Chapter 39: Worm Food

The dozens of knights marched into the Royal Palace, spreading out and standing at attention in formation. The oversized carriage rolled to a stop, its well-oiled axels not making a sound. A single knight opened the carriage door, allowing its occupants to disembark.

An old gentleman in a crimson robe was the first to step down from the carriage, He was clean shaven and had long black hair tied tight into a ponytail. Speckles of gray dotted his temples, and a pair of bifocals adorned his weathered face. He chanted a spell under his breath, waiting and watching for a few moments afterwards. Seemingly pleased with the fact that nothing had happened, he motioned for the others inside to follow him.

Court Mage Reginald was waiting by the side while this was happening. He instantly recognized the Court Mage from Morgania, Sylvester Torreznia, as he exited the carriage. The spell he cast must had been a detection spell of some kind, looking for any hidden arrays or magical devices. He didn't mind the probing; it was only natural to check your surroundings while in a foreign country.

He waited until everyone had exited the carriage before walking up to greet them. Princess Alessandria was standing behind Mage Torreznia in a light blue dress and a matching veil that covered her face. Several personal maids also surrounded her along with two women who were dressed in highly decorative leather armor and armed with scimitars attached to their waists.

Bowing his head low in respect, Mage Reginald greeted the party. "Greetings Your Highness, First Princess Alessandria Morgania. I welcome you to Lenova, the capital of Amine. We have prepared your lodgings, if you would please follow me."

"Lead the way." Was all Mage Torreznia said before Mage Reginald turned and led them away.

It was quite normal for Princess Alessandria not to address a foreign official directly, as in anything that she said would be taken to be an official statement from the crown of her country. It was better just not to say anything at all while not in official talks.

"We've received your messenger some time ago. King Alexander is prepared to receive you whenever you have rested sufficiently." Mage Reginald explained as they walked towards a smaller mansion on the grounds.

Walking with his hands behind his back, Mage Torreznia nodded his head. "Very well, we shall inform you once the Princess has rested from the long trip."

Nothing else was said while they walked the short distance. Stopping just outside the doors to the mansion, Reginald opened them and stepped to the side. "If you need anything, anything at all, please let me know."

With those words, Mage Reginald left them to move into the mansion. The mansion was currently empty, left with only the furniture. All of the art and decorations had been removed in preparation of the visit. It was customary to do so when foreign royalty would visit so as not to offend them by having to stare at the other nation's imagery. They would bring their own decorations and artwork to hang on the walls, making it feel as much like their own home as possible.

Mage Torreznia first walked in, casting another detection spell, before allowing the princess and her entourage to follow. The knights that were in formation outside quickly set up a perimeter around the guest mansion. For the duration of her stay, the mansion was now being treated as sovereign ground.

…..

Ryan's limbs felt weak, he had just been knocked back to the ground and was gasping for air. He felt a man kneel on top of him, pressing his knee into his back. The man wrenched Ryan's arm behind his back, attempting to pull the ring off of his finger. He tried to pull his hand away but wasn't a match for the man's strength.

Finding the ring too difficult to simply pull off, the man pulled out a dagger from a sheath in his boot. In a fluid motion, the man severed Ryan's ring finger right at the first knuckle. Ryan couldn't see what was happening, but he felt searing heat coming from his finger, then a pop. The man then started to feel up and down his body, looking for anything else of value.

He gritted his teeth, trying to hold back his cries of pain. He could feel the wetness of blood running down his arm and staining his treasured suit. Everything happened too quickly, he had no time to prepare a spell to counterattack. It took all he had just to keep from panicking. His mind went to the dungeon, flitting through all that he had experienced in the deep dark recesses.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he poured his mana into the summoning charm before the man had a chance to rip it off of his neck. Just as the man wrapped his fingers around the chain, the gem started to glow a brilliant azure color. A similar colored magic circle appeared on the ground adjacent to him, runes and geometric shapes spinning rapidly in a counterclockwise direction.

Being dark out, the devil worm blended in well. The man noticed the magical array activating, he had already jumped off of Ryan's back, prepared for anything. He had seen defensive items before, in his experience they mostly activated a barrier of some sort, rarely an attack spell. He readied his body to dodge at any moment, expecting an attack spell since a barrier had yet to form.

"Save the girl! Save the girl!" Ryan yelled out at the top of his lungs, praying that the devil worm listened to him.

He had never used the charm, other than when he bound the worm to it. He was putting his faith into it; it was his only hope.

Something large and black barreled into the man, knocking him off his feet. He couldn't see what it was but could hear it as it slithered into the dark alleyway. He had seen enough. You didn't survive for long as a criminal if you didn't know when to retreat. He got to his feet and turned to run. There were no bonds when it came to crooks, it was every man to himself.

He had only taken two steps before he heard a shout from behind him. "Shadow Bolt!"

An arc of black lightning danced from Ryan's finger, slamming into the unguarded back of the thief trying to run. The man's back arched bending at an unnaturally sharp angle, his muscles constricting so tightly that his spine shattered from the force. A guttural scream could be heard emanating from the man as he was cooked alive from the spell. His body crumpled to the ground, a scent of burnt hair and cooked meat wafting from his corpse.

Ryan turned to the alleyway, hearing several different screams coming from the darkness. He ran towards them.

…..

Laura was having a great time. Although they really hadn't done much while walking through the city, it was still with the boy she liked. She really hadn't noticed Ryan before the foray into the forest. She was always concerned with her schoolwork, too much so to really put her mind into boys. But after the near-death experience with the wolves, her mindset changed slightly.

She started to notice that there was much more to life than just school and getting good grades. She started every day with a positive attitude, or at least she tried to. She also forced herself to take time to herself, making sure she was doing things that actually made her happy. That was why she had finally asked Ryan out into the city.

She really did like him. Ever since the forest, she had noticed how considerate he was towards her, how kind he was, how cute he was, she was infatuated. So, when he agreed to go out with her, she was over the moon. She didn't care one bit what they did, just as long as they did it together.

She was enjoying their walk together, even though it had gotten dark. Her arms were wrapped around his arm and her head was leaning against his shoulder. She was breathing deep, enjoying the cold crisp air when they had walked straight into someone as they rounded a corner.

It all happened so quickly; Ryan started to apologize then she was grabbed from behind. Strong hands wrapped around her wrists, she started to try to pull away but couldn't break the iron grip. Nearly tripping from a hard yank, she was pulled closer and closer to a dark alleyway. She struggled violently, kicking, and screaming. Another set of hands grabbed onto her as they tried to shove a cloth into her mouth.

She was lifted off the ground, her feet kicking nothing but air. She could hear Ryan's cries even through her own. Dragged into the darkness, she was thrown against a hard wall, hitting her head. Dizzy from the blow, Laura wobbled on her feet. Before she could even think about escaping, she was pressed against the wall, facing it.

Dirty hands went up and down her body; she recoiled from the touch, swatting them away. She was slammed against the wall once again and her arms were yanked behind her, a cold metal object was pressed to her throat.

"Resist and you die." A man whispered into her ear, turning her stomach.

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She was terrified, this was many times worse than the wolves in the forest. Tears mixed with blood trailed down her face. She had a laceration on her forehead from being slammed into the hard brick wall. She stopped struggling at the man's words, but she couldn't prevent her body from shivering.

"Hurry up, we don't have much time. I want my turn so don't waste any." Another gruff voice sounded out from behind her.

She started to sob so hard it was difficult to breathe. She knew what was about to happen. Rough hands ripped open her blouse, tearing the fabric as buttons plinked on the cobblestone ground. One hand felt her up as the other lifted her skirt as it traced up her thigh, causing her to shake like a leaf in the wind.

She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable. There was nothing she could do. All that she had learned in the Academy was useless to her right now. Even Professor Kal's classes, that taught her so many different ways to use magic, couldn't help her. Then she heard Ryan yelling from the street, it was hard to make out what he was saying, it sounded like he was pleading with someone to 'save the girl'.

The next thing she knew a wet tearing sound came from close behind her, then a warm wetness spread out over her back. She was confused about what she was feeling. Her hands were still behind her back, and they were now warm and slippery wet. The man let out hot breath on her ear before losing his grip on her chest and thigh and sliding down onto the ground.

She brought her hands to her front, closing her blouse and shielding her naked breasts. She turned to run, not wanting to give the men any chance to catch her. She still had no idea why he had let her go and she didn't care.

As she turned her body, her eyes locked onto the other man that had dragged her into the alleyway. He was backing away from her with wide eyes that she could clearly see even in the darkness. He looked almost as scared as she was, she didn't care. She turned to the left and saw it. A black something was coiled up with its head raised to be level with her own.

Her face was mere inches away from the monster's, or she assumed it was its face. There were no eyes or nose or ears, just flesh. She took in a sharp breath, stepping back and tripping over the man's body. Falling onto her butt into a fresh pool of blood, she done everything in her power not to scream. The monster followed her with its head, seemingly able to see her without eyes to look out of.

It then looked at the man too scared to run, splitting its face open to reveal a blood red beak. As the tentacles undulated in the air, the beak snapped opened and closed. Making Laura wince at the sudden noise. Without warning, the monster lunged forward, wrapping around the man.

Brought out of his petrified state, the man started to scream and struggle with all of his might. The monster squeezed tighter; Laura was able to hear sickening cracking sounds come from the man before he started to squeal more than scream. She couldn't watch anymore; she turned her head just as the monster constricted once more causing the man's eyeballs to pop out of his skull along with a copious amount of blood.

Not hearing anything, she slowly opened her eyes only to see the monster once more staring inches away from her face. She almost passed out from fright but could hear hurried footsteps coming towards her.

"Laura! Laura where are you!?" Ryan yelled out, not able to see her in the darkness.

She was too scared to answer him, afraid that any sudden movement would cause the monster to attack her. She continued to stare back at the monster, holding her breath.

"Laura, there you are, are you alright?" Ryan said, spotting her huddled against the wall with the devil worm right next to her.

The worm turned towards Ryan's voice, finally prompting her to act. "Ryan! Run! Run away! A monster! There's a monster!"

To her horror, the monster slithered over to Ryan, opening its face blooming, and bearing its blood red beak. She wanted to look away but forced herself to watch. Ryan didn't even seem to notice the monster coming straight for him; to her he looked almost annoyed. He nimbly sidestepped the monster as he vaulted over one man's dead body.

"Are you okay? There's blood all over, are you hurt?" Ryan asked checking her all over, not minding the blood that covered her body and clothes.

She was shocked, the monster didn't attack them. It even looked dejected after being avoided by Ryan, she just couldn't process what was happening. After seeing that she was physically unharmed, except for a cut on her forehead, Ryan pulled a spare robe out of his storage ring and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Can you stand? C'mon, let's get back to the Academy." He said, trying to help her up while keeping his eyes adverted from her white skin peeking out from the open robe.

"M..m..mm…mon…monster" Laura mumbled out, eyes wide and still staring at the creature just behind Ryan.

Ryan turned to look at the devil worm, kicking himself for not thinking about how Laura would feel about it. "Hey, go under. Stay close by, ok?"

Without hesitation, the devil worm dove down into the ground. The stones seemed to move by their own free will, out of the way of the worm as it disappeared underground. Ryan stood her up, steadying her with an arm around her shoulders.

With the monster gone from her sight and the touch from Ryan, Laura's mind started to work again. "What was that thing, Ryan? What happened?"

"Haa, it was a summoned monster. Don't worry about it, let's just get back and find someplace to calm down, ok?" Ryan half explained to her, not wanting to stop and tell her right then and there, there could always be more thugs hiding in the shadows.

…..

"Did ya see it?"

"Yeah, boy's a necromancer, only them can use Shadow Bolt."

Two cloaked men were standing on top of a building looking down on the street and alleyway Ryan and Laura had just left. They had been assigned to follow and observe the boy by their boss. Ever since they had discovered that he was getting private lessons from their main target he had been put on the list of the ones to follow.

"Go tell the boss that we found something, I'll keep an eye on them." One man said to the other, just before one of them melded into the shadows and vanished.

…..

On another rooftop not too far away, a similar conversation was taking place. Two of the 'King's Shadows' had just witnessed the carnage the devil worm and boy had committed. They both had never seen a creature like that before and were amazed at its speed and ferocity.

"Go make a report and have the city guard brush this under the rug.. Tell them we need to add the girl as well."

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