Chapter 34: Thalorian

Thalorian rubbed his head.

“What do you mean we should help Yoru?” inquired Thalorian, “he seems fine on his own.”

“I know, but with all that's happening he’s bound to need some help,” replied Limiria.

Haverian massaged the back of his neck, “I agree with Limiria, Yoru’s bound to run into trouble, and we should be there to help him,” interjected Haverian.

“All right then, let’s do this,” said Thalorain.

“We don’t exactly know where Yoru is and if we use the scrying spell we used last time then we can’t get to him efficiently,” said Limiria, “so what do we do? Teleport and guess or know but go slow.”

“I vote for teleportation,” said Thalorian, “it's easier on my mana and it's faster.”

“I get that, but we need to know where he is, we can’t just guess and teleport,” retorted Limiria.

“I agree with Thalorian,” said Haverian, “It’ll be faster, plus if it fails we’ll be in the right area… probably.”

“Fine.”

“Heven Welyeh Sha Koon,” chanted Thalorian, the space around him warping.

After they had gotten to their intended destination the three of them looked around. They were in Jasper National Park. Yoru had mentioned something about the place during their planning.

Thalorian looked around in the space around them before hearing an explosion in the distance.

The ground gently shook beneath them. His legs trembled a bit. Thalorian looked in the distance and saw a large figure, about fifty feet tall, collapsing on the ground.

“I bet, that’s where we’re going to find Yoru,” said Thalorian, pointing at the collapsing figure.

“Yeah… that feels about right,” said Haverian, scratching his head.

The three of them made haste toward the fall and quickly arrived at their destination.

“Yoru!” shouted Thalorian, stopping where they saw the figure collapsing. Thalorian stepped down the hill he had stopped on. There was a figure on the ground, it had black crystalline skin with curling horns coming from its head. Its nostrils were slits and its eyes were cold. Whatever it was, it was dead. There was a hole in the side of its head and several smaller holes throughout the rest of its body. What… is that thing? Thalorian asked himself.

Limiria ran down the hill and Thalorian chased after her.

At the bottom he saw Yoru lying on the ground with Josh next to him. The slime named Ae’vora was poking him and saying his name. Above him was a man in a fox mask with draping robes.

“Yoru!” he yelled.

The fox-masked man walked toward him, “Hello, Dragon, I am Elben Ablebren, former general of the Anti-magic poet army. Your son is a great fighter,” he said.

At the words ‘Anti-Magic poet Army’ Thalorian went to his sword.

“Oh do not worry, I am heavily against the Anti-Magic poets now, they have done things I cannot condone,” said Elben. “I mean you no harm.”

Thalorian turned back to Limiria and Haverian, “I think we can trust him.”

“Yeah… he at least seems trustworthy,” said Haverian.

“Then we’re all in accordance?” asked Limiria, “we’ll trust him for now, if he does anything we don’t like…” Limiria slid her finger across her throat, in a way to mean ‘kill him’.

“We’re all in agreement then,” said Thalorian. He turned back towards Ablebren, “we’ll trust you, for now.”

“Good! Let’s get those two some help,” said Elben.

Thalorian walked toward Yoru and the boy named Josh. He crouched down next to Yoru. He had several scrapes and bruises all over his body with a more serious gash on his arm. Josh was much more battered than Yoru. He had large cuts on his arms and a cut going horizontally across his forehead. Josh seemed to have been thrown against the ground.

“Shan Vri Ri’rion,” chanted Thalorian. The wounds on both of the boys started closing but the cut on Josh’s forehead left a scar. Good. They’ve started to heal. Yoru’s eyes shot open and he started panting.

“Where am I?” he asked, sitting up.

“You're in Jasper National Park,” said Thalorian, “we found you on the ground, you were bleeding.”

Yoru looked around himself frantically, “Josh!” he yelled.

“He’s all right, I healed him and he’s recovering.”

“Good… good… what about the poets? Are they gone?” asked Yoru.

“I don’t know. I think that they’ve left his park, for now, but they might come back,” answered Thalorian.

“Okay… okay,” said Yoru, calming down.

“Right now we have to focus on hunting down the rest of the possessed. Who’s left?” Thalorian asked.

“Well, there’s Iris and that's about it,” said Yoru.

“Then we’ll find Iris, and we’ll defeat her, and bring her back to how she was.”

Thalorian watched as Yoru rested for a few minutes before his phone started buzzing. What could that be? Thalorian asked himself.

Yoru took out his phone and looked at it. Thalorian, Haverian, Limiria, and Josh, who had just woken up, crowded around it.

The screen flickered to a dull grey before transforming into Jiyoda’s face.

“Hello citizens of earth. No I am not an alien, and no I am not invading,” he started, “it has come to my attention that people have thought that the magic returning to earth is some sort of virus. I assure you it is not. I am Jiyoda Alltvaldt, Usurper of the Aternum and your new god. There are no more Aternum, they are dead. And too The Dragon, I know you’re planning to destroy me, but know this: you can’t. Goodbye earth, and for anyone planning to visit, the Great Above is lovely this time of year.”

Jiyoda! He’s already in the Great Above, how?

“Iris! That’s where Iris is, Jiyoda, he came to me, when I was unconscious and told me there was a place for me in his army, and Iris was there, with him,” exclaimed Yoru. “But… how do we get to the Great Above?”

“There’s only one way… and it’s dangerous,” said Haverian.

“How do you know about it?” asked Limiria.

“It’s how I got down here, to earth, the Translucent Staircases. They are the gateways to and from the Great Above and Great Below,” Haverian continued, “but even if you walk up a staircase you may end up in the Great Below, and walking down can lead you to the Great Above.”

“Great! Now we just need to find one,” said Limiria, throwing her arms in the air.

“I know where one is, it’s just a little far away,” clarified Haverian.

“Where is it?” asked Yoru.

“It’s at your school, Hawkwing Secondary School,” said Haverian.

Yoru flinched before continuing, “I really didn’t want to go to school this summer,” said Yoru, “but for the sake of the mission, I can tell you the secrets of that old dump.”