5: The Capital

The grey walls of the city loomed closer, and with it, the knight felt a growing sense of dread. This is where his first problem would arise. Once they made it to the gate, the guards would check to see if they were named or not. This is why the knight hated the kingdom. There was such a gap in power between the two classes that one couldn't even enter the capital, nevermind have a say in the politics of the kingdom.

Just before they reached the gate, the knight quickly handed Cleo the letter, while making sure this interaction wasn't noticed by the guards.

"You know what to do, hand this to the people at the entrance of the tower, and they will deliver your letter. There's a solid chance this will fail, so I have a backup plan. Don't take your time, or I'm leaving without you."

"Alright, Just don't get yourself killed. You don't look rich, but the people here might try and get even a single copper off of you" she said, gesturing at the makeshift town around them.

The knight said nothing in response, instead choosing to walk off on his own, leaving Cleo to enter the west gate on her own. He looked back once he was sure she couldn't see him anymore, and ran left alongside the wall, towards the northern gate.

He had never felt worried for someone in a while. The inside of the capital was peaceful, but she could be arrested carrying a letter signed 'The Unnamed.' He needed her help, she was his only hope of stalling the Cerberus. If she was arrested here, he wouldn't be able to stop the beast from leveling the western plains.

Right before making the turn onto the north face of the wall, he grabbed his knife from the sheath on his back and jabbed it between two stones, which were seemingly placed too close together to fill the crack with plaster. He shifted the knife around a bit, until it found a small bump in the crack. He took the palm of his hand and hit the knife as hard as he could. A passage began to slowly open up at his feet. A stone entrance to a cavity below the walls. Something he installed before he left. He knew he'd have to come back sometime, and made this so he could re-enter the city without any magic. He stepped down into the stairwell, feeling nostalgic at the dingy smell of the wed corridor.

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Meanwhile, Cleo was walking through the city, taking no stops and heading directly for the tower. The crowded midmorning marketplace was only a distraction to her, as she pushed through the crowd to make it to the tower. The crowd was thick, but she was determined to make it there.

Finally, as she made it out of the merchant's sector, she could see the base of the tower a couple hundred feet in front of her. There was no time to be amazed at the sight.

Seeing her heading towards the tower, the guards stepped forward and crossed their staffs, barring her from entering the tower. The left one spoke up first, shouting at Cleo; "Stop! What business do you have at the tower of the archmagi?"

"I'm here with an urgent message from the western plains. I request that this letter is delivered to the archmagi immediately."

"Let me see," The guardian on the right said, stepping forward and grabbing the letter from Cleo's hands. He let out an uncontrolled snort of laughter. "You really think the archmagi have the time to deal with a request from an unnamed? Also, how did you get into the city if you're an unnamed!" he shouted the last part, suddenly suspicious of her origins.

Cleo made her fingers glow pink, signifying that she was, in fact, a wizard. "I am here on his behalf. Now if you could please deliver the lett-"

"But what if we want to throw it away?" the left guard sneered. "It's not like some village out in the plains does anything good for us. It's just an eyesore. Almost as bad as the scrap towns outside the gates."

"Don't even think about it. Are you just going to let people die because it doesn't affect you?!" Cleo was now shouting at the two, and a crowd began gathering around, wanting to see what would happen.

"So what if we did?" The one on the right spoke up, defending his partner. "You know the archmagi won't even spend the time reading a letter from an unnamed, right?"

"What if they do? What if you are just keeping them from knowing about the people out in the plains being slaughtered by a beast?" She was done with the criticism the guards had for her.

Just as she was getting ready, the door behind the guards opened, and someone stepped out. "What's all the commotion about? I can't even focus on my reading anymore."

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The knight exited the tunnel and ran for the tower, purposefully avoiding the merchant's district. "If it's anything like how I remember it to be, going around it is a better option.." he muttered to himself.

As he made it to the tower, he saw a crowd had formed around the entrance, with cleo at the center. He heard her yelling at the guards, almost pleading to give the letter to the archmagi. He was about to step forward and try to force his way through the guards when the door opened.

When the knight recognised who opened the door, he smiled. 'The message will go through' he thought to himself. 'It's now just a matter of how long it will take.'

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The man who had stepped out surprised the crowd. He was a shorter man, who couldn't be a day older than 30. His black hair was short and messy. His clothes were a simple set of sky blue sleepwear.

Cleo made a double-take looking at him. She was as surprised as the rest of the crowd. There was a large murmuring stirring throughout the group of onlookers.

Suddenly, a large booming voice was heard across the plaza. "You are looking at the eighth archmagi, Gabriel Lionheart. Do not disgrace his presence.

As everyone looked back at the door, startled by the voice, the man in front of them had changed. Nobody had seen him remove the nightgown or put on a robe, but he looked like a new person entirely. He was wearing a shimmering black robe, which was adorned with splatterings of constellations, lines drawn between them as if it was a large game of connect the dots. The edges of his gown were brimmed with gold. The wizard then tried to pull down the brim of his hat, reaching for it, then realizing he had never put it on his head, dropped his hand back to his side.

"What seems to be the issue here? I asked the question three minutes ago and nobody answered. This time I'm serious."

Cleo kneeled down and looked up at the figure. "I have a message to deliver to the archmagi. It's a request of help from…" she trailed off, looking at the letter. Cleo had never taken the time to exactly read what the envelope had said on it. She read it over a few times, making sure what she saw was actually what was written down.

"I carry a request of assistance from The Unnamed"