The Champion's Shadow

Planning and Precedence

Achillean

    "Aegus!" the nestoris cried out after seeing the master in the distance. "Have you seen Ingressus?!" Aegis turned around and faced Achillean, causing him to stop in his tracks. "Oh my, Aegus. What happened?!"

    The master's face was cut and bleeding in several areas. They traced his ears and  eyes in thin lines of blood. He must've been attacked; no animal could do that sort of damage to a master so easily. Aegis stayed silent. Even with silence, it conveyed enough to tell Achillean what had happened.

    He had done it. His friend. His ally. The one that they had known ever since he had shown up on the shores of Nestoria that one day... It was Ingressus. It hit him like a rock thrown at his blind side. Achillean's gaze shifted to the ground as he concentrated. Even though Ingressus's motives might be clear, he searched for more answers. Maybe he is trying to hurt us to give him more of a reason to push himself away. Maybe he is trying to get away before he can hurt us more. Maybe he is trying to show how mad he is at himself for not being able to redeem his clan. Maybe he is trying to- his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Aegus's voice.

    "That boy is going through a lot, and I don't blame him," the master stated, forgiving Ingressus of his rash actions. Achillean met his eyes and saw the look of sorrow hidden in the faint wrinkles of concern on the master's face.

    "Even though he hurt you? Aegus, you're a mess! We have to find someone with healing supplies," Achillean began to worry, going on a tangent.

    "Achillean. I'll be fine," he assured. "We need to worry about the other masters. They don't have such a personal relationship with Ingressus like we have. We must assemble them and the champion as quickly as we can. Go to the aviary and send a bird to Emperion Mendoris. I'll send one to Malezina Sendaris and Rowan Kaltaris." Achillean nodded as he listened to Aegus's plan.

    "What should we tell them?"
   
    "Tell them to meet at the Ardoni Council in the mountains in the northern part of Kaltaria. We'll assemble a team to capture Ingressus from there," the master clarified. "After that, we must begin our journey to that very place. Any second we stall is more seconds Ingressus has to hurt the very Ardoni we have sworn to protect. I understand his reasons and feelings, but he has gone rogue. We need to stop him."

    "I agree, sir. However, what can I do to stop him? I'm only a fisherman, after all," Achillean admitted with a sad look to the side.

    "Maybe you are just a fisherman as of now, but I can train you. I'll give you your first song. I'll teach you how to wield it. I'll have a blacksmith forge you a weapon to use in battle. I will do all of that, assuming that fighting is the way that you want to help out, right?"

    "Yes, I will fight if it ever comes to it."

    "Then we have a long trek ahead of us, Achillean." Aegus turned away and began walking towards his private home where he had his personal bird. Achillean noticed a slight limp in the master's gait, but didn't voice his concern. He kept to himself as he journeyed to the Nestoris aviary.

Daria

    "Uh, are you going to say your name too? I mean, it's only fair. I said mine, now go ahead." The Kaltaris caught her dumbfounded.

    "I'm Daria..." She was taken by surprise with the Kaltaris's open and outgoing personality. It was quite contrary to most people belonging to the Sendaris Clan. Perhaps it was part of their culture and mindset up in the rocky terrain.

    "Cool name. Hey, it sort of sounds like the end of Sendaria. Imagine if there was a Doria out there, or a Taria! They don't have the same ring as your name, though," Krystellis pointed out. Her facial expressions matched the roller coaster of "A-ha!" moments and thinking. Daria cocked her head to the side, realizing that her name did indeed match the ending of her clan's name. If only there was a "Sen" out there to match. Then, it would be perfect.

    "Oh, I've never thought about that before," Daria admitted truthfully.

    "Well I didn't think of it until now, so that makes two of us. By the way, what brings you here? You're alone too. That sort of surprises me, knowing that Sendaria is always the strictest with us girls being the last female Ardoni and yada yada yada. Kaltaria, on the other hand, is like the complete opposite. The girls and guys are treated pretty much the same. I, for one, was the fighter of the family. I take after my dad. He is one of Master Rowan's personal guards." The Kaltaris rambled, spitting out random facts about herself without giving a chance for Daria to respond to the question she asked.

    "Well, about the question you asked. I didn't choose to be here. My village was set on fire. I don't know why or what did it, but it happened. And now I'm here." Daria shrugged as she explained her scenario.

    "Here, wait," Krystellis said, causing Daria to stop shuffling her feet around in the stream as she spoke. The Sendaris didn't even realize that she had been doing that until she stopped. It was a mindless habit, a side product of a growing anxiety of meeting new people. "You should hop out of that stream and we should find a better place to talk. Me talking to you while you wade in water just feels weird, ya know what I mean?"

    "Actually, that's not a bad idea." Daria made her way over to the Kaltaris and shook off the remaining water droplets from her feet once she arrived on dry land. "What place did you have in mind?"

    "Follow me!" Her words were accompanied by a simple, friendly, encouraging wave.

    Daria hesitated for a moment. A part of her doubted trusting someone so quickly would end well. However a more carefree and outgoing side of her wanted to follow blindly. Her curious side took over. After all, what could she lose? For all she knew, her family was all dead. Hope for their lives fluttered inside of her, but its light was dim and out of sight.

    "Ya coming?" Krystellis noticed the pause.

    "Lead the way," she responded with a sigh, letting go of staying and waiting for her mother.

    "Wahoo!" Krystellis exclaimed, catching Daria off guard. The Kaltaris was shot an odd expression of perplexion from the Sendaris. "What? I've been dying to show someone my hideout!" Daria shrugged and trudged out of the stream after Krystellis.

...

    The journey was silent, but Daria couldn't help but wonder what Krystellis meant by a hideout. Was it a whole camp of Ardoni or others? Was it a secret base behind a majestic waterfall? The possibilities were endless for the surprise Krystellis was hiding.

    Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the hideout deep within unfamiliar territory. The Kaltaris traversed the region like she knew it as well as the back of her hand. Flaunting her familiarity, Krystellis recalled all sorts of memories of encounters with animals and Ardoni along the way. It was rare for Ardoni to come down where she resided, so seeing Daria was a pleasant surprise.

    The duo ended in a more discreet part of the territory. Light was scarce and only a few rays poked through the canopy of leaves overhead. Tree trunks towered over them. The bark donned a brown-black shade as if night resided in its wood, trapping the essence of darkness. This area was the only one with vines on the lower branches. They looked out of place compared to the native wildflowers and grasses. However, the green vines' color was fading, slowly matching the colors of the spruce tree leaves.

    "Well what do you think of ..." Krystellis let the anticipation and suspense grow as she reached out toward the vines. With one drawn out motion, she moved them out of the way, revealing the place she called home. "...this? My home sweet home, Old Voltaria."