AN: Sorry for the wait guys, work, on and off writer's block and looking for a new beta reader that delayed this update for the last few months.
I would like to thank the following people who review last chapter: deadpeace6868, Yuna Neko, koenvanderplas, Kitsune6, fergnerd, Baran3, Sakura is number 1, Sky, .xx, Gameblaster12, Starwin, DayDreamer9, Greki, Darev, shocklance, Philip Gipson, yellow 14, The Crazy Talk Kid, lost prince, and Nelo Akuma
Would also like to thank Ima for beta reading this fic
Now that we have that done, please enjoy the newest chapter of Shunned One!
000
Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince
Chapter 6: Youth Games End, New Journey Begins
Caleb and Alchemy silently headed for the medical tent, since Alchemy was intimidated by the older boy, who still saw her as an enemy because she was the granddaughter of Irvine McDohl.
The only thing that kept a second round of combat from occurring; was the fact Caleb knew it would reflect badly on his family for pointlessly attacking member of another noble family.
'If it's this bad with just one of Will's friends, what will it be like with all of them in the same spot?' Alchemy worriedly thought, as they entered the medical tent to see their 'fallen' friends and their families.
Upon entering, a few of the defeated Labyrinth competitors noticed the medals in Caleb and Alchemy's hands, causing whispers to fill the tent. Both victors knew this would mean they would soon have many new rivals. The top three finalists of the Labyrinth event was the example of what skill level was needed to be bested, if any of them wanted to win next year.
'To make matters worse, this means I have to look forward to both regular duels AND spell duels for the next few months,' Caleb mentally groaned, knowing his status as both a warrior and a magic user left him wide open to both types of challenges.
Meanwhile, Alchemy was having bigger concerns with the glares she was getting from a certain group on the far side of the room. All of Will's friends were in the same mindset as Caleb, the one that said 'Alchemy McDohl is the enemy'.
The only two people missing from the group were Matt Olsen and Cornelia Hale, but all the ones Alchemy fought were still present, but at least the good news was she could try to explain everything all at once.
"Where are Cornelia and Olsen?" Caleb asked the group, making it clear he was still not on good terms with the noble blooded Bard, since the fight between them went to a new extreme in the last battle. The two friends had never uses such power in past matches, but then again, neither had been rivals for the heart of the same girl before.
"We are assuming they are in one of the other tents. We all ended up here and have not gotten permission to leave yet to go look for them," Elyon answered Caleb, but did not take her eyes of Alchemy.
'This is not going to be easy,' Alchemy grumbled in her mind, before trying to convince Will's friends that she was on their side, not her grandfather's.
"Um…I think there has been a slight misunderstanding for my intentions towards a mutual friend," Alchemy started to say, but then had Irma cut her off.
"And how did we end up sharing a friend with a McDohl?" The Arcane Hunter asked in a sour tone, the feeling was clearly shared the others as well.
"Despite what you think, I assure you I'm nothing like my grandfather. Will and I are friends; we fought alongside one another for most of the final event. I admit I…kept my last name a secret, but I swear I never had any intention of harming Will. At worse, Will and I would have fought for the gold medal if that Passling had not stolen it, that's it in terms of 'harming' Will," Alchemy explained, but to her dismay, it seemed to not win much trust from Will's friends.
"You're asking us to believe a lot Ms. McDohl. You're Grandfather is under heavy suspicion of violating several laws my mother placed to protect Half-Elves, we just don't have proof. I admit you're father, mother or yourself has done nothing to earn this reputation, but have also yet to give anyone proof you nothing like the head of your family either. The fact you admit you hid your connection to your grandfather does not help your case," Elyon stated firmly, followed by firm nods from the others present.
Alchemy had to admit Princess Elyon had a point and it was not unexpected that Will's friends were going to be VERY cautious when it came to a McDohl, but the young Swordsage was dead set on proving herself to these people that her Grandfather's beliefs did not represent the whole family.
"I admit, I still have much to do to prove that to you all. All I ask is for the chance to prove to you all that my grandfather's ways are not my own," Alchemy requested in a humble, knowing it was one thing many did not expect from McDohl. It was a know traits many of her family had not had until her father and now her. All others before them might have been at least decent people, but even those ones had a bit of arrogance in their personalities.
This one act finally gave the youngest member of the McDohls a chance among the people before her. They did not trust her yet, but she at least appeared to be honest with the request and was well in her right to have the opportunity to show she was going to live up to her word.
"Well, if you want a place to start, you can tell Will who you are. Then we might have reason to trust you," Elyon told the young McDohl, who nodded her head agreement and replied, "That was always my intention…now I just need to hope I can speak to her before the awards ceremony."
The group seemed satisfied for the moment with this agreement, since the now could see how Will would react to this information, but even with this issues resolved, most knew there was still others to be dealt; mainly with Matt and Cornelia.
000
In a neighboring tent, Cornelia was silently fuming in her cot, as she kept replaying the battle between herself and Will in her head.
Will had won through stamina, patience and timing; something of which Cornelia was embarrassed about, since all she did was keep firing away until her magic ran dry. It also did not help she was beaten by a spell that made Susan Vandom famous among elite warriors and magic users alike.
The common person or magic user did not know about the Lighting Blade, because Susan did not flaunt the powerful spell, but those few who did knew about the spell knew it was as difficult attack to learn as it was powerful. Not just anyone could learn, this was proven when many tried to replicate the attack and failed.
'Until now, only Will's mother and Tony Vandom could wield that power, but now that attack is at Will's disposal. Even with the one who created it teaching her, Will would have still would have needed skill and talent to have learned it so soon…how can I prove myself more worthy of Caleb against that kind of ability?!' Cornelia screamed in her mind, not noticing her family and animal companion approaching her cot.
"There's our little champion!" Cornelia's father said in a cheerful tone, making Cornelia jump a bit since she had heard her family come up.
After her small 'heart attack' Cornelia's face gained frown though at being called a 'champion' since she did not even get the bronze medal. Will and her newly gained Lightning Blade spell saw to that.
"I'm no champion dad. I lost my fight," Cornelia said in a depressed tone, which made Snowflake move into to nuzzle her mistress in a comforting manner. This action was returned by Cornelia, while her mother sat down next to her on the cot.
"Don't worry Cornelia; you'll do better next year. You're very skilled for your age, but you know full well you could not win against the older contestant. The fact you lasted so far into the..." Elizabeth started to say to her daughter, in hopes of making feel better, but Cornelia shook her head slowly and started speaking in soft and depressed voice.
"I did not lose to an older opponent; I lost to Will while we fought for the gold medal," Cornelia said as she kept scratching Snowflake's ears. This news shocked Cornelia parents, since that had not thought their daughter would even find her great 'rival' in the Labyrinth, let alone be facing her in a duel for the ultimate prize of the games.
Lillian's reaction to the news was a bit more interesting though, "Can you get me Will's autograph then?!"
This made Cornelia stare at her little sister like she grew a second head, their mother giggling at the her youngest child's request and their father groaning at this because he knew Lillian be rubbing salt in Cornelia wounded pride by wanting the signature of the one who beat her older sister a short while ago.
000
Across the medical tent, Matt sat silently as he tried to collect his thoughts on what happened in the Labyrinth. Because of his actions, it made him glad only Cornelia was in the same tent as him, since almost all the other would have probably tried to kill him for how he acted.
'Caleb was supposed to be my target, not the others…but I just went after everyone in there. As long as I got to Caleb I did not care who got hurt. I need to get my focus back or I could lose Will to Caleb because I kept hurting the others,' Matt mentally told himself, but then noticed a shadow was being cast over him.
Matt looked up to see a powerfully built man with grayish-blue eyes and long silver hair that was done up in a pony tail. He wore red dragon scale half-plate armor and carried a bastard sword like Caleb, so Matt originally thought this unknown person was some kind of warrior, until he noticed the lute on the stranger's back.
'Usually only a bard would carry a lute, so why is this man who seems more like a warrior bother to learn to use it, let alone carry one?' Matt wondered, as the stranger began to speak.
"Hello young Olsen, I was watching you're progress throughout the games and I must say I'm impressed. Though you did seem a bit…out of control, when fighting the Russell boy, you did still show considerable skill in both the melee tournament and the Labyrinth," The mysteries man said to Matt, who winced at being reminded of his recent actions, until the young Olsen realized something.
"There is no way you could have seen what happened during the final event! Only a select few are permeated to do so and those are the ones who are chosen insure nothing happens to the contestants and the…" Matt stated firmly, bit stopped realized what this man's job was.
The mystery man grinned at Matt sudden silence. After few moment of waiting to insure the young man had a chance to absorbing the information from his realization, the man spoke up, "I see you figured it out. You have realized I'm a scout for my group. To be specific, I'm with a group who trains new War Chanters, Bards who give up growth in Bard spells for great skill with a blade and learn special songs that enhance allies or hinder foes in battle. We wish to offer you the opportunity to learn our ways and grow into a more powerful warrior."
Hearing this left Matt speechless, he had not been expecting an elite group of Bard like warriors to offer him more advanced, even though was one of the biggest reasons to compete in the games to begin with.
"Why choose me though? I'm sure there are other Bards more…level headed then I have been lately," Matt asked, thinking there must be some kind of mistake since most groups who have scouts for new talent tend be picky on who they offer training to.
"There might have been level headed Bards here today, but you showed far greater skill. Besides, young men rarely think clearly when it comes to girls," The War Chanter explained with a grin on his face, making clear he had already knew Matt and Caleb were competing for a certain redheaded half-elf.
Matt blushed a little form embarrassment, but shook it off as he said, "I'll need to discuss your offer with my parents before I can give you answer. Would that be alright?"
The War Chanter replied with a nod of his head and told him how to contact him once Matt's decision had been made.
As Matt was left alone once again, he completed how this would affect his life should be trained by the War Chanters. It seemed they would greatly increase his skills as a warrior and give him access to more powerful songs, both of which would make him more suited to fight Caleb, should they compete against each other again.
'Plus most training offers to take the new student away from home for a while so to get the basics done quickly. That will give me some time to cool off and hopefully for the others as well from after that little…incident,' Matt concluded in his mind, knowing he had to get that training.
He did not think his parents would be against it though, they would probably glad he got such an offer. The only thing against such training is that would be put slightly behind in the academic studies that a school would offer, but Matt did not see that being too hard to work out something his family when he saw them next.
000
A few hours later, Will was slowly waking up from her fainting spell. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in an inn's guest room. Her mother and Serenity sat on either side of the bed, while Kor in his dormouse shape lay on Will's chest.
"I really need to break this habit," Will grumbled groggily, referring to continued habit of passing out and waking up in a bed.
The sound of Will's voice drew the attention of the three in the room. Serenity and Kor was as calm as ever, since they knew Will had been tired and overwhelmed by winning the Labyrinth, but Will's mother was still a 'little' jumpy.
"Will! How are feeling? Does anything hurt? Do you…" Susan asked continuously. Like any other mother, she got overexcited when something happened to her 'baby girl'.
Will, who was still half-asleep, did not know how to answer her mother's barrage of questions and so just remained in a stunned state. This made Serenity step in and try and calm her partner down, before she had a heart attack.
"Susan, calm down or I'll be forced to change back to my true form and make you settle down," Serenity told her partner, which made Susan shoot a glare at her familiar.
"And you would be any different if Kor was the one who passed out in front of you?" Susan shot back, while Will just looked back forth between the two women.
"Um…what's going on? The last thing I remembering is getting hugged by mom about something and then everything went black," Will asked, her memories foggy from still being partially asleep.
Susan looked back at her daughter and smiled while picking certain gold medal the redhead had won a few hours ago.
"You fainted shortly after appearing in the inn once you won this. I thought you might have been hurt so I…panicked a little," Susan explained, looking a little sheepish at the last part, while both Serenity and Kor rolled their eyes. Both knew the dark haired elf did more than a 'little' panicking once Will fainted.
Susan ignored this though and opted for focusing her attention on Will, who was starting to recall everything that happened down in the Labyrinth.
"Now I remember…did Alchemy get the silver medal? We both arrived in the medal chamber at the same time, but lost track of her when Blunk broke in the Labyrinth and stole the gold medal. I can't see her not getting the silver unless she followed after Blunk and me and did not get back to the chamber in time to get one of the others," Will asked, hoping Alchemy still placed well in the final event.
The redhead knew it was thanks to the young Swordsage that the gold medal was now hers and hoped Alchemy would at least be one of the other winners of the Labyrinth.
Had Sade not informed Susan of Alchemy knowing Will earlier and Elyon passing on a message that Will knew nothing about the Swordsage's family; the Elvin woman might have been worried that her daughter had met the granddaughter of Irvine McDohl.
Susan had no problem with Alchemy, but was worried how Will would react to finding out her new friend was related to a man that had often tried to harm her in some way.
Of course, Susan knew Will was hardly the type to think one member of the family made up the whole family's belief, but it was also not a stretch to see the redhead being worried the other girl might have only pretending to be friend. The Grumper sisters had demonstrated such tactics to Will after all, so Will might assume the same of Alchemy.
"She won bronze from what I heard. She probably would have had silver if not for Caleb grabbing it first," Susan answered her daughter, keeping the secret of both Alchemy's heritage and some of the small pieces of the fight that happened in the medal chamber.
Susan had not heard exact details, but from what people had told her, it get very chaotic in there, with some sort of mix up between Alchemy and the bulk of Will's friends and the fact Caleb and Matt a free-for-all style rematch.
'Between paranoid friends and two boys fighting over her, I don't think Will would react well to what little I heard,' Susan concluded in her mind, as she watched will let out a relived sigh at hearing Alchemy got one of the medals.
"That's good to hear. Do you know where she is? I want to thank her again for all her help down there," Will asked, hoping she could find her new friend before the final ceremony of the Youth Games.
"I'm afraid not, she is probably getting ready for this evening anyway, since she is one of the champions of the final event. This of course means you need to get ready as well Will and we only have a few hours to do it in," Susan informed her daughter, who went pale at hearing this.
Will knew 'get ready' meant get cleaned and dressed up, so she could be the center of attention. Between having to wear a dress and being of the 'guests of honor' Will was regretting not letting Cornelia win their battle.
'Wonder what my odds of finding places to hide until the closing ceremonies are over?' Will grumbled in her mind, as her mother gently dragged her out of bed to get ready for the coming evening.
000
A few hours later, Will was cleaned up and dressed in the same dress she wore at her birthday party. Of course, Will had resisted the idea of attending the closing ceremonies in hopes of not having a repeat of what happened at said party, but her mother kept insisting things would be different tonight.
Of course, Susan had made sure to remind Will that unlike the previous time, Kor would be with her (in dormouse form) and the fact Will now knew to be a little more careful of strangers. Though it was mainly the idea of Kor being with her that made Will feel more confident.
'Kind of nice to know giant fire breathing lizard has my back…even if he is restricted to appearing to be a harmless creature,' Will mentally told herself, hoping she could drive away the nervousness that still plagued her.
It had a small effect of course, but not quite enough for the redhead's liking. This is why Susan was starting to feel worried as well, since she could not think of other ways to encourage her daughter enough to help her last the evening.
'Well, maybe Caleb and Alchemy will make it easier for her, since they will be with her for at least the start of the evening...still hard to imagine my daughter is close friends with the granddaughter of Irvine McDohl. Wonder how Will will react to hearing about Alchemy's family?' Susan though, as she lead her daughter to where the night's celebration would take place.
Because it was tradition for the three champions of the Labyrinth to only appear after they 'officially' get their medals, so the winners wait in the back area of a stage made for the awards ceremony until called out by Sade.
Upon arrive at said destination, Susan gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead and told her everything would be alright as one final attempt to calm her daughter's nerves, before heading out to where everyone one else was gather for official announcement of the final event's winners.
Shortly after Will arrived backstage, so did Caleb and Alchemy, much to Will's relief to have friendly company right now.
Like Will, they were dressed for the special occasion. Caleb wore armor over his torso with the emblem of his family on the front, black pants and boots. His sword was at his side rather than its traditional spot on his back.
Alchemy wore a dark blue medieval style dress and seemed as nervous as Will, though for a different reason then the redheaded half-elf.
'Guess now is my chance…though I wish I had been born to a different family line right now,' Alchemy thought, as she tried to gather the courage to finally tell Will the truth before someone else did.
Of course, Will was not making it easy by running up and hugging both Alchemy and Caleb before Alchemy could even speak.
"You guys have no idea how glad I am to see you right now!" Will exclaim, as her two friends got caught in the bone crushing hug, both surprised the redhead was this strong.
"I think we have at least a rough idea Will," Alchemy managed to wheeze out, while Caleb chuckled at the young McDohl's struggle to speak. Caleb had been less affected by the hug because of being a little bigger, stronger and his armor absorbed some of the pressure, though he could still tell Will's nervous nature was probably giving her this unusually powerful grip.
'Can't say I blame Will, she has not exactly had the best track record in public areas. Good thing I can sling a Fireball spell now if anyone gets any 'bright' ideas tonight,' Caleb though, as Will finally released her two friends from the death grip she had been giving them.
"Sorry about that," Will apologized, a small blush coming across her face while her two friends just smiled right back and accepted it with a nod of their heads, but Will noticed Alchemy quickly looked like she struggling against something again.
"What's wrong Alchemy?" Will asked, wondering if it was more than the upcoming ceremony that was bugging the young Swordsage.
The redhead started to get even more worried for her newest friend when Alchemy's nervousness went to borderline fear, but Caleb cleared his voice and drew the half elf's attention to him.
"Alchemy has something she wants to tell you, but is unsure how you will react to hearing it. I would save her the trouble and tell you myself Will, but that might just make the situation worse for both of you," Caleb stated simply, mainly trying to paint the youngest member of the McDohl family into a corner and see if Alchemy had the guts to admit the truth about herself.
'If she is truly seeking Will's friendship, then she should know she can't hide her family from Will. Assuming Alchemy admits her heritage, then the others and myself might have some grounds to trust her,' Caleb though, as Will now looked back a forth between Caleb and Alchemy in confusion.
'Thanks a lot Russell! Why not make I even harder for me then it already was?!' Alchemy mentally screamed at the Warmage/Fighter, planning on making him pay once she was out of this mess.
"What are you talking about Ca..." Will started to ask, when the unwelcome sight of Irvine McDohl entered the waiting area and caused different reactions among the three champions of the Labyrinth.
Will was stepping back in fear, mainly out of reflex since until finding out the truth about herself; she had always been defenseless against this man and his underlings.
Alchemy was filled with dread, since she knew her grandfather would only be here for one reason, to have Will find out she was related to him in the worse possible way.
Caleb also knew the older McDohl was planning to do. But unlike Alchemy, he was filled more with anger, rather than dread for the man's soon coming underhanded tactics.
'If Alchemy is being completely truthful about being a friend to Will, then I can't let her grandfather ruin that friendship by telling Will who Alchemy is before Alchemy gets the courage to do it herself,' Caleb thought, while quickly approaching the older Warmage with a stern expression on his face.
"Lord McDohl, you know full well that with the closing ceremonies about to begin. You are not permitted back here. I suggest you leave now, or else I'll be forced to make you," Caleb stated firmly, in hopes of at least stalling the older noble until someone else came along and hopefully help make McDohl leave.
Unfortunately for Caleb, McDohl was not willing to back down and gave the younger noble a sneer before replying, "Watch your tone boy or have you forgotten that you're only a cadet Warmage, while I am a both a commander in rank and on the council that is in charge of all Warmages in this kingdom. One word from me and..."
"You'll do nothing," Alchemy cut in, her fearful expression changing to one of determination and resolve. The youngest member of the McDohl family might be scared of admitting she was related to the man before her, but she was not going to let him get away with ruining Caleb's career just because he stood up to the older Warmage.
'I'll sooner let Will know who I am in the worse possible manner, then let my Grandfather hurt one of Will's friends,' Alchemy thought, as she marched up to her grandfather and got right in face.
Much to Will and Caleb's surprise, Irvine McDohl actually stepped back when this happened, something he did not do often; especially not to a young girl half his size. The fact that it was his own granddaughter that was intimidating the old man, made it even more of a shocker (though Caleb was still the only one aware of this fact of course)
It only took a moment for the older McDohl to recover though and gave the youngest member of his family a furious glare ad growled out, "Watch you're tone with me child or I'll be forced punish you as well. Something that I'll have an even easier time doing then with Caleb Russell!"
"I find that highly unlikely grandfather, seeing how you'll need my parents' approval to make any sort of punishment stick. I on the other hand would have an easier time seeing you're abuse of authority over Caleb is punished. With my word combined with Caleb and Will's against your own, it would be easy, especially if Queen Sade were to get involved," Alchemy shot back, clearly shocking both her grandfather and Will at the same time.
Irvine was mainly caught off guard Alchemy's firm approach, since she rarely out spoke the head of the McDohl family. Will's reasons for being shocked were due to obvious fact she just heard her newest friend call one her biggest obstacles at being accepted her 'grandfather'.
'Well, that is one to way to admit the truth. Not the ideal way, but it could have been worse,' Caleb thought, while keeping an eye on Will's reaction in case she took in negatively.
"How dare you threaten..." Irvine McDohl started growl out and was even raising his hand to strike Alchemy, when a blast of pinkish-red energy struck the very hand he raised.
As the older McDohl howled out in pain, Alchemy and Caleb looked in the direction the blast came from and saw Will's hand raised and staring coldly at the older McDohl.
"Raise another hand towards one of my friends again and it will be a Lighting Blade, instead of an eldritch blast," Will stated coldly, her hand still glowing from the earlier shot.
While Will's two friends still looked on in shock, Irvine McDohl's look of pain quickly changed to one of furry. In his uninjured hand, a fireball quickly forms within its grasp, while the elderly Warmage roared out, "You will pay you filthy half-breed!"
Caleb and Alchemy were caught off guard by the older McDohl's use of the very common but powerful spell, while their half-elf friend frantically tried to think of a defense to such an attack.
Unfortunately at her current level, Will nothing that could stop such an attack and braced herself for a fiery demise by closing her eyes and raised her hands up in a futile attempt to guard against the spell.
By doing this, Will did not see the fireball vanish from existence as Irvine McDohl started throwing it, confusing those had not shut their eyes until a voice spoke out, "That will be quiet enough, Lord McDohl!"
The four occupants of the areas looked over to see Queen Sade standing near the current that separated the backstage from the where the crowed was gathering to see their Youth Games champions.
Irvine McDohl was the first recover from the shock of the queen appearing so suddenly and was about to try and turn this whole mess to be of some use to him, bur Sade cut him off before he could say anything.
"Don't you dare try and make you're self look innocent McDohl! I saw you getting ready to strike your granddaughter and heard you're 'comment' to Will. I don't know what this is all about, but I do know you have no business being back here so leave before I show you what spell I would have used if Will had not fired first!" the Queen ordered, making it clear the lord had lost this round.
As Irvine McDohl turned to leave, he considered using his injured hand as 'evidence' to use against Will. But then took into account he granddaughter was clearly on the redhead side at the moment, probably through some sort of bewitchment but still on the brat's side none the less.
'I'll just have to bide my time and see if I can get the half breed filth later. She has clearly bewitched my own granddaughter with her warlock powers, so I must hope my time to act will be soon,' the old lord thought as he left quickly, so to avoid the queen wrath.
000
Once Lord McDohl was gone, the Queen of Meridian turned to Will and said with a stern expression, "You should not use your eldritch blast like that. I know you meant well, but harming a lord is a serious offence. We are lucky Lord McDohl is not so brave when facing me personally and you had two witnesses Will or there would have been trouble."
These words made Will hang her head down a little, since she knew her use if her warlock powers on the older McDohl were well meant, but wrong. The only thing that probably kept Lord McDohl form pursuing legal action was the fact he was about to use deadly force and that the Queen herself witnessed it.
Will also was lucky the queen dispelled said attack before Lord McDohl threw it or they would not even be having this discussion. The old Warmage was much more powerful then Uriah, so it was highly likely Will would have been annulated by the fireball he was going to use.
Sade then told the trio it was time to go out and begin the ceremony. But just as Will heading out, Alchemy stopped her and mouthed the words 'Thank for helping'.
Will gave her friend a small smile, though was still inwardly dealing with the news of her newest friends was related to one of the people who made her early years miserable. Will did not hold Alchemy responsible for her grandfather's actions or anything like hat. It was just a big shocker that was not easy to let sink in.
Out on the front part of the stage, all those who came to watch the Youth Games were in attendance. A few of the people closest to the stage had small, hard to notice scowls on their faces when Will came into view, but the redhead was semi expecting as much.
The three champions were lined up behind Sade, who was at podium and getting ready to being her short speech to the gathered spectators.
"Lords, ladies and gentlefolk; I like to thank you for attending the 108th Youth Games. We have had many great matches this year during the small tournaments, but we can now finally reveal this year's true Youth Games champions!" Sad said aloud to the crowed, which had round of applauses by said people.
"Our first champion is the bronze medal winner and one of Meridian's few Swordsages, Alchemy McDohl!" Sade called out, which was once again followed by applause and a small amount of cheering from the more excited spectators.
Alchemy then stepped forward to be more clearly scene by the crowed, bowing he head slight in recognition of the praise and then turned back to the Queen, who now held the bronze medal in her hands.
Sade placed the medal back around the girl's neck and then watched the young Swordsage go back to her spot in the line-up.
"Next, our silver medal winner, Caleb Russell of the Junior Warmage Brigade," Sade called a second time, once again getting a great number of applauses as Sade placed the silver medal around Caleb's neck.
'Now for the fireworks,' Sade thought bitterly, knowing the second it was made official who the ultimate winner of the Youth Games, there was going be trouble. Even with a 'normal' child winning, there were a small number of those who objected to the winner of the gold medal and Will was hardly 'normal'.
"And last but not least, the gold medal winner and Champion of the Youth games, Wilhelmina Vandom!" Sadie announced to the gathered nobles and commoners and as expected, just as Will started to step forward, chaos erupted.
"Outrageous!" One voice roared out.
'She must have cheated!" Another voice yelled from the crowed.
"Get that thing off the stage!" a Third voice added in a furry.
Other insults, accusations and boos followed and left Will and those who supported her unsure what to do. Unfortunately for the crowed, the one who figured out a solution was probably the worse to face (with the exception of Will's mother) a certain gold dragon familiar that was still resting on Will's shoulder, keeping a low profile until this disgusting display happened.
Kor jumped down from Will's shoulder and changed back to his true form, causing the stage to crack and splinter under his weight, though it still seemed to support him…just barely.
Will, Sade, Caleb and Alchemy on the other hand barely managed to avoid getting hit by any of the young gold dragon's body parts as he grew in size from a small dormouse to a dragon that was a little bigger then a village hut and of course, Will was one of the few present that was not shocked and a little scared of a gold dragon appearing and letting out a thundering roar, followed by a short burst of flame being sent into the air.
'That was a dragon all this time!' All of Will's friends mentally screamed, while Susan and Serenity both were trying figure if they should thank the rebellious lizard or smack him upside the head later.
The rest of the crowed was ducking for cover or in the case of a few of the braver spell casters, were trying to dispel Kor, thinking he was an illusion, which only anger the raging beast even more and roar out, "I am no trick of the light you fools! I am this girl's familiar and you will shut up, sit down and show her some respect!"
People quickly obeyed the dragon's orders, though many guessed once the shock wore off, the new found 'respect' for Will would disappear, but at least Kor ended the insults for the time being.
000
After Will got her medal, she, her mother and their familiars (with Kor back in his dormouse form) sat quietly and watched the rest of the final festivities of the Youth Games, mostly because Susan could not think of a way to sneak them out early so they were forced to attend to the Champions' Feast.
"Next year, I'm losing on purpose…even if I do make it to the medal chamber again," Will grumbled, while her mother gave the young redhead a small chuckle and shook her head.
"In theory that is not a bad idea, but then you have to deal with those saying you did cheat or were lucky to win this time. If you do choose to compete next year, it would be best to try and win again…though given the spectacle the crowed and a certain rodent made; an early 'retirement' might be in order," Susan told her daughter, who was clearly resisting the urge let out a very un-lady like groan at this comment.
A few moments later, an elderly man in white wizard robes approached. The robes and the head of his staff had a symbol Will did not recognize, but Susan did.
This was man was of the Arcane Order and highly ranked one at that, probably one of its Regents, which made Susan wonder what such a figure would want with either Will or herself.
Susan had worked with the order many times in the past, but most of those time were either by chance or on official missions from Sade with its lesser members, so why one of the ones who sit on the guild's governing council would wish to see either of them?
"Good evening Lady Susan, Lady Wilhelmina. I am Alhazred of the Arcane Order and was wondering if I could have a moment of your time?" The ageing wizard asked, his tone making clear this was something official thus of great importance, but showed no signs of arrogance despite being of such high status in one of the biggest guilds in the land.
Will remained silent, since this was her mother's call and probably the only one who would understand everything that the wizard would ask.
Susan on the other hand was trying to figure out why said wizard wanted to speak with both herself and Will. Speaking with a Royal Knight is one matter; since it could be an official request of some kind, but Will had no real rank and it was doubtful the Arcane order would be seeking to gain a non wizard into their order.
'Might as well let him speak and maybe I'll be able out if he has some kind of hidden motives,' Susan mentally concluded and then nodded her head courteously to signal the aging wizard to make his request.
"Thank you, my ladies. My request is rather simple actually, I would like to ask for your daughter's assistance in helping one of our junior members on an errand we are giving her. We like to give assignments like this to them so they can put their skills to practical use and let them show the order their ability to handle missions they might be given." Alhazred explained, getting a confused looks by both Vandom women.
"Why would you need Will for this task if it's already handled by a member of your order? Especially when Will is only 13 and hardly adventuring age," Susan asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable of the thought of Will being away from home without her, like most mothers would be.
Alhazred gave the Elvin woman a reassuring smile before continuing his explanation, "It is for two reasons. The first is that we wish to simulate normal quest procedures, which would be one or more of our members teamed with outsiders of the order that round out the group. With our recent alliance with one of the Barbarian clans that gives our member one such person but we need at least two more to be a bit more close to the standard practice. Thus why I am hoping for your daughter's assistance in this matter."
"And the second reason?" Susan asked, still feeling a bit unsure of this idea, but wanted to get the whole picture before either denying the request if it was bad idea or letting Will choose if the 'mission' seemed safe enough.
"The second reason is…a more political reason I admit. As you know, some people are permitted to view battles waged in the Labyrinth. I was the one such person and I witnessed how Lady Wilhelmina battled Lady Cornelia and such potential would be of great help to the Order if she becomes a regular source of aid in later years, once she older and more able to handle true missions," Alhazred answered with hint of nervousness, knowing some did like these alliances guilds made with either clans of certain classes or powerful individuals.
Such alliances are viewed by some nobles and rival guilds as a form of arms racing, but instead seek out weapons in the traditional sense, it takes the form of people not bound by guild rules, thus can be the wild card a guild can play to gain an advantage.
Of course, only a few guilds seek this. Most, like the Arcane Order, merely wish to have powerful contacts that are just as good as hired adventures, but might be willing to work cheaply or if the friendship between the guild and contact is good, then possibly said person or persons might even give the Order a free helping hand.
'This is…an unexpected turn of events,' Susan thought, while trying to figure out what to say to Alhazred. She was unsure if it was a bad thing if Will gained a possible connection to a guild as big and influential as the Arcane Order.
On one hand, it would single Will out among rival guild of the Order, but on the other hand, it would give Will real life experience with her skills, since training alone was not going grant much more growth on its own anymore.
'But Will is still so young…' Susan once again told herself mentally, mainly in an attempt to give her a decent reason to turn the guild mage down, but could not fully convince herself of this option.
Will on the other hand, was about settle the issue with one innocent question that had been bugging her for a while since the conversation began. "Who is the member of your order and who else is part of the group?"
Both Susan and Alhazred turned to look at Will upon hearing this question; Susan mainly because she thought Will was just going to be quiet and watch like she normally did. Alhazred on the other hand was hoping this was a sign he might convince the older Vandom to accept the offer if the younger one was becoming so interested.
"You know them actually, Lady Wilhelmina. Apprentice Taranee and Nigel of the Barbarian Clan allied with us; make up two members of the group. Another member of my order is looking into the fourth person we wish to enlist. I had been hoping for one more your regular would be that member, but each for what I have heard has either turned down the offer for further training with family or other guild after mentioned to me they are approaching them for membership for special training in advanced classes. But once this fourth person is selected from our other option, my old student will contact you and your mother if both choose to accept the offer," Alhazred explained.
'So two of them are ones I know I can trust with Will…guess Will's question has given me decent reason to trust this request if genuine. So as long as I feel the other two are acceptable and the mission is not too dangerous or too long, I can leave Will to choose,' Susan concluded, and was about to ask who this student was, but was cut off by a new voice calling out.
"I thought I told you to wait until I talked to them you old coot!" The new voice stated and three looked over to see the familiar face of Zerase approaching them.
Alhazred looked mildly annoyed at the 'old coot' comment and shot back, "You should be more respectful to your old master Zerase!"
Upon hearing this, Will got confused since Zerase, though not exactly old yet, was still beginning to exit her prime in terms of youth. She would have expected a student of this old wizard to be in their late twenties to mid thirties, not mid forties like Zerase was.
Will began channeling her Warlock powers into her eyes to see if her ability to detect magic could find illusions either disguising Zerase age or if the older wizard might be of a race with a longer life span then human, which did not go unnoticed by any of the veteran magic users.
Alhazred burst out laughing since the same basic concept had happened many times in the past, so he knew what Will was doing. Zerase also knew what was going, but now it was her turned to look annoyed.
"Did I miss something?" Susan asked, in hopes of someone telling her the joke.
"It's nothing, anyway I got the other member you need 'Master'. Did you get Will or do I need to find you another recruit?" An irradiated Zerase asked, giving Will a look to stop her 'search' or she would make the redhead stop.
Will gulped loudly and quickly ended her detect magic attempt, while Alhazred answered his former student's question.
"They are still deciding Zerase, but at least you managed to get the Lady McDohl so even if both Lady Susan and Lady Wilhelmina turn us down, we have a decent group for the errand to Ironforge," Alhazred replied, which quickly made Susan look at this request negatively again.
"Ironforge…you mean one all the way to the east of the country? Near the Dark Lands? Are you joking!?" Susan said in a deadly serious tone. She was using every ounce of will power to keep from making a scene.
"I assure you Lady Susan the journey will be most safe. Ironforge is after all, the most secure city in the whole kingdom of Meridian and Zerase is going to be with them. Plus, do you think we would give the task to a rookie member if we believed it was not safe?" Alhazred told the over protective mother in a reassuring tone, hoping logic would help clam the powerful Royal Knight down.
Will meanwhile was shocked she was going to have the chance to visit Ironforge, one of the biggest cities in the kingdom of the dwarves. Will had never met a dwarf, even in Trader's Central, so she was eager to go on this trip with Taranee and the others.
'I even get to see Alchemy again, which would be nice. I still want to know more about her…maybe even ask her why her grandfather hates half-elves so much,' Will thought, while at the same time giving her mother a pleading look to allow her to go.
It only took minute for Susan to give into the begging expression on her daughter's face to cave in and ask, "When does she leave and how long will she be gone?"
"Please meet us at our guild in two weeks time for final preparations and the journey should take them no longer then two and a half weeks, it might even be less if weather stays calm and of the regular travel delays are minimal," The older Wizard answered, the travel delays referring to the rare monster attack or a patrol stopping groups for a short time if they were searching for a specific person or checking for contraband.
"Alright then, Will will be there at that time," Susan told Alhazred, then bid the two wizards farewell before looking back at Will.
"Well, looks like we have a reason to leave early now. You will want to be well rested for your first such trip…just don't think this will happen often Will, these things can be dangerous at times and you gave me enough heart attacks for one lifetime!" Susan said in a good natured tone, but Will could detect was serious about the comment at the same time.
"I know mom, but thanks for a least letting me go this time," Will said as e hugged her mother, before both got up and left the celebration area to head for home. Neither knew soon this small mission for the Arcane Order was merely the start of something that would shape Meridian history for years to come.
000
AN: And there you go guys, probably not my best work since I admit I rushed a little to get it out and had to force the writing process so to overcome writer's block, but I hope it was still enjoyable.