Vahn felt his rider’s pulse quicken as an arrow flew past them, scraping his arm. “Almost there sir, hold tight!” The squirrel-cat said.
Mez grunted his response and bent down so that his head rested atop Vahn’s.
The two had met during Mez’s training in the Night Squad. Mez had been tasked with spending one night in the wilderness and surviving. When he’d been out there, Vahn had found him and protected him.
Now, they were on the run.
Another arrow grazed them. “Just a little longer Mez!”
The arrow had a red ribbon tied to it, symbolizing it as the work of the Red Squad.
Another arrow, this time from the Grey Squad.
Vahn pushed his limits, running faster. Almost there...
What had they done to be hunted by the Squads? Only stolen their trump card: a sword buried deep within the temple.
Mez and Vahn had entered the temple with one goal in mind: Find the Bane.
They had descended the temple’s 67 floors before finding the sword. A magnificent bone whittled to a point on one hand, a handle imbedded with gemstones. Supposedly it had the ability to wipe out a large city.
Another arrow. This time, black.
“It’s the Night Squad, Vahn!” Mez said urgently.
“I know!” Vahn snapped back, “Why don’t you try running, huh?”
The Bane of all Existence was currently in Mez’s hand. They could defend themselves with it if needed however...
They’d taken the Bane so that others couldn’t use it for harmful means, so no way were they going to use it offensively.
Vahn remembered it clearly, the day they’d overheard the Night Squad’s leader talking to the King.
“We’ll use it to destroy our enemies,” the Night Squad’s leader had said, “No survivors! We’ll dominate the world!”
However scary that was, the King’s answer was scarier.
“Of course we will! You just need someone to retrieve it first. And if I don’t get the Bane, YOU will be held responsible.”
Vahn closed his eyes as he ran. He tried to recall something from long ago... He hoped he’d never need it again, yet here he was.
“Disperse O’ fae of kind, and allow entry to your allies in their time of need!”
A portal opened in front of Vahn. “Duck!” He said and Mez grabbed his fur tightly just as they leapt through the portal.
They landed on the other side, skidding through the grass. The Bane flew from Mez’s hand and hit a tree, sticking itself tightly into the bark.
Mez stood up and rubbed his head. Vahn nudged him with his tail. “Grab the Bane,” Vahn said.
“Mmm... O-kay,” Mez grumbled, reaching for the handle.
“Hurry!” Vahn hissed, “before someone realizes we’re here!”
“I’m trying!” Mez snapped back. He was now gripping it with two hands and tugging back on it tightly. He let out a grunt and put all his weight into it, pushing against the tree. “It’s stuck.”
“What are we going to do?”
He hadn’t planned to get so lost in the words...
...yet he couldn’t put the book down.
It was titled ‘Warning: Don’t Read’, so really, who could resist?
As Sav read the book he really couldn’t understand why it shouldn’t be read. All it was was a bunch of ‘magical spells’, obviously fake.
As a joke he read one aloud. “Spirit come forth, and become one with me.”
A gust of wind swept through the attic. An almost tornado formed in front of Sav, glowing with a blue light. When the wind calmed a wolf stood in its place.
Sky blue fur and piercing ice-like eyes. Two saber teeth stuck out of it’s jaw. “Name me.”
The deep voice was inside Sav’s head, almost echoing.
“Wh-“ he cut himself off and looked back into the book: a spell to summon a spirit, specifically one to search out danger.
He’d summoned a spirit.
“Um... Name you?”
The wolf nodded. “Or I’ll kill you. Whichever comes first.”
“Eh!? Then I’ll call you... I know! I’ll call you Sniff!”
The wolf deadpanned. “Sniff?”
“Because you search out danger, you sniff out danger...”
“It’s a pun?” Sniff clarified, “I cannot BELIEVE I got stuck with someone as immature as you.”
“Hey! I take offense at that.”
“You should,” Sniff said, “Now what do I call you?”
“Name’s Sav. Hey do you have any magical powers?”
“THAT’S what you care about?! You could have just gotten magic from the book! Page 43 has a list of basic spells, start there.”
“Meh? Well I didn’t think the spell would actually WORK! I was reading it out as a joke!”
“Terrible joke,” Sniff said with an eye roll.
“You know what? Magic isn’t real. I’m probably hallucinating.”
“I assure you, I am very real.”
“NOPE. Impossible!”
“To prove it to you I’ll teach you how to cast a spell!”
Sav stared Sniff in the eye. “Fine then. Teach me.”
“The words for the spell are ‘O’ Crazed flare, bless this earth with your graced presence’. Though with enough practice it can be shortened to ‘Crazed Flare’.”
“Okay,” Sav said, rubbing his hands together, “O’ Crazed flare-“
Sav was cut off as a flame appeared in front of him. He jolted back and let out a yelp.
“It worked!?” Sav exclaimed. He inspected the flame, which was hovering about a foot off the ground. He reached out to touch it but Sniff stoped him.
“Wouldn’t do that if I were you. Even if you created it it’s still fire.”
“Right,” Sav said, pulling his hand away.
“So what now? I mean, I can’t just leave it here.”
“It’ll burn out eventually,” Sniff said, “but if you’re in a hurry simply say the spell, ‘O’ Crazed flare your time is gone.’”
“O’ Crazed flare your time is gone.”
The flame went out and Sav smiled. “I’m going to try it again,” he said.
“Wait-“
“Crazed flare!”
Suddenly the ground burst into flame. “SAV I TOLD YOU TO WAIT!”
Sync pulled up the hood to his cloak, covering the mark on the back of his neck. An Eagle tattoo, marking him as a aerial magic user.
He was a stigma- a singularity.
Most people thought that aerial magic was entirely useless.
Well they were entirely wrong.
Sync walked over to his window, slowly opening it so that it didn’t make a sound. He climbed up on the sill and leaned out before allowing himself to fall.
The wind picked up a bit and Sync felt light. Large brown feathered wings spread from his back, hidden against the night sky. The wind carried him carefully over the city, eventually landing on the roof of a skyscraper.
New Risha City was beautiful at night. One of the largest cities in the country.
Sync let out a low whistle.
A pigeon flew to his outstretched arm, perching on his hand like a falcon. “Hello,” Sync said, “How are things?”
The pigeon whistled back. Sync had deciphered the pigeon’s language a while ago. It was another hidden talent of aerial magic users- the ability to communicate with birds.
Most Aerial Magic users could only manipulate the wind.
Sync was a special case. He whistled something back to the bird before taking to the skies once more. In the sky he was in a state of euphoria- always feeling as though he could touch the stars.
Nights like this were wonderful, with the stars at their finest. The pigeon flew along next to him, until the pigeon took a sudden dive, and Sync followed suit. They landed atop a tall office building and the pigeon gave a short whistle.
“Here!” It chirped in it’s language.
“Well done,” Sync responded before dropping down in front of the building- South Risha bank. He pushed open the doors and upon seeing multiple people with guns he commanded, “Put down the weapons!”
The thing about Sync was that even if he tried to be a superhero, he was not the most threatening person.
One of the robbers let out a chuckle. “Or what? You’ll peck us to death?” She laughed, “stupid pigeon.”
“Pigeon is such a stupid name. I wish you’d all just drop it,” Sync said before lifting his hands and sweeping a gust of wind across the room, throwing the weapons from their hands.
The woman who had scoffed before had her face twisted to that of pure rage. She pulled a knife from her pocket and charged.
The hero simply dodged, grabbing her wrist and knocking the knife from her hand with a twist. He kicked the back of her knee, throwing her to the ground.
Sync let out a low whistle and a flock of pigeons came crashing through the window, attacking the remaining robbers and Sync let out a short laugh.
“FEAR THE PIGEONS!” Sync yelled before running back onto the street and flying off, pulling out his phone and calling the police.
“911 what’s your emergency?”
“South Risha Bank,” he said.
“Pigeons.”
