Secret of the Mystic

The southwestern edge of Talmactir was a harsh and desolate land, the volcanic mountains of Tráthnóna covered the area in a constant blanket of ash and lava. The sky above was thickly layered with charcoal smoke and clouds lined with fiery crevices. The land, known as the Leaite Valley, was believed to be decreed by the Phoenix. Many legends tell of the central volcano, Ifreann Mountain, as being the burning lair of the terrible beast. Though none really know of the validity of such rumors, for the creatures never dare enter the valley, and any who do never return to tell of their adventure.

There, nestled beneath the foothills of a volcano, was the kingdom of Zorowan. Lava flowed in a constant stream through the streets of the dark kingdom, much like a hellish inversion of the city of Venice. The entrance gates were towering pillars of obsidian, and beyond them a bridge designed of packed ash and stone stretched across a molten river.

Tai gazed out across this desolate land as he walked along the edge of a low cliff, following close behind the mystics. He wondered how they would get passed the entrance gates, and how they would find Veinta and Elwyn in such a treacherous place. He suddenly found himself worrying for the safety of the mystics, these strange creatures that he barely knew, who had packed up everything and left the concealment of their castle behind to help him and his brother. Tai recalled the unsettling dream he had the night he stayed at the mystic castle, and a nervous tension came over him as he remembered the gentle Mystic’s sudden death.

Aniki whined nervously as Raz lead them down to the obsidian gates, his fur bristling in a ridge of needles down his spine. The Mystic paused before the towering pillars, clearly deep in thought. He tightly held the staff in his right hand, the beautiful orb glinting in the tarnished light of the lava.

“Per la potenza dell’angelo, esigo benedetto l’ingresso di questo demone terra.” The orb began to glow with the magic of his spoken words, and a sharp note pierced the atmosphere as the gates slowly opened. Without hesitation, Raz continued forward through the open gates and to the edge of the bridge. He glanced back at his companions and, noticing their tense and cautious advancement, smiled reassuringly. As the other mystics, Faron, and Aniki crossed the bridge, Raz stayed close beside Tai, who gazed down into the blazing river, the heat of which was so intense he felt the bridge might have burst into flames at any moment.

“Do not be afraid, Tai. There is nothing to fear.” The Mystic spoke softly as he walked beside Tai, gazing ahead of him.

“I’ll try not to be... I think that I’m more worried than afraid...”

“You are troubled again, I feel.”

“Raz, do you remember when I stayed at the castle and had a strange dream...?”

“Of course.”

Tai hesitated, staring down at the blackened bricks below him as he walked. “You were trying to tell me something, but I couldn’t understand what it was... at the end, you suddenly died, and even though I hardly know you, it still worries me...” He carefully gazed up at the Mystic, expecting him to have at least the tiniest bit of apprehension in his expression, but Raz did not seem to be disturbed or nervous in the slightest. Instead, he was absurdly calm and confident, as he always seemed to be, something Tai admired dearly about him. Finally, Raz met his gaze and smiled gently.

“Do not worry about me, young one. For now especially, focus upon the task at hand. You will need a clear mind to accomplish what you came for.”

As they reached the end of the bridge, Raz drew his sword with that same smile he always had in the face of danger, prepared to confront the opposing demons. With swift, precise movements the Mystic slayed the vicious cliste demons, the odd imp-like creatures with large ears and teeth like needles. As Raz fought off the demons with ease, he spoke to Tai. “Do you see that fortress there, across the next bridge, with the high staircase? That is where they are keeping Veinta and Elwyn, and many others as well. Shift your form and make for that fortress.”

“Raz, how do you know?” Tai gazed at him in curious confusion.

“The energy, young one.” Was all the Mystic said, with a mysterious smile. Tai smiled in return at his strange companion, then took off in a blur of morphing fur. Demons attempted in vicious failure to prevent the charcoal wolf from reaching the fortress, lunging at him and obscuring his path, but the wolf leapt around them in swift, blind determination. Tai raced across the bridge and paused upon the steps of the great fortress, gazing back behind him at the chaos that his friends were caught amongst. Soon enough, Raz and Faron, followed by Aniki and the other mystics, crossed the bridge and met him upon the steps. Together they entered the dark fortress, knowing not what dangers and trials await them.

The fortress was spacious and strangely empty, an instant warning to Raz, but a momentary relief for Tai, Aniki and the rest. As the red wolf glanced about the room, he cautiously advanced. Without thought he stepped upon a slightly raised brick, which glowed in the formation of a dark rune upon his touch. Aniki paused in slight shame and glanced back at Raz.

“Oh dear...”

“What is it?” The red wolf asked nervously.

“Tis a displacement rune. Eh, tis black magic, a sort of teleportation mechanism.” The obsidian bricks of the floor around them began to glow with the same runic formation. Then, as its name suggests, they were displaced into different rooms within the fortress.

Tai blinked in confusion at the small, dark room he was suddenly held within. He raised his muzzle to the air and glanced across the room at the large shadow of a demon that had been awaiting his arrival.

Aniki stood close beside Faron and the mystics, whimpering as he stared into the darkness across the room they were trapped within. Faron gently touched the red wolf’s head.

“Don’t worry Aniki, we’ll find a way out of this room. There has to be a way...” The young hwervag walked carefully along the side of the right wall, feeling the bricks for a loose stone or a possible doorway. The mystics stood in silence, watching the shadows before them with nervous tension. Remaliah glanced at his fellow mystics, then tilted his head. “Where is Raz?”

The Mystic stood motionless, his gaze fixated upon the growling forms across his stone prison. The malevolent drovail wolves watched him with a savage hunger in their burning eyes. Raz only smiled as he drew his sword, the glint of the silver metal reflecting against the eyes of the demon wolves, like hell-bound stars.

Within moments the vile demon revealed itself to Tai, it’s jaws parted as a deafening roar expanded through the insipid atmosphere. This demon was a massive beast of fire and billowing shadow. Smoke rose in great black clouds from its jaws and nostrils, which sparked with blazing embers as it roared in challenging anger. The demon had the face and forelegs of a lion, and the horns and body of a bull. It swung its horned head in forceful rage at Tai, and the wolf leapt to the side, avoiding the smooth points. With a snarl, Tai clamped his jaws onto the demon’s right shoulder, sinking his fangs deep into its thick, black hide.

Faron paused as he reached the far right corner of the chamber, and gazed suddenly to the left of him as the sound of a sharp hiss touched at his ears. He blinked as the shadows upon the walls began to move in a swarm amidst him and the other captives, like black fire spreading across the room. Faron loaded his bow and the mystics drew their swords to fight off the cliste demons. Aniki snarled as the demons closed around him, hoping to hold them at bay, but the vicious things only hissed in return and drew closer still. The young red wolf swallowed hard and pushed forth as much confidence as he could find. With a fierce howl he snapped at an imposing demon, his fangs cutting into its throat.

The demon wolf lunged at the Mystic with its salivating jaws parted wide, aching to sink its teeth into his throat. In a single swift and elegant movement, Raz evaded the demon’s splayed claws and fangs, slicing its jugular in the process. The remaining three growled with their malevolence, circling closer towards him as they waited for an opportunity to strike. Raz smiled in amusement at their wariness of him, then closed his eyes to allow their energies to envelope his own, feeling their every movement as though it were a part of him. One paused behind him, and with a fierce roar sprung to attack. Feeling the movement with every nerve of his still body, the Mystic spun and sliced open its throat, keeping his eyes tightly shut in focus. The drovail wolf plunged to the floor, it’s claws stretched out before its lifeless body, never having reached the Mystic.

A sharp howl of pain filled the chamber as the demon’s obsidian horn penetrated Tai’s left flank. He growled in frustration, growing tired of struggling with the repulsive beast. This demon was standing in the way of him finding and protecting his friends, and Tai had had enough setbacks. With a deep, savage howl, the black wolf took control of the wind and air around them, spinning it together into a sadistic vortex. The demon froze as biting sparks shuddered through its body, the vortex expanding with such force that it shattered through the chamber walls.

The remaining wolves struck at the Mystic with their claws, struggling together to avenge the lost members of their pack, but failing to leave a mark upon his silver fur. With quick and forceful strikes, he shattered the spine of one and pierced the heart of the other, ending his challenge without much difficulty. Raz smiled and sighed, then quickly glanced to the right of him as the stones within the wall were suddenly hurled against him. With no time to react, the Mystic was quickly buried beneath the shattered walls.

The mystics struggled to protect one another from the needle fangs and claws of the demons, frantically cutting into the black swarm of shadows. Remaliah, one not fond of fighting, squeezed his eyes shut in fear, clutching the handle of his sword so tightly his hand trembled as he sliced apart a demon.

“Where are all of these things coming from? Isn’t there any end to them?” He took a nervous glance at Pyrros.

“I don’t know Rem, I’ve never actually had to fight demons before. None of us have...” Pyrros gazed across the chamber into the endless sea of shadow. “...But that’s why we have to remember all the training we’ve had from Raz, he’s prepared us for this very moment, and... ” He suddenly had a thought, and with his fiery magic, shrouded the blade of his sword in flames. “It’s like the story Raz told us, Will defeated the manticore with a flaming sword, remember? Maybe the demons will be easier to kill with fire!”

Pyrros smiled and sliced apart the cliste demons in a brilliant show of cutting flames. The demons hissed and recoiled, slipping back into the darkness. They stared in fear at the blazing light, yet one took a brave leap at the bold mystic. Pyrros sliced apart the demon, but the blade shattered from the force after being burned for so long, and he stepped back beside Rem in slight shame. Rem shook his head and sighed.

“I wish Raz was here, he would know what to do, he destroys whole armies of these things!” The small mystic trembled beside his unarmed companion. The flurry of chaos froze as the right chamber wall collapsed into rubble, burying many of the demons. The mystics, Faron, and Aniki gazed across the shattered walls, exposing the three chambers that the group was dispersed into, along with a fourth beside Tai’s collapsed chamber. They watched as Tai fought with an enormous demon, momentarily distracted. In that short moment, a larger cliste demon took hold of Aniki by the throat, ready to slice him with its wicked claws. Quickly, Faron fired an arrow into the back of the demon’s neck. In death the demon released Aniki, and Faron reached for another arrow when a swift demon blurred passed him. Feeling a forceful sting in his chest, the young tribal wolf glanced down in pain, streams of scarlet gushing from a deep fissure across his chest. The venomous claws of the demon had caught him. As the mystics took notice of his wound, they quickly surrounded him to protect him from the demons. Vesper knelt beside him and tore some fabric from her dress, using it to try and stop the bleeding. As she struggled to help the dying hwervag, she gazed across the combined chambers at Tai, searching for any sign of her older brother, the wisest and strongest of the mystics.

Raz was only unconscious for what must have been a moment’s time, before he awakened and began to dig himself out from beneath the fragments of stone. Once free, he glanced beside him at the black wolf, who had moved over to the last chamber where the captives they had come all this way to find were being held. Not only Veinta and Elwyn, but to Tai’s disbelief, Brandr, Enya, Anima and Felkor, and even Lunette were here as well, all caged in the cells of this prison.

“Well done, young wolf. You made it all this way, and even brought along the Mystic and his disciples. They’ll make lovely additions to my collection of prisoners…”

Tai snarled in fierce hatred of the familiar voice as Lord Dreykin, followed by his dragon apprentice, entered through the grand double doors before him. “What do you want with them?”

“It is not what I want, but what the Dark Master wants. Their life-force.”

Tai shook his head. “Life-force? You mean their souls?”

“You know nothing. But it matters not, you fell into my trap and dragged the Mystic and your brother along with you. My plan panned out better than I expected.”

“Maybe so, but it’s not going to end how you expect either!” The black wolf snarled, baring his fangs to attack, but Lord Dreykin only smirked and gave a single snap of his fingers.

Tai’s ears perked at the thunderous sound of charging hooves. He glanced back as its horns nearly brushed at his fur, before the demon swung back its head in agony, the blade of a sword sunk deeply into its side.

“Raz?...” The wolf gazed at him.

The Mystic gave a reassuring nod. “I’ll take care of this one, you have a dragon to worry about.”

With a smile the wolf quickly followed Raz’s orders and sprung at his foe, missing only by an inch as the dragon leapt aside. The dragon gave a deafening roar, the stones of the walls and floor trembled with its force as a stream of fire exploded from its massive jaws. Tai narrowly evaded the blast, its flames singeing the fur of his right shoulder, and leapt for the dragon’s throat. With a powerful swing of its head, Tai’s chest and skull met the crushing force of its massive crown of horns.

The blow sent him tumbling through the air, his thoughts whirling as his body struggled to right itself, but he landed hard upon his back and flipped over and again until he came to a halt on his side. Tai felt paralyzed as his lungs gasped for air, and in that moment it felt as though all had slowed. From one side he heard the muffled voices of Elwyn and Brandr, from the other he could hear Raz, their tones of encouragement gave him confidence and the strength to stand again.

With a fierce growl, Tai called upon the wind and lightning, picking up the massive stones from the busted walls and hurling them against the dragon in a vicious whirlwind. Lightning surged along the currents of the vortex, striking the dragon with such speed and power that the great fortress shook with the force. All but Tai had to back away from the scene as the vortex expanded, even Raz had to brace himself against the stone wall. In a final surge of light, the deafening wind finally ceased and the debris fell upon the ground. Smoke rose from the center where the dragon’s body lay, charred into blackened ash and chaff.

Though Tai could hear the awe in the voices of his friends behind him, he knew well enough that victory was not yet achieved. The black wolf turned the sharp gaze of his golden eyes upon the dark lord. He couldn’t help but feel a tinge of victory as he noticed the dark elf’s uncertain stare, the smirk wiped clean from his face at last. Tai bared his fangs, the fur upon his back bristled with rage. With a snarl he sent forth numerous bolts of lightning, all focused to strike Lord Dreykin.

However, he was not made the lord of Zorowan for nothing. He swiftly raised his staff as though to block the attack, and as the lightning neared him they struck only a shield of translucent energy. As soon as the lightning had ceased, Lord Dreykin made a quick gesture with his free hand, and Tai felt his body freeze, stiff as stone, as a runic formation appeared beneath him. He growled in fear and frustration, but no matter how he focused, his muscles would not react.

The smirk returned as the dark lord drew an obsidian blade from his side and moved to slice the throat of the black wolf, but his amusement was short lived. In a blur of glinting silver and flowing shadow his attack was intercepted. His blade flew through the air, landing with a sharp clatter as he sunk to his knees, streams of scarlet flowing down from his throat and chest. Eyes blank, Lord Dreykin gazed in awe at Raz before he gave his last agonizing breath, ending his treacherous rein over Zorowan.

As death came upon the dark lord, the formation of dark runes released Tai, and the bars upon the prison cells shattered, for it was his power that held them. The black wolf sighed in relief, and hurried towards his companions, who he feared he would never again see alive. Brandr, who he now knew to be a hwervag, was the first to greet him, ruffling the shaggy fur around his neck. Lunette swiftly rushed up his leg and climbed up to his head, chattering with joy to be reunited with her master. Even Enya smiled and gave the wolf a quick kiss on the nose.

“Oh, Tai, you’re alright! How did you find us?” Veinta grinned with pride after having watched the warrior’s grand display of power.

“I didn’t really. It was Raz, and the mystics, I could never have made it all this way without them.”

Elwyn smiled, though his expression was one of mild jealousy. “You’re rather fortunate, having traveled with the Mystic. Most people go their entire lives without catching so much as a glimpse of the enigmatic creature, and here you’ve spent over a month traveling with him.”

Tai laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll have the whole journey back to talk with him all you like.”

Anima and Felkor watched in silent reverence. Though Anima said nothing, her gaze told Tai of the respect and gratitude she felt towards him and the others. For her, the most fascinating thing was, for the first time, seeing others of her own kind. She longed to speak with them, to learn about herself, but as the other veraski came, carrying the wounded hwervag, her curiosities were put on hold.

Tai followed her saddened gaze, and upon noticing Jurian carrying Faron, his white fur stained with blood, he quickly trotted over to where the others were gathering. Raz had knelt down beside the dying hwervag when Tai paused beside him, the Mystic’s expression was solemn as he assessed the gaping wound.

“Raz, what happened? Is he… going to be ok?” Tai glanced at Aniki, who was lying beside Faron, whimpering, his ears laid back in painful despair.

Raz sighed heavily. “The wound is very deep, and he has lost much blood…” He paused, the words he knew he had to say weighed heavily on his heart. “…His time is fading.”

“Oh, dear Faron…” Veinta fell to his knees beside his grandchild, his old staff gripped tightly in one hand, the other he tenderly placed upon the chest of Faron. The young hwervag forced open his eyes to look up at Veinta, his normally bright and alert expression now very tired. Still, he managed to smile and reached to touch his grandfather’s hand-paw with his own.

“It’s alright, Veinta. I protected Aniki, that’s what I was born to do. It was always my destiny and my pleasure to keep him safe.” Faron’s voice was soft and worn.

Aniki whined, he knew if he was in his elvish form he would most certainly be overrun with tears. “Please don’t die, Faron… Don’t leave me… This is all my fault, if I hadn’t come you wouldn’t have had to protect me…”

Faron quickly spoke, sudden force within his words. “Aniki, don’t you dare blame yourself. I’ve done what I was destined to do, I spent my life training to protect you because that is what I was chosen to do... It was the greatest purpose I could have ever had, I am so honored to have helped you and Tai and the Mystic, helped in the war against these horrid demons... I would not rather have spent my life any other way, I have no regrets, and I’m not afraid to die.”

Aniki gazed down at his paws, a deep and raw ache in his chest, as though his, too, had been sliced open by demon claws. Faron had been with him since the beginning, had rescued him after the death of his mother and brought him to the world of Origynn. The red wolf had thought that he and Faron would always be together, but it seemed that forever was never certain, that those he loved would always inevitably be taken from him.

His dreadful thoughts were broken as he felt Faron gently touch the fur of his cheek, his blood-stained hand trembling. “It’s alright Aniki, we had great times together. The most exciting times of my life. I’ll remember and cherish them always. Take care of yourself for me, alright?”

With a painful sigh, Aniki struggled to find the words, his voice hoarse from his cries. “I will, Faron. I’ll try. I promise…”

The Mystic gazed softly at the young creature he had chosen years ago, one of the many he hand chose to aid the legend in its fulfillment. He remembered the spirited pup, naive and adventure hungry, and how he knew the little hwervag would be the perfect guardian for one of his warriors.

The black wolf bowed his great head in sorrow as Faron sighed, his last breath freeing his soul from his broken body. The wolves raised their muzzles to the air, and a mournful song filled the chilled spring atmosphere.