"The Fallen Mage"
"Tiny Heart. May I have a word with you?"
I turned and saw Namy approach me. Namy was a Mithra Ranger who belonged to Windurst's Black Fang Squadron. Mourn, the commander of the squadron, had assigned Namy as a military liaison to Bastok.
"Yes Namy? Anything I can do for you?"
"Actually it's about Jabrina. I know you and she are close. I'm worried about her."
"Why is she sick or something?"
"I noticed her magic powers are growing stronger everyday."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"She is learning stuff so fast. I saw her do magic spells even the magic shop in Bastok doesn't have those scrolls available. I'm just worried someone is teaching her magic aside from her mentor here in Bastok."
"Hmmmm, Thank you Namy for the information. I will look into this matter as soon as possible."
"Another thing Tiny Heart, Commander Mourn told me to give you this." Namy slipped a piece of paper to me. My eyes widened when I read it.
-O-
I proceeded to look for Jabrina. I found her sitting at one of the stone railing of the water canals in Gold Street. She looked so bored. "Jabrina, is there something bothering you?" She didn't even look at me and said. "I am fine Tiny Heart. It's just that no one has the time to keep me company. Nowadays you are too busy either training to be a Dark Knight or helping in the mines. I have no one to play with."
"I am sorry. The duel is only a year away and I need to be ready. I hope you understand." I replied.
"I understand. It's just so boring staying inside the city. Can I go out Tiny Heart? I promised not to get lost again. Please, please, please."
"Okay but promise me you won't go wandering around in a dangerous place." I said.
"I won't. I promise. Thank you, thank you." she said then kissed me on the cheek and happily ran outside.
-O-
"Yohooooo Mr. Icoooooonnn... Where are you?" Jabrina yelled. She was standing at the wooden bridge in North Gustaberg leading to Konschtat highlands.
"He isn't here. There must be something wrong with this pearl he gave me. He told me to talk to the pearl and he would come." Jabrina said as she shook the pearl.
"Mr. Icooonnnnnn..." Jabrina yelled again. "Bah no fun." She threw the pearl away in frustration.
"Now there little Jabrina, why did you throw away the pearl I gave you?"
Jabrina turned around and saw Icon holding the pearl she threw away. "Mr. Icon! You are here! Yay!" she ran and hugged him. She punched him in the shoulder and said. I thought you weren't coming."
"I may be a mage but I'm not a god. I can't appear in front of you right away when you call me." Icon replied grinning.
"So what are we doing today? Let's go somewhere new. Please, please." Jabrina said as she pulled the sleeves of Icon's robe.
"I will take you somewhere if you can learn your magic lessons fast today."
"Yay!" Jabrina yelled happily.
-O-
"You learn fast little Jabrina."
"I'm not little anymore." Jabrina replied with her tongue sticking out. "So where are we going today?"
"Oldton Movalpolos."
"What is that place?"
"It's a underground city built by Moblins. Moblins are goblins but they specialize in digging tunnels. They are more or less miners."
"Will it not be dangerous there?"
"We will be invisible in there but if you are afraid then we can go someplace else."
"No I want to see that place. I thought goblins were dumb creatures."
"That's where you are wrong. They are brighter than you think."
-O-
Icon and Jabrina made their way to the entrance of Oldton Movalpolos in North Gustaberg near the Palborough Mines entrance. Jabrina was really hesitant to go in but Icon assured her everything was fine. They went inside and Icon cast the spell of Invisible on Jabrina and himself. Jabrina was amazed with what she saw. The place was huge. It went down very deep. It was a jumble of wooden planks and stairs going up and down. Inside were Moblins, goblins and huge creatures Icon said were called Bugbears. Bugbears looked like giant Moblins and had big backpacks behind their back which transported stuff around Movalpolos. Icon then noticed something unusual. There was a tiny dragon flying around. It seemed to be looking for something. The tiny dragon sensed something within it's surrounding and fire spewed forth from it's mouth. Icon and Jabrina had to jump and evade the breath of fire that their spell of invisible suddenly wore off. Moblins, seeing intruders in their midst ran towards both of them. Icon had to quickly teleport out of the place. They ended up in Crag of Dem.
"That was close. That little dragon somehow sensed us." Icon said.
"You didn't tell me there were dragons in there." Jabrina said.
"It's because there aren't any. That was my dragon." a voice said behind Jabrina.
Icon and Jabrina turned and saw three Elvaans standing beside the Dem crystal. Two of them were Dragoons and another was a White Mage from the armor they were wearing. "My Master asks you one last time. Join him or else face the consequences." said the White Mage.
"Are you cohorts of the female Elvaan who visited me the other day?" Icon asked.
"Stop wasting time. Will you accept his invitation or not?" the White Mage asked again.
"The answer is still no. Why does your Master keep pestering me to join him." Icon angrily replied.
The Dragoons then ordered their dragons to attack Icon and Jabrina. Both dragons spewed breath of fire at them. Icon and Jabrina easily evaded the attack. Icon then cast spell of sleep on the dragons. Icon knew it was just a temporary respite but every advantage they get was crucial. Another red mage had joined the Elvaans. He needed to get Jabrina out of harms way.
"Jabrina, I will cast spell of Invisible on you. Can you get home safely by your own? I need to lure these guys away." Icon said
"I will not leave you Mister Icon." Jabrina replied.
"You have to go. I cannot take care of you and fight off these Elvaans at the same time. Do not worry. I will be alright. Promise."
Icon cast the spell of Invisible on Jabrina and ran the other way luring the Elvaans towards him. One of them managed to cast bind on Icon. He couldn't move. They quickly surrounded him. The leader of the group, the Red Mage said "You fool. It is an honor to serve the Master and you refuse." They started kicking and pounding Icon. "I don't know why the Master insists on recruiting a weakling like you. The only option for you is death." He drew his rapier and aimed at Icon's heart. "Die." He didn't even get the chance to pierce Icon's heart. He got battered by a spell of stone and got knocked down. Icon turned to see who had helped him.
"Tiny Heart!" Icon exclaimed. The Elvaans stood still for a moment upon hearing my name. One of them said. "That Galka is Tiny Heart? What luck. Master will surely reward us when we present him Tiny Heart's head."
"I am not the Tiny Heart you Elvaans used to know." I replied.
The two Dragoons charged me with their spears. I blocked and parried their attacks. One advantage of being a Dark Knight is that I have magic at my side. I threw a spell of Stone on one of the dragoons knocking him back. The other I attacked with my scythe slashing him back and forth. The dragoon was amazed by my speed. He could not believe a Galka could move that fast that he hesitated to attack and just kept moving backwards which gave me the perfect opportunity to blast him with another spell of Stone.
Icon faced off with the Red Mage who had tried to pierce his heart. Icon blasted him with spell of Banish which didn't have much effect on the Red Mage.
"Is that all you got? Your puny spell doesn't even tickle me." boasted the Red Mage. "I'll how you how to blast someone to pieces. He proceeded to blast Icon with spell of Fire, Blizzard and Thunder. Icon absorbed some of the damage but the spells kept on coming forcing Icon to stumble and fall down the ground. "Your magic is no match for mine. I heard you once held off a dozen Paladins with your Stonega spell in Selbina. Too bad it's useless against me." the Red Mage boasted even more.
Icon stood up and with all his remaining mana cast the strongest spell he could do. A blinding white light engulfed the Red Mage exploding around him. Icon fell on his knees after casting the spell. He watched helplessly and shook his head in disappointment when he saw the Red Mage still standing, after a few seconds the Red Mage suddenly fell. "Holy... you can cast Holy..." the Red Mage said as he lost consciousness.
As I ran towards Icon an Elvaan female blocked my path. She had a scythe as a weapon. "I am impressed. The two of you bested three of my best men. Zeid still knows how to train people I see. Let us see how good you really are." She took a step towards me when Icon shouted her to stop.
"Umbra! Your fight is with me! Leave my friends alone!" Icon shouted.
"Icon, the moment you refuse my Masters invitation all your friends are fair game." Umbra replied. "Besides I want to see how good a Dark Knight Tiny Heart has become. If he isn't worthy to be one, I will end his life to save him from shaming us Dark Knights."
Umbra charged me spinning her scythe around her body. I maybe fast but she was even faster. If it weren't for the heavy armor I was wearing I would have been wounded gravely when the blade of her scythe slashed my chest. I tried to fight back but she was just too good. She was toying with me, laughing as she slowly hit me with magic spells and slashing me all over my body, bleeding me to death. Icon having recovered a bit tried to help by curing me but Umbra quickly took the fight out of him by casting Aspir, draining his remaining mana.
Still admiring her handiwork, Umbra kept taunting us. "This is the fate of those who oppose my Master. Slow death." I tried to blast her with a spell of fire but it didn't even affect her one bit. "So much for the so called "Champion" of the Dark Knights. I would have loved to see those dumb Paladins lose but with your powers right now, I'd rather see you not attend the duel. You are not worthy to represent us Dark Knights." From Umbra's magic and physical attacks plus the wounds I had suffered, I was slowly losing consciousness. Umbra stood in front of me ready for the final kill. Out of nowhere a bolt of fire magic slammed into Umbra's back. Umbra furiously yelled. "Who dares to attack me from behind?"
"Get away from Tiny Heart and Mr. Icon." It was Jabrina. She didn't run back to Bastok but instead came back to help Icon.
"Such a brave but foolish child. You should have run away as Icon told you to do so." Umbra cast a spell of Thunder at Jabrina, quickly knocking her down the ground. She approached Jabrina and slammed the bottom edge of her scythe on Jabrinas left hand. Jabrina shouted in pain. Icon couldn't believe what he saw, Umbra torturing a young child. "Umbra, are you mad? She is just a child. Is your heart really that evil?"
Umbra proceeded to slam Jabrina's other hand. Jabrina shouted even louder from the pain Umbra was inflicting. "All is fair in love and war. There are no innocents. The strong will survive and the weak shall perish. That is how it is in Vanadiel. If this young Mithra wants to grow up she has to face reality. That is if she can survive the day." said Umbra in a very evil tone. She then kicked Jabrina in the stomach over and over again. Jabrina was now in great pain. "Maybe I should cut off one of her cute ears. I wonder how she will look after."
"No more Umbra. You win I give up. Take me to you Master." Icon said. Icon was in tears after seeing the pain being inflicted on Jabrina. He caved in and surrendered.
Umbra was still relishing her victory over Icon. She proceeded to hit Jabrina one more time. "I told you before there will be consequences if you refuse my Master. I will kill this Mithra to teach you a lesson you will never forget. Umbra placed the blade of her scythe beside the neck of Jabrina who was now unconscious.
"No Umbra for the love of Altana. Don't do it. I swear and may lightning strike me I will go willing with you." Icon pleaded with Umbra. "Please I beg off you."
With that Umbra knew she had finally won. She took her scythe of Jabrina's neck and walked towards Icon. "Remember this, if you ever go against your word and refuse to join my master afterwards. You know what fate lies for your friends. I will not be merciful the second time around. White mage! Where are you!"
The Elvaan White Mage who was with the Dragoons emerged from his hiding place and approached Umbra. "Let's go." Umbra said. In a blink of an eye they teleported and disappeared from my sight. That was the last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness.
-O-
Bastok Mines.
Iron Eater approached Zeid who was deep in thought.
"Zeid you wanted to see me old friend?" Iron Eater asked.
"Yes Iron Eater. She has reappeared after all these years. I thought she died." Zeid replied.
"Who do you mean?"
"Umbra."
"Umbra? Oh my... She still lives? I thought she perished in Xacabard."
"Apparently she survived somehow and she has become what I feared most, an evil and vengeful person. Tinyheart and Jabrina were badly wounded by her. Tiny Heart told me what happened before he lost consciousness again."
"It was not your fault. She was driven mad by the dark magic she practiced."
"I should have never taught her to be a Dark Knight. I was blinded by my ego. I wanted her to be the best of the best. To prove a female can become a great Dark Knight. To make us Dark Knights proud. I was so wrong. Now it's too late. She has become a danger to all of us. I pray hope and pray she doesn't kill more innocents. Blood will be on my hands for it was I who created her." Zeid then turned and walked toward Zehurn Mines shaking his head in disappointment.
-O-
"You have done well Umbra. I knew I could count on you to make Icon change his mind."
"Master it is my honor to serve you. I have apprehensions though. Icon will not bow to you that easily. He can always betray you after."
"Oh yes he will. Yes he will. You may go now. You had a long and tiring day."
"Yes Master." Umbra bowed and left.
Umbra's Master looked at his prize. Icon was bound in chains, locked up in a cell sleeping. "Finally my plans are coming to full circle. Long have I search for someone like him. It is almost time." An evil laugh could be heard echoing throughout the dungeon.