Secret of the Mystic

“Now, my warrior of chaos, show us your storm!”

The sky was dark with the shadows of night, lit only by the pinpricks of stars in the sea of black. The charcoal wolf posed upon the edge of the cliff side, the Dark Master at his side upon a drovail, ready to make the second move of his war, to finish what he started.

Tai, now taken by the wild spirit of Avira, raised his black muzzle to the sky as sparks of lightning flew up into the atmosphere. The blazing surge of light could be seen miles across the land as the clouds began to pull towards the center, spinning together in a spiral of cloud and flashing light. As the storm began to build, stretching out across the hills and forests, the wind began to howl like an army of ravenous wolves, spinning in a vortex among the edges of the massive storm. The golden eyes of the black wolf glowed with the fierce wrath of Avira, ready at long last to tear across the land and destroy all in his path, for Sheraga was not here to stop him this time. He lifted his great head to the flashing sky, releasing a howl like the clashing of thunder, so loud and with such force that the mountains quaked and the sound vibrated through the earth all across the land. The storm had come, and all had better run while they could.

Aniki paced restlessly within the great room of Veinta’s home, his paws now so numb he hardly noticed the sting of pain. He could hardly stand to wait any longer, not knowing what could be happening to Tai. If the Dark Lord had taken him prisoner, who knows what unspeakable tortures he could be facing. The red wolf sighed and gazed out the tall window, watching as the shadows of the forest began to fade away as the sky slowly brightened with morning. Tai was so brave and strong, Aniki thought, and how he wished that he, too, could be so.

The room was quiet, only the soft whispers as Elwyn spoke with Veinta about the night’s events. Far off to the other side of the room, the apprentice stood in silence as he gazed out the other window, his form motionless. Aniki wondered if perhaps the Mystic was speaking to him, or if he was simply lost in thought. He wanted to go to him, to ask him about himself and about the Mystic, about what his plans were for him and Tai.

Before the young wolf could gather his courage, a loud crack of thunder shook the walls of the tree as lightning cut through the sky between the branches, lighting the windows in a brilliant flash. The startled wolf jumped to his feet with a soft cry of surprise, the others in the room turning their focus to the outside as well.

“That’s odd, it hasn’t felt as though a storm was coming…” Elwyn mused, for the elves are sensitive to the changes of the atmosphere, enabling them to sense an oncoming storm hours ahead of time.

To their surprise, the apprentice swiftly moved towards the doors, pulling them open and hurrying to the outside. Aniki followed, Veinta, Elwyn and Faron coming along behind as the wind began to pick up and howl through the thick branches of the forest. From far off in the distance the swirling clouds expanded over the land, blinding sparks of light surging through the sky in currents.

“What is this…?” Elwyn wondered aloud, hoping the apprentice would have the answer.

“This, is not a storm of nature. It is the storm of Avira, a force of chaos that none can withstand.” For once, the voice of the apprentice was grave.

“How do we stop it? There has to be a way.” It was Faron who spoke.

“I do not know. In the legends that were told, only Sheraga had the power to stop the storm of Avira.”

Only Sheraga. Aniki gazed in heart-pounding fear into the vortex, his breaths slow and forceful as the bright strobe of light filled his eyes. In the back of his mind he felt a powerful urgency, a blazing shock flowing through every cell within. A primal instinct shattered through his fear like stone breaking through glass, a force he could not overcome. He felt his muscles snap into action, and the red wolf took off through the village to the north, following the path of the ominous storm.

“Aniki, no!” Faron started after him, but the sound of the apprentice’s voice stopped him in his tracks.

“You cannot stop him. Sheraga knows what must be done, even if Aniki does not. The storm must be stopped, or all of Risola will fall.”

The storm was an awesome force, becoming more difficult to navigate through the closer Aniki came to it. The trees all around bent and cracked with the immense blasts of wind, so strong that many began to collapse all around him. He swiftly dodged falling branches and leapt over the massive trunks as they toppled beneath the sheer power of the whirlwinds, narrowly evading being crushed as he struggled against the storm himself.

All around the lightning sparked and crackled like fireworks, striking the land and trees with explosive bursts. The rain spun about and stung him like thousands of bees, but nothing could stop the inner force that drove the red wolf forward, as though something else was controlling his body besides his own mind. Fear gripped his throat as the forest began to flatten around him, the tough roots of the trees finally giving way as the wind came upon them like a tsunami, tearing them right out of the ground and nearly burying Aniki beneath them.

If it weren’t for the trees, however, he would have certainly been blown away himself, for the trees as they fell blocked the force of the winds from reaching him. With great determination the red wolf tore through the falling debris in a blur of blazing fur, rushing across the beaten landscape until he came upon the edge of a cliff.

His muscles stiffened as he came to an abrupt stop upon the cliff, trembling as though the intense energy from the heavily charged atmosphere was surging up through the ground, shocking his paws and coursing through his legs like electrical wires. Even so, the sting was nothing as he gazed in awed terror across the land towards the city of Risola.

The power of the storm was now concentrated around the city, all of the violent force of a hurricane brought down upon the helpless citizens. The knights and warriors stood fast in vain valiance before the castle, as the black wolf came to the center circle. His eyes flashed with rage in the reflections of the light flaring all about, and as he raised his muzzle to the sky he seemed to grin with all the malice of Nostereth, his fangs gleaming as the wind began to whirl with the force of a massive maelstrom.

The brave defenders, the citizens, even Aniki watched in helpless horror as the winds blew apart the city’s grand walls, reducing their glory to rubble and hurling them about with such speed and force that the stones crushed the city into bits. The lightning came from all directions within the cyclone, striking all about and shattering what little remained from the winds. Words could not describe the mass chaos and fear that filled the hearts of those present, for none had ever seen such a hellish force as this storm. The very ground trembled and shook with the force of each strike of lightning, from the sheer force of the deafening roar of the storm as it raged. Though the knights of Risola were the strongest and most noble in all of Talmactir, none could stand, not against this.

The black wolf followed the Dark Master up the marble steps to the Queen’s colossal castle of white. Once inside the great halls, towering so high one could nearly sprain their neck gazing up at them, they stepped through a door as tall and wide as a space shuttle, and into the throne room of the Queen.

While Tai had pictured a figure much like Queen Elizabeth of England, the Queen of Risola was more like the angelic queen of a fairytale, for she was an enormous white dragon. Her scales were so mesmerizingly white that they dulled the white marble of the walls surrounding her. Her horns, long and curved, were of shining gold, her eyes of glimmering silver. The dragon’s wings were curled at her sides as she laid upon the raised platform of the throne, a glittering crown of diamonds atop her lovely head.

At first her expression was concerned, but as her old eyes focused upon them, anger filtered in through the soft features of her face. She stood and unfurled her wings like great banners of ivory.

“You dare enter my kingdom, after what your demons have done! My mate is dead because of you!” The Queen’s voice was high in tone and loud as thunder, causing Tai to draw back in fear. The Dark Master paid no mind to her fury and drew a sword from his left side.

“I have no fear of you, Neriah. I have the chaos warrior… Avira is here to help me put an end to your rule! The city has already been laid to rest in rubble!”

Queen Neriah gazed at Avira in pure shock. “Avira…? How could you?”

“Go forth my warrior, bring her down! Free the lands from her oppression!”

The black wolf obeyed without question, the loyalty spell still in full force, and charged forward to attack the dragon queen. A deep and threatening rumble pulsed from her chest as she bared her great fangs. Tai leapt for her throat, her long tail struck him down, and with her paw she tossed him aside as though he were nothing but a small rat. One of the surviving knights came to protect his queen, he drew his sword and sliced Tai’s left shoulder. The wolf snarled and with a powerful snap of his jaws, the knight fell before the queen, no match for the wolf.

The dragon queen growled deeply. “Why are you doing this, Avira? The Mystic needs you, to help the people be freed from the Darkside! Lord Svaldio is evil!”

Tai only snarled in response, all of his thoughts blocked out by the dark magic of Lord Svaldio. With an awful grin the black wolf began to call upon the storm once again, the winds of Avira’s storm howling outside of the walls and rattling the windows. Lord Svaldio gave a dark chuckle, the sound filled with mad obsession. “Now, watch and shudder in fear as your glorious castle crumbles before you! The neighboring kingdoms will look on in dread, and the alliance will die with you. This world belongs to the Dark One!”

His wicked aspirations, however, were cut short as a burst of light blasted through the doors with a thunderous howl. All eyes were drawn to the light, brilliant and blazing like the fire of a star. Within, a figure could barely be made out beneath the brightness, like a fiery red wolf.

Aniki, who would have been much too afraid to face such a terrifying force as Avira, was now under the control of the flaming power of Sheraga, the fire of life. The will of Sheraga knew well how to control the wild chaos of Avira. He raised his head with another explosive howl as the wave of an inferno was thrust against Avira, the force so great it hurled him back as the blinding light filled the room…

Tai waited, nervous and ashamed in the dull cell he was placed within. He had shifted back into his elvish form after the blast of fire, which had forced the powerful will of Avira back into dormancy. The memories, though broken and disheveled, were flooding into his mind as his consciousness regained full control. The images of destruction and death made him sick.

And yet, though much of his mind seemed to have returned to his normal self, a part of him felt tainted, as though a dark shadow still hung over him. The people across the land were now terrified of the black wolf, and demanded he be destroyed immediately. They did not trust that he was being honest in that he was merely under a spell of Lord Svaldio.

Fortunately, Queen Neriah made a compromise that satisfied all involved. Tai was to be tried, not by the courts, but by the Mystic and his disciples. The people deeply trusted in the Mystic, and knew that if he concluded Tai’s innocence and honesty, it was truth.

He had only been in prison for a day, but the silence dragged on forever into the morning, until finally Veinta, Elwyn, and Aniki came to take him to the meeting. Tai was relieved to see them, and they him.

Little Aniki smiled up at him, which made Tai feel pleasantly surprised. He had been worried that after the feud between their host-powers that the child would be afraid or angry with him.

Veinta hugged him. “Tai, we have been so worried about you, after hearing of what happened to the Valr pack…”

Elwyn interrupted. “There’s no time, we have to get him to the meeting, it is a few hour’s walk from Risola so we should get going. I’m glad you’re safe Tai, and just hope you’re telling the truth.”

“Where is the meeting, anyway?” Tai questioned, wondering why it would take so long to get there.

“The Mystic decided for it to be far out from the city, along the smoky fault. He didn’t want anyone following and interrupting, I guess… That place is enough to make anyone uneasy.” Elwyn shuddered, but lead the way out of the city to meet the great Mystic.