Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Light that Brings Despair

A week went by since the news dropped. Hans had started his combat training under Terrence, who trained him on how to use a sword and a shield. Hans, being a werewolf, was told that he was more likely to learn more with a beast race, specifically the great cat people of the desert who fought with weapons along with their claws.

“However,” said the dark-skinned man. “That doesn’t mean you can’t use a sword and a shield, right? More techniques make a better warrior, or so my mentor once said.”

“How about magic?” asked Hans. “Can I also learn that?”

“One at a time, my friend. One at a time. And besides, I don’t think you got the potential yet. Give it time.”

Magic, as Ulster had researched, was always there. Every living being on Earth had the sensitivity to magic, but manipulating it was a different story. Ulster theorized that Ternor and Main took different paths in their cultural and technological progression, influenced by many factors which included technological breakthroughs, magical sensitivity, and even the diversity of the people.

Ternor’s pathway led it to an industrial revolution completely devoid of magic, while Main utilized magic to its greatest extent. This also affected the people, with people from Ternor having almost zero potential for mana manipulation, while the people of Main theoretically could since birth. Their interaction with pure magical creatures such as dragons increased this potential.

Hans was eager to learn magic, mostly because of how it helped him understand the people of Raptor Island and how it managed to protect the Blackjack through the stormy ocean. Even so, he could wait. For now, he should focus on his sword skills, one that was readily available for him.

Terry’s method of training Hans was something the werewolf did not expect. He only gave Hans the ‘easy part’, which involved swinging and defending, then went directly to combat training. It was clear that the human was testing Hans’ enhanced reflexes, not his sword skill, as he went all out on Hans. The werewolf could only dodge without ever fighting back. Worse, Terry clearly knew how to handle a beast person when he grabbed Hans’ tail and yanked it back. The pain distracted Hans enough for Terry to use the training sword’s pommel and club the werewolf’s head.

“That’s terribly inappropriate!” protested Hans. “And such a cheat, too!”

“When it works, it works,” said Terry. “Your enemy will use this tactic, especially when you’re so wide open you essentially act more like the beast you represent.”

“And that justify pulling my tail?”

“To be fair, you have sharp claws and teeth. Now, en garde!”

Hans ended up bruised all over when the training session was over. Still, he learned a lot about fighting, including a rather natural understanding of a feint and unorthodox fighting tactics. He did so by tricking Terry into stepping back when he ‘sloppily’ swung his sword. Terry realized too late that, when he dashed into counter, Hans already prepared to duck and grabbed Terry’s leg. Even if Terry happened to have a big physique, Hans’ werewolf strength was greater. He effortlessly tripped Terry, causing him to fall and grabbed his hands and opened his jaws. He stopped just close of biting the human’s head off.

“Impressive,” said Terry, undeterred. “But we would’ve joined together in death. Look down.”

Hans followed suit and saw that Terry’s training sword touched his abdomen. The werewolf sighed and helped Terry up.

“You know, you really should let me learn a bit about sword techniques first,” said Hans.

“I believe in improvisations, especially when it comes to unrestrained combat,” said Terry. “In war, you don’t get a fair fight. Also, in the heat of battle, and in frustrations, you will use everything in your disposal, just like what you did. You used your strength as a beast person and your ferocity, but you’re impatient. Beast people knows how to show restraint. That’s what makes you more a person than a beast.”

“Do they ever lose themselves?”

“As in succumbing to their primal instinct? Humans and elves do, so why shouldn’t they? Then again, that’s what makes you different from beasts. Remember this well, Hans.”

“I…never thought I heard such wisdom from a human, of all people. I mean…I lived in a land where people feared my kind.”

“And I got a lion man as a mentor, so I am scared of him, too,” said Terry with a chuckle. “Oh, and that tail grab I did? He taught me. Not effective if the feline is bigger, but cheetahs fall for this trick every time.”

Hans wasn’t sure what he meant by ‘cheetah’, but he simply nodded, understanding that he meant a smaller beast person with a grabbable tail.

The werewolf was sore all over, with a couple of bruises and cuts. He never thought combat training would be that intensive. He thought climbing the treacherous mountain of Raptor Island, with the addition of slippery ice surface, was bad enough. He never thought being overwhelmed by a veteran warrior was even worse, considering that he was being hit by a blunt object that, while not enough to break bones, still hurt.

Limping his way back to the embassy, Hans looked towards the western horizon. The sun was setting, turning the sky orange red with streaks of blue blended seamlessly. Hans wondered what his sister was doing, along with what his home continent was facing. The beauty of the open sea and the sunset belied the situation at home. The hellish incursion, as the refugees called it, already begun, and he could not do anything to stop it.

The beating he took during his training was enough to convince him that going back would mean certain death. For the first time in his life, he found how the situation was reversed. Instead of the humans fearing him, a werewolf, he feared the demons and the hellhounds that came out of hell.

“Looks calming, is it not?” said a familiar voice.

Hans turned to his right to see Azureath already sitting near him. He wasn’t sure how the big, azure blue dragon could approach him without him knowing, but he dismissed it as being exhausted.

“I do wish I know what to do now,” said Hans with a sigh. “I want to find my sister and help Tragoria, even if I don’t owe them anything. But I don’t want to be killed upon landing. You understand the dilemma, right?”

“These things take time, little wolf,” said Azureath with a growl. “Although you do have a certain advantage for being a beast person.”

“Who spent most of his time in human form, at least back home.” Hans sighed once more. “Looking at the sea and longing for one is not going to change anything, so…would you object if we have a night flight?”

“Inland? I wouldn’t,” said Azureath as she opened her wings. “Things must have changed a lot, and I haven’t had a chance to see most beyond this quaint town. I do think having a clean air above this populated town helps make mind clearer.”

“Is that what you usually think when you fly?”

“I wouldn’t tell you what I feel if I don’t know, would I? Hop on, Hans.”

Hans did so. Azureath had been wearing a backpack-style saddle she usually wore ever since the embassy requested for one. It was comfortable enough for her and with almost no buckles and straps except the ones slung over her shoulder, which she could easily put on with her dexterous front legs and hand-like claws, and one single leather strap crossing her chest. That, and the leather pants Hans wore with Terry’s suggestion, made riding a dragon that much more comfortable.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

After Hans strapped himself in and held onto the handle on the saddle, he told Azureath he was ready. The azure dragon promptly lifted off. The sensation of flying never got old for Hans. In fact, he started to enjoy it, and Azureath could appreciate it. Only the black-furred werewolf frequently flew with her, which unofficially made them a team.

Flying through the sky as it slowly turned to night felt different compared to flying in daylight. The most prominent difference was the light of cities, towns, and villages lit up to make the night less dark. From the sky, it looked so magical. So different. Hans was mesmerized by this when he did this before, and he still was.

Soon, Hans found out that they started to leave the lush green landscape into the arid desert of the Central Region. He never went this far before. The furthest he ever got was to the city of Xici, the seat of the Burunel kingdom that also included Pol Hain. Unlike the heavily populated Western Region, there weren’t many big settlements in the Central Region except the occasional oases. They were patches of fertile land usually around water sources in the desert. He found one that interested him, considering that the water seemed to glow.

“Terry never told me they glow, too,” remarked Hans.

“Not unless it’s brimming with magic, which it does,” said Azureath. “Intriguing.”

“Shall we have a look, then?”

“A sound suggestion.”

They soon landed on the oasis, with Hans quickly walking towards the lake and saw how it glowed. It was so beautiful, and a sight to behold. No lake he knew could do so without the aid of a clear night sky and a big full moon reflected on its surface. In fact, the glow, which encompassed the small body of water, did not seem to be natural. It looked more like an artificial illumination from the bottom of the water.

“This oasis,” said Azureath. “It’s brimming with magic.”

“From the lake?” asked Hans.

“Yes, but it’s not natural. The mana pressure is high, clearly used to sustain the land.” The dragon then had an epiphany. “Ah. I see. This isn’t just any oasis, it’s—”

“Ah!”

Hans heard the exclamation, but he did not have time to react before he felt a particularly strong kick that sent him flying a couple of feet into the desert sand. It wasn’t enough to knock the werewolf out, but the force of the kick, and the pain caused by it, was enough for him to quickly assume a defensive stance. The kick, however, felt familiar, somehow.

“Oh, shit!” exclaimed a female voice. “I didn’t mean to do that!”

“That was quite uncalled for, little one,” said Azureath calmly. “And in front of a dragon, too.”

“To be fair, you’re trespassing.” The person then walked towards Hans and checked on him. The kick was strong enough to cause him to gasp, as it hit his chest and directly into his lungs. It knocked the air out of him. Surprisingly, even with such kicking force, he did not feel any bones breaking. It was as if the attack hit his lungs directly.

“What…did you do to me? That kick….” Hans was still straining from the pain, combined with his body being exhausted.

“Mana-enhanced kick. You’re lucky I wasn’t too prepared. Otherwise, you’ll get more than a bruised chest.”

“W-who…are you?”

“The owner of the oasis. It’s my home. Come on, let’s get you in the mana field. It might help the healing somewhat.”

Hans slowly returned to his senses and, as he was helped up by the person, he soon noticed her features, helped by the lake’s illumination.

She had fur all over her body, which was colored light brown with dark streaks. They were very visible on her face. Her face was not human, but caprine. She had the head of a goat, complete with the snout and floppy ears. Her ears had several sets of earrings pierced to it. Her eyes were light blue and were clearly not human. Her pupils were horizontal and oval-shaped, not sharp and vertical like a reptile’s. All of which pointed to the fact that she was a goat with human body proportions. However, at a glance, Hans felt the goat person’s appearance seemed off, especially compared to her feral counterpart.

Living near a farm all the time (and also due to his daydream of having a delicious, cooked lamb meat) made him able to describe the appearance of a goat perfectly. This goat person, despite of having a general appearance of a goat, was not completely caprine in appearance. It was clear that she had sharp, carnivorous teeth akin to a wolf’s teeth. Her tail was long with fur tufts at its end, similar to a cow. Her hands had claws like a werewolf’s. All that, combined with her hooves, her mostly caprine face, her long, curved horns, and blue caprine eyes made her appearance only resemble a goat, giving her a chimeric appearance.

Her body, compared to Hans, was small and nimble. Hans wondered what could provide the strength of her kick with such a small body, especially since Hans was in his werewolf form. Looking down, he found the answer of the familiar feeling of the kick. Her legs, like most beast races, were digitigrades. Befitting her appearance, she had cloven hooves.

“I’m terribly sorry about earlier,” she said. “But not only you’re trespassing, you stepped on my necklace.”

She held up a broken piece and sighed. “And I just fixed the chains, too,” she said, disappointed.

“Uh, pardon me,” said Hans. The healing property of the mana field started to make his body fresh again. “But…what should I call your kind?”

“She is a satyr, little one,” said Azureath. “The caprine beast race of the Western forests. I never met a tribe before, let alone one living so far out of her domain. Are you sure you didn’t just claim this oasis for your own?”

“It’s mine, alright. I excavated the water spring and accelerated the fertility and natural growth of the area. Druidic magic is useful that way,” she said.

“Still far from any forest where you draw your magic.”

“I, uh…have my own reasons. It’s not like there aren’t desert satyrs around, right? And besides, there aren’t anyone that’ll disturb me. Well, except you two happen to be interested. Did the concealment magic fail?”

The satyr sighed, looked at the two, and said, “I should’ve just ask you to leave, but I can’t, not after I kicked you, wolfy.”

“W-wolfy?” said Hans, taken aback by the nickname.

“What else should I describe you? Still, I am not aware of a wolf person before. You from somewhere up north?”

“Well….” Hans rubbed the back of his head. “Maybe it’s easier if I tell you.”

It was the first time Hans ever tried to explain who he was and where he came from. The people of Pol Hain simply accepted that they came from a different continent on a steamship running with coal. Any explanations about who they were, and the exchange of knowledge fell to Ulster, the only academic on the ship. Hans was more comfortable doing jobs in the embassy than explaining stuff, mostly because as a villager, his knowledge was limited to the library in Sidve, which wasn’t big compared to the one in Pol Hain.

The werewolf tried to explain things the best he could, including the part where he called himself a Lycan, short for lycanthrope. He even showed his human form and his feral form to the satyr, who looked on with awe.

“That’s a far and risky travel you went through,” she said after Hans finished his explanation. “And to think this happened almost three months ago? Well, considering how satyrs are already seclusive by nature, it wasn’t surprising that I just heard about this.”

“Can’t even get through the storm without her help,” said Hans while pointing at Azureath. “She deserves most of the credits for getting us here safely.”

“I…see.”

“So, how about you? Maybe we can start with a proper introduction. I’m Hans Rezmirn. She is Azureath.”

“I’m Elyse,” said the satyr with a smile on her caprine face. “Elyse of the Bracken Woods.”

“So, Bracken Woods is your home?”

“It sure is. But, uh…I suggest you don’t go there, at least for now. Folk’re a bit on the edge right now. Maybe after we patch things up a bit.”

“Why? Is there a feud?”

“Sorta,” she said. “Not that you’d understand, being outsiders. It’s just—”

Before she could finish her sentence, her head perked up. Azureath did, too, almost at the same time. Hans wasn’t sure why they did so until his shadow lengthened from an artificial light. At that point, it was dusk, and the only light source was the glowing water. Hans turned around…and he saw something magnificent.

Not magnificent. Horrifying. Utterly horrifying.

A tall pillar of light burst out from the west, at the direction from Pol Hain. It would be very mesmerizing to look at, and was a sight to behold, if it wasn’t for Azureath’s and Elyse’s reaction. Hans could see how the dragon’s expression turned aggressive, and how the satyr looked shocked.

“W-what the hell is that light?” asked Elyse. “It…feels so…”

Azureath was not mesmerized. Rather, she quickly snapped at Hans and said, “We must get back to Pol Hain! That light came from the town!”

“How the hell do you know that?!”

“Magical creature, greater sensitivity to mana,” she explained, rhetorically. “And that light has a destructive quality that is corrupting the air around it!”

Realizing how dire the situation was, especially since Azureath’s tone changed from her usual calm demeanor, Hans did not delay and quickly jumped onto the dragon’s back. Just as she opened her wings and prepared herself to fly, Elyse exclaimed, “H-hey, wait! Take me with you!”

“You’re safer in this oasis of yours than going to the center of the corruption,” reasoned Azureath.

“I don’t want to be let alone while that…thing is out there! I'll explain later, but right now I don’t want to be left alone! Please!”

Hans, sympathetic, especially when he noticed that Elyse was shaking, offered his hand, which Elyse grabbed without hesitation. The werewolf pulled her up on the saddle just as Azureath beat her wings and quickly gained attitude, flying towards Pol Hain.

Something was clearly wrong, and Hans, while he was not able to understand the severity of the situation, found that he felt the same sense of dread that his two companions were experiencing. That light, while magnificent, hid something dangerous.

And that danger would change the continent of Main, and the fates of those inhabiting it, forever.