The Mage

Early the next morning we resumed our journey. It took about another six hours. We only encountered a tainted once, but it was normal and relatively weak. Tyler killed it before the rest of us even moved. His swordsmanship was impressive. Much like Demi, there was no wasted movement and it was designed to kill. I know he was a soldier but since he’s also a noble, and noble swordsmanship is a bit more showy, I thought he would retain some of the noble aesthetic. But nope; if he ever was like that it was clearly long gone. Eventually we reached the opening to a large cave. “Here it is.” Tyler said, as he lead the way inside.

“Tyler, Tali.” A young man with sand colored hair, greeted. “I thought you were just meeting Tali’s sister? What’s with all the people?” He asked, narrowing his eye. I recognized him from last time. He was the man who lied to me in the village. I squinted my eyes back at him.

“This is my brother and his group,” Tyler pointed to Jer.

“What is this? A family reunion? Why’d you bring them here!”

“Relax, Trent. All of them are hunters. Don’t we need the help? In this case, family is the best option.” Demi’s face distorted at those words but he remained silent. Brandy seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing but Derek and Dave were clearly on edge. Jer...well his attention was completely focused on Tyler.

“Huh, fine. But they’re your responsibility Tyler. We made an exception for Tali’s sister, but this, I didn’t agree to.”

“I get it. I’ll keep an eye on them. There won’t be any problems.” The man nodded and we followed him to where a fairly large group of people were waiting. There were tents and all sorts of equipment. They basically made the cave into a small village. It was a pretty ingenious hideout. The people were observing us with suspicious gazes. Some out-right frowning. One man in particular had zoned in on Demi, practically staring a hole in his face. Demi raised an eyebrow.

“I might have been here for while, but there’s no way I don’t recognize such a high profile person.” The man with the staring problem said.” Demi just crossed his arms and stared back, as if to say ‘what of it’.

“Haaaaa”, Tyler ran his hand through his hair, looking exasperated. “This is his highness, Grande Duke Demetri Von Arstine.” There were gasps and wide eyes at the revelation.

“Why would you bring a member of the royal family here?!” One lady shrieked.

“That’s right!”

“What were you thinking!”

Hostile voices expressed their discontent. I mean, I get it, but I’m still ticked off. Besides, wasn’t it widely known that Demi didn’t get along with his family? Even I had heard of it. My scowl was getting more and more pronounced. My sister grabbed my hand, as if to reassure me, but my expression didn’t loosen.

“Enough.” Demi finally spoke. “This isn’t why I came here, Tyler. Where’s the mage?” Demi blurted out. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes and hanging mouths. Everyone except for me and Tyler, who had simultaneously smacked our own foreheads with our hands. Ahhh! Why can’t you be a little subtle Demi! Tyler told us in private for a reason! I sent him an accusing look but he just shamelessly shrugged his shoulders.

“Tyler! I can’t believe you told him that! How could you brazenly talk about our trump card without discussing with us first!” Trent had gotten in Tyler’s face and grabbed his collar. Meanwhile Tyler was looking past him and glaring at Demi.

“I’m sorry, but now you definitely won’t be able to leave this place.” A man swiftly came up to Demi and put a sword to his throat. He moved so fast I didn’t even see where he came from. Yet Demi, this crazy guy, just smirked like he found the whole thing amusing!

“Taya, step back.” I looked up at him but he just nodded like everything was fine. I went to the side to stand by Tali, nervously biting my nails. Tali put her arm around my shoulders but I was entirely focused on Demi.

In a flash, Demi kicked the man’s stomach, pushing him back. The guy caught himself and they alternated pivoting and crossing blades. Sparks flew whenever metal made contact with metal. It took maybe, five minutes, before Demi was kneeling on the man’s chest with his sword at his throat. His left foot pinned his opponents sword arm. Applause was heard from the back of the crowd.

“Bravo, bravo! The speed! The agility! The decisiveness! Simply marvelous!” The crowd parted and out came a boy, maybe five or six, with ash hair and shining gold eyes. “I’ve heard a lot about you, your highness, and you live up to that reputation.” The little boy smiled. “My name is Creed, the last mage of the Brantford family.”