Chapter 1: A Simple Mission...
~~Vitas' Tale~~
Mr Septonic
Being stuck in the crow's nest seemed to be turning into a regular thing for Lief. As he now watched over the city, he couldn't help but wonder when the people he was waiting for would arrive. He and his fellow crew-mates were part of a mission that involved getting three mercenaries to a specific island that was a ways off the coast. Even now, Lief was getting anxious to meet these men. One of them in particular was quite famous and was quite a surprise to see joining this mission. But in the meantime, Lief was stuck waiting for them high above deck. The ship he was on was named by the captain himself, but the crew decided to nickname her "Boring Lucy". As she was usually empty and there was never actually work to be done with her. Boring Lucy was a cargo ship, and a rather large one at that. Normally cargo ships didn't get involved with such things as quests and missions by the Lords, but this was an exception. Captain Fisk was promised a newer and more "work filled" trade route, hence giving him something to use his ship for.
Back up in the nest, Lief was getting edgy and was just about to yell something down at the crew when something caught his eye. There was sudden movement in the marketplace below, and not the regular bustling of people running around buying and selling. No, this was the three mercenaries that were supposed to arrive an hour or so earlier, but were now late.
"Hello Fisk, would have been here sooner but there was a mishap at the bar and one thing led to another..."
Fisk replied, "Not now Dalton, let's just get going before the crew starts complaining even more."
"Very well." Dalton walked up the plank with his two partners close behind. Lief climbed down from his spot as fast as possible, half to just get out of there, and half to see what their deal was. Dalton and the robed mercenary went below deck while the other one stayed up top, looking out at the sea. He was strange in the aspect that the sea seemed to please him in a joyous way. Lief decided not to talk to him first, so he headed after the other two for his answers.
As Lief entered the lower deck, the ship had started to set sail. Making his way across the multiple rooms, he soon found himself right in Daltons' face.
"Can I help you?" Dalton was in the middle of sharpening one of his many weapons and was not pleased at being disturbed in the middle of the process.
"Yes please, I just wanted to know your stake in this endeavor." Lief sat down across from him, signaling he wanted a long story, not the crappy short version.
"Well if you really must know, I won't tell you. It's a personal thing on my part. However, I'd be glad to tell you about the others." Dalton adjusted for a more comfortable position before he started to talk. "Now you see that fellow over there?" Sitting in the opposite corner was the robed mercenary, who was silently reading a book. "His name's Roland. And I'll say that it sure surprised me to see him join this voyage of ours."
"Really? Well, why's that."
"Well, for one, he's a wizard. And since our goal is to find and kill a wizard, I find it strange that he joined with such haste. Usually people with magic tend to stay friendly with each other since the chaos that seems to follow a magic duel is not the thing you want to see."
"A wizard...?" Leif stared at Roland, who waved in acknowledgement at the hearing of his name, in fascination. Lief's home town had not yet had the pleasure of having magic. So bringing a wizard to fight another wizard was quite the thrill for him. "What about the one above deck? He seems quite content being here."
Dalton stayed silent for a while, not sure how to answer. Then raising his head, "Well, that one's case is quite unique. You see, that is Vitas. The only knight left from the city of Loft."
"Vitas. You surely don't mean Vitas the Ghost?"
"The same. I was not surprised to see him join this mission, as he has a strong distaste for magic. I do find it odd that he hasn't gotten into a fight with Roland yet. Oh well, I just hope that he's as good as I heard him to be." With that, Dalton rose and went over to his room to catch some sleep. Lief went up above deck, while Roland stayed in his corner, reading his book.
Vitas stayed above deck, preferring to sleep up there than the cramped room with a cot below. As he lay there, Vitas stared at his sword in wonder. It was a custom long-sword, broad and acutely pointed. The hilt was simple; wrapped in black leather. The pommel was of copper. The guard was nothing too fancy, just a bar separating blade from grip. Also made of copper. The blade itself was of strengthened steel. Blade length was just under three feet, while the grip was around a half a foot. Vitas knew these facts by heart, as the sword was a parting gift from his good friend Josef. Three times a week, Vitas had practiced with this sword to simply get better. When he was partnered with Josef, his friend would always laugh at him saying that the sword was never his preference, and that he should stick with his bow. Now Vitas stared at his other weapon. Made from the wood of a willow tree, the bow could stand quite a bit of pressure, giving it its good lifespan. And it has served him well these long years. Looking up at the sky, he smiled at the challenge before him. The wizard they were hunting was rumored to be quite powerful, but completely unpredictable. Some say that he was working on some new project, so he moved to some secluded island to hide his work from the world. What could possibly be so important that he had to hide himself from the rest of the world like that? Going into the middle of a forest would have been just fine. Shaking the thoughts from his head Vitas settled down, hoping sleep to come with haste. He was not disappointed.
"Land ahead!"
The shouting made Lief fall out of his cot, letting his face say a "good morning" to the floorboards. After rubbing the pain away with his hands, Lief made his way up to the deck. Sure enough, you could see the island off in the distance. Roughly twenty to thirty minutes away. Glancing to his right, Lief saw Dalton, Roland, and Vitas packing their things. They were obviously anxious to get off the boat to finish their mission. Vitas and Roland occasionally looked at each other, but quickly looked away when the other noticed. Lief was sure the tension between them was rising. He just hoped that if they did start to argue, they did it on the island.
Vitas watched as the three sailors lowered the dingy into the water. The sea was calm today along with a high tide, but Fisk didn't want to risk running his ship up against something. Vitas knew the true reason behind his caution, but he chose to wave it off. After everything was loaded onto the small boat, the three of them boarded, and set off for the beach. Even on the ride there, the tension in the boat was high. When the three of them landed, they gathered their things and started their hike towards the large stone building in the distance. Dalton thought that was the best place to start the search, but Roland was skeptical.
"All I'm saying is why make it so obvious? We should not just run on in there expecting him to greet us with open arms. We need a plan first." Roland murmured. He and Dalton were discussing the matter the whole way up there, while Vitas was working out the situation on his own. Eventually, they were at the entrance leading into the building. Roland was still skeptical about the whole thing so he stayed in the rear, while Vitas and Dalton took up positions in the front. Dalton reached for the door handle, ready to tear it open. Right before he could do so Vitas stopped him, and opened the door himself; shield raised and arms rigid. The moment the door fully opened arrows came streaming at them, only to collide with Vitas' shield. Pulling the arrows out, Vitas started down the hallway. Roland looked at Dalton, who was examining the walls just past the door. Dalton shrugged and moved on, while Roland looked over to see what Dalton was so interested in. There were three holes lining the walls on each side, aimed right at the door. Seeing that it was just a trap, Roland continued after his two companions.
When the three of them reached the end of the hallway, Roland whistled in amusement at the sight before them. A large room was spread out before them. At first it appeared to be three separate rooms, but it was in fact one. The section farthest away seemed to be a library, while the one to their left was a bedroom fit for a duke. The last part was a kitchen mixed with a dining room. "Well do either of you two know what we are looking for?" Dalton said as he ventured towards the kitchen.
"Well" Vitas started, "I suppose we should look for another door. If he was in here we would know it."
"And if we find no such door?" Roland remarked.
"Then look for a passage. He is a wizard, you of all people should know how crafty he can be." Vitas glared at Roland before going over to the Kitchen to search. Roland merely shrugged and headed over to the library. Leaving Dalton to look around in the bedroom.
As they searched the massive room, Roland had a very persistent feeling in his gut telling him to be careful. Taking heed to it, Roland started to move slower and pay much more attention to his surroundings. This paid off, as just a few moments later a section of the wall dropped down into the floor revealing a passage. And from that passage came a man dressed in burgundy red; his head covered completely by a mask, save a section for his eyes. When this new arrival noticed Roland staring at him, the man stopped cold. Then ran towards the kitchen part, only to run into Vitas.
"Vitas that's him!" Roland yelled his way. Vitas heard, and responded with great speed. Turning to see the approaching stranger, he tackled him to the floor. Holding the mans' arms down, Vitas waited for Dalton and Roland to get over to him.
"Nice job man." Dalton nodded in Vitas' direction, "Now who are you?"
The hooded man looked at him with an angry stare. "I am fairly certain you know who I am. Why else would three come onto my island?"
"Well the beach looked nice..." Vitas cut in.
"Shut up!" The man stared at Vitas who was then thrown off of him. Getting up, he pushed Dalton away in a similar fashion with his magic. Throwing a fireball at Roland, he attempted to escape back through the passage he came from. But Roland, however, was a step ahead of him. Blocking the fireball, he threw a bolt of magic in the direction the man was running in. Ironically enough this hit the running man, sending him flying down the passage he was aiming for. Cursing to himself, Roland gave chase while Vitas and Dalton both recovered from the sudden attack.
After going down the passage, Roland followed it until he came upon a large chamber with a strange contraption in the center of the room. It was a clear cylinder large enough for a man to stand in without touching the sides or the top. Scanning the room, he noticed the man he was chasing was at the contraption fiddling with what seemed like a panel near its base. Preparing to take the man by surprise Roland stepped forward, taking care to be quiet. When he was no more than a couple more steps away from his target, things went horribly wrong. Dalton and Vitas had just come into the chamber, but since they heard no evidence of fighting of any sort they rushed in quite loudly. This caused the robed man to spin around and see how close Roland was to him. Faster than Roland could react, the wizard held up his hands at chest level, fire erupting from his palms. This fire grew into a mighty wall of flame that was thrust across the room. Roland knew the inevitable was going to happen. Turning towards his two comrades he willed his magic to throw them back into the passage, and then closed the door on them. There was not enough time for him to turn and face his doom.
~~~
Both Dalton and Vitas were surprised to find that Roland was alright when they burst into the room, but their hopes were soon crushed by the events that soon followed. After the door had closed on them Vitas rushed to it, but did not dare to open it out of fear to see the other side. Instead he started to count to sixty, quietly. Once he finished, he threw the door open to stare at the carnage beyond. The entire area from wall to wall in front of the door was scorched black. Along with a lump of black near the center of the room. Vitas silently thanked his comrade for saving their lives, then turned his attention to the wizard who had returned his attention to the machine. Dalton came up next to him, and after observing the results of the carnage himself, started to approach the robed man. Dalton brought out his sword and charged the man while Vitas drew his bow. The wizard turned around once more from his work and brought up his hands like before. Vitas, however, had foreseen this and loosed an arrow the moment he saw those hands raise. This forced the wizard to revert his magic to a shield rather than a wall of flame. The arrow was reflected from the magic surrounding the man, but the sword that was brought down upon it by Dalton made sure that the wizard could not cast anything without risk to his shield faltering. While Dalton made sure the man didn't try to go anywhere else Vitas made his way over to them, arrow notched.
"It seems you were able to take out a member of our group. Now I wasn't too fond of him myself, but that doesn't mean I'm not pissed off." said Vitas as he leaned in closer to the man. "Now to the point. Will you tell me what this contraption behind you is, or will I have to find to way to destroy it? You see, I have a natural fear of things I know nothing about."
"Now why in the world would I ever tell you what this is?!" The man stared directly at Vitas, eyes full of rage. "Besides, I truly doubt you can find a way to stop it now. The process has already started!" Releasing his shield, the man dodged the incoming blade from Dalton. Vitas loosed his arrow, only to have it caught mid-air by the man. The man moved impossibly fast, and managed to get some distance between them.
"Vitas, listen. I don't really care what this machine is going to do by this point, let's just kill this lunatic and get out of here." Dalton glanced over in Vitas's direction as he spoke. "The last thing we need is that thing to activate with us still in the room. Even if we don't know what the thing can do."
"Fine. You go in how you feel fit, I'll cover." Vitas notched two arrows at once, and strayed to his right. Dalton charged forward, shield up. The man in red laughed as he saw their maneuver, and started to hurl bolts of magic at Dalton. Vitas loosed his arrows, but not before the man deflected them with a flick of his wrist. Dalton was able to block three bolts with his shield, but the fourth blew his block away. Dalton collapsed on the floor, his arm broken from the pressure of the bolts hitting his shield repeatedly. Vitas shot twice more at the man, both failures. The man walked over to Dalton, laughing, and raised his hand. The look on Dalton's face was not one of fear or terror, but of confusion.
What did I do wrong this time... Dalton closed his eyes. And became engulfed in flames. He never flinched or screamed. He simply died, as Roland had. Accepting his fate.
Vitas stared at the now burning body, and lowered his bow. The man in red looked over at Vitas, saying, "What will you do now Ghost? Your two companions are now dead, and I know quite a bit about you. Enough so that I can say I have the upper hand in this predicament."
Vitas said nothing in reply. His gaze traveled over to the body of Roland, then back to Dalton. Then, sighing, he put his bow back across his back, and brought his hand to rest on his sword, still in its sheath. Then bringing his gaze up to the man he spoke. "I must say I'm impressed with your work. I expected these two to last a little longer, but it seems I've been mistaken." His statement caught the man off guard, and he continued. "Now that we're alone, let's get serious. You are going to tell me what this machine does. If it happens to be some stupid thing that I don't really care about, I'm gone." The man started to speak, but Vitas was not done yet. "However." Taking a step forward, "If it does something I do not agree with in any way, it's getting destroyed."
The man took his time to respond. He knew that if he lied to Vitas, he would destroy it regardless of what it did. But if he told him the truth, he had no idea what Vitas would do. The machine was a wonder of science and technology. He himself did not know its full potential, but he knew enough to guess at it. So, he decided to indeed to Vitas the truth. The full truth.
"You want to know what it does?!" Vitas' gaze was fixed to him, "I have no idea!" At that moment, the man's arm flew out from his side, aimed at the machine, and cast a bolt of magic in its direction. When the bolt made contact, the machine started to hum, then roar as it turned on.
"You know Ghost, I've been waiting for the day you would come to hunt me down. But I don't think you were fully prepared for this."
"If you think that, you would be wrong." Vitas yelled to him over the roar of the machine. "I know you like you know me. Vulcanus."
Vulcanus flinched at hearing his name said aloud, but paid it no heed. "It seems you have learned something since we last met. T'is a shame that I must kill someone as talented as you. And to think if you hadn't banned yourself from magic. The very thought makes me shake."
While the two men talked, the machine was making progress. It would soon finish, but that was only known to Vulcanus. However, Vitas was guessing at it. As the machine gave off a strong light from the power it was using, Vitas took off his bow, and notched his last arrow. This arrow was special, however. There were very, very, few cases that Vitas has ever used magic himself. But when he has, it is a spectacle to see. This last arrow he was about to use was imbued with his magic. Strengthening it, and making it pierce anything from steel, to another's magic.
"What are you trying to do now? You think you can stop me with one arrow?" Vulcanus sneered. Vitas said nothing in response. He simply took aim, and let his arrow fly......right at the machine itself. Vulcanus found out his plan too late, and could do nothing but watch the events that were about to take place, unfold.
When the arrow made contact with the machine, a line of pure light shot out of where it hit. The two types of magic were mixing with each other, making the machine work overtime with the new power. But as it was already almost done, the power came too much, and too quickly. It exploded into a ball of light that expanded to fill the whole room, and kept going to engulf the entire building. As Vitas and Vulcanus saw the wall of light coming towards them, Vulcanus turned, screaming at Vitas, who simply stared in wonder at the approaching wall.
Back on the ship, the crew stared at the gigantic ball of light in worry. What just happened? Did the mercenaries succeed? Did they fail? Lief especially was staring intently at the island. While the Captain was giving orders to prepare to take off.
Back inside the building, both of the two men were being de-materialized. Vitas watched himself disappear, while Vulcanus was still yelling at him, "I swear! One day we will meet again Ghost, and I will be looking down at your dead body!!"
Then everything was calm.
