3 CHAPTER THREE

Dragoncaller spoke a chant summoning his strongest dragon, "Ruler of the skies arrives to sow chaos in your wake. Bahamut comes" After Dragoncaller made his chant the clouds in the sky grew thick and black. A large dragon-like creature descended from the heavens that shined in brilliant rainbow scales. "Are you ready?!" Dragoncaller yelled out to Terry. Terry didn't answer so the dragon shot a few of its scales at Terry they exploded in contact, but Terry didn't even move.

"What?" Dragoncaller said with confusion noticing him still standing after Bahumut's attack.

"I got this." Phoenix said reaching her hand out, "Ignite Phoenix flame plume!" Flames shot out of Phoenix's hand in a vibrant flash igniting everything it touched in scorching hot flames including the woods that the orphans would play in when they had free time. Nothing was safe from Phoenix's crimson flames except Terry who wasn't even moving even though he was standing directly in the path of her fire. The flames stopped coming out of the Phoenix's hand as she grew wide-eyed at Terry's immunity to the fire. "How?" Phoenix questioned bewildered.

Terry's voice sounded darker almost like it was fused with another's voice. "We tried to warn you, but you wouldn't listen." Terry who was taken over by Erebus reached his arm out and spoke quietly, "Know despair… Abyssal Sphere." A black sphere slowly inched forward towards Phoenix and Dragoncaller. The more it moved the more it grew and the more it grew the faster it went. Dragoncaller stood still in curiosity in seeing a dark spell for the first time. Phoenix's heart rose to her chest as her mind raced to try to figure out a counter.

"Flame Barrier." Phoenix roared causing a sphere of intense flames to surround her and Dragoncaller. The sphere overtook the barrier and continued to grow. "D you need to speak to me what does Bahumut see on the outside?"

Dragoncaller could hardly hear her over the sound of the roaring flames. He laughed for a moment, "I can't connect with Bahamut he must've already been destroyed I don't even know how it… was instant. The moment the dark touched him I lost connection. To think we pushed for this."

The fire was still gushing through Phoenix's hands fighting against the darkness that surrounded them. "I… don't know how much longer I can hold it back," Phoenix said with exertion in her voice. Her body was trembling from the amount of energy she was using creating the barrier.

"You're doing better than me." Dragoncaller said sitting on the ground feeling defeated, "I'm useless at this point… Bahamut has never been defeated this fast ever."

Phoenix took a deep breath, "You know this could be the end…. To think we both would meet our end to a newbie Tomefinder."

"It's ok… at least we won't die alone." Dragoncaller said and sighed, "Just let go."

Phoenix sighed, "ok." With a snap, the flames disappeared, and the darkness engulfed the duo. A large black and white eye appeared in front of them with multiple rings around its pupil. "What is that?" Phoenix questioned as a feeling of dread was imbued in her from staring into the eye.

"I don't know," Dragoncaller said with his heart racing from the dread that was rapidly taking over his psyche.

A loud voice resonated from the eye, "He told me not to kill you… but if we were really fighting you would've lost your lives. You, weaklings, are lucky that my partner cares about your wellbeing."

"Who are you?" Dragoncaller asked.

"My name? Erebus."

"That's why we couldn't win," Phoenix said knowing the name looking down to the black ground with a smile.

"Who was Erebus?" Dragoncaller questioned.

"Primordial… How did a primordial become locked away into a Tome?"

"I was bored." The eye said sounding amused. The darkness quickly faded away. The entire battleground had become completely barren devoid of vegetation. Terry stood in the same place he was standing before the battle began.

"I'm sorry," Terry said falling to his knees. "I didn't mean to hurt you two… I really didn't."

Phoenix and Dragoncaller walked up to Terry with smiles on their faces, "We wanted the fight," Dragoncaller said, "I should be thanking you for not killing us when you easily could. The spirit within you is ridiculously powerful. You could end up working directly under the king and control all of the circles with that kind of power."

"King?" Terry questioned.

"Yeah, but with you being an orphan I wouldn't expect you to know you had a king. Only knowing of your lord is expected."

"Yeah Lord Bezel… There is someone over him?"

"Yeah, many lords work for the king. Each lord has their own circle of mages you could end up working in the king's circle which would put you above all the lords."

"We do not need a king," Erebus said in Terry's mind.

Terry laughed, "That would be pretty cool."

"So, you are an orphan here?" Dragoncaller questioned.

"Yeah, I am," Terry said.

"Would you like to get out of here and join our circle? It will be a good opportunity for you to grow and gain control of that power you have. So, one day you will be confident enough to fight us without the help of your partner." Dragoncaller asked.

"Sure, that sounds like it would be fun," Terry said with a smile.

"Do you have any belongings that you need to gather? After we leave, we won't be coming back." Phoenix said.

"You don't have to worry about that… I don't really have any belongings. My clothes all belong to the orphanage, so yeah… I don't have anything to get… but, there is someone I would like to talk to before I leave would that be ok?"

"We don't mind. We'll be in the carriage just come to the front of the building when you are ready to leave this place."

"Alright," Terry said with a smile. Dragoncaller and Phoenix then left Terry in the orphanage's training grounds. Terry sighed and looked around. He walked over to the hole that he fell in the same hole that had started everything. 'It may sound crazy but I'm going to miss this place.'

"Terry…. It doesn't sound crazy at all this is your home and has been your home as long as you can remember. Change for humans is hard no matter how hard things are now leaping into the unknown is always an ordeal for any human."

'It sounds like you know a lot about human nature.'

Erebus laughed, 'I know a lot about mortal nature. I've seen it time and time again when mortals will get too comfortable in a hard life situation and begin to work to maintain that situation instead of breaking out of it. It's sad…. But this mortal nature.'

'I don't want to be like that.'

"I know Terry."

Terry turned around and walked back to the orphanage and entered through the back door. Terry listened and could tell that all of the kids were downstairs in the basement taking cover from the fight that had just taken place. Terry looked over at the kitchen table quickly noticing that Matron Maya was sitting at the table. Terry sat across from her.

"I take it you won," Maya said looking up in Terry's eyes.

"I did," Terry said with a nod with a sad look in his eyes.

"Congratulations," Maya said with a warm smile.

"There was something I was wanting to say to you."

"Was it goodbye?" The matron questioned.

"Yeah…. But more than that. I want to thank you for everything…. Even though you were tough sometimes you were the only one who was nice to me and treated me fairly even though I was weak. I was just a Candlelight, yet you still cared for me and helped me. Thank you… I think you alone are making this hard."

"Hard? What do you mean?"

"To leave."

"We can see each other again. Don't worry about that. You will be joining the mages circle from this orphanage. If you mean what you say about me then when you start working in the circle help us get some funding, we can use it. Hire some help which we desperately need. Maybe some more fosters will come to visit… and I will be looking forward to when you visit."

"You are a Tomefinder as well aren't you Matron."

"I am."

"May I ask who…"

"My partner is? Artemis is her name." Matron Maya said cutting Terry off.

"Artemis… I guess I should tell you mine."

"Don't bother… We recognized the darkness quickly. Your partner is Erebus. I don't know how or why he was in a Tome but with his power, you will make a huge difference in this world… Now if it's for the better or worse is up to you."

"It's crazy to think about how I went from being the weakest in a class of orphans to becoming someone who can change the entire world."

"It only takes one tide of fate for the fool to become the emperor."

"Fool? Emperor?"

"Tarots… I enjoy using them in my free time." Matron Maya stood up and opened one of the kitchen drawers and pulled out a small box. "Take these to remember your time here." Matron Maya said handing Terry the box. She looked at the confused look on Terry's face and smiled, "They are Tarot cards go through them your partner will help you understand what to do with them, but for now, give me a hug you need to get going.

Terry put the small box of tarot cards in his pocket and wiped a tear from his eyes and smiled standing up from the table. "Thank you for everything," Terry said giving Matron Maya a large hug. Maya returned the hug and put one of her arms around Terry's back.

"Child." Maya said softly, "I can't wait to see what you become."

"I won't disappoint you," Terry said holding back tears.

"I know," Maya said letting go of stepping back out of Terry's hug. "You need to get going they aren't the people you want to keep waiting."

Terry nodded and walked out the front door towards the carriage. The chariot that would take him to a new beginning a new life that Terry a few days ago never thought he would have a chance of living.

Terry entered the carriage and sat next to Dragoncaller who was drinking from a large flask. "What are you drinking?"

"Mead want some?"

"He's too young for that D."

"Bah…" Dragoncaller growled and put the bottle down, "So are you. You ready to go… uhh." Dragoncaller smiled scratching the back of his head, "I still don't know your name…"

"It's Terry and I don't think I know your uh real name."

"His name is Darryl, mine is Alison," Phoenix said whose name was revealed as Alison.

Dragoncaller laughed as his name was revealed, "But the nicknames help sometimes. No one's scared of Darryl or Alison. They are scared of the Phoenix or the Dragoncaller. Names like those put fear in our enemies."

"Who are the enemies of the circle?" Terry questioned.

The carriage began to move Darryl sighed, "There's a lot you don't know isn't there?"

"I guess... I am fourteen and I've lived my entire life in that orphanage."

"Cultists and some lords try to secede from the king's rule along with their entire circle they all become enemies of the king and circle."

"Why do people secede?"

Erebus spoke in Terry's head, 'Because when some people have a taste of power they will fight for more. Some people's hunger for power is bottomless and they will risk their lives in pursuit of it. It's why the Tomefinders got to us in under a day they wanted our power.'

Alison spoke in response to Terry's question, "Honestly I don't know why anyone would betray the king… he's a great man and his partner that dwells in him is also incredibly powerful… so it never makes sense when lords betray the king."

"These two aren't too smart," Erebus said with amusement.

"Who is the king's partner?" Terry questioned.

"Eros," Alison said calmly.

"That makes sense of why he is the King," Erebus said.

'You know that name?'

'Yeah, he's my brother basically, Erebus replied.

'Could we beat him if it came to it?'

"If we are careful but we would become enemies of a lot of people Terry," Erebus warned.

'I see.'

Alison smiled warmly at Terry and put her hand on Terry's knee, You should see him someday. Just being in his presence is an amazing experience she explained.

"Interesting," Terry said pushing Alison's hand off his knee.

"You don't like being touched?" Alison giggled reaching for Terry's leg again.

"Don't touch me," Terry said with his eyes becoming completely black.

Alison gasped and pulled her hand back. Darryl laughed, "Are you a pedophile or something now Alison? He's fourteen… leave him alone."

"I'm seventeen it's fine," Alison said.

"Don't touch me," Terry said radiating a dark aura.

"Fine… you don't have to tell me again," Alison said with her face turning red looking back towards Darryl. "The roads have been quiet, lately haven't they?"

Darryl laughed, "Are you complaining that we haven't had a real job to do lately? You're going to jinx us."

"I mean seriously werewolves, golems, and vampires all used to be very active in this area and we haven't had any issues on patrol for a long time."

"Maybe they figured out that the road is where we patrol, and they die if they cause trouble on it… so they cause trouble elsewhere. Only patrolling the road is a stupid idea that Lord Bezel came up with.

"Don't disrespect our lord. You don't want to be exiled D."

(D....? She calls him D? That's weird.)

"It's not that I'm disrespecting him, but the idea was stupid. When I was in the circle in Heaven's Gate, we scoured all the land constantly going through with a fine-tooth comb destroying all possible threats to the region. Heaven's Gate had the least number of casualties from monsters in the nation." Darryl explained.

"And then your lord betrayed the king and the entire nation was destroyed in front of your eyes. You were allowed to survive because of your loyalty to the king… I guess it makes sense that you don't like lords since you watched your entire life fall apart because of one huh?" Alison said smugly.

Darryl sighed, "Please stop opening my old wounds. I watched the king's crusaders burn down my town with my family in it. I wasn't allowed to save them and if I did, I would have been killed. I wasn't spared because of my loyalty I was spared because of my strength."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Terry said with a tear dripping down his face.

"Don't be… it's over… no reason to cry over the past. What's done is done. All we can do is try to prevent the tragedies of the past from happening again." Darryl said with a warm smile, "Thanks for thinking about me."

"No problem…. I always thought my life was hard living it all in that orphanage with no parents to care for me… but you really put things into perspective." Terry said looking down to the ground.

"Perspective?" Darryl questioned.

"That things could've been worse," Terry replied.

Darryl looked down and spoke, "Always. There is no such thing as a bottom. Things can always get worse."

"So, I guess I get to meet Lord Bezel."

"Yep," Alison said with a smile, "He'll be excited to welcome you to the circle."

"So, how will the circle help me grow stronger?"

'They won't,' Erebus said bluntly.

"I don't think we will make you grow stronger with all the strength you already have. Control and Discipline are what we will try to teach you. We will make your character stronger not your magic."

"I… see."

'Ok, then they may be able to do that. You do need to get whipped into shape.' Erebus said laughing a bit harder in Terry's mind.

Terry sighed, "so how much further do we have?"

"About another forty-five minutes on horseback," Darryl said.

"You can always take a small nap when you wake up, we'll be at the castle," Alison said with a smile.

"I think I'll do…" Terry was cut off from the carriage suddenly stopping and the horses began frantically screaming and whining but were seemingly paralyzed in fear.

"You had to say something Alison," Darryl said standing up walking out of the carriage. "What…. Is… that…."

Alison followed Darryl out of the carriage and looked forward wide-eyed, "I never seen one that large. What do we do?"

Terry curious also got off of the carriage noticing a Mountain size creature that was seemingly made of metal slowly approaching them from further down the road. "Is that thing a Golem?" Terry questioned noticing every step the creature made caused a small earthquake. Birds were flying away from it in panic as if there was a fire in the forest.

"Yeah… that's a Golem I've never seen one that size it's at least ten times larger than the biggest one I've seen."

"Really?" Darryl said, "I didn't even know they come in sizes this big."

"Apparently they do," Terry said nervously.

'It's a colossus.' Erebus said in Terry's mind, 'They are a subtype of Golem, rare... hard to kill. Give me control and I will get rid of it. Your comrades are too incompetent to destroy it.'

'Do not hurt my friends if I give you control.)'

'Fine,' Erebus said in an annoyed tone.

'How long do you need?' Terry questioned as the Golem approached even closer.

'Five minutes now give me control!' Erebus roared in Terry's mind.

Terry sighed, "Alison, Darryl I'm going to give my partner control. We need to get rid of this thing before anyone gets hurt. Step back please." Terry said with a smile.

"Understood," Darryl said as he walked away.

"Be careful," Alison said following Darryl's lead.

Terry took a deep breath and smiled at the approaching colossus. 'Erebus take control for five minutes. Destroy this colossal Golem in front of me… do not hurt my friends.'

"Finally," Erebus said as he took control of Terry's body. Erebus smiled looking at the colossus before him. 'Child's Play.' Erebus thought to himself.