Wrath of The Aswang

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dawn of an adventure

I woke to someone banging on the door vigorously. I opened in quickly, thinking there was emergency. I realized how dark it was when the candle in Zachary's hand. Oh yeah, Today is the day...

"Hurry and get ready, the sun will be up in an hour and a half, the meeting will be in twenty minutes, after that we get to prepare." Zachary said, first word I've heard today was hurry, this is going to be fun.

I pulled on fresh clothes and put my hair into a quick pony tail. I pulled my boots on and silently walked to the meeting room. I was satisfied to see I was the third one there, Anne and Zachary sat in their seats. I sat down next to Anne and laid my head down on my arms, still drowsy. I relished the few minutes I got to rest. Once everyone arrived, the only people who were mentally awake were the king, the general and James. The door slammed behind them waking me from my respite.

"Alright, let's begin." The king announced, I nudged Anne who was dozing off. She bounced awake but luckily silently, "We all understand what we are to do, yes?"

I nodded. "Do we need to go over it?" I shook my head.

"What about transportation?" The general inquired.

"Not a problem," Zachary said, a spark flickered in his hand for a fraction of a second then vanished. Zachary's mage abilities allowed him to teleport. Zachary became a mage by a wish he was given, not the normal way which was a lot more... disturbing. Mages were more powerful than a wizard, sorcerer or a witch. They don't need a magical item to create power, it was in their hands. Zachary had a lot more potential but he can't control his powers farther than he does now.

"Right, and what about the emergency escape?"

"If we need it, I have Jamble." Anne said, the general looked confused, "the dragon."

"If one of us get captured what do we do?" Anne asked. She wasn't at the risk of getting captured like the rest of us were, it was still a question that needed to be answered.

"Do anything you can, you're a team help one another." The general stated, "anymore questions?"

Nobody said anything. Everyone knew what we were doing.

The king sat back in his seat, a little relieved. I had sympathy for him. He had a whole war to deal with it and the throne was in danger. Dolf seemed really powerful to be able to invade us and succeed.  Flodian trying to keep the peace isn't working, we need a weapon too.

"The most it should take is twenty four hours. Take no more or we will assume you're dead." The general said. A man burst in and whispered in the king's ear. The king looked distressed then dismissed him.

"Be very careful," the king said, "go get prepared. Veronica, no iris sword, don't give them a chance to get their hands on it. And Anne, armor that dragon of yours."

I went to the armory first. As always, a guard was sitting on a chair next to the entrance. He was asleep with drool going down the side of his chin into his beard. I lightly kicked his leg and he gasped.

"I need a sword," I said.

"What about that blue glowy flower sword of yours?" He mumbled.

"I need a sword now," I repeated.

"Fine, hold your horses." The guard stood up and unhooked some keys from his belt. He unlocked the door and let me in. Swords were stacked on racks, sorted by weight. I went though the racks and found none of the swords were my preferred weight. Either too heavy or too light. I picked the one that was a bit too light. All of them were well balanced, most likely would be anyways.

A shelf against the wall caught my attention, it was filled with magical items. It was the ring, the evil ring that was too dangerous for any evil to get their hands on. I slid it into my palm. I had asked James to put it in a safe placed before I passed out. This wasn't a safe place, it's easy to get in though that wooden door and passed the sleeping guard.

I slid the sword into my sheath, noticing that it was shorter than the iris blade. I shrugged it off and seized the ring tightly in between my fingers and palm. I exited the room and made way to my bedroom. I gathered a whistle with a dragon on it. I pulled off my knight medal around my neck and laid it carefully on my pillow. I also grabbed a golden bracelet that was always with me when I dreamt. I pushed it around my wrist, securing the latch in the back. I also took a hat and a jacket.

Once I was done, I left the room and went for James, who needed to take proper care of the ring. I realized people were probably still getting ready. I decided to take care of the ring myself. I slid it into my pocket and thought of the perfect place to hide it.

Once I was done, I was greeted by a maid. She smiled warmly and handed me a pack, inside was a few snacks, a bandage and a bottle of water. "I was to give this to you."

"Thank you," I said, stuffing he pack's remaining space with the hat, jacket and whistle. I bucked the strap and made my way to the entrance of the castle. Zachary was already there along with James. Anne was most likely being hunted down by a maid to be given the pack.

Out the windows, I could see that the sun was going from black to a light greyish blue. Not a cloud was in the sky, stars were fading and the moon started to blend in. Anne burst though the entrance like it was the end of the world, "finally!"

"Um...Anne what happened?" James asked confused, Anne wasn't exactly like me. She wasn't too fond of James, she was all right will Zachary but when it came to James, he was an unpleasant insect.

"Done..." she said. A maids heels clicked on the ground as she rushed to hand her the pack. Anne didn't look inside when she thanked her and put it on. "Come look."

Outside, Jamble was armored in iron plates of armor. It didn't shine because of the thin layer of rust on it. I didn't realize but the sun was starting to embrace the earth with it's warm light. Anne patted Jamble, in return, Jamble brushed his large head along arm. Although his head was armored, he was pleased by the touch.

Zachary created a purple portal out of his fingertips. It was large enough to fit Jamble through comfortably.

This was the outset of our journey.