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Wings Askew

#ManIn60LbsOfArmor

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Hyznia

_{Rem Vano's Estate}

---

Sulfrax didn't take the time to admire, or even acknowledge the details of Rem's home. He rushed straight to the point. After all, they couldn't spend much more time in Hyznia, if Sulfrax had has way. The arch-mage looked over his collection of scrolls, intrigued, but too focused on the task at hand to sift through Rem's research, or admit his interest aloud once more. He cleared his throat and walked towards the center of the main room, careful not to trip, or knock anything over as he tip-toed forward.

"The dictator of Illon owes me a favor," Sulfrax repeated with a determined light in his eyes as he turned back to Rem, "That favor will not only grant us his armies, but an advantage over the CMAS that we desperately need. Access to his tactical forces, the seven sins." Not many had heard of Dictator Yvin's infamous strike force, but if Rem had been to Illon before, there's a chance he'd heard of it. The seven deadly sins, a masterful group of magic-less assassins that rely on espionage and guerrilla tactics to accomplish their missions. Rumors states that they've taken down entire nations outside of the quadra powers unbeknownst to the governing forces, including the CMAS. They were comparable to Hyznia's holy guard, but not in sheer strength. Rather, it was their subterfuge and use of deadly alchemical potions that gave them their edge. "We cannot take on the CMAS with a mere army. The amount of arch-mages they have under their command, several of whom may be able to trump my own magic, is astronomical. If we don't acquire the help of Yvin's men, then we will not succeed in this world shifting task. Not even with the strength of 2000 divers," Sulfrax explained. He shook his head. "Normally I wouldn't dare request the aid of a stranger whom I'd met hours prior to this revelation, but as you've personally witnessed, there is a tertiary threat to us all. Those filthy Gaians. They possess a power that dwarfs the common mage. If they hadn't been so idiotic, I fear we wouldn't be breathing right now. So I ask that you accompany me, if only to Illon. You will have my gratitude, if nothing else."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Lark huffed at Jenso's words and rolled his eyes, overcome with relief to hear Harold's name. "It's fine, I'm sorry for your losses," He said, taking the Letter from Jenso and slitting it open with one of his overgrown fingernails. He read the letter over while still talking to Jenso, "I'd probably be pretty pumped up too if I had to go through something like that. I'm glad to hear that Harold survived. How is that old asshole?" Lark asked, still reading the letter over.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Lark's eyes widened when Jenso announced that most of the people in Arcadia had been killed by this mysterious Prisma character. He clenched his fist, but didn't say anything. Was Harold still alive? Lark was struck like a tree in a storm. This was a horrible bit of news. However, as Jenso began speaking about Magic, Lark's composure loosened.

"I don't teach magic, kid. Especially not to naive wannabe heroes who don't even introduce themselves to new friends," Lark said sternly, crossing his arms, "A little rude, don't ya think?" Lark shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry."

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Lark frowned, but smiled again when Jenso mentioned Pij. "Pij is my friend here," He said, pointing at the bird on his shoulder. She tweeted and nodded to him. "Heh, I taught her how to do that. She's the one who let me know you were here... But she didn't say anything about somebody trying to find me! Haha, guess I'm pretty popular!" Lark chuckled and pidge shook her head dismissively. "Why would you brave the damned forest to find me? Don't ya know this place aint safe for people like you?"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Chapter 5

_{The Last Gaian}

Lark invited Jenso into his little house and closed the door behind him, clapping dust off his hands with a sad expression. But once he looked up, he smiled and narrowed his eyes happily, rushing over to the table in the center of his small hut. The room was about as large as Bill's dining room, but with a low hanging ceiling, vines growing everywhere, and no furniture except for a bed, a table, and a few chairs, along with several torches lining the walls with stone surrounding them so that they wouldn't burn down his little house. The only wood was the wall that blocked his home off from the rest of the jungle.

"Pij tells me you walked right into Zentai all on your own, kiddo! That takes some serious guts, especially during Perfume Spider season," Lark started, inviting Jenso to take a seat as he did so himself, "Mind tellin' me why?"

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The spiders looked like they were ready to jump at Jenso and outright overpower him with their sheer numbers, but suddenly the mama's hissing stopped, and the door below her opened. A man with grey-blonde hair and a thin, chiseled jawline appeared from inside, with the green sparrow from earlier on his shoulder. He walked out, looked up at the spider, and waved it away with his hands. "Shoo, shoo! Don't be so rude to our guest!" The man urged it. Within seconds, it ran off into the Forest with its babies in tow, not willing to pick a fight. The man turned back to Jenso and smiled. His little sparrow chirped happily and he nodded.

"Ah, yes. He's a spry one, aint he?" Lark admitted, laughing aloud right after.

---

~ End Of Chapter 4 ~

A Hero Tale {Complete}

Making his way into the thick overgrowth proved to be difficult. Brambles scraped at his ankles and vines fell into his path with every few steps. But a few minutes is all it took for him to find a small hut wall, buried under a boulder that was bigger than a house. It was an underground hut! The clearing it sat in was rather small, and the sky above it was visible. Unless somebody could fly, finding this house would be damned near impossible in the Zentai forest. Was this where Lark lived?

As Jenso stepped into the clearing and saw the wooden wall with a small door, something huge jumped out of the trees behind it. It was a massive purple spider, nearly the size of a horse! It had several babies following it as well, climbing all over the boulder on top of the house. It hissed at him loudly, sitting above the entrance and waiting for him to approach.

A Hero Tale {Complete}

The boulder was big enough to squish a small portion of the spiders, leaving behind an even stronger smelling scent that pulled at Jenso's sense of smell. It was hypnotic, and a defense mechanism that stopped predators from killing the entire swarm. If Jenso let it take hold, it would force him to mindlessly walk towards the spiders. However, with so many of their kin dead, the spiders scattered back into the woods.

The little green sparrow flew back into view and squawked at Jenso, hovering in the middle of the path nearby. As soon as Jenso looked at the sparrow, he would dart back into the woods, like he was urging him to follow.

Something else was in the woods though, and it would be waiting for Jenso to slip up before it attacked..

A Hero Tale {Complete}

A few steps and it happened. The sparrow dived into the trees on Jenso's right, and several small purple spiders hopped out at him from the same side of the path. They were pretty big, perhaps a few inches in diameter from the tip of their leg-span, but they could definitely jump. As they did this, the smell got stronger. It was coming from the spiders. They used it to lure unsuspecting prey, but for humans who knew about they threat of Perfume Spiders, it was an indicator to turn back lest they walk right into a swarm of them.

They worked as a group, all attempting to land on Jenso and bite him. Their poison was merely paralyzing, and designed to stun small creatures, but if enough bites got him, Jenso would be immobile for the spiders to feast upon at their leisure.