Alacryan Arthur

Chapter 2

As the horned man dragged me through the portal with him, I asked myself what was going to happen to me.

If there are dragons and demons, for a lack of a term, what do they want from me? Sylvia only helped me, because she was dying anyway and saw me giving my life to save my mother. She then continued to help me and teach me mana rotation, but what is the use in me? I'm only a dark red core, even for a mage I'm pretty weak. A lot of adventurers are stronger than I am, as well as every guard.

Sure, I'm young right now, and will probably learn a lot in the future and advance in the core stages, but what does it matter?

Sylvia, a dragon who was on the verge of dying, was able to stop time. And the horned man defeated her without even sweating. And he served his Lord, who was probably even stronger than he is.

With these ridiculously powerful beings, what can I do? How can I do anything in this world, how can I protect my father, my mother and my baby sibling?

If I ever see them again, that is. I have no idea where we are going, and if I am going to be allowed back, now that I know of the existence of such beings.

My thoughts were interrupted, as a swell of sickness overwhelmed me. My stomach wasn't fond of the trip through the portal. I dropped to the floor, and pressed my hands against the floor, trying not to throw up.

I'm sure, wherever I am, they wouldn't like it if I vomited on the floor as a greeting. Speaking of the floor, it was a smooth dark surface that reflected my face. Wow, I'm dirty. A lot of dirt covered my face with some wounds from the fall, where the branches of the trees had hit me. My clothes were not in a better condition, although they seemed to be intact.

The man screamed for a healer. Why was he screaming for a healer? Did Sylvia hurt him and he just hasn't shown that weakness to me? Then I saw a group of people running to us. They all wore robes, and some carried some artefacts. The woman at the top also had horns, but they were smaller than the horns of the man who brought us here, not to mention Sylvias. Her skin also wasn't grey and her eyes were brown, and not red. If you ignore the horns she looked like a normal human, as well as all the other people in the group.

The group began to surround Sylvia, and were starting to set up their devices, as the horned woman bowed before the horned man.

"Scythe, are you hurt?" she asked, still her head bowed and her eyes to the ground.

"No, I'm good, focus all you have on her" he answered, giving her a wink to look up. "I'll go and take care of this boy and meet our sovereign, keep me informed how it's going."

The woman nodded and ran past us, to start to inspect Sylvia's wound.

The man, Scythe as the woman called him, now looked at me, and my stomach felt weird again. He exhausted such a strong aura that it was hard for me to breathe, when he focused it on me. He shook his head, murmuring "Why for this weak one, Lady Sylvia?"

Then he started to walk down the Corridor. After a few steps he turned around:

"Are you coming on your own? I don't want to have to drag you all the way."

I nodded and ran to him, not wanting to be dragged again. I have no choice, I have no idea where I am, and it's not like I can fight him. Running away also isn't an option, as the room we are in is pretty huge and doesn't have any real cover. I could hide behind, and considering the speed he showed, it would be fruitless anyway. No, now I had to please them and hope they would treat me fairly.

I followed Scythe, wondering what a name that is, through a long corridor, where a lot of stuffed beasts were portrayed. Sometimes there was a weird object in a display case, ranging from a white orb, over what looked a bit like a bedlight from my old world, to a whole chainmail armour. Between some of the cases and beasts were portraits, all of the same man.

He wore black clothing, and had black hair and red eyes. But the things that really stood out, where his elk like horns sprouting from the front of his skull. They were huge, almost a metre long, much longer than the horns of Scythe next to me. His were maybe 30cm long, while the horns of the woman earlier were 10cm at best.

The pictures showed that man standing majestically or gifting something to a bunch of humans, or casting incomprehensible spells.

"That is our Sovereign, Agrona Vitra, we are visiting him now" The man next to me said. "Look at the ground and don't talk unless asked something, and be fast and precise in that case"

"Like the woman right now was with you?" I asked, wondering about the hierarchy in this place. It seemed like Agrona Vitra stood on top, and this man was his direct subordinate?

He let out a small laugh "Yes, pretty much" he confirmed.

The rest of the way, we walked in silence. I tried to wrap my head around what exactly was happening, while Scythe looked a bit worried. This Agrona must really be powerful, if that man is worried about meeting him.

The man turned one last time before a big door. This door was on the end of a corridor and it was bigger than the normal doors. It was heavily ornamented and had golden door knobs. He knocked two times, the heavy sounds travelled through the hallways, and silenced the few sounds that were audible before.

After a few seconds of absolute silence a baritone voice from the inside answered:

"Come in"