One year later, Rumors from traders passing down a road near the center of the continent tell of a white haired ghost with a dark blue scarf who had been seen killing off any monsters that came in it's way.
The wagons transporting the orbs to their kingdoms were told to do it as fast and as secretly as possible. The Kingdom of the south is prideful though, they made the existence of the orb public. And so the wagon would be riding through public roads so the inhabitants of the kingdom can give praise.
A boy walked into a tavern that was on the side of a road traders usually took. The pub was crowded, by both traders and adventures. "OI! get out of here! this place isn't for you!" a drunken man said angrily. The boy kept on walking towards the bar, not even acknowledging the man's words. "HEY! I said for you to GET OUT!" the drunk stood up from where he was sitting and started to stumble towards the boy. The boy turned back to face the drunk with a death glare. The drunk immediately backed off with a quiet "Sorry.."
He sighed in annoyance and sat down in the bar. The bartender looked at him in confusion and curiosity, as the boy fit the looks for the rumored ghost in the forest. But they didn't want to ask about it incase the 'ghost' was hostile to humans. "W-welcome to the Blind Boar!" they said nervously "What can I get you?".
The boy pulled down his navy blue scarf to uncover his mouth to speak, "Just a glass of water." The bartender poured water into a glass and handed it to him, "I didn't hear a carriage or horse coming over here... did you walk?" they asked in concerned tone of voice. The boy nodded as he drank the water.
"How far have you walked?"
"Far enough"
"Can I at least know your name if you aren't gonna give me a straight answer?" they asked in an annoyed tone of voice. "Fine.. name's Atlas, and I have some questions that need answering" he finished his water and pulled up his scarf again. "Alright ask away! I know everything there is to know!" they said proudly.
"Do you know of anything that can kill the beasts?" Atlas asked, today marked the end of the twelve moon deadline for the arrival of the 'power' that voice had promised him. "Something that could kill the beasts.." they thought to themselves "Oh! the kingdom announced that a wagon was gonna go down this road, and it was carrying something like what you asked!" they smiled as all of the people in tavern were there just to see the wagon pass by.
"Really?" even though he didn't look like it, he was eager to get his hands on whatever objects the carriage was transporting. He grinned from underneath his scarf. "Oh I'm gonna steal that power for mysel-" he was interrupted mid thought by someone shouting out. "THE WAGON IS COMING!" the entire tavern burst into cheers, everyone rushed out of the tavern to cheer on the wagon. Atlas tossed 2 copper coins to pay for the water and a silver coin as a tip. He walked outside as he looked down the road and saw a greatly decorated wagon, he grinned as he moved his hand to the dagger on his side. He had planned on hopping onto the wagon and obtaining the 'power' and make a straight shot towards the beast.
The wagon slowed down when it arrived at the tavern, the wagon driver waved and smiled, a person draped in a robe was sitting next to the driver, reading a book and constantly checking inside of the carriage. "HURRAY FOR THE KINGDOM OF TLATEKUINALOTL!" the drunks shouted out in glee. The wagon driver nudged the robed person, they sighed and put their hand up and mesmerizing flames and sparks were shot out of it. "A magician? this might be more difficult than I thought"
Atlas used this unintentional distraction to rush to a vantage point in order to stop the carriage from moving. he ran in the direction the carriage was going, he had climbed up a tree that was big enough to hold atlas and conceal his presence. Once the magician had stopped their light show, they motioned for the driver to keep on going. The wagon started to move at it's normal pace back again. as they neared the tree the magician had sensed something, they looked around and then looked directly at the tree where Atlas was hiding.
Atlas had unsheathed a small throwing knife, he aimed at his target, and once it got close enough, he threw it. The knife had been thrown into the neck of one of the horses pulling the wagon, it immediately started to panic and went out of control, causing the other horse to panic as well. The driver lost full control of the wagon, the wagon was going to stray from the road and fall from the cliff that the road was built on. as the horses steered towards the cliff the magician reacted quickly and grabbed the driver, runes appeared on their hands. The wagon driver and the magician were sent floating into the air, they levitated for a couple of seconds before safely descending onto the ground.
The wagon fell down the cliff and into the rocks the lake had below. The driver and the magician were panting, obviously shaken by the crash. "Now's my chance" Atlas thought to himself as he dropped down from the tree, he swiftly ran to the edge of the cliff, he made sure to jump as far as he could, as to not meet the same fate the horses and the carriage did.
The wind was rushing against him, he had soon plunged into the water only barely missing the rocks. He quickly started to swim upwards and to the rocks where the destroyed vehicle lay. He stood on top of the rocks and breathed heavily "Oh tletototl... that was close.." he muttered to himself. He hurried to the wreckage and started rummaging around for anything that could look powerful.
He pushed aside any average looking weapons, threw spare parts out of the way, and put any coins he found in his pouch. He found a small box, it was highly decorated with golden designs such as stars or the moon. As he reached to touch it, a small jolt of electricity jumped from the box and shocked him. "Yow!" he shook his hand in pain, he looked around for anything he could wrap around his hands to use as makeshift gloves. He was certain that the 'power' was in this box, why else would it be guarded with magic?
He started to rummage around for anything that could insulate his hands. He couldn't find any pieces of fabric or leather anywhere. "There's nothing.. I finally found the thing I've been looking for the past twelve moons.. and I can't even get to it."Atlas groaned, he started pacing back and forth, his anger building up.
"SCREW IT ALL!" He yelled out. The box started to rattle, but Atlas didn't notice this for his vision was filled with rage. In a fit of rage he kicked the box. The box was kicked a couple of meters away, it got stuck between two rocks and it became partially submerged in water. It's rattling became more intense. He winced "I didn't break it right?" he slowly went over the rocks and to the box. He crouched and tried to touch it. The rattling suddenly stopped, Click. "I-it opened?" He stopped himself from touching the box again. "Well.. I guess I'll come back tomorrow with some clot-"
The box suddenly opened up, and a yellow orb was in it. Carefully having cushion to ensure that the orb wouldn't break. "It's just an orb... not even a grimoire" he said in disappointment.
He looked away for a moment. Crunch. Sudden pain shot up his right arm. His head quickly snapped to look at his arm. A head of a black dragon with yellow markings was clamped down on his arm. It seemed to come from the same box that the orb was in. "H-how?" He said in disbelief, completely ignoring the pain of the dragon's teeth sinking into his arm. "I thought the dragons went extinct a year ag-" he was interrupted with the pain suddenly hitting him. He tried not to scream out so that nobody would find him rummaging through the broken carriage.
Atlas buried his head into his left arm and let out a stifled yell. He managed to keep himself from screaming out loud, he turned his attention back to the creature gnawing on his arm as if it were a dog chewing on a bone. Atlas instinctively pulled out his dagger and started to stab at the head in an attempt to have it let go. The dagger's tip barely left scratches on it's head, the head became more agitated and growled.
Snap. A yell echoed throughout the area, Atlas fought back tears as he continued to stab at the dragon head with no damage being done. The jaws of the creature were now completely shut, it had taken Atlas' arm with it. It made a gargling sound, it's body started to become more liquid-like, yet solid at the same time.
It suddenly burst into tendrils, each with a miniature dragon head on it. The tendrils flailed around aimlessly until they suddenly were fixated on where Atlas' arm used to be. They shot towards it like arrows, a black tendril became lodged into the bone. Atlas winced in pain, he was on the verge of screaming but was managing to keep himself from doing it.
The other tendrils started to circle around the one lodged into the bone. They weaved and intertwined the heads disappearing after they become fused with the others. The dragon that had just ripped off Atlas' arm was now stopping the bleeding. The tendrils continued to fuse with each other, leaving a black and yellow claw, similar to that of a dragon's.
"What-" a final yellow tendril fused with the rest of the hand. The instant it touched with the claw, sparks flew, electricity started to generate from the claw. And as soon as the final tendril fused with the claw, completing it. Waves of energy started to course through Atlas' body. Electricity was coursing through his veins, illuminating his veins with a yellow light.
Pain started flowing through his body soon after, he lurched over. The pain was much more immense than having his arm ripped off. He yelled out in pain, his cries echoed throughout the land. Atlas begun trying to take off the dragon claw, thinking that it would stop the pain. "GUAAAHHH!" He writhed in pain, the electricity started to flow throughout his entire body.
The pain nearly put him into unconsciousness. He breathed heavily, even though the pain wasn't actually killing him, it felt like it was. His head was throbbing immensely, the energy stopped surging but the pain was still there. The claw started to generate a large amount of electricity, but it did not spread throughout the body like it did last time.
The claw subconsciously went straight up, pointing towards the heavens above. It released that electricity, creating a beacon of yellow light. At the same moment, three other beacons lit up the skies. One was red, the other blue, and another purple.
The beacons went out as soon as they lit up. The claw went back down to the ground, "I'm g-going to take a quick nap..." he muttered to himself, he slipped into unconsciousness. Half his body submerged in water, the claw, was tightly gripping onto a rock so Atlas would not fully become submerged.
"Hey! I think I found it!" It was the voice of the wagon driver . "I seriously hope that beacon wasn't the result of the thief activating the dragon sphere.." the magician bitterly said.
The magician casted the same spell that they used to save the driver and themself. "Sayolli" they enchanted the spell, runes formed on their body. The magician began to levitate, they descended slowly towards the rocks below.
The magician gracefully landed on top one of the rocks, balancing perfectly on it's tip. "Ugh, what a mess" they said in disgust. Their eyes scanned throughout the area, they noticed Atlas but did not bother to check up on him. "He's a thief, he's not worthy of me helping him" the magician thought.
They found the box that contained the dragon sphere, and it was opened. "tletototl.. please have the dragon sphere be okay.." they prayed silently. They slowly walked towards the box, he picked it up without the defensive measure activate. The magician peeked into the contents of the box. The orb which was once a glowing yellow, was now a black color, completely devoid of light. "No.. it can't be.." their gazed snapped towards Atlas, they immediately found the dragon claw gripping tightly onto the rock.
"No.. NO!" They yelled out in disbelief and anger. They stormed towards Atlas. They leaned over him to examine the claw. They waved their hand over the claw, it was the same energy as the yellow orb. Their eyes suddenly were filled with anger. "Get up, Sayolli.." Atlas' suddenly floated up into the air, still unconscious. "Akochilistli" runes started to form near the magicians eyes, but quickly disappeared shortly after.
Atlas suddenly opened his eyes. "Wha-" he was interrupted by a punch from the magician. "Shut up" Atlas quickly retaliated with a kick which missed, "Let me go!" he yelled out. "Yolik" the magician whispered, runes started to form near their neck. Atlas' movements were slowed down immensely. He struggled to move his regular body parts.
The dragon claw pulsed with a yellow light, the runes on the magician's hands and neck were suddenly removed. Atlas dropped to the ground, no longer suspended in the air, and his body was moving at normal speed now. He curled up the claw, sparks flew from it. He then delivered a blow to the magician's stomach. "Gah!" they flew back a few meters away. They quickly caught themselves with the same levitation spell "He canceled my magic? Is this the power of the dragon?" they growled as they gazed at Atlas.
Atlas was staring at the claw, it didn't feel part of him but at the same time it did, the claw was obviously way more powerful than the rest of his body. "So this is the power that is gonna help me destroy Cerberus.." he thought to himself. He turned his attention to the magician, who was no longer there.
"where did they-"
"Behind you"
"Tikochi"
The magician suddenly appeared behind Atlas, runes were formed on their left hand rather than the right. They put their palm to his head, Atlas' claw started to glow but it was to slow to cancel the magic. Atlas suddenly was put back into unconsciousness. The magician had used a powerful spell that would put the target into a deep sleep until whenever the caster decided to wake them up. "They managed to get a good hit on me.. but it wasn't by skill, only dumb luck" the magician scoffed. "If I had my grimoire, that little scuffle would've been done a lot earlier"
"Damn! That thief took the dragon sphere's power for himself!" The wagon driver said in frustration from the top of the cliff. "Come back up here, and bring the thief with you, I think you can use that 'Isiuhka' spell of yours to take us the rest of the way." The magician nodded they grabbed onto Atlas and whispered the "Sayolli" spell. Runes formed on their right hand and they flew upwards and landed on the edge of the cliff.
"Alright, since It isn't too far off to get to the capital-" the magician thought for a second before speaking again "-Yeah, we can get into the King's court directly"
"Isiuhka"
In a flash of light, the magician, the wagon driver, and Atlas were transported to the kings court, where Atlas' fate would be decided..
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Authors note:
Hey! Sorry that I took so long on this chapter, something came up and that's why it took so long. But I'll try to update this story once a week.
Thank you for reading my story and I hope you stick with me until I finish it!