Zectas Volume V: The Sequestered Seminary of Sawtorn

by John Nest

  "So, how long did it take?" asked Smoke.

  "I just finished when I arrived," replied Ouragan. "And the ones that survived from both my area, and Magietrois Florissant's both ran for their lives."

  "What about Chrys' district?" asked Smoke.

  "I don't know," replied the old man.

  Then, a Prime Wizard in green appeared overhead.

  "Looks like he defended his side too," said Smoke, answering his own question.

  Chrysopelea softly landed next to them.

  "Thanks, Faux!" said Chrys. "If it weren't for you, I'm sure the western gates would have been opened too."

  "You mean it remained shut, the entire time?" asked a surprised Smoke. "Guess that means only Trottel had a busted gate."

  "Let's check on him," said Ouragan, and hovered.

  "Alright," replied Chrys and flew next to the old HighElf.

  "I'll see you guys there," said Smoke, as he was about to use his serval shoes to run at fast speeds.

  "Smo—Faux, why don't you just fly," blurted out Ouragan. "Everyone on top of the northern wall already saw you, anyway."

  "What?" screamed Chrys. "You can fly too?"

  "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." the green Prime Wizard clicked his tongue. "Just what can't you do?"

  "Plenty!" replied Smoke with all seriousness. He scowled behind his mask, as he remembered how far he still was from paying off the debts of his Avendre Mercenaries. Then, there was also his lack of large scale leadership abilities. In the incoming war against Duke Burmistrz, he knew that he could not allow the same losses as he experienced today. The Automaton Knights could be rebuilt, but not the lives of his Avendre Mercenaries.

  "Faux? You okay?" asked Chrys. "Looks like I lost you there for a second."

  Smoke waved his hand in dismissal. "Sorry, was thinking about something else."

  "Well, you better do your daydreaming another time," said Ouragan. "We really should see how the inside of Trottel's wall is doing."

  With that, Ouragan led all of them in flight. Moving with purpose, they flew to the top of the northern wall in no time at all.

  "No! No! No! No!" cried out Trottel, as soon as he saw Smoke flying next to Ouragan and Chrysopelea. "No way can you fly!"

  Trottel strongly shook his head in disbelief.

  "That was an advanced form of the Fire Levitation, right?" asked the Lioumerean Prime Wizard. "But you just learned the Fire element recently. You can't possibly—" Trottel stopped himself, and scratched his head, bewildered.

  "Earth, Fire, and now Wind?" further lamented Trottel. "Don't tell me you can use Lightning too?"

  Smoke had half a mind to get out his twin lightning-rods, but decided otherwise. "Of course not," he said and shook his head in denial. He would have loved to see the look on Trottel's face, but knew that his lightning rods would be a dead give away of his true identity.

  "Hmmp! Well, at least you suck at leading an army," blurted out Trottel. "I can't imagine how you managed to destroy almost all of those powerful Automaton Knights."

  "I lost a lot of them trying to save your side of the city," said Smoke. "Yours was the only one who got its gate busted open."

  "Of course it did! There was an UrukHai Colonel leading them," reasoned the Lioumerean.

  "And what of Chrys' and Ouragan's side? Didn't they also have UrukHai Colonels?" challenged Smoke.

  "Not on my end," interjected Ouragan.

  "Same here," added Chrys. "The strongest one there, was the Ork Commander you killed earlier, Faux."

  "Really?" said Smoke. "That's odd."

  PLOP

  Suddenly, Eleve teleported herself in front of Vitzytl's Generals.

  "Magietrois Florissant, we did it," greeted Ouragan, and lowered his head before her.

  Smoke, Trottel, and Chrysopelea hurriedly followed the old HighElf's lead.

  "Indeed, we did," said Trottel. "My men are just double checking for any surviving Orks, but I'm confident that we've—"

  Trottel's boastful ramblings was cut off, as Eleve's voice overpowered his.

  "We've been had!" she yelled.

  "Because I was too busy defending, I just got the report now," began Eleve. "As we speak, UrukHai Orks have been spotted outside the cities of Vona, Vectas, and Vlahui."

  "No!" exclaimed Ouragan. "Vona only has its standing army left to defend it."

  "The same goes for the rest of the cities," added Smoke.

  Ouragan quickly took to the skies, and was about to fly off to his home city.

  However, a massive red phoenix with flaming wings denied the old HighElf to do so.

  "Are you senile?" asked Eleve. "You can't get there in time by flying!"

  "What about the teleportation circles?" asked a troubled Chrys.

  "Unfortunately, the teleportation circles have still been powered down. As their dedicated mana had been redirected to the Breathtaking Ballistae," explained Eleve. "It will take two hours before they are fully functional again."

  "But we can't just stand here and do nothing," added Chrys. "I just became a Prime Wizard for god's sake."

  "That's why I'm teleporting all of you to your respective cities," said Eleve. "Regrettably, your cities are so far apart, that my current mana can only send the three of you."

  She paused, as she surveyed their reactions.

  "Send me now!" replied Ouragan.

  "I don't care," said Chrys. "I just need to be there."

  "Send me home as well," added Trottel.

  "Fine, then," said Eleve. "I'll pray to Tlaltezin for your success."

  PLOP PLOP PLOP

  One by one, Eleve sent the Prime Wizards to their respective cities. Only fiery afterimages of themselves remained where they stood.

  "You think they'll be able to do something?" asked Smoke.

  "I'm not sure," said Eleve. "But I think Ouragan and Trottel will manage somehow."

  A worried Smoke walked up to her and asked. "What about Chrys?"

  Eleve gulped. "The report had one other thing I intentionally left out."

  "Well? Spit it out already!" said Smoke.

  "It appears that Wertlosvati's banners were seen heading for Vectas City," she replied. "Maybe he's after the city because Chrysopelea has no real experience in being a Prime Wizard."

  "Then, you have to go there," pleaded Smoke. "You can't let those Orks destroy Vectas."

  Eleve strongly shook her head. "I can't leave Votl City defenseless. I'm bound to protect the capital above all else."

  A disheartened Smoke looked down.

  Shortly after, he grabbed the old HighElf's shoulder.

  "Send me instead!" exclaimed Smoke. "Chrys has no way of defending a city against Wertlosvati, alone."

  "And you think the two of you will stand a chance just because you're there?" asked Eleve.

  Smoke fell silent. He knew that she was right, but he could not bare to imagine all of those Zectians to be raided by the cruel UrukHai General.

  Wracking his brain for a solution, Smoke opened his map of the Sawtorn continent to confirm his idea. He grinned and gently tugged on Eleve's red robes.

  "I have a plan," said Smoke. "Can you send me here?" he asked pointing to his map.

  "Why? Anyway, I don't have enough mana to send you there right now," explained Eleve.

  "But how could you teleport us from Pincer Island to the Seminary so easily?" asked Smoke.

  "There are certain places that are a special case," replied Eleve. "Being the 16th Magietrois, it doesn't consume my mana to get to them."

  "Then, drink this," he said, and fished out his last two jars of pompom juice. "I'm sure it will barely increase your mana, but maybe it will be enough to teleport me."

  "Alright, let's give it a try," she said, and drank the two pompom juice in one go.

  "You made this yourself, did you?" Eleve asked Smoke. She then paused, as she checked on her mana. "Would you look at that. Just enough to teleport one more schmuck."

  "Great! Send me there, now!" begged
Smoke.

  "Are you sure?" asked Eleve, one more time. "I highly doubt sending you to Diebe Den would be of any help."

  "We won't know unless we try," said Smoke. He took in a deep breath and gave her a respectful bow.

  PLOP

  "Godspeed, Faux," she said to Smoke's fiery afterimage.

  As soon as Smoke disappeared, Eleve was forcibly teleported into one of the three tallest spires in the city.

  Smoke's Flame Master stood in front of a beautiful young maiden. Eleve quickly bowed down before her.

  "Please allow me to help them out, Mistress," she pleaded, and the old HighElf groveled at the young girl's feet.

  Eleve's Mistress forcibly shook the old HighElf off her legs. "Stop that! I told you, you need to stay here and defend the capital."

  "But you can defend this city all by yourself!" argued Eleve. "Heck! You can even destroy all of the invading Orks at once, if you wanted to."

  "That's right! I could. If... I wanted to," replied the young maiden. "But I didn't! In fact, I didn't lift a finger in this entire fiasco, did I?"

  "Of course, Mistress," said Eleve. "Please forgive my ignorance," she said and lowered her head even further.

  "Besides, you are the acting Magietrois Florissant now," said the young maiden. "And I am just a carefree observer."

  "Of course, Mistress," meekly replied Eleve.

  The young maiden then motioned for Eleve to stand straight.

  Eleve obediently stood up, but grumbled as she did.

  "What was that?" angrily asked the young girl. "Did you say something?" she said in a threatening manner.

  "Mistress, I just find it odd," answered Eleve.

  "Odd?" asked the young Mistress. "What's odd?"

  "I thought you liked Faux," replied Eleve. "But the only thing you ever did for him, was allow him to be one of your Journeymen."

  "Eleve, Eleve, Eleve," said the maiden while shaking her head. "In all our years of being together, you are still the same naive young girl I first met."

  The Mistress let out a sigh. "I told you, I'll only reveal myself to him after he finishes the real King's Quest."

  TO BE CONTINUED...

  Side Story – News of the Ork Invasion

  A group of eleven people, stood in deep snow over half a meter thick. They wore long thick robes, and huddled together against the cold winds.

  "Are you sure about this, Baskog?" asked their Exorcist Guild Leader.

  "After I acquired the book's knowledge, it gave me this coordinates," replied a heavy-set Knight, equipped with black plated armor. He had a silver cross embossed on his chest. He also carried a black kite shield on his back with the same matching silver cross, and on his side he hanged an axe. "We're suppose to find the castle after we cross this path," he added, pointing to the entrance of a long and narrow road, which headed up to the cold misty mountain.

  Then, a petite girl in fully covered green Aero Magus wardrobe walked up next to them. She slammed her tiny fist into Baskog's chest, smack at the center of the silver cross.

  "Who would have thought that you would get a Hidden Job," she said. "And a Night Templar at that!"

  The female Aero Magus then turned to three Death Knights, who also wore black plated armor. But theirs had white skulls on both shoulders, and had shields embossed with the same skull design.

  "Unlike Puthaw, Bato, and Ligon. You've really done well, Baskog," she added, and giggled.

  "Shut up, Magikera!" shouted the one called Puthaw. "Baskog was just lucky he got suspended from work. Otherwise, he would have ended up as a Death Knight, like us!"

  "Yeah! Shut up, Magikera!" added the one called Ligon. "Besides, a Death Knight is also a Hidden Job."

  "Sure it is, one that's already been well documented in the forums," taunted Magikera further.

  "Bato, can't you make your little sister shut up?" asked Ligon.

  "It's better if you just ignore her," said Bato. "She will tire of it... eventually."

  "Bah! What about you, Magikera?" asked Puthaw. "You're still an Aero Magus, and that's not even a Hidden Job!"

  "Not a Hidden Job, huh?" she asked. Suddenly, she lifted her right hand up, and sent Puthaw into the air, only to fall into the thick snow.

  THUD KLANK

  Puthaw's heavy Death Knight armor went right through the padding of the snow.

  "Ouch! That hurt!" cried out Puthaw, but he did not retaliate in any way.

  Then, a beautiful WoodElf with long black hair stepped in between them. "Alright, that's enough horsing around," said Hilot, wearing a Priestess' robe made for the freezing weather. "Let's just get in there, and find out if Baskog really found King Aquila's Castle."

  "Pfft. Why do I even stay with you guys?" said an equally charming HighElf with the same black hair. "Amahan, can we go already?" asked the Priestess named Tabang.

  "Wait a minute, Tabang," replied Amahan. "Atiman is still going through his checklist."

  A muscular HighElf, who had a build fit to be a Knight, was mumbling to himself as he crossed out the Decane's provisions.

  "We're still good on mana pots," said Atiman. "But our Tanks only have 65% of their usual number of life pots."

  "I don't know about Baskog, but that's more than enough pots for us," interjected Puthaw. "See, we three won't need as much as before," he added, pointing to his fellow Death Knights. "That's just how we Death Knights roll!"

  "Oh, shut up," said Magikera and got out her tongue.

  "Anyway, Hilot, Puthaw, and Baskog have a scheduled four-hour break in the next two hours," said Atiman. "And after that are Ligon, Tirador, and myself."

  "That's perfect," said Amahan, and gave Atiman a thumbs up. "Thanks for keeping up a tight hold on our logistics," he added.

  "Let's use these two hours to gauge whether we need the entire force of the Decane for this Quest," explained Amahan. "But I'm certain, we can continue on even with three members missing."

  "Why not drop this dead weight, while we're at it," said Magikera, and pointed to the eleventh member of the Decane. His cloak and robe completely covered his face, arms and hands.

  "I do not understand the cause for your resentment," said the eleventh member. "In the first place, you were the ones who put me in this predicament."

  Without further warning, the concealed member got out his hand, and displayed a powerful blue orb, aimed at the mouthy Magikera.

  Amahan quickly stepped in front of her, and blocked the orb's path.

  "You've had enough fun, Magikera," he said, and pointed his finger at her. He then turned to the eleventh member and said. "I apologize in her behalf, Matz. That's just her own way of dealing with this cold, I guess."

  "Your pitiful excuse for your comrades are just that, pitiful," said the robed member called Matz. "But I accept your apology," he added, and canceled the blue orb.

  Amahan let out a deep sigh and said. "Let's all just head up this mountain, already."

  Walking towards the entrance of the long and winding path, Amahan called out to his companions. "By the way, do you think we should make a rally point here?"

  "Sure," replied Atiman. "I can see it, Merchants and Traders lining all up," said the Archbishop, pointing at the thick snow behind them. "But, after we've looted the castle... and hunted down all the rare item drops."

  "Of course," said Amahan.

  "How long do you think that would take?" Baskog asked Atiman.

  "Not sure," replied Atiman. "Depends on your tanking abilities against the monsters here, I guess."

  "If that's the case, then I'd say one week!" confidently declared Puthaw. "The Death Knights will decimate all the monsters here in just seven days!"

  "Puthaw, it's saying things like that, that makes Magikera mouth off again," said Amahan, as he led the way into the steep narrow road.

  Walking into the mist, the Decane members braced themselves, as the path they traveled on was only three meters wide.

  Now, it would not seem to be that narrow, but this
icy road still gave all of them a slight case of acrophobia. Maybe it was because none of them could see the ground from either side.