"It was two years ago. Karl and I had a job to do. We were to smuggle some substances known as High rents into the city. Now these substances were very deadly and they could induce madness in the minds of people who took them, but they were also very capable of easing pain and making you live out your fantasies in your head. A powerful means of escape..."Victoria began as she lay beside Blaize, her head resting on his chest. They were covered with the large bed cloth on Victoria's extremely large bed and the warmth their bodies provided against each other was good enough to make them feel cozy. Blaize slowly stroke her hair as she continued her story."The government had taken an interest in High rent for a while. We knew they would shut us down soon but we kept snuggling anyway. Soon, there was a decree for a mass cleansing of the city. Anyone found in possession of high rent was whipped severely and thrown in prison and whosoever it was that was found selling them would be killed o
Julian chuckled when he saw Blaize and so did the two other men with him. He walked closer to Blaize and looked at him amusingly."I heard being a punching bag has actually done you some good in this place. News about you is all over the city. 'The newcomer'..." He made a gesture. "...who has been railing up the best men in the ring and giving people nightmares. Who would have thought you would do something that significant?"Julian said and that made Alastair very angry. He shot Julian a glare, dropped the reigns he was holding, and got off the cart. By that time, Victoria had noticed the drama that was about to go down."I don't know, it seems like you want to receive a special treat from the newcomer treatment. I would be very happy to oblige to that and give you a beating of your life." Blaize said to Julian who just scoffed at him."You think they call me the Calvary for nothing? I would love to see you try."He dared and Blaize was about to take a step closer to punch him in the
Night came upon them faster than they had anticipated. By that time, they were already traversing the woods which according to Victoria, led directly outside Arynthion. According to her, there were also wolves in the wood and because of that, she suggested that they spent the night there.The air was cold and Serene by the time they had finished making a fire. A tent for Victoria was erected and since Blaize did not trust Julian enough to let him guard the carriage while he slept, he decided to join them to spend the night there.He was fairly certain that was also the reason why Julian did not set up a tent. They all say around the fire and ate in silence as the food and meat they had brought along circulated around them. The silence was choking and haunting. It was making Blaize uncomfortable and the same was with everyone else."Oh, come on. Did someone die here? Let's lighten up the mood shall we?" Julian complained and took a large gulp from the wineskin he has been holding all t
"I have a feeling you have affiliations with mages. In fact, I think you are one of them."Julian's words took Blaize by surprise. He knew he had to counter it immediately before the rest of the persons there lost their minds."You came here with skills greater than what we have ever seen. You have been getting unusually lucky in your fights. Hell, you even managed to charm Victoria. You are doing magic. It is not just luck. Come on, show us something. Don't hide the magic all to yourself."Julian was persistent. But Blaize did not make any unusual responses."If I was a mage, I would not be here speaking with you. I would have killed you already. You are a fucking pain in my ass." He cursed at Julian who just scoffed."Then, where do you come from? You have been trying to avoid this conversation since you got here. You never speak about your past. There is something significant that you are hiding and I want to know what it is. We want to know." Victoria suddenly blurted out and Blai
Her shaky breath was the major thing that held Blaize's attention, and the fact that he could see a person inside the box and not pieces of jewelry made him confused even more. What was going on? Where were the jewelries? But Lord Karl did not really specify if the treasures were jewelry, did he? Was he aware of this? Of course, he was. He had set them up. He knew what they were transporting and he knew they probably would not have agreed to transport a live human out of the City without asking more questions. But Blaize wondered how the girl managed to survive in such an enclosed space. He slipped in some light again and viewed the interior of the carriage better. There was nothing different from what he had seen before. And there was nothing shiny in there t suggest there was a single piece of jewelry. The light traveled up and Blaize could see the little slit at the roof of the carriage, barely noticeable. There were about five of such on different parts of the roof. So, that wa
Three large men stepped out of the woods at first. They had claw marks on their faces and they had Large weapons with them. One of them was holding an axe that could easily tear off a man's head without much difficulty. The other two held large swords, and the way they glistened told Blaize they were extremely sharpThe men began to walk closer toward them, and Victoria slowly retreated to hide behind Blaize."Just three? We can take them." Julian puffed and proceeded to crack his knuckles. As he unsheathed his sword, three other large men emerged from the woods. They were dressed and armed in a similar manner as the former two.Their unexpected presence made Julian take a step back in retreat."What the hell is this? Is this like a circus night or something?" He yelled at the men who just kept approaching. "What do you want?" Victoria asked but the men did not reply to her. They just kept approaching until Blaize had to draw his weapon. "Stay back! All of you!" Blaize said to the m
"What do we here? A mage? This just got more interesting." The large man said to Blaize and twisted his axe. He seemed to be looking for a Worthy challenge and Blaize was going to give it to him. Blaize still had his gaze fixated on Victoria whose look had turned from sadness at one point to that despair and betrayal. It was like she knew Blaize had a secret that large but did not know it would be that specific.Julian, on the other hand, scoffed, like he knew already and just wanted to confirm it. He also seemed to regret saving Blaize from that arrow.The man growled and attacked Blaize who quickly dodged the attack and blocked another one with a magic shield. The shield cracked down on impact with the axe and energy emitted, knocking both Blaize and the man off their feet. Blaize hit the carriage again, and he wasted no time punching it, causing a mass of energy to hit it and make another slit. He gasped and dodged the strike the man sent his way. More of them followed suit and B
Princess Cecilia watched as the fire Blaize had to make cackled. It was a very cold night, one they would not survive without heat. They had taken shelter somewhere inside the cave and needed the light for more than just heat. They had to know they were in a safe space. All kinds of things crept into the dark."Start talking..." Blaize said to Cecilia as she sat beside the fire. He was standing, and his eyes were on her."I do not like it when men stand over me. It makes me feel like they own me and that is something that cannot be." She said and Blaize scoffed."You have serious issues, do you know that? You are a proud maniac who thinks everything in life should just happen to you the way you want. But guess what? Life isn't that way. There are times when it fucks you up and this moment right now is one of those times." Blaize told her and she just nodded. He was done with princesses."Fine. Whatever."Then she sighed."The people that attacked us are called The Buba tribe. They are
***Final Chapter***The monster hurled at the ship with a force so great that its punch pushed the ship backward. They were lucky not to have sustained a tear because Alastair and Blaize had formed a shield to block the punch. The shield, however, shattered immediately upon impact.The ship groaned and tilted from side to side, and what came next were screams from the crew as they fell into the sea. The captain struggled to find her balance, however, that was proving difficult. The ship groaned again and tilted to another side, shaking the captain's grip off her sword with which she had stabbed the deck.She screamed as she glided towards the sea, which at that time was already being occupied by monsters that looked like snakes. There was a multitude of them, and their hisses could be heard. They had killed the members of the crew that fell into the sea.As the captain was about to fall overboard, Blaize created a shield that blocked her path and pulled her back into the ship. She exch
"Set sail!"The captain's voice rang through the entire ship as men busied themselves with their jobs. The crew members ran Helter skelter as they tried to get the ship running, and in no time, they did. The ship roared as it sailed on the sea, a sight that sent shivers down Cara's body For Alastair, he just stood beside her and watched other members of the crew as they worked tirelessly. The captain was no longer with them. She was busy shouting orders, screaming at the men, and cursing them as they worked. Considering the fact that she was much smaller than most of the men on the ship, it was a funny sight to see.She soon sent Alastair a gaze and nodded to him. Alastair returned the gesture. As soon as the captain looked away, Alastair smiled softly. The time was finally approaching, and there was nothing to stop destiny from unfolding. He was still lost in thoughts when he suddenly began to feel like there was a pair of eyes looking at him.It was the same feeling he had gotten b
"Stand firm. Widen your stance and fix yourself to the ground. Strike with intent."Alastair instructed Cara as she sparred against him. Her moves had gotten better already but they still needed some more work. She groaned and struck Alastair, putting in so much of her energy that she tripped and fell down when Alastair made a false move."Predict where I will be. It will be what you need most of the time. You need to see the bigger picture when you are dealing with an opponent. Stand up and come at me again."Alastair instructed and Cara obeyed. She was past the stage of grumbling. She knew she needed to become stronger for what was coming.She charged and did her best to predict Alastair's moves. But they were too advanced for her. However, Alastair did not hold back. If she was to fulfill her destiny, she needed to become better than he was. Alastair decided to do a move to throw her off balance but Cara suddenly blocked it.Alastair was surprised. He pushed a bit further and intro
"Why don't you put down the crossbow and we can talk this through like adults?" Alastair said to the captain who scoffed at his guts. Her eyes were blaring with anger, and the only thing in her eyes other than anger was turmoil, pain, and regret.She steadied the crossbow in her hand and fixed her gaze upon Cara. Her eyes never left her. It seemed like she could remember what happened that day, the fire that suddenly blasted them all apart. She could remember the smell of burnt flesh which filled the air, saturating every part of the house. She could remember the smell of her own flesh and the moment that hit her, her face twitched a little. She took a deep breath and pointed the crossbow at Cara. Alastair did not want to use his magic against her for he knew they would be needing her help if they were to get to the isle of mists. But how the captain survived was still a mystery. He was certain she had died."You! You did this to me!", The captain said and pointed to the scarred part
"You didn't even ask for her name." Cara said to Alastair as they walked down the busy road. Their short time at the pub had not turned out the way Alastair hoped. He just kept walking in silence, and the silence was what made Cara uncomfortable."I did not need to," Alastair replied and she scoffed."Why not? She was clearly into you and you liked her as well. What is stopping you?" Cara asked, but then she realized how insensitive her statement was. She should not say such things about Alastair's relationship."Is it because of Miranda?" She asked but he was silent."How do you know she is still waiting for you?" Cara asked again but Alastair still said nothing. She was right. He did not know. But the thing bothering him was that he might not live to find out. "I... I do not want to forget her. I want to cherish our memories together until there is nothing left of me. That is why I cannot look at another woman. But what do you know? You are just a child.".Alastair said and scoff
The night still ravaged on as Alastair and Cara kept walking down the streets. Alastair got the chance to see more of the town, like he had secretly desired. The town was a beautiful place, quite exotic as well.He did not know if it were the decorations, or the thrill in the air but he was certain that that town had seen alot of bad days in the past and they were trying to make out the future as best as they can. He could see a young woman and two kids which looked like they were hers.The woman glanced at him and smiled, a smile which melted Alastair's heart. He saw that she had twin boys, and the imagination of the kind of life he would have been living if he grew up with his mother and brother was vivid.One of the twin boys ran towards him and gave him a popsicle. Alastair smiled as he took the popsicle from the boy, and giving their mother a nod, she quickly led her eager boys toward a candy shop. Alastair sighed as he watched them. He did not even hear Cara stepping up before h
The journey was quiet, and although the moonlight shone upon them like the ever glowing beam of light that it is, Cara was not feeling it. She just kept walking, a step behind Alastair. Her head was bowed, her fists were clenched. Her nails were digging into her palms, although not enough to give her an injury, it still hurt.Maybe she wanted it to hurt. Maybe she just wanted to feel something at the end of the day. She had been so hollow ever since the fight. She could feel Asmodeus crawling around in her mind. She could feel the Phoenix slowly regressing. She could feel the terror that was coming, very one that she was destined to bring upon the world."Are you alright?" Alastair asked her, snapping her out of it. She nodded quickly and looked at him for a moment. "You look disturbed. Is there anything you would like to talk about?" Alastair asked her again but she shook her head. He decided not to press her. If she was ready to talk, she would."Do you miss it? Everything else bef
An energy blast escaped from cara's body and hit all those that were in close proximity to her, James and Denise included. The force of the blast was so powerful that it took them off their feet and crashed them onto the ground. Cara let out a guttural growl as energy began to radiate from her body. The red, hot, energy began to gush out even more as her powers levitated her slowly. The growls continued, and so did the fear on lord Karl's face. He has never seen anything like that. He and his followers were not sure of what to do at that point. They slowly stood to their feet and watched as she stretched out her hand toward them. Her yellow eyes fell on them and with a sudden spark, her energy surged again. This time, it did not hit James and Denise. Both were surprised that the energy phased right through them to hit a sorcerer standing behind them and when they turned around, their eyes beheld a horror unlike what they knew before.The sorcerer's body froze. His eyes stretched out
"Cara... Cara, are you alright?"Cara could hear Fristborn's voice call out to her. She opened her eyes slowly and what she saw was someone she never knew she could see any more. Was she dead, or was she dreaming? She gazed at Fristborn's face and in that split second, she reached out to touch him.But someone else quickly grabbed her hand and she turned and saw Denise standing there. Her eyes roamed back to 'fristborn' but was actually James that was kneeling beside her. She blushed in embarrassment as she quickly say up. They were no longer in the house. From what Cara could see, they were some distance away from the house and it was not too quiet. She could still hear the sounds of guards running around, trying to look for them. The three of them remained silent for a while."What happened?" Cara asked as she rubbed her eyes. It felt like she slept for a long time."You fainted," Denise replied to her. Cara tried to recall what had happened after she felt the surge in her magic b