Chapter 8: Getting to Know the Mages
The following day, a group of bandits had been ambushed. Most of them were injured and unconscious, but their lives were not in danger. The only bandit still awake was sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree stump. He looked at a woman who was approaching him.
The woman appeared to be in her early 30s, she was wearing a long black dress that exposed much of her very large breasts. She also had a black witch's hat and black heels on. Her long blonde hair blew slightly in the wind. Her impressive breasts bounced as she walked toward the man, stopping when she was looming over him. The bandit tried to stand but the witch used her heel to push him back against the stump, digging it into his shoulder.
"I will not ask you again, where are my children???" she demanded, clearly running out of patience.
"Okay okay, I'll talk!! A carrier pigeon brought us a letter saying that Bovindor's group recaptured them a few days ago. They are on their way to deliver them to Lady Trista now!"
The witch dug her heel in, causing the bandit to wince. "And where might I find this Bovindor?"
"They would be about a hundred miles south of here, they'll have to go around the mountain before they'd be able to continue north."
"I see, if you had been this helpful from the start, I wouldn't have had to be so rough with you and your men" she told him, manifesting her broom in her hand after removing her heel from the bandit.
He laughed. "Good luck if you want to fuck around with Bovindor! He's a minotaur demon, he'll run you through with his mighty dick!" he laughed some more until the witch struck him across his face with her broom, knocking him out.
"I don't care what he is, no one is going to stand in my way!" she declared as she mounted her broom and flew south, hoping to rescue her children.
Meanwhile, Tiafell and the others began their journey to Gatharham in hopes of finding any signs of life and clues about the whereabouts of the twins' mother.
"How far is Gatharham from here?" Nadia asked.
"We'll be there the day after tomorrow at this rate. As long as we keep the mountain on our right, we'll find it no problem" Cirris answered.
"Good, I'm just glad we don't have to climb that."
Cirris smirked. "What's wrong? Is a little mountain climbing too much for the vampire?"
"I'd climb that stupid mountain in less than an hour at nighttime! Are you trying to piss me off?" she fumed.
"I was just teasing you. Geez, who knew vampires could be so testy."
"If you don't shut your mouth, I may decide to feed on you next!" Nadia warned.
"It would be the best meal you've ever had" he scoffed.
As the two of them bickered back and forth, Tiafell and Mirya followed behind them.
"Cirris doesn't mean anything by it. He likes to have someone to argue with, that's all" Mirya chuckled awkwardly.
"Oh, I can tell" Tiafell said. "I can sense that this is fun for them. They're alike in a lot of ways."
Mirya smiled. "I'm so glad we met the two of you Tee-Tee, and that you were the ones who saved us" she said as she wrapped her arms around his left arm, laying her head on his shoulder while looking up at him. "Can we all still be friends, even after we are finished in Gatharham?"
"Of course we can" he smiled back at her, much to her joy. "So, tell me about your mother. I'm curious."
Mirya giggled. "Okay! Our mom is a witch named Samora. She is skilled with all sorts of magic, but her specialty is making potions and elixirs. She owned a shop in town where she sold her creations and made good money, so we lived comfortably because of it. And get this, she is the daughter of Marlon, have you ever heard of him?"
Tiafell's eyes lit up. "Marlon? As in the most powerful and famous wizard to have ever lived?? Yes!! I'm a major fan of his tales! His stories of knights and wizards helped inspire me to go on my own journey! The village has a few of his books in the library from.. eight hundred.. years ago... are you saying he still lives?" he was dumfounded.
"Yep! I don't know all the details, but you know about the Great Demon War, right?"
"Yes, Marlon was one of the leaders that fought against a massive demon army more than eight hundred years ago. It wasn't long after that when the elves erected the barrier and isolated themselves from the rest of Gashua." Tiafell recounted what he had heard growing up.
"Mhm. He, along with an alliance of humans and elves, managed to stop a massive demon army from taking our world for themselves and drove most of the ones they didn't kill back into the Underworld. Their leader was the King of the Underworld. It was so formidable that even Grandfather was not able to kill it. So instead, he pulled its soul out of its body and sealed it inside of a crystal. Despite this, the elves feared that it would break out one day, so they decided to protect themselves by staying in the forest behind the barrier."
"I didn't know the elves worked with the humans. Why couldn't they have stayed with them? Should it be freed, they would have been able to handle the demon if they worked together again!" Tiafell balled his fists, he was disgusted by the fact that his kind retreated and isolated themselves in a forest behind a barrier. The more he learned about them, the more he saw his kind as cowards.
Mirya decided to change the subject due to the stress this was causing her new friend. "Grandfather also feared that the demon could escape, so he used a longevity spell to stop himself from aging and extend his life. You see, the seal was connected to his life force so as long as he stayed healthy and strong, the seal would hold. However, the spell doesn't last forever. It's only meant to extend the user's life; it doesn't grant immortality. The spell ended seventy three years ago, and he began aging again. He's grown quite old since then."
"My goodness, so that is how he is still alive."
Mirya continued. "After that, he met our grandmother, and then Mom was born soon after. When she was 31, Mom used the longevity spell on herself because Grandfather's health was declining. The plan was for her to use her life force to keep the demon sealed away whenever Grandfather became too weak to maintain it. As far as Cirris and I know, it's been successful so far, but Mom never talks about it. She and Grandfather had a falling out when we were little, and they haven't really spoken since. One day, out of the blue, Mom told us that we weren't born for the sole purpose of maintaining a seal. I don't know for sure, but she must feel that was the only reason she was born. I hope it wasn't, but Grandfather always seemed to genuinely love her, and us too.
"That must have been hard for her" Tiafell responded. "So, if I'm guessing right, your mother is in her seventies?"
"That's right! Due to the longevity spell, she looks like she is still 31. I guess she technically has been the same age for more than forty years. People can't believe she's our mother because she looks too young to have adult children" she giggled.
"I see! Based on what you have told me, I'm sure she must still be alive." he assured her.
