Talos

The morning sun glowed through the window. Clings sounded from outside and loud snoring rattled the bed frame. Talos was the third to wake up in the room. The bunk beds on the other side of the room were empty, the clinging sound coming from an early morning sparring matching between the two who slept there. Ansel’s snores shook the wooden bed, acting as Talos’ alarm clock.

He rose and climbed down, making sure to be as quiet as possible. He opened a closet to the left of the room’s entrance, where he grabbed the uniform he’d worn yesterday. A dark green jacket covering a white collared shirt and black pants, mirroring the colors on the school’s sigil.

Readying himself in the mirror, he walked out of the bathroom and looked at the sleeping Ansel. A sadness crossed his face, remembering the news he’d heard the day before. Talos put on his dress boots and headed out.

“Still need more hip movement!”

“I’m trying something new! Watch this!”

The small front yard they had was littered with holes and unevenly cut grass. Kaito stepped on the grass and swung his sword horizontally using only the strength in his arms, twisting like a spring. Eira was mid attack, quickly bringing the front of her sword in front of her to parry the swing as she took a step back. Following through with the slash, Kaito quickly turned his body with the sword, raising high at an incredible speed, bringing it down just as fast. Eira was off balance and instead used it to make her body fall just to the left of the swing. The sword hit the dirt ground with great force, making another hole in the yard.

“That was cool, but it does nothing if you can’t readjust.”

Eira said, swiftly sliding behind the now unarmed Kaito and smacking him in the back with the flat part of the sword like it was a baseball bat. He stood firm, like Eira had just hit a wall.

“Ow! Was that really necessary!”

He turned to look at her, and saw Talos looking at them as he walked.

“Oh hey! Have a good day!” he said, waiving his hand.

“We’re going to the inn later! So hurry back!” yelled Eira as she turned to meet his eyes.

“Will do!” He yelled, waving at the two training partners. Walking into the rocky street, he headed off to the inner gate, to the Elven Academy of Magic.

—--

“Excuse me.”

A tall man walked into the bakery, having relieved his stress out in the slums, he began his search once more.

“Ah good morning sir, my name is Mari. Is there anything specific I can get you?”

“I’ll take a loaf.”

“Coming right up!”

A few minutes passed as Mari attended to other guests walking in and out, they looked for flour, eggs, and other bread related ingredients pleading and almost outright begging for them. Mari explained to them, using the same sentence she used everyday, that she couldn’t give out the ingredients, only the bread. She pointed them to the market up the street, almost as if it was a routine for her.

“Here you are sir.”

“Thank you. You get busy around here?”

“Yea you could say that, those people were from the slums.”

“They come everyday?”

“Yeah, luckily they’re morality is still strong so they don’t pose a danger.”

“Still you should be more careful.”

The man in white gave a forced smile as he walked up to her, his bigger body blocking out the sun peering in from the windows. As he took the bag from her his face became serious while concurrently lowering his voice.

“By the way… I’m looking for a boy.”

His eyes stared at Mari, stabbing her with an unbreaking gaze. She felt a cold shiver flow down her spine. The room darkened for a moment, a cloud traveling through.

“A…boy?”

“Yes. He travels with an adventuring party…going by the name Spineful Party. Heard of them?”

“I- I can’t say I have.”

He leaned closer, bending down slightly.

“Are you lying to me?”

“N-no. The only adventuring party I’m acquainted with is the…Dungeon Party.”

At that moment the shop's manager appeared from the door behind the counter. He had a big belly and thick arms matching the neck he walked around with. He was holding a wooden roller, having been using it for the bread.

“Is there something wrong?” The manager said, tapping the roller on his shoulder as his bearded face with pointed ears looked at them.

The man in white took a step back, making sure he seemed as natural as possible.

“No, nothing wrong. Just asking for directions. Thank you for the bread.”

The man turned his back, revealing a familiar symbol. It was from one of the military units of the humans, one that neither Mari nor the manager could exactly figure out, having lived in the elven nation of Gyoral for so long. A tilted crown hanging from a sword.

—--

Ansel, Eira and Kaito opened the doors to the Kamar’s guild, seeing the same receptionist they saw everyday looking a bit more worried than usual.

“What’s the matter Lin?”

Ansel walked over to the silver haired elf, her pointy ears drooping ever so slightly. Looking up in surprise she sighed in relief when she saw them.

“Oh hey. I mean… Welcome to the adventurer’s guild, how can I assist you?”

“You could tell us what’s wrong.” Eira said coldly.

“Well actually…Rachel was threatened yesterday.”

“““What!?”’”

“Yea…actually,” Lin leaned in close, trying to keep the conversation between her and the adventuring party only.

“I think someone might be looking for Talos.”

“What?” Kaito answered.

“Yeah, it was the guy that attacked Rachel, they say we seemed desperate and looked really annoyed. Talos didn’t prank him or anything right?”

“No he goes to the academy, they’d kick him out for stuff like that.”

Turning to look at Eira and Ansel Kaito saw nothing but worry. Ansel refocused on Lin and continued the conversation in a whisper.

“What was the man wearing?”

“A white robe, and they say he had a sort of crest or symbol on the back of it. A crown and a sword.”

“What could that mean?” Kaito asked.

Eira looked at Ansel, her eyes wide and light in them disappearing as a cloud passed under the sun, darkening the room suddenly. Her mouth shook ever so slightly as she let the words stuck in her throat quietly flow out.

“The Order.”

They ran out of the guild, jogging to the academy. They were in session, but that wouldn’t stop them from getting to him.

“Wait wait wait.”

Kaito paused, slowing his pace and bringing his left hand to his chin.

“What do you mean wait?! The Order’s here for Talos, we have to leave!”

“We can’t afford to waste any time.”

“But he’s at the Academy, if anything he’s the safest over there.”

““...””

“Let’s just think about what to do once he’s out.”

Kaito convinced them to calm down, taking them for a walk down the main street. The three walked in silence, listening to the bustling street as many elves went about their days just like any other. That is until Eira broke the silence.

“I saw him.”

“Huh?” Kaito glanced at her confused.

“The guy in white, looking for Talos, I saw him yesterday.”

“Me too”

Ansel looked at the ground as he walked, feeling a guilt creep within him.

“I should’ve said something. We could’ve been a full day away by now.”

“C’mon man, don’t be so tough on yourself, I didn’t even know what to look out for.”

But seriously? A crown hanging from a sword? Talk about cliche.

“Either way we have to leave. I’ve been hearing that things are getting bad. In Jandra, if they even see Talos now, who knows what they're willing to do.”

Ansel’s eyes looked distant, seeing a memory of the last time they faced the Order.

“It didn’t seem like they knew he was here.”

Eira’s eyes lit up, coming to the same realization.

“The guy just straight up asked the reception desk, so he probably doesn’t even have a lead.”

“You're right,” Kaito said, “So we’re still fine, we just need to leave as soon as he gets out then.”

A distant voice began to yell, it was coming from further down the street.

“Heyyyyyyyyyy!”

The freckled girl reappeared once more, this time without any cargo.

“Ansel! Guys! Someone is looking for your friend.”

“Did they come to your store?” Ansel asked, clearly in worry.

“Yeah, they said they’re searching for a boy in the Spineful Party!”

“Damn, he’s really going to search the whole place. Dammit!”

“Wherever he is, I think ya’ll should get him now! That guy looked like bad bad news, and stormed out mumbling about getting a lead.”

“Shit,” Ansel cursed, “We need to go to the Academy now!”

The three bolted from the scene, heading back up to the inner gate. Eira looked at Meki, waving hurriedly before turning back and heading down to the store.

“Ansel, did you meet Meki somewhere else? Like without us?” Eira questioned.

“No, just the two times we met her.”

“I see.”

—--

“Talos I’m tired, let's go already.”

“C’mon just a little more practice, I can feel it. I’m gonna last more than 5 seconds!”

“You said that an hour ago, c’mon we’re about to miss another class.”

“Dude grow a pair, ain’t you like here on scholarship. You can just ask the teachers later. This campus is the only training ground I can use without having any collateral damage.”

“I’m about to tap out man, my mana’s about to empty.”

“Just one last time! Pleaseeeeee. C’mon Opal.”

“Last time! I’m serious!”

The golden haired boy began to murmur. Opal, Talos’ only friend was an elven kin, born from a noble lineage in Kamar, he quickly got close to the wonder human who’d joined just a few months ago. His goal had been to befriend and syphon his skill, but quickly began to realize that the boy was a prodigy with skills who could not even dare to try. Their relationship then transformed from a fake, planned friendship; to a real one where they both sharpened each other’s skills and knowledge.

For the past hour, Talos had been trying a new spell, one he created. It was extremely rare to be able to accomplish such a feat, let alone at a young age. Opal was his head of safety personnel, putting out the fires he was creating and saving him from the fall.

“[Lightbeam][Flight]!!!”

Talos’ hands began to glow, dishing out a great amount of force in the form of a light beam. It was burning into the craters he’d already made and pushing up against his body. Slowly the boy with golden hair began to levitate without a wind spell. The sheer force of the light acting as a sort of propulsion, similar to the [Fire][Flight] spell that already existed. He spent a solid three seconds in the air when his hand shifted slightly, making him lose his balance and falling almost a tree’s height from the air.

“[Tidal Wave]!!” Opal yelled.

In an instant, water was pulled from the ground and from the air, creating a significantly large wave that swallowed Talos whole. It crashed against the ground and quickly dissipated, putting whatever fires had been born from the Talos and his beam of light.

Coughing up water, Talos sat up and smiled.

“One more time!!”

“No! I’m done.”

“Awwwwww c’monnnnn this time for sure!”

“I’m going to class!” Opal yelled, turning toward the distant academy building in a fit.

Opening his eyes from his huff, his view of the building was not there, covered by the chest of a very broad man. A man taller than Ansel.

“You should try again, I want to see.” said the man in white, his crested robe swaying in the wind.

“I want to see the power that will change the war.”