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Feidri, Erik, Harven, Mirock, Vanessa, Tervin, Axel, Dorian, Bonto, Rolf

Harven, Vanessa, Tervin, Axel, Dorian, Bonto, Rolf, Norras


A scream escaped the lungs of a short old man living inside a small stone house, built into a large stone castle, standing on top of an enormous stone mountain.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SUPPOSED TO MEAN, MIROCK!?"
The Dwarf held the end of a letter in his shaking hands, head covered in a pool of sweat.
A tall man clad in robes, named Mirock, stood trembling next to the dwarf,
"I-I have no idea Professor,"
"Our schedule is completely butchered!" The Dwarf spat, slamming the letter down the table in front of him.
"Very unfortunate timing indeed," The tall man fumbled, his forehead resembling more of a sea than a pool.
"I need advice. Get the staff here early!" He shouted, beard wet by his own spit.
"Sure, definitely," Mirock dove into a batch of catalogues, flipping them through, "Dorian told us that he'd be late though, he was helping that boy here,"
The Professor swore under his breath, "Well send a raven, tell him to hurry up!"
"But the others?"
"I'll find the damn others, alright? Now go!"
Mirock gave a quick nod and scattered off, nearly tripping on the steps to the lower floor. He flew through a door and out of the small house, speeding away through the castle. It didn't take him long to navigate the stone halls and end up in front of a giant, gaping door. Mirock peaked out of the gap, feeling a freezing gust sting the tip of his nose.
"Should've grabbed a coat," He mumbled to himself, stepping out of the castle. His shoes crunched the snow beneath him, creeping up into his socks; "Corpus," He whispered.
A small, black mass appeared in his palm, merging into the shape of a raven. His other hand then searched his pockets, pulling up a small piece of blank parchment.
"Minor crisis, hurry up," Mirock leaned in, lips hoovering above the raven who registered each word and translated them into black letters on paper. He then rolled the parchment up and let the raven take it with it's claws. "To Dorian Sapphireshield, from Mirock," He finished, letting the raven take off. Mirock watched it fly towards the skies, only to spiral down in quick succession, stooping into the hands of a hooded figure,
"Mirock, what are you doing here?" The concealed one shouted, flipping back his hood to reveal a pale man with black hair and a stubble.
"D-Dorian, you're early!" Mirock shouted back in surprise,
"Went faster than expected, even got a ride from the caravans," Dorian smiled, unwrapping the raven's parchment to scan its contents, ". . . Minor crisis you say?".
"Oh, yes. The Professor will explain in detail, I need to dart,"
"Alright, is it fine if Norras comes with me?" Dorian asked, looking back at a struggling young man, breathing heavily in his attempt to ascend the mountain.
"Oh, that's the boy?"
"Yeah, yeah that's him,"
"Yes, it should be fine," Mirock turned around, speeding off, "See you!"
"B-..bye!" Dorian gave a weak wave.





C A S T L E B O Y S


Norras glanced up at the giant castle, catching his breath. Dorian wasn't exaggerating when he mentioned an enormous mountain.
Lumbering over to what had essentially been his guide for the last week, Norras belched out all the words he could muster,
"Who was that guy?" He managed, looking up at Dorian.
"Mirock, an old friend, Loreseeker, - ... you doing alright there?" Dorian looked back at Norras, who was on the verge of falling down.
"Yeah.., yeah, just fine," Norras drew another breath, "So what did he say?"
"Gotta show up early. We'll have to swing by my house later, the Loreseeker's inn can hold our package for now,"
"Oh, something bad happened?" Norras followed Dorian inside the castle, feeling a rush of warmth.
"He said it was minor, so hopefully not,"
Norras nodded, continuing into the castle halls. Several windows stuck out of the walls, stone protruding to shape peculiar structures. He could only guess that they were houses, built into the castle itself.
"So people really live like this... how do they eat?" Norras asked, straightening his backpack.
"Eh, Trading. It's carried up the mountain and distributed at the markets. Living at a farm isn't the only way to get food you know,"
"Yeah, I guess," Norras shrugged. The pair kept stride, walking into a lit tunnel. Distant mumble echoed through the passage. Norras peered forward, trying to make out whatever was said.
"It's just around the corner here," Dorian said.
"Already?"
"Mhm," Dorian nodded, continuing through the tunnel. A dwarf clad in plated armour walked up, smiling,
"Evenin' Dorian!" he exclaimed.
"Good evening," Dorian waved back.
"Lots o' Loreseekers gathering," The dwarf poked his spear back towards the end of the tunnel, "I take it you're starting early?"
"Apparently," Dorian shrugged.
"Well good luck then," The dwarf finished, continuing on.
-
Norras looked back at the dwarf, waiting until he had gone far enough before opening his mouth, "Who was that?"
"Oh, Biffur, an old patrol guard. He's always on this route," Dorian said.
Norras' eyes widened, his feet stumbling over eachother, "Guards?"
"Yeah?" Dorian raised an eyebrow, stopping for a second, "Oh, they're not Watchers, just employed by the castle owner,"
"Ah, yeah, of course," Norras straigthened up and kept walking. The tunnel continued to open up into a small, cave-like district. Each torch spread across the sides of the ceiling, it's lights flickering onto the stone bricks. Norras could smell the distinct scent of roasted meat in the distance, his stomache growling.
"Here we are," Dorian exclaimed, stepping into the torch-lit district. An absurdly short man, face obscured by a white cowl, met them as they entered. His tiny hands kept grip of a wooden cane, which helped to carry him towards the pair. Norras looked down, his mouth merging into a grin. The tiny one chuckled, flipping back his cowl. A wrinkled old face stared up at him.
"How you've grown," The tiny one smiled,
Norras kept completely silent, his mouth agape,
"Feidri, you're early," Dorian mumbled,
"I totally forgot about..," Norras searched for words, "... after all those days of walking, I mean, you're actually here,"
Feidri's smile grew, "Like father, like son; is that the saying?" He chuckled, before stopping for a second, "I'm sorry, of course. It was very unexpected,"
Norras glee dropped, "Yeah..., he always wanted me to come though. It just happened a year earlier," He smiled awkwardly.
Feidri nodded, "We'll see to it that your father was right to wish you here,"
Dorian looked down at Feidri, frowning, "If you don't mind that I interrupt, how many people did he call in early, exactly?"
"Everyone, it seems," Feidri looked up at Dorian, his smile wavering for a second.
"But Mirock said it was minor.., do you know -," Dorian started
"No, unfortunately" Feidri interrupted, shaking his head, "His raven told to come quickly, that was it,"
A dampened scream blew out from the open door of the small stone house, "We're missing people Mirock!"
Dorian smirked, "Perhaps we should find out then,"

Norras took his first steps into the small stone house. Each wall served as rest for several wooden bookshelves.
"Is this, like, the base?"
"The base?" Dorian chuckled, "I guess you could call it that,"
Feidri hurried inside, "I'll scatter ahead!"
"Very well,"

Dorian sighed, looking up at a pair of stairs,
"Seems we're late," he mumbled to Norras, starting to ascend the crude stone steps.
"We expect no less, after all," a tall, fit man standing at the top of the stairs smirked.
"Hello, Harven..," Dorian answered, brows furrowing,
Norras looked up at "Harven", his most distinguishable trait being a brown, ruffled horseshoe mustache. His hair hung unkept over a pale face covered in scars.
Just next to him however, stood a younger man looking quite the opposite. Still arrogant, but handsome, if not a bit childish. His sombre hair was clearly combed to the side.
"You're Norras or what?" The younger man asked, staring him down.
"Yeah, why?"
"Norras. Of course," Harven budged in, his smirk growing, "I'll have to wish you good luck with this one,"
"Okay, we're already late, let's go Norras," Dorian gripped Norras around the wrist, sternly walking past Harven.
The upper floor, unlike the room below, was filled with several people of different heights. The Professor sat furthest back, right behind a wooden table.
"Dorian, is that you!?" He shouted, raising up from his chair.
"Yeah," Dorian nodded.
"Great, finally. Take a stand wherever you'd like,"
"... Alright, any chance to know why we're here early?"
"Patience, we're only waiting for Axel now,"
Norras looked back at the stairs while following Dorian, who shrugged as he walked to the back of the room. Both Harven and the younger guy were leaning against the wall.
"So who were those two?" he whispered, looking up at Dorian.
"Eh, Harven and Tervin. Don't think about them," Dorian raised the corner of his lip.
A young, brown skinned woman chuckled into her palm.
"Oh, Vanessa," Dorian glanced over, "Ehm, this is Norras," He pushed Norras forward, and continued, "Vanessa came in when she was fourteen, been here for five years, is that right?"
Vanessa crouched down to face Norras
"-You're- Norras? she asked, pinching his cheek.
"Ye-yeah?" he mumbled,
She looked up at Dorian, smiling, "I thought he'd be taller, a little more menacing you know?"
"Why would I-" Norras started
"Vanessa - don't," Dorian interrupted.
"Oh, yeah - right. Sorry," Vanessa straightened up again, "By the way, don't take Dorian too seriously. Harven's not as bad as he seems," Her smile reignited.
"Yeah, yeah," Dorian rolled his eyes.


"Ah, Axel...!" The Professor gathered his breath, "We were waiting for you,".
"Ah yes, sorry, I was.., watching the plants grow,"
"It's winter Axel," The Professor narrowed his eyes.
Axel's smile changed from giant to awkward, "It wasn't plants exactly,"
Norras raised his eyebrows
"Oh dear," Mirock breathed in.
"If I keep cutting-,"
"Oh, we don't have to take that here Axel!" Mirock spurted out,
"Indeed, go stand next to Harven, there's a reason I summoned you all," The Professor nodded,
Axel adjusted his glasses and took a stand next to the wall.

The Coldstone Letter

The Professor coughed, patting his beard before starting,
"Now that everyone has gathered, let me update you. I presume that most of you know who Erik Coldstone is, and for those who don't know, he was, to keep it simple, a very valued member of our community. Recently, Erik left a letter on this table in front of me,"


The Professor reached into his backpocket and pulled out a piece of parched paper, starting to read, "I joined your organization just about one year ago.



The Professor was shaking near the end of the letter. Everyone had gone completely silent, no one was concerned about the occasional pushing anymore. Norras looked towards the Professor, noticing a peculiar looking dwarf standing behind him, seemingly shocked. His eyes were completely gray and missed their irises. The dwarf looked straight towards the opposite wall, opening his mouth,
"How do we know that this is -actually- Erik?" He asked, concerned.
"It's definitely his hand-writing, he hasn't been here for two days," The Professor looked back at the other dwarf.
"And if someone kidnapped him and forced him to write it?"
"Well we can't work with that, can we?" The Professor bursted out, "We must assume that he's an enemy from now on!"
Axel raised a hand, his smile washed off.
"Axel?" The Professor asked.
"What if it's a trap?"
"Of course it's a trap!" The Professor spat, "But what choice do we have? We will walk into the trap, disarm it and throw it in his face if we have to!"
"So what do we do now, wait until he leaves 'traces' while we sit chatting?" The man with a monocle muttered.
"No, no no, Roderick. I classify this as a first case threat. We need to prepare for anything comming. We do not know who Erik is allied to, nor why his confidence is so high. I can only assume that there's more to this than meets the eye."
"So, eh, what now?" Mirock asked, correcting his monocle.s
"We need to prepare. Last time this kind of thing happened people rushed. Dire consequences followed. If we are to start war with an unknown enemy I'd like that to change,"
Feidri waddled forward, scratching his chin,
"When we're all finally gathered, I'd like to arrange ,"
"Good call, Feidri," The Professor gave a nod and rose from his chair, putting the letter back in his pocket, "Students, we'll go through this once and for all, come with me!".

Norras looked up at Dorian who was now completely bleak,
"So, eh," he started.
Dorian kept quiet, scratching his neck. They stepped forward to let the other Loreseekers scatter, "Should I go with him-..?" Norras continued.
Dorian stared at the moving mass of people, seemingly breaking out of his thoughts,
"Oh, oh right. Yes, we'll both go, I'll need to be there,"
The Professor opened up a wooden door, leading into a large, polished room with podiums along the walls, each topped by a peculiar object.
"For those who haven't been here before, this is our private collection of artifacts. Look but dont touch." The Professor said, walking in. Feidri, Mirock and the peculiar dwarf was close behind, chatting.
Norras followed, peering at the artifacts, each podium carrying an unique object. The thing that stood out most, however, was a large, eerily-alive stone statue depicting a screaming woman.
"To the left here," The Professor said, guiding the group into another, less polished room, "This is the only empty room we've got for now, but it should make do,"

Fire, Nature and Shadow

Mirock lead the peculiar-looking dwarf through the group, holding his hand. Feidri came after, waving the others in.
"We'll go through the basics of shadow, nature and fire," Feidri said loudly, "Roderick, Dorian and Axel, you know what to do,"
The man with a monocle, Dorian and the tall one with glasses walked ahead to the back of the room, which rose higher as to give them an overview. Norras took a stand in the center, giving a clear view of the three.
"So, now that we're all set, why don't you three introduce yourselves?" Feidri clapped once, taking a stand just next to the three.
The three glanced at eachother awkwardly, staying completely quiet.
"Oh, alright. Why don't you start Roderick?"
"Sure, of course," Roderick cleared his throat, "My name is Sir Roderick Kasperlund and I'll go over the school of fire with you today," He said, correcting his monocle.
Dorian glanced over at Roderick before continuing himself,
"And I'm Dorian Sapphireshield, I'll go over darkness,"
Axel flashed a smile, stretching confidently, "I'm Axel Garr, and I'll show you all the complexities of nature,"
Feidri nodded, "Great, so we'll start with Roderick, what differs fire from the other schools of magic?"
Roderick straightened up, clearing his throat once more,
"Some would say that Fire is the most simple of schools, but that does not mean it's any less robust. Fire is reliable, powerful, direct. It gets the job done," he grinned, picking up a coin from his pocket and throwing it up in the air, "And who does not like explosions?" Roderick raised his index finger towards the coin, shouting "Incendio!".
A flash blinded the room as a bolt of fire flew straight past the coin, blasting into a wall nearby, engulfing it in flames. Feidri jumped up in surprise, waving his hands towards the fire in an attempt to make them disappear, "Dear Giants - Roderick, it's not a popularity contest, we don't need to impress them with explosions!"
"I just thought it'd do them good to know how it looks,"
"Yes sure, but you don't have to destroy the wall,"
"The coin just barely wiggled away," Roderick chuckled, peering down at the unharmed coin on the floor.
Feidri sighed, clearing out the rest of the flames, "Dorian, continue on,"
"Yeah, sure," Dorian mumbled, "So, eh, darkness, shadow..."
"What's the difference between darkness and fire?" Feidri inquired,
"Well, darkness sprouts shadow, not fire"
Feidri stared at Dorian for a second, "Yes... but how do you 'sprout' shadow, as opposed to fire?"
"Oh, well, can I show them?" Dorian lowered his voice.
"Go ahead, just don't break the wall,"
Dorian nodded, raising his hand up in the air. Small, dark particles started to form around his arm, swirling around.
"So, the way to darkness is releasing your deepest emotions and properly controlling them,"
The coin on the ground flew up and started to whirl with the particles around Dorian's arm,
"Oh, and also, gravity responds to darkness, which can make it a very useful tool,"
Dorian looked down at Feidri, continuing, "So technically, if you say something to upset me, these seeds will grow into flames,"
Feidri scratched his chin, "Should I say something mean?"
"Yeah, quickly though, I can't keep this going forever,"
Feidri gripped his cane, closing his eyes for a few seconds before carefully muttering "You're a real tosser,"
The dark seeds didn't react, Dorian kept his glare at Feidri, "Eh, something a bit more vulgar perhaps,"
"Oh, oh sure..," Feidri went deep in thought again, bursting out after six seconds, "You're a worthless piece of bollocks!"
The seeds caught on fire, a tornado of tiny, dark flames now rotated Dorian's arm, "Not quite it, but you can see how -"
"YOUR FATHER IS A SWINE!" Harven shouted from across the room.
The dark flames erupted in a great explosion, catapulting Dorian back into a wall behind him. The floor catched on fire and Feidri fell over on his back. Mirock ran over to pat the dark flames out as Feidri crawled back up,
"Dorian, are you alright?"
Dorian pulled himself up, "Yeah - I'm fine..,"
Feidri looked over at Harven, face red, "Was that really necessary?"
Tervin snickered in the background as Harven grinned, answering "He said to say something upsetting, obviously it worked,"
Dorian frowned, "You know what, sure, it's fine. Now they know what happens if something goes wrong,"
"... Okay then. Axel, your turn I guess," Feidri sighed,
"Sure," Axel said with an unsure smile, "So, nature. Nature has the broadest range, it's fairly hard to explain in such a short notice but I'll try. As opposed to darkness and fire, which becomes out of thin air, nature focuses on growth, shape and decay. For example -" he raised his index finger towards the wall, just as Roderick did before, but this time he didn't cause an explosion. Instead, a small part of the wall grew out into a wooden flower.
"Now, that's just a simple example, let's try something more interesting," Axel said, pulling up a small knife from his pocket and swinging it towards one of his fingers.
Mirock looked distressed, bursting out, "You don't need to-,"
The knife cut straight through his bones, snapping the finger in half. Axel bit his teeth together, holding up a bleeding stump in the air,
"I'm okay, dont worry. Let's try this," he said as the stump started to sprout back bone and tissue. Norras stared in awe as the finger grew back to it's original shape.
"Perfect, there you go," Axel said, breathing out, "Now that's what you can achieve after years of training, impressive, isn't it?"
Feidri budged in, "Of course this is very complex, I'd advise against trying it yourself," he nodded.
"Also," Axel continued, "As opposed to Shadow, which responds to emotion, Nature is bound to instinct. If someone decides to play any pranks, my inevitable reflex will be to punch you back," he smiled, "And that's not a threat, just a warning,"
"So, are you all done?" Feidri asked, looking up at Axel.
"Yes, yes I guess," Axel answered.
"Great, so anyone questions on that?" Feidri asked, looking out at the group of people.
A particularly young boy waved his hand up in the air. If Norras had to guess, he didn't look to be older than fourteen. Axel looked towards him,
"You there, what's your name?"
"Bobby," The young boy answered,
"Alright Bobby, what did you want to ask?" Axel grinned.
"Well, fire is a part of nature, isn't it? Why are they parted?"
Axel's grin widened, "Now that's a great question, Bobby. Fire however, even though being part of nature, evolved into a whole new branch of magic as people noticed how different it behaved to other elements. The potential of wizards only working with fire grew extremely popular compared to for example, water. And while Roderick's explosive capabilties are great, he doesn't have the instincts of a nature worn sorcerer like myself."
Bobby's chubby head bobbled up and down in a satisfied, albeit confused nod. Another boy, quite similiar to the first one, shoved Bobby and whispered something. Bobby looked up at the other boy and mouthed "It's your turn,". The other boy agreed reluctantly, raising his arm up in the air.
"You, next to the other boy, what's your name?" Axel asked.
"Terry," The boy answered,
"Terry, what did you have in mind?"
"Is it true that you can tell when people are lying?" Terry asked, excited.
"Oh, you've heard? As I said, that's nature's gift. As long as the lier doesn't have sharper instincts than me, it's fool proof,"
"I can vouch for that, the man's amazing," The tall man with his eyes covered in brown bangs shouted out.



!!!




Tervin

The Professor walked over to Feidri, raising his arms, "Great, now that's done," he looked at the crowd, scratching his beard.
Harven put his hand up in the air, staring at the Professor.
"Yes, Harven?" The Professor looked back,
Harven laid his hands on Tervin's shoulders, "Tervin never had a chance to introduce himself," He said, shoving his student forward. Tervin stumbled up, trying to take on a most confident pose.
The Professor looked up at the young man, clapping his hands together, "Of course, Tervin Rubyshield, right? We are very honored to take on another of the shields ... so, what made you decide to join us?" The Professor asked, looking back at Tervin.
Tervin's grin became stale, "Well.., my mother is quite tired of the World Watchers. Honestly, all Rubyshields are. Since she already knew that Harven was a member of yours, she sent me here to improve," he said, his grin returning.
The Professor nodded, "I see. Improve you say. What are you gonna improve at if I may ask?"
"Swordplay," Tervin answered, gripping the handle of his hip holstered sword and pulling it out slightly to show a glimpse of white metal, "The north-west is quite unstable after the whole Emerald spectacle, and as I've understood, this place isn't dry of action either,"
"Oh, intriguing. Show us what you can do, try to hit me!" The Professor said, backing up.
"No, no, no!" Feidri bursted out, "No more carved floors and holes in the wall. If you want to swing swords around, do it upstairs,"
The Professor sighed, "Alright then, let's go upstairs for just one second,"
"What? It's stone cold winter!" Roderick protested.
"For the giants' sake Kasperlund you're a professor of fire, come up with something ," The Professor frowned, walking out of the classroom.
Dorian glanced towards Norras for a second before sprinting ahead. Norras followed with the flow of the group as The Professor led them back through the museum and straight into yet another, tiny room. A ladder stood at it's back, leading up to a trapdoor that the Professor budged open, releasing a scoop of snow ontop of his head,
"Damn it!" The Professor scofffed, waving away the white dunes before crawling up,
Norras followed through, stepping up at the top of the snowy castle. The Professor took a stand on top of a tiny bump in the snow, looking over at the gathering of twenty people. Dorian left the Professor's side and ran over back to Norras.
"I was just informed that we have yet another new member," The Professor said, looking straight towards Norras, "Why don't you come forward,"
Norras switched gaze between Dorian and the Professor for a second before stepping forward, Dorian smiling.
"So who are you?" The Professor asked, grooming his beard.
"Ehm, Norras. Norras Garnfield,"
The Professor stared at him for a few seconds before exclaiming, "Of course, you're the boy with the instability!"
Several people gasped. Norras looked confused, peeking behind his shoulder to see Dorian in shock.
"W-what?" Norras asked.
"You're not?" The Professor questioned.
Feidri flew forward, waving his hands around, "No, no, there's no instability!"
"Oh, I was sure that Mirock mentioned it. I guess I heard wrong?" The Professor looked over at Mirock who had begun to sweat again,
"I-I might've been mistaken,"
"... Very well then," The Professor continued, "So why'd you come here?"
Norras was still confused, he was quite sure that there was nothing unstable about him.
"Ehm, eh," he muttered, regaining his thoughts, "I met Dorian about a month ago. I was homeless, on the look for somewhere to live. He offered bed and food, told me about you people. I've always been interested in more than survival. My father was a poor farmer, didn't really like the World Watchers. If there's anything that stuck with me, it's that they don't seem to be the healthiest type of rulers,"
"Interesting, interesting," The Professor said, "And you're just a normal boy?"
"I-I'd hope so. Or what do you mean?"
"Are you good with swords like Tervin or something in that spirit?"
"Oh, no. Or well, Dorian has taught me some things about darkness, he said I had a special knack for it,"
The Professor narrowed his eyes, muttering a fairly audible, "Are you sure he doesn't have any instabilities?" to Feidri.
Norras wasn't sure whether to ask what an instability was or just be quiet.
"So, perhaps you could show us some of what you know?" The Professor continued.
"Sure... I can try," Norras nodded, raising his arm just as Dorian had done before. He tried to focus on the things that upset him. His father's death had often come up in his and Dorian's training. It hadn't been very dramatic though, one day he had just died. Disease, heart attack, Norras wasn't entirely sure, he just knew that he was left with a small farm he had no interest in. Homelessness wasn't a very comforting thought either. Trying to find the closest shelter after deciding to move with nothing but a few loaves of bread and some water wasn't the easiest task. But these things weren't upsetting, it had just happened. It was saddening sure, but it did not make him mad. What was truly infuriating was when the Watchers found excuses to steal from his father's farm as a part of the law. Was robbing from an old man what the World Leaders called order? Norras breathed in, focusing intently. Small, dark particles were now rotating around his arm. The snow that had once laid peacefully on it's white bed was now hoovering with the building tornado around his wrist. He closed his eyes. "Confiscating suspicious corn", they used to say. The most ridiculous reasons. He understood that they had families to feed themselves, but surely they could've just started their own farms? And the.., the.., the..
His vision started fading, his body stooping into the snow. Dorian ran to catch him, putting a handful of snow into his fist.
"It seems like he forgot to breath. Common mistake," he said, splashing the now melted snow in Norras' face. Norras bursted up, breathing in, "Wah, water, what?"
"You fainted," Dorian said. Harven and Tervin were clearly snickering in the background.
The Professor looked around, opening his mouth,
"Well, well. I guess it's time for young Tervin to show what he's worth then,"
"Sure thing," Tervin said, still smiling as he stepped forward. Norras rubbed his head, limping away to the side.
"Let's show what you're worth then. All you need to do is hit me, an old dwarf, once," The Professor said, "And don't worry about wounding me,"
"Heh, better not blame me if something goes wrong then," Tervin grinned, lunging himself at the Professor while unholstering his white sword.
"Oh, we're going already?" The Professor smiled, jumping backwards. Tervin kept swinging, each hit just a sliver away. His finess gradually changed into frustration, each blow becomming irrational. The Professor started to sweat, still dodging each attack. Finally, Tervin tripped on his own feet, faceplanting into the snow.
"Disappointing..," The Professor breathed out.
As Tervin pulled his face out of the dunes, Norras couldn't help but snicker.
"This is.., I mean, come on," Tervin looked back at Harven who's grin had disappeared.
"And you who were so confident, I truly hoped that you'd live up to it," The Professor frowned.
"Are you kidding, you're in way better shape than it looks," Tervin sneered.
"The last time I fought someone was eighteen years ago. What's your excuse Harven?" The Professor asked, looking over at Tervin's mentor.
"We-.. we have mostly been focusing on defense. I don't train him to chase,"
"You don't train him to hit a moving target?"
Dorian had started blowing through his nose trying not to laugh. Tervin glared back at them and snarled,
"At least I didn't fail against air like the sapphire-shit,"
Norras' subtle smile instantly washed off,
"Alright, alright, let's stop this now," Feidri said, waddling up to the Professor.
"I need to talk to Dorian and Harven," The Professor groomed his beard, "Everyone else - go inside, I'll give news in about half an hour,"

"So Berl is close and most likely draining our power,"

"How would could he possibly drain our power to this extent?"

Axel thought

"Wait... everyone, scan your bodies. From top to toe."

"What?"

"Now!" Axel shouted, starting to tear at his clothing.

"What are we looking for?"

"These" Axel said, sticking out his sockless foot, clearly marked with a purple dot.

"... Shit, I got one as well," Rolf mumbled, shoving forward his wrist.

"Same," Was heard as a choir through the group.

"So everyone got them?" Roderick asked.

"No," Tervin, Norras and Poggle said.

"... Of course," Axel mumbled, "Of course, at night in the cave. Two were to guard the others while they slept, in cycles..." He held his hand over his forehead, "We were too focused watching our exterior that we didn't notice our partners. One mark on each person and he could start the process. But it's not easy, in fact it's draining in itself. He couldn't drain everyone, not the ones who weren't strong enough anyways. So he left out you three."

Tervin looked offended.

"Wait, doesn't this mean that one of the unmarked is Berl?"

"No, not necessarily. One could easily plant a mark on himself and just not drain it, as an act."

"Shit, so one of us is Berl, and we have no clue who?"

Axel thought for another second.

"Poggle, did you talk to any particular source to gather information about The Crystal Council?"

"Eh, well... there was this man. I was gathering information and, well, we met."

"What did he look like, what did he say?"

"Well, he was shrouded, I couldn't see him in detail. You might think that he didn't want to get in trouble for saying something, I'm not sure. He... knew things, he seemed to be some sort of inside sources. He told me details about their usual attack plans... I promise someone else might've thought that he was just out for money or revenge!

Bonto sneered.

Alright, he might've been shady, but I mean who knows? I had to take the chance. The pageflip brand is known to never be wrong, we don't dissapoint! It is Pageflips duty to follow that up, whatever it takes.

"I usually keep my sources private alright! That's part of my agreements!"

"Alright, alright - that should definitely have been communicated. Now we know that he's a fairly tall man. Unfortunately that doesn't exclude anyone but XXX. He could have planned for a long time, or just simply transfigured his face and started acting perfectly.

use your lie detector m8

no i cant its risky it'll turn us against eachother

well wat to do

if we can get back to the castle we can figure out who berl is with the help of feidri. it would be unwise of him to attack us all even if we're weakened

be on your guard, don't let anyone get out of sight. berl should be weakened as well considering how much he has used his drained ability.

the ship they're gonna burn it m8s

omg

"He's jealous," The pale woman to their left snorted, budging out to her sides.
The man next to her shot a cold stare beneath his monocle, barking out, "Shup up and blast off," before shoving her back.
"How dare you push -"
"- I'll push whoever I want,"
"Hey, who's pushing!?" Someone yelled from further down the line.
"Oh for a prick's sake, stop shoving eachother," A tall man, eyes covered in long brown bangs shouted from the opposite line, "Elizabeth, you walk forward a bit, Roderick, you go backwards,"
"Excuse me?" The man with a monocle spat.
"Did you just try to give me an order!?" The pale woman screamed, walking out of line.
"SHUT UP!" The Professor roared, smashing his fists onto the wooden table, "WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR YOUR PETTY ARGUMENTS, NOW GO BACK AND PUSH YOURSELVES UNTIL YOU DIE IF YOU HAVE TO!"
Elizabeth murmured, backing into position.
"... What did I walk into?" A tall man with glasses and a giant, unsure smile hopped up the stairs.









A short, plump old Dwarf made his way up a bunch of crude stone steps.

A short, plump old dwarf skimmed

A

Three crystals forged from a pool, to hold all the worlds power. One crystal of controlled rage, one of sprawling chaos, and one of balanced calm. Each crystal long forgotten. The master of three shall hold the world in his hands.

I thank you for our time, but it is time that I leave. Greetings, Thadeus. I came here two years ago, as a Dwarf hoping to fight against the controlling "evils" of the World Watchers . Unfortunately, I'm not that Dwarf. I have never been that Dwarf. I






C A S T L E B O Y S

Norras' glanced up at the castle walls, his insides churning as he lumbered up to Dorian.
"Who was he?" He managed,
"Mirock, an old colleague," Dorian looked back at Norras "-... You doing alright there?"
"Yeah, yeah, just fine," He nodded, drawing breath, "So what did he say?"
"He wanted us to show up early," Dorian continued towards the entrance.
"Oh, something bad happened?"
"Hopefully not,"
Norras shrugged, following through the castle gates. He had been feeling continually worse throughout the journey. Despite the winter's cold, a burning sensation had spread towards his throat. He hadn't told Dorian, though. Who knows, it could just be stomache acid. The caravan they rode transported lemons. Surely it was the lemons.
"Hey," Dorian said, "This way now, don't get lost,"
Norras scurried closer to Dorian, nearing the underpass of an arcing bridge. The night sky had already begun to darken, the walls lit up by torches. A bearded, fully armored dwarf approached them, illuminated by the flickering flames.
"Evenin' Dorian!" The dwarf smiled at them.*
"Evening," Dorian waved back,
"Your people 'r startin' to gather up again, I see,"
"Oh, yes," Dorian nodded, slowly pushing on,
"Well, err," The dwarf twisted a bit, "Good luck then,"
Dorian smiled quickly. Norras gave a weak wave and jogged back up to Dorian's side.
"Was that -," Norras started,
"Biffur's his name, an old patrol guard,"
Norras' stomache flared up once more. The last guard he'd seen had been threatening a poor farmer for everthing he had.
"You said there weren't any guards here..."
Dorian smiled, "They're not all the same, we're in the north now,"
The castle walls tightened around them, and then opened up again,
"Speaking of the north, welcome to the Northren District,"
The torches thickened as they entered the cozy quarter. Norras finally felt real warmth for the first time since home. Not the gut turning burn that had been present for the last few hours.
"Here we are," Dorian pointed towards a house within the district,
Norras followed. The streets seemed to be mostly empty in the evening. An absurdly short man, however, stood in front of the ajar door that Dorian had pointed to. His face was obscured by a white cowl, his hands gripping a wooden cane which helped carry him towards the pair. Norras looked down, the constant burn turning almost pleasant. His face merged into a grin.
"How you've grown," The tiny elder chuckled, flipping back his cow. A wrinkled old face stared up at him.
"Feidri, you too?" Dorian asked, surprised.
"I completely forgot..." Norras interrupted, searching for words, "I mean, after all those days of walking, ... you're actually here,"
Feidri's smile grew, "Like father, like son; is that the saying?" he chuckled again, before stopping for a second, "I'm sorry of course,"
Norras' stomache did another turn, "... He wanted me to come, anyways,"
"I'll see to it that he was right," Feidri nodded.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," asked Dorian, "But how many did the Professor call in?"
"Everyone, it seems," Feidri looked up at Dorian, his smile wavering.
"Do you know... -"
"No, not anymore than you,"
A dampened shout blew out from the ajar door, "Feidri, are you comming!?"
Dorian turned his head, "Perhaps we should find out, then,"

Norras followed closely as they entered through the ajar door. The floorboards creaked just as the snow had crunched under their feet. Bookshelves covered the walls, a whole section of them tagged with the name "Bonto". Or was it just a word? Norras wasn't sure, all he knew was that he had never heard anything like it.
"So, heh, welcome to our humble aboad," Feidri said, patting a bookshelf, "I'll hurry upstairs,"
The small old man walked ahead. Dorian hung up his coat on the edge of a bookshelf, looking down at Norras.



Feidri led him into a meagre room, furnished with a small bed, a bookshelf and an even smaller tabletop. A painting hung over the bed, depicting a flying raven, lit up by a lantern.
"Here's where I spend most of my evenings nowadays," Feidri smiled, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, "Not the most luxurious, but it works,"
"Ehm, it's a nice painting," Norras improvised.
Feidri turned his head around to take a look, "Oh, heh, thanks, I completely forgot about it. Kind of blends in doesn't it?"
Norras nodded slightly.
"I made it myself," Feidri continued, "Used to paint when I was bored. Ravens are a useful thing for perspective,"
Norras looked back at the painting. The raven was seen from a bird's eye's view, flying over a valley between two snowy mountains. He thought he might've seen one of those mountains on the way here. When he rode in the caravan. The caravan with lemons. Norras' stomache did another turn, the burn creeping further up his throat.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Feidri finally asked.
"I..." Norras started, "It's like, ... a burn. It might just be acid or something,"
Feidri peered at him, his face furrowed, "No, tell me,"
"... I've been feeling this, scorch, rising from my gut to my throat. It's been at it for the last few days now," Norras rubbed the side of his neck, "Father told me that I should be alert for burning pain,"
Feidri looked at him for a second, "Sit," he said, patting the bed. Norras took a seat.
"I've known your family for over seven decades now," Feidri continued, "Your father, your grandfather, your grandfather's father. All of you have inherited this thing called an 'instability'. Now that doesn't mean you're unstable or anything," He chuckled, "No. But something wants to come out," Feidri took a deep breath and let dark flames fly from his mouth, forming into a raven who's talons burried into his tiny finger.
"Quite like this bird, so does the dark flames inside you seek freedom. Most who wish to tame them need to awaken them first. I trained both Mirock and Dorian, many years ago. But you, you are born with the flames. And they are fiercer than any else. Now many with your... 'condition', tend to spin it favourably in their way. But when they can not control it, they perish under it's chaos," Feidri blew out the raven flames.
"... My father," Norras started,
Feidri chuckled lowly, "No, your father and I worked together to keep the flames down. But I couldn't be by his side forever," Feidri peered down at the dusty, wooden floorboards, "When I was young, I grew up with your great grandfather. He was my first real friend. He looked quite like you, back then. You see, the flames are one with your emotions. He lashed out once, and well... disaster followed. I promised to take care of his son, after his own execution," Feidri kept quiet for a second,
"I failed. At seventeen he came up to me, just as you, and told me of his pains. Five years later he was dead,"
Norras went bleak as he tried to ignore the rising burn through his chest.
"I promised to take care of his son... your father," Feidri continued, "Just as I had promised to take care of him," Feidri looked up at Norras, "I intend for your father to be my last failure,"
Norras swallowed and looked back at the raven painting, examining it once again.
"... So how did you breathe out that bird?"
Feidri's frown merged into a smile, "Well, I breathed out flames. It's what you do with those flames that forms birds,"
Norras turned to him, "So how do you breathe out flames?"
"Now that's the question, isn't it," Feidri raised a hand to his mouth, "The flames obey your emotions. If you control your emotions, you control the flames. When you feel something, anything, the flames are fueled. Then you just have to... let go," He opened his mouth, letting another batch of dark flames dance through the air, "And remember, they must always have a purpose, lest they run wild, both inside of you, and outside," Feidri pointed towards Norras' chest.
"So that's what I'm supposed to do, keep them from running wild?" Norras asked.
"Easier said than done, especially when you're born with them. I only know of a few who mastered it. Makes it so much harder for us,"
Norras thought for a second, "Does it change my appearance if I master it? Like, does it make me grow?"
Feidri gave another chuckle, "No, I don't think so, how would you be?"
"Like, more... menacing?"
"Hehe, where'd you get that idea?"
"I dunno, just heard it somewhere," Norras said quickly,
"Well, it's a very understandable misconception," Feidri gripped his cane, "Most men with your condition, who've made a name for themselves, often have less charitable purposes to their flames," Feidri furrowed his brows for a second, "It seems to be easier that way,"
A raised voice boomed through the thin wooden walls that separated their room from the main room. Norras couldn't quite distinguish what it said, but he thought it might've been Dorian. Feidri raised an eyebrow and chuckled a bit. . . . .