Chapter 31: The Traitor

Andeenan Academy

Since the escape of Zuno and the others, Mentor Exus had had a very rough time maintaining the secret, especially with the royal family always checking on how Zuno was doing. Eventually they will realize that he is gone and they will search for him until the edge of Enndorcsia. Zuno's parents however, were still living in the royal castle. Exus knew that he needed to take them away from Andeena, but there was no way for him to possibly enter the royal castle and just casually drag along Zuno's parents to a teleporter. Exus had planned something but lacks the manpower to do so, he will have to gain allies and trust from the other mentors or mages. Luckily High-Mage Ulric was always busy fighting and battling on the land without borders, it is one less obstacle for Exus.

"I could just bring them to the dark world and send them away from there.... Nah, not possible." Exus thought to himself. He spent most of the nights in his room thinking about the rescue plan. The academy was being shut down for a while because of the on going war, so the mages were all told to register to the Andeenan Military forces to help end the war.

Exus went on looking carefully for mages that are unsatisfied or rebellious against the kingdom, they may be his only way out of the mess. Time was running out for him, the royal family have been informed about the dissapearance of Zuno and now are sending even more mages to spy out to find him and bring him back.

-----------------

"Have you any information about the whereabouts of Zuno Erlikson?" Eena questioned some of the mages that were sent to find him.

"No madam, we have no new information. He could easily be hiding his presence from us using his abilities, he might be dead and we don't even know it." A necromancer replied.

"Watch your mouth! Zuno is the only hope for us to restore order to this realm. He is the one with enough strength to unite the people of Enndorcsia. Keep on looking and don't stop until you find him. Remember, I need him back alive and well." Eena made known. The mages excused themselves out of the royal court.

Ande entered the court and asked "His parents are terribly worried. What should we do?"

"Nothing, we can do nothing for now. No news will weaken the worries that they are feeling, they need to be patience. Our mages will find him soon." She replied.

"What if they don't and what if they find him but he has deflected from our side. What will we do then?" Ande questioned even more.

"If it ever comes to that, we--- we will use his parents to force him to come back to us." Eena stuttered.

-------------

That evening, Exus used the darkness to sneak into the castle, he went on finding the room where they stayed. Not long after he found the room and knocked on the door. Zuno's mother opened the door.

"Pardon my intrusion madam, but I have urgent matters to discuss. If I may come in?" Exus asked as he politely bowed.

"Oh yes, of course." She let him in. Zuno's father was looking out of the window into the clear dark skies. "Please have a seat."

"Sir, madam, I believe I know where Zuno is." Exus mentioned.

"Where? Where is he?" Zuno's father asked.

"He didn't go missing, I--- I helped him escape. Something isn't right here and Zuno and I both sense it. My job now is to escort you back to him, that is if you both agree." Exus continued.

"Well yes of course we agree to go to him, he was the one that saved us in the first place." Zuno's mother agreed.

"Great, but I warn you, what we are about to do is treason to the Andeenan Kingdom. If we are caught, they will be sure to have us killed. Let us leave then." Exus warned. He placed a teleportation device on the floor of the room, it would fit one person at a time. "I've set the location to approximately his whereabouts. Go now."

Zuno's father went on first then his mother. Exus stayed behind for his mana had run out to power the teleportation device. "Good luck" he muttered.

---------

The rebels had walked for days and passed few cities, they were now close to the capital. They took a break on a grass hill, from there, they could see the capital. It was no longer burning, but it was ruined.

"We should return, the capital is fully occupied by the armies, we could not possibly defeat them all." Arya advised.

"No, not yet. We need all information on the conditions in the capital, some of us would blend in as civilians and enter the city. The rest should stay guard here in case of unwanted incidents." Grim replied.

They had made a temporary base on a small farmhouse. Zuno and Selena were lying on the grass field looking at the stars.

"Ehm Zuno, may I ask something?" Selena said. Zuno looked at her and nodded. "You possess this dark power, the shadows right? I know about the shadows' curse, did you make a deal with the shadows?"

Zuno sat up straight, folded his legs and turned to Selena. "Yes, I did make a deal with the shadows. So I guess you know about the consequences too, I have about 1 year-ish left until I'm consumed by the shadows. Don't tell anyone, I don't want them to worry about me. We'll stop the war and I'll be gone. That's it." He explained.

"I just can't believe the burden that you carry. I know I can't do much, but thank you, for everything. Best enjoy the time while it lasts yeah. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone until the time is right." She also sat up and hugged him.

Jennifer was meditating near a lake which was not far from the farmhouse. She was bending water around her, forming a circle.

"What in the world are you doing?" Wize joked. Jennifer was startled, she became unfocused and the water fell on her body, it was not much, but still made her wet.

"Hey! Don't sneak up." Jennifer yelled.

"Sorry, I actually meant to do it. Hahaha" Wize laughed so hard that he choked on his own laughter. He then sat by Jennifer, "The war just seemed to get weirder and weirder everyday. I just don't know what's going on now."

"True, I almost don't know which is which. But I believe we are on the right side and we will get through this, together." Jennifer reassured.

A loud boom was heard from the capital and the night sky was suddenly lit. The rebels gathered on the grass hill to witness a battle for the capital. The skies above the capital was bright, fire and explosions were everywhere. "Guessing the alliance just ended." Sam said. Mages could be seen flying above the cities, casting deadly spells. Gunfires were heard all over the city.

-----------

Exus managed to return to his chambers in the academy. No one had noticed Zuno's parents had disappeared, he only had a few hourse before the servants serve breakfast to Zuno's parents. He must escape. He went out and casually walked to the academy's teleporter. The teleporter guards' memories had been wiped by Exus, so they don't remember when he helped Zuno escape.

"Sir, where are you going at this late hour?" A guard asked.

"I'm going to research my project in the forests nearby. I don't want to waste my mana." Exus replied.
The guards then blocked the way, 5 mages appeared from behind, prepared to capture him.

"Mentor Exus, you have been found guilty in aiding Zuno and his family's escape. Please turn yourself in for trial. We will give you only one warning." A wizard stated.

"Heh, to think that I am captured by my own people, not going to let it happen!"

Exus thrusted his fist to the ground, he created a shockwave of dark energy that blew the other back. The mages casted various of attack spells at Exus but Exus protected himself with his remaining mana. Not long after, his mana began to deplete.

"I'm not going to make it out of this." Exus thought to himself. Then from behind them, three mages came to his aid, they all casted darkness spells. It was his students, the ones from Zuno's class. There were 4 of them, Jane was there, she transformed into a werewolf, clearing the path to the teleporter. "Go, go, go!" A student yelled. They rushed to the teleporter, "where do we go?" Jane asked.

"Head for Floran City. Let's go." Exus said
They all safely teleported out of The Academy.

"Damn it, turns out there are more defectors in our kingdom. We must inform the royal family immediately." The wizard mentioned. The 5 mages teleported out of the academy.

------------
Outside of Floran City

"Everyone alright?" Exus asked.

"Yes." The others replied.

From the city, came 5 person on horseback. Zyx was the one in front.
"Who goes there?" Zyx addressed.

"We are defectors from Andeenan Kingdom, we came to see Zuno Erlikson. I was the one who teleported his parents here." Exus made clear

"Ah, Exus, we've been expecting you. We didn't think you would bring company, but you are all accepted. Welcome to the rebellion." Zyx gave a formal greeting then escorted them to the city.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top