Throne of the Grand Magus: The beginning - Chapter 117

“Damn it! I warned him to retreat! We have to get him to a healer ASAP!” Gabriel’s shouts were barely a whisper, Arya couldn’t feel the world around him, he couldn’t smell, or see anything either. All he had to remind him that he wasn’t dead were but the faint shouts of those surrounding him, and even then these whispers were incoherent, gaps in between them existed.

“Arya!” this voice was familiar.

‘Ahh Averos,’ thought Arya, the dark abyss around him suffocating him as he tried to make out what was going on but couldn’t.

“Who did this? Tell me now! I’ll have their head!” Averos demanded angrily.

‘Pfft, we’ve barely known each other for a month and you’re going out of your way to be angry for me? You’re just like Michael, ah yes Michael. Maybe I’ll meet him in my next life,’ thought Arya letting the void around him consume his consciousness.

“Will he be okay?” this time it was Sheela’s voice, his usual laid-back tone sounded agitated, a mix of anger and sadness.

“And what were you doing while he was fighting them?!” Draven’s voice sounded angry.

“We were ordered to retreat, and by the time I caught up to him, he was already fighting them. I couldn’t risk my life just because he wanted to play hero,” replied Dio calmly.

“Calm down Draven, we won’t solve anything by resorting to violence,” this time it was Yuuki’s voice, he was clearly angered as well but tried to remain logical.

‘I guess they really cared. It’s a shame it’s wasted on someone like me,’ thought Arya, his consciousness drifting as the world around him became silent.

**

‘I’m still live?’ thought Arya, his consciousness still muffled by the void, however he could still hear faint sounds.

“Why isn’t he being healed?” asked an unfamiliar voice.

“These wounds, they aren’t normal. Whatever cut him completely nullifies any attempts at healing him. He probably won’t last much longer,” replied another voice.

‘I see, so I wasn’t saved.’ thought Arya, the world going silent once again.

***

“What has the Headmaster been doing all this time! How come we haven’t seen him?! One of his students is gravely injured and he hasn’t even addressed the Academy once,” it was a female’s voice. She sounded angry, like she would burn down the entire building if tested.

‘Abby huh?’ thought Arya, realizing who it was.

“Headmaster Frode is unable to do that currently. Your friend here wasn’t the only one injured during the attack. Please understand that we are doing everything we can, but our magic simply can’t help him,” replied another voice.

“Arya,” said a voice, this one sounded sad.

Arya felt something drop onto his chest, although very faint it felt warm, he treasured this feeling as it was the only thing to remind him that the void he was trapped in wasn’t real. Once again the void devoured him, and the world went silent.

***

“I can’t believe he’s still alive. The wound shows no sign of healing yet he’s still breathing,” whispered one of the voices in Arya’s room.

The void had once again let him go, letting him hear faint sounds from the real world.

‘It seems someone doesn’t want me dead,’ thought Arya as he tried to make out what the voices around him were saying.

“I heard Headmaster Frode isn’t any better off. The burns on his body are slowly eating away at him,  if this continues the world might lose an Arch Magus.” replied the voice.

‘Hey kid, don’t you think of dying. Asbeel will be here soon, we just have to hold on till then,’ said a familiar voice as a small wisp of black energy appeared in a far distance of the void.

The only reason he could discern it from the darkness was due to two small dots of white light emanating from its center.

‘Sauron?’ asked Arya faintly.

‘You aren’t the only one who was weakened,’ replied Sauron, before the void collected Arya again, and the world became silent.

***

“Dregnar is missing,” said a voice in Arya’s room.

The void would randomly release Arya as if to allow him to collect information before devouring him again.

And the healers in Arya’s room would usually gossip on current school affairs, giving him small patches of information.

“No way, isn’t she a guardian beast? How will the forest survive without her?” asked another voice.

“As we speak the forest of Belgard is defenseless. Valkuy’s body was found outside the school gates a complete mess. His wounds aren’t healing either,”

“Valkuy? Isn’t he the demigod of dark magic? Who could do this to him?” asked the voice.

“Whatever it was, it managed to burn a whole section of the forest. The instructors went to survey the situation and they say half the forest was burned down by two beasts.”

“According to one of the Roc’s there, he claims that Dregnar was last seen fighting a hydra,”

“Impossible. Hydras are just a myth,” replied the other voice in shock.

‘What? Hydras huh? I guess that manticore isn’t so scary after all?’ thought Arya, once again the void devouring him.

***

“How is he doing?” asked a fatherly voice,

“We’re honestly surprised he hasn’t died yet. He seems to have a very strong constitution.” replied one of the healers.

“Very well then, I shall begin,” said the fatherly voice, before Arya felt a warmth on his chest.

‘Ahhhhhhhh! Stop! Stop!’ Sauron’s voice screamed in pain as a white light began to fill the void.

‘No! No! What are you doing!’ Arya’s consciousness screamed out in anger.

Sauron although untrustworthy, was like a part of him. Hearing Sauron scream like this made Arya angry.

At the far distance of the void, the black heart with white veins began pumping vigorously.

“Stop!” Arya’s body levitated into the air, knocking down Father Fillidei and the other priests who were trying to heal Arya.

Arya’s eyes shone a black light as he looked at Fillidei, before falling down to the bed again.

“What was that?” asked one of the priests.

“Perhaps some of the demon essence entered his body,” replied another priest.

“No, although his eyes were black, the presence was divine. Though clearly this was a reaction due to the spell,” analyzed Fillidei with a confused look on his face.

“Truly confusing times, anyway we have more patients to look at. We’ll come back for this one,” said Fillidei before leaving.

‘Asbeel?’ asked Sauron, warmth audible in his voice as a white figure approached him.

‘I leave you alone to look after him and you end up nearly dying again? You truly are hopeless without me,’ laughing the light figure.

‘Y-you’re back’ said Arya faintly.

‘Yes I’m back brother,’ replied the voice before the void devoured Arya once again. And the world was silent once more.

***

“Let me in, I’ve come to see my friend,” shouted Abby at one of the healers who stood at the door in front of Arya’s room.

“Father Fillidei has ordered that no one enter the room. Please understand that this is out of our control,” insisted the healer.

“Come on Abby, we’ll come back and try tomorrow,” said Trent, his go-happy mood replaced by one of gloom and exhaustion.

“Where’s Averos?” asked Yuuki as the group was walking down the hallway.

“She’s still searching for the culprits under the guise of patrolling,” replied Sheela, his laid-back demeanor replaced by one of fatigue.

“Didn’t the Captain say not to look for them, that it would be too dangerous for us to handle?” asked Draven, it was uncommon to see him walking with this group, however ever since Arya became bed-ridden he had started spending more time with them.

“A warning like that isn’t going to stop Averos, if anything it will just fuel her more,” replied Sheela.

“Anyway’s see you guys later, I have smithing classes,” said Sheela before leaving the group.

“Yeah, see you guys around,” said Draven before leaving as well, prompting everyone to go to their respective classes

“I hope he’s okay,” whispered Marya as the group walked away.

***

“It’s been a week. Haven’t we been hiding long enough?” asked a figure wearing full black under the darkness of the cave surrounding him.

“They might still be looking for us. We have to wait until the Master returns from the floating city, until then we will lay low,” replied the leader of the black figures as he walked through the narrow tunnel.

“Are you sure this is the right way?” asked another one of the black figures.

“Yes, I’m sure. The school’s power core is this way,” replied the leader.

“What if Frode wakes up before we can finish sabotaging it,” asked another figure.

“He won’t, the master made sure of that. Now stop talking, someone might hear you.”

After walking for a few minutes in silence, the darkness was suddenly filled by an intense white light.

“Here it is. Belgard’s power core,” said the leader as he looked at the massive spherical orb in front of him.. It was bout 75 meters in diameter, covered in a shiny black metal cage that seemed to pulsate with power as well.