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Chapter 7
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They were in a nearby village just outside the border of no man's land, Ace stared at the Cinder's decapitated head as it sit on the table, it's once blazing yellow eyes merely a whisper of its former self, its head had a dent in it where Hokima's mace had landed, one arrow stuck out of its neck, its antler like horns cracked and chipped. And yet the lava-like veins still seemed to glow, like it could come back to life at any moment. Ace sighed, the night before was filled with laughter and celebration but now that he was alone a sense of unease seemed to wash over him. The group aside from Ace headed out to gather supplies for the trip back to Vernoth, Ace opted to stay behind.
Suddenly the Cinder's mouth opened, "Son of Ashkarion, how dare you attack one of your own?" the Cinder said, its voice ancient and demonic. Ace jumped out of his seat in shock "Who are you?" Ace asked his hand reaching for a dagger he no longer had. "I am Cervokar the Charred, and you, you have angered your father." The Cinder paused "in thirty days time I shall rise again from the Forge of Ashkarion, stronger. And I will come for you" the Cinder stated, a chill ran down Ace's spine as the Cinder's head lit up in a purple flame. Soon the only thing that was left as proof of the 'dead' Cinder was a lava red crystal.
Ace stared at the crystal "what have I gotten myself into?" He said aloud in a defeated tone. Ace slowly picks up the lava red crystal, the light reflected against the surface sending yellow light in all directions. Suddenly he hears the door open, Ace turns around to see the group walking in with smiles.
"Hey guys" Ace said in a distracted tone, "what's up Ace" Teja said happily as he took a seat. Hokima's eyes snapped to the table, noticing the ash in place of where the Cinder's head should be. "What happened?" Hokima asked, raising an eyebrow, Ace hesitated before he raised the lava red crystal into view. "The Cinder spoke, it said it would rise again from the Forge of Ashkarion in thirty days, and come for me" Ace explained with a sense of dread in his voice. "Is that all it said?" Marcel asked, Ace could tell by now that he was concerned. "No, it also said my father was angry at me for attacking a Cinder, it called me one of their own" Ace said lowering his head.
Mnemeth sighed 'this is going to be bothersome' he thought, Hokima glanced towards Mnemeth before looking back at Ace. "In that case we should head back now and prepare, in our current state we are no match." Hokima said, Marcel nodded. "We were barely a match before" Taje said grimly "Maybe we should call back some of the other guild members" he suggested.
"Maybe" Marcel agreed, turning to Hokima "Do you think Zerathis would help?" Marcel questioned "Only if it benefitted him" Hokima responded, Marcel nodded like he already knew the answer. "Thar'ra would help" Teja said almost happily "I wouldn't mind seeing her again, she was so nice" he added, Mnemeth scoffed but otherwise stayed quiet. "Varanith would be a better choice" Mnemeth uttered Hokima glanced at Mnemeth "He has responsibilities to his tribe, it would be rude to ask for his help as of right now." Hokima said.
"Well if that's the case, why would Thar'ra help Ace? She doesn't know him like she knows us?" Mnemeth argued, "She owes me a favor." Marcel cut in "Now everyone settle down, we will discuss this when we are done with this quest," Marcel added, putting an end to the escalating argument.
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Trail to Vernorth, 2:30 PM
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'The journey back home was going to be a quiet one' Ace thought, no one has said a word since the argument. Hokima and Marcel were walking in the back, Mnemeth at the front with Ace and Teja in the middle. 'poor kid' Ace thought to himself as he glanced at Teja, he wondered what Teja went through to end up in the rouge's guild. Teja was lost in his thoughts, twirling his staff around aimlessly.
Taje yawned, obviously tired from the night before. The birds chirped, flowing water could be heard in the distance, and a squirrel ran across the path. Ace remembered the squirrel that was slain in the fight against Cervokar, he grimaced as he noticed the baby squirrel riding on its back. The air was nice with a cool breeze, Marcel and Hokima started to speak, Mnemeth allowed himself to slow down.
"Vira and Kaelen should be back from their Job" Marcel told Hokima, Taje's ear perked up at the mention of Vira. "Oh I can't wait to tell Vira about our battle with the Cinder," Taje said, his tiredness seeming to fade away. "Do you think they would help Ace?" Hokima asked though he already knew the answer, Vira was loyal to those she knew, Kealen on the other hand was loyal to those who proved their worth. "Maybe" Marcel said "Kealen is more likely to" , he added.
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Two and a half days later, Rogues guildhouse, outskirts 5:30 PM
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The journey back was quiet, small little chats here and there but nothing that escalated into an argument. Once inside the Guildhouse the smell of goblin cuisine filled the air, Inches must have cooked something delicious while they were away. Hokima went off to the Grand Guildhall to report the Quest complete, "I wonder how Lirien will react" Marcel mused as the group stepped into the main room.
There were two new faces in the room, at least to Ace. Ace noticed the female first, she was cracking jokes and laughing, her bright green eyes shining against the light of the room. Ace noticed golden flecks mixed in the green, her hair was a fiery red while also being short and messy. She was short and so was the straight faced male she was cracking jokes to, his skin was a dark purple, his eyes a deep violet with jet black hair also short and slightly messy.
Marcel coughed making their presence known, the two new faces turned their heads to the ground. The male smirked "Hello Mnemeth, Marcel, Taje and?" He looked at Ace questioningly, "Hello Kealen" Mnemeth greeted "this… is Ace" Mnemeth said his voice filled with a little less venom than usual.
Ace waves awkwardly, Taje runs and jumps into the girls arms "I missed you Vira" Teja laughed out as they fell to the ground Vira giggled sharing Teja's feeling, "I know we were gone for longer than expected" Vira explained. Marcel disappeared off into the kitchen, probably checking on Inches, Mnemeth walked up to Kealen and shook his hand "long time no see" He said.
"Yes," Kealen agreed "we must talk about your dark lady" he added, just as Ace comprehended what was said they were gone. "Sneaky Drows," Vira joked as she helped Taje up.
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Guildhouse, kitchen
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There was food everywhere, Inches was stirring a pot, green mist swirling into the air. Marcel stepped carefully, making sure not to crush any of the various fruits and veggies that lay about the ground.
"Inches?" Marcel asked questioningly, Inches froze, slowly turning around with a big goofy grin slapped on her face, "Hey Dad" she said. "What are you cooking?" Marcel asked, studying the green mist. Inches giggled "Oh just some Bogling brewed stew" she said, mixing in some cut meat.
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Guildhall, Vernorth upper city, 6:00 PM
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Hokima stood in line, a group of five in front of him. They were chatting with Lirien about the details of their quest, they were taking the Skaldar Wretch quest. Hokima wondered if this party would be able to defeat a Skaldar Wretch, nothing about them stood out to Hokima. They all seemed to be humans, they had the mark of the West Coast Guild on their arms, necks, and hands. There were two women and three men, the two women had their guild mark on their hands, one man had the mark on his neck, the other on their arms. The mark itself was an ocean wave with the god Nalythion sacred animal riding the waves, the Kraken. The West Coast was well known for their worship of the ocean god, it was no surprise to see the sacred animal as the guild's mark. Hokima hummed at the thought, he'd never seen a Kraken before, he wondered how he'd hold up against one. If he was able to go toe to toe with a Cinder a Kraken should be no problem right?
Soon the group in front of him was gone, Hokima walked up to Lirien's desk. Lirien smiled at him, but a look of concern flashed across her eyes "Where's everyone else" she asked, her jaw tightening slightly. "They're fine, back at the guild house" Hokima answered reassuringly, he slid the now completed quest paper across Liriens desk. Lirien let out a sigh of relief and smiled, "that's good to hear" she said as she picked up the paper "It wasn't too hard was it?" She asked, placing the quest paper in a box labeled 'completed'.
"It was a Cinder," Hokima said. Of course it was hard, Lirien nodded, "the reward will arrive at your guildhouse at the end of the week, as usual. "Is there anything else you need?" Lirien asked hopefully. "Yes, I would like to request an audience with the Grand Guildhall leader." Hokima said, Lirien twitched. To request an audience with the Grand Guildhall leader was to request an audience with the King of Vernorth himself.
"Why?" Lirien asked, concerned, "The Cinder spoke, not to me, but to our newest member, Ace." Hokima paused, Lirien nodded and her smile dropped. "It spoke of a prophecy, it's return from Ashkarion's Forge in thirty days." Hokima finished, the air seemed to grow still, heat rising in Lirien's chest "Okay, I'll see what I can do." she said her voice was shaky, she stood up in a hurry and rushed into the backroom.
Hokima stood there for what seemed like hours, until Lirien rushed out of the backroom, she smiled at Hokima "In two days, you, Marcel, Ace, Mnemeth, and Teja are allowed audience with King Vaelor" Lirien said, Hokima nodded "Thanks Lirien, gods be with you." Hokima said before walking off. Lirien watched as Hokima walked away, his steel-like form fading away in the crowds of people, she felt heat rise into her cheeks.
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Guildhouse, Ace's room, 6:45
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Ace stared at the lava red crystal, it glowed lightly against the brown of his desk. Ace pulled out a joint of Mark'ish, he placed it in between his lips, he held up his right index finger. A small black flame sparked to life, the lava red crystal seemed to respond to the black flame, its glow diminishing slightly. Ace studied his black flame, the way it danced about on his finger, the way the air distorted around the flame. Ace could almost see faces in the flame, like the souls of the damned were screaming out, Ace lit his joint and quickly put out the black flame. The lava red crystal glowing more in response. Ace sighed "thirty days" Ace said aloud, the words hung in the air as if he was waiting for a response.
That's when it happened—CRACK! The crystal cracked and bursted into bright yellow and orange. Ace stood up swiftly, his eyes studying the burning crystal, its form melting and reforging into something different. Ace watched in shocked amazement, soon the roaring flames died down, in the place of the crystal is now a short sword. It glowed the same lava red the crystal once had, ancient runes inscribed across the spine, its golden handle wrapped in a strange dark cloth. Ace hesitated to grab the blade, he felt the heat of the sword before he touched it. It didn't burn, it was more like the heat of the sun on a cool summer day, but Ace was sure that was merely because of his heat resistance.
Ace studied the blade, he didn't know what the runes meant but it felt familiar to him. Yes, he was sure of it, Ashkarion had forged this blade, but why did he give it to Ace if he was angry at him? The runes started to glow black once Ace touched the blade, it felt light in his hands, like he had used it a thousand times. Ace sighed, red smoke from the Mark'sh exiting his lungs.