“Even in the storms, the light will break through,” the diviner stated. The stranger nodded and relaxed. The other two glanced at their teammate. “It’s a passcode,” he explained. “We have several different ones depending on who we’re working with. Zier makes me learn all of them when they change.”
“So, new Templar recruits, eh?” the man chuckled as the bird—which appeared to be much like a falcon if it weren’t for the odd movements and box-like head—scuttled up his arm and onto his shoulder. “You’re very young, I have to say.”
“It isn’t something they usually do,” Asla stated. “Send young trainees, that is, without at least one experienced Templar. I guess they had their reasons, though.”
“I suppose,” the man conceded and lowered his cowl. He appeared to be in his mid-forties with black hair tied into a bun, a handlebar mustache, and deep-set gray eyes. “Nice to meet you. My name is Zeke of the Britana Hunter’s Guild.” He gave them a nod and confident smile. “Today, I am a carrier, and I think I have a package here for you three.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zeke patted his artificial bird and it launched from his shoulder and flew to a tree behind him as he walked to a small green sack nearby. He picked it up and returned as he unwound the knot on the top. “I have to admit, this was a first for me,” he stated as he slid the bag open and revealed a locked black box within. “Normally, we try to give these a wide berth, but it basically fell into our lap.”
“So what is it?” Devol asked as he took the item. Almost immediately, he felt a powerful burst of dread and his hands began to shake.
“Devol?” Asla asked as she stepped forward hastily to place her hand on his. “What is wr—” When she touched it, her tail went stiff and her eyes widened as she looked at it.
A firm hand settled on their shoulders. “Take a deep breath,” Jazai instructed. “It ain’t gonna harm you, not as long as it stays in there. Relax.” The two responded with quick nods and tried to steady themselves with deep breaths as they brought their Anima up.
“So you know what it is?” Zeke asked him.
The apprentice shrugged. “I can guess—something I tried to do ever since we got the mission. But seeing their reaction and that hint of twisted Magic? I’m fairly sure.”
“So your leaders didn’t tell you?” the man asked and he shook his head. “Well then, I guess it isn’t my place to fill you in. I merely ran it here.” He returned to his original position and picked his large backpack up. “Sorry to toss my job onto you, but I have other messages and items I need to get to their recipients much farther from here. My advice is to get that back to your order as quickly as yo—”
The carrier’s mechanical bird began to caw loudly and urgently. Zeke took a monocle out of his jacket pocket. “What in the hell is it squawking about?” he muttered as he placed the eyewear on. His body stiffened and he gasped in surprise. “Get out of here!” he ordered and turned as his bird flew skyward and dived sharply toward something deeper into the forest. “Hurry! I don’t think I can hold it off for long.”
“What’s going on?” Devol asked and snapped back to the present as he tied the box to his belt. “If it is an enemy, we can help.”
“It isn’t that simple,” the man warned. “This may be beyond the four of us combined.” At a loud crack, he staggered and dropped to his knees. His monocle fell and shattered. The three rushed forward as he clutched his arms, and fresh scratch marks were visible on his hands.
“He must have had a link to his bird to control it,” Jazai muttered. “His exotic was wounded so some of that damage reflects onto him like a majestic.”
“It wasn’t merely wounded,” Zeke stated, his voice cold and angry. He stood slowly and unhooked a pair of hatchets from his belt. “It was destroyed. My artifact once took a full-force hit from an exotic morning star and simply shook it off— What the hell am I giving you the details for. Get away!” A loud, angry roar issued from the tree line. “That monster is here.”
A beast took hold of two trees outside the clearing, split them apart, and tossed Zeke’s mechanical bird at his feet. Devol took a step back, awed and terrified by the creature before him. It looked humanoid—or at least was at some point—and had dark-gray skin with blotches of white around its arms and waist. The monster was massive, easily nine feet tall or more, with a wave of stringy black hair.
Its arms seemed to be bigger than his body, with fists that looked like they could crack his chest with a single blow. But the mask on its face drew his immediate attention. It looked like it was modeled after the demons he had heard about in scary stories shared by other children in his youth. The black background was broken by a wide grin of white or silver-painted teeth, and pure white eyes stared angrily at them. He was unsure if they were its own eyes or the mask’s. Traces of red paint or some smooth material underlined the sockets and curved around the top to give the appearance of horns.
“That’s…” Jazai began and paused to gather his words as his eyes widened and he balled his fists. “That’s a malefic.”
Devol looked at his teammates, who were both in shock. Before he could ask what that was, Zeke cried, “Goliath!” The two hatchets in his hands grew to the size of battle-axes as he summoned his Anima. It was the color of the open sky and surrounded
