The Vault of Kings

by Matt Taylor

  With a jolt, the chipmunk opened its already stuffed mouth and put the coin in between its large front teeth and ran towards the nearest tree.

  “Hey! Get back here!” Sylas called out with both his physical mouth as well as his second mind.

  “Mine, mine, mine!” The words seemed to echo in his mind as he watched the very first animal that he had ever communicated with climb up the tree, its robbery now complete.

  Geode laughed out loud, leaning back into the laugh. Sylas must have missed something because having a chipmunk steal what little money he had was not very funny to him.

  Wiping a tear from his eye, Geode calmed his laughter and cleared his throat.

  “That was a good first attempt. As you can see, it’s harder than it looks to get an animal to be convinced that it should do what you ask. Try it again, but this time, you find something and try and bring it in.”

  Geode leaned over and handed Sylas a small handful of nuts from his bag. “You can try the same chipmunk if you want, but I doubt it will be willing to come back now that it has already gotten its prize.”

  “Stupid chipmunk…” Sylas mumbled under his breath as he took the nuts from Geode.

  Clearing his mind and focusing on the life around him, Sylas again sent his focus towards the forest where the cold feeling came from before. He was curious as to what it could have been, and why Geode also felt the same thing. He searched amongst several birds, beetles, mice, and other creatures, but to little success.

  Abandoning his search, he looked for anything close that might listen to him. One of the nearby crows told him to “shove off” to which Geode got another kick out of when Sylas asked how directly translated Nature Magick gets. He was also able to get two mice to come close to him, it might have even been the same mouse both times... but each time he was only successful in giving the mouse a nut before it ran away triumphantly.

  Frustrated, Sylas was about to give up when he felt the strange radiating cold feeling again. Refocusing, Sylas directed his flow of Magick towards the feeling, deep into the trees behind him. The cool presence got even colder as he approached it, its mysterious aura growing ever closer. As he moved closer to the cold spot, he was startled by a soft feminine voice entering into his mind.

  “You’re very interesting.”

  Sylas flinched at the sudden voice in his head and opened his eyes, fully expecting there to be a young girl standing in front of him. He looked all around but only saw Geode sitting in front of him. A soft giggle rang in his head, its tone light and mysterious, yet playful and curious at the same time. Sylas closed his eyes again, and willing the words to be directed to whatever was communicating with him, asked, “Who are you?”

  “The more there is, the less you see.” The giggle sounded in his head again.

  He felt the presence move, coming from its place in the trees to a bit closer to where Sylas and Geode were sitting. Keeping his eyes closed, he attempted to ask again but was cut off-

  “Always old, sometimes new. Never sad, sometimes blue. Never empty, sometimes full. Never pushes, always pulls.”

  Confused, but at the same time extremely curious, Sylas moved his search closer to the cold presence once more, but just as he approached it, it vanished. He tried to feel for it again, but his concentration was broken by Geode’s voice.

  Sylas! Quick look behind you!” He whispered, just loud enough to show its urgency.

  Sylas opened his eyes and saw Geode sitting in front of him with a finger to his lips.

  “Turn around, slowly.”

  Sylas turned around slowly, anticipating an angry bear or something else dangerous to be standing right behind him. Instead, several feet behind him, he saw what looked like a young fox. This was no ordinary fox though, its fur was a light grayish purple color. White fur ran from the bottom of its chin down its belly and to the tip of its tail. Its paws were also white, along with a white crescent moon shaped patch of fur around both of its wide, glowing, white eyes. It sat on its hind legs on the ground, its tail lying gently to the side swishing in a slight up and down motion as its glowing eyes stared back at Sylas.

  It was the most beautiful creature that Sylas had ever seen. The purple and white colors of its fur mystically complimenting its glowing white eyes.

  As if Geode read his mind, he whispered to Sylas, “I believe that’s a moon fox.”

  “A moon fox?” Sylas whispered back, not wanting to avert his eyes from the creature.

  “Yes, they are extremely rare and almost impossible to approach. Only the extremely lucky are ever able to catch a glimpse of one. They usually disappear before you can get anywhere near them.”

  “Have you seen one before?” Sylas asked.

  “No… I’ve only heard stories about them. I didn’t even think most of them were true, to be honest. They are said to be extremely intelligent, and to possess the ability to use Darkness Magick. They are very mysterious creatures, and we don’t know much about them.”

  An animal that can use Darkness Magick? Sylas thought to himself. Almost as a response to his thought, the fox turned its head sideways as it continued to peer into his eyes.

  “Yes, you are quite interesting, indeed.” He heard the voice say in his mind, “What are you doing out in these woods?”

  “We’re on our way to Gelendor.” He responded, “We’re looking for the Nature Stone so that we can create peace in this land.”

  “And why would someone with so much potential in Darkness want to create peace? Could it be that you are lying to me?”

  “No, I wouldn’t lie… How do you know that I have potential with Darkness Magick? I haven’t even cast a Darkness spell yet… well, not consciously anyway.”

  The fox didn’t answer, but stood up on all fours and slowly walked towards him. Sylas scooted backward slightly, but Geode assured him that he didn’t think the fox would hurt him. Gathering courage, he watched as the fox cautiously approached him.

  “A pure-hearted dark soul human, very strange...” Sylas heard the words echo through his mind as the fox came within arms reach.”

  Not knowing what to do, Sylas slowly reached his hand out towards the fox. It stopped moving at his initial approach, then gradually came closer as his hand reached out and touched it on the top of the head.

  Its warm, soft fur passed through his fingers as he stroked the top of its head, its glowing eyes still staring intently into his own. After a few moments, the fox moved closer to where Sylas was sitting and slowly put its front paws upon his lap. It continued to move closer as he pet the fox, running his hand from its head down its back and across its large fluffy tail, which it seemed to enjoy. Eventually, it had moved, so its hind legs were now in Sylas’s lap, and its front legs rested upon his chest as it brought its nose right next to his face. Sylas stared deeply into the fox’s glowing eyes, feeling a strange connection starting to build between him and the fox.

  “You are very beautiful.” He said, not knowing what else to say. “I’ve never seen anything quite like you before. Where are you from?”

  “I’m from here, in the forest.” It said, tilting its head slightly as it spoke. “You’re not from around here, though, where are you from?”

  “I’m from a town called Shilvrst. It’s about a two weeks journey northwest of here.”

  “And you are here to bring peace, was it? How do you intend to do that?”

  Instead of speaking and without realizing it, Sylas allowed images from his mind to be sent to the fox. The images told the story of he and his friends finding the amulet and their plans to go to Gelendor. He also shared several parts of the visions he had seen, and the ultimate goals of his heart. He wasn’t sure how he was communicating all of this, but it just seemed to work. Once the message was relayed, a similar string of sounds and images flooded into his mind. This time, however, they were images from the fox’s life.

  He saw a family of moon foxes playing in the night near a slow-moving stretch of river. Two older foxes
that, when seen, Sylas instantly knew to be its parents, sat nearby watching. Sylas felt the love that was shared between this family of foxes, and also the extreme caution that they took when they were out and about. Sylas instantly knew of the dangers that moon foxes faced every day, as they were extremely valuable to hunters. He also felt a sense of security that was mistakenly taken for granted at the foxes’ ability to use Darkness Magick to disappear into the shadows at a moment’s notice. The feelings of happiness and playfulness that swam through his mind changed all of a sudden, as new images flashed across his mind. A band of men, not simple hunters this time, had surrounded them. A dark bubble of Magick energy forming around the area in which they were playing. A layer of Light Magick also surrounded them, sitting just above the bubble of darkness. As they had done many times before when confronted by man, the moon fox family tried to use their natural Magick abilities to disappear into the shadows, but one by one as they tried, something about the two layers of Darkness and Light Magick that surrounded them hindered them from passing through. They were able to turn invisible, but they weren’t able to leave the area.

  Sylas felt the foxes terror as if it was his own. The panic of not being able to escape, and the frantic struggle to get away. He watched as the two layers of Magick that surrounded them began to close in, forcing them to move closer and closer to a center point. The men around the circle also walked inward, evil grins painted on their faces as their plans came to fruition.

  The scene continued to get more dire, the intensity of fear more severe until the circle became small enough that the entire family of foxes were all huddled together, with no room to run and hide.

  Sylas felt the comforting words of the mother and father moon fox, each telling the young ones that everything would be alright. Everything was not alright, though. A heart-wrenching sadness filled Sylas, to the point that he thought his heart was about to burst, as he watched the men surrounding them stick a strange metal tube through the Magick barriers and begin to blow sharp, pointed darts into the area. The darts struck the father fox first, who was desperately attempting to protect his family. Sylas watched with tears in his eyes as what seemed now to be his father, faded out of its invisible form that only he and the other foxes could see, into his regular purple and white form.

  “Got ‘em.” He heard a gruff voice say. “One down, four more to go.”

  “No, I only counted four of ‘em.” Another voice sounded.

  “Nah, I’m sure I saw five.”

  “You loon, you counted one of ‘em twice is all. There’s only four, two big ones and two little ones.”

  Sylas wasn’t sure if the fox he was sharing this memory with knew what the men were saying, or if it was just because he himself spoke human that he was able to understand what the men said. Either way, the images, sounds, smells, and basically every sense that he was experiencing seemed extremely real.

  He watched as the men continued to fire darts into the circle, sometimes missing altogether, but eventually striking another member of the moon fox family, to which it would fade out of invisibility to the cheers of the men. After what seemed like hours of torment, four of the five members of the family had been shot by the darts, the one that Sylas was sharing the memory with being the only survivor.

  “Shoot a couple more in there. I know I saw five.” One of the men said.

  Sighing, the man with the metal tube shot several more darts into the ground, each barely missing its target.

  “See, I told you. Four of ‘em was all there was.”

  The bubble of Light and Darkness energy faded away as two of the other men lowered their hands into the area to scoop up their prizes.

  As soon as the energy was gone, the last fox sprinted away and into the trees, heart-pounding, sadness overbearing. She watched from the safety of the trees as her family was one by one picked up and placed into bags as the men left the scene of the crime. Images of lonely nights and heartbroken, sleepless days passed through his mind as the images slowly started to fade.

  Just when Sylas thought it was over and that he wouldn’t have to bear any more of the sadness being placed upon him by the memories of the moon fox; the images sprang back into view, this time in a time that Sylas knew to be several months later.

  She had searched long and hard to find her family, but to no prevail. Luckily, she had found refuge with a kind group of regular red foxes and had been staying with them for some time now. At first, they were hesitant to allow her to join them but had eventually softened their hearts at seeing such a young moon fox all alone. Several weeks after joining her new family, while they were sleeping in the safety of a large tree, she heard a loud crackle of lightning, which woke them all. Eyes now open, the view of flames drawing ever closer to the tree in which she and her new family were staying filled his mind.

  He again felt her pain and sadness of her memories, as she watched the flames come closer and closer to the tree in which she had now called home. The fear as her new family all huddled in the back of the hollowed-out trunk, awaiting imminent doom and the pain as the flames climbed up the tree, devouring it and destroying all that she held dear.

  Sylas mentally received images in his mind of her bravely jumping from the high branch she had been on, through the thirsting flames and onto the ash-covered ground.

  Pain entered into his feet as he felt her land hard on the ground from the long fall, and a heart-wrenching sadness overcame him as he witnessed a new family, too scared to make the same jump, was eventually consumed in flames.

  Sylas could no longer hold his emotions within and began to cry, tears falling from his eyes and rolling down his cheeks as he shared this intimate moment with his new friend.

  “I’m so, so sorry… you have been through so much,” he said.

  “Twice, I’ve had my family torn away from me.” She replied, a quivering in her voice as it was transmitted to him. “The first by men, and the second by nature.”

  “Thank you for sharing that memory with me.” Sylas sniffed, wiping the tears away from his eyes with his free hand. His mental voice quivering just as his physical voice would have if he were speaking out loud.

  Sylas brought his head up close to hers and rubbed his cheek against the side of her face. Tears again began to flow from his eyes as she returned the gesture, caressing her head with his. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close to his chest. They embraced, man and beast, in an intimate and love-filled moment, one that would change Sylas’s life forever. Comforting each other, Sylas began to sob out loud as he tried to take the pain from her and upon himself. After allowing his emotions to be released, Sylas pulled away from the moon fox. He saw no tears but could hear her whimpering and breathing quickly, obviously feeling the same sad emotions that he had just felt.

  “If you are not too distraught from losing your family twice already, I would like to become your new family, if you are alright with that?”

  “My new family?”

  “Yes, I will take care of you. You can come with us on our journey, and we can become a family. You don’t have to stay out here by yourself anymore, you can come with us. And I promise I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  She paused for a moment, saying nothing in return. Sylas waited, hoping that she would agree while a strange, tingling feeling that had been there throughout their conversation that he had just now realized coursed through his body.

  “Yes, I think I would like that very much.”

  The tears again welled up in his eyes as his offer was accepted. A smile of pure joy, joy he had not felt in a long time crossed his face. The strange sense of Magick sending an enhanced tingle throughout his body.

  “You must have a name then, what shall I call you?”

  “A name?” She responded with an edge of confusion in her voice.

  “Yeah, something that I will call you so that you know I’m talking to you. You can call me Sylas. That is my name.”

  “Sylas. That�
�s interesting, I don’t have a name. At least, not that I remember. My family was taken away when I was very young. Of course, I’m still quite young...”

  Sylas thought for a moment about an appropriate name for his new companion. Something feminine that fit an animal... but that didn’t sound like a dog’s name. He definitely didn’t want to give her a dog’s name. As he pondered, Sylas looked up at the setting sun. It was just about to reach the horizon now, beams of light protruded from behind a large cloud that was covering it. Golden rays passed through the cloud, and bright pink, purple, and orange hues filled the sky. A silhouette of the mountains in the distance radiating a light blue, with pink light splashing behind them.

  “How about Sky? Do you like that name?”

  “Sky… Yes! I love it!”

  Sylas smiled, “Welcome to the family, Sky. I’ll have to introduce you to everyone else if you are alright with it. You can trust them, as they are all good people. They won’t try to harm you in any way. I’ll protect you and take care of you to the very best of my abilities, you can count on me.”

  “I knew that there was something different about you. I could feel it as I watched you from the trees. Your inner life is radiating with Darkness Magick, as does mine. But you are the first human that I’ve seen that has this, while also having a pure heart. I could also sense that from you as you attempted to talk to the animals around you. Thank you for your kindness, I feel… different now. I feel a bond with you.” she replied.

  Sylas placed his hand behind one of Sky’s purple ears as he spoke, “I feel a bond with you too. I don’t know what it is, but it seems extra special.”

  A heart once broken, now mended by her new friend and companion, Sylas, Sky curled into a ball in his lap and closed her bright, glowing eyes.

  Sylas continued to pet the top of her head as Geode stood and approached them. Sky made no sudden movements, fully trusting that a friend of Sylas was a friend of hers.