Chapter 3 - When they tie together...

The group had fallen into the traps of the dark void. Nobody knew for sure what had become of their fallen Evangeline- Nothing was set in stone- How would they live? And what people might join them..?

Three days past since they had visited Kaviskal, losing Evangeline to the forest. Things were going rough for all of them. They had little food, not much water and one of the horses was starting to lose its power. Normally, Evangeline was able to guide them through the night with her electricity, creating a spark of light to scare off all the creatures. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case now that Evangeline had disappeared. Ashton tried to provide a light with his pocket-watch, but for him to do that, he’d need a target. There was no way he was going to sacrifice the Assassin, the Knight, the carriage carrier or the two horses for the sake of light. Ashton looked out the window and stared into the pitch-black void, thinking to himself about the future of this group; The assassin was lying on the side of the seat, curled up into a ball, trying to grow warmth to sleep and the Knight was continuing his duties like always, yet, he was growing tired. He had bags under his normally bright face and seemed to be displaying a completely different attitude than when they had started the trip. After all, he had lost his men in a fight against a girl who now roamed with them, unable to do anything about it to avenge his brothers, and as a result, he grew more and more frustrated. Things were starting to fuel up in this small group and quite fast, too.

During this calm yet tense atmosphere, a small squeak was heard arising from one of the nearby bushes. The assassin continued to sleep through this all, but Ashton knew she loved animals from the few conversations they had during her time here. Ashton had found out all kinds of things about her. She loved apples, animals and swords-play, yet hated magic and fire in general. Ashton very softly poked at the assassins’ cheek to wake her up, and surprisingly, her eyes very slowly opened after a few minutes. She turned her head to Ashton and yawned squeakily, yet loudly, stretching her arms out.

“Morning…” She said softly. She looked around, feeling completely energized. Unfortunately, when she sat up to look around, she was surprised to see that it was still night time. She turned her head to Ashton and said. “Why did you wake me up, Ashton?” Without any time to respond, the squeak sound could be heard in the dark once more. She gasped excitingly and moved to the edge of the carriage, staring outside into the pitch-black void. The squeak echoed. slowly turned from a grumble to a loud roar, and soon, dashing from the depths of the void, a giant wolf smacked right into the side of the carriage and growled loudly as it hit the dirt floor. It then started to bark and bite at the wooden design, chipping away at the carriage wheels. Falk looked down at the wolf and squeaked, shouting out to Ashton in a desperate struggle. “A-Ashton! There’s a wolf out there!” Ashton quickly peaked out the window of the carriage and stared down at the giant, grey wolf, snarling its white teeth at him. The Knight jumped out of the carriage and shouted.

“Stop the carriage! I’m going to take care of this vile beast!” He gripped onto his sword tightly and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Die, you heathen!” After a few swings at the wolf, he fell to his knees at the sound of that same soothing sound he heard once earlier. It whistled a bird tune into his ears and petrified his body entirely, forcing him to drop to the floor instantly. His lips trembled at the combined noises of such an innocent tune and the growling of the wolf, but he realized something. The assassin had been turned into a child, so how could she perform such a high-level spell? Was she trying to deliberately kill him off? Well, none of that mattered to the Knight anymore. A smoking wolf was approaching him closer… and closer… before suddenly, dashing out of the shadows appeared a male wielding a spear and wood-carved shield. He pounced at the wolf from above, hoping to catch it by surprise. The sharpened stone pierced right into the grey coat of the wolf, letting the blood pour of its body. After leaving it there a small while, he pulled it out. The wolf let out a loud squeal and ran off into the trees and bushes to hide, and the man attended to the Knight’s aid. It had been found out that this man was known as a witch doctor. They were especially incredible in the arts of potions and spells. This man particularly was wanted in a neighbouring Kingdom to Harensdale called “Unsvaunt”, a place of undying loyalty to the cold and winter. They loved the cold and their race, the Unsv’s were resistant to the effects of cold weather. This man was not an Unsv, but an elf. He had green eyes, tannish skin and wore a green skirt which, from his hips, dropped down all the way to his ankles. He wore no shirt and seemed to be more of a slender-looking man. He was agile and fast, due to his skinny build and light attire. The man looked over the Knight and thought for a moment. In the pouch streaming down from his shoulders down to his left side, he pulled out a ‘Petrification Resistance’ potion and dropped it down the Knight’s throat, knowing very well he would not be able to swallow it. After a few seconds of waiting in the pure darkness on his knees with the man laying down on the ground, licking the liquids up, he did not move. The man stroked his chin and squinted…

“What on earth…” He said in a deep and grumbling voice. Before he could try anything else, four wolves appeared all around the two of them- And soon, the music started to play again. Unlike the others, this man was able to resist the effects of the music by wearing ear-plugs, but that disabled him from hearing the loud growls of the wolves nearby. He turned around and fell back onto his rear and reached for his spear. A wolf grabbed the end of it and pulled it away, throwing it into a bush behind them. He wasn’t quite sure he saw it, but behind the four, he thought he saw the figure of a small girl watching them from the distance. Ashton stepped out of the carriage and drew the pocket-watch near to his thumping chest and stared at the four wolves, who were all about to pounce at the two men lying helplessly. He had no idea who this other man was but had no complaints with saving him if it meant he could get something out of him. Ashton raised his pocket-watch up and whispered.

“Mavis von Titanium.” The pocket-watch spun a few times around quickly and from the ground arose the bones of old dinosaurs, carving to create a shield around the two men. The witch doctor took his plugs out and could hear the echoes of the music playing in the shielded area. To him, he was able to make out the music. It seemed to be… a flute? Only high-level bards have the power to petrify others, and even that was limited. From what he knew, bards had to be in a thirty-five-metre radius to the target. If not, the music would still be heard but would have no effect. The wolves stared at the bones in confusion and scrapped at it with their claws, unable to make even a dent in its figure. After giving up, they ran back in the directions they came from and soon, the music stopped. Ashton shouted the chant once more. “Mavis von Titanium!” The bones crackled and swivelled through the dirt and gravel back into the ground in an instant and left the two men lying in confusion, mostly the Knight, who had been contemplating why he ever signed up for this task in the first place.

“T-Thank you Ashton. Thank you… um, you...?” The Knight said, perplexed by the site of an elf in these lands, this late in the night.

“The name is Mavis. A pleasure it is, to meet you both.” The elf said with a smile crossing his face, mixed with the fearful look of the dark. Ashton looked at Mavis and thought for a moment before gasping.

“Thank you for helping me back there, sir. I don’t know what I would have done if you didn’t rescue me.” The Knight said with a bow. Soon, his attention was diverted to Ashton.

“Hold on… Mavis? As in, the Mavis? The Mavis who wrote over 564 spells and was kicked from his home for the accusations of using it against his home-town?” Ashton said, with excitement in both his eyes and body features. Mavis nervously rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled softly.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s me. Don’t wear out the name, kid.” He smiled softly and stood up. He walked over to where his spear was and grabbed it, quickly running back to the light on the back of the carriage. “I grew bored of my efforts and went hunting late at night, in hope of finding some Larik’s. It’s quite unfortunate I found none. Guess I must’ve scared them off again. I was glad I found you when I did- if I didn’t, you probably would have died… Now that is something I could gladly live without seeing.” He chuckled casually and soon asked curiously. “…I’m not fond of the area I’m in right now. I’ve no idea where to go. Where might you all be headed?” Ashton kept his composure and said with a smile.

“Right now, we’re travelling back to the Kingdom of Harensdale from our long task of visiting the Village of Kaviskal to check up on it.” Ashton said, only to be interrupted briefly.

“And how was the state…?” Mavis asked curiously.

“…Completely burnt down to the ground. The only thing still standing are the walls, and even those are crumbling and cracking.” Ashton said in reply.

Mavis nodded his head and asked. “May I join you all on your journey?”

Ashton smiled bright and said. “Of course, of course! Come in!”

Mavis smiled softly and looked down at the ground as he walked towards the carriage. Upon entering, he walked to the nearby seat and sat down, next to the small assassin, Falk who gave Mavis the dirty eye. Ashton noticed this and sighed.

“…Falk, do not insult him. He may be an elf but that does not make him any less than any of us.” Ashton said, his face full of loyalty to Mavis’ side.

Falk looked up at Ashton and then back to Mavis. “I’m not judging him because he’s an elf…” Falk stared at Mavis and Mavis looked away, sighing softly. “I know Mavis.”

Ashton looked down at Falk and tilted his head, saying. “You know him? How so? Mavis?” He turned his head towards Mavis in expectancy of an answer. Mavis merely shrugged and looked outside, acting as if he didn’t know Falk at all.

“…I have no idea who that child is. They’re not mine.” Mavis said, the words barely escaping his mouth.

Falk grumbled and shouted squeakily. “I-I know you know it’s me, Mavis! I’m Falk!” She paused for a second and sighed. “Your acquaintance…” She said with a soft yet grumpy voice.

Before Ashton could speak up over the two, the carriage took off and the carriage master soon started to whistle his favourite tune. Once again, there was a very tense atmosphere. Falk stared Mavis down and Mavis dared not to look at her. He continued staring out the carriage window and sighed, watching and waiting as they soon approached the walls of Harensdale.

 

FAR OFF IN THE DISTANT KINGDOM OF UNSVAUNT.

 

“…I really need a drink.” A figure said, sitting on the edge of a wooden barrel. Strolling through the cities, they slowly made their way to the Tavern. Approaching the bar, they sat on the seat. They stared into the eyes of the bartender with a black, leather hood who instantly served them a free drink. The bartender filled a glass with beer and put in on the counter. He then grabbed a glass cup in need of washing and rubbed on the edge with a towel, saying.

“…You really love your drinks, don’t you- Who are you, anyway?” The bartender rubbed at the outside of the glass cup and stared at them curiously. The figure removed their hood and puffed softly, saying.

“My name is Lillith. It’s nice to meet you, sir.” She said, taking a swig of the beer.