Chapter 3: Thalorian

A pile of papers was strewn about Thalorian’s desk. Taxes this, taxes that. Most of these papers were costs for supplies in Varelion. They could sustain themself just fine but they were still ordering the new technology that the rest of the world said was ‘vital’.

Thalorian stepped out of his chair and stretched his back. He walked out of the castle in the middle of Hemess. I hope Yoru will be glad I’m home early.

As he walked down the hallway he caught a figure moving out of the corner of his eye. It must have noticed he’d seen it, because it slinked back into the shadows.

There was a tap on his shoulder, “Boo.”

Thalorian turned his head around, expecting a monster, maybe even an assassin. It was Limiria.

“Oh, it’s just you,” said Thalorian, relieved.

Limiria cocked an eyebrow, “Who’d you think it was?” she asked.

Thalorian stuttered, “No one.”

“Good,” she said, walking out in front of him. “I hope Yoru’s still home. We haven’t seen him in a while.”

“Same,” said Thalorian, catching up with his wife.

The castle was dimly lit, its flickering torches casting a red glow. Thalorian heard the grumbles of people in the rooms near him packing up their stuff. He caught murmurs of people talking about an ‘M.I.S.’, whatever that was.

The two of them stepped outside. Hemess was as picturesque as ever, its tall buildings stretched high. Its clean stone streets, freshly cleaned. Hemess surely was a beautiful city. Despite his dislike of the city, Thalorian had to admit, it was a nice place to live.

Casting a shadow on the stone street was a man in a black coat. The tail of his coat was touching the tips of his boots, and a scruffy red beard hung from his chin. He had curly red hair on his head, with a streak or two of grey in it. There seemed to be some sort of dye on top of the grey, making it orange. Thalorian could notice it was dyed because it was a drastically different shade. His natural hair was more of a cinnamon, while the dye was a vibrant orange. Quite frankly Thalorian thought he looked like an overgrown toddler.

“I’ve already told you!” yelled the man next to him. He was wearing a red and yellow waist coat, with a red and gold capelet on top. He had red silk gloves and a furry cape trailing him. He has blue pants with orange over the knees. He had an elfish face with warm blue eyes. His hair was the colour of chestnuts, yet along the left side of his face were streaks of dark blue. And on his head was a golden crown, engraved with silver. It was the Crown Draylum Von Forensberg, son of Winsworth Thaddeus Von Forensberg III.

Thalorian gaze Limiria a look, to signal silence, and slinked toward the commotion.

“I’ve already told you, we want nothing to do with the M.I.S.!” yelled Draylum.

The man clicked his tongue and looked Draylum in the eyes, “Just look, M.I.S. is investigating this island, and since you're in American waters, we don’t need a warrant.” The man looked like he had just won, but Draylum was unfazed.

“Chief Dobson, I’m going to tell you this one more time, leave Hemess, or you will be forced to leave,” sighed Draylum, as if this was just a minor inconvenience.

Dobson’s gaze sharpened, “You know you would be crushed under the might of M.I.S., just surrender.”

Draylum met the man’s eyes, “Are you sure you can back that up? Your mages are untrained, ours have many millennia of experience.”

Dobson clicked his tongue again, angered, “Then prepare to be brought back to the stone age,” he taunted.

A long sigh came from his mouth, “I knew Americans weren’t smart but this is just straight insanity.”

Rumbling noises came from Dobson’s throat and Thalorian realized he was growling. “You will regret this.”

Dobson turned and stormed off, grumbling about how ‘Varelians were the dumbest people ever’ and ‘I’ll show them the might of America.’

Crown Draylum just shook his head and walked back into the castle. Thalorian waved at The Crown, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Limiria looked at him, confused, “Well that was strange,” she spoke at last.

“Yeah,” replied Thalorian, his thoughts still in the conversation with the man from M.I.S. “It was.”

The two of them walked down to their house in the quieter part of Hemess. They had requested for it to be in a place with less bustle, so that they could have some peace every once in a while.

Thalorian placed his key in the door and opened it. He wiped his feet on the door mat and looked down at the teleportation circle. Someone’s used it. Maybe Yoru’s home. He thought wistfully.

Thalorian noticed the note on the table, and picked it up. Inside were three words: Fuck you two. Sadness welled up inside Thalorian as he placed the note in the garbage. He knew Yoru didn’t think too highly of him, but he didn’t think he hated him. I guess he does.

The stone tiles made small clicking noises as he walked down the hall and into Yoru’s room.

It had a bed pressed up against the eastern most side of the room. A wardrobe was opposite to the bed, with a desk to its right. Posters of characters from video games and movies, as well as bands lined the walls, some crooked, some straight. In the center was a small spiral staircase, leading up to a mini-floor. There were book cases lining the walls and another desk, this one with textbooks. There was also a boombox next to it, with a pile of CDs on the ground. I wish my room was like this.

Thalorian went back down the stairs and into the livingroom, Limiria was on the coach, with a book she’d bought.

“Hey,” she said, looking up from her page, “everything okay?”

Thalorian wanted to say no, but he didn’t want to worry her, “No, I’m fine, just checking on Yoru’s stuff.”

“Okay,” she said, going back to her book. “But if anything ever is wrong, you can tell me.”

“Of course.” Thalorian turned to his room. “There’s something I need to check on.”

Thalorian stepped into his room and opened the closet door. After pushing through several racks of clothes he found a panel in the wall. Thalorian pushed it hard, and it popped out, revealing a book. The Eternal Balance…

He grabbed it from its slot, and opened it. Something felt wrong about the book that had taught him magic. It almost felt… tainted. Thalorian started skimming through the pages, to see if anything was wrong and eventually he stopped. On pages six hundred sixty-six it was burnt. Char licked the corners of the page, and in the center, right over the spell it had listed was a message.