Realm of Monsters

Chapter 748: Farewell Part 2

Stryg turned his head to look at her. “Plumela, hero of Hollow Shade, I’d like you to be the queen’s advisor.”

“Fuck no.”

Stryg sat up from the grass and cocked his head to the side. “Why not?”

“What do you mean, why not? Your mom is crazy! I thought you had problems, but that lady would probably kill somebody for looking at her wrong.”

“Why? Did that happen while I was gone?”

“Well, no, but the fact that you’re not surprised if she had is the problem. Why would I put myself in her way when I can just relax and read all day?”

Stryg laid back down and stared up at the night sky. “...Because you’re a good person, Plum. You know you can do good at my mother’s side. You always wanted to change the Ebon Realm, right? I think this is your chance.

“Everyone I know understands that power is needed to rule and change the world in a way they see fit. But you don’t see things like that. You see what the world could be in a way I never could imagine. My mother needs someone like you. Someone who will curb her more aggressive tendencies and show her that being a good ruler is more than just having power. It’s about the people, even the smallest of them.”

“When did you get so wise?” Plum cocked an eyebrow.

Stryg thought of Stryga and the first goblins that would become the Blood Fang Tribe, and of Catherine and her two children back in Murkton. “I learned the importance of the small. For so long, I thought I needed to change, to not be small or different. I realize now I was fine just the way I was.”

Plum turned her head and looked at him. “You’ve changed, Stryg.”

“I guess I have.”

“...What if your mother tries to kill me because I piss her off?”

“I’ll talk to her. You’ll be safe, I promise.”

Plum sighed. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Good. There is no one in the world I trust more to be my mother’s advisor.”

“I’ll try my best,” she whispered.

“Thank you, Plum. You’re the first friend I ever made in this place. I’ll never forget the kindness you’ve shown me.”

Plum threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too.”

~~~

The next morning, Stryg went to visit Blueberry before the crack of dawn. The servants provided him with a wheelbarrow of meat and offered to roll it into the enclosure for him, but Stryg insisted on doing it himself.

The young Frost Wolf was sleeping on his side, tongue lolling out. Stryg smiled wryly and instead of waking him up, he left the wheelbarrow to the side and joined Blueberry. The wolf cracked an ice blue eye open and shifted himself closer to Stryg before going back to sleep.

His black fur was cold and the surrounding air was freezing, but to Stryg it felt like a cool breeze. Stryg nestled him into the crook of the wolf’s neck and closed his eyes.

The sound of footsteps woke Stryg up. He looked up to find Elise bringing in a wheelbarrow of fruits, most of which were berries. She froze when she spotted Stryg.

“Uh, it’s not what you think,” Elise stammered.

“You’re not trying to feed Blueberry sweets so he’ll like you more?”

“...I guess it’s exactly what you think.” For the first time Stryg had met her, he saw her pale cheeks grow rosy.

Blueberry sniffed the air and suddenly jumped to his feet, shoving Stryg off. The giant wolf trotted over to both wheelbarrows and began to gorge himself on the meal.

“I swear I’m not trying anything. No secret plans or ulterior motives,” Elise said.

“I know. Plum told me you’ve been spending time with Blueberry and her. He can be somewhat aggressive, but you can’t help but love him, huh?”

“He’s magnificent,” Elise said, admiration in her eyes.

“Yeah, he is… Elise?”

“Hm?”

“I asked Plum to watch over him and advise my mother while I’m gone. Can I trust you to help Plum, as well?”

“You’re asking me if I would look after the only frost wolf in all of Hollow Shade and to advise our queen?” Elise smirked, “I thought you’d never ask, cousin.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Stryg?” Maeve ran into the enclosure, out of breath. “There you are. Thank the gods.”

“Maeve? What happened? Are you alright?” Stryg asked.

Blueberry sensed Stryg’s change of mood and stopped eating. The frost wolf snarled with a low rumble and stepped in front of the three of them. His eyes darted around, searching for the threat.

Maeve stood rigid and stared up at the giant wolf, stunned. Elise had already drawn the small dagger hidden in her sleeve. Stryg placed his hand on Krikolm’s hilt, ready to draw it at a moment’s notice.

“Maeve, is someone chasing you?” Stryg closed his eyes and focused on his hearing, searching for anything that sounded out of place.

“N-No. It’s not like that. I,” Maeve swallowed. “I had a dream.”

Stryg frowned. “What kind of dream?”

“The nightmare kind like the ones I used to have,” Maeve said.

~~~

Stryg led Maeve to his private study in the manor. He rarely spent time there, but Gale had assured him it was covered in hundreds of arcane wards, many of which prevented any sort of eavesdropping.

He offered her a plush chair and some tea that one of the servants had preemptively prepared for them. “So, you had a vision. I thought you stopped having those dreams ever since you learned how to control your magic.”

“I thought so too, but this was so much worse. It was so powerful, I could hardly breathe. It felt so real.”

“Something must have changed,” Stryg muttered to himself in thought. “Have you changed your training regimen? Did the Gale masters teach you anything different?”

“No…” Maeve sipped her tea and looked away sheepishly. “I may have used my powers to look into the future.”

“Maeve.”

“Look, it didn’t work. But when I went to sleep, I had this nightmare, then I woke up and came straight here.”

“Maeve. Why did you risk it? Do you know how dangerous those spells can be?”

“I know…” She sighed.

“Your talent in red magic is unmatched. Why do you think Caligo wanted you so badly? Holo thinks one day you’ll be Maeve the Red. Do you understand what that means?”

“Yeah, I know,” she mumbled.

“I don’t think you do. Your powers are incredibly potent. Synchrony magic expands the mage’s sensory abilities. It’s a form of astral projection; except what you do is something no other true red can. You’re throwing yourself into infinite paths. You can’t simply peer into the future without consequences. This isn’t like those dreams from before. You’ve developed your abilities. The pushback will be much worse. Not to mention, Caligo somehow knows whenever you use those powers. What if she tried to do something?”

“Caligo left the realm. She probably can’t even do anything,” Maeve muttered.

“That’s not the point. Your mind could be seriously damaged without enough training in synchrony spells. Which you still don’t have.”

“I know.”

“Then why?”

“Because I was worried about you, okay?”

“Me? I’m fine.”

She rolled her eyes. “For now. I thought something might happen when you leave the realm.”

“Maeve,” he reached out and grabbed her hand. “I’m going to be okay. I’m much stronger than I used to be.”

“Strong enough to beat Caligo?”

“That’s not fair.”

“No, what’s not fair is that I have these abilities that could help you and the realm—no, the entire world, and everyone tells me I can’t use them.”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“And I don’t want you to get hurt. So let me help… please.”

Stryg thought of the countless times he used his magic recklessly. Not once had he ever cared for his own safety, even when Loh and his other masters had chastised him. “Okay,” he conceded. “Just promise me you’ll train before attempting something like this again?”

“I’ll train harder than ever before, I promise.”

Stryg nodded. “Tell me what happened.”

“So, yesterday I tried looking into your future. I’ve never tried to look into the future before. Usually, I only use my synchrony magic for regular astral projection, but this was different.”

“What did you see?”

“Nothing. My head started hurting—a lot, so I went to sleep early.”

“Then you had your nightmare?”

“Exactly. My powers worked! Kind of. Usually, everything I see in the future is blurry, not in a literal sense, more like, my mind can’t really comprehend what’s exactly happening.”

“Like a dream?”

“Yeah.”

“But this was a nightmare?”

“It didn’t start off as one. You were right. My powers have grown stronger. I saw you. As clear as I see you now. But you looked different? Taller, maybe. Not by a lot, but there was something different about you. Something in the eyes, maybe? Older, I guess.”

Maeve wrung her hands together and her eyes stared off into the distance, recalling the dream. “There was this storm, the largest I’ve ever seen. And there was this hole in the ocean, it was swallowing ships and even an island. A raging storm above and below a vortex that devoured everything. There you were, standing at the center of it all, on the last shred of land being devoured amidst a fleet of dying ships and sea. I thought I was going to be ripped apart just being there, seeing it all.”

“That does sound scary,” Stryg said sympathetically.

“That wasn’t what scared me.” She swallowed hard and clenched Stryg’s hand tightly. “I saw them.”

“Saw what exactly?” Stryg whispered.

“A pair of eyes in the dark sky. They were enormous. Like the size of the sun. They looked sort of like a dragon’s, but they weren’t. They were ancient, unfathomably so. And there was another, three eyes, pitch black, each as large as the moon. Both beings were staring at you, but then they shifted their gaze and they looked at me, they saw me. Every single part of me. My memories, my soul, everything. They picked through all of it. I felt it. I could feel their cold touch. Their apathy towards me as if I was nothing, not even an insect. I thought my mind was going to break.”

Maeve closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. “I don’t know how, but I somehow managed to wake up.”

“I’m sorry you went through that,” Stryg hugged her.

She pushed him with a gentle touch and shook her head. “I didn’t come here for comfort, I came here to tell you what I saw. You weren’t alone, Stryg.”

“What?”

“In my vision. You weren’t alone. There were two others. You weren’t the only one those eyes were looking down at.”

Stryg’s expression darkened. “Who were the others?”

“I couldn’t see their faces, but there was a man and a child. I don’t know how to explain, but I just had this feeling that they were so like you and yet completely different.”

“Were they my enemies?”

“I don’t know. But the three of you are connected somehow. Whatever was happening, the three of you were at the center of it all.”