Chapter 2: Into the Wilderness
Two days have passed and Talion's journey still continues he has come a long way since the last time he saw his home. He keeps on travelling to the east to his final destination to the place he promised to his mother that he would reach. However the day is almost over and the sun is about to set he must find shelter and fast or the elements of the wilderness will consume him sooner than he thought. So he sets up a little tent that he salvaged from his house, after the tent he tries to find wood as fuel for a fire while he is collecting all the dried up branches he could find. He gets a glimpse of something in the distance. He finds a log roughly the size of a full grown man, of course he cannot burn the entire thing nor could he drag it along with him. But instead he has an idea. He puts the branches a side and sprinkles some dust on it, he tries to cast the same spell his mother did on the buckets but he doesn't has the glitter powder his mother used so instead he uses dust after sprinkling the dust he utters the word "URAN" but instead of it slowly lifting from the ground it goes all the way up and at a very fast pace and drops a few meters away like a baseball thrown by a pitcher.
"Not a very good start I'm afraid" says Talion.
But he's always been the stubborn one he looks to the west and the sun is still there.
"There is still time. A few more tries maybe"
He approaches the log again and repeats his actions but this time he points both his hands and closes his eyes.
"Alright total concentration and a calm mind focus and then cast." Talion remembering the last magic lesson his mother taught him. Then after taking a deep breath he utters the magic word again but this time he does not look and he waits he doesn't hear a sound of the log dropping nor hears it whirling in the air like before. So he slowly opens his eyes and sees the unthinkable the log was gone it wasn't on the ground. For a moment he thought that it flew off again somewhere but it was floating right above his head. This was the first time that he had used magic and he didn't failed. A small step on a long path.
"Wow I actually did it, I actually used magic."
He was delighted so much that he even looked around so that someone may praise him for his accomplishment but sadly no one was there. The happy expression on his face turned blank as this was both a happy and a heart-breaking moment for Talion. No friends, no parents nobody was there to give him the comfort he needed he was alone in the wilderness nothing but his sheer will and determination to meet his goal that kept him Alive. He swallowed his grief and looked to the west the sun was now setting, he put the log back where he had found it and went back to his tent for a long night awaited him.
It was now morning and the birds were singing Talion woke up and looked around to his surprise the fire had died out.
"When did this happen?" He asked himself, maybe the firewood wasn't enough to keep it lit for the night because only his mother used to do the calculations of all their house chores but he didn't of course when his mother think of such things he would always run off somewhere to slack off. The only wilderness experience he had was with his father when they went hunting once when he was 9 years old. But those are all old memories now he brushed them off and focused on the task at hand. He ate his breakfast and then packed up everything and started to move and kept on moving toward the east. But before he could keep on moving further he heard a sound, a sound of thunder and rumbling. It came from the north side of the forest but he could not see anything because of the trees that were in his way.
Hence he became curious of the noise he heard and went to investigate. Finding his way through the trees he kept on moving and the sound became clearer and once he cleared the forest he saw what was causing all this. At a very far distance he could see the KHOPRI MOUNTAINS but is wasn't the mountains that were making the sound it was what lied behind the mountains he could see an orange red light being originated from there and also black clouds were being formed from there he could hear molten fire blazing from the beyond the mountains and the black clouds were blocking the sky.
Talion noticed a ray of sunlight trying to reach out to him from the darkness of the clouds but it wasn't for long, the darkness slowly consumed it and stopped it from ever shining again it seemed to him like the sky was being poisoned by a dark and cursed spell and it was slowly spreading to the rest of the lands as well. However this wasn't Talions current objective for now he had to keep on moving towards COKAF. So he left the place as it was and went back into the forest. Four hours had now passed it was almost afternoon now and his stomach had started to growl from hunger. So he started to look for a place where he could sit down and eat, he found a giant rock at a distance just sitting there so he sat on it. Then when he opened his bag he found that the only food left was bread and he was having a strong craving for meat.
"I won't be able to walk much further with just only a handful of bread I need meat!"
So he tore a branch from a tree dismantled the rope he had into a small strings and made a bow. Then he sharpened some pebbles and tied them to some small branches making small arrows. Now he had a bow and arrows and he was now ready to hunt. He searched the entire forest for a decent meal but the forest was to quite as all the animals had ran away from something or 'perhaps they found out that Talion was coming'. Hence he kept his search and after a good long while he heard a shrub of a bush when he saw closely he saw a rabbit.
"Finally something to eat." Speaking in his heart. He carefully aimed from a far distance and shot but he inevitably missed and the rabbit ran off. So Talion started to chase it as well the rabbit was agile and fast and was quick on making turns while Talion had a lot of weight on his back the rabbit was getting far and far away from him. Then at that moment Talion remembered something. He remembered that if not focused his levitating spell can be disastrous so he could use that to his advantage. So he aimed at the running rabbit but this time he wasn't using his bow he grabbed the arrow like a spear and throwed it by uttering the magic word "URAN" and the arrow travelled at a tremendous speed skewering through the rabbit killing it instantly.
"Yes! It worked ha ha….it worked I can't believe it."
This was indeed a time to celebrate for even Talion himself was not sure a faulty spell could give such a result. Hence he picked up his prize and started a fire and after having a full meal he got up to return to his journey. After walking for quite a while he could not shake the feeling that he was being watched all this time like he was trailing the rabbit. Only this time he felt that someone was trailing him but he shooked the feeling off and kept on moving then after walking quite a while he heard of a bush being scrubbed he pointed his staff towards it but there was nothing there. He moved closer to the bush, it was right next to a tree. Closer and closer the only thing there was a rock then his foot got caught in a string before he could realize it a net rushed from under him and he was now caught in it. It was a trap all along someone intentionally bought him closer to the trap.
"Ah…whose there? Whoever did this if you are near release me I am not an animal please release me."
Talion shouting while hanging by a tree. Suddenly he hears brushing of leaves from the tree he's hanging by and notices that a girl equipped with a bow and arrows and partially wearing a splendid golden armor was hiding in it and was looking at him in a strange way. Talion also stared at her for a while trying to figure out why is she looking at him like that. But he could not bear hanging like this anymore and finally speaks.
"You there! Did you set this trap?"
"Yes I did" The girl replies.
"So can you please release me you can see that I am not an animal."
The girl jumps off the tree and stares at him.
"If you are not an animal, what are you then?"
Talion all confused looking at her.
"What do you mean by that? Can't you see I'm a boy?" Talion shouting at her.
"A boy? What kind of creature is that?" The girl posing another silly question. She gets near him to get a better look. While Talion resists to get lose, he is in a weird position, hanging with his back towards the ground he cannot even reach his dagger. Suddenly he hears footsteps from a far rushing right towards them. He takes a sigh of relief as he identifies it as the footsteps of people. But on hearing the footsteps the girl isn't happy. Instead she says,
"AH! Looks like they found me!"
From the trees emerge four older woman wearing the same golden armor as that of the girl.
"Princess Susan we finally found you!" The first woman talking with the sound of relief in her voice.
"Why do you always have to run away from the castle? Her majesty the queen is very furious." The other woman talking to her with distress.
Hearing their words the girl named Susan became angry and said "Well how many times have I told you that you cannot keep me locked up in my room."
"But princess please it's her majesties orders and our duty to keep you safe!!"
"I don't need your protection Mabusa, can't you just leave me be." Susan trying to call them off.
"Sorry princess but I cannot do that as I swore an oath to your mother that I would protect you."
"Huh….Whatever!! Anyways I found this strange talking creature roaming in the forest do you know what it is?" Susan pointing at Talion.
"Oye who are you calling strange?" Talion irritated.
"Huh… an intruder and he's a man!" Mabusa shouting.
"Kill him before he gets a chance to escape." The rest of the woman ready their bows and point them directly towards Talion ready to fire. Talion feeling the tension in the air tries to get a hold of his staff.
"Wait stop you can't just simply kill him." Susan trying to stop them from killing him.
"But princess!!"
"I SAID STOP BY THE ORDER OF THE PRINCESS." She tries to stop them using her authority. The rest of the women look at each other weather to approve of this or not but they see no choice. So they lower their weapons.
"Very well princess but we will take him to the dungeons from here on her majesty will decide what to do with him."
"Very well then do what you must." Susan accepting their judgment.
"Restrain him and take him to the castle, well interrogate him from there."
They cut the rope of the net and Talion falls down like a sack full of sand. He stands up with the support of his staff. But the women surround him, with their arrows pointed toward his head.
"Lower your staff vermin or well won't hesitate to shoot you in the eye."
Talion seeing no choice throws his staff on the ground. One of the woman ties his hands with rope and the other searches him for weapons. She only finds his dagger and the arrows he crafted. One grabs her travel pack and the other about to pick up his staff is suddenly stopped by Mabusa.
"Wait leave it, we don't need to concern ourselves with this vermin's trash."
The woman's words infuriated Talion and he lunges at her but is stopped and stomped on the ground face first.
"What do you think you're doing vermin? Tell me, what in the name of 'Savannah' were you going to do to her?" asking while pressing his face on the ground.
"That staff belonged to my mother don't you dare call it trash." Talion speaking with his teeth crushing in his mouth.
"ENOUGH! Don't waste your time with him just take him to the castle." Mabusa.
She forcefully makes Talion stand up and make him walk with them while being pulled by the rope around his wrists. While Susan still trying to figure out what Talion is. She looks at his staff then looks at him all curious while he is being taken away. So she picks up his staff and walks along with the rest.
But what they all did not realized that all of them were being watched from a very far distance by a hooded black rider on a black horse.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone