Walking out of the medical tent, I looked around to see a crowd of other more canvas tents scattered about in even spacing. The chatter of all sorts of people rich in every corner. The sun shining brightly above the camp. From the looks of it, it seemed to be somewhere within the late morning. As my hand covers the light from blinding my eyes, the authoritative deep voice calls out.
"Come." Without even looking back, he continues walking. Piercing through the crowd of soldiers, mages, and support crew with ease. As if he were splitting an ocean in two with ease as these people would step aside and do a solemn bow as he passes by. Judging from their reactions, I was not wrong in the assumption that this man is important enough that he even has the elite of the Royal Guard at his command. I do not know if it was the nerves or my injuries but my body suddenly felt colder...
We soon turned to climb down a small hill, piercing through a short wood. I recognize this place. It is the forest not too far from home. This was where my father taught me how to hunt and how I used to play with the other kids when a parent of ours sought to visit the lake for fishing or water. Wait... my father!
I form my mouth to speak but before I could, it was as if the man had read my mind. He lifted an arm up, his gaze not even leaving the direction we were walking towards and with a soft breath he'd speak. "We will be the ones asking the questions. You are still under investigation. You can ask yours when we are done."
Under investigation? For what? Had I done something criminal? No, I wouldn't. I had everything I could ever hope for and more in town. Friends, family, food, shelter. I would never turn to something as low as crime. I would be disappointing my parent's teachings if I ever did. The very thought makes me angry. The emotion itself bubbling up within my throat but I kept silent for now.
"What do you remember before your injuries?"
He was careful in his words. A trait even Master Kithran warned me about. "The Eclipse. The Cloaked. Nothing much after..." I spoke, stumbling over my own words as I made out my own memory of the event. There was no reason to lie after all, but the issue would be the fact that I do not remember much apart from the unbearable pain I endured when I had to fight for my own life. Perhaps the fear had fogged my mind to a point where it refused to remember such a frightening memory, but even that I was not sure of. The knight looked over his shoulder, his piercing eyes staring back at me as if he was scanning not the expressions of my body, but the essence of my soul before he turns back facing forward.
"Were you taught by any Arcanist or Mythril Mage perhaps, Sir...?" He asks again, his tone now in a calmer state.
"Torin. And no, I was not." I gulped my nerves down as I continued to form a coherent thought to voice out. "Although I was taught simple magic by Master Foreman Kithran..." I added as I wondered why he would ask my lineage in magic.
I only knew little of how magic worked, apart from how mages, even those hailing from Vael Arcanists and Elven blood, would need years of practice and extensive study to learn how to control such powers. If I were to remember, Magic hails from hearts of magic. Primal Sources as they were called. Those adept in magic would be able to call upon these powers, and with the assistance of tools such as wands, staffs, runes, and spellbooks, they would be able to guide and shape these chaotic energies to their will. This allows them to do all sorts of things thought impossible such as create water from thin air, or shape the land itself. As explained by the Master, any sort of misuse or exploitation of such powers would result in catastrophic results. With that said though, it is still a wonder how Vael Arcanis managed to create machines with the help of magic...
"Strange, because how would you explain this?"
When we broke past the tree line, he and the other Royal Guard would step aside, revealing this towering crystalline growth that cracked and separated the ground like nothing. This colossal wall of Frozen Primal seems to circle around and extend outward in jagged and violent edges, of which seemed to have caught a few poor souls and monsters in it's growing glass-like tendrils. Immeasurable levels of power could be seen through what seems to be arcing bolts of Enesial Energy jumping from one crystal to another. Like the air itself was as volatile as the ground that surrounded it. The grass seemed to have also been covered in a coat of Frozen Primal, freezing the field in a sort of stasis in a wide range, wider than even the towers of crystals could reach. Along with this strangely beautiful display of power was the soft chime of what seemed to be quiet bells ringing against each other. I quickly learn where these chimes came from when a few soldiers securing the perimeter of the sight playfully tossed a stick towards the edge of the frozen grass and even before it could reach the ground, the stick soon turned into splinters. Looking closer, glimmers of slight shine in the air could be seen, it seemed like small crystalline particles had formed, yet remained in stasis in the air. Some were so thin that it was possible to shatter these crystals with a breath, and some were thick enough to form small blades that if anything fast were to pass through, they could slice it with ease. I could only watch, startled by the magic at play here.
"We do not even know what truly happened." The Lizardman spoke. "The man-kin were suddenly pushed away, some killed by the spikes striking outwards from the black void, but what mattered was the Dark-Ones were driven away by such a display. Like they were scared of the magic stream. Anyone would be. One would think it was the gift from the Lady of Light herself, or perhaps a punishment..."
The Elf scoffs. "Nonsense. We all can see it is a form of Primal Enesial, and even so, if the Light Queen were to punish us, we'd all be dead by now." She'd sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "The only creature that is capable of even doing as much damage as this would be the Enesial Bulwarks, but since their disappearance along with all the other dragons, any theory leading to such cause would be essentially children's tales. However-" She turns to me, looking upwards as she grabs her chin in thought. An eye of hers barely peeking out from her widely brimmed hat. "We did find you at the middle of the sight, just before the explosion. Such remarkable Enesial Energy would of course come from a Lifeblood of similar connections. Which would mean-"
"Although it is only a theory for now." The Knight cuts her off as the elf pouts and crosses her arms in an almost childlike frustration.
"We do not know what really caused this, but despite the fact it drove away the Cloaked, what we do know is that this is a dangerous level of Primal if left unchecked. As mentioned by our excitable friend Maryanne here, you were at the center of the explosion. Leading us to believe you caused this. Which, honestly was surprising considering the state we found you in." The knight clarified.
I looked down at my own hands, shocked and frozen from the possibility that I might have caused this, but I do not remember having learned a skill to move Frozen Primal. I did not even know that was possible. Even Master Kithran told tales of Dwarves actively avoiding said material because it is either too hard or too volatile to use magic on. The unpredictability was the reason it is feared and often talked about in rumors.
I remained in a place of silent comprehension as I wished to make sense of what is happening. I wished to ask questions like "Where is my father", or "Are the others safe?", but I would save these questions until I had a better time or place to ask them.
"As promised, you can ask yours now." The Knight added. Well, here was the time and place I guess.
First. "There was a bowman. Human. He stood a couple feet below my own. He would have been wearing a green cloak and using a wooden bow with feathered design. Have you seen him?"
The Knight shook his head.
"Due to the dark veil, we weren't even able to see our own men. Let alone a single man-kin in all that chaos." The Lizardman comments. "However while scouring the battle after, we had seen a man in the same cloak run into the deep green. Perhaps that was him?"
It was a stretch but it could be. That could be my father. Why he would run is a question I would have to ask him personally however, but for now, I would have to bite my own cheek. As I calmed down, I had to think of the next part. The other question. I turned towards the far hilltop where the mines were located.
"T-The Villagers, we evacuated to the mines. Are they-?"
"They are safe. Do not worry. However there were a couple that were looking for you. One dwarf and one scrawny looking golden haired boy." Maryanne answers.
Micah...Oh Enes, please give me the strength to tell him.
"If that is all, then you are free to roam, but do not stray too far from camp, there are still some of the fallen corrupted by the Eclipse. If you wish to find your friends, they're by the new set of tents just north of the medical tents close to the airships." The Knight points over to the colorful sails that paint the horizon just over the bushes and hill.
"Before I go, may I please ask your name?" I spoke out, wanting to thank the man who managed to save not only my life but the lives of others in this field as well.
The knight grows a small smile before chuckling to himself. "Right, where are my manners." He throws his cape to his back as he presses a palm against his chest. With closed eyes and a calm smile, he lowers his body slightly in a bow.
"I am Lawrence Ironkiln. Leader of the Winged Vanguard and-"
As he looked up to me, a cold grasp chills my spine, I could only breathe in disbelief as the person standing right in front of me, bowing ever so gracefully was none other than a Prince to the Ironkiln Kingdom...