The Chronicle of Argus Part II

Meadowvale was a small, unwalled town to the southeast of the capital of Lyrium. it's population wasn't very diverse, holding many humans and maybe a few of the other semi-accepted folk. It's population boasted as many as one hundred different clergymen, a great deal of them with some level of the divine's blessing of power. However, on the hill, overlooking the town stood an ancient fortress, a ruin, still haunted with the ghosts of the past. There were no actual entities that lived there, except for my master, Tendrey, and I. The town shunned us like the plague because of our chosen habitation and our "craft" which was denounced forcefully by the town's religion. Whenever I would come down for supplies some of the clergy or laymembers would hound me over repentance and some would condemn and accuse me of crimes I didn't commit. I was even run out of town once or twice. Only the town's unbiased gaurds saw fit to protect me, at great cost to thier reputation. Thier leader, a man of great integrity, was never questioned in his motives, and often fought the religion on basis of goodness and integrity within the law. After all I had never harmed any of the townefolk.
I hated them, not that I would ever do anything to them, but I swore I would one day leave the town, or blow it up with magic, or something. I was just not powerful enough yet, My master said my power was too focused. He said that I had a knack for making things follow me around. I find that funny, because just as I was getting a loaf of bread I remembered the acolyte Who was trying to convert me. I thought maybe I'd teach this guy a lesson.
"Please, turn from the wickedness of the arcane! Only the divine can truly save you! My brother was healed last week, his ailment completely gone! Turn away now or accept righteous wrath..."
"Thanks for the bread," I said to the bread-seller. He just looked away and went back to his duties, ignoring me for the most part. I grinned through my teeth...I came that close to torching the whole town right there, magic or no. It had been a tough day of training, and I was not in the mood to endure. I turned to the preacher with a half smile, my eyes burning with desire to end the man's life.
"If you accept the good Lord's divine help today, your soul will be-"
And I cut him off, "Look, I've had it to here with your damned religion!" and I hit him, knocking the wind out of him. I didn't know I had that in me, or where it came from. The man doubled over and fell to the ground. "Weakling..." I said, dropping my bread. I knew what I had done, I had sentenced myself and Tendrey to death. "Tendrey is gonna be so pissed!" I said and ran off, away from the shouting gaurd approaching me. I cast a spell I know to make myself faster.
When I got back, I spotted my master talking with the gaurd-captain, Fergus. My master was in his usual gruff apparel, unkempt beard, wild-looking. It seemed as though they were both pleased with eachother and the talk they were having. They didn't notice me, so I hid and tried to eavesdrop.
"Yeah, I noticed your apprentice in the villiage, he is truly upstanding with the townesfolk, never appearing to be anything more than a kind young man who doesn't deserve what he's getting." That was Fergus. Shit shit shit! I can't believe he's telling master that stuff when I just hit a man!
"I know how you feel, but sooner or later Argus is going to respond, Are you prepared to handle that? How would the local clergy treat us then? He knows enough to get himself in trouble, you can be sure of that." That's my master as confident in me as he'll ever be. I'm always disappointing him.
"That's what I came here for, actually. I was hoping to bring you and your boy down to talk with the local clergy," Had he found me out? "I was hoping for some kind of an arrangement where the two of you might actually move into town and maybe have a little peace. The head Cleric is with me in this as well, he's tired of all the propoganda. Bad for numbers I guess."
"That sounds like a ploy to kill me and my apprentice, Fergus"
"I know, but don't worry, I'll have my gaurds stationed all over the place, we'll be there if things get interesting."
"Are you aware of my apprentice's craft?"
"N-no, not entirely." He stuttered, maybe he forgot I was a mage.
"He's a summoner, born to it. It's kind of a rare craft, only a few exist. They're a mix of arcane knowledge and inborn power. He has contact with outsiders and summons them to this plane." How the hell did he know? I concealed the fact I am a summoner so very well!
"Well, if that's the case-"
"His eidolon can take out ten of your gaurds and not break a sweat."
"How the-" How the hell? I didn't know she was that powerful, thought she was just good at...well...
"Outsiders are quite powerful, Fergus. What happens when he summons this being in the middle of your meeting and it tears the head off of most of the clerics there and kills all your gaurds." she wouldn't *ever* do that...
"Uh...I..."
"I will meet with your clerics, but the boy stays here in this ruin. If things turn for the worse, we flee. That may be for the better. Perhaps I am just stubborn to to make us stay."
"Very well then...If you'll come with me." Fergus was in a rush.
"I'll come by tomorrow, you can tell the cleric to wait, I have an apprentice to train today."
"But-"
"Good-day!"
Oh shit! I wispered to myself, and found a better hiding spot away from the road Fergus would use to go back to town. He left without seeing me. But then, I spotted a messenger coming from the town on horseback to meet him. I ran over to my master.
"Where's the goddamned bread, Argus!?"
"uh..."
"Haven't I told you enough times-"
"Hey, I hit a cleric! We're gonna die old man!"
"Calm down son, we'll be fine." his tone changed instantly when I told him what I did.
"But, they're gonna come after us in force," I said, pleading.
"Hey, don't worry about it, if they do, we'll send them to thier graves, and if they don't we'll let out of here, tomorrow."
I sighed...I had never killed a man and didn't want to start. The arcane arts were for self-defense, or for more of a fun-factor. Utility, or something similar. I didn't want to actually...do *that*.
In a few moments Fergus showed up again, adamantly asking for me. The old man wouldn't hear it. Instead he insisted the meetings still take place in the morning. The Captain had his gaurd with him come and try to arrest me. The air quivvered and the gaurd stopped dead in his tracks.
"If you came at us again, with force of arms, I'll do more than paralyze him," Tendrey said, firmness in his voice, but he was cool. "I'm training my boy today. Tomorrow, I come and meet with the cleric, after that, if he's done anything serious, I'm sure Argus is willing to make amends. Aren't I right, boy?"
"Yes sir," I said weakly, I wasn't in the mood to make amends, I just wanted to be left alone, to practice, and delve deeper into magic; to be with that...eidolon.
The captain did not listen, drew his blade. It happened amazingly fast, I didn't have a chance to react. The most I recall was that the captain was trying to strike Tendrey with his sword and even cut my master a little before his blade hit a magical barrier, bouncing it off like it was just a rubber toy. Then the captain stood still like the other gaurd.
Tendrey was heaving, almost. That battle winded him. "Listen here, Fergus. We've always had a tenuous relationship, but what have I or my boy ever done to you or your people? What are you so goddamned afraid of? Why don't you just pick up yer toy and take your man and go home. We'll talk tomorrow. Or if you so desire I can get lethal, and we can play some more. The spell I put you and your man under is a paralysis spell, it lasts a long while, and during that time I could've already cut your throat. So when I remove this, if you come at me again, I swear to whatever gods are watching that I will blow your head off!"
I was surprised. I thought my master more spiteful. This act of mercy seemed to me to be unlike him, but now that I look back I realize it was wisdom. We stepped back a few yards so that if the captain was freed and attacked us, we'd have time to react. Then my master revoked the spell, the somatic components simple. The captain and the gaurd fell down, like a puppet with its strings cut. They stood, shaky.
"Alright, wizard. But understand this, there will be no second chances. Tomorrow you make peace or we throw you and your boy here down a deep hole, and if you don't comply we kill you on the spot. I know your sorceries aren't strong enough to defeat an army," the captain said, and then left with his gaurdsman. I shook for a while after that.
"Master, please teach me that ability, and the one with the shield, if we escape."
"I will in time, for now just understand what you know is enough to get you by. We'll go to that meeting tomorrow. The captain is a good man, he was just a little shaken by my sudden use of magic. We'll see if the cleric is willing to listen or if it's simply a trap."
We rested that night. I slept terribly, and woke in the mid-morning before the sun even showed signs of coming up. I summoned my eidolon. It was not a complex ritual, but it took time. When she appeared, she batted her beautiful eyelashes at me, seductively. Her shape and form were voluptuous and wild, bare. She sauntered up to me, but I was not in the mood. I told her what was going on. She eyed me curiously, then I simplified the language used a bit. She understood. She gave me hope, in her own way, in her won words. Always simple, like a child, yet she knows exactly what to say to inspire me. We discussed briefly the magic used, she didn't know the spells per se, but she knew I wouldn't be able to cast the freezing spell. From her words I gathered that it was because the magical energy that I posessed would not form in such a way. Most of the other things we did that morning I can't write in here, in case someone finds it. I love what we did, but I have the morals taught me by my surrogate father, my mentor, about it. When he awoke and saw the two of us, after we were done, I introduced her.
"Eystra is her name," I told him, "I gathered from her words that she's from one of the outer celestial planes, but I can't be sure."
"I can," he said, studying her. I thought he desired her, but when he was finished he explained that most eidolons from planes outside our own are wanderers, in which they have lost thier home and cannot go back to it. They seek refuge, and finding a person with a certain magical talent and focus they become "attached" to the summoner through binding thier souls together. the process take years, the most powerful summoners even fully entering thier eidolon's bodies, the two made one. The one that had found me was attracted to me in certain ways and had desired to "help" me with my magical training. Being from another plane of existence, sometimes in those planes with magic as a requirement to live, you learn a lot of magic. Maybe my eidolon was just too stupid to learn it. She frowns at me writing this, but she knows I mean it in the most lighthearted of manners.
In the morning, my master, my eidolon and I all went down to town. I held my eidolon's hand. From her I gain most, if not all, of my emotional strength. We passed the many stores and homes and finally came to the big cathedral. It was in the center of town, build magically from clerics as well as from "domestic" mages. That sickened me. How those mages, with all thier power, would work with these clerics. Anyhow, we got inside. There was indeed no trap, but it seemed that everyone was quite busy doing things, being places, and gathering important information. Everyone seemed quite alarmed when they saw the faintly glowing, nude, celestial-ish woman walking...no...sauntering down the halls holding my hand. The hall we were led to was round, with the edge of the ring seating the clerics higher than those down below. Gaurds also lined the walls. pfft, they were gonna judge us.
"Seat yourselves, Tendrey, and Argus, apprentice mage," he eyed my eidolon and his eyes opened wide. "A Celestial! You side with these-*mages*?" he didn't wait for Eystra to speak back, thank the gods (she can't speak very good) "You mages are far more a corrupting force than I thought, if even the celestial folk are taken in by your-your 'craft'! I hereby sentence you all to death! the good Lord commands it!"
"Run, Argus!" Tendrey yelled, as he threw a fireball at the head cleric. It exploded, levelling some of the building and knocking a good deal of the attendants down. I remember the heat, even from the other side of the room, the heat was intense. After that, the soldiers ran towards Tendrey. Me they weren't too worried about. I ran out, taking Eystra with me. We were being followed very closely by the local gaurds. It was a blur till we rached the doors to the outside. The gaurds stood there, blocking our way. They had heard the explosion. They tried to take me prisoner, but as soon as they tried, Eystra went crazy. She grew claws, her eyes started to burn, and her skin started to go from beautiful to calloused and almost leathery. She fought around the room, her claws tearing into many of the gaurds, none of them able to breach her skin. I was left helplessly captive while she turned the place into a bloodbath. Then she turned on the gaurds holding me. She tore them to pieces, blood spurted all over me. I felt bad for them, but I wasn't angry at my eidolon. I just hugged her, and held her. Her fire seemed to die out. We raced outside, when from behind I heard my name bellowed. I looked back and it was Tendrey duking it out with Fergus. They were neck and neck, but Tendrey was no warrior. Fergus breached the shield Tendrey set up, and cut his throat. I cried out. He wasn't much of a father, but he was all I had. My eidolon, against my wishes, raced over to fergus and began to do battle. She was cut across the belly pretty badly. I remembered hastily the ritual to send her back to her plane. It was all I could do from breaking down.
After I sent her back, I knelt over Tendrey. He was dying. He told me to never abuse magic as he died, but Fergus wouldn't let me be there entirely, he had his gaurds arrest me. I was thrown into a prison that had four gairds stationed at it at all times, a barred cell with iron clamps around my wrists and ankles, chaining me to the wall. There were more gaurds at the end of the hall. I was alone for a long, long time. Maybe a month went by. The only person I talked to was the person who brought me food, not nearly enough, in my opinion. After that time, I remember hearing drums. I just thought I was going crazy. I couldn't summon Eystra, to make sure she was okay, either. The chains restricted me too much. After a moment or two I could hear rustling in the hallway. I heard orders being called, panicky. After that I heard screams from the outside. I couldn't help but wonder.
The gaurd outside my cell was still standing there, "Hey!"
"What's wrong with you, can't you tell we're having an emergency? Why don't you just sit tight and shut up?"
"What's going on, tell me that at least!"
"The town's under attack I guess. Got Fergus all up in a spin. Apparently it's got something to do with hobgoblins or whatnot. Now shut up!"
"Let me out of here, I can fight!" it was a lie
"No fucking way, kid, now shut the hell up or I come in there and make you shut up!"
Grrr, if there really were hobgoblins attacking the town, then I might get killed along with all these people. I knew the town didn't have an army. Maybe it was just some skirmishers. *boom boom boom* those drums told me otherwise. After a while the gaurd left, was not replaced. For some strange reason he found the need to tell me not to go anywhere. It made me mad. Then I heard some more screaming from outside. After another hour or two, I heard strange noises, like disgruntled voices, coming from outside the prison. A hobgoblin face peered through the viewing slot. It muttered to it's allies something in goblin I assume. I remember not being scared, like I had accepted death or something. Maybe the events of my masters' passing made me stronger. I don't know.
The door creaked open, dramatically. The hobgoblins just stood there looking at me, in their leathery outfits with the Skull of Zon-Kuthon painted on their shields and armor. They looked at me with amusement, and for some reason, unchained me. I just stood there, helpless. One of the larger ones took a blade and handed it to me, saying in common, "Fight or die," Apparently they wanted me to join, but what was I supposed to do? There wasn't any way out. I picked up the sword, they rushed out towards the battle-front. Outside, it was night-time. The city was in flames. It was more a massacre than actual battle. I wandered around, following my captors quite carefully, so I wouldn't be mistaken for thier enemy. I saw a captive gaurd, about to be executed and almost ran into the goblin in front of me. I noticed at this time how efficiently the hobgoblins worked. The lead goblin who had given me my sword had stopped the squad. He walked me over to the gaurd, "Kill or die," he said to me, indicating the gaurd. He looked up at me, pleading. "Sorry," I said to him, and hacked at his neck. I missed by inches and sunk my blade into his shoulders instead, causing him immense pain. In a fit of tears I drew it up and hacked again, this time perfectly, ending the gaurd.
"Kill good," the hobgoblin said to me, handing me a shield with Zon-Kuthon painted on it. I could barely lift it. "Fight or die!" the hobgoblin said to me again, only this time all his underlings repeated it, so I joined in too, tears still flowing. "Fight or die!" I cried, with all my might.
The rest of the night was a blur, the next morning even more so. And the weeks after, I began deciphering some of thier tongue, through one of their emissaries that spoke enough common. I learned enough of their talk to find out why they had conscripted me. They knew I was dangerous because I had two squads of gaurds watching me, and was chained to a wall so that I could not move. They thought me of the hardiest material...so I became that, in order to survive. I put away my mentality, my humanity, my sanity, and lived by the laws of the outfit for quite a while. Until we were sent to the front.
I didn't get a lot of new back in the ruin, and most of the townspeople would barely look me in the eye, so I didn't hear anything from them either, but apparently my country had been at war; I don't know for how long. The outfit I had been drafted into was a mercenary band, and had been signed onto the war effort by the king of the country. We served with many captains, but I rarely received the gist of it. My captors soon realized, however, that I not only had a knack for the bow, but I had arcane talents. They kept a closer watch on me, and also used me in many battles near the front lines. My life now depended upon my magical talent, but I wouldn't ever show them Eystra. Not in a million years. I saw her in my dreams, begging, pleading to be brought back into the world. "Not yet" I whispered, each time.
After some months, I was seen by one of the King's sons. He noticed that I did not belong. I don't remember which prince it was that saw me, or how he had arranged it, but after that time I was bought from the hobgoblins and began to serve in a human outfit. My captors were not pleased to be rid of me, but were pleased with the big fat pile of gold they had to spend. Because the country I live in believes in slaves, I was still in servitude. I served better, however, because I was not among the foulness of Hobgoblins, and better understood common. After some months I even reported to my captain what kind of magical abilities I posessed. He was pleased when I brought Eystra out, even with the gash that still remained on her. She was bleeding, but not badly. It seemed she was not injured as badly as I had thought. She looked around and spoke into my mind, a trick we had learned our first night together. I told her it was okay and that were in a war. She seemed pleased, but I don't know why.
The physician was called in and told to heal her. The cleric who entered was from a different church, I sighed relief.
After she was healed he asked if she was okay to...you know...I told him that if he tried, she was going back to the plane she came from, and that it was her will to be free from the clutches of every man except for me. I would say that she is the most beautiful woman, girl, I'd ever seen. She's got that wild and untame look that is just so damn appealing. But what makes most men I've found who look at her so tempted is that she gets summoned naked, and stays that way. Most of the time, anymore I've tried summoning her and then clothing her. She asks my why I do that. I tell her...well...and then she says she understands.
During wartime, she was the symbol of my company. I was the background squish. However, I proved as valuable as any sniper with my bow, and even more so when I used some of my magic. I didn't start out with much, but with the help of Eystra, I learned so much. I increased the number of spells I was able to fluently cast on the fly twofold. I also grew, in every way. While my superiors wouldn't let me directly hold control over a unit of my own, I knew some of the men looked upon me as one of their sergeants. I held them together when they were ready to break. Especially with our enemies-the mind-breaking undead. We had to take special *precautions* when dealing with them...


I haven't written in this journal for a long time...but the other day they ordered a cease-fire. I'm planning on escaping with Eystra. I don't know what will happen after that. My commanders treat me as a free-man now, but they still hold to the idea I am a slave. I cannot live like this. It's one thing with the war raging down my neck, it's quite another to be here, bored, and enslaved so I can't leave. This has been a long time in the coming. I'm leaving tomorrow. I pray Gorum is smiling on me tomorrow.