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The Legend of Man Book One: Destiny Awaits.

Chapter Three: The Betrayal (Part Two)

Disclaimer: I had to break each chapter down as SOME people told me that they were WAY too long (pfft), so each chapter will be broken into three parts.

Denessa smiled because, deep down, she wanted the darkness to take over her. She would show her grandfather precisely what she could do with her magic. She had no plan of following her grandfather. She had him and his pet right where she wanted them.

Giant war machines entered the village, and the women and children came out of their hiding places.

One of the women walked towards Denessa.

“Did you have to kill Messa?” she asked.

The lady removed her clothing, revealing the same leather outfit that Denessa was wearing. The children removed their clothes, each showing the same black leather.

Denessa laughed. “Messa?” she said to the female corpse on the ground.

The female body slowly stirred and got up to its feet. The former dead body began to laugh. As Messa stood there, she removed a broken branch from under her clothing.

“You should know I would never kill one of our family, unnecessary,” Denessa said to the lady.

The men came into the central courtyard, closing the gate behind them. She turned to all the people gathered around her.

“As all of you know, my father had heard that his father Friidian, had tried to kill him and my grandmother. He failed at that attempt. My dad then formed our family to avenge that failed attempt!” she shouted.

“He spent his whole life training every one of you and your families. Families that have and were deceived by the promises that the council had given you, but never received.”

They began to nod as she spoke.

“We will kill Friidian, and with his death, my father’s wish will be fulfilled. Then, with a weakened school of students and teachers, we will attack Heavstat and make them pay!” she said in the loud uproar of her army.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Friidian sat in his chair, staring at the students in chairs lined against the wall facing him. There were twelve of them, including Jacobsien.

“This is all of your group?” Friidian asked him.

“No. Not all of them, but most of them. Some of the students have come to us just to get back at Cayaison,” Jacobsien replied. “He is not the most likable person, some will have you believe,” Jacobsien said with a smirk.

“What I have planned for you to do, is against all the rules of Heavstat,” Friidian said, standing up. “War is coming to this land and right now this instant you will have to pick a side.”

None of the students made a move or showed any sign of movement.

“No offense Master,” Jacobsien said. “All of us have been breaking Heavstat rules for years. If what you are saying is true, then maybe we can offer you some help,”

Friidian grinned. Everything was going better than he had planned.

“We would need some protection though and some assurances that the other Masters will not stop us,” Jacobsien said.

“If you do what I say. I promise no one will interfere,” Friidian said, approaching Jacobsien.

“Then what do you want us to do?” Jacobsien asked. Friidian smiled.

The two of them leaned close and began to talk.

Cayaison and his friends sat in the dining hall, pondering the day’s events. All of them had seen students, teachers, and Masters leave their classes and not return. These were not typical events.

Also, Cayaison’s mind attack had everybody on edge.

“What do you think it could be about?” Violetta asked. She had been sitting in quiet for too long. “First the attack, then all of this?”

Rameus shuffled in his seat, folding his arms. “Do I have to point out that most of the students that left are from Jacobsien’s group?”

To which there was silence. Cayaison looked over at them all. “I know,”

It was evident that something was wrong. It had started when he tried prying into the council members’ whereabouts.

“Maybe it is just a coincidence?” Alixia said, shrugging. “Maybe we are reading into all this wrong. Seeing things we want to see?” she said, looking at everyone.

The look on all their faces told her they were not thinking the same as her.

“Well, Jacobsien is right over there. Just go over there and ask him,” she nodded to Jacobsien, standing by the door.

Cayaison looked at him, then stood up and walked over to him.

“Is he going?” Dawain asked.

Cayaison had reached Jacobsien, and they both began talking.

“Looks like it,” Rameus said.

The two were talking and then smiling.

“I think that is a good sign, right?” Dawain said, “Smiling is always a good sign.”

Cayaison began walking back.

“I think so,” Violetta replied.

Cayaison sat back down. They all looked at him. He had a smirk on his face.

“Well?” Violetta asked, breaking the silence.

“He is up to something, and he is not afraid of letting us know,” Cayaison said. “When I walked up to him he was not surprised at all in fact. He wanted me to. It seems a Master has given him and his friends a task. Jacobsien says that things are about to change around here.”

“What was the smile about?” Rameus asked. “Nothing you said so far makes me want to smile or laugh.”

The rest of them agreed.

“Because he challenged us!” Cayaison said. “If he tried to hide it, then it would be different, he came right out and said it. That makes it a challenge to find out what exactly is going on.”

Cayaison loved challenges. He loved to get to the bottom of any problem.

“And here comes the speech,” Alixia folded her arms and sat back in her chair.

“Well, it is a challenge. We can find out what he is doing and who told him to do it,” Cayaison said.

“Friidian,” Dawain said.

“I am sure of it, but we got to prove it,” Cayaison responded.

“No Friidian,” Dawain pointed to the door.

They all turned around. They saw the Grand Master talking to Jacobsien, and then Jacobsien walked away. Friidian looked in their direction and then made his way toward them. Friidian grabbed a chair and sat next to Cayaison. He looked Cayaison straight in the face.

“I am aware of the conversation my apprentice had with you moments ago,” Friidian said. Cayaison did not respond. “I will make this crystal clear,” he said, stopping to look at all of them.

“Stay out of it! What is happening in Heavstat is my concern, I ordered some changes to be made, and none of those changes involve any of the students. Am I understood?” he asked, to which everyone nodded.

They did not want to face his wrath a second time.

“Good. Continue with what you were doing,” Friiidain told them as he got up.

They watched him leave the hall.

“Well that was creepy,” Violetta said. “And if you all do not mind I am going to go,” she said, getting up.

They all got up except Cayaison.

“Why would he do that?” Cayaison asked.

They all shook their heads and walked away. They left Cayaison alone with his thoughts.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~

The rest of the day went without any problems for Cayaison, except that it was bothering him that Friidian had talked to them in such a way. It had made him wonder. What changes were going to come to Heavstat?

It was Cayaison’s turn to be on night duty; he made his rounds around the lower-class men’s rooms to ensure they were all there. On his way back to his room, he saw a hooded figure walking down the hall. He began to follow when he saw another and then another. They were walking out of the hall and into another corridor.

Cayaison followed them, but since this corridor was circular, he kept hiding to ensure they would not see him. They stopped outside of the same Apprentice room as before. They all waited for a while, then entered. Cayaison went up to the door to listen, but could not hear anything.

The last bell chimed, and the flames on the candles began to flicker. He quickly started to run back to his room. If he did not return in time, the fire would be gone. The creatures of the night would start to roam around Heavstat. He was near his room when he fell.

Looking around, he could not see why he had fallen, but as he tried to get up, he was held down by something.

Cayaison tried again. He had gotten up to his feet, but then he felt like he had been lifted and then thrown against the wall. He was under attack again. He tried to move, but he felt like he had been kicked in the stomach, then hit while he was down.

Then it started. Cayaison felt like there were people all around him beating down on him. He looked at the flames. They were dying down, but the beating did not stop. Then, it went dark, and the beatings suddenly stopped.

Cayaison was left alone in the dark. He began to hear strange noises. He was lost. The attack had him all turned around in the darkness, and he could not see which way was which.

“Fieroo!” he shouted, throwing a small fireball out of his hand. It lit the path before him, hitting a nearby wall. He followed the glow the fire had made against the wall. He was close to his room, and that is when he sat in it. A dark man.

Cayaison’s heart stopped. He tried to keep still and prevent himself from breathing. There was nowhere to go. All the students’ rooms were magically sealed until the morning. Cayaison knew he could pound on the doors all he wanted, but the students inside would not hear him.

Cayaison was so close to his room that all he had to do was make it to the door without being seen. He began to run. The dark man had not noticed him yet. He slammed his shoulder against the door, and after he entered, he slammed it closed. He heard the magical spell seal his door.

He fell to the bed. Raising his robe, he saw there were already bruises all over his chest. He lay back on the bed, passing out from the pain.

~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The morning came fast, but Cayaison did not wake or stir. There was a loud knocking on the door, which made him sit up.

“Time to get up you are late!” a loud voice said.

Cayaison began to get up. He held his ribs; they were sore. Taking a look at his chest, he could see the dark marks all over his body. Quickly grabbing his robes, he knew the next knock would not be a warning. He did not want to get in more trouble than he already was.

Cayaison made his way into the hallway and followed the other students. He tried to show no sign of the pain that was tearing away at his chest and back.

He saw his friends in the main hall and motioned for them to come to him. He found a bench in a corner and then sat down, bracing himself against the wall.

“What is wrong with you?” Dawain asked, seeing Cayaison in pain.

Slowly, Cayaison pulled his robe open. Alixia looked around. She blocked anybody’s view of him.

“It happened last night on the way back to my room,” Cayaison winced in pain as he pulled his robe down.

The others shook their heads.

“Who did it?” Violetta asked. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it. Cayaison braced himself against the wall.

“I do not know, they were using magic to hide,” he said through gritted teeth.

“We need to get you to the clerics,” Alixia said, reaching for Cayaison.

“No!” Rameus interrupted. “If we do that, they will know they got to us, and then they will know our weakness.”

Cayaison nodded. Rameus picked him up and braced him.

“We need to make it look like an accident in front of everyone,” Rameus stated firmly.

He began walking towards the stairs.

“Why?” Violetta asked.

“You want to find out who did it?” Cayaison asked.

Violetta nodded.

“Then look for reactions,” he said, nodding at Rameus, who let him go.

“Talk to you guys later. I am running late!” Cayaison shouted.

The others waved goodbye to him as they walked away to go to their classes. Cayaison turned and bumped into another student.

“Sorry,” he said, spinning around.

The kid’s face went from annoyance to terror as Cayaison faced him with his back turned to the stairs. The child reached out for him, but it was too late. Cayaison fell backward down the stairs. He used a small spell to increase his momentum.

The main hall was filled with people looking down the stairs as Cayaison tumbled down many stairs before stopping entirely unconscious.

Violetta stood behind a statue, watching everyone’s reaction, when she saw a few students angrily turn around and exit the hall. She followed the rest of her friends to be by Cayaison’s side.

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