Guardians Of The Arcane Chronicles

Chapter 15: Unrighteous Indignation

The trio had barely taken a step into the open hall when a cage fell right on top of them. Only Gaius managed to leap out of the way in time, though he was immediately greeted with dozens of floating wooden spears threatening to turn him into a skewered kebab.

Felix's aura dispersed as he grasped the bars aggressively, growling at the man standing in the middle of the spacious room. A grating buzzing sound filled the air as the huge crowd of metas gathered around their leader murmured among themselves.

"Come now, did you really think I wouldn't notice you ripping open the walls of my safe?" Titus scoffed. "We have cameras around here, y'know."

He was holding a bloodied book in his hands that looked almost like it was breathing. Gaius' eyes widened in recognition at the pulsating tome; that spellcraft looked exactly the same as the one he had merged with.

"You hypocrite," Felix spat. "What happened to protecting our kind?"

Three spears turned away from Gaius and pointed threateningly towards Felix instead. He stared defiantly at them.

"You will show my boss respect!" the female meta on Titus' left bellowed. Felix's unflinching eyes narrowed. Lucia Angelo stood by her brother's right hand side while the dendrokinetic lady on his left looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel. The boy almost laughed at her aggressive display, recalling how she had practically soiled herself at the sight of a few skeletons.

"Easy, Silvana." Titus put up a hand. "You are a tenacious boy, Pagonis. It's a pity you've aligned yourself with the wrong kind. Look around you; this is a safe haven for people like you and me. Metas, thriving in a society away from those accursed magis."

"You've sung the same tune to me before, Angelo. I'm sorry, but my idea of a 'safe haven' does not include human sacrifices."

"I kill dozens so that millions will thrive," Titus argued. "That's the way of our world; that's how magis got their powers in the first place."

"What are you talking about?"

"Our education was designed to fail us, comrade. But I have found out the truth." The man tossed the book in the air. A moving picture was conjured from its pages as he continued to explain. "Arcani was a gift meant only for metas; a gift that the magis took and perverted for themselves."

The picture was now depicting a man stabbing another as a demonic-like figure materialised behind him.

"Their magic, their currency; everything that powers their society originated from the murder of a meta. This world belonged to our kind, until they ripped it away from us!" Titus bellowed. "All I want is for our kind to seize our destiny again. And I have the means to do so right now."

He plucked the floating book and closed it.

"This spellcraft will give us metas the ability to wield magic. I'm only taking those psychics' essences to stabilise its overwhelming power. Don't you see? This is the key to seize our glorious future! What are the deaths of a few compared to that?"

Felix's stomach lurched.

"Y-you took t-their essence?" He rattled the cage bars desperately. "Where is my sister? Where is she?!"

"She's dead." Lucia stepped away, revealing a little girl curled up on the floor behind her. Marcia's clouded eyes were staring into empty space while her skin was drained of blood. The girl beside Felix covered her mouth in shock.

No... no, no, no, no...

"Don't take it too personally; she wasn't the only psychic we did this to," Lucia continued nonchalantly. "We syphoned all their arcani, but it still wasn't enough to stabilise the spellcraft. Pathetic, really."