Chapter 8: A mage in the city part 1

A few days after Arya was almost drowned

Night time, the outskirts of Draquerth

"You kids go to bed okay. I don't want to find any of you awake." said Neel to Ava and Luca as he walked out the door. "Yes father, we promise." they said in unison. Neel and Lillian had decided to have a life mage look into Arya's life force to make sure that nothing was wrong with him. However a journey to the city wasn't as easy as it would seem. The gate was guarded by corrupt soldiers who wouldn't let anyone in without paying a fine. Even after paying said fine the information that new people had passed the city gates would be passed on to the officials of the city and to the local criminal bosses.

The city walls of Draquerth were about an hours walk away from the outskirts. However both Lillian and Neel moved so fast they seemed like a blur to any passer-by. As the wind blew past Lillian she held Arya even tighter. Although the chances of Arya falling were quite low she couldn't help but feel tense. As they neared the city gates they slowed down and Neel said "We're going to have to move faster than this to escape the vision of the city guards." he said. Although most of them are just second order knight squires I can sense a first order knight. He might be weak but I'm not taking any chances." after saying this he increased his speed 3 fold. If at first he seemed like a blur he now looked like a phantom seemingly invisible to the naked eye.

"In this world humans must be way too OP. How can these two move so fast." wondered Arya as he saw his father move at unfathomable speeds through the corner of his eye. "Don't worry baby Arya just hang on tight we will be in the city in a bit." ,said Lillian as she also became a phantom in the wind.

"Hmm what was that?" said the captain of the city guards in his office. "Is anything wrong captain?" said a guard. "No it must be nothing, I'm probably just tired." ,he said. "No way I sensed something moving that fast. Not even seventh order knights can move at such speeds. God I need a break from this job." he thought.

When Neel and Lillian got into the city they stopped in an alley. "There is a tavern at the end of this alley. I'll collect information about the whereabouts of this mage. I was told to ask for Meriel. You should stay here while I go get her. We can't risk going there with a baby in your hands." whispered Neel as he walked down the alleyway towards the tavern.

As he walked past the tavern doors the room became silent. The tavern was filled with people, among them were a few city guards slacking off from work. Others looked like Adventurers probably here as mercenaries while most were locals. The reason everyone kept quiet was because of Neel's stature. By Draquerth standards Neel was a giant. With a height of 1.94m he towered over most man on Merum anyway (AN :Merum is the name if this world). He walked over to the counter. "An ale." he said to the bar keep, who nodded and began to prepare a glass of ale. Seeing this everyone began talking again.

Amongst the noise some people were talking about local brothels, some about how the taxes keep increasing. Some people were talking about Neel, "I'm telling you, he is the knight they called in to investigate the killings. Look at the size of him no way he is a normal man." said one of the adventurers to his table. "Don't you think they would ask the church for help? Why would a knight from the order come all the way here? It doesn't make sense. If anything he is an undercover priest." said a woman from the table.

Neel had a keen sense of hearing. When he heard about the killings he called to the bar keep. "Are the killings getting worse? People seem more stirred." said Neel. Neel had never heard about the killings but if he showed his ignorance to such major matters he would be caught out instantly. "Have you been living under a rock young man?" said the bar keep looking at Neel suspiciously. "I've been too busy in the brothels to worry about the outside world." said Neel scratching his head and smiling.

"Well you need to start paying more attention lad. It could be you one day. Anyway bodies have been found all over the city. Everyday people go missing and are found the following day dead in the town square. The funny thing is that all of them had their life force sucked out of them. Almost as if it were the work of a vampire." said the barkeep. "I call bull shit old man. Why would a vampire come to Draquerth of all places? And if it really were here it needn't hide. There is no one to stop it here. I say it's a monster from the mountains who got hungry for human flesh." ,said a nearby local. As Neel drank from his the barkeep and the local kept debating about what could be behind the killings. "Barkeep I'm looking for a lady called Meriel. Do you know where I might find her?" asked Neel.

"Well if you're talking about Merial Aserth she's right behind you." ,said the barkeep pointing to a woman behind Neel. The woman had blonde hair and brown eyes. She was very beautiful possibly in her late 30's. "What how come I didn't sense anything from this woman? Could she be cloaking herself? But how? She couldn't be that powerful." thought Neel as he walked towards the lady sitting alone at the corner of the tavern.

"Hello there-" Neel tried to say. "Not interested bud. You're cute but not my type get lost before I make you." said Meriel as she was about to leave the table. "I know you're a life mage." ,whispered Neel pulling her back down. Meriel hushed him quickly and looked around to see if anyone had heard him. "Shhh, are you trying to get me caught? What is it that you need. I'm a very busy woman." ,she said annoyed that someone had leaked her identity. "I need you to look at my son's life force and see if there's anything wrong with him." ,said Neel. "You have a son? That's suprising. Okay then where is he then?" ,asked Meriel. "Follow me he's just outside." said Neel as he stood up from the table.

As he and Meriel walked out of the tavern a group of men nodded to each other and left the tavern as well. As he led Merial to the end of the alley way he found that Lillian and Arya were no longer there. "Listen here pal, if this is some sort of j-" Meriel tried to say when Neel caught a knife aimed at her throat. "Well it seems the rumors might have been true, it looks like miss life mage got herself a knight for a bodyguard." said a mysterious man as a group of about 12 men walked out from the shadows. "No matter, even a third order knight is no match for us." said the mysterious man as he conjured more blades from the darkness and threw them and Neel and Meriel.