Beyond Magic - Chapter One

An arrow pierces Nick’s shoulder as he frantically tries to block another incoming. He charges into the forest nearby, full of purplur trees. Pink leaves drifted down, so he couldn’t see where he was going. A spear with azure light circling around it came charging at Nick. ‘A mage,’ thought Nick, ‘A member of the king’s guard!’ Nick hides behind one of the purple barks, but the spear, strengthened by magic, did a curve and continued charging straight at Nick. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He grabbed a rockthread poster from nearby, trying to block incoming doom. The azure star pierced the poster, continuing, except slower and slightly tilted. It pierces his shoulder, hitting the ground behind him. Nick started running for his life, as that spear couldn’t have been the only one. Nick was right, but the next is even worse. A red sun speeds through the forest, penetrating tree by tree. Nick ran faster than he had ever ran in a week, as last week, it was a storm cloud summoning lightning. He knew that he had to get out of the mage’s sensing range, as the mage could know where he was no matter what he was hiding behind as long as he was in the mage’s 500-meter range. He was getting exhausted when he saw a big pond with a natural airhole. He jumped in the pond, swimming towards the air pocket. He sat down and looked around. The pond’s water was pink, like the forest. He opened the poster that he had found earlier, and he saw what he had wanted to see for years.

‘THE SWORD OF DESTINY HAS BEEN DETECTED!!!
The legendary sword of destiny has been passed down to mankind by the gods, into Mt.Grim. He who finds the blade will possess the power of the gods, but we must stop the pathetic roamers from getting the blade. Only the citizens that know the magic deserve the blade. There are also 8 Excalibur blades, which when wielded, will grant the owner the power of angels. Three Excalibur blades will be given to the first three that find them, and the rest will be owned by the most trusted of our kingdom.’

Nick remembered how dreadful grim mountain was. He had met a slender white - humanoid figure wearing a tuxedo, eating an animal alive, just about last month. He didn’t want to see anything like that anymore, but as he didn’t know magic, he needed that sword to be noticed in the outer world. He was a roamer, what those who know magic call those who don’t know magic, as ‘Muggles’ from ‘Henry Potter and the Stone of healing’ is too rude, and that is a truth, as all who don’t know arcanary are banished from the city borders, so they are forced to roam. Nick had to make a decision. Should he go to Mt.Grim for the blades, or should he just give up and accept his life? He decided that he could go to the summit of Mt.Grim, as there might be other roamers camping there, as most of the roamers would want magic over survival. As for Nick, he just wanted to be accepted. He would have to go through the magical graveyard, full of undead, and the past the grimstone forest to get to Mt.Grim. He was excited, as he would meet more of his kind at the summit, after the journey. ‘GRAAH!’ A decaying, humanoid creature lunged at Nick. Nick jumped; he wasn’t prepared for an undead creature jumping at him in the purplur forest, as he was still far away from the magical graveyard. He slashed at the ugly features of the creature and cut the head straight off. He looked up at the sky, a white orb was glistening in the black space, shining light upon the land. He sought shelter, as he was shivering in the bitter wind. He crawled under the roots of a purplur tree and lay down. His eyes stared into blank space, as purplur leaves floated down onto the ground. Nick quickly fell asleep. A purple leaf covered his face, hiding his features. A shadow appeared beside him, with a masked face looking at Nick. It extended it’s long limbs and carried Nick in a princess hug. The shadow, with Nick in its arms, left the purplur forest and went underground.

Nick opened his eyes. Time to start a new day, and continue venturing towards Mt.Grim! He glanced beside him and quickly jumped out of the comfy sleeping bag he was in. A dark grey peak loomed beside him, casting a shadow. He looked around. Nick saw that he was in a tent, and there was a girl sitting on the opposite side of the tent, with dark red hair wearing a dark green robe, combing her hair with a comb likely made of animal bones.

The girl, after finishing combing her hair, turned her head and saw Nick staring straight at her. ‘What are you looking at?’ Said the girl, without any sign of red on her face. However, Nick was blushing, as he quickly turned his head. ‘I-I came from -’ Nick was quickly interrupted by the girl. ‘Yes, I know, last night I saw you shivering under a purplur tree, so I carried you back here. Oh, and my name is Rose. C’mon, let’s go meet the others.’

Nick was standing in front of three men. One was burly, wearing a red tunic, another was thin, wearing a light-blue t-shirt and jeans, and the last one was a small dwarf-like man, wearing a yellow shirt. ‘The burly one is Paul, the thin one is John, and the small one is Kevin,’ explained Rose. ‘Got yourself a new boyfriend, eh?’ Teased the burly one. ‘I bet you’re just jealous,’ said John. ‘No, you’re jealous!’ teased Kevin. ‘Is not!’ refused John. ‘Is so,’ teased Paul. ‘Stop arguing! I picked him up last night!’ Shouted Rose, in a voice louder than any Nick had ever heard before. ‘A princess saving a knight, what a sight.’ Smirked Paul. Nick just stood there, watching the argument. ‘Introduce yourself,’ said John. ‘I’m Nick.’ replied Nick, in a very broad manner. ‘Full name?’ asked John. ‘I have no full name. I don’t even know my parents,’ replied Nick, with a sad tone. ‘So do we,’ replied Rose, giving Nick a hug. ‘BREAKFAST TIME!!!!’ Shouted Kevin, interrupting the conversation from a faraway BBQ.

They rushed towards the BBQ, except Nick, as he was still dazed, obviously not able to cope with this dream-like lifestyle. ‘Wake up!’ shouted Paul, seeing that Nick was still standing there.

A few days have passed since they met, and Nick was getting kind of used to this lifestyle. On a Tuesday morning, Nick woke up quite early. Rose was also awake, and she was already making breakfast. Nick told Rose about his goal for coming here: to get one of the magical blades. ‘What?’ said Rose, after Nick had said everything. Nick sighed. ‘I’ll tell you after you finish cooking.’ ‘What? I can’t hear you!’ shouted Rose. Nick sighed once again. He walked back to the tent, and lay down, continuing on his nap.

At breakfast, an argument began. ‘How come you get to sleep in the same tent as Rose?’ asked Paul. Nick sighed. He wanted to tell Rose about his trip, but it seems like he can’t now. ‘Yeah! How come?’ asked John. ‘Whoa whoa. Calm down, guys. We don’t have any space left in your tent, so that’s why!’ said Rose, trying to stop the argument. ‘Yes, we do! There is a 1 cubic meter of space left!’ replied Kevin. ‘And that’s not enough! Now get on with eating!’ Replied Rose. Nick finally had a chance to tell everyone about his goal, so he did. ‘Okay, you go. But watch out for the king’s guards!’ Replied Rose, not surprised. Nick didn’t expect such a casual reply. At least there might be a hug? ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ said Rose. Nick gulped. His face turned pale, and he tried to seem as if he was calm, which he was not. ‘Let’s go with Nick! C’mon, pack up! Pack up!’ Shouted Rose to the other men. Nick sighed in relief.

A few minutes later, all of them were suited up. Rose wore a dark red robe, carrying two katanas on her back. Paul wore a dark-blue shirt, with giant jeans, and he wielded a giant ax, probably 1 meter long. Kevin wore a spiky shirt, and spiky jeans, and a grey helmet with spikes on it. ‘Uhhh…..’ said Nick, staring at Kevin, with a confused look on his face. ‘I’m fat, and I can roll and crush ‘em bad guys,’ explained Kevin. Nick wore a light-blue robe, with his trusty copper sword in his hands. John… well, he wore a black t-shirt and black jeans, and he wielded a weird staff. ‘You know magic?’ asked Nick, looking at John. ‘No, but this staff does,’ replied John. ‘That staff - wait, what?’ Nick couldn’t understand a thing. ‘This staff is a Mage’s treasure. We looted it by defeating a mage. All of the magic staffs have some quick-fire spells in them. This one has Arcane Sheild, Lightning Ray, and Arcane Sun,’ replied John, in a nerd-ish way. ‘Can you show us?’ Asked Kevin, ‘I haven’t heard of Arcane Sun.’ ‘It’s a new spell I discovered, it’s sealed in the staff really deeply,’ replied John, before he started an incantation.

Red light burst from John’s eyes. The wand started creating a fireball in front of John. It raised up into the sky, flying really high. Then it burst, spreading balls of flame across a certain range of distance. An azure shield appeared over their heads, protecting them from the fireballs. ‘Wow.’ All the members of the team gasped. ‘Okay, enough fun, let’s get going,’ said Rose, loudly.

They started their hike towards Mt.Grim, which was further than Nick thought. Halfway through their hike, Rose suddenly told them to stop moving. ‘There’s something I forgot to tell you,’ said Rose. ‘What is it?’ asked Nick. ‘There is no such thing as the sword of destiny. We made that poster up because we found out there was an extra roamer,’ said Rose. ‘... What?’ asked Nick.

They started their hike back home. ‘Why would you guys bring me here when you were lying?’ asked Nick. ‘We came here for a secret herb. It could only be obtained by the chosen one, and we thought we might give you a try,’ said Rose.