ULTRAMagic Interlude BC - Chapter 41
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“All of this is making me nervous, Brenna,” Blood-Wraith pointed out.
“Well good thing we have today to get ready then,” she remarked.
Englehart, his court, and a handful of knights and guardsmen were in Tower Square the day after Blood-Wraith’s prior talk with Andelin. What he knew was a great source of anxiety. He needed to tell the king, but each attempt was interrupted by one thing or another. And it was not like his majesty was ignoring Blood-Wraith. Englehart could see that the boy looked troubled and was doing his best to speak to him. The tension kept building and building until finally it was shattered by the arrival of a carriage that was not scheduled to appear that day. It could not have been a test run as that would have been foolish.
“Now who could that be?” Englehart wondered with caution.
“Strange indeed,” Radovan observed. “Guardsmen, Knights! Be ready for whatever this is!”
Blood-Wraith stood by the king as everyone prepared their weapons. “Your majesty?”
“Blood, this wouldn’t happen to relate to what you’ve been trying to tell me, would it?”
Before the young knight could answer, the carriage came to a grinding halt with the horses protesting quite loudly. “Your royal highness?” The Shadowlandian driver was trying to steady his nerves. “There’s an emergency over in Shadowland!”
“By the gods! What is the nature of this emergency?”
Theobold was not going to wait around for answers. “Brenna, Erling!”
“Sir!” they said in unison.
“Head to the barracks and form a platoon! Then standby for further orders!”
“Sir, yes sir!” they answered before heading off.
The carriage door opened and out stepped a young boy with familiar blonde hair. “Wait here for a second,” he said to another occupant. It was a bit nerve racking to see a bunch of knights ready to draw their swords and guns. Still, he faced the king. “Father?” he stuttered.
It all clicked for Englehart. “Albrecht? Boy, are you Albrecht Schindewolf?” The boy nodded. “Goodness, come here, my son…”
Albrecht was still a little nervous (especially given that his father was twice his size), but he could sense a warm longing emanating from the king. “Dad…” he said as Englehart picked up and gave him a hug.
Holding the prince in his arms, Englehart turned to face the council. “I’d dare say that we can abandon any distrust towards Dunja.”
Radovan smiled. “Good to see you again, Allan… or should I say, Prince Albrecht.”
“Hey, Radovan. I was looking forward to that drink you promised me, but mom says I can’t have alcohol now.”
The duke chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll have some other drink, befitting of your current stature.”
Blood-Wraith stepped over as Albrecht was set down. “Wait, dad, weren’t you out on the great hunt?”
“Yes, but Barna and I stepped away a few times to lend a hand over in Shadowland.”
Albrecht held his hand out to Blood-Wraith. “Nice to meet you, Blood. Aureolus has said a great deal about you.”
“Oh, cool. Nice to meet you too, your highness.”
Octavius cleared his throat. “I hate to interrupt, gentlemen, but we still have an ongoing situation.”
Albrecht nodded. “Right. Everyone, don’t panic. I’ll explain everything.” He turned to the carriage. “You can come out now, Gummi,” he said as he walked back over.
“Are you sure?” he said as he stuck his head out, only to duck back in when the knights and guardsmen started to get their weapons ready.
Theobold raised his hand. “At ease, men.”
“We should probably let the boy talk, given that Dunja pardoned him” Drazhan reminded everyone.
Gummi got out cautiously and approached the king. “Your majesty? I’d…” he was starting to get choked up, and the pressure he was feeling was not helping. “I’m sorry for all that I’ve done and all of the things Milosh made me do…”
Englehart walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. “We forgive you, lad. I must ask though: what prompted you to come here early?”
“Gummi, did you poison Milosh?” Blood-Wraith asked, in dire need of answers.
“Yes, and my poisoning was successful.”
This caused Blood-Wraith to sit on the ground and drop his shield. “That’s a relief…”
Theobold did not take kindly to this. “On your feet, Sir Raynot.”
“With all due respect, Captain General; give me a moment.”
Theobold groaned a little. “Albrecht, further details?”
“Milosh launched a surprise attack this morning. He and what was left of the cult consumed modified beast blood from Rumbler…”
“That I procured…” Gummi added with regret in his voice.
“...and became grotesque beasts. They were going after Sten and Castle Haugen until the poison went into effect. Of course this stinker decided to gloat about it and would have been in deep trouble had Gratiana not intervened…” Albrecht looked at Gummi who had a guilty, yet proud look on his face.
“And it’s a good thing that Milosh waited as the concoction needed 12 hours to reach maximum potency.”
Everyone aside from Blood-Wraith and Albrecht was shocked. “My goodness, boy, you hated your father that much?” Englehart questioned.
Gummi began laughing hysterically, so Albrecht went to calm him. “Easy, Gummi, easy. You’re still on thin ice with everyone and they all have swords and guns, remember?” he pointed out as he tried to give him a light shake.
Blood-Wraith then got up. “Do we still need to head over to Shadowland?”
Before Gummi or Albrecht could answer, Englehart was struck by a vision. His eyes glowing a bright green took everyone by surprise, but the king assured them he was alright. What he saw was truly a harrowing sight. Milosh had died, annihilated by a truly fearsome bolt of lightning. It was cathartic, yet depressing to witness.
“What did you see, Englehart?” Radovan asked when the king came back to them.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “The Colossus showed me Milosh’s death just now. Gummi? Your father is dead.”
Gummi was speechless. All that trouble he had faced all throughout his life was gone, just like that. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “May I go see Corentin? I have a gift for him, as an apology for all of the nonsense I put him through over the years.”
“I don’t see why not. Councilors?”
They all nodded, albeit Theobold had one condition. “As long as he’s supervised until Queen Dunja returns.”
“Agreed,” Radovan replied. “Blood-Wraith? Would you be willing to accept this task?”
“Oh, me? Sure… ahem, yes sir!”
Englehart nodded in acceptance. “Then the rest of us shall return to the tower. Theobold, head over to the barracks and establish contact with Shadowland. Keep me updated regularly and be ready to move out if they need help.”
“Yes, my king.”
“And as for you, Albrecht; we need to pick out a room for you.”
“Sure, dad,” he replied. “Good luck, Gummi.”
As everyone left the square, Blood-Wraith watched as Gummi retrieved a case from the carriage. “That better not be anything dangerous…”
Gummi chuckled. “Don’t worry, Sir Blood-Wraith. This is all legitimate.” He set it down and gave the knight a hug. “Thank you for everything that you’ve done.”
Blood-Wraith hugged back. “Don’t mention it.”
“Well ain’t this quite the turn of events, Bubbles?” A voice said from the square’s fountain.
“Cot…” Gummi stopped himself and took a breath. “Hey, Corentin.” He could not help but chuckle given all that they had gone through.
“Oh, Corentin,” Blood-Wraith said. “When did you get here?”
“I sensed what was going on and got here when the carriage arrived.”
“You heard everything then?” Gummi asked.
He nodded. “Indeed. Poisoning Milosh? Good lord, I can’t even begin to imagine the look on his face when it dawned on him. Anyways, I’m in a pretty good mood today, so how about we go rest our feet at my place? Coming along, Blood?”
“Well I have to. Theobold’s orders.”
At first Gummi thought they were going to Barna’s house. Of course he quickly realized they were not kids anymore and lightly slapped himself. Gummi was in awe of the massive warehouse next door, with Corentin explaining that that was his workshop. Stepping into the house, Gummi felt strange. Seeing all of the decor and furniture neatly placed about the house made him realize things had been progressing without him while he was over in Shadowland. The awkwardness was to be expected given his past with Corentin. No matter what, Gummi considered it an honor to be welcomed into his home.
“Honey, I’m home!” Corentin called out. “And we have some guests.”
“Oh, Corentin,” Kresimira said as she entered the living room. “It hasn’t been that long… oh my goodness! Gummi?! Is that you?”
“Hello, Kresimira.”
“Don’t worry, sister, he’s been pardoned by Dunja,” Blood-Wraith stated. “...but I do need to keep an eye on him. Theobold’s orders.”
She took a breath to steady her nerves, as all of it was quite a shock. “Alright then. Where are the others?”
“They’ll be here tomorrow, I hope,” Gummi answered. “Milosh launched a sneak attack in desperation earlier, but I poisoned his beast blood, hehe.”
Corentin nodded in confirmation. “And it looks like Milosh is most certainly dead, according to uncle via The Colossus.”
Kresimira took a moment to process all of that and laughed. All of it was finally over. “Blood-Wraith? I know this is sudden, but could you…. Um, you know, verify all of this?”
He thought about it for a brief second. “I mean, I suppose I could. I’d have to become friends with Gummi, but that doesn’t seem like a bad thing…”
Gummi was a little confused. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Gummi, do you know how to bequeath a soul fragment?” Blood-Wraith asked.
He shrugged. “Not really, no.”
“That’s what I figured. Here, touch your forehead against mine” he said as he took off his beret.
It was a little awkward at first, but Gummi did as he was told. A stream of knowledge entered his head, causing an almost unexplainable sensation. At first there was a roaring headache, but this gave way to a pleasing euphoria. So many things made sense to him now, despite the small amount of knowledge that had been actually shared. Gummi could not talk for a moment as he processed what he had learned.
“Oh wow… here, Blood,” Gummi said as he presented a lime green soul fragment to him.
“Strange color given your blonde hair and silver eyes, but, let’s see what we got here…” Blood-Wraith glowed brightly, briefly turning into a small version of an altered Verdant Might. “Oh yeah, we can trust him. We’re friends now, Gummi.”
“Really? Just like that?”
“Yup. I mean, you are trusting me with a piece of your soul after all. And I also expect you to join the guild at some point.”
“The guild? The ULTRAMagic Guild?"
Blood-Wraith nodded. “Yup. Despite all that nonsense with Milosh, I sense potential in you.”
Corentin chuckled. “Don’t argue with him, Gummi. Once he gets going, he won’t stop…”
“And one more thing…” Blood-Wraith interjected.
“What’s that?” Gummi asked.
“Do you like video games and anime?”
“Definitely. I would have loved to play more than what I owned as a kid, but Milosh never cared to get me more… As for the last one, do you mean those animations from Earth’s Japan? I love those, especially the black and white ones with the giant robots.”
“Yeah!” Blood-Wraith said as he high fived him.
Corentin and Kresimira laughed. “So about that case, Gummi,” Corentin said as he pointed to it.
“Oh, right.” Gummi set the case on the coffee table. He then realized something. “Wait, Corentin, Kresimira? Did you two get married?” They nodded. “Congratulations, you two! If you don’t mind, consider this a late wedding present in addition to my apology to Corentin, haha.”
Corentin popped open the wood and leather case to find a wide array of alchemical materials and ingredients. What caught his eye in particular were the truly rare stuff that could only be found in the Deep Unlight. The couple were thoroughly impressed by the effort, compounded by the fact that Gummi had done it while under Milosh’s thumb. Naturally Gummi was incredibly nervous, having no idea how Corentin would react.
Corentin laughed in joy. “Well, Gummi, it takes a lot to buy someone’s trust; but I’d say you’ve come pretty damn close.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” Maximus said from the workshop doorway with a yawn. He was in his small form. “Oh, hey, Gummi.”
Kresimira got up and sat the robot down in a recliner. “Albrecht and Gummi came home early.”
Maximus’ face went from tired to gravely concerned. He already had an idea of what had happened. “Is… is everyone alright?”
Gummi nodded. “Well Milosh did try one last attack, but I poisoned him and it went without a hitch… mostly.”
Maximus exhaled and banged an arm rest. “Damn it! I knew I should have stayed…”
Corentin got up and went over to massage his son’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, your grandpa is a tough one and Milosh is dead. Gummi, would you like to stay for dinner?”
He was surprised. “Really? Sure.”
“How wonderful,” Kresimira stated. “Blood, could you call Drusa and Vexation? I’m sure they’d love to come along.”
“Sure thing, sister,” Blood-Wraith said as he went to the phone.
“And don’t forget to call Papa and tell him what’s going on.”
“Loud and clear, sister.”
Next: Chapter 42
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
“All of this is making me nervous, Brenna,” Blood-Wraith pointed out.
“Well good thing we have today to get ready then,” she remarked.
Englehart, his court, and a handful of knights and guardsmen were in Tower Square the day after Blood-Wraith’s prior talk with Andelin. What he knew was a great source of anxiety. He needed to tell the king, but each attempt was interrupted by one thing or another. And it was not like his majesty was ignoring Blood-Wraith. Englehart could see that the boy looked troubled and was doing his best to speak to him. The tension kept building and building until finally it was shattered by the arrival of a carriage that was not scheduled to appear that day. It could not have been a test run as that would have been foolish.
“Now who could that be?” Englehart wondered with caution.
“Strange indeed,” Radovan observed. “Guardsmen, Knights! Be ready for whatever this is!”
Blood-Wraith stood by the king as everyone prepared their weapons. “Your majesty?”
“Blood, this wouldn’t happen to relate to what you’ve been trying to tell me, would it?”
Before the young knight could answer, the carriage came to a grinding halt with the horses protesting quite loudly. “Your royal highness?” The Shadowlandian driver was trying to steady his nerves. “There’s an emergency over in Shadowland!”
“By the gods! What is the nature of this emergency?”
Theobold was not going to wait around for answers. “Brenna, Erling!”
“Sir!” they said in unison.
“Head to the barracks and form a platoon! Then standby for further orders!”
“Sir, yes sir!” they answered before heading off.
The carriage door opened and out stepped a young boy with familiar blonde hair. “Wait here for a second,” he said to another occupant. It was a bit nerve racking to see a bunch of knights ready to draw their swords and guns. Still, he faced the king. “Father?” he stuttered.
It all clicked for Englehart. “Albrecht? Boy, are you Albrecht Schindewolf?” The boy nodded. “Goodness, come here, my son…”
Albrecht was still a little nervous (especially given that his father was twice his size), but he could sense a warm longing emanating from the king. “Dad…” he said as Englehart picked up and gave him a hug.
Holding the prince in his arms, Englehart turned to face the council. “I’d dare say that we can abandon any distrust towards Dunja.”
Radovan smiled. “Good to see you again, Allan… or should I say, Prince Albrecht.”
“Hey, Radovan. I was looking forward to that drink you promised me, but mom says I can’t have alcohol now.”
The duke chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’ll have some other drink, befitting of your current stature.”
Blood-Wraith stepped over as Albrecht was set down. “Wait, dad, weren’t you out on the great hunt?”
“Yes, but Barna and I stepped away a few times to lend a hand over in Shadowland.”
Albrecht held his hand out to Blood-Wraith. “Nice to meet you, Blood. Aureolus has said a great deal about you.”
“Oh, cool. Nice to meet you too, your highness.”
Octavius cleared his throat. “I hate to interrupt, gentlemen, but we still have an ongoing situation.”
Albrecht nodded. “Right. Everyone, don’t panic. I’ll explain everything.” He turned to the carriage. “You can come out now, Gummi,” he said as he walked back over.
“Are you sure?” he said as he stuck his head out, only to duck back in when the knights and guardsmen started to get their weapons ready.
Theobold raised his hand. “At ease, men.”
“We should probably let the boy talk, given that Dunja pardoned him” Drazhan reminded everyone.
Gummi got out cautiously and approached the king. “Your majesty? I’d…” he was starting to get choked up, and the pressure he was feeling was not helping. “I’m sorry for all that I’ve done and all of the things Milosh made me do…”
Englehart walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder. “We forgive you, lad. I must ask though: what prompted you to come here early?”
“Gummi, did you poison Milosh?” Blood-Wraith asked, in dire need of answers.
“Yes, and my poisoning was successful.”
This caused Blood-Wraith to sit on the ground and drop his shield. “That’s a relief…”
Theobold did not take kindly to this. “On your feet, Sir Raynot.”
“With all due respect, Captain General; give me a moment.”
Theobold groaned a little. “Albrecht, further details?”
“Milosh launched a surprise attack this morning. He and what was left of the cult consumed modified beast blood from Rumbler…”
“That I procured…” Gummi added with regret in his voice.
“...and became grotesque beasts. They were going after Sten and Castle Haugen until the poison went into effect. Of course this stinker decided to gloat about it and would have been in deep trouble had Gratiana not intervened…” Albrecht looked at Gummi who had a guilty, yet proud look on his face.
“And it’s a good thing that Milosh waited as the concoction needed 12 hours to reach maximum potency.”
Everyone aside from Blood-Wraith and Albrecht was shocked. “My goodness, boy, you hated your father that much?” Englehart questioned.
Gummi began laughing hysterically, so Albrecht went to calm him. “Easy, Gummi, easy. You’re still on thin ice with everyone and they all have swords and guns, remember?” he pointed out as he tried to give him a light shake.
Blood-Wraith then got up. “Do we still need to head over to Shadowland?”
Before Gummi or Albrecht could answer, Englehart was struck by a vision. His eyes glowing a bright green took everyone by surprise, but the king assured them he was alright. What he saw was truly a harrowing sight. Milosh had died, annihilated by a truly fearsome bolt of lightning. It was cathartic, yet depressing to witness.
“What did you see, Englehart?” Radovan asked when the king came back to them.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “The Colossus showed me Milosh’s death just now. Gummi? Your father is dead.”
Gummi was speechless. All that trouble he had faced all throughout his life was gone, just like that. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “May I go see Corentin? I have a gift for him, as an apology for all of the nonsense I put him through over the years.”
“I don’t see why not. Councilors?”
They all nodded, albeit Theobold had one condition. “As long as he’s supervised until Queen Dunja returns.”
“Agreed,” Radovan replied. “Blood-Wraith? Would you be willing to accept this task?”
“Oh, me? Sure… ahem, yes sir!”
Englehart nodded in acceptance. “Then the rest of us shall return to the tower. Theobold, head over to the barracks and establish contact with Shadowland. Keep me updated regularly and be ready to move out if they need help.”
“Yes, my king.”
“And as for you, Albrecht; we need to pick out a room for you.”
“Sure, dad,” he replied. “Good luck, Gummi.”
As everyone left the square, Blood-Wraith watched as Gummi retrieved a case from the carriage. “That better not be anything dangerous…”
Gummi chuckled. “Don’t worry, Sir Blood-Wraith. This is all legitimate.” He set it down and gave the knight a hug. “Thank you for everything that you’ve done.”
Blood-Wraith hugged back. “Don’t mention it.”
“Well ain’t this quite the turn of events, Bubbles?” A voice said from the square’s fountain.
“Cot…” Gummi stopped himself and took a breath. “Hey, Corentin.” He could not help but chuckle given all that they had gone through.
“Oh, Corentin,” Blood-Wraith said. “When did you get here?”
“I sensed what was going on and got here when the carriage arrived.”
“You heard everything then?” Gummi asked.
He nodded. “Indeed. Poisoning Milosh? Good lord, I can’t even begin to imagine the look on his face when it dawned on him. Anyways, I’m in a pretty good mood today, so how about we go rest our feet at my place? Coming along, Blood?”
“Well I have to. Theobold’s orders.”
At first Gummi thought they were going to Barna’s house. Of course he quickly realized they were not kids anymore and lightly slapped himself. Gummi was in awe of the massive warehouse next door, with Corentin explaining that that was his workshop. Stepping into the house, Gummi felt strange. Seeing all of the decor and furniture neatly placed about the house made him realize things had been progressing without him while he was over in Shadowland. The awkwardness was to be expected given his past with Corentin. No matter what, Gummi considered it an honor to be welcomed into his home.
“Honey, I’m home!” Corentin called out. “And we have some guests.”
“Oh, Corentin,” Kresimira said as she entered the living room. “It hasn’t been that long… oh my goodness! Gummi?! Is that you?”
“Hello, Kresimira.”
“Don’t worry, sister, he’s been pardoned by Dunja,” Blood-Wraith stated. “...but I do need to keep an eye on him. Theobold’s orders.”
She took a breath to steady her nerves, as all of it was quite a shock. “Alright then. Where are the others?”
“They’ll be here tomorrow, I hope,” Gummi answered. “Milosh launched a sneak attack in desperation earlier, but I poisoned his beast blood, hehe.”
Corentin nodded in confirmation. “And it looks like Milosh is most certainly dead, according to uncle via The Colossus.”
Kresimira took a moment to process all of that and laughed. All of it was finally over. “Blood-Wraith? I know this is sudden, but could you…. Um, you know, verify all of this?”
He thought about it for a brief second. “I mean, I suppose I could. I’d have to become friends with Gummi, but that doesn’t seem like a bad thing…”
Gummi was a little confused. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Gummi, do you know how to bequeath a soul fragment?” Blood-Wraith asked.
He shrugged. “Not really, no.”
“That’s what I figured. Here, touch your forehead against mine” he said as he took off his beret.
It was a little awkward at first, but Gummi did as he was told. A stream of knowledge entered his head, causing an almost unexplainable sensation. At first there was a roaring headache, but this gave way to a pleasing euphoria. So many things made sense to him now, despite the small amount of knowledge that had been actually shared. Gummi could not talk for a moment as he processed what he had learned.
“Oh wow… here, Blood,” Gummi said as he presented a lime green soul fragment to him.
“Strange color given your blonde hair and silver eyes, but, let’s see what we got here…” Blood-Wraith glowed brightly, briefly turning into a small version of an altered Verdant Might. “Oh yeah, we can trust him. We’re friends now, Gummi.”
“Really? Just like that?”
“Yup. I mean, you are trusting me with a piece of your soul after all. And I also expect you to join the guild at some point.”
“The guild? The ULTRAMagic Guild?"
Blood-Wraith nodded. “Yup. Despite all that nonsense with Milosh, I sense potential in you.”
Corentin chuckled. “Don’t argue with him, Gummi. Once he gets going, he won’t stop…”
“And one more thing…” Blood-Wraith interjected.
“What’s that?” Gummi asked.
“Do you like video games and anime?”
“Definitely. I would have loved to play more than what I owned as a kid, but Milosh never cared to get me more… As for the last one, do you mean those animations from Earth’s Japan? I love those, especially the black and white ones with the giant robots.”
“Yeah!” Blood-Wraith said as he high fived him.
Corentin and Kresimira laughed. “So about that case, Gummi,” Corentin said as he pointed to it.
“Oh, right.” Gummi set the case on the coffee table. He then realized something. “Wait, Corentin, Kresimira? Did you two get married?” They nodded. “Congratulations, you two! If you don’t mind, consider this a late wedding present in addition to my apology to Corentin, haha.”
Corentin popped open the wood and leather case to find a wide array of alchemical materials and ingredients. What caught his eye in particular were the truly rare stuff that could only be found in the Deep Unlight. The couple were thoroughly impressed by the effort, compounded by the fact that Gummi had done it while under Milosh’s thumb. Naturally Gummi was incredibly nervous, having no idea how Corentin would react.
Corentin laughed in joy. “Well, Gummi, it takes a lot to buy someone’s trust; but I’d say you’ve come pretty damn close.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” Maximus said from the workshop doorway with a yawn. He was in his small form. “Oh, hey, Gummi.”
Kresimira got up and sat the robot down in a recliner. “Albrecht and Gummi came home early.”
Maximus’ face went from tired to gravely concerned. He already had an idea of what had happened. “Is… is everyone alright?”
Gummi nodded. “Well Milosh did try one last attack, but I poisoned him and it went without a hitch… mostly.”
Maximus exhaled and banged an arm rest. “Damn it! I knew I should have stayed…”
Corentin got up and went over to massage his son’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, your grandpa is a tough one and Milosh is dead. Gummi, would you like to stay for dinner?”
He was surprised. “Really? Sure.”
“How wonderful,” Kresimira stated. “Blood, could you call Drusa and Vexation? I’m sure they’d love to come along.”
“Sure thing, sister,” Blood-Wraith said as he went to the phone.
“And don’t forget to call Papa and tell him what’s going on.”
“Loud and clear, sister.”
Next: Chapter 42
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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