FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Even though the air in the temple hadn't been stale, the outside seemed completely refreshing and wonderful. James lay back down on the steps of the temple with a thud, not really caring about much now that they were going to be alright. The sun shone in the sky and James realized with a jolt that it was nearing the end of the day. They had left the Ikirian city near dawn and apparently had chewed up most of the day freeing themselves from the temple.

James' friends were in the same state as him, lying on the ground in relief and happiness.

"Children, you are out! The temple released a truly enormous amount of energy earlier, and I was afraid you were done for!"

The rumbling voice shook the ground and the friends popped up to see Captain Foh flying out of the jungle. He stopped where the Void energy dissipated and beckoned them over.

"Come, now, you know that I cannot venture closer. Tell me, have you learned anything relating to our problem?"

"We did," Lydia said as they got close. "Inside, there was a map of all of the Void rifts and we discovered..."

"Hold," Foh said. "This obviously is information most severe. It is not for someone of my standing to hear. Climb onto my back, and I shall return you to the Queens."

He bent a tree like before and they flew away from the temple. James looked back to see that it was completely silent, made all the eerier now that he knew of the dangers that lurked inside. He shivered. It was necessary to solve the issue of the Void energy plaguing the planet, but the temples and outposts of the foreign dimension were far above their league, and would never have been visited otherwise by any sane person. And to top it all off, they hadn't even faced a real creature of the Void, just a bunch of mist and shadows instead.

Foh didn't rendezvous with Aur this time, instead flying them straight to the tree that held the Queens. As there weren't any convenient trees to use, the guards helped them down, after which Foh gave his salutations and took his leave. He was much too big to fit inside the tree anyway, and he had many other matters to attend to on other parts of Dorian-5.

The group emerged from the trunk back into the enormous room with the dome made of leaves. The light emanating from them was much more comfortable than the harsh tones of the temple, and the friends took a moment to all bask in the silver and gold glows.

The voice of the Queen snapped them back to the matter at hand. "It is good to see that you are all back alive and well. The temples are not usually frequented by mages and young as yourselves, and as such, we worried for your safety."

"Um, yeah," Delta said. "We almost died. On multiple occasions. Thanks for the warning after the fact."

"Delta, be nice," Algon mumbled to him. "They might have known that the temples were dangerous, but obviously couldn't have told us anything more. And it was a mission that was important to both of us."

"I know all of that, but it doesn't mean that I have to like it. Or agree with it."

"We acknowledge your issues, Delta, and apologize." the Queen said. "As a sort of early gift, know that your friend is almost completely cured at this point and is close to waking. You may freely visit her when we are done today."

He signed and calmed down a little. "Thanks, I suppose."

"Now," the Queen said, looking at Lydia. "Captain Foh informed us that you had valuable information relating to the matter of the Void energy."

"We found out something," Lydia said. "And it wasn't good. Underneath Rioyda is a massive gateway to the Void. They call it the Omega Rift and it was used to allow Lord Iter's army into Reality."

"The Wolf's forces? Then it must be truly fearsome! But why would it be activating now?"

James spoke up. "We saw several guards from the school in the temple. They were investigating something and one of them had an artifact that stabilized the inside and allowed them safe passage. It looked like a lantern."

"What? Impossible, that should have been destroyed years ago! How could this be?"

"Sister, do not forget the events of the past. This is his work."

All eyes snapped to the other Queen, sitting almost unnoticed. She had not spoken a word since they had arrived, but now a single phrase silenced the entire room.

"Are...are you certain? This is a most important issue; you cannot be so hasty with accusations."

"No, it is him. I am sure and the evidence supports my claim."

The Queen was very unsettled and motioned to her guards. "My sister and I must talk. Please summon Captain Aur and have him escort the young mages to wherever they wish to go. After their service, they shall be granted unrestricted access to the city."

"Understood, my Queens." A guard bowed and rushed off to find the Captain. The Queen turned back to James and his friends.

"We are sorry to cut this meeting short, but it is of utmost importance that this matter is resolved. We will summon you again when we have come to a conclusion. Until then, you may have access to anything you need."

"Thank you," James said, realizing that he shouldn't press further. Aur arrived shortly to the throne room and they followed back down the trunk. Once on the outside branches, he turned to them with a buzz.

"Whatever information you recovered had a huge effect on the Queens. I have never seen them so flustered and incited. They even forgot to ask for the Ulnth back."

"Oh, I had forgotten about that too!" Lydia fumbled around and pulled out the box that contained the orb. "Do you want it?"

Aur nodded and took the box. "Many thanks. Now, as per the order of the Queens, you have full access to the city. What do you guys want to do now that you're back?"

"I'd like to go see Aura," Delta immediately said.

"Understood."

"I'll go with him," Algon said. "Lydia, James, want to come too?"

"No, I need to get some food," Lydia answered. "After that, do you think I could gain access to some sort of lab. I need to refill Delta's ammunition and make some modifications to my equipment."

Aur considered that for a moment. "There are several locations that should work. I'll have a guard escort you to each. In addition, I may be able to get you access to one of our scientists."

"That would be wonderful! Thank you!"

"What about James?" Aur asked, turned to the last member of the group. "Will you be going with one of them?"

"Actually, is there any space that I can use for training?"

"Of course, we have many. In fact, I'd be happy to let you use my personal field. That way you shouldn't be disturbed by other Ikirian. It's the least I can do after you risked your lives in the temple."

"Thank you, Captain. That's very helpful of you."

Aur assigned other guards to take the friends to where the needed to be, after which he led James to his training field. It wasn't extremely large, but it was bigger than the one at Rioyda and the privacy would be extra nice.

"Every guard in this city knows how to find me, so simply ask if you need anything."

"Thank you!"

Aur flew off with a buzz and James pulled out Ruin. He began to train, working on improving his balance and coordination, along with swing timing. Building up the additional strength was also a priority, but he could also strengthen his body using Earth Elementalism, so it was not his primary goal. But even just swing the blade around in the air began to drain his energy and magic, so much so that he stopped and collapsed to the ground.

"I don't understand. Back in the temple, you nearly cost me the fight after you took my magic, and now, even holding you is making me tired! Is there no way I can properly wield you? Why the hell is this so difficult? Is it because you're a god's weapon?"

A soft voice came from behind him. "That could be one way to analyze it. However, I believe that the simpler reason is that the sword you hold in your hand is not actually Ruin."

"What? Who's there?" James jumped up to see a man sitting on a nearby chair that most definitely wasn't there before. "How'd you get in here? This is a private training room."

The man smirked. "Really, you choose to follow that line of thinking instead of paying attention to the more pressing matter I brought up? Not what I had expected from you."

James thought back to his original line. "Then, what the hell did you mean when you said that this sword wasn't Ruin?"

"You're asking me that?" he said with a frown. "Honestly, I thought you had been told to ask better questions, but at this point, I can't really be sure. First, you ask the wrong question and then you ask one with the answer in front of you."

"Fine, then I won't ask a question," he held out the sword. "Prove that this isn't Ruin."

"Hm, normally I wouldn't bother, but... bypassing my comment with a statement was a bit clever." The man stood and James could now see that he was very tall, with an unreadable face that, while human, was somehow... slightly off. The clothes he wore were very basic and unadorned to the point where they could be from any planet in the entire universe.

He held out a hand. "Pass it over."

James hesitated for a moment before handing Ruin over. The man lifted it easily, the weight not seeming to bother him in the slightest, and examined the runes on the blade and hilt.

"You asked for your proof? Where to start? The markings on the blade are incorrect. Close, but still wrong. The hilt's supposed to be darker and honestly, I don't see how you thought that Alcyrion would ever make a sword as heavy as this one. It IS meant to be a dual-wielding blade and, well, even a God wouldn't want a blade that would be as clunky as this one."

He let go to demonstrate his point and James watched as it smashed into the ground, cracking it in some spots.

"Those points are simply atheistic issues, nothing too drastic, but the real killers are the final two."

James looked at him and waited for an explanation, still not believing his words.

"Remember your lecture from Quern in history class quite a while ago? Things aren't just named the way they are for no good reason; everything usually has a purpose. And it just so happens that this sword fits the bill. It's part of a set, and whenever they're mentioned, they're always called Genesis and Ruin. ALWAYS. Without fail. It's kind of odd when you think about it, to the point where, if one had done their studying for history, they might have been concerned about it. But then, breaking through the barriers posed by your powers must have been far more important, am I right?"

James was shocked. "How do you know so much about me? Have you been stalking me or something?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Oh, nothing like that. I get around a lot and have connections, that's all. But, since you have so many gaps in your knowledge, allow me to fill in some of the holes. Genesis and Ruin are named as such because one always proceeds the other. Ruin has a nasty temper after all, and he respects Genesis to a great degree because they are very close brothers. They would never, ever let themselves become separated and let me assure you, they most certainly have the means to stop anyone who would dare try."

"Why are you talking about them like they're alive?"

"Well, it's because they are. Completely sentient, through and through. It's one of their true special powers, the ability to think and act for themselves, even going so far as to learn and control their own spells independent of their wielder. They were created by a God after all, the most powerful one of all. What else did you expect?"

James looked down at the sword, still lying on the cracked ground, and struggled with the idea that the man might be right. "But then, why haven't I heard any indication of life? I've had it for a while."

"Exactly. And thus, we come to the final point. Ruin is a sentient blade and can speak to its possessor. So why hasn't it spoken to you? From what I've heard, he's normally quite talkative, even going so far as to be a minor annoyance at times. But not speaking at all? That is completely out of the ordinary. But, I'll let you make the final conclusions for yourself. It would only be polite of me, after all."

Finished with his explanation, the man sat back down and produced a blank-covered book from nowhere, which he began to page through. James glanced back down, sighed, and picked up the sword, looking at it dejectedly.

"I guess the letter did say they weren't 100% sure it was Ruin. The Chancellor's going to be disappointed that his heirloom's not the weapon he thought it was."

He went to put it away, but the man suddenly snapped his book closed and held out a hand.

"I almost forgot. How dangerous of me. Sword here, please."

"What, why?" James handed the blade over, confused. The man reached into his clothes, took out a black cloth, and wrapped the sword up tightly.

"There we go, much better. If you had put that into your storage vault, you would not have liked the result. Coincidentally, may I see your storage vault?"

"I don't have one yet. I'm still using my amulet from the Quintessium." He pulled it out.

At this sight, the man's eyebrows went up. "Ah, so that's what it is. I was wondering how you were still alive."

James jerked back. "What?" he managed to stutter out.

The man pointed at the wrapped sword. "That thing's designed for stealing energy. That's what all of the extra sigils are for. Most likely you already felt the effects, but it would have catastrophic if you have put it in a storage spell. They're connected directly to your magic reserves, so the sword would have had a field day and you, not so much. Luckily, the spells on the amulets are set up differently, so it's unharmed."

James looked down at the sword in his hand with a gulp. "This could have killed me? How do I stop it?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. That cloth will prevent any, shall we say, accidental borrowing of magic. Store it in your amulet, give it to Delta, I don't care. Just don't take the cloth off and everything will be peachy, understood?"

"Yeah." James put the sword away and had a sudden thought. "Phanes needs to be told about this as soon as we get back to Rioyda. If someone uses this sword, it could kill them, and he gave it to me with no reservations, which means he doesn't know!"

He turned to the man and nodded. "Well, thanks for telling me so much."

"What, leaving so soon?"

"What else can I do? All that's left is to work on my Elementalism, and I don't want to accidentally destroy this training room. So yeah, I'm heading off."

The man smirked again. "Really, you thought that I came here only to destroy your little notions about that sword. No, there's a bit more to it."

He pulled out a basic steel blade and tossed it to James.

"Wha..?" He caught it, instantly feeling the difference in the weight. This sword was much thinner compared to the one that Phanes had given him, and was drastically lighter as well. Unfortunately, it was also plain and unadorned, looking more like a basic weapon from Earth than a magical fighting tool.

"What am I supposed to do with this?"

The man chuckled and pulled out a similar blade. "Why, defend yourself."

He rushed at James, moving with frightening speed. James was startled, but reacted and raised his sword. A clang rang out as the man's attack met James' block, the swords meeting. The man gave them only a brief moment of contact before pulling back and unleashing another attack, and then another and another. James was completely on the defensive. He was thrown by the sudden moves, the power shown in each strike, and most of all, the slight overcompensations he made when blocking, his sword moving always a bit faster or farther than he had wanted it due to its light weight. In addition, without needing to focus on controlling the clumsier old sword, James was fully able to realize that something in his style felt wrong. He had trained using his own intuition and instincts, but it didn't feel truly right. Before he had passed that off as an unlucky side effect of his blade's weight, but now he wasn't so sure.

A sudden slash came out of nowhere and James went to block, but the man changed his strike at the last moment and send the flat of his sword crashing into him. James slid back, grunting in pain as he felt his rib bruise.

"Hm, just as I had suspected," the man said, stopping his attacks and leaping back to his original starting position. "You're being held back."

"Really?" James rolled his eyes and sighed as he used some Earth Elementalism to strength his body until the pain went away. "Can't you explain things in a normal way for once? It's getting really annoying listening to your cryptic bs."

"Then allow me to simplify. If one sword ain't enough, add another."

He tossed another sword to James, an exact copy of the one he already held. James went to comment, but the man didn't give him any time to respond, instead beginning his next string of slashes.

"You've got to be kidding me!" James thought as he went to work defending. "What's this guy's problem?"

However, the fact that he was holding two swords now instead of just one was tripping up his head. His brains kept telling him that that move wasn't right, that you swung like this, to be worried constantly about the position of the other sharp cutting implement, but his instincts began to fire and subtly guide his swipes where they needed to be.

"He appears to be adapting a bit," the man thought. "Let's try that last move again, shall we?"

He attacked with the same double stroke as before, pulling the sword at the last moment and going for the ribs. James saw this and mentally braced, waiting for the pain, but it never came. Instead, his left arm flicked up and knocked the sword away, the addition of a second sword now allowing him to block completely.

"What the? How'd I do that?"

Seeing an opportunity, James went into a ferocious counterattack chain, unleashing strike after powerful strike and subconsciously using both swords at the same time. This time, it was the man that was forced back, step by step, until he chuckled and raised a hand, stopping the fight. James was barely panting, the light swords flowing like water through the air and their light weights allowing him to unleash fast and precise strikes with little to no drain on his body.

"So, now do you understand? You were training the wrong sword style."

"This felt much more natural. Two swords, am I supposed to be a dual weirder? Like Lord Alcyrion?"

The man's eyes lit up. "And he gets it! Precisely on the mark. The instincts passed down in your Pure Elementalism come from the Dragon-God himself, the original fighter with twin blades. By limiting yourself to just one sword, you were unnecessarily putting one more handicap on yourself. Granted, it could have been overcome with training and professional teaching, but you don't really have time for much of that right now, do you? Work with this new style for a while, and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at what you can do."

"Wait, so you're giving these swords to me?"

"Of course, you dolt. How else are you supposed to practice? They aren't anything special, just condensed metal. You can even make your own if you think about it for a bit; it's not that complicated."

James just stared at him. "Make my own..."

"Yeah, you know? When a guy breaks your blade and you just smile and pull another from thin air, exactly how you want it. Of course, that sort of thing can only happen in a world where a magic user would end up using blades to fight instead of spells. What a coincidence."

He turned and walked out of the training yard.

"Wait!" James yelled, running after him. "How can I thank you for this?"

The man grinned. "Work to impress me, although at this point I'm sure that the outcome's a forgone conclusion. I'm also fairly certain I'll see you again soon, anyway, so don't worry and try to come find me. I'll be around."

He turned a corner leading to another hallway and James followed, only to see that no one was there anymore. The man had vanished like a ghost.

"Dang, he's gone. Who was that anyway? I never got his name."

James decided to better see what this new style could do, so he went back to the training field and got to work.

"Jeez, he was right. This feels so much better than when I was working with my old sword. It feels... right. Like it was designed for me and me alone."

The day quickly faded away. They had already come back late, and the events with the mysterious man had taken a surprisingly long amount of time. Now, it was almost dusk, with the light of the stars beginning to shine in the sky above. James' stomach growled abruptly, making him stop his training and sit down on the ground, swords crossed over his lap.

"Man, I just realized we haven't eaten since breakfast. And after the temple, I'm starving! I wonder when Aur's going to come fetch me. He said he'd be back when the Queens were finished debating, but it's been almost the entire day."

At that moment, Aur walked into the training ground.

James rolled his eyes. "Speak of the devil. What's going on?"

"The Queens have summoned everyone together. We are to meet at the central hall, where you can get food and discuss something of utmost importance."

James climbed to his feet and his new weapons caught Aur's attention. "You have two swords now? Of a different make than before?"

"Yeah, uh, someone gave them to me. A guy, dressed in pretty plain clothing, about your height?"

Aur gave a funny look. "He came into the training room?" he buzzed in confusion."

"Yeah, he did."

"I don't know how. This is a private ground, only I and those I allow should have access. Furthermore, I'm not sure how he can be in the city. The Ikirian keep a close eye on the borders and would know if we had any uninvited guests. I'll have to discuss this with the Queens later. But don't worry about that right now. Follow me."

James was led back to the large central meeting hall where they had eaten breakfast. This time it was much quieter, with only a few Ikirian here or there moving about.

"Oh, hi James!" a voice called out. James looked over to see his friends sitting at one of the tables, munching on some fruit. "How was your training?"

"Uh, pretty good. Something weird kind of happened. I'll have to tell you guys later. More importantly, how's Aurra?"

Delta smiled. "She's awake and well. Right now they're keeping her for more testing to make absolutely sure that she'll be fine, but after that, she can leave."

"Glad to hear that," James said as he took a seat. "Ah, nuts. You guys didn't leave me any of that purple stuff from this morning."

"Calm down, idiot. There's like 3 more bowls behind you."

James' eyes lit up and he rushed over to grab some. "Mm, this is something I'm going to miss when we finally have to go back to Rioyda."

They rolled their eyes and then turned as several more Ikirian walked into the hall. To their surprise, the Queens were also with them.

"Hello, young mages. We have finished talking between us and have decided to tell you all of the details relating to the matter of the Void. We initially didn't wish to pull you into the issues of the past, but it appears that those issues have now come to the present and must be dealt with. Continue eating; it will make for a slightly more pleasant discussion."

They dismissed the guards and Aur and sat down in the last two seats at the table.

"First, we want to thank you for braving the dangers of the temple, even though it was far beyond your level. This was a request that only you could answer, and we are grateful for your contribution."

"Yeah, about that, I've been wondering about something. Why didn't you just go ask a team of mages from Rioyda to come and help? Say, some that were more experienced and who actually knew what they were doing?"

"That ties into the matters we wish to talk about tonight. And it also includes the temples, our long history, and, the headmaster of your school."

"You mean Nu? What's he got to do with all of this?"

"He and his friend, Phanes, came to our planet when they were also young mages and helped us with a problem that could have wiped out our entire species."

James swallowed his most recent fruit and looked up. "Wait, like the same Phanes that's in Rioyda right now? The Chancellor?"

The Queens glanced at each other. "He has returned. If anything, that only confirms our suspicions."

They both looked back at the friends and sighed. "We wish to tell you the full story. This is an important matter that affects all of us, and therefore we have decided to make it known to you. This happened many years ago when we were both young and Rioyda had not yet been born. This is the story of two young mages and the history of this world."

"Enjoy."