5.
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Able stood alongside the northeastern coast of the island. The sound of the waves crashing onto the coast had been soothing. Early signs of light began penetrating the sky.
"I hope they have not changed their minds," Eros said.
"They'll be here. Regardless, he will be here. It is just a matter of time." Able responded.
Able could hear a small bit of chatter in the distance.
"Here they are!" He called.
Three figures clad in black emerged in the distance.
Ashe wore a black tunic, with black trousers and black boots. She also wore a black robe that had a hood. She carried a spear in one hand, using it as a cane as she walked.
Florian had been dressed similarly, however, he hadn't worn a robe and instead of a spear, a short sword hung from his belt.
Alaric had worn similar items however he had cut the sleeves off of his robe revealing his muscular arms. He carried no weapons. Each of them had large packs on their backs.
The group arrived before Able.
It had been a cold morning, if Alaric had been getting cold he hadn't been showing it.
"Greetings, my dear children."
They had responded to his greeting.
"Will we not stand out wearing this...glamorous clothing?" Ashe asked.
"Not at all, my dear. For one to look upon you they will just assume you are a travelling caster."
"Aren't we fighting for the mysurs, why should we look like casters?" Florian asked.
Before Able answered Alaric interrupted.
"We will get nowhere if we are viewed as mysurs. The only way to infiltrate the Zidal Empire is to act as we are casters."
"Zidal Empire?" Ashe looked confused.
"Yes...you know the empire that controls all of Hominus. Led by King Godric. You should know this." Alaric explained.
Ashe flushed.
"Alaric is correct, you do not want to stand out as a mysur who can suddenly use casts. Therefore you should probably hide those." Able said pointing at their amulets.
"Rixa is...taboo within the empire. Anyone seen with it is immediately executed."
They then hid their amulets underneath their clothes.
"What is this mission you want us to do?" Alaric asked.
Able handed a parchment to Alaric, a small pouch to Ashe and an envelope to Florian.
Alaric unrolled the parchment to reveal the map of Hominus.
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"Your mission will be simple: find a way to infiltrate the city of Meinspir and then cast the spell within that envelope." Able explained.
"Sounds simple enough," Florian added.
"It is not simple at all," Alaric whispered.
"He is correct. The journey will not be as simple as I made it out to be. It shall be long and arduous. It shall be painful even. You might die. However, you shall learn, get stronger only then shall you accomplish your mission." Able warned.
"Aren't we strong already? What was the training for?" Florian asked.
The twins laughed from behind Able.
"That training only made you as strong as a regular soldier. There are many casters with immense power that exist on the mainland."
Florian visibly paled.
"What is the cast in the envelope supposed to do?" Alaric asked.
"Good question. According to my master, it shall change the realm forever."
Master? Alaric thought.
Ashe opened the small pouch revealing several small jade beads.
"Those are sentz, it is used to purchase goods within the homeland. Use it sparingly." Able pointed out noticing Ashe's curiosity.
"There is still one issue bothering me?" Florian piped up. "How will we get to the mainland, we have no boat to cross the ocean?"
Able moved before them revealing the twins, who were digging into the sand on the beach. They revealed stone steps that lead downwards.
"These steps lead to a portal that transports you to the closest coast on the mainland." Able explained.
"Who built this?" Florian asked.
"Our Master." Able nodded at the twins who returned the nod.
Able led them down the steps revealing a cobblestone wall with a few symbols on it.
"Runes..." Alaric said as he got pushed into the wall.
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The wall hadn't stopped him, instead, he felt his body phase through it. He tumbled forward. He turned around to look who had pushed him; however, he was met with a familiar cobblestone wall. Suddenly, through the wall, Florian and Ashe tumbled through it. After they had tumbled through the wall, the runes upon the wall started disappearing one by one. Alaric attempted to put his arm back through the wall but the wall was solid.
"Where are we?" Ashe asked.
Alaric turned to examine their surroundings.
They had been in a narrow cave, it had been dark and there had been no visible exit straight ahead.
"We are in a cave on the coast of the mainland, I have been here before. We have been blocked off from going back. We have to go forward." Alaric said.
The cave was only wide enough for two people to walk alongside each other. Florian and Alaric led the way as Ashe followed behind them.
Occasionally they would walk past skeletal remains that lay on the ground.
"Who built this place?" Ashe asked.
"Most probably the people of Diable," Alaric stated.
"What makes you think that?" Florian asked.
"There are many things they hadn't told us." "Yesterday, I searched the southwestern coast of the island."
Ashe flushed.
"What did you find?"
"A nixum, a large nixum that was shaped like a spider."
"I told you it was real." Ashe poked Florian in the back.
"A...nixum, you got to be joking. Why hadn't it ever attacked the village?" Florian had been in disbelief.
"I had been confused as well. Throughout history, nixum has been shown to be highly volatile and dangerous. There is more to it than that. The nixum seemed to be protecting a cavern."
"I have seen a cavern there once before. I was too scared of the spider back then to pay it any mind." Ashe said.
"What did you do then?" Florian asked.
"I killed the nixum and entered the cavern."
"You have to be lying. It is said that it takes ten men to destroy a single nixum." Florian stated.
"Just how strong have you become, Alaric?" Ashe asked.
Alaric snorted.
"No, it wasn't because I am so strong. Even as I fought it, I felt as if it could've done more. Like it had held back."
"Impossible. Nixum were supposed to be mindless creatures. It wouldn't know how to hold back or to even guard a cavern." Florian retorted.
"I know it should be impossible, that makes it even more perplexing." "The cavern also held some shocking revelations. I found a room filled with the remains of caster soldiers as well as the symbol carved into the cavern's walls."
"Symbol?" Ashe asked.
"Yes, the symbol that is present within all the houses on the island."
"You thinking that things were happening right under our noses?" Florian asked.
Alaric nodded. "Not just thinking, I am pretty confident."
The group walked through the cave in silence for a few moments before Florian brought up a question.
"Do we follow along with this mission?"
Ashe gave him a look of uncertainty.
"Yes, we do. Regardless of Priest Able's other motives, he had been correct on one thing. We all had some sort of reason to travel to the homeland. And if you are uncertain about your goals, we can figure it out on the way." Alaric answered.
They walked for a long time until light broke into the cave in the distance. Ashe squeezed her way past Florian and Alaric, as she sprinted towards the light. Florian and Alaric smiled at each other as they took off behind her. The end of the cave had stone steps that led upward. Crashing waves could be heard in the distance. As they got closer to the exit, the coolness of the cave had been replaced with an extreme warmness. Ashe had reached the top first and stopped. Florian and Alaric tiredly caught up to her.
"It seems we are still no match for her," Florian said between breaths.
"I will never be a match for her." Alaric jokes. "Ain't this a nostalgic sight."
Before they stood vast amounts of sand, it formed large mounds and continued until past their eyes could see. Behind them, the ocean stretched for thousands of metres.
"Nostalgic? Does that mean you have been here?" Ashe asked.
Alaric nodded. "Once, when Priest Able took me to the island."
"You would never see this scenery anywhere on the island," Ashe said. Her sense of amazement had been palpable.
"Which direction do we head first?" Florian asked.
Alaric grabbed his map and unrolled it.
"The most efficient method is to head east and follow the coastline until we reach a river then follow the river until we arrive at Adhu Aqua."
Florian looked confused. "Which way is...east?"
Alaric pointed to the sky. "The direction that Ysgafyn's twin arrives every morning is east."
Florian watched the white ball of light in the sky. "It is a good thing you came along with us. We would've probably been lost without you."
Alaric shook his head. "This is common knowledge. If you listened to Priest Able's lessons you would have known this."
"This is not the time, Alaric. We have the world to ourselves. Let's go and explore." Ashe said as she walked along the coast to the right of them.
Alaric and Florian followed behind her as Alaric continued to berate his lack of knowledge.
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After walking for long hours, the evening had come and on Alaric's instructions, they had stopped to take a break for the day. They had all unfurled the bedrolls that they received from Able. The night had been quite chilly compared to the blistering heat they had experienced during the day. At Alaric's request, they have agreed for one person to keep watch at intervals. Ashe had volunteered to go first, then followed by Alaric and Florian would take the last watch.
During the night some mumblings woke Florian up. He glanced at where the other two bedrolls had been. He saw that Ashe had been fast asleep but Alaric had been missing from his bedroll. He looked around and noticed Alaric had been standing on the beach. Florian could hear talking but could not make anything out. He then decided to get out of his bedroll and make his way towards Alaric. As he got closer the mumbling got quieter. Alaric had been standing with his back towards Florian. "Alaric?" Florian called out. Alaric swiftly put his hand to Florian's throat and began choking him.
A flash of purple shone from Alaric's face. As quickly as it shone, it had dissipated.
Alaric released him from the chokehold.
"I am sorry..." Alaric said. His guilt showed on his face.
"Do not worry about it. I was the one who snuck up behind you." Florian explained trying to lift the mood.
Alaric returned to his bedroll.
Florian was left to ponder the event for the rest of the night.
Morning arrived and they took off again. They had brought along dried fruit and nuts from the island, each of them had a flask filled with water as well. Florian watched Alaric as they walked. Unusually quiet. Occasionally Florian would notice him take a few swigs from his flask.
"Be careful, you do not want to run out of water out here," Florian said.
Alaric looked towards him, gave him a half-smile and continued to walk onwards.
Florian patted him on the shoulder. "You don't have to be troubled by what happened last night. Let's just move on as nothing happened."
"I did not mean to hurt you, " Alaric whispered.
Florian smiled. "There is no way you ever would mean to hurt me. I startled you and you retaliated. Can we just go back to how things were?"
Alaric nodded.
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