"Ungolis!"
My voice booms, echoing off the guild walls in an earsplitting frequency. The gathered guild members all react, covering their ears with gritted teeth. The beer in mugs slosh violently, dripping rain from the roof above is shoved outward, the ground shakes as if a small earthquake has started. Fuming heat and pain reverberates from my body, the frost burn scar on my shoulder grips at my skin. Magic leaks from every pore, chilling the air around me significantly. My chest feels like its been ripped open, the crystal heart no longer hits my side, the jacket pocket that once held it now sits ragged with a hole facing my body.
So much new things happening at once, its not helping that there's a voice in my head now too.
This is quite the entrance, you sure do know how to draw attention.
Shut it. I think, finding it uncomfortable to have an argument internally. Your just a figment of my imagination. My chest goes cold, my heartbeat gets louder.
I am very much real, little human, and I am in your debt for saving me.
The guild stays silent, but small mummerings start to pop up amongst the staring faces. Their heads all start to turn, some point fingers. I look to where many of them watch, up the stairs, toward the guild master's quarters. Standing on the balcony alone, is Ungolis. He looks at me with his cold and calculating gaze, I shoot one back at him. He looks me over a few times, I'd be surprised if he recognizes me. His mouth opens slowly, watching me with suspicion.
"Well, it seems we have a newcomer, tell me ice mage, what are you doing in my guild hall?"
I puff out my chest, jamming my thumb onto my chest.
"My name is Zircon, I was a guild member here until yesterday, when I was excommunicated."
I carry on.
"I was tasked with finding the crystal heart atop Starboard Mountain, and I have returned."
I practiced what I was going to say while I was running back, hoping it would leave an impression I have been hoping for. But it must not have worked, because the guild master put on a coy face, leaning against the balcony railing.
"Oh yes, the annoying blonde boy; so what brings you here, hoping to beg for a spot back in my guild?"
I rub my left shoulder, where my guild mark used to be. The skin feels stiff, my expression matches the feeling.
"No, I have returned, and I brought the crystal heart back."
There is a joined noise of surprise in the guild hall, even the master's usual cool face glitches, but he quickly regains his composure. There is a loud gasp behind me, I turn and glance around my good shoulder. My lifelong friends Gregory and Ben stand stagnant by the door way, I feel a slight sting of guilt for running past them earlier. But everything is different now, everything looks different, smells different, feels different. I can smell every single person in the large room, they all have a different odor. I can also hear everything, from a whispering conversation, to the guild master's accelerating heartbeat. I can see into every shadow, through dense fog, even underwater. So many situational signals, topping off with a dragon's voice in my head, a new sense of magical power welling up inside me, and pent up adrenaline from my battle only a few hours ago. Its all so much, it feels like I would go mad, so I'm getting this off my back first, balance myself later. I have so much to say to my friends, but it has to wait.
The guild master clears his throat, silencing everyone. But not before I picked up on some conversations. Muttering about the heart being only a legend, and that its not real. One even walked up to the guild master, trying to sound as quiet as possible, but it was as clear as someone shouting in my ear.
"What are we supposed to do Ungolis, nobody was supposed to come back."
"It will be fine, I can handle this." Ungolis says back.
"Besides, it doesn't look like he has it anyway."
"But that scar, on his neck, it looks just like yours."
Ungolis silences his advisor, clears his throat, the chattering dies down.
"So, Zircon, where is the heart, it doesn't look like its in your possession."
The guild master raises his voice, I falter in my words. What should I say? It takes a few seconds, but the voice returns.
So, you acknowledge my existence? Very well, tell him the truth.
Yeah, that's a little difficult, I can't exactly say the heart buried itself into my chest.
Why not?
Well, either they don't believe me, and call me a lunatic, or they pin me down and dig it out themselves.
The voice barks a laugh.
They couldn't pin you down even if they tried, you are more powerful than everyone in the guild combined.
Not true, I don't have magic, last time was just a fluke.
You slayed a dragon, called it a fluke, and now you're afraid of petty humans? My twin brother would love to hear that. The human who slayed you is afraid of walking toothpicks, has a nice ring to it.
You need to tell me about your relationship with your brother sometime, it sounds complicated.
You would be right about that.
I drop the conversation in my head, settling on an answer. I tap my chest, sounding as convincing as possible.
"The heart is an organic lacrima, it transferred its power to me, and now resides next to the heart my mother gave me."
The explosion of conversations is sudden and abrupt, but the guild master quickly presses on them.
"There is no such thing, a lacrima can't be alive, so you haven't brought the heart back after all."
That made the conversations die down, some noises of chuckling starts to resonate. But some, the ones I've spoken to before, watch me with pale expressions, they can tell something is off, and they dare not laugh.
Ungolis waves a dismissing hand.
"Get him out of here, he's not welcome."
Two of the better mages in the guild rise to their feet, activating their magic. Gregory and Ben start to run toward me, ready to defend. But before anything can happen, I hunker down, the feel of chilling magic rising in my throat. I take in a deep breath, a dripping water from a leak next to me freezes midair. A corona of pale blue light etches into thin air in front of my face, I shout with a thundering voice.
"ICE DRAGON ROAR!"
The air becomes stagnant, the ground shudders, frost breath fires from my mouth, launching forward in a glittering column. It strikes the two incoming mages head on, enveloping them, crashing through the middle of the tables and gathered guild members. Many jump out of the way, but some are caught in the blast. It slams into the wall, splashing out and defying gravity as it grows over the placed cobblestone, spreading frozen liquid all over its surface. It slows as it grows onto the ceiling, ending in large icicles, dangling overhead. The frost breath recedes, ending in tiny snowflakes emitting from my mouth, plummeting silently to the ground. The noise of cracking ice and chilled wind fills the room, the fireplace has gone out, giving everything a strange rain filled glow. I steady to my feet, feeling the magic power settle down. The two mages that were tasked with throwing me out are frozen place, their faces stopping in shocked expressions. The layer of ice over them is glossy and fogged, any area of their body that hangs over the ground, such as their arms, is layered with small icicles, giving them a spiky look. A few others are frozen behind them, they are all most likely dead.
The guild masters looks over them with shocked rage, before casting his sneering eyes on me.
"I will excuse myself, I don't need this guild anyway."
I turn and leave, stalking out the opened doors. Gregory and Ben look past me at the carnage I made, before reluctantly following, all three of us making the decision to leave that dead end guild for good.
