The First Mage

Ten minutes earlier

A sword in my face, and a sword at my side. Two bows pointed at me, two at Riala. A spear and a dagger on both Berla and Reurig. Just one guard on Hayla, but three on Hati. I glanced around, taking stock of our situation. One might say it wasn’t great, and one would be right about that, but strangely, it also made me feel... light.

After the bells rang, signaling an announcement, we tried to figure out who had instigated this, but we came up empty. Either nobody knew, or they weren’t willing to tell us. Regardless, it didn’t bode well. Nobody but us was supposed to make official announcements. If someone called people to the main square anonymously, nothing good could come from it. Though I also didn’t know what we were supposed to do about it, because there was nothing like an “announcement cancellation bell.”

They came for us an hour later, while we were still debating how to react to this. They were fast, well organized, and seemed to know exactly where we would be and how we would react. Storming the office, they immediately aimed bows at all of us, but Riala, Berla, and Hayla in particular. They kept a relatively safe distance as more guards streamed in and threatened us from up close as well, while another group started handcuffing us.

Credit where credit is due, it was a good attack. They got us when we were all together, they focused on the ones I would want to protect first and foremost, and they led with bows, so they could keep us in check while securing the room. They weren’t even wary of Hati. If I had been in their shoes, I would have thought of him as a wildcard, but it soon became clear how they knew he wouldn’t attack without permission.

As soon as the situation was under control from their perspective, a Ruler walked in. I couldn’t remember his name, but I did remember seeing him once. The person following after him I was more familiar with: Pallo. He wore a proud expression, happily trailing this guy.

Surrounded by Fighters, facing a Ruler, and evidently having been betrayed by at least one of our guards, I realized we were in hot waters. This was underlined by Grom starting to explain that the days of my tyranny were over, that they had witnesses for my crimes, that they were taking back control in the name of the people, and yada, yada, yada.

I didn’t even respond much. It was immediately obvious that this guy couldn’t be reasoned with, and given the amount of Fighters around us, they had clearly prepared for this. Telling them they had it all wrong would do nothing without any evidence to back it up.

Following my example, everyone else stayed calm as well, except for Hayla, who went on quite the tangent about the stupidity of their claims. I smiled happily at her defending us, but she too realized that she was running against a wall with them.

Standing in the reception area of the temple, we now waited for what was to come next. Through the windows we saw the hundreds if not thousands of people gathered in the main square. Grom had just left us behind to begin his speech, and given my position right at the door, I could guess that I was to be presented first. Our former guard stood in front of me, ready to lead me outside at his master’s command.

“Hey, Pallo. Are Garn and the others okay?” I asked.

None of our other guards were here. Not even Garn, who had been supposed to be in front of the office when they came. I hoped they weren’t in danger. Pallo didn’t respond to my question though.

“Guess I just have to hope for the best. I assume this story about killing Lilly came from you. Just for the record, I—”

“Don’t talk to me,” he spat without turning around.

“Yea, that’s what I figured.” He won’t listen.

“Idiots... every one of them...” Hayla said under her breath.

“Silence!” another guard commanded.

Once again, I smiled despite myself. She’s indignant. She’ll come to learn that humans can be quite stupid and stubborn once they make up their minds about something.

No, there was no arguing with these guys. Not after all the trouble they had gone to. A potential chance waited on the other side of this door. It all depended on the citizens, as well as the amount of support Grom had found.

Suddenly, a shout reverberated through the air. “Tomar Remor!”

Pallo pulled the large double doors open and four guards pincered me, one on each corner. “Go,” one of them said and we started moving.

I glanced back at the others, frowning at me, wondering what we were going to do. My last word before stepping outside was “Prepare,” and I could see that they understood.

As I sat foot into the main square, all eyes were on me. It seemed like the outcome was just as big as back then—an indication that the people were quite concerned about their future. Fighters were lined up in front of the crowd, as well as around the stage to my left. Just the ones in my range of sight numbered about three dozen.

That’s... more than I expected. I don’t see Grym though.

If the captain wasn’t a part of this, they had presumably convinced the majority of guards that I was a danger to this town, or he would’ve been able to keep them in line. There were no other guards in sight who approached us favorably in the past either, so Grom had apparently made sure to detain everyone who might contest his fairytales.

As I climbed the stairs to join the Rulers, my gaze swept over the crowd. They looked back at me in shock, tension in the air. It was downright fascinating how creepy this silent horde was.

The main square is completely packed... They’ll be in the way.

If we needed to leave, we wouldn’t be able to go this way. I doubted that the normal people would seriously try to stop us, but it would be a hassle, and we wouldn’t be able to run.

I kept scanning my surroundings as Grom began listing my alleged crimes. From killing Lilly, over inviting beasts to attack the town, to the dungeon and the blackstone incident, he basically blamed everything on me and then some. Supposedly, it was all an elaborate plan to position myself as the only one who could save this town.

However, even though none of it was true, I was once again impressed by how coherent it all was. And somewhat comical. When Grom confidently proclaimed that I would spend the rest of my life in prison, I glanced at him sideways, questioning his sanity.

Are you stupid? How would you enforce that?

While I decided that our best potential escape route would lead us through the temple garden and the underground tunnel, towards the eastern woods, he went on about how they would improve the town. At this point, I was finally starting to get irritated. It was bad enough that they were badmouthing me, but he kept talking about doing right by Lilly. How they would hold up her legacy and lead the town into the future. And then... he announced that Hertar would become the leader once again—the guy who hadn’t gotten any of this right in all of his years—and the people went apeshit, eating up all of it.

“Fucking lemmings...” I said aloud without meaning to.

Grom took an angry step in my direction. “What was that!?”

If you’re going to get rid of us, at least get it over quickly. Do you really need to make a show out of it?

The whispers of the people, the cheers, this idiotic Ruler getting up in face, acting as if he was in control of the situation... It was too much. I couldn’t bear this nonsense any longer.

God... “Shut the fuck up!”

Grom still tried to go on, but when I involuntarily released some aura out of irritation, aimed directly at him, he did finally shut his mouth long enough for me to address the people. I didn’t get very far before I realized that it was pointless, however. The contempt in their eyes made it clear that they were believing these stories. I ended on a rather short ultimatum that was met with ridicule.

I took a deep breath, and I finally understood why I had felt so light the entire time. I hadn’t truly believed that we could turn this around. I was actually relieved. If they were serious about wanting to get rid of us, so be it. I would finally gain back some freedom, and I wouldn’t have to feel bad about it. Though I had needed to bide my time. Resisting them in the office would’ve been risky, but now we could surprise them.

“Guys!” I yelled, and the others started going wild.

Guards came flying through closed doors and windows, scripts put neat holes into the walls, I couldn’t have coordinated it better. It was like a scene out of a movie. There had been only ten guards left inside, and I estimated that half of them would surrender after the initial attack.

The ones stationed outside prepared to move in, but my aura suddenly expanded around the area and grew wilder. The guy holding a sword to my throat flinched in surprise. I raised an arm to block the weapon just to be safe and then snapped my fingers, throwing them backwards with a wave of mana that traveled farther than normal. Commanding the other guards to stop, they immediately froze, looking at me with trepidation.

This is... interesting.

I had never managed to control my aura this well. Maybe it was because I was alone, or maybe because of my mood. Whatever it was, I had to remember this feeling.

Berla led everyone outside through the destroyed doors, and I hurriedly prepared to use this moment of confusion to get out of there. Given the circumstances, everything looked fine. Until the screams.

Coming from multiple directions, people cried out in terror as mangled bodies were thrown around. I first saw two beasts near the market district, grabbing anyone who tried to flee past them. Killing them quickly and efficiently with a bite to the neck, they then tossed the dead flesh at the people coming their way, driving them back.

Instinctively, I wanted to look in the opposite direction, to see if it was the same there, but another set of cries from down the main street got my attention instead. My gaze followed the voices to find a silver wolf jumping into the crowd in a large arch. It crashed right into several people, burying them underfoot. Raising itself, it slowly changed its posture from a quadrupedal wolf to a bipedal hybrid. Unmovingly, I stared at it standing up, while gripping a woman in its claws, who it proceeded to hold up into the air.

“Tomar! You broke the agreement!” Arax shouted, sneering.

Flabbergasted, I gawked at her, barely able to grasp what was happening, while the citizens were desperately trying to flee in all directions.

She’s here... I’m not hallucinating, am I? Why is she here? How did she get here without anyone noticing? What the fuck!? Wait... is that... Zara?

My head snapped in the direction of the temple entrance, where Riala and the others stood. I feared that she might do something stupid if she saw Arax grabbing her sister, but it seemed like Riala was too small to see her over the ensuing chaos.

Looking back at Arax, I saw her tossing Zara to the side and starting to approach the stage, the fleeing people opening a path for her. Seeing her coming, the guards readied their weapons and were about to charge in her direction.

“Nobody move!” I yelled.

Thankfully, the guards listened. Were they to attack, they would all be dead in the blink of an eye. Though they did look between me and the humanoid wolf questioningly.

Glancing behind, the Rulers were cowering in fear behind the stage, carefully peering over its edge. Looking around from my vantage point, I saw two more wolves, one on the street to the east and one to the north, while two bears secured the main street. All main routes blocked off, the people had a hard time getting away, though some streamed out through small alleyways in a few isolated locations. Most seemed to come to the conclusion that they had nowhere to go though, caught between multiple beasts. As long as they didn’t try to get past them, however, these monsters appeared to not do anything. By the time Arax reached the stage, the majority of them stood still, frozen in place.

“We still have a few more days... don’t we?” I said, feigning ignorance.

I thought I saw her eye twitch, but she continued as if nothing happened. “Come on, Tomar,” Arax said. “Don’t act like you don’t know. You lost control over this town. The agreement was quite clear.”

“And you were just lurking here, waiting for that to happen?”

“I was nearby by coincidence. Lucky me!”

“Right... lucky you...”

I tried my best to keep an eye on everything that was happening around me. The beasts keeping the people in check were very close to them, so it would be risky to attack Arax. I couldn’t ignore her either though. Riala on the other hand couldn’t hit any of the beasts from her position, and the others would take too long to get to them. If we did anything in this situation, there would be a risk for dozens and hundreds of casualties.

“And what happens now?” I asked, turning my attention back to Arax.

“Well, I always thought I would simply destroy this town when this day came, but I’m in a good mood. I’ll make you guys a new deal, and I will even wave this antiquated rule that the town may not change hands.”

A new deal? So she wants something... Something other than scripts?

“What do you want?”

She licked her lips in amusement. “Let’s see...” Spinning around, she seemed to survey the people, searching for something, or someone. After a moment, she turned towards me again. “We will take twenty-one humans of our choice with us today. They won’t come back, but in exchange, our previous agreement will stay in place. The rest of this town will be safe.”

I frowned, unsure what her plan was. Twenty-one people were an odd number, and why would she care about choosing specific ones? Maybe some of us tasted better than others, but I didn’t think that was the reason. She came prepared, and she showed herself to everybody. The previous agreement didn’t make much sense in this configuration. It felt more like she didn’t care about it at all anymore.

Does she want to take potential enemies off the board?

“Twenty-one normal people?” I asked.

“Yes, people out of this crowd,” she said, spreading her arms to gesture at the citizens.

I looked over the masses, but I didn’t notice anyone standing out. That was until I took a closer look at the people near the market district, where I saw one particularly strong aura, huddled together with two others.

Shadi and her friends...

Alarna’s one and only healer was a new variable that might change things. While she wasn’t a scripter, she was a natural magic user who seemed to understand the sigils to a degree. She could potentially be of value to Arax. Additionally, she wouldn’t need to limit herself to one of them. If she were to breed more, she might be able to create a small army of Sourcerers within a few years. Though you would also want a few more humans to optimize the genepool. It was the first and only theory that came to mind, though I could’ve been overthinking things. It was simple to clear up whether she wanted Shadi, however.

Standing up straight on the stage, I was about the same height as Arax and looked her right in the eyes. “The healer for the town?”

Arax’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, while I squinted at her. This conversation was very different from our previous one. Last time, it felt like she was in my head. As if she knew exactly what I thought and what I would do. That did not seem to be the case now though.

“You have changed Tomar, why is that?” she asked curiously, while stepping closer and observing me.

“Maybe seeing my friends get killed did something to me,” I said derisively.

“No... No, that’s it. You’ve become sharper, it’s quite interesting.” The creepy sneer returned to her inhuman lips. “Regardless, does it matter who I’m choosing? It’s twenty-one in exchange for an entire town. Is that not a fair offer?”

That basically confirms it...

Based on numbers alone, it actually wasn’t a terrible deal. But giving Arax what she wanted was a no go either way. Even Gallas, a “god,” seemed scared of the idea that she could become even stronger.

“How about twenty-one, but we exclude anyone with mana?”

“No, that won’t do,” she said decisively.

Knowing what she was after, and that she wouldn’t back down, made my next decision easier. We wouldn’t get through this without casualties, but letting her do what she wanted would be much worse.

I took a deep breath and calmly stepped closer to her. She didn’t bat an eye, as we came face to face, presumably not expecting what came next.

“Ria! Right!” I yelled, while raising my arms, one pointing directly at Arax’s chest and the other at the wolf near the office district.

Hoping for the best, I fired our new script.