SafeHaven

by Xander Jade

  A couple hours later, we stopped at the foot of the mountain range for a few minutes before Sig told us where to go. Thirty minutes later, we came upon a cave and Sig had us stop.

  ‘This is where we part ways with the others for now, Max. They can’t come in yet.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Reap tried to build me up. ‘You got this. When we leave here, you’ll be stronger.’

  Herc said, ‘Yeah, don’t get your ass whipped too bad.’

  They both cackled. I shook my head, then dismounted. I advised Zeus to stay with the duo. He chest bumped me and walked over to rest. Taking a breath, I walked into the cave and into a tunnel that went through the mountain. It had many turns and it was dark, good thing I had night vision. Finally, light came into view and it was weird coming out into an open space within the mountain. It was like a courtyard in a keep. Stone benches, flowers, torches that were lit, and even a water fountain. Curious, I walked over to see if it was an illusion. My hand touched the water and it was indeed real. It wasn’t a few minutes later that I heard a huff. I guessed it was game time.

  Turning around, I got my first look at a yikarian. They were rare to see and difficult to kill, due to their combat skills. Most had a collection of magical abilities as well. This particular one was as tall as me, had black coarse fur all over, and had similar features to the minotaur. Muscular, long horns, and a ring in her snout. She wasn’t as broad as the minotaur, but she wasn’t dainty either. The yikarian was wearing brown armor over her chest, trousers, and held a staff in her hands.

  “Who dares enter my domain?”

  “Maximus Drago, ma’am.”

  She scoffed, “You can stop with the ma’am shit. What do you want?”

  Thinking it over, I told the truth. “I’m here to make a contract with you.”

  She cackled for a few moments. “Brazen, aren’t you? And why would I do that?”

  “Because I’m on a mission to combat evil. Our world soon will be invaded with demons and we need to get stronger to defeat them. We need your help.”

  She snickered and shook her head. “Boy, you have no idea who I am and what I’m capable of. Go on back to where you came from and leave me be.”

  The yikarian turned to walk away. I wasn’t going to let that happen. “Did you not hear me?”

  She turned and hissed, “I heard you, boy. Evidently, you didn’t hear me. If you don’t leave right now, you will not live to see another sunrise.”

  Bitch.

  I didn’t move and her mouth turned up into a snarl.

  “So be it.”

  She came at me so fast that I didn’t even have time to move before finding myself in pain from being slung into the wall of stone behind me. Groaning, I tried to get up, but she hit me again with her staff five times and I ended up back against the wall before I could maneuver out of the way. My beast was pissed and pleading to get out to murder the bitch, so I let him. Moments later, I shifted to my wolf form and tried to get to the yikarian quickly, but she backhanded me when I jumped at her. She was really pissing me off. I ran at her, but she whipped her staff around and hit me in the head and ribs, knocking me back again. Not having any luck with the wolf, my beast changed us to the siba form.

  “Wow, you can change beasts. Haven’t seen that in a long time.”

  Growling at the bitch, I took off and swiped at her, missing by inches. She parried every time and went on the offensive after ten missed opportunities. The chick was lethal with the staff, hitting me in all the pressure points on my body. I went limp at one point and looked up at her smiling face.

  “You’re pathetic, bringing your weak self here to bond with me. Say goodnight, Max.”

  She twirled her staff, but I caught her off guard with a quick spell. Lifting my paw, I sent it straight at her chest, sending her backflipping to the other side of the courtyard to hit the wall.

  She growled, “You lucky bastard. So, you’re a mage too. No matter, I will end it now.”

  The female ran at me and jumped up high into the air, but I had my beast ready to shift and we did, to our primal form. The bitch was on the way down, when we stood up. I caught her in midair. She was shocked, and her black eyes were wide. Not giving her a chance to do anything, I slammed the yikarian into the ground six or seven times, breaking the stone apart. After doing that, I threw her in the wall. Yes, in the wall.

  There was a hole where she ended up. I roared at my victory, or at least I thought it was one. No, the bitch had earth magic and she finally used it. The floor beneath me just disappeared. I yelped and fell through a couple hundred feet to slam into the cavern below. She released the magic on the hole, encasing me in the mountain. A minute later, the walls started closing in around me and I couldn’t go anywhere. This was it, shit.

  When the earth formed around me, my air supply ran out and I surrendered to the darkness in defeat. My last breath was calling out to my women, telling them I loved them.

  Chapter 9

  A few minutes after the beast lost consciousness, Nespea opened the mountain back up to get a look at the phenomenon. She had never seen a creature like this before. It seemed to be half bear and half siba. The only reason she said the latter was because the boy had turned into one, which was extraordinary, since she didn’t know any still existed.

  Something strange was going on. Who was this boy? And why had he come here? More importantly, how did he know where to find her?

  The mountain spit the beast out onto her courtyard floor. She was examining it when it shifted back to human form. He was well built for a, whatever he was. The yikarian checked him over to make sure he was alive; she didn’t want to kill him. Nespea sensed something rare and powerful within him. When she got to his chest, she found the evidence that she was looking for.

  The tattoo, it was what she sensed. Nespea sighed, she knew what that tattoo meant. An elemental had bonded with him and she knew who it was.

  “Sigmus you bastard, come out!”

  A bright light shot out of the tattoo and it started oozing to the ground. When the transformation was done, the elemental took a breath and smiled.

  “Nespea, long time.”

  She growled at him, “What the hell is going on? Why would you bond with a shifter?”

  He sighed. “Because soon we will be defending our world from demons. This will be nothing like the Dark Wars, it will be a hundred times worse. The gods told me many moons ago that a male mage would intrude in my domain and that I would need to bond with him. They called him the Anointed One and said he would be needed to take on the demons. They also advised to find and bond with numerous elementals for support and power to balance out the coming evil.”

  Nespea was silent for a few minutes before responding, “And you came here for that task? Why? You know my past, I gave up that life, Sigmus.”

  “No, not needless killing, Nespea. Max doesn’t do anything without thinking first. The boy’s character is without a doubt, good and honorable. He does have a tendency to lack common sense but listens to advice. The boy needs your guidance and bond. We will come upon many things that will test his mind and prowess, but at least with your knowledge and combat skills, he will have a chance to survive.”

  The yikarian scowled but didn’t say anything. Finally after about ten minutes she said, “I will meditate and think about your proposal, give me some time.”

  She looked down at the boy and shook her head. “I will keep him asleep for now.”

  Sigmus nodded and replied, “How? You know a sleep spell?”

  Nespea answered with a grin, “Yes, a tryst back in the day. A sandman and I made a bet. He lost.”

  Sigmus laughed and walked over to sit with Max. The yikarian walked off leaving the fire elemental, shaking her head in disbelief. After a couple minutes, Sigmus sent a message to Hercules and Reaper to let them know what had transpired.

  ***

  Two hours passed and deep within her meditation, the yikarian was distraught. She curs
ed Sigmus for putting her into this situation, but it could mean redemption for her past. Nespea was going over the pros and cons again when two voices entered her mind.

  ‘Nespea,’ a female said.

  The yikarian gasped. ‘Who’s there?’

  ‘Friends, we will help you in your decision,’ a male voice answered.

  She blinked, two voices. ‘What do you want?’

  The female replied, ‘You’re having issues committing to the boy’s proposal. Why is that?’

  Nespea was annoyed now. ‘Because he’s a boy, a young one at that. Why do we not have an elf or someone that has been living longer than my bunions? Someone that has experience and knows the world. This pissant has no idea and is definitely wet behind the ears.’

  The male chuckled. ‘We could say the same for you, Nespea. A yikarian whose only life experience is when her clan took over a city. After that you disappeared from their sight. Why was that? Stressed and overwhelmed from the guilt of all the death and the way your people tortured those beings.’

  Her head slumped and her eyes misted up. She tried to stop the tears flowing but couldn’t. Those scenes were back in full force, the ones she tried to block from her mind many years ago. Males, females, and children dying all around her, some even enslaved.

  The female spoke, ‘Nespea, get that out of your mind. It’s done, and in the past. The future is now and the path you choose will have consequences. Regardless of your choice, the little paradise that you’ve built here will die. If you fight alone, your life will be in nonstop danger and you’ll most likely perish like your kin did in the past. Disgraceful. If you follow the boy, at least it will be your choice to be involved and help others in need.’

  The male broke in, ‘As I recall, you asked for help and were then given powers to be an elemental when you disowned your kin to follow Cinton, the God of Earth. Why are you here? So, you can develop your skills and wait for him to call upon you to fulfill your oath to him. Now, it is that time.’

  The yikarian nodded and got up off the ground, dusting herself off.

  ‘Yes, thank you for helping me remember. Again, who are you?’

  The two voices just laughed softly and told her to be careful with the young man and teach him because his road ahead had death all around.

  Then the voices disappeared. How did they know about her oath? The yikarian gasped and knew that if they knew that, then they must know Cinton himself. Nespea shuddered and walked towards the Anointed One, not wanting to dwell on the fact that she’d spoken with beings who could crush her like a bug.

  Sigmus was still sitting, watching over the boy. He had a soft spot for him. That was interesting. Sigmus was usually a bastard to others. This was a side the yikarian hadn’t seen before.

  Sigmus looked over as she walked up.

  Sighing, the yikarian said, “I have made my decision and will bond with him… On the condition that I can return if and when this world ending disaster is taken care of.”

  “That’s reasonable and he will agree with that. His other three compadres are still outside the entrance, do you want them to stay out?”

  Nespea advised, “Yes, I noticed that. The bonding will take at least an hour to complete, let them know when it’s complete they can come in and rest. No telling how long the boy will be out when this is done.”

  He grunted and she began. When she put her hands on the young man, he immediately tensed and screamed out.

  Nespea groaned, “Going to be a long hour.”

  ***

  My mind woke up and I saw nothing after the horrendous dreamlike state I had been in. This must be the afterlife, nothing but floating forever in darkness. Oh well, could be worse.

  ‘You aren’t dead,’ a female voice spoke out to me.

  ‘Okay, if you say so. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?’

  ‘Nespea.’

  ‘Nespea. Well, how is it you know I’m not dead since I distinctly remember walls of earth surrounding me and cutting off my air supply. I assume that means I’m dead.’

  She sighed. ‘He told me you were somewhat annoying and clueless. You’re recuperating, young man.’

  That took me a moment to figure out. Recuperating? From what?

  She answered without me speaking directly to her, ‘The bonding. You’ve been out for almost three weeks.’

  Wait, what? I knew who was speaking. ‘You’re the yikarian.’

  ‘Got it in one, now let’s begin your mind training.’

  ‘But why did you change your mind?’

  She groaned. ‘Let’s just leave it as I did and be done with it.’

  I could hear Sig chuckle. It seemed that this was going to be just as bad dealing with the ill-tempered cow as it was with the bastard fire salamander.

  ‘Cow!? I’m not one of those! You had better watch it buddy, I can and will open your body up to spray your guts all over the ground!’ the earth elemental sneered.

  Sig cackled.

  ‘As if. You wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble if that was on your mind. Let’s get to it then.’

  She huffed and my mind shook. It felt like when someone hits you in the back of the head.

  Nespea laughed and said, ‘Sigmus and I discussed your predicament, with your injuries and mana flow. He said that your mana pool is growing, but not fast enough. Our mana is now combined and when you awaken, we will immediately begin training. We have some time before that, so you will learn the art of meditation and control.’

  ‘Okay, whenever you’re ready.’

  So began the monotonous task of meditation, though it ended up helping me with calming myself down and being ‘in control’.

  My body woke up two days later. I was so parched that I drank all the water from the fountain but it filled up again and I drank more. Getting my mind and body to work together again, I got up and walked around to make sure I wouldn’t collapse. After checking everything was kosher and getting some food into my stomach, that Herc and Reap provided, we discussed our next steps. I went to bed early after our discussions.

  We woke the next morning ready to start training, which lasted for most of the day. I was mentally tired and found out that the next couple of weeks, we were going to train my body and mind with magic and combat. The yikarian wasn’t impressed with my fighting style, so she was going to help with different techniques.

  I felt exhausted just thinking about it but can’t see any way out of it.

  ***

  It was an uneventful trip to Oakenshore for Princess Estelle and Lady Shea. They discussed the town’s plight. King William advised the two of the situation. He gave them a signed writ, telling everyone that both had the authority to make any decisions to get the city back to normal.

  The carriage came up to the gates and they were let in. They immediately traveled to the castle and stopped in the courtyard. Sir Nathan let them out and their guards escorted them inside, followed by six mages.

  Princess Estelle asked a guard, “Where is the lord of this castle?”

  The guard gulped before responding, “In court, Your Highness.”

  She nodded and the group made their way to the great hall. Sir Nathan spoke to the guards on duty, who let them in immediately. Shea and Estelle went inside together with the six mages, Sir Nathan, and his squad in tow. Lord Blake was on the dais with Marcus and Chris behind him. Guards lined the walls.

  Court stopped when they saw the two women headed towards the front. Blake stood up and smiled at them.

  “Ladies, it’s great to see you. What brings you to Oakenshore?”

  “Court is done for today, everyone out!” Shea commanded.

  The smile on Lord Blake’s face diminished. The spectators started making their way out. Arthur and Nadine, the two senior mages, stood behind the princess and air mage.

  When everyone that was supposed to leave was gone, Sir Nathan gestured to his two guards by the door to close it. Estelle stepped up to the lord of the castle and pulled out
a scroll before bellowing, “Blake Ackley, by order of King William, you are stripped of your title, lands, businesses, any investments, and leadership of this city. You are hereby under arrest for the blatant acts of abuse that you’ve committed and the misuse of authority in the form of official misconduct. Any and all of your companions that are found to have helped you with these acts will be placed in the dungeon until further notice.”

  Marcus and Chris tensed and started stepping away. Shea saw them moving and said, “You two move anymore and I will not hesitate to allow my colleagues to stop you with force.”

  The two males stopped and stayed still. Blake hollered, “This is outrageous!”

  Princess Estelle took out the writ and spoke, “This writ in my hand is from King William of Augustia and it gives Lady Shea and myself the authority to take charge of the city.”

  She handed it over to Blake and his shoulders slumped as he read.

  Princess Estelle took back the piece of parchment and hollered, “Sir Nathan, take Mr. Ackley to his room and place guards outside to make sure he doesn’t leave. Arthur and Nadine, take two guards with you and escort those two idiots to the dungeon. Find out what they’ve done and what is needed to reverse their actions.”

  They bowed and did as ordered. Blake was yelling profanities and the group, trying to get away from the two guards. Shea waited until things settled down before speaking, “Guard, send for Lord Foster, Sir John, and Sir Malcolm. They are being summoned.”

  The guard bowed and hurried away. A few minutes later, Sir Nathan and the two mages came back into the hall. Lord Foster appeared minutes later.

  He came down and bowed, “Your Highness, thank you for coming.”

  She nodded and got down to business. “Blake Ackley has been placed under arrest and awaiting sentencing. His followers will be picked up and arrested as well. Now, you will get word to Duke Ackley and advise him to return from his leave of absence, per the king.”

  “Yes, Your Highness. I will get right on it.”

  “Advise the nobility that Lady Shea and I will run the court until Duke Ackley is able. We will get the guards back to their duties and hopefully your citizens will begin to relax when they realize that things will get back to normal soon.”