Day 8
Bloodstone awoke the next morning, tucked into bed. The migraine he had was still throbbing. He knew what skills he had gotten, from the skill wave, they were.
[skill detect Stone]
[skill detect metal]
[skill skin of stone]
[skill detect gemstone]
[skill summon stone]
[skill shape stone]
[skill control fire]
[skill flame shell]
[skill inner fire]
He wasn’t sure what some of them were, or how to use them. There were some loud voices outside his room. They were arguing, “Why do we have to go there”, Xack was complaining.
“That’s what the king wants, and I am sure he’s not going to let us stay here.” Amethyst voice said.
“Well I’m not taking a horse, I will walk.”
“Talk to your father”
“He’s still out, do you know what happened to him?”
“I talked to the king, he was using that weird ability he has.”
Bloodstone got up as the noise was annoying. They were standing just outside the door. “What’s the problem?”
“I don’t want to take a horse.” Xach complained.
“Because you don’t know how to ride?”
“No because it’s not a nightmare. Light the horse on fire and I’m fine with it”
“Seriously, you’re being this loud because you don’t want to ride”
“I can just walk there.”
“No, you can ride, if you do walk we will have to wait for you and it will take longer”
“So”
“Ride the horse, or we will get you a wagon.”
“I will walk”
Bloodstone started laughing, “Yeah right, you walk eighty to a hundred miles, almost tempted to let you just to see the look on your face when you finally get there in a week or two.”
“Good then, I don’t have to take a horse?”
“It’s still dark out, what time is it?” He said looking out the one frosted glass window.
“Early morning, like five twenty-six at least that’s what my phone says” Amethyst said looking at her phone.
“Why did they guards bring you in unconscious” Xach asked.
“Um, when I use the ability to pull a class, I get skill updates, one update isn’t bad, a half dozen or more hurts, up here” He said tapping the side of his head.
“Why, that seems silly” Xach said.
“Well, normally you might get one or two updates from leveling, it expected. Moving classes like I do, gives you skills, and they are force connected to your mind.”
“Still seems dumb, what classes do you have then and what skills?” He asked.
“[Geomancer] and [Pyromancer] are what I took.”
“No cold one?”, Xach said disappointed.
“No, do you have a cold class?”
“No just [mage], and [swordsman] and [spearman]”
Kuya who was sitting down, on a chair, chimed in “All I have is [mage], [the sister], [hero] and [lady] I am not going to wear a dress, if I have to keep that Lady class”
“What the hell is [the sister] class?” Bloodstone asked.
“It’s my class”
“What is it?”
“[The Sister] has the ability to create or destroy anything, but only if the natural order of life/death is being jeopardized by those who seek destruction, power, or control. She keeps the balance of the realm of existence in the background without interfering with moral life unless they threaten the natural order. My power is granted to by the Natural Order to protect the balance of the universe. My abilities are: [Skill Create], [Skill Destroy], [Skill Timeline], and [Skill World Shift]. Create and destroy are self-explanatory where I can create and destroy anything I want. Timeline allows me to consider the timeline of the world for a moment to see every scenario that has, is, and could happen, and finally World Shift – this allows me to transport to any world she’s been to quickly without any consequences. She may have all this power, but she never uses it unless she absolutely has to as a last resort.”
“After all great power comes with greater responsibility. As the Sister, I am restricted by my own morals and the natural order’s rules.”
Bloodstone looked at her, “You’re kidding, right?”
Kuya put her back to her father sighing somberly. She turned her head with a serious look in her expression. “Sometimes I wish I was…”
Newton opened the door, “It’s too early can you go talk somewhere else.”
“Sorry Newton” Amethyst and Kuya said.
They moved to the main room of the suite and closed the door.
“Why are they up so early” Beth said from Newtons room. Newton closed the door, and there was giggling.
Bloodstone shook his head and closed the door between the main room in the suite and the men’s side.
“How are you able to have that class?” Bloodstone asked.
“Natural order, what part of the natural order did you not understand?”
“That makes no sense” Bloodstone replied.
“Oh? and your weird power does, or mommy’s [Raid enchanter] abilities.” Kuya replied.
“I’m so confused. I don’t understand how… wait, why do only the three of us have weird classes and abilities?” Bloodstone asked.
“Maybe the crystals, you had us hold onto?” Kuya suggested?”
“No, if that were the case wouldn’t the others have new weird classes as well?”
“Xach you have any weird classes?” Amethyst asked.
“No, I still have the crystal here in my pocket.” He said puling it out and holding it up for them to see.
“No, you four are special,” Isabel said from the couch.
Everyone looked at Isabel. “Care to elaborate?” Bloodstone asked.
“No, not really, it’s just that the four of you, are different than the others. How can I explain this so you understand?” She paused, as if thinking.
“Does this have to do with your levels as a seer?” Bloodstone asked.
“Yes, and no.” she sighed, “I suppose I can tell you a few things. I have been blind, physically blind most of my life, however the future sight, goes beyond vision, it’s about knowing the future. Things that can or might happen, you four and the others are the best hope to delay things until the true hero comes.”
“We are a delaying tactic?”
“In a nutshell yes, you four are more than that, though. You can change this world if you allow yourself to not be changed by the power you have. Kuya is strong like a blowing wind, Bloodstone is like a raging fire bright and warm, Amethyst is fluid like water adaptable, and Xach, he is the strongest willed and most steady of the four of you. I know that you exist for a specific purpose, and that the stone they used to summon here, had a purpose when it brought all of those of you here from your world, even the others, who you have not yet met, or may never meet. You four have your own paths to follow, even me telling you things doesn’t change the outcome much.”
Bloodstone looked at Kuya, “I think your powers and mine are powerful, I think we could take on an army. I think we need to stop fooling around and focus on what’s important to us. Hon?”
“I really want to get home, though I don’t see how?” Amethyst said getting emotional.
“Let us for the moment say we can’t get home,” He said giving Amethyst a hug.
“A place to call home, this is like a hotel room, without electricity, or a real bathroom.” Amethyst said.
Ok well between us, I have a skill that lets me combine classes, I am not sure how it works, I also have the following classes I’m holding. They are, [Musician] one level, [psion],[wizard],[engineer],[mindseer] one,[mindbuilder] one,[geomancer] forty four and [pyromancer] twenty-two. I have more skills than I know what to do with.
“Is that why you kept a level?” Isabel asked.
“I combined it with [psion], I wanted to combine some other things to see what classes I would get.”. He shrugged.
“That’s a very weird skill, what happens if you combine two of the same class?” Xach said.
“I have no idea, what class would you suggest trying?”
“how about [pyromancer], its only two levels “
“Ok, let’s see what happens.” , he concentrated and used the skill combine class, on pyromancer and pyromancer.
[sub class pyromancer 21]
[sub class pyromancer 20]
[class pyromancer 1]
“Whoa it moved it as a standard class. If they are the same, they become a standard class. Anyone else want [pyromancer] or [Geomancer]?”
“Can I get one level of each?”, Xach asked
“One level, I don’t think it works that way, at least not in a simple manner, I could split it between you and someone else, should be an even split, I wonder if it is possible to split it multiple ways. We can try it later with the [Geomancer] class, when the others wake up.I wonder if we should just keep all forty-four levels of it together. I can take any class, if there are two levels of it.”
“You may want to get hooded cloaks, it’s going to rain this evening” Isabel said.
Eve walked into the main suite, yawning “You are too loud, what time is it.”
“Ten of six, “Amethyst said looking at her phone.
“I’m going back to bed”, she turned around and closed the door behind her.
“What should we do with Alazar?” Kuya asked.
The cat still sitting on the box in the middle of the table, opened one eye. “Do with me?”
“Yeah, I suppose we will need to do something with the box, and the cat.” Bloodstone sat down looking at the cat.
“Do?!” Azalar said opening the other eye and staring at Bloodstone.
“Well it’s more like what do you want to do? We will be leaving today.”
“I will stay with the box”
“Really that’s what you want to do?”
“It is more of a requirement, I must guard the box until an heir is found.”
“Well we can turn you and the box over to the king if you want.” The cat stared at him. “Let me know before we leave.”
“You would leave behind the box and all its contents?” The cat asked somewhat shocked.
“If that’s what you want, the choice is yours.”
Azalar hopped off the box and walked to the edge of the table, “You are a very strange human, you have not threatened me or tried to coerce me into telling you about my master, why is that?”
“Azalar, how many others have opened the box before us?” Azalar blinked, “There have been many, if they know the secret. None have been worthy.”
“That’s what I thought, you’re the guardian of the treasures, in the box. I would imagine that unless you’re a very powerful wizard or mage, you could cut through magical defenses fairly easily. Your construction and intellect are amazing, so I ask what do you want to do?”
Azalar began pacing along the table, glancing at Bloodstone and the others “I would like to be a part of your group, would you really leave me behind if I so desired?”
“I would, even if it meant leaving behind someone who would be an asset.”
“I believe you, I have never met someone like you before. The others who opened the box demanded the treasures within, ordered me to assist them. If I joined you to whom would you have as my master.”
“Honestly, a cat has no master but themselves, anyone who has had cats should know that.”
“I have had no others able to open the box without me present. If you can do that I will agree and then I will allow you all to be custodians of the box and its contents.”
Bloodstone looked at the box, then to the cat and then to the others. “Any of you figure out how the box works?”
Everyone looked at Bloodstone and shook their heads back and forth. “Didn’t think so” He looked back to Azalar, “No idea, care to give us a hint, considering that we don’t know anything about you or your creator”
Azalar looked at them, and then at the box, “I think you should be competent enough to open the box without my assistance” Azalar sat down tail wagging.
“Uh huh, give me a couple of minutes,” Bloodstone sat down in the chair. “I think I am going to take my classes back now that I know how to do it. I really don’t care if I take a bunch of different classes now. I really don’t think that I have the same limits as others, though I think that it is not the classes that are important, it’s the skills.” He looked up at the cat, “I don’t think we should be the custodians of the contents, that should be you Azalar Gin Evazes, would you consent to being our house protector, even though we have no home at the moment. A part of the family, not a servant. I think, I know the secret to the box, however, I also do not feel we are entitled to it without your explicit consent”
Azalar still stared at him, “Then what is the secret”
“It’s something special, something that a family would know, the wizard he loved his children, and he must have seen them becoming something he was not proud of, he wanted them to come together, to become more than they were, to rise above the animosity, they displayed to each other. The story Isabel told us was about greed, evil and control for its own sake. There was no higher purpose, to them wanting the box, and the knowledge. The secret is not wanting it for yourself, but to want to help others, if that’s wrong then I don’t know what the secret would be, a trick of phrasing, a password, a song. Without knowing the truth about the wizard, it’s a guess at best. Even a good guess can be partially right or extremely wrong.”
Azalar looked to each of them, and sighed, “You are not wrong, about the children of my master, they had grown cold, heartless. That above all things broke his heart, his oldest used his name to build a kingdom, to rule over others. Not all rulers are kind, He was the most hated in the region. I know not if the family line still exists, however I would not choose to be associated with evil of that magnitude. His eldest daughter, left home, claiming that he was to strict. She married into a royal family and ruthlessly make the kingdom stricter than what she had grown up with. The rest were just as bad. My master did not want his works to be used for evil, to harm others. How do I know this, it is what I was constructed for, to be the guardian of his great works and to find those worthy of being heirs to his legacy. I will take a chance, and tell you that of all the people you are the only one to ever treat me as an equal, to ask what my desires are, until you asked I knew what my purpose was. I would like to journey with you before I decide.”
“I think that’s fair, would you share with us what you can do?” Bloodstone asked.
Azalar blinked, “I am a cat, I do have the ability to blend in.” His fur shifted from silver to a jet black.
“Cool!” Kuya said.
“That looks much better, I am guessing you can also become almost invisible.”
Azalar shifted to an orange tabby looking pattern. It was surreal watching the can shift through a color spectrum of cat colors, and even some that really were strange.
“Blue, that’s pretty cool. I would suggest you blend in when we leave the palace,” Bloodstone suggested.
“I will stay with you, and your family. I would ask that your or Kuya carry the box.”
“Sure.” Kuya said.
“It’s still early, I am going back to bed.” Xach said.
There was a murmur of agreement, and they all went back to their rooms. Bloodstone and Isabel and Kuya remained with Azalar.
“You know how to open his box already do you not?” Isabel asked.
“Sort of, I got a good look inside when I closed the box.”
“Then why do you not open it for the cat guardian?” She asked.
“I too am curious as to why you did not open the box.” Azalar asked.
Kuya sat staring at the cat.
“There are a few things, first I am not sure about opening the box, is it true people have died for the contents?”
Azalar moved closer to Bloodstone, and sat again. “Yes, it is true people have died trying to get the box and its contents”
“How many have you personally killed?”
“I would prefer not to answer that.”
“Meaning you have had to do that, considering that you are from another time, it’s possible your morals and mine may conflict, would that cause you to attack me?”
“From what I have seen and heard of you recently, I do not feel we would be in conflict.”
“That’s good to know, I think?”
“I suppose you want me to prove I can open the box”
“Only if you feel you must prove it to yourself”
“Is there anything we might need”
“Not that I can think of” Alazar said wagging his tail.
“Are you familiar with magic in general, it just occurred to me I have some things I haven’t really looked at yet.”
“Oh?”
Bloodstone moved Isabel’s backpack off the trunk and the case her father had given him. He picked up the case and the trunk and brought them over to the table. “This was given to me by Isabel’s father. Never got to look inside.” He opened the long case, inside were two longswords, the craftsman ship on them was beautiful one was made with several rubies in the pommel the other had sapphires, int the pommel. In the lid was a belt with two scabbards “Why would you have him make these Isabel?” He asked.
“You will need new blades, the one the king to and gave to Gregory, is damaged, he can fix it. These you also can enchant with Azalars assistance.”
“Not what I mean,” he pulled the blades out and put them in the sheaths and put the belt on.
“Thank you”
“What did you want me to look at” Azalar asked.
“This rope, it glows, like some of the other magic items we have it looks black and greasy” he opened the trunk inside were coils of black rope.
Azalar hopped up onto the corner of the trunk, “Yes they are magical, nasty magic in these ropes. Where did you find them?”
“They were going to hang people with them, there’s one of the nooses.” He said pointing.
Azalar looked closer at the ropes, “These ropes appear to pull the life force away from anything touching them.” He hopped off the trunk. Bloodstone closed the trunk. “Great, I wondered why they were wearing thick gloves.”
“They appear to be at least a tier four or five enchantment.” Azalar said hopping up to the top of the trunk.
“I got it, I will put them somewhere where they won’t cause any trouble.” Kuya said.
“Huh?” Bloodstone said.
“They are like curse objects, I have a way of dealing with dangerous objects” Her staff appeared in her hand, she touched the truck with it and there were a glowing green and blue lines that wrapped around the trunk as if on its surface, arcane runes began to burn into the wood of the trunk. There was a metallic sound and a huge lock appeared on the trunk. The key was still in the lock. She pulled the key out and put it in her pocket. “All set, should be safe like that.”
“Ok? And what did you just do, I saw you do it, and still I have no idea what you just did, “Bloodstone said.
Azalar looked at the runes, then to Kuya, “How are you able to do magic of that tier?”
Kuya shrugged, “Those ropes violate the natural order” she said as if that explained it.
Azalar looked over at Bloodstone and the Kuya and then back to Bloodstone. “Your daughter is very strange”
Bloodstone laughed, “No, she’s just eccentric”
“I’m going to go copy some more spells. I will be back in a bit”
“Well don’t be gone long, be back by say nine, I want to get going once the horses get here. That’s three hours not nine at night.” He said as she waved and left the room.
“I don’t understand the number you were telling her”, Isabel said.
“We have devices that tell time. With them being able to be recharged, we can know roughly what time it is. The problem is that this world is definingly not on a twenty-four-hour schedule. It seems to be more of about twenty-eight and about twenty-three minutes. It will take us some time to get used to the strange time shift. Most people without a time piece probably wouldn’t even notice. I could also be off by a bit, since I haven’t really measured it accurately. Azalar are there any myths from your time about the gods?”
Azalar narrowed his eyes, “We do not speak of the dead gods. Knowing what they represented, or speaking their names gives them power. They are dead, leave them dead.”
“I see, thank you that’s very helpful. There are some gods I know of, not specifically from the world I am from. The world I am from has a number of religions, and deities associated with them. So naming them gives them power here. Good to know. I would rather deal with deities I am intimately familiar with.”
Azalar hissed,” Do not speak about your gods here.”
Bloodstone frowned, “The nine I know wouldn’t come here, well one of them might, the most they could do is send avatars or angels. It would also answer a question, of faith.”
“What gods do you know,” Isabel asked.
“From my world there are three major religions, the sad thing is that they all have a commonality, that they just refuse to see. Enough about that though, not really important.”
“I take it you do not follow any of your world’s religions? It’s surprising that you are from another world. It was my presumption that you were from one of the other continents” Alazar asked intrigued.
“No, I however respect other religions, I understand wanting to have a higher power to call on, for guidance, and inspiration when things are going wrong.”
“We have our king, what do you do for guidance and inspiration” Isabel said softly.
“I look within, and without, it would be hard to explain, it’s not like it’s a secret. Trying to explain it might be a little difficult, without knowing about the science of our world. I will give it a shot. Remember this is what I believe so it’s not there is any way to prove it one way or another. There is a core of truth in the teachings of the religions back in my world, things like, do onto others as you would have them do onto you.“ He paused thinking, there was a slight perfume that Isabel was wearing, as she leaned closer to hear him, it reminded him of flowers. He reached out and took her hand in his, and gently placed it on Azalar who looked at him curiously.”This is Azalar”
“He’s so soft.” Isabel said. “This doesn’t explain what you meant.” Azalar stood very still and allowed her to touch him.
“Sorry, got distracted there. You can’t see Azalar, however, to me he appears to be a cat, who can change colors at will. It’s kind of like the values the religions tech. One is always do the right thing, not the easy thing..”
Isabel pulled her hand away from Azalar, and listened.
“Our society needs to come to a universal truth, it will take a long time, and eventually they will realize the truth I found.”
“What truth, you speak as if it’s a secret.”
“It is and isn’t, everyone has darkness inside as well as light. Azalar, is something made from the light, if I were able to make a construct even half as magnificent as him, I would be very happy. However the darkness in someone would see him as tool to be studied and copied made into multiple weapons. Is that right or wrong? I would depend on the why. The why is what makes the morality apparent”
“I don’t really understand what you mean,” Isabel said.
“It’s complicated, everyone has forces within them that pull them in different directions, it’s knowing this, accepting it and then realizing that you can chart your own course, and that you don’t need to harm others to do it. It also makes me wonder if I could use the gods I know too help things here. I know the dogma of the nine, the things they represent are not evil or good, they are concepts of light and darkness. I don’t think I will name them yet, since only a few of them could even influence this world if they were able to.”
“Why is that” Azalar asked.
“Well the nine I know are fighting and protecting another world, one I call Eden, it just so happens that this Eden is one that was left alone for a long time, there’s a reason for it. There are creation myths on my own world that if you look hard enough have some interesting commonality. I have wondered how do people here in Rhir marry or Azalar how is that done in your time?”
“Marriage,” Azalar said, “Usually a knot ceremony or a tying ceremony, where the colors of those being married are used to tie the hands together, usually lasts for a day and a night. The cloth or rope is used in the home or house or for the first child.”
“For those who marry I don’t know too much about it, someone older could answer your questions” Isabel said.
“Humm, sounds similar to druidic ceremonies, so many things we don’t know about this world, about Rhir itself. We have been here a week and I still don’t know anything about this kingdom, its people or its history, At least nothing that really explains the kingdom itself. One of the big things that religion has done is created the concept of marriage; its base concept is to unite two people in love. Historically, this was to create a family, a father and mother. That’s changed, as society changed so it’s not always accurate to say that”Bloodstone leaned back in the couch arms crossed. “Well I have to figure out these classes, and consolidate the ones I want to keep. Azalar, do you have any classes or levels?”
“I do not. I have abilities my master gave me, no classes or levels”
“Would it be ok if I tried to give you some levels?”
Azalar looked at him turned his head slightly, ”What classes?”
“Well, I could give you a musician level, or a wizard level”
“I do not think so, thank you though” he said moving back to the box.
“Isabel?”
“No”
“All right, I am going to recover some of these back “. Over the next couple of minutes the combination skill was used on engineer, psion and wizard.
[Class Wizard level 2]
[Class Psion Level 3]
[Class engineer level 2]
[sub class engineer 1]
[sub class psion removed]
[sub class wizard 1]
“I wonder,” Bloodstone said out loud.
[sub class engineer removed]
[sub class mindseer removed]
[sub class mindbuilder removed]
[sub class musician removed]
[sub class wizard removed]
[Class Visionary level 2]
[skill Brainstorm acquired]
“WHOA!” Bloodstone blinked,” I can combine odd classes, and picked up a new class”
Isabel who had been sitting quietly, stood up and shifted closer to him on the couch. “I want to ask you your advice, about something.” She said biting her lower lip.
“You do that often when you’re concerned or nervous, what do you want to ask me”
“I do what?”
“Bite your lower lip,” he teased her.
“Oh, I want to know how to not hurt Gregory.”
“Be honest with him and it should be all right”
Eve and Sarah came into the room; they were having a discussion, which abruptly stopped when they entered the room.
Eve smiled and walked over and sat on the other side of the table across from Bloodstone. Sarah came around and sat next to Eve. They were wearing similar looking clothes long sleeved blouses and what looked like brown jeans or something similar, all made of a brown fabric. The pants also seemed to have leather along the inside thigh
“Your bruises are starting to fade” Bloodstone said.
Sarah tensed, “Really, I think they look horrible”
“Go ahead ask him” Eve coaxed
“Ask me what?” Bloodstone said looking at Sarah.
“What else did you do to me?”
“I’m not sure what you mean”
“She said you made her a deal before you healed her”, Eve said.
“Oh, that all I did was block the memories of the pain you suffered, and your name.” He looked a little guilty, “I didn’t realize you had already given your real name out. The rest, well you kept trying to go back to it, so I turned it off so I could work. Other than that, I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I thought if I took the classes you would, tell me why I keep thinking about you.”
“You think I did something, is what you’re saying?”
Sarah nodded, “I don’t expect you to tell the truth.”
Bloodstone sighed deeply, “I’m not sure what I can say here, if you had been here a bit ago I could have made you a [psion] and had you read my mind. That aside, there are a few facts you should consider. The first is that my wife, helped me heal you, and we were both very respectful of your incapacitated state. I turned my back while she removed your clothes; you’re also younger than my daughter. Do I find you interesting, yes, a little? Do I have any plans or ulterior motives no. If you think I have done something wrong ask Kuya or my wife.”
Sarah stared at him and the turned and walked out of the room without a word, heading to the women’s side of the suite.
“What about me” Eve asked.
“Not you too?” Bloodstone asked.
“Na, I’m just messing with you”
“What are you two talking about, er three, didn’t see the cat” She asked.
“He was telling me about your deities and some of his philosophies.”
“Ooh do tell.”
“Not much to tell was explaining about the three main faiths in our world.”
“Three?” she asked.
“Well the three big ones, Judaism, Christianity, and the Muslim religion.”
“I didn’t realize you were religious”, Eve said.
“I’m not, not really at least not in a manner that you would understand.”
“Meaning what?” Eve asked.
“What would you identify yourself as?” He asked Eve.
Eve paused, “Roman Catholic I guess.”
“Sorry Isabel, it’s generally a faction in the Christian faith, one of the largest and most organized”
Eve gave him a look, “You know don’t say that to Miguel he might start a fight about it.”
“Religion in my world has lots of controversy, kind of something we really don’t talk about in public normally.”
“What would you identify as?” Eve asked.
“Not sure there is a word for it, or even a concept. I believe there are truths to the religions, filtered through human understanding. In this world of dead gods, I will have to think about it a bit more. Keep in mind there are dark sides of the religions as well, they are part of the dogma, so to believe in one is to accept the dark parts of the religion. It makes me wonder what happened here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well hard to explain, just a feeling. The fact that they have demons, or at least something they call demons makes me wonder if there is some corrupting force in the blight. You know like…”
There was a knock at the door. The maid hadn’t arrived yet; bloodstone stopped in mid sentence and answered the door. There was a soldier, with a black trimmed beard, “My lord there is a man at the gate with horses, and says he is here to deliver them.”
“Well I guess I have to go get the horses,” He turned to the others, “Well we should be ready to head out soon.”
He left with the soldier.
Sarah and Amethyst came into the room, “I don’t feel you really should worry about it that much Sarah, it might just be that you like him, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I .. I ..I don’t know how he feels about me.”
Amethyst laughed, ”He’s not in love with you if that’s what you are thinking, You reminded him of Kuya, your younger than her, family to him means everything. My husband is a strange one, I wouldn’t put too much into what he says.”
“He saved my life as well,” Eve said listening.
“Do you think he will be able to help me see” Isabel asked.
“If he can, I believe he would”, Eve replied softly.
Amethyst sat down next to Isabel, “You told us that he would, are you doubting your own visions?”
“I’m scared; I have never been away from my family” She started to sob a little and Amethyst gave her a hug, Eve and Sarah joined her in trying to cheer her up.
Two men sat in front of the magistrate, both were accused of murder. “I want the ropes brought back, I don’t care what you have to do to get them. There’s word that he’s going to be leaving today, you get those ropes back I will forget about the other crimes you have committed.”
The first man was scruffy and looked like he had been in a number of fights, “We can get dem ropes back for yas, You care if we break his legs or kill im?”
“I don’t care what you do to him, or that brat he was with, just don’t let him touch you”
“Why not?” The second man asked.
“He has some weird ability to take classes”
“Phhwwaa, Me and Snap don’t care bout no mage mumbo jumbo, bet his neck breaks like everyone else.” The first man said cracking his knuckles.
“Just get me those ropes, I know he hasn’t told the king yet, if you can get them before the next moon you can keep anything that he has on him”
“Stop worryin magistrate, we find this guy and get yur ropes back.”
“Good now get out of here before someone sees you”
The two men left, “You think the Dervin brothers might be interested?”
“Maybe or dat group dat works out of da west gate,” The first man said
They went off making plans.
Sixteen horses, with saddles and saddle bags, and feed for four days were in the courtyard. There were a number of soldiers who didn’t look very happy.
Four men stood with several soldiers, the horses had been tethered to a fence used for the horses. Some hay had been placed around the fence and the horses were eating.
One of the men from the horse traders shop bloodstone recognized. The man saw him and smiled.“I just need the stone you were given to complete the transaction. Sixteen horses with saddles and saddle bags and there is feed for them in the saddle bags.”
Bloodstone walked past him and started looking at the horses, the man’s smile faded. “Is there a problem?”
“Maybe, I asked for horses, we could ride. This one here looks old.” He looked over a gray horse; the horse bumped him as he was close by.
“They are the best we could get on such short notice, if you had more time we could get better horses.” The man said.
“I’m not an expert, you tell me any of these animals going to drop dead on me halfway to the fourth wall?” he asked one of the soldiers.
“Should be all right, if you take care of them, don’t over stress them, I wouldn’t ride them at a gallop to the wall, if it’s just walking they should be fine. If they get proper care they should be in good shape in a couple of months.” A soldier said looking over the horse next to him.
Bloodstone fished out the stone and handed it to the man.
“Thank you” The man’s smile returned, the four men were escorted back through the gate.
“Something shady bout that man” one of the soldiers said.
“You mean the grin he had on his face” A second soldier said.
“Yeah, that’s what it was, no one should be that happy”
Bloodstone checked all the saddle bags. There was grain in the left bags and the right sides were empty.
Two of the soldiers were watching the horses, a third came up to Bloodstone ,“I have the papers you will need to go through the walls, the king sends his regards” He handed over a leather satchel, inside were a number of sheet of paper, as well as a small pouch and a note.
Bloodstone checked the pouch, inside were thirty silver and twenty gold coins. He looked over the note.
Bloodstone, These letters should get you safely to the town of Hevenas. I have also included a sealed letter to Lady Aladeana of the garrison there. I expect that you should be there within the week. I will send a runner with any information that may be relevant. I have also included a pouch for the back pay of Sarah, I trust you to make sure she receives this.
There was an ornate signature and seal at the bottom of the note.
There was also a sealed letter with an embossed seal in the wax. There were also letters from the crown allowing the bearer to pass through the walls, the letters that also identified Bloodstone, Amethyst, Kuya, and Xach as [Lords] and [Ladys], and Gregory and Newton as [knights].
Bloodstone slung the leather strapped pouch over one shoulder and across his chest. He then went back into the manor.
Several hours later, the group who was going was assembled by the horses. Everything extra had been loaded onto one of the spare horses. The two maids had changed clothes and were wearing riding gear. A large trunk, with a big lock was on the spare horse and was tied behind the saddle.
The box was placed in the saddle bag of Bloodstones horse. Azalar had consented to be carried by the seer. It took a bit to get everyone mounted, and the only ones who really knew much about riding were Gregory and Beth. It was decided that they would make a stop before leaving to pick up some additional supplies. There were only two horses without riders. Newton and Gregory took up the lead, since Gregory knew where they needed to go, for the additional supplies. Next were Beth and Sarah. After them was Kuya and Eve, the two maids came next, Marie and Hellen. Behind the maids were Abagail and Isabel who carried Azalar. Behind them Bloodstone and Amethyst followed. Xach and Miguel were following in the rear, with the spare horses. They managed to get the horses under control, without too much difficulty, and headed out the gate.
Gregory led them through the streets, to a general shop. Bloodstone and Gregory got off the horses, and Bloodstone tossed the bag to Sarah. “The king said to give that to you”
The two of them went inside while Newton held the horses. “Afternoon”, the older man said as they came in.
“Afternoon, we need some rain cloaks , some tents and bed rolls. Can we also get some cooking items?” Gregory asked.
“Sure thing, how many do you need?”
Gregory smiled, “Fourteen cloaks, bedrolls and tents enough for a group of fourteen, and some extra rope.”
“Sure, I may have enough for a group that size.“ The shopkeeper started to gather the requested items. It took nearly an hour to get everything set in order, and then onto the horses, the gear cost them six gold. They were then back on the horses and heading to the cities wall. The guards at the city wall just waved them through. It was a little after noon, when they exited the city.
There were no trees near the entrance, or even near the wall itself, it appeared to be farmland, and there were trees in the distance. A road followed both sides of the wall, a small sign at the intersection gave the name of the towns in each direction.
“North, should take about two hours or so to get to the first wall.” Gregory informed everyone.
There was the sound of distant thunder, a storm was coming, and dark clouds could be seen off in the distance to the west.
“Have you been out here before” Newton asked him
“Yes, couple of times just to deliver some items to the towns near the walls. I didn’t have a horse back then so it should take us less time to get there.”
They started off on the path keeping an eye on the storm.
They had gone a little over a mile and the city gates were off in the distance, when a group of men stepped onto the road, blocking it. They were large men, it looked like they had some swords and clubs ready for use, they didn’t have any armor, the clothes they were wearing were dirty and stained.
Newton and Gregory, stopped forcing those following to stop as well.
“Can I help you” Gregory asked.
“We want the box, maybe some of your women to now that We sees em”
Newton look at them, “Do you have a death wish”
One of the other men stepped forward, he looked like he had been in a fight, and his nose was crooked, “These them that have the box?”
“Yea, said they had the brat there. The one that Jace had hanging around him, since his sister died.”
“What happened to Jace, Heard they hung him”
“Na, escaped I hear”
“I think you people need to move, before Lord Bloodstone gets annoyed with you.” Gregory said.
“Us people, listen to the little twit, on his horse thinks he can tell us what to do” The thug said.
Miguel was watching and got off his horse, and said to Xach, “Bet you can’t do anything bare handed.” It was at that moment, Xach had dismounted and began walking to the front of the group. “I’ll take that bet, if you win I’ll give you my best weapon”
Kuya started to get off her horse, and Xach said ,”I got this, don’t get off your horse”
“You think your some kind of knight or something” The thug asked.
“Actually we both are, and we are escorting Lord Bloodstone and Lady Amethyst” Newton said.
“Pishaw, this twit thinks he’s a knight now.” The thug gestured to Gregory, “Seen you at the blacksmith shop, I betcha your not even a level one fighter.”
Gregory started to laugh, “That’s a bet you would lose!”
“These people causing a problem?” Xach asked.
“Who are you?”The thug asked as Xach stepped in front of Newton’s horse”
“I am” Xach replied in a loud voice smiling.
Miguel came up on the other side.
“You are who?” The Thug asked somewhat confused.
Xach spit in both hands and said, “Now get out of the way or I will have to perform my hidden technique, the grand slam”
The man took a swing at Xach, the swing missed him by millimeters, as Xach leaned back and away from him. Xach grabbed the man by the head with his right hand as his swing went past, and pushed the thug up and backwards knocking him off balance.
There was a moment of shock on the thugs face as he was tossed backwards, and just before he impacted on the ground, Xach took a step forward without releasing the man’s head and drove it into the ground with [greater strength].
The other thug seeing this turned to attack Xach and never saw the kick Miguel had thrown and he too was knock off his feet.
Two of the men behind the first thug, took two steps forward to stab and hit Xach. Xach however was not where the sword or club were aiming, he had rolled towards them in some kind of clumsy roll, he stood up behind them punched one of them in the back of the head; he missed the second man who still hadn’t realized where he had gone. Two others came at Miguel who used his knees and elbows to incapacitate them in moments, leaving blood streaming from one man’s face. The other man was knocked onto his back.
The club wielder took a swing at Xach who dodged the blow.
The last two men had knocked arrows into bows and were aiming at Miguel.
They both let loose with arrows, at almost point blank range, the arrows streaked towards them and then hit some kind of barrier and dropped to the ground.
Miguel charged the [bowman] on the right and threw a kick that hit the man in the throat. The man dropped the bow clutching his throat.
The club wielder kept swinging at Xach. The club came down and Xach grabbed the man’s wrist and threw him towards the bowman. The club flew from his hands as he was lifted into the air, and collided with the bowman.
It didn’t take them long to have the eight men tied up and being lead by Gregory. When they arrived in the town several townsfolk were surprised to see a group of them being lead. Soldiers from the town took them into custody.
“How far till the wall?” Newton asked as he turned them over.
“Bout another hours ride from here.” The soldiers said.
The storm had gotten closer and was rumbling in the distance.
“You‘re not going to make the wall gate before the storm hits, there is an inn here, if you want.” The soldier informed him.
“We have rain cloaks, we should be fine” Gregory told the soldier
The group of them continued on through the town, on the map it was half way to the first wall. The town itself was fairly large and seemed to be a hub for the commerce in the area.
As they headed north Miguel looked over at Xach, “How did you get so strong?”
Xach laughed, “I have been training for the past six days, and my dad amplified my skills.”
“Amplified, how did he do that, when did he do that?” Miguel asked as they rode.
“Well when he came in from checking the horses, I asked him how many skills he got when he got all those classes. He told me, that he has forty two skills, forty three if you count the eye status. So I asked him if he could see if I could get any other skills.”
“Eye status?”
“Yeah my dad says he has devils eyes.”
“Oh, that’s weird because I called him a devil when he talked in my mind.”
“He doesn’t care; it lets him see magic in a strange way. As I was saying he amplified my swordsman skill”
“I don’t get what you mean.”
“Well strength seems to be a Skill you get with some of the fighter classes, if you already have it, it goes up a level. There is a limit how far it can go based on the level you are, strength seems to have two tiers up to level six. So I ended up getting several [swordsman] skills that are strength related.”
“That’s loco.”
“My dad also gave me some [pyromancer] levels, just enough to augment my [elementalist] class. It let me also get a new class, [Cryomance] ” He said as he formed a ball of ice in the air.
“You think you could teach me magic, seems like I am the only one that doesn’t have it,” Miguel asked.
“I can try, what classes do you have already?”
“I just have the one class, [kick boxer] its only level four, weird huh, what classes do you have.”
“[Mage], [elementalist], [pyromance], [cryomancer], [swordsman], [axeman] and [spearman]. I am trying to get weapons master, just need a few more class levels according to the captain.”
“What about your sister” He asked.
“She’s weird; she has a really weird class like my mom. It’s called [the sister] she said she was level five in that strange class. She also has [scribe] at level twelve and [mage] at level six.”
“Your mom has a weird class too?”
“She’s a raid enchanter, if its anything like what she used to do in an online game, really don’t miss off my mom. She can mez you, make you think you are waiting for the bus. I never took the bus in my life. That freaked me out when she did that in the throne room.”
“You mom did? Why?”
“The king asked her if she could quite us down, she just mezed us both. I think it was more to see if she could. Seriously don’t miss off my mom. So why did Eve give you that amulet?”
“I think it was because she felt bad about me not getting anything. I was surprised your mom recharged it though.”
“Oh yeah she has a bunch of weird class spells. A wizard or Mage can’t use them though; the spell book my mom has is like an illusion, is visible but only she can touch it.”
“Your dad seems ok, he did get me out of prison. I don’t think he likes me though”
“Well my dad is very weird, most parents are usually pretty cool, and my dad well he’s weird. I don’t mean in a bad way, he says some strange things. I understand about half of what he says.”
”You think he can get us home?”
“Maybe, I think he may not be interested in going home, at least not till he help the king and sees these walls.”
They arrived at the town before the first wall, it was massive and fifty feet tall and stretched as far as the eye could see to the east and west. It was stone on stone. There was also a fortress build right through it. The town was build about a thousand feet from the fortress, it was a fairly large town, and as they arrived the rain started. They took shelter at an inn and stabled the horses.