As the wind lashed on Talj's face, the young man struggled to keep his eyes open. Although he could feel himself rapidly approaching the ground, he could only estimate the time he had before impact from his memory of The Tower's height.
Oh well, it's not like stealth matters anymore.
Having gotten rid of his handcuffs, Talj could feel the magic course through him again. Summoning the winds, Talj slowly created a torrent around him. It was one thing to make the winds to guide him from the ground into the air, but redirecting his trajectory from an already accelerating movement was another trick. He made the wind current follow his opposite movement, slowly adding strength to it to not suffer a blow mid air.
Come on! Come on! I don't have long before I meet the ground!
Slowly adding strength to his spell, he felt the wind current pushing him upward, wrestling the pull of gravity and slowing him down.
Faster!
His eyes still closed, he summoned his spear and, enhancing his strike with electrical energy, hit the wall of The Tower with his weapon to break his fall. His speed, although not halting, severely diminished, allowing him to open his eyes. Talj estimated he had less than ten seconds before landing. He waited more than half of that time before taking off his spear from the now scarred structure and used a technique he called Ghost Burst.
By pouring a powerful amount of magic into an electricity spell for a brief amount of time, he could allow his body to dash forward with massive speed and become partially made of pure lightning to break surrounding forces or crash into obstacles with huge force without suffering major injuries.
Using Ghost Burst to dash horizontally, Talj broke the momentum of his fall, making him leap diagonally before landing in a violent roll on the paved floor of Rolmea. Talj clumsily tried to get up on his feet. He had made himself get used to the rushing feeling he would experience a few seconds after using Ghost Burst, but the shock from hitting the ground momentarily disoriented him.
After coming back to his senses, Talj rapidly checked on himself. Glad to see he only had a few benign bruises, Talj straightened his hooded cloak, arranged his boots and headed away from The Tower.
He hadn't exited the street yet when a ringing sound could be heard from the building, slowly being joined by smaller bells getting rang on the streets.
"An alarm? Spread throughout the entire city?" Talj asked himself. "It must be activated remotely from The Tower if they could make it ring in the entire town at the same time and with this short amount of time."
As he exited the street, Talj found himself in a large alley boarded with courthouses, tax collecting halls and other logistic buildings. There weren't many people, but all the ones Talj could see had startled expressions, probably due to the alarm.
"Don't stay in the open, Talj!" The blacksmith told himself. "Although, it's not as if they know who they're looking for right? I just leaped off so-"
"Hey! It's him!" A voice called out on his right. "The young man with white hair!"
"Or they can just conveniently have my description implemented in their head or something because this organization has every imaginable way to make my life difficult."
Talj turned around and started running, trying to put as much distance between him and the guards who were now protesting:
"Hey! Stop! Do not let him get away!"
Abruptly, Talj took a turn into a narrow street and used Ghost Burst to traverse it one go. His use of magic may give away his location to nearby soldiers, but he cared not. He'd blend in after he was safely away from the guards.
Who am I kidding, this is probably the most guarded city of Ylbunish after royal palaces!
As Talj continued taking random turns between streets and alleys, he could hear the shouts and strides of guards coming from all around him. The residents and workers all got into the safety of their buildings, leaving the streets as one huge playground where one rat tried to escape an army of cats.
The smith barged into a large road with a magnificent fountain in the middle, surrounded by beautiful flowers... And a handful of guards.
"Stop right there!" The Dali ordered him just as they saw him.
"Tempting offer!" He shouted back. "But I forgot logs in the oven back home, so I'll be on my way!"
Fueling his body with electricity again, Talj dashed away from the Dali. He felt a wave of spells plunging at him from behind. He rolled to the side to dodge them, got into another street and turned to see a fireball, a conjured sword and a beast-like set of claws crash into each other in the spot he was in a few moments before.
Without thinking further, Talj called upon the final element he could control: ice. While he still hasn't fully mastered it, he could still muster enough energy to draw a giant wall of crystal blue frost on the street's entrance, blocking the way.
"That should keep them busy."
As he spun to exit the short street, two Dali guards appeared on the other end. A woman with a sword hanging in its sheath and a man with two daggers in his belt.
"Freeze!" One of them screamed.
Talj didn't wait for them to conjure a spell or draw their weapons. Using Ghost Burst, he savagely rammed onto the one on his left -The man- with his shoulder. The shock from the strike and the lightning left him staggered on the ground. Without letting room for the woman that was now on his right to react, Talj summoned his weapon. He spun the staff, sweeping his feet in a circular motion, to face his opponent, and used both the force from his movement and his spear's motion to hit the side of the face of the guard who had just turned in place to face him.
"What-" She could not finish the sentence before the sharp strike spread from her cheek to her chin and she hit the ground. Talj had calculated his attack to deliver just enough damage to knock her out. Feeling that his opponent's magic grew dim, he knew he succeeded.
"Sorry, I hope your teeth stay in place!" He said before running off from the scene.
This place is a maze! The young man thought to himself after crossing a few streets. You'd think sticking to one direction will eventually get you to the city borders but no!
As he made yet another turn between a large smithy and a shop, he found himself facing a dead end. He tried to backtrack to leave, but three guards were now facing him from the entrance.
"We have you cornered!" What Talj assumed to be their leader spoke up. "Do not be foolish! The entire city is after you!"
Talj analyzed his options. His magical reserves were not infinite, and if he fought every guard he met while also using it to escape, he'd eventually pass out.
"Okay, I would follow you and surrender but I have a question before that." Talj tried to stall. "I assume you know about the spy crisis that's going around, right? How am I sure you're not secretly with The Darkness."
The troops looked at each other, unsure how to react.
"Sir, what does he mean?" One of them asked the leader.
"N-Nothing! It's a trick devised to confuse us!"
So only he knows about the situation, meaning he must be a very important and powerful guard to be indulged in this kind of information. I guess I can use that to my advantage.
"You guys don't know? I thought the situation with your General Kroll's betrayal would make you a bit more skeptical." Talj innocently proclaimed.
"Sir, what do we do? He knows about Kroll's-"
"Enough!" The leader finally snapped. "Talj Horsh, you are under order to put down your weapons and yield to us! You can either do that willingly or-"
The rest of the sentence was lost, for the guard never finished it. Talj only saw an object fall at the Dali soldiers' feet before a white flash filled his vision. He covered his eyes with his arms by reflex. When he opened them back, he was astonished to find his opponents stumbling, unable to stand correctly. Their faces looked completely disoriented and dizzy, like their inner ear and perception were completely thrown off.
The young man's ears picked the characteristic whistle of an arrow getting closer. Before he could dodge, a small thud echoed in front of him. An arrow landed on the wall right in front of his face. Talj looked up, guard ready, just fast enough to see a figure atop the roof of the smithy turning cloak and leaving.
"What the..?"
Looking back at the arrow, he noticed a note sticking from it's tip. Taking it, he could read the words 'Exit the street on your left, third turn left, second right, climb the ladder' written on it hastily. He had no idea who his mysterious benefactor was, nor if they were trustworthy.
Talj glanced at the guards in front of him. They were already starting to come back to their senses. That convinced him to make up his mind. He used an ice spell to freeze their feet to the ground and used Ghost Burst to leap on top of them, marching again into a big alley and turning left.
"There he is!" He heard from behind him.
"Do these guys just pop from under the ground?" Talj muttered to himself before imbuing his body in lightning again to run away. He could feel some of his assailants catching up to him, probably through spells of their own.
He quickly spun in place and conjured a second spell: Cyclone's Parade. A combination of seven miniature tornados that move around each other at what would seem to be random directions, but every tornado ensures that whoever gets caught in its wind current would be violently be pulled into a circular motion before being fiercely launched into another tornado where the same dance would happen on loop until Talj dismisses the spell or if the victims manage to break free.
As the cyclones headed towards their targets, the young man didn't wait to admire the results before taking the turn indicated by the note. As he entered another narrow street, four guards met him up front. Without halting, Talj jumped on the first one's chest, using it as support, and jumped sideways into the wall, leaping from it upward before using Ghost Burst to fly over them and, when he dived back to the ground, hit the soil with his spear and multiple flashing bolts sprouted from his body and struck his opponents, leaving them stun in place.
"Okay now, second to the right." Talj took the turn and found himself in an impasse. Staring at the giant stone wall that seemed to laugh at his futile efforts, Talj wondered how he could climb its smooth surface.
Don't be an idiot! You have a tool called magic!
Summoning the winds to fly him, Talj rose until he got on top of the giant wall, leaving the darkness of the alley. Standing on top of it, Talj eyed his surroundings. He could see the city gates not too far. All he had to do was skip a few roofs.
The note didn't betray me after all!
As hope finally filled the young man's heart, he quickly sensed danger plunging towards him. He acted by reflex and rolled on the right, just in time to dodge a fireball that blew up a part of the roof he stood on.
"You've got to be shitting me..." Talj cursed out loud.
The chaos of the streets soon infected the sky, as Talj saw many Dali guards using either flying summons or levitation spells to float towards him. One of his attackers; a man using a hovering stone platform to fly; closed in on him. Talj raised his weapon, ready to defend himself, but he didn't have to. An arrow planted its head on the rocky structure before exploding in the air, dismounting the mage who crashed with a scream on a nearby edifice.
Talj looked to his right and found a man with a hood covering his face, bow in hand, pointing urgently at the gate.
"Go!" Was the only word his savior shouted before shooting another arrow at their enemies.
Talj didn't ask many questions and ran alongside him, striding and jumping from roof to roof, dodging as best he could the barrage of spells that tried to pin them down.
"They're closing the portal!" Talj warned.
The gates were indeed slowly closing. The Dali, realizing that this singular mage was much more difficult to catch than what they anticipated, decided to contain him inside the city to cut all his chances at escaping.
At their current pace, they wouldn't make it in time. Talj's mind raced rapidly. The only solution would be to launch themselves very rapidly into the gate before it closes. Talj had never used Ghost Burst over such a long distance before, and to use it with someone else required a complete cooperation from the other person.
"Give me your arm, and try to induce your magic on my spell!" Talj reached towards him.
Without a sign nor a word, the archer took his arms and, to the smith's surprise, easily harmonized his magic with Talj's, something that normally required a strong mind and a good amount of training.
Whoever this fella is, he is very good.
Talj focused, feeling his surroundings, calibrating his spell before activating Ghost Step. Usually he'd stay in the pure lightning state for less than a second. But now, he had to maintain the spell for half a dozen. He could feel the energy course through him, his eyes and ears picking all his surroundings at enormous pace, flooding his brain with information. Not only that, but he started to feel burnt out. Ghost Burst used too much energy in too little time, like a muscle that was flexed too hard repeatedly and rapidly. It wasn't meant to last longer than a second or two, but Talj didn't care. He pushed through his limit, gritted his teeth to bear his pain until he passed the small gap that was left between the doors of Rolmea.
As the gate closed behind them, Talj let go of the spell mid air, unable to keep it up longer and let the both of them fall on the warm grass.
He panted heavily, trying to gather his thoughts back. However, his new companion didn't wait much before getting up. Talj couldn't see his face, so he couldn't read his intentions. The archer approached him. He tried to get up, unsure if he meant any harm, but his companion quietly said.
"Shhhh, stop moving. I need you to be close and still for this to work."
"What?"
"Invisibility spell."
Talj nodded in understanding. He thought he had to harmonize their magic again, but all the archer had to do was put his hand on the ground and the smith felt a cold shivering aura surround them.
An invisibility spell that's applied on an area rather than a person, and that covers the magic signature of the person inside it too. That's clever.
Talj eyed the walls of the city, as Dali guards appeared on the ramparts of Rolmea, looking for them on the fields.
"Do you see them!?" One of them shouted.
"No, they're probably still inside!"
"Hey I saw someone running there!"
One by one, the soldiers left the stone structure crowning the gates, and the archer let go of his spell. The hooded man crashed on his back, a loud sigh escaping his lips, shooing away the tension he carried during the entire escapade. He sat back up, two chuckles coughed from his throat. He raised a finger at Talj without facing him, and said with a tone that indicated both merriment and frustration at the same time:
"You are quite the pain to find, mister The Hammer."
"Uhm... Thanks?" Talj replied, unsure how to react. "Excuse me, do I know you?"
"That's quite a good question, Talj. And I'm curious about the answer myself. Let's find out, shall we?"
The archer then removed his hood, and Talj's eyes widened in shock. His heart pounded like a hammer. He was suddenly aware of how sweaty he had gotten, how unstable his breathing was. He felt suddenly weak, too weak. All the energy he had left was dedicated to making him believe that he was not hallucinating. He blinked twice, still unsure if the sight before him was a mirage or a miracle.
That wasn't possible. He was probably dreaming, or he was confusing the man with someone else. But deep inside his soul, a joy that had laid dormant for seven years awoke. He just wasn't sure if it was a fake joy, or one worth celebrating.
The archer was smiling gently, waiting for Talj to fully assimilate that this wasn't a dream. Talj's eyes teared up, but he couldn't notice. A flood of memories washed away all his sensations. Two young children, playing with each other, fighting monsters in imaginary battles, sneaking in the forge, collecting berries... A name. A name surged into the surface of those memories. Talj tried to call that name, but when he did a more familiar term took its place:
"Brother..?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The four Generals sat in silence, the ringing bells finally dying outside.
When Talj jumped from the balcony, leaving behind his handcuffs, Indri rushed towards the magical alarm and triggered it. The mechanism was linked to a powerful spell that allowed him to transmit a mental image of the target to most of the guards of Rolmea. As he sat back down in a sigh, he turned to Kinfol and calmly said:
"You didn't try to stop me now."
"I did not wish to. I have to maintain the illusion that we did not wish for him to escape, or else our enemies will know we are no longer under their obedience."
"You know you shouldn't have done that." Indri replied. "All you did is endanger us all and cause havoc in the city. There is no way he can single-handedly escape all of Rolmea's guards."
"I do not blame your lack of faith in him, for you have not seen him in action as I did." Kinfol simply replied in a bored tone before being backed by Salzeka:
"I stand with her on this one. The kid's good, I saw it myself."
"And if half the stories we heard about The Spear are true, then we know that even their youngest children can surpass a lot of mages that people consider professionals." Jokra added.
"So... Are we to put blind trust in him? Assume that he holds the key to our salvation?" Indri's voice wasn't scornful, he was seriously inquiring if Kinfol had that much hope in one man. He knew the Enyo General was not an easy person, and that forming such close bonds with someone was an immense feat. If Kinfol, the usually reserved and impassable general, put that much trust in someone, then he'd be a fool not to consider them worthy of praise, but his worry lied elsewhere:
"You do realize that, even if you're right and by some miracle he escapes Rolmea, he'll have the entire continent on his tail. He'll be alone against The Five Lands as we'll be ordered to send our forces after him."
"I do not say I know what end his plan is going towards, nor if he has a way to evade the threat of Ylbunish seeking him out. But I never doubt his words. That man, ever since I met him four years ago, has always been full of resources, and always found a way to see his ideas through. Or, to be correct, he always made sure his ideas were ones that he could see through."
Indri nodded. A quiet settled between the Generals, sounds of conflicts raptured in the streets. The guards were looking for Talj.
"So, what's the plan?" Salzeka asked.
"I suggest we try to buy him as much time as we can." Kinfol spoke up. "Jaleed and Enyo have the best alchemist and magic researches of Ylbunish. Jokra, can you ask your country to seek the correlation between The Roots and Primordial Magic to find a way to cure our continent before it's beyond salvation?"
"Yep! Will do!" Jokra smiled with a drop of worry in her eyes. "I have to go back urgently anyway, I don't know if my uncle is okay."
"Send his majesty our best wishes." Indri commented. "As for me-"
A creek interrupted the Ramol General. The door to the Council Room slowly squeaked open, and in a deliberately slow stride, entered the final General of The Dali. The first and most powerful spy of The Darkness in Ylbunish, the one who betrayed the continent and -surprisingly- didn't suffer the toll of breaking his Oath.
"General Kroll." Kinfol said, no emotion in her voice nor face.
He wore a long black robe that matched his long well combed dark hair, covering his feet. His chest was adorned with a purple rose symbol, splitting in half in the middle to give way to its buttons. He was covered in a hooded long cloak, swaying behind him, its inside dark purple and trimmed with golden runes in its sleeves and hood. His tunic folded on his sides, giving a more imposing tenure to his figure, and showing more of the runes on the fabric. His black eyes eyed The Council in amusement.
"You've got a lot of nerves showing your ugly face here." Salzeka said coldly.
"Oh?" Kroll feigned offense. "Is that the greeting I get? I know I am late but I thought colleagues would forgive each other, no?" He chuckled and took a few steps towards them. "Let's see now... Anti-Magic protocol is on, the prisoner is out in the streets and I see no trace of conflicts on yourselves." He enumerated with a slow measured voice, indicating by his tone that he was stating obvious facts with natural calm. He offered them a tickled smile before continuing: "One could suspect you wanted him to get away."
Seeing the other generals tense up, he laughed quietly and raised his hand in a reassuring gesture:
"No need to be alarmed, my friends. I have no proof of it, and I frankly do not care if Talj Horsh was free. I daresay it suits me even." He added with an unsettling politeness, his amused expression not faltering, as if he was a great genius talking to small children and reassuring them that they won't get punished for their mistake.
"Why are you here, Kroll?" Indri asked, a menacing glare on his face.
"Oh, I was merely bored. I wanted to see the last of my foes but it seemed I missed him." He eyed the broken window. "I expected him to escape, whether you allowed it or not." His suave tone ticked them even more. He turned towards Salzeka and Kinfol:
"After all, you both saw his prowess when facing Her Majesty's favorite pet. She was quite furious to hear of its unexpected death." He shook his head slowly in an empathetic gesture. "The poor child, even though I warned her not to take extreme measures this early. Oh well, I can understand her impatience in a way."
He sat formally on Talj's chair and faced the glares of the Dali with a tranquil polite smile. "Should I avenge her anguish and kill you both right now? It is only fair, the creature's only task was to bring Talj into The Darkness, it is not his fault some insects got in its way."
The provocation was now too far. Salzeka brandished a hidden dagger from his sleeve and jumped on Kroll:
"HOW ABOUT WE SEE WHO IS THE INSECT!?" He screamed before slashing towards the traitor's throat.
Kroll calmly raised a finger and a black aura wrapped both the blade and the hand holding it. Salzeka felt like his hand was moving through a tank of water, and the current was just strong enough to prevent him from moving.
"Oh, my deepest apologies, Salzeka. I have completely forgotten you are too incredulous to take a jest."
Kroll waved his hand and his attacker leaped off his feet to crash onto the door leading towards the balcony, as if pushed by an invisible giant hand that swatted a bug.
"How can you cast spells with the anti-magic artefact on!?" Jokra asked in disbelief. "It shouldn't be possible!"
"Oh dear, you've no idea what's possible. Or have you not noticed I have broken the Great Oath I took and I'm still intact? You're merely children, playing with toys and watching life through a keyhole. It takes hundreds of years to open the door of that keyhole... Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself."
Kroll got up, elegantly adjusted his clothes and bowed his head in respect.
"It seems my time here must come to an end. I wish I could stay longer to chat peacefully, but duty calls, much like it will call for you very soon. I take it you now have a few clues to fight back against the corruption of The Clues?"
Kroll laughed lightly, enjoying the defying stares that pierced his face.
"Well, do not have much hope of exploiting those clues. You'll all be very busy very soon."
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Jokra had a rebellious anger in her voice.
"Because you will soon be ordered to personally make the preparations for Her Majesty's arrival, and you will follow that order without realizing it. And your forces will be sent to hunt Talj Horsh." Kroll turned towards the window, admiring the sight.
"They will fail." Surprisingly, it was Indri who spoke up. Kinfol didn't know if he said it merely to taunt Kroll, or if he actually meant it, but the Ramol general sternly looked at Kroll, to emphasize his statement. To his surprise, Kroll had another chuckle before replying:
"Why, of course they will. I am counting on that."
And the traitorous general of the Dali teleported, leaving behind a black mist that slowly dissipated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kroll materialized on top of a tall building, admiring the chaos below his feet.
"Hello there, mister Horsh." He whispered as he eyed a young man, with a dark blue long hooded cloak, short white hair brushed backward and brown eyes who violently rammed into a Dali guard and knocked down another with his weapon.
"My my, very impressive combat capabilities." Kroll's voice was sincere.
Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him.
"My lord." The voice of his wife called out. Kroll turned and smiled at the newcomer.
"Hello, Aarya. You're quite a long distance from where you're posted."
Aarya smiled back at her husband and walked up to him, eyeing the scene below them as she replied:
"I had to come get the job done personally. Sentri got himself killed."
"How about your other spy?" Kroll inquired.
"If one could get caught, then the other one compromised us. I had to kill her and see the mission through myself." Aarya casually replied, her smile unwavering.
"Are you sure you weren't merely looking for excuses to come here and see me?"
Kroll's wife giggled mischievously as he adjusted a strand of her hair behind her ear.
"I would deny that but we both know how fragile your ego can be." She replied with a scoff.
Aarya gazed at Talj, running through the streets of Rolmea.
"So, this is the star of the show?" She asked.
"Aye. I take it our gift for him is ready?"
"Of course."
"Good, very good."
Kroll looked up, and gazed at the forest, west of the city.
"Keep an eye on him, I will send word when to use it."
Aarya nodded and turned away, but before she teleported, her husband warned her:
"I have high expectations of you, Aarya. Do not disappoint me or Her Majesty."
"Of course, dear."
As they both teleported away, the gate of the Rolmea closed. The Dali continued their search for Talj, but in vain. They would run around, look in every building, question everyone. But hours would last before realizing that Talj Horsh and his mysterious companion were both far away.