Chapter 25

Fourteen Messages has been received.

Her tablet gave her a notification. ‘huh’, Amy thought, for weeks Jeremy had been unreachable, then all of a sudden, he received all of the messages.

“Where is he?”, Amy muttered to herself.

“Amy Daijobu ka?”, Toshiharu said to her, with concern in his eyes.

If he were in Vietnam, he would be approached by several talent agencies due to his extravagantly good looks. Short naturally perfect black hair, warm eyes with double eyelids, beautiful white teeth and a firm jaw. It was a rare sight for a Shinsai dragon to not be concealed within the depths of their protective armor.

Fractures, serious injuries, separated limbs, ruptured internal organs, blood loss, as she grew and her level advanced Amy’s flesh would strengthen; and such injuries would become rare. Her body fortified by the magic coursing through her veins and arteries. Already she had surpassed human fragility. The injuries that her party members sustained would be enough to kill three or four humans. But as they absorbed the magic from the creatures they killed, their vitality grew, and they became sturdier. That with the magic of the elves which strengthened life, was the reason everyone was still alive, and awake. What if her family had to face such devastating creatures that had just attacked her; their lives would end without them knowing it. It sent a chill down her spine. What if she accidentally hurt her younger baby sister during one of their usual spats. She understood why Liam and Ian pushed her to come to Draegoch, and to the tower of Arbell.

“I’m fine”, Amy replied as she suppressed her thoughts and focused her attention

Her injuries were light compared to her companion’s.

“That’s good to hear ojou-chan”, Toshiharu continued as he stood in the infirmary back in the elven town of Dylandil.

Julius walked in, his blazing red armor fresh with the blood of his enemies, clinking and clanking, uttering secrets in an unknown tongue amongst itself as he moved, “Everyone ok?”, he asked.

The party were laying in beds across from each other. Amy clutched her blanket; it was very much like the bed she lay in when she was first attacked; it seemed like ages ago.

“We’re here to determine the rewards for protecting this village, and Arbellon from a vampire. Never before has such a creature wandered so close to the center of the Ddyllewech domain. It is alarming in many ways. As this danger was well above the threshold for beginner raiders. We have decided to give you a bonus reward”, Julius continued as he exchanged glances with Liam.

“Five hundred points is needed to advance to the next round in the raid”, Liam picked up the baton from Julius and continued, “We have decided to give this party a reward of one hundred merits for outstanding bravery, resourcefulness, and determination, in a surprise encounter”, when he said determination, his eyes focused on Amy, making her feel embarrassed; Liam gestured towards the elven mayor, “Likewise as the originator of the quest, the village of Dylandil has rewarded you with one hundred and fifty points. Two hundred and fifty merits, an unprecedented amount especially on the second day of this one-month long round”.

The party’s mouth collectively opened, and their souls bundled up together upon leaving their gaping mouths. Two hundred and fifty merits on the second day.

“We’re gonna be superstars!”, Satriana said excitedly.

Endorsement deals, advertising, game cameos. After this incident, this struggle, the party would be treated as if they were a band of legendary heroes; and they would become incredibly wealthy.

“We’ll give you all a couple of hours to lounge, then we’ll come back later. We have more things to discuss”, Liam finished before the trio left hurriedly to discuss urgent matters.

As Amy sat there digesting the events and the outcome, she reached her hand out, and her tablet floated into her grip, responding to her will. They all exchanged quiet glances, and eagerly accessed the draegun and earther social media platform ‘Kaito’ to see the aftershocks of their actions.

Amy viewed footage of her fighting off the vampire. Even though she became more accustomed to her new life here, Amy still was a shy soul. But there was nothing she could do, her image was plastered over the Kaito app. She had signed a contract allowing footage to be taken, as the raid was a commercialized event. The raid broadcast streaming on Kaito maintained a steady, staggering thirty million views. At first, she didn’t want to watch, but then she saw good movements, and she saw bad movements. She was mesmerized as she thought, ‘that was really me’. She studied in hopes of improving.

She watched herself dart around the field, as the magic drones the raid guild had setup, tried to follow her eager to get that money shot. She was using a teleport spell to avoid being hit, it was low level as she had just learned it, but she had mana to spare and spammed it. Then unfortunately she slipped as she teleported yet again. Amy put her hand to her shoulder as this was when she lost the use of her left arm. It was a phantom pain as her body had already been restored. A loud crack, a loud boom, and a red energy pierced her shoulder. Amy shuddered; she had just barely avoided death.

Why was she fighting? She should be trying to preserve herself. She had a suspicion she would be targeted and Liam agreed. Was she forced? No, she had decided to move instead of indulging in the comforts of idleness. After her dream, and after every encounter with the enemy, her heart could not endure stillness. Every time she had stopped, and pondered about quitting; those frightful scenes resurfaced. Visions in the darkness of her own terror. The boiling mixture of her worry for others, and worry for her own well-being mingled together, and what was left was a fear of re-viewing the same horrific events of people being slaughtered before her.

She justified her actions to soothe her hesitation; if Arbell, and the other dragon towers fell or were overrun. Earth, her planet, that was right next door, these same horrid hoards would arrive on her family’s door step. It was a determination born out of a compulsion, an intense aversion to the trauma that she had glimpsed before. Facing this problem was a way to run from what she truly feared: to see such a sight again. Her heart was desperate to not witness revisit it.

Amy looked up from her tablet at her friends, they were all equally as quiet. Digesting their own sudden look at death.

“That was close”, Shatira said, voicing the feelings that everyone now was experiencing.

A few hours later, Liam, Julius, and Toshiharu shuffled back into the room. The party gazed at them with expectant eyes. Liam remained silent for a few moments; his blue eyes moved to each of his precious students. Was it wise to push more, to find out more about the wand; to push Amy ever nearer to her enemy? The more they learned, the more perilous her path became. He looked at Amy with a complex expression, watching her eyes that were afraid, yet still trustful, her faith being put in her teacher, her mentor. There was a desperation there as well; it was a look of somebody trying to escape their own feelings, running from some trauma.

“This raid, this party can no longer be considered a competition”, Liam began, his voice ominous, his tone serious, devoid of mirth and the liveliness it had once had, “There are things at work here that we do not understand, for a reason we do not know. It’s like trying to fit a puzzle together in the cold darkness”.

Liam paused as the expressions of the party became somber.

“We suspect there is a deep connection betwixt the wand and the enemy”, Liam’s gaze stopped at Amy, “They are surely after you. I thought being in Draegoch not Earth, they would not target you. It was complacency, my complacency that put you in danger…”.

“No, I chose this”, Amy replied resolutely, interrupting Liam.

Liam could tell she was not wishing to burden Liam with worries about her. She was a good lass. ‘Ahhh, she was running from another problem by plunging into this one. Exchanging the hardships of one reality for another’, Liam thought. She needed to be cautious, and he needed to be there to make sure she did not go to deep, and overwhelm herself and die. Maybe he was being too soft by enabling her, or maybe his draconic instincts were too reckless. It was something he had witnessed before in some earthers like Shatira. It was a deadly compulsion for some he had known in the past.

“‘A shadow of a thought of darkness will grow, and soon overflow in these lands’, was what the vampire said, as he tried to kill me”, Amy uttered distractedly.

Liam noticed Glyn’s eyes widened, his did too. It was phrase he had before but remembered not from where it was written, or uttered.

Then Liam saw a fire of purpose light in her eyes; then he felt a ripple in the air. Like a warm breeze coming from the wand, or from Amy he could not tell, as she tightened her grip on it. Amy’s hesitant soft voice now contained clarity and strength.

“I have a feeling that, they will come to me regardless of where I am.”, Amy spoke with a clear voice, all timidness gone, “I want to continue the raid! Although I do not know what we should do”.

Amy’s heart was a swirl with emotions. Anger, fear, compassion, escape, they all sublimated into a drive to move forward. She felt the influence of the wand fueling the fire burning in her soul. She could fight here, or fight on earth, or in Arbellon. She tightened her slender fingers around the shaft of the wand, as the symphony, the typhoon raged in her bosom.

Finally, another voice spoke: it was Minerva, stalwart and stubborn as ever, “Nowhere she is going without me!”.

“That’s right!”, Satriana said, her luscious voice filled the infirmary enthusiasm.

A soothing crystal-like voice joined, as Veve said, “I will try to be of help”.

Osgur grunted as he nodded his head leaning on the frame of the bed he was occupying.

“I’ll show my father what dignity really is!”, Lorenn exclaimed.

“Can’t let Amy go wandering alone”, Sean said with a wry look.

“She’s my little sister after all. We’ll figure it out together!”, Glyn said as she was ogling over Liam.

Shatira shrugged.

“Well then I guess the troop is gathered”, Julius said with a freshly lit cigar dancing on his lips as he talked around it, a rueful expression on his face as his arms were crossed leaning against the wall, “Raid, rookie competition, pfftt! I have a better use for you all”.

Julius pushed off the wall, gestured with a pushing motion of his right arm as he held a tablet in his left.

‘Tring’

A notification popped into her vision, she looked at it to open it, and another quest filled up her vision as she read the contents thereof. The words of her comrades soothing her anxious heart.

Jeremy was deep in thought, his room comfortable and cozy. The flowers emitted a light from the jar that hung from the ceiling of this earthen room, filling the air with a lively warmth. What was his next step? What questions would he ask? What answers would he receive? He had an hour until his appointed time with the elders overseeing this enclave of life amidst a threatening environ. He tried to pull his thoughts together, as he reviewed and readied himself to ask questions that had been weighing on his mind. Was there an organization of some sort after him? If so, should he confront them, or hide like the dragons. It was likely they would find him again as time progressed. Rage filled his heart as he knew there was definitely a connection between the marauding monsters and the attack on Amy. He was stuck here, but maybe he could find the source of the forces that might be after her and him. He pondered what kind of fate had brought on such bizarre circumstances, so far removed from his everyday life on earth without mythical creatures, without magic. What thread was woven between him, Amy and the wand he found, when he first encountered this new reality? He could only find out more, quicker, if he marched forward rather than running. A sense of urgency began to fill his heart. He would unravel this whole ball of yarn and burn it all down just to keep Amy safe.

At the same time as Amy and Jeremy resolved themselves, Ian had touched down in Venice. The ocean air hit his face as he exited his private plane, his dark brown wavy hair and smoke from his cigarette danced in front of his sunglasses in the tumult of the airplane engines. The cogs in his brain were churning as the wind was roaring. Ian had received all the reports of the incidents in Arbell. He was bent on getting information; his source: the prisoners recently come under his guild’s supervision; the quartet that attacked Amy’s party on the outskirts of the Ddyllewech capital. He could barely control his wrath at the thugs that had threatened Amy. The dark sunglasses, and his dark expression made even his fellow clandragons hesitant to approach him. As a fan he could not let such threats, such perils persist. He would support her in his own way. He was determined to figure out the connection between the dark wheel and this incident, and any incidents prior. There were questions that needed answers. And so, Ian strode strongly with purpose and conviction.