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Chapter 6 Fear the Reaper

The evening sun cast an incandescent orange glow over the forest where Liam and his new friend lay sprawled out in the grass, taking in the beauty of the sunset after a long day of practice. Liam smiled up at the sky as he reflected on all the new spells and lore he had learned from both the old tome and young Maverick. Most of the spells he had cast were relatively easy to learn, though he was certain they were simply novice incantations meant for a fledgling mage. Despite this fact, Liam's interest didn't falter, as he was simply enamored with the realization that he could truly cast magic just like his father.

Maverick took his time inhaling the cool evening air, sighing out blissfully before he turned his head to gaze at the small fox next to him, stealing a few subtle glances at Liam's bare fur as it glistened in the sun's glow. His breathing wavered as his eyes drew lower down the boy's frame, finding a special kind of beauty in the nudity of his new young friend as if he were surrounded by his own special aura of magic. It didn't take long for Liam to notice he was being stared at, to which the boy turned his head to meet Maverick's gaze and greet him with a soft smile. The silver furred fox boy could feel his cheeks begin to blaze as he met Liam's soft blue eyes, though his attention refocused as he noticed the young aspiring mage's clothing fade back into existence around his form.

"H-hey! Your clothes are back, Liam!" Maverick chimed, trying his best to change the silent subject so as not to seem like a little lecher for being unable to peel his eyes away from his young partner's bits. "Oh? Hey! My clothes! I actually kinda forgot they were invisible this whole time hehe...~" Liam said scratching the back of his head, feeling a bit silly that he forgot that he was essentially naked the entire time.

Maverick giggled and curled his legs to his chest before pushing off the ground, hopping to his feet in one swift motion before stretching with his arms above his head. The older fox held his paw out to the small vulpine boy, to which Liam took with little hesitation. Liam grinned up at his friend happily and to Maverick's surprise, suddenly wrapped his arms around his waist in a tight hug. The older boy gasped suddenly as he was embraced, then chuckled a bit while offering Liam a gentle smile to match the warmth of the offered closeness before petting the small fox's head.

"H-heheh, what's this for...?" Maverick inquired.

"I just... Wanted to thank you for helping me today, that's all hehe~" Liam responded with what could only be described as innocent loving gratitude.

"O-oh! Uh, n-no problem! We should uh... We should probably head back to town before it gets dark eh?" The boy pointed out, having been trying to desaturate his likely crimson cheeks with little success with the boy now clinging against him.

Liam's ears perked and he nodded at that notion, turning to gather his things into his bag before running back to the bridge with his staff in hand. He waved after Maverick, causing the older boy to snap back to reality and run over to catch up to Liam. They circled the pond and headed back west through the forest towards town, though neither boy seemed to be in any hurry as they walked side by side through the trees. The scene was almost as magical as it had looked that morning as the subtle orange dimmed by the minute as evening turned to night. Fireflies served to light their way through the forest as they reached the path that lead back to town, where the two boys simply enjoyed the scenery as they walked home.

"Ah!" Liam gasped out suddenly.

"Eh!? W-whats wrong, Liam?" Maverick gasped back in response, his tail slightly frizzed from the sudden silence being broken.

"I forgot I was supposed to be looking for a pocket watch when I came out here! It was a silver watch with the initials "S.J." carved into it!" The boy exclaimed almost frantically as though it was his own watch that he had misplaced.

"A... pocket watch?"

"Yeah! It was... Kinda like a first, um... "quest" thing for me, I guess. I really wanted to find it and earn some money." The little fox said with clear disappointment, sighing as he crouched down and sulked to himself.

"You mean... This pocket watch~?" Maverick grinned as he pulled a silver watch from his pocket, unfurling it as he gripped the chain, letting the important little trinket dangle before the other child. with the exact initials carved into its face, a cheeky smile across his face as he held it by the chain.

Liam blinked in disbelief as he looked up dumbfoundedly at the watch, then up at Maverick.

"Where did you find that!?" Liam squeaked, unable to comprehend just when or where his friend could have gotten it.

"Oh, it was at the top of that tree I was in! Wasn't easy, had to battle a crow to the death to get it from its nest. Truly the most terrifying beast I've ever had the displeasure of facing." Maverick said with a silly matter-of-fact nod, though in his mind he knew there were some truth to those words. Stupid angry little buzzard... He thought to himself. "Eheh, don't worry! How bout we split the reward? I know I did all the work but I don't mind sharing with ya~"

"Really!? T-thanks, Mavy!" Liam exclaimed as he nearly knocked the boy down with another hug around his waist.

"Ack! N-no problem! Really! J-just don't squeeze me to death before we get back, hahaha!" Laughed the older boy. "C-c'mon! Ellenvale is just up ahead!" After finally detaching from one another, the boys continued down the path to Ellenvale. Liam had a newfound spring in his step, thinking this day couldn't possibly get any better. He smiled as he looked up through the trees at the moon as it rose above them lighting their way alongside the fireflies.

The boys could see the trees beginning to part and thin as they opened into the grassy field east of town, a sign their destination was nearing quickly. Liam grinned and reached his paw out and softly patted Maverick's side before running ahead eagerly. "I'm gonna beat you theeeere~!" Liam shouted behind him to his friend, who momentarily blinked after the little fox before smirking and sprinting to catch up. Liam raced to the field, giggling as he ran ahead of his friend. However, he stopped in his tracks the moment he broke past the last of the trees. Maverick panted and laughed as he ran up behind Liam, rushing past him and grinning to himself thinking the boy tired out already, and that his victory was assured! Turning his head back to their goal, Maverick's eyes widened and he found himself frozen in place just as Liam was. The two young boys stared in horror as they looked toward Ellenvale, their mouths hung open from the shock as they witnessed the smoke billowing from the once peaceful village, the glow of flames illuminating the silhouettes of its buildings.

"W-what's happening in Ellenvale...!?" Liam asked nervously, staring in fear at the smoldering .

"Whatever it is... It's nothing good. C'mon, we gotta go help!" Mavy narrowed his eyes, the playfulness in his voice having stayed behind in the forest, leaving nothing but determined seriousness as he took off swiftly down the path leading to Ellenvale. Liam wasted no time in following his friend.

The two boys, having finally made their way into the town, rushed towards the source of the fire that seemed to be coming from the southern gate. They ran down the market street and quickly discovered the source of the blaze; the town barracks were completely engulfed in a fire that seemed to come from the inside of the building. Liam looked on in shock at the destruction around the area, guards lying wounded... or worse. He couldn't look away, though. Not when he knew this town, these people, needed him. He turned his attention back to the fire and drew his staff, his body seeming to move on its own as he attempted to quell the inferno.

"Frost!" Young Liam shouted, the Catalyst atop his staff glowing an icy blue before a cone of freezing spray erupted from his staff and shot into the fire. The freezing cone of icy dust seemed to make the fire dim on the outside, but the flames didn't seem to give under the spell despite how hard Liam focused his energy. "N-nngh! It's.. not enough...!" Liam gasped out, the heat reaching him even through his spell. He couldn't do anything else but retreat back away from the building. Mav gritted his teeth, knowing full well that his wind magic would only fan the flames and likely fan them into more buildings.

"D-dammit... There has to be something we can do!" Maverick clenched his fists. It was then the boys' ears perked to a strange sound that rang through the crackling flames and the groans of fallen guards, the sound of a small bell that seemed to deafen all other sounds around them. The faces of a few of the guards who were still conscious turned to fear, as if they were seeing death itself in front of them. Liam and Maverick looked around up and down the street for the source of the tinkling bell sound.

"Y-you boys! Run! Get... get out of here before... he comes back!" One of the canine guards cried out through strained gasps. It seemed even his injury wasn't enough to keep the abject terror this wolf felt at bay, as he began trying to crawl his way to safety. No matter how injured he was, he'd rather be anywhere but here.

Liam ran over to the older wolf guard and knelt beside him "What do you mean? Who? Before who comes back?" The little mage inquired. However, it was not the man's voice that replied to his question that next moment...

"He... is already here, boys. Heheh..." the sinister voice said with a tone that made the two young boy's blood go cold. The guard's face stared in horror past Liam, causing the boys to slowly turn to face the person they could only assume was the cause of the attack on the village. In the middle of the street behind them stood the crimson robed figure, one hand up to the forehead of the mask that covered their face, a steel facade emblazoned with a sinister sharp toothed grin where his mouth would be. His robes, a sleeveless top not unlike Liam's, aside from the cat-eared hood that lay drawn up on his head, and a pair of baggy pants with some ragged leather shoes.

His tail looked to be wrapped in tight bandages with a pointed metal cap on the tip. In his right hand he clutched what looked to be a staff, though much unlike Liam's, this one was long and curved with a hook on the bottom and several hand grips near the top. What stood out most about this staff though, was the metal housing at the top that held a blood-red catalyst as well as the gashes that covered its length as if hacked over and over by blades from countless battles.

"Hmmm, I can tell you two have some semblance of magical potential, judging from those catalysts in those weapons... Heheh, you boys may just prove to be interesting, well... More interesting than these pieces of trash at least!" The hooded figure proclaimed coldly as he stepped slowly towards the two, cruelly stepping atop the fallen guards as he walked as if they were indeed just litter on the ground.

Maverick drew his daggers and held them defensively in front of him, both him and Liam gripping their weapons readying themselves for anything.

"W-who are you!?" Liam demanded, his heart racing in his chest with fear of the threatening individual stepping ever closer to them.

This outburst made the masked person stop in place, which gave them a good view of their enemy now and let them discern that whoever this person was he couldn't possibly have been any older than his mid-teens. He brought his curved staff up and rested its length across his shoulders.

"Hahaha... Now THAT is a question deserving answering! See... These wastes of scrap and flesh that towns and cities call "guards" have called me many things. Murderer... Thief... Scum... All manner of bland monikers." The red magician sighed, shaking his head in a deeply exaggerated manner. "How about this... If you two can entertain me a little while, I'll tell you my name!" The mage proposed bouncing his staff off his shoulder and spinning it between his fingers before snapping it into place at his side. The figure gripped the face of his mask once more and started to snicker, and that snicker slowly grew further until it devolved into twisted and unhinged laughter.

"Ahh... I'm so sorry, I made that seem like I was giving you a choice, hahahaha!!" He cackled, swinging his staff outwards just as its crimson catalyst gleamed to life. A blood-red blade of pure magic energy surged violently into existence, energy crackling in the air around it as the warped staff now took the form of a vicious scythe.

"...Liam. Go." Maverick spoke up, voice having completely shifted in tone now. The only word that could be used to describe its depth and seriousness, it's sheer gravity, was 'dire'. "Go see if you can find a medic for these guys. ...I got this creep." His eyes locked onto the crimson robed figure, dagger at the ready and eyes slitting so he could glare at the male. His drive for heroics kicked in from here as he decided to face him alone.

"But.. But what about y-" Liam started just as his friend suddenly cut his sentence short.

"Now! This guy is dangerous, get help!" Maverick snapped, not taking his eyes off his opponent for a second.

"...You wanna have some fun?" He said, his left hand raising up, the catalyst in the dagger gripped in his right beginning to glow and swirl with magic. "...Then I'll give you all the fun you can ask for!" A ball of wind, to which the sinister mage noticed was not too different than the one that the sylvoxes from before assaulted him with, welled up in his hand. "Have fun with this!" He shouted, before firing the orb of wind... straight into the burning building. His expression didn't seem to change however, despite the egregious miss.

"...The hell was that?" The demon puzzled, rather confused at the failure of an attack. "...Were...you even aiming at me? Were you planning on actually doing someth-oh!" A burst of flame erupted from the building, led by that very same ball of air that was sent in. The blaze was fairly large and quickly engulfed the evil mage.

"Gotcha." Maverick smirked rather confidently, enjoying whenever his ridiculous plans actually went somewhere.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Hehehe...hahahahaha!" The figure was heard laughing once again. "Ha. Ha. Ha..." He continued shortly after the smoke and flames dissipated around him, in what could only be described as the laughter equivalent of a slow clap. With the ethereal scythe in hand, he showed to have thrown up a crimson, hexagonal barrier at just the perfect moment to have dodged the incoming burst. "...Looks like you do have some fight in you after all, and a few tricks as well." He bowed low now. Once again, even if one couldn't see his true face beneath the mask, his smile and excitement were palpable enough that one could feel his sinister grin. "Let's play, kid!"