Peter of the Wind (War of Contractia)

by Dixon, TJ

“Sounds like there could be quite the reward. Perhaps even enough to restore my honour. Fine, I’ll help. Where do we need to go?”

  “The Labyrinth of Lost Lambs.” I say and she goes pale. This is the first time I have seen fear on my mother’s face.

  “That place is not simply dangerous. It’s suicide. Forget it. I’m getting a drink. I won’t be back for a while.” My mother says and ports away. If even she is too scared despite the glory I lied about, then what chance does Peter have?

  I don’t have enough to offer a bounty. I hardly have enough to eat. That means it’s just me and anyone willing to help for free. I was sure Rin would help but she is too scared. Perhaps I can find someone in the Drake willing to help. The only trouble is that is where my mother is. Drinking can only mean the Drake. Perhaps I can find help at the Town Hall where the official bounty board is? There must be elite mages looking for bounty there. Maybe someone will be interested in the glory?

  I port outside the town hall but the guard refuses to let “some unknown little girl” in “so why don’t you go find your mummy”? I curse and walk away. A young girl in blue robes walks up to me.

  “What did you want inside the Town Hall?” She asks.

  “I was looking for a brave mage willing to save my friend. Doesn’t look like I’ll find one here though.” I say depressed.

  “What sort of trouble is your friend in?” She asks.

  “He went to a labyrinth to help my friend’s mother. Why am I telling you all this though? It’s not like you can help.”

  “You say he? Is he a friend from the academy?”

  “Yes, but don’t…”

  “That hopeless star lover. I knew he wasn’t normal the day I sent him there.”

  “I thought the queen…”

  “Yes that’s me. He started a slave rebellion and I sent him to the academy when I freed all the slaves that fought at the arena.”

  “You’re the queen?!”

  “Keep it down.” A voice at my ear whispers harshly and I sense a finger on my neck.

  “Alumia, there’s no need to threaten her. Port us somewhere private.”

  “Yes your majesty.”

  We are ported to the forest near the academy. I can see the academy towering above the trees.

  “Isn’t this place dangerous? I heard ten students from class A got taken out here.”

  “They were C students. If they had been class A, it would have been a problem.” Alumia now visible says with a blush. “They’re all alive and well though.”

  “What happened to them?”

  “I sort of kidnapped them.”

  “Why?!”

  “There was a war on. I was on Gold’s side. Not exactly by choice though. He had me kidnapped first.” She says and I can see bad memories on her face.

  “You don’t need to talk about it. Sorry I asked.” I answer apologetically.

  “Time is short.” The queen says and reminds me whose presence I am in.

  “I’m sorry. Why was your majesty in our little town anyway?”

  “Do not expect an answer. Now tell me where your friend is.”

  “The Labyrinth of Lost Lambs.”

  “Then he is dead.” Alumia says regretfully.

  “You don’t know that.” The queen says. “What makes you so sure?”

  “Even with Gold’s power it would be suicide.”

  “Do not joke about such a thing.” The queen says with quiet anger in her voice.

  “I do not joke. The enemies there are creatures even the old queen feared.”

  “Their death would be proof that I had exceeded her then. It would silence her supporters.”

  “She is dead. They will remember who is queen soon enough.” Alumia says.

  “Umm… Is this something you should be talking about in front of me?” I ask.

  “It doesn’t matter. If you talk I’ll have you executed.” The queen says and seeing my expression laughs. “Just joking. It is no secret so there is no need to hide it.”

  “We should go back. It is sad but her friend is dead.” Alumia says and my panic is obvious.

  “We will look for her friend. Port us there and then let them know I will not be able to attend. Then port back to us.”

  “We should at least deploy the royal army if you are insistent on searching for this boy.”

  “Gold’s power is enough.”

  “But you…” Alumia starts to reply.

  “That is something you should not be discussing in front of current company.”

  “I’m sorry your majesty.”

  “Obey. Now.”

  “Yes your majesty.” Alumia says with worry on her face. She ports us to a cave entrance. “Wait here until I am back.” She is not gone long.

  We enter the cave and the queen summons a small flame that lights the way. We encounter a pack of wolves but they are not the giant ones and give us a wide berth. As we go deeper the cave turns into a large tunnel that gets bigger and bigger. Eventually it is large enough for a giant wolf to fit in. “Damned goblins.” Alumia warns just before we see them. They charge at us so the queen burns them all with an over powered flame. “Careful. Don’t bring the tunnel down your majesty.”

  “The tunnel’s not that weak is it?”

  “It’s more that your flame was too strong. They were just goblins.”

  “That was my weakest flame attack. It’s that or a small light and nothing in between.”

  “That was your weakest attack?!” I exclaim.

  “Gold was like a glitch in the system. That sort of power is… I shouldn’t be talking to you about this. Just don’t tell anyone else. By the way is this boy your lover?”

  “No!” I exclaim then say darkly. “No such luck. Perhaps just as well though. He would worry me to death if he was. Even more so than he does already. This is just typical of him.”

  “There’s a hole up ahead.” Alumia says and then gasps. “Too deep to sense the bottom. I’ll float us down but be ready to be attacked. Please be ready to defend and attack.”

  We float down for ages before reaching the bottom. There is dried blood and are huge scratch marks on the floor and walls. It looks like there was a fight here not long ago. It must have been Peter but where is he now, and what of his enemy?

  “Enemy!” Alumia shouts and sends lightning flying. The queen sends flames to join the lightning but I can’t see the foe. The flames fade and the lightning stops. “It got away.”

  “I’ll have to use more power next time.” The queen says but Alumia shakes her head.

  “You’ll bring the roof down if you do that. I can sense a wind user a fair distance from us. He is clearly very talented.”

  “He’s alive?”

  “For now… He seems to be badly injured.”

  “Then we should hurry.” The queen says. “Lead the way.”

  Alumia picks us all up with flight magic and we hurtle forwards, but soon come to a sudden stop. “Enemies. Lots of them. We should retreat.”

  “Not when we’re this close!” I protest.

  Chapter 8 (Peter)

  I wake in pitch darkness with just a small amount of power. Nowhere near enough to do anything useful with. I can’t even sense what is around me.

  “Hello.” A small squeaky voice says.

  “Hello.” I reply cautiously.

  “Did you kill him?”

  “I hope so.” I answer.

  “No, he’s starting to wake up.”

  “How bloody strong is that guy? Anyway who are you?”

  “I thought I was strong enough to beat that guy but instead I ended up in this form.”

  “I can’t see. What form are you in?”

  “It was his idea of a joke! He couldn’t even be bothered to kill me! Perhaps you’ll end up the same.”

  “What form?” I ask worried.

  “Well take a look.” She says and a small light appears. She is far smaller than I imagined. In fact she is about the height of a large apple,
literally as thin as a twig and no wider than a small leaf. Her short hair is green and her skin is a smooth and pure white. She is wearing a small green cloth over her waist like a skirt and her tiny (even for her size) breasts are cupped by smaller bits of the same cloth tied onto a thread. That is all she is wearing. She looks like a mini human floating in front of me with wind magic and white wings. Her tiny blue eyes sparkle in the light.

  “Beautiful.” I can’t help but say and she blushes dark crimson.

  “You really know how to talk to girls.” She says shyly.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh you’re just the kind of boy my sister hates! I can’t wait to show you to her.” She says strangely happy that I will be hated.

  “Who’s your sister?”

  “That’s a secret. She’s rich though, so you’ll get a reward if you can get me out of here.”

  “For now we need to get away from that monster. If I can restore my power then I can port us out of here.”

  “Impossible. Even if you walk for an hour it can catch up in a minute. Besides that one may not eat you but the others would. How long do you need to restore your power sufficiently?”

  “I’m not sure. It depends how comfortable I am. Bleeding like this it will take a long time.”

  “I’ll heal you then.” She says and a soft green light flows over me. My wounds are far less severe now.

  “You must have been powerful to still have that much power in that form.”

  “So you know how much power it takes to use healing magic. Are you a healer?” She asks.

  “No. I have only ever heard of such magic before.”

  “That’s more than most.”

  “Though my friend’s mother can make healing potions.”

  “I’m impressed. They’re easy to come by because the ingredients are so common but there aren’t many who can make them. You should consider carrying some, if you ever get us out of this mess.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “I’ve been here a while. In my original form I could just port us both out in an instant, or open a dimensional gate.”

  “You can open dimensional gates!?”

  “I could. I can’t in this form.”

  “If I get you out of this mess and return you to your original form would you work for me?”

  She hesitates before answering. “If my sister allows it. I can’t see that happening though.”

  “You’re not getting out of here.” Snarls the wolf that calls itself a king. “Once I recover enough, I’m turning you into the same form that little girl is in. Perhaps you can become lovers!”

  “I might not mind that.” She says blushing. “But I’d rather be lovers in our proper forms.”

  “I’m not sure what lovers are but I want to get out of here too.” I say and the wolf howls with laughter that shakes the roof.

  “You will be fun to torment. I’m glad I didn’t kill you. It will take a while to recover enough to eat the women and girls of Contractia, but I will have fun with you whilst I wait. You will even get to see their despair and pain as they get eaten.”

  “You’re too scared of the queen.” The girl retorts.

  “It seems she is dead.” The wolf laughs.

  “No way… That’s impossible.” The girl says in shock.

  “Someone more powerful killed her and took over Contractia.” I explain.

  “More powerful?” The girl and wolf both ask in very different voices but both in shock.

  “Yes. The current queen is much more powerful than the old one.” I bluff. She might be or might not be but without proper control of her power can she really beat this guy?

  “She may be more powerful, but she doesn’t know my weakness so she will die all the same.” The wolf snarls at me.

  “What is your weakness?” I ask but howling laughter is my only answer. I look to the girl but she shakes her head. The wolf starts to move but howls this time in pain. My power has recovered a bit but not nearly enough. I pray it recovers quicker than the wolf.

  “Is your sister powerful? Might she be able to help my friend?”

  “She was, but if the queen is dead I have no idea. She might even be dead too.” She says the last part as if hopeful.

  “You don’t like your sister?”

  “She’s too bossy and after all this time she never once came to save me. It would only take her a minute to kill this big lump of fur.”

  “She sounds more powerful than the queen.”

  “In some ways she is. She’s even related to the queen.”

  “Then you’re related to the queen too!”

  “No. I’m not a blood relative to my sister. I was adopted because I showed exceptional talent.”

  “Looks like we’re out of time.” I say gloomily as the wolf creeps closer to us.

  “He may be able to reach us but it will be a while before he can turn you into this form. It takes a lot of power to do that. Make sure you recover your power quickly.” She says but then he reaches us and slashes my leg with a claw. I am surprised my leg doesn’t come off, but blood pours out like water out of a barrel cut in half. The green light reappears and then the girl collapses. The blood has stopped but I am weakened, in pain and my power will take much longer to recover now.

  “Pick her up, or I’ll eat you both.” The wolf growls so I pick the little girl up by her middle and find she weighs about the same as an apple. Then the wolf grabs me in its hand and my lungs are instantly emptied. Unable to breath I am carried what seems like a short distance but is probably a lot further than it seems. Then I am dropped and hit the ground hard. We are in a room with only one entrance, and that entrance is blocked by the wolf. I could port but not far enough to escape. Breathing heavily I ache all over but to my relief the girl seems unharmed. I had feared she might have been crushed to death. “It won’t be long and you’ll be the same size as her.”

  “Why do you want to kill all the women and girls in Contractia?”

  “They had the arrogance to take my land and my people from me. Then they left me here unguarded because I wasn’t a threat. Wasn’t a threat! Now they’ll regret letting me live.”

  “How long ago did you rule Contractia?”

  “Many of your short and insignificant lives. Time has no meaning to me.”

  “So the queen who left you here must have died of old age many generations ago.”

  “No. She is, was, immortal too. Immortals can of course be killed as she has been, but we do not fear the mere passing of time.”

  “With her death everyone who took your land and people has surely died. Is that not enough to serve as vengeance?”

  “Do not be ridiculous. Something so insignificant cannot even whet my appetite for vengeance.”

  “But why the women and the girls?”

  “It is women and girls who took my land and my people. Besides can a race survive with only men?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “You are truly a child. Perhaps you would taste good.”

  “I’d probably taste bitter.”

  “That can be good too.”

  “I wouldn’t even be a mouthful for you. You’d only make yourself hungrier.”

  “Sleep well. You may not wake up.” The wolf laughs mocking me. There is surely no way I could sleep? I have had a long hard day though, and despite, or perhaps because of a little unintended ‘sleep’ earlier I am struggling to stay conscious. Normally I’d just deal with that but injured as well I find that with the word sleep I am unable to keep my eyes open.

  I awake shivering and still in pain. My power is stronger now but not enough to port to safety. I listen to the wind and sense flames. Strong flames and weaker lightning mixed in with them. They seem magical. An ally? It could equally be an enemy but I would take the risk if only I had enough power. They need only be a little closer but for now they are too far away.

  “They will not reach you.”

  “You pla
n to stop them?”

  “I don’t have to. My pack will deal with them.”

  “I thought your kind hunted alone.”

  “They are not my kind. They are far weaker than my kind, of which I am the last. They are still more than enough for your kind.”

  “Can your kind fly?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can their kind fly?”

  “No.”

  “Perhaps you are not the last.”

  “What do you mean?! You have seen one of my kind?! Where?!”

  “The plains of… I forget the name. It is somewhere their kind can be found.”

  “I know the place you must mean. Once I have destroyed your people I will see whether what you say is true.”

  “Couldn’t you do it the other way round?”

  “No such luck you sneaky little boy.” The wolf howls with laughter and as it does so I sense that the flames are close enough. I grab the sleeping girl and port. The flames are hot but thankfully I port just past them. To my surprise I see Hermes and two vaguely familiar faces.

  “Help!” I call out but there is too much going on and they don’t notice me. My power is gone so I force myself to run towards them, praying the flame doesn’t get me. Closer I call again. “Help!”

  “Peter!” Hermes calls back clearly both shocked and relieved to see me.

  “Let’s grab him and get out of here!” The older looking of the pair says and ports to me.

  “We can’t leave.” I tell her firmly.

  “Why not?” She asks.

  “Contractia will be destroyed if we don’t stop him here.” I explain.

  “Who could threaten Contractia?” She asks disbelieving.

  “He calls himself the King of Contractia. Says the land was his before it was taken from him.” I explain.

  “If he’s waited that long why…?” She asks.

  “Because the old queen is dead.” I tell her.

  “Sorry to interrupt.” The little girl in my hand squeaks. “He’s here.”

  The wolf jumps through the flames like they aren’t there, even though from this distance they are making me sweat. The young woman ports us back to where Hermes and a girl about the same height are. Then remembering her red hair and blue eyes, I whisper in shock. “You’re the queen.”

  “This young one is the queen?” The wolf howls. “She may have power, but she has no idea how to use it! This will be fun!” The girl looks up at him in terror and the flames disappear. The other wolves howl and rush towards us. I grab the queen and kiss her on the lips. Power flows into me like an ocean filling a small hole in the ground. I hear protests but ignore them and strike with the largest lightning I have ever used. I port it directly inside the ‘King of Contractia’. He is instantly dead and the other wolves stop in their tracks. I strike again with a weaker lightning bolt for each wolf simultaneously, and port them all inside. Every wolf is dead in an instant.