• Mythika

    “Legend of the Manna Spring”

    By Cory Church


    Chapter One


    The chilly skies air flew through the heir of 19 year old Jason Wilder as he rode on the saddle of his Griffin Sestina, who had been Jason’s friend for over seven years now. The cool afternoons high air swam around his face, its coolness was refreshing to him. He had loved nothing more then flying atop his friend. Nothing made him feel more free or happy. He had never gotten tired of the feeling he got of seeing the horizon from such a beautiful and god like perspective. The sun was setting to the north and its sunset cast itself beautifully through the clouds.
    “We’re close” Sestina Said, through her mind connection to Jason. Speaking with a beak was obviously impossible but when a mythical beast feels unity with a human they usually communicate with that person using the method of telepathy.
    “How far?” Asked Jason in responses looking to the side and out towards her face witch was glued focused to the sky in front of her.
    “About five miles directly in our path” .
    “Ok. We should land a few yards away” He suggested.
    “Alright” she agreed, but then she took to her worries again. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong about the situation they where flying into. “I still don’t think this is such a good idea though” She stated as she flew on straight and true.
    “You and I both know that there was something odd about that Adroski man that employed us”. She spoke of the creepy man they had met in a pub just over a few hours ago. Jason thought back to the gray hooded oddball old man that gave them the job of retrieving a rare artifact from a bandit camp south of the city. His pure ghostly white heir and slightly old crinkly looking face, even then, gave Jason an uneasy felling.
    “I know what you mean” He assured her in his mutual felling of uncertainty with the job that lay ahead. “But we need the coins, where already stuck in doubt to several guilds as it is”.
    “I tried to warn you about them Jason” She suddenly said straight up remembering the mess they gotten into with the guild they tried to apply there survices to a few months prior.
    “How was I supposed to know they would find out about the money I ’barrowed’ from there stash.” He stated in his idiocy “And it was in there basement of all places”. Sestina sighed with a touch of humor humor at her friends unintelligence. It was somewhat of a humorus memory as they both thought back to it.
    Ever since Jason was a teenager he never liked listening to strategies and planning, He always preferred to play the hero and rush in. At age eleven he was banished, from his birth city, a painful memory. It was a story that he hated to think back to. Since then he had always wanted to act on his own. And when Jason was denied his proposal to serve in a famous guild called Kentari, one in which was his dream to join. He became inraged and thus deciding to steal money from there basement stash and go on a shopping spree. Spending all 8,000 of there coins. The head master of the guild used a spell Jason never really even heard of, or though to have existed, to see exactly who stole the money and where to found him. In the end Jason received a beating and a threat. Stating that if he didn’t pay back the money he would be killed.
    “The coins he offered us is more then enough to pay off our debt” He assured Sestina “And what’s left over should last us a few months of luxury. If we pull this off we’ll be taking a few weeks off.” He thought ahead to the glory of the thought. Free from worry and having the ability to live for at least a few months with out the worries of being a mercenary. But then he took his focuses to something a lot more grater to him “And most off all” he added with determination about his voice “I’ll be able to concentrate on finding out more about Tara” Sestina mused a small chuckle. She found it awfully touching that Jason was still thinking about her.
    “Well regardless of the money” she pushed on. She was moved by his resigning and ambition, but she couldn’t shake the felling that was still going about her mind “I think there’s something waiting for us in that camp.
    “How so?” Jason questioned.
    “My ghost is speaking to me” She informed him “there’s danger coming the closer we get to that camp.” He couldn’t help but put on a Smile. One thing he could always hear Sestina speak of was of her Griffin lore. It began on the minuet they met. Right after the day he rescued her from the abusive tactics of her handler. His kind heart couldn’t stand to see a thinking and liveing being be chained down and wiped. He took up the danger and freed her. Ever since then, Religious fanatic or not, They were the best of friends.
    “Ghost huh, So what did your so called ghost say about that Adroki freak?” She laughed.
    “I don’t need a griffins ghost to tell me that man was mentally challenged in critical areas of intelligence”. They both laughed like two friends would.
    Jason peered down to the slowly passing earth below. He pointed to a slight mountain rising just beyond a small clearing.
    “Take us down right there, where close enough” He directed.
    The griffin swooped down and landed with a slump. A small outcropping of dust emitted through the air. Sestinas lion like claws impacted the ground and her frontal eagle talons landing second both leaving clawing streaks among the ashy soil of the earth.
    Jason swung his right foot out of the right saddle loop and slid down to the ground. He walked a few feet to the west, taking care not to rouse to much noise to anyone who could be around. He took a whiff of the air, Something smelled familiar, and he took another, and another until finally he could make the connection. The aroma of a flower scented like mist. He know it anywhere, It was the vestige smell of a manna spring. He was struck with a sense of contemplating curiosity. A manna spring in the middle of the sun planes?. “Do you smell that Sestina?” He asked as he turned to his griffin friends face and saw the curious expression in her eyes, Griffin eyes being their only capable means of facile expression.
    “I do” She said in thought. “Why would there by a manna source near a bandit camp?. And in the sun plans of all places"
    Jason began to wonder if that Adroki guy was sending them into something more bigger then just a bandit camp infeltration assignment. Maybe this was a trap. Was he luring them out there to either get killed or caught. Or maybe something else. Many theory’s came to mind. But this wasn’t then time to focus on the probably.
    “This is something we defiantly need to check out”. Without a second thought he walked to the saddle sitting atop Sestina and reached into the left side saddlebag and picked out his cell phone. He flipped it open with a flick of his wrist and began to punch in numbers.
    “Who are you calling?” Sestina asked curiously.
    “Shin” He replied. Sestina instantly jumped back from him like a trampoline kickback and gaped at him. Her eye expression suggesting complete mantel astonishment.
    “Who!?” She squealed. “You must be blinking mantel” she paraded on as she tried to not seem to dismayed by her friends mantel ignorance. “He’s a world renowned professional light wizard and your going to call him right out of the blue and expect him to come all the way out here in the middle of nowhere!?.”
    He halted his use of the phone. “Hey, You forget” He started as he pointed the antenna end of the phone toward her. “I saved his a** back in the western plans, He owes me”. He went back and hit the last number of Shins last known cell phone number. Sestina sighed and looked to the ground in dread. “Oh my” she sagged “This is going to be a long afternoon”.
    The phone beeped a few sets in his ear, Shin was the most brilliant and powerful wizard he had ever known. Despite the fact Jason always was annoyed with Shins stuck up nature and more so over his light wizard ways. Jasons quick moves and maniacal tendencies saved his life once during a dragon attack in his home village. The phone ended it’s buzzing.
    “Hello?” Came Shins slightly elderly voice.
    “Yo Shiney” Jason partied “It’s your old pal Jason” There was a short pause
    “Who?” he answered and Jason almost found himself cussing in to the receiver. “Jason” he informed agitatedly “Jason Wilder, the man who saved your a** a wail ago. You gave me this number and said to call if I ever needed a favor”. The voice on the other side made a sigh of tired annoyance.
    “Oh yes” he mused “The Drifter”. Jason ignored the pun.
    “Listen were in the eastern sun planes and we need an extra gun could you spare a few hours?”
    There was a short pause on Shins end “I don’t really have the time to waste helping a mercenary with his chores” He stated “I’m in the middle of my studies, Besides I thought you were the king’ of swordplay
    “Whoa now Shin” Jason stammered “What happen to the honor of there word thing I’ve heard so much about from you light wizards.
    “Well I wish I could help” He sorrowed “But I can’t”
    “Hey aren’t you forgetting something” he reminded him
    There was a short pause on Shins end again as the wizard grumbled.
    “That was a small matter Jason. That incident was mediocre and I was handling it fine” he informed him trying to make an excuses.
    “That’s not the way it looked like from where I stood. Besides a debts and debt” he said laying it down hard “It’s the honorable way, and I’m sure you light wizards understand honor”
    There was a short growl of agitation and then suddenly the line clicked off. “Hello?” Said Jason shocked “Hello!?” He said again now angry. “He hung up on me” He inferred bewildered. He turned to Sestina and held up the phone dumb founded “The dishonorable son of a b***h hung up on me”
    Before he could say anything disgraceful on his name. A bright light shined forth from behind him, burning him and Sestinas eyes slightly as the light dimmed and twittered away. They stood surprised as they saw standing there…Shin, The tall wizard with grayish heir striding down past his shoulders and his pure white robes with golden yellow sleeve cuffs and seams. Jason was surprised. He used a teleportation spell without even knowing Jason’s exact location. “Yes Jason” He smiled “wizards do understand honor”.
    Jason smiled and clicked the phone shut and placed it into his pocket. “How’d you do that” He asked, referring to the sudden and flashy appearance out of nowhere ”.
    “Standard instant teleportation, nothing special” he spoke as he walked up to the two and looked up at the griffin “Long time no see Sestina”.
    “I’m honored to see you again master Shin” she bowed her head slightly in respect.
    “So what is so important that you need to enlist the aid of a white wizard so suddenly.”
    Jason nudged his head to the cliff. “Come over here and take a look”. He lead Shin to the cliff, and informed him to stay low as they both peeped there heads over the rocks and into the bandits heavily armed camp, keeping cautious as to avoid being seen. “Take these” He handed him a pair of binoculars “I’ve never in my life seen a bandit stronghold that heavily fortified. And look…” he said adding the main resign for his immense wonder. “to top it off look to the right of the camp a bit” .
    Shin took the view of the binoculars to his instructions and saw the source of Jason’s worries: A large immense greenish blue tinted crystal sticking out of a crake in the earth. The crystal emitting a beautiful mist of green vapor into the air, which was the resign for the flowery aroma. But the area surrounding it made for confusing tendencies. Such a sight in the middle of the sun planes, which was basically a meowed desert, when normally they grow in forests and jungles.
    “Do you see it?” Jason asked.
    “Yes, I do” Shin replied observing the manna spring closer.
    “What ever there guarding in there” Jason stated “it’s something that either I want, or something someone’s going to want to pay a s**t load of coins for.
    Shine looked over the camp and there heavily armed inhabitance. “They do look pretty sophisticated for a bunch of lowlifes” he took his view to random parts of the camp and evaluated them. The people carried high caliber machine guns and large side arms the size of a leg.
    “You may be right about them hiding something” Shin handed him him back the binoculars and stood striding away from the cliffs edge. “A basic manna spring such as that can power a lot of weaponry.” Being a heavey user of manna he knew of the power a small crystal of manna could produce. Enough to power a small buildings electricity for a year was what a small palm sized crystal could do. And with a huge concentration just sticking up in the middle of nowhere like that, Right where bandits of all types of people dwell, Wasn’t at all normal.
    Had they figured how to construct a spring from scratch?… he thought
    No, impossible, he came to the decision. Construction of a manna spring from scratch requires science and understanding of magic way beyond a common gang of thugs. Unless of coarse, they had someone do it for them…a scientist or something. Regardless of how it became possible. It was to much of a threat to pass by. It may have been a blessing in disguise to have Jason call him out of the blue so rudely like that. If anything he had to destroy it and learn how they constructed it. If homemade manna springs suddenly become a reality a lot of lives could be in danger.
    “Well” He said as he turned to face him. “If you’re willing to risk your life, my debt cannot be unheeded as to brake the code of the white wizards.” He looked to the ground in a drained form and put on a face of remorse as he sighed and looked up to Jason “I guess I have no choice.” He reached into a pocket in his robe pulling out a large scroll and opened it “I suggest we call in backup first, in case were un successful” he offered.
    Jason shook his head and waved the offer away just as shin thought he would. “Nah that wont be necessary, we have plenty of fire power”
    “Firepower?” Shin repeated his words scornfully “Such as?”
    “We have your magic, Sestinas might and flight and…” He trotted over to a sheath and pulled out a huge buster sword “..my sword skills”.
    “And you think that’s honestly going to be enough to stop them” he criticized “They have fully automatic machine guns Jason, Your only capable of deflecting a few bullets”
    “Don’t worry” he said as he reached into another bag on Sestinas saddle and pulled out a large sidearm. “I got back up”.
    “That’s still not adequate Jason” he informed him rubbing his forehead reflecting growing anxiety.
    “Ok Mr. ******** combat expert” Jason mocked as he checked the clip of his gun, and loaded it back in “What the hell do you have to fight with?”
    Shin held up his palms and held them there for a moment.
    “That’s it?” Jason scorned
    “Trust me” said Shin “When you’re a light wizard, there all you need”.

    TO BE CONTINUED