A New Light (The Astral Wanderer Book 1)

by D'Artagnan Rey

  “No, no, nothing like that,” the guard stated as he stopped in front of the three youngsters. “I need a report, and the guardsmen who initially confronted him are…well…” He and the young swordsman glanced to where another of his comrades walked up to the two the drunk warrior had knocked unconscious. “Probably not in the right headspace at the moment. I need to ask a couple of quick questions.”

  “Oh, all right.” He nodded and gestured to Jazai and Asla. “It’s all right guys. I’ll be back soon.”

  “Works for me.” The young diviner turned to stroll casually into the inn.

  Asla fretted for a moment before she inclined her head in agreement and followed the other boy inside. “I’ll make sure they bring more bread for you.”

  “Sounds good!” he called to her before he turned to talk to the guard. The other two men were escorted away for treatment as the crowd began to disperse and return to their activities. The man asked his questions quickly and seemed rather surprised that a young boy was able to hurl a large man like that away with one punch. Fortunately, he seemed more knowledgeable about the applications of Mana than the warrior so it was not too much of a stretch for him. He thanked him for his assistance but stated that the next time something like that happened, to summon the guards instead. They did not want civilians to potentially get hurt.

  Devol nodded and waved as he left. Two guardsmen approached the ax and studied it cautiously. They probably needed to confiscate it given that it had been used in a crime.

  He had taken a couple of steps toward the inn to join his friends when he felt an odd sensation like a mist enveloping him. He recalled a similar, albeit heavier feeling before with Vaust. This was Anima. Hastily, he looked over his shoulder and across the town center and his gaze settled on a figure that seemed to stare directly at him. He couldn’t make out many details from this far away other than purple-colored hair.

  The figure slid into an alley and he hesitated as he considered calling the others, then changed his mind. He didn’t know who this person was. Perhaps it was the carrier? They did not call the password, though, so maybe it was too busy in the town center and they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves.

  Instinctively, he reactivated his Anima and the heavy feeling dispersed as soon as his was summoned. This did not feel quite as strong as Vaust’s, but perhaps the stranger was deliberately hiding it. Well, there was a direct way to find out. He marched toward the alley and while the claustrophobic feeling from before was gone, he could not shake an ill sensation.

  His hand hovered close to his blade. This mission might not be so simple after all.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  “Excuse me?” Devol called as he entered the alley. It was shadowed but the afternoon sun allowed sufficient light and he could see no one within. “Is someone here?” He took a few more tentative steps and looked around for signs of movement. The thoroughfare was as straight as an arrow. There were some skinny crevices, perhaps, but nothing for anyone to hide behind and he moved forward.

  As he reached the halfway point, he felt nauseous and his hand moved from the grip of his sword to his head. He steadied himself and breathed deeply. His stomach felt like it was in knots. It could be the food, he reasoned, but he had been fine a moment before.

  “A wonderful display back there,” a charming, light voice proclaimed playfully. When he looked behind him, his gaze settled on a tall, lithe man. The stranger wore an ornate jacket of fine materials—white with purple trimming a darker color than his violet locks. His hair seemed to have a life of its own at odds with his tidy appearance. It swept fairly neatly over his head and curved toward his neck before the ends stuck out from his head in sharp points.

  His grin was wide and he wore a simple black eyepatch over his right eye, this one more form-fitting than Wulfsun’s with violet embroidery along the edges. The one good eye looked welcoming, but it put the boy on guard rather than giving him ease. “Someone as young as you has already begun to learn the ways of Anima? I was beginning to think your generation was becoming too reliant on exotics and novelties to be of much use as Magi.”

  “Who are you?” Devol tried to remain standing as he fought the headache that seemed to be growing worse. “Wait, were you staring at me before? How did you get behind me?”

  “That’s a simple trick for someone such as myself,” the man answered and placed a hand on his shoulder from behind him. The boy whipped around and staggered back as the stranger chuckled. “Sorry, I suppose that is rude of me. I’m a Magi merely traveling the land and looking for work. I can get bored rather easily, so when I run into other Magi of notable skill, I have to have a little fun when I can.”

  He stared at the odd Magi, a little concerned about the sensation that the walls shifted or wobbled around him like he had come down with something that left him feeling decidedly unwell. “I see. But you still haven’t introduced yourself.”

  While the man was eccentric, he did not appear to be overly menacing or dangerous at present, even if the sight of him left him with an uneasy feeling.

  “You are quite right.” The violet-hued stranger stood with his legs together and made a deep, theatrical bow. “My name is Koli and as I said, I am a wandering Magi.” He straightened and grinned disarmingly. “And who might you be, my young friend?”

  “I’m Devol,” he responded. “I’m…well, I suppose I don’t have a profession yet but I’m in training.”

  “Is that so? Training for what? I can’t help but notice that lovely sword of yours.” Koli pointed at the majestic. Strangely, each of his fingernails were sharpened to a fine point. “It looks nothing like any blade I’ve seen. Is it some type of exotic? A family heirloom perhaps?”

  “Yeah, an heirloom,” he lied and decided it was better to not give away that it was a majestic in case the man knew what those were. “Something crafted for my father before I was born. He wanted to give me a proper blade when I started to take my practice seriously.”

  “Aw, that’s heart-warming.” The man chuckled and folded his arms. “So tell me little Magi, what brings you to Rouxwoods?”

  “I’m…running an errand for my father,” he said. “I was having a meal when the commotion broke out. I saw the drunk warrior and decided it was best for me to handle him before he got out of control and that it would be good training to see how I fared against him.”

  “Well, you’ll certainly need more powerful sparring partners in the future. He was no trouble at all, it seemed.” The strange Magi laughed and took a couple of steps forward. Devol felt the nausea return in force and the alley seemed to spin around him. “Perhaps,” he muttered as he leaned forward, “I could help you with that.”

  Devol wanted to respond with “maybe another time,” but his mouth felt suddenly dry. He was too dizzy and simply shook his head as he rested against the wall and slid down slowly. “What is… I feel so lightheaded…”

  “Hmm?” Koli remarked. “Feeling a little under the weather, my friend? We can’t have that. We’re in an alley!” He bent closer and his smile widened and became a little devious as he stretched a hand toward the young man. “Even in homely little towns such as this, many a terrible person can still be wandering about.”

  “Hey, Devol!” Jazai called. “Where are you, man?”

  Koli grasped the young swordsman’s hand and helped him to his feet. “Is that your friend?” he asked as he brushed a trace of dirt off his shoulder. “It seems I’ve kept you for far too long.” He bowed again and smiled. “It was a pleasure to meet you, little Devol. I hope you become a great Magi one day.” With that, he began to walk away as the diviner stepped into view, saw Devol in the alley, and jogged quickly to him. He passed the odd man, who didn’t look at him as he turned left into the street.

  “Hey, Devol,” Jazai began and studied him with concern. “You all right? You’re sweating hard.”

  “Yeah, I’m…” He drew in in a deep breath. “I’m fine.” It wasn’t exactly a lie beca
use although he still felt a little dizzy, it certainly wasn’t as bad as it had been a minute before. He shook his head and slapped his cheeks a few times. “I felt a little dizzy there for a while. I think I’m getting over it, though.”

  “That’s good. We still have to complete the mission and it’s harder to do that with you sick.” Jazai helped him up. “So, what took you so long? Did you spend all this time chatting to that lady?”

  He looked curiously at the scholar. “Lady? I guess he looked a little feminine but that was a man.”

  “You think?” The diviner grinned and shook his head. “The breasts are usually a giveaway.”

  Baffled, he looked at the entrance to the ally, then at his friend. “The what?”

  Vaust watched the two young Magi exit the alleyway, debating with one another. He held Myazma in his hand under the cloak and had been prepared to strike should the being have gotten any closer. Something was off about the stranger who had approached Devol. He saw her dance around the boy as if he could not see or feel her before she introduced herself to him. From his vantage point, he couldn’t even get a proper description. It was like her features were muddled. He clambered off the roof and stalked after the stranger. Whether she was working with the enemy or merely a random thief was something he had to find out. Because whatever she was, she was most certainly not a simple traveler.

  He kept his distance and drew his hood down to obscure his visage. It was unlikely that these villagers would be surprised to see a realmer, but mori were still a rather rare sight in this realm. Some of the more superstitious did not hold them in high regard, so it was better that he did not cause a scene. He sipped casually from his gourd as he continued to follow the woman, who seemed to be studying something she had taken out of her pocket.

  The Templar looked ahead and realized that they were headed to the edges of town. His quarry veered through the people on the street as if she intended to turn left into what appeared to be a less busy road. He would look for an opportunity to confront her there—an alley or empty building—and would rather take the risk that he was wrong than leave this woman to simply wander about.

  The stranger turned and Vaust used a small burst of Mana to sprint forward quickly and try to keep her in his sights. When he turned the corner, however, she was gone.

  How did she escape? His Mana flowed into his eyes and he located the trace remains of a violet-colored Mana only a few paces away. He extended his hand so he could get a feel of it, and he felt a disconnect between it and the user. This was some type of teleportation over a long distance. It had probably been accomplished with a curio or trinket. Outside of blinking, teleportation was not something a Magi could do so quickly on their own.

  Vaust placed his kama into the sheath on the back of his waist and debated his next step. This seemed a good indicator that it would not be as simple a mission for him as he’d expected.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  When Koli reappeared, he was in the mouth of a cave a few miles outside of Rouxwoods. He walked calmly inside and heard heavy, savage breathing from within. “Salvo?” he called. “Are you still here, my friend?”

  “Koli?” a voice responded with a chuckle and a fist-sized flame appeared deeper within. “Finally. I was beginning to get bored here.”

  “You could have participated,” he pointed out as he walked into the spartan cave that contained only some bedrolls and the packs they had brought with them—aside from their pet in the cage. “It may be a small town but there are many people there we need to look into.”

  “Hey now, someone has to make sure the big guy stays,” Salvo countered and held the flame near his face to reveal a toothy grin against his tanned skin and short-cropped white hair. “And remember who got us the information in the first place, eh? I say I’ve been pulling my weight.”

  “I’m not here to guilt-trip you,” he said, leaned against the wall, and folded his arms. “But I was bored too, and lonely. I could have used the company.”

  Salvo approached his partner and studied him. “That dull, huh? Well, maybe if I could see you in your female form, I would be more inclined.”

  Koli shrugged. “I have no control over that. The rune on my neck creates the illusion and you interpret what it shows you.”

  The man rolled his eyes. “You keep saying that—like I would choose to see a guy over a babe.” He cast his flame to the side, where it landed on a stack of firewood, ignited it, and illuminated the cave. “So I take it you weren’t able to find anything out today?”

  “If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come back,” he stated with an amused chuckle and held a card up. “I ran into an interesting group in the square and one of them had this on him.”

  He threw the card at his partner, who snatched it out of the air and studied it. “Call sign is caw-caw? What the hell is this?”

  “It appears to be instructions for a meeting,” he replied. “It says they will meet by the evening of the twenty-first, which would be tonight.”

  “Are you sure these are our guys?” Salvo asked and examined the card again. “So what are we looking at? A team of Templars?”

  “A team, yes,” he conceded. “But if they are Templars…well, they are rather young.”

  “So recruits or something?” his partner asked with a frown. “Is this some kind of a joke? Why would they send brats to fetch it?”

  “Brats,” said thoughtfully. “Perhaps that is quite apt, Salvo. From what I saw, they were mostly teenagers.”

  “A group of kids?” The man balked. “This ain’t gonna be fun at all.” He hissed through his teeth as he stretched his neck and muttered. After a moment, he stopped and turned slowly with his eyes narrowed. “Wait, you said mostly?”

  “Indeed I did,” Koli confirmed. “While I was preparing to head back, I was followed by another Magi, this one quite skilled. I almost didn’t detect him for a brief time. He hides his Mana well but I could feel a disturbance in my area and my powers were being blocked,” he revealed. “I don’t know if he is their leader or a third party, but he is quite powerful and either way, he will probably be a not inconsiderable hindrance.”

  “Is he strong?” Salvo asked and excitement crept into his voice. “Tell me he is.”

  “I didn’t fight him so I couldn’t tell you that.” The other man’s face fell with undisguised disappointment. “Oh, don’t be like that. I said he was powerful and good at controlling his Mana too. But that does not necessarily mean he is a good fighter. You would be disappointed if I said he was and turned out to be wrong.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Fine.” Salvo grimaced in irritation and looked at the card again before he slid it into his pocket. “So these might be our guys. But we still don’t know where they will meet.”

  “I can take a guess,” Koli said and held a finger up. “Just before I ported here, I saw an artifice in the sky.”

  “An artifice?” His partner frowned, then shrugged. “One of those little mechanical things? It could be something the guards use.”

  “It was an exotic artifice,” he clarified with a smile. “And it was in the shape of a bird.”

  Realization dawned on the man’s face and he drew the card out and looked at it again. His toothy grin returned. “Well, caw-caw then. Did you see where it came from?”

  “The forest on the west side of the village.” Koli pushed away from the wall and walked to the cage. “I could trace the user of the artifice. They’ll have to use Mana to control their device, after all. But it now seems like a good opportunity to test your boss’ little project, don’t you think?”

  Salvo’s grin faltered as he joined him to look into the cage. “Well…I guess so. He did want us to do that,” he mumbled hesitantly. “Eh, but do you think we should let the big guy out? It’ll cause a commotion.”

  “And you won’t?” Koli asked, amused. “It’s not like you care all that much about subtlety.”

  The man rolled his shoulders and shrugged. “You got me there,
I guess. I’ll get the door.” As he reached for the lock, the cage began to rattle and the occupant uttered a hungry, enraged roar. Birds took wing frantically outside the cave, startled by the beast within.

  “Maybe we should double-check that the runes are working,” his partner said cautiously and took several steps back.

  Koli laughed. “I think that would be smart of you.”

  “Jazai, Devol,” Asla called as she ran up to them. “There you are.”

  “Hey, Asla.” The diviner pointed to Devol. “I found our buddy. He got stuck in an alley with some lady.”

  “Lady?” the wildkin asked and looked at the other boy. “Alley?”

  “I’m telling you he wasn’t a lady!” Devol repeated. “He was clearly a man.”

  “Slender body and long violet hair that went down to her waist,” his friend recalled. “Are we talking about the same person?”

  “To her waist?” Devol questioned. “He had long violet hair but it kind of spikes away from his neck. If it were straighter, it would fall to maybe the middle of his back.” He sighed and waved dismissively. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Sorry for holding you two up.”

  “It’s all good,” Jazai assured him. “I finished my meal, at least.”

  “Speaking of which…” Asla handed the swordsman something wrapped in cloth. “Here. I brought it for you since you didn’t get to finish.”

  He opened the parcel to find a sandwich inside, made from the inn’s bread and the rest of his meal. “Oh, thanks Asla!” he said happily and began to scarf it with enthusiasm. As his teammates watched him, a bird cried loudly above them. All three looked up as it continued to call over the town square.

  “Man, that is loud,” Jazai grumbled and put his hands over his ears. “I thought birdsong was supposed to be pleasant.”