Prepare (Part 2)
1343 Words
“Whoa,” Belle marvelled at the sight of the giant tunnel. “How did you even build that?”
Axel smiled and said, “With magic.”
Axel put the book back on the top left corner of the bookshelf, then waved his hand in the air and the rest of the books randomly arranged themselves on the shelf.
“Come on.”
He walked into the tunnel. Belle followed.
“Why couldn’t you just memorise the spell?” Belle asked.
“The spell changes itself every hour. For privacy reasons.”
“Of course.” Belle sighed. “I wonder what’s so special you’ve got hidden in here.”
“I’m sure you’ll love it.”
After walking a while longer, Belle asked, “Axel, why do you trust me enough to show me this place? I mean why me of all people? Why not someone else close to you? You only met me a few months ago and that too for the trials.”
“I consider myself a great judge of character. I knew you were someone I could trust. And you share the same hate towards Ender as me.” Axel paused for a second. “Besides, everyone else I knew is dead. Well, except Greyson.”
“You haven’t met anyone or have made any friends for the past five years?”
“I was in the Chaos Guild. I would do jobs for money. It always involved either killing a monster or assassinating an official. I would have partners for those jobs, but we weren’t supposed to get attached to anyone, lest it compromise our skills when someone we care about dies. And most of them did die. A long time after I left that job, I sought you out for the trials.”
“Through Reeva, I presume,” Belle said. “She always tried to convince me to be a part of the guild, and I always refused. I could never kill someone for money. I never knew you’d met her. I also never knew you were a part of the guild.”
“Yeah, well, I was in a dark place after the war. I’m better now.”
“I don’t condemn the Chaos Guild. I know they’re not just cold mercenaries. I know they help people, kill those who truly deserve to die. But I just couldn’t live like that.”
“I was only in it because I got to kill the imperials. Then I slowly realised I should fully focus on the trials. Assassinate the king, and end this once and for all.”
They kept heading down the tunnel until they approached a locked door. Axel summoned a key into his hand out of thin air and opened it. The door led to an enormous room with weapons of all kinds, including swords, hammers, shields, daggers, and bombs, even staffs, lined neatly on shelves built alongside the walls. The room had few pillars that provided structural support. There was a long table in the middle with many seats organised around it. The room extended into even more rooms. There was another much bigger bookshelf next to a wall, filled completely with books.
“This is incredible,” Belle said.
“The house is just a front,” Axel explained. “I actually live here. I began building this tunnel soon after I came here. Once I joined the Chaos Guild, they helped me finish it.”
“Helped you? Surely they had a vested interest.”
“You’re right. They used this as a safehouse. Before I left, I helped them built another safehouse for them, and I got this place all to myself.”
“And the weapons? They didn’t just forget them, did they?”
“Some I got as gifts. Others as rewards. Many I purchased.”
“I mean… I’m speechless.” She held a sword in her hand, carefully examining its blade. “These are well crafted weapons.”
“Take whatever you want. I’ll put the rest in a void. If the twins really have a base up in Bluegate with a small army, they can use all this.”
The void is a realm of blank space that mages can tear into to store or take objects, mostly weapons. It’s how Axel summons his staff.
On a wall directly in front of the table were two mage robes, each in a glass case, created with a silk like material. One was blue and the other was red. Each had dark black lines running across the robes, and a large collar. A hood was also attached to each. Between the two robes, in a separate glass case, were two staffs.
While going through swords and bombs, Belle noticed Axel staring at the glass cases.
She walked up to him and said, “I’m guessing those are your parents.”
“Yes.” Axel continued to stare at them. “This is all that remained after they died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. We both share the same pain.” He paused briefly. “And the same hatred.”
“Axel, if you don’t mind me asking, do you want to assassinate Ender for the betterment of the people or for vengeance?”
He turned to her. “The way I see it, there’s not much difference.”
“Hm.” Belle stared at the robes.
“What about you?” Axel asked.
“Vengeance. For every life he destroyed, including mine.”
Axel put his hand on the glass case with the blue robe, and said, “This was my father’s.” Slowly his clothes morphed into the robe. Inside the glass case, the robes he wore during the trials replaced his father’s.
“Ever give much thought into what you’re gonna do when Ender is dead?” Axel asked.
“That’s if he’s dead,” Belle replied. “And no. But if I had to think about it now…” She paused for a second. “I guess I’ll just return back to my regular life. Or maybe take a job up in Bluegate if I can. I don’t know.” She sat on a nearby chair. “What about you?”
“Once he’s dead, I’ll take his place.”
Belle turned towards Axel and smirked. “Never took you for the ruler type.”
“You think I’d make a bad king?”
“You’ll certainly be an interesting king.” She examined a bomb she held in her hand. “What did you do in Bluegate before the war?”
Axel touched the case containing the staffs. He replaced his mother’s staff with his own. “My parents and Ender were advisors and protectors to the previous king. I was just a protector. We were royal mages.”
“Oh.” She raised her eyebrows. “So you were on his side during the war.”
Axel faced Belle. “No.”
“Wait, what?” She was surprised. “You betrayed the king?”
“Yes. My parents and Ender advised him countless times to decrease tensions with other races, but he never listened. He had some special hate for nonhumans, particularly elves. So when war came, we knew we had to turn against him. We sided with the nonhumans.”
“Why did you hate that elf so much?”
“Come on. He was s******c, and he betrayed all of us. Ender and he have that in common. I’ve got nothing against elves in general.”
Axel created a tear into the void and made all his weapons disappear.
“You used to be a soldier before, right?”
“Nope.” Belle turned to him. “I was training to be a spy.”
“Huh. I never expected that.”
“I know. That’s part of the job description.”
“For someone training to be a spy, you sure are critical of my safety precautions.”
“Because you really are too paranoid. You failed to take precautions where you needed to the most. I mean, after all this safeguarding, you did ultimately get spotted, didn’t you? You’re just lucky Ender didn’t believe you’re alive.”
Axel sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” After a brief moment, he asked, “What about your parents?
“They were also spies. I was born here in Rayfort. They trained me, taught me everything I know. Soon, they began investigating the king. They realised, like everyone else, that the king cared more about conquering nations than actually taking care of the people living in it.” Belle put the bomb away. “They feared people in Bluegate were being kept in fear and hostility to maintain the illusion of peace and order. They went in undercover as soldiers. Soon after, they went missing.” She got up. “After a few more months, their bodies ended up back in Rayfort. That was three years ago.”
“Very soon, Ender will pay for this. All of this.” He held up his staff, then made it disappear. All the shelves were empty now, the weapons gone. “You ready?”
“I’m ready.”
“Well then,” Axel said, “Let’s begin our journey to Bluegate.”
- Writer
