Realm of Monsters

…A few days ago… The 2nd Challenge…

Plum watched in horror as a myriad of spells fell over Team Hollow Shade’s pillar. Sylvie’s fractured stone wall shattered apart as the spells exploded in a cacophony of magic. A stunned quiet fell over the coliseum’s crowds at the sight of the broken pillar.

Mark Stemme cleared his throat and softly spoke into the Herald’s Tower’s enchanted trumpet, “HOLLOW SHADE’S ENTIRE TEAM SEEMS TO HAVE FALLEN… A MOMENT OF SILENCE IF YOU WILL…”

No, it can’t be, it can’t be, it can’t be…

Plum sat still, her muscles rigid, her skin cold, her heart clenched tight.

They couldn’t be gone…

It happened so fast. Stryg and the others were just there and now they were…

“WAIT, ARE YOU SEEING THAT!?” Jane Stemme yelled.

A faint red sheen glowed amidst the smoke. A large red dome of light stood where the stone wall had once been. Dozens of intricate red ward sigils flared across the dome and at its center stood Hollow Shade’s mages, unharmed.

Plum stood to her feet, surprise and confusion etched across her face. 

Were they alive!?

Had Callum saved them? 

The red dome was too far for Plum to see any of the specific sigils, but to have blocked an entire arsenal of spells at once must have required enormous skill. If anyone could have done it would have been a talented Veres. But what if the ward dome had only blocked a few of the spells? Gods, she hoped the wards had held. But such a complex ward shield would have been impossible for an adept…

Plum swallowed hard, Please, gods, please let them be okay.

As the smoke cleared, the red dome faded away.

Plum gasped with relief at the sight of Stryg and the others.

They were okay, they wer-

Stryg flew straight into the sky like an arrow blazing through the battlefield. Shadow tendrils flew out of his silhouette and caught Heather Navis floating about the arena. Heather didn’t even have a moment to react before Stryg had struck her down straight into the water.

The crowds screamed in surprise and joy.

Plum simply stared, flabbergasted.

Was that yellow magic? Had he just used yellow magic? If it was, then that meant Stryg wasn’t a tri-manifold. He was a-

~~~

“-A prime mage, can you believe it!?” Veronica yelled.

“...Y-yeah, who would have thought,” Plum smiled weakly.

The pair of friends strolled down one of the bustling market streets searching for their choice of dinner.

“And he’s already a master mage like Calex! He’s a bonafide Ebon Aspirant!” Veronica squealed. “I knew from the moment I saw him that he was special, I just knew it!”

“Yeah, an Ebon Aspirant… that’s what everyone keeps saying,” Plum mumbled.

“You don’t seem that excited…” Veronica’s eyes widened, “No way, you already knew, didn’t you!?”

“What? No, of course not,” she shook her head.

“Oh, come on. You guys were best friends, are you really telling me he never told you about his chromatic range?” 

“Yeah, I am…” 

“Oh… Oh… I see,” Veronica said quietly. “He never told you anything, huh?”

Plum recalled Stryg’s words, I’ll become whatever monster I need to be to make my tribe the greatest in the Realm. I’ll destroy any who stand in Ebon Hollow’s path.

But you don’t have to stain your hands with blood to survive, Plum, I’ll do it all, so just come with me. Someday, no one will ever try to hurt us again, they won’t even dare to imagine the thought.

“I think he might have tried…” Plum sighed. “Not that it mattered, I wouldn’t have listened.”

“Why not?”

Plum shrugged uncomfortably, “We didn’t part ways on good terms, quite the opposite really.”

“What did he say to you?”

“It’s not so much what he said, it’s more about what I said,” she sighed.

Veronica grinned wide, “Oooh, do tell.”

“You don’t wanna know.”

“Let me guess, you said something along the lines of, ‘Fuck off, I don’t want to ever see you again!’ Or maybe it was like, ‘You’re a dick, bye bye bitch!’” Veronica laughed in an overtly haughty voice.

Plum rolled her eyes and kept walking.

“Aw, come on. I’m just messing around. It couldn’t have been that bad,” she nudged Plum’s shoulder.

“...I told him he was broken. That he was talentless, that he’d never make his dream come true… That the Realm would be worse off with someone like him in power…”

“Well, shit. Talk about irony. He must have been laughing his ass off when you told him that.”

“No…” Plum bit her lip, “He just said, ‘You don’t mean that,’ and tried not to cry…”

“Wow… No wonder you two don’t get along anymore,” Veronica winced.

“You’d think so, but as I’m beginning to learn, life is always worse than what it seems,” Plum sighed gloomily.

“So what was his dream, anyway?” Veronica asked.

“Hm?”

“You said that Stryg would never make his dream come true. What was his dream?”

Plum stopped walking and thought about it for a moment. She shook her head and smiled bitterly, “The same dream every Ebon Lord has dreamt.”

~~~

Servants of the Great House of Katag swarmed about the tavern, carrying crates and other supplies that the Hollow Shaders had brought with them. It had only been a few hours since Stryg had spoken with Lady and Lord Katag, but they clearly took their word seriously. They had sent their servants to help Stryg and his teammates move into the Katag villa.

While the Hollow Shaders had come with very little to Undergrowth, Freya and Callum had somehow managed to buy an entire room full of supplies ever since. Why they needed so many clothes, custom-made beds, and more, the servants didn’t ask; they only loaded the supplies into the wagons as Callum and Freya ordered.

The entire tavern bustled with noise and the chattering of servants. Stryg watched them all move throughout the tavern from the corner of the bar room. He sat perched on a barrel of ale, his cloak wrapped around him, obscuring his face. The less interaction he had with all these orcs the better. He was content simply watching and staying out of the way.

Stryg didn’t have much to move, only a satchel of clothes and his sword. He liked to travel light, it made it easier to move around, especially if the need called for it. 

As the sun began to dip below the horizon and the last rays of light bled through the windows, Stryg was reminded of how little time he really had. The next few days would be filled with battles, two duels per day. There wasn’t much time to prepare or study his opponents. Worse, he had already missed today’s second match. Though, he had heard both contestants had been exceptionally powerful.

“Is that him?” a timid voice whispered.

“No, that can’t be… right?”

“Who else would it be?”

“But we can’t even see his face.”

“Look at his hands, they’re blue, not grey, not red, blue.”

“Could just be another northern drow.”

Stryg raised his head and glanced over at the crowd of servants whispering amongst one another at the other side of the tavern.

“Shit, he’s looking at us!” a servant said in a panicked voice. She awkwardly turned around and pretended to clean one of the bar tables.

The other servants followed suit and quickly dispersed.

Stryg cocked his head to the side, mildly curious. After a brief moment, one of the women glanced at him, and their eyes met briefly. She stiffened and quickly looked away.

“He just looked at me!” she whispered excitedly.

“No, he didn’t,” another servant scoffed.

Stryg couldn’t help but smile whimsically. He was used to others whispering about him, the students back at the academy did it all the time, but it was always about how strange he was, how different he was from everyone else. But for the first time, it seemed being different wasn’t a bad thing.

“Excuse me, greatest centaur you’ll ever see coming through!” a familiar voice shouted from outside.

Stryg’s pointy ears perked up at the sound. He jumped off the barrel and ran outside without hesitation.

Rhian stood in front of the tavern, a dozen servants milling around her, carrying things into the wagons. Rhian seemed the same, her usual confident smile plastered over her pale almost pink face. Her raven black had grown longer, its tips reaching down past her waist.

“What are all these people even doing here?” Rhian frowned.

“I’d like to ask you the same,” an orc guard walked over to her. “This is private property.”

“Private? This is a tavern, it doesn’t get more public than that,” Rhian crossed her arms.

“Tell that to them,” the guard pointed at the throng of people waiting outside the tavern’s fence.

“Yeah, I was wondering about that. Why are they over there anyway? If they want a drink they can just come inside, no?”

“No, they can’t, and neither can you. And I reckon none of you are here for a drink,” the guard narrowed his eyes.

“I mean I could use a drink, but you’re right, I’m here to meet a friend of mine,” Rhian said.

“Sure, you are. I’ve already heard that excuse four times today from the crowds. Now why don’t you go back there and join them, or else,” the guard placed his hand over the hilt of his sword.

“Or else what?” Rhian asked, genuinely curious.

Bright purple hair fell over from behind the centaur as Feli leaned over the saddle, “We really do know the people inside that tavern. We were just here this morning.”

“Sure you were and I’m best friends with Lady Thorn herself, now get moving before I make you,” the guard warned.

Feli furrowed her brow, “I think you’re mistaken-”

Stryg dashed past the servants and vaulted into the air at Rhian. Before Feli could turn around, Stryg had caught her in his arms and carried her off the saddle. He landed with a soft step, though his hood had slipped off. The servants, the guards, and the crowd of onlookers gasped at the sight of the Ebon Aspirant.

Feli yelped in surprise from being dragged off the saddle, but as her eyes settled over her husband’s face she glared at him. “Stryg, what are you doing? Put me down, you’re causing a scene,” she glanced around anxiously.

“I don’t care,” Stryg closed his eyes tight and nuzzled his face into her cheeks.

Feli’s eyes softened as she felt his arms tremble and his breaths turn shaky. She smiled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, “I missed you too.”

“And what about me, huh? What am I, the butler?” Rhian pouted.

Stryg couldn’t help but laugh, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. He leaned on Rhian’s side and breathed in her familiar scent. “I missed both of you, more than you’ll ever know,” he whispered.