The next day, after Darian woke up, he stepped out of his room. He had decided to leave the strange feather inside, not wanting to risk losing it. He figured he'd ask Rusty to analyze it later. Snowy was following him staying on his shoulder.
As soon as he exited, he spotted Vane, who was just waking up in the room next to his.
"Oh, morning, Darian!" Vane greeted, his voice still heavy with sleep as he walked toward him.
"Good morning, Vane," Darian replied, still feeling drained from the excitement that had kept him awake last night. He just meet humans after a lot! he was extremely happy.
"Come with me," Vane said with a warm smile. "You probably don't know where we have breakfast. I'll take you there."
"Oh, thank you, Vane," Darian said, following along.
As they walked, Darian began peppering him with questions about how the city worked.
"Hey, Vane… now that I think about it, what's this city called?"
"Oh, right, no one has told you yet. It's called Therya," Vane replied as they kept moving. "Anything else you want to know? You look like you've got a lot of questions."
"Hm… let me think." Darian paused for a moment, then the most obvious question came to mind. "Now that the king is dead, what's going to happen? Is Alerya going to take power?"
"Well… in a way," Vane said, stopping mid-step. "Things here aren't that simple. The king wasn't actually the one with the most power."
"Huh? Then who does?" Darian asked, puzzled.
"It's actually the Seven Sages," Vane explained. "No one knows much about them, only that they're people without any known identity."
Darian frowned. If they had no identity, how were they chosen?
"But… how do they get elected?"
"Nobody knows," Vane said with a shrug. "When one of the Seven Sages dies, they go around the city and take some elderly people who are on the verge of death. No one knows what happens to them afterward, but Alerya once told me those people gain a 'new life.' I wonder what that really means."
'So, to recap… these Seven Sages rule from the shadows, and no one knows who they really are?' Darian thought.
"And do these people have names? Like, some kind of titles?" Darian asked.
"Yes, they do," said a voice from behind them. It was Liro.
"Oh, morning, Liro!" Darian and Vane said in unison as Liro walked up.
"Morning, guys. Heading to breakfast?" Liro asked when he reached them.
"Yes, we were just on our way. Want to come with us?" Darian asked with a smile.
"I'll join you, then!" Liro said, falling in step with them.
"So, Liro, you said the Sages have names? What are they?" Darian asked curiously.
"They each have a different title: Keeper of Silence, Elder of the Shadow, Herald of Roots, Eye of the Eclipse, Seer of the Void, Lord of Stones, and finally… Whisper of the Abyss," Liro listed.
Both Darian and Vane stared at him, intrigued.
"Whoa, you know a lot, Liro! What else do you know?" Vane asked, leaning closer.
"Well, not much… just that they make some kind of pact before becoming one of the Seven Sages," Liro said.
"Still I've got another question…" asked Darian, Vane and Liro tilted their heads towards Darian.
"I noticed that the first time Kael used his magic he said a sort of formula…" said Darian, "What did he even said…" whispered him before Vane spoke interrupting him.
"You're probably referring to Unique gravity, his spell" answered him, Darian after hearing that nodded with his head, "Yeah he said that"
"And? What do you wish to know?" asked Liro calmly as he noticed Darian had started to breath heavely.
"What I'm saying is that he used these words to use his magic… but like when you or Vane used them you didn't say a word… why that?" Darian confused kept walking as he followed the other two.
"It's not really deep… it's just a personal preference" said Liro, Darian hearing that remained confused.
'Isn't this like a game or one of the novels I used to read like if you don't say the word the magic doesn't come out?' thought Darian confused as a puzzled expression appeared over his face.
"You see, everyone who can use magic has usually got a set of three spells. When we're in a chaotic battle, saying the name of the spell can help the allies understanding which attack you're about to do and it gives time to the other to coordinate or they can go away from your trajectory" answered Liro with a calm voice, after that Darian's expression became clearer.
"Oh right I even use three spells… even if I could create more but nothing just arrived to mind…" whispered Darian as he looked over Snowy sleeping on his shoulder.
"Still if everyone who can use magic has got three spells, why did you only used the one to create an illusion?" asked him confused.
"You see…" suddenly Liro lowered his head and his voice dropped, "There is a big difference when we talk about alterids, sometimes not all alterids have got three spells, there are some people, like me, who have only awakened a single magic… and I didn't even bother giving it a name to the spell as it is only one" answered Liro.
"Oh right it awakens… you've said once people became two years old right?" asked Darian, and with that the group had finally arrived in front of the cafeteria, but before entering Liro answered to last Darian's question.
"Exactly, it awakens when you're two years old, alterid or not, there are no exceptions" answered him.
"Guyss can we eat? My stomach is hungry" said Vane as he smashed his hands on his stomach, Darian and Liro let out a soft laugh and they entered in the cafeteria. As Darian entered he noticed something that surprised him a bit, the food selection wasn't varied, mostly fruit, as they entered they noticed Kael already eating.
"Heyyy, Kael!" Vane called, grabbing some fruit and heading toward him.
"Oh, morning, guys," Kael greeted between bites.
"Let's go to them," Liro said, motioning for Darian to follow.
"Everything alright, Kael? You look troubled," Liro said when they reached the table.
"Well, we just got word… the water cave was attacked," Kael said seriously.
"What?! How did the Krukins get here?" Vane asked in shock.
"Could it be because of the Krukdill? Did you read about them in my diary?" Darian asked.
"Yes, I read it… but the rock there is extremely hard, and it's really far from the mainland," Vane replied, looking confused. Kael seemed equally puzzled.
They clearly haven't read the diary, Darian thought.
"When did the news come in?" Darian asked, a sense of unease growing inside him.
"This morning. A group went to fetch water and got attacked. Only one man made it back, and… he died soon after," Kael explained.
"Wasn't Lara able to save him?" Vane asked loudly.
"No… it was too late," Kael said grimly.
"We should do something," Liro said, his tone turning serious.
"Oh, right!" Kael suddenly remembered. "After hearing about it, Alerya asked to see you three. She's in the meeting room, better go to her."
They all exchanged glances. What could Alerya possibly want?
When they reached the meeting room, Alerya was already waiting.
"You came… I have a proposal for you three," she said as they entered.
"You want us to clear the water cave, don't you?" Vane guessed confidently.
"Exactly. You three are the only ones available right now... the others are all busy," Alerya said, standing from her desk. She spread a map across the table, motioning for them to come closer.
It was a layout of the first floor of the water cave.
"I want you to go there… and take it back. Kill all of them!" Alerya ordered, her tone leaving no room for doubt. Darian suddenly understood why she was the leader.
"Liro and Vane know the way. And you, Darian, I chose you because I want to see what you can do."
"Yes, boss," Vane and Liro replied in unison. Darian echoed them a moment later, caught off guard.
They geared up and made their way toward the water caves. When they arrived, the massive entrance loomed before them.
"Alright… let's go, guys," Liro said, his voice tinged with nerves. Vane took the lead, Darian stayed in the middle, and Liro brought up the rear.
Inside, they froze. The place was crawling with Krukins, everywhere they looked. Darian recognized Krukdill, Krukspy, and Kruktopus, but thankfully, they were all classified level 1 by Darian.
"How did they get here?" Liro muttered, scanning the walls for holes but finding none.
"I don't know… but there's a lot of them," Darian said, uneasy. Vane, on the other hand, was smirking.
He's probably the type who doesn't scare easily, Darian thought.
"We need a plan," Liro said. "Keep your voices down, we don't want them hearing us. And Vane, don't do what you did last time…"
Darian's eyes widened. What happened last time?
"Ugh… yeah, don't worry," Vane replied, clearly annoyed.
The situation was grim. The cave was packed, at least twenty of each species, and there were probably more deeper inside.
"Maybe they're being controlled," Liro suggested. "Darian, you've studied them a lot. Anything come to mind?"
"No… it doesn't make sense," Darian answered.
"We shouldn't waste time thinking. Let's just kill them all!" Vane said, cracking his fists together.
"It doesn't work like that, Vane," Liro said firmly. He conjured a 3D map of the cave. "We need a proper plan."
Darian and Vane stepped closer to study the map. It was time to think.