Rebels

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The carriage continued to move forward at a steady pace, rocking lightly from side to side due to the bumps on the road. Sagaris kept his eyes closed and rested his head, with no intention of starting a conversation. He didn't want to say anything that might accidentally reveal something he shouldn't.

Sagaris found himself lost in thought. "Should I take him with me?" he wondered. "Or should I leave him be?" "We will soon arrive at a city. This is the last city where we will be halting. Make sure to fill up your stomach before we leave again," Sagaris said without opening his eyes.

Cyrillus nodded lightly as he looked outside the window, waiting for their destination.

As soon as the carriage reached their destination, Cyrillus kicked the carriage door open and jumped outside, stretching his body and yawning.

Sagaris remained seated in the coach and called out to Cyrillus, "There's a magic association nearby. I have some business there. Would you like to accompany me or just roam around and meet up with me here again?"

Cyrillus shook his head. "I'll just walk around. It's really tiring to sit in one place for hours."

"I'll meet you here after a few hours," replied Sagaris with a nod, and Zero proceeded to steer the carriage in the direction of the magic association.

But instead of heading straight towards the magic association, the carriage took a turn and headed in another direction. The destination or intentions were unknown. After an unknown period of time, the carriage reached its intended destination: the magic association.

The leader of the magic association of the city of Therapoli personally came to receive the VIP guest, who was rumored to be an important person in the Kingdom of Orchomenus, even though he did not hold any official position. As soon as the carriage came to a halt in front of the white shining building, an attendant rushed forward to open the door for the guest sitting inside.

Sagaris stepped out of the carriage and was greeted by the leader of the magic association, who introduced himself as Xenophon. Xenophon was a tall man with a regal bearing, dressed in flowing white robes adorned with gold trim.

"Greetings, Lord Sagaris," Xenophon said with a deep bow. "We are honored to have you visit our humble association. Please, come inside."

Sagaris followed Xenophon into the building, taking note of the architecture and intricate magical designs that adorned the walls. They entered a spacious hall filled with magical artifacts and tomes, and several scholars were studying them intently.

Xenophon led Sagaris to a private chamber, where they sat down to discuss the matters for which Sagaris had personally visited them.

"Do you still have the stone?" Sagaris asked without wasting any time chitchatting.

"Yes, my lord, we still hold it. It's in the most secure place exactly 45 meters below us with an anti-magic barrier and a safe that can withstand the barrage of a few dozen beginner mages and at least a dozen archmages. It's in the safest possible place."

"It's not," Sagaris replied and did not say anything further.

Xenophon looked at Sagaris with surprise and confusion. "My lord, what do you mean? We have taken every precaution necessary to keep it safe."

"We both know there's going to be a coup because of the local lord. How I know this is not the important part. I seriously don't care what you guys do here as long as my interests are protected."

"And I am sure you don't want to lose your head just because someone wants to take over the local rule here, and coincidentally the stone goes missing. You have no idea what you guys are playing with," Sagaris continued.

Xenophon went silent for a few moments before taking a huge breath. "Lord Sagaris, I promise you as the leader of the mage association, I swore an oath to always be neutral and protect this place with my life. I am not involved in the coup in any way, nor am I willing to let anyone use such a powerful tool of destruction for such meager things."

Sagaris nodded. "What time is it now?" glancing out of the window.

Xenophon glanced at the clock placed on a wall and replied, "My lord, it will soon be 5:30."

"Get ready to complete the promise you made," Sagaris said.

Xenophon looked at Sagaris with a confused expression. "What promise, my lord?"

"The promise to protect this place with your life," Sagaris replied calmly. "The coup will soon be taking place, and I need you to fulfill your oath to protect this place and the stone at all costs."

Xenophon's eyes widened as he realized the gravity of the situation. "Of course, my lord. I will do everything in my power to protect this place and the stone."

"Don't worry about the stone, just defend the place."

"As you wish, my lord."

As soon as the sentence left Xenophon's mouth, a huge pillar of light could be seen rising from the center of the city, wildly spreading out and engulfing everything in its way. Following it with absolutely no delay was the resounding boom that swept up the dust and debris in its wake. The ground shook violently, causing buildings to crumble and collapse. People ran in terror, screaming and shouting as they tried to find shelter from the destructive force.

Xenophon glanced at Sagaris with shock in his eyes, his head full of questions, but he suppressed his thoughts and quickly moved, jumping out of the window and started chanting, activating the barrier around the association.

Sagaris stood still rooted, lost in thoughts. He knew the attack was going to happen today, but there was still time until it began! A lot of preparations had to be made by him before the attack began, so everything happened as he wanted, but now… everything he planned had to be wrapped in a plastic bag and thrown out of the window like trash.

His thoughts were running at the speed of light, thinking, "The rebels were planning this for years and were going to take action during midnight when everyone least expects it. The leader should have arrived inside the association before the blasts took place for the stone; it is the only way for them to win. But now everything has changed. The attack is happening during the day, and the leader is not inside the association. And the only reason I can think of for the changes is…"

Sagaris took a deep breath to calm his emotions, rubbing his temples, he chanted a spell, "Aetheros Ptoma." As Sagaris finished the incantation, he felt a surge of energy course through his body. He then jumped out of the window and soared through the air, propelled by the power of the spell. He covered a great distance in a single bound and stopped above the city, hovering midair.