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Switching gears back to Russo, the mage begrudgingly begins his tenure as the Yash guild master's research assistant. It isn't all bad though, as he slowly warms up to and befriends some of the local members. Wait no, it is bad, oh god things actually get a whole lot worse.
Note: Icon is © to
Oli_Snowpaw
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Chapter 26
“You do know that the less you say, the more suspicious Master is going to get?” Morgan curtly stated as she brought down a piping hot cup of tea from her muzzle. “It’s been nearly two days and you’ve hardly said a word about what happened. That’s why she’s calling you into her office in the first place.”
Russo quietly swirled his cup of hot cocoa, his eyes dully focused on the milky swirls dancing about. The warmth of the liquid emanated through the porcelain and into his hands. He let out a slight sigh as he felt the fingers in his left hand tingle from the heat.
“It’s not the end of the world if she calls you into her office. Master just wants to talk is all, Russo. She may be strict but she is an understanding person and she only wants to help,” Tyridia reassured the human.
Russo bit his lip as he continued staring at his drink. “Did either of you ever wonder if there was a reason why that temple was abandoned?”
“I’m not entirely sure it was abandoned. Seems to me more like it simply fell out of use as religious preferences changed. Like I said the other day, deific worship isn’t big around these parts, for whatever reason.” Morgan replied with a shrug.
“No, it was definitely abandoned,” Russo tersely stated as watched the swirls of milk in his cocoa vanish.
“What makes you say that?” Morgan replied, her curiosity aroused.
“The half dozen or so bodies I stumbled over while exploring the depths of that place,” He replied as he brought the cup up to his lips and sipped the steaming hot cocoa.
“Wait, what?” Tyr asked nervously as his eyes widened and his vulpine ears perked up. Morgan’s eyes darted to Tyridia and the two exchanged worried glances. How many years had they been attending that temple? How many times had they gone there to pray, blissfully ignorant of the bodies lying beneath them?
The human set down his drink and rubbed his eyes. “You two remember that blocked off passageway leading out of the main chamber? There’s a huge stairwell in the room that passageway empties out into. That thing leads down into an abyss and as I was fumbling around down there I was constantly stumbling. A quick flash of light revealed I wasn’t tripping over refuse, but bodies. I don’t know how many there are down there, but I get the feeling there were a lot.”
“What the hell happened there?” The raccoon asked in astonishment, taken aback by the human’s claims.
“Do you think it had anything to do with that entity that spit you back out into the main chamber?” Tyr butted in.
“Huh? Oh… you mean ‘him.’ As ridiculous as it sounds, no, I don’t think he had anything to do with it.”
“Xis pegged it as having a presence and scent most foul. Care to explain why you don’t think it errr he, is responsible?” The white mage held her cup of tea with both hands as she uneasily awaited Russo’s response.
The mage opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as he felt a heavy hand rest upon his shoulder. “You didn’t forget about our appointment did you?” Nadie asked as her grip upon his shoulder blade tightened.
“No…” He stated in a defeated tone as he stood up and slowly followed Nadie down into the basement.
The raccoon sighed as she watched Russo being led away. “So if that dark entity wasn’t responsible, then what was?” Tyr fearfully inquired of the white mage. She simply shook her head as she stared into her cup.
“If he’s still in a talkative mood once Master is done with him, hopefully we’ll find out."
Russo flumped onto the chair before Nadie’s desk as the panther gazed at him intently, her elbows resting on her desk and her hands locked together. “Are you hurt at all? Morgan and Tyridia relayed worrying news to me and you’ve been silent these past two days.”
“No, no… just tired is all.”
“That’s a relief,” She said as she smiled softly. Her tone quickly became stern as she continued. “But, as the Yash guild master, you know that I’m going to have to ask you about what happened to you the other day. If there is something lodged in that temple that is a threat to the community, I would like to know about it.”
The mage leaned back against the chair and tilted his head back. “When you word it like that you make it sound like it would be negligent of me not to tell you.”
“That’s precisely my point. If it suits you, I can confirm what is spoken in this room will remain confidential. Are there any reasons why you would be hesitant to speak on the matter?”
The human scratched at his cheek uneasily as his thoughts failed to translate to spoken word. “It’s not that I’m embarrassed or frightened even to talk about it. It’s just been… difficult to wrap my head around what all I saw and heard.”
“Then let me help try and make sense of it with you. I can’t guarantee that I’ll have all the answers or help you come to a complete understanding, but I’m willing to lend you an ear.”
Russo sighed heavily as his gaze locked with the panther’s. “Before we delve into this, I have one condition.”
“What would that be?”
“No saying, ‘I told you so’ ,” the human grumbled.
“Oh?” A huge toothy grin formed on Nadie’s muzzle as she leaned over her desk towards him.
“God dammit,” Russo muttered as Nadie began chuckling.
Nadie’s laughter tapered off as she leaned back in her chair. “Now from what I gathered, you accompanied Morgan and Tyridia to the old temple of light and declined an offer to pray with them.”
Russo bobbed his head back and forth as Nadie spoke, “And then I got bored and wandered off and OF COURSE something goes wrong,” he said as he rolled his eyes in frustration.
“Do your plans rarely turn out the way they are supposed to?”
“Well I… I can’t really claim that I put much thought or real planning into my actions,” he said in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head. “But, there is definitely a tendency for my actions to yield wildly unexpected results. And those results more often than not lead to my near death.” Thoughts of Peccamen, the mimic chest, and that murderous orb of light all flashed in his head with painful clarity.
“Perhaps this is a sign that you ought to make more use of that head of yours,” Nadie said softly as she tapped him on the noggin. “Varun regards you as one of his brighter underlings you know. As do I.” Fidgeting under her accepting gaze, Nadie softly tussled his hair. “That’s not why we’re here today though. Lest we get off topic, let’s get back to the matter at hand. Once Tyridia and Morgan realized you had been gone for some time, you suddenly reappeared – “
“From a dark portal, I know. I’ve heard all about it already.”
“And the snide voice that accompanied it?”
“And now here’s where I’m going to reiterate that ‘I told you so’ condition. None of that, alright?”
“Very well, very well.” Raising her brows and restraining the desire to laugh, Nadie waved her hands at the human in a sign of mock compliance.
“*Sigh* That was the voice of the self-described god of darkness.”
“…Which god? From my understanding there are multiple-”
“No, no, no, no, no let me explain. He claimed not to be A god of darkness, but THE god of darkness. He was incredibly insistent on making that distinction.”
“You spoke with him?
“More like he dictated to me.”
Nadie narrowed her gaze as she tapped a clawed finger against her desk. “Perhaps it would be best if you detailed what happened in chronological order. It’ll make it a lot easier for me to follow along and make sense of all this.”
“I’m giving you an abbreviated version of all the unimportant stuff though. I’m sick and tired of retelling stories in their entirety so damn often.”
(And I’m goddamned tired of writing myself into situations where recaps are relevant if not necessary)
“You already know how it starts. Morgan and Tyr go to pray, I don’t feel like joining them. So, I decide to meander around and explore instead. I find collapsed passageway, I teleport to other side since dammit I wanted to explore. Come across a big ass stairwell that descends into a gaping maw of darkness. Me, being stupid, waltzes down in there. Empties out into a bigger and even darker room. At first I wasn’t going to explore, but then I saw a tiny glimmer of light at the other end. I proceed to toss any and all rationality off to the side and venture forward. Before I get too far though I make my way back to my tossed aside reason and slap it around for thinking it knows what’s best for me, because dammit fulfilling my macabre curiosity is more important than listening to common sense. I trip along the way, bitch about the crumbling temple and oh wait holy shit those are bones, so many bones, I’ve been tripping over and walking on dead people this whole time aahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Realizing I was now walking upon what was likely to be a mass grave, I took one last good look at my battered and abused reason lying to the side, begging me to come back. I flipped it the bird and spat in its face because by god my curiosity told me to and it must be obeyed. Reaching the end of the room, I find more rubble blocking a passageway. Teleporting behind it, I find the source of the light. At the end of the passageway is a blindingly bright room. I walk towards the light and everything proceeds to go straight to hell.” Russo took a moment to compose himself after blazing through all of that exposition. “I came across a chamber that was brilliant to behold. The walls, the floor, everything was made of the purest untarnished marble. Save for a couple of people shaped stains burned into the walls and floor surrounding the entrance,” Russo paused as he looked to Nadie, expecting some sort of rise out of her. Her brows raised a miniscule amount, her impatient eyes conveying a clear message.
“At the center of it all, hovering before me, was a blinding white orb of light. After I realized I should not be treading these grounds a barrier erected itself around the sole entry and exit point into and out of the chamber. The orb bellowed and began to speak to me.”
“What did it say?”
“I’m going to fucking kill you for having the gall to exist. Well, she said that in a roundabout and verbose manner albeit, but the message was hard to miss.”
“She?”
“That part will explain itself soon enough. From there she tried to murder me by searing me into the very walls with some horrendously powerful light magic. I bounced around the chamber, avoiding her attacks with less and less room to spare. I tried going on the offensive by firing a burst of lightning at her, hoping it would bring down the barrier or at the very least weaken it. That tactic failed spectacularly, as I lost my left arm as a result.” That little tidbit managed to elicit a reaction from the panther as her eyes widened and settled on the human’s left arm.
The human groaned before continuing. “You know what, how about you just hold all your questions until after I’m done talking. Anyway, I didn’t exactly take losing a limb very well. I kind of… curled up in a ball and awaited my imminent death as my mind struggled not to collapse from the grievous pain. And then that’s when he showed up…”
“The so called god of darkness?”
“Right. This is where things get fuzzy though. He makes his presence known, the orb gets absolutely livid, the two have a back and forth and all of a sudden I feel something wrapping itself around my chest and legs. Best way I can describe the whole experience is that it felt like my shadow pulled me down into itself. Next thing I know, I find myself in some… abyss. Everywhere I looked I saw the same uniform darkness. I was just floating there battered and bleeding until suddenly this monstrous set of teeth just popped up right in front of me. Some sort of tentacles started coiling around me as the god of darkness began dictating to me what he had in store.”
Nadie raised a hand to call the human’s attention. “You’ll have to pardon the interruption, but from what I gather, he saved you? That seems to contradict with Xis’ claim.”
“You mean the kitsune? Oh right, Morgan mentioned some commentary of his. Something about the darkness being sinister and foul,” he waved his hands in the air as he prattled on. “Heh, just because he rescued me doesn’t make him benevolent by any stretch of the imagination. Seeing to it that I didn’t die just happened to coincide with his best interests, that’s all. By all means, he is an utterly colossal asshole; the kitsune’s first impressions were dead on. Thing is, the only reason he saved me in the first place was so that he could continue to get his jollies out of watching me do whatever the hell it is I do. He claimed to be in possession of, it wasn’t omnipotence, it was uh… omnipresence. I think. ”
“Which means it’s very possible he could be observing us right this second?” Her tone was incredulous and skeptical.
“Mmhmm. Not like he’ll do anything though. He claimed to be a hands off kind of deity, one that preferred to watch from afar rather than interact. Save for some rather specific circumstances, which he didn’t touch upon in great detail. Basically he congratulated me for not immediately disintegrating at the hands of what he claimed was the goddess of light, told me he enjoyed watching me bumble through living and that he planned to keep on watching me bumble. However he asserted he would be getting more ‘hands on’ in my life story, which has got me pretty wary. For starters,” Russo pulled up his left sleeve and pointed to the black ring intersecting the crescent moon. “He outfitted me with a new arm, which I can’t complain too much about to be honest. The brand was something to remember him by,” The mage said bitterly as a furred hand reached out grabbed hold of his exposed arm. Dragging him, and his chair along with him, closer towards her desk, Nadie leered at the markings burned into his arm.
“The mark of the crescent moon was one of the first and most enduring symbols used to signify dark magic. By chance did he give you a name to refer to him by?”
“None. He did refer to the goddess of light as well… Light. Not exactly very original but it works.”
“Why not refer to him as Dark then?” She snickered as Russo groaned at the designation.
“Fine. After his spiel was done he made like he was going to goddamned eat me, and as soon as I disappeared behind his teeth I became reacquainted with the floor of the temple. …That about covers it.”
Nadie tapped a clawed finger against her desk as she rested her chin on her hand. “Is there any way you can prove these claims of yours?”
“I… have this crescent moon branded on me?” Russo meekly replied.
“Yet prior to this meeting it is not like you flashed me any skin. I don’t know for certain that you didn’t walk into my guild with that mark already placed upon you.”
“B-but-”
“No matter whether or not there is truth to your claims, that temple is off limits. Something resides there, I don’t know what exactly, but it is best left alone. Varun was right, you really are quite the troublemaker. Here’s hoping you didn’t rouse something terrible from its slumber.”
“I didn’t arouse anything! Rouse, I meant rouse. Shit. Look, the point is I didn’t accidentally awaken some great and terrible evil in that temple. That was already done for me ages ago by the poor bastards who used to worship there. It wasn’t like I summoned Light, she was already floating around there in that inner sanctum long before I got there! Those shadows burned into the walls and floors attest to that. For goodness sake she’s the reason why the innards of that place are a makeshift grave! Think about it, would you?! Deific worship was all but abandoned around here because she went around indiscriminately killing anyone who had the poor misfortune to set foot in the recesses of that temple. Having the goddess you adored and worshipped turn out to be a kill happy maniac might be a good turn off from religion, I’m just saying. I don’t know what the first settlers here did but they fucked up badly, and it involved Light. This has been racking in my head for the past two days, it makes perfect sense!”
“That it may, but without any evidence to back up your claims it’s all baseless speculation to me,” The panther plainly stated as she rose from her seat behind her desk. "However, I am quite tempted to once again point out that light magic is not inherently benevolent, nor darkness malevolent, regardless of the veracity of your claims," she laughed as Russo leaned back into his chair and sighed. Nadie approached him and knocked against his shoulder, “On your feet, we’re not quite done yet.” The human frowned as he rubbed his shoulder and followed her out of the office. Even the faintest of lovetaps from her smarted, he duly noted.
“Where are you leading me now?” He impatiently demanded as he glared at the panther’s broad… and pleasing to look at backside. Russo quickly pursed his lips as he began to feel somewhat hot under the collar. Surely that was all due to his anger and frustration at being deemed a liar. Surely.
“You haven’t forgotten your agreement with me already have you? You promised to serve as my research assistant for a week in exchange for new armor.”
Crap, that’s right. He had already forgotten about that.
“I did mention it was fairly reading and writing intensive didn’t I?”
“Yes,” Russo atonally replied as his shoulders sagged. He dutifully followed Nadie as she navigated through the winding basement corridors. With a tinge of disappointment he nearly, but not quite, bumped into her when she came to an abrupt halt in front of a heavy wooden door. The hinges groaned as Nadie pulled on the handle, revealing a massive subterranean study. “This is where we’ll be working for the next week,” She proudly stated with a smile as she turned her head to look down at the mage.
“We?” He remarked as their footsteps echoed loudly upon the stone floor. Russo gazed quizzically at the rows of bookcases as they walked down an aisle, each one just a tad taller than Nadie and arranged parallel to one another. Carved from rich dark oak, shimmering white magical crystals were attached to the sides of each bookcase, bathing all those who walked down the aisles in a bright glow. Squinting his eyes as he looked up, the mage saw similar crystals embedded at consistent intervals in the ceiling as well, cascading rays of warmth and illuminating every nook and cranny in the library. Poking his head down a row as they walked by, he found himself overwhelmed at how far the shelves stretched across his vision and how infrequently gaps between bookcases cropped up. Step stools could be seen peppered among the rows, allowing access to the higher shelves. “Christ, how can they cram all of this down here?” The human marveled as Nadie came to a halt and he bumped into her posterior. He immediately stepped back and felt as if he were about to spontaneously combust as he heard the panther begin to laugh.
“Easy there. Take a good look see Russo, for this is where you’ll be more or less living for the next week.” Reaching a hand behind the human and pushing him forward, the mage got a good eyeful of his new workstation. Situated between a large break in the rows of bookcases were a series of massive tables. Papers saturated with text and stacks of books were strewn about on top of the one before them with no rhyme or reason. The panther pulled out a chair and urged the human to take a seat. “Pardon the mess, but as soon as I strike upon an idea for my research I act upon it, no matter where it may take me! However, the urgency to grab at and jot down my ideas certainly takes its toll on any and all attempts at organizing them.”
“I can see that…” Russo muttered as he ogled the smattering of ideas given physical form spread out before him. Given his knowledge of tables and table based structures he was quite certain there was a flat wood surface buried beneath all the paper placed before him. Somewhere.
“Fortunately for me, I have an assistant now! To start off, you can help to organize my jumbled notes and make sense of it all,” She slapped him on the back and jostled him from side to side. “Once that is done, you can write up a table of contents, an index, and a list of citations. You’ll have to excuse me as I take my leave, but I’ll be sure to join you later this evening!” Nadie tussled the human’s hair and turned to leave, her long silky tail brushing up against the back of his chair. Russo sat in his chair for a time, daunted by the task that lay disheveled before him. He let himself tilt forward as his face smacked into the table, the layer of paper providing lackluster cushioning. An outstretched arm blindly sifted through the papers, grabbing what was to be Russo’s randomly determined starting point. He lifted his head up slightly as the paper trembled inches before his face.
“The history of dark magic is a fascinating one. For reasons widely speculated on, but still ultimately unknown, it was the first true form of practiced magic to emerge. Beating out the earliest known mention of light magic by at least two centuries, it spread hastily and was widely used. Known as the ‘Dark Ages’ of magic, the designation is misleading since research into new spells and the nature of magic itself flourished during this time. The stereotypes and erroneous beliefs about dark magic and its inherent properties that plague the world today were absent during this time period. It was not until the emergence of light magic that dark magic began to fall out of favor, as research into its properties and capabilities began their decline.”
Loosening his grip and letting the paper slip between his fingers, Russo bonked his head against the table once more. “I’m sure... oh god this is painful to say… Dark would have a lot to say about that.” Slowly and unwillingly he pushed himself back up into proper sitting position. Without so much as a sigh, he began the arduous task of methodically sifting through the papers.
Hours passed as Russo slowly trudged his way through the herculean task. The tables to his left and right became battlefields, stacks of papers competing with one another for space. Painfully, he had begun to separate the notes based upon topics. He died a little inside when he realized there was an intended flow and structure to it all, which signified there was that much more work for him. Figuring out the order in which those forming stacks of papers were to be read was going to be a mind numbing task. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he got up from his chair for the umpteenth time to toss the latest piece of paper into its proper stack. His mind putzed out as he realized he had yet to form a stack dedicated to defensive dark magic spells. His body shuddered painfully as he shuffled on over to two tables down the row to christen the start of a completely new stack dedicated to an altogether new topic. His eyes darted to the side as he heard heavy footsteps echo throughout the study.
“Making much progress?” Nadie softly asked as she approached him, a steaming hot plate balanced on her left hand and some sort of bundle held close to her chest with her right. “Have you been at this non-stop since I left?”
“Yeah…”
A soft smile formed on her muzzle as she patted him on the shoulder. “Why don’t you take a seat and rest?” The panther gently eased him down into a chair and placed the plate before him, the pleasant aroma drawing his eyes down towards the cheesy potatoes, chicken, and broccoli that decorated the platter. “You’ve gotten a lot done in one afternoon, I’m impressed.” Lobbing the bundle onto the seat next to Russo, she fingered through the various stacks one by one, nodding intermittently. “No complaints thus far.” Sporting a toothy grin she pulled up the chair opposite of Russo and reached over to pluck a smidgeon of chicken off his plate.
“So what were you up to today?” Russo inquired as he poked at a stalk of broccoli with his fork and swirled it around the cheesy potatoes, the green flower heads becoming slathered with delicious.
“Why don’t you open that bundle there and find out?” His curiosity piqued, Russo grabbed for the innocuous looking bundle as Nadie swiped a much more generous portion of chicken. Plopping it down beside his plate, he tugged on the cloth ribbon wrapped around it. It unraveled without a cinch and he began to unfold the raggedy blanket wrapped around whatever the contents were. Nadie’s tail swished to and fro as she watched on contentedly. Folded neatly inside was a crimson cloak, not unlike the one Russo was currently sporting. Hmming in response to the revelation, Russo stood up and unceremoniously pulled his current cloak over the top of head and tossed it onto the chair. Grabbing the crimson cloak with both hands he began to unfold it, only for two black gloves to come tumbling out onto the ground.
“That extra cloak and vest of yours that you wanted ought to be ready by the week’s end, right about when you finish your tenure as research assistant. Who knows, depending on how good a job you do, I may just strong arm Varun into transferring you here,” She stated jokingly as she leaned back in her chair and watched Russo outfit himself. The mage said nothing as he slid his new cloak on over his head, doing his damnedest to mull over whether or not the huge fucking panther was serious about the transfer. He honestly couldn’t tell.
“So I take it these are all fire proof then? Or at least fire resistant?” He asked aloud as he slid on his gloves. Reaching up to his forearm, they immediately warmed his fingers and were a comfortably snug fit.
“They’re fire proof and dark magic resistant. It’d be for the best if you didn’t mix those two up.”
“Duly noted,” the mage remarked as he concentrated magic into his left hand. Without needing to expend any additional effort, an orb of magic coalesced above the palm of his glove. “Not bad,” he replied impressed as he ceased concentrating and it quickly dissipated. “Think I can test out the veracity of those fire proof claims?” Russo said with a smirk as a red aura swirled around his fingers.
“In the middle of a library?” The flammability of everything in the goddamned room became very relevant as Nadie’s imposing fangs began to poke out of her lips. A sudden and completely unexplainable draft in the room carried away the swirls around Russo’s fingers as the mage clenched his fist shut tight. Laughing nervously, he took his seat back at the table and hurriedly finished his meal.
“Hmph. Ah well, the night is still young and there’s plenty more work to be done. Care to join me, assistant?” Nadie asked as she let her chair’s two front legs thud into the floor.
“Like I have a choice?” Russo shot back as he shoved his plate to the side and sighed as he looked over at the adjacent table. He had poured hours of work into that mess already, yet the amount of transcribed ideas still littering the table was mind boggling. Biting his lip, he walked over to join Nadie in the task at hand. Under the constant glow of the crystals above, the flow of time seemed to just stop giving a fuck. Russo hadn’t the faintest idea how long he remained down there, shooting the breeze with Nadie all the while as they tackled the project together. All he knew was that he had closed his eyes one moment, only to open them the next to find himself staring up at the ceiling of his guest room.
“I am not going to survive six more days of this…” Russo moaned as rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, the soft padding of his gloves gently sliding across his eyelids. Holding his hands in front of his face, he furrowed his brows at the realization he was still fully dressed. Wait, no, that was a good thing. Why the hell would he want to wake up in his room half naked with no recollection of how he got there? Shaking his head, he tossed off his gloves as he resolved to clean himself up.
A towel held tight with his left hand, and a batch of clean clothes pressed close against his chest with his right, and clad only in another towel he had ‘borrowed,’ Russo poked his head inside the room housing the men’s public bath. He sighed in relief at the sight of the empty room and tossed everything into a corner as he slid into the soothing waters. Leaning his head back, he smiled as the warm liquid soaked his skin. Being cooped up in that library for a week wasn’t exactly his definition of a good time, but things could certainly be worse. That and he couldn’t deny that Nadie did have some interesting things to say about dark magic. …Those musings of hers might be worth another read once they’re all in order.
Another pleasant sigh caught in his throat as a jolt of panic surged through the human as the door to the baths creaked open. His thumping heart barely subsided when he recognized the fur that stepped through the door. “Oh! I didn’t know anyone else bathed this early. Morning Russo,” Tyr politely greeted the human as he shut the door behind him.
“Hey Tyridia,” he replied tiredly as he turned away from the vulpine, who was beginning to undress.
“Where did you disappear to yesterday? Morgan and I saw Master come and go from the guild a lot yesterday, but there was no sign of you.” Dipping his paws into the warm water, Tyr methodically allowed the water to swallow his knees, his waist, and finally his chest.
“She dragged me off into the library so I could start working off a debt so to speak. Nadie is hooking me up with some new gear, and in return I’m temporarily serving as her research assistant.”
“I do not envy you,” the fox replied with a pained look on his face.
“Definitely should have asked some more questions about what all that entailed before I volunteered for it,” the human moaned as he shook his head side to side. “It isn’t all bad though,” Russo conceded as he looked Tyr in the eyes. “That master of yours really does have some enlightening things to say, with regards to a certain subject matter anyway.”
“She is a smart lady, that’s for sure,” Tyr beamed with a smile on his face and pride in his voice.
“You and Morgan really look up to her, huh?” That smile of his was infectious, as Russo felt a grin forming on his face.
“Of course! She’s intelligent, strong, fair, and understanding. Aside from the ever present threat of being dragged along for one of her debilitating morning workouts she’s a wonderful person to serve under.”
“Hmmm, my master is something else entirely. Much like Nadie, he’s fair. But that’s where the similarities end.”
“Is he that Varun fellow Master has been referring to around you these past few days?”
“Yeah, that’s him. I mean he’s not a bad master, it’s just uh… well there’s room for improvement. Especially regarding the legality of some of his day to day activities dedicated to the guild’s upkeep.”
“Uh huh,” Tyr warily stated as his hands wrapped tightly around his heavy water laden tail.
“Sooooooooooooo, what are your plans for the rest of the week?” Russo nervously blurted out, forcing a smile as he abruptly changed the conversation topic.
“Well… I don’t have anything really planned out, but I was hoping to get some summoning practice in today. Xis always gripes at me when I bring him out, but I could always use more practice,” He twiddled his fingers before he continued in a hushed tone, “That… and I think that he likes getting some fresh air and taking in the mortal realm. Xis would never admit to it, but I think he likes being called upon so often.”
“Probably makes him feel that much more important!” Russo smirked as Tyr shyly hugged his tail.
“Wish he would be more willing to offer me advice on how I could be a better summoner or make better use of his power though,” Tyr said in dejected frustration as he kicked his paws back and forth in the water. “All he ever does is berate me.”
“He isn’t very easy to get along with is he?” Russo frowned as he recalled his rather terse and unpleasant interaction with the kitsune. Scratching at the stubble on his chin the human struggled to offer words of support. “It’s glaringly obvious that kitsune summon of yours is a smug bastard, there’s no ignoring that. But… I mean, I don’t know how you summoners usually interact with your spirits but maybe it couldn’t hurt to butter him up a little. Really emphasize how grateful you are to be graced with his presence,” Russo worked valiantly to maintain a straight face as he kept talking.
Tyr chuckled as his grip loosened on his tail and he began to relax. “I’m sure he’d love that,” he said as he broke out into a toothy smile. “Hmm, I don’t know how much longer you want to soak, but umm… would you like to join me for breakfast? I wouldn’t mind chatting some more with you, if you’ll have my company.”
“Geeze, so formal. Sure, I’ll join you, just give me another ten minutes or so.”
“Alright, see you then,” Tyr happily stated as he climbed out of the bath, his sopping wet fur matted down against his lithe form. He furiously shook himself dry, thankfully a good distance away from Russo or his clothes, and wiped himself down with a towel to soak up any remaining moisture. Immediately after the fox had dressed himself and exited out, Russo hastily climbed out of the bath dried himself off. Donning some clean clothes along with his new crimson cloak and set of gloves the mage strode out into the hallway, quite pleased with his new wardrobe.
After a couple of wrong turns he eventually managed to navigate the Yash guild’s unfamiliar hallways and managed to find himself in the main guild hall. Tyridia was already plopped down at a table, digging into some kind of porridge. He waved to Russo and the human gestured in kind as he approached the fox. The blinding rays of the early morning sun poured through the windows, casting the entire room in an almost unbearably bright yellow glow. The human and fox were the only ones present to take in the sight and cast shadows. “Looks like we have the place to ourselves huh?” The mage remarked as he took a seat opposite of the fox at the table.
“Mmhmm,” he nodded as he swallowed a spoonful of porridge. “Master is out on her workout and most everyone else is just now waking up. Morgan and the others ought to be trailing in here shortly.”
“Hmm,” Russo turned his attention towards the windows, the sun filtering in unobstructed. “The chef serving anything good for breakfast?”
“Nothing too fancy. He’s got some toast and oatmeal set up and that’s about it.”
After having been corrected as to what was in the fox’s bowl, the human meandered on over to the kitchen and grabbed himself some grub. Nibbling away at a slice of toast held between his teeth and bowl of oatmeal in hand, Russo found himself preoccupied with the windows once more. Chomping absentmindedly on the bread, he squinted at a silhouette that had positioned itself in front of the windows as he walked back to join Tyridia. Setting his bowl down upon the table, his eyes grew accustomed to the bright light and the features of the silhouette clarified. The focused image activated a primal fear in the mage, causing him to choke on his toast as he dived underneath the table in a panic.
“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCK.”
FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Note: Icon is © to
Oli_SnowpawFIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT
Chapter 26
“You do know that the less you say, the more suspicious Master is going to get?” Morgan curtly stated as she brought down a piping hot cup of tea from her muzzle. “It’s been nearly two days and you’ve hardly said a word about what happened. That’s why she’s calling you into her office in the first place.”
Russo quietly swirled his cup of hot cocoa, his eyes dully focused on the milky swirls dancing about. The warmth of the liquid emanated through the porcelain and into his hands. He let out a slight sigh as he felt the fingers in his left hand tingle from the heat.
“It’s not the end of the world if she calls you into her office. Master just wants to talk is all, Russo. She may be strict but she is an understanding person and she only wants to help,” Tyridia reassured the human.
Russo bit his lip as he continued staring at his drink. “Did either of you ever wonder if there was a reason why that temple was abandoned?”
“I’m not entirely sure it was abandoned. Seems to me more like it simply fell out of use as religious preferences changed. Like I said the other day, deific worship isn’t big around these parts, for whatever reason.” Morgan replied with a shrug.
“No, it was definitely abandoned,” Russo tersely stated as watched the swirls of milk in his cocoa vanish.
“What makes you say that?” Morgan replied, her curiosity aroused.
“The half dozen or so bodies I stumbled over while exploring the depths of that place,” He replied as he brought the cup up to his lips and sipped the steaming hot cocoa.
“Wait, what?” Tyr asked nervously as his eyes widened and his vulpine ears perked up. Morgan’s eyes darted to Tyridia and the two exchanged worried glances. How many years had they been attending that temple? How many times had they gone there to pray, blissfully ignorant of the bodies lying beneath them?
The human set down his drink and rubbed his eyes. “You two remember that blocked off passageway leading out of the main chamber? There’s a huge stairwell in the room that passageway empties out into. That thing leads down into an abyss and as I was fumbling around down there I was constantly stumbling. A quick flash of light revealed I wasn’t tripping over refuse, but bodies. I don’t know how many there are down there, but I get the feeling there were a lot.”
“What the hell happened there?” The raccoon asked in astonishment, taken aback by the human’s claims.
“Do you think it had anything to do with that entity that spit you back out into the main chamber?” Tyr butted in.
“Huh? Oh… you mean ‘him.’ As ridiculous as it sounds, no, I don’t think he had anything to do with it.”
“Xis pegged it as having a presence and scent most foul. Care to explain why you don’t think it errr he, is responsible?” The white mage held her cup of tea with both hands as she uneasily awaited Russo’s response.
The mage opened his mouth to speak but was cut off as he felt a heavy hand rest upon his shoulder. “You didn’t forget about our appointment did you?” Nadie asked as her grip upon his shoulder blade tightened.
“No…” He stated in a defeated tone as he stood up and slowly followed Nadie down into the basement.
The raccoon sighed as she watched Russo being led away. “So if that dark entity wasn’t responsible, then what was?” Tyr fearfully inquired of the white mage. She simply shook her head as she stared into her cup.
“If he’s still in a talkative mood once Master is done with him, hopefully we’ll find out."
Russo flumped onto the chair before Nadie’s desk as the panther gazed at him intently, her elbows resting on her desk and her hands locked together. “Are you hurt at all? Morgan and Tyridia relayed worrying news to me and you’ve been silent these past two days.”
“No, no… just tired is all.”
“That’s a relief,” She said as she smiled softly. Her tone quickly became stern as she continued. “But, as the Yash guild master, you know that I’m going to have to ask you about what happened to you the other day. If there is something lodged in that temple that is a threat to the community, I would like to know about it.”
The mage leaned back against the chair and tilted his head back. “When you word it like that you make it sound like it would be negligent of me not to tell you.”
“That’s precisely my point. If it suits you, I can confirm what is spoken in this room will remain confidential. Are there any reasons why you would be hesitant to speak on the matter?”
The human scratched at his cheek uneasily as his thoughts failed to translate to spoken word. “It’s not that I’m embarrassed or frightened even to talk about it. It’s just been… difficult to wrap my head around what all I saw and heard.”
“Then let me help try and make sense of it with you. I can’t guarantee that I’ll have all the answers or help you come to a complete understanding, but I’m willing to lend you an ear.”
Russo sighed heavily as his gaze locked with the panther’s. “Before we delve into this, I have one condition.”
“What would that be?”
“No saying, ‘I told you so’ ,” the human grumbled.
“Oh?” A huge toothy grin formed on Nadie’s muzzle as she leaned over her desk towards him.
“God dammit,” Russo muttered as Nadie began chuckling.
Nadie’s laughter tapered off as she leaned back in her chair. “Now from what I gathered, you accompanied Morgan and Tyridia to the old temple of light and declined an offer to pray with them.”
Russo bobbed his head back and forth as Nadie spoke, “And then I got bored and wandered off and OF COURSE something goes wrong,” he said as he rolled his eyes in frustration.
“Do your plans rarely turn out the way they are supposed to?”
“Well I… I can’t really claim that I put much thought or real planning into my actions,” he said in embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head. “But, there is definitely a tendency for my actions to yield wildly unexpected results. And those results more often than not lead to my near death.” Thoughts of Peccamen, the mimic chest, and that murderous orb of light all flashed in his head with painful clarity.
“Perhaps this is a sign that you ought to make more use of that head of yours,” Nadie said softly as she tapped him on the noggin. “Varun regards you as one of his brighter underlings you know. As do I.” Fidgeting under her accepting gaze, Nadie softly tussled his hair. “That’s not why we’re here today though. Lest we get off topic, let’s get back to the matter at hand. Once Tyridia and Morgan realized you had been gone for some time, you suddenly reappeared – “
“From a dark portal, I know. I’ve heard all about it already.”
“And the snide voice that accompanied it?”
“And now here’s where I’m going to reiterate that ‘I told you so’ condition. None of that, alright?”
“Very well, very well.” Raising her brows and restraining the desire to laugh, Nadie waved her hands at the human in a sign of mock compliance.
“*Sigh* That was the voice of the self-described god of darkness.”
“…Which god? From my understanding there are multiple-”
“No, no, no, no, no let me explain. He claimed not to be A god of darkness, but THE god of darkness. He was incredibly insistent on making that distinction.”
“You spoke with him?
“More like he dictated to me.”
Nadie narrowed her gaze as she tapped a clawed finger against her desk. “Perhaps it would be best if you detailed what happened in chronological order. It’ll make it a lot easier for me to follow along and make sense of all this.”
“I’m giving you an abbreviated version of all the unimportant stuff though. I’m sick and tired of retelling stories in their entirety so damn often.”
(And I’m goddamned tired of writing myself into situations where recaps are relevant if not necessary)
“You already know how it starts. Morgan and Tyr go to pray, I don’t feel like joining them. So, I decide to meander around and explore instead. I find collapsed passageway, I teleport to other side since dammit I wanted to explore. Come across a big ass stairwell that descends into a gaping maw of darkness. Me, being stupid, waltzes down in there. Empties out into a bigger and even darker room. At first I wasn’t going to explore, but then I saw a tiny glimmer of light at the other end. I proceed to toss any and all rationality off to the side and venture forward. Before I get too far though I make my way back to my tossed aside reason and slap it around for thinking it knows what’s best for me, because dammit fulfilling my macabre curiosity is more important than listening to common sense. I trip along the way, bitch about the crumbling temple and oh wait holy shit those are bones, so many bones, I’ve been tripping over and walking on dead people this whole time aahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Realizing I was now walking upon what was likely to be a mass grave, I took one last good look at my battered and abused reason lying to the side, begging me to come back. I flipped it the bird and spat in its face because by god my curiosity told me to and it must be obeyed. Reaching the end of the room, I find more rubble blocking a passageway. Teleporting behind it, I find the source of the light. At the end of the passageway is a blindingly bright room. I walk towards the light and everything proceeds to go straight to hell.” Russo took a moment to compose himself after blazing through all of that exposition. “I came across a chamber that was brilliant to behold. The walls, the floor, everything was made of the purest untarnished marble. Save for a couple of people shaped stains burned into the walls and floor surrounding the entrance,” Russo paused as he looked to Nadie, expecting some sort of rise out of her. Her brows raised a miniscule amount, her impatient eyes conveying a clear message.
“At the center of it all, hovering before me, was a blinding white orb of light. After I realized I should not be treading these grounds a barrier erected itself around the sole entry and exit point into and out of the chamber. The orb bellowed and began to speak to me.”
“What did it say?”
“I’m going to fucking kill you for having the gall to exist. Well, she said that in a roundabout and verbose manner albeit, but the message was hard to miss.”
“She?”
“That part will explain itself soon enough. From there she tried to murder me by searing me into the very walls with some horrendously powerful light magic. I bounced around the chamber, avoiding her attacks with less and less room to spare. I tried going on the offensive by firing a burst of lightning at her, hoping it would bring down the barrier or at the very least weaken it. That tactic failed spectacularly, as I lost my left arm as a result.” That little tidbit managed to elicit a reaction from the panther as her eyes widened and settled on the human’s left arm.
The human groaned before continuing. “You know what, how about you just hold all your questions until after I’m done talking. Anyway, I didn’t exactly take losing a limb very well. I kind of… curled up in a ball and awaited my imminent death as my mind struggled not to collapse from the grievous pain. And then that’s when he showed up…”
“The so called god of darkness?”
“Right. This is where things get fuzzy though. He makes his presence known, the orb gets absolutely livid, the two have a back and forth and all of a sudden I feel something wrapping itself around my chest and legs. Best way I can describe the whole experience is that it felt like my shadow pulled me down into itself. Next thing I know, I find myself in some… abyss. Everywhere I looked I saw the same uniform darkness. I was just floating there battered and bleeding until suddenly this monstrous set of teeth just popped up right in front of me. Some sort of tentacles started coiling around me as the god of darkness began dictating to me what he had in store.”
Nadie raised a hand to call the human’s attention. “You’ll have to pardon the interruption, but from what I gather, he saved you? That seems to contradict with Xis’ claim.”
“You mean the kitsune? Oh right, Morgan mentioned some commentary of his. Something about the darkness being sinister and foul,” he waved his hands in the air as he prattled on. “Heh, just because he rescued me doesn’t make him benevolent by any stretch of the imagination. Seeing to it that I didn’t die just happened to coincide with his best interests, that’s all. By all means, he is an utterly colossal asshole; the kitsune’s first impressions were dead on. Thing is, the only reason he saved me in the first place was so that he could continue to get his jollies out of watching me do whatever the hell it is I do. He claimed to be in possession of, it wasn’t omnipotence, it was uh… omnipresence. I think. ”
“Which means it’s very possible he could be observing us right this second?” Her tone was incredulous and skeptical.
“Mmhmm. Not like he’ll do anything though. He claimed to be a hands off kind of deity, one that preferred to watch from afar rather than interact. Save for some rather specific circumstances, which he didn’t touch upon in great detail. Basically he congratulated me for not immediately disintegrating at the hands of what he claimed was the goddess of light, told me he enjoyed watching me bumble through living and that he planned to keep on watching me bumble. However he asserted he would be getting more ‘hands on’ in my life story, which has got me pretty wary. For starters,” Russo pulled up his left sleeve and pointed to the black ring intersecting the crescent moon. “He outfitted me with a new arm, which I can’t complain too much about to be honest. The brand was something to remember him by,” The mage said bitterly as a furred hand reached out grabbed hold of his exposed arm. Dragging him, and his chair along with him, closer towards her desk, Nadie leered at the markings burned into his arm.
“The mark of the crescent moon was one of the first and most enduring symbols used to signify dark magic. By chance did he give you a name to refer to him by?”
“None. He did refer to the goddess of light as well… Light. Not exactly very original but it works.”
“Why not refer to him as Dark then?” She snickered as Russo groaned at the designation.
“Fine. After his spiel was done he made like he was going to goddamned eat me, and as soon as I disappeared behind his teeth I became reacquainted with the floor of the temple. …That about covers it.”
Nadie tapped a clawed finger against her desk as she rested her chin on her hand. “Is there any way you can prove these claims of yours?”
“I… have this crescent moon branded on me?” Russo meekly replied.
“Yet prior to this meeting it is not like you flashed me any skin. I don’t know for certain that you didn’t walk into my guild with that mark already placed upon you.”
“B-but-”
“No matter whether or not there is truth to your claims, that temple is off limits. Something resides there, I don’t know what exactly, but it is best left alone. Varun was right, you really are quite the troublemaker. Here’s hoping you didn’t rouse something terrible from its slumber.”
“I didn’t arouse anything! Rouse, I meant rouse. Shit. Look, the point is I didn’t accidentally awaken some great and terrible evil in that temple. That was already done for me ages ago by the poor bastards who used to worship there. It wasn’t like I summoned Light, she was already floating around there in that inner sanctum long before I got there! Those shadows burned into the walls and floors attest to that. For goodness sake she’s the reason why the innards of that place are a makeshift grave! Think about it, would you?! Deific worship was all but abandoned around here because she went around indiscriminately killing anyone who had the poor misfortune to set foot in the recesses of that temple. Having the goddess you adored and worshipped turn out to be a kill happy maniac might be a good turn off from religion, I’m just saying. I don’t know what the first settlers here did but they fucked up badly, and it involved Light. This has been racking in my head for the past two days, it makes perfect sense!”
“That it may, but without any evidence to back up your claims it’s all baseless speculation to me,” The panther plainly stated as she rose from her seat behind her desk. "However, I am quite tempted to once again point out that light magic is not inherently benevolent, nor darkness malevolent, regardless of the veracity of your claims," she laughed as Russo leaned back into his chair and sighed. Nadie approached him and knocked against his shoulder, “On your feet, we’re not quite done yet.” The human frowned as he rubbed his shoulder and followed her out of the office. Even the faintest of lovetaps from her smarted, he duly noted.
“Where are you leading me now?” He impatiently demanded as he glared at the panther’s broad… and pleasing to look at backside. Russo quickly pursed his lips as he began to feel somewhat hot under the collar. Surely that was all due to his anger and frustration at being deemed a liar. Surely.
“You haven’t forgotten your agreement with me already have you? You promised to serve as my research assistant for a week in exchange for new armor.”
Crap, that’s right. He had already forgotten about that.
“I did mention it was fairly reading and writing intensive didn’t I?”
“Yes,” Russo atonally replied as his shoulders sagged. He dutifully followed Nadie as she navigated through the winding basement corridors. With a tinge of disappointment he nearly, but not quite, bumped into her when she came to an abrupt halt in front of a heavy wooden door. The hinges groaned as Nadie pulled on the handle, revealing a massive subterranean study. “This is where we’ll be working for the next week,” She proudly stated with a smile as she turned her head to look down at the mage.
“We?” He remarked as their footsteps echoed loudly upon the stone floor. Russo gazed quizzically at the rows of bookcases as they walked down an aisle, each one just a tad taller than Nadie and arranged parallel to one another. Carved from rich dark oak, shimmering white magical crystals were attached to the sides of each bookcase, bathing all those who walked down the aisles in a bright glow. Squinting his eyes as he looked up, the mage saw similar crystals embedded at consistent intervals in the ceiling as well, cascading rays of warmth and illuminating every nook and cranny in the library. Poking his head down a row as they walked by, he found himself overwhelmed at how far the shelves stretched across his vision and how infrequently gaps between bookcases cropped up. Step stools could be seen peppered among the rows, allowing access to the higher shelves. “Christ, how can they cram all of this down here?” The human marveled as Nadie came to a halt and he bumped into her posterior. He immediately stepped back and felt as if he were about to spontaneously combust as he heard the panther begin to laugh.
“Easy there. Take a good look see Russo, for this is where you’ll be more or less living for the next week.” Reaching a hand behind the human and pushing him forward, the mage got a good eyeful of his new workstation. Situated between a large break in the rows of bookcases were a series of massive tables. Papers saturated with text and stacks of books were strewn about on top of the one before them with no rhyme or reason. The panther pulled out a chair and urged the human to take a seat. “Pardon the mess, but as soon as I strike upon an idea for my research I act upon it, no matter where it may take me! However, the urgency to grab at and jot down my ideas certainly takes its toll on any and all attempts at organizing them.”
“I can see that…” Russo muttered as he ogled the smattering of ideas given physical form spread out before him. Given his knowledge of tables and table based structures he was quite certain there was a flat wood surface buried beneath all the paper placed before him. Somewhere.
“Fortunately for me, I have an assistant now! To start off, you can help to organize my jumbled notes and make sense of it all,” She slapped him on the back and jostled him from side to side. “Once that is done, you can write up a table of contents, an index, and a list of citations. You’ll have to excuse me as I take my leave, but I’ll be sure to join you later this evening!” Nadie tussled the human’s hair and turned to leave, her long silky tail brushing up against the back of his chair. Russo sat in his chair for a time, daunted by the task that lay disheveled before him. He let himself tilt forward as his face smacked into the table, the layer of paper providing lackluster cushioning. An outstretched arm blindly sifted through the papers, grabbing what was to be Russo’s randomly determined starting point. He lifted his head up slightly as the paper trembled inches before his face.
“The history of dark magic is a fascinating one. For reasons widely speculated on, but still ultimately unknown, it was the first true form of practiced magic to emerge. Beating out the earliest known mention of light magic by at least two centuries, it spread hastily and was widely used. Known as the ‘Dark Ages’ of magic, the designation is misleading since research into new spells and the nature of magic itself flourished during this time. The stereotypes and erroneous beliefs about dark magic and its inherent properties that plague the world today were absent during this time period. It was not until the emergence of light magic that dark magic began to fall out of favor, as research into its properties and capabilities began their decline.”
Loosening his grip and letting the paper slip between his fingers, Russo bonked his head against the table once more. “I’m sure... oh god this is painful to say… Dark would have a lot to say about that.” Slowly and unwillingly he pushed himself back up into proper sitting position. Without so much as a sigh, he began the arduous task of methodically sifting through the papers.
Hours passed as Russo slowly trudged his way through the herculean task. The tables to his left and right became battlefields, stacks of papers competing with one another for space. Painfully, he had begun to separate the notes based upon topics. He died a little inside when he realized there was an intended flow and structure to it all, which signified there was that much more work for him. Figuring out the order in which those forming stacks of papers were to be read was going to be a mind numbing task. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, he got up from his chair for the umpteenth time to toss the latest piece of paper into its proper stack. His mind putzed out as he realized he had yet to form a stack dedicated to defensive dark magic spells. His body shuddered painfully as he shuffled on over to two tables down the row to christen the start of a completely new stack dedicated to an altogether new topic. His eyes darted to the side as he heard heavy footsteps echo throughout the study.
“Making much progress?” Nadie softly asked as she approached him, a steaming hot plate balanced on her left hand and some sort of bundle held close to her chest with her right. “Have you been at this non-stop since I left?”
“Yeah…”
A soft smile formed on her muzzle as she patted him on the shoulder. “Why don’t you take a seat and rest?” The panther gently eased him down into a chair and placed the plate before him, the pleasant aroma drawing his eyes down towards the cheesy potatoes, chicken, and broccoli that decorated the platter. “You’ve gotten a lot done in one afternoon, I’m impressed.” Lobbing the bundle onto the seat next to Russo, she fingered through the various stacks one by one, nodding intermittently. “No complaints thus far.” Sporting a toothy grin she pulled up the chair opposite of Russo and reached over to pluck a smidgeon of chicken off his plate.
“So what were you up to today?” Russo inquired as he poked at a stalk of broccoli with his fork and swirled it around the cheesy potatoes, the green flower heads becoming slathered with delicious.
“Why don’t you open that bundle there and find out?” His curiosity piqued, Russo grabbed for the innocuous looking bundle as Nadie swiped a much more generous portion of chicken. Plopping it down beside his plate, he tugged on the cloth ribbon wrapped around it. It unraveled without a cinch and he began to unfold the raggedy blanket wrapped around whatever the contents were. Nadie’s tail swished to and fro as she watched on contentedly. Folded neatly inside was a crimson cloak, not unlike the one Russo was currently sporting. Hmming in response to the revelation, Russo stood up and unceremoniously pulled his current cloak over the top of head and tossed it onto the chair. Grabbing the crimson cloak with both hands he began to unfold it, only for two black gloves to come tumbling out onto the ground.
“That extra cloak and vest of yours that you wanted ought to be ready by the week’s end, right about when you finish your tenure as research assistant. Who knows, depending on how good a job you do, I may just strong arm Varun into transferring you here,” She stated jokingly as she leaned back in her chair and watched Russo outfit himself. The mage said nothing as he slid his new cloak on over his head, doing his damnedest to mull over whether or not the huge fucking panther was serious about the transfer. He honestly couldn’t tell.
“So I take it these are all fire proof then? Or at least fire resistant?” He asked aloud as he slid on his gloves. Reaching up to his forearm, they immediately warmed his fingers and were a comfortably snug fit.
“They’re fire proof and dark magic resistant. It’d be for the best if you didn’t mix those two up.”
“Duly noted,” the mage remarked as he concentrated magic into his left hand. Without needing to expend any additional effort, an orb of magic coalesced above the palm of his glove. “Not bad,” he replied impressed as he ceased concentrating and it quickly dissipated. “Think I can test out the veracity of those fire proof claims?” Russo said with a smirk as a red aura swirled around his fingers.
“In the middle of a library?” The flammability of everything in the goddamned room became very relevant as Nadie’s imposing fangs began to poke out of her lips. A sudden and completely unexplainable draft in the room carried away the swirls around Russo’s fingers as the mage clenched his fist shut tight. Laughing nervously, he took his seat back at the table and hurriedly finished his meal.
“Hmph. Ah well, the night is still young and there’s plenty more work to be done. Care to join me, assistant?” Nadie asked as she let her chair’s two front legs thud into the floor.
“Like I have a choice?” Russo shot back as he shoved his plate to the side and sighed as he looked over at the adjacent table. He had poured hours of work into that mess already, yet the amount of transcribed ideas still littering the table was mind boggling. Biting his lip, he walked over to join Nadie in the task at hand. Under the constant glow of the crystals above, the flow of time seemed to just stop giving a fuck. Russo hadn’t the faintest idea how long he remained down there, shooting the breeze with Nadie all the while as they tackled the project together. All he knew was that he had closed his eyes one moment, only to open them the next to find himself staring up at the ceiling of his guest room.
“I am not going to survive six more days of this…” Russo moaned as rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, the soft padding of his gloves gently sliding across his eyelids. Holding his hands in front of his face, he furrowed his brows at the realization he was still fully dressed. Wait, no, that was a good thing. Why the hell would he want to wake up in his room half naked with no recollection of how he got there? Shaking his head, he tossed off his gloves as he resolved to clean himself up.
A towel held tight with his left hand, and a batch of clean clothes pressed close against his chest with his right, and clad only in another towel he had ‘borrowed,’ Russo poked his head inside the room housing the men’s public bath. He sighed in relief at the sight of the empty room and tossed everything into a corner as he slid into the soothing waters. Leaning his head back, he smiled as the warm liquid soaked his skin. Being cooped up in that library for a week wasn’t exactly his definition of a good time, but things could certainly be worse. That and he couldn’t deny that Nadie did have some interesting things to say about dark magic. …Those musings of hers might be worth another read once they’re all in order.
Another pleasant sigh caught in his throat as a jolt of panic surged through the human as the door to the baths creaked open. His thumping heart barely subsided when he recognized the fur that stepped through the door. “Oh! I didn’t know anyone else bathed this early. Morning Russo,” Tyr politely greeted the human as he shut the door behind him.
“Hey Tyridia,” he replied tiredly as he turned away from the vulpine, who was beginning to undress.
“Where did you disappear to yesterday? Morgan and I saw Master come and go from the guild a lot yesterday, but there was no sign of you.” Dipping his paws into the warm water, Tyr methodically allowed the water to swallow his knees, his waist, and finally his chest.
“She dragged me off into the library so I could start working off a debt so to speak. Nadie is hooking me up with some new gear, and in return I’m temporarily serving as her research assistant.”
“I do not envy you,” the fox replied with a pained look on his face.
“Definitely should have asked some more questions about what all that entailed before I volunteered for it,” the human moaned as he shook his head side to side. “It isn’t all bad though,” Russo conceded as he looked Tyr in the eyes. “That master of yours really does have some enlightening things to say, with regards to a certain subject matter anyway.”
“She is a smart lady, that’s for sure,” Tyr beamed with a smile on his face and pride in his voice.
“You and Morgan really look up to her, huh?” That smile of his was infectious, as Russo felt a grin forming on his face.
“Of course! She’s intelligent, strong, fair, and understanding. Aside from the ever present threat of being dragged along for one of her debilitating morning workouts she’s a wonderful person to serve under.”
“Hmmm, my master is something else entirely. Much like Nadie, he’s fair. But that’s where the similarities end.”
“Is he that Varun fellow Master has been referring to around you these past few days?”
“Yeah, that’s him. I mean he’s not a bad master, it’s just uh… well there’s room for improvement. Especially regarding the legality of some of his day to day activities dedicated to the guild’s upkeep.”
“Uh huh,” Tyr warily stated as his hands wrapped tightly around his heavy water laden tail.
“Sooooooooooooo, what are your plans for the rest of the week?” Russo nervously blurted out, forcing a smile as he abruptly changed the conversation topic.
“Well… I don’t have anything really planned out, but I was hoping to get some summoning practice in today. Xis always gripes at me when I bring him out, but I could always use more practice,” He twiddled his fingers before he continued in a hushed tone, “That… and I think that he likes getting some fresh air and taking in the mortal realm. Xis would never admit to it, but I think he likes being called upon so often.”
“Probably makes him feel that much more important!” Russo smirked as Tyr shyly hugged his tail.
“Wish he would be more willing to offer me advice on how I could be a better summoner or make better use of his power though,” Tyr said in dejected frustration as he kicked his paws back and forth in the water. “All he ever does is berate me.”
“He isn’t very easy to get along with is he?” Russo frowned as he recalled his rather terse and unpleasant interaction with the kitsune. Scratching at the stubble on his chin the human struggled to offer words of support. “It’s glaringly obvious that kitsune summon of yours is a smug bastard, there’s no ignoring that. But… I mean, I don’t know how you summoners usually interact with your spirits but maybe it couldn’t hurt to butter him up a little. Really emphasize how grateful you are to be graced with his presence,” Russo worked valiantly to maintain a straight face as he kept talking.
Tyr chuckled as his grip loosened on his tail and he began to relax. “I’m sure he’d love that,” he said as he broke out into a toothy smile. “Hmm, I don’t know how much longer you want to soak, but umm… would you like to join me for breakfast? I wouldn’t mind chatting some more with you, if you’ll have my company.”
“Geeze, so formal. Sure, I’ll join you, just give me another ten minutes or so.”
“Alright, see you then,” Tyr happily stated as he climbed out of the bath, his sopping wet fur matted down against his lithe form. He furiously shook himself dry, thankfully a good distance away from Russo or his clothes, and wiped himself down with a towel to soak up any remaining moisture. Immediately after the fox had dressed himself and exited out, Russo hastily climbed out of the bath dried himself off. Donning some clean clothes along with his new crimson cloak and set of gloves the mage strode out into the hallway, quite pleased with his new wardrobe.
After a couple of wrong turns he eventually managed to navigate the Yash guild’s unfamiliar hallways and managed to find himself in the main guild hall. Tyridia was already plopped down at a table, digging into some kind of porridge. He waved to Russo and the human gestured in kind as he approached the fox. The blinding rays of the early morning sun poured through the windows, casting the entire room in an almost unbearably bright yellow glow. The human and fox were the only ones present to take in the sight and cast shadows. “Looks like we have the place to ourselves huh?” The mage remarked as he took a seat opposite of the fox at the table.
“Mmhmm,” he nodded as he swallowed a spoonful of porridge. “Master is out on her workout and most everyone else is just now waking up. Morgan and the others ought to be trailing in here shortly.”
“Hmm,” Russo turned his attention towards the windows, the sun filtering in unobstructed. “The chef serving anything good for breakfast?”
“Nothing too fancy. He’s got some toast and oatmeal set up and that’s about it.”
After having been corrected as to what was in the fox’s bowl, the human meandered on over to the kitchen and grabbed himself some grub. Nibbling away at a slice of toast held between his teeth and bowl of oatmeal in hand, Russo found himself preoccupied with the windows once more. Chomping absentmindedly on the bread, he squinted at a silhouette that had positioned itself in front of the windows as he walked back to join Tyridia. Setting his bowl down upon the table, his eyes grew accustomed to the bright light and the features of the silhouette clarified. The focused image activated a primal fear in the mage, causing him to choke on his toast as he dived underneath the table in a panic.
“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCK.”
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Category Story / Fantasy
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