Conquest's Influence - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The flasks nearest the door required most of Kelan’s dusting attention. With the warm season closing soon, he looked forward to being able to keep the door closed and not have to portion so much of his day on the menial task. While Kelan conducted his chores, a young man entered the shop. He stopped cleaning and looked over to the man. “Afternoon. Anything I can help you find today?”

The man glanced around the shop taking in the different types of toxins. Each bottle was a different size holding a different coloured liquid. The entire scene was overwhelming to the uneducated, but to Kelan the chaos was clear as day.

“I’m looking for something that will kill bindweed. My wife’s been trying to plant a garden in the back of our house, but the damn stuff keeps over-taking the patch. Every time we try to get rid of it, it comes back just as thick.”

Kelan contemplated the request and weed. He stepped from his wooden stool and walked over to the glass case sitting at the opposite side of the room. He placed his hands on the case and tapped his right index finger on the glass while he scanned the contents. Kelan could feel the dust under his palm and made a note in his mind to take care of it before the day was over.

The case held dozens of different containers filled with toxins Kelan had mixed. Glass held some, while he stored the rest in skins. The acidity of the contents dictated the container that held them. Something with a high acidity would kill the topsoil and prevent anything from growing in his customer’s garden, so Kelan searched for a more basic concoction.

The small ring of bronze keys in Kelan’s pocket was becoming overpopulated. It was a wonder how he’d managed to fit something so bulky into his trousers. He flipped through the keys until he found the correct one to open the case. One skin in particular held the exact toxin Kelan’s customer needed. He reached in and removed a mixture of Atrazote and other minor compounds. Kelan looked over his shoulder to see the man had walked over behind him watching what he was doing.

The thick hide of the bota bag was rough to the touch sealed with a glass stopper and twine. “This should take care of your problem. Since you’re using it in the garden, I suggest creating a mixture of one part this with two parts water. It should be weak enough to kill the bindweed and not cause any long-term damage to the soil.”

“How much do I owe you for this?”

“For the whole skin I charge 30 clips. Because you’re going to be mixing the solution further with water, you should only need half of this. I can transfer it into a smaller container and charge you 20.”

“Yes, please.” The man dug into his pockets while Kelan walked to the back of the shop to transfer the toxin.

Near a bin containing a variety of different sized skins, Kelan placed the Atrazote on his work table. He muddled around the bin searching for a smaller bag when the distant sound of water splashing broke his concentration. It didn’t sound like his customer dropped one of the exposed flasks on the shelf. The noise had a distinct distance to it. Kelan’s shop was a few blocks away from the Ataraxian pool and it was rare for commotion to come from that direction, unless it was a celebration.

Just in case, Kelan decided to find out. He yelled to the front of the store continuing his search. “Did something fall in there?”

“No, I heard that noise too. It sounds like something is going on over at the pool.” His voice drifted off as he walked away from Kelan’s direction towards the commotion.

Curiosity overtook Kelan’s current task. He stopped what he was doing and walked back to the front of the shop. Something big had to happen for him to know about it this far away. As he walked to the front of the shop he saw the other man standing outside the door looking in the direction of Ataraxia. Kelan walked up beside him and both of them looked at each other with a hint of worry on their faces.

Another loud splash echoed, followed by the sound of screams. The cries of children playing had a much more unrestrained characteristic than what Kelan was listening to. It could signal nothing but an emergency. Both men began walking towards the pool, tall buildings blocking their view on every side. They wouldn’t get a clear view until they approached the clearing. Without realizing it, Kelan’s breathing had become heavier. He scolded himself for taking the illogical step of assuming the worst right away. The splashing and screaming continued until a harrowing roar pierced their ears. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks, their faces drifting from worry to terror.

A grab of his shoulder from his companion stopped Kelan from continuing forward. “I think we’d best not go in that direction anymore.”
Again, a logical point to make, but Kelan  still turned around to dispute his point. The man’s terrified disposition was obvious. Kelan was in no different a state, but hundreds of people might need help. “We can't leave everyone to fend for themselves. Most of them are children for Mayla’s sake!”

Without stopping to explain, mages ran past, away from the pool as another loud roar pierced the air, this time louder and deeper than it had been before. The sound had changed so much in such a short time. Kelan concluded the noise came from multiple sources. It neither comforted him or tormented him any more than he had already been.

A huge crash rattled Kelan’s ears and the ground shook beneath his feet.  Kelan lost concern for his companion and decided to run on his own. He bolted through the streets going against the crowd of screaming people. At the pool’s clearing his job dropped at the unimaginable scene unfolding before him.

Thrashing and screaming in the middle of the pool stood a three story monster that looked closest to a frog standing on its hind legs. The monster had huge yellow eyes with deep black slitted pupils. Its face had no nose, only holes as nostrils. The beast’s mouth gaped as it roared at everyone running around it. When its mouth was open a long, pink, pointed tongue hung out and flipped back and forth. Its teeth were black, yellow and pointed at the  tips. Its body, arms and legs were as thick and solid as a bundle of tree trunks. Deep forest green spots speckled its entire lighter green body. As it moved around slime dripped from its body into the water. Taloned hands waved in the air and a long webbed tail flicked behind. Kelan stared in horror for an instant before shaking himself out of his hypnotic state to assess the rest of the situation.

Around him, parents grabbed their children and ran to escape the horror. Where Kelan stood, it appeared none remained in the pool, alive at least. He saw children and adult’s bodies hanging over the ledge and on the ground. The perished children’s parents screamed as other mages pulled them away. The monster took a swipe at the ground, but missed hitting anyone. It lifted a taloned webbed foot out of the water and crashed down on the marble ledge scattering broken pieces. Water from the pool washed over the dead and injured, knocking over other mages. The beast began to walk towards the scattering crowd.

There was nothing left for Kelan to do but assist in the escape. He ran towards a few people attempting to move an injured man away from the monster. One of the men looked up and screamed. “It’s trying to get out of the pool!”

They needed to stop the monster from leaving the area. “Are any of you dark mages?” Everyone in the group shook their heads.

Someone who overheard the question ran over to Kelan. “I’m a dark mage. What can I do?”

“We need to keep the monster held in place so he doesn’t rampage the entire city. If we find another dark mage, we can work together and freeze the water on his body, keeping him in place or slowing him.” The plan seemed simple enough, but the wildcard variable was the monster’s strength.

Without a word, the other man ran to grab another mage. In the meantime, Kelan looked over at the monster again. It moved in a slow and clumsy manner, like it had never walked before. The comparison of a toddler, while sick, was accurate. With little on their side, time seemed to be an ally during this instance.

The other man returned with another mage in tow. Kelan pulled them aside. “We need to work together to freeze the water as best we can.” The other two men stared at him then nodded their heads in agreement.

The three men lined up side by side lifting their open palms to chest height. They shut their eyes and clenched their palms into fists. With his eyes closed, Kelan listened to the monster screaming and thrashing. He hoped the monster became agitated because it couldn’t move, not because it found someone or something else to destroy.

With clenched palm, Kelan lowered his fist and opened his eyes. His plan worked. The monster’s legs and lower torso froze, preventing it from moving for the time being. The beast thrashed around trying to free itself.

“This should hold him tight until the nobles get here.” Kelan smiled at the other men. The higher mages would be the only ones capable of taking care of a beast that size without killing themselves or other people around them.

With the monster incapacitated, Kelan shifted his attention back to the wounded man. He lay face-down on the ground, blood pooling around him. Kelan rolled him over, finding he had suffered a severe head injury, but was still alive. The two light mages that helped before bent down beside Kelan. “We were trying to help him, but I think his wound is too deep for our skills to heal.”

“Someone should be by shortly to help move him to a more proper place. For now, we should tend to anyone that may have lesser wounds.”

To his right, Kelan saw a few noble mages running up to the scene. They wore the black or white gold trimmed garb that identified them as noble members of their respective institutes. The noble mages were of the highest skilled in Augurya. Besides the elders, they were the only people able to control powerful enough magic to handle this beast. The ice prison couldn’t have held the monster for long considering its strength and heat of the day. As they gathered the monster began to chip at its ice prison to little avail.

Circled around each other, the dark noble mages discussed the problem at hand out of Kelan’s earshot. They shifted their heads looking at the monster, the people, then each other again.  Meanwhile, more light mages arrived to assist the light nobles in healing the wounded. Kelan took a step back trying to decide where to best utilize himself.

The nobles dispersed and one of them ran up to Kelan. “We need everyone to move away. Get as far back as you can and try to take an injured person with you.”

Without hesitation, Kelan lifted the man with the head injury and stepped as far back from the scene as he could while still being able to see what was happening. The dark nobles formed another circle again, this time much further from where they stood before. People ran past and bumped against them during their escape. The nobles seemed not to notice, instead concentrating in the circle they had formed.

The monster redirected its attention to the noble mages and began howling at them, mouth wide open, and tongue flicking. Seconds later, the beast curled over in pain and grabbed its chest. Its scream was shriller than it had ever been. Its eyes bulged out to the brink of popping from its head. Then, its chest exploded spraying blood and chunks of flesh and muscle over the pools surrounding area. It dropped to the ground with a deafening thud. The earth shook enough to knock Kelan from his feet and crack nearby foundations. He sat on the ground for a moment staring at the carcass, covered in its sticky thick blood. It stank of disease and rot. Kelan coughed through a gag and stood wiping the blood off as best he could.

The remaining nobles created a perimeter around the dead monster. The light nobles began gathering up the bodies of the children and parents that perished at the hands of the beast. There weren’t many people remaining and Kelan decided it best if he left to clean himself. As Kelan walked away, he saw that the light mages had begun gathering water from the ocean, using it to clean the streets and buildings.

Through the streets back to his shop, passing mages stared at Kelan’s bloodied state. He didn’t care one bit, still in shock from the whole ordeal. His fight instinct had vanished leaving him empty and emotionless. On arrival at his shop, Kelan noticed green gas leaking from his open door. The tremors caused by the beast must have knocked his glass flasks over and broken them. The toxins mixed creating a noxious gas.

With everyone either drawn to or scared away from the pool, Kelan had trouble finding a light mage to assist him. At the end of the street a young woman walked minding her own business, unscathed by what had transpired. Kelan identified her as a light mage because she wore her institutes uniform of silver and white.

The young woman turned towards him and gasped at the sight of him. “Mayla! What happened to you? Were you at the pool? Are you injured?” She rattled questions one after the other before Kelan had a chance to explain.

“I’m fine, but I need your help. I own a toxin shop nearby and during the commotion my flasks broke and mixed.” Kelan pointed in the direction of his shop.

She nodded her head. “Lead the way.”

Once they arrive at the shop, the woman assessed the situation and decided a simple wind spell would blow the gas out of the building into the sky. “I need you to open your back door. If I blow the wind from here, it’s just going to trap the gas inside the building. If the back door is open, I can blow the gas out without causing any harm.”

The muscles in Kelan’s legs began to get tired as he ran around the building to open the rear door. He opened it in one fell swoop careful not to stand in front in case the gas poured over him. He yelled back to the light mage that it was safe. Not a moment later green gas exploded from the door. It slammed against the facing wall and billowed into the air. Kelan made sure the gas didn’t enter the few open windows higher up. With the gas gone, Kelan ran into the back of his shop and grabbed a bucket, filling it with water.

The light mage came in from the front. “The majority of the gas is gone, but your toxins are still reacting with each other. Left alone, more gas will fill the building.”

Two steps ahead of her, Kelan walked past with the full bucket to the front shop pouring water over the spilled product. It took two trips to complete the task. With the predicament under control, he thanked the mage who helped him. “If you hadn’t been around, I’m not sure what I might have been able to do on my own.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad I was in the area. The last thing we needed to deal with is a poison cloud running through the neighborhood.” Her smile faded from her face. “You’re still covered in blood. What happened over there?”

“A huge beast attacked the Ataraxian pool. It killed many people, but the noble mages destroyed it.”

“Were any of the nobles hurt?” The woman looked concerned.

“No, we restrained the monster by the time they got there.” Kelan wanted to change the subject and not discuss what he’d been through. “What do you do at the light institute? Your uniform is different from the students.”

“I’m a counselor. My name is Selin.” She reached her hand out to shake Kelan’s but pulled it away to not get blood on herself. “I provide counsel to the students at the institute when they’re acting up or need someone to talk to. How long have you been a toxicologist?”

“Once I graduated as a dark mage I spent two years apprenticing in toxins. Since then, it’s been four years working on my own.”

“It was nice to meet you, Kelan. I hope you didn't lose too much product and can get things cleaned up easy enough.” Selin left the shop and continued on her way.

After she left, Kelan walked upstairs to his home and ran himself a hot bath. The warm water soothed his aches, but also turned crimson from the blood washing from his skin. While he cleaned himself, the events at the pool reeled in his mind. He’d never heard of or seen any animal like that on the island and couldn’t begin to imagine where it had come from. He knew a light mage would never have been able to conjure something like that and was certain no dark magic could either.

Downstairs, the entire floor remained wet. Most of the water escaped through the front door scattering broken glass across the floor. Kelan started by picking up the larger glass pieces. It looked like half a dozen flasks had broken; an easy loss to recuperate considering the circumstances. Kelan filled a bucket with water and soap to mop up the toxin.

By the time Kelan finished cleaning the floor, the sun had begun to set. A thick smell drifted through the air similar but more pungent to what covered his clothes. Kelan realized the dark mages were burning the remains of the beast.

The streets remained empty save for a messenger hammering a notice to a nearby news board.

Kelan stepped over to the boy. “What are you nailing there?”

The boy lowered his hammer. “Tomorrow will be a meeting in both markets to discuss the monster at Ataraxia today. Rumor on the street is rough things are starting to go down.”

“Starting to is an understatement. I’d say rough times are already here.”

The boy shrugged his shoulders and continued pounding. Kelan read the notice over his shoulder. The elders planned to address the people themselves. This only happened on special occasions or when something of the utmost importance occurred. Kelan decided tomorrow morning he would drop by his parent’s and pick them up for the meeting. They lived in the south end of the city by the dark mage Institute. He would end up passing by there on his way to the market regardless.