by Jack Knight
“Who?” Xion asked. If they could ask someone, why had they spent a week reading musty old books.
“That guy you barbecued,” Xara answered simply.
“Vairiel?” Ava laughed. “Didn’t you already try that?” she asked.
“We could help him become king,” Xara answered, as if it were the obvious solution.
“Why would we do that?” Ava demanded. “He tried to kidnap me and kill Xion.”
“And, he knows nothing about friendship,” Warren added seriously.
“Look at it this way, half of Qua’ke wants Vairiel to be king, half wants the Myst to be queen, and basically nobody wants the current kings to stay in power, right?” Xara asked.
“Right,” Ava confirmed.
Xion nodded and looked at Sapphire to make sure he was correct. Sapphire just smiled at him and put her hand on his arm. Whatever problem she had had the other day with him and Laira had slowly disappeared, and she was acting more like herself again.
“Okay, and we know that Vairiel wants Qua’ke to side with Draxis, and the Myst wants to side with the humans, right?”
There was silence as Ava, Warren, Sapphire, and Laira exchanged glances. Unless Xion had missed something, he was pretty sure that none of them knew that there was anything about taking sides.
“This news to anyone else?” Warren asked.
“Oh, come on,” Xara laughed, “am I the only one that pays attention?”
“That’s not friendship,” Warren said, sounding offended. “You’ve been here longer than we have.”
Xara took a deep breath and began explaining. “Okay, so, Qua’ke is divided because the people all want to take a side in the coming war.”
“The war between the human kingdoms?” Sapphire asked.
Xara considered for a moment. “Yes and no. That’s part of it. So, everyone knows the prophecy says something about defeating the Darkness. Half of them want to fight with Draxis and destroy all the humans.” Xion’s jaw fell open, but he did not interrupt Xara. “The other half want to fight against him. Qua’ke doesn’t really care who takes over the throne, they care about what side the elves are going to be on. If we help Vairiel become king and convince him and the elves not to side with Draxis, we could help all the humans and hopefully take away a chunk of Draxis’ supporters.”
“Draxis wants to destroy the humans?” Warren asked in defeat. “We’re dead,” he collapsed onto the table. “I don’t want to die.”
Ava rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Why does he want to destroy all the humans?” she asked.
Xara shrugged. “Probably because the humans all supported Aur’in in wiping out the dragons. The elves were split, and Draxis knows that, but the humans helped drive the dragons to extinction. He brought the dragons back, so now he wants to destroy the humans so it can never happen again.”
“Okay, so what about the ‘raising hell’ part?” Xion asked. “What does that have to do with the humans?”
“Demons hate humans more than the elves do,” Ava answered. “Every time the demons come out, they attack the humans first.” Ava pushed the book she had been reading toward the center of the table. “This is an account of every time demons have come into our plane. There is only one exception, only one demon came here to stay out of the Hells.”
“Why though?” Sapphire asked. “What do the demons have against humans?”
“Since the Great Shift, humans have found ways to summon demons and bind them so they could gain power. Humans bring the demons here, and then they make deals with them. The demons basically have no choice but to grant the humans the ability to do magic, or whatever else the humans want, otherwise the demon is trapped by the summoning spell until they give in. There are even horrible rituals where you can syphon all of the magic out of a summoned creature and give it to someone else, which usually kills the demon. If someone was doing stuff like that to me, I’d want revenge,” Xara answered.
“Elves don’t do that?” Xion asked.
“We wouldn’t need to,” Sapphire answered. “We are born with magic in much greater numbers than the other races.”
Xion nodded. “Okay, so we know his plan, sort of. We know why The Hand is behind him. What are our options? All of them, let’s just examine everything we've got so far.”
“Kill Vairiel,” Ava shrugged.
“That's a little extreme,” Laira argued.
“He’s pretty weak right now, he isn’t healing very quickly,” Xara mused.
“I know he hates humans, and The Hand wants to side with Draxis, but are there any elves that would really follow him?” Xion asked.
“Vairiel isn’t the only elf that hates humans,” Ava answered darkly.
“Anyway, Sapphire sprayed him with ice pretty quickly, but fire like that doesn’t go out easily,” Xara continued as if nobody had spoken.
“Fire like what?” Xion did not understand how the fire he breathed on Vairiel would be any different from other fire.
“The point is,” Ava interrupted, “he’s weak. We kill him, the Myst has plenty of time to get married to who she wants, and Qua’ke will help the humans because it will have sided with the Myst. Also, that would take a major piece out of Draxis’ army.”
“We can’t kill someone who is too weak to fight,” Xion argued. “It’s not right.”
“Xion’s right, we can’t do that,” Sapphire agreed.
“Fine, let him lead the elves to slaughter all the humans,” Ava said as she crossed her arms over her chest and slid down a few inches in her chair.
“One of us could marry the Myst,” Laira suggested. She sounded like she was joking, but Warren started hopping in his seat.
“I volunteer!” Warren shouted instantly.
“Why would the most beautiful woman alive marry you?” Ava snapped.
“Hey, be nice,” Xara chided.
“Okay, what else?” Xion insisted on staying focused.
There were a few minutes of silence, before anyone spoke.
“The only other option is to convince Vairiel to switch sides,” Sapphire mused.
“That will never happen. Vairiel hates humans more than anything,” Ava said.
“We have to try again,” Xion insisted.
“A human killed his father,” Ava reminded him.
Xion hesitated. That was a pretty good reason to hold a grudge.
“Wasn’t that ordered by Draxis, though?” Warren asked.
“Maybe if we told him that, he would turn against Draxis,” Sapphire suggested.
“And, if not, I can always marry the Myst,” Warren said eagerly.
Xara laughed. “I really want to see that.”
As much as Xion knew Warren would love that option, it did not seem very likely. Another dreary thought also occurred to him in that moment.
“Wait, even if Vairiel does change his mind, doesn’t he need his father to get married? That’s why it hasn’t happened yet, right?” Xion asked.
“We can worry about that later,” Warren said, “it doesn’t matter unless he agrees.”
“I’ll go and talk to Vairiel,” Xion volunteered.
“And, you can take his sword back,” Xara gave an evil grin.
“Oh, right,” Xion had forgotten about the sword. He was not all eager to talk to Vairiel again, but maybe returning the sword would get him to listen.
“I don’t think Vairiel is the way to go,” Ava insisted. “Besides, technically the sword belongs to you, now. You shouldn’t be giving away incredibly powerful magical weapons.”
Every part of what Ava said confused Xion. “Hang on, the sword is magic?” he asked, wanting to get the most interesting part out of the way first.
“Yup,” Xara said cheerily. “We tested it while you were asleep. It’s red because it’s enchanted to be all fiery when you fight with it.”
As exciting as that was, because Xion had always dreamed of having a magic weapon, he still did not understand what made the sword his.
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br /> “Why is the sword mine?” Xion asked.
“‘To the victor goes the spoils’,” Warren quoted. “It’s basically law. If you beat someone in combat and take their stuff, it’s rightfully yours.”
“I don’t want his sword,” Xion insisted.
“You can always give it back,” Warren suggested. “But, I think it might be, ya know, safer if you didn’t.”
“Warren, you can have it,” Xion told him.
Warren shook his head. “Nope, I don’t like being near fighting people. No swords for me.”
“Ava?” Xion suggested hopefully.
Ava scoffed, “I don’t use swords.”
“Xara, you use a sword,” Xion pointed out.
“I already have an enchanted sword,” Xara replied.
“You do?” Laira asked.
“Yeah, the black one. My master told me that if he disappeared again, I should take it until he comes back,” Xara explained. “I don’t know how it works, exactly. But, people really don’t like being cut with it.”
“So many questions,” Warren laughed.
“Actually, yeah. You haven’t told us very much about yourself, Xara,” Sapphire pointed out.
“Fun! Story time, okay. So, I was raised by one of my mom’s friends. We stayed outside Celemor for a really long time, and then we moved to Aur’in about fifty years ago. My master started teaching me magic once we were in Aur’in, but right before he disappeared again, he told me to find Kronos and learn chaos magic,” Xara started to explain, but Xion had to interrupt.
“Wait, were you in Aur’in when we were there?” Xion asked in surprise.
“Probably,” Xara shrugged, “he kept me in a room inside his chambers. He said if anyone in Aur’in found out about me, I would be in danger.”
“So, when did you leave?” Sapphire asked.
Xara thought for a few seconds. “Well, I came straight to Evergreen after I left, and I got here a few days before you guys did.
“But, anyway,” she continued, excited to continue her story, “every time my master would go off recruiting new people for Aur’in, he would tell me in advance. But, every so often, he would disappear for a few months, sometimes a year at a time, when that happened, he never warned me. This time, he told me that if he didn’t come back in a few days, I should come here. After I retrieved his sword, of course. He really liked his sword.”
“He disappeared for months at a time?” Sapphire asked. “That’s awful.”
“I think you skipped the part where she was locked in a room,” Warren pointed out. “That sounds like the bad part.”
“Oh no, it was completely fine. Aur’in probably would’ve killed me if they had found out about me,” Xara assured them.
“Why would they kill you?” Xion demanded. “Aur’in was pretty bad, I’ll admit, but they didn’t kill people for no reason.”
“Oh, they had a reason,” Xara laughed. “I’m part…”
“NO!” Ava shouted.
All of them stared at her, except Sapphire, who took her hand off of Xion’s arm and stared at the table in front of her.
“Okay, what is up with you not wanting me to know?” Xion demanded. “I heard you and Sapphire talking,” he admitted. “I know you figured out that I’m part demon.”
“Demon?” Xara asked in surprise. Then, she started laughing hysterically. It did not take long before she was out of breath and pounding her fist on the table in front of her, laughing silently and wheezing to get breath.
Xion felt his stomach drop out of him. He was sure they had been talking about him. He was embarrassed that he was so wrong, and he had sounded so sure in front of everyone. Now he had no idea what his bloodline was, again. And, he was lost as to who they could have possibly been talking about.
“We aren’t demons,” Xara wheezed with barely any breath.
“Then…” Xion could feel that his face had turned bright red, it was much too hot not to be, “What…?”
Ava growled. “I’m part demon,” she said in a low voice.
“Oh,” Xion deflated.
“Nobody can find out. My mother was killed because people found out she was part demon. And these,” Ava laid her arm on the table, revealing scales identical to Xion’s, “aren’t helping me stay hidden.”
“Nice,” Warren said, sounding impressed. “That explains all the,” he bared his teeth and growled.
Ava punched him hard in the arm, and he laughed while he rubbed where she had hit him.
“It doesn’t matter what you are,” Laira said reassuringly, “we still… you’re still our friend.” She turned red when she hesitated.
“Are we done talking about me?” Xara asked, sounding disappointed.
Warren laughed, Sapphire looked at her disapprovingly.
“Ava, you know we don’t care, right?” Xion asked.
Ava crossed her arms again. “Whatever,” she said simply.
“Okay, back to me,” Xara insisted.
Laira glared at her, but nobody argued. Warren looked like he was doing his best not to laugh again.
“What more is there?” Sapphire asked.
“Do not tell him your lineage,” Ava growled. “He doesn’t need to know right now,” she insisted.
“I don’t?” Xion demanded. “Why don’t I get to know?”
“You aren’t going to like it,” Ava assured him.
“You think I like not knowing?” Xion asked coldly.
“Drop it,” Ava seethed.
“Not about his lineage,” Xara interrupted. “More important!” she insisted.
“More important than the thing that makes me the subject of a prophecy that says I have to save the world?” Xion demanded. He was really trying to be nice to Xara after the way he had treated her before he was unconscious for a week, but she was making it very difficult.
“Okay,” she considered, “more fun to talk about.”
“What is it?” Sapphire prompted.
“I think you guys knew my master,” Xara told them.
For a few seconds, they were all silent, trying to figure out how they could know who Xara was talking about.
Slowly, it fell together in Xion’s mind. A recruiter from Aur’in. The thin black sword. Xion realized what Xara was going to say before she said it, but it just brought up so many more questions.
“His name is Agron,” Xara finished excitedly.
Chapter 13: Abducted
Xion could not think about much else besides Xara’s admission for the next few days. He had been sure that Agron had been working with Draxis while they were in Aur’in. Even after they had infiltrated the watchtower, he had not been sure what side Agron was truly on, until he died fighting against Draxis. Xion had not had the heart to explain to Xara that part.
Now, Xion had to consider the fact that the entire time they had known him, Agron had been keeping Xara safe. It all had become even more confusing somehow, and he was having a hard time wrapping his head around this new information.
As if that was not enough, Xion and the others kept debating what to do about Draxis opening a portal and releasing demons to destroy every human in Ustama. Xion refused to kill someone who could not defend himself, no matter how many times Ava suggested removing Vairiel from the equation. Xion kept suggesting that they forget about who became king and just focus on finding the dragon’s tomb so they could stop Draxis before he even got started.
The group could not agree on an action to take, so they filled their time with training. Xion had a quick grasp of chaos magic, because he had been accidentally using it since he first knew he was a sorcerer. Ava and Sapphire had a much more difficult time with it, but they did make progress. Warren studied spells on his own, but Xion did not know how he was doing. Xion had decided to stop learning spells, as they took so much more energy than chaos magic.
Xion also decided to try to learn how to fight with a sword, and Xara volunteered to teach him. He did not like the idea of Vairiel keeping anythin
g dangerous, so Xion might as well learn how to use his sword effectively. He had gotten some training in Aur’in, but he could not even hold his own against Warren, who had much slower reflexes than Ava or Sapphire. Xara, who insisted that she was half human, was faster and stronger than any of them. She was the best suited to teach him, and much better than any of them with a sword.
Laira could not study magic and had no interest in learning to fight. She spent most of her time studying in the library or watching the others practice magic. Xion could not tell if she was interested or not, but she was always there.
Their familiars, Tenebris, Ferion, and Dirk, all followed their respective partners everywhere. Dirk could easily perch on Xara’s shoulder any place that she went. Ferion was always padding along behind Sapphire. When she climbed up the trees after training, Ferion would scurry up after her without a problem. When Sapphire climbed down the trees, Ferion would dig his claws into Sapphire’s shirt and hang onto her until she reached the ground. Tenebris wanted to be near Ava at all times, but the trees were impossible for him to climb, and the rope bridges were too narrow for him to walk across. Instead, whenever Ava would stay in one place for more than a few minutes, Tenebris would simply appear out of the shadows near her.
Aurum seemed to have a lot less concern for Xion’s attention as the other familiars. When Xion climbed up or down the trees, she would follow, digging her claws into the bark to climb. Once she was on the same level of the city as Xion, she would wander away. Xion knew she fine, he could feel it across their bond, but she had no concern for what Xion was doing at any given moment. Xion did not mind, he could tell that Aurum just wanted to be free to do as she pleased most of the time. An opportunity that he wished he could have.
A week after the argument in the library, Xion and Xara were training in a small clearing just outside the city. Warren, Sapphire, Ava, and Laira were sitting beside the trees around the clearing, and all the familiars were sitting beside them, except Aurum. Xion could feel Aurum was running after a squirrel, she was not hunting, it was almost as if she was chasing it for sport.
Ava and Laira were reclined against Tenebris, sitting side by side. Warren and Sapphire sat nearby, with Dirk sitting on Sapphire’s shoulder, she was the only person he liked to be near besides Xara, and Ferion laying on the ground between them.