrir, Jormugand, Hugin and Munin I''m going to talk to Akari you guys go on ahead." The four spirits walked off ahead sniggering, and if one were to listen to them, they may have heard the term "bet" being used. Looking back at Akari she started to talk "I''ve decided," she said in a passionate voice "I''m going to stay here and train with Darius until I''m stronger and when I am I will kill my parents murderers and then return to rule over the packs. We must unite if we want to survive so I will strive for that day." Lupos smiled "Good, I want to see that ambition reached one day and when it comes to revenge I will help you." Akari smiled "I look forward too it, but there''s one more thing..." Akari suddenly trailed off and lowered her head "What is it?" asked Lupos confused. Akari clenched her fists in resolve and threw her arms around Lupos "I want you to be my consort, you have no right to refuse." After saying this Akari gave Lupos a quick kiss on the lips and ran off back into the forest. Lupos stood still for a moment dumbstruck about what had just happened. Darius walked up behind him and gave him a slap on the back. "On your way brat you don''t want to miss the competition." Lupos nodded still feeling dazed, Darius saw this and grinned "by the way Akari wanted me to pass on a message." Lupos nodded looking fully awake now "she says she''ll kill you if you cheat on her." Lupos laughed "no chance of that happening, but I promise to obey." Darius smiled "give them hell kid, give them hell." .................................................................................. Hi guys thanks to everyone who participated in the poll about whether or not to add romance, as you can see the option to add romance won which I''m kinda happy about :) I''m not sure if I did the romance well as Iv never really written about it before so please leave a comment telling me your opinions A step towards revenge Lupos was still smiling from Akari''s kiss when he ran to catch up with his spirits. As he approached the group, he noticed Hugin was missing. However just as he was about to comment on it, Hugin flew down out of the trees. Suddenly all three spirits turned to face Hugin "well?" said Fenrir impatiently while Lupos still stood there looking confused "We won the bet, she kissed him!" Lupos looked at Jormugand and Munin who were groaning in dismay as well as Fenrir and Hugin who were laughing. "Wait, wait, wait so you guys were betting on whether or not she''d kiss me?" all four spirits looked at him and nodded in sync, Lupos just sighed exasperated. "Well moving on from that for the journey back I want Hugin and Munin scouting up ahead for potential danger or any people Jormugand I want you to stay hidden in my bag and Fenrir you can give me a lift back." Hugin and Munin flew on ahead while Jormugand laughed "Fenrir you''re a horse now!" Fenrir started mumbling under his breath about "barbecued snake." but was promptly ignored. Making sure his bag was firmly on his back, Lupos climbed onto Fenrir''s back "ok let''s get moving, it should take us less than a day to get there depending on how quick Fenrir can go." Fenrir grinned "I''ll go as quick as I can." Lupos suddenly had a bad feeling about it and quickly held on as hard as he could. Without another word Fenrir took off into the distance, following the faster, but much more dangerous forest paths, with Lupos still needing to hold on for dear life. They had been riding for approximately one hour without trouble when Hugin flew back onto Lupos'' shoulder "Lupos there''s trouble ahead, a lone magical beast is being chased by some soldiers claiming their young mistress wants it as a pet. Should we help it escape?" Lupos grit his teeth, incidents like this just served to remind him why he hated nobles so much and with Akari''s capture still fresh in his mind he felt rage boiling over. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Lupos nodded "where''s the beast?" Hugin raised a wing to point in the left direction, it''s just a few metres away that way." "Fenrir did you hear that?" asked Lupos, Fenrir nodded briefly then took off in the direction indicated. They''d only moved one metre down the path when a small squirrel like magical beast burst out the trees. Catching him as he fell, Lupos used all his concentration to try and quickly communicate with the beast in mindspeak. "My name''s Lupos I was raised by magical beasts I will help protect you." It wasn''t the best way of putting it, but surely enough it was the quickest, which was good as several knights burst into the clearing. Lupos looked at the knights surrounding him "Can I help you gentleman?" the biggest knight gestured to the others to lower their weapons. "Yes the magical beast you currently have in your hands, my mistress was trying to procure it so I would appreciate it if you handed it over." Lupos shook his head and placed the squirrel on his shoulder, where it decided to stay after feeling it could trust Lupos. "I''m very sorry sir knight this is actually my pet, I was letting him loose for hunting and had just called him back, which is when you showed up." The knight nodded calmly and was just about to walk off when an arrogant voice rang out through the clearing. "What are you doing have you captured the beast yet?" said a young girl about Lupos'' age as she stepped into the clearing. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The girl was very pretty, there was no doubt about that, but she was covered from head to toe in impractical jewels and wore a prideful look of superiority on her face. The head knight bowed down to the girl and the other knights quickly followed suit. "I''m sorry young mistress the beast you are seeking already belongs to that boy." The girl looked over at Lupos as of noticing his presence for the first time, before disregarding him as if he were a speck of dust. "I want that beast so you will give it to me, a filthy commoner has no right to disregard a person with noble blood such as myself." Lupos stared at the girl with intense dislike. "No he''s mine, why should I give him to you?" Although Lupos had only met the creature moments ago he felt a much closer kinship to the magical beasts of the forests then he did other humans, especially nobles. The Noble girl looked at him flabbergasted. "I gave you a chance and now you''ll pay for disobeying, I''m am Elisia Oakshield my uncle is Mervyn Oakshield a first rank magician, you will pay for disobeying me!" This drew Lupos to a halt as he stared in shock at the girl, Mervyn had a family and that meant a weakness. Although he had to wait until he was more powerful to get his revenge on Mervyn there was absolutely nothing stopping him from killing his niece. Smiling happily Lupos warned his spirits about what he was about to do in mindspeak. "I''m sorry I didn''t know, of course you can have my pet." said Lupos as he got off Fenrir''s back and approached the girl. "Hmph I''m glad to know you realised your inferiority and are ready to give me what I want." Lupos stopped in front of the girl and let out a savage smile, Elisia''s blood ran cold. "Not quite I''m afraid." said Lupos who then gave out a high pitch whistle. At the sound of the whistle Fenrir turned to the nearest knights and attacked them, killing them instantly, Jormugand had also taken the opportunity to sneak out of the bag and had poisoned a majority of the remaining guards. Leaving Hugin and Munin to dive bomb the remaining survivors until the girl was the only one left, Lupos'' poisoned dagger resting by her throat. "It was unlucky for you that you were his relative. Of course you threatening me didn''t help at all." the girl started shaking her arrogance gone. "Please spare my life, I mean you''re only angry about that beast right, magical beasts are just vermin anyway take it and go." Lupos shook his head at her "magical beasts aren''t vermin they''re family, and besides didn''t I already tell you this isn''t about that. It''s your relationship to Mervyn that irritates me." The girl opened her mouth to cry out but before she could Lupos moved faster than any human should have been able to and slit her throat. Grinning despite being covered in Elisia''s blood Lupos turned to face his spirits. "Let''s continue on then." His spirits nodded and soon they were on their way again back to the academy Lupos smiling the entire way. .................................................................................. Hi sorry the chapter came out later than usual today I hope you like it feel free to comment or write a review :) Back at school It was the next day Mervyn received the message. He had been awake since early that morning and had just finished dealing with the transportation for the inter-school competition, which was going to start later that day. He had been sitting peacefully at his desk when all of a sudden one of his trusted spies appeared in the room sweaty and out of breath. "What is it?" asked Mervyn curiously "has something happened?" the spy looked down at the ground an expression of reluctance on his face. "I''m sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but your niece has just been found dead in the magical beast forest along with all her guards." Mervyn stared at the spy shell-shocked. He''d never been particularly fond of his niece, but that didn''t change the fact she was family. "What happened? She had a whole squadron of guards with her?!?!" the spy looked more reluctant still. "Well apparently during the travels she saw a magical beast that caught her fancy so had the guards split into three groups to look for it, when it ran off." Mervyn looked down at the floor feeling distraught, but trying to put his feelings aside to help figure out what happened. "So what killed her then?" he asked his tone slightly more detached now. The spy nodded "well that''s the odd thing about it, all the guards as well as...your niece were killed in different ways." Mervyn looked up at the spy "what do you mean?" "Well," said the spy "a few of the guards were torn apart by what looks like a wolf of some sort, however, there were also stab marks similar to that of a birds beak as well as a majority of the guards being poisoned. In comparison, your niece seems to be the only one who was killed with a knife." Mervyn looked at the spy in yet more confusion "so the killer was a human, not a magical beast as we first believed?" the spies reluctance increased, just like all other spies he did not like to be the bearer of bad news. "We believe the killer may have a magical beast in human form." "What?!?" echoed Mervyn loudly, magical beasts in human form were a rarity but with the exception of when they first gained their form most were obscenely powerful and very difficult to track. "What makes you think that?" "Well sir," said the spy "owing to the variety of different methods with which the guards died, it would take someone of considerable power to control the magical beasts needed for this attack, the only other explanation would be a magician with at least three spirits but we don''t have any documented magicians who have a snake a bird and some kind of predator." Mervyn sighed this case was getting more complicated by the minute. "Do we have any idea of motive? Surely my niece trying to capture a small magical beast isn''t incentive enough to be killed?" the spy started to look uneasy and stayed silent for a minute. "Well?" said Mervyn in a demanding tone. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Your name sir." Mervyn stared at the spy in confusion "well sir one of the guards who was poisoned apparently had a weak resistance to it due to training. So when the other guards found them, he managed to hang on long enough to warn them that the person who attacked had only done it after the young mistress said who she was in relation to you. Other than that, the only other information we got was that the thing that poisoned him was definitely a snake." It was as Mervyn had feared, over the years he had participated in numerous hunts for magical beasts and cores, and had enjoyed playing around with the more intelligent ones, this however had given numerous chances for one or two of the hunted beasts to escape. However, after seeing their friends and family butchered, it generated a lot of hatred towards Mervyn and a few of the escaped beasts may have been able to pull off getting strong enough to defeat the guards. Mervyn looked at the guard, his face unreadable "understood you may go, try to find the perpetrator of this case and then bring them to me." The spy nodded then disappeared without a word. The second he did, Mervyn''s facade crumbled as he screamed out in rage "ahhhhh how dare they, how dare someone do this to my family they will pay, they will pay, THEY WILL PAY FOR THIS!!!" .................................................................................. On the opposite end of the school, Lupos had awoken from a peaceful sleep and had started to organise all his possessions in a small bag to take to the tournament. "Now," he said to his four spirits "during the trip I need all of you except Fenrir out of sight seeing as no one knows about you. If something goes wrong then Munin you can come and help me, the rest of you are to stay out of sight." The four nodded "Why only Munin though?" asked Hugin as an afterthought. "Because," said Lupos "he''s the only spirit I can pass off as a normal animal if worst comes to worst. But, you and Jormugand would be recognised as spirits immediately." Looking at the jade green snake and pure white raven it became quite obvious that the two were spirits, or at the very least magical beasts. "Ok," said Lupos after packing away the last of his possessions "let''s head to the front gate. That bastard headmaster as well as Lucio and whoever came third should be waiting for us." Jormugand slithered into Lupos'' bag, and Hugin and Munin flew out the window to hide in the trees so they could secretly follow them later. Only Fenrir remained in sight. Lupos silently walked towards the door and started towards the front gate grinning. He was looking forward to the tournament it would be a chance to blow off some steam. If any of his spirits had seen his smile they would have remarked that it looked exactly the same as Darius''s smile when he thought about training. Inter school competition As Lupos arrived by the gate, he found himself gritting his teeth as he stared at the griffon magical beasts harnessed to the carriage outside the gate. Although the griffons stood tall, if one paid attention they could easily identify the light whip marks as well as the burned flesh where a brand had been applied. Calming his emotions Lupos looked round to see Lucio and a small boy hurrying in his direction towards the carriage. "Hello Gale" said Lucio as he approached. "Morning Lucio" said Lupos still eyeing Lucio''s unknown companion "and who might this be?" Lucio looked at the small boy next to him. "That''s right I forgot you wouldn''t have met before, he was the third place winner of the tournament who I defeated to face you." Lupos nodded to the boy "nice to meet you, I''m Gale." the small boy gave a smile "my name''s Wing, nice to meet you too. By the way you don''t have to worry about formalities, I''m a commoner like you." Lupos smiled thinking about how out of all the humans he''d met this one seemed least stuck up. In fact, his demeanor reminded him greatly of the small squirrel magical beast, but he kept that to himself. "Oh yeah where''s the headmaster? Wasn''t he meant to be travelling with us?" asked Wing. Just as Lucio was about to reply a messenger appeared. "Excuse me are you Lucio, Gale and Wing?" the boys nodded "I have a message from the headmaster, due to family issues the headmaster is going to be late and will meet you at the tournament so you are to board the carriage without him." After saying this, the messenger hurried off leaving the boys to board the carriage on their own. Once the carriage had taken off Wing started to talk. "What do you think held the headmaster up?" Lucio immediately took up the conversation topic "probably something to do with his sister or niece, it may even be about me." boasted Lucio proudly. Lupos looked at Lucio curiously "why would it be about you?" "Well," said Lucio looking smug "there''s been discussion for some time about me getting engaged to the headmasters niece who is apparently quite the beauty. Of course I was meant to have the wolf girl as well but she escaped." Lucio''s face darkened at the thought before quickly returning to normal. On the inside Lupos was secretly laughing not only was the girl Mervyn''s niece she was also Lucio''s potential fiance! "So whats your magic Gale?" asked Wing, Lupos snapped himself out of it to answer Wing''s question "I use earth magic mainly and I know Lucio uses fire so what about you?" Wing grinned "I have variant magic, so I use sleep magic." Lupos stared at Wing in shock, variant magic was rare and undoubtedly useful, if this was true why did he lose to Lucio? seeing Lupos'' questioning gaze Wing shrugged and then leaned over to whisper to Lupos so Lucio didn''t hear. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. "In truth my magic takes a couple seconds to activate so I could have defeated Lucio, but I didn''t want to deal with the fallout of defeating a high ranking noble so I threw the match. I saw you do the same." Lupos looked at Wing cautiously, of course he''d never imagined the fact he threw the match would stay secret forever, but for Wing to pick up on this he must be quite sharp. Lupos nodded in confirmation seeing no point in denying it. "It just wasn''t worth the trouble." Wing smiled in agreement at this. Lucio started to pay attention to the conversation again "So what''s our strategy for the first round, I was thinking you two should defend me seeing as I''m the best fighter we have and I can eliminate more people in the second round." On the surface both Wing and Lupos nodded but inside both of then we''re secretly scoffing at Lucio who was clearly the weakest of the three. They continued the rest of the journey in silence occasionally interrupting to point out the scenery, when they finally arrived at the competition grounds, which turned out to be a large arena. Entering the arena Lupos looked around to find hundreds of other competitors and their teachers. Lupos turned round to look at Lucio and Wing, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed Mervyn approaching. Mervyn approached the boys and smiled "sorry I''m late boys I had to deal with some family business. Anyway I''ve already registered our team for the competition all that''s left is to wait for the announcement of what the first round is." If one was too look closely enough, one would see that Mervyn''s eyes were bloodshot and his hands were shaking slightly in rage. Lupos smiled slightly upon seeing this, but just as he was about to ask something a loud voice echoed throughout the arena. "Attention competitors welcome to the 63rd annual inter school competition!" the announcer paused to accommodate the loud cheers that erupted from the stands filled with families and friends of competitors. Once the cheering had died down the announcer continued. "If we could ask all teachers to leave the arena and enter the stands we will begin the first round." The announcer once again paused allowing the teachers time to move, "very good now that that''s sorted, I can reveal our first round is an elimination round in our infamous labyrinth!" This drew shocked gasps from most of the observers as well as the competitors. However, Lupos merely grinned, after all what better place to get away with secretly using dark magic than in a labyrinth? .................................................................................. Sorry for the short chapter I promise the next one will be longer as the competition starts :) feel free to leave a comment or a review The labyrinth part 1 Through the crowds mutterings the announcer continued. "Can all the competitors please make there way to the centre of the arena and stand within the magic circle." Upon saying this a glowing circle became visible within the centre of the arena. Lupos, Lucio and Wing quickly walked into the circle. Upon walking into the circle, Lupos felt a rush of warm air and suddenly he noticed a pendant with the first Academy of Magic''s crest had appeared around his neck. Looking towards Lucio and Wing he could see they also had the same pendant around their necks. The announcer didn''t waste any more time. Seeing that all the competitors were within the circle they began to explain the rules. "Ok so to start off all three hundred and twelve competitors will be transported into the labyrinth. Everyone will be transported to a different part of the labyrinth and no one will be within twenty meters of each other." The announcer paused to catch his breath then continued on. "As well as other competitors there will also be other magical beasts within the labyrinth. The way to loose the game is to either have your pendant taken by someone else or to be placed in life threatening danger, at which point staff will intervene and you will be transported back into the arena. You will be in the labyrinth for two hours trying to survive and it is up to you whether or not to make allies or enemies with your fellow competitors. During this competition you will not be allowed to use your summons, only your magic." There was an uneasy moment where all the competitors dismissed their spirits and turned to look at each other trying to size up who was their biggest competition. "The last thing is that whoever ends the first round with the most pendants gets an advantage in the second round so think carefully about whether you want to play it safe or risk it all. Well then good luck competitors, the spectators will be watching you using our giant magic crystal vision. You will begin now!" That said the glowing circle shined even brighter as the competitors were transported into the labyrinth. Lupos looked around, he was no longer in the arena but rather surrounded by dirt walls ten times the size that he was, Lupos cursed silently remembering how the announcer said the spectators could see them, this meant he couldn''t use his shadow magic. Lupos sighed at least he could use his earth magic as well as his natural senses. He was about to reflect further when all of a sudden he heard footsteps approaching his location. Grinning wolfishly Lupos silently hid in the Shadows and listened carefully as the footsteps got louder. Suddenly a large and slightly overweight student burst into the corridor with a pendant that had a crest showing he was from the second Academy of Magic. Of course, Lupos was currently looking at said pendant as he held it in his hand, the large student looked at Lupos, then looked down at his chest. However before he could say anything he was transported out if the labyrinth. Lupos just laughed. "Too easy" he muttered under his breath. The other student hadn''t even seen him move. Sighing Lupos sat down on the floor and used his earth magic to sense vibrations in the ground to try and work out where his next potential victim could be. Sensing a large cluster of students Lupos grinned and silently made his way over there, it was hunting time. .................................................................................. Lucio''s POV On the other side of the labyrinth, Lucio had also started hunting. However, his opponents were not other students but rather the magical beasts that roamed the labyrinth. "Come on you stupid beasts." panted Lucio as he continued to fight and kill the beasts surrounding him. Although it had only been ten minutes since he was transported to the labyrinth, he had spent all ten of them fighting - due to being transported right next to a nest of the beasts. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Looking at the beasts he cursed their numbers and continued to fight, when he suddenly heard footsteps running towards him. Suddenly from around the corner came a familiar face, it was Lucio''s cousin Marco. "Marco come help me, for the Illio families glory." Declared Lucio passionately. Looking very much like he wanted to ignore his cousin, Marco sighed and joined Lucio in fighting off the beasts. "Let''s do this quickly, I have to meet up with my other teammates." said Marco. Lucio nodded in approval "good idea I''ll come with you and be your leader!" inside his head Marco groaned. He had finally gotten away from his snotty cousin when he joined the third Academy of Magic and now here he was yet again stuck following Lucio''s orders just because he was a member of the branch family. Sighing Marco tried to come up with a plan to ditch Lucio before then. .................................................................................. Lupos''s POV Lupos had just identified a large cluster of students, softening the earth below him, Lupos erased all the sound of his footprints and edged closer to the students. As he reached them, he realised it wasn''t one large group of students he had sensed, but rather two warring groups of students. Smiling at the fact no one had noticed him yet, he very quietly whispered under his breath the words "earth trap" suddenly all ten of the warring students found themselves buried neck deep into the mud, their pendants lying atop the earth "What the hell is this?!" yelled the boy closest to Lupos. "That," said Lupos, stepping out of the shadows "is my trap." As he said this, he smiled easily and one by one went around taking the pendants off everyone''s necks. Most tried to resist, however, it seemed that within the entire two groups not one of the competitors could use earth magic making them unable to remove the earth laid on top of them. Once the last of the two groups had been transported back to the arena Lupos smiled as he thought of an idea. Reaching out with his mind he found a pack of six magical beasts nearby and tried to communicate with them in mindspeak "Hello, my name is Lupos and I would like to request your assistance." A laughing voice sounded out in his head "Hey kid you''re human aren''t you? How the hell can you speak mindspeak?" Lupos smiled "I was raised by shadow wolves." The creature let out a low whistle in his mind "Wow, now that''s interesting sure we''ll help, what''s the request?" Lupos smiled evilly "I want you to round up some of the weaker players and chase them to where I am, not too many and make it look natural if at all possible." The creature let out a laugh "sure kid we''re nearing some of the competitors already. You''ve got five minutes." Lupos nodded "thanks a lot just make sure you and your pack turn back before you get to my location." "sure thing." responded the creature. Smiling at his idea Lupos used his magic to create a giant pit trap and then sat back and relaxed waiting for the others to come. .................................................................................. Authors note Hiya sorry for the short chapter Iv been stuck revising all day, I promise to put up part two before the end of two days time so bare with me until then :) hope you enjoyed the chapter. The labyrinth part 2 Lupos was only sitting for five minutes before seven unsuspecting victims fell into the trap he had laid. Smiling he walked over to the edge of the hole "earth restraints" suddenly seven earthen restraints encased the victims arms and legs. Smiling Lupos leisurely jumped into the pitfall and one by one took each of the seven competitors pendants ignoring each of their protests in turn. Happy with the results Lupos climbed out of the trap and sent a message to the magical beasts "thank you for the help I''m gonna move on now so no-one gets too suspicious about a sudden increase of magical beasts mysteriously leading competitors into my traps." the creature laughed "good luck kid, we''ll call you if we get in some trouble." Lupos smiled "Good luck." he messaged before moving on once more. Using his earth magic to track more opponents Lupos quickly took out three more competitors. Unfortunately it seemed like some of the smarter competitors had gotten a clue to this and were using wind magic to hover above the ground making it impossible for Lupos to sense them with earth magic. Sighing at the irritating turn of events, Lupos started to set more pitfalls as well as sinking sand traps surrounding him on both sides of the corridor he was in. When that was done, he created the image of a magical beast out of earth in front of him. Smiling at his creation Lupos sat before the magical beast statue and pretended to cower. Anyone seeing this scene would assume he was being attacked and might even try to take advantage of it by finishing off the weak looking beast and taking his pendant. Smirking at his idea Lupos started to scream as if he was being attacked. "Ahhhhh, quickly someone help me!" sure enough a team of five showed up quickly. "Quick we have to help him!" yelled one of the boys as he started to go forward. "Wait," said one of the girls as the other four started to move closer "there''s something wrong with this." Lupos skillfully used earth magic to make it look as if the beast was moving to attack him and gave out another cry "please help me!" "We can''t wait any longer, he''ll get hurt!" cried the first boy. No longer restrained all four took off, the girl left behind. Suddenly she let out a gasp of realisation. "Stop if he was in real danger he would be teleported out, it''s a trap!" Unfortunately the warning came too late as all four boys were restrained in sinking sand. "Help us." they screamed at the girl. However the girl was more worried about her own pendant and ran for it. Smiling Lupos quickly walked up to the restrained boys and started to take their pendants until only the first boy was left. "You''re despicable," he spat out "if you''re a noble then fight with honour." Lupos laughed "fortunate I''m not a noble then, isn''t it? I suppose us commoners have to resort to dirty tricks to measure up." Still smiling Lupos removed the boy''s pendant and moved on. "Now what to do about the girl?" muttered Lupos under his breath. Living in the dark cave system in a forest most of his life had given him a good sense of time and from what he could tell approximately one and a half hours had passed since the challenge started. Normally he wouldn''t bother with the girl, but on the off chance she warned another team about him, it would limit his hunting tricks. Usually Lupos wouldn''t try to win as it would draw attention to his fighting prowess. But as he could claim this victory to be purely because of dirty tricks then no one would be any wiser of his talents and he could safely claim the advantage for the next round. Sighing at the predicament Lupos decided to try and track down the girl. Placing his hand on the ground he sensed the girl running straight ahead from his direction, the problem was the girl was heading towards a large group of people so he needed to finish her before then. Cursing at his bad luck he suddenly had an idea, although he was too far away to get her pendant, another way to get rid of the girl would be if she was in life threatening danger. Smiling he tried to contact the magical beasts in his mind again "It''s Lupos again, I need a favour." The beast laughed "What is it this time and I''ll consider it." "Thanks," said Lupos "There''s a lone girl heading to your location I need you to find her then incapacitate her with lethal force." there was a pause for minute before Lupos heard the beasts voice again this time practically dripping in bloodlust "you sure?" "positive." smiled Lupos "happy hunting." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Suddenly a bloodcurdling howl was let off in the direction of the girl and moments later Lupos could not sense the girl as she was teleported out. "Thanks," said Lupos "Let ms know if there''s anything I can do to return the favour." there was another pause "There is, direct us to the largest group of humans in the vicinity." Lupos let out another bloodthirsty smile "as you wish, the biggest group is two hundred meters to your left and consists of sixteen humans. Have fun." After that communication fell silent and Lupos smiled and moved on to go and finish off any lone stragglers he could find. Hall an hour later and a large bell ring could be heard throughout the labyrinth as the round ended. Smiling Lupos looked down at his feet to see a small glowing circle encompassing his feet. Suddenly the circle gave out a bright flash of light and when Lupos looked up again he was back in the arena. As Lupos looked around he had the sudden urge to laugh upon seeing several hundreds of dirty looks directed at him from the audience. He met their glares with grins fully aware that the number of pendants he had picked up was 84 meaning he had taken our more than a quarter of the initial competitors using what most would consider to be "dirty tricks." Still grinning Lupos felt a gap on his shoulder and turned to see Wing standing there smiling. "Hey good to see you made it Gale." Lupos gave the smaller boy a smile that was not entirely fake. "You too. Where''s Lucio?" Wing grinned mischievously "I think that''s him over there bossing round those kids from the other school." Sure enough when Lupos looked over he could see Lucio standing tall lecturing a group of five who seemed to be staring daggers at him. "Poor them." said Lupos in a deadpan voice as Wing laughed. Before they could say anymore the announcers voice rang throughout the arena once more. "Congratulations to the sixty four competitors who made it through the first round we are now down to less than a quarter of our original competitors. Out of the three hundred and twelve initial competitors one hundred and two competitors were forcefully withdrawn because the judges felt they were in harm and one hundred and forty-six competitors were withdrawn due to having their pendant stolen." At this point most of the stands once again turned to glare at Lupos. "The person who took the most pendants and therefore gains an advantage in the second round with eighty-four pendants is Gale Foryst from the first Academy of Magic. in second place is Wing Fidelis with thirty pendants also from the first Academy of Magic and in third place is Lucio Illio with ten pendants also from the first Academy of Magic. Looks like they''re the ones to watch folks." Upon hearing this a majority of the audience badmouthed Lupos but looked admiringly at Wing and Lucio. Smiling at his fortuitous circumstances Lupos slipped back into the shadows to listen to the rest of the announcement. "The second round is resumed tomorrow at ten o''clock where our winners advantage shall be revealed. Good job to all our competitors and better luck next time to all those eliminated." Lupos, Lucio and Wing quickly exited the arena only to see Mervyn waiting outside smiling warmly, well at Wing and Lucio anyway. "Wing, Lucio good job both of you today you truly upheld the academies values and shined light on our schools name. Gale...." the headmaster let out a huge sigh. "What were you thinking using such dishonorable tactics, even if you do not have the integrity of our noble students I expected better, despite your victory." Lupos looked down at the floor and tried to look ashamed despite the grin growing on his face "I''m sorry headmaster but I thought winning was more important." The headmaster sighed again "it''s ok this time just don''t do it again." Lupos nodded while Lucio started muttering about how he knew "a commoner couldn''t beat him fairly." But of course, Lupos wasn''t done with dirty tricks after all he needed practice on live humans how else would he learn what would be best to kill Mervyn? .................................................................................. Sorry I know it''s another short one but the next one should be longer....probably :) special thanks to Forgiv3n324 for the advanced review I enjoyed reading it even the negative bits, Iv tried to go back and check for spelling mistakes but please point out any Iv missed hope you liked the chapter feel free to comment An advantage? The next morning Lupos awoke early and decided to call his spirits together seeing as he was alone. "Fenrir, Jormugand, Hugin, Munin all of you come to my room now." Five seconds later and all of the spirits showed up "Ok, so I asked around and apparently we''re not allowed to use our spirits in matches until the final duels. So because of this I''m going to give you guys some jobs while I''m fighting." The four spirits nodded "Ok then, so while I''m fighting, Hugin and Munin I want you too look for the black clothed man that Jormugand and Akari saw." Munin nodded while Hugin looked confused "How can you be sure he''ll show up?" Jormugand laughed and started to explain "becausssse all they know about this boy is hair colour, eye colour and age. They also don''t seem to know location, so in that case one of the biggest gathering of talented children across the nation may provide hintsssss to them about where thisssss child could be." Lupos nodded "exactly, now if you find him I want you to contact Jormugand. Fenrir must stay near me for appearances sake, but Jormugand should be free to move or more importantly poison." Jormugand laughed "should I disposse of him immediately if we find him?" Lupos shook his head "No if he''s dead we can''t get any information on whoever is searching for me, and besides I think Akari''s the one who wants to finish him off." At this point the spirits grinned "revenge, what a nice gift to give your girlfriend." cackled Hugin "Shut up." said Lupos blushing slightly "anyway that''s what I want you to look out for today. Fenrir you need to stay close by, but if you see anyone suspicious pass the information onto Hugin or Munin using mindspeak. Everyone understand?" the four spirits nodded "good." It was several hours later that Lupos along with Lucio and Wing strolled back into the arena to gain the information for the second round. As soon as they entered the arena Lupos could feel a variety of hate filled gazes along with the occasional admiring one. Although there was nothing about traps that was against the rules it was generally seen as a cowardly and sneaky way to win, though the occasional intelligent viewer could appreciate the ingenuity of the idea. Smiling cheerfully Lupos ignored the gazes and casually strode into the centre of the arena closely followed by Lucio and Wing. As he reached the centre he turned around to closely view his competitors, attempting to see if there was anyone of any worth. However, most of the competitors seemed spoilt and soft with swordplay, useless to real life situations. Sighing at the lack of any real competition Lupos was about to try talking to Fenrir in mindspeak when the announcer spoke up. "Welcome back competitors I hope you''re all ready for round two of the competition as it will be starting shortly. This game is a simple one of capture the flag. We will separate you into eight teams of eight and evaluate your ability to think on your feet. Although this is a team game if your team loses everyone is out. However the person to actually take the flag gets an advantage in the next round, so getting greedy could lead to your downfall. Magic is allowed but spirits are forbidden, there will also be magical beasts roaming the area so be sure to be careful." At this point all the competitors desperately stood up straight and tried to look competent hoping it would make their teammates want to pick them to capture the flag so they could claim the advantage for themselves. "Idiots," snorted Fenrir in Lupos''s mind, Lupos tried not to laugh and instead to pay attention to the continued announcement. "Now as our overall winner in the last round, Gale Foryst gets the ability to pick his teammates. So Gale who would you like to pick?" Lupos grinned as he saw the reluctant faces of the more "upper class" nobles as they shied away from him "I''ll have Lucio, Wing and," Seeing as Lupos didn''t know who anyone else was he looked around until he found the group Lucio was irritating from yesterday "those five." he said pointing to them while silently apologising at their looks of dismay as they came over to join them. As the eight came together Lucio immediately attempted to take charge "alright seeing as how I am the most high standing noble here I think I should take charge, any objections." no one could really be bothered to argue with his idiotic ideas of how status relates to fighting strength and decided it would just be easier to agree. "Good," said Lucio feeling satisfied, thinking that they had all agreed due to their utmost faith and respect in his leadership. "Anyway I have a plan to let this challenge end quickly and easily. Lupos and Wing will guard the flag with traps that only the lower class can get away with using while the rest of you five guard me until I get a chance to steal the flag. Any questions?" Lupos and Wing just nodded at each both not really caring about nor needing the advantage offered. On the other hand, the other five boys were barely holding back their killing intent. Lupos just sighed, the fact that Lucio didn''t even notice their killing intent just went to emphasise the fact that he had never faced true danger. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Sighing over his incompetent teammate Lupos turned back in to listening to the announcer who had finally named all eight teams "Alright, so our first match of the day is team one versus team five, please stand on the teleportation circle and we will transport you to where your match will take place. The match begins as soon as you arrive on location so make sure to make haste and good luck." Lupos looked at his team assuming they were meant to be team one "shall we go then?" Lucio grinned and strutted on ahead with Lupos and Wing close behind while the other five followed on dejected and irritable. As Lupos stared at the other team in the teleportation circle he noticed several laughs and disdainful eyes. Lupos smiled pleasantly, he didn''t care what the nobles thought of him and honestly he planned to use this game as a chance to shine the limelight on Lucio while drawing attention away from himself. While Lupos continued to think, the circle let out a bright light and when the light had cleared he found himself standing in a large forest very similar to his home forest. On Lupos''s left he could see a dark blue flag with a large white number one painted on it. "Guess this is our flag huh?" said Wing as he stared at the flag. Lupos was about to respond when Lucio spoke "Ok let''s put our plan into effect Gale, Wing stay here and defend the flag, Marco and his minions can help to defend me!" Ignoring the other boys irritancy Lucio ran off and quickly disappeared into the foliage while the other boys followed muttering under their breaths about "useless nobles" and "stupid people." Once Lupos and Wing were alone, Lupos turned to whisper in Wing''s ear "Wing, during the first round did you win using your magic or your fighting." Wing looked at Lupos confused "magic, but I led them to believe I couldn''t activate my magic without singing so as to keep an advantage in the third round." Lupos nodded "I only used my magic too so I suggest this round we do the same so we don''t give away any of our fighting capabilities." Wing nodded "good idea." Lupos smiled "thanks but I have a question, why singing?" Wing blushed "Well I like singing and I''m okay at it and it also leads people to believe my magic is something to do with sound." Lupos nodded "By the way what''s the range of your ability and the longest you can use it?" "My range would be about twelve metres and I could probably keep it up for half an hour if I have to sing too." Lupos nodded "ok I''m going to create pit traps at the twelve metre radius around our flag and a trip wire at ten metres, if anyone gets that close you need to use your ability instantly." Wing nodded "can do." However as it turned out Wing''s ability wasn''t really needed. It seems Lupos made the pitfalls a bit too big so no one could actually get closer than twelve metres without falling in. Stuck with nothing else to do Lupos and Wing just talked to each other about the academy occasionally bad mouthing Lucio. It had only been twenty minutes since the game began when Lupos saw the teleportation circle appear beneath his feet. "Looks like it''s over" said Lupos smiling, glad he could finally leave, "What''s the bet that Lucio shoved the others out the way to get the flag?" said Wing laughing. Lupos grinned and was about to reply when the teleportation circle lit up and they found themselves back in the arena. Looking around Lupos could see a very pleased Lucio and some very injured members of the other team. As soon as they noticed him one of the boys on the other team covered in bruises and scratches marched up towards him. "You.. this is all your fault!!!" Lupos stared at the boy blankly "What is? I didn''t even move from defending the flag, what did I do?" The boy shivered with anger "You bastard, it was your pit traps, several magical beast fell down and we were trapped fighting them until the end, if not for that we would have won!" Lupos burst into laughter "So what you''re saying is, because, you''re not skilled enough to take on a couple magical beasts, I''m to blame for you not winning, is that correct?" The boy turned an angry shade of red as he struggled to find a retort. However, all thoughts of annoying the other boy were driven straight out of Lupos'' mind when he heard Fenrir "Lupos, Hugin and Munin found the man described by Akari. Jormugand''s confirmed it and is on his way to subdue him." .................................................................................. Sorry for the late chapter it was meant to be out yesterday but I fell asleep before I could finish it. hope you enjoyed it please point out any mistakes I made or feel free to comment. Surprises Upon hearing Fenrir''s message, Lupos quickly turned round to face Wing and Lucio. "Hearing about Lucio''s wonderful performance has inspired me to train harder, so I''m going to leave for now and do some special training!" it was a weak excuse but one that Lucio would be likely to buy and to be honest at that minute he obviously had bigger things to worry about. Running as fast as he could out of the arena, Lupos tried to speak to all his spirits. "Hugin, Munin has the man seen you yet?" ""No"" responded Hugin and Munin with simultaneous responses. "Good you two stay out of sight. Fenrir I also need you to stay hidden. If the man escapes the only thing I want him to remember is that I have a snake spirit, it''ll make it harder to identify me." "Yes Lupos" came all threes response. "Good, but still be nearby in case we need the back up. Jormugand how close are you to the target and where are you now?" "Very clossse he''ssss ten metres in front of me but I''m staying out of hisss line of sight. I''m round the back of the hotel we''re staying in, it seemsss the man caught sight of you earlier and came to check out your belongingssss." Lupos thought about that for a second "good job Jormugand do not make contact until I arrive. The man killed a pack of shadow wolves so he must be strong." "Yesssss Luposssss". Running as fast as he could Lupos soon arrived at the hotel, "Jormugand is he still round the back of the hotel?" "No he''s just going into your room, now." Lupos nodded and quickly removed the necklace Darius had given him long ago to limit his dark magic to stop it showing. "Ok, I''ll distract him while you poison him. It''d be unwise to try and take him in a fair fight." without waiting for a response Lupos silently dashed upstairs and burst into his room without warning. Sure enough in the middle of the room stood a man dressed from head to toe in black. "Who the hell are you and why are you in my room?" asked Lupos feigning ignorance, the figure in black looked at him surprised "You''ve got quiet footsteps kid." Lupos glared at him "answer the question." The man looked at Lupos hesitating for a minute. "Honestly boy, I work for forces you would not want to get involved with. I''ll give you some advice seeing as you seem a promising talent, pretend you never saw me." Lupos continued to stare at the man "why are you here?" The man took a step back towards the window preparing to jump out of it when he noticed a sudden stinging by his ankle. Looking down he saw a large green snake with it''s teeth firmly sunk into his ankle "Shit" the man started to say more when he collapsed on the floor. Seeing the man was knocked out Lupos let out a sigh of relief and quickly hurried to bind the man''s hands not wanting to take any chances. "Good job Jormugand. Ok, Hugin Munin can you see anywhere close by that we could go where we''d be unnoticed when interrogating him?" Lupos heard a pause as the two looked around "Lupos there''s a small forest about two miles away to the east which is deserted by anything save for magical beasts." Lupos smiled "Good job, ok Fenrir I need you here now." "On my way." stated Fenrir as Lupos continued to tie up the man''s feet and legs as well as placing a gag on his mouth. Several minutes later and Fenrir burst into the room. "Good job Fenrir, now I need you to carry this man to the forest two miles east from here. Hugin Munin please cause a distraction in the reception area so Fenrir can sneak out unnoticed. Fenrir feel free to use shadow magic." Fenrir grinned wolfishly and Lupos dragged the man''s body and laid him over Fenrir''s back "Ok Fenrir I''ll follow behind you, so go as quickly as you can into the forest." Fenrir nodded and suddenly Lupos heard screams "Help these crazy birds are attacking us, someone get your beasts under control!" Lupos laughed "go Fenrir I''ll see you soon." at that moment Fenrir disappeared into the shadows. "Ok Jormugand I''m going to smuggle you out in my bag again so it''ll be quicker to get to the forest." Jormugand hesitated a minute like he wanted to say something then smiled and slowly nodded his head "yesssss Luposssss." Fifteen minutes later, all four spirits and Lupos had arrived at a clearing in the forest with the man still unconscious on the floor. Slowly and methodically and without speaking Lupos tied the man to a tree with both rope he found as well as the natural vines and sap in the forest to create a stiff bonding, impossible to escape. Smiling in satisfaction Lupos sat down "Ok Fenrir, Hugin and Munin you guys can go hunting for a while, it should be ten more minutes till he wakes up and this might take some time. Bring some food back for me and Jormugand if at all possible." The three spirits nodded and slowly retreated back into the forest while Lupos sat down with his back resting on a tree opposite the man. Jormugand quickly joined him as he coiled around his neck. "Jormugand can I ask a question?" Jormugand looked at Lupos in surprise, this was a first "yesssss what issss it?" Lupos nodded "are you spirits having fun?" Jormugand looked at Lupos confused. "Well it''s just that when all of you have been summoned, you''ve all said that you''d come because I seemed interesting so I was just curious." Jormugand nodded "yesssss, being by your side is enjoyable and it certainly hasss been interesting so far." Lupos laughed "glad to hear it." They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Lupos decided it was high time he saw the face of the man who was looking for him. Removing his head cover he came face to face with a young man in his twenties with red hair and bright blue eyes. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Feeling the breeze on his face, the man started to stir. "Glad to see you''re awake." said Lupos in a mocking tone as the man awoke and looked panicky for a couple of seconds, when he realised the head cover was gone and then turned to glare at Lupos. "As I''m sure you can tell the snake curled round my neck is also the one who bit you and my summoned spirit. Unluckily for you he has three different toxins running through his body, one can knock you unconscious, which is the one I used to get you here. One can create an agonising torture but still leave you alive, barely, and the third means certain death." Upon hearing this the man looked at Jormugand with an expression of fear. "So here''s how this is going to work, I''m going to ask you a question and you are going to answer it. if not my spirit will inject his second poison into you leaving you barely alive. The choice is yours." The man looked at Lupos with resolution in his eyes. "And one more thing, don''t think your employer will be running to help you. Now that I''ve seen your face your are worthless as a spy. All I need to do is give your description to Mervyn under the pretence you attacked me and you''ll never live another peaceful day in your life - so think carefully before answering." The man gritted his teeth and lowered his head knowing the boy was right. The people he was working for didn''t get as high as they did by being careless. Having his face revealed was the same as a death sentence in his line of work. Sighing the man looked at Lupos firmly in the eyes "Ok kid if I''m going to die anyway I may as well help you, what do you want to know?" Lupos grinned savagely. "First of all was it you who killed a pack of shadow wolves in the great forest?" The spy shook his head "No, but there were several of us sent out to find the person we''re looking for." Lupos nodded "Ok then, next question who are you? And why are you looking for me?" the man took a deep breath and resolved himself "I''m an assassin from the imperial clan, we work directly under the Emperor. However, two months ago the Emperor issued a command to find a boy with your description." "Why?" asked Lupos honestly curious. He might be planning to kill one of the most powerful magicians in the empire but he hadn''t done anything to warrant this kind of attention yet. The man shook his head a helpless expression on his face. "No one knows for sure but there are three rumours circulating about it if you want to hear." Lupos nodded. "Well rumour number one is that the boys the Emperor''s illegitimate child. But, I highly doubt that because then the Emperor would simply hide the child or have him killed off. He certainly wouldn''t bother searching for the child with such care. The second rumour going around is that he has some sort of magical treasure within him. But, that one''s also unlikely because again the Emperor would just have him assassinated and take the treasure, besides we were given very clear orders to take the child alive." The man paused for a minute. "That leaves the third rumour, apparently, a servant in the palace had a child with extremely high potential to become a dark magician he was also........." all of a sudden the man stopped speaking as he turned and looked around. "Kid you better leave now, they''re aware I''ve been captured and they''re coming to kill me to avoid leaving evidence. it''s a shame I wasn''t able to help more." Lupos nodded. "Thank you, do you want me to do it, it''ll be quicker." the man nodded. "Thanks kid" moving very quickly Lupos cut the man''s throat and ran. "Fenrir, Hugin, Munin we''re going back to the hotel, come quickly be sure not to be caught." Upon arriving at the hotel Lupos briefed the rest of his spirits on the information he had received as well as explaining the spy he caught was not the same as the one who killed Akari''s pack. "Make sure you stay on alert, now that one of them is dead, more will be sure to follow. At least we got some valuable information though and we know who''s after me though not why." Lupos sighed "oh well let''s get some sleep for now. Fenrir you''ll be fighting with me in the duels for the next two days so make sure you''re rested." Fenrir smiled "Rodger that." Lupos smiled "Ok night everyone" with that Lupos fell into an oblivious sleep. ...................................................................I......................................... Two miles away in the forest. Two figures were standing in front of the body of their fallen comrade. "Any idea what killed him?" asked one of the figures who had just arrived. "His throat was slit with a knife before he arrived, mind you he got off lighter than if we had found him alive." The first figure sighed. "That''s the fate of those who have their faces discovered, there''s nothing to be done about it. But still the Emperor won''t be pleased. Number five said he had finally found a child that matched the description provided, but judging by number fives death, I''d say the child was far more formidable than we first imagined. Luckily only numbers one through three have any significant information, so if it was the child who killed him, he won''t have found out anything too important." The second figure nodded. "Right you are number two. Anyway let''s go back and report." the man, number two nodded and suddenly the two men vanished leaving nothing but an empty clearing. The first duel The next morning Lupos awoke and started to make preparations for the days duel. In order to save time all competitors had been mailed a letter the day before warning them about the rules of the upcoming duels as well as the consequences should they choose to not abide by these rules. To all competitors reading this, congratulations on making it this far. Starting from tomorrow on wards you will be competing in the duels to determine an overall champion of the inter-schools competition. To save time in explaining the rules tomorrow it has been decided that we will send out a notice to every competitor informing them of the rules. Rule number 1. All weapons and types of magic is allowed Rule number 2. A competitor may only bring one spirit with them even if they possess more to keep the fight fair Rule number 3. A fight is ended when a participant yields, is rendered unconscious, is pushed out the ring or is physically unable to move Rule number 4. A competitor is not allowed to continue attacking once their opponent has yielded Rule number 5. You may not set up traps in the arena before the competition begins but you are allowed to do so during your match Rule number 6. You may not inflict permanent damage Any failure to comply with the rules will lead to automatic disqualification, the only exception to these rules will be if the participants life is in danger. Once again good luck to all competitors and we will see you tomorrow. Lupos smiled having read the notice. "This is great I can still make traps during the duel," he then sighed "unfortunately most of the competitors have been warned about my traps beforehand, so better come up with some counter measures." Lupos finished muttering under his breath and looked around his room at his four sleeping spirits before he, without mercy, decided to wake them up. "WAKE UP." conveyed Lupos in the mindspeak equivalent of yelling. Immediately all four spirits were awake and on guard looking around for potential enemies while Lupos just laughed. "Right now that you''re all awake," he started as the four spirits glared at him and mumbled threats under their breaths about what should happen should he disturb their sleep again "I''ve decided on your roles during the duels." The spirits nodded once again looking alert and focused, all traces of tiredness gone from their eyes. "Ok first of all Fenrir, obviously, you''ll be competing with me being my only known spirit. Secondly Jormugand I want you to stay here and make sure no one else enters my room. If they do poison them. Now that the first spy is dead the others know something is wrong and I want to make sure they don''t get too close to realising I was the one who killed him and am possibly the boy they''re looking for." Jormugand nodded his head. "Should I poisssson to kill or to incapacitate?" Lupos considered that a minute, there were obvious dangers to leaving such men alive, but, there was also equal benefit to obtaining the information they possessed. "Kill them, the spies only seem to know basic information and rumors and the spies won''t be so careless this time as to be caught a second time. There''ll be time enough for an investigation into it once I''ve killed Mervyn." Jormugand nodded. "Ok next, Hugin I want you to spend your time watching Lucio''s matches and if necessary interfering to make sure he wins." Hugin nodded reluctantly "sure but why do I have to make sure the annoying noble kid wins?" Lupos sighed "because if I appear too strong then more attention will be on me which would be bad for my revenge on Mervyn as well as possibly drawing the attention of the Emperor, who seems to have an interest in me." Lupos paused for a minute. "If I had a choice I''d rather let Wing win, but it''s easier to hide in the Shadow of a noble who most people automatically assume to be superior anyway." Hugin nodded accepting the logic behind it. "Anyway Munin I want you to keep an eye out for any more spies in the audience. Any questions?" All the spirits shook their heads. "Good," smiled Lupos "let''s head to the arena then." Arriving at the arena, Lupos could see that the thirty two competitors left were spaced out around the arena glaring at each other. Smiling cheerfully Lupos walked up to where Wing was waiting with a large white owl on his shoulder "Hey Wing, what''s with the owl?" Wing smiled nervously. "Hey Gale, the owls Athena she''s my summoned spirit. I''d say more but I''d hate to give you an advantage just in case we end up as opponents." Lupos laughed "oh well, I appreciate the sentiment. Any sign of Lucio?" Wing shook his head and sighed "of course not. I really hope he doesn''t end up as my opponent, I can''t really afford to throw another match my family needs the reward money." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Lupos nodded solemnly "if you don''t mind the dirty looks, you can make it look like you used dirty tricks and later claim it was because your magic or battle prowess was lacking." Wing laughed "Well that''s one method of doing it I suppose." Lupos was about to say more when Lucio hurried up to them. "Wing, Gale have either of you been checking out the competitors for me?" Wing looked towards Lupos confused then looked back at Lucio. "No, why would we do that." Lucio scowled "obviously to give me an advantage, if it wasn''t for me then you''d never have even made it this far!" Wing grit his teeth to avoid saying too much and simply glared at Lucio while his attention was directed at Lupos. "Who cares about information, if you''re the most powerful you''ll win." Lucio smiled smugly "of course I''m the most powerful." Lupos rolled his eyes, anyone who really didn''t think information was important was a complete idiot, the fact Lucio bought this idea that you could rely on power alone was stupid, you also needed tactics and a healthy amount of luck to win a fight. Suddenly the announcers voice rang out throughout the stadium. "Welcome everyone to the last round of the competition, this last section will spread out over two days and the winner of the third round as well as the overall winner will be determined then. The way the duels will be structured is that first we shall have sixteen duels of two, where the winner will advance to the next round and the loser will be eliminated." The announcer paused a minute to catch his breath. "We will then move on to eight duels of two made up of the remaining winners from the first round until only eight competitors are left, which will be where we get up to by the end of the day. Tomorrow we shall advance to have four duels of two, then two duels of two before finally facing off in the last duel. Now anyone who captured the flag in the last challenge please raise your hand." Lucio as well as eight others raised their hands "Ok your advantage is that you have the power to choose your first opponent. You have five minutes to decide." Lupos looked at Lucio. "Obviously you''ll go for a match against one of the others with an advantage so that the most powerful competitors can duel each other showing your noble prowess." Lucio nodded "Of course." Lupos sighed in relief, if Lucio had chosen him, he would have had to win otherwise he wouldn''t be able to get in the top ten and couldn''t become Mervyn''s apprentice. Wing also let out a sigh of relief that he didn''t have to throw the first duel. Very quickly five minutes were up and the competitors with an advantage were asked to pick their opponents. Most of them chose one another to show off their power. However one of the winners chose "Gale Foryst." Lupos looked at the tall noble boy with red hair in surprise "Why?" the boy scoffed "too late to regret it now. I''ll get you for what you did to my cousin." suddenly Lupos made the connection, the boy had a very similar face to one of the ones he''d watched falling down a pit trap in the second round. Lupos let out an evil grin "if you think you can." The boy shuddered a bit but tried to stand up confidently "Ok," called out the announcer "We''ll do the matches that have been decided on first so first duel Alex Reim vs Gale Foryst." A lot of cheering came from the audience at the sound of Alex''s name and a lot of boos at Lupos''s fake name, not that he minded. Stepping into the centre of the arena the ground rose up creating a circle shaped stage for their duel. By Lupos''s side was Fenrir and by the other boy, Alex''s side was a bright red salamander "Let the match begin!" As soon as the announcers voice rang out Alex rushed forward towards Lupos, and straight into a puddle of sinking sand. Unfortunately, Alex had been warned beforehand about Lupos'' ability. "Fireball" Alex quickly hardened the Sinking sand using fireball and using his salamanders claws broke free of the restraining sand. "Earth bullet." Only to fall out of the stage as the power behind Lupos''s earth bullet shoved Alex off the stage, while Fenrir pushed his fire spirit out of the ring. "Well that went well." said Lupos smiling to Fenrir as he exited the stage. "W..winner Gale Foryst." The announcer rattled off as the crowd stared at Lupos, because of his lack of sportsmanship and morals in all the previous matches the spectators had somehow convinced themselves that Lupos must have no access to powerful spells. Yet he had just easily used one to win a match. "If they''re all as weak as this, this will be an easy win." Laughed Lupos as he spoke to Fenrir who nodded, after all how hard could it be? .................................................................................. PLEASE READ Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, in truth because if exams I probably won''t be able to post another chapter for this week so it might take a little while thanks for reading A helping hand Now that Lupos'' first match of the day was over he quickly made his way to the viewing area to watch Wing and Lucio compete. He was only waiting several minutes before Lucio was called, as he also had the advantage to pick his competitor for the first round. Standing opposite Lucio was a large, and somewhat chunky girl with blond hair and a gap toothed smile as well as a large polished spear. There was also a large tiger spirit growling on her left. Like Lucio she had also captured the flag for her team and had mutually agreed to a match with him. "Nice to meet you" said the girl smiling cheerfully. Lucio simply sniffed as if she was beneath him, refusing to reply. Ignoring Lucio''s poor manners the girl continued to smile as if nothing was wrong "confident are we? I just hope that isn''t your undoing." Although Lucio was still ignoring the girl, anyone with half a brain could see she had dangerous glint in her eyes and thick callous''s on her hand suggesting long hours of weapons handling. This could go very bad very quickly if Lupos didn''t help handle it right. Sighing he started to convey a message for Hugin and Munin in mindspeak "Munin I want you to work in obstructing the tiger, use darkness magic and shadows to create a blindside if you can. I get the feeling Lucio''s bird is like his fighting, pointlessly elegant and completely useless in a real fight." Lupos paused for a minute waiting for a reply when he heard a bemused "yes, but what about searching for spies?" from Munin. "if they were looking for me it''d be during my match. I''ll keep a low profile for now so focus on making sure Lucio wins. Hugin I want you to use light magic to temporarily blind the girl when Lucio attacks to make it easier on him. Do it exactly at the time she attacks, that way she''ll just assume Lucio''s using light magic to his advantage rather than an outside interference." Hugin cackled and Lupos couldn''t help but let out a grin "whatever you say kid." Lupos struggled not to laugh and instead focused on the match. Below, the announcer let out a cough and then spoke, "Match Lucio Illio versus Maria Aela, let the match begin." the girl, Maria, was fast. No sooner had the announcer called to begin that she was charging at Lucio, spear raised. Barely managing to block it with his so called "Elegant" swordsmanship, Lucio stumbled backwards nearly at the edge of the ring, Lupos groaned Lucio would need more help with this than he had hoped and the more help he gave him the more obvious it was. "Hugin I take back what I said, use light magic as much as you need to just try not to make it too obvious." Hugin started cackling again, and though Lupos did indeed find Lucio''s terrible swordsmanship against what appeared to be a trained veteran hilarious to watch, he knew it would give him a lot more hassle down the road if he lost. Snapping himself out of thought he redirected his attention back to the match, it was worse than he thought. Although Lucio''s spirit was barely winning against the tiger, it was only due to Munin''s continual interference and if one had sharp enough vision and was paying attention they would notice a slight shadow that almost seemed to move to cover the tigers face at opportune moments. However, it was the actions of the humans, not their spirits which was worrying, Lucio was being driven back slowly but surely, even with Hugin''s help. Lupos sighed and made up his mind "Ok Hugin, Munin change of plans I want both of you to create a large and obvious opening for both Lucio and the bird with the dumb name to exploit." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "Sure," replied Munin quickly considering the options "but is that ok? If they still can''t win we won''t easily be able to help again." Lupos nodded aware the birds could still see him "It''s fine, if they don''t take hold of the opportunity we stop interfering altogether. It''ll just be too obvious, it''ll be a hassle and provide much more irritancy down the line. If he loses we can always help Wing win instead." ""Ok then."" stated Hugin and Munin in syncronisation. Lupos gave a small smile and continued to watch the match below, all of a sudden the tiger was blinded as was the girl. And though it was hard to tell for someone who wasn''t paying attention it seemed Lucio was, for once in his life anyway. Grabbing his sword in a large and pointless gesture Lucio ran towards the girl and taking advantage of her temporary blindness, grabbed her from behind placing the sword at her throat. "Winner Lucio Illio!" came the cheerful voice of the announcer as the crowd dissolved into cheers. However it soon died down at a now angry Maria''s accusation. "You cheated, someone in the stand used light magic to blind me I demand a rematch!" Lupos frowned, the girl was smarter than she looked this could be a problem. Luckily for the adults he didn''t have to worry for long. "Hmph what audience member? it was all part if my plan to have you believe that!" Lucio spoke proudly. "Huh?" echoed Hugin, Munin and Lupos "I used Fire heart to create a heat mirage giving the idea of light, you were tricked by my clever use of magic!" the audience burst into clapping upon hearing of the youths careful control over his magic and Maria accepted his explanation and her defeat with a bow. "Then I apologise for my accusation and thank you for the good match." While all this was going on Lupos was standing shocked in the gallery while listening to Hugin and Munin trying to talk in mindspeak between breaths of laughter. "Oh God...it''s..too...funny...all...part..of..my..plan." Lupos was trying as hard as possible to keep the grin off his face, while failing miserably. Suddenly Lucio emerged in the viewing area and made his way over to Lupos "I can see your smiling in awe at my control over magic," Lupos was in serious danger of laughing now "but it''s ok if you keep practicing I''m sure one day you''ll be as good as me." Giving what he assumed to be a winning smile, Lucio walked off in search of refreshments, while Lupos gave into his urges and burst into laughter. Five minutes later when he had finally stopped laughing he realised that he hadn''t seen Wing at all since he arrived, looking down in the arena he realised Wing was in a match, if you could even call it that. Wing was standing relaxed stroking Athena and humming while his opponent lay on the floor sleeping, Lupos started laughing again. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hi guys I''m really REALLY sorry the chapters so late I''ve been swamped with exams so used my time to do some smaller chapters on my smaller fictions rather than a big one on wolf''s way. But I promise to update more now cause EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!!!! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and on a brightside a friend of mine has agreed to help me proofread the story from beginning to end so all the mistakes will hopefully be fixed by the end of this week :) Confrontation The next round of duels were completed easily, as most of the front runners knocked each other out during the first round, making it very easy for Lucio, Lupos and Wing to win their second round. After the last duel of the day was finished the competitors gathered in the center of the arena so that the announcer could announce the winners of today''s matches. "Congratulations to the winners of today''s duels, we are now down to our last eight competitors and the final three rounds of duelling will be held tomorrow to determine our champion!!!" The arena erupted in cheers while Lupos gave a sly smile, everything was going according to plan, now that he was past the top ten Mervyn had to take all of them as apprentices. This meant he could now find a way to get eliminated without making it obvious. Snapping himself out of his thoughts he tried to pay attention to the announcer once more. "Now our eight winners who will go onto compete tomorrow are as follows; Lucio Illio, Gale Foryst, Wing Fidelis, Cana Green, Alexis Storm, Ophelia Reich, Mason Pria and Dante Cayton. We hope you return tomorrow for our thrill filled final and we wish you all a pleasant night." Signalling the end of the fighting for the day, both the viewers and competitors began to disperse and head back to their various lodgings. However, it wasn''t five seconds after Lupos, Lucio and Wing had stepped outside the arena that they were confronted with the girl Lucio had beaten earlier, Maria with her tiger spirit in toe. "I need to talk to you." she said calmly as she approached the three. Lucio merely gave a patronising smile, "I can understand wishing to speak to the great me, especially after the technique I showed in earlier matches bit I''m afraid I''m quite busy." The girl appeared to swallow her distaste before shaking her head and pointing to Lupos "not you him." Lucio''s expression grew sour, although he didn''t care one bit about the girl, it still annoyed him that she didn''t seem to care about him at all. Biting back a grin Lupos nodded his head. "Of course, let''s go somewhere more private." Wing gave Lupos a knowing smile and nudged him with his elbow. "Have fun Gale, we''ll meet you back at the hotel." Watching Lucio and Wing walk off, Lupos gestured to Maria to follow him as he made his way into the nearby forest where he had killed the spy. As he walked, he silently contacted Hugin, Munin, Fenrir and Jormugand in mindspeak. "Listen up all of you, the girl we sabotaged has come into contact with me, I want all of you on sight in case something happens." Still letting nothing show on his face Lupos walked into the clearing in the forest and sat down on a tree stump. "So what do you want from me?" asked Lupos. Calming his face, he noted Hugin and Munin resting in a nearby tree and Fenrir watching the tiger spirit in the shadows of the trees. He did not yet spot Jormugand but that could be considered a good thing. Maria took a deep breath before answering. "I know that noble kid payed you to cheat." Lupos looked at her in surprise and motioned for her to go on while instructing his spirits in mindspeak. "Jormugand when I give the signal I want you to poison the tiger, Fenrir you leap for the girl. Killing is permitted." Maria continued "I didn''t realise until that last attack that someone was deliberately using light to create a blind spot but there''s no way the noble could have done it, he doesn''t have fine enough control over his magic and your other team mate has already demonstrated he uses unique magic so he shouldn''t be able to use light magic too. So that just leaves you." Lupos sighed in a seemingly worried manner. "So you figured us out, what do you want me to do about it? Admit it and get us all disqualified?" Maria shook her head looking sympathetic. "No, I''m a low ranking noble myself but I''ve seen commoners being forced into doing a nobles bidding before, besides seeing as your wolf was only meant to use earth and dark magic it means you must have a second spirit which is the level of a genius so I want you to help me take out the Noble kid." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Lupos smiled pleasantly. "Have you told about us cheating to anyone else?" Maria shook her head "Of course not I didn''t want you to be blamed." Lupos gave another smile and spoke in mindspeak "Now. Do not spare lives." twenty seconds later and Maria was lying on the floor, her throat cut by Fenrir''s claws and her tiger paralysed and already disappearing due to the fact it''s summoner was dead. "It''s such a shame," spoke Lupos aloud to the now dead girl "that you figured out I had more spirits, that made you a liability and liabilities have to be dealt with." Turning his back on Maria, Lupos faced his spirits. "Mervyn mentioned competitors often got killed by sabotage from other schools so we need to either make her body disappear completely or stage it like sabotage/revenge gone wrong. Any ideas?" All four spirits paused and thought for a minute before Jormugand had an idea. "There is a cave near here that belongs to a magical snake, he is not too powerful but his poison dissolves flesh leaving only bones. We can leave the body there." Lupos nodded "Good idea Jormugand you deal with that while Hugin and Munin keep watch. Fenrir come with me, we need to head back before Wing and Lucio become suspicious." All four spirits nodded and Lupos quickly climbed on Fenrir''s back to ride back to the hotel they were staying at. Walking into his room, it wasn''t even moments later when he heard a knock on the door "Gale it''s me Wing." Lupos had a slight smile on his face as he opened the door "What''s up?" Wing laughed and gave him a punch on the arm. "Don''t be like that, what did she ask you?" Lupos turned his facial expressions into one of unease "She said she still thought Lucio wad cheating and demanded I tell her how do she could get revenge." Wings face took on a serious expression "What did you tell her?" Lupos shook his head "I told her the truth, that I honestly hadn''t any idea if he was cheating or not and if so I didn''t have a clue how he did it. After that she stalked off into the nearby forest so I''m not really sure what happened after." Wing still looked worried but gave out a smile anyway "and here I was thinking she''d asked you out!" Lupos gave out a laugh. "Nope, not gonna happen. And besides," a tender smile appeared on his face "I already have someone I like." Wing gave out a laugh "oooh who is it? Is it someone I know?" Lupos laughed "not telling you''re not getting anything out of me!" the two joked around for a little more before Wing left. The next morning it was the final day of the competition, strangely enough one of the competitors from yesterday had mysteriously vanished. "Welcome back to the last three duels of the competition we will begin the matches shortly so please wait patiently, our first match of the day will be Gale Foryst versus Alexis Storm." .................................................................................. Author''s note Hiya thanks for reading today''s chapter I just wanna take a little time to write a small thank you note to Blackyishere (love the name, is that a reference to black haze?) for the nice review :) and to my friend Dani who''s currently in the midst of proofreading my earlier chapters hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thinking on your feet Hearing his name called Lupos made his way out to the combat ring with Fenrir in toe, "Listen up Fenrir we''re aiming for a win albeit an unimpressive one. We throw the match next round and hopefully make sure Lucio or Wing gets to the final so we can stay in the Shadows." Fenrir gave a wolfish grin and nodded slightly "sounds good." Stepping into the ring the announcer''s voice rang put once more "the match will begin in five minutes so until then please feel free to bet on your favourite!" Lupos laughed at the arenas way of making money before turning to stare at his opponent. She was slightly talker than him and had blue black hair and fierce golden eyes, on her shoulder was a large golden eagle with eyes of the same colour and had a similarly coloured sword by her side. "This is bad," remarked Fenrir in mindspeak "sometimes if a person has a very strong contract with their spirit they inherit a feature of said spirit, those golden eyes spell trouble, not only that I''d guess her affinity to be light magic." Visibly Lupos did not change however on the inside he was feeling slightly worried and annoyed; it wasn''t that he couldn''t beat the girl. He was sure he could, the problem was beating her would require him to fight on even ground with her which would require much more talent and power than he was currently pretending to have. He could just let her win seeing as how he was planning to throw the next match anyway, but he still wanted to do well enough to gather Mervyn''s attention, after all even though Mervyn promised to apprentice them if they made it to the top ten, Lupos needed to show a decent level of power and fighting to get him interested. So if he needed to win and couldn''t make it look like it was because of his fighting prowess, there was only one way to go, fight dirty. Lupos could feel the grin forming on his face as he plotted everything he could do to help...nudge the match in his favour. Finally the announcers voice rang out once more "Gale Foryst versus Alexis Storm let the match begin." Not wasting any time Lupos ran towards Alexis earth daggers formed and drawn while Fenrir ran towards the eagle. However, Alexis was just as fast as Lupos'' deliberately lowered speed and easily countered, but that was what he wanted. His earth dagger immediately lost shape and reformed around the sword unbalancing the sword as well as blunting it. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Alexis snarled at Lupos''s smug face as he smirked at her, gritting her teeth Alexis transferred her sword into one hand and wielded it like a club. Attempting to block and dodge Alexis''s attacks without showing too much skill Lupos didn''t notice the golden eagle escaping Fenrir''s grip and attempting to dive bomb him. He noticed when he felt the beak slamming into his skull. Retreating to the edge of the ring, Lupos felt the blood dripping down his face while the crowd cheered. Suddenly he felt angry. He let out a savage growl that had Alexis step back.........right into the pit trap Lupos had secretly hidden since the beginning of the round. As she fell into the pit she tried desperately to grab her spirit''s outstretched talons, but Fenrir was just as annoyed as Lupos for letting the eagle go. He wasn''t going to let it happen again. The eagle pinned under Fenrir''s claws, Alexis hung onto the edge of the pit and attempted to use her own light magic to blind Lupos so she could gain the upper hand and escape the pit. However Lupos had seen her muttering and closed his eyes while kicking the place he had last seen her hands. It was unfortunate for Alexis that Lupos had spent the majority of his life hiding in the dark and the shadows. Not being able to see did absolutely nothing to affect his abilities. Opening his eyes Lupos saw Alexis at the bottom of the pit and raised an earthen spike to her neck. "Do you surrender?" asked Lupos in a cold voice and Alexis gulped and then nodded "I surrender." Lupos nodded and quickly removed the earthen spike and created some earthen stairs to help her climb out of the pit. Exiting the ring without looking back Lupos was suddenly struck by the silence of the arena, once again stunned by his poor sportsmanship in using hidden traps as well as sabotaging an opponents weapon with magic. Lupos met their gazes and let out a savage grin. "Hope you enjoyed the show" his voice rang out throughout the arena as he smiled and returned to the viewing area. .................................................................................. Hello to whoever''s reading this, hope you enjoyed the chapter I''m really sorry it''s late and a bit short I had an induction day today so didn''t have much time but I promise the next one will be longer. :) Rage and sorrow Returning back to the viewing area Lupos listened as the silence eventually vanished under the gradual build up of whispers and complaints. Smiling to himself Lupos sat down on a sofa in the viewing room mildly amused at the fact the other competitors were avoiding him like the plague, with the exception of Wing, who quickly walked past Lupos to leave for his next match. "Wish me luck" claimed Wing an easy smile on his face. "Good luck" said Lupos, a much more evil grin on his face. Still smiling at Wing''s retreating figure he quickly laid down on the sofa. "Wake me up when it''s my turn Fenrir" said Lupos in mindspeak. Fenrir gave a quick nod then looked confused "don''t you want to watch your future opponents for any weaknesses?" Lupos shook his head "No, I need to lose the next duel so not knowing what magic my opponent uses should rid me or any advantage and help my loss be that much more realistic. "Fenrir grinned "ok, I''ll wake you when you''re needed to lose." Lupos gave out a chuckle "much appreciated." Closing his eyes Lupos let the comforting and familiar darkness sink over him, until five-minute later when Fenrir''s urgent voice awoke him "Lupos, Lupos wake up!!" Lupos yawned "What is it?" asked Lupos still wiping sleep from his eyes. "It''s Wing." Lupos sat up sharply "What happened?" Fenrir stayed silent but merely stared at the arena where Wing''s match was still ongoing. Collapsed on the floor surrounded by blood was a beaten Wing cradling a once snow white owl "I surre...." Wing attempted to say before falling flat on the ground from blood loss. "What the hell?!?" whispered Lupos rage boiling up inside him, he still hated the humans who killed his family however Wing was innocent and as close to a friend as Lupos had ever had. Despite his appearance and calm demeanor Wing was a force to be reckoned with especially when using his variant magic, so how the hell had this happened?!?! The other competitors watched in similar states of shock, although none of them knew Wings true level of potential, it was a well known fact that he wielded a variant magic. The only real way for someone to win would be if they were exceedingly fast....or had their own variant magic. The announcers voice rang out startling everyone present "Winner Dante Cayton!!" The crowd burst into cheers while Lupos stared at the other boy, Dante, and memorised his face anger still simmering as he watched the smiling youth. Fenrir noticed the look on Lupos'' face and stayed silent with barely concealed worry, the look on his face incited a deep and primal fear within Fenrir and at this point he honestly wasn''t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Taking in Dante''s smile one last time, Lupos rushed off to find the arena''s infirmary to find Wing. Fenrir following closely behind. After running around blindly for five minutes and finally getting correct directions, Lupos stumbled into the infirmary. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Lying on the nearest bed was a pale Wing, who looked as though he was seconds away from collapsing, a sleeping Athena resting on his lap. Noticing Lupos'' arrival Wing looked and smiled weakly "well that didn''t go quite as planned." Lupos hid his clenched fists and grinned back "trust you to make a bad joke now of all times." Wing laughed bur there was a sad undertone to it "well what else could I do? I''ve lost my choice for this year and once again my family will have to scrape by despite what I promised." Suddenly Wing seemed on the verge of tears, seeing this Lupos gave him a pat on the back "It''s ok, everything will be ok. I promise." Wing gave out another smile, this time more genuine though given through tears. Letting Wing let out a quiet sob Lupos said nothing but silently patted his back until he''d wiped the last of his tears away "sorry Gale, I''m just so bloody frustrated." Lupos gave a quiet smile "It''s ok I''d be the same in your position." Wing grinned looking a lot more cheerful "Damn right you would, that other kids a monster, I never could have imagined meeting another variant magic user here. Especially one with an affinity as rare as blood." Lupos'' eyes widened, blood magic no wonder Wing lost. Dante broke down his insides before he could even fight, not to mention the effects on Athena. "Wing do you know where he comes from it feels weird that we''ve not heard of such a supposed genius before?" Wing nodded "yes, I heard beforehand that Dante''s school is essentially one of the nomadic clans that signed a treaty to be considered part of the empire in exchange for their freedom. His spirit is a small desert snake that specialises in camouflage, whether this is light magic or something else I''m unsure but that''s all the information I have on him." Lupos smiled, "Thanks for the help, I gotta go before the next match starts." Wing smiled "Knock them dead, or at least into a pit trap." Lupos burst into laughter "I''ll do just that, I''ll come see you once my next match is dead." Wing nodded "good luck." Although Lupos was smiling Wing had failed to notice that Lupos'' fists remained clenched and the anger in his eyes had far from faded, it was time for some payback. Even if Lupos couldn''t get revenge himself he could manipulate someone else into getting it for him. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hope you all enjoyed the chapter I tried to make it slightly longer, feel free to leave a comment or review :) Rematch After checking up on Wing, Lupos once again returned to the viewing area just in time to catch the announcer. "And with that last duel, we have finished our first round! Our four competitors who will compete for the chance to fight in the final are Gale Foryst, Lucio Illio, Dante Cayton and Ophelia Reich. Our first duel will be fought by Gale Foryst and Lucio Illio." Lupos silently cursed, if he was against Lucio it would be harder to fake a believable loss, especially seeing as the higher ranks from other schools would be watching now. But on the other-hand he supposed it was for the best, if he was put up against Dante he wouldn''t be able to stop himself from trying to crush him, something that would do more harm than good in the long run. Lupos let out a sinister smile, there was more than one way to get revenge, especially if you were as surrounded by people, easily manipulated people like Lupos was. He was just about to consider some options when he heard the announcer once more "can our two competitors Gale Foryst and Lucio Illio please make their way to the ring so we can begin the duel." Both Lupos and Lucio slowly made their way down the stairs so as to take as long as time as possible allowing them to think of ways to deal with their opponent. However, all too quickly the walk was over and Lupos and Lucio had arrived at the ring. "Fenrir make sure to make this as believable as possible, make sure you land a few hits but leave some subtly obvious openings." Fenrir laughed in mindspeak "It''s sad that I no longer need to learn how to lose convincingly." Lupos grinned "Give it a few months and then you''ll have some decent opponents." still grinning Lupos faced Lucio just catching the end of his speech that had apparently been going on for the last couple of minutes "and so Gale what I''m trying to say is that there is no shame in losing to me." Lupos nodded a sincere look on his face "That''s very generous of you to say." Lucio gave a self-important smirk and was about to say something else when the announcers voice rang out. "And now onto our first match of the semi-finals Gale Foryst versus Lucio Illio, let the match begin!" .................................................................................. Lucio''s POV "Let the match begin," as the words rung throughout the stadium Lucio smirked and dashed forward while laughing in his mind. "Honestly there''s no way Gale can beat me, all he''s good at is dirty tricks and conveniently placed pit holes," slashing with the elegant swordsmanship he had been taught all his life Lucio almost laughed as he saw Gale''s look of frustration as if he wished he could fight back. "He must really want to fight but just can''t find an opening in my perfect form and attacks," thought Lucio arrogantly as Gale''s look of struggle and frustration grew, honestly though, even his wolf didn''t appear to be much in comparison to Fyre heart. "Give up now Gale and I''ll save you the pain of losing disgracefully!" Lucio noticed Gale''s look of irritance continuing to grow as he struggled to reply against Lucio''s eloquent words. Lucio smirked once more. .................................................................................. Lupos''s POV "Agh that utter idiot!" thought Lupos. "How the hell was he making it so hard to lose convincingly?!?" so far Lucio had avoided every subtly given opening completely and because Lupos was trying to throw the match in what seemed like a natural way he couldn''t give any obvious openings away. "Fenrir, any ideas on how to make this look convincing?!?" practically growled Lupos in annoyance in mindspeak "nope afraid not...wait ok I''m going to give Fyre heart a slightly more obvious opening and get injured, when that happens rush over out of concern and leave an obvious opening that can later be played down due to your worry over me." Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Lupos grinned, "That''s brilliant, let''s go with that!" Fenrir started to slowly manoeuvre himself into a more disadvantaged position while Lupos tried to prevent himself from screaming in annoyance as Lucio left one opening after the other and still felt he had the time to talk about it "Give up now Gale and I''ll save you the pain of losing disgracefully!" Lupos gritted his teeth praying Fenrir would made his move quickly before he killed this spoilt noble kid himself. No sooner had he thought the words that Fenrir suddenly let out an impressive howl of pain, turning to look at him in apparent surprise Lupos let out a cry of supposed worry "Fenrir?!?" seeing Lupos supposedly distracted Lucio FINALLY took the opportunity to strike pushing Lupos out of the ring. Lupos looked up at Lucio "It was my loss, I guess I''ll just have to train harder next time." Lucio gave a smug smile and Lupos resisted the urge to wipe it off his face "see that you do." Running over to Fenrir Lupos started to talk to him in mindspeak "Fenrir you ok??" Fenrir grinned "it''s ok just a light scratch, wasn''t my acting great though?" Lupos laughed "yeah it was, great job Fenrir." Fenrir smiled proudly and walked back towards the viewing area to sit down, he was certain Dante would win his next match meaning Lucio and Dante would have to face off in the finals. This kept Lupos in Lucio''s shadow and allowed for some payback on Dante, Fenrir noticed Lupos''s expression "So what''re you going to do to that Dante kid?" Lupos didn''t even pretend he wasn''t hiding something and let out a savage grin before extracting one of the hidden daggers Darius had given him, "you know the best thing about these daggers is the poison." Fenrir''s eyes widened slightly "wouldn''t it be slight bit obvious if he falls down dead in the middle of his match?" Lupos shook his head grinning. "Nope that''s the best part, I''ve confirmed his spirit to be a small snake but not only that, apparently the people of his clan condition their young to be mildly immune to poison to avoid small nuisances in the desert so I can poison him without fear of him dying, besides I''ve coated the daggers in a weaker poison just for today so he won''t be in any life threatening danger. Just a LOT of pain." Fenrir grinned savagely "Well I look forward to seeing the results, so how are you going to get the poison into him though?" Lupos grinned "I didn''t spend two years training with Darius for nothing, all it requires is a pinprick worth of poison to feel the affects, it''s payback time." .................................................................................. Unknown POV In the upper most stands of the Arena, hidden within the shadows stood an old man who had been shaking for the last few minutes "impossible..." the man muttered under his breath "Fenrir...it couldn''t be...but no other wolf would be bold enough to take the name for himself. Who the hell is that child?!?" .................................................................................. Author''s note Hiya to everyone reading hope you enjoyed the chapter cause I finished exams recently I''ve been reading a lot of the fictions on royal Road so I just wanted to take twenty seconds to recommend one of the ones I really enjoy its called Singing life Book one - Hatchling. Anyway feel free to comment or review as always :) The final Sure enough just as Lupos predicted, Dante easily beat his opponent Ophelia Reich who was currently being comforted by some members of her school who had lost in earlier rounds and matches. Lupos smiled as the announcer have his last announcement "Congratulations to our two winners Lucio Illio and Dante Cayton, the two will be facing off in half an hour for the chance to win our sixty third annual inter schools competition!!" The announcer paused for a moment to allow for the cheers the crowd was emitting. "Until then we ask our eliminated competitors to relax and get some refreshments to help them recover from their matches, as well as giving you time to talk to and congratulate our finalists before their big match, this is also your last chance to bet on the final outcome so make sure you hurry!" As the announcer finished hordes of betters immediately rushed to the nearest bookie desperate to make some money by betting on their favourite. Lupos stared intently at the door to the viewing area willing for Dante to come through, and several seconds later that wish was granted. Smiling at his chance Lupos approached Dante "good job in your matches, your magic is amazing!" Dante gave a smile half arrogant half satisfied "Thanks, it was really easy though, after all it''s not like there''s anyone out there more powerful than me even that last kid with variant magic was easy enough to deal with," Lupos'' fists clenched again "although..." Dante trailed off as he stared between Lupos and Lucio "I could tell you let the Noble kid win." Lupos secretly groaned inside, the downside to Lucio''s lack of fighting experience and "pretty" swordsmanship is that any experienced fighter who was close enough would immediately pick up on the "accidental" openings Lupos was giving. It wouldn''t be so obvious if he''d only had to do it once or twice but having to do it continually so Lucio would notice made it very hard to make it look natural. Luckily there were not that many experienced fighters nearby and most wouldn''t even assume that the competitor who used so many dirty tricks to win earlier would just give up on a match like that. Lupos sighed and leaned in closer to Dante while whispering in a conspiratorial voice. "Please don''t tell anyone about that, in truth my family lives on the edge of the Illio''s territory and though Lucio isn''t a bad sort and probably wouldn''t do anything, I''ve heard his father is a bit power crazy and might not be to happy if I did any damage to his son. The win isn''t worth the potential damage it could do to my family." Dante nodded looking happy with the explanation. "Anyway," said Lupos an encouraging smile in his face "go out there and wipe the smile off his face." Dante grinned and Lupos slapped him in the back, for a second Dante thought he felt a pinprick worth''s of pain when Lupos hit him but it faded soon after so he just contributed it to Lupos'' strength. "Wish me luck." said Dante smiling cheerfully, Lupos smiled just as cheerfully "Good luck." As Dante walked away to go and prepare for his match Lupos let out a wolfish grin and hid the small dagger he had just pricked Dante with back in his sleeve "Let the show begin." he cackled wickedly, sounding almost worryingly like Hugin. .................................................................................. Dante''s POV "There was something wrong with that kid, Gale" thought Dante as he walked away to prepare for the final. Although he seemed friendly enough and his story sounded true there was something about the other boy that put him on edge. If he had to say what it was it would probably be the other kids eyes, they contained a darkness and a warning urge to them. They reminded him of the snakes back home, the ones that calmly slithered near only to viciously attack when you least expect it. Yes those eyes scared him, and yet despite this he still couldn''t find a logical reason to be scared. "I mean despite Gale throwing the match he still would have lost if he came up against me." was Dante''s thought process''s but he still couldn''t shake the uneasiness he felt. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Finally shaking off his feelings of unease Dante began to feel very thirsty and suddenly had a dizzy sensation at the back if his mind, not enough to do any harm but certainly inconvenient "What the hell? I felt fine two minutes ago, is this due to nerves?" Dante muttered under his breath attempting to figure out the cause of such a feeling with no avail. He was just about to go consult a doctor when the announcers voice rang out "And now for the final match of the competition Lucio Illio versus Dante Cayton. Can both competitors make there way to the ring." Dante stood up and moved towards the ring when a sharp pain rang out in his stomach "What the hell is happening to me?" wondered Dante once more as he moved wincing towards the ring. .................................................................................. Lupos'' POV As the announcer called for the final duel Lucio rushed off down the stairs as Lupos watched in satisfaction as Dante halting joined him. "How long does the poison take to kick in?" asked Fenrir in mindspeak as he also stared at Dante "Give it five minutes for full pain and five days until he stops feeling the...side effects." Fenrir let out a small barking laugh while Lupos continued to stare at the ring. "The real question will be if Dante can still use his variant magic throughout the pain or whether he''ll be forced to rely on combat skills. In truth, both are probably superior to Lucio but at least it''ll give Lucio an opening." Fenrir nodded just as the announcers voice called out "Ok now to begin our last duel of the competition, Lucio Illio versus Dante Cayton, let the match begin!" Dante started to use blood magic on Lucio who was forced to stand still and deal with the pain, unfortunately the backlash was now too great for the already poisoned Dante who begun sweating profusely while trying to remain upright. Up on the balcony, Lupos grinned as Lucio became free of the effects of Dante''s blood magic and began moving towards him. Unluckily for him Dante wasn''t harmless, taking out a small knife Dante mad a small cut on his skin them used what was left of his magic to condense the blood into a long curved sword. Now fully armed with a familiar weapon Dante attacked with Lucio barely managing to defend. Fenrir gave an impressed whistle in mindspeak "that kid is good, you can see his pain from here if you look for the signs yet he''s still fighting. If he''d been in peak condition Lucio would have lost immediately." Lupos grinned "That''s true enough, it''s a good thing he''s not in peak condition then isn''t it?" At this Fenrir also grinned and returned to watching the match. Dante''s face had sweat dripping down it and his teeth were clenched to keep him from screaming. Other than this it was hard to tell there was anything wrong with the boy by the way he was fighting. Unfortunately, for him that didn''t last. The poison finally took full effect, Dante stumbled and let out a hiss of pain which for once was not missed by Lucio who took the opportunity to call for fyre heart, who had spent the match flying around to avoid a very small but very deadly snake. "Burn him!!" letting out a huge fireball Dante automatically dove backwards to avoid it, backwards right out of the ring, oops. The crowd stared for a minute in stunned silence before cheers broke out from the crowd from those who had bet on Lucio and curses from those who didn''t, "Winner Lucio Illio!!!" in the viewing area Lupos let out a sinister smile. .................................................................................. Author''s note PLEASE READ Hello to everyone reading o just want to put in a small note to say I''m really sorry but I can''t put up another chapter for the next few of days because I''m visiting family but have to camp so i''m not going to have any wifi and I''ve used up most if my data, so because I write this novel on my phone I probably won''t have interest acces. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I''ll post another in three days max. Training??? Within the magical beast forest stood a large pitch black wolf with violet eyes who was silently sniffing the ground while her restless eyes roamed the forest searching for someone, the wolf was of course Akari. As Akari continued to look round a smug voice rang out in her head "you''ll never find me like that," taunted the irritating voice of Darius in mindspeak "Shut up Darius." was the only response Akari could think to give as she continued looking around before finally catching the glimmer of a tail moving within the topmost branches of the trees. "How the hell did you get up there!!!" is what Akari screamed in her mind as she stared at the irritating snake and thought back to what Lupos had said the day before he left. "Akari, whatever he''s asks you to do, don''t resist. I remember when once I tried to and.." Lupos had trailed off as his face paled "if you ever see him smile sweetly while saying "I''m not mad" run for it." At the time Akari had thought Lupos had been over reacting but now she understood, she was convinced. Darius wasn''t a snake at all, he was a training loving demon disguised as a snake!! As she reflected on this point she felt a scaly tail snare her ankle and pull her down onto the hard ground "Now, now," said Darius changing to human form and standing above her an evil grin on his face. "Make sure you''re paying attention at all times, I''d hate for something bad to happen while you''re not paying attention." Akari felt a shiver down her spine as she noticed the old man''s grin and suddenly felt very scared to hear where this was leading. "Now let''s give you some practical experience and spar for a bit." Ah, a spar. Akari ran for it. Although Lupos had advised her to "not resist" he''d also warned her never to spar with Darius if she could help it, especially if he was smiling while he asked. (It''s how he gets you to let down your guard) running as fast as she could through the forest she heard Darius''s laugh "Ok, new exercise if you can escape capture for one hour, I''ll give up on the spar, if you get caught you have to fight me, agreed?" "Agreed" replied Akari in mindspeak "tch, not stupid enough to speak aloud I see, that''s a shame it would have been over quicker if you had." Using shadow magic Akari darted through the trees until she came to a cave network, "perfect," she thought "It''ll be easy to hide in the darkness here." Quickly but quietly Akari navigated her way through the unfamiliar cave system until she chanced upon a small hidden ledge like balcony in the upmost corner of a large cavern. Using her wolf forms superior ability and power Akari darted up the wall using small holds to make it to the ledge where she shifted into human form and sat down in silence using shadow magic to obscure her image. Sitting silently Akari waited half an hour and there was still no sign of Darius, it was then she heard the voices coming through the cavern and saw several men cloaked in black appear in the cave. Akari stared the men and gritted her teeth, it was the same, the same clothes as the man who killed her family had worn, and though she wasn''t sure if he was among them, it was enough to want to butcher them. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Before she could do anything however the voices rang out "has the boy been found yet?" asked the first voice "no," replied a second "but there is a suspect." Akari stopped moving and listened intently. "Are we sure the boy even has the information the mother stole?" a third voice asked "There''s no one else who could have it. Even if it was thrown away or burned the boy could still be a liability if he comes to know of his heritage." replied the first. Akari continued listening and worried about what she should do when an old hand descended on her mouth, before she could resist Darius''s voice in mindspeak rang out "Silence, it''s just me don''t make a sound." Akari gave a small nod and Darius removed his hand "good, there are ten men down there and seven of them would be easy to take on, however the other three are dangerous so we need to leave now." Akari looked at him in surprise "too powerful for you?" Darius shook his head "Not if it was one on one, I could take them maybe even against two but against three, I would lose not even counting the help of the seven others. Besides..." Darius trailed off "I don''t want to hurt that brat Lupos by something happening to us, although he has his spirits we''re the only real family he has left." At that moment, Akari reflected, Darius had a very sad look in his eye as he thought about the child he had raised like a son for two years. Seeing this look Akari decided not to argue and silently slipped out through a small passage that Darius had found earlier. However that didn''t stop her shooting one more hate filled glance at the group in black before leaving the caverns behind. Arriving back at the hut Darius sat down opposite Akari and looked at her in the eyes with a serious expression "right you lost let''s spar." Akari looked at him with a dumbfounded "What?" Darius cackled "no point brewing over things now, we''ll wait until Lupos gets back. However you lost the bet, so it''s time for a spar," an evil look appeared in his eyes. "There''s no escape now!" it was then Akari realised that Darius had positioned himself between her and the door, a look of fear appeared in her eyes as Darius took out two daggers and tossed her one "this will be fun!" he grinned and at that moment Akari could admit she had herself never seen anything so terrifying in her life. ................................................................................ Author''s note Back from camping!! Hope you guys enjoyed the change in perspective and thank you so much to the 103 people who have favourites my story, I can''t believe over 100 people have favourited this story :) !!!! Please leave a comment or review so I know how you feel about the story and thanks for reading!!! Assumptions It had been one day since the end of the tournament and Lupos, Lucio and Wing were waiting to go back to the school by carriage. Lupos sighed, although it had been his plan all along to let Lucio win and hide in his shadow he didn''t plan for just how annoying Lucio would be when he supposedly "won". "My control was truly amazing, wasn''t it Gale?" asked Lucio for the fifteenth time since they had come outside ten minutes ago to wait for the coach. "Yes," said Lupos smiling through gritted teeth "truly amazing." Wing turned his face to the side and tried not to smirk, it only got worse as Lucio put a patronising hand on Lupos'' shoulder. "It''s ok, maybe one day you''ll be able to beat me." this apparently proved to much for Wing who had subsequently burst into a fit of silent laughter while tears threatened to stream down his face. Luckily Lupos was saved from further interaction with Lucio by the arrival of Mervyn as well as the same carriage that had dropped them off. "Come along boys let''s get back to the school I have some..." Mervyn trailed off and looked at Lucio "news..to tell you." Nodding solemnly all three boys nodded and entered the carriage. Upon entering Lupos sat down next to Wing and Mervyn and Lucio sat opposite "First of all," started Mervyn "Congratulations on all making the top ten I never dreamed all three of you would make it," with this a pointed glance was shot at Lupos before he continued "you are now my apprentices as promised. However, it is because of this I feel I must warn you of the danger you may be in, what I am about to say does not leave us, not even to family." This time it was Lucio who received a pointed stare. Once all three boys had confirmed this plan with a nod Mervyn continued. "In truth, my niece is dead," Lucio gasped "and I suspect it was at the hands of a noble. Seeing as I am not politically aligned with any nobles they all keep an eye on me to make sure I don''t ally myself with anyone else. Unfortunately my niece was set to marry Lucio, so I believe one of the Noble families didn''t like the idea of bonds between my family and the Illio family and so had her assassinated." At this Mervyn stopped, a flicker of grief crossing his face "As my apprentices many will seek to use you for their own purpose. So I want you to think carefully before accepting any deals from ANY of the noble families, clear?" Lupos and Wing gave a quick nod while Lucio hesitated for a moment before adding his own nod. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. "Very good," said Mervyn a smile returning to his face "you have two days to rest before your training with me begins, enjoy it." that brought smiles to everyone''s faces but each for their own reasons. "Fenrir, Jormugand, Hugin, Munin " said Lupos in mindspeak "Mervyn believes the death of his niece to be due to the noble families. See if you can get any information on the families as well as any incriminating documents I can use to frame them." """"Yes Lupos."""" came four simultaneous replies all dripping with bemusement. The rest of the way back was a silent trip with an occasional conversation with Wing, until eventually the carriage arrived back at the academy. "Well I''m gonna go rest up." claimed Lupos hurrying back to his room, as he burst into his room the sight of his four spirits greeted him. "Any incriminating documents?" asked Lupos in mindspeak straight off the mark, Jormugand rolled his eyes "firsst of all do you even know who the Noble familiessss are?" Lupos shook his head slightly embarrassed and Hugin let out s laugh "there are five noble familiessss," continued on Jormugand "the Illio''s, the Drae''s, the Ceari''s, the Hiyx''s and the Yulg''s. Out of the five families, plots to try and either harm the niece or bring her into the family can be found from within all five noble familiesss." Lupos laughed "Wow scheming nobles think alike! So we can pin this on any of the five families?" Jormugand shook his head "Anyone except the Illio''s, they had too much to gain and nothing to lose from the girlsss engagement to Lucio for them to be framed convincingly." Lupos nodded "Ok so we frame one of the others, besides," the grin forming on Lupos'' face could only be described as feral "I don''t want anyone else stealing my prey." Hugin cackled upon hearing this. "Well said boy, we''ll said." Munin just rolled his eyes and muttered something about "Idiots." under his breath while Fenrir and Jormugand laughed. Jormugand continued to smile then pointed to a document atop a large pile, "this is evidence against the Ceari family, they will be easiest to frame." Lupos grinned "let''s get started." .................................................................................. Author''s note Hiya sorry for the slight lateness of the chapter I''ll try to write quicker from now on :'') hope you enjoyed the chapter feel free to leave a comment or review so I know how you feel about the story :) Framing a family It was the beginning of the third day since they had returned from the inter schools competition and the end of the two rest days. Not that Lupos had done much resting, over the past two days Jormugand, Fenrir, Hugin and Munin had been sent to spy on different branches of the Ceari family to find more incriminating documents as well as certain...objects. Waking up Lupos stared around his room to see all four of his spirits back in his room sleeping soundly, an evil grin emerged on Lupos'' face. He silently tiptoed around the four spirits and moved towards the bathroom, filling up four cups with water Lupos moved back towards his room and silently used his shadow magic to hold each of the cups above a spirit, and watched as the cups silently tipped upside-down emptying the water onto the unsuspecting victims. The silence was broken as cries of protest and vows of revenge filled the room as each of the spirits faced Lupos with a gaze full of annoyance as he laughed at the misfortune that had befallen them. "Well," he said ignoring the glares "at least none of you need a bath now!" this was all the invitation Fenrir needed to start shaking like an oversized dog promptly soaking Lupos while the other spirits laughed, their vengeance appeased. Lupos smiled for a moment before his face turned serious "Ok on a more serious note, is there anything we can use for blackmail or framing the Ceari family?" all for spirits nodded "They''re a bad bunch this lot is," growled Fenrir "murder, extortion, bribes." Lupos nodded a gleeful expression appearing on his face "and the rest of you found the same?" The remaining three spirits nodded in time and Jormugand slithered closer to Lupos "I have what you asssked for." Lupos grinned "perfect. Now first of all does anyone know whether of the head of the Ceari family is a magician and if so what his spirit is?" Munin nodded "Yes he is and his spirit is an air falcon." Lupos'' grin widened "Great, we''re now ready to put the second stage of my plan into action, Hugin I want you to use light magic to create an illusion that makes you look like an air falcon. During Mervyn''s lesson I am going to spot you by "accident" and then you are going to fly off in a panic." Jormugand slowly smiled "Clever, sssomeone as informed as Mervyn will no doubt know all the Noble families spiritssssss." Lupos nodded "exactly and if a high ranking nobles spirit turns up around the same time Mervyn''s convinced a noble killed his niece it will look suspicious to say the least. Not only that the variety of different ways Mervyn''s niece''s guards were killed should indicate a large group with several spirits at their disposal, and seeing as how several were killed with the obvious markings of a beak this should further indicate the Ceari family." All five grinned "On another note," continued Lupos "Munin I want you to run an errand for me." Munin nodded "Of course, what''s the errand." Lupos looked away while Jormugand grinned and flashed Lupos a knowing look "the small squirrel like magical beast we saved from Mervyn''s niece, Jormugand has got into contact with him and he''s agreed to be a messenger for me. I need you to watch over him the first time he runs the route to make sure the message isn''t intercepted, you are however to prioritise your own safety." This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Munin nodded "first of all when do I leave?" "Today," answered Lupos sharply "a magical beast and a spirit should be fast enough to journey there and make the return in a single day." Munin nodded once more "the location and recipient the message is to be delivered to?" At this Munin noted that Lupos'' cheeks gained a faint red shade "the destination is the magical forest the recipient is Akari." The four spirits simultaneously broke into grins and shot insinuating glances at Lupos "Not Darius?" asked Munin faking an innocent look, well as innocent a look as a raven can make "no, not Darius," said Lupos refusing to rise to the obvious bait despite his ever colouring cheeks "this is just a test run so it can go to Akari." still smiling with a mischievous look in his eyes Munin grinned. "I''ll leave immediately, I should be able to find him." Lupos smiled relieved that the spirits were dropping the subject and gave Munin the message "Give this to the magical beast and watch over his journey, while you''re at it see if you can find out its name for conveniences sake." Munin nodded the mischievous look still in his eyes "anything else you want me to pass on to Akari?" Lupos shook his head firmly although his cheeks still contained a hint of blush "no, the message is all." Munin nodded "Of course, I''ll enjoy having a nice looong chat with Akari when I see her before I return. I''m sure she''ll enjoy hearing about all your bad habits and flaws." Lupos'' eyes widened in panic "unless of course someone wants to apologise for waking us up with cold water and face a penalty." All four spirits grinned an evil glee entering their eyes while Lupos nodded somewhat frantically "What do you want me to do?" the four spirits faced each other grinning "well now, I believe there''s a lake in the middle of the forest near here. Why don''t you jump in it and we''ll put the matter behind us?" Lupos'' eyes widened once more but his voice remained level "you mean the lake filled with magical crocodile beasts?" Munin nodded clearly savouring the moment "That''s the one, you have at least two hours before your lesson with Mervyn. Better run quickly." at that moment Lupos saw a terrifying illusion before him, it almost appeared as if there was four Darius''s. .................................................................................. Author''s note PLEASE READ Hi to everyone reading I''m sorry for the late chapter and I''m just writing to say that from Monday onwards I will be on holiday for two weeks with a friend so I may not have time to update the story. I promise I''ll definitely try to post a chapter during the holiday but I may not have time so I hope you''ll forgive me. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and oh my God over five hundred people following my story, thank you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Digging your own grave Two hours, and one change of dry clothes later, and Lupos found himself outside a small private classroom next to Mervyn''s office with Wing and Lucio standing beside him in preparation for their first lesson with Mervyn. Wing was showing visible signs of nervous anticipation at the prospect of the upcoming lesson while Lucio just stood there attempting to look calm while not quite keeping a reign on his nervousness, Lupos of course remained calm and surveyed the surroundings. "What do you think we''ll be doing?" asked Wing not really expecting an answer as he continued to look around in a nervous manner "do you think he''ll test us?" Lucio snorted "you two will probably be fighting me in preparation for fighting more talented opponents with higher tier spirits and magic!" Wing opened his mouth as if to say something before promptly shutting it and giving a smile and a nod, not quite managing to hide the irritance that flashed through his eyes while Lupos managed to use Wings response to hide his own snort of laughter. However before any retorts could be made the door to the classroom gently creaked open and an authoritative voice rang out through the doorway "Come in." swallowing his fear Wing took a first tentative step towards the doorway before entering followed by Lupos and finally Lucio. What awaited them inside the classroom was something very similar to what they had witnessed on the first day of school, in the middle of the classroom was a giant summoning circle. Lupos grinned. Mervyn stepped forwards to stare at his three disciples "Welcome to your first lesson as my apprentices, first of all I''d like to once again congratulate you on your recent success in the tournament especially Lucio our overall champion!" Wing and Lupos clapped politely while Lucio gave a smug smile as if this fact proved his superiority. "Anyway, as my disciples you will have access to greater resources such as magical beast cores as well as access to my private library to help you find spells that are suited to your abilities and affinities." Mervyn stopped for a minute to look at all three slowly "the last privilege you are entitled to, as you have already guessed, is that you are allowed to attempt summoning your second spirit early." At this news Lucio and Wing both burst into grins while Lupos'' face held a more evil smile which he promptly hid "Although your abilities are very good for your age it doesn''t mean there aren''t those who are older than you who hold more experience and have higher magic capabilities which is why it is of the upmost importance that you become strong quickly so as to join these experienced veterans. The first step towards that is getting a second spirit, understand." All three students nodded and Mervyn smiled "Good. Lucio who was our winner gets the privilege of going first, I trust you remember how the summoning circle works from the entrance ceremony?" Lucio nodded proudly "of course I do headmaster!" smiling approvingly Mervyn stepped away from the circle and gestured for Lupos and Wing to do the same before motioning for Lucio to start. As Lucio injected his magic into the circle flames slowly began to rise up around the circle and the temperature in the room rose by several degrees. Mervyn was smiling pleased while Wing stared in interest curious to what Lucio''s second spirit would be, Lupos however was worried. "Lupos whatever happens you must try to disrupt Lucio''s spirit summoning!!!" yelled Hugin in mindspeak. "Why what''s he summoning?" asked Lupos trying to hide the confusion and panic on his face, Hugin paused for a moment "a dragon...he''s summoning a dragon. We would still be able to take it on but a dragon''s magic perception is much higher than a humans and it would instantly be able to tell you had several spirits." Lupos'' blood ran cold as he stared at Lucio''s face. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "Hugin are you still disguised as the air falcon from the Ceari family?" "Yes." Hugin answered immediately "good. I want you to attack Lucio in that form now before he summons the dragon." without bothering to reply Hugin (now in falcon form) burst through a small window near the back of the classroom and proceeded to claw Lucio''s face. Lucio screamed as he lost concentration and the summoning was suddenly stopped, creating a huge supply of backlash magic turned in on him. "Lucio!" yelled Mervyn ad he ran to help regulate the magic flowing through his body before it destroyed the boy luckily giving Hugin a chance to fly away. Lupos sighed in both relief and disappointment, although he had managed to prevent the summoning he knew that, although a large noble family may spy on Mervyn or even plot against him they would never be stupid enough to outright attack his disciple with him there. Meaning any further attempt at framing the Ceari family would look like an obvious set up. To summarise Lupos had lost his scapegoat. Suddenly Lucio let out a huge gasp snapping Lupos out of his thought, turning towards Lupos he tried to appear slightly shaken "headmaster what..what just happened? Was that a spirit?" Mervyn''s eyes hardened "I unfortunately believe you are right..... Wing, Gale we will attempt your summoning in ten minutes once I''ve seen Lucio is fine." Lupos and Wing nodded ""Yes headmaster."" they replied in synchronisation. Once Mervyn had picked up Lucio and left for the infirmary Lupos and Wing sat down on two of the many chairs dotted around the room and waited in silence. Or at least that''s what it appeared like "Hugin, will Lucio be able to summon that dragon again if he tries?" Lupos asked in mindspeak, he had a lot of questions for Hugin but this was the most urgent one. "No," said Hugin after a moments pause "dragons are proud creatures, it probably feels snubbed now it''s answer to a summon was broken. Either that or it will feel disdain for the summoner feeling it to be too weak to summon him." Lupos nodded to himself in relief, ok that''s good, a sly grin appeared on his face "speaking of summoning you guys may be getting a new friend soon." Hugin burst into laughter "I''m sure it''ll be someone we know anyway, going by the trend so far." Lupos let a small smile escape his lips "true enough." Lupos was about to say more when Mervyn entered the room once more "Ok Gale, you came second highest out of the three of you so you will go now. This time I am prepared for any........interruptions." The look on Mervyn''s face was not one to be messed with so Lupos nodded and stepped into the centre of the circle and started to inject his magic, waiting for what was to come next. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hi guys, last chapter before I go on holiday tomorrow so I hope you enjoyed it, I''ll try to update soon if I have the time. Just want to write a quick shout out to menolous for the nice/hilarious comment on my last chapter XD please leave a comment or review so I can improve my story or hear your opinions :) PLEASE WRITE IDEAS FOR WHAT YOU WANT LUPOS''S NEXT SPIRIT TO BE IN THE COMMENTS AS I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO POST A POLL!!!! Deceit Injecting his magic into the circle Lupos slowly felt his conscious slipping away as he felt the calming dark overwhelm him. Unlike his first three summonings, Lupos didn''t hear a voice, but rather the loud pounding of hooves moving slowly towards him. Still seeing nothing Lupos waited until the pounding drew nearer to him and finally stopped. "Hello?" he said slightly confused at the chain of events, there was still no reply but instead what manifested in front of him was a large black stallion.....that had eight legs. "Hello child." Came a calm and soothing voice. Lupos stared at the horse without answering. "Are you the one who has summoned me?" Asked the stallion. This time Lupos answered "yes, and who are you?" The horse let out a low snicker "oh my, and I thought the others would have told you about me by now." This gave Lupos a pause as well as a sigh. "Let me guess you know Fenrir, Jormugand, Hugin and Munin right?" The horse let out another low snicker "as you said." Lupos let out a small smile before staring at the horse again. "Ok I have some questions though, first of all what is your name? Second why can I see you? This has never happened before on any of my summonings." The horse gave a slow nod of recognition. "My name is Sleipnir and as for why you can see me that is due to my magic." "Your magic?" Lupos asked curious, currently his spirits included Fenrir who used dark and earth magic, Jormugand who used water magic, Hugin who used light magic and Munin who also used dark (though he had hinted at withholding something else) magic. Ideally, Lupos wanted a spirit who specialised in fire or wind magic to fill in the gaps, though, he supposed he would be fine if he didn''t. Sleipnir smiled proudly. "Variant magic." Lupos nodded slowly an evil grin forming on his face. "Now isn''t that intriguing, what type of variant magic do you use?" Sleipnir smiled once again and whispered the answer in Lupos'' ear. Lupos grinned, things were about to get very interesting. "That''ll be a useful asset, so will you become my summon?" Sleipnir snickered softly. "Of course, if I wasn''t I wouldn''t have bothered to use my magic to show up at all." Lupos grinned. "My thanks, however, before we return I have to ask is there anyway for you to disguise your form to make it less...impressive?" Sleipnir paused for a moment and considered. "There should be, only one way to find out." Lupos smiled "Let''s head back then." .................................................................................. Mervyn''s POV Mervyn stared as Gale entered the summoning circle and started to inject his magic. Once certain there was no trouble, Mervyn let his thoughts drift. "Who the hell attacked Lucio?" He wondered in his mind "I know the bird was from the Ceari family but even they wouldn''t be stupid enough to pull off a stunt like this with me in the room. Someone must be trying to frame them, but for what purpose? Damn I should have caught that bird." Mervyn was worried, there was no denying that, both his niece and his apprentice had been attacked. Even if he guessed who the culprit was, he had no evidence, not to mention, there could be multiple culprits. Mervyn sighed, ignoring Wing''s worried look, and turned back to watching Gale. Several minutes later, Mervyn realised the boy had taken longer than what was expected and was starting to worry about sabotage. Suddenly, Gale''s eyes snapped open and smoke surrounded him. Through the smoke Mervyn caught glimpse of the spirit who stood next to him, it was the silhouette of a proud stallion...with eight legs???? "What the hell is going on?" Thought Mervyn as he blinked. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. However when he once more opened his eyes the smoke had cleared and he saw something else entirely next to Gale''s side. It was....a Shetland pony? Rubbing his eyes Mervyn stared again reconfirming what he had just seen....a Shetland pony - there was no proud stallion. "It must have been a trick of the smoke and light to confuse the two." thought Mervyn as he bit back a laugh. Walking over to Gale''s side he put a reassuring hand on the youths shoulder. "It''s alright, your summons may be small but it will have its uses." Mervyn noted how Gale had a sad look on his face with the occasional smile. "He must be trying to cheer himself up." thought Mervyn as he shook his head at the poor boy with such a small and ungainly spirit. How wrong he could be. .................................................................................. Lupos'' POV Lupos looked back at Sleipnir the once proud stallion turned Shetland pony, "Good job." He commented in mindspeak, trying to keep the smile off his face. Even Mervyn was looking at him with pity, though he tried to hide it. Of course not everyone was hiding it. "Hahaha, I can''t believe it Sleipnir is that you? hahaha." Hugin who was still nearby in case of emergency, though back in raven form, cackled tears forming in his eyes as he stared through the window. Lupos let out a small smile and sat down next to Wing who was looking at him with concern. "Will you be ok with that as your second summon?" Lupos smiled and shook his head.. "I''ll be fine, anyway you better go, it''s your turn to try and summon your second spirit." Wing grinned nervously. "Wish me luck." Lupos smiled. "Good Luck." Walking towards the circle, Wing slowly interjected his magic, a strained look appearing on his face. Several minutes passed before Wing opened his eyes, a white deer standing next to him, practically radiating a calming white light. Lupos heard Hugin let out a low whistle in mindspeak "Keep this one close kid, he''s going to be very powerful when he grows up." Lupos nodded. "Sure, but how do you know?" Hugin paused. "Ask him the deer''s name." Acknowledging the cryptic statement, Lupos smiled and turned to Wing. "What''s her name?" Wing smiled. "Artemis, but how did you know she was a girl?" Lupos smiled. "Grew up in a family of hunters." Mervyn smiled. "Good job today both of you, I want you to spend the rest of today getting to know your new spirits and there capabilities. Next week I am going to give you an exam where you will fight against me one on one. This will of course be conducted in private so that none of you reveal techniques you wish to keep secret from each other. Ok you are dismissed." Lupos smiled he had just found a time where Mervyn would be completely alone with no invading eyes and less spirits than him. It was time for his revenge. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hi everyone sorry for the wait I am currently still on holiday but I''ve finally had some time to write up this chapter, there may still be a delay between this chapter and the next so i''m sorry for that but I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) thank you guys so much for the 3000 average views!!!!!! Feel free to leave a comment or review so I can improve my story. Damage control Walking back to the room with Sleipnir and Fenrir in tow, Lupos let out a wide grin. He not only had time to strategise with his spirits, he also had an opportunity where Mervyn would be alone. Still deep in thought, Lupos barely noticed the still laughing Hugin as he flew above him. "Wait till the others see you, Sleipnir, you''ll never live it down." cackled Hugin in mindspeak still enjoying the spectacle. Sleipnir turned and looked at Hugin directly in the eyes. "Now, now," said the horse in that calming voice tinged with mischief "I wouldn''t say too much, unless of course, you wish for me to retaliate?" Hugin turned silent, turning an even paler shade of nervous white while Lupos laughed. Returning to the room Lupos saw Jormugand and Munin whispering conspiratorially to each other, however, once they saw Lupos walk in the whispers stopped as they grinned at each other. The grins however vanished once they saw, or rather sensed, Sleipnir. Although Sleipnir currently had the appearance of a harmless Shetland pony, all of Lupos'' spirits were informed of his abilities and not one of them would want to be on the receiving end. Seeing their silence Lupos grinned. However, the grin quickly faded as his face turned serious with his next words "Right, now that we''re all here it''s time to plan damage control." The spirits fell silent as Fenrir and Hugin nodded while Munin, Jormugand and Sleipnir just stared at Lupos with mild confusion. "For you three who don''t know," he said indicating to the clueless party. "Today Lucio attempted to summon a dragon." The five spirits nodded, all with equal seriousness and worry in their eyes. Even if they could defeat a dragon, they wouldn''t be able to do it before it revealed Lupos'' true capabilities and that would completely defeat all the effort they had taken to always appear to be second place. Carrying on Lupos looked at each of his spirits in turn. "Unfortunately to prevent the summoning, we were forced to intervene. I had Hugin attack Lucio while still disguised as the Ceari''s family''s head''s spirit, an air falcon. However no matter how corrupt a noble family may be, they would never be stupid enough to outright attack Mervyn''s apprentice with him there. Especially, not using their own spirit. Meaning any attempts to frame the Ceari family would then be futile." Lupos'' spirits nodded once more. "Jormugand, do we know, who the Ceari''s stupidest enemy among the Noble families is?" Jormugand grinned. "Any of the families will do, they all hate each other and plot the other families downfallssss beneath the pleasantriesss and besidessssss," Jormugand let out a low chuckle, "all of them are equally prideful and arrogant." Lupos grinned upon hearing that, but decided on another question, this time addressing all his spirits. "Ok, which other family do we have the most incriminating evidence against?" Fenrir, Jormugand, Hugin and Munin looked at each other, ignoring the confused Sleipnir, before speaking in union. "The Yulg''s." Lupos nodded. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "Ok, for the rest of today Fenrir, Jormugand and Hugin - I want you to infiltrate the Yulg''s properties and find any incriminating documents, as well as, as much information on the families'' magical capabilities as you can. Sleipnir and Munin you stay with me for the minute." all five spirits nodded and Fenrir, Jormugand and Hugin set off towards the Yulg''s properties. Seeing as the other three were gone, Munin let out a sly smile and turned to face Lupos. "So do you want your letter now or later?" Lupos looked at Munin in confusion. "What letter?" Munin''s grin widened "Why the one from your good friend Akari of course." Lupos nodded trying not to give away any emotion on his face. He had been so caught up in the days events he had forgotten about the letter. Sleipnir looked at the two confused. "Who''s Akari?" Lupos groaned and Munin grinned "Lupos'' future mate." said Munin smiling innocently. "Never mind that," said Lupos, trying to keep the blush off his face as he grabbed the letter off Munin, while Sleipnir stated at him, bemusement obvious on his face. Opening the letter, Lupos smiled gently as he read Akari''s reply before quickly turning to Munin to change the subject. "So I see the squirrel magical beast delivered the message ok, what was his name?" Munin grinned, noticing the obvious change in subject but letting it go. "His name was Ratatoskr." Lupos nodded. "Good to know, right Sleipnir and Munin we''re going to go into the forest and have you two spar for a bit." There was a look of elation from Sleipnir and a look of absolute horror from Munin while Lupos grinned maliciously at his revenge. "Seeing as Munin mainly uses light magic, it''ll be a representation of what Mervyn''s holy eagle can do, so it''ll give you some practice. After that we''ll take some time to explain what we''re doing here and how everyone''s involved." Sleipnir nodded while Munin pleaded in mindspeak to Lupos. "Please Lupos, you don''t know how bad he can be!! Hes worse than Darius." Lupos nodded seriously before the grin broke out on his face. "Have fun sparing you two!" the terrified look on Munin''s face warmed Lupos'' heart as he laughed. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hi everyone sorry there hasn''t been a chapter recently but I finally got back from holiday yesterday!!!! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I''ll try to write a lot more now I''m back!!! Please leave a comment or review so I can improve my story :) Knowledge is power The next day Lupos, along with Fenrir and Sleipnir returned to the classroom next to Mervyn''s office, with Wing and a now recovered Lucio for their next lesson. Walking into the classroom silently they sat down in front of Mervyn, who was standing at the front of the classroom, with a serious look on his face. "When we travelled back from the inter schools competition, I warned all of you that there would be those who would attempt to use you." Mervyn paused for a moment. "What I didn''t expect is that there would be those who wished to harm you this early on." Silence reigned throughout the room as Mervyn met each of their eyes before continuing. "As I have said before, being powerful for your age does not make you powerful, and so I have decided that it be in your best interest that I teach you the strengths and weaknesses of each type of elemental spirit, so you have a better chance when facing one. However what you learn here today must not leave this room, understood?" Lupos, Lucio and Wing looked at each other and nodded. Lupos could feel the excitement building up in him, hoping this meant what he thought it did. Letting out a high pitched whistle, a large and majestic eagle swooped into the room. "This is Shabaz, a holy light eagle and the first of my summoned spirits." Upon seeing this, Lupos let out a sly smile before quickly changing it to an enthusiastic smile. "Now," said Mervyn ignorant of Lupos'' joy, "a light based spirit is often referred to as the most powerful. This is because light is always around us, allowing light magicians and their spirits to influence what''s already around them, rather than creating it from scratch, like say a fire magician and their spirit would. This allows both light magicians and their spirits to create higher tier spells at the cost of using less power. Which is why light magicians and spirits can use very high power area of affect spells, with a large radius. Now this is basic understanding but it is often forgotten. Understood?" Lupos, Lucio and Wing nodded. "Good," continued Mervyn, "now it is for this reason that dark magicians and their spirits cause such problems. As powerful as light magic is, some magicians get reliant on manipulation of what is already there over creating something new. Which is why when a dark magician or spirit suddenly blocks that light they are left helpless. Unfortunately, none of you have a darkness affinity, but you can use any element to obscure the light making it harder for the light magician or spirit you are facing." Mervyn stopped and let out a lower whistle, before Shabaz let out a high pitched screech and dove out through the window. Once he was gone Mervyn turned to face his students. "Now as you can see I use sounds to communicate with my spirits, I suggest you and your spirits create signals too. It is a well known fact that although a spirit can momentarily speak with you during it''s summoning, due to a high quality of magic, they normally communicate in mindspeak which is the language of magical beasts. Although humans have tried to learn it, there has never been a magical beast willing to teach it to humans. Well none we can understand anyway. Most magical beasts with the ability to take human form have either been hunted down by slavers or killed for sport." Lupos attempted to stop the snarl attempting to escape his lips as he thought about the fate that had befallen Akari. Suddenly Lupos noticed Mervyn had stopped speaking and turned to see him with wide eyes and open lips muttering under his breath. "Headmaster?" asked Lucio confused to why he was stopping "What''s wrong?" Mervyn snapped out of his stupor. "I just remembered something, or rather someone. I think there was a child who may have known mindspeak and I let him go." Lucio looked at Mervyn in confusion. "What do you mean?" Mervyn ignored him and muttered under his breath "the little rat..it can''t have been...but the queen gave her life for him...." The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Lupos felt his blood run cold, that child had been him, and though Mervyn had never seen his face properly on that day he was scared, Mervyn may put the pieces together. Luckily, Mervyn shook his head and continued on "sorry for that you three I was just thinking through a theory but I believe I was just being optimistic." Lupos and the others nodded, however, Lupos tried to keep a straight face not letting his guard down. Mervyn let out a series of tongue clicks and a griffon came in through the same window the eagle had arrived in (it was a very big window.) the griffon had a sand like colour that shone in the sunlight. "This is Simurgh, he is an earth gryphon and my second spirit, now the benefits of an earth spirit is similar to that of light magic. In the fact the earth is almost always all around us, but is much harder to block. However, where light magicians use their element to create large area of affect spells, earth magicians concentrate their powers to create a focus point for their powers. Even those with only medium affinities with earth can be dangerous, as with enough focus, they can create small movements in the ground which are enough to make anyone lose their balance shifting the course of a fight." Mervyn paused for a breath while the gryphon demonstrated by creating a shift in the ground. "Now a disadvantage of earth based spirits and magicians is that using their power requires huge focus. More so than any other element, so disrupting their focus is an easy way to gain the upper hand." Mervyn clicked his tongue again and the griffon left. "Now the next spirit we are going to be studying is a fire spirit." Mervyn sang a high note, while Lupos was struggling not to laugh, another large bird that looked similar to a phoenix of sorts flew in. "This is Hom¨¡ my third spirit. Now fire usually has to be created from scratch so larger spells take a lot more energy to create. However, fire devours all and if you are not careful fire magicians and spirits can turn any environment against you as well as creating a high level of casualties. Fire is one of the most destructive elements and it''s affects last the longest meaning the best way to defeat a fire magician or spirit is to do it before they cast. As like light magic, they are best as, area of effect spells, but similar to earth in that they require huge amounts of focus." Mervyn let out a grin. "Now as you have all probably been taught, I do have one more spirit. However, he''s the one I''m going to be using to fight against you in our practice match so I won''t reveal it yet." Wing raised his hand and Mervyn nodded to him. "Aren''t you going to use two spirits to face us as we have two spirits as well?" Mervyn shook his head "No I''ve had my spirits a lot longer than you so I have an advantage in terms of partnership and besides..." Mervyn trailed off and looked at Lucio who only had one spirit before continuing on. "I''ll be using all four types of magic anyway, so it''ll be hard enough as it is without adding in extra spirits." Wing nodded looking slightly relieved, while Lupos grinned, he had just found out one more of Mervyn''s spirits. Things were going well. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hi guys I made today''s chapter a longer one so I hoped you enjoyed it, for anyone who couldn''t figure it out Lupos''s spirits are from norse mythology, Wings are from Greek mythology, Lucio''s are from Chinese mythology and Mervyn''s spirits are from Persian mythology. Hope you guys liked it feel free to leave a comment or review! :) Tying up loose ends "Now," said Mervyn, "before the lesson ends I would like to announce I have set the dates for your individual fights with me. Because, I will be fighting all three of you, if it was on the same day than whoever went last would have an unfair advantage. Because I would have used more magic and also you may have caught glimpses of the previous fight, giving you an advantage. So instead, Lucio, will fight me on Monday evening, Wing on Tuesday evening and Gale on Wednesday evening." Mervyn looked at the three boys "any questions?" The boys shook their heads. "Very good, you''re dismissed until your fight so use your time to train wisely. After checking Lucio and Wing were gone, Lupos purposefully hung back to speak to Mervyn. "What is it Gale?" asked Mervyn looking at the boy in confusion. Although it was common knowledge that Mervyn wasn''t a fan of nobles, he hated tricksters and thieves even more so. So he was obviously not a fan of Lupos, who was perfectly happy to use tricks and traps to even out his odds in a fight. "Well," said Lupos trying to adopt a worried expression, "in truth, I was really worried by the attack on Lucio. If they had no problem attacking someone from such a powerful family, they''ll have no trouble attacking me and Wing!" Mervyn''s eyes softened. "It''s a difficult thing to deal with I know, let me know if there is anything I can help you with." Lupos gave the appearance of hesitation, while Mervyn smiled encouragingly. "Well, I was wondering if perhaps you could give me a private lesson on Monday after your fight with Lucio." Mervyn stared at Lupos in disbelief. "I know you''d be more tired headmaster, but I honestly don''t think I''m a match for you even then anyway." Mervyn nodded haughtily believing the boy to be right. "I can certainly understand your position, but if our training included sparing it would give you an unfair advantage in our fight." Lupos paused as if considering a new idea. "What if you spar with me with one of the spirits you''ve already introduced so I don''t gain any new information?" Mervyn considered, then smiled. "Ok, I''ll agree to it if you believe it will help. Do you want to extend this training to your friends?" Lupos shook his head blushing as if embarrassed. "No. Both of them are stronger than me anyway, Wing only placed lower because he had the bad luck to face Dante. To be honest, I feel embarrassed to be stuck relying on cheap tricks to win while the two of them rely purely on their skills. So if you could keep it a secret I''d be grateful." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Mervyn nodded with both understanding and smugness. "Of course I''ll help you. Come to the nearby forest at three pm on Monday and I''ll spar with you and give you some tips and pointers on your skills," Lupos nodded a grateful expression on his face. "Thank you." Mervyn chuckled. "It''s ok, and don''t worry I''ll keep it a secret." Lupos smiled once more then walked out the room, an entirely different smile emerging on his face, this one much more evil. Things were going according to plan. Once he''d left the Classroom, Lupos ran to catch up with Lucio, who was surprisingly close. "Lucio can I talk to you for a sec?" asked Lupos, Lucio turned and nodded a confident smile on his face. "Of course, what is it?" Lupos looked around nervously as if worried about being discovered. "Well you know that magical beast girl you caught, I was wondering if you could tell me the name of the man who got her for you?" Lucio looked at Lupos shocked. "Can you tell me why? You don''t want one do you because they''re very expensive slaves?" Lupos grit his teeth trying not to say something he really shouldn''t do. "No, but if you remember I come from a family of hunters and one of our richer clients is interested in a magical beast in human form." Lucio nodded in understanding. "Of course I understand, the man who acquired the beast for me was Garret Yulg, head of the Yulg family. However, he claimed for it to have been a gift to him. Though I don''t know who from." Very slowly a grin formed on Lupos'' face. "Thanks a lot Lucio I knew someone as knowledgeable as yourself would know how to help." Lucio flushed with pride. "You''re welcome, now be on your way you need more practice than I do." Lupos nodded and walked of grinning, he had a letter to write to Akari. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hi guys sorry for the wait on the chapter, to tell you the truth I spent most of today reading the new Harry Potter book so didn''t have time to write the chapter up, hope you enjoyed it and please leave a comment or review so I can improve my story :) AND LAST THING OMG I REACHED 50 CHAPTERS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORTING ME THROUGH THIS!!!!! Revenge Several days had passed since Lupos'' conversation with Mervyn and Lucio, and tomorrow, at three pm Lupos would finally have the chance to fight Mervyn alone while he was only using one spirit. And so it was the night before the fight was to take place that Lupos, Fenrir, Jormugand, Hugin, Munin and Sleipnir (still in Shetland pony form) snuck over to the area that Mervyn had agreed to fight him in. "Ok," said Lupos in mindspeak, although there was no one out there and Lupos could have spoken aloud, there was no point taking such a stupid risk when he had mindspeak as an ability. "This is where Mervyn will fight us, but, it should also be near where Mervyn has agreed to fight Lucio. So we want to set up traps that can help in our fight, but won''t go off until then, so as to not make Mervyn suspicious. Any ideas?" The spirits were silent till Fenrir responded. "How about a magic activation trap, so you set it up using magic but not enough for the trap to set off. So it''ll only go off once you inject more of your magic into the trap." Lupos grinned. "Good idea, ok let''s get started." Half the night later and Lupos finally returned to his bed, preparations complete. He smiles, tomorrow was the day he would finally kill Mervyn Oakshield. The next day Lupos woke up early and briefed his spirits on his plan and their positions before attending his regular lessons. Although he felt impatient, he had waited over two years for this revenge, and he didn''t mind waiting longer. However, eventually the wait was over and Lupos finally made his way back to the clearing where Mervyn and his fire spirit Hom¨¡ was waiting. Seeing Lupos Mervyn let out a small smile. "Right then, let''s begin." No sooner had the words left Mervyn''s mouth, than Lupos sent down a low concentration of dark magical power activating an earthen pit trap that closed over Mervyn''s head and trapped his spirit which had dived for him the second he saw Mervyn in trouble. "Gale.." started Mervyn irritably, before Lupos let out a cry of his own. "Headmaster...he.lp...me..." Lupos let out a savage grin, let the show begin. .............................................................................. Mervyn''s POV Mervyn looked at the boy standing in front of him, obviously ready to fight and let out a small smile. Ready to start, Mervyn called out the starting words. "Right then, let''s begin." No sooner had the words left his mouth and Mervyn felt the earth disappeared beneath him as he tumbled into a pit of darkness, vaguely aware of Hom¨¡ following him. Landing on the bottom Mervyn huffed out irritably, the whole point of this training was to stop Gale''s reliance on petty tricks and traps. "Gale..." said Mervyn in both disappoinment and annoyance, when he heard Gale cry out. "Headmaster...he.lp...me..." Suddenly Mervyn felt something was very very wrong. Attempting to use light magic to break out the trap, Mervyn was struck with the realisation that the trap he was in had been activated by dark magic. Something Gale was incapable of doing. Mervyn''s blood ran cold, this was a trap, only the target wasn''t him but his apprentice. Wasting no time Mervyn motioned for Hom¨¡ to use fire magic to blast out the trap. Using wind magic to fly through the hole Hom¨¡ had created Mervyn desperately looked round the surface looking for Gale. Finally finding him Mervyn stared in shock as he saw Gale laid unconscious on the ground, blood trickling down his face, as his wolf spirit defended against two attacking birds that bore the appearance of ravens one white one black. Rushing over to Gale''s side, Hom¨¡ immediately helped the wolf face off against the two birds while Mervyn checked Gale''s pulse. He was relieved, to find it still going strong. He used a combination of light and water magic to temporarily heal Gale''s wounds. Taking advantage of the fact Gale was healed Mervyn quickly moved to Hom¨¡''s side to defend against the ravens, noting how Gale''s wolf fell back to defend his summoner. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Suddenly another dark magic activated trap sprung, wrapping Hom¨¡ in an earthen case. Momentarily distracted, Mervyn did not notice the jade green snake until it was already too late. Feeling a sudden pain in his ankle, Mervyn looked down to see the snake clamping on to his ankle as he began to feel numb. Realising what had happened, Mervyn desperately attempted to use light and water magic to heal the poison within him. However the magic could only slow the flow, not stop it entirely. But, due to the extreme concentration that was required to maintain the magic, Mervyn could do nothing but watch as a jet black, eight legged stallion calmly walked into the clearing towards Mervyn. With each step closer towards Mervyn, Mervyn felt weaker, it was absorbing his magic power. Now usually, this was something Mervyn would easily be able to fight against, but, due to a mix of tiredness, poison and depleted Magic, Mervyn was powerless to resist. Falling to the ground, Mervyn could do nothing but stare in horror as Gale''s wolf moved slowly towards the still trapped Homa, and tore his throat out. "Noooooooooooooooo." screamed Mervyn as finally images began to connect in his head. Small things that had never seemed quite right finally coming together to present a bigger picture in his head. The creatures that attacked and killed his niece matched perfectly to the spirits in front of him. The summoning magic that had occurred only several days after the new students arrived, the highly talented boy who always conveniently lost to Lucio, the young girl, Maria, who had vanished after talking to Gale and the silhouette, the one that had appeared after Gale''s summoning, the one he himself had dismissed. Even older images appeared, the young boy raised by wolves whose family had been killed in front of him, who not only had a high proficiency in dark magic, but was raised in the same forest Gale claimed to be raised in, the odd request for the daggers made from a shadow wolf''s claws despite the incompatibility with his earth magic. The flawless attacks of the spirits despite the fact no commands were given....aloud at least. but them again for a boy raised by magic beasts using mindspeak would be second nature for him wouldn''t it? Mervyn realised. Just as he drew this conclusion, Mervyn felt the dagger enter his heart, looking down at his chest Mervyn recognised the dagger. After all he had given the dagger to Gale himself for coming second in the new student competition, the daggers made from a shadow wolf''s claws, the boys mother he supposed now. Mervyn felt panicked for a minute denying the inevitable conclusion that his own choices had led him to. "You killed my niece." He said in a calmer voice, trying to buy time for help to come. But, he knew no hope was coming, no one knew he was here and no one would ever suspect Gale even after the deed was done. "I did." replied Gale coldly, a savage grin on his face. Mervyn''s blood splattered on his body. Mervyn opened his mouth to try and make one more desperate cry for help. However, the opportunity never came, as Gale drove the matching dagger made from his mother''s claws into Mervyn''s head. Mervyn''s last view was the small bloodstained boy smiling at him with more malice than any man should ever possess. "That was for my family." And so it was on that night that Mervyn Oakshield headmaster of the first academy of magic, died. .................................................................................. Author''s note Hi everyone sorry for the late chapter I was stuck on holiday again, but the real reason for the wait is that I was unsure how to go about this chapter and after a couple of drafts I finally felt happy with this one so I hoped you enjoyed it! I will be starting a second arc shortly so I hope you stay tuned and enjoy, thanks alot Autumn12 :) Discovery Kaia''s (Mervyn''s spy) POV It was late evening and Kaia along with fellow spy Damien were patrolling the city streets per Mervyn''s instructions. "Damien, do you know what Master was doing tonight?" Damien shook his head. "Not a clue, he said he had a sparring match with that Illio kid earlier but he didn''t say anything about his plans after. Just told me he was busy." Kaia nodded in thought as the two continued along the rooftops. "He told me the same but I''m slightly worried....ever since he started asking us to look into....well you know." Damien nodded a grave expression appearing on his face. Looking around to make sure no-one was present, he once again faced Kaia. "I''m worried too, looking into the Emperor is a serious offense, but, Master''s right....too many things aren''t adding up." Damien looked around once more. "We both know it was an Emperor''s spy we saw dead at the competition, not only that, he was one of the imperial clans numbers! There''s only ten with the title and they say they were looking for someone at the competition. If they''re after a student, we have to be careful." Kaia nodded still uneasy. "I know, I''m just a bit concerned that''s all." Damien nodded sympathetically. "I understand, anyway we''re done with our patrol now. Lets go meet up with Simurgh and we''ll attach a report of our findings back to Master." Kaia nodded, on patrol nights, pairs of spies would patrol the city before writing down their findings and giving it to one of Mervyn''s spirits to give back to him. Continuing along the rooftops, Kaia and Damien finally approached the meeting point, when they suddenly heard a cry if pain. "Simurgh!" yelled Kaia running towards the meeting point forgetting all attempts at stealth. As she arrived, she saw the griffon rear and give one last mighty shriek of pain, before he slowly started to fade them vanish. "Simurgh." She cried once more running to griffons side, however, just as she arrived the griffon was gone, as if it had never been there to start with. Finally catching up, Damien saw Kaia collapsed on the ground in shock and sorrow. "Kaia what''s wrong? What happened? Where''s Simurgh?!?" Kaia let out a sob. "He''s gone....he just vanished.." Damien paled. "Vanished....that only happens when the spirit''s summoner...." Suddenly Damien trailed off in realisation. "Kaia we need to find Master. Now." Kaia gasped, realising what had happened and quickly followed Damien back towards the school. Bursting into Mervyn''s study, Kaia and Damien came face to face with Axel and Nia, Mervyn''s other two spies. "You too?" Asked Damien and Nia nodded. "Shabaz disappeared right in front of our eyes. Hom¨¡ was with Master and I don''t know about the fourth spirit....If such a thing has happened, we must prepare ourselves for the worst. I''ll take the city, Axel will search the school, Kaia the forest and Damien the caves - meet back here in ten minutes." All nodding in agreement, the four spies separated and each went a different way. Searching through the forest it wasn''t long before Kaia came across a large field filled with holes and scorched ground. "What in the world happened here?" whispered Kaia aloud, however all thoughts stopped as she saw Mervyn. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The master she had been with for five years currently lay in front of her stabbed in the heart and decapitated. "No," she whispered in denial "Noooooooooooooooo," the scream was a heart rendered one. Almost instantly the three other spies appeared, having predicted what had happened. For a moment none of them spoke, but, merely stared, before all four succumbed to their emotions and let tears run down their faces. It was no mistake to say Mervyn had been like family to all of them and yet not one of them spoke words of revenge. Mervyn was a powerful magician there was no doubt about that. Anyone who had managed to kill him, even, if he only had one spirit by him was far above their league. Besides, no matter how close they had been, their work for him was merely work. And now that it was over, the four would move on. But for the moment they wallowed in their grief. .................................................................................. Emperor''s POV Within the Emperor''s palace the Emperor sat on a golden throne scowling in annoyance at his attendant. "So who has called an audience with me and why?" The attendant looked away nervously. "The meeting was called by a woman named Kaia, who has claimed to be Mervyn Oakshield''s aide. As for the subject of the meeting, I am currently unaware, she claimed it was of the utmost importance." The Emperor let out an amused smile. "Well now, I suppose whatever has happened must be very interesting for her to come. Send her in." The attendant nodded and motioned for a young woman, with eyes clearly red from crying, to be escorted in. "So what news do you bring?" Asked the Emperor clearly interested. "Mervyn Oakshield is dead." Claimed the woman in an uninterested voice, not at all matching her grieving appearance. "What?!?" Asked the Emperor clearly shocked. Although he wasn''t fond of the man, and was clearly wary of him, he still had respect for his skills and found it hard to believe someone had enough power to take him out. "When did this occur? And do we know who was responsible?" Kaia shook her head. "We have no clue about the one responsible. However, we are aware that attacks had been carried out against one of Mervyn''s apprentices recently." The Emperor nodded in understanding, this did not bode well for his plans. "Keep all teachers and students in the school as they may know something. Tomorrow I''ll send one of the numbers from the imperial clan to ascertain if one of the culprits was associated with the school." If Kaia was shocked with the sending of such high level assassins she didn''t show it, but instead nodded and left without being dismissed. The Emperor sat in silence things were not going well. The boy he had been searching for still remained a mystery and now there was Mervyn''s death to deal with as well. Something had gone terribly wrong and he wasn''t quite sure if he''d be able to fix it without the truth coming out. Complications Lupos''s POV The morning after killing Mervyn, Lupos awoke to a loud knock on the door. He told all his spirits, except Fenrir and Sleipnir, to hide in mindspeak. Arranging his hair over his eyes to keep then hidden, Lupos slowly stumbled towards the door and the now impatient knocker. Opening the door Lupos was met face to face by a man dressed in black, the same ensemble he now knew to be the clothing of the Emperor''s assassins. Feigning a surprised face Lupos moved away from the door. "Who are you and why are you here?!?" The spy gave a small bow. "I apologise for surprising you, you may address me, for the meanwhile, as Three, as I do not have a name. I am here on behalf of the Emperor with regards to the incident that occurred last night." Lupos lowered his guard and put on a face of na?ve trust before looking at Three in confusion. "What incident? Did something happen?" Three gave a grave nod. "I am sorry to tell you that last night, Mervyn Oakshield, headmaster of the first academy of magic was found murdered in the school hall." Lupos'' face paled. "The headmasters dead? That can''t be! He was too powerful for that, he had four spirits! He can''t be dead. Who the hell was powerful enough to kill him?!?" Lupos watched as the spy noted with satisfaction that Lupos hadn''t picked up on the wrong detail of the murder being in the hall. The spy nodded slowly. "That''s what I am trying to find out." Lupos paused for a minute, before taking this in. "Does that mean I''m a suspect?" he asked worriedly before Three burst into laughter. "No, you alone would not be powerful enough to kill him." the laughter in Three''s voice disappeared. "But, you may be an accomplice. There''s also the possibility you know something. First of all do you have an alibi?" Lupos stared at the spy in confusion while carefully maintaining a grieving expression. "I don''t know, what time last night was the headmaster....killed." The spy paused for a second thinking. "Somewhere between four in the evening and seven at night." Lupos paused as if trying to remember. "I was here all evening but I don''t have any witnesses." Three nodded. "Thank you for your help, now last question - do you know who might have been targeting the headmaster?" Lupos paused for a moment, as if reluctant to say before speaking. "Well, rather than just the headmaster, whoever it was, might have been after Lucio as well....." Lupos trailed off as the spy nodded in interest. "What do you mean?" "Well," said Lupos, "as you may know the headmaster''s niece was attacked but that affected Lucio too, because they seemed to be engaged....Not only that, but the original attack was at Lucio during our summoning lesson. The attackers never touched me or Wing. The headmasters also warned us to be careful of nobles..." Lupos once again trailed off as Three went silent in consideration. "Do you know if lessons are still on?" asked Lupos sounding visibly shaken. "I''d like something to take my mind off....well you know." The spy nodded once. "I''m not certain, but I believe they are cancelled." Lupos nodded and the spy gave another small bow before disappearing, leaving Lupos alone with his still hidden spirits. "You guys can come out now." said Lupos in mindspeak as he grinned openly. "Fenrir and Sleipnir, today I''m gonna need both of you obviously by my side. We need to be careful so that no one suspects me. Because I hid my eyes, the Emperor''s spies are not likely to associate me to the boy with black hair and blue eyes they were searching for, but just in case we can''t slip up." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Fenrir and Sleipnir nodded. Lupos turned to look at Jormugand, Hugin and Munin. "Jormugand did you plant the information indicating the Yulg families involvement?" Jormugand grinned. "Yesssss Luposssss everything issss in place." Lupos smiled and nodded "Good job, now that that''s done, I want you three to leave to Darius'' house. The school will probably close soon, while they try to figure out Mervyn''s death, no point running extra risk of you guys being discovered." Without another word Hugin, Munin and Jormugand exited the room through the window employing whatever stealth means necessary. "Right," said Lupos still in mindspeak. "Time to play the part of a grieving student." Walking out the door with Fenrir and Sleipnir in tow, Lupos made his way towards Wings room and knocked on the door. Wing opened the door instantly, his face sad and tear stained. "No need to ask you if you''ve heard the news then." Said Lupos a sad undertone in his voice. Wing let out a tight smile. "No need at all, you coming in?" Lupos nodded. "You okay? I didn''t know you were that fond of Mervyn." Wing smiled ruefully. "That''s the worst part, I''m not that fond of him, the reason for my tears is because I''ve just lost the only way I had of getting me and my family out of poverty." Lupos nodded, but felt some genuine sadness at the predicament his actions had put his friend in. His friend.....Lupos noted with a start that he actually thought of Wing as a friend not just another human. "It''ll be ok," said Lupos soothingly. "You use a powerful variant magic, there''s no way that you won''t be able to find a way to help your family." Wing paused for a moment, looking downcast, before he turned to Lupos. "Gale I''m going to tell you the truth about my family and I want you to listen. If you don''t want to be friends afterwards I understand." Lupos nodded confused, Wing carried on a desperate look appearing on his face. "Although I told you we were commoners, in truth, my families'' situation is worse than that. We''re currently seriously in debt to the Yulg family. The only reason I was able to come to this school was because the family head paid for it. I was meant to report back if I saw Mervyn getting closer to any of the other noble families. I''m worried that my past reporting about Mervyn may have got him killed, this may put my family in danger." Wing paused as if fighting an internal battle. "I know this is a lot to ask, but I remember your family are hunters is there any way you could maybe help me smuggle my family into a safer area of the magical beast forest?" Lupos felt his blood run cold. the fact that Mervyn''s death had been framed on the Yulg family, the family that his friend just happened to be spying for, may mean the death penalty for Wing and his family, but helping may result in Lupos''s death. There was only one option. "Wing first of all I am going to tell you a story, when it''s done you can decide if you still want to remain my friend and if you still want my help." ................................................................................. Author''s note Hi guys sorry for the late chapter and I''m sorry for the atrocious spelling the last couple weeks as my proofreaders on holiday still I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Choices "W..What story?" asked Wing looking apprehensive. Lupos made a difficult expression. "A long one. But, we can''t talk here, follow me to the forest if you want to know." Wing nodded resolutely. "You heard me out so I''ll do the same for you. When do we leave." Lupos smiled. "Now." Walking quickly but cautiously through the school, Lupos and Wing soon arrived in the clearing Lupos had used for summoning Jormugand all those months ago. Standing in the centre of the clearing, Lupos quickly spoke to Fenrir and Sleipnir in mindspeak. "Patrol the area, make sure none of the Emperor''s spies find us." Fenrir paused for a second. "Are you really going to tell him everything?" Lupos smiled at his oldest spirit. "Yes, he''s my friend and he deserves to know the truth, even more so than ever seeing how my actions might have affected him." Fenrir gave a small smile of understanding. "Then I wish you luck." Lupos grinned. "Thanks you two go patrol then." Seeing both of his spirits nod resolutely, Lupos turned around to face Wing and spoke. "Im the one who killed Mervyn." Continuing to speak, Lupos told Wing his life story. Whether it was how he was raised by shadow wolves or the fact he had five spirits, Lupos left nothing out telling Wing the whole truth. When he was done, Lupos stayed silent and watched Wing, the only human he had ever called a friend, and waited for his response. It was five long minutes later when Wing finally responded. "Can I ask you a question?" Lupos nodded mutely. "What happens to me if I refuse to accept what you''ve done and go against you? Will you kill me, like you killed Maria?" Lupos shook his head. "No, I don''t want to kill the only human friend I have. If you disagree and tell me you wish to tell the Emperor''s spies the truth then I''ll leave, I''d still have a head start, and, with five spirits and darkness magic, I could probably escape even with the Emperor''s spies chasing me. I would not do anything to hurt you or your family." Wing nodded again slowly and Lupos continued. "But if at all possible, I''d like to avoid that situation." Lupos stopped talking as silence reigned throughout the clearing and Wing slowly raised his head to look at Lupos. Looking at Wing, Lupos was surprised to see his friend smiling with tears in his eyes ."Youre an idiot, Ga..I mean Lupos you''re my friend. I don''t approve of all of your choices but there''s nothing I can do now." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Wing paused for a second to wipe the tears sliding down his face and made a valiant attempt at a laugh. "It''s funny though, I never thought both of us would turn out to be murderers." Lupos paused and looked in Wing in shock. "What do you mean, you killed someone?" Wing nodded and let out a deep breath. "You told me your story and I''ll tell you mine. In truth, the reason we''re in debt is my fault. Some official of the Yulg family was interested in my older sister, and being the poor commoners we were, she had no right to refuse, despite the fact she loved someone else." Wing paused, as if working through his anger about the situation before continuing. "And one day after seeing my poor sister with tears streaming down her face, begging the official not to touch her, I snapped." A cold look, unlike any Lupos had ever seen emerged on Wing''s face. "I used a spell called eternal sleep. It put the man in a coma that wouldn''t allow him to accept food or water and several days later he died." A sadder look emerged on Wing''s face. "I don''t regret what I did, but I do regret he fact that the head of the Yulg family found out about it. Where I live, the punishment for murder is death, unless you have enough money to buy your way out of it. So the family head agreed to pay the bribe, if I paid him back by spying on Mervyn." Silence reigned as Wing and Lupos stared at each other, before, Lupos finally moved towards Wing outstretched arms, and gave him a hug. As he comforted his crying friend he made a promise. "We will make them pay. I promise you we will make them pay." .................................................................................. Author''s note Sorry for the short chapter but I figured you''d want to read it sooner rather than later :) The plan It was several minutes later before Wing finally stopped crying and broke off from Lupos'' embrace, looking thoroughly embarrassed, but still quite happy. "So what now? How are we gonna get my family away from the Yulg''s?" Lupos paused for a second, before turning to Wing. "How big is your family and how easy will we be able to access them?" Wing didn''t even take a second to consider. "Both my parents, two little brothers and one older sister. My parents and brothers should be easy to find, they''re both located on the edge of the slum district." Wing paused for a minute as his fists clenched once more "The problem is my sister. To make sure I didn''t go back on our deal, the families head forced my sister to work, practically as a slave for him. She lives in the main compound of their manor, so its heavily guarded." Wing sighed. "I could put the guards to sleep, but, the head himself has enough magic to resist and as soon as he figured out what was happening, there would be no way to smuggle my sister out." Lupos paused for a minute considering this. "Would your parents and brothers be missed if they suddenly vanished?" Wing paused for a moment considering. "Probably not., he admitted, "that bastard knows I would never leave even one of my family members behind, so he only ever needed my sister to keep me in line. But there''s still a possibility that the rest of my family''s being watched." Lupos hesitated for a minute before giving a decisive nod. "Then we''re going to need more help. I''m going to call out Akari and Darius. We have a bone to pick with the Yulg family anyway." Wing grinned but still looked slightly confused " I can understand that an increase in fire power is a good thing, but how does that help smuggle my family out?" Lupos gave a smile. "Well the main problem is, if we smuggle your sister out first then the family head will attempt to capture the rest of your family and we may not have enough time to save them both. But, if we smuggle the rest of your family out first we risk the Yulg family finding out and increasing security on your sister. At the same time, it''s too dangerous to have your family nearby during the attempt of liberating your sister or just sending them ahead into the forest where they could be hurt or killed." Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Wing nodded starting to understand. "So you''ll send the rest of my family ahead with Darius on the same night the rest of us attack the manor?" Lupos gave a tight smile. "Close. Darius and your family are going to wait near the entrance to the forest, where he''ll protect them. Then after your sister is smuggled out, you and her will join Darius and your family. He''ll help you escape to his hut in the woods where we can plan what to do from there." Wing paused. "But what about you and Akari?" Lupos let out a savage grin. "We have some questions for the head of the family so we''ll stay behind for a bit. We''ll join you soon after." Wing looked like he was about to object before he sighed and gave a resigned grin. "Ok, then deal. But if I see him before we go I want one good punch in the face!" Lupos laughed "Of course." Looking around, Lupos realised the sky was starting to darken. "First of all though, lets head back to our rooms before we''re missed. I''ll send a message to Darius and Akari tonight." Nodding, the two boys parted ways both of them thinking about the upcoming escape. .............................................................................. Authors note hi guys i''m really sorry for the long wait my phones been bugging out a bit recently and i couldn''t log in but its working now :D anyway just for a small note i was curious if any readers had an account on Amino because me and a couple of friends recently created a community on it for fun called Dark Fairy if anyone''s interested in joining! anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter ill try to update more regularly :) A hint Leaving Wing in his room, Lupos and Fenrir slowly made their way back to the dorm. However, just before they could reach it Fenrir heard a voice in one of the nearby corridors coming towards them. "Lupos," he growled in mindspeak "It''s Lucio." Nodding silently, Lupos pressed himself against the wall, concealing himself and Fenrir with darkness magic and listened silently as Lucio came closer. "It''s me they''re after!" rung out Lucio''s voice, as he finally came round the corner into view. "It''s not just Mervyn! They targeted my fiance, my spirit summoning ritual and now my teacher." Lucio stopped in front of Lupos and faced the figure Lupos now recognised as Three. Looking at Lucio in an uninterested manner, Three responded, in a calm manner with an bored tone. "Interesting you should say so, your fellow apprentice Gale theorised the same." That drew Lucio up short. "He did?" He said with surprise. Noting the surprise in Lucio''s voice, Three turned to look at Lupos. "Is there something surprising about that?" Lucio gave a short nod while Lupos looked at Lucio slightly worried. "It''s nothing much, it''s just that I wouldn''t expect him to be smart enough to put it together." Lupos smiled, finally somewhere Lucio''s annoying habit of looking down on people could work in his favour. "In truth," continued Lucio unaware of Lupos''s joy "even in fighting he''s forced to rely on a lot of petty tricks and traps to do well, the only reason he''s even Mervyn''s apprentice is because of the headmaster''s promise." Lupos stopped smiling, while number three gained an interested air around him. "Do you remember what type of magic Gale has and what his summoned spirits affinities were?" Lucio nodded pompously. "Of course, he had a higher earth affinity and his spirit was a large silver wolf with an earth and darkness ability." Lupos silently cursed Lucio in his mind, but couldn''t do anything more than watch as Three casually asked in a sly voice. "Do you know the spirits name and also his second spirit? I heard he recently managed to summon a second spirit." Lucio looked a little put out by all the attention placed on Lupos but answered nonetheless. "The first one, the wolf that is, was Fenrir I think. The second spirit was a small Shetland pony," Lucio paused momentarily, to snicker at what he believed to be Lupos'' misfortune. Unfortunately, it was due to this snicker that Lupos missed the words Three said under his breath. "So the old man was right....it was Fenrir." "I don''t know it''s affinity though, we were meant to keep it secret for our battle with Mervyn so we''d have a slight advantage." Three nodded, "thanks for your help." Walking off without another word, Three started to make his way towards Lupos'' room. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Shit." swore Lupos under his breath. Once he was sure Lucio had left using mindspeak he quickly contacted Sleipnir. "Sleipnir I need you over here NOW!" Not waiting for a response, Lupos quickly ran outside and sat on the grass, Fenrir, shortly sitting down beside him. It was only several seconds later that Lupos was joined by Sleipnir albeit in his Shetland pony form. "What is it Lupos?" Lupos grimaced "Lucio''s given Three a hint about my spirits and your affinities. However, it seems like Three was curious about you and your affinity as well as my apparent talent for traps. So tell me quickly, do you have any affinities other than magic absorption?" Sleipnir nodded. "I can use the magic I''ve absorbed. Seeing as the last magic absorbed was Mervyn''s, I can use earth, fire, water, air or light." Lupos hesitated a minute. "Ok, later I''m going to ask you to use magic without specifying what type so I need you to perform water magic when the time comes." Sleipnir nodded accepting Lupos''s strange request. He was about to question it when Lupos turned to face Fenrir. "When I scream, I want you to run towards the forest as if chasing something, before running back later with some scratches and blood on you. Tonight, I also want you to give the message of the plan to free Wing''s family to Akari via Ratatoskr. Understood?" Fenrir nodded and Lupos grinned while quickly withdrawing one of the small daggers Darius had given him. Wasting no time, he tightened his grip on the handle and slammed it into his own shoulder. Screaming out in pain Lupos hid the dagger and watched as Fenrir ran towards the forest and Three appeared nearby. Pretending not to notice, Three Lupos yelled at Sleipnir. "Use barrier magic!!!" Watching as Sleipnir erected a transparent water barrier Lupos allowed himself to collapse onto the ground. The dagger he used, was of course, coated with poison. Lupos was, of course, immune to most poisons, but by using one his body was unfamiliar with and by relaxing his guard, he allowed the milder of the physical affects to take place without the harmful symptoms appearing. Lupos awoke the next morning his shoulder bandaged up, while Three sat opposite the bed staring at him. "What happened?" asked Lupos pretending to be disoriented. Three sighed. "You were attacked last night, it seems Mervyn''s killers are somewhat interested in his apprentices as well. For the safety of the students, all of you are to be sent home." .................................................................................. Author''s note I''m really REALLY sorry for the wait on the chapter I''ve been caught up in homework and my job, I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Scheming in silence Three''s POV Three sighed the boy opposite him, Gale stared at him with a shocked look on his face. "What about my lessons?!?! How am I meant to get stronger if I''m not at school?!?!" Three seemed to grow annoyed at Gale''s apparently childish display. "There is no other choice, you and your fellow apprentices being here is a danger to the other students!" Of course in actuality Three didn''t care how many students were injured, or even killed, they were nothing to do with him. The three apprentices, his top three suspects at that, disappearing back home, did however interfere with his plan to find out if any of them had ties to Mervyn''s murder. Unfortunately the order to send the students home came from the Emperor himself. After all, keeping up appearances was important and by "protecting" the students the Emperor was creating a very good show indeed. Gale looked downcast for a moment before turning to face Three with a trembling expression. "What happens next year? Will the school still be open?" Three sighed irritably. "I don''t know. It''ll all work out somehow, for now you need to focus on packing. You must be gone by tomorrow lunch." Gale nodded thoughtfully though still retaining his troubled expression. "Will we be safe at home?" Three resisted the urge to scream "Of course not!" at Gale and just about managed to stay silent. He was an assassin, not a baby sitter and although he was interested in finding Mervyn''s killer he had no real interest in the children he taught. Looking at the injured boy once more he sighed and decided to ask a question. "Gale, did you by any chance see what attacked you before it ran?" Gale paused for a minute thinking back "It was a large silver snake I think." Three nodded, happier, upon getting a concrete description, of course this didn''t mean he''d trust it entirely but it was good to have as a reference. Getting up from his seat, Three turned his back on the boy. "I need to leave, I wish you luck." Gale nodded and lay back on the bed sinking into exhaustion. As Three shut the door behind him, he unfortunately missed the bloodthirsty grin on the boys face, if he''d seen it maybe things would have turned out better....maybe. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Lupos'' POV Seeing the door close behind Three, Lupos let out a grin. Of course Lupos had never been bitten by a snake, but was in fact stabbed by a dagger. However the small wound, paired with the deadly poison on the dagger, as well as Lupos'' own "struggle" to overcome the poison helped create the strong impression of a snake. The fact that the spies had probably figured out that Mervyn was poisoned when he died, helped to enforce the idea of the suspect not just targeting Mervyn but also his apprentices. Lupos smiled, leaving tomorrow was another unexpected bonus as it meant he had an excuse for leaving at the same time as Wing without it looking suspicious. Lupos grinned and used mindspeak to contact Fenrir "Fenrir did you pass the plan to Akari?" Fenrir let out a small laugh. "Of course, she sent a reply as well." Lupos smiled. "Ok then, bring the reply here. It''s time to start preparing." Lupos smiled, things were finally started to come together. Or so it seemed. Emperor''s POV The Emperor sat on a golden throne, waiting patiently, until a man dressed in black stalked out from within the shadows. "Emperor." said the figure falling onto one knee. "Rise," stated the Emperor, impatient to get the formalities over with. "What did you learn about Mervyn''s death?" The figure hesitated. "Speak clearly Three, don''t test my patience." Three nodded. "As you wish. There has been no news on the assailants themselves and even numbers Five and Seven have had no luck during their search through the darker side of society. There is however news of a different kind........." The Emperor nodded encouragingly. "What is it?!?!" Three pointed behind the Emperor towards an old mam skulking towards the throne. "He was right." The old man trembled with fear, while the Emperor stared at Three in confusion." What do you mean?" An uneasy air appeared around Three had appeared. "What he saw at the inter schools competition, Fenrir has returned. And, the child who summoned him was Mervyn''s apprentice." A new perspective Emperor''s POV The Emperor stared at Three in horror. "And you''re certain of this?" Three nodded solemnly. "I saw the wolf myself.....there were however........... contrasting details with the boys second spirit." The Emperor looked at Three with suspicion in his eyes, "Complications?" he asked. Three hesitated, trying to decide what he could say. "Shetland pony." "What?" asked the Emperor,fiery rage burning in his eyes. Three swallowed nervously. "A Shetland pony....his second spirit is a Shetland pony....." The Emperor sighed in his mind wondering how long he could suffer such imbeciles. "Get out." He said, barely containing his rage. Three swallowed what he was about to say and gave a quick bow before retreating back into the safety of the shadows. Seeing Three leave, the elderly man took the chance to emerge from behind the Emperor''s throne and sank down onto one knee. "Emperor..are you sure that spy of yours is to be trusted?"Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The Emporer gave a dangerous grin. "What are you suggesting?" The man paled. "Nothing, Emperor...it''s just...." the old man trailed off absent-mindedly. "What?!?!" demanded the Emperor both exasperated and annoyed. "Well it''s just," the old man continued in a hesitant voice. " There have been records before of high powered spirits hiding their true potential and even appearance...." The Emporer stared at the old man all annoyance fading from his face. "You think the boy tricked us?" The old man nodded. "Everyone really." the Emporer''s face changed as a torrent of emotions crossed his face. "Leave." The old man didn''t ask questions, but, instead gave a silent bow and hobbled towards the exit. As soon as the old man had left, the rage fell from the Emperor''s face and was replaced by a deep sorrow. The Emperor placed his head in his hands and sighed. "How long will you haunt me old friend?" Within the silent room, no one answered. .................................................................................. Lupos''s POV The next day and Lupos, joined by Wing, stood at the gates to the school waiting for the carriage (provided by the school) to show up and take them home. Lupos grinned at Wing as they saw the carriage approach....if one was to look closely at the carriage they may have noticed the small squirrel sitting on the top of the carriage with what looked suspiciously like a letter in its mouth.... Arrival Lupos''s POV Looking at Ratatoskre nimbly perching on the top of the carriage, message in hand, Lupos shared a sly grin with Wing before silently motioning Ratatoskre to come join him. Concealing himself, the small squirrel quietly leapt into Lupos''s arms and proceeded to hide himself within his bag, only moments before the carriage driver disembarked, to let Wing and Lupos in. Staring at the two scruffy boys with a disbelieving look the carriage driver sighed. "Gale Foryst and Wing Fidelis?" Lupos and Wing nodded, ignoring the look of annoyance that flashed across the man''s face. Opening the door with a sullen look, the driver motioned for them to get in the carriage. Obviously they were a far cry from the high class nobles the man usually transported and although being Mervyn''s apprentices gave them some status, it wasn''t enough to excuse their obviously common backgrounds. Shooting them one last distrustful look, the carriage driver closed the door and started moving. Quickly checking that no one was watching, Lupos withdrew Ratatoskre from his bag and quickly snatched the letter tearing it open. Seeing this Wing gave an apprehensive smile and absent-mindedly began playing with Ratatoskre. "What does it say?" Lupos grinned and lowered his voice so it could barely be heard above the carriages clatter. "Akari and Darius are on their way now. They should make it to yours in about three days'' time."This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Wing breathed out a sigh if relief, "I''m glad, I still haven''t told my parents anything for fear of someone intercepting the letter." Lupos nodded feeling slightly guilty, although he himself sent messages, they were guarded by his spirits making it almost impossible for them to be intercepted. Although Wing''s spirits were powerful, it was still a risk sending one alone. Lupos could have helped by sending his own spirits along with Wing''s, however, in this case getting a message to Akari and Darius took priority over Wings family. Wing saw Lupos''s troubled look and smiled. "It''s ok. Besides in a case like this...." Wing''s face darkened. "Up until the last possible moment, it''s best they don''t know anything......" Lupos nodded in agreement, if they were going to pull this off, they needed the advantage of surprise. Lupos may have killed off Mervyn,but he was under no delusion that this was not due to overwhelming power, but due to his trickery and planning.Lupos smiled grimly, arrogance was where most people messed up. Arrogance would only ever lead to an untimely demise. Clever and cautious was the way to go about it. Only muscled idiots could ever be so stupid to rush in with their fists bared drunk on their own power, and Lupos was not one of those idiots. Two hours later and finally the carriage had arrived at the entrance to a large village teeming with life. Without saying a word, the driver opened the carriage and gestured for the boys to disembark. Smiling slyly Lupos and Wing ignored the carriage drivers speedy retreat and began to make their way towards Wing''s home.....it was time to begin...... Problems Navigating the twists and turns of the streets and alleyways, Lupos and Wing soon found themselves at the edge of the slum district. Stopping in front of a small but well-looked after home, Wing nodded towards Lupos. "This is it...." Lupos noticed the worry etched on Wing''s face and smiled encouragingly. "Don''t worry we have all of tonight to brief your family on the plan and all tomorrow to make preparations. It''ll work out." Wing put on a brave smile and nodded. "Ok...." Taking a deep breath, Wing opened the door to the house and with a bright smile yelled "I''m home." Sure enough several seconds later, two small boys, twins, who Lupos assumed to be Wing''s brothers and a middle aged man with glasses appeared, showering Wing in hugs. "Welcome home!" Wing smiled happily and patted the two small boys on the head. "Thanks dad, thanks Kai and Nico, it''s good to be back." Now that Wings dad had finished hugging his son, he turned his attention towards Lupos hand outstretched. "Nice to meet you young man, I''m Wing''s father." Lupos nodded and shook his hand giving a small smile at the likeness to Wing. "These two," said Wing dragging out the two suddenly shy boys from behind him "are Kai and Nico." Lupos smiled at them "Nice to meet you." He gained some shy nods in return. Now that everyone had been introduced, Wing smiled sadly and sent his brother''s upstairs before turning to face Lupos and his dad. "Dad we need to talk...." Wing''s father brought the boys into the dining room and sat down, a suddenly serious expression on his face. "I know what you''re going to say and I think it''s a good idea but there''s nowhere we can run to."Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Wing stared at his father in surprise. "How did you know????" Wing''s father smiled. "News of Mervyn''s death has spread far and with the Emperor looking into it, if anything relates this death to the Yulg family, there is no doubt in my mind they will frame us...." Wing stayed silent not denying anything, Lupos gave Wing a pat on the back before turning to face Wing''s dad. "I have a place you can hide." Wing''s father stared in shock "I know a guaranteed safe place within the forest of magical beasts where you will be hidden. If you are willing to take the risk." No one spoke as Wing''s father silently considered his options. "Can you promise me the safety of our family there?" Lupos shook his head "No I can''t. I can promise you safety in getting there, as well as hunting as a means of food and survival. However, I cannot control your actions nor can I stop nature. What I can however promise, is that you will be safer there then you will be here." Wing''s father brought his eyes up to Lupos''s and gave a shaky smile. "Then I''m counting in you." He lowered his head. "Please help my family." Lupos gave a small smile, "I''ll do what I can to help." Wing smiled "Thanks Lupos." And so, Lupos quickly and quietly explained the plan to Wing''s father who''s face fell. "There''s a problem...." Lupos and Wing looked at each other worriedly. "What is it?" Wing''s father bit his lip nervously and stared at Wing. "It''s not just your sister in the Yulg''s house right now....your mother''s there too....." "Shit." Wing swore aloud while Lupos sighed. One more person in the household, was one more they''d have to sneak out in the night and one more they''d have to protect when the family head realised what was going on. Wing''s father sighed. "It''s my fault... Your mother''s wanted to go visit Aisha but of course that bastard head of the family wouldn''t let her go out to visit your mother, so I suggested she go to her." Lupos gave an encouraging, albeit slightly forced smile. "It''s ok.... We''ll have to revise the plan but we''ll get out of this ok." Lupos grinned savagely. "After all we''re not the only ones helping out...." If one was listening closely enough, then they may have heard a wolf''s howl echoing in the distance. Reunited Hearing the faint howl of a wolf in the distance, Lupos let out a wolfish grin before turning to face Wing and his Father. "Wing, I''m gonna go meet up with Darius and Akari and discuss some changes to the plan. I''ll come back here tomorrow at twelve, so make sure your family is ready to leave by then." Wing nodded with resolve, before letting out a cheeky smile. "Sure. So when do I get to meet your girlfriend?" Lupos blushed and tried to stutter a protest, while Wing''s father let out a small chuckle. Composing himself once more Lupos smiled and left the house. As he walked out into the street, he noticed Athena perching on the edge of Wing''s house peering intelligently into the gloom, watching and waiting for anything that might come to hurt her summoner. Lupos smiled once more and left to find his own family. Several minutes of traipsing through the slums later and Lupos arrived at the edge of a forest. Hesitating a minute, Lupos listened to the absolute silence of the forest before smiling and letting out a sigh of exasperation. "Come on out old man!" No one replied and Lupos grinned again. "No use hiding, the only time a forest''s ever this silent is when there''s something scary enough to be hiding in silence from." The silence continued for another moment before Lupos heard a familiar burst of laughter, as an elderly man emerged from the trees. "I taught you well brat!" Still laughing Lupos gave Darius a large hug. "Nice to see you too."This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Darius mirrored Lupos''s smile and hugged him back. "Aye, it''s good to see you too Lupos." Breaking apart, an evil grin appeared on Darius''s face. "But, I believe there''s someone here you''ll be even happier to see." Lupos blushed slightly and turned to the treeline where a beautiful girl with violet eyes stepped out and smiled softly rushing up to Lupos to give him a hug. Smiling happily still with a slight blush on his cheeks Lupos hugged Akari back. "I missed you." She whispered in his ear, grinning wolfishly, as he let out a softer smile. "I missed you too." "Sssave it for later." Hissed a familiar voice in his mind, Lupos laughed. "Glad to see you too Jormugand." Two ravens one black and one white then fluttered out the treeline, each landing on one shoulder, as a large silver wolf and black stallion also came to join them in the forest. Lupos smiled "Fenrir, Hugin, Munin and Sleipnir welcome back." The fore-mentioned spirits grinned at Lupos. "So," said Darius interrupting the reunion "What''s the full plan for tomorrow?" Lupos nodded completely serious now. "First of all, I''m going to infiltrate the household and find where Wings sister and mother is." Lupos was about to continue when Akari interrupted. "Mother? I thought it was just his sister?" Lupos shook his head. "His mother, unaware of our plans decided to go visit her daughter." There was a nod from Darius and Akari, who both understood the difficulty of the mission had increased. "Anyway, Wing will then use sleeping magic to set the guards to sleep after which he''ll escort his family off the grounds allowing them to escape and meet you." Said Lupos motioning to Darius. "Me, Akari, Fenrir and Sleipnir will stay behind to deal with the head of the family." "He''s the one who ordered Akari''s family dead." Akari''s eyes momentarily glowed a ghostly purple, as her canines elongated slightly withbloodlust. Matching Akari''s bloodlust, Lupos let out a smile. "It''s time for revenge." unpleasant surprise Half a day had passed, since Lupos had been reunited with Darius and Akari, and it was finally time to meet up once more with Wing and his family. Sneaking through the shadows Lupos, Akari and Darius soon arrived at Wings house, leaving the spirits behind to avoid unwanted attention. Knocking on the door Lupos stood back as Wings father cautiously opened the door making sure who it was before he let them in. Entering the house, Lupos immediately noticed how it was stripped bare and that the twins and Wing''s father, each carried a bag on their shoulders, filled to the brim with what meagre possessions they owned. Not wasting any time, Lupos immediately got to the point. "Are you ready?" Wings father let out a deep breath. "We are." Lupos let out a small smile and Darius moved forwards gripping Wings Fathers hands in a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you, I''m Darius." Wing''s Father smiled and returned the gesture. "Nice to meet you, I''m Gwaine. Thank you for helping us." Darius gave a small nod. "It''s fine, I may not be fond of human nobles, but iIve had human friends in the past amongst the commoners." A sad smile appeared on his face. "I couldn''t help them back then, so I''d like to try to help now." Lupos stayed silent, over the years he had known Darius he had obviously grown very close to the old man. Darius was also the one to teach him human speech, and although Lupos had questioned him before, as to where he learned it himself, he''d never received a valid answer. He guessed now he had the start of one. Snapping himself out of his thoughts, Darius smiled cheerfully once more before turning to Wing''s father. "Anyway, we leave now to the camp we''ve set up in the forest. We''ll set off to your new home once we meet up with Wing, your wife and daughter." Wing''s father looked at Lupos confused. "What about Lupos?" Darius smiled. "The brat has some business to take care of along with the little lady." He said motioning to Akari "Besides, I trained them myself, there will be no problems there." Both Akari and Lupos shuddered, momentarily remembering the hell that Darius had labelled as "training." Ignoring their shivers, Darius smiled kindly towards the twins and picked up their bags. "Let''s go." Gwaine swallowed nervously, but smiled at his boys calmly, before calling upstairs. "Wing we''re leaving now." Wing bolted down the stairs, wrapping his family in a fierce hug. "We''ll see you tonight." Gwaine nodded and hugged Wing once more before turning to Darius. "We''re ready." Darius nodded and in a matter of minutes the house was empty except for Wing, Lupos and Akari. Wing finally turned to look at Lupos, but was stopped short when he saw Akari, staring in silence. Akari burst into laughter "I''m Akari, nice to meet you." Wing nodded still trying to formulate words, before giving up and turning to Lupos with wide eyes. "This is the girl you were saying you liked?" Akari blushed and Lupos stepped forward with an evil grin on his face. "Wing do you mind if I hit you right now?" Wing laughed and danced out of reaching distance, the tension gone from his face. Finally turning towards Akari, Wing smiled shyly. "Nice to meet you I''m Wing." Akari smiled back and nodded before squeezing Lupos''s hand. "Let''s get started on the final preparations." Several hours later and darkness had fallen. It was time to begin.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ............................................................................... Head Guard''s POV It was dark outside, and groups of three guards were rotating the perimeter, for the Yulg family manor keeping a vigilant eye out for trouble. Security had not always been this tight, but with the recent assassination of the first rank magician Mervyn Oakshield, security had been increased for fear of foreign powers taking advantage of the loss. Logan, the head guard stood on the wall surrounding the manor watching out for any trouble, when he felt a tap on the shoulders from one of his subordinates who had arrived pale faced and shaking. "Sir, a visitor has just been let through the main gate." Logan raised an eyebrow. "Whats the meaning of this?! All visitors are to be approved by me or the head of the family before being allowed to enter?!?" The guard''s already paled face shook with worry as he continued. "But sir, this visitor wasn''tsomeone we had the power to stop it was..." The guard suddenly stopped speaking as a tired look appeared on his face "Who?" asked Logan "Who wa.." Logan also trailed off, as he felt tiredness overcome him and his eyelids began to slowly shut. Finally, without being aware of it himself, Logan as well as all the guards in the vicinity drifted into a peaceful sleep as two cloaked figures and one wolf with violet eyes approached the gate to the manor unhindered. Nor did the guards wake as a large dark stallion and a silver wolf walked the perimeter, the guards themselves had been patrolling until moments ago, silently killing every single one of the sleeping guards they had come across while quietly waiting for their orders. ............................................................................... Lupos''s POV After Wing had finished setting the guards to sleep, Lupos immediately turned to Akari. "Can you smell them?" Earlier before leaving Wing''s house, Wing had brought down some of his sisters and mothers old clothes so that Akari could help track them in her wolf form. After all, however human she may have seemed, she was a magical beast above all else. Akari nodded, they''re in the main complex but we have to hurry." A worried look appeared on her face. "Someone''s moving towards them, and quickly at that." Wing nodded and ran as fast he could, leaving Lupos and Akari to follow behind. The original plan was for Lupos to infiltrate the manor so they could move out as soon as the guards were asleep. Unfortunately, the increase in security made that impossible to accomplish without being noticed. Two minutes later, Wing arrived at a modestly sized room bare of any decorations.... and empty of all people. "Shit." Wing had a panicked look on his face. "He must have realised what was happening." He turned towards Akari. "Can you tell me what direction they were going in?" Akari nodded silently and lifted a paw to point towards a richly decorated corridor. Wing paled and ran off without a word followed closely by Akari and Lupos. "Akari can you still smell the man who was going towards Wing''s family?" Akari nodded and Lupos grimaced, for whoever it was to not only get there beforehand, but, to successfully escape with two other people wasn''t within the realms of possibilities, unless you had very strong magic. "Sleipnir, Fenrir I need you both here now. Something''s wrong." Not waiting for a confirmation, Lupos continued to follow Wing, arriving at a large golden door, which opened as soon as Wing arrived. Revealing the horrifying sight within. A smug man dressed in riches, who was staring sadistically at two women, who clearly resembled Wing. Each with a knife held to their throats. the person holding the knives was Three, who had a shark''s smile as his gaze narrowed in on Wing and Lupos. "Shit." For the second time that night Lupos swore.. This was not going well.