Chapter 41
Pavel, Gideon and Rhordan walked nervously down the main road towards Larravass, they had passed five small towns and at least seven taverns full of either adventurers, merchants or bandits. They made sure to slow down by each one before moving to the next one, ensuring those inside got a decent look at the master rarity item being used as a walking stick.
Gideon and Rhordan had to fashion crutches out of large sticks and branches, tying them together with vines and the use of Gideon's mystic ability. This slowed their progress down greatly, though Pavel wouldn't leave them behind, he refused to leave them behind for any reason.
As they approached the massive metal gates, they had a small gathering group of people forming behind them, trying in vain to not look like they were following the three of them. The guards watching the gates were startled by Pavel showing off The Frostmare's Talon, they didn't know whether to bow or salute and were falling over themselves trying to decide which. However, the group of soldier's brandishing the Winterblade clan emblem stood precariously near the gates, unsure of what was happening, though their leader was grinning like a madman.
"Oh Pavel, did you realise it was futile to escape me?" Kasan manically laughed, loving the situation that was in front of him, the three he let escape were now there in front of him. He didn't even have to actively hunt them down and chase them through the forest. "It seems you have more common sense that I gave you credit."
"Sorry, Kasan, but it isn't your day." Pavel tried to grin, he already hated this plan with a vengeance, and feared the repercussions that Jorgan would exact on him for this. Except, the need was dire, and he would take Jorgan's wrath over losing the talon to Kasan. Turning around, he addressed the gathering group behind him, holding the talon high in the air. "Kasan here thinks he can take The Frostmare's Talon from me, whoever takes him out can challenge me for possession of it."
Suddenly all eyes turned on Kasan, a dark chill stilled the air as Kasan stopped laughing. He slowly turned to see the group behind Pavel leisurely march forward, greed blaring in their eyes as they drew their weapons. Kasan's soldiers reluctantly banded together as the group menacingly approached them.
With both groups distracted, the three of them tried to bolt towards the gates, ensuring that they didn't draw the attention of either group. Although, they weren't expecting the soldiers guarding the gates to close them quickly, far faster than the massive hulking chunks of metal should have been able to move.
"Okay, worst case scenario happened, what now?" Rhordan exclaimed judgementally, glaring harshly at Gideon who was staring at the closed gates intently. He wasn't expecting this to happen, though he was hating himself that it had, yet he couldn't stop to berate himself or cry about his failure.
The metal gate had massive grasslands around it, the two mountains to either side stretched far into the sky. They had no way to escape on land, they had to hope the two groups dealt enough damage to one another they wouldn't be a threat. Gideon hated to admit it, but the bow was going to have to make a reappearance, any ground they could get would be a life saver.
"No time to think, lets go!" Pavel had been staring at the talon in his hand the entire time they were walking to Larravass, the mystery behind it and the longing to wield such a weapon in battle overwhelmed him. It wasn't until their chance of escape disappeared and they were left with no way out that he finally felt something spark within the talon, a feeling that he wasn't sure about but trusted implicitly.
Rushing forward, he grabbed the brothers under each arm, holding tightly to the talon that started glowing brightly. Sprinting towards the gate, he leapt of the ground aimlessly, as if he knew there was going to be something where he his foot would land. His premonition proved true as where his foot was extended, a bright ice blue sigil of a bird bloomed to life and acted as solid ground.
Pressing off, he effortlessly launched himself into the air upwards, another sigil appeared where his foot landed. Vaulting himself over the twelve-metre-tall metal gates with a somersault, he landed on the other side with a perfect landing. Letting the brothers down, he stared happily at the glaive in his hand, one that was glowing vibrantly with ice blue waves exuding off of it.
"Pavel?" Gideon managed to ask, he was stunned by the sudden ability that Pavel just unleashed to get them over the wall. Even the guards stared wildly at the three, wondering if they were seeing things when the Frostmare heir vaulted over the gates.
"The Frost Step, it's an ability that only the ancestor ever had." Pavel absentmindedly explained, his eyes still glued to the glaive in his hand, its wispy ice blue aura coiled around his arm. He felt its power added to his own, a true extension of himself that was alive and responded to his commands comfortably. "An ability that he had engraved into the glaive."
"Wait… doesn't that mean…" Rhordan remembered the conditions around the talon, ones that were very difficult to match. Her answer came in the form of Pavel smiling brightly, unable to actually say the words himself.
"As much as I would love to congratulate you on your discovery, but we aren't out of the woods yet." Gideon snapped Pavel out of his reverie, kicking him back into action as he helped the brothers down the long wide street.
Larravass was similar in style to Bardia, except the houses were far larger and made entirely of stone and heavy-duty wood. The properties were separated into rings, central roads lead directly to the colossal coliseum in the middle of Larravass, and at intermittent intervals separate roads branched off into a different ring leading around Larravass.
The closer one got to the centre of Larravass the grandeur the buildings, some were as high as the mountains themselves. Though the mountains were weird, at the base of them were several buildings mimicking a fortress with an eastern style to them. High up the mountains were where the original clans resided, they had beautifully decorated buildings in colours that represented their clan emblem. One of which, on the opposite side of Larravass from the three of them, was a group of high built buildings with a strange light silver colour to them.
Rushing through the main street, they hobbled towards the tournament grounds, hoping to use the crowds for cover. They knew that with the tournament in full swing, there would be a host of guards belonging to the six clans protecting the event, and they wouldn't allow any form of violence to take place outside the tournament.
Pavel reluctantly handed the glaive to Rhordan, they didn't need any more unwanted attention now that they were inside Larravass. With the talon hidden away, they made the half a league trek to the tournament grounds relatively unscathed, they had a few people try to approach them about the rumour of the talon being up for grabs, though they were turned away with a few words about a fight at the front gate.
The grounds around the massive dark stone coliseum were filled with merchants flogging their wares, guards patrolling, and people ambling to and from the coliseum. It was a perfect place to lay low and wait until they could figure out where Jorgan was, though they had to alert him to their location as well.
"There should be some medicine outlets around here that we can buy something for broken bones." Pavel stated, moving off through the crowds with the brothers following sluggishly behind. The merchant tables littered the wide light stone ring around the coliseum, some had beautifully ornate furniture of a shop front while others were merely basic tables filled with wares and other items.
They found a merchant selling medicine that didn't try to scam them for several gold pieces for one vial of a healing potion, they got the potions needed to heal their broken bones, but it costed at least fifty silver each which they had to take from the ten gold in the spatial ring. Though the price was extortionate, they had little choice to go find another location that would have sold it for half that price in the city, they needed the guards at the tournament for protection.
The medicine would take a while to heal their bones, and they couldn't be active while the potion was in effect, so they found an unoccupied bench near the coliseum to sit on and wait. Pavel kept a watchful eye out around them, wary of anyone that might try and have a go at them if they suspected them of having the talon.
A sudden bout of roaring exploded from the coliseum behind them, distracting Pavel as he strongly desired to go inside and watch the fights take place. He had asked after it when they acquired the medicine but got shot down by Gideon explaining that if they got cornered then they would have no escape, nor could they make a scene with the six clans around.
Returning to his watchful surveillance, he jumped when he noticed a contingent of Frostmare soldiers approaching them, wearing dark blue armour with the family crest emblazoned on the pauldrons. At the lead was a tall heavily armour-clad woman with long white hair and sparkling ice blue eyes, she had little wrinkles on her face that gave away her age, though her powerfully built form and piercing gaze sent a chill down their spines. Her dark grey armour didn't even clink as she walked, her dark blue cape flittered behind her and a large brown sword at her hip.
"Lady Beylina, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Pavel stood and bow slightly to Beylina, pretending that he didn't know about her plot against him. Gideon and Rhordan wanted to follow along with Pavel's actions, though the medicine made it impossible for them to move at the moment. They couldn't even nod their heads as they watched helplessly from the bench, though their mouths weren't restrained yet they refused to speak out of fear of Beylina.
"Let's forgo the pleasantries, young master." Beylina curtly stated, her voice powerful yet broken, a hint of shame in her eyes as she spoke. She suddenly dropped to one knee before Pavel, her fist slamming into the ground as she held her head low. "I beg your forgiveness, young master. I realised my plot against you was merely my own arrogance and rage at the clan leader, I shouldn't have tried to take your life when you have nothing to do with my anger."
"Beylina, I cannot excuse your actions, nor can I forgive you for attempting to take my life." Pavel stated officially, standing before her as if the executioner's axe was in his hands. Beylina flinched at his words, though she stayed quiet and resolutely in place, her soldiers all bowing similarly before Pavel. "Yet, I understand your reasons. In truth, I am upset at your betrayal, but I want to know why now. Why did you wait until now to approach me, or is it because I escaped your goons and am now this close to reaching Jorgan?"
"There is no excuse, young master." Beylina had flinched when Pavel asked her that question, she knew it would have been seen as her trying to scrape her way back into the good graces now that her plan had failed. "All I ask is that Helenia isn't punished for my crime, I acted alone and out of my own interest."
"Beylina, I hold no grudge against Helenia, in fact… I tried to speak to the clan leader about promoting her to first heir." Pavel sadly stated, Beylina's eyes flew open as she whipped her head to Pavel. She felt she misheard him, that he hadn't said the one thing that sent her already guilt-ridden heart into a tailspin. Beylina lowered her head, trying to hide the tears in her eyes over her actions. "There is one sin that I cannot forgive, your actions put our family's most sacred heirloom in danger of being taken by our mortal enemies."
"Young master, I assure you that I never would have allowed such a thing to happen." Beylina stuttered slightly, trying not to convey how ashamed she was at herself for her actions. Pavel stared confusedly at her, trying to understand how she would know that the glaive wouldn't have been taken by the Winterblade family.
"Oh! So, that's why you have a full squadron of soldiers." Gideon exclaimed aloud, he had been wondering why Beylina travelled with all those soldiers when she is supposedly a powerful warrior, it hadn't added up until that point. Pavel pointedly glared at him, demanding that he explain himself. "It's basically knight in shining armour, she's on some official business in the area, catches wind of an attack at the mansion, rushes there and stops the attack but she was too late to save the first heir."
"And no one would look her way if she secured The Frostmare's Talon." Rhordan finished Gideon's sentence, chiming in as she caught on to what he was saying. "Who would, she is the hero after all."
Beylina flinched harshly at Rhordan's words, tightening her fist as she kept herself in her bowed position. Pavel turned back around to glare at her, sighing deeply as he realised the case himself. The guards behind her all tried to bury their fists into the ground and their heads along with it when they realised how bad their situation was turning, they were hoping for Pavel's benevolence to forgive them for going along with Beylina.
Gideon's interest in the guards grew, he wanted to see what type of magical gear they had. Activating his magical sense, he gazed over each of them, especially over Beylina as her sword glowed with a similar intensity as the fire element cleaver stored in the spatial ring. He was going to shut off his vision when he noticed something off to the side, an eerily similar grey silhouette.
This grey energy had been the exact same one during the time of the exam three months ago, when Jorgan had pulled his little stunt. If that was the case then the Ice Master had to be standing there watching the situation, evaluating Pavel's performance. Though, an idea brewed in Gideon's mind, one that he casted aside as his adrenaline fuelled imagination. Yet, it stuck like an irritating thorn.
"Beylina, this crime is serious, acting against the family in such a way promotes disorder and chaos." Pavel sadly stated, he didn't blame her for the clan leader's decision, rather he blamed the clan leader for being an idiot and promoting him over Helenia. Although, now that he found out about his secondary core, he knew that his position as first heir could never be contested ever again. He didn't want to punish Beylina, but if he forgave her than he would be seen as weak. This decision weighed to heavily on his mind. "Argh! Where is that old fool when I need him."
"Why don't you ask him yourself." Gideon bluntly stated, the annoying thorn in his side soon became an itch he couldn't scratch, and with his immobilised state it felt ten times worse. He didn't really care if he revealed that he could see Jorgan or not, rather he was more focused on the itching problem in his mind, though he did notice the incredulous look he received from Pavel who stared at him. "He's over there."
"I KNEW IT!" Jorgan's voice exploded before any of the group react, they all leapt off of their feet as the Ice Master revealed himself, standing not far from the group in his similar get up. However, there was one factor about his attire that Gideon noticed, sending the annoying problem in his mind into new levels of irritation. "I knew you could see me."
"Jorgan! You were here this entire time!" Pavel ignored the old man, he was upset that Jorgan had stood there watching him deal with Beylina, he shook his head disapprovingly at the old man's antics. Beylina although felt a trembling sense of dread run down her spine, she had thought about swallowing her guilt and attacking Pavel, she could live with the shame if it meant Helenia got first heir.
Though her consciousness prevailed and told her to own up to her crimes, that she'd rather die honourably than a coward who killed a child in unfair combat. Except, now that she knew Jorgan was standing not three metres from them, if she had then her death would have been instantaneous.
"Apologies Pavel, I saw Beylina pass by and followed her. When she arrived here and started conversing with you, I took it as an opportunity to eavesdrop." Jorgan politely stated, acting almost too calm for the situation before him. "I never thought that she would stoop this low to secure first heir for Helenia."
His cavaliere attitude irked Gideon, he couldn't fathom for someone with the anger problems like the Ice Master to be so calm about finding out a plot to kill Pavel… unless…
"Hey Jorgan! Your invisibility spell sucks!" Gideon called out, startling everyone and causing a twitch to form in Jorgan's eye. But before the Ice Master could retort at the boy for laughing at him, Gideon delivered the final punch. "After this, why don't we discuss it. Possibly over a tea at that lovely mansion of yours."
"LIKE HELL AFTER YOU BLEW IT UP!" Jorgan exploded with rage and roared at Gideon, his volume silenced everything around them though that wasn't what startled those before him. Jorgan suddenly stopped, closing his eyes in regret as he realised that he had been caught.
"Oh dear, how would you know that?" Gideon stated innocently, loving the regret on Jorgan's face as he tried not to lose his temper. "It's almost as if you were there in person, watching from the side lines… invisible…"
Pavel turned to glare at Jorgan, his breathing ragged as he felt rage built up inside him. This entire ordeal could have been avoided if Jorgan had stepped in, though he was more upset as to why Jorgan was there in the first place, especially as the brothers' lives were in serious danger if a battle had ensued. He wanted to yell or scream at the old man, but he didn't trust his voice at that moment, instead he remained quiet. Seething irately at the Ice Master.
"How did you figure it out?" Jorgan coldly asked, he had been extra careful ever since the brothers' arrival, their sharp eyes were insanely difficult to avoid. One wrong step and his plans would have been ruined, but he had hoped that no one would be the wiser about it after everything had played out. So, he was baffled by how Gideon worked it out.
"It was several things admittedly, though it didn't click until I saw the white dust on the bottom of your robes." Gideon motioned to the layer of white specks around the hem of his robe, specks that were oddly the same as the ones coating the three after their escape from the mansion. The rubble had casted particles everywhere, no one in the vicinity would have been able to avoid being coated in them. "Then there was Pavel's joke about seeing one of the walls still standing in one of the corners, from his words it sounded as if something was standing in front of it. Something that had the power to resist the blast."
The others were slowly following along, baffled by what was happening before them as Jorgan remained silent, only flinching occasionally as Gideon spoke. Rhordan didn't even know what was happening, but she was just as interested.
"From there it was just adding random instances together, like James and the staff's disappearance, and the mysterious force capable of shunting a prince rank combatant from the Heaven's Mountain. Though I assume that was a ruse on your part." Gideon continued, when he thought about all the pieces on the board concerning both Beylina and Averia, there was never a way that one of them could have the ability to sway the leaders of the clan. Though Gideon suspected that Jorgan used the plot behind the king as a decoy for them not to investigate further into the matter. "But what really put it all together was the talon itself. The family's most prised possession, and yet it's here in a clan that has practically nothing to do with the Frostmare family. I must admit, I never would have suspected a thing if Pavel hadn't told us about Beylina either."
"Me?" Beylina sounded confused, she felt lost after hearing that Jorgan was there since the beginning, but now her presence was supposedly the key to the friend of Pavel's understanding. The others were more interested in staring at Gideon and Jorgan, wating with bated breath for the truth.
"You know, don't you." Gideon smirked, wishing he could move his body even a little bit to just stand proudly at his achievement of finally figuring out the plot against Pavel. Jorgan could only wince as Gideon stated those words, though he said nothing. "You knew Pavel was a Dragoon."
Gideon's words silenced everyone there, even Beylina stared wide eyed at Pavel, unable to believe that the first heir she had tried to kill was a direct descendent of the ancestor himself. Yet, as she wanted to torture herself over taking away the family's only inheritor of the talon, a part of her felt that something wasn't right, that the blame for her actions didn't lie solely with her.
"Oh, don't deny it Jorgan." Gideon chuckled, he could see Jorgan trying to act surprise, but it was too late, he knew the truth. "Pavel told us that the clan leader wanted someone with the possible chance of being a descendent of the ancestor of the clan on the throne, that he wouldn't budge from this. Add the talon into the picture, and you have a set up to try and test if Pavel really was an ice elemental dragoon."
"Is this true?" Pavel couldn't believe his ears, he didn't want to believe that the entire time he was here that the old man knew he was a dragoon. Pavel had dreamt every day about wielding the talon, but he would always berate himself as a foolish idiot with delusions of grandeur, that the talon was so far out of his reach that it was a joke to even dream about it. He had felt horrible every time he saw it in its display case, like an instrument of torture, reminding him of his inadequacy and failure every single day he was at the mansion.
"Yes… the clan leader and I believed that you had the capability to be a dragoon after…" Jorgan reluctantly explained, he knew he didn't have as much trust as Pavel had in the brothers, there was no way he could try to lie and blame the brothers for making it up. Instead, as Pavel would be the new heir to the family's clan leader position, he told the truth. "… after the incident when you were a boy, and gotten yourself injured by the magical beast… the healing staff reported seeing scales on your body… a trait of the dragoon."
Pavel nearly fell from where he stood, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always remembered being told that his skill as a warrior prevented that injury from happening, that he was talented and evaded the blow. Yet, here he was, finding out that several years ago was the point that everyone but himself knew he was a dragoon. The one thing he wished for desperately, the one thing he knew he couldn't ever get. That crushing blow to his esteem had him out in the forest every night training hard, pushing himself to the limit just to become stronger and prove that he was still capable as a warrior despite his failings.
"I take it that Beylina was a ploy, a necessary opponent to force Pavel's hand?" Gideon enquired, he was worried for Pavel as his skin paled drastically, Gideon wanted to rush over and support him but with his current immobilisation meant it wasn't possible. Instead, he opted to interrogate Jorgan.
"Yes, we needed someone that would be an actual threat to Pavel, one that would go to any length to kill him…" Jorgan stated, not daring to look in Beylina's direction as he spoke. "Although, I wasn't expecting her to come forward and beg for forgiveness…"
"You!" Beylina wanted to yell wildly at Jorgan, to draw her sword and attack him despite knowing that she wouldn't survive. Yet she stayed her hand as she saw how devastated Pavel was, her being played for a fool wasn't anywhere as bad as the young master before her that just found out that he was intentionally put in danger just to prove a point that was already known. "So what, am I expendable? Would you have personally held my execution?"
"No Beylina, nothing would have happened to you or Helenia. I doubted Pavel could ever kill either of you." Jorgan stated, somewhat glad that she didn't outright attack him, even though she had every right to. Beylina just glared at him, still in her bowed position to Pavel and wondering what Jorgan would look like without a skeleton or skin.
"Rhordan, give me the talon." Pavel's voice was cold, lifeless as he spoke. He glared directly at Jorgan unflinchingly, seething hatred burning in his veins. Although Rhordan was incapacitated, she could still use the spatial ring on her hand, directing The Frostmare's Talon into Pavel's outstretched hand.
He walked forward, brandish the vibrantly glowing glaive in his hand. Its ethereally icy blue tendrils wrapping around his arm, its power unlocked after so long. Pavel approached Jorgan angrily, his hand twitching with rage. Stopping short of the Ice Master, he glared angrily at Jorgan, unable to formulate a sentence let alone a single word.
Instead, he spun the glaive through an expert set of moves, before slamming down its staff end into the ground with enough force to stick it into the ground. Leaving the glaive standing there with its shining blade pointing to the sky, he ripped off his official Frostmare family cloak. He held it in his hands for a few seconds before he impaled the cloak onto the blade, leaving it to blow freely in the soft breeze life a flag.
"From this day forth… I renounce my family name, I am no more a Frostmare." Pavel's words sent a bolt of lightning through all of them, even Jorgan couldn't keep his cold stoic features from wrenching in shock.
"Err… not to side with Jorgan, but are you sure about this Pavel?" Gideon called out, worried about Pavel's mentality after taking such a blow as he had. He was scared that Pavel might be making a major mistake when he wasn't in the right mind set. Rhordan agreed with his sentiment, she anxiously awaited Pavel's response, hoping there was something she could say to change his mind.
"I have spent my life hating myself, berating myself for not being born right." Pavel stood there glaring at Jorgan, his rage and anger unable to relent. "I worked myself bloody trying to make up for the fact that I wasn't born with the dragoon core, that I was failure before I even had a chance to show off my strength."
Tears started to stream down his face as he resolutely glared at Jorgan, the burden of his emotions finally breaking through the dam he had put in place to protect himself from falling apart. He struggled daily knowing that he was the clan's greatest failure, even more so after it was discovered that Helenia was a battlemage. Keeping his first heir status nearly broke him, it forced him to break his limits and his body just to continually prove that he deserved his place.
Now all that didn't matter, his hate fuelled training sessions late at night were in vain, his relentless need to study and practice all battle forms and weapons just to have the skill to be unstoppable on the battlefield was now worthless. All of it had been for naught as he found out that his family only kept him where he was because he had the secondary core they needed, that all the times he scraped the skin from his bones training didn't prove his worth among the family.
That his place was based purely on a secondary core that he was told could never be his, that he was mental to hold out hope that he could gain such a thing. He pushed away his friends to focus on training, he lost the girl he fell in love with just so that he could prove to the family that he was worth keeping. He lost everything to the family only to find out that it was in vain, that because they knew he had the dragoon core then they didn't need to look at him as anything more than the descendent of the ancestor, and not the youth who broke just about every bone he had to prove he was worthy of the position of first heir.
"I gave up my life for the family… I casted my friends aside just to train…" Pavel was losing it, the tears flowed freely down his cheeks. No one said a thing, not even the massive crowd of bystanders that had been drawn by the commotion, they all just stared at Pavel with wide eyes. "I worked so hard that my skin tore from my flesh… just to prove I was worthy of the position of first heir… and I learn that you knew all along that I had the one thing that I tried so hard to prove I didn't need…"
"Pavel…" Jorgan tried to speak but Pavel ignored him, turning around he marched over to brothers, unable to look at Jorgan any longer. He stood before the brothers, struggling to cope with what he was about to ask.
"I know that Jorgan values you both for your skill and talent… but…" Pavel didn't know what he was saying, he didn't even know where he was going to go after this. He was struggling to even think straight as he stood before them.
"We're with you, Pavel." Rhordan spoke up, unable to stay quiet any longer. She could understand Pavel's pain, she tortured herself relentlessly over being the key to destruction, that she was nothing more than a tool. But when she defeated Trigon, she didn't know what to make of herself, and had her friends not been there for her like they were then she would have been in a similar state as Pavel. "We're your friends, we have you back."
"Yep! What he said." Gideon grinned widely, he agreed with Rhordan that they would have Pavel's back, that they were friends. Though they owe Jorgan for saving their lives, they couldn't abandon their friend when he was going through the worst time of his life. "Though don't expect plush cushions or fancy meals on our budget."
Pavel managed to laugh at that, a small smile growing on his face as he nodded to the brothers. Grateful that they choose to stand by him rather than try to remain in the good graces of Jorgan for the opportunity to be trained by him. Gideon and Rhordan smiled, they finally felt the effects of the potion wear off as their arms started to move. Groggily getting to their feet, their bones fully mended and function properly, they ambled awkwardly over to Pavel and each rested a hand on his shoulders. Both smiling at him as they stood there comforting him.
"PAVEL!" Jorgan's shock had worn off, his anger blaring through as the preceding events fully registered within his mind. His roar brought the attention of the three, causing them to turn slowly towards him. "This decision isn't one you can make lightly! If you leave here now, then you can never return to the Frostmare family!"
Pavel didn't say a word, he just stared at Jorgan unflinchingly, and for the first time in a while he felt calm. Peace filled him as he committed himself to his next actions, turning his back to Jorgan, he walked away. Gideon and Rhordan following on behind him until Gideon suddenly remembered something, turning back for a quick second.
"Hey Rho, hand me the tome. Don't want to give him cause to come after us." Gideon quickly stated, holding his hand out to Rhordan. Jorgan was in a bad enough mood, they didn't need to give him any more reason to chase after them.
"Keep it!" Jorgan roared in spite, his features twisted into a relentless fury, his eyes piercing the back of Pavel as he glared unyielding death into the boy. "It's a worthless trinket that I kept as a paper weight, you'll throw it away eventually."
Not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth, Gideon quickly caught up to Pavel who was still walking away. Rhordan close behind him as the two dared not turn around again encase they turned to ice from Jorgan's deathly glare, following behind the fairly calm Pavel as they left the merchant's ring.
They walked to the other end of the coliseum, and with it being late in the evening, Pavel took them to a small tavern he knew about from his travels. It was a rather run down hovel somewhat far from the inner rings, though it was a decent place with good food and ale. Sitting down in a booth in the far corner, they ordered food using the coins the pair had earned from being adventurers, quietly sipping on pints of ale.
"You alright, Pavel?" Gideon finally asked after about an hour of sitting quietly, they were still working their way through the large meal that had been ungracefully placed before them. Gideon had been worried that Pavel was acting far calming that he should have been, that his earlier incident had rattled him to his core.
"To be honest, no. I'm not alight." Pavel grimaced, taking a large gulp of his ale before continuing. "I keep thinking about if I would have ever been told the truth about the clan leader and Jorgan's plan, and I wonder what my reaction would have been then… would I reluctantly stay as first heir or do the same as I had just done."
"Do you hate me for revealing the truth?" Gideon had that same worry rocking through his mind, he worried that Pavel may come to hate him for exposing Jorgan for being a liar, though his fears were allayed when Pavel shook his head.
"No, hell if it wasn't for you then I might have never found out." Pavel sadly stared at his ale, still trying to wrap his mind around everything that was happening. Still wondering if he made a mistake, yet a part of him reminded him of the hell he put himself through just for the family's sake. "I never once got a single word of praise for my relentless training from Jorgan or the clan leader, and for a long time I thought it was because I wasn't good enough… and now I know they knew about my second core and attributed my success to that instead of my relentless training."
The brothers didn't say anything as they let Pavel pause for a moment, giving him time to collect his thoughts and brood over his past. They pitied him, though they understood his stance, they doubted they could relate to him completely as their personal haunting pasts were more circumstance rather than self-inflicted.
"They didn't care about me at all, they just wanted to finally have someone wield The Frostmare's Talon." Pavel downed the rest of his ale, pushing the tankard aside as he lent back in his chair. "Someone to lead the family into glory… I doubt they would have looked at me for first heir if they knew I was just an ordinary warrior."
"What's done is done, dwelling on it now won't do you any good." Rhordan stated, smiling warmly at Pavel as she tried to comfort him. "Focus on the future, you have no one holding you back now."
"Yeah! I can go where I want and not have to clear it with the family." Pavel smiled, realising the newfound freedom he finally had, one that didn't involve endless guards following him everywhere. Though now that he thought about it, that kind of protection wasn't normal for the first heir and more for a very fragile artefact that the family couldn't afford to lose, a fact that he should have seen much earlier but jotted it down to Jorgan's paranoia. "Actually, don't you two have some plot by the king that you're trying to thwart?"
"Not anymore!" Gideon resolutely stated, the sudden reminder of that thorn in their side irritated the life out of him in a matter of moments. He never wanted to be a part of that scheme again, not that he didn't want to help and put a stop to it, he would if his friends needed his help but otherwise he wanted to distance himself from it as much as possible. He should feel obligated to help with the plan against the king, but after falling into the abyss because of this plan, and nearly dying because Jorgan used the plan to hijack his already forming plan on how to get Pavel to realise his destiny, he had just about enough. "Our friends have that covered, and with Paylor taking the lead I have no doubt that they will sort it far easier than if we butt our heads in."
"I could not agree more." Rhordan raised her tankard to that, though she wanted to stop the king's evil plan, she knew Xan and the others had this well in hand. Especially if Paylor was the one leading the mission, and she supposed that Jorgan would help as it concerned the Frostmare family greatly if the king won. Though a part of her made a mental note to always be ready to offer a hand to her friends fighting the king, that if they come calling then she would help, but only to a degree that wouldn't put her or Gideon's life in danger.
"So, what's your plan then?" Pavel asked somewhat baffled by the pair, wondering what they had in mind. Gideon and Rhordan shared a look between them, wondering the same thing, though a light dawned in their eyes as they spoke together.
"To conquer the dungeon!"
Meanwhile
Jorgan and Beylina finally arrived at the gates of the Frostmare mansion, neither speaking a word after Pavel's departure. Jorgan had stormed off after the young master had disappeared into the distance, leaving Beylina to grab the talon and follow behind him. Unsure of what was going to happen.
When they had entered the grounds of the mansion, they found an old man in simple robes with a yellow bird emblem on his back. He was admiring the destruction with a keen eye, admiring it as one would a painting.
"I would ask who angered you, but as there is no ice littering the place, I know this wasn't you." Paylor stated joyously, he was enjoying the destruction of the mansion greatly though when he caught sight of the thunderous look on Jorgan's face, he quickly lost his smile. "I take that back, who angered you?"
Jorgan merely glared at Paylor, murderous rage booming around him as he wanted to tear the life out of everything within his reach with merciless fury. His breathing heavy and short, ice blue energy coiled around his fingers. Yet, with every ounce of rage Jorgan exerted towards Paylor, he merely laughed at Jorgan, finally understanding who it was that enraged the Ice Master.
"I did warn you not to underestimate the brothers." Paylor could tell that this had all the hallmarks of the brothers, the mansion's destruction and Jorgan's unyielding rage. The latter was proven true when Jorgan angrily whipped his hand towards the mansion's ruins, a series of explosions went off as massive blocks of ice appeared in a split second and detonated. Ice and rubble cascaded across everything there, including those at the front gate, though their power made the debris nothing more than slight hail.
"I'll kill them…" Jorgan coldly stated, his rage taking over his rational thought as he set about thinking of ways to make their death as painful as possible, uncaring about how Pavel would be pushed further from the family or whoever else had an interest in the brothers.
"I'd hold off on that." Paylor didn't bother to placate the irate Ice Master, instead he opted for the direct approach of just slamming the door in his face as he continued before Jorgan could yell at him. "Alex has been informed, he wasn't too happy about what happened to those he helped before, but he said that he was willing to work with us under the condition that the brothers were safe."
"You think I care…" Jorgan coldly stated, his ice blue eyes exploding with light as his rage built. Paylor could only sigh, his old friend had to be at such a stage of rage that he was inconsolable.
"You should, if Alex really is the lost heir and he finds out that you killed the brothers, then the Frostmare family is done for." Paylor chuckled at the thought that a family as old as the Frostmares could be taken out by their one member that had serious anger issues, the irony would be too much as the ancestor of their family had similar anger issues. "Anyway, the issue regarding the king is far more problematic than I once thought."
"What now!?" Jorgan sighed, he knew Paylor was right, that if Alex became the heir to the Silver Wolf clan then no one would stop him from using it resources to get revenge for the brothers. Though, as much as he wanted to blame the brothers, it was his own fault that Pavel had forsaken his family name, if he had told the boy when he first learned of his secondary core then maybe none of this might have happened.
Jorgan knew that Pavel had trained himself ragged, that he never once stopped to enjoy life until the brothers showed up. They became great friends with Pavel and chatted with him daily, they were far more friendly to Pavel in a month than him or anyone else at the family had even been. In the end, Pavel had made the decision, and Gideon had tried to persuade him otherwise. Jorgan knew he had no reason to kill them, other than exposing the plot he and the clan leader had been working on for ages, though he suspected that he wouldn't have been able to keep all the details secret forever.
"The Holy Order is backing the king, specifically the Paladin is." Paylor grunted, the news shouldn't have been that shocking to him since the incident with Jane Butch, but the fact that the paladin himself was backing the inane plan of the king made the matter much more serious. "It shouldn't be a surprise, but there is a rumour going around that the Holy Order has a second unknown king rank combatant."
"Impossible." Jorgan curtly stated, unable to believe that such a thing was possible, especially after the Paladin broke the record of being the youngest person to ever reach king rank at seventy-five. If the Holy Order had another king rank combatant, then they would be unstoppable, not even Quicksilver of the Silver Wolf clan would be able to stop them completely.
"I agree, but the possibility of such a thing has made things difficult, not to mention trying to get a spy into the Holy Order." Paylor sighed, he lost a good friend attempting to infiltrate the Holy Order, though the intel they had recovered spoke to the Paladin being involved with the king's plot, and a potential second king rank under the Holy Order's control. He wasn't going to doubt the words of a dead man without first confirming that possibility, yet he was reluctant to send in another into hell unless he absolutely had to. "For now, I need you to focus on gaining relations with Alex's master, the old brute has family in Averia, and I don't want to have to break them out of Averia if he isn't on our side."
"You want me to befriend him…" Jorgan shook his head, friendly wasn't his strong suit nor was caring or positivity. He'd have better luck charming a magical beast to not bite him than become friends with another old and stubborn man.
"I know it isn't your strong suit, but if things go sideways and he is working for the king then only you have the power to extract Alex safely." Paylor grunted, not liking the idea either but he didn't have a better one that involved keeping Alex safe. Paylor needed to organise a robbery of the Silver Wolf clan, and he couldn't have Alex dying on him while his back was turned "Well, if you don't want that then you can go and steal from Quicksilver. I just need something to prove that Alex is a blood line heir."
"No thanks…" Jorgan shuddered, he knew he had an anger issue, but Quicksilver's rage made his look like a child having a tantrum. Ever since he lost his daughter and grandson, Quicksilver grew cold and lifeless, hating everything accept his own clan. "Wait, how are you going to steal from Quicksilver?"
"You don't want to know, and that isn't for your safety." Paylor grimaced, he knew that stealing from the angriest man alive was pure suicidal, but if his plan worked out then he might just live through the experience. "Oh! You wouldn't happen to have an Albino Dire Wolf skin partially dyed green with blue spikes ripped through the neck and tail?"
"… Are you alright, Paylor?"
Author's Note: The hoops one has to jump through just to plot a conspiracy against a conspiracy against one of the most powerful organisations on the continent.
This is the end of the first draft chapters I made so it may take awhile to upload, although I think I should turn my attention to Titans of the Stars for a bit since I haven't uploaded in a while. Unsure at the moment.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this character building (hint = Pavel will be joining the brothers in their adventures). As for Xan and Sapphire, they will make an appearance soon but after that they have their own adventure working for Paylor, though they make appearance occasionally.
As for the pair's dismissal of the plan against the king, it simply boils down to them having gone not one full month without being plotted against and nearly dying because of being involved with that plane. They want to leave and follow their own path for now, and since they were suppose to be dead then they could leave and allow Paylor to keep up that pretence.
Comments:
Chapter 38
Eris – Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you are enjoying it!
Pavel is one of my favourite characters to write about, its difficult since I need to make him high strung and somewhat broken because of his ruthless training growing up, but at the same time he wants to have friends and joke around without a care in world. He is split between these two sides and at times it is difficult not to make him into a Beast Boy clone from back when he was young in the teen titans (the jokester prankster who never took anything seriously).
I hope this chapter answered your questions on Pavel, but I can say I am not sure about the brothers handing him the armour just yet, not sure what reason I'll give since this is the last first draft chapter I have left. I am making more but I have to reedit them which takes a while. However, Pavel will receive it at some point since he is now the pair's travelling companion.
(Secret spoiler – the armour doesn't belong with the talon, the armour is built from a Frostmare but not one of the same type that made the talon. I.e. the armour and talon may come from the same family of bird (the Frostmare Hawk) but the armour is built from a difficult kind of Frostmare Hawk. Not going to say more than this but it will be revealed when I write the brothers giving the armour to Pavel)
Paylor wants so badly to study the armour, but he is running a secret operation, his woes must be so deep for a blacksmith with a new toy but no time to play. The armour isn't that interesting, to put it bluntly, the forging methods have long since dissipated over time so some of the high tier items are one of a kind even if they are magical. Mythril itself had been a lost forging art that exceptionally few humans know how to forge, but Dark Jade uses a mixture of the gemstone Onyx and the metal Mythril to make a type of almost dark green glass like substance that was incredibly dense while able to store large amounts of mana.
As for Paylor's interest in the armour, if he can reverse engineer the piece then he might not only gain the crafting recipe for mythril, but Dark Jade as well.
Chapter 39
Frog31791 – Thanks for the comments. Glad to see you are enjoying the story!
Chapter 40
Eris – Thanks for the comment. Cube Run isn't the name of the dungeon, just the trial that takes place every ten years. The Cube is what it is often called since it resembles a large cube, others call it The Gateway since the space inside it is far larger than what is outside. As for who made it, that remains a secret for now, though there is a legend behind that I am working on which I hope makes it seem far better that just a large cube in the middle of nowhere.
Dungeons are usually made by old civilisations that want to make either a storage place or a tomb for some royal or famous person, its often discarded over time either due to decline of the civilisation or them forgetting the person they buried, and over time magical beasts fill it because of the items of power residing there. Other times it is a place created to train recruits or give people a place to training without having to run half way across the landmass in search of similar ranked magical beasts. (not saying that's the case for all of them, but in old powerful civilisations they tend to so massive that a person would have hundreds of leagues before they got somewhere strong enough that they actually face a challenge)
Claw weapons are widely used, but if you remember the weird metal plate he got from Paylor…
Hope this chapter explains Jorgan's weird expressions.
I had that same thought when I envisioned Gideon with Katanas, though I have a different idea for when he becomes fully trained. When I first wrote about him training with weapons, I wanted him to use hook swords as they are quite interesting weapons with a lot of versatility, but in the end I went with Katanas for a bit of fun and to play to Gideon's own personal image of fighting with swords.
Nature's Fury has requirements to be able to learn from, Gideon meets that by being of the Nature element but he needs something else to be able to use it. Now I cannot go into too much detail without revealing what Nature's Fury really is, so for now, Gideon requires another thing that he can get but doesn't have yet.
I thought since Gideon had powers that allowed him to be any of the animal kingdom that he had to learn how to be those animals since baby animals learn from their parents. Therefore, Gideon can mimic things he sees since he is not only highly flexible but adaptable as well and can morph his body in a similar way, however the mimic ability isn't spoke much of since its just something he does.
There are six elements in each tier and there are five tiers of elements. These are (in order); Foundation, Combination, Pseudo, Source, and Celestial. I won't go into Source or Celestial since they won't be revealed for a while but I can reveal parts of the first three.
Foundation Elements – Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, Blood, and Metal.
Combination Elements – Lightning, Ice, ?, Nature, Spirit, and ? (the question marks are because they haven't been revealed yet)
As for the Holy element, it belongs in the third tier, but people of the world mistakenly believe it to be the fourth tier. (Also those of the Holy Order believe that their power surpasses all elements so they put extra emphasis on it being in the fourth tier when it is actually in the third tier.) (To clear up any confusion, there are originally four tiers of elements, Pseudo elements is by its name fake elements and therefore don't actually exist on the table of elements, but because of the power of the Holy Order, they insert the Holy element as an actual element.)
If this is still confusing then I do apologise since I don't want to reveal anything yet until It is written in a chapter. So, until a later chapter, just ignore most of this above. The first two tiers are what matters at the moment until a later date that I reveal more.
I too cannot wait to see Paylor's face when he sees the Thunder Form Bow, I wonder if he will become enraged and try to take it back or accept defeat that the brothers luck is just too great (or is it?)
There is a reason for this, one that relates back to the element tiers list which I cannot go into without revealing too much. But basically those two are the exception to the rule due to a third element that they both possess (revealing that is already too much but it reasonably explains their immense power and abilities so please ignore this for now as it isn't relevant until later)
Glad you like the attack as Kasan may be making some more appearances, I do like his character as he makes the perfect bad guy. Arrogant and evil but not because of the protagonists, so they are unpredictable and extremely devious.
As with the end of this chapter, James was under orders of Jorgan to make it seem like he betrayed that family instead of actually betraying them. It was all part of Jorgan's ploy to force Pavel into unlocking his secondary core.
Beylina was only doting grandmother trying to do her best for her granddaughter, becoming the first heir is like becoming the next in line for the throne, you get significantly higher resources and authority in this position because you will become the next leader. And since Helenia showed the prospect of being a Battlemage then her talent and future feats would be endless, so gaining the resources of the first heir would benefit it her greatly. However, Beylina is a loyal Captain of the family guard, she couldn't go through with it after the plan was under way.